principal, christian horner, of inappropriate behaviour. hello, i'm anna foster, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. in the last hour, germany's foreign minister has said ukraine should be supplied with "more long—range weapons". annalena baerbock was speaking at the end of a meeting with britain's foreign secretary lord cameron. he said he believed you achieve peace "by demonstrating that putin cannot win." his visit to berlin comes days after russian media published in ukraine itself, russian forces are advancing in the east, and many who live there are packing their belongings, and moving away. ukraine says its forces are holding on, but in the donetsk region, several villages have been captured after invading forces took the town of avdiivka and there are fears more settlements could follow. james waterhouse has been to meet

families living just behind the frontline. eastern ukraine is being eroded. russian forces are approaching, taking village after village. and for the people living here, death or occupation feels imminent. valeriy and his grandson denys have taken up the offer of evacuation. their home in toretsk is in russia's sights. here, it's making its size and ammunition reserves count. ukrainian forces are going backwards. and with valeriy�*s town now constantly shelled, it's time to go. translation: i lived my life already. - but i need to save the little one. police take them to kostyantynivka, a place of relative safety — but increasingly less so. the city is used to being close to the battlefield, but its risk of being captured is growing.

when ukraine liberated territory more than a year ago, there was hope. but the tide hasn'tjust changed — it's approaching. now there is fear that cities like kostyantynivka will be gradually destroyed and its people will be forced to flee. this is what russia does when it tries to take ukrainian territory, and this is what moscow still calls liberation. for tetyana and her daughter, mariya — maybe notjesse the dog — strikes on the city leave them with a difficult choice. translation: we are tired all day. we have bad moods and panic attacks, constant depression. it's scary to go outside. so are you both going to leave? translation: i've already left twice. l what's the point?

it's scary everywhere, everywhere. the whole country is on fire. while tetyana is staying, mariya is already sending her belongings west. today, it's the tv — taking the route she and her son eventually will. translation: i hope she will follow. my mum only has us and we only have her. in nearby kramatorsk train station, the faint sounds of artillery provide a sobering reception, as well as a reason to leave. for all of the geopolitics, the donetsk region is at the coalface of russia's invasion — and its people are feeling it more than ever. translation: a year ago, we still hoped we would . receive help from the west and that the counter—offensive would work. not any more. people used to believe, but not any more. ukraine hopes its east will once again be somewhere safe to live. but right now it's not clear

what people will be returning to. james waterhouse, bbc news, the donetsk region. the situation in ukraine was high on the docket in berlin. lord cameron also emphasised the need to find a sustainable ceasefire to allow aid into gaza. he called on all parties involved to play their role in finding a solution to the humanitarian problem. we worked incredibly closely together on this issue of how we get more aid into gaza. and i completely agree with what has been said. yes, we must look at the options on the sea, we must look at options as we have done of delivering aid by air, as we have done recently but the jordanians, but nothing must distract us from the fact that ultimately, if we want to avoid famine, if we want to avoid disease come if we want to help people in

gaza, we need 500 trucks a day, that means more crossing points. it means simpler logistics. it means making sure there is property d confliction inside gaza so we can get this aid around. it means more visas for the un staff so they are able to help deliver these things. this need, really, is urgent. i made these points to the minister when i met him yesterday and i make these points again today to urge all parties, of course it's notjust the israelis, there are others involved but all parties, principally the israelis to make this happen and make this happen now. of course, the other priority in the middle east is how we bring about this stop to the fighting, which we want to happen now, we want this pause to happen now with this hostage deal that is now on the table, and hamas should accept it. they are the ones now holding up the stopping of this fighting. but the

crucial work that we've been doing is to say how do we turn a pause into a permanent sustainable cease—fire without going back to the fighting? what are the conditions necessary? and if we can put in place the return of the hostages, if we can put in place a new technocratic government on behalf of the palestinian authority, if we can set up the political horizon for the palestinian people so they can see a future where they have the dignity of statehood. and if we can reassure israel that the leaders of hamas, the people responsible for the horrors of october the 7th will have to leave gaza. in the infrastructure of terror will be taken down. if we can do those things, we can start to build towards notjust a permanent cease—fire but also a solution. we will do everything we can working together to help to bring that back. the british foreign secretary

speaking in berlinjust in the the british foreign secretary speaking in berlin just in the last hour. the woman who accused the principal of the red bull formula one racing team, christian horner, of "inappropriate and controlling behaviour", has been suspended on full pay. mr horner — who denied the allegations — was allowed to remain in his role after the claims were rejected. it's understood the complainant, an employee of the milton keynes—based team, has been suspended on full pay. red bull racing has declined to comment. our sports news correspondent laura scott is following developments. well, bbc news has learnt that the complainant who made the allegations against christian horner was suspended from her role at red bull racing earlier today. and now our understanding is that that is linked to the outcome of the investigation that carried out by an external barrister brought in by red bull, the parent company, into the allegations of inappropriate behaviour that she'd made against horner, who she was working with at the formula i team. a red bull racing spokesperson said us today that the company cannot comment on this internal matter. now, last week, red bull — this is the team's parent company —

announced that the grievance against horner had been dismissed following what it called a rigorous investigation, but it made clear that the complainant did have a right of appeal. there was then a leak of alleged text messages purporting to involve christian horner. now, he has tried to maintain a business—as—usual approach to his work as team principal and chief executive of red bull racing, despite intense scrutiny and calls for more transparency on the investigation by fellow team principals and partners of red bull racing. but he was at the bahrain grand prix last weekend, which was won by red bull racing. he cut a defiant figure there as he appeared alongside his spice girl wife, geri homer, and he said to reporters that he would be remaining as team principal and chief executive and that he retained the support of the team's partners and stakeholders. we also heard from jos verstappen, the father of the team's driver, max verstappen, who said that this

whole controversy was driving the team apart. yesterday, max verstappen appeared at a press conference and said that his father wasn't a liar. now, we are due to hear from christian horner later today ahead of this weekend's saudi arabia grand prix. that was our sports news correspondent. gunmen have abducted more than 100 pupils. the children were in school assembly when bandits are motorcycles came in and took them away. this latest abduction comes just a day after nigerian authorities mobilised armed forces to search for 200 people, many of them women and children who were kidnapped by a bunker in fighter. let's speak to our correspondent chris ewokor who joins us from the nigerian capital, abuja. seems to separate incidents now, tell us more about what happened

yesterday. tell us more about what happened esterda . ~ ., ~ ., ., yesterday. well, we do know that in northeast nigeria, _ yesterday. well, we do know that in northeast nigeria, there _ yesterday. well, we do know that in northeast nigeria, there have - yesterday. well, we do know that in northeast nigeria, there have been| northeast nigeria, there have been issues of abduction of internally displaced persons, mostly women and girls, and up until now, they have not been found, and the authorities there have been, you know, they have gone into search and rescue operation and that is ongoing. at the moment, they don't have any information about how many people were abducted. now, nigeria has been thrown into a state of shock again following the new abduction in of close to about 200 school pupils this morning. close to about 200 school pupils this morning-—

this morning. yes, as you say, auain, this morning. yes, as you say, again. two _ this morning. yes, as you say, again, two sizeable _ this morning. yes, as you say, l again, two sizeable kidnappings this morning. yes, as you say, - again, two sizeable kidnappings in 24 again, two sizeable kidnappings in 2a hours. what do we know, we said we thought these were members of boca around, what do we know about what the intent is here? == boca around, what do we know about what the intent is here?— what the intent is here? -- boko haram. what the intent is here? -- boko haram- we _ what the intent is here? -- boko haram. we know _ what the intent is here? -- boko haram. we know that _ what the intent is here? -- boko haram. we know that their - what the intent is here? -- boko| haram. we know that their name stands for western education is forbidden have been waging insurgency, a bloodied insurgencyi will call it in the northeast for the past 15 years. they've been attacking communities, setting houses on fire, they attack security agencies. as well as kidnapping. one of the major kidnapping was in 2014 when they abducted nearly 300 school girls, and that has been the mode of operation, they kidnap him and they attack communities and displaced people. over attack communities and displaced people. 0ver400,000 attack communities and displaced people. over 400,000 —— 4000 people think of the more than 2 million people have been displaced. nigeria

has been grappling with that one before the idps were abducted because they went out of their camps to collect firewood. since then, they have not been seen. thank you, joining us live from the nigerian capital. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. three teenage boys have been found guilty of killing 16—year—old mikey roynon. mikey — from kingswood in bristol — was stabbed with a large zombie knife during a row at a house party in bath last year. jurors found one boy guilty of murder and the other two guilty of manslaughter. they can't be named for legal reasons. a committee of mps has concluded that the post office is not fit to run the compensation schemes for sub postmasters wrongly convicted because of the horizon it scandal. the business and trade committee said it was a disgrace that 80% of the money for redress payments

still hadn't been spent. metropolitan police officers have travelled to trinidad to speak to the killer of muriel mckay in a bid to find her body. ms mckay was abducted in 1969 — mistaken for the then wife of rupert murdoch — and held to ransom for £1 million. one of her killers recently admitted to burying her body behind a barn. you're live with bbc news. presidentjoe biden will deliver the final state of the union address of his presidential term on thursday night. he will greet the new speaker, who's leading a divided house with a very narrow republican majority. with the election looming, the us faces many challenges — the economy, immigration and border security, as well as aid for ukraine and israel, are all issues in the forefront of american voters' minds. live now to our correspondent gary o'donoghue in washington.

gary, as he said, this is an important moment, so what do you think he will be wanting to get across to voters as part of this address? i across to voters as part of this address? ~ , ., ., , address? i think you are right. this is an incredibly _ address? i think you are right. this is an incredibly important - address? i think you are right. this is an incredibly important moment| address? i think you are right. this i is an incredibly important moment in the calendar, not least because at some point or other, tens of millions of americans will see a bit of this speech, maybe some of the speech, may be most of the speech over the next day or two when they get it replayed to them on social media. so it's a huge platform for the president in an election year. time for him to set up the starks choice is between him and donald trump who we know he will now face a november's general election. are they trying to highlight some of the economic achievements that he says his administration has brought about, low inflation, low unemployment, rising wages, none of which american voters seem to feel, and then some of those much bigger international issues you mentioned, the war in ukraine has been trying

to get extra funding for that, republicans have been standing in the way, and he's going to do all this against the backdrop of donald trump live tweeting, life commentating on this speech, trying to suck out some of the oxygen of publicity in his direction from his club down in florida during this speech. so a big moment where we are setting out the stage for the general election and the issues that will dominate, immigration, the economy, perhaps even things like abortion and fertility treatment. all of these on the agenda for both parties. all of these on the agenda for both arties. , ., , ., ., parties. interesting what you are sa in: parties. interesting what you are saying there. — parties. interesting what you are saying there, donald _ parties. interesting what you are saying there, donald trump - parties. interesting what you are saying there, donald trump has| parties. interesting what you are - saying there, donald trump has said he is going to follow along. has he described this as some kind of live fact checking that he says he's going to be doing?— fact checking that he says he's going to be doing? fact checking that he says he's uaointo bedoin? ., , going to be doing? donald trump has one of those — going to be doing? donald trump has one of those capacities _ going to be doing? donald trump has one of those capacities in _ going to be doing? donald trump has one of those capacities in politics - one of those capacities in politics to take what you might call weakness and make it a strength, in other words people accuse him of being a bit short on facts, telling a lot of untruths at the time, so he takes

that and says i will do all the fact checking, i will tell you what is true here. and it's clever, it's not an unknown political strategy but it can work, and that is what he is planning to do tonight. bear in mind this is to be a kind of set piece event, almost as close as the americans get to a state location. now it's much more scrappy, much more partisan, expect somejeering, expect some name—calling. no one will be sitting there in silence listening to the president. last year, some of those more radical republicans stood up and called him a liar to his face.— a liar to his face. thank you, gary. gary o'donoghue _ a liar to his face. thank you, gary. gary o'donoghue there _ a liar to his face. thank you, gary. gary o'donoghue there ever - gary o'donoghue there ever correspondent in washington. christian fraser will be here on the context looking ahead to the state of the union address, and our team in washington will have a special programme as well, looking ahead at after that address has been delivered and give you a bit of the context and detail as well, as gary was saying, it is a really important state of the union address coming just a few months before the election, so our team will make sure that you don't miss any of those

details. judges in hong kong have made it easier to find pro—democracy activists guilty of sedition. a court ruled that the crime could be committed without proving the intention to incite violence. it came as part of a 40—month sentence for pro—democracy activist tam tak—chi, the first person tried under the city's sedition law since hong kong returned to chinese rule in 1997. let's speak to now to nathan law — pro—democracy activist and former hong kong lawmaker — who is exiled in london. nathan, thank you forjoining us. this has really been seen as a concern from around the world. what do you make of it?— do you make of it? well, and today's re ort it's do you make of it? well, and today's report its clear— do you make of it? well, and today's report it's clear the _ do you make of it? well, and today's report it's clear the court _ do you make of it? well, and today's report it's clear the court has - report its clear the court has taken its full—scale about how beijing sees hong kong's political situation which it takes a really harsh stance and suppression in order to "maintain national

security." so it is quite expected to see even for the local legislation of other, and the implementation of the national security law, all of these cases would repeat, even if that they have not committed to a large—scale disruption of social order, even if they arejust disruption of social order, even if they are just chanting a slogan or holding a protest sign on the street, they will be subjected to severe lung sentencing. so street, they will be subjected to severe lung sentencing.- street, they will be subjected to severe lung sentencing. so how will --eole severe lung sentencing. so how will people manage? — severe lung sentencing. so how will people manage? i _ severe lung sentencing. so how will people manage? i suppose - severe lung sentencing. so how will people manage? i suppose the - people manage? i suppose the question is will they had all managed to express any dissatisfaction with the system or with the leadership in the future? well, we can see from a lot of video clips produced recently, when journalists go to the streets and ask hong kong is how do they think about the legislation, most of them

just say that they are not going to take any view or they were frightened or scared for now under the influence of the national security law and also the proposed legislation. it is easy to step into the territory of crossing the line in these vaguely defined laws where they just say that, oh, in these vaguely defined laws where theyjust say that, oh, if in these vaguely defined laws where they just say that, oh, if you are discontented central government or between hong kong and the chinese people, you would probably be submitted to years of sentencing. and that is the tear and fair —— the way terror and fear spreads in hong kong population and they are afraid of expressing any discontent towards the policy or the government. has of expressing any discontent towards the policy or the government. this we the policy or the government. as we said at the start, _ the policy or the government. as we said at the start, your— the policy or the government. as we said at the start, your activism - said at the start, your activism means that you are now in london, and that's where we are having to speak to from. when developments like this happen, it must make it harderfor you to imagine a time where you might be able to go back to hong kong. page where you might be able to go back to hong kong-— to hong kong. age really is difficult to _ to hong kong. age really is

difficult to foresee - to hong kong. age really isj difficult to foresee anything getting back to hong kong, especially after beijing has been so stern in supporting hong kong's local legislation of other kinds to bury. in the paper you can see that government adopted this from beijing wholesale saying that there are so many hostile foreign forces trying to subvert hong kong. so for now it is difficult. the political situation is getting ridiculous and our duty is to continue to spread awareness and try to make the world understand the danger of these authoritarian expansions. nathan, thank ou authoritarian expansions. nathan, thank you for— authoritarian expansions. nathan, thank you forjoining _ authoritarian expansions. nathan, thank you forjoining us. _ thank you forjoining us. pro—democracy activist and former hong kong lawmakerjoining us live from london. this might sound like science fiction, it's happening now, several companies are working on robotic vessels which they say could revolutionise shipping. rebecca morel has this exclusive report on

the robotic ship sea trials. what you are looking at is a vision of the future. a ship that needs only a few people on board to sail it, and that can be controlled from anywhere in the world. the vessel is being put through its paces in a norwegian fjord. the company behind this is building a fleet of 23 of these vessels. they will carry out jobs a fleet of 23 of these vessels. they will carry outjobs like surveys for offshore wind farms. we fitted this vessel with extra sensors, extra servers, extra cabling, extra information systems. our ultimate vision is for these vessels to have as small a crew as possible. our ultimate vision is for these vessels to have as small a crew as possible.

our idea is that everybody on this ship has a criticaljob to do with their hands, eyes orjudgment. that really can't be made remote. this ship is 78 metres long, and usually a vessel like this would have a crew of 40 or 50 people. but this is operating with just 16. instead, some of the jobs are being carried out by a crew more than 700 miles away. they are in a remote control centre, and the plan is to move more and more of the operations there, which in this case is in southampton. and this is that control room. you can see here on these screens. and as more and more of the vessels come into operation, all of these will start filling up. eventually even the captain could be here, in charge of multiple ships in oceans around the world. for now, though, it's tasks like watch keeping or launching underwater robots.

it's exciting to know that there is an opportunity for me to work on shore and still be involved in exciting projects. you can do almost everything that you do on the vessel. you can move around, you can see, you have cameras, you can see the cameras here. some vessels are sailing with no—one on board at all. this boat is being tested in plymouth sound and its crew is in an office in aberdeen. this boat is being tested in plymouth sound and its crew is in an office in aberdeen. this boat is being tested in plymouth sound and its crew could you show us how you can control it from here? could we do a figure of eight or something like that? so, now i'm moving forward, i'm sending a command going forward. the captain has precise control

of the boat in real time. could we do a figure of eight or something like that? yeah, let's do a figure of eight. so, now i'm moving forward, i'm sending a command going forward. that looks pretty good to me! it's definitely an eight. it's a big change for the industry, but it means the international regulations that keep ships safe at sea will also need to change. there is little doubt that this is where shipping is heading. what we are specifically considering in this regard is the role of the master and officers on board. would you now consider a remote control centre operator being a master equivalent? and how this will all be regulated in the context of international law. on the dockside in norway, the next ship is being fitted out. the industry is gearing up

for change, because the next wave of shipping is already here. rebecca morelle, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. this afternoon's weather is looking dry for the bulk of the country. cloud will vary a lot though, from place to place. we have seen some mist and low cloud loiter across parts of the midlands, like here in shropshire. the best of the sunshine generally today is once again across western areas, although there are a few breaks in the cloud across the south, as well. sunny skies, then, across parts of highlands of scotland today. a lovely picture from the nairn area sent by weatherwatcher rothesay. thanks for that. there's a vanishingly small chance of catching a shower today across parts of england, and wales, for the vast majority

of the country, just stays dry. keeping a lot of cloud, though, across eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of england, with still some mist patches loitering throughout the afternoon in to parts of coastal aberdeenshire. overnight tonight that feed of cloud will continue to affect the north sea coast of england and scotland, probably a few clearer spells for a time across the south, a few patches of rural frost are possible, but otherwise temperatures generally a degree or so less cold than it was last night. on into friday's forecast, low pressure to the south—west, high pressure to the north—east, the pressure gradient, the isobars squeezing together a bit more closely. and so, it's going to be a windier day. it's the isobars and the pressure gradient that make the winds blow in the first place. the strongest winds will be up and to the west of high ground. the uk's only named wind, the helm wind, will be blowing across fell and into cumbria, gusts could reach around 40 or maybe 50 miles an hour, up into the west of high ground. so it will be quite a blustery kind of day and that wind will make it feel a little bit cooler. on into the weekend, the low pressure to our south

still influencing our weather, still bringing the threat of some patches of rain. probably the greatest threat will be across parts of wales, south—west england and northern ireland through the course of saturday. north—west scotland favoured for staying dry with some sunshine. eastern scotland will probably have quite frequent showers working into the hills, so it could turn out to be quite a wet day here. some bright or sunny spells coming through and temperatures for the most part around about average for the time of year. on into sunday's forecast, again, there is the threat of seeing some rain at times, but it won't be raining all day. the rain is likely to be patchy in nature, the best of any sunshine again, probably towards the north—west of scotland.

this is bbc news, the headlines... we wa nt we want to take you to washington now levy secretary of state antony blinken is speaking, and sweden are there to receive the ratification documents for sweden's membership of nato. we can hopefully listen in. when they were challenged, we were there to defend them. sweden was there to defend them. sweden was there to defend them. sweden was there to defend them. what this tells us even more profoundly is the reaffirmation of sweden's democratic character, change driven by its

citizens. there is also no clearer example than today of the strategic debacle but putin's invasion of ukraine has become for russia. we see a russia that is now weaker militarily, economically, and diplomatically. it is standing in ukraine has changed dramatically, whereas before in 2014, people were open to positive relations with russia. now the virtually entire society, notjust today, russia. now the virtually entire society, not just today, probably society, notjust today, probably for generations, has turned against russia part of its aggression. and fundamentally our alliance is now both larger and stronger than it has ever been. and we see again and again and again that everything putin sought to prevent, he has actually precipitated by his aggression, and there is no clearer example of that than sweden becoming

a member of this alliance.