�*welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. russian president vladimir putin says he will recognise two breakaway regions of east ukraine and he's sending troops there. translation: announcing the decisions taken today, i'm sure with the support of the russian citizens, all the patriotic forces of the country. we'll have the latest reaction to president putin's move from washington and around the world.also in the programme. the international court begins hearings into alleged genocide of the rohinga people in myanmar. all covid restrictions in england will end in three days�* time — despite the concerns of some experts.

let us learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves and others without restricting our freedoms. hong kong is placed on �*full—on war mode" as the healthcare system is overwhelmed by a huge surge in covid—19 cases. and �*dress you up�* like madonna — the iconic dress worn in the 1984 material girl video is going up for auction in california. there's been a significant escalation in the ukraine crisis — after the russian president, vladimir putin, said he would recognise two

separatist regions of the country — and send troops into the areas. there's been strong international condemnation of the move — the united nations secretary general described it as a blatant violation of international law — the un security council is to meet in the next few hours to discuss the situation. the white house said president biden would impose sanctions on people operating in the breakaway areas of ukraine — luhansk and donetsk — captured by pro—russian groups in 2014. our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg has the latest. it was an astonishing piece of political theatre, played out on russian tv. the protagonist, the president. vladimir putin alone, aloof, like a modern—day tsar. the supporting cast, members of russia's powerful security council. "i will let you all speak,"

he said, "then we must decide what to do." and one by one, they spoke, all urging president putin to defy kyiv and the west, and officially recognise the pro—russia rebel republics in eastern ukraine. "we must recognise these republics," the interior minister says, "but within their earlier, larger boundaries." the president listened, but looked like a man who'd already made up his mind. later, he addressed the nation. translation: the essence of the aggressive, - nationalistic character of the regime that seized power in kyiv hasn't changed. i consider it necessary to immediately recognise the independence and sovereignty of the donetsk and luhansk people's republics. act two, the signing ceremony.

the leaders of the rebel republics were already in moscow. they clearly knew what president putin's decision would be. earlier, this. russian tv claimed ukraine was shelling the rebel republics. fake news, kyiv says, and moscow inventing a pretext for military intervention. in recent days, thousands of civilians from the separatist republics have been evacuated to russia. moscow's been accused of using these people as political pawns. many here are confused and frightened by what's been happening. the geopolitical consequences of vladimir putin's decision are not their priority. fireworks tonight, in the rebel republics russia has recognised, celebrations.

but elsewhere in ukraine and in the west, deep concern that moscow may now move its forces openly into eastern ukraine, and that the kremlin is set on a major escalation. ukraine's president zelenskiy summoned his cabinet on hearing mr putin's announcement. they discussed the situation. ukraine has consistently said it does not recognise what it considers to be the seizure of its territory around lu ha nsk and donetsk. our chief international correrspondent lyse doucet is in kyiv — and she gave us this reaction to president putin's speech: this was watched around the world. yes, there was a domestic audience who saw the national security chief, intelligence chief trembling and stammering in front of president putin when he called them to ask for their opinions. and it was clear he only wanted to hear, what he

already recognise the two rebel republics they described, we believe it was prerecorded in those translations. in the fact that there was those translations. this was for the world to see and for the ukraine to see, as well. the only woman of the national security council talking about, very emotionally, perhaps she does believe that given what russia has been hearing on russian television, but the genocide in these areas, notjust to russian—speaking ukrainians, but it hundred ukrainians, but hundreds of thousand of russians live in those rebel held republics that have not been recognised as russian and some of them have only received russian passports in recent years and just judging from the reactions on social media by ukrainian politicians and members of society, they have described described this as dangerous and a declaration of war. steve fish is a politics

professor at the university of california, berkeley. he told me monday's development�*s have made putin's intentions clear. well, the mask is off today, isn't it? many of the west hope that all vladimir putin really wanted was security assurances that the uk would notjoin nato. that's always been a hollow hope. ukraine is part of russia. all of ukrainian territories part of russia and vladimir putin has to spend talking this way for some time for the last decade, he's been talking about the russian world, which kind of encompasses the ukraine and other territories of the russian empire and the soviet union. he's been talking about historic russia and seen the rush as a right all of the territory which includes finland and other places. and, the mask is often it's clear what he wants and he wants to take over the ukraine. we have to understand in the west, that for vladimir to understand in the west, that foeradimir putin, to understand in the west, that for vladimir putin, russia without ukraine is like the united states without new

england or the plane states in the united states. it doesn't even exist. this is his career long goal. this is what he's been waiting to get to. just a “uminu been waiting to get to. just a jumping on — been waiting to get to. just a jumping on that _ been waiting to get to. just a jumping on that point. - been waiting to get to. just a jumping on that point. for. been waiting to get to. just a i jumping on that point. for many people in the audience, double elicit some degree of surprise and shock. but does it stop with luhansk and donetsk? what is next if you can indeed think about the future game plan for vladimir putin?— vladimir putin? vladimir putin ossible vladimir putin? vladimir putin possible future _ vladimir putin? vladimir putin possible future game - vladimir putin? vladimir putin possible future game plans . vladimir putin? vladimir putin possible future game plans to| possible future game plans to take back the ukraine, he may do it in small steps but he has made it clear that is going to go beyond luhansk and donetsk, he has basically moved russian troops into these areas and to go beyond luhansk and donetsk, he has basically moved russian troops into these areas and declare them independent. and basically annexed them. and our sanctions have not been adequate. if you would back it over recent years, vladimir putin has never paid a big price for the sanctions, for

the relentless attacks on western democracy, he has never paid a big price. the question of the sanction is, with the actually threatens vladimir putin's power of? in the united states the western alliance limit themselves to financial sanctions on particular oligarchs and limiting their acceptance to credit, it could be inadequate because putin is motivated enough to to push forward despite the sanctions. the west is to be taking threatening actions that actually threatens vladimir putin's power.— actually threatens vladimir putin'sower. ., , , , putin's power. what is the best ossible putin's power. what is the best possible avenue _ putin's power. what is the best possible avenue out _ putin's power. what is the best possible avenue out of - putin's power. what is the best possible avenue out of this - possible avenue out of this crisis if sanctions will not work with shallow sanctions can work, theyjust have to be very strong in the can'tjust be limited economic sanctions stop that include sanctions that would threaten vladimir putin's hold on power.— would threaten vladimir putin's hold on power. threatening him and beginning — hold on power. threatening him and beginning the _ hold on power. threatening him and beginning the process - hold on power. threatening him and beginning the process of. and beginning the process of peeling away some of his oligarchs were losing money in a big way right now and trying to get them to defect and join

us, supporting the opposition and making it clear that we're going to support ukraine's resistance for a decade or more if necessary, these are the things of 20 vladimir putin's attention rather than just financial sanctions. attention rather than 'ust financial sanctions. where did we no financial sanctions. where did we go from — financial sanctions. where did we go from your? _ financial sanctions. where did we go from your? is - financial sanctions. where did we go from your? is there - financial sanctions. where did | we go from your? is there any more room for diplomacy and talking, given the escalation that we're seeing right now? no, i don't think there is. i think the key now is the unity of the western alliance, its willingness to stick with ukraine. and this is about so much more than the ukraine. but we see is a very more fair for collation coming through, and for some years, —— verification. vladimir putin allying with xijinping in china, the brazilian president, prime minister of hungary, all of the forces of dictatorship and would be dictators lining up and would be dictators lining up on one side very clearly in the forces of democracy and

attempts to preserve the postwar international order which is guaranteed peace for 75 years in europe on the other side. it is no longer unclear what is going on here in the west has to be ready to face this challenge and the whole world of democracy has to be ready to face this challenge as a threat to global democracy, notjust a conflict over control of the ukraine. a container that shares in australia have opened almost a percent lower as a result of that reaction in oil prices which have been following this crisis very carefully receiving prices jump on concerns of future escalation and what kind of impact that might have on demand and supply of global

energy markets. we will keep you up—to—date as investors in this part of the world do not start waking up and start digesting what this means in terms of geopolitical tensions so, do stay tuned for that. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the launch of donald trump's new social media app has suffered technical problems. users have complained about not being able to register. truth social became available in apple's "app store" on sunday. the former president was banned from most mainstream platforms following the capitol riot last year. one of australia's most wanted men will appear in court on tuesday — a day after being recaptured having spent twelve years on the run. gene potter failed to appear in court in 2010, to face charges of conspiracy to murder. he now faces extradition from queensland to victoria, to stand trial. a 700 kilo stone statue known as maoi tau is being returned to easter island by the chilean government 150 years after it was expropriated

by scientists and adventurers. the stone — was carved by polynesian settlers over 500 years ago. members of the rapa nui indigenous community held a traditional ceremony outside the museum to mark the start of itsjourney home. they have previously demanded the return of all statues taken from easter island to myanmar now, because four days of hearings have opened at the international court ofjustice — into allegations that the government of myanmar committed genocide against the muslim rohingya minority. this was the scene in the dutch city of the hague, outside the the international court ofjustice, or icj, the mainjudicial body of the united nations — where human rights groups staged protests. myanmar�*s national unity government — that's a self—declared government in exile, set up after the military coup — said it would be a profound injustice if myanmar�*s generals were given a voice in court.

it's very sad and disappointing that the icj with the other institutions have approved thejunta, these are the perpetrators conductors who appointed the genocide. myanmar�*s military government has hit out at the genocide case brought against it. a lawyer representing the country said that the gambia — which was the country which brought the case — does not have the legal right to do so. myanmar contends that the relevant facts are clear. as to the law, it cannot be possible for an international organisation to bring a case before the court by using a state as proxy applicant. the gambia have not provided substantive response that contention.

if you want to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. if you recognise this iconic dress, we will tell you how you can dress up like the material girl herself. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed the lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos�* sanctuary, malacanang, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world - that the winner of best film was la la land. _

the only trouble was it wasn't. the mistake was only put right in the middle of gushing - speeches by the team behind the modern musical. - not for 20 years have locusts been seen in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope. very soon, for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. this is newsday on the bbc. singapore. 0ur headlines russian president vladimir putin says he will recognise two breakaway regions of east ukraine and he's sending troops there. the un secretary general describes the russian move as a blatant violation of international law and the un

security council is meeting in the next few hours. all covid restrictions in england will end in three days' time. the prime minister boris johnson says it's a move away from government measures, towards a policy of personal responsibility, but some nhs leaders say it would be �*very premature' to see this as some kind of permanent victory over the virus. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg: now and then. the empty streets and silence of early lockdown. today millions of workers heading back to their desks, replacing the ghosts of empty offices before. the first vaccine, a modern miracle. applause jabs in almost every arm now. good evening. a prime minister back then with an emergency instruction. you must stay at home. today, the laws which governed our behaviour swept away. we will remove all remaining domestic restrictions in law.

so, from this thursday, if you test positive in england it won't be law to stay at home. from april, only the most vulnerable will get free covid tests but there will be another booster vaccine for the elderly and those at risk. mr speaker, it is time that we got our confidence back. we don't lead laws to compel people to be considerate we don't need laws to compel people to be considerate to others, so let us learn to live with this virus. minister, is it too soon to be relaxing restrictions? but covid has never been straightforward. ministers turned up this morning to finalise the details. why is the cabinet minister cancelled, minister? why is the cabinet meeting cancelled, minister? but they were sent away within minutes, the meeting cancelled because the treasury and department of health were still haggling over how much to keep spending on covid tests. ammunition for the opposition. all we've got today is yet more chaos and disarray.

not enough to prepare us for the new variants which may yet develop, an approach which seems to think that living with covid means simply ignoring it. this morning, he couldn't even persuade his own health secretary to agree the plan. northern ireland has already scrapped its legal restrictions, but scotland and wales are sticking for now and there is concern about the prime minister's moves. this statement is not- about protecting the public, it's about the prime minister scrambling _ to save his own skin. first and foremost, removing the legal rules will make many practical differences, but it is also the end of a strange and stressful era in england at least, when politicians have passed laws that dictated so many aspects of our lives. for borisjohnson it is, in a way, a welcome relief to satisfy those in his party who believe that the restrictions have been in place for too long and have been too tight. but the pandemic is not over and loosening up

is not without risk. listen to the prime minister's sentiment tonight. i do believe this is a moment of pride for our nation. then his top doctors' caution. we still have high rates of omicron and i would urge people in terms of public health advice, this is very much the government's position, that people should still, if they have covid, try to prevent other people getting it and that means self—isolating. you are scrapping free tests for all, but you are telling . everybody they have to take personal- responsibility. everybody they have to take personal responsibility. - how can people take personal responsibility if they may notl be able to afford to get a covid test? _ vulnerable people will continue to have access to free tests. we are going to make sure we invest in surveillance because we want to have the keenest pair of eyes in the crow's nest to watch for the iceberg in the form of any variant. the virus is still present, even in windsor castle, where the 95—year—old queen

herself has covid with mild symptoms. another stop on this agonising nationaljourney, that rarest of moments where every single one of us has been affected. and yet while the laws are loosening, the pandemic has not yet gone and is certainly not forgotten. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. hong kong's healthcare system has been overwhelmed by a huge surge in covid—i9 cases. officials have warned of even tougher social—distancing rules ahead and placed the city on "full—on war mode" against covid. the government will launch a controversial "vaccine passport" on thursday that allows only inoculated people to enter places such as supermarkets. for more on this i am joined now by dr. siddharth sridhar, a clinical virologist at hku — hejoins me now from hong kong.

i know you have been very busy attending to patients in the midst of this crisis. just talk us through with the situation is like on the ground now in hong kong. we is like on the ground now in hong kong-— is like on the ground now in hong kong. we are pressing ourselves — hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for— hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for a _ hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for a very - hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for a very big - hong kong. we are pressing ourselves for a very big fifth | ourselves for a very big fifth wave and cases are exponentially rising as of now and we expect the cases to and about late month of march or april. and so, its place a lot of stress on emergency departments in the territory and we expect that over time, it's also going to spill over to effecting inpatient bed and care facilities as well. doctor, there have been images that we have seen from hong kong of overflowing hospitals and people unable to get better as you just described there. has the hospital system be able to cope and how much pressure as a vendor at the moment? hang as a vendor at the moment? hong kona has as a vendor at the moment? hong

kong has always — as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always stuck _ as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always stuck to - as a vendor at the moment? hong kong has always stuck to zero - kong has always stuck to zero covid—i9, so we have always striven to zero community transmission and all of a sudden, we've had thousands of cases every day and release for the first few weeks, it is normal for people to panic because in their eyes, covid—i9 is life—threatening and something that they've read about in the news for the last two years and something that requires medical attention and so, a lot of people with mild covid—i9 reason asymptomatic covid—i9 reason asymptomatic covid—i9 were flocking to the departments and the result in some of the images that beamed around the world in terms of emergency departments face a lot of stress from people with milder symptoms. lot of stress from people with mildersymptoms. but lot of stress from people with milder symptoms. but that's going to change. motor symptoms, patients with motor symptoms, patients with motor symptoms may continue to stay at home, but what they're going to see is a lot of severe covid—i9 in our elderly population that is pretty low vaccination rates and that is going to be a real test of the

health care system and being able to cope with all of these patients with severe covid—i9, that's going to be the big challenge march or april. figs challenge march or april. as ou challenge march or april. as you pointed out, the elderly population is not is vaccinated as well as others. and how does the government get these people vaccinated was shallow we have launched a campaign for nearly a year now and the problem is, we are the victims of our own success because we kept cases sold on the territory that people did not see covid—i9 as a threat. it was a part of their lives as it is in other parts of the world. given that is seen such a distant threat and in general, electing to go out and get the vaccination, it's the younger age groups and the prevailing misconception among the elderly that covid—i9 vaccines are somehow dangerous for people with chronic medical

conditions, which cannot be further from the truth. but this misconception - further from the truth. pm this misconception is kept people with getting vaccines despite the best efforts of the government and local experts as well. so, that is changing now because of the surging cases and people are lining up to get jabs. and finally — madonna fans should definitely be checking their bank balance because the entire outfit she wore in the �*material girl�* video is going under the hammer in may as part of the music icons auction in california. wendy urquhart, bbc news. the entire ensemble has

bracelets and is expected to sell from between 102 hundred and $200,000. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. hello. the weather is looking a little calmer and quieter for the rest of this week. no new named storms, but still some wet and windy weather at times. and of course we�*ve got the legacy of all those storms, still some flooding. this is the picture in shrewsbury in shropshire. and it�*s really through the rest of the day, we�*re going to be continuing to see flood warnings in force, particularly across england and wales. there�*s also been a few for scotland as well. now, all down to the fact that we have got another band of rain approaching from the north—west, so some of that rain�*s going to be falling on areas that really could do without it. still quite a lot of isobars on the map, so it�*s going to be another breezy day on tuesday, but certainly not those disruptive winds that we�*ve seen recently. to start the day, it�*ll be coldest towards the east. that�*s where we will have had the clearest skies

for longest overnight, but rain already across northern ireland and scotland. could be quite heavy through tuesday morning with some blustery winds. that sweeps across northern england into wales, too, and then it will tend to become quite light and patchy as it reaches the south east later in the day. it�*ll be followed by sunshine and showers. some of those showers wintry over the higher ground of scotland, and gusts of wind around about a0 mph for some of us. so, another fairly cool—feeling day across scotland and northern ireland where you�*re exposed to the windier conditions, too. but reasonably mild still further south and east. temperatures about 13 degrees, but turning colder behind that cold front as it sweeps eastwards. now, overnight, then, we�*re in that colder air mass and lighter winds and clearer spells, too, so that�*s the recipe for quite a chilly night as we head into the early hours of wednesday. could be a touch of frost, particularly across england and wales. it will cloud over a bit from the north, bringing some rain across northern parts of scotland as we start the day. so, after that fairly cool, but mostly dry start

towards the south at least, what we will see is this weather frontjust making inroads into scotland and northern ireland, so trying to push in. bumping into higher pressure further south. so, that will bring outbreaks of rain, perhaps a bit of mountain snow to scotland, later in the day into northern ireland, perhaps a few showers in the far north west of england later on. but for much of england and wales, thankfully we�*re looking at a drier day on wednesday. some sunshine around, temperatures around about 10—11 degrees in the south, but to the north of that cold front, only around about seven degrees there for stornoway for instance. and then we�*re looking at a colder day more widely on thursday with some blustery showers, anotherfairly windy—feeling day, but thankfully things looking a little bit warmer, drier and brighter by the time we get to friday. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. hello, and welcome to hardtalk, i�*m shaun ley. a weekend of diplomacy, late—night phone calls, a breakthrough in the early hours — a us—russia summit is now in the offing. just how far isjoe biden willing to go to avoid war in europe? washington and its nato allies can�*t agree on sanctions, and they won�*t fight. adam smith is chairman

of the armed services committee in the us congress.