welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... nato warns that russian troops are heading for eastern ukraine. we report from the frontline — where ukrainians are preparing for an invasion. the troops here say they have been fighting a long war against russian backed separatist. they know president putin may now send more forces. the us and europe responds with industial and financial sanctions — and universal criticism of russia's aggression. who in the lords name does putin think gives him the right to declare new so—called countries on territory that belong to his neighbours?

a us jury finds three white men who murdered a black jogger, ahmaud arbery — guilty of federal hate crimes. ahmaud will continue to rest in peace but he will now begin to rest and power. in other news — we have a special report from hong kong where the government has ordered compulsory testing for coronavirus. and — piecing together the huge wingspan of a giant flying dinosaur — a new discovery suggests they may have been far bigger than we thought. hello and welcome to the programme. russia has been dealt

a wave of new economic and financial sanctions — as the west tries to head off a military invasion of ukraine. nato says there's evidence that russian troops are moving towards areas of eastern ukraine. president biden has accused russia of a clear violation of international law and announced new financial sanctions. vladimir putin ordered russian troops to be sent to eastern ukraine after recognising these regions, held by pro—russian rebels — donestk and luhansk. the areas highlighted in grey, are zones already controlled by russian—backed rebels. our first report is from orla guerin in eastern ukraine. a glimpse of the fire power today. close to the border with ukraine. if president putin forces cross that line, which will come as no surprise, many in ukraine will be bracing for the worst. many in ukraine will be

bracing for the worst. on the front lines here in zolote, target practice president putin he has his eye on ukraine. the world is watching and waiting for his next move. they know all about waiting here. yevgen has been in the trenches for seven long years, fighting kremlin—backed rebels, trying to keep moscow off ukrainian soil. "russia is rotten," he tells me. "and ukraine must blossom. "that's why i'm here. "i want my wife and my daughter to live in peace and quiet. well, we've just started hearing some shelling in the last few minutes. the troops here say they have been fighting a long war against russian—backed separatists. they know that president putin

may now send more forces and the question is, if his troops arrive, how far will they go, how much of ukraine will he try to take? troops here tell me russian forces are already in the separatist areas, and have been for years. now that president putin has officially recognised the breakaway enclaves, he can openly send in more. translation: now we can hear the shelling continue. _ this artillery. we are already prepared. everybody knows what to do in any situation. you just have to follow your orders. for you here on the ground, does anything change now? translation: absolutely no changes, except - more maturation to do what we do on a professional level. we are standing

herejust for this. the state funeral for a fallen soldier, captain anton sidorov. the father of three daughters was killed by shelling on saturday. he had been fighting pro—moscow rebels since war broke out in the east in 2014. on the other side of the front lines last night, celebrations in the separatist enclave of donetsk after the self—proclaimed republic, which is part of ukraine, was recognised by moscow. the reverberations may be felt for years. the reverberations may be felt for years. orla guerin, bbc news, eastern ukraine. in the russian media, there's been universal praise for president putin's latest moves and his case for denying ukraine's basic right to exist as an independent country.

he announced his decision to deploy troops late monday but 2a hours later — it's still not clear if any troops have arrived in the two breakaway regions. our correspoindent steve rosenberg reports from moscow. russia's parliament rubber—stamping for permission for russian troops to go into eastern ukraine. when they voted, it was no surprise, a unanimous yes. 0. the president. letter mya putin continues to keep everyone guessing about his plans but this sounded like an ultimatum. translation: the best solution would be for the authorities in kyiv to give up their ambition tojoin nato and adopt neutrality. but if our so—called partners pump ukraine full of modern weapons a solution will become impossible. so the most important thing is that ukraine

should demilitarised.— should demilitarised. down at the russian _ should demilitarised. down at the russian foreign _ should demilitarised. down at the russian foreign ministry | should demilitarised. down at i the russian foreign ministry we detected little desire for compromise and much irritation at the latest round of western sanctions imposed on moscow. translation: these sanctions are illegal. we understood long a-o are illegal. we understood long ago that— are illegal. we understood long ago that this is the only tool the west has to use against us, to containers. but the west has to use against us, to containers.— to containers. but this russia did not care _ to containers. but this russia did not care that _ to containers. but this russia did not care that its _ did not care that its international reputation in the west is getting lower and lower in your country is seen increasingly as an aggressor? translation: to chew, you are inventing — translation: to chew, you are inventing this reputation. because of your actions. translation: you are inventing this reputation for us but the west— this reputation for us but the west reputation is covered in blood — west reputation is covered in blood in_ west reputation is covered in blood. �* , ., ,

west reputation is covered in blood. m ., , ., west reputation is covered in blood. �* , ., , ., ., blood. a shining example of how differently moscow _ blood. a shining example of how differently moscow views - blood. a shining example of how differently moscow views the - differently moscow views the world. the russian authorities, russia's side of a western criticism, to claim not to care about sanctions. but this country is facing growing international isolation over the ukraine crisis. for now, it is a consequence moscow seems willing to accept. and the russian people, geopolitical tension is fuelling fear of conflict for stop translation: we should be worried that all of this could spin out of control, he says.- of this could spin out of control, he says. it's very serious- _ control, he says. it's very serious. of _ control, he says. it's very serious. of course - control, he says. it's very serious. of course i'm - control, he says. it's very - serious. of course i'm nervous we have sons. _ serious. of course i'm nervous we have sons, husbands, - serious. of course i'm nervous we have sons, husbands, i - serious. of course i'm nervous i we have sons, husbands, i don't want that to be war she says. russians are hoping that those leaders that take the decisions will take the right ones. let's take a moment to see some of the

sanctions for the president biting out some sanctions against two large russian banks while limiting sanctions to financial systems. while limiting sanctions to financialsystems. but while limiting sanctions to financial systems. but the white house stressed there were more sanctions in reserve if needed. germany has suspended north stream to which would've doubled the flow of russian gas to germany. and borisjohnson said uk sanctions would be imposed on five russian banks and three russian individuals. so first but since he hair from president biden who announced that first wave of sanctions. this is the beginning of russian and to begin to impose sanctions — russian and to begin to impose sanctions and response far beyond _ sanctions and response far beyond the steps we and our allies— beyond the steps we and our allies and partners implemented in 2014 — allies and partners implemented in 2014. and if russia goes further_ in 2014. and if russia goes further with this invasion we stamp — further with this invasion we stamp prepared to go further as with sanctions. who in the lords _ with sanctions. who in the

lords name does putin think gives— lords name does putin think gives him _ lords name does putin think gives him the right to declare new— gives him the right to declare new so—called countries on territory _ new so—called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbours? this is a flagrant violation _ neighbours? this is a flagrant violation of international law that— violation of international law that demands a firm response of the international community. this is the first tranche, the first barrage we are prepared to do. and we hold further sanctions at readiness to be deployed alongside the united states and the european union if the situation escalates still further. i've been speaking to dr sara meger — a lecturer in international relations at the university of melbourne and i asked her if there's still any room for diplomacy. iremain i remain hopeful that there is a possibility. it would require that the west being able to put

nato on the negotiation table. and so far most western countries have taken the perspective that this would be a capitulation to russia's show of force and something they are just not willing to do. for putin it's about saving face, i believe. there's a lot of ego on the line now. and a strong desire to recalibrate the security apparatus in europe. and so to him i think it would be a sit down talk with biden and other western leaders and specifically on the nato question that would perhaps de—escalate theirs. question that would perhaps de-escalate theirs.- question that would perhaps de-escalate theirs. against the backdro - de-escalate theirs. against the backdron of _ de-escalate theirs. against the backdrop of these _ de-escalate theirs. against the backdrop of these tensions - de-escalate theirs. against the backdrop of these tensions are | backdrop of these tensions are even more sanctions. sanctions that are designed to hit at the russian financial system, at the wallets of russian oligarchs, frankly. will these work? they _ oligarchs, frankly. will these work? they are _ oligarchs, frankly. will these work? they are going - oligarchs, frankly. will these work? they are going to - oligarchs, frankly. will these | work? they are going to have oligarchs, frankly. will these i work? they are going to have a massive impact on russia, definitely. they are quite strong financial sanctions.

it's not everything that the west has at their disposal and i think we can anticipate even harsher sanctions to calm. which will have an impact domestically on prudence domestically on prudence domestic levels of support. —— putin. what is doing right now is what we call a two level game. he is appealing both to his domestic audience and try to appear quite strong against what they see as western aggression or western security threats to russia. as well as signalling to the international order about how important they take this nato question and russian security. so i think that loss of domestic support that loss of domestic support that could come from economic sanctions could have a real impact. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet — is in the capital kyiv.

this crisis in ukraine has whipped up a storm that is gone right around the world. here in kyiv, look at the stunning skyline behind me, the mood is calm, strangely calm. but last night around this time when president putin had just given his speech in which he basically said that ukraine was a fake country and shouldn't exist, i heard ukrainian friends, ukrainian politicians using the word terrified for the first time, terrified of what could lie ahead. and today began as it often does with president zelensky saying to the west, what are you waiting for her to take action? russian aggression is already here. and now tonight a ukrainian politicians are looking at the fine details of those sections that are being imposed and one country after the other. president zelensky has called up president zelensky has called up reservist saying it's not a general mobilisation, just for

a special period, he says, holding out the hope that diplomacy can prevail. and ukrainians well, for many weeks now many have been packing a bag just in case, learning how to shoot a gun, just in case, some have moved houses. but for the most part ukrainians are staying put and saying that if it comes to it and they hope it doesn't, they will fight. because perhaps their neighbour, president putin describing their country as a fake country has reminded ukrainians does how ukrainian they are. much more on this story from us online, we have a special live page on our website — that's bbc.com/news — or you can download the bbc app. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the world health organisation and unicef,

have accused formula baby milk producers of unethical marketing practices. in a new report, they say the aggressive promotion of formula milk is in breach of international commitments to protect breastfeeding. the queen has cancelled her planned virtual engagements due to mild coronavirus symptoms. buckingham palace said she would continue with light duties, after testing postive for covid on sunday. she's currently isolating at windsor castle after testing positive on sunday. the women's national football team in the united states has reached a landmark settlement with the sport's american governing body over equal pay. the players will share $22 million in back pay. if you wanyt to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... a new discovery suggests

the wingspan of a giant flying dinosaur may have been far bigger than we thought. 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. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines. nato reports that russian troops are heading for eastern ukraine — as the west announces sanctions against moscow. a us jury finds three white men who murdered a black jogger, ahmaud arbery — guilty of federal hate crimes. the three defendants had already been sentenced to life that share the killing of marred artery in georgia.

this family feels a sense of justice having been achieved. a jury decided that the men who murdered ahmaud arbery did so because of his race. i knew ahmaud's hands were in this from the very beginning. amen. the way ahmaud left here, i knew we would get victory on the state level and in the federal level. i knew that from day one. it was two years ago that ahmaud arbery was chased through a neighbourhood in which he was running close to his home. he was ambushed and shot dead. but though the police knew who killed him, no one was arrested and charged for more than ten weeks and only after this video of what happened went viral. in a murder trial in november, father and son greg and travis mcmichael and their neighbour roddy bryant were found guilty of murder. now in a hate crimes trial, the evidence they exhibited a history of racism in the past, the killers' actions were deemed

racially motivated. the us attorney general said the only acceptable outcome would have been the victim returning safely to his loved ones two years ago. i cannot imagine the pain that a mother feels... . to have her son run. down and then gunned down while taking a jog on a public street. - my heart goes out tol her and to the family. there are still questions as to why it took a viral video at a national campaign to get ahmaud arbery�*s killlers is detained. without that, it's not hard to imagine that the justice of the family is thankful for, remaining elusive. to hong kong now — which has announced mandatory covid tests for all residents — with penalties for those who fail to comply.

the programme, which will begin in march, comes as the territory is struggling to cope with a sharp rise in infections. confirmed new cases are currently running at more than six thousand a day — with many vulnerable people not vaccinated. our correspondent danny vincent sent this report. heavy equipment preparing the ground for a makeshift field hospital, reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic in 2020. hong kong is rushing to deal with a surge in covid cases. 1000 new beds for those with severe symptoms will soon be available here. these were the scenes last week outside hong kong's public hospitals. more than 60% of the elderly are unvaccinated. critics say the authorities were blindsided by this new way. it's overwhelmed hospitals and even patients waiting long hours outdoors.

hong kong officially has a zero covid policy but the latest outbreak is pushing the health system close to breaking point. homes in the hong kong subdivided buildings were on average just three metres square in size. on the second floor of subdivided apartment this family are forced to live with covid. it takes effort to breathe i keep coughing intensely and my chest hurts. it makes it hard to breathe. i cough up in the morning. doctors say they need to wait three days before being hospitalised. before this latest outbreak even asymptomatic patients have quarantined for weeks. over the last two years hong kong of all but control the outbreak of covid—19. the authorities say it success is due in part to the use of the zero covid policy. now many are questioning if that policy is still working. china prides itself in strictly controlling the spread of the virus. in the mainland, the authorities implement city lockdowns.

president xi jinping has told hong kong officials they must take all necessary measures to protect residents. it's notjust the president decision, is it? it is a nationwide policy. it is a policy adopted by the country which is good for the well—being of the citizens. and i don't think it is open for anyone to say otherwise. beijing has sent on the ground support to help maintain the outbreak. hong kong officials say covid restrictions may further tighten to help bring the outbreak under control. let's turn to flying dinosaurs now — known as pterosaurs — they are often seen as some of the most spectacular creatures to have flown over the earth. but a new discovery suggests they may have been far bigger, far earlier than we thought.

fossils found in scotland, dating back 170 million years, suggest they had a wingspan bigger than a king size bed. our science correspondent victoria gill has the story. these look a little like they might be teeth. and it's pretty symmetrical. hidden in the rock for 170 million years, the teeth and bones of a jurassic reptile. after racing the tide to cut out the limestone that entombed their discovery, the team had a rockyjourney to bring it back to their lab. here, they've revealed the secrets of this isle of skye pterosaur that they've named dearc sgiathanach — gaelic for "winged reptile". i think it's a lot clearer if we put the head back on, so we removed the head to cat scan it, but we can put it right back there, join it up with the neck, and you can see the neck and it leads to a body. something like this preserved in 3d isjust a one in a billion thing. x—ray scans of the skull have revealed even more detail.

i'm holding a model of dearc sgiathanach. it's slightly smaller than the one we have in the fossil room, but it's more or less how the creature might have looked in real life. it has these enormous wing membranes. it also has this big tail, used as a flying rudder. we walked injurassic footprints when we visited the isle of skye with this same research team back in 2015. and you can see the toes. fossilised depressions left by giant sauropods, the biggest animals ever to walk the earth. and this fossil, the researchers say, is the largest pterosaur from that same period. this is the average size of a jurassic pterosaur skull. and this is dearc, the newly—discovered fossil from the isle of skye. the team's now sending it on anotherjourney, to the national museum of scotland, where it will eventually be put on display. it's a humble last trip on a pallet for a creature that's been buried since

the age of the dinosaurs. victoria gill, bbc news, in edinburgh. we live in troubled times — but one group in canada has found a pretty chilled way to unwind. they're braving the cold and the wind for a yoga class — surrounded by alpacas — trying to find their zen in the freezing caanadian winter. apparently it's about doing something that's good for your body, good for your mind and good for your spirit. not so much �*downward dog — you get the idea. the classes are held to raise money to keep the animals happy and healthy at their sanctuary. yogi's and alpacas in perfect harmony. it's never occurred to me to try that.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. some of us are still feeling the effects of the storms. we are flooding in places. how about the weather in the short term? well, it's not going to be a bad start to the day for many parts of england and wales. but for scotland, northern ireland and to an extent the very far north of england, it is going to be once again, a very blustery day on wednesday and it will turn progressively when to read through the day. it is still very active on the satellite picture here. these weather fronts across the atlantic racing our way. all of this, this is wintry weather, linked to this low pressure. a cold front is approaching but to the south, we are under the influence of a high—pressure here. so, clearerskies, lighter winds and through the early hours of the morning, a touch of ground frost at

the very least in rural areas. city centres itself won't be that cold, 6 degrees in plymouth, pretty nippy enough in birmingham at two celsius milder, slightly milder weather in the morning in the lowlands of scotland and northern ireland. now, here's the next low pressure that is coming in. a cold front behind it, we have wintry showers. the morning is going be pretty soggy in northern ireland and scotland come up with increasing winds and gale force winds and 60 mile an hour gusts, the weather will eventually go downhill in the far north of england too. particularly blustry in the northeast there in newcastle, but all the while there, new england and wales, not a bad day. increasingly through the afternoon and we will see winter showers in scotland and northern ireland to lower and lower levels. and then that takes us into wednesday night and thursday, that cold front crosses the country and therefore, we are all in the blustery, chilly stream of air from the north atlantic and you can see how frequent

the winter showers are across northern ireland. some showers could be wintry also across england and wales, maybe not the extreme south and in fact, if anything, thursday should be a decent enough day. single figure temperatures will certainly feel coldest and the northwest here. 5 degrees and you add on that gale force wind and you'll feel like it's barely above freezing. there is a hint of better weather on the way as high pressure builds on friday. i think that's going to be a very decent day and perhaps into the weekend, some of us could hold onto some that better weather. goodbye.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. colombians will elect a new president this year. amid a crowded field, one candidate has reason to view the coming campaign with mixed emotions. my guest today, ingrid betancourt was running for president 20 years ago when she was captured by farc guerrillas and held captive in the jungle for more than six years.