today at six, the british—iranian woman released in tehran last week says the uk government took far too long to get her freed. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe spoke at westminster today. she'd spent nearly six years in detention in iran until her release last week. how many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home? five? it should have been one of them eventually. so now, here we are. what's happened now should have happened six years ago. we'll have details of today's appearance, and we'll also have the latest on the conflict in ukraine. in the capital kyiv, more loss of life as the russians shell a residential area and a shopping centre. and from the devastated southern city of mariupol, families continue to flee — we report on their plight. nearly everyone who leaves mariupol in cars packed with families arrives

here with absolutely nothing at all. also today, chasing the illegal money lenders who tempt struggling households to borrow more. and how bits of old computers, mobile phones and tvs are being turned into gold. and coming up on the bbc news channel... the draw for the women's fa cup semi—finals takes place on sportsday after 6.30. the holders chelsea, arsenal, manchester city and west ham are all in the hat. good evening. in her first public appearance since she was released by iran last week nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has said it should never have taken the uk six years

to secure her freedom. speaking at a news conference at westminster the british—iranian national, who'd always denied charges of spying, said that the iranian authorities had told her they wanted "something from the brits" before she could be released. last week, the uk government settled a £400 million debt to iran dating back to the 19705, but britain and iran have claimed the two events are not linked. our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley reports. out of the darkness into the spotlight. forsix out of the darkness into the spotlight. for six long years she was silence, it was her husband who spoke for her, went on hunger strike for her. but today at last nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe today herself got to have her say. she began with some important psyches. my to have her say. she began with some important psyches-— important psyches. my amazing husband who — important psyches. my amazing husband who has _ important psyches. my amazing husband who has been - important psyches. my amazing | husband who has been tirelessly campaigning for me, and my daughter for being very patient with mummy to be coming home. i am so grateful.

nazanin flew home in the early hours of thursday morning along with another british national, anoosheh ashoori, after the uk paid a long overdue military debt. but she was not keen to give the government any credit today. i not keen to give the government any credit today-— credit today. i have seen five foreian credit today. i have seen five foreign secretaries _ credit today. i have seen five foreign secretaries change i credit today. i have seen five i foreign secretaries change over credit today. i have seen five - foreign secretaries change over the course of six years, that is unprecedented given the politics of the uk. i love you, richard, i respect whatever you believe, but i was told many, many times that, oh, we will get you home. that never happened, so there was a time that i felt like i am not going to trust you because i have been told many times that i will be taken home but that never happens. how many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home? five? it should have been one of them eventually, so now here we are. what has happened now should have happened six years ago. i always felt like i am holding this black hole in my heart all these years, but i am just going to leave

that black hole on the plane when the plane leaves. i am not going to live for the rest of my life with a grudge over the past six years. can i ask how you felt as she walked down the steps of that plane at brize norton? is it too early to say what the future now holds? it is very early _ what the future now holds? it is very early to — what the future now holds? it is very early to think— what the future now holds? it 3 very early to think what is going to happen next. that moment was precious. i had been waiting for that moment for such a long time and i was overwhelmed, specifically to get to know gabriella and richard after such a long time. it was a very, very emotional moment. but i don't know, we will see what happens in the future, it is too early for me to think about that. i am just enjoying it. it is very difficult for me to talk about what i have gone through and i would rather not answer the question. this moment is just coming back home and just enjoying it. it will always haunt me, there is no other way round it.

and nazanin�*s request that the daughter of british—born iranians was there as well. moran tahbaz is a 66—year—old wildlife conservationist serving a ten year term and they thought he was part of the deal that brought nazanin home. she made a direct appeal to the government. to the prime minister and the foreign secretary. — the prime minister and the foreign secretary, we beg you to please stand _ secretary, we beg you to please stand by— secretary, we beg you to please stand by your word and bring back both my— stand by your word and bring back both my parents, my father and my mother _ both my parents, my father and my mother i_ both my parents, my father and my mother. , ., ., mother. i believe the meaning of freedom is _ mother. i believe the meaning of freedom is never _ mother. i believe the meaning of freedom is never going _ mother. i believe the meaning of freedom is never going to - mother. i believe the meaning of freedom is never going to be - freedom is never going to be complete to such time all of us who are unjustly detained in iran are reunited, ourfamilies. her are unjustly detained in iran are reunited, our families.- reunited, our families. her own family will. _ reunited, our families. her own family will, she _ reunited, our families. her own family will, she made _ reunited, our families. her own family will, she made clear, - reunited, our families. her own l family will, she made clear, keep her grounded. family will, she made clear, keep her grounded-— family will, she made clear, keep her grounded. gabriella told me on the hone her grounded. gabriella told me on the phone that _ her grounded. gabriella told me on the phone that one _ her grounded. gabriella told me on the phone that one day, _ her grounded. gabriella told me on the phone that one day, mummy, l her grounded. gabriella told me on i the phone that one day, mummy, you do realise you are very famous and thenit do realise you are very famous and then it is me and then it is daddy. fine. i said, then it is me and then it is daddy. fine. isaid, 0k, it is not then it is me and then it is daddy. fine. i said, ok, it is not good to be famous because you want to have a

normal life. she was like, you will not be famous for ever, maximum a week. so we have been racing ourselves for a week of fame and then we will have a normal family. and with that she was off, to get on with her normal life. and with that she was off, to get on with her normal life. in ukraine, president zelensky has accused russia of committing war crimes in the southern port of mariupol where heavy fighting has reached the city centre. with more on that and the fighting in other parts of ukraine let's join my colleague ben brown in the city of lviv. good evening from lviv. in the last few minutes the ukrainian capital kyiv has come under a new night—time curfew. the city was hit by several large explosions last night. at least eight people are known to have died in those attacks. russian forces have been trying to encircle and cut off the capital, but large areas around kyiv are still under

ukrainian control, especially in the south. our international corresponding order gear and said this report. cctv cameras caught the russian attack that lit the night sky. in the darkness, emergency services pick their way through the ruins. from the rubble, hands emerge trembling, and a survivor is pulled to safety. but eight people were killed here in the latest attack on the capital. and this is what's left of the retroville shopping centre. there are indications that the ukrainian military had a presence here. well, you can see here that the scale of the destruction is absolutely immense and spread over a wide area, surrounded by apartment blocks. there could be a lot more of this ahead for kyiv. russian forces are not inside the city but they can hit

hard from the outside. how are you feeling about the future here now in kyiv? i don't know now, but i don't want to leave kyiv. you want to stay? it's my home. even though things are so dangerous now? i know, but dangerous in all ukraine, all cities. but the key city, the key target, is kyiv — and in the forests on the outskirts, its defenders are preparing for battle. gunfire. these territorial defence recruits... ..now training for urban combat. their instructor is a georgian who fought the russians during the war in his

homeland in 2008. the concern here is not that russia can surround or capture kyiv, but that it may avenge itself on the city. i'm not sure that they will be able to besiege kyiv, because we're a large city with a lot of defence, and it will be really hard to encircle it. but what i really am afraid is that out of weakness, out of despair, because they are losing this war, they will destroy it as much as possible — because of hate. then, time to get into position — behind the sniper sights. alex has been a hunter since boyhood. he is unflinching and unapologetic about his new wartime role, hunting the enemy. it's our motherland, and we must defend it. and in this case, i think it's no

difference between the animals which i try to shoot and the animals which come here to kill our people, kill our children, destroy our buildings and destroy our life. gunfire. what's ahead for ukrainian forces may be a war of attrition for the capital. defence officials in the uk expect russia to try to encircle the city in the coming weeks. 0rla guerin, bbc news, on the outskirts of kyiv. ukraine has rejected a russian deadline for its forces to stop fighting in the besieged port city of mariupol, saying there could be no question of soldiers laying down their arms. hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the southern city, which has been devastated by a relentless russian bombardment and has little food, water or power. meanwhile, the authorities

in ukraine's biggest port, 0desa, say russian naval forces in the black sea have shelled some residential buildings on the outskirts of the city. it's the first time buildings there have been hit. 0ur correspondent wyre davies has been speaking to families who have escaped mariupol to the city of dnipro. in recent days we've seen how cruel this conflict is. especially for children. but there is just occasionally kindness and humanity too. this community run centre in the central city of dnipro is the first point of safety and refuge for many victims of the war from across eastern ukraine, including mariupol. the city they left behind is in ruins. barely a building is left unscathed by russian shelling, and according to the city council 3000 civilians have been killed. many of them lie where they fell, others are hastily buried by neighbours.

a russian—imposed deadline for mariupol�*s defenders to surrender was ignored. so the shelling continues. some residents stay in makeshift shelters. those who can flee north. nearly everyone who leaves mariupol in cars packed with families arrives here with absolutely nothing at all. and it is to places like this they come, waiting patiently for the very basics, food, clothes, and medicines. children get hand—me—down toys. their mothers, the bare essentials. here they avoid talking too much about what people have gone through. it's too soon. it's also an effort dealing with so many desperate cases. translation: everything - that is brought here isn't funded by large corporations or budgets, it's from local people, and some from charities, but you can see how many people there are and what we have just isn't sufficient. in what was a school canteen, volunteers package our basic food

volunteers package up basic food parcels that will keep refugee families fed for a few days. for schoolteacher vadim it is his civic duty to be helping out. because i'm ukrainian, i must do what i can. this is myjob now. this is my front now. and if i can help people i must do it. some will stay in dnipro. for others it's the start of a long journey. as they escape to mariupol, some were told by russian soldiers to keep going as this city too would soon be under attack. we were driving out underfire, says 0lga. shells were exploding. they were bombing us and there were dead bodies everywhere. the un says there are 6.5 million displaced people inside ukraine alone. the city and this community are doing their part to make that transition less traumatic. wyre davies — bbc news — dnipro. lyse doucet, our chief international

correspondent, joins us from kyiv. elements on peace talks to stop the fighting? == elements on peace talks to stop the fiuuhtin? . , elements on peace talks to stop the fiuuhtin? . y , elements on peace talks to stop the fiuuhtin? . , , ., fighting? -- any developments. not surrisin: fighting? -- any developments. not surprising with _ surprising with the horrors unfolding every day that so many are trying to mediate an end to this conflict. every time there is reported progress we are asked if we are optimistic or pessimistic. the new work today is realistic. the israeli prime minister, one of the main negotiator is talking to both sides has admitted today that there are still wide gaps. but he did say that the russians had taken off the table the demand to replace president zelensky and also the demand to remove the ukrainian military and the ukrainians were realistic in taking the demand to join nato off the table. that word realism we also heard from the chief ukrainian negotiator. he spoke to the bbc�*s ukrainian service and said

the bbc�*s ukrainian service and said the russians were becoming more realistic. he thought it was because of the resistance being put up by the ukrainians. but he said the tough issues could only be resolved by a meeting between president zelensky and president putin. there is no sign of that yet. on thursday, it'll be one month since the start of the war here in ukraine, a month in which this country has already endured unimaginable suffering, that's all from me here in lviv, now back to huw in london. thanks, ben. as we've been hearing, heavy fighting is continuing around the ukrainian capital kyiv but the uk ministry of defence says that according to its analysis that russian advance there has stalled. 0ur correspondent gordon corera has put together this assessment of the russian tactics. russia's strategy has changed since the war began. when russian forces first invaded, they came in broadly on three fronts —

in the north, in the east and in the south. the aim was lightning strikes to try and seize key cities, but that failed. if we look at the capital kyiv, they've been trying to encircle the city. but it doesn't look like they've got the combat power to actually go in and take it. if we move to the south, we can see here that they've had more progress and this city, mariupol, has been hard fought over. you can see its strategic importance in connecting up russian territory. that has led to siege tactics and scenes of terrible devastation. russia's shift means more use of missiles and artillery to pound cities from a distance. the concern is its tactics will become more aggressive, using systems like these thermobaric rockets. over the weekend, it said it used hypersonic missile, seen here being tested.

it flies five times the speed of sound. that was likely to remind the rest of the world that for all their problems, russia still has advanced weapons to deploy. meanwhile, the west is continuing to support the ukrainian resistance. today, the uk's ministry of defence showed off some of the air defence systems they are sending to the country to try to prevent the russians gaining full control of the skies. another shift we've seen is russia expand its attacks to the west of the country, launching missile strikes against infrastructure around lviv. may well be partly about stopping supplies getting into the country. all of this makes it look like we are moving to a war of attrition in which russia tries to pound the cities and do as much damage as it can against ukrainian military, while the west tries to support it.

but all suggests we can be in for the long haul which would mean significant casualties, many them civilian. as russia puts more pressure on ukraine, the authorities in moscow are only too aware of the economic and financial pressure being felt by millions of russians. live to moscow and our russia editor steve rosenberg. tell editor steve rosenberg. us about the impact of th! sanctions. tell us about the impact of these sanctions. ., . ., , . , sanctions. one of the consequences of western sanctions _ sanctions. one of the consequences of western sanctions is _ sanctions. one of the consequences of western sanctions is here - sanctions. one of the consequences of western sanctions is here in - sanctions. one of the consequences of western sanctions is here in the l of western sanctions is here in the population here that a deep recession lies ahead. russians can see that prices are rising, they are worried by inflation, they are worried by inflation, they are worried by inflation, they are worried by unemployment. what they do? they go down to the shops and buy all the essentials. the result, sugar has sold out, it's difficult to find sugar right now. and a lot of supermarkets are now limiting the sale of certain foodstuffs like vegetable oil and flour and salt.

today, the deputy prime minister said don't panic buy, we've got everything we need, we've got all the sugar, buckwheat, don't panic. the trouble is that when a russian official says don't panic, the sceptical public tends to panic. thank you. the time is 6:19. our top story this evening. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, held for six years in iran, says it should never have taken the government so long to secure her release. and coming up — the spring covid boosterjab programme launches for the over—75s and those with high risk in england. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel, france win the six nations for the first time in 12 years — but what will another poor finish in the table mean for england and eddie jones?

the sharply rising cost of living could push more households into the hands of illegal money lenders, according to a new study. the research organisation the centre for socialjustice estimates there could be more than a million people in england currently borrowing from so—called loan sharks. it suggests many who turn to illegal lenders are on welfare benefits and have—long term health conditions, as our social affairs editor alison holt reports. 7:30 in the morning — and police officers are on their way to arrest a suspected illegal moneylender, a largely hidden crime but one which preys on desperate people. the operation is led by the illegal money lending team. they track down loan sharks who lend money at eye watering levels of interest, leaving some owing thousands of pounds. i'm an investigator with what they call the illegal money lending team. come and have a seat a second, please. offices are now inside carrying out a detailed search. they're looking for cash,

credit cards, documents, anything that might be evidence of illegal money lending. there are no precise figures, but today's report estimates there could be a million people in england currently in hock to someone lending money illegally. and if they can't keep up with the spiralling repayments, the threats start. we've seen some loan sharks will use psychological coercion such as sending a picture of your front door to say they're outside. we've even seen loan sharks that have carried out violence, we've seen loan sharks that have kidnapped individuals. she knew my exact payday, she was there in the morning. kim — who doesn't want to be identified — and her partner both work, but needed a loan to get them through a bad patch. soon, half her monthly pay packet was going to the loan shark. she was asking us to post it through her letterbox, it was the constant messages.

either way, she was getting her money because the pressure would then be piled on. how difficult was it to get out of this once you had started the loans? you can't, really. unless somebody waved a magic wand and gave you a pot of money to pay it off, you can't. it'sjust endless. researchers say the rising cost of living is putting more people under financial pressure. most who take out illegal loans already have very little money coming in. about three quarters find themselves on some kind of benefit to, and an awful lot have a disability, physical health problem or a mental health problem. and that can mean that what we're dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in our country, who then get taken advantage of. the report calls for tougher penalties for loan sharks and alternative places where people with poor credit ratings can borrow without being exploited. alison holt, bbc news. in southern china, more than 130 people are feared dead

after a passenger plane crashed in a mountainous area. urgent efforts are under way to find out why the aircraft went down near the city of wuzhou. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing. do we know more about the circumstances?— do we know more about the circumstances? ,. ., , circumstances? the rescue teams in the mountains _ circumstances? the rescue teams in the mountains of _ circumstances? the rescue teams in the mountains of guangxi _ circumstances? the rescue teams in the mountains of guangxi are - the mountains of guangxi are describing the complete obliteration of the plane when it crashed, which could make getting to the bottom of this very difficult. this has really unsettled the people of china, who have frankly taken air safety for granted. xijinping called on investigators to try as quickly as possible to discover what caused this incident, hoping there isn't another crash just around the corner and just to make sure, china eastern entire fleet of 737—8005 had been

grounded. people at the airport waiting for news of their loved ones on board but i think they know they are not coming home.— are not coming home. many thanks aaain for are not coming home. many thanks again for the _ are not coming home. many thanks again for the update. _ at the old bailey, a court has heard that a man accused of murdering the conservative mp sir david amess had also carried out reconnaissance on other potential targets, including cabinet minister michael gove. sir david, the mp for southend west, was stabbed to death in his essex constituency last october. the jury heard that ali harbi ali, described by the prosecution as a "radicalised islamist terrorist", had attacked sir david in an "assassination for terrorist purposes". the 26—year—old denies murder and preparing acts of terrorism. the metropolitan police say it has begun the process of interviewing witnesses about the so—called "partygate" allegations of gatherings in downing street that allegedly broke covid rules. the met says it has yet to issue any fixed penalty fines,

but confirmed it has sent out over 100 questionnaires to people thought to have attended events. from today, physical punishment of children is illegal in wales. anyone who smacks a child in their care could be arrested and prosecuted for assault. the first minister of wales mark drakeford said it was an historic legislative achievement. but critics claim the new law was pushed through "by those who think they know better than parents." scotland became the first uk nation to make smacking illegal in november 2020. many vulnerable people in england, including the over—75s and care home residents, can book an additional covid booster jab from today. official figures show infection rates are rising in all age groups, including the over—705. spring boosters are already being rolled out in wales — and in scotland, where there's a record number of people in hospital with covid. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh is here.

how is this roll—out going to work? people will be contacted by the nhs and can book online or by phone and 75,000 people today in england did that. 0ver7 75,000 people today in england did that. over 7 million people are eligible for the booster across the uk, six months after their lastjab, including half a million immunosuppressed people. this will help to top up the very strong protection that vaccines given against severe disease but it does wane over time. and we are in the grip of a big wave of 0micron. cases of covid have been rising for the past month, around 100,000 a day are being recorded but the true total is higher. what matters is the impact on hospitals and admissions there are rising. scotland now has the highest number of covid cases than at any time in the pandemic, but crucially, it may be half or more will be admitted with something else

and very few covid patients are ending up in intensive care. we now have effective treatments and covid deaths are about 1/12 of the level we saw at the peak last winter. understandably, people are keen to know how we compare with other countries, especially other european countries, especially other european countries, what would you say? pretty similar across europe. europe is still in the grip of micron, driven by dismal infectious sub variant ba2. it comes at a time when europe has been lifting restrictions on countries, there has been more mixing, giving the opportunity for it to spread. at some point, the 0micron wave will subside but it's a reminder that covid is very much still with us.— every year, millions of tonnes of electronic waste in the form of old computers, mobile phones and tvs are thrown away, despite the loss of some valuable components,

especially circuit boards which contain gold and other precious metals. the royal mint in llantrisant has introduced a pioneering technology, which it says will make a big impact on one of the greatest environmental challenges — as our science editor rebecca morelle reports. it's a problem that's piling up — the electronic waste that we're throwing away. but for the royal mint, this isn't rubbish — it's a precious resource. they're taking the circuit boards from laptops and phones and placing them in a secret solution. over a series of steps, chemicals extract what's inside. what comes out is this brown powder. it's then heated for 30 minutes at more than 1,000 degrees. and the end result becomes clear — its pure gold. we are hoping to recover all of the metals on the board. primarily gold to start with,

but we are looking at copper, nickel, tin, particularly tin, and some silver. it's set to provide a new source of materials for the royal mint�*s main business, making coins. a new processing plant will be built here and by this time next year 90 tonnes of e—waste will be passing through each week. so, if you take all of the disused electronics around your home, that represents about 7% of the world's gold. that is a huge number. and it really gives us the initiative and the imperative to start recycling those electronics. the united nations says we are facing a tsunami of e—waste. in the uk, 155,000 tonnes of it is being thrown into general waste every year. and there's another 190,000 tonnes lying around in our homes. it's estimated that each household has 20 electronic items that aren't being used.

turning e—waste into gold is just one solution, but the problem is growing so fast we need many more. and this means rethinking what we're throwing away and recognising that even our rubbish has value. rebecca morelle, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. thank you. good evening. a beautiful week of weather on the way, warmer than average, not unusually warm but the nights are still pretty nippy. last night was quite frosty and this coming night is going to be generally frost free. across europe, a huge area of high pressure keeping things clearfor many a huge area of high pressure keeping things clear for many major centres and in the uk, not completely clear, we've had some clouds in the sky keeping it hazy but generally speaking it is bright. still quite

nippy