a manuscript thief, who tricked the likes of margaret atwood and ian mcewan into sending him unpublished works, has pleaded guity in court to wire fraud. hello and welcome to the programme. the ceasefire in ukraine declared by russia, for the orthodox christmas has come to an end. clashes between ukrainian and russian forces continued throughout the 36 hour period. president zelensky said vladimir putin s offer was deceitful he said peace in ukraine would only be restored when russian forces were expelled. and moscow said it reserved the right to return fire if its troops were attacked. our correspondent, james waterhouse along with producer siobhan leahy and cameraman paul francis sent this report from the eastern city of bakhmut, on the front line. you leave civilisation behind on the journey to bakhmut. we are heading to one of the most hostile parts of the front line. and coming into view is a city in the middle of it. the russians are just a mile away. ukraine
on the journey to bakhmut. we are heading to one of the most hostile parts of the front line. and coming into view is a city in the middle of it. the russians are just a mile away. ukraine is fiercely defending here. invading forces have thrown everything at the city, leaving it almost deserted. braving it above ground is a ukrainian soldier. translation: the situation is tense. l there are explosions and strikes coming from the enemy s side. they promised a ceasefire but we don t see it. we don t feel or see it. they said one thing but in reality it is different. few expected the ceasefire to hold anyway. it was announced by russia in the first place and ukraine was never going to engage but there is still heavy shelling coming down from the russian side. ukraine is holding onto this city and it s not going to want to let go any time soon. in bakhmut, those who flinch are in the minority. sergei tries to patch up what he can. translation: you would not wish this on your wors
metal detectors beep. and is this the sound of hidden treasure? hopeful hunters follow a map marking the spot where german soldiers are believed to have buried valuables worth millions. hello and welcome to bbc news. after nearly three years of covid lockdowns, china is scrapping its quarantine rules for travel from sunday. but as soon as restrictions were eased over the last few weeks, infections started to spread rapidly causing many countries to introduce compulsory covid tests for travellers from china. there are also concerns that china s borders are opening just as the country prepares to celebrate its annual lunar new year. for more on this story i m joined now by the bbc s martin yip who s at the hong kong zhuhai macau bridge checkpoint. thank you forjoining us, martin. how are people feeling about these restrictions being eased fairly quickly? we have heard travellers from china can visit abroad and now these restrictions being eased for inward visitors. restricti
in court to wire fraud. the ceasefire in ukraine declared by russia, for the orthodox christmas has come to an end. clashes between ukrainian and russian forces continued throughout the 36 hour period. president zelensky said vladimir putin s offer was deceitful he said peace in ukraine would only be restored when russian forces were expelled. and moscow said it reserved the right to return fire if its troops were attacked. our correspondent, james waterhouse along with producer siobhan leahy and cameraman paul francis sent this report from the eastern city of bakhmut, on the front line. you leave civilisation behind on the journey to bakhmut. we are heading to one of the most hostile parts of the front line. and coming into view is a city in the middle of it. the russians are just a mile away. ukraine is fiercely defending here. invading forces have thrown everything at the city, leaving it almost deserted. braving it above ground is a ukrainian soldier. translatio
at least one person is killed as russia bombs ukrainian cities overnight, minutes after its self imposed ceasefire ended. tens of thousands of orthodox christians in ethiopia celebrate christmas at churches in the historic town of lalibela for the first time since the conflict in tigray began in 2020. the uk prime minister rishi sunak has given his first tv interview of the year to the bbc s laura kuennsberg. mr sunak addressed concerns over nurses strikes and said he will talk to the royal college of nursing union about pay but does not commit to increasing wages now to end their strike action. he also defended his economic policies as being deeply conservative. our political correspondent damian grammaticas has been listening to what the prime minister has been saying. what struck you about what he was saying? the dilemma that the government has, huge pressures on the health service, nurses are deeply unhappy about their levels of pay, they say they have been falling behin