this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: a fresh curfew's declared in the ukrainain capital, kyiv, after a series of russian strikes on civilian targets. —— ukrainian. 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. president biden says vladimir putin's back is against the wall, and he may be preparing the use of unconventional weapons. my my administration administered new warnings are based on intelligence, russia may be planning a cyber attack against

us. rescuers in china are still searching for survivors after a plane crashed with more than 130 people on board. an investigation is ordered. and a big week for girls in afghanistan as they're due to return to secondary education. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. first this hour, president volodymyr zelensky says ukraine will never bow to ultimatums from russia or surrender its biggest cities. it comes after he refused russia's demand to give up the southern city of mariupol. ukraine's capital, kyiv, is under a new night—time curfew after residential areas were attacked by russia, killing eight people. one of the targets was a shopping centre, which russia claims was storing rockets.

russian forces are trying to encircle and cut off the capital, but large areas around kyiv remain 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 pick 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's what's left of the retroville shopping centre. there are indications that the ukrainian military had a presence here. but russia has hit plenty

of nonmilitary targets in kyiv and elsewhere. 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 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... gunfire ..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 would 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 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. in the us, president biden has warned

russia may be considering using chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the president said that by making false chemical weapons allegations against ukraine and the united states, russia may be seeking to create a pretext to use them itself. let's have a listen to what he said. his back is against the wall, and now he's talking about new false flags he's setting up, including he's asserting that we, america, have biological, as well as chemical weapons in europe. simply not true — i guarantee you. they're also suggesting that ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in ukraine. that's a clear sign he's considering using both of those. president biden also said the us had "evolving intelligence" to suggest russia may be planning a cyber attack in response to

western support for ukraine. he has a capability, he hasn't usedit he has a capability, he hasn't used it yet but it is part of the playbook. he will maliciously use cyber activity in response to the cost we impose with our allies and partners on the world. but, look, today, my administration has renewed warnings are based on evolving intelligence, russia may be planning a cyber attack against us. tim starks is senior editor of cyberscoop in washington, dc. thank you for coming on the programme. the warnings are a potential cybertruck against russia — not against the west from russia. russia - not against the west from russia.— russia - not against the west from russia. the way they were discussing _ from russia. the way they were discussing at — from russia. the way they were discussing at the _ from russia. the way they were discussing at the white - from russia. the way they were discussing at the white house l discussing at the white house is the russians were probing websites for vulnerabilities. it is difficult to imagine an

attack like that, despite what the president said. we know from that russia has interfered in our elections before, we know they have run rampant in the us, but the kind of attacks that they might conduct are harder to predict because there is more of a track record of what they have done in you grain, which means shutting down the electricity grid in 2015, among other things. what kind of things should people be looking out for? if we are talking about everyone, the white house is warning today listen to the basic stuff. have your software patched. if we are talking about the kind of attacks most likely, get difficult to predict. i think that it feels unlikely at this time, despite what the president said, that we are going to be attacked. if you are talking about the universe

of possibilities, get easier to discuss. we have seen everything from attacks that may have led to the death of a baby in a hospital due to ransom where causing malfunctions with equipment according to a lawsuit in the us to things like $80 million being stolen from a bank. the range of possible cyber attacks is pretty wide. it range of possible cyber attacks is pretty wide-— is pretty wide. it is not of course only _ is pretty wide. it is not of course only russia - is pretty wide. it is not of course only russia that l is pretty wide. it is not of i course only russia that has cyber hackers. russia itself surely must be the targets of hackers from around the world? yes, certainly there are activists who might be involved in this. in fact, ukraine has: hackers to go after russian targets. the us has its own capabilities. we are considered ijy capabilities. we are considered by a think tank last year, the international institute for... international institute for... i forgot the name. international institute for... iforgot the name. they international institute for...

i forgot the name. they are ranked number one in terms of the capabilities on cyber. in the capabilities on cyber. in the next layer down, included russia and china and the uk, number of five eyes countries. it is difficult to get the numbers for actual clarified budget, but there are certainly thousands of people working on this in the us and just cyber command alone that are on the offensive hacking side, the budget over there is $600 million approximately, that is a classified budget, you get a sense of the scope of how much money the us is devoting to the. we are devoting more money again on the unclassified side, they have $10 million for cyber, that is more than all of the other civilian agencies combined and much more focused on defence. i combined and much more focused on defence-— on defence. i think people relate and _ on defence. i think people relate and understand - on defence. i think people relate and understand tax| on defence. i think people i relate and understand tax on businesses, there passwords and things like that —— hacks. if there any evidence there is a

cyber activity or hacking that has actually uncovered any sensitive military information on either side? it sensitive military information on either side?— sensitive military information on either side? it depends on how ou on either side? it depends on how you define _ on either side? it depends on how you define the _ on either side? it depends on how you define the word - how you define the word hacking. if you talk about things like wikileaks and some of the secrets that were exposed with the help of insiders, if you want to call that act, —— hacked, that is kind of how cyber works. it is something the us has used to get involved in communications backin get involved in communications back in the iraq war, there were attempts to disrupt that and communications networks. that is one example of that happening with military secrets. ., , ' secrets. fascinating stuff. thank you _ secrets. fascinating stuff. thank you for _ secrets. fascinating stuff. thank you for talking - secrets. fascinating stuff. thank you for talking us i thank you for talking us through a complicated issue. as we've been hearing, heavy fighting is continuing around the ukrainian capital, kyiv, but the uk ministry of defence says 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's 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 expanding to attack targets, 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 of them civilian. thank you for that assessment. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, escaping a city under siege: we talk to some of those who have fled from mariupol. i'm so proud of both of you. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis.

with great regret, _ the committee have decided that south africa be excluded . from the 1970 competition. singing in own language streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a fresh curfew has been declared in the ukrainian capital kyiv after a series of russian strikes on civilian targets.

president biden warns vladimir putin may use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine as well as launching cyber attacks against western countries. let's get more now on the situation in mariupol. the first international journalists have arrived into areas of the city under russian control — describing utter devastation. hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped there, with little access to food, water or power. in another development, 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. our correspondent wyre davies has been speaking to families who've escaped mariupol to the city of dnipro. a warning — his report contains scenes you may find distressing. 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, and 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 under fire," 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. rescuers in china are still searching for survivors after a plane crashed with more than 130 people on board. it came down in a mountainous area, and hopes are fading, that any of those on board survived. urgent efforts are under way to find out why the aircraft went down near the city of wuzhou. hopes are fading anyone has

survived. 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 travellers have, frankly, taken air safety for granted. 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. let's get some of the day's other news: the us senate has started four days of confirmation hearings for the first black woman to be nominated to the supreme court. judge ketaanji brown jackson was picked by president biden afterjustice stephen briar announced his retirement in january. a man accused of murdering the british mp sir david amess is said to have carried out reconnaissance on other potential targets, including a cabinet minister. 26—year—old ali harbi ali denies murder and preparing acts of terrorism. the evidence was amongst the first presented by the prosecution on the opening day of his trial.

sir david was stabbed to death in his essex constituency last 0ctober. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranian woman released last week by iran, has criticised successive british foreign secretaries for the time it took to secure her freedom. in her first public comments since returning home, she said the iranian government had consistently made it clear that she would be released only after britain paid a debt to iran, dating back to the 1970s. the taliban is due to lift its ban and allow girls to return to secondary school this wednesday. over the past few months, the bbc�*s firouzeh akbarian has been following three pupils to find out how the ban has impacted them. what a difference a year can make. a busy girls' school now turned into empty classes

after the taliban took power. this past seven months without school has been devastating for some girls. hawa is 13. she lives in the capital, kabul. seven months ago, around ten million students attended classes, including four million girls. one of them, anusha

sharifi, age 15. she lives in the remote province of ghor. she wants to become a journalist. girls her age feel they are trapped. the taliban have pledged that all girls will return to school from the next educational year on 21 march. they said... but the girls we've spoken to are not convinced. they think the school they once knew will change forever.

sanaz wants to become a designer in the future. this year will be the last chapter of her school life. for her, the taliban's reform of the educational system is limiting. in the �*90s, when the taliban were last in power, girls were banned from schools for five years. now, female students fear that history might repeat itself. firouzeh akbarian, bbc news.

we will keep track on that return to school on wednesday. that's it from me. it's very settled on the weather front right now, and that's how it's going stay generally over the next few days. how about the details? and there are a few to talk about — just the chance of catching a shower on tuesday. some of these fairweather clouds will build into shower clouds, but i think the vast majority of us will miss them. now this is the high pressure that's dominating the weather across europe — it really is an extensive high, and so many towns and cities enjoying that spring sunshine. so the forecast, then, through the early hours shows a little bit of cloud here and there, perhaps some mist and murk forming through the early hours. generally frost—free with temperatures of around 3—6 celsius, but in northern parts of england, in the northeast

and also in scotland, just a touch of frost, particularly in rural areas. so we wake up to lots of sunshine, and again, these shower clouds may develop across parts of wales, central england, and the north here. i mean, you could hardly see them on the weather map here, so again, for most of us, it's a dry day. temperatures typically 15—18, but some of us will warm up to around 20 or so, particularly across southern parts of england, the usual spots. so the forecast into wednesday, then, and light winds, again, lots of sunshine, again, just the outside chance of those showers being sparked off by the higher temperatures. and i think widely in the high teens across england, and certainly in the lowlands of scotland easily 16 or even 17. and pleasant enough for northern ireland too, the mid—teens. now the high pressure is right over the uk on thursday. that means very light winds across central areas of the country. so even though the temperatures may be not quite as high on thursday in some areas,

it's still going to feel every bit as warm because the winds will be light, and we'll have so much sunshine around, as well. now, friday and the weekend, the high pressure is going to wobble a little bit — all that means is that the winds will start to sort of change in direction. but on the whole, it means very little change in the weather overall. so here's the outlook, then, for the next few days — a lot of fine weather, it really is a cracking week of weather. i think the next spell of more unsettled weather won't arrive until around the end of the month. that's it for me, bye—bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a curfew is in place in the ukrainian capital, kyiv. it comes after residential areas were attacked by russia, killing eight people. russian forces are trying to encircle and cut off the city, but large areas around kyiv remain under ukrainian control, especially in the south. president biden has warned that there are clear signs his russian counterpart, vladimir putin, may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. mr biden said the russian leader "had his back to the wall." he also warned that russia may be preparing a cyber attack. the ukrainian president has again called for direct talks with vladimir putin to try to put an end to the fighting.

but volodymyr zelenksy said that such a meeting would be