hello. you're watching bbc news. i'm james menendez. our top story this hour: pressure grows on russia, as the fighting in ukraine escalates sharply. america's new ambassador to the un blames moscow for the violence in eastern ukraine, and says sanctions will remain in place. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: a third night of protests in romania. thousands gather to demonstrate against government plans to change corruption laws. migrants, trump, brexit, just some of the topics set to dominate the first eu summit of the year taking place in malta. i'm aaron heslehurst. the business news. brexit, round one. as those eu leaders gather in malta, its prime minister calls for a "fair deal" for britain, but warns it will pay a price for leaving. plus, small talk, big money.

snapchat files for a stock market flotation that could be the biggest tech ipo since facebook. international monitors say there've been many thousands of explosions in eastern ukraine over the past few days as fighting intensifies between government forces and russian—backed separatists. at a special meeting of the united nations, the new american ambassador blamed russia for the violence and said sanctions imposed after russia's annexation of crimea three years ago would remain in place. the russian ambassador blamed the ukrainian government for the fighting. bill hayton reports. inside rebel—held eastern ukraine, another bit of violenceseparatist government blamed blamed the death of this driver of a car on artillery

fire from government forces. monitors from the organisation of security in europe said the fighting which restarted injanuary decay much worse this week. we have seen dangerous intensification of the conflict. on february, we reported over 10,000 explosions in the donetsk region over 2a hours. over 10,000 explosions in the donetsk region over 24 hours. the ukrainian government says the latest fighting began when russian backed forces attacked this town not far from the rebel stronghold of donetsk. officials say rebel shelling left more than 20,000 people without heed or water in freezing weather. and the american government is clear about who it blames. we do want to better our relationship with russia. however, the dire situation in eastern ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of russian actions. this escalation of violence

must stop. but the russian government says ukraine provoked the fighting in order to wind more financial and political support from the us and europe. instead of effo rts the us and europe. instead of efforts to normalise the situation and seek compromises under the international framework, ukrainian authorities are trying to find a military settlement to the conflict. donald trump pledged to improve relations with moscow. now he is in office, the conflict in the ukraine will be his first test. bill hayton, bbc news. the british defence secretary has said russia is using cyber weapons to destabilise the west, testing nato, seeking to expand its sphere of influence, and destabilise and weaken the alliance. sir michael fallon accused russia of trying to "disrupt critical infrastructure" in a series of attacks. he urged nato to strengthen its cyber defences and tackle the "false reality" being propagated by the kremlin. his warning comes amid repeated suggestions by new us president donald trump that he wants to establish better relations with vladimir putin.

thousands of people have been protesting for a third night in romania, after the government pledged to release dozens of officials charged with corruption. more than 200,000 people have been out on the streets, the biggest protests in the country since the fall of communism in 1989. the bbc‘s greg dawson has more. this latest protest may have lacked the teargas and the trouble of the night before, but it didn't lack the numbers. in freezing temperatures about 80,000 gathered outside the parliament in bucharest. for a third night, chanting "thieves". and once again this protest fanned out across romania, with more than 200,000 believed to have taken part in 20 towns and cities, people from different backgrounds and generations accusing the government of turning a blind eye to corruption. translation: i came to express my dissatisfaction with the laws, which they have passed like thieves. a decision has been made, contrary to people's will.

that decision was an order to decriminalise several offences, including corruption, if the costs involved are less than $48,000. but the government, elected just two months ago, says these people are misled and misinformed. they claimed the new law is needed to ease prison overcrowding. the party leader, who faces charges of defrauding the state of $25,000, is just one who would potentially benefit from the changes. translation: we are determined to exercise the executive and legal power granted by the citizens. we consider any attempt to undermine the government's activity as an attempt to destabilise order in romania. both the eu and the united states have already expressed concern, and even romania's president, klaus iohannis, is opposed.

in a statement, he said he would challenge the new law in the country's highest court. it is just over a week until the new laws can be enforced. and before that, the government is determined to face down opposition from romania's prosecutors, its president, and tens of thousands of its people. greg dawson, bbc news. let's talk now to nick thorpe in bucharest. why is the government so determined to face the protesters down? well, james, this is part of a long battle, especially between the social democrats here in romania and the very powerful magistrates, the judiciary, which has been pursuing corruption cases very strongly over the past few years. the protesters

are obviously very determined. and as we saw, the leader of the governing social democrats party have said really they have just been arrested and can pass the laws that they want. another reason being given by the government, of course, is that prisons are overcrowded, 24,000 people injail in romania at the moment with only 70,000 places. the new government has come in saying it can pass whatever laws it wa nts to. saying it can pass whatever laws it wants to. —— 17,000. saying it can pass whatever laws it wants to. --17,000. what saying it can pass whatever laws it wants to. -- 17,000. what is next in this battle? it goes to the courts and it also stays on the streets. basically, from the point when the law was passed late in the evening on the 31st of january, it has ten days to effectively... before it is published in official documents. and thenit published in official documents. and then it will become law. protesters feel they have ten days to derail this and the government feels it has to hold out for ten days and things

may get easierfor to hold out for ten days and things may get easier for it. after that, the protesting may ease off. it is a stand—off. everyone is looking to the weekend. they think that have so many people can come outjust on weekdays in cold and wintry conditions, how many more may come out on tonight, friday night, order late on the weekend. thank you very much, nick thorpe, live in bucharest. eu leaders are gathering in malta for their first summit of the year. they'll be discussing the migration crisis from africa and the middle east, and the changing transatlantic climate created by the election of donald trump. and over it all looms the prospect of brexit. the uk prime minister theresa may will attend the morning talks but not the afternoon meeting where the eu's future will be discussed. our europe correspondent, kevin connolly, reports. the ceremonial cannons of the letter, installed by british imperialists and restored with eu money. the story of modern malta, in a one—gun salute. the cannons will welcome the eu leaders to their first malta summit.

they won't have to look far around the coast for a reminder of their problems. african migrants, who mostly reached europe by boat from libya, are stranded here. they wantjobs, and documents, and a sense of hope. they are not optimistic they are going to get them from the eu gathering. it doesn't give us our right. they look at us like animal. it's too much, too much, what the european are doing to black people, is very, very hard. migration is a major faultline within the eu.

the mediterranean countries want our their partners far from these shores to resettle a share of the migrants, and many are reluctant. experts warn that alternative solutions, like paying african countries to take migrants back or trying to stop people from leaving libya, will be difficult and dangerous. i think the focus right now is to try and slow down or shut down the flow of people coming from libya. i don't think that's an achievable goal. i think if europe manages to shut down or blockade libya, there would be a displacement effect to neighbouring countries, and we would see boats departing from other areas. the people of malta are notjust worried about migration, of course. the island has close historic ties to the uk, and in places looks more british than britain itself. so might it be usefulfor the uk to know it has such a close ally among the 27 eu remainer states, when the time comes to cut a deal on brexit? there are ties, which are notjust historical, notjust cultural, but also emotional ties. so britain, i think, can rest assured that malta has been a friend and will remain a friend now and in the future. so on the shores of the mediterranean sea,

which has brought so many migrants to europe, the eu leaders will talk, as they talked before, about migration. but they will also have their minds on the choppy political waters ahead, created notjust by brexit, but by the turbulent new presidency in washington of donald trump. kevin connolly, bbc news, malta. and aaron is here with all the business news. good morning. good morning. you are picking up on this and some of the challenges facing theresa may. there area challenges facing theresa may. there are a few. and the costs that are also related. we start in the maltese capital valletta, where as you've been hearing, eu leaders are gathering for a special summit, a day after the british parliament voted overwhelmingly to start the process of brexit. prime minister theresa may will be holding one—on—one talks with various eu leaders. so, what is she up against? malta holds the rotating presidency of the eu. its prime minister, joseph muscat, has been clear britain can't have its cake and eat it too.

he has told the european parliament: "we want a fair deal for the united kingdom." but, and it's a big but, "that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership." there is also huge time pressure. assuming britain formally gives its two—year leaving notice next month, known as "triggering article 50" of the lisbon treaty, mr muscat says they must agree a brexit deal by october. that's so it has time to be ratified by member states and the european parliament before the uk is formally out. then there's the small matter of this, the uk's bill for quitting the eu. as much as 60 billion euros is what britain will owe, according to some in europe, taking into account its share of budget commitments, pensions, spending on uk—based projects etc. that's likely to be the subject of a lot of wrangling. we'll be hearing from juergen stark, a former board member of the european central bank.

he says that brexit will require a major rethink of the eu and the euro currency. that is coming up on the world business report in just over 15 minutes. we are also looking at snapchat. in the last few hours, the social networking company has filed documents to float its shares on the new york stock exchange. it's likely to be the biggest ipo, or initial public offering, as they are called, in the technology world since facebook floated in 2012. for those of you who don't use it, it's kind of the opposite of facebook, instead of making a permanent record of your life, it lets you send picture messages that then disappear. here are some figures for you. according to the company, 158 million people use snapchat every day to send picture

messages 01’ snaps. that's nothing compared to the almost two billion people that use facebook. but it's very popular among young people, especially in the us. an estimated 41% of americans aged 18—34 are on snapchat. it was founded by these two, evan spiegel, 27, and bobby murphy, 29. three years ago they turned down $3 billion in cash for the company from facebook boss mark zuckerberg. a smart move, maybe, the company could be valued at $25 billion once it floats. making them both multi—billionaires. lots more coming up as i said on

lobbyists —— world business report. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we meet the so—called "ghost refugees." the people fleeing a civil war who've become stranded in no—man‘s land between syria and jordan. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, after 27 years injail, is to be set free unconditionally. the aircraft was returning from belgrade, where manchester united had entered the semi—final of the european cup. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any

lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given yachstwoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is bbc news, i'm james menendez. the latest headlines: america's new ambassador to the un has blamed moscow for the escalation of violence in eastern ukraine, and says sanctions will remain in place. thousands of people have protested for a third night in romania, after the government pledged to release dozens of officials charged with corruption. let's stay with that story. joining us live now from bucharest is oana suciu, a professor of political science

at the university of bucharest. have you been surprised by the level of public reaction and protest to this decree? actually, no. this was to be expected, considering what had happened in the last two weeks in bucharest and all over the country, actually. there is a critical mass that has been gathering for the last few weeks, all over the country. are these protest going to make any difference? they are definitely going to make a difference, because 110w going to make a difference, because now only this sort of civil pressure can makea now only this sort of civil pressure can make a change in what the current government is doing with the legislation, and actually attacking the rule of law. and what the people

who took to the streets in the last two weeks, and especially in the last three nights, are looking forward to, is forcing the government to respect the rule of law, and to prevent romania from falling into what we consider to be a totalitarian regime. the government says it is trying to reduce overcrowding in prisons. there is also this suggestion it has been unfairly targeted by corruption probes in the past. is there any truth to that, in your opinion? well, the truth is in the fact that, yes, prisons overcrowded, but for that you are not releasing inmates, you are new prisons. and actually, what we do know, and it is obvious, that these pieces of legislation are what we call targeted, or direct

message to the corrupt politicians who are already in prison, or who will probably face prison sentences quite soon. so this is one of the reasons for the unrest. the second one is the manner in which these pieces of legislation, these ordinances, were passed in the middle of the night, which is unheard of, to pass legislation at 11pm in the evening. and then paying no attention to what civil society and the public space is actually saying towards this manner of adopting legislation. on top of that, these are emergency ordinances. there is no emergency. i am not saying this, there are people from thejudicial system am not saying this, there are people from the judicial system who say that there is no emergency in this issue. thank you very much indeed

for joining issue. thank you very much indeed forjoining us this morning. the united states has said it will deliver an effective and overwhelming response if north korea uses nuclear weapons. speaking at the end of his two—day visit to south korea, the new american defence secretary, james mattis, said any attack on the united states or its allies would be defeated. our korea correspondent steve evans has more. what to do about the nuclear arsenal being developed in north korea? that is the problem facing the americans, japanese and south koreans. kim jong—un tested two nuclear devices last year, and is making progress towards getting missiles capable of, in his words, turning washington and seoul into a sea of fire. mr mattis is doing a reassurance to, his first foreign foray of the trump administration. we stand side by side was today's message in south

korea. any attack on the united states or on its allies will be defeated. any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a response which will be met with a response which will be met with a response which will be effective and overwhelming. there are 28,000 us troops in south korea. the american threat to retaliate with massive force if attacked will not be news to kim jong—un. the bigger question is whether to talk to the north korean leader, to try to persuade him to abandon or limit the size of his nuclear arsenal. on that, the trump administration is so far silent. labelled syria's ghost refugees, almost 80,000 people fleeing the so—called islamic state have become stranded in no—man's—land between the syria and jordan border. aid agencies say they are struggling to provide for the people in rukban, and warn it will soon be home to the largest number of syrians fleeing the war. the bbc arabic‘s feras kilani has

been given exclusive access to the area. trapped in a no man's land between two countries, these syrians are desperate to escape the so—called islamic state. but jordan desperate to escape the so—called islamic state. butjordan has shut them out. living in tough conditions, they come under repeated attack. but still the numbers grow. we are here with a jordanian army, who hold the border. it is the first time they have allowed journalists to witness this crisis. but this is as close as we can get. the commander here says the area is just too dangerous to approach. the threat of violence means help is limited and unsettled. aid has been cut off for months at a time —— ltd and uncertain. on this hospital, on

the jordanian side, they and uncertain. on this hospital, on thejordanian side, they can only cope with the most urgent cases. ashraf has become paralysed from the waist down. the doctors say he may never walk again. i want to go home, he says. dozens of children have died here in the winter conditions. this lady has just arrived from the camp, and tells me her one—year—old son has stopped growing. without regular food, he has son has stopped growing. without regularfood, he has become weak and malnourished. a few hundred metres is all that stands between the syrians and safety here injordan. but, having suffered a number of attacks themselves, jordanian state opening the borders is simply too

risky. just two weeks ago, a huge car bomb ripped through the camp, targeting a busy area. the blast killed 11 people, including an entire family of four. along the border, the jordanian army entire family of four. along the border, thejordanian army are taking no chances. faced with a growing threat, they are increasing the military here. the chief of staff says they can't afford to allow the syrians to cross. translation: our borders were open. but, to avoid attacks, we had to close them, because is have sleeper cells inside the camps. indeed, the majority of refugees came here from areas still under islamic state control. they might be standing on the verge of safety, but the truth is, these people are now viewed the and suspicion. many syrians here and around the world are now finding more and more doors are closing on them.

there is more details on that story on our website. one piece of sports news this power. former chelsea midfielder frank lampard has announced his retirement from football, calling time on a career which has lasted 21 years. he said he was grateful to the football association for the opportunity to do his coaching badges, suggesting he may go into management. chelsea's record goalscorer says he turned down a number of exciting offers to carry on playing in britain and abroad. swansea manager paul clement revealed he had unsuccessfully approached lampard over a move to the premier league stragglers back in january. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @jamesmenendez. coming up injust a couple of minutes, aaron has all the latest business news in world business report.

first a look at the weather where you are. good morning. some more wild winds to come across parts of the uk. winds whipping up pretty rough seas in northern ireland. western areas board of brunt, with this area of low pressure responsible. it has pushed its way off towards iceland and we turn our attention to this deep, developing low pushing into the bay of biscay at the moment, affecting areas around the south. for the time being a quiet start, cooler than recent mornings. dry and sunny weather around. a few showers in western scotland, northern ireland and north—west england but turning wet and windy in south—west england, wales, and by the end of the morning into parts of the midlands the south—east. rain spreads its way northwards but throughout much of scotla nd northwards but throughout much of scotland and northern ireland it will be dry during the afternoon, some good, long, sunny spells. winds lighter than they were yesterday, picking up around the hebrides once again and northern ireland certainly lighter winds than yesterday and we could see rain spreading towards the

east, if that comes further westwards we will see a few flakes of snow on higher ground. across parts of north—west england, the midlands and towards the south—east, on and off there will be some drier movements. heavier burst and more persistent rain around cardigan bay, and that is the wind strength. across the south—west in the english channel the strongest winds will be. from late afternoon onwards, 50 mile an hour gust to cross devon and cornwall, 60 or 70 mph across the channel islands, causing disruption to ferry routes across the channel and by the end of the evening, east anglia bearing the brunt of the disruption. keep a close eye on the forecasts. the stronger winds tra nsfer forecasts. the stronger winds transfer with the area of low pressure into the northern half of the uk for the start of saturday but ease as they go. outbreaks of rain in scotland and northern england, turning a bit showery with some sunshine at times in a little bit of snow in western scotland later. further south, a dry and bright day. just having to watch an area of low pressure pushing and across the

north of france which could wring some rain across the far south—east corner of england through saturday. that does clear out the way and pushes its way into the north sea, leaving us all under drier and clearer conditions to start sunday so there will be a frost around the again with. lighter winds elsewhere, some sunny spells and a few showers, asi some sunny spells and a few showers, as i said, out west later. take care. this is bbc news. the headlines: in her first public remarks as the united states' new representative at the united nations, ambassador nikki haley has condemned russia's aggressive actions in ukraine and pledged strong us support for the government in kiev. an estimated 200,000 protesters have staged a third night of demonstrations in romania against a government decree that decriminalises some types of corruption. the prime minister says he won't withdraw the decree. europe's migrant crisis, the election of donald trump, and britain's exit from the european union are all likely to dominate the eu's first summit of the year. the meeting of the group's leaders is taking place in malta.

the new american defence secretary has said the us will deliver an effective and overwhelming response if north korea uses nuclear weapons. generaljames mattis said any attack on the us or its allies