hello, i'm tanya beckett. the death of alexei navalny, one of president putin's most prominent critics, has been confirmed by his family. they say they've had no access to his body — and they believe it's being deliberately withheld so that the authorities can cover their tracks. more than 350 people have been detained for attending memorials in russia. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. in moscow, they continue to bring flowers and pay respects to alexei navalny, the kremlin�*s most vocal critic who has died in prison. navalny, the kremlin�*s most vocal critic who has died in prison. move

along, you can't stay here, the policeman says. we have the right to be here, she shouts, we want to and we will stand here. someone adds, this street isn't yours, it belongs to everyone. the riot police don't seem to think so. there are cries of disgrace, shame, as police start to clear the area. and then the arrests. across russia, hundreds of people had been detained at events commemorating the late opposition leader. these are the last known images of alexei navalny from two days ago. the russian authorities claim he died the next day after falling unconscious. today, his mother arrived at the remote penal colony where he died, beyond the arctic circle. she was told her son's body had been taken to a local

morgue, but... the son's body had been taken to a local morgue. but---_ son's body had been taken to a local morgue. but---— son's body had been taken to a local morgue, but... the body isn't there, so his prison — morgue, but... the body isn't there, so his prison just _ morgue, but... the body isn't there, so his prison just lied _ morgue, but... the body isn't there, so his prison just lied to _ morgue, but... the body isn't there, so his prison just lied to his - so his prisonjust lied to his lawyer and bodyis body is there. we don't have any clue where he is now and what is happening to him, and when it will be given to the family. and when it will be given to the famil . ~ ., ~' ., and when it will be given to the famil . ~ ., ~ ., ., family. we do know one thing, the russian authorities _ family. we do know one thing, the russian authorities are _ family. we do know one thing, the russian authorities are saying - family. we do know one thing, the russian authorities are saying very little about what happened. the death of alexei navalny is a huge story outside russia, but here it is being kept out of the headlines, barely mentioned by the state media, as of the kremlin is hoping out of sight, out of mind. not everyone is out laying flowers, but everyone we spoke to had heard about his death, though there was a mixed reaction. it is very sad, he says, and it is bad there are political prisoners. but she says she's not interested,

she doesn't care about politics. indifference suits the authorities. to his supporters, alexei navalny will always be a symbol that change is possible. but the crab and will be hoping most russians won't care enough to make him a martyr —— the kremlin will be hoping. to learn more about the potential impact of navalny�*s death we spoke to peter pomerantsev, a soviet—born british journalist and senior fellow at the institute of global affairs at the london school of economics. u nless unless something very dramatic happens, there is no opposition within russia now in a sense of an organised protest movement. there was one, alexei navalny leaded, but thatis was one, alexei navalny leaded, but that is non—. people's attitudes are sober and balance, so never a mass of people with the same vertical views, a broad—spectrum of different people. what he did have was courage

and bravery. it is important to understand we don't have party politics in russia, politics in the classical sense. you have the moral drama, which is the essence of the system. a system based around breaking people, getting them to kneel and kiss putin's feed. you wouldn't do that, he refused to bend, refused to break and a model of courage. that's why he inspired people, but when you are a courageous man in a country of conformists, people begrudge you. if you are a conformist and juicy the guide being brave, you might not like them. there was always two sides, it made people feel ashamed. maybe some were not that upset when putin crushed him as well. ukraine says its troops have withdrawn from a key city in the east of the country.

for months, russian forces have been on the offensive around avdiivka and have now almost completely encircled it. ukraine's president zelensky says the decision to withdraw has been taken in order to save soldiers' lives. speaking at a security conference in munich, he repeated his request for more financial and military aid to help his forces fight russia. our correspondent andrew harding is in the donbas region, close to the city, and sent this report. ukrainian troops film themselves as they withdraw from avdiivka. exhausted after the longest and perhaps the bloodiest battle of the war so far. russian shells still landing close by. in the town centre, a russian flag is raised and another on a rooftop in one of the town's industrial areas. the kremlin is already crowing, releasing footage of russian fighterjets in action.

air power has played a big role in this victory. on the ground, ukrainian forces have also been struggling with acute shortages of men and in particular of ammunition. so these are the last two shells that you have? "yes," this artillery officer told us this week, blaming western nations for halting supplies. the result? ukrainian infantry fighting to hold on to avdiivka have been heavily outgunned by as much as ten to one. and so eventually, ukraine ordered a withdrawal. at times, well organised, but not always. here, a ukrainian armoured vehicle is hit by a drone. overall, though, russia has lost far more men here, perhaps tens of thousands. so now what?

on its own, the fall of this one small town won't change the course of the war. but again, russia has shown its sheer determination, its massive firepower and its willingness to sustain very heavy casualties. and none of that is good news for ukraine. no wonder towns nearby are nervous. every day i think about the future. not only this town, about every town. that they may be next? yes. for now in avdiivka, the russians are once more lords of the rubble. andrew harding, bbc news, eastern ukraine. for more on what's happening in ukraine, we spoke to defence analystjonathan marcus, who started by telling us how significant recent gains by russia have been. it is very significant. it is the first significant russian advance since a much earlier last

year. russia clearly now has the initiative, it is on the point of trying to take back territory that the ukrainians captured last year and a number of other areas. of course, much of it is due to the fact the russians are willing to expend huge numbers of lives and losses of equipment to make this headway, but also the fact as president zelensky was saying in munich earlier today, the ukrainians are suffering from a dramatic shortage in ammunition. this is in many ways an intensely artillery war. shells are being fired at volumes perhaps nobody has seen or even imagined would be the case in modern warfare, for a very long time now. because of essentially the us delay, the halt in this huge aid package to ukraine, largely because of the republicans in the house of representatives,

the ukrainians are starved of ammunition. you hear stories of factories down to very small numbers of shells, or no shells, they have propellant with the fire but no ammunition as such. they have the ammunition but don't have the propellants. it is a serious case, the ukrainians have pulled back into avdiivka. they had little choice, they wanted to extricate their men and equipment. as i say, it means the russians have the initiative, and the hope clearly for president zelensky and supporters of ukraine is that these events galvanise opinion in the west, and perhaps bring about some sort of serious urgency in actually giving ukraine the wherewithal to defend itself. as we've heard, the war in ukraine has been a focus

of the munich security conference in germany, where world leaders and diplomats are holding high—level debates on the world's most pressing security challenges. in a joint news conference with president zelensky, us vice president kamala harris reiterated her country's support for ukraine. political gamesmanship has no role to play in what is fundamentally about the significance of standing with an ally, as it endures an unprovoked aggression. politics should play no role in standing for the fact that vladimir putin, through his leadership of russia, has shown himself to be fundamentally hostile to democratic principles, not to mention what we have learned about in the last 2a hours, in terms of the killing of navalny.

african union heads of state have gathered in the ethiopian capital, addis ababa, for an annual meeting as the continent continues to grapple with insecurity and the effects of climate change. ahead of the gathering, the african union commission head moussa faki mahamat voiced alarm at the violence gripping many nations, both in africa and other parts of the world. let's speak to mma ekeruche, a senior research fellow at the centre for the study of the economies of africa. welcome to the programme. how do you soothe the agenda for the conference shaping up? thank you for having me. i think the agenda is very informative and relevant. these summits happen annually. for this year, a lot is on the table. first,

the defining issues of our time, whether it is climate change or the reform of the international financial system. also, issues that are undermining our group and developments as individual countries and collectively, as a continent. education, for instance. the theme for this year, it is education. countries are trying to develop ways to improve efficiency in education spending, to rejig the school curriculum, to ensure that the students go to university and are employable. also to harness the resources of the private sector in improving education. also political

stability, that is top on the agenda. stability, that is top on the aaenda. , , , , agenda. does the fact this summit is takin: agenda. does the fact this summit is taking place — agenda. does the fact this summit is taking place imply _ agenda. does the fact this summit is taking place imply there's _ agenda. does the fact this summit is taking place imply there's more - taking place imply there's more unity on the cards? that has been a problem in the past. it is rife with conflict, but africa is associated with it, and climate change. these are two problems it is facing. these summers have _ are two problems it is facing. these summers have taken _ are two problems it is facing. these summers have taken place - are two problems it is facing. these summers have taken place annuallyi summers have taken place annually for years now, so to a large extent, the continent has been united under the continent has been united under the african union. yes, there's been increase and conflicts and terrorism. for instance, the drc is one case where that a lot of conflict around mining and the global attention is getting there. there are increases in election

—related violence. on the whole, holistically, the continent has been well united. the resurgence of military rule in countries like mali, those are happening in silence. they are happening in very few countries.— silence. they are happening in very few countries. thank you very much indeed forjoining _ few countries. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. _ hungarian prime minister viktor orban has promised a package of new child protection laws, in response to a paedophile scandal that has shaken his party. in his annual state of the nation speech, he praised president katalin novak for her decision to step down, and called for parliament to elect a new head of state urgently. mr orban has also said hungary can ratify sweden's bid to join nato at the start of the next parliamentary session. the prime minister had this to say about the high—profile resignations that had taken place

in recent weeks. translation: if there was a time machine and _ translation: if there was a time machine and we _ translation: if there was a time machine and we could _ translation: if there was a time machine and we could fly - translation: if there was a time machine and we could fly back - translation: if there was a time machine and we could fly back to i translation: if there was a time l machine and we could fly back to the past, i'm sure the former president and just administer would correct the mistake, but there isn't one. it is up to the government to reset and restore the moral order and bring a legal remedy as well for the situation. children are untouchable, harming them leads of the most severe punishment, and there's no place for pardon. therefore, the resignation was right and it makes us stronger. the bbc�*s nick thorpe is in budapest — and has more details about the decision to ratify sweden's nato membership. we are expecting that spring session of the hungarian parliament on the 26th of february, and he said today its not quite a done deal but they are making good progress in talks with sweden, so hungry when

eventually, it has taken 21 months compared to all the other nato countries, but this was the nearest we've had from the prime minister, confirmation hungry will ratify sweden's membership of nato. tell us more about the _ sweden's membership of nato. tell us more about the case _ sweden's membership of nato. tell us more about the case which _ sweden's membership of nato. tell us more about the case which has - sweden's membership of nato. tell us more about the case which has rocked the country, the paedophile case. yes, this was the biggest shock ever to his government, and we should remember he's been in powerfor14 years. his government was shaken by its. the president gave clemency to the deputy director of an orphanage who had been convicted of covering up who had been convicted of covering up for the sexual crimes against children of his boss in the orphanage. the president resigned over this, the ex minister of justice resigned, and a calvinist mission resigned. mr orban, in his

speech, a controversial issue for a government which has put child protection is a cornerstone of its policy, he said the president, the former president and the minister of justice had made the right decision. he said they were right to step down, and now his government needed to move beyond it. he said there was more credibility injust to move beyond it. he said there was more credibility in just those two women that in the whole left—wing opposition. quite a fighting speech from the prime minister, trying to reassure his supporters, and our critics of the government. you can hear them behind me, critics of the government. you can hearthem behind me, and critics of the government. you can hear them behind me, and they been scattering 500 euros notes on the floor, in relation to allegations of corruption. mr orban tried to reassure his supporters he's back in control and they will put the scandal behind him. many british sub—postmasters who were wrongly accused of theft and fraud are still fighting for compensation — despite the scandal now being recognised as one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in uk history.

the cases taking the longest to solve involve the victims who were forced to declare bankruptcy in order to pay back the losses they were accused of making. our business correspondent, emma simpson, has more. tony downey is finally heading back to his old home in the lake district. it has taken him 15 years to have the courage to return. tony bought the hawkshead post office in 2001. he said it was buzzing and a dream come true. it's a childcare centre now. what's it like to be back? overwhelming, to be honest. a lot of emotions after 15 years of not coming back here. now i live in spain in a rented apartment with no career, no money, no pension, no nothing. tony had £35,000 of shortfalls at his branch. he and his wife used their savings and credit cards to balance the books. when another £7,000 of losses appeared, they could not pay any more.

tony resigned and sold up, advised to go bankrupt two months later. he is still nervous about who he might meet here, but not diane. she bought the post office from him and guess what — she had shortfalls too. it was tony who encouraged her to claim for compensation. i've been on antidepressants ever since all this started. we had several audits, each time they were demanding money. the last one we had said you either pay £1,200 now or you are going to be prosecuted. you think, crikey, we will be led out of here in handcuffs! this is awful! we had £3,000 and they literally made my wife go to the bank, and she went to our friends to borrow money and we had to pay it by half past four. i thought it was me, you thought it was you, and it wasn't — it wsa the computer system. same post office. same problems. here's the thing — the post office has accepted that horizon was to blame for tony's

losses at his branch but they won't admit causing his bankruptcy. so far, he has ended up withjust £10,000 worth of damages, far less than he is owed. the rest of the £1a0,000 worth of compensation has gone straight to the official receiver to pay off his bankruptcy debts. in a statement, the post office said... tony is doing that. his legal team are dealing with most of the bankruptcy cases. the enemy is time. the fear and worry we have is that

people are left in a situation where they have to throw the towel in because time is running out and they want some sort of resolution or some sort of access to money. he believes tony has got a very strong case. just how long will it take to unravel? emma simpson, bbc news, hawkshead. hundreds of people in south wales have protested against the proposed loss of thousands of steel jobs. demonstrations took place in the towns of port talbot and newport over the decision by tata steel to replace existing — and heavily polluting — blast furnaces with greener electric arc furnaces. the bbc�*s george zielinski was at one of the protests. the message from port talbot is loud and clear. you may see it on the sign, to save our steel. hundreds of workers have gathered in the town today in support of an industry that

has forged communities as much as it has forged communities as much as it has the steel it is famous for. this all comes after they announced plans to reduce emissions at the site, put on 82,000 jobs at risk. tata said the current business is unsustainable with the existing steel—making operation here contributing to losses of £1.7 million of losses a day. with so manyjob losses being proposed, the people here, and the ones i've talked to, say it is a price they are unwilling to pay. yesterday, the steelworkers union said two members on strike action in response to those losses i mentioned, they reached a formal mandate to lead voters vote on strike, while unite will hold a ballot in march. prior to the rally, another march happened in the city of newport, just a few miles west down the mfor, whether

site of another tata factory exists. 300 jobs are earmarked to go. that march there and this protest is a sign of the anger, frustration and exciting which exists amongst steelworkers in south wales. how would you like to live on mars? well, nasa is looking for its next four volunteers to spend a year living and working inside a base that simulates the martian surface as it prepares for future missions to the red planet. our reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more. this is real footage this is realfootage of this is real footage of the surface of mars. it has been taken by nasa's rover, on the planet since burberry 2021, collecting rock samples. this is sand at thejohnson space station in houston, texas. it's meant to mimic the surface of mars. the reason is the space agency want martians, volunteers willing to spend one year inside an artificial

complex. the 3d printed habitat is 518 square metres, it soon relates the challenges of omission on mars. the space includes four bedrooms, living area, medical room and a vertical farm living area, medical room and a verticalfarm to grow living area, medical room and a vertical farm to grow things, was locked inside the crew will be given challenges which will mirror those of a true mars mission. they will have to overcome isolation, equipment failure, communication delays and conduct experiments to measure the impact of life on mars for possible future missions to the red planet. officials hope the data gathered will help them plan for everything from the mental impact to more mundane like furniture layout. if you fancy a life on mars, you will need to be healthy, motivated, between the ages of 30 and 55, a nonsmoker, speak english and a us ederson. you will have to get used to eating space food for a year. there is a crew of four inside the

complex, due out later this year and have been conducting experiments. nasa itself says it hopes to launch astronauts up to mars in the late 20 30s or early 20 40s. thatjourney itself will take seven months. this is bbc news. hello there. good evening. some very mild air across the uk at the moment. some pretty spring—like scenes too, such as here in perth and kinross, lots of snowdrops. but for many it's been a grey, damp and drizzly day today. the ground already saturated too, in places, especially out towards the west. and there's a band of heavy rain sweeping eastwards overnight tonight — could potentially lead to some more surface water flooding. of course, very large puddles out there, as this heavy rain just pushes southwards and eastwards through the night, moving into shetland and lingering across east anglia and the far south east of england. but some clear spells developing behind, although temperatures won't drop very far, staying in double figures for most. a few isolated showers out

towards the north and the west as we head into tomorrow morning. but a rather soggy start to the day across the south east of england, down towards the south coast as well, east anglia and across shetland. the rain will eventually clear, but it could linger on for some as we head even into the first part of the afternoon, but it will turn gradually more showery. that rain, cloud behind it, the cloud breaking up to leave us with some bright and some sunny spells. but for many, i think it will stay largely dry through the day on sunday. some isolated showers again out towards the west of scotland, werha ps western wales and northern ireland, but mostly dry. temperatures again well above the seasonal average, peaking between ten and 1a, maybe even 15 degrees celsius. next week, though, temperatures will be dipping back down to the seasonal average. so it will be feeling colder, particularly by night. and it's still going to be rather unsettled. various areas of low pressure moving in from the atlantic, including another one on sunday night and into monday. and that's going to bring us some showery outbreaks of rain.

it's all pushing its way further southwards and eastwards, gradually fizzling out. lots of brighter skies behind it, along with a northwesterly wind. and again, a few isolated showers in the north and the west, but a definite dip in temperature there, feeling a little fresher by a couple of degrees. and it will be feeling cooler, too, on monday night, with many of our temperatures widely dropping back into mid—single figures. there's another weather front coming through on tuesday. strong, gusty winds as we head through wednesday, with more heavy, persistent rain for the south of england. so here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities as we head through next week. it will be feeling cooler and it will stay unsettled. wet, very windy at times. bye bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the mother of kremlin critic alexei navalny is unable to recover his body from a morgue in the arctic. a family spokesperson tells the bbc the authorities are hiding it. we know that the law has never been applied to alexei. and so we have no doubt that they will try to hide his body as long as possible. more than 100 protesters are reported to have been detained for attending memorials in russia. in the us the words "putin murderer" were projected on to the embassy building.

ukraine's president zelensky blames the fall of the front line town of avdiivka to russian forces on a lack of long—range weapons. he says his troops were outgunned. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. england struggle in rajkot as india find their groove to gain the upper hand in the 3rd test. you have to stay level. these things are going to happen and today was one of them. liverpool are out in front but the league leaders suffer more injuries as mo salah returns to the squad with a goal. and a five—star showing from arsenal as the gunners are among the goals again to thrash burnley and keep the pressure on at the top.

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