tonight at ten, the british—iranian woman released in tehran last week says the uk government took far too long to get her freed. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe came to westminster with her family today. she'd spent nearly six years in detention until her release last week.

how many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come out? five? it should have been one of them eventually, so now here we are. what happened now should have happened six years ago. also on the programme, we're live here in ukraine where again the capital kyiv is under curfew tonight. it follows russian shelling of a shopping centre and residential areas. despite the attacks, many residents are vowing to stay. i don't want to leave kyiv. you want to stay? it's my home. and famillies continue to flee from the devastated southern city of mariupol. we'll have all the latest on the russian invasion of ukraine, as well as the day's other main stories. trades unions lead a march at westminster to vent their anger at p&0 ferries�* abrupt sacking of 800 employees last week. and strengthening ties with commonwealth contries — the duke and duchess of cambridge

visit the ancient maya ruins of belize on their caribbean tour. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, the latest on the proposed sale of chelsea as a new bidder emerges and a rival consortium ups their offer for the club. good evening. in a compelling 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. for six long years she was silenced. it was her husband who had to speak for her. of the psychological torture she endured, the agony of being separated from her daughter. but today, at last, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe got to have her say. and she began with some important thank yous. my amazing husband, who has been tirelessly campaigning for me, so thank you so much. and my daughter for being very, very patient with mummy to be coming home. so i am so grateful. at this point, gabriella, who's seven, is much more interested in the games on a mobile phone. nazanin flew home in the early hours of thursday morning along with another british national, anoosheh ashoori, after the uk repaid a long overdue military debt. but she wasn't keen to give the government any credit today. i was told many, many times that,

oh, we're going to get you home. that never happened. so there was a time that i felt like, do you know what? i'm not even going to trust you, because i've been told many, many times that i was going to be taken home, but that never happened. 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. she didn't want to answer questions about the detail of her prison ordeal, including solitary confinement. it will always haunt me. i always felt like i am holding this black hole in my heart all these years, but i'm just going to leave that black hole on the plane when the plane lands. i'm 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 you walked down the steps of that plane at brize norton? is it too early to say what the future now holds? um... it's very early to think what is going to happen next.

that moment was precious. i have 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. i think it's too early for me to think about that. i'm just enjoying the moment. at nazanin�*s request, the daughter of a british born iranian left behind in tehran was there too. morad tahbaz is a 66—year—old wildlife conservationist serving a ten year term who thought he was part of the deal that brought nazanin home. roxanne tahbaz made a direct appeal to the government. to prime ministerjohnson and foreign secretary truss, we beg you to please stand by your word and bring back both of my parents, my father and my mother. i believe that the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete until such time that all of us who are unjustly detained

in iran are reunited with theirfamilies. her own family will, she made clear, keep her grounded now. gabriella told me on the phone one day that, mummy, you do realise that you are very famous, and then it's me and then it's daddy? laughter. fine. then i said, ok, you know, it's not good to be famous, because you want to have a normal life, and, you know, just to have... and she was like, oh, you're not going to be famous for ever. maximum a week! so we're bracing ourselves for a week of fame, and then we're just going to have a normal family. and with that, she was off to start a new chapter in her life, away, the family hopes, from the public gaze. and caroline is with me. remarkable, really. some humour, emotionally charged at times, and yet she pulled no punches in the way that she analysed the way this had been handled.—

been handled. that's right, very movin: been handled. that's right, very moving for— been handled. that's right, very moving for the _ been handled. that's right, very moving for the journalists - been handled. that's right, very moving for the journalists who l been handled. that's right, very - moving for the journalists who were there and everybody watching. she was so dignified, so calm, so composed, so clear in her quiet anger that it had taken the government so long, six years, to sort this out and get her home, when iran had always been clear that it wanted something in return and that something was the military debt. her husband thanked the foreign secretary, liz liz truss, but she notably didn't. she also said that her life was linked to something that had nothing to do with her, and there was a real sense of the six missing years of them as a family, nazanin kept looking over at gabriella during that press conference, and she said how good it was to hold her daughter again, to do her hair, said she was looking forward to meeting her daughter's friends, and she wanted to do something very basic that many of us take for granted, and that is the school run. take for granted, and that is the school run-— take for granted, and that is the school run. ., ., ., ~ , ., , school run. caroline, thank you very much. caroline _ school run. caroline, thank you very much. caroline hawley _

school run. caroline, thank you very much. caroline hawley there. - much. caroline hawley there. now let's talk about 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 around the capital, kiyv, let'sjoin my colleague ben brown in the city of lviv. good evening. thank you. tonight the ukrainian capital, kyiv, is under a new curfew. the city was hit by several large explosions last night. at least eight people are known to have died in the attacks. the russian defence ministry said it hit the shopping centre because rockets were stored there. russian forces have been trying to encircle and cut off the capital, but large areas around kyiv remain very much under ukrainian control, especially in the south. our international correspondent orla guerin reports. footage of the shopping centre in

kyiv released by russia appears to show a military vehicle driving up. and this was the russian attack which moscow says was targeting rocket launchers stored at the site. in the darkness, emergency services picked their way through the ruins. from the rubble, hands emerge, trembling, and a survivor is pulled to safety. but eight people were killed in this attack on the capital. here is what is left of the shopping centre. there are indications that the ukrainian military had a presence here, but russia has hit plenty of non—military targets, in kyiv and elsewhere. you can see here that the scale of the destruction is absolutely immense, and spread over 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. ukrainian forces may be facing a war of attrition here. british defence officials expect russia to make a renewed push for 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 can 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 and gone 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, 3,000 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 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. tonight the ukrainian presidnet volodymyr zelensky is insisting (os i remember in january i remember injanuary when one world leader after another was speaking to president putin, president zelensky said, why are you not talking to me? people ask him now what there is to talk about and he says even if there is a i% talk about and he says even if there is a 1% chance of ending this war, i will take it. but we hearfrom the turkish and israeli mediators, while they say they have made some progress, they say that the time is not right. that is the message we also hear from

not right. that is the message we also hearfrom russia, that president putin himself keeps repeatedly saying that this campaign is going according to plan, whatever his plan is, and that it will only end once it achieves its goals. we still ask, the people of this capital as, what are the goals of president putin here? we are at the third 35 hour curfew here since the invasion began. last night was a night of sustained russian artillery fire, louderand night of sustained russian artillery fire, louder and closer than it has been before. but still no clear movement of russian forces into the city. there is an assessment that they are consolidating their positions on the edge of the city, digging in their artillery, positions on the edge of the city, digging in theirartillery, but still cannot take this capital or even encircle it. it's a month now and thursday since this invasion began, and thursday will also mark a moment of intense diplomacy. presidentjoe biden will be in

brussels. there will be a nato meeting, a g7 meeting, an eu meeting, a g7 meeting, an eu meeting, trying to find ways to end this war. will it make president putin change his mind? it hasn't yet. putin change his mind? it hasn't et. �* , , putin change his mind? it hasn't et. m i, putin change his mind? it hasn't et. a i, ., putin change his mind? it hasn't et. ,, ., yet. as lyse says, on thursday it will be one _ yet. as lyse says, on thursday it will be one month _ yet. as lyse says, on thursday it will be one month since - yet. as lyse says, on thursday it will be one month since the - yet. as lyse says, on thursday it will be one month since the start yet. as lyse says, on thursday it i will 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, the russian advance there has stalled. 0ur correspondent gordon corera has put together this assessment of the russian military strategy. 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 a 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're 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. this may well be partly about stopping supplies getting into the country. all of this makes it look like we're 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. that all suggests we could 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. steve, tell us about the impact of the sanctions there and what people are saying? the sanctions there and what people are sa in: ? ., ., ., the sanctions there and what people are sa inc? ., ., ., . ., , are saying? international sanctions are saying? international sanctions are bitin: are saying? international sanctions are biting already. _ are saying? international sanctions are biting already. for— are saying? international sanctions are biting already. for example, i are biting already. for example, russia's largest airport, here in moscow, today it furloughed 20% of its workers. last week, it shut down two of its terminals and took one runway out of service. that is because passenger traffic has plunged because of sanctions. from flights to food, or rather food shortages. fearing that sanctions could push russia into recession, shoppers have been stocking up big time on essentials. the result — sugar has sold out. it's very

difficult to find sugar right now here in moscow, and a lot of the supermarkets are now limiting the sale of other essentials like vegetable oil and flour and salt, although russia's deputy prime minister today said there is no need for panic buying, we have all the sugar we need, all the buckwheat we need for everyone. the other thing thatis need for everyone. the other thing that is in short supply right now it diplomatic niceties was that today the us ambassador in moscow was summoned to the russian foreign ministry and he was told that comments by president biden, who recently described vladimir putin as a war criminal, were not appreciated and that those remarks had pushed bilateral relations to the verge of collapse. bilateral relations to the verge of colla se. ,, bilateral relations to the verge of collase. ,, , , bilateral relations to the verge of colla se. ,, , , ., bilateral relations to the verge of collase. ,, , , ., , collapse. steve rosenberg for us, our russian _ collapse. steve rosenberg for us, our russian editor _ collapse. steve rosenberg for us, our russian editor in _ collapse. steve rosenberg for us, our russian editor in moscow. - in the uk, trade unions led a march at westminster earlier today to make plain their anger at p&0 ferries' abrupt sacking of 800 employees last week.

the transport secretary, grant shapps, has now confirmed that he had been told about the redundancy plan the night before it was announced, but that he wasn't aware of the scale of the plan until the following day. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin reports. a group of sacked p&0 ferries workers and trade union representatives marched on parliament today.— representatives marched on parliament today. today, i knowl will lose my _ parliament today. today, i knowl will lose my severance _ parliament today. today, i knowl will lose my severance package i parliament today. today, i know i i will lose my severance package from p&0 because i am speaking out publicly, but it's the right thing to do to speak truth to power, to tell those that have made these apparent decisions that what they have done is wrong. the apparent decisions that what they have done is wrong.— apparent decisions that what they have done is wrong. the rmt union has claimed — have done is wrong. the rmt union has claimed indian _ have done is wrong. the rmt union has claimed indian agency - have done is wrong. the rmt union has claimed indian agency staff - have done is wrong. the rmt union has claimed indian agency staff are | has claimed indian agency staff are replacing sacked crew at dover on the equivalent of £1.81 an hour. a source close to p80 disputed this, but couldn't give figures for staff

employed by an agency. bringing in foreian employed by an agency. bringing in foreign workers _ employed by an agency. bringing in foreign workers is _ employed by an agency. bringing in foreign workers is not _ employed by an agency. bringing in foreign workers is not unusual, - employed by an agency. bringing in foreign workers is not unusual, but| foreign workers is not unusual, but it's a mark of shame against a maritime industry that they are able to do that. in maritime industry that they are able to do that. ., , ., ., ., , to do that. in the house of commons this afternoon. _ to do that. in the house of commons this afternoon, labour— to do that. in the house of commons this afternoon, labour said _ to do that. in the house of commons this afternoon, labour said the - this afternoon, labour said the transport secretary had known p&0 planned job cuts the night before the announcement. mr planned job cuts the night before the announcement.— planned job cuts the night before the announcement. mr speaker, either the announcement. mr speaker, either the government _ the announcement. mr speaker, either the government were _ the announcement. mr speaker, either the government were bewilderingly - the government were bewilderingly incompetent, or they were complicit. either way, there was a window of opportunity to protect the livelihoods of 800 british workers from an illegal act by a rogue employer, and i did nothing. the transort employer, and i did nothing. the transport secretary said he had been informed, but not of the process, and insisted the government was now taking action. irate and insisted the government was now taking action-— taking action. we have asked the insolvency service _ taking action. we have asked the insolvency service to _ taking action. we have asked the insolvency service to look - taking action. we have asked the insolvency service to look at - taking action. we have asked the insolvency service to look at the | insolvency service to look at the notification requirements and consider— notification requirements and consider if further action is appropriate, especially if, as we are concerned, the relative notice periods _ are concerned, the relative notice periods were not given, the relative

consultations did not take place, and that— consultations did not take place, and that would be an act of criminal prosecution — and that would be an act of criminal prosecution-— and that would be an act of criminal rosecution. ., , ., , , prosecution. p80 has now resumed its liverool to prosecution. p80 has now resumed its liverpool to dublin _ prosecution. p80 has now resumed its liverpool to dublin route. _ prosecution. p80 has now resumed its liverpoolto dublin route. it— prosecution. p80 has now resumed its liverpool to dublin route. it hopes - liverpool to dublin route. it hopes to restart others within a week, but the maritime and coastguard agency has to inspect the ferries before they can start running again with new crews. those inspections haven't yet begun. traffic control measures will be activated near dover tonight to deal with any disruption resulting from the reduced ferry capacity. katy austin, bbc news. 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 says 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. 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. 0n the roll—out, how is that meant to work? on the roll-out, how is that meant to work? ., , , on the roll-out, how is that meant to work? .,, , _, on the roll-out, how is that meant towork? , _ to work? people will be contacted by the nhs and — to work? people will be contacted by the nhs and they _ to work? people will be contacted by the nhs and they can _ to work? people will be contacted by the nhs and they can then _ to work? people will be contacted by the nhs and they can then book - the nhs and they can then book online or by phone. 75,000 people did that today alone in england.

across the uk, more than 7 million people are eligible for this spring booster, including half a million who are immunosuppressed. that will come six months after their last jab. it should help top up the very strong protection that the vaccine is given against severe covid, but it does wane over time. that is needed for the most vulnerable because cases are seeing a resurgence. around 100,000 recorded cases a day. and the true total, of course, is much higher. what matters, of course, is the impact on hospitals. there too, the numbers of those with covid in hospital are also rising and they have been for the past month. in scotland, there are now the highest number of covid patients in hospital than at any time in the pandemic, a startling statistic. however, around half may be more of covid patients in hospital are actually admitted with

something else. very few are ending up something else. very few are ending up in intensive care. we now have effective treatments. but although covid deaths are creeping up at about 100 and day, it is still about about 100 and day, it is still about a 12th of what we saw at the peak last winter. it a 12th of what we saw at the peak last winter-— last winter. it would be natural that people — last winter. it would be natural that people look _ last winter. it would be natural that people look at _ last winter. it would be natural that people look at these - last winter. it would be natural. that people look at these figures and then wonder, how do we compare with other countries, especially in europe? what are your thoughts on that? ., , , europe? what are your thoughts on that? .,, , ., ,., , europe? what are your thoughts on that? .,, , ., , ., that? europe is also in the grip of this omicron _ that? europe is also in the grip of this omicron wave _ that? europe is also in the grip of this omicron wave which - that? europe is also in the grip of this omicron wave which has - that? europe is also in the grip of| this omicron wave which has been given new impetus by this sub—variant which is even more infectious. germany, france and italy have all seen a lot of cases. italy have all seen a lot of cases. it comes at a time when european countries are also lifting their final restrictions, so we are seeing more mixing, more opportunity for the virus to spread. the omicron wave will subside at some point, but it's a reminder that covid is very much still with us.— it's a reminder that covid is very much still with us. fergus walsh, our medical— much still with us. fergus walsh, our medical editor. _ 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 reports from beijing. rescue teams raced into the remote mountains of guangxi, hoping to find survivors. instead, there was barely a trace of flight mu5375 after the passenger jet completely disintegrated when it hit the ground, causing a fire in a bamboo forest. this unverified cctv footage is said to have captured the plane's vertical descent. tv news delivered a message from the country's leader. xi jinping said he was shocked and called on investigators to quickly discover the cause of the crash. as a precaution, all of china eastern's boeing 737 800s like this one have been grounded. boeing said in a statement that the company's thoughts are with those who were on board, and it pledged technical support

for the investigation in china. for people in china, today's crash has been extremely unsettling. this is a country with a strong air safety record, so strong that that travellers have, frankly, taken air safety for gra nted. not any more. at guangzhou airport, the wait for news of family and friends and family who never arrived. "my heart is really heavy", says one man who had to call the family of a colleague to tell them he was on the flight. here, they must know that their loved ones are not coming home. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. a court has been told the former tennis champion boris becker "acted dishonestly" when he failed to hand over his trophies to settle his debts. becker, who's 5a, was declared bankrupt injune 2017.

it's alleged he transferred hundreds of thousands