the area of the ocean not controlled by any one country. and the ceremony injerusalem to consecrate the oil that will be used to anoint king charles during his coronation in may. ukrainian and russian forces are fighting in the northern suburbs of the city of bakhmut which has been battered by seven months of fighting. oleksandr marchenko, the deputy mayor, confirmed the street clashes, but said the russians haven t taken control. western analysts say the scene has been set for ukrainian forces to carry out a fighting withdrawal. a british defence ministry update said ukrainian soldiers are digging new trenches west of the city and are being reinforced by elite troops. the capture of bakhmut would be the first russian victory of note in more than six months of fighting. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, sent this report from the capital, kyiv. this is bakhmut, or at least what is left of it after some of the fiercest fighting since russia invaded ukraine. for mor
there was a time, before the war in ukraine, when europe thought about its place in the world, and how it could become less dependent on the united states. as washington turned inwards, and administrations refocused us foreign policy towards asia, france and germany talked about the need for strategic autonomy . but today in warsaw, at a meeting of the bucharest 9, it was the american president sat at the head of the table. all nine members of this group were part of the former soviet union or the defunct warsaw pact. the commitment of the united states to nato, i ve said it too many times, i ll say it again, is absolutely clear. article five is a sacred commitment the united states has made. we will defend literally every inch of nato, every inch of nato. and this is an important moment. i look forward to the discussion, the next steps we can take together and to keep our alliance strong and to further deter aggression. because what literally is at stake is notjust ukraine,
hello and welcome to bbc news. we start with the international monetary fund, which has published their prediction for the year ahead. global growth will shrink in 2023 from 3.4% last year to 2.8% this year. the economies in germany and the uk will shrink. the imf also expects high interest rates to be temporary forecasting them to fall back to pre pandemic levels. let s hear what the chief economist had to say. hear what the chief economist had to sa . ,, . ., hear what the chief economist had to sa ,, ., ., , hear what the chief economist had to sa . ,, ., ., , ., ., say. starting to bring inflation back towards say. starting to bring inflation back towards of say. starting to bring inflation back towards of targets, - say. starting to bring inflation back towards of targets, but l say. starting to bring inflation | back towards of targets, but at say. starting to bring inflation - back towards of targets, but at the same time, risks have emerged. in our latest foreca
important this is to you on twitter @annitabbc #bbcyour questions united in music the slogan for this year s eurovision contest is unveiled as the official eurovsion handover ceremony takes place today in liverpool. and coming up on the third anniversary of brexit, we ll have a special phone in on the impact. my colleague nicky campbell will be asking what your experience has been so far, in the next half an hour. hello and welcome to bbc news. the uk economy is due to get smaller this year and do worse than other major nations, including russia that s according to the world s most important international financial organisation, the international monetary fund. it predicts the uk economy will shrink by 0.6% this year. it believes the uk will be the only country among the world s major economies to see its economy get smaller. it says its forecast reflects the uk s high energy prices, high inflation and high interest rates. the us, germany, france, italy and japan are