♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: cfo. caregiver. eclipse chaser. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from

viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". lewis: hello, i'm lewis vaughan jones. this is "outside source." ukrainian flags fly close to the city of her song as ukrainians contin to make gains against russia. we see firsthand the city abandoned by russia a few days ago. >> here on the road, there is discarded bedding, accpac's, russian army uniforms and boots. all of this cast aside by russian troops. lewis: also in the program, internatiol condemnation after north korea fires a ballistic missile over japan, it's fifth weapons test in 10 days.

sip porters of a 16-year-old protester killed in iran tell the bbc security forces stole her body and buried her in secret. welcome to the program. ukrainian troops have retake more territory in occupied regions illegally annexed by russia. oath ukraine and russia say there is now fierce fighting in the south as kyiv's forces advance and consolidate gains in the east. on the weekend, ukraine retook a strategic town which the ruians used as a logistics base. we will have more on that shortly. but first, these are the latest pictures coming in showing russia flags taken down and replaced with ukrainian ones. russian officials have confirmed the advance but say moscow's

forces are digging in. our correspondent is in kyiv and gave us this. we know >> we know they are making gains in the south. very strategic because the river asks -- acts as a natural barrier and it seems russian forces are now being pushed back in that part of the country and ukrainians are now reclaiming several villages in that region. it is significant because it's the most significant rate through four ukrainians in the south in this counteroffensive. for weeks, we've been watching developments in kherson. there was not a lot of movement there and no ukrainians have been able to reclaim russian occupied territory in that part of the country. lewis: as these new reports come in, ukrainian troops recaptured several more villagein the south of the country.

the deputy mayor of khersonhe se quite difficult in the territories now because the process of liberation continues and some parts of the territory can be shelled. secondly, it iquite tough from the point of the action of the russian forces and the majority of the settlements. we can say many settlements fled. there are someettlements with no under destroyed buildings left. ukrainian forces are liberating them and the local residents left there are rightly greeting them. lewis: we will get more on that strategic town of lyman which russians have been using as a logistics base. evidence has been emerging of the speed with which russian troops were forced to flee. our correspondent sent this report. it contains images some viewers

may find upsetting. reporter: driving into lyman, now liberated soil. ukraine is clawing back territory. it has the momentum. among the ruins, victory can look leak. -- can look bleak. further in, the wreckage of war. among the pines, there is death. along the roadside, evidence ofs still lying where they fell. ukrainian volunteers keep watch over the dead, trying to help identify the remains. unknown soldiers in vladimir putin's war. some, clustered together. once, they were someone's

husband or someone's son. a few steps away, a soviet book for teenagers entitled "adventure library." and something else russian troops left behind -- deadly antitank mines, barely visible. there is evidence here not just of fighting, but als the desperate attempt russian troops made to get away. here on the road, there is discarded bedding, backpacks, russian army uniforms and boots, all of this cast ase by russian troops. what happened here was not just a defeat for president putin, it was a complete humiliation. last friday, he announced to the world he was annexing territory, including lyman. he said it would be forever russia's. looking around here, you get a very different picture. especially from the top of a

captured russian tank. >> we are going to win. i feel very good. very great. reporter: but lyman may never be as it was before. these deserted streets were once home to 20,000 people. pro-russian graffiti is around town, including the cyrillic letters for the soviet union. this woman and her 10-year-old son are out looking for water and hoping their oral is over. >> the hardest thing was surviving the bombing, she tells me. the shells were exploding, we prayed as we stayed down in the cellar. we didn't eat regularly and we couldn't even make tea. reporter: deprived of school, he has learned lessons of war. >> well, war is very bad.

because people are dying, so the population is being reduced. reporter: how do you feel now? >> my heart is more at peace. reporter: back at the edge of town, ukrainian forces head for new battles. they know they need to move fast . soon, freezing winter weather could slow their advance. lewis: we are going to take a look at now at these advances by ukrainian forces. a professor of international relations at the norwegian institute for defense studies, thank you so much for coming on the program. do you make of these advances in the south and east and the tactics the ukrainian forces are using? guest: we have seen over the

last few weeks, ukraine first has been wearing systematically down the russian forces in the east and southern region of kherson. ukrainian forces have applied a methodical approach of targeting supply lines, logistics, cutting russian forces from reinforcement, using artillery fire and using coastal probing and drone attacks, destroying munition depots to prepare for this counteroffensive. they have been skillfully exploding the terrain, including the physical qualities of the river and exploding the army. lewis: they laid the groundwork and are using the ground literally and now they are reaping the rewards. let's talk about timing. winter approaching. what difference does that ke? guest:t is somhing that

prsures the ukrainian forces. they want to use the momentum of the surprise effect they have on the russian army. it is certainly psychologically difficult to deal with the russian army which is already fully led and fully trained and has very low morale. this is likely to be harder on the mind of russian troops. and yes, winter is important, because it will be much more difficult to conduct operations in winter conditions and that's why the ukrainian forces are hurrying up, trying to preserve russian forces from regrouping d from reinforcement. lewis: let's focus on the russian forces. what do you make of their perfornce? we saw in that report the rapid retreat from some areas. but do you make of where they stand now -- wh do you make of where they stand now and if they can regroup and strengthen? guest: what we are seeing is

basically the fall, the breaking down of russian defenses. first, we sought around lyman and now we are seeing the same in kherson and they are not able to hold the defensive line. they are fully prepared to do so and the annexation, we have seen by putin, basically he was trying politically to draw a redline in order to prevent this fall of the defensive line. reinforcements are possible. we've seen the mobilization and its organized but the quantity itself can help to sw down the ukrainian offensive. the soldiers can dig in in trenches, so it can be harder to move ahead if ukraine allows the defensive line to be strengthened. lewis: great to have you on. thank you. next, we are going to go to north korea and a missile at

lunch over hand. the u.s., south korea and japan have all conducted milary drills in response. it was north korea's fifth weapons test in 10 days, but its first launch of a ballistic missile over japan in five years. this is footage of a joint u.s. and south korea precision aerial bombing exercise in response in the yellow sea off the korean peninsula. u.s. also carry out a separate military drill with japan in response. the north korean missile was launched tuesday morning, traveling some 4600 kilometers before falling into the pacific ocean. in response, u.s. president joe biden and the japanese prime minister have condemned this in a statement they have issued. the leaders jointly condemned the missile test in the strongest terms, recognizing the launch is a danger to japanese people, destabilizing the region and a violation of security

council resolutions. the u.s. is asking the security council to meet publicly. here's the japanese prime minister saking earlier. >> north korea's launch of a ballistic missile is a reckless act that absolutely cannot be allowed. japan will be on the highest alert and respond. lewis: while this is the type of missile in question, this picture from 2017 appears to show the ballistic missile. missiles like this are initially rocket powered and then follow the upward trajectory before headg back down to earth. they can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. it was used back in 2017 in last test which over flu japan. our up. in soul and explains the significance. reporter: we are getting used to reporting these lunches. they've almost become normalized.

this has been a record year for north korean missile tests and just last week we had four instances of these. but today's does stand apart because it's the first time for five years they have flown a missile over japan. so most of their lunches this year have been short range missile launches and even when they have been testing some longer-range, they fly and situate that it lands in the sea between korea and japan. to fly into another country's territory is seen as incredibly provocative and it seems japan was not given any prior warning this was going to take place. so you have people in the northern parts of japan wakg up to the sounds of warning sirens, being told to take cover and look up into the sky to check for falling debris. is a major escalation on the part of north korea. lewis: a fellow in the nuclear program at the carnegie endowment for peace. this is her analysis. >> we've seen more missile tests

than in 2020 and 2000 and when combined. but this one is different. it over flu japan whereas the others have landed in the seas off of japan. that is a worrying sign. not something that is entirely new. we were seeing this missile tested back in 2017 but that was quite a concerned time in our relationships. lewis: let's talk about deterrence on the side of japan, the u.s., south korea. what are the options? are any of them any good? let's start with sanctions. any use? guest: there are a lot of sanctions currently imposed north korea does its best to evade the sanctions but they do their best and that has humanitarian implications in addition to trying to thwart the north korean nuclear program. something we've seen happening asn alternative is joint

military exercises in the region. the u.s. and south korea as well as t.snd. uan j ae hap av tests that justccurred with military exercises in the region. lewis:of those as you speak. what kind of impact do they have given the number of tests and what is your assessment north korea's attitude at the moment? do you think any more exercise or sanctions will change behavior? guest: north korea -- the military exercises in particular quite provocative. when we see statements coming from state media, they are citing these exercises as the motivation for doing these provocative missile tests and potentially a nuclear test. we will see responses there. whether or not this ends up in another un security council resolution is a bit uncertain.

we saw the u.s. try to bring such a resolution to the table in may in russia and china moved it back, so you might see something quite similar for gets to that stage as well. lewis: stay with us. still to come -- your share trading has been suspended amid reports elon musk has put forward a new deal to buy the company. we will hear from our business correspondent in new york. >> this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they belveth eryveg iinins go they think their country will be respected in the world once more as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. >> the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet has won this year's nobel peace prize. >> is reaching its climax, to an aids exploded. a group of soldiers jumped on

the military truck and ran toward the president firing automatic rifles. >> after 437ears, the skeletal ribs of henry viii tragic worship emerge. but even as divers work to pull her up, the mary rose goes through another heart stopping drama. >> i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. lewis: welcome back. this is "outside source" from the bbc. i'm lewis vaughan jones. ukrainian flags fly in the city of lyman as they make gains against russia. to iran and the antigovernment protest still going on.

we want to bring you the story of 116-year-old girl who has died. sources close to her family say security forces have stolen her body and secretly buried her in a ditch. she went missing for 10 days after joining the protests in tehran. these protests started aft a 22-year-old died in police custody. she was accused of making the countries dress code. the violence has led to the deaths of -- with more than hundreds arrested. >> she was a typical, shy teenager, seen here singing karaoke with friends. she joined the protests and was killed a few days before her 17th birthday. ♪ >> her family told the bbc the authorities abducted her body and buried her in a village

despite her parents wishes. they were worrieabout the possibility of her funeral feeling further anger and unrest. schoolgirls have joined antigovernment protests in iran. here, in the capital, they are marching in the streets chanting "death to the dictator." the biggest threat for more than a decade to iran's radical islamic leadership are now teenagers. here, in the kurdish city, schoolgirls are chanting "woman, life, freedom." a slogan that has become part of these protests. now in its third week, these

protests are the longest and most widespread protests against the islamic republic. the supreme leader calls them riots supported by the west. but these young protesters say the supreme leader has only hielf to blame. and that he must go. lewis: staying in iran, reports from this southeast -- from the southeastern city report 53 people have died between clashes in -- in class is -- in classes between the police and protesters. there is a large sunny moose alum -- sunni muslim population. they've been using helicopters to shoot at protesters in areas of the city under control of the protesters. security forces say they were attacked by armed separatists. something may have denied. it's become more violent because

of an added grievance by protesters there. the death of a 15-year-old girl by eight the police chief. shares in twitter have been suspended following a report elon musk is going ahead with his takeover of the social media platform. musk is reported to set to buy twitter at the original price he offered months ago before seeming to walk away. shares in twitter were up almost 13% before trading was halted. musk was due to fe twitter in court later this month. let's hear now from our business correspondent in new york. >> it is really quite the u-turn. for months, elon musk has been trying to back out of his $44 billion deal to take over twitter. his argument for trying to walk away from that is that -- is that claims over the number of fake accounts or bots.

twitter has said about 5% of their monthly active users are fake accounts, but mr. musk has always claimed that number is much higher. they were going to go battle it out in court next week here in the united states but now mr. musk seems to proposing he will in fact buy twitter as he set out to do back in april of this year. lewis: that price was seen as quite a generous one. >> it was seen as quite a generous offer, but there are a few things to take away from this reversal. first of all, of course, no one lieves for a moment that this is in fact a done deal. this is just what we are hearing in terms reports. as we know, it seemed to be a done deal that elon musk was going to buy twitter in the first place, but that didn't happen. there's going to be a lot of

speculation until we hear from each side but it is widely being reported that this is in fact the case. if you look at the reasons why, there's a lot of anasts and tech watchers in america that suggest if he is walking back from the deal or walking back to the deal, it is perhaps a sign he was not very hopeful of his prospects of winning in the court of law later on this month. this, of course, is such welcome news to twitter shareholders that have been living in absolute limbo since all of this began. lewis: to a pottial breakthrough in getting rid of plastic and the environment. researchers in spain have found saliva from the larva of wax worms can break down some of the toughest types of plastic. here's a time lapse showing them releasing saliva which penetrates the plastic bag in the space of an hour. it is hoped these worms could be

used to degrade plastic more widely. dr. -- a molecular biologist at the spanish research council is researching the study. guest: we observed these worms could break down polyethylene. this was born a few years ago and we didn't know how. but now we have found worms can do that through their saliva and polyhylene. times that lewis: how exciting is this? guest: very exciting. [laughter] lewis: if this is potentially a way of breaking dn plastic bags or all those tough types of plastic, how could we potentially use this?

guest: when i envision plastic waste management, first of a, for me it is in a controlled environment. the original concept is each environment -- i think it is feasible. in a controlled environment, you can imagine for leaders of solution of the enzymes there. lewis: a quick reminder of our top story -- ukrainian troops have retaken more territory in the occupied regions annexed by russia. both ukraine and russia say there is fierce fighting in the south as kyiv forces advanced toward kherson and consolidate

gains in the east. that's it. i'm lewis vaughan jones, this is outside source. goodbye. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: cfo. caregiver. eclipse chaser. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and pete blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from

viewers like you. thank you.