do you think it tells us white what do you think it tells us about president putin that white what do you think it tells us about president putin— about president putin that oleg orlev has been _ about president putin that oleg orlev has been jailed _ about president putin that oleg orlev has been jailed today - about president putin that oleg orlev has been jailed today for| about president putin that oleg i orlev has been jailed today for 2.5 years. the present selection as next month which putin will win as he has for the last 20 years. this month which putin will win as he has for the last 20 years.— for the last 20 years. this is true and i don't _ for the last 20 years. this is true and i don't think— for the last 20 years. this is true and i don't thinkjailing _ for the last 20 years. this is true and i don't thinkjailing oleg - for the last 20 years. this is true l and i don't thinkjailing oleg orlev and i don't thinkjailing oleg 0rlev changed and i don't thinkjailing 0leg 0rlev changed anything for the presidential elections but on the other hand what i can say with a lot of certainty is that the sentence is very connected and very well timed when we talk about the elections. we saw there is a really clear political will to handle this sentiment as fast as possible and thejudge and sentiment as fast as possible and the judge and prosecutor who was investigating his case in some cases

openly said they have to handle the sentence very soon, it should be february, it cannot go longer, and it has to happen before the presidential elections. so there is a really clear link, i cannot say why, sometimes it isjust like a really clear link, i cannot say why, sometimes it is just like there is a political will to create the space before the elections and it seems like this is the case because this is definitely a case when the prosecution and the court were extremely brushed to putjudgment before the elections. extremely brushed to put “udgment before the elections._ before the elections. thank you for talkin: to before the elections. thank you for talking to us- _ before the elections. thank you for talking to us. we _ before the elections. thank you for talking to us. we appreciate - before the elections. thank you for talking to us. we appreciate your. talking to us. we appreciate your time. so let's take a look at some of the front pages. the daily telegraph, uk blocks macron�*s bid to send troops to ukraine. and a big photograph of

thomas kingston, the husband of lady gabriella windsor, who has been found dead at the age of a5. the front page of the eye. labour yet to convince 40% of target voters. the main story in the guardian, tories putting party before sexual assault claims says alleged victim. as we were discussing earlier former post office chair, i was a target of a 0ffice chair, i was a target of a smear campaign. the front page of the daily mail, indefensible despite growing threats and warnings from military top brass the chancellor rejects calls to boost forces funding in next week's budget. and finally the sun, the bbc say sorry, they have apologised to the parents at the centre of the huw edwards scandal. that's all from us tonight. goodbye.

she breaking news from around the world 2a hours a day. this is bbc news. there is a nervousness and an unpredictability around every public event they currently do. buckingham palace announced the death of thomas kingston, the husband of their daughter lita gabriela. there are guests of the thanksgiving service in windsor today. in the statement, the king and queen and queen sent their heartfelt thoughts and prayers. is

not thought to be suspicious. this is been the period reset and make where she is at to step up. grappling among a number of challenges. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making the news in the uk. the post office has confirmed that its current boss, nick read, is under investigation, after it was revealed by henry staunton its former chairman. mr staunton was at a hearing to discuss compensation payments to sub—postmasters at the centre of the horizon scandal. the post office confirmed the revelation in a statement saying there were complaints against mr read and other staff. mp lee anderson has refused to rule outjoining the reform uk party after he was suspended by the tories. the ashfield mp refused to apologise for suggesting london mayor sadiq khan is controlled by islamists. prime minister rishi sunak called

the comments by the former tory deputy chairman wrong, but avoided saying if he thought they were islamophobic. the owners of a pub which was known as the wonkiest in britain, before it was gutted by fire, have been ordered to rebuild it in its originalform. the eighteenth—century crooked house pub in staffordshire was a popular attraction with visitors who came to see its distinctive lean. five people were arrested after it was damaged by suspected arson last year. you're live with bbc news. lets turn to south korea where figures released later today are expected to show that the country has — once again — the lowest birth rate in the world. based on 2022 figures, the average south korean woman is expected to have 0.78 children in her lifetime — for a population to hold steady that number should be 2.1. comparing that to other countries, japan's birth rate saw a decrease of 5.1% in the past year, down further from 1.26 children per woman in 2022.

whereas in the uk, that average number currently whereas in the uk, that average number currently sits at 1.49. we'll hear south korea's updated figures in a couple of hours let's get more on this from dylan motin, who 5 a researcher at the centre for international and strategic studies, based in seoul. lots of asian countries are struggling with low birth rates. but what makes it so especially low in south korea? there is a lot of different issues in the making for the last four years butjust to give you a number of issues, first, the working days in korea are extremely long and late at night and even during the weekend, it is very hard to build a family or even to meet a new partner. and another issue is the

very high costs of education and sometimes investing hundreds of dollars each month to pay for private academies and discussing children. and south korea remains relatively conservative country, it is expected that a woman or the child will take care of the child and a woman who was to pursue a career and having a child can actually be a huge impediment in the career and just to make the comparison, in france, children are born outside of marriage and south korea it's only 2%. and people are not getting married and the number

of children is going to decrease dramatically. 50 of children is going to decrease dramatically-— of children is going to decrease dramaticall. ., , , dramatically. so korea's president is called this _ dramatically. so korea's president is called this an _ dramatically. so korea's president is called this an emergency. - south korea 5 president has called the situation an emergency. does that mean the government is taking emergency measures? in the last 20 years, money has been added to each childbirth and the government putting in place longer parental leaves both from others and for fathers and also, they've talked about the collapse and a lot of measures from health care and making life more convenient and particularly low in men and just putting money, there's a lot of

issues, including cultural issues which will need a big rethinking, notjust money on the table. not “ust money on the table. thank ou notjust money on the table. thank ou for notjust money on the table. thank you for your _ notjust money on the table. thank you for your time _ notjust money on the table. thank you for your time and _ notjust money on the table. thank you for your time and for _ you for your time and for international and strategic studies. one of russia's best known human rights campaigners has been jailed by a moscow court for discrediting the russian army. 0leg 0rlov, who's 70, has been given a two and a half year sentence, he's previously written that president putin has led the country into fascism. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, sent this report from moscow. he knew very well he could be about to go to prison. but 0leg 0rlov, one of russia's most prominent human rights campaigners, had no intention of staying silent. translation: my first trial and now this retrial -

and all the other people on trial for similar so—called crimes, they show that russia has become a totalitarian state. he'd been charged with repeatedly discrediting the russian army. that's one of several laws brought in to punish public criticism of the war in ukraine. a show of support from foreign ambassadors in the gallery and from his lawyer as they sat waiting for the verdict. guilty, said thejudge. he was sent to prison for two and a half years. seconds later, on went the handcuffs. then 0leg 0rlov, the co—chair of a human rights group that once won the nobel peace prize, was taken away and locked in a cage. when 0leg 0rlov was convicted on these charges last year, he was fined.

a well— known figure sentenced to prison _ a well— known figure sentenced to prisoniusl — a well— known figure sentenced to prisonjust for his a well— known figure sentenced to prison just for his opinion. what prison “ust for his opinion. what does prison just for his opinion. what does this say — prison just for his opinion. what does this say about _ prison just for his opinion. what does this say about what - prison just for his opinion. what does this say about what is - does this say about what is happening in russia today? it’s happening in russia today? it's caettin happening in russia today? it's getting worse. last _ happening in russia today? it's getting worse. last year - happening in russia today? it's getting worse. last year she i happening in russia today? it's. getting worse. last year she was fine. last year, he was fined. too lenient, said prosecutors. hence the retrial and the tougher punishment today. in court this week, mr 0rlov said russia was sinking ever deeper into darkness with the death in prison of alexei navalny and judicial reprisals against government critics. freedom, he said, was being suffocated. across town, russians were remembering boris nemtsov, a fierce critic of vladimir putin. he was shot dead near the kremlin nine years ago today. the authorities deny any connection to his murder, just like they deny any involvement in the death of alexei navalny. in court, 0leg 0rlov had

quoted alexei navalny�*s slogan "don't give up", and then sent his own message to russians. "don't lose heart." steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. several nato countries have ruled out sending ground troops to ukraine. it comes after french president emmanuel macron said "nothing should be excluded" in support of kyiv. the white house insisted that the us would not deploy soldiers to fight the russian invasion. the leaders of germany, italy and britain made similar statements. police in germany have arrested a former member of the far—left red army faction who had been in hiding for thirty years. daniela klette was detained in berlin and taken to a region near bremen where she's awaiting trial for her suspected involvement in several robberies. the anti—capitalist group — also known as the baader—meinhof group — is accused of more

than thirty murders. a dna test has confirmed that a terminally ill man who claimed to be one of japan's most wanted criminals was telling the truth. satoshi kirishima said he wanted to face his death last month using his real name. he was a member of a radical, left—wing group behind a series of deadly bombings in the nineteen—seventies. kirishima had been on the run for nearly fifty years. two men have been convicted of the murder ofjam masterjay, from the american hip—hop trio run dmc, more than twenty years ago. ronald washington and karl jordanjunior were found guilty on all counts including drug trafficking. jam masterjay, whose real name was jason mizell, was shot dead in his queens studio in new york in october 2002. the men face at least twenty years in prison. the video—sharing app tiktok says it has started removing many songs from its platform.

it comes after the world s biggest record label, universal music, withdrew permission for them to be used on tiktok, in a row over money. 0ur music correspondent, mark savage, has the details. music this is all about the business end of the music business. if your company wants to use a song that's owned by a record label, you have to pay them. and universal music says tiktok isn't paying enough. as a result, earlier this month, songs by universal�*s biggest artists including taylor swift, the beatles and billie eilish were all muted on the app. some estimates say 80% of the songs on tiktok could vanish. the app argues that the figure is closer to 30%. in a statement, universal said it was taking this action because tiktok is building a business based on music without paying fair value.

in response, tiktok accused the company of putting their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters. now, tiktok is also having to remove music by songwriters signed to universal, and that could affect artists on other labels, the likes of adele, beyonce and harry styles, who frequently work with universal�*s writers. music mark savage, bbc news. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello. temperatures have been falling quite quickly over the past few hours. we've got some cold air in place and the same mist and some fog and some mist and some fog patches around for some of us to start your wednesday morning.

so some fog patches, particularly through parts of southern and central england and east anglia and then rain is going to be spreading its way gradually eastwards. that rain pushing in across northern ireland by the early hours of wednesday during wednesday morning, pushing into scotland, wales as well, fog for parts of central, eastern and southern england that should clear away by the middle of the morning. and then these bursts of rain could be quite heavy as they push across wales, into central england as well for south and east anglia, staying dry for a good part of the day. but a return to a few more showers from the north west. temperatures, though, between about nine to 13. som certainly milder than they have been. now, through wednesday evening and overnight. then this next pulse of fairly heavy rain at times pushes its way eastwards. could be quite squally. thunderstorms possible on that line of rain as it crosses its way south eastwards across many parts of the uk. clearer skies following on by thursday morning to northern ireland, scotland and the far north of england where we could see some wintry showers over the higher ground of scotland. so, wednesday's mild air will clear away towards the east and into thursday. we've got these colder

conditions as cold air mass following on behind some heavy rain where those masses meet that linger through parts of central and south eastern england, i think through thursday morning, only gradually easing away. but towards northern england, scotland, northern ireland, some clearer spells, a rash of heavy, blustery showers, though, moving in from the northwest. and i think north of the central belt, they could be a little bit wintry above around about 200 metres or so. so we're back into single figures towards the northwest of the uk on thursday. and then into friday, we've got low pressure, very much in charge, moving in across that colder air mass. so it could see a little bit of snow on friday, mainly over the high ground north wales, perhaps the pennines into the southern uplands as well down at low levels. i think it's going to be falling as rain and we'll see brisk winds rotating around this area of low pressure. so blustery, particularly around the peripheries of the uk, less windy for central parts but a little bit colder certainly compared to wednesday. so, we're looking at single figures for many of us further ahead as we end the weekend

into the weekend, then we're going to stick with those slightly lower temperatures and it's looking fairly unsettled, showery for many of us as we head into the start of meteorological spring. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. last year, during a brief visit to belfast, presidentjoe biden hailed the transformative impact of peace in northern ireland. it had unleashed, he said, a churn of creativity and that surely struck a chord with my guest today, the actor ciaran hinds, who was nominated for an oscar in kenneth branagh's autobiographical movie about belfast, which is home city to both of those men. 0ne generation on from the so—called troubles, northern ireland is seen as creative and cool, but have the wounds of the past really healed?