south korea threatens legal action against thousands of striking doctors — as a deadline looms for them to return to work. and from devastation to oscar hope — we bring you the ukrainian film, 20 days in mariupol, the favourite to win the best documentary. hello, i'm sally bundock. a very warm welcome to the programme. the us supreme court has agreed to decide if former president donald trump can be prosecuted on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 us presidential election. a court of appeals panel has already rejected mr trump's argument that he has presidential immunity. arguments in the case have been scheduled for late april.

0ur north america correspondent peter bowes sent this update. this means the trial of donald trump on charges that he was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the result of the 2020 election will be significantly delayed if indeed it is able to go ahead at all. donald trump is accused of being involved in a conspiracy to defraud the united states through his words, his actions, in the days leading up to january six, 2021, and the assault on the capitol building. he says he was the president at the time and therefore he cannot face these criminal charges because he had presidential immunity and that he cannot be charged for anything he did during that time. we have since heard from him again, after hearing about

the supreme court does make intention is to look at this case, donald trump releasing a statement, reaffirming his still believed that presidential immunity applies. in fact, he says it is in the best interest of the united states, notjust talking about himself but referring to any president, that they should have that immunity otherwise i could leave themselves open to extortion or to blackmail. that is his view. it is up to the supreme court to decide either way. the schedule from here is that the court is going to hear the arguments, the oral arguments in the third week of april and we expect a decision from them at some point before the end ofjune. the republican leader in the us senate, mitch mcconnell, says he will step down from his position in november. he is the longest—serving leader, holding the office for almost two decades. mr mcconnell — who turned 82 last week — said he intended to serve out

his senate term untiljanuary 2027, but no longer as leader. one of life's most underappreciated talents is to know when it's time to move on to life's next chapter. so i stand before you today, mr president and my colleagues, to say this will be my last term as republican leader of the senate. now, let's focus on the latest of what is going on in gaza. the leader of hamas says the group is showing "flexibility" in negotiations with israel but that it's ready to continue fighting. it's the first sign of any movement from hamas. the group is believed to be holding around 130 israeli hostages, and any deal to release them is expected to include transfers of palestinians being detained by israel. paul adams reports

from jerusalem. back where it all began, families and friends of the hostages are on the march. this is where hundreds of israelis were killed on october 7, where hundreds of others were dragged away into gaza. they are marching tojerusalem to minding the government to do more, hopes raised by talk of a ceasefire. 145 endless days and nights of yearning for our loved ones. we send them strength and asked them to hold a little longer. just a little longer. a deal is possible. but what would that deal look like? it's thought a ceasefire could last for six weeks and could be extended. a0 israeli hostages would gradually be released, women, civilians and soldiers coming first. in return, 400 palestinian prisoners would be released from israeli jails.

israeli soldiers might move away from some of gaza's most populated areas. and some of the 1.8 million palestinians displaced by the fighting might be able to return to homes in the north. how close do you think we are to a deal here? 0ne former israeli intelligence official with experience of negotiations says he is optimistic. i think that we're pretty close, i'm not saying that we will see the release of hostages and prisoners necessarily but i think that negotiation is going forward. a first of blinking is of progress from hamas. translation: any - flexibility we are showing in the negotiations is to protect the blood of our people and to put an end to their huge pains and sacrifices in the brutal war of extermination against it. what hamas leader in gaza

thinks is not yet known, he was last seen in an underground tunnel, his guerrilla army slowly being annihilated above him. it's been almost three months since the last negotiated deal, dozens of israeli and foreign hostages were released by the deal broke down after a week. since then, conditions in gaza of hostages and palestinians alike have only gotten worse. the hunt for food and water never ends. hunger and disease are a growing menace, any ceasefire deal will have to offer meaningful release. ——relief. for now, the weighting and the marching go on. the family say they will reach jerusalem by saturday, will good news be waiting for them when they get there? paul adams, bbc news. live now to dr anas iqtait, a lecturer at australian national university's centre for arab

and islamic studies. give us your take on the latest developments. hamas says the group is showing flexibility in negotiations with israel but prepared to continue fighting. where do the paris talks stand? iam i am less optimistic than the report that just aired. i believe, from the rhetoric we have been hearing from spokespersons of hamas as well as israeli spokesperson, it is unlikely we are near agreement. 0ne unlikely we are near agreement. one of the thorniest areas of negotiations is obviously the permanency of a ceasefire. the israeli position is firm in that, even if there is a prisoner exchange between hamas

and the israeli government, the ceasefire that would be in place is not to be permanent, while hamas is insisting, at least from what we know publicly, on the necessity to have this more or less permanent ceasefire or at least to lead to a permanent ceasefire. another area of contention is a return of the listing incident northern area of the gaza strip, particularly in gaza city and further north. the israeli government is still very firm about palestinians returning to these residential areas or what is left of them. i tend to be less optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations in paris and you can easily find the disparity between the hamas position is that, even with more optimistic signs, they are still largely pessimistic. and if you

juxtapose this from what you are hearing from arab capitals, you find the disparity. the primary parties to the negotiations hamas and israel are still relatively largely pessimistic of the possibility of reaching an agreement. in terms of timing and pressure to reach some sort of resolution, do you think that ramadan plays a part in this at all? 0bviously ramadan is a pressing issue. it is in a week or so and it is in the mind of particularly i would imagine the hamas negotiators. however, even with this, i would still be pessimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement by then. 0ne possibility of reaching an agreement by then. one factor which is another major point of contention is to expand hamas�*s

demands beyond the gaza strip. israel has been willing to consider more or less most of hamas�*s demands in the gaza but to overlook the vast majority of demands in the west bank which include access to a lux up which include access to a lux up mask and compound. and that is what they have been working on during these negotiations. —— alqsa. in a few hours, the russian president vladimir putin will deliver his annual address to parliament and the nation. mr putin usually uses the state—of—the—nation address to send signals to audiences both at home and abroad. this time, the attention to the speech is especially high. not only because of the presidential elections that will likely grant him another six—years in the kremlin,

but also due to the ongoing waragainst ukraine and the suspicious death of opposition leader, alexey navalny. his family and team are still struggling to organize his funeral. let's speak now to sergey sanovich, a fellow at the hoover institution, stanford university, who's studying propaganda by authoritarian regimes and elections and partisanship in information autocracies. welcome. in this state of the nation address, what is president putin likely to say, do you think?— do you think? firstly i think it is important _ do you think? firstly i think it is important to _ do you think? firstly i think it is important to dispense l it is important to dispense with the idea of any kind of accountability. putin, one of the years he did not deliver this address was because he did

not feel like it but really it was because there was no major interest like ukraine. the audience here is the putin's elite, and for them it is who can last longer. accountability over the not by him. and then for ordinary people, it is actually important event because often major social initiatives are announced by putin such as increasing pensions or increasing children and family benefits. along those lines. in 2018, he did give an almost two—hour address, it was all against the west including animation of the russian supersonic rocket hitting a peninsular, reminiscent of florida. but not

much enthusiasm by russian people for that so next year they switch back to the social agenda. i expected to be dominated by social agenda this year as well. presidential elections are in two weeks. there is also the funeral of alexei navalny the opposition leader. give us your take on the timing of this, given what is happening right now and what ordinary russians will be thinking at this time. according to his family, they wanted to bury alexei navalny today — well, they wanted to do at 11 they could not get the body earlier. then they said there was nobody there to help them at the cemetery today so they had to move it to tomorrow. —— they wanted to do it earlier. there is symbolism here. putin wanted to betray

alexei navalny as a hipster rapper, from berlin, but to bury alexei navalny in a prestigious cemetery, that would... instead the only place they took him, in an area in moscow, quintessentially working—class area in the outskirts of moscow, so places sort of sleeping suburbs of moscow and not procedures once in his fruitless attempt to dampen the image of navalna, he actually creates a hero, a folk hero, who died a terrible death

above the arctic circle and sacrificed his life for russian freedom and democracy. talk us throu~h freedom and democracy. talk us through the _ freedom and democracy. talk us through the impact _ freedom and democracy. talk us through the impact of— freedom and democracy. talk us through the impact of that. - freedom and democracy. talk us through the impact of that. you | through the impact of that. you met alexei navalny very briefly and the impact his death, the way he died has had, especially in the run—up to the election? navalna, —— alexei navalny why he was first poisoned and then imprisoned because even from previously, he was making a big contribution to russian public discourse. he was with other russian opposition leaders but the rest of them were not in russia, they were in london or berlin, and they were discussing strategy every election and consensus was that even that for candidates, three

are extras, they are there to lose but at the same time it gives them an opportunity to vote against putin and alexei navalny... an idea to come at noon during one of the election days so that people can see there are people against ackerman another well. sorry to wrap your _ ackerman another well. sorry to wrap your because _ ackerman another well. sorry to wrap your because there - ackerman another well. sorry to wrap your because there is - ackerman another well. sorry to wrap your because there is so i wrap your because there is so much talk about but sadly we do not have the time. thank you very much, sergey sanovich. to remind you, vladimir putin delivering his annual address of the nation in a few hours time. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the mother of emma caldwell says she's angry it's taken so long for her daughter's killer to be brought tojustice, and has called for a public inquiry into the original police

investigation, 19 years ago. iain packer was found guilty of a total of 33 charges of physical and sexual violence against 22 women, and will serve at least 36 years in prison. voters in the constituency of rochdale go to the polls later to elect a new mp. the by—election was called after the death of labour mp, sir tony lloyd. 11 candidates are standing in the seat, with results expected early on friday morning. parents in england will face biggerfines from september if their children miss school without permission. most fines are issued for term—time holidays and the headteachers union, the ascl, said the sanction helped signal that they were unacceptable and led to chaos in schools. those are some of the top stories here. you're live with bbc news. south korea's government has threatened to arrest thousands of striking doctors if they don't return to work

by the end of thursday. it also says it will suspend their medical licenses. the doctors have been protesting against the government's plans to increase the number of people admitted to medical school each year. 0ur correspondent jean mackenzie sent this update from seoul. this is a spectacular showdown between junior doctors and the government. the doctors have been protective over a week. starting from next year the government wants to admit 2000 more medical students to university each year. this is to address a shortage of doctors in the country because korea's population is ageing rapidly and there are already shortages in care particularly in rural areas shortages in care particularly in ruralareas and shortages in care particularly in rural areas and some specialisms. but doctors argue more doctors will not necessarily address these shortages. there are much more fundamental flaws shortages. there are much more fundamentalflaws in the fundamental flaws in the system. they say some areas of

medicine are too competitive. doctors choosing to enter the more lucrative feel so by increasing the number of doctors you just increase the competition and is already competitive areas and do nothing to address actual areas of shortage. but underlying this really is a frustration among junior doctors in this country that they are being overworked and underpaid. the government is standing firm on his threat to remove the doctor licenses if they do not return by the end of the day. the health minister has come out today saying they will press on with this. yes, they using this as a tools to foster doctors back to work and some people think it might be unlikely to follow through because they goal is to get doctors back and this would be counter—productive, and the doctors have little public sympathy here. most people in the country want them to be more doctors that there is an incentive for the government not to back down on this.

ukraine has in recent days been experiencing some setbacks in the battlefield, and encountering resistance from republicans in the us congress, in its effort to get billions of dollars in military aid, but in the cultural arena at least, at the oscars, ukraine is considered the likely victor in the best documentary feature race, as tom brook now reports. 39—year—old mstyslav chernov could bring ukraine an oscar. his film 20 days in mariupol considered to be the favourite to take home the best documentary feature trophy. it starts with explosions... they starts with explosions... they start with silence. zf} starts with explosions... they start with silence.— start with silence. 20 days in mariu ol start with silence. 20 days in mariupol is — start with silence. 20 days in mariupol is not _ start with silence. 20 days in mariupol is not easy - start with silence. 20 days in mariupol is not easy to - start with silence. 20 days in l mariupol is not easy to watch. it is not a sanitised view of war, it is footage shot by mstyslav chernov a photojournalist for the united

press in 2022 as russian forces began circling the port city. it tells the story of the first 20 days of the 86 day siege of mariupol. 20 days of the 86 day siege of mariu ol. , , .., 20 days of the 86 day siege of mariuol. , , _ , mariupol. they became symbols of our russia _ mariupol. they became symbols of our russia attacked _ mariupol. they became symbols of our russia attacked ukraine, | of our russia attacked ukraine, how they killed the civilians, what tactics russia uses to take every single city right now in ukraine. 20 take every single city right now in ukraine.— now in ukraine. 20 days in mariunol— now in ukraine. 20 days in mariupol is _ now in ukraine. 20 days in mariupol is in _ now in ukraine. 20 days in mariupol is in many - now in ukraine. 20 days in mariupol is in many ways l now in ukraine. 20 days inj mariupol is in many ways a story of a city on the edge, in its death throes. it captures the citizens of mariupol in the worst moments of their lives. you seem to have the trust of those he documented. how did you decide what images to include because some are unbelievably difficult to watch? it unbelievably difficult to watch? , , . ., ., . watch? it is difficult to watch but there _ watch? it is difficult to watch but there is _ watch? it is difficult to watch but there is a _ watch? it is difficult to watch but there is a fine _ watch? it is difficult to watch but there is a fine balance i watch? it is difficult to watch | but there is a fine balance and it was one of the most challenging part of making this film, how do you treat a story,

how do you treat the visuals so that you pay respects to victims because this is very important to always respect victims of the violence and at the same time how to not sanitise the footage, how to keep the audience invested and feeling what it is really like to be there. in feeling what it is really like to be there.— feeling what it is really like to be there. in recent days in the run-up — to be there. in recent days in the run-up to _ to be there. in recent days in the run-up to the _ to be there. in recent days in the run-up to the oscars, - the run—up to the oscars, mstyslav chernov has been in the us, new york and los attending screenings of his film. this made the film part of the academy award conversation. academy members may also been inclined to vote for the film because it shows support at a time when it is experiencing struggles on the battlefield and also issues with congress. at least one legacy of the film is it will

provide audiences with lasting proof of the wrongs committed by russia against his people, that it represents something more enduring than daily news reports from ukraine. fine more enduring than daily news reports from ukraine.- reports from ukraine. one of the reasons _ reports from ukraine. one of the reasons why _ reports from ukraine. one of the reasons why it _ reports from ukraine. one of the reasons why it was - the reasons why it was important for me to make 20 daysin important for me to make 20 days in mariupol is when you watch the film, it gives you enough context to make your own informed decision on what it means. you have enough context to decide how to interpret the images and not to be told how to interpret them and that is why a long form films are so important right now. mstyslav chernov says _ important right now. mstyslav chernov says he _ important right now. mstyslav chernov says he wants - important right now. mstyslav chernov says he wants his - chernov says he wants his documentary to show the world the suffering and destruction as the war in ukraine wages on. the 0scar as the war in ukraine wages on. the oscar nomination has certainly been bringing attention to his country's replied, is critical today as

it was two years ago when he first started documenting 20 daysin first started documenting 20 days in mariupol. tom brook, bbc news. in san francisco, crowds have lined up to see and smell the rare blooming of an endangered tropical flower that releases a pungent odour when it opens. the corpse flower began blooming on tuesday at the california academy of sciences. the flower only blooms for 1—3 days once every 7—10 years. during the bloom it releases a powerful smell, described by some as rotting food or sweaty socks. nice! the corpse flower, which is native to the indonesia island of sumatra, is listed as endangered with only less than 1,000 individual plants left in the wild. here's the verdict of some of those who took a whiff of the plant. i definitely picked up on the sweaty socks, sweaty gym

clothes but luckily not full on. i definitely smell here. the aroma is kind of stinky. people _ the aroma is kind of stinky. people have described it as garlic— people have described it as garlic or— people have described it as garlic or rotting flesh or feet and the _ garlic or rotting flesh or feet and the reason this lower smells_ and the reason this lower smells this way is because it is pollinated by flies. i have several teenage boys at home and familiar, i can understand what they are experiencing there. i will be back with the business stories and we have all sorts, including a look at the pakistan economy post their recent elections. i will be backin recent elections. i will be back in just a recent elections. i will be back injust a minute. hello there. sunshine was a scarce commodity across the uk on wednesday, but we had most of it in eastern scotland withjust overfour hours of sunshine in edinburgh. however, the rest of us,

rather cloudy, grey and at times wet, but it was mild with it. however, as the rain continues to push south and east, the wind direction is changing. we're going to see a return to some colder air across oui’ shores. so, thursday will start off mild, but wet across southeast england and east anglia. quite a lot of cloud generally across england and wales, with the best of any brighter skies into northern ireland, scotland. northwest scotland seeing a real rash of showers, accompanied by gale—force gusts of winds through the day. it will start to turn colder generally across scotland, 6—9 degrees, maybe double digits for a time before that front clears through in the southeast. but as we move out of thursday into friday, we see this next frontal system moving in, and as temperatures fall away through the night, bumping into that colder air which is sitting in place across the country, yes, we could see a return to some wintriness. it's going to be across higher ground. generally temperatures will be sitting around freezing first thing on friday morning, perhaps below in eastern scotland. but there's going to be a risk of some snow above 200 metres in northern ireland, scottish borders, across the pennines, and into north wales.

we could see a few centimetres accumulating, so that might cause some minor disruption, but it will be rain elsewhere. so you can see, circulating around that low pressure is that frontal system, and it will bring some sunny spells and scattered showers, a mixture of rain, sleet and snow at times across wales and southwest england, perhaps drier into the far north of scotland. but temperatures a little bit down — 6—9 degrees. don't forget, friday is the first day of march, so these values just below par for this time of year. then, as we move into the start of the weekend, we maintain the sunny spells and scattered showers and the wind direction still coming from the north, so it will feel quite cold, and we could still have a wintry flavour with any elevation. so again, 6—9 degrees the expected high. but as we move out of saturday into sunday, we see another frontal system bringing a spell of more organised rain and for a time, again, on the leading edge, there could be some wintriness, but it will be rain eventually as that front moves through. so the weekend will stay pretty unsettled for most of us. take care.

hello again. you alive with bbc news. bitcoin is back! the crypto currency surges to almost $64,000 as it closes in on an all—time high. but what is driving the revival? also coming up, rising from the east. india's on track to be the world's fastest growing major economy for the third

year in a row despite a slowdown. plus, a tougher deal for women at work. the uk slips down the rankings for gender equality — we'll be finding out why. hello and welcome to the top business stories here on the bbc. i'm sally bundock. we start with bitcoin because the world's largest cryptocurrency has been soaring. it has more than doubled over the past four months — it's up 50% in the past month alone and on wednesday it touched almost $64,000, just a few dollars short of its all—time record set during the height of the pandemic. investor appetite for crypto took a hammering in 2022 with the collapse of exchange ftx and the conviction of founder sam bankman—fried and then the federal prosecution last year of changpeng zhao, the man behind rival exchange binance.