we begin in china where as you ve been hearing there were hugs and tears as international travellers arrived in china yesterday without the need to quarantine for the first time since the early stages of the covid pandemic. the strict quarantine rules had been in place for nearly three years. their lifting marks the end of beijing s zero covid policy, which had caused growing public anger. in hong kong, 400,000 people are expected to travel into mainland china in the coming weeks with long queues for flights into cities including beijing and xiamen. so what impact will the reopening of china have on the country s economy? let s go live to hong kong and talk to iris pang chief greater china economist at ing. lovely to see you. for many people this is what they have been waiting for for so long where they have not seen family or been able to return home. give us your take on the impact this is happening. i give us your take on the impact this is happening. this is happening.
it s expected to reach the capital manila later today. coming up at 2.30 in we are england, we follow the night road teams working against the clock to maintain the a1. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the household energy supplier octopus energy has reached a deal to buy bulb, which was one of the largest energy companies to collapse last year because of soaring wholesale gas and electricity prices. the government has spent billions of pounds keeping the company afloat since it went into administraton. the agreement means octopus will take onboard bulb s 1.5 million customers. bulb is the biggest - green energy company. it was the biggest energy company to go bust. last november, bulb found itself in administration. it was only kept going by the government, who pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into the business, but now a deal has been struck that it is hoped will give relief notjust to customers, taxpayers but also hundreds of staff. today, octopus were confiden
in the capitol city kyiv, russian forces are retreating from this quote, unquote, annexed region of kherson. that s the indication that the civilian leaders there are giving the russian installed leaders. that s the indication that russia s generals are giving as well. putin seems to be trying to take a stronger grip on power there. remember in kherson seven months ago when the rush 1457b troops rolled in, there were street protests. the pernicious rule has led to the arrests, detentions, disappearances of many, many young people who dissented against the russian occupation. now the russian leaders forcing them to leave. russian imposed owe fil offics have told them it s not safe to stay. up to 60,000 forced out. boats used to ferry them away and their homes to an uncertain two days ago. reporter: they re concerned russia is whipping up hysteria compelling people to leave . translator: i ask you to make take my words seriously and to understand them meaning as prompt a
no way out, the ukrainian military says it has encircled russian forces in the strategic eastern town of lyman in the donetsk region, a day after russia annexed the area. the uk s biggest controlled explosion for 75 years as redcar steelworks is demolished. we ll have a report from the teesside site. these beavers have something to celebrate. and these beavers have been recognised as a protected species in england, making it illegal to deliberately capture, kill or disturb them. if you have just joined if you havejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. more than 50,000 rail workers are walking out today, causing the biggest strike disruption on the railways this year. 0nly around 11% of the usual saturday timetable will be able to run. in some parts of the country, there are no trains at all. members of four unions are taking part in the strike in a long running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. 0ur transport correspondent, katy austin reports. another train strike, and it s