this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world... president biden has warned that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber—attacks in the us. he is considering using both of those. he has already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what is about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. ukraine's capital, kyiv, is once again under a curfew — it was put in place after eight people were killed in residential areas. one of the leading kremlin critics, alexei navalny, has been found guilty of large scale fraud by a russian court. there are calls for the 21 surrogate babies being cared for in a kyiv bomb shelter to be evacuated, as their intended parents can't travel to ukraine

during the russian invasion. two women in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a school in sweden — an 18—year—old student has been arrested on suspicion of murder. victims of the post office horizon scandal are set to benefit from a new compensation scheme launched by the uk chancellor. and a 17—month—old girl has died in hospital after being attacked by a dog at her home in merseyside. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. president biden has said there are clear signs 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" as a result of ukrainian military resistance and the united response of western countries, and there was a danger he would resort to more severe tactics. russia's war on ukraine has also led to disruption in food supplies. the two combattants are the world's largest exporters of wheat and this in turn has meant trouble for the world's largest importer of wheat, egypt. now, the egyptian prime minister has set a fixed price for unsubsidised bread, with the aim of controlling rising food prices. we'll look at all of that and more in the next hour — we begin our coverage with this report from andrew plant. gunfire at a protest against the russian invasion — people said they were fired on as they demonstrated here, in the city of kherson in southern ukraine. president zelensky said it was a rally for freedom. the ukrainian air force now say russia is increasing its attacks

from the air, amid reports that ground attacks are slowing, even stalling in places. here, both the centre and suburbs of mariupol have been shelled and a further 3000 people were evacuated yesterday. satellite images show the smoke rising across the city. the united states has said that russia may soon turn to using chemical weapons, following false claims that ukraine was poised to use them. his back is against the wall, and now he is talking about new false flags he is setting up, including asserting that we in america and chemical and biological weapons from europe, it is simply not true. i guarantee that. they are also suggesting that ukraine has biological and chemical weapons. that is a clear sign he is considering using both of those.

in kyiv, eight people are reported dead after shelling on a residential area. russia said it was because rockets were stored here. the toll of this war is already hard to bear. sergei's brother was killed when ukrainian barracks were bombed. here, the russian invasion still feels relentless. this is our land, he says. we live here. where should we run? for many ukrainians, there is no choice. they stay and cling to daily rituals. president zelensky has called again for direct talks with vladimir putin to end the fighting. but for now, hopes of a ceasefire still seem out of reach. andrew plant, bbc news. ijust want i just want to bring you ijust want to bring you some live images from the italian parliament

in rome. as you can see there, there are members of parliament waiting to hearfrom ukraine �*s president zelensky. he has been making a series of speeches to parliaments across the world via video link, and he is imminently going to be addressing members of the italian parliament in rome, and we will bring you that as it happens. those are live images there are people waiting. they have risen to their feetin waiting. they have risen to their feet in applause. it looks like president zelensky is about to begin his address. let's listen in.

they were applauding an introduction there to president zelensky, who is due to be addressing them shortly. before that, we will go now to our top story again. as we've been reporting, a curfew was imposed by the mayor of kyiv on monday evening, and it will stay in place until wednesday morning. 0ur correspondentjames waterhouse is there, and i asked him what was happening there now. as per most mornings, we can see from a north—westerly direction, where the majority of russian forces are, you might be able to see some dark smoke over the top of the buildings of kyiv. we have heard booms of artillery fire. it's never clear which direction it is coming from. we have heard fighting on the outskirts of kyiv. in the south—east, the mayor has

urged people to leave immediately. we don't have any more details, but fire crews across the city and region have been battling flames overnight as well. so itjust shows how things can vary, but the overall assessment from us military experts, once again, is that russian advances are continuing to stutter or stall because of mainly logistical problems. poor planning, and that is feeding two schools of thought. the first, the claim from president biden again that russia is considering using biological and chemical weapons, but the second is that president zelensky hopes that will pull vladimir putin more to the negotiating table. the kremlin says not a lot of progress has been made for both presidents to meet, and it requires both to meet in peace talks to find a way out of this war. president zelensky says everything is on the table, including the country's own security deals and territorial integrity,

but he also says any compromises would have to go to a vote of the ukrainian people, to a referendum. the ukrainian people, time and time again throughout history, whenever russia is aggressive towards ukraine, they politically lean more to the west. so it will be a question of whether the brutality of this war will be enough to sway opinion and make people prioritise peace because ultimately, it is a decision for president zelensky and the people who voted him in on how much they are willing to concede to preserve the very future of this country. more now on president biden�*s claim that vladimir putin is sending clear signs that he is planning to use both chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. i've been speaking to hamish de bretton gordon. well, i think there are a number of things. first of all, the president of the united states says he thinks they will use them, so he probably has some intelligence that they are moving

various bits of machinery and vehicles into position, i think, first of all. secondly, of course, the russians with their false flag operations over the last few weeks have been suggesting that the ukrainians are going to be using chemical and biological weapons, and i personally know from being in syria, and being up close to the russians for the last six years, when they do that, it is generally a precursor to them using the weapons themselves. but i think actually the position of the russian forces is telling. they are stalled, their tanks aren't working. they are running out of fuel. they are bogged down. mariupol reminds me very much of aleppo. i saw conventional seige forfour years there,

which was broken in 13 days by the use of chlorine barrel bombs. president putin knows that if he wants to make the civilians surrender quickly and get this over with, from his syrian experience, chemical weapons are brilliant. if you have no morals or scruples, he would probably use it all the time. so it seems that, regardless of what the intelligence might be, just purely from russia's previous actions in previous conflicts, this is very much something out of their playbook. 0h, entirely. the russian playbook from syria attacking hospitals, attacking schools, attacking civilians, because putin wants civilians to surrender, and breaking their morals is the easiest way to do it. we have seen that in syria. we have had red lines about the use of chemical weapons. president 0bama's red line in august

2013 disappeared in a puff of smoke and we did nothing. i think putin does not think the west will react, and he is in desperate straits. he either retreats back to moscow and, you know, the end of putin, or he does something demonstrative. but what i am doing at the moment, i have been training civilians in ukraine in the last few weeks over how to survive these dreadful chemical and biological attacks. we learnt a lot in syria from thousands of people whose lives were saved, and i am publishing a free book online today which is how to survive a chemical and biological attack, and i will send you the link as soon as it is up. if putin knows that the chemical weapons are not going to be as effective as he hopes because civilians know what to do, maybe he won't use them. a lot of your actions in a chemical attack are counterintuitive, almost the opposite for what you would do for a conventional artillery attack. so i am hoping, by getting as many people aware of what the best things

are to do, that actually, if he does use these dreadful weapons, many people will actually survive. i have to ask, without pre—empting your book too much, what is the solution? what is the advice — what should civilians do? there are three key things that you have to do. first of all, don't go underground. or, if you are underground, come above ground. the gas generally sinks underground, and in syria, it killed people underground. or, as they streamed above ground, they were easy pickings for snipers, or captured. so, get to higher ground. also, always be aware where the wind is going because this stuff blows away on the wind pretty easily. simple things with chlorine — we tell people to hold their breath and run across a wind for 30 seconds, and then you are out of the downwind hazard, the danger area. and thirdly, decontaminate as quickly as you can. that might mean taking your clothes off.

that might seem an odd thing to do, but you can remove 90% of contamination by doing that, or having a shower. chemical munitions, those things that deliver it like artillery shells or mortars, they don't explode or they don't do a big bang, they do a pop, so that is an indication. we are trying to get some stuff into ukraine, where people can have simple detectors so they can work out whether it is chlorine or a nerve agent. i personally think putin will use readily available chemicals like chlorine because there are thousands of tonnes of chlorine in ukraine. so of course, they can deny it. whatever chemical he uses to attack, no doubt he will of course blame the ukrainians for doing it. but i hope if they follow some basic rules then, you know, it will be a lot less effective, and i hope the russians realise we are doing this so that they don't

use these dreadful weapons. ijust want i just want to take you back to those pictures we will show a live from rome. there, you can see the president of ukraine, who has begun his address to members of the parliament in rome. it is through a video link. he has begun addressing them, as he has done with many other parliaments around the world. members of the italian parliament there, listening to his address. president zelensky says that he has talked to the pope, and he says he would welcome his mediating role with russia. that is among the things that president zelensky has been saying. live shot there from rome of the ukrainian president addressing parliament. to russia now, where alexei navalny, one of the leading critics of president putin,

who was already behind bars, is almost certain to be sentenced to more time in prison. the hearing took place via video link on tuesday morning, from the pokrov prison colony, outside moscow, where he is currently serving two and a half years injail. the court found him guilty of embezzlement — an offence which could be punished with 13 years in jail. 0lga ivshina from the bbc russian service is following developments. thank you for being with us. what impact, if any, thank you for being with us. what impact, ifany, will thank you for being with us. what impact, if any, will this have on opposition to putin in russia? well, to be honest. _ opposition to putin in russia? well, to be honest, russian _ opposition to putin in russia? -ii to be honest, russian opposition has already been shaken by a string of events in russia after alexei navalny was jailed, his organisation was proclaimed extremist, which had a direct impact on his colleagues and many had to run away from the country. since the start of the war,

the russian government has introduced this fake news law, which can give people up to 15 years in prison for spreading what russia because fake news. after that, even more opposition activists, just people who wanted to call this thing a war and not a special operation, as the russian government insists, they had to flee because some have already got fines, and some others have been detained and are under investigation. so this isjust another blow. the majority of russian opposition activist had to flee because of tremendous pressure. away from the hearing of alexei navalny, the ukrainian president zelensky has again called for direct talks with president putin, face—to—face talks. how likely is that to happen, and what would russia want? it that to happen, and what would russia want?— that to happen, and what would russia want? , ., ., ., russia want? it is hard to say how likel it is russia want? it is hard to say how likely it is in _ russia want? it is hard to say how likely it is in the _ russia want? it is hard to say how likely it is in the medium - russia want? it is hard to say how likely it is in the medium or- likely it is in the medium or long—term perspective, but it's definitely not likely in the short

term. yesterday, a spokesman of the russian president said the progress and talks is not sufficient for a direct meeting of resident zelensky and putin. russia insists it has advantage on the ground and it is only ready to talk when it has achieved what it once. so that is the position of the russian president. we don't know how likely it is to change in the near future. thank you. rebels from belarus are among some of the foreign fighters heading to ukraine to defend the country against russia. 0ur correspondent mark lowen met some of the recruits in warsaw, as they prepare to make the journey. gunfire. a trial run for the terror they will soon see for real. recruits from belarus, training before they go to fight with ukraine. slavic brothers uniting against a common enemy — putin's russia.

pavel came back from his life in new york to battle the kremlin�*s forces who are supported by president lu kashenko of belarus. without independent and free ukraine, there is no independent and free belarus. i really admire ukrainian nation. from the very beginning we supported ukrainians in theirfight forfreedom and i would like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukraine is right now. do you think lukashenko will send belarusian troops into ukraine? i hope so because if he send someone to ukrainian soil we will destroy them on ukrainian territory, then we won't have a lot of problems. come back to our motherland. for these dissidents, it is in part a proxy war against a regime at home that has made belarus a launchpad for russian attacks on ukraine. 30,000 russian troops advancing from there to kyiv.

they'll also take in supplies and what they hope they won't have to use. and then a crash course in first aid by a polish veteran of afghanistan. the tourniquets and bandages of that vicious conflict now a part of life in europe. whispering: just hours before leaving, they are learning the vital lessons that could save their lives. when you look around you can see that these are just ordinary guys, mainly, who are suddenly preparing for what it will be like entering a theatre of war when they cross tonight. for all theirjingoism and unity, the facade cracks as reality hits. i'm afraid, a little. i saw you speaking to your mum earlier. yeah, she's crying. but now she'sjust, praying, maybe. she tried to tell me that this war is not my, is not our, it's other

country, other people, but i don't agree. so they head off to someone else's war, which has become their own. they shout defiantly. both countries fighting the imperial oppressor. they travel from warsaw to war, hours first to the border. a final sip of safety before crossing off limits to our camera. their sights set on victory for two nations in arms. mark lowen, bbc news, on the poland ukraine border. the united nations refugee agency has given its latest update on the number of people who have left ukraine due to the fighting there. the latest figure is more than three and a half million. that's almost one in 12 of the ukrainian population. the vast majority have crossed into poland, although significant numbers have also left via romania and moldova, and a small number have gone

into russia and belarus. let's focus now on romania, where many people are passing through the border town of siret. it's also being used as a hub for sending medical and food supplies into ukraine. our correspondent nick thorpe is there. he told me it is mostly women and children crossing the border. the women, they have just left men behind — their husbands and partners, who maybe delivered them to the border, or in the case of a woman who i spoke to this morning, she left her husband a month ago in kyiv, and then moved to another relatively safe city, but then decided to move on. she was having trouble holding back the tears. difficult decisions being made here. but the children around, they're watching their mothers in situations like this, they are comforting them. they are traumatised, they are missing their fathers, their grandfathers and their older brothers, perhaps,

but they are also looking after their mothers in these situations. we are witnessing this time and time again, often with very small children of eight or ten years old. is the town set up to manage these large numbers of people coming through? it is, yes. at the moment there is something of a lull at this particular border crossing. only 2000 people crossed here yesterday, that's comparing to five, six, 7000 in the days before that, 7000 in the days before that, of the 10— 20,000 people coming into romania a day, but it is very well organised. there are a lot of volunteers as you can see over my shoulder here. these will be translators, people from the romanian fire brigade, who are playing a central role at all these border crossings, and of course the romanian police. there is also a growing awareness at border crossings like this of the vulnerability of so many young women and children crossing.

there is a worry amongst international organisations following this situation as it evolves about the danger of trafficking. there are small groups here, warning women and children about this danger, and so generally one has a sense of a very well organised humanitarian organisation within the chaos of this wider refugee situation. thank you. the uk's ministry of defence is issuing a daily intelligence update on the situation in ukraine. here's what it has to say on tuesday. it focuses on military hardware.

that was the daily update from the uk �*s ministry of defence on the situation in ukraine. as well as conventional weapons, the white house has also raised the likelihood that russia may resort to cyber—attacks against the us in response to increasingly damaging sanctions. our cyber reporterjoe tidy gave me his take on that threat. well, i suppose they are looking at previous incidents, and these warnings are not new, but it is important that it has come from the president himself. they said there is some sort of new intelligence. they haven't given us any evidence of this, but to be honest, the western intelligence has been

pretty on the money since this invasion in terms of getting the next moves of the kremlin. i think what they are most concerned about our first of all, it is an attack on the us or the uk — these warnings are being echoed by the uk. a direct cyber attack. the sort of things against critical infrastructure that could really cause critcal problems. last may, one of the biggest oil pipelines were hit by a run somewhere attack which was thought to be russian cyber criminals. that caused oil supplies to dry up along the east coast, panic buying at the pumps, and a real crisis for about a week—and—a—half in the us. the other thing that is a concern is an overspill attack, so for example in 2017, russia launched a cyber attack on ukraine, and that was malicious software which affected lots of computers in ukraine, and it wiped all the data,

making all those networks unusable. that spread across the world and caused about $10 billion worth of damage. that's what they will be most worried about at the moment. can anything be done to prevent the damage, or is itjust an inevitability? this is what president biden is saying, and it's the same we are hearing from the uk cyber authorities. people need to make sure they are defended as best they can and take the threat seriously. cyber attacks, particularly ransomware, are a part of modern business. there are cyber criminals constantly getting into networks and holding companies to ransom. but this increased threat from russia, and perhaps from the russian state, is something that ceos need to take seriously around the world. president biden is calling on private individuals and companies to take this seriously.

he has said, you have the power and authority to strengthen the cyber security on which americans rely and we need everyone to do their part. this has been a drive from the us government for about six months now. not only government departments to shore up their defences, but also for private companies to do the same. briefly, what is the aim of this? it seems like it is just a case of a bit of vengeful anarchy. or is it about putting pressure on the west to leave russia alone? of course it hasn't happened yet, and russia will say that this is part of the narrative that the west is trying to portray. they say that these kinds of comments from joe biden are causing a rift that is the biggest diplomatic issue that the countries have ever seen. i suppose what the west is concerned about is that it would be some sort of revenge attack with all the sanctions that are taking place, but also it could be a case that it might be effectively opening up a cyber offensive, the likes of which we have

never seen before. earlier i spoke to kateryna osadcha a tv presenter and journalist in ukraine, who is using her celebrity status to help reunite families who've been torn apart by war. she's launched a group called �*search for the missing' on the messenger app telegram, which now has over 100,000 subscribers. it gets many hundreds of desperate pleas everyday, from people trying to find theirfriends and family members. i asked what prompted her to start this group. on the third day of the war, i realised i am receiving millions of messages about missing people, missing children. mostly people from mariupol, places where there was no chance to connect to the people at that moment. i realised that i can help with my instagram, which is

really popular, but not enough. we just straightaway made this group on the telegram channel, and my tv group, people working with me, say they will help me and we just united for this injust one hour and we started searching for missing people. started searching for missing eo - le. , started searching for missing --eole. , , ,., started searching for missing --eole. , , people. there must be so many heartbreaking _ people. there must be so many heartbreaking stories _ people. there must be so many heartbreaking stories out - people. there must be so many| heartbreaking stories out there. what sort of messages have you been receiving? the what sort of messages have you been receivin: ? .,, what sort of messages have you been receivin: ? , , . receiving? the most difficult part of this job. _ receiving? the most difficult part of this job. of— receiving? the most difficult part of this job, of this _ receiving? the most difficult part of this job, of this voluntary - of this job, of this voluntary mission, is when you see pictures of the people who are smiling. they send us pictures and stories, how these people were missed. the hardest part is when you see people smiling on a vacation, on the coast of the sea, or somewhere. and you realise that it is not like this any more. there are a lot of stories

which when we unite a family, and on the other hand there are stories where we can't unite families any more because of death, someone who is missing. it is the most terrible part. the third thing that we realised last weekend, a lot of people are moving from mariupol, for example, to the opposite side of russia, and there was like captives, you know? they are not asking them if they want to stay near ukraine, or if they want to be moved to the side of russia. it is terrible, and wejust want to side of russia. it is terrible, and we just want to say to all of the world, break all the rules of humanity. world, break all the rules of humanity-— world, break all the rules of humani . ~ , , , world, break all the rules of humani . , , , , humanity. absolutely, it must be depressing _ humanity. absolutely, it must be depressing with _ humanity. absolutely, it must be depressing with some _ humanity. absolutely, it must be depressing with some of- humanity. absolutely, it must be depressing with some of the - humanity. absolutely, it must be l depressing with some of the cases you have seen, but also rewarding

when you do see some success stories. what examples have been of families reunited. we are we a re really we are really happy when we have reunited the family is, for example, we describe the least of the people who are still alive we describe the least of the people who are still alive in we describe the least of the people who are still alive in the we describe the least of the people who are still alive in the shelter in mariupol. a lot of showers, the people are writing by hand, the names, and they are taking pictures and sending them to us and we are printing the names and sending them to the groups. last week we describe like thousands of people who were missing and we describe them in the shelter and you cannot imagine how touching the messages we are dealing with when they realise their parents or children or sister, brother, they are still alive in the shelter. haifa are still alive in the shelter. how

are still alive in the shelter. how are ou? are still alive in the shelter. how are you? how — are still alive in the shelter. how are you? how have _ are still alive in the shelter. how are you? how have you - are still alive in the shelter. how are you? how have you been keeping during this horrific conflict? you know, during this horrific conflict? you know. our— during this horrific conflict? you know, our lives _ during this horrific conflict? you know, our lives are _ during this horrific conflict? 7m, know, our lives are changed 380 degrees, in the three weeks because i am a mother of three, my older son he is a student in the us so i am happy he is safe and bright small kids, they are still not realising what is going on because we left kyiv on the second day when already there were rockets and explosions but not that much like today. and i just want to keep my children safe and mentality and they have to be in and mentality and they have to be in a safe place but i am really, really hope that it will finish because we really hope that all the world can close eyes and just watching us on their tv, we need help, we need

support for everyone and we need to stop this invasion. i did not realise in the whole of my life that i would live in a country with a huge war, russia against ukraine. ukrainian authorities have said are hit set address overnight. no casualties are known but the port city is thought to be the next target for russia with russian warships stationed in the black sea. a military expert spoke to me about the strategic importance of the city. the strategic importance of the ci . ., , the strategic importance of the ci . ., y in the strategic importance of the ci . ., , ::f ., the strategic importance of the ci. ., '?' ., , the strategic importance of the ci. ., '?' ., city. roughly 70% of the country 's exorts city. roughly 70% of the country 's exnorts go — city. roughly 70% of the country 's exnorts go by _ city. roughly 70% of the country 's exnorts go by sea. _ city. roughly 70% of the country 's exports go by sea, 70% _ city. roughly 70% of the country 's exports go by sea, 70% of - city. roughly 70% of the country 's exports go by sea, 70% of those . city. roughly 70% of the country 's| exports go by sea, 70% of those go through edessa, given that russia holds much of ukraine's black sea coast already with the exception of mariupol which may well fall in the coming weeks, odesa really becomes

ukraine's last outlet at sea, and to seize control of it would give russia a stranglehold over ukraine's economy. we russia a stranglehold over ukraine's econom . ~ , ., russia a stranglehold over ukraine's econom . ~ , . ,, ., economy. we understand russian warshi -s economy. we understand russian warships are _ economy. we understand russian warships are stationed _ economy. we understand russian warships are stationed in - economy. we understand russian warships are stationed in the - economy. we understand russianl warships are stationed in the black sea, what sort of form as the attack likely to take, are we expecting an amphibious assault? i likely to take, are we expecting an amphibious assault?— amphibious assault? i would not exect an amphibious assault? i would not expect an amphibious _ amphibious assault? i would not expect an amphibious assault i amphibious assault? i would not expect an amphibious assault to j amphibious assault? i would not - expect an amphibious assault to take place until and unless ground forces with which an amphibious force could link up begin to approach odesa. russia simply lacks the amphibious lift capabilities to move enough troops by sea to take the city by themselves. now the ground offensive towards odesa has for the most part stalled further to the east and to the extent the russians have made advancesin the extent the russians have made advances in the northern direction rather than towards odesa so i am not entirely sure that an amphibious assault will materialise anytime

soon. given the absence of ground forces with which it link up. do you think the warships _ forces with which it link up. do you think the warships stationed - forces with which it link up. do you think the warships stationed there | think the warships stationed there are partly a sort of symbolic intimidation tactic as well? partially but they also serve the role of fixing ukrainian forces in odesa. foras role of fixing ukrainian forces in odesa. for as long as the russians posture amphibious forces off the coast and naval vessels to shell the city the ukrainians have to garrison forfear city the ukrainians have to garrison for fear the russians city the ukrainians have to garrison forfear the russians might city the ukrainians have to garrison for fear the russians might launch an amphibious assault. this means forces could be more fruitfully used elsewhere for example defending against the northern advance are effectively fixed in odesa so by their very presence, the russian naval and amphibious forces sort of indirectly support the russian ground advance further east. what indirectly support the russian ground advance further east. what do ou think ground advance further east. what do you think the — ground advance further east. what do you think the best _ ground advance further east. what do you think the best tactics _ ground advance further east. what do you think the best tactics are - ground advance further east. what do you think the best tactics are or- you think the best tactics are or the likelihood is of ukrainians being able to hold fast at odesa?

the ukrainians have a limited number of anti—ship missiles and they began to take delivery of training stocks before the war began. they can have and have no doubt deployed things like naval mines of the coast and of course mines along likely landing sites. given the inherent difficulties of securing beachhead under the best of circumstances especially in a highly urbanised area, there's probably a lot of things ukrainians can do to make life very difficult for an amphibious force, if it chose to operate by itself without ground support. if the russians made a breakthrough and significantly reinforce that advance, that might change substantially but right now, the ukrainians are probably well placed to hold it shoot the russians seek to assault it purely by sea but i doubt that is the russian approach

in any case. people around the world have seen images of the 21 surrogate babies being cared for in a kyiv bomb shelter. a top eu official is now calling for their evacuation as their intended parents can't travel to ukraine during the russian invasion. shelley phelps has spoken to one of those surrogate mothers. these surrogate—born babies are starting life at a makeshift nursery in a bomb shelter basement. their foreign biological parents unable to pick them up because of war. more arrive every day and they expect to have around 100 here by the end of the month. translation: we are worried for ourselves, for our own - children, for these little babies who stay here, for everyone. it's terrifying because we sit here and we don't know what will happen next. even though we stay in the basement, when there is an explosion somewhere nearby, we can hear it very clearly.

paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and there's thought to be hundreds of women carrying babies forforeign couples. but those weighing up whether to flee the war zone are being told they could face complicated legal situations if they give birth in another country. poland or in czech republic or in moldova, in romania, the countries, they do not recognise the legal relation of a child, and first of all, in the countries, from roman law, the legal mother of a child is a woman who gives birth. it's notjust the international parents who face worry and heartache at being separated from their children. this is natalia, a ukrainian surrogate who travelled to kyiv and gave birth to a baby boy for a german couple. days later, war broke out with missiles striking roads and railway stations.

translation: i was unable to go back to my kids. - unfortunately, they are far away from here, from me, and they are missing me so much, and same way, i am missing them so much. that's why would like to ask everyone, anyone who can see or hear me, please support us, the ukrainians. please support ukraine. help us to defend ourselves against the invaders. the happiness her own family brings is one of the reasons natalia became a surrogate, and she says she's proud to be helping making others' dreams come true. the parents of the boy she gave birth to have made it to ukraine to unite with their baby, and natalia hopes she'll be hugging her own children again soon. shelley phelps, bbc news. it's been five months since sudan's military staged a coup ending a power sharing agreement with civilian leaders.

every week since then — pro—democracy demonstrators — many of whom are women — have taken to the streets challenging the junta's authority. more protests are expected on thursday. the bbc�*s africa correspondent, katherine byaruhanga, has investigated increasing reports that security forces have been targeting these protesters with beatings, sexual assault, and rape to silence them. you may find some of the content of this report distressing. three years since they started marching for democracy, sudanese people are just not giving up. women have challenged this conservative society by leading protests, sometimes outnumbering men, but always waiting nearby are sudan's security forces. gunfire. they confront peaceful demonstrators with tear gas, live ammunition and an at least one occasion, heavy machine guns.

from what we're hearing it's women and girls who are once again being targeted in the cycle of violence. screaming. those are the screams of women being beaten with sticks, then dragged out of a car. victims say the attacks get worse as night falls. there are increased reports that security forces are sexually assaulting protesters. it's incredibly rare to hear from victims. many fear they will be stigmatised. this woman hasn't even told her family what's happened to her. police and soldiers took our phones and began to beat us. then they started to hit me. i lost consciousness for a long time. after they took me to a truck and they tried to rape me. one was wearing plain clothes and another a blue police uniform. they tried to rape me, tried taking my clothes off. i was in huge distress. after a while, an officer passing

in the street heard the commotion in the truck, so he helped get me out and two men fled. hi. i've come to meet salima sharif, who heads a government unit combating violence against women. salima is opposed to the recent military coup, but continues to do the work she believes is important. we first met two years ago when she was an activist, but she tells me nothing has changed. always rape and sexual assault is connected to shame and guilt. shaming people. so it's about like if the girls or the women get out, this is what they can get. this is the second time i'm interviewing salima about sexual violence during sudan's protests, and it's a reminder as to how effective rape can be as a weapon because the victims are often too scared to speak out and it's a crime that will live with them for the rest of their lives.

women activists say sexual violence by sudan's security forces is systematic. they point to the conflict in darfur from the early to mid 2000s, when the government—backed janjaweed militia used rape as a weapon of war. we sent the bbc�*s evidence of attacks on women to sudan's military rulers for comments, and so far they've declined our request for an interview. despite threats of violence, sudan's women continue demonstrating. they're at the centre of this country's dreams for democracy, and they say they won't be broken. katherine byaruhanga bbc news, khartoum. the duke and duchess of cambridge will travel to jamaica today, as their tour of the caribbean continues. yesterday, prince william paid tribute to ukrainians fighting for their homeland, during a visit to a british military training camp, in the jungles of belize. our royal correspondent jonny dymond reports.

learning about another world, another civilisation, way up in the hills of belize. if you're looking for historical perspective, there are worse places to find it than a mayan temple. the british monarchy has been around for a thousand years, but this place, it's been around for 3,000. think of what it's seen. and now, they came to see it. the army uses the jungle to teach its soldiers and survival skills. the duke was here more than 20 years ago, but now was a chance to brush up his knowledge on how... to trap a monkey in the wild. the reception for the couple, william directly addressed the invasion of ukraine. he quoted the queen, talking about the vigilance needed to protect democracies. sadly, elsewhere in the world, that vigilance is being

tested today in ukraine. belize hasjoined many others in condemning the invasion and standing up for the principles of international law, peace, and security. today we think of those struggling in ukraine and we stand with them in solidarity. from the royals, it doesn't get much blunter than that. the couple head for their next stop, jamaica, later today. jonny dymond, bbc news, belize. police in sweden are investigating the deaths of two teachers in an attack at a secondary school in the city of malmo on monday. local media reports say the two women, both in their 50s, died in hospitalfrom stabbing injuries — although police haven't confirmed what weapon was used. police say an 18—year—old student was arrested at the scene, and detectives say they are looking into reports that the attacker himself called an emergency number to raise the alarm.

a 17—month—old girl has died after being attacked by a dog in her home in st helens in the northwest of england. merseyside police say the animal was bought by the family only a week ago. yunus mulla reports from the scene. the investigation here is in the early stages. the police have said this was a tragic accident in which a 17—month—old girl has died. officers were called here to this estate in the blackbrook area of st helens just before a:00pm yesterday afternoon after reports that the girl had been attacked by the family's pet dog. she was taken to hospital but sadly died as a result of her injuries. the dog was handed into police and officers say it was humanely destroyed. so far, officers have spoken to a number of people here, they have carried out house—to—house inquiries, had a look at cctv footage. but they are trying to establish the history of the dog.

they say it was only bought last week by the family, they want to trace its previous owners. the family are said to be absolutely devastated by what happened and police say their thoughts are very much with the family at this time. what will happen next is that tests will be carried out on that dog to determine its breed and whether that breed is legal or illegal under the dangerous dogs act. a new compensation scheme has been announced for post office workers who won a landmark civil case over faulty computer software used by the post office. the 555 people who won the case — part of britain's biggest ever miscarriage ofjustice — will now get the same pay—out as the employees who were wrongly convicted. between 2000 and 2014, hundreds of sub—postmasters and mistresses were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to faults in computer software called horizon,

that was being used at branches across the uk. our personal finance correspondent kevin peacheyjoins me live. so many lives ruined by this scandal. what does this compensation scheme entail? figs scandal. what does this compensation scheme entail?— scheme entail? as you say, lives and livelihoods ruined _ scheme entail? as you say, lives and livelihoods ruined because _ scheme entail? as you say, lives and livelihoods ruined because of- scheme entail? as you say, lives and livelihoods ruined because of these l livelihoods ruined because of these false accusations and they came from this computer system called horizon which was in post office branches but which ultimately was flawed and hundreds of people as you say over the course of more than a decade were convicted of things like false accounting and fraud. the real turning point came when 555 of these sub—masters and mistresses took a long and or give us battle, frankly, through the civil courts and at the end of that, they won their case against the post office at the end

of 2019. they won compensation however a lot of that was eaten up by the legal fees and they only received about £20,000 on average each. and since then, things have really moved on, we have had 72 criminal convictions overturned, we have had a full inquiry set up by the government and we have had this compensation scheme set up which compensates people for the supposed shortfalls in their accounts which they made up with their own money and it compensates them for that but the 555 who took these civil cases, they were locked out of this compensation scheme and what has happened today is the government has said they will be compensated in the same way as all those other hundreds of people who were using a compensation scheme. has of people who were using a compensation scheme. as you say, a lona and compensation scheme. as you say, a long and arduous _ compensation scheme. as you say, a long and arduous battle, _ compensation scheme. as you say, a long and arduous battle, the - long and arduous battle, the long—running case so why has it

taken so long for those 555 people to get this compensation scheme, to no longer be locked out of previous compensation? for no longer be locked out of previous compensation?— no longer be locked out of previous comensation? ., ., , , compensation? for many postmasters, this has been _ compensation? for many postmasters, this has been a — compensation? for many postmasters, this has been a nightmare _ compensation? for many postmasters, this has been a nightmare that - compensation? for many postmasters, this has been a nightmare that has - this has been a nightmare that has lasted for more than 20 years so you can see, they are used to long battles so this is one of them and even ministers today said without them, without this 555 group of postmasters who took their case to the civil courts, maybe none of this would ever have come to light, you know? they fought a long battle, they were the pioneers according to ministers of bringing some of these problems to light and exposing the problems to light and exposing the problems with the horizon computer system and as a result, they should be compensated in the same way. the group themselves and many other postmasters themselves have said they want full and fair compensation, that will take a long time to come through and it could be

significant sums at the end of it, so significant that the post office will be unable to afford it and it is the government who will have to step in and pay this compensation which could amount to lots and lots of money for these people whose lives have been overturned. what's been the reaction _ lives have been overturned. what's been the reaction to _ lives have been overturned. what's been the reaction to this _ lives have been overturned. what's been the reaction to this new- been the reaction to this new compensation scheme from victims? it's a bit early, onlyjust been an answer we haven't actually had a huge amount of details yet. this has come from the government today. the group obviously are used to long battles and they are also used to looking through detailed, lots of details and that's right back to their accounts but also the details of any compensation in the details of any compensation in the details of any compensation in the details of anyjudgment that comes their way and so i think they will have a look through the small print before they know exactly what it means for them. thank you.

as the uk celebrates queen elizabeth's platinumjubilee this year, we're marking the occasion by speaking to others who are toasting 70 years of something special. cyril and muriel sansom met at the end of the second world war and today is their 70th wedding anniversary. john maguire went to meet them. love you. love you. after 70 years of marriage, — love you. love you. after 70 years of marriage, cyril— love you. love you. after 70 years of marriage, cyril and _ love you. love you. after 70 years of marriage, cyril and muriel- love you. love you. after 70 years of marriage, cyril and muriel still. of marriage, cyril and muriel still hold hands whenever they can and they say they never argue. i can say we have never— they say they never argue. i can say we have never round, _ they say they never argue. i can say we have never round, we _ they say they never argue. i can say we have never round, we have - they say they never argue. i can say we have never round, we have had| they say they never argue. i can say| we have never round, we have had a difference _ we have never round, we have had a difference of — we have never round, we have had a difference of opinion but we have never_ difference of opinion but we have never round. difference of opinion but we have never round-— never round. one or other of us would given _ never round. one or other of us would given unusually, - never round. one or other of us would given unusually, it - never round. one or other of us would given unusually, it was . never round. one or other of us i would given unusually, it was me! but we like the same things. timer;r but we like the same things. they met as teenagers _ but we like the same things. they met as teenagers near _ but we like the same things. they met as teenagers near the end of the second world war and cyril plucked up second world war and cyril plucked up the courage to suggest a trip to the cinema which almost didn't happen! i

the cinema which almost didn't ha en! .., the cinema which almost didn't ha en! u, ., the cinema which almost didn't hauen! ., . the cinema which almost didn't ha en! ., ., the cinema which almost didn't ha en! .., ., . ., the cinema which almost didn't ha en! ., ., ., , happen! i came home and i said to my mum, he happen! i came home and i said to my mum. he wants _ happen! i came home and i said to my mum, he wants to _ happen! i came home and i said to my mum, he wants to take _ happen! i came home and i said to my mum, he wants to take me _ happen! i came home and i said to my mum, he wants to take me to - happen! i came home and i said to my mum, he wants to take me to the - mum, he wants to take me to the pictures. — mum, he wants to take me to the pictures, wasn't it?— pictures, wasn't it? yes, in peckham- _ pictures, wasn't it? yes, in peckham. and _ pictures, wasn't it? yes, in peckham. and i _ pictures, wasn't it? yes, in peckham. and i said, - pictures, wasn't it? yes, in peckham. and i said, i- pictures, wasn't it? yes, in peckham. and i said, i do i pictures, wasn't it? yes, in i peckham. and i said, i do not pictures, wasn't it? yes, in - peckham. and i said, i do not think i will no. peckham. and i said, i do not think i will go. yes. _ peckham. and i said, i do not think i will go. yes, you _ peckham. and i said, i do not think i will go. yes, you will, _ peckham. and i said, i do not think i will go. yes, you will, my - peckham. and i said, i do not think i will go. yes, you will, my girl, - i will go. yes, you will, my girl, you _ i will go. yes, you will, my girl, you promised the lad and you will no. you promised the lad and you will io, ., you promised the lad and you will no. ., ., ., , , go. thanks to mother, the rest is history and _ go. thanks to mother, the rest is history and a _ go. thanks to mother, the rest is history and a family _ go. thanks to mother, the rest is history and a family that - go. thanks to mother, the rest is history and a family that includes| history and a family that includes five grandchildren and five great—grandchildren! one of them, maddy, is helping her great—grandmother to maintain her famous sartorial standards. you li . ht famous sartorial standards. you liuht our famous sartorial standards. you light your high _ famous sartorial standards. you light your high heel shoes, didn't you? _ light your high heel shoes, didn't ou? , ~ , light your high heel shoes, didn't ou? ,

14. she left school when she was 13 or it as _ she left school when she was 13 or it as you — she left school when she was 13 or 14. as you did in those days. i was 13 and _ 14. as you did in those days. i was 13 and the — 14. as you did in those days. i was 13 and the friday and started work on the _ 13 and the friday and started work on the monday. 13 and the friday and started work on the monday-— on the monday. after the war they were ke -t on the monday. after the war they were kept apart — on the monday. after the war they were kept apart by _ on the monday. after the war they were kept apart by national - on the monday. after the war they| were kept apart by national service in the raf and for a time, their engagement was called off. i had a -hone engagement was called off. i had a hone call engagement was called off. i had a phone call and _ engagement was called off. i had a phone call and it _ engagement was called off. i had a phone call and it was _ engagement was called off. i had a phone call and it was muriel - engagement was called off. i had a phone call and it was muriel and i engagement was called off. i had a. phone call and it was muriel and she said cyril. _ phone call and it was muriel and she said cyril. i— phone call and it was muriel and she said cyril, i would like to come back— said cyril, i would like to come back again _ said cyril, i would like to come back again and i said, would you? i said. _ back again and i said, would you? i said. i_ back again and i said, would you? i said. iwill— back again and i said, would you? i said, i will meet you tonight! and i had already— said, i will meet you tonight! and i had already got a date with one of the girls— had already got a date with one of the girls and when she phoned me, i knew— the girls and when she phoned me, i knew straightaway, that is it. no mucking — knew straightaway, that is it. no mucking about with other young girls _ mucking about with other young uirls. �* girls. and there we went. other ounu girls. and there we went. other young girls _ girls. and there we went. other young girls missed _ girls. and there we went. other young girls missed out - girls. and there we went. other young girls missed out and - girls. and there we went. other. young girls missed out and seven decades later, their love is stronger than ever. typified by their nightly routine.— stronger than ever. typified by their nightly routine. before we get into bed she _ their nightly routine. before we get into bed she comes _ their nightly routine. before we get into bed she comes up _ their nightly routine. before we get into bed she comes up and - their nightly routine. before we get into bed she comes up and says, i their nightly routine. before we get| into bed she comes up and says, we hold hands—

into bed she comes up and says, we hold hands and she gives me a little kiss and _ hold hands and she gives me a little kiss and we — hold hands and she gives me a little kiss and we then go to our sites of the bed. _ kiss and we then go to our sites of the bed. we — kiss and we then go to our sites of the bed, we will say good night, good _ the bed, we will say good night, good night. and we just hold hands, like that _ good night. and we just hold hands, like that. just good night. and we 'ust hold hands, like that. g , ., ., good night. and we 'ust hold hands, like that. , ., ., , . , like that. just one of the secrets of their success _ like that. just one of the secrets of their success in _ like that. just one of the secrets of their success in 70 _ like that. just one of the secrets of their success in 70 years - like that. just one of the secrets of their success in 70 years of i like that. just one of the secrets i of their success in 70 years of love and marriage. cyril and muriel showing us how it is done. as i mentioned, we heard earlierfrom the ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky who addressed the italian parliament and let me briefly bring you some of what he said. he said he had spoken to pope francis and suggested the vatican could play a mediating role in ending the war with russia. he said in a post on twitter, president zelensky said he told the pope of the difficult humanitarian situation and her risky corridors were being blocked by russian troops and said the role of the pope in mediation would be appreciated. more on that and other

stories coming up, that's all for now, lucy will be with you at the top of the hour. hello. a lot of fine weather to come for the uk today and potentially for the next five, seven, even ten days thanks to high pressure. today a lot of warm sunshine. temperature is going to do very well, sitting on the western side of this area of high pressure, pulling our air in from the south, one direction and we are getting into march and the sun is gathering strength. you see cloud there, roaming around under the western flank of that high pressure, pulling ourair in western flank of that high pressure, pulling our air in from the south, one direction and we are getting into march and the sun is gathering strength. you see cloud there, roaming around under the western flank of that high—pressure and out of that we could see some showers being generated. most likely to see the showers later in the afternoon, parts of east anglia, perhaps the midlands, drifting into northern ireland, scattered for the majority,

dry story. up to 19 degrees across eastern england, elsewhere we are looking widely at the mid—teens. always breezy or perhaps towards the west coast. overnight into the small hours of wednesday largely clear skies, perhaps a mist and work for eastern coasts, perhaps through the vale of york and with clear skies at turns chilly particularly in rural spots, temperatures close to freezing. for wednesday, spots, temperatures close to freezing. forwednesday, lots of sunshine, perhaps more cloud towards the south—west, it will be brazier here, we should see any mist and fog clearing elsewhere to leave a fine day, relatively light winds and lots of sunshine, warm still than tuesday, we could even locally see up tuesday, we could even locally see up to 21 degrees across eastern england. thursday into friday, the high—pressure centre moves west and sits across the uk, that changes the wind direction a little come across the northern half of the uk the air comes from the atlantic, more breeze for scotland, could feel cooler

here, the same for the south coasts but again, largely warm story, temperatures above average. friday into the weekend, high—pressure stays with us, plenty more fine weather to come, just some signs early next week that we may switch around to a northerly wind direction as high—pressure drifts to the west of the uk but as you seek no sign of anything particularly wet in the forecast in the next week at least. temperatures above average right the way through the weekend, just getting potentially a little cooler when we look to next monday.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the globe. i'm ben brown in lviv in western ukraine. our top stories... president biden has warned that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber attacks in the us. he is considering using both of those. he has already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what is about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. ukraine's capital, kyiv, is once again under a curfew — it was put in place after eight people were killed in residential areas. one of the leading kremlin critics, alexei navalny, has been found guilty of large—scale fraud by a russian court.

there are calls for the 21 surrogate babies being cared for in a kyiv bomb shelter to be evacuated, as their intended parents can't travel to ukraine during the russian invasion. iam lucy i am lucy hockings in london with the rest of the headlines. two women in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a school in sweden — an 18—year—old student has been arrested on suspicion of murder. victims of the post office horizon scandal here in the uk are set to benefit from a new compensation scheme. and 17—month—old girl has died in hospital after being attacked by a dog at her home in north—west england.

president biden has said there are clear signs vladimir putin may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. in the capital, kyiv, there's a new curfew in force after the russian attack on a shopping centre and residential areas that left eight people dead. and today there are growing fears that the continuing conflict in ukraine could cause major disruption to food supplies. ukraine and russia are the world's largest exporters of wheat. our coverage starts with this report from our correspondent andrew plant. gunfire at a protest against the russian invasion — people said they were fired on as they demonstrated here, in the city of kherson in southern ukraine. president zelensky said it was a rally for freedom. the ukrainian air force now say russia is increasing its attacks from the air.

this footage from a drone showing mariupol being destroyed with reports the attacks are stalling in places. further east, parts of the city of mariupol — the centre and suburbs here — shelled and empty, a further 3,000 people were evacuated yesterday. satellite images show the smoke rising across the city. the united states has said that russia may soon turn to using chemical weapons, following false claims that ukraine was poised to use them. his back is against the wall, and now he is talking about new false flags he is setting up, including asserting that we in america and chemical and biological weapons from europe, it is simply not true. i guarantee that. they are also suggesting that ukraine has biological and chemical weapons. that is a clear sign he is considering using both of those. in kyiv, eight people are reported dead after shelling on a residential area. russia said it was because

rockets were stored here. the toll of this war is already hard to bear. sergei's brother igor was killed when ukrainian barracks to the east of odesa were bombed. here, the russian invasion still feels relentless. "this is our land," he says. "we live here. where should we run?" for many ukrainians, there is no choice. they stay and cling to daily rituals. president zelensky has called again for direct talks with vladimir putin to end the fighting. but for now, hopes of a ceasefire still seem out of reach. andrew plant, bbc news. zhanna bezpiatchuk is a reporter for the bbc�*s ukrainian service. she is in the centre of lviv for us now. what is your reading of what is

happening at the moment on the battlefield? we hear from happening at the moment on the battlefield? we hearfrom president zelensky that ukrainian forces are continuing to slow the russian advance. that is what they are saying. advance. that is what they are sa in. . advance. that is what they are sain._ , advance. that is what they are sa in. , ., saying. yes, according to the intelligence, _ saying. yes, according to the intelligence, the _ saying. yes, according to the intelligence, the ukrainian i intelligence, the ukrainian government, presidentand intelligence, the ukrainian government, president and ukrainian army, the russian army in ukraine became locked down simultaneously in the north of the country, in the south and in the east. i can give you just one example. in the south of the ukrainian region kherson there is an airport that has been attacked by the russian army, already at least six times. there were at least a few really massive attacks on this airport. they were all repelled by the ukrainian army and the death toll of the russian army was very high there. but the russian army continues to attack this particular airport in the south of ukraine, so itjust shows that on

the one hand there is no real advancement on many front lines in this country for the russian army, and on the other hand this army obviously outnumbers the ukrainian army. also, at this stage of the full—scale war on ukraine, the russian army and president according to intelligence we received from the military resorted to siege tactics. at the same time, they continue to carry out missile and air strikes all across ukraine. i can give you one more example. the village nearby kyiv where one of my relatives there, an elderly woman stays, was hit by the fragments of the russian missile last night. so most probably it was shut down by the ukrainian

aircraft welfare system. so that is how the current state of the war and russian invasion into ukraine looks like. bi]! russian invasion into ukraine looks like. �* russian invasion into ukraine looks like. ., ., russian invasion into ukraine looks like. . ., ., ~ russian invasion into ukraine looks like. �* . ., ., like. all right, zhanna, thank you very much _ like. all right, zhanna, thank you very much indeed. _ like. all right, zhanna, thank you very much indeed. zhanna - like. all right, zhanna, thank you - very much indeed. zhanna bezpiatchuk from the ukrainian service. ukranian authorities have said air strikes hit apartment blocks on the outskirt of the country's third largest city — odesa — overnight. no casulties are known but the port city is thought to be russia's next target with russian warships stationed in the black sea. stationed in the black sea. joining me from kyiv is the odesa mp, oleksiy goncharenko. thank you very much for being with us. first of all let's talk about odesa. do you feel it is going to very soon come under a naval bombardment? in very soon come under a naval bombardment?— very soon come under a naval bombardment? ~ . ., bombardment? in ukraine there are three separate _ bombardment? in ukraine there are three separate cities _ bombardment? in ukraine there are three separate cities for _ bombardment? in ukraine there are three separate cities for putin - bombardment? in ukraine there are three separate cities for putin with l three separate cities for putin with his perverted understanding of

history. it is sevastopol which is temporarily occupied in crimea, it is odesa and kyiv, so odesa is one of his targets and also it is the biggest city on the black sea, so like the capital of the black sea. they tried to attack odesa from three destinations, from land, from and occupied part of moldova, occupied by russia, and from the sea. because they couldn't go for our army in the southern part and our army in the southern part and our army in the southern part and our army is either a counter attacking them their so that's why they started these siege tactics and terror tactics like in other big cities of ukraine, kyiv, kharkiv and especially mariupol. when they are starting to bombard and shell at the city. they are using not only missiles but their navy in odesa. it was the first time for 80 years. the last time odesa was bombed by german

nazis and now it is bombed by russian nazis. brute nazis and now it is bombed by russian nazis.— russian nazis. we have heard warninus russian nazis. we have heard warnings from _ russian nazis. we have heard warnings from the _ russian nazis. we have heard warnings from the white - russian nazis. we have heard. warnings from the white house russian nazis. we have heard - warnings from the white house from president biden that vladimir putin could be prepared to use biological and chemical weapons if he has to because his back is against the wall in this conflict. do you fear that could happen?— in this conflict. do you fear that could ha en? , ., ,, could happen? everything can happen with putin and — could happen? everything can happen with putin and russia. _ could happen? everything can happen with putin and russia. it _ could happen? everything can happen with putin and russia. it should - could happen? everything can happen with putin and russia. it should be i with putin and russia. it should be clear to everybody. for example, yesterday on their state channel, tv channel number one, it is the name, they said they are preparing nuclear attacks against other countries and even named them. baltic states, poland, romania and so on. so absolutely, everything is possible with them so i can't tell you that something is impossible. they are aggressors, putin is crazy. he is a

real hitler for this century and we should wait everything for him. so quicker we will stop him, and ukraine is stopping him now, so together with the free world if we will stop him now, that is the best solution for the whole world. what solution for the whole world. what about the situation _ solution for the whole world. what about the situation in _ solution for the whole world. what about the situation in mariupol? because obviously massive destruction there. we have seen that, but do you fear your forces are about to lose control of mariupol?— are about to lose control of mariuol? ., , mariupol? mariupol is already blocked for _ mariupol? mariupol is already blocked for almost _ mariupol? mariupol is already blocked for almost three - mariupol? mariupol is already . blocked for almost three weeks mariupol? mariupol is already - blocked for almost three weeks and they are fighting on blockade, and what they are doing, and the fact they are still keeping the city is quite unbelievable. that is... they are real heroes, those ukrainian fighters who fight there. so for how long will they succeed to fight, it is hard to say. every day it is clear that they are in blockade and russians are bombing them so

heavily, they almost destroyed the city so i can't tell you how many days they will continue their fight and their defence. nobody knows. find and their defence. nobody knows. and on thursday, it is one month since the russian invasion, one month of warfare that has engulfed your country. there are peace talks continuing. can you see a successful peace deal any time in the near future? and what might that peace agreement look like if there is one? i don't believe in these peace negotiations. putin is not going to stop, absolutely, so i don't believe in this. the only way he will start to realise negotiations is if he understands he can do absolutely nothing to ukraine. for this we need more sanctions against putin so he couldn't afford this war, and we need more weapons to ukraine, not

only air defence but aircraft because the advantage is in the air, in this guise, so that is what can be done to really have putin on the peace negotiations. before these, he will continue to try to achieve his military goals so i don't believe that he is ready for real peace negotiations now.— that he is ready for real peace negotiations now. that he is ready for real peace neaotiations now. ., ,, , ., . negotiations now. thank you so much for our negotiations now. thank you so much for yourtime- — negotiations now. thank you so much for your time. the _ negotiations now. thank you so much for your time. the ukrainian - negotiations now. thank you so much for your time. the ukrainian mp - negotiations now. thank you so much for your time. the ukrainian mp for i for your time. the ukrainian mp for odesa and currently in the capital kyiv. let's get more from the news about joe biden. how worried are the white

house about this? the joe biden. how worried are the white house about this?— house about this? the white house has lona house about this? the white house has long warned _ house about this? the white house has long warned of— house about this? the white house has long warned of russian - house about this? the white house has long warned of russian attacks | has long warned of russian attacks but now they are saying they have seen activity from the soviet nation. just yesterday president biden said of the attacks, "it is coming." private sector companies were identified as being the owners of the nation's most critical infrastructure here. biden's administration has been working with those companies to bolster their cyber security. hospitals, those companies to bolster their cybersecurity. hospitals, big banks, pipelines, energy grids and water systems are considered threats in the us of potential russian attacks. security officials say the country is not looking for conflict with russia but the us will respond if an attack were to happen. bud with russia but the us will respond if an attack were to happen. and joe biden we if an attack were to happen. and joe itiden we know _ if an attack were to happen. and joe biden we know is _ if an attack were to happen. and joe biden we know is coming _ if an attack were to happen. and joe biden we know is coming to - if an attack were to happen. and joe biden we know is coming to europe | biden we know is coming to europe this week to talk to european leaders. what do you think his aim is with that visit?— is with that visit? president biden is with that visit? president biden

is expecting _ is with that visit? president biden is expecting to — is with that visit? president biden is expecting to speak _ is with that visit? president biden is expecting to speak with - is with that visit? president biden l is expecting to speak with european nations about delivering weapons to ukraine to help fend off the russian invasion as well as aiding the millions of refugees who have led the nation. other topics to be discussed at the talks, additional sanctions for russia and oligarchs. following the summit in brussels on thursday, joe biden will then head to poland where he will thank that nation for its help in housing nearly 2 million ukrainian refugees in poland. biden will continue discussions on providing humanitarian aid to those crippled by the invasion. additional sanctions as well could be talked about there. sanctions as well could be talked about there-— sanctions as well could be talked about there. ., ,, , ., , . about there. ok, thank you very much indeed. elise preston. hamish de bretton gordon is a chemical and biological weapons expert. he says from president putin's experience in syria — he knows that using these weapons

is a way to break sieges and force civilians to surrender more quickly. the russian playbook from syria we've seen unfold — the attacking hospitals, attacking schools, attacking civilians, because putin wants the civilians to surrender, and breaking their morals is the easiest way to do it. we have seen that in syria. because we have had red lines about the use of chemical weapons. president obama's red line in august 2013 disappeared in a puff of smoke and we did nothing. so i think putin does not think the west will react, and he's in desperate straits. he either retreats back to moscow and, you know, the end of putin, or he does something demonstrative. but what i'm doing at the moment, i have been training civilians in ukraine for the last three weeks on how to survive these dreadful chemical and biological attacks. we learnt a lot in syria and thousands of people

whose lives were saved, and i am publishing a free book online today which is how to survive a chemical and biological attack, and i will send you guys the link as soon as it is up. if putin knows that the chemical weapons are not going to be as effective as he hopes because civilians know what to do, maybe he won't use them. a lot of your actions in a chemical attack are counterintuitive, almost the opposite for what you would do for a conventional artillery attack. there are really three key things you have to do. first of all don't go underground, or if you are underground, above ground because of the gas generally is heavier than air, sinks underground and in syria it killed people underground. or as they streamed over ground they were easy pickings for snipers or captured. so get to higher ground. also always be aware of where the wind is blowing. simple things with chlorine, we tell people to hold

their breath and run across the wind for 30 seconds and then you are out on what we call the downwind hazard, the danger area. the third thing is decontaminate it as quickly as you can, which might mean taking your clothes off and that might seem an odd thing to do what you can remove 90% of contamination by doing that or having a shower. chemical munitions, those things that deliver it by artillery shells or mortars, they don't explode, they don't do a big bang, they do pop so that is an indication. we are trying to get some stuff into ukraine where people have simple detectors so they can work out whether it is chlorine or a nerve agent. i personally think putin will use what we call toxic industrial chemicals, readily available chemicals like chlorine because there is millions, thousands of tonnes of bahrain in ukraine so of tonnes of bahrain in ukraine so of course it can be deniable. whatever chemical he uses to attack,

no doubt he will of course blame the ukrainians for doing it, but i hope if they follow some basic rules, thenit if they follow some basic rules, then it will be a lot less effective and i hope the russians realise we are doing this so that they don't use these dreadful weapons. the white house has also warned that moscow might resort to cyber attacks against the us, in response to increasingly damaging sanctions. let's speak to our cyber reporter, joe tidy. what are americo's fears on this? what are americo's fears on this? what sort of attacks make me —— might we see? what sort of attacks make me -- might we see?— what sort of attacks make me -- might we see? the warnings are not new, but hearing _ might we see? the warnings are not new, but hearing it _ might we see? the warnings are not new, but hearing it from _ might we see? the warnings are not new, but hearing it from joe - might we see? the warnings are not new, but hearing it from joe biden, | new, but hearing it from joe biden, from president biden is of course rare and there's also some new intelligence. he hasn't given evidence of this but apparently this means something potentially will happen. western intelligence has been on the money when it comes to

the invasion so far. the sort of thing is they are fearing are twofold really. they could be some sort of direct it out, either by the kremlin directly or one of the cyber criminal gangs operating in russia. the likes we saw last may when colonial pipeline company in the east coast of the us was hit and that caused oil supply state of emergency problems for many states across the east coast and it was a real crisis for about a week and a half as oil supplies when dry and there was panic at the pumps. that was a direct attack. the other thing potentially veered for a while now is there could be a repeat of what happened in 2017. what you call an overspill attack where russia attacks ukraine with a malicious piece of software which spread uncontrollably around the world and caused about $10 billion worth of damage. in the worst—case scenario, it's already been clarified that a very serious cyber attack on some infrastructure in the nato country

could trigger article five, this collective defence response. find collective defence response. and what is the _ collective defence response. and what is the advice _ collective defence response. and what is the advice to companies, to businesses, to organisations in terms of resisting cyber attacks? president biden has reiterated calls for companies to shore up their defences, notjust in the us but in the uk. it's been about the six—month project for the us to particularly concentrate on government departments but they are now calling for private companies to also do the same. like in the uk, many critical parts of our modern day life are run by private companies. those networks are run by companies. those networks are run by companies looking at the line where perhaps purity isn't the first thought but it's even worse in the us and they have seen this with the colonial pipeline attack. they are bracing themselves for some sort of attack from the kremlin against a western country. but it hasn't happened yet and the kremlin will say this is all part of the russophobic narrative the west is trying to spin. jae

russophobic narrative the west is trying to spin-— russophobic narrative the west is trying to spin. joe tidy, thank you very much- _ the kremlin has said it wants more active and substantive reports but doesn't want to make public its demands were no signs yet of any peace talks bearing any fruit and no sign either of imminent talks between zelensky and putin. that is all from us here in lviv west of ukraine, and back to you in london. to russia now — where alexei navalny, one of the leading critics of president putin, who was already behind bars — is almost certain to be sentenced to more time in prison. the hearing took place via video link on tuesday morning,

from the pokrov prison colony, outside moscow, where he is currently serving two and a half years injail. the court found him guilty of embezzlement — an offence which could be punished with 13 years in jail. here with me now is our russia editor at bbc monitoring, vitaly shevchenko, with the latest. could you explain what alexei navalny represents to people? he is described as — navalny represents to people? he is described as russia's _ navalny represents to people? he: 3 described as russia's most prominent campaigner, he published investigations into various deals made by officials and lavish property that they are road far beyond what they could officially afford. including president putin, his team allege that president putin has a huge palace outside saatchi. he is the kind of person who can galvanise protests, galvanise public opinion, and he led rallies attended by thousands of people, now he's in jail.

by thousands of people, now he's in “ail. ., , ., , , ., jail. how is he? how is his health? he looked gaunt. _ jail. how is he? how is his health? he looked gaunt. you _ jail. how is he? how is his health? he looked gaunt. you can - jail. how is he? how is his health? he looked gaunt. you can tell- jail. how is he? how is his health? he looked gaunt. you can tell he l jail. how is he? how is his health? | he looked gaunt. you can tell he is injail, he is in pain, his he has changed and it is a sad picture on a very human level. his changed and it is a sad picture on a very human level.— very human level. his message is still defiant _ very human level. his message is still defiant though. _ very human level. his message is still defiant though. how - very human level. his message is still defiant though. how does - very human level. his message is still defiant though. how does he | still defiant though. how does he manage to reach the people who support him?— manage to reach the people who su--ort him? . , ., , support him? that is how he became russia's most _ support him? that is how he became russia's most prominent _ support him? that is how he became russia's most prominent opposition l russia's most prominent opposition or anti—corruption campaigner. he's not afraid. he knew what was in store for him when he started, knew that the forces that he was battling are very strong, security forces, and the whole state apparatus. so all this time he was jailed last year, before that he was poisoned nearly fatally. he survived. but all this time he was very defiant, he is refusing to give in, he is unrepentant.— refusing to give in, he is unrepentant. refusing to give in, he is unreentant. ., , , ., unrepentant. how is this trial aned unrepentant. how is this trial linked back _ unrepentant. how is this trial linked back to _ unrepentant. how is this trial linked back to what _ unrepentant. how is this trial linked back to what is - unrepentant. how is this trial i

linked back to what is happening in ukraine? it is linked back to what is happening in ukraine? . . , linked back to what is happening in ukraine? , . , ., ~ ukraine? it is a very important link in the chain — ukraine? it is a very important link in the chain of— ukraine? it is a very important link in the chain of events _ ukraine? it is a very important link in the chain of events that - ukraine? it is a very important link in the chain of events that have i ukraine? it is a very important link| in the chain of events that have led up in the chain of events that have led up to the war in ukraine. before starting his massive invasion, president putin had made sure there is nobody within russia who could challenge him on any sort of issue, be it corruption or things like invading neighbouring countries. right now he is presiding over a very autocratic regime. if alexei navalny was free, it would be much more difficult for president putin to wage war unopposed. hour more difficult for president putin to wage war unopposed. how are eo - le to wage war unopposed. how are people who — to wage war unopposed. how are people who oppose _ to wage war unopposed. how are people who oppose the _ to wage war unopposed. how are people who oppose the war- to wage war unopposed. how are people who oppose the war in i to wage war unopposed. how are i people who oppose the war in russia showing that at the moment? the only thin the showing that at the moment? the only thing they can — showing that at the moment? the only thing they can do _ showing that at the moment? the only thing they can do right _ showing that at the moment? the only thing they can do right now _ showing that at the moment? the only thing they can do right now is - showing that at the moment? the only thing they can do right now is take i thing they can do right now is take part in various rallies which is in itself punishable by various laws. it's an act of bravery, and thousands have been arrested for protesting against the war. there have also been expressing their views on social media, and again

thatis views on social media, and again that is something that the russian government is trying to clamp down on, imposing various restrictions on the use of social media. but as things stand at the moment, it is still possible to use social media to receive uncensored information about the war in ukraine in russia. good to get your thoughts, thank you so much. a quick reminderfor you, we will be taking your questions on the war in ukraine this friday at 11.30 gmt with guests able to answer a range of aspects about the war. how it is being fought, how it's being reported and how it may end as well as the human consequences behind what is happening too. you can get in touch on twitter using this hashtag and e—mail your questions. you can reach me on twitter as well. do stay with us. plenty more to come. we will be talking to the world food programme about the food shortages in ukraine and the wider picture, because of

course ukraine exports so much to the rest of the world when it comes to grain and wheat, having a mass —— massive knock—on effect. stay with us.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: president biden has warned that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber attacks in the us. he is considering using both of those. he has already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful about what is about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. ukraine's capital kyiv is once again under a curfew — it was put in place after eight people were killed in residential areas. one of the leading kremlin critics, alexei navalny, has been found guilty of large scale fraud by a russian court. there are calls for the 21 surrogate babies being cared for in a kyiv bomb shelter to be evacuated, as their intended parents can't travel to ukraine

during the russian invasion. two women in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a school in sweden — an 18—year—old student has been arrested on suspicion of murder. victims of the post office horizon scandal here in the uk are set to benefit from a new compensation scheme. and 17—month—old girl has died in hospital after being attacked by a dog at her home in north—west england. the world health organization has been monitoring the conflict in ukraine and has given its own update. it says it has verified 62 separate attacks on healthcare facilities in ukraine, since the russian invasion began almost four weeks ago. in those attacks, according to the world health organization, 15 people have been killed and at least 37 have been injured.

but it doesn't say if they were medical professionals, patients, or from other professions. and the who also says that a rapid assessment suggests half a million of the refugees arriving in poland are suffering from mental health problems, primarily due to trauma. food prices are set to soar as a result of the war in ukraine due to shortages of major exports such as wheat and sunflower oil. some countries who import these goods could be set to face increasing shortages of basic foodstuffs. for more on this, i'm joined by elisabeth faure, director of the world food programme's london office. elizabeth, good to see you. can i start first by asking you about what is happening inside ukraine? what kind of shortages are the experiencing there and what can be done to get food to the people who need it most?— need it most? thank you for having me. need it most? thank you for having me- certainly. _ need it most? thank you for having me. certainly, within _ need it most? thank you for having me. certainly, within ukraine, i need it most? thank you for having me. certainly, within ukraine, ofi me. certainly, within ukraine, of course with the war, we are

particularly concerned at the world food programme about people who are stuck within the cities that are in conflict. and people they we have reports that people there are facing severe food shortages and struggling to find food. it is people who are stuck, but also people who are displaced, who are not having sufficient access to food. at the world food programme, we have launched a response to feed up to 3.1 million people. flan launched a response to feed up to 3.1 million people.— launched a response to feed up to 3.1 million people. can you get food into those places? _ 3.1 million people. can you get food into those places? it _ 3.1 million people. can you get food into those places? it is _ 3.1 million people. can you get food into those places? it is extremely i into those places? it is extremely challenging _ into those places? it is extremely challenging to _ into those places? it is extremely challenging to get _ into those places? it is extremely challenging to get food _ into those places? it is extremely challenging to get food into i into those places? it is extremely challenging to get food into those places. we have set up three hubs within the country to be able to get trucks into the areas. of course it is very complicated and this killer is very complicated and this killer is happening as we speak. ih is very complicated and this killer is happening as we speak. in terms ofthe is happening as we speak. in terms of the bigger— is happening as we speak. in terms of the bigger picture, _ is happening as we speak. in terms of the bigger picture, elizabeth, i of the bigger picture, elizabeth,

which countries import produce from ukraine? 50. which countries import produce from ukraine? ., ., , ukraine? so, we are also very concerned _ ukraine? so, we are also very concerned about _ ukraine? so, we are also very concerned about the - ukraine? so, we are also very concerned about the impact i ukraine? so, we are also very. concerned about the impact that ukraine? so, we are also very- concerned about the impact that this war is having beyond ukraine in terms of global hunger, as well. a number of countries will be directly affected because countries including lebanon on and yemen, egypt and a number of other countries are major importers of grain from ukraine. and what is happening is that ukraine is one of the world's main bread baskets and that is having implications in terms of rising food prices. notjust for ukraine but beyond. and so, you know, for example, what we do know is that ukraine and russia export 30% of global wheat, 20% of maize, 76% of

sunflower oil, so this is going to have a massive impact. we think also, we are particularly worried about countries where there are already existing food crises, for example yemen, according to a recent report, we expect that 19 million people in yemen are going to need food assistance this year. that is an increase already. share food assistance this year. that is an increase already.— food assistance this year. that is an increase already. are there other laces that an increase already. are there other places that a — an increase already. are there other places that a country _ an increase already. are there other places that a country like _ an increase already. are there other places that a country like yemen i an increase already. are there other| places that a country like yemen can get their supplies from that could fill that gap?— fill that gap? that is what we are lookin: fill that gap? that is what we are looking at- _ fill that gap? that is what we are looking at. looking _ fill that gap? that is what we are looking at. looking at _ fill that gap? that is what we are looking at. looking at finding i fill that gap? that is what we are i looking at. looking at finding other sources of grain. that does take time. but the price of food across the board is expected to go up because also the price of fuel that has gone up, so that pushes all food prices up unfortunately. and another issue that is worth mentioning is that at the world food programme we are also seeing the cost of food growing up in our own operations, so it is looking as though, you know,

the operational cost for the world food programme are being driven up or stop the food programme are being driven up or sto -_ . .,, food programme are being driven up or sto -_ . ., , ., food programme are being driven up or sto_ ., ., or stop the cost of fuel, i imagine, elizabeth. absolutely, _ or stop the cost of fuel, i imagine, elizabeth. absolutely, fuel - or stop the cost of fuel, i imagine, elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and i elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and food. we are _ elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and food. we are looking _ elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and food. we are looking at - elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and food. we are looking at up i elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and food. we are looking at up to . elizabeth. absolutely, fuel and l food. we are looking at up to $71 million a month of additional costs to the world food programme's operations, which is clearly huge, and means thatjust when global hunger is going up, it is going to be increasingly difficult for us to meet the needs of those people. some incredibly challenging _ meet the needs of those people. some incredibly challenging times ahead. elizabeth faure, thank you for joining us. moving away from ukraine — and police in sweden are investigating the deaths of two teachers in an attack at a secondary school in the city of malmo on monday. local media reports say the two women, both in their 50s, died in hospitalfrom stabbing injuries — although police haven't confirmed what weapon was used. police say an 18—year—old student was arrested at the scene, and detectives say they are looking into reports that the attacker

himself called an emergency number to raise the alarm. time for the business news — ben boulos is here. looking at energy again, of course. yes, it is still dominating. thank you very much, lucy. we begin with the energy giant shell, as the bbc understands it is reconsidering its recent decision to pull investment from a large new uk oilfield. in december, shell said the economic case — along with possible regulatory delays — meant it was withdrawing from the cambo oil field, which is 75 miles off the west coast of shetland. since then, oil prices have soared. shell also last week resubmitted an application to develop the jackdaw north sea gas field — off the east coast of scotland — having had it turned down in october by environmental regulators. this comes as the uk prime minister is expected to set out the government's "energy supply strategy" in the coming weeks.

it's likely to focus on four core areas — nuclear energy, renewable energy, making homes more energy efficient, and increasing north sea oil and gas production. let's get more now, simonjack is our business editor and hejoins me now. simon, this is a huge decision by shell that we understand they are going to make. it must be a very tricky calculation for them. initially when they pulled out, the price of oil were $70 a barrel, it has gone up to almost double that. how do they know the business case will stack up because it is so volatile? ii will stack up because it is so volatile? , ., will stack up because it is so volatile? ,, ..,, will stack up because it is so volatile?— will stack up because it is so volatile? if you cast your mind back to december— volatile? if you cast your mind back to december of _ volatile? if you cast your mind back to december of last _ volatile? if you cast your mind back to december of last year _ volatile? if you cast your mind back to december of last year when i volatile? if you cast your mind back to december of last year when they made this decision to pull out, that was two weeks after we had that major climate summit called cop26 in glasgow, there was an awful lot of pressure on all big oil companies to show willingness to back out of some new hydrocarbon projects. but as you say, what has changed in the last

few weeks, we live in an entirely different environmental, political, economic and regulatory world, and you have seen people going around the world, borisjohnson going to saudi arabia, overtures made to iran to try to find extra oil to make up for the shortfall that we expect either through embargo or whether it is shut off that will be taken out of global oil supply. a completely different analysis, that is why they are saying we are going to have a rethink, we are not going to start drilling tomorrow, but we will have a rethink about that given the fact that this energy strategy you talked about that we are getting next week, we are expecting some positive noises to be made to those people who want to invest in domestic uk assets. i think that is a pattern we are seeing around the world. i should say this is not like let's go all in on hydrocarbons, a lot of people would say if this crisis has taught us anything, it is the fact we need to wean ourselves off oil and gas, but that is going to take time, renewable will take time to do

common renewable, nuclear takes time to do, but in the short time they would rather try to get more domestic assets out of the ground, even though some people say will not make much difference, and it will still be sold to the highest bidder, much will be exported, there is just a need for more oil at the moment in this short period of transition. that means that domestic oil supplies will get favourable hearing. supplies will get favourable hearinu. ,, ., ., ., ., ., ., hearing. simon, we have got a ma'or economic event i hearing. simon, we have got a ma'or economic event in i hearing. simon, we have got a ma'or economic event in the i hearing. simon, we have got a ma'or economic event in the uk i hearing. simon, we have got a ma'or economic event in the uk this i hearing. simon, we have got a major economic event in the uk this week, | economic event in the uk this week, the chancellor setting out a mini budget. in the spring, it is normally an update on the figures, but he will probably have to do a bit more than that. the things you are grappling with are common to finance ministers around the world, things like the persistently high inflation. do we have any clue what he might do and what direction the government might go and economically?— government might go and economically? government might go and economicall ? ., �* . economically? you're right, these two stories _ economically? you're right, these two stories are _ economically? you're right, these two stories are not _ economically? you're right, these two stories are not unconnected. | economically? you're right, thesel two stories are not unconnected. it is the pervasive nature of energy costs getting to just about anything, into manufacturing, supplies, packaging, and transport

costs, of course. there is a general costs, of course. there is a general cost of living squeeze where prices in most countries are going up for hire than earnings, so you're seen people actually getting a little bit purer every day. we are only at the foothills of the squeeze. at the moment, many people are being protected to some extent from the full extent of the energy price increase. he has already tried to ameliorate that once with a package earlier. but like all finance ministers around the world, it is a massive challenge. you will not be able to hold back the waves on everything, so perhaps some changes to tax thresholds, when you start paying higher tax rates. that is one favoured, one possible solution. the other one would be looking at the benefit system to try to get assistance to the people who need it the most. but i do not think or i think in common with other finance ministers around the world, when you have this huge surge of costs, creating a less inflationary pressures, there is only so much that anyone can do to hold it back.

another one of course is a £12 million tax rise coming on in april, one of the big questions as well he or will he not delay that. his own backbench mps would like to see him hold off on that. but it was a promise to put that tax rise... that was there to clear the backlog of nhs backlog. yet an election promise to do that. there are no easy solution for any finance minister in the world when you're facing the kind of information we are seeing around the world.— kind of information we are seeing around the world. simon, thank you ve much around the world. simon, thank you very much for— around the world. simon, thank you very much for that _ around the world. simon, thank you very much for that analysis. - now, how high will interest rates go in the us and how quickly? it sets the tone for other central banks around the world. well, the chair of the federal reserve — the us central bank — hinted there could be more drastic rate hikes in the nearfuture

to bring soaring prices under control and shares on wall street sank on the comments. speaking at a business conference, jerome powell said inflation right now is �*much too high'. he added the fed might need to move more decisively to bring it to heel. samira hussain has more from new york. inflation in the united states, like many other countries around the world, is skyrocketing. the supply chain disruptions from the pandemic, coupled with the pent up demand, has pushed up the price of goods at the fastest rate in 40 years. and russia's invasion of ukraine has made a problem that already existed much worse. now, some economists have been critical of the federal reserve's response to inflation, saying that the central bank actually left interest rates too low for too long and now it is being forced to play catch up to rein it all in. usually, interest rate hikes have been in quarter percentage point increases. cuts happen fast, but increases to the borrowing rate — well, at least in the last decade or so — has been a slow and measured process. but with inflation rising as fast as it is, there is pressure on mr powell and his colleagues

to get a handle on it, which is why the fed share is warning everyone that if it deems necessary to raise rates or quickly, say by half necessary to raise rates more quickly, say by half a percentage point, it will. in other news... indian agency workers hired to replace p&o ferries crews in dover are being paid £1.81 an hour, according to a union. that is less than $2 50. the rail, maritime and transport union said the low pay was a "shocking exploitation" and "a betrayal of those who have been sacked". p&o said the figure was inaccurate but said it could not comment on how much agencies pay workers on ferries. shares of nike jumped more than 5% in extended trading after it beat quarterly revenue and profit estimates. sales in north america, its largest market, jumped 9% in the company's third quarter. nike's results were helped by the return of school sports and price increases.

it's also benefited from the way in which the pandemic has changed fashion trends — with more of us wearing sports and casual clothes day to day. notejoggers here, at least not for now! as we've been hearing, in the uk the chancellor rishi sunak is facing mounting pressure to take action to tackle the rise in the cost of living, ahead of the spring statement ahead of the spring statement on wednesday. let's talk to our political correspondentjonathan blake. jonathan, just listening to ben talk to simonjack talking about the to simon jack talking about the challenge finance ministers around the world at the moment. there is that politicaljudgment and economic strategy that will combine tomorrow for rishi sunak. how much pressure do you think he is underfrom for rishi sunak. how much pressure do you think he is under from the public to tackle the rising cost of living? what are the expectations of the public? he living? what are the expectations of the ublic? . the public? he is under huge pressure- — the public? he is under huge pressure- i— the public? he is under huge pressure. i think _ the public? he is under huge pressure. i think there i the public? he is under huge pressure. i think there are i the public? he is under hugel pressure. i think there are big

expectations. normally the spring statement would not be a big date and everyone's diary, it would be a relatively minor update from the chancellor on how the economy is doing and perhaps one or two smaller measures announced. but such is the acute strain on people's finances, which is only going to get worse in the months to come, that the chancellor is under pressure not peace from many conservative mps themselves to step in to ease that pressure —— might not least from many conservative mps. asked if he would step in, he said he would. as he has done throughout the pandemic, he has done throughout the pandemic, he would make things easier for people where the government was able to. but the question is, what is he prepared to do, what is he able to do, and what is he going to do? there's a web du relatively limited option of menus realistically speaking that are at his disposable dam at disposal. most likely seems a possible cut in real tax, the duty

that people pay when they are filling up their cars with petrol or diesel at the station forecourt. that seems to be something which is probably one of the more likely measures. the opposition labour party have said they would welcome that. but question how much of a difference it would make, saying that the chancellor really needs to go further. but that certainly would be a bit of a crowd pleaser if you like as far as his own mps and lots of drivers around the united kingdom would be concerned. beyond that, there is a tax rise due to come on in april in national insurance contributions, tax people pay on their income, which the chancellor is under pressure, again from his own mps, two at the very least delay if he is not quite a u—turn on it, which he and the prime minister had previously said they would not. so we may say some kind of a change there, possibly around the threshold at which people start paying contributions to national insurance, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn before they start

paying that tax, which the government could say was a direct benefit to particularly people on lower incomes. beyond that, some would like to look at universal credit payments, reinstall the uplift that was there during the pandemic or increasing payments overall. and then there are things like the pensions contributions, which the government could restore fully, what is called the triple lock which would see old age pensioners getting more money as a result. and other measures, too. but at this point, 24 hours or so out from the chancellor's statement, it is a tricky game to predict exactly what he is going to say full stop one thing is for sure, there will be intense pressure on him from his own mps and from the public, as well, to do something to mitigate the pressures financially that people are feeling. pressures financially that people are feeling-— pressures financially that people are feelina. , ., . ., ., ~ ., are feeling. jonathan, thank you for “oininu us.

a 17—month—old girl — named as bella—rae birch has died — after being attacked by a dog in her home in st helens in the northwest of england. merseyside police say the animal was bought by the family only a week ago. the investigation here is in the early stages, the police have said this was a tragic accident in which a 17—month—old girl has died. officers were called here to this estate in the black boot area of st helens just before four o'clock yesterday afternoon, after reports that the girl had been attacked by the family's pet dog. she was to hospital but sadly died as a result of her injuries. the dog was handed into police and officers say it was humanely destroyed. so far, officers have spoken to a number of people here, they have carried out house—to—house inquiries, had a look at cctv footage, but they are trying to establish the history of the dog. they say it was only but last week by the family. they want to trace

its previous owners. the family are said to be absolutely devastated by what has happened and police say are very much with the family at this time. what will happen next is a test will be carried out on that dog to determine its breed, and whether that breed is legal or illegal under the dangerous dogs act. a new compensation scheme has been announced for post office workers who won a landmark civil case over faulty computer software used by the post office. the 555 people who won the case — part of britain's biggest ever miscarriage ofjustice — will now get the same pay—out as the employees who were wrongly convicted. here's our personal finance correspondent kevin peachey with more on that compensation. lives and livelihoods were ruined because of these crimes and these false accusations. and they all came from this computer system called horizon, which was in post office branches, but which ultimately was flawed. and so hundreds of people,

as you say, over the course of more than a decade, were convicted of things like false accounting and fraud. now, the real turning point came when 555 of these sub—postmasters and mistresses took a long and arduous battle, frankly, through the civil courts, and at the end of that they won their case against the post office at the end of 2019, and they won compensation. however, a lot of that was eaten up by the legal fees and they only received about £20,000, on average, each. since then, things have really moved on. we have had 72 criminal convictions overturned, we have had a full inquiry set up by the government, and we have had this compensation scheme set up which compensates people for the supposedly shortfalls in their accounts, which they made up with their own money, and it compensates them for that.

but the 555 who took on this civil case, they were locked out of this compensation scheme. what has happened today is the government has said they will be compensated in the same way as all those other hundreds of people who are using that compensation scheme. people around the world have seen images of the twenty one surrogate babies being cared for in a kyiv bomb shelter. a top eu official is now calling for their evacuation as their intended parents can't travel to ukraine during the russian invasion. shelley phelps has spoken to one of those surrogate mothers. these surrogate babies are starting life at a makeshift nursery in a bomb shelter basement. they are foreign biological parents unable to pick them up because of work. more arrive every day, and they expect to have around 100 year by the end of the month.

translation: ~ ., ., ., translation: we are worried for ourselves, translation: we are worried for ourselves. for— translation: we are worried for ourselves, for our— translation: we are worried for ourselves, for our own _ translation: we are worried for ourselves, for our own children, l translation: we are worried for. ourselves, for our own children, for these little babies who stay here, for everyone. it is terrifying because we sit here and we do not know what will happen next. even though we stay in the basement, when there is an explosion somewhere nearby, we can say with very clearly. nearby, we can say with very clearl . . , ., ., _ nearby, we can say with very clearl. . , ., , ., clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and _ clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and there _ clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and there are _ clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and there are thought i clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and there are thought toj clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in i ukraine and there are thought to be hundreds of women carrying babies forforeign couples. but hundreds of women carrying babies for foreign couples. but those weighing up whether to flee the war zone are being told they could face complicated legal situations if they give birth in another country. poland or czech republic or moldova, romania. _ poland or czech republic or moldova, romania, those countries do not recognise — romania, those countries do not recognise the legal relation of the child. _ recognise the legal relation of the child. and — recognise the legal relation of the child, and first of all the mac in those _ child, and first of all the mac in those countries, from roman law, the le-al those countries, from roman law, the legal mother of the child is the

woman— legal mother of the child is the woman who gives birth. it is not 'ust the woman who gives birth. it is not just the international _ woman who gives birth. it is not just the international parents i woman who gives birth. it is not. just the international parents who face worry and heartache at being separated from their children. this is natalia, a ukrainian surrogate who travelled to kyiv and gave birth to a baby boy for a german couple. days later, war broke out with missiles striking roads and railway stations. translation: i stations. translation: ., , stations. translation: ., ., translation: i was unable to go back to m kids. translation: i was unable to go back to my kids. unfortunately _ translation: i was unable to go back to my kids. unfortunately they - translation: i was unable to go back to my kids. unfortunately they are i to my kids. unfortunately they are far away from here, from me, they are missing me so much, and the same way i am missing them so much. that is why i would like to ask everyone, anyone who can see or hear me, please support us, the ukrainians, pre—support ukraine, help us to defend us against the invaders. —— please support ukraine. the happiness — please support ukraine. the happiness her _ please support ukraine. the happiness her own family brings is one of the reasons natalia became a old surrogate. she says she is happy to make other people's dreams come true. the parents of the boy she

made the mac gave birth to have made it to ukraine to reunite with their baby. natalia hopes she will be hugging her own children again soon. let's show you this live pictures from pokrov in russia where a court is delivering its verdict in the case ofjailed opposition leader alexei navalny who has been found guilty in a fraud trial. a court right now delivering its verdict in the case. aleksei navalny the most prominent face of russia's opposition. we know eller he was found guilty on embezzlement charges. prosecutors are seeking a further 13 years to the prison sentence that he is already serving. we are just hearing this verdict now being delivered of course in russian. you can see him looking rather gaunt. he has clearly lost weight, he has been unwell we know, standing there with his lawyers. the room we understand from your who are watching via video link is filled with prison officers. a spokesperson

for him said the case against him has been fabricated. we are watching these live pictures and we will bring you news of that verdict as soon as we get it. hello. a lot of fine weather to come for the uk today. potentially for the next five, seven, even ten days thanks to high pressure. today, a lot of warm sunshine, with temperatures are going to do very well. you're sitting on the western side of this area of high pressure, it is pulling our air in from the south, in one direction for us, and we are getting to march in the sun is carrying some strength. you can see some cloud roaming around under the western flank of that high. out of that cloud, i think we could see a future where is being generated. most likely to see the showers later on in the afternoon in parts of east anglia, perhaps the midlands, if you are drifting up to northern england. they will be very scattered. for the

majority, it has a dry story, up to 19 degrees across eastern england. elsewhere, we are looking widely at the mid teens. always a little breezy or perhaps towards the west coast. overnight into the small hours of wednesday, again, largely clear sky, hours of wednesday, again, largely clearsky, perhaps hours of wednesday, again, largely clear sky, perhaps in mist and mark for some eastern coasts, perhaps through the vale of york. with clear skies, it will turn chilly, particularly in rural spots. temperatures close to freezing. wednesday, a little sunshine from the get go, perhaps a more cloud towards the south—west on wednesday, it will be a little breezy year, we should see any mist and fog clearing elsewhere to leave a fine day with relatively light ones and a lot of sunshine. warmer perhaps on tuesday, we could see up to 21 degrees somewhere across eastern england. thursday into friday, you can see our high—pressure scent has moved westwards and welcome to sit across the uk. the changes of wind direction is a little bit. a little bit. across the northern half of the uk will pull air in from the atlantic, a little bit more breeze

for scotland, could feel a little cooler. same for the south coast, but again a largely warm story with temperatures above average. friday into the weekend, high—pressure stays with us, plenty more fine weather to come, just some signs early next week that we may switch round to a northerly wind direction as high—pressure drifts to the west of the uk. as you can see, there is no sign of anything particularly wet in our forecast no sign of anything particularly wet in ourforecast in no sign of anything particularly wet in our forecast in the next week at least. temperatures above average right the way through the weekend, just getting potentially a little cooler when we look to next monday.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the globe. i'm ben brown in lviv in western ukraine. our top stories... president biden has warned that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber—attacks in the us. he is considering using both of those. he has already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what is about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. ukraine's capital, kyiv, is once again put under a curfew after eight people were killed in residential areas. ukrainian mp oleksiy goncharenko says putin isn't ready for peacetalks. he will continue to try

to achieve his military goals. i don't believe that he is ready for real peace negotiations now. one of the leading kremlin critics, alexei navalny, has been found guilty of large—scale fraud by a russian court. and i'm lucy hockings with the rest of your bbc news headlines. the world health organization says several european countries lifted covid measures too brutally. two women in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a school in sweden — an 18—year—old student has been arrested on suspicion of murder. and here in the uk, an inspection by the police watchdog has concluded the approach of the metropolitan police to tackling corruption within its ranks is �*fundamentally flawed'.

president biden has said there are clear signs vladimir putin may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. in the capital, kyiv, there's a new curfew after the russian attack on a shopping centre and residential areas that left eight people dead. and today there are growing fears that the continuing conflict could cause major disruption to food supplies. ukraine and russia are the world's largest exporters of wheat. our coverage starts with this report from our correspondent andrew plant. gunfire. gunfire at a protest against the russian invasion — people said they were fired on as they demonstrated here, in the city of kherson in southern ukraine. president zelensky said it was a rally for freedom. the ukrainian air force now say russia is increasing its attacks from the air.

this footage filmed from a drone showing factories in the eastern city of mariupol being destroyed amid reports that ground attacks are slowing, even stalling in places. here, both the centre and the suburbs have been shelled — satellite images show the smoke rising across the city. a further 3000 people were evacuated yesterday. the united states has said that russia may soon turn to using chemical weapons, following false claims that ukraine was poised to use them. his back is against the wall, and now he's talking about new false flags he's setting up, including asserting that we in america and chemical and biological weapons from europe, that we in america have chemical and biological weapons from europe, it is simply not true. i guarantee that. they are also suggesting that ukraine has biological and chemical weapons. that is a clear sign he is considering using both of those. in kyiv, eight people

are reported dead after shelling on a residential area. russia said it was because rockets were stored here. the toll of this war is already hard to bear. sergei's brother was killed when ukrainian barracks were bombed. here, the russian invasion still feels relentless. "this is our land," he says. "we live here. where should we run?" for many ukrainians, there is no choice. they stay and cling to daily rituals. president zelensky has called again for direct talks with vladimir putin to end the fighting. but for now, hopes of a ceasefire still seem out of reach. andrew plant, bbc news. zhanna bezpiatchuk is a reporterfor the bbc�*s ukranian service — she is in the centre of lviv. a short time ago, she told me what was happening on the battlefield.

yes, according to the intelligence, the ukrainian government, president and the ukrainian army, the russian army in ukraine became locked down simultaneously in the north of the country, in the south and in the east. i can give you just one example. in the south of the ukrainian region of kherson, there is an airport called chernobayevka. it has been attacked by the russian army, already at least six times. there were at least a few really massive attacks on this airport. they were all repelled by the ukrainian army and the death toll of the russian army was very high there. but the russian army continues to attack this particular airport in the south of ukraine, so itjust shows that on the one hand there is no real advancement on many front lines in this country for the russian army, and on the other hand this army obviously outnumbers the ukrainian army.

also, at this stage of the full—scale war on ukraine, the russian army and president according to intelligence we received from the military reverted to siege tactics. at the same time, they continued to carry out missile and air strikes all across ukraine. ijust can give you one more example. the village nearby kyiv where one of my relatives there, an elderly woman stays, was hit by the fragments of the russian missile last night. so most probably it was shut down by the ukrainian aircraft welfare system. aircraft warfare system. so that is how the current state of the war and russian invasion into ukraine looks like.

that's zhanna bezpiatchuk. ukranian authorities have said air strikes hit apartment blocks on the outskirt of the country's third largest city — odesa — overnight. no casulties are known but the port city is thought to be russia's next target with russian warships stationed in the black sea. oleksiy goncharenko is an mp from odesa who's currently in kyiv. i asked him why he thinks odesa is being targeted. in ukraine there are three sacred cities for putin and his perverted understanding of history. it's sevastopol, which is temporarily occupied in crimea, it's odesa and it's kyiv. so definitely odesa is one of putin's targets. it's the biggest city on the black sea. so like the capital of the black sea. so they tried to get to odesa by land and to attack odesa from three destinations — from land, from transnistria, which is an occupied part

of moldova, occupied by russia, and from the sea. because they couldn't go through our army in the southern part and our army is even counterattacking them there, so that is why they started these siege tactics and terror tactics like in other big cities of ukraine like kyiv, kharkiv and especially mariupol, where they are starting to bombard and shell at the city. in odesa they are using not only missiles but their navy. but the way, it was for the first time for 80 years, the last time odesa was bombed by german nazis and now odesa is bombed by russian nazis. we have heard warnings from the white house, from president biden, that vladimir putin could be prepared to use biological and chemical weapons if he has to because his back is against the wall in this conflict. do you feel that could happen? do you fear that could happen? everything can happen

with putin and russia. it should be clear to everybody. for example, yesterday on the russian state tv channel they said they are preparing a nuclear attack against european countries, and they even named them. baltic states, poland, romania and so on. so absolutely everything is possible with them. so i can't tell you that something is impossible. they are aggressors, putin is crazy, he is a real hitler of the 215t—century and we should wait anything from him. the quicker we stop him and ukraine are stopping him now, so together with the free world we will stop him now. that is the best solution for the whole world. what about the situation in mariupol? because obviously massive disruption there, we have seen that, but do you fear your forces are about to lose

control of mariupol? mariupol is already blocked for almost three weeks and they are fighting in blockades. what they are doing and the fact that they are still keeping the city is quite unbelievable. they are real heroes, those ukrainian fighters who fight there. for how long will they succeed to fight, it's hard to say. every day it's clear they are in blockades and the russians are bombing them so heavily. they almost destroyed the city so i can't tell you how many days they will continue their fight and their defence. nobody knows. and on thursday, it will be a month since the russian invasion, a month of warfare that has engulfed your country. there are peace talks continuing.

can you see a successful peace deal at any time in the near future? and what might that peace agreement look like if there is one? i don't believe in these peace negotiations. putin is not going to stop, absolutely. so i don't believe in them. the only way he will start real peace negotiations is if he understands that he can do absolutely nothing to ukraine. forthis, we need more sanctions against putin so he can't afford this war and we need more weapons to ukraine. not only air defence but aircraft because the only ace of russia for the moment, the only advantage is in the air and in the skies. so that's what can be done to really have putin on the peace negotiations. before this, he will continue to try and achieve his military goal. so i don't believe he is ready

for real peace negotiations now. oleksiy goncharenko, an mp from odesa. the uk's ministry of defence is issuing a daily intelligence update on the situation in ukraine — here's what it has to say in its latest. it focuses on military hardware. the tweet begins — "russia has claimed that it has fired a number of hypersonic missiles against targets in western ukraine." the tweet then adds, "if true, these were likely to be the kinzhal: an air—launched ballistic missile system based on the iskander ballistic missile which has itself already been heavily used by russian forces in their attack on ukraine." the statement continues, "russian claims of having used the developmental kinzhal is highly likely intended to detract from a lack of progress in russia's ground campaign." and it concludes, "deployment

of kinzhal is highly unlikely to materially affect the outcome of russia's campaign in ukraine." as we've been hearing, the us says there are clear signs vladimir putin may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. hamish de bretton gordon is a chemical and biological weapons expert. he says from president putin's experience in syria, he knows that using these weapons is a way to break sieges and force civilians to surrender more quickly. the russian playbook from syria we've seen unfold — the attacking hospitals, attacking schools, attacking civilians, because putin wants the civilians to surrender, and breaking their morals is the easiest way to do it. we have seen that in syria. because we have had red lines about the use of chemical weapons. president obama's red line in august 2013 disappeared in a puff of smoke and we did nothing. so i think putin does not think the west will react, and he's in desperate straits.

he either retreats back to moscow and, you know, the end of putin, or he does something demonstrative. but what i'm doing at the moment, i have been training civilians in ukraine for the last three weeks on how to survive these dreadful chemical and biological attacks. we learnt a lot in syria and thousands of people whose lives were saved, and i am publishing a free book online today which is how to survive a chemical and biological attack, and i will send you guys the link as soon as it is up. if putin knows that the chemical weapons are not going to be as effective as he hopes, because civilians know what to do, maybe he won't use them. a lot of your actions in a chemical attack are counterintuitive, almost the opposite for what you would do for a conventional artillery attack. there are really three key things you have to do. first of all, don't go underground, or if you are underground,

come above ground because the gas generally is heavier than air, sinks underground and in syria it killed people underground. or as they streamed above ground, they were easy pickings for snipers or captured. so you get to higher ground. also always be aware of where the wind is blowing. this stuff blows away on the wind pretty easily. so simple things with chlorine, we tell people to hold their breath and run across the wind for 30 seconds, and then you are out on what we call the downwind hazard, the danger area. the third thing is decontaminate as quickly as you can, which might mean taking your clothes off, and that might seem an odd thing to do but you can remove 90% of contamination by doing that or having a shower. chemical munitions, those things that deliver it by artillery shells or mortars, they don't explode, they don't do

a big bang, they do a pop so that is an indication. we are trying to get some stuff into ukraine where people have simple detectors so they can work out whether it's chlorine or a nerve agent like sarin. i personally think putin will use what we call toxic industrial chemicals, readily available chemicals like chlorine because there is millions... thousands of tonnes of chlorine in ukraine so of course it can be deniable. whatever chemical he uses to attack, no doubt he will of course blame the ukrainians for doing it. but i hope, if they follow some basic rules, then it will be a lot less effective and i hope the russians realise we're doing this so that they don't use these dreadful weapons. hamish de bretton gordon there. the white house has also warned that moscow might resort to cyber attacks against the us, in response to increasingly damaging sanctions. let's speak to emily harding, a senior fellow at the centre for strategic and international studies in washington.

we have heard a warning on this from president biden and in fact the americans have been warning again and again about cyber attacks. how real do you think that thread is? i think it is real. the previous warnings have been building up to encourage people set up their defences ahead of time. this one strikes me as more urgent. it sounds like they have received new information that says precursor to a tax might be going on so they are warning people that now is the time to shore up their defences. find warning people that now is the time to shore up their defences.- to shore up their defences. and do ou think to shore up their defences. and do you think people — to shore up their defences. and do you think people have _ to shore up their defences. and do you think people have been - you think people have been preparing? and can you prepare really properly for a cyber attack? absolutely you can. there are certain simple things you can do. i would encourage people to look at the website at dhs, things like multifactor indication, things like patching. it is shocking to see how many folks neglect of patch basic systems. there are simple things you

can do to prevent the worst of cyber attacks, howeverwe can do to prevent the worst of cyber attacks, however we are looking at a committed, targeted adversary. they tend to be very clever and find new ways to cause chaos and we all need to be on our guard right now. brute to be on our guard right now. we know president putin is angry with joe biden having called him a war criminal, and perhaps that has stoked the fire in the kremlin and might tempt mr putin and the kremlin to launch this sort of attack on the united states, and potentially other western nations as well who are behind this package of sanctions. i think now is a particularly critical time. clearly the russian offensive in ukraine has stalled. the first phase has culminated in not much of a victory for the russian government. it seems like a logical time for moscow to sit back and re—evaluate, may be reached for a different tool in the toolkit. at the same time the sanctions the west has put in place are really starting

to bite. we see shortages in russian grocery stores, we are seeing lots of potential unrest, lots of protests. it seems logical that now is the proper time for putin to try to strike back and i think cyber has proven his tool of choice in a great many instances before and that is what he could reach for now. find what he could reach for now. and could he also... _ what he could reach for now. and could he also... this— what he could reach for now. and could he also... this was the other one in from joe biden, could he reach for chemical and biological weapons in his attacks here in ukraine? it weapons in his attacks here in ukraine? . ' . ., weapons in his attacks here in ukraine? , , . ., ., ukraine? it is difficult to rule out an hinu ukraine? it is difficult to rule out anything when — ukraine? it is difficult to rule out anything when it _ ukraine? it is difficult to rule out anything when it comes - ukraine? it is difficult to rule out anything when it comes to i ukraine? it is difficult to rule out anything when it comes to putin | anything when it comes to putin cornered. i hope he understands that would be very difficult thing for the international community to overlook, that there would be sharp and instant retaliation. i think that he has a set of bad options available to him for what he could do next to restart this offensive and i wouldn't rule out chemical and biological weapons. and i wouldn't rule out chemical and biologicalweapons. he and i wouldn't rule out chemical and biological weapons. he certainly has laid the groundwork with misinformation to try and show that he could blame it on the ukrainians.

emily harding, thank you very much. senior fellow emily harding, thank you very much. seniorfellow at the emily harding, thank you very much. senior fellow at the centre for strategic and international studies in washington. this week we will be one month into this war, one month since russia first invaded ukraine. there are peace talks continuing but president zelensky of ukraine has said he wants face—to—face talks with vladimir putin. no sign of that at the moment and still no sign of any of those peace talks that have been continuing bearing any kind of fruit. back to the studio in london. we are keeping a close eye on a court room in moscow at the moment. alexei navalny, one of the leading critics of president putin — who was already behind bars — is almost certain to be sentenced to more time in prison.

the sentencing is taking place via video link on tuesday morning, from the pokrov prison colony, outside moscow. the court found him guilty of embezzlement — an offence which could be punished with 13 years in jail. you can see him with his lawyer is looking pretty gaunt, he has lost some weight. found guilty of defrauding his own anti—corruption foundation. a spokesman for him saying this case has been fabricated. let's get the thoughts now of the editor of bbc monitoring service. vitaly shevchenko. he is described as russia's most prominent anti—corruption campaigner. he published investigations into various deals made by officials and lavish property that they are owed far beyond what they could

officially afford. including president putin, his team allege that president putin has a huge palace outside sochi. he is the kind of person who can galvanise protests, galvanise public opinion, and he led rallies attended by thousands of people, now he's in jail. how is he? how is his health? he looked gaunt. we just saw pictures of him there. you can tell that he is injail, he is in pain, his he has changed he is in pain, he has changed and it is a sad picture on a very human level. his message is still defiant, though. how does he manage to reach the people who support him? that is how he became russia's most prominent opposition or anti—corruption campaigner. he's not afraid. he knew what was in store for him when he started, he knew that the forces that he was battling are very strong, security forces, and the whole state apparatus.

so all this time — he was jailed last year, before that he was poisoned nearly fatally. he survived. but all this time, he was very defiant, he is refusing to give in, he is unrepentant. how is this trial linked back to what is happening in ukraine? it's a very important link in the chain of events that have led up to the war in ukraine. before starting his massive invasion, president putin had made sure there is nobody within russia who could challenge him on any sort of issue, be it corruption or things like invading neighbouring countries. right now, he is presiding over a very autocratic regime. if alexei navalny was free, it would be much more difficult for president putin to wage war unopposed.

the war in ukraine could have a knock—on effect on food prices across the world — in particular wheat. it would result eventually in another wave of inflation and the people here are really complaining they can't take it any more because over the past few years, the government has put some austerity measures in place calling it necessary economic reforms. so we are talking about 30% of the population here live below the poverty line. they live from hand to

mouth. they literally struggled to put food on the table. so the fact that prices are rising every single day, that would burden them way too much, far beyond what they can take. butjust much, far beyond what they can take. but just to let you know the pound is still dropping up till the moment, and there is a state of uncertainty. no one knows what is going to happen next. the government blames it on the war and they say it is just out of hand but experts believe the government cannot manage the economy, it is mismanaging the country's resources. itrier? the economy, it is mismanaging the country's resources.— country's resources. very briefly, the country _ country's resources. very briefly, the country very _ country's resources. very briefly, the country very dependent i country's resources. very briefly, the country very dependent on i country's resources. very briefly, i the country very dependent on bread. is not bread subsidised in egypt? not all... some of the bread products are subsidised and the government was planning to lift bread subsidies even before the war, but now for the time being, i think to appease public anger, they decided to fix bread prices for

three months, non—subsidised bread, and they are not talking about lifting that subsidy for the time being because...— lifting that subsidy for the time being because... sally, we have to leave it there. _ being because... sally, we have to leave it there. good _ being because... sally, we have to leave it there. good to _ being because... sally, we have to leave it there. good to have i being because... sally, we have to leave it there. good to have you i leave it there. good to have you with us. hello. a lot of fine weather to come for the uk today. potentially for the next five, seven, even ten days thanks to high pressure. today, a lot of warm sunshine. our temperatures are going to do very well. we are sitting on the western side of this area of high pressure, it is pulling our air in from the south. we are getting into march now and the sun is gathering strength. we can see a little bit of cloud roaming around under the western flank of that high, and out of the cloud through the day today i think we can see a few showers being generated. most likely to see the showers later on in the afternoon, parts of east anglia, perhaps the midlands, a few drifting up into

northern england. they will be very scattered, for the majority it's a dry story. up to 19 degrees in eastern england, elsewhere we are looking widely at the mid—teens. always a little bit more breezy perhaps towards the west coast. overnight into the small hours of wednesday, again largely clear skies. perhaps mr and wednesday, again largely clear skies. perhaps mrand murk wednesday, again largely clear skies. perhaps mr and murk far eastern coasts through the vale of york. it will turn chilly, particularly in rural spots with temperatures getting close to freezing. for wednesday, a lot of sunshine from the get go. perhaps more cloud of the south—west on wednesday, it will be more breezy here. we should see any mist and fog clearing elsewhere to leave a fine day, with relatively light winds and a lot of sunshine. warmer still perhaps on tuesday, we could even see locally 20 degrees in eastern england. thursday into friday, we can see the high pressure scented move westwards and sit across the uk, that changes are wind directions a little bit. across the northern half of the uk we will pull in air

from the atlantic. more breeze for scotland, it could feel cooler here. same for our south coast but again are largely one—storey with temperatures above average. friday the weekend, high pressure stays with us, plenty more fine weather to come. just some signs early next week that we may switch around to a northerly wind direction is high pressure drifts to the west of the uk. but as you can see, no sign of anything particularly wet in our forecast in the next week at least. temperatures above average right the way through the weekend, getting potentially a little cooler when we look to next monday.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: let's start with russia — where a court has just sentenced the opposition leader alexei navalny to a further nine years in a penal colony after he was found guilty in a fraud trial. president biden has warned that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber—attacks in the us. he is considering using both of those. he has already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful about what is about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. ukraine's capital, kyiv, is once again put under a curfew — after eight people were killed in residential areas. ukrainian mp oleksiy goncharenko says putin isn't ready for peace talks.

he will continue to try to achieve his military goals, so i do not believe that he is ready for real peace negotiations now. the world health organization says several european countries lifted covid measures too "brutally". two women in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a school in sweden — an 18—year—old student has been arrested on suspicion of murder. let's bring you more from russia where a court has just sentenced the opposition leader alexei navalny to a further nine years in a penal colony after he was found

guilty in a fraud trial. these were embezzlement charges. prosecutors asked for a further 13 years. he has been given nine years. his spokespeople say the case has been fabricated. you can see him there looking, it seems, rather gaunt, with his lawyers. he has clearly lost weight. the news we have just had through, the news they have just had through, the news they have sentenced him to a further nine years in prison. we have had a statement from downing street saying this new prison term was the continuation of trumped up charges that president putin uses against those who seek to hold on to account. borisjohnson's official spokesperson says our official thoughts are with alexey navalny and his family as he continues to show incredible bravery in standing up to the putin regime. we have alsojust had news coming through that he has also been fined 1.2 million roubles,

11,000 dollars or £8,700. not only a further nine years in prison for him at the penal colony where he is currently behind bars, but also a fine of 1.2 million roubles. the body which oversees the metropolitan police in london has concluded that its approach to tackling corruption within its ranks is "fundamentally flawed". the findings come in a report which has been published today. let's get more on this with our correspondent tom symonds. what else did it find? what it found, what else did it find? what it found. to _ what else did it find? what it found, to give _ what else did it find? what it found, to give you _ what else did it find? what it found, to give you a - what else did it find? what it found, to give you a better i found, to give you a better background, this was triggered by a notorious case in london, the daniel morgan murder in 1987. the investigation of which was hampered over decades by police corruption, hence we now see the watchdog for the police in england and wales investigating one of the world's best known police forces for the way deals with corruption. what it finds is not pretty. the force is

described as arrogant, lethargic and secretive when it to corruption. the guy heading the inspection site we found no evidence that someone in the daniel morgan issue must never happen again. some of the detail, concerns that staff and sensitive positions, such as child protection and major investigations, were not receiving the level of wetting that they should receive. concerns that —— level of vetting. concerns that hundreds of members of staff had been to break the law in the last four years and other people had been recruited with connections to criminals. even more worrying, more than 2000 warrant cards, the cards that we stick around with them to show that they are police officers, had gone missing, possibly as people have left the force. these are cards that in some cases can get you into police buildings. there is a clear concern there, but there's something even more sinister in the uk there was the horrendous case where a police officer, i will not even name

him, abducted and murdered sarah everard, and in doing that he used his own warrant card. he was a serving officer, it was a legitimate card, but he used his warrant card to achieve that end. b, card, but he used his warrant card to achieve that end.— to achieve that end. a huge amount of concern in _ to achieve that end. a huge amount of concern in many _ to achieve that end. a huge amount of concern in many different - to achieve that end. a huge amount of concern in many different areas. | of concern in many different areas. have we had any reaction about how things are going to be tackled? has priti patel said anything yet? she had said priti patel said anything yet? sue: had said that priti patel said anything yet? sie: had said that sanders must be immediately improved, she expects the mayor of london and the new commissioner of metropolitan police to reverse these deficiencies. the new commissioner, of course, dame cressida dick, the current commissioner has announced her intention to resign, some of the issues the met has faced over the last few years has really pushed her out of the job. somebody new will come in and take over. they face a considerable challenge in turning this situation around. they do have an internal investigation being carried out into the culture, this report recommends strongly that the new commissioner takes a good look at that. , , , ., .,

at that. given everything you have 'ust said, at that. given everything you have just said. but _ at that. given everything you have just said, but we _ at that. given everything you have just said, but we know— at that. given everything you have just said, but we know about - at that. given everything you have just said, but we know about the i just said, but we know about the public�*s trust in the police at the moment? public's trust in the police at the moment? ~ ., , , , ., , moment? would be studies and pulling in london show— moment? would be studies and pulling in london show that _ moment? would be studies and pulling in london show that over _ moment? would be studies and pulling in london show that over the _ moment? would be studies and pulling in london show that over the last - in london show that over the last few years, it has been falling. the trust in the police to do the right thing, to treat people fairly and all communities of london, notjust white communities, there has been a slight. i think that is what the great concern is. not only is the met felt major cases and very public ways, and embarrassing ways, but also that the public has started to notice. ., ~' , ., also that the public has started to notice. ., ~ i. ,., also that the public has started to notice. ., ~' ,, . we arejust we are just getting further reaction to the sentencing of navalny outside of moscow in the prison penal colony where he is being held. we havejust heard that he has been given nine further years. we have had a tweet through, we understand, from navalny. there it is.

soa so a rather defiant tweet from navalny. prosecutors had asked for more than nine years, 13 years, but he has been given nine. as ijust mentioned a moment ago, he has also been fined 1.2 million roubles. this is the response from navalny in the past minute or so in a tweet. you only do two days, a quote from the wire, do you go in and the day you come out. the world health organization has been monitoring the conflict in ukraine and has given its own update. it says it has verified 62 separate attacks on healthcare facilities in ukraine since the russian invasion began almost four weeks ago. in those attacks, according to the world health organization, 15 people have been killed and at least 37 have been injured. but it doesn't say if they were medical professionals, patients,

or from other professions. and the who also says that a rapid assessment suggests half a million of the refugees arriving in poland are suffering from mental health problems, primarily due to trauma. the united nations refugee agency has given its latest update on the number of people who have left ukraine due to the fighting there. the latest figure, more than 3.5 million. that's almost one in twelve of the ukrainian population. the vast majority have crossed into poland, although significant numbers have also left via romania and moldova, and a small number have gone into russia and belarus. let's focus now on romania — where many people are passing through the border town of siret. it's also being used as a hub for sending medical and food supplies into ukraine. our correspondent nick thorpe is there, and he told me that it's mostly women and children crossing the border. the women really, obviously they have just left the men behind, their husbands, partners, who have maybe delivered them to the border. perhaps, as in the case of a woman i was speaking to this morning, she left her husband a month ago

in kyiv, and then moved to the relative safety of western ukraine behind me, to the city of chernivtsi, and then had decided to move on. but she was really having trouble holding back the tears, obviously very difficult decisions being made here. but her children clustered around there, watching their mothers in situations like this and comforting them very much. so the children in a sense, obviously they are traumatised, obviously they are missing their fathers, their grandfathers, their older brothers perhaps, but they are also really looking after their mothers in these situations. i have been witnessing this time and again, often with, you know, very small children, eight, ten years old. at the moment, there is something of a lull at this particular border crossing. only 2,000 people crossed here yesterday, that is comparing to 5, 6, 7,000 in the days before that, of the 10,000 to 20,000 people coming into romania a day. but it is very well organised, there are a lot of volunteers,

as you can see over my right shoulder here. these would be translators, they would be people from the romanian fire brigade who are playing a central role at all these border crossings, and of course the romanian police. there is also a growing awareness of border crossings like this of the vulnerability of so many young women and children crossing. there is a worry among international organisations following the situation as it evolves about the danger of trafficking. there are small groups here warning women and children about this danger. so, generally, one has the sense of a very well organised organisation, humanitarian organisation, within the chaos of this wider refugee situation. the war in ukraine could have a knock—on effect on food prices across the world — in particular wheat. russia is the largest producer of wheat in the world, with ukraine fifth on the list. there are fears that possible sanctions against russia —

and issues with ukraine being able to harvest its wheat — could lead to shortages. commodity prices have already started to increase. i'm joined now by yael selfin — chief economist at the international consultancy and accounting group kpmg. what are the concerns around the fact that both russia and ukraine will not be exporting particularly wheat in the weeks ahead? weill. will not be exporting particularly wheat in the weeks ahead? well, they are ma'or wheat in the weeks ahead? well, they are major exporters _ wheat in the weeks ahead? well, they are major exporters to _ wheat in the weeks ahead? well, they are major exporters to a _ wheat in the weeks ahead? well, they are major exporters to a number- wheat in the weeks ahead? well, they are major exporters to a number of. are major exporters to a number of countries, especially poorer countries, especially poorer countries where that shortage could be felt. but also more generally the fact that we are going to lose that supply globally, it means that we are already seeing the prices of wheat and other food staples rise quite significantly. that will have an impact, as well, making food much more expensive for, especially for poorer households.— poorer households. what is the domino effect _ poorer households. what is the domino effect of— poorer households. what is the domino effect of that, - poorer households. what is the domino effect of that, as - poorer households. what is the domino effect of that, as well? | poorer households. what is the - domino effect of that, as well? when you look at things like the price of

fertiliser, for instance? absolutely. on top of the fact that we have some staple foods that will be seeing their prices go up, we also have potash and one of the key ingredients of fertilisers that is one of the key exporters of that is russia. the scarcity of that would mean that not only the price of fertiliser could go up but also the availability would be diminished, and that would have major impact on the crop quality for this year, for some time. that would feed into the food chain essentially. is some time. that would feed into the food chain essentially.— food chain essentially. is there a wa of food chain essentially. is there a way of plugging _ food chain essentially. is there a way of plugging the _ food chain essentially. is there a way of plugging the gap - food chain essentially. is there a way of plugging the gap in - food chain essentially. is there a way of plugging the gap in this? | food chain essentially. is there a i way of plugging the gap in this? we werejust talking to way of plugging the gap in this? we were just talking to our correspondent in cairo who said they are already feeling the pinch in egypt, could they get their wheat from elsewhere?—

egypt, could they get their wheat from elsewhere? well, i guess there will be some — from elsewhere? well, i guess there will be some storages _ from elsewhere? well, i guess there will be some storages absolutely, i will be some storages absolutely, but one of the issues is that prices are high. so even if they can get at least part of that supply, it would be at a much higher cost, and that will feed into the affordability of the food to mainly issues with poorer households that may not be able to afford it are brawny to forgo other items that are quite essential as well in order to pay for that higher cost of food. given that wheat _ for that higher cost of food. given that wheat is _ for that higher cost of food. given that wheat is traded _ for that higher cost of food. given that wheat is traded international, how is price determined? it is su -l how is price determined? it is supply and — how is price determined? it 3 supply and demand. if you have a shortage of supply and demand stays the same, the price goes up. a lot of it is also in anticipation of shortage of supply, and therefore you have the price going up ahead of that. we you have the price going up ahead of that. ~ ., ., , ., ~ ., that. we are not 'ust talking about wheat either. — that. we are notjust talking about wheat either, what _ that. we are notjust talking about wheat either, what other - that. we are notjust talking about wheat either, what other staples l that. we are notjust talking about l wheat either, what other staples are

going to be affected?— wheat either, what other staples are going to be affected? there are some venetable going to be affected? there are some vegetable oils. _ going to be affected? there are some vegetable oils, certain _ going to be affected? there are some vegetable oils, certain vegetable - vegetable oils, certain vegetable oils we are likely to see affected, as well as a few other grains like, if your other grains that will be affected as well. but it is, as i said earlier, it is likely to be much broader than that because through the impact of fertiliser, we are going to have an impact on agricultural production overall. what is the most effective thing that governments could do right now? trying to ease the potential bottlenecks. some governments may have some storage facilities where they would have certain stocks that they would have certain stocks that they will be able potentially to release. and then there's obviously some help with subsidies or help for poorer households with the elevated costs at this stage. goad

poorer households with the elevated costs at this stage.— costs at this stage. good to get our costs at this stage. good to get your thoughts. _ costs at this stage. good to get your thoughts, thank _ costs at this stage. good to get your thoughts, thank you - costs at this stage. good to get your thoughts, thank you for i costs at this stage. good to get - your thoughts, thank you forjoining us. rebels from belarus are among some of the foreign fighters heading to ukraine to defend the country against russia. our correspondent mark lowen met some of the recruits in the polish capital warsaw, as they prepare to make the journey. gunfire. a trial run for the terror they will soon see for real. recruits from belarus training before they go to fight with ukraine. slavic brothers uniting against a common enemy — putin's russia. pavel came back from his life in new york to battle the kremlin's forces who are supported by president lu kashenko of belarus. without independent and free ukraine, there is no independent and free belarus. i really admire ukrainian nation. from the very beginning we supported ukrainians in theirfight forfreedom and i would like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukraine is right now. you think lukashenko will send belarusian

troops into ukraine? i hope so because if he send someone to ukrainian soil we will destroy them on ukrainian territory, then we won't have a lot of problems come back to our motherland. for these dissidents, it is in part a proxy war against a regime at home that has made belarus a launchpad for russian attacks on ukraine. 30,000 russian troops advancing from there to kyiv. they'll also take in supplies and what they hope they won't have to use. and then a crash course in first aid by a polish veteran of afghanistan. the tourniquets and bandages of that vicious conflict now a part of life in europe. whispering: just hours before leaving, they are learning the vital lessons that could save their lives. when you look around you can see that these are just ordinary guys, mainly, who are suddenly preparing for what it will be like entering a theatre of war when they cross tonight.

for all theirjingoism and unity, the facade cracks as reality hits. i'm afraid, a little. i saw you speaking to your mum earlier. yeah, she's crying. but now she's just praying, maybe. she tried to tell me that this war is not my, is not our, it's other country, other people, but i don't agree. so they head off to someone else's war, which has become their own. they shout defiantly. both countries fighting the imperial oppressor. they travel from warsaw to war, hours first to the border. a final sip of safety before crossing off limits to our camera. their sights set on victory for two nations in arms. mark lowen, bbc news,

on the poland—ukraine border. police in sweden are investigating the deaths of two teachers in an attack at a secondary school in the city of malmo on monday. local media reports say the two women, both in their 50s, died in hospitalfrom stab wounds — although police haven't confirmed what weapon was used. officers say an eighteen year old student was arrested at the scene, and police are looking into reports that the attacker himself called an emergency number to raise the alarm. rescuers in china are continuing to search for survivors of a passengerjet that crashed yesterday, although all crew and passengers are feared to have perished. 132 peope were on board the china eastern airlines jet, which went down in a mountainous area of southern guangxi. the government has ordered a full investigation into the cause of the crash. in the uk, the chancellor rishi sunak is facing mounting pressure to take action to tackle soaring costs ahead of the spring statement on wednesday. our uk political correspondent jonathan blake told me mr sunak has a lot to think about.

he is under huge pressure. i think there are big expectations. normally the spring statement would not be a big date in everyone's diary, it would be a relatively minor update from the chancellor on how the economy is doing and perhaps one or two smaller measures announced. but such is the acute strain on people's finances, which is only going to get worse in the months to come, that the chancellor is under pressure, not least from many conservative mps themselves to step in to ease that pressure. asked last weekend if he would step in, he said he would, as he has done throughout the pandemic, he would make things easier for people where the government was able to. but the question is, what is he prepared to do, what is he able to do, and what is he going to do? there's relatively limited option of menus realistically speaking that are at his disposal.

most likely seems to be a possible cut in real tax, —— most likely seems to be a possible cut in fuel tax, the duty that people pay when they are filling up their cars with petrol or diesel at the station forecourt. that seems to be something which is probably one of the more likely measures. the opposition labour party have said they would welcome that. but question how much of a difference it would make, saying that the chancellor really needs to go further. but that certainly would be a bit of a crowd pleaser, if you like, as far as his own mps and lots of drivers around the united kingdom would be concerned. beyond that, there is a tax rise due to come on in april in national insurance contributions, the tax people pay on their income, which the chancellor is under pressure, again from his own mps, to at the very least delay if he is not going to u—turn on it, which he and the prime minister had previously said they would not. so we may say some kind of a change there, possibly around the threshold at which people start paying

contributions to national insurance, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn before they start paying that tax, which the government could say was a direct benefit to particularly people on lower incomes. beyond that, some would like him to look at universal credit payments, reinstall the uplift that was there during the pandemic or increasing payments overall. and then there are things like the pensions contributions, which the government could restore fully what is called the triple lock, which would see old age pensioners getting more money as a result. and other measures, too. but at this point, 2a hours or so out from the chancellor's statement, it is a tricky game to predict exactly what he is going to say. one thing is for sure, there will be intense pressure on him from his own mps and from the public, as well, to do something to mitigate the pressures financially that people are feeling.

a 17—month—old girl — named as bella—rae birch — has died after being attacked by a dog in her home in st helens in the northwest of england. merseyside police say the animal was bought by the family only a week ago. the investigation is in the early stages, police have said this was a tragic accident in which a 17—month—old girl has died. officers were called here to this estate in the black brook area of st helens, just before 4 pm yesterday, reports that the girl had been attacked by the family pet dog. she was taken to hospital but sadly died as a result of her injuries. the dog was handed into police and officers say it was humanely destroyed. so far, officers have spoken to a number of people here and carried out house—to—house inquiries, had a look at cctv footage, but they are trying

to establish the history of the dog, they say it was only bought last week by the family. they want to trace its previous owners. the family are said to be absolutely devastated by what has happened and police say their thoughts are very much with the family at this time. what will happen next is tests will be carried out on the dog to determine its breed and whether that breed is legal or illegal under the dangerous dogs act. a man has been charged with murdering 19—year—old sabita thanwani at her central london student accommodation. 22—year—old maher maaroufe will appear in court later. ms thanwani was found seriously injured in the early hours of saturday. she died at the scene and a post—mortem examination gave cause of death as sharp force trauma to the neck. a journalist who investigated the 1974 birmingham pub bombings will not have to hand over his notes to police after they launched a legal bid to force him to reveal his sources.

chris mullin challenged an application by west midlands police to require him to disclose source material dating back to his investigation in 1985 and 1986. at the old bailey, a judge ruled he would not have to hand over the material. let's bring you more now on that news from russia where a court has just sentenced the opposition leader alexei navalny to a further nine years in a penal colony after he was found guilty in a fraud trial. his spokesperson dismissed the case as a fabrication. what you are seeing is pictures of him looking rather gaunt with his lawyers. it was heard in this maximum security jail where he is already serving two and a half years for another fraud conviction. he has been tweeting, and this is the latest from him. navalny reads an anti—corruption foundation which has accused vladimir putin of illegally

acquiring a fortune worth billions of pounds, and he hasjust tweeted acquiring a fortune worth billions of pounds, and he has just tweeted a link to the foundation, saying together we stand, i believe the people who started this war are bandits and criminals, the fact that they are bombing people simply to continue stealing money means i have done everything right since 2011 when i created the anti—corruption foundation to fight this criminal regime. that is the latest tweet from navalny. iam regime. that is the latest tweet from navalny. i am sure many of you have lots of questions about what is happening in ukraine right now. we will be taking those questions this friday at 1130 gmt. we have some special guests able to answer a range of aspects of the war. you might have questions about how it is being fought, how it is being reported, what is happening on social media, even how it might end, the motivations of president putin, the motivations of president putin, the human consequences with the human refugees on as well. send us your questions. you can get in touch

on twitter and you can e—mail us, too. we will try to get through as many as we can. thank you for being with us. it is feeling very springlike out there now. plenty of sunshine around, notjust for today, for the rest of the week, all thanks to high pressure. most places will be dry, sunny and warm. pretty much as we head on into the weekend. the warmth could just set off an isolated shower here or there, though most places will escape them and stay dry. we have got high pressure to the east, no pressure to the west. we are bringing up some warmer air ona we are bringing up some warmer air on a south or south easterly breeze. the winds will be light throughout the day to day, so that means pollute levels wanting to build up, thatis pollute levels wanting to build up, that is the only downside to areas of high pressure, they bring the stagnant air. otherwise point of sunshine around, if you shall are sparking off into the afternoon in

wales and midlands, but they will be pretty isolated. most places will be dry, sunny and warm, top temperatures around 20 degrees to the north—west of london. many of us, the mid to high teens. once quite fresh across the far south—west, but light ones as we headed into this evening and overnight. any showers will fade away and we will see a little bit of mist and fog developing here or there. temperatures dipping down to 3-6 there. temperatures dipping down to 3—6 in towns, may be a touch lower in the countryside. wednesday we start off on a fine, dry, sunny note, a little bit of mist and fog around once again. it will be a fine afternoon for most. a little bit of low cloud affecting northern and eastern coast of scotland. maybe an autumn across eastern scotland and england, but most places will be dry. temperatures possibly a notch up dry. temperatures possibly a notch up on tuesday, a highs of 21 degrees orso up on tuesday, a highs of 21 degrees or so across the south—east. mid to high teens again for many. the state, weak weather front pushing into the north—west of scotland, more breeze and cloud to the northern and western isles and on to

the north mainland. but what impact that temperatures a little bit. elsewhere, once again it is another dry, sunny, warm day with temperatures again not far off 20 in the warm response. through friday on the warm response. through friday on the weekend, are wary of high pressure begins to drift its way westwards and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to affected northern and eastern parts of the uk. that said, it is to high pressure dominating the scene to end a week and weekend, so many places will be dry with a good deal of centring around. by sunday, into next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudierfor some of next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudier for some of us.

ukraine's president zelensky says the country is on the brink of surviving its war with russia. it comes as president biden warns that vladimir putin may use chemical or biological weapons in ukraine because his back is against the wall. he's considering using both of those. he's already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what's about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. the other headlines this lunchtime: russian opposition leader alexei navalny is sentenced to nine more years in prison in a trial his supporters say was a sham. p&o ferries bosses have until 5pm to explain their decision to sack 800 members of staff without notice. a 17—month old toddler, killed in merseyside by a dog

bought only a week ago, has been named as bella—rae birch