welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm mariko oi. the headlines: as the un calls for an end to hostilities, we report on the battle for a key town in the south of ukraine where russian forces are being pushed back. this war is only a few weeks old, and the russians will almost certainly be back with more soldiers and a lot more firepower. fleeing the besieged city of mariupol — survivors tell of children literally starving to death. a prominent kremlin critic gets anotherjail sentence — the us says it's part of the crackdown on dissent, to hide the war in ukraine.

and in other news, with more cities in china in lockdown, can beijing's zero covid policy ever beat the highly contagious omicron variant? live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. the head of the united nations has appealed for an end to the war in ukraine, saying the people are enduring a living hell. antonio guterres has warned the situation is becoming more destructive and unpredictable by the hour. ukraine says ten hospitals have been destroyed in the russian bombardment so far, and major cities are running short of both food and medical supplies. heavy fighting is continuing in many parts of the country.

but our first report comes from the southern town of voznesensk, where troops and a small population ofjust 35,000 people have seen off an attack by the russian army. 0ur correspondent andrew harding has been there. in war, a single bridge can sometimes make all the difference. a bridge and a town determined to keep it from the enemy. and that's what happened here in voznesensk, a quiet farming community that stood its ground. security cameras captured the moment russian tanks roared into town, determined to seize the bridge, and beyond it, a clear road across southern ukraine. but the locals were already setting a trap. all hands on deck. blocking off roads, guiding the russians into an ambush.

a local shopkeeper, alexander, filmed himself on the front lines. "you little beauties!", he shouts. "it was a colossal effort by the whole town," he says. "we used hunting rifles, people threw bricks, "old women loaded sandbags, the russians didn't "know where to look. "i've never seen the community come together like that." as the invaders approached the bridge, the locals blew it up — at which point these british anti—tank weapons played a decisive role. the ukrainians destroyed almost every russian vehicle, denying them the chance to seize the town and to rebuild the bridge. tank tracks still mark svetlana nikolajevna's garden. her outhouse took a direct hit.

she says the russians took two ukrainian soldiers prisoner in there, and she feared they were going to kill them, but then the battle got out of hand. that's the blood of russian soldiers who were sheltering in her house. while she hid in a cellar, her cottage became a russian field hospital. translation: they left at night in such a hurry. | they left almost everything behind. theyjust took their dead and wounded. it may be russia's heaviest defeat so far, their troops retreating far to the east. this town, this community achieved something remarkable here, but we need to put it in perspective. this war is only a few weeks old, and the russians will almost certainly be back with more soldiers and a lot more firepower. not surprisingly, the town hall

is crowded with people wanting help getting out of voznesensk. 0thers go straight to the 32—year—old mayor. he's well guarded these days, brimming with confidence, but realistic about what lies ahead. "we know we can't win here without more anti—tank "weapons," says yevheni velichko. "we're grateful for western supplies, but we need more. "you know, the russians will be back." back for the bridge and back for the town that stood its ground. andrew harding, bbc news, in voznesensk, southern ukraine. the southern port city of mariupol is a key strategic target for the russian military. many have fled but around 300,000 people are believed to be trapped there, with food and water running out. 0ur correspondent wyre davies sent this report from zaporizhzhia, where some people from mariupol have

managed to flee. after170 miles, mined roads and 15 russian army checkpoints — freedom. their ordeal is by no means over, but for these families who have escaped from mariupol in a motley convoy of bomb—damaged vehicles, the last month has been as close to hell as any human should ever get. it was bombing every ten, five minutes and we haven't any central heating, gas, electricity, food or water, nothing. before leaving, katya grabbed her obstinate dog jesse, but this isn't the first time she's fled war. i passed through war in 2014. i'm from donetsk. but it was light variant, really.

and now it's my second war, but it is harder. this van, filled with 25 people, also made it through today. all occupants of the same bunker in mariupol escaping together — from ages 2—75. 0vercome with emotion, babushka, or grandmother, anna, says, "it's all too much for me at my age." some of those arriving today gave us videos, a snapshot of the nightmare in which they've been living and the perils of their journey out. around 300,000 people are still thought to be trapped inside the besieged city, much of which has been destroyed by the russian bombardment. from the sky in particular, russia is causing real damage to mariupol�*s civilian and industrial infrastructure. it was a bombardment that almost took the life of two—month—old volodymyr.

when a shell landed near their apartment, his father instinctively threw himself over the baby. dad alexei was hit by shrapnel and glass. his son, born only a month before the war, bears no injuries. "after that, we lived in the shelter cooking "with wood and just trying to survive," says alexei. ukrainians have their differences, but the war has brought people together in adversity. volunteers provide anything those escaping mariupol need for their onward journeys, knowing full well that their town could be next. wyre davies, bbc news, zaporizhzhia. well, as the conflict goes on, how is the propanganda war being fought by both sides? emily harding is a senior fellow at the centre for strategic and international studies think—tank in washington. i put it to her that it appears the ukrainian government is outperforming in the media.

absolutely. i think that president zelensky has really drawn on his media training himself, his time as an actor, and has learned how to speak directly to the people of his allies, directly to the people of russia, really get his message out beyond the russian propaganda. you mentioned president zelensky. he's been addressing a lot of foreign parliaments. he's addressing the japanese parliament later today. how do you rate his performance in addressing those foreign governments as well? he has vastly outstripped expectations. i think he's shown a remarkable amount of political savvy and media savvy. if you notice, with every single one of his speeches, he tries to use a phrase or a word that's very important to that particular country's history, he tries to draw on that country's lived experiences, things that are really going to resonate with the people of that nation. when he spoke to the united states congress, he used the words "i have a dream", which were, of course, the famous words of

dr martin luther king. and he really, i think, has found a way to speak directly to the hearts of the people he's trying to address. interestingly, chinese state media have been repeating russian propaganda. how do you assess china's role in this propaganda or disinformation war? it's really interesting. i think that china is trying to walk a very thin line. they were public in their support of vladimir putin when he came to visit beijing during the olympics. they talked about how the relationship had no limit. and then they found themselves looking at this horrific experience in ukraine. and they seem to want to back away from russia in the eyes of the west but then also convince the people that they had done the right thing when they were supporting putin. so they have used their great firewall to a great extent, and tried to block out any kind of western information or information from on the ground in ukraine, and instead have parroted the russian line. the ukrainian narrative, i think, has started to pierce the veil in russia but has done

so a little bit less, perhaps, in china, and that's something that i think needs to change. people in china also need to know what is going on. and as the war continues, with everyone from soldiers to residents within ukraine taking pictures and videos as well, some information on social media is very hard to verify, so how do you tackle this? i mean, it's a real challenge. this is the first war, as you said, that's played out on social media, with everyone with a high—tech camera in their pocket, and so there's a tonne of information out there. i think that as a savvy consumer, you have to wonder, everything that you look at, "is this real or is it not?" there are signs sometimes when things are propaganda. you can tell who's sending the message. there are also some very talented firms out there like bellingcat, for example, who are picking those images apart and verifying that they did, in fact, happen where they say they happened, comparing them to the weather on the day or the shadows on the day and then saying, "this building lines up with that building," and proving that

it is actually factual. it's important, though, to be a savvy consumer and to think before you like, think before you retweet. emily in russia, the country's most prominent opposition figure, alexei navalny, has had his prison sentance extended to nine years, after being found guilty of fraud and contempt of court. he was detained when he returned to russia last year, after surviving a poisoning which he blamed on president putin and those who serve him in the kremlin. steve who serve him in the kremlin. rosenberg has mort details. the images are grainy, but the meaning was clear. kremlin critic alexei navalny, already a prisoner, was about to receive anotherjail term. his prison colony had been turned into a courtroom. his supporters call it a show trial. he was sentenced to nine years, maximum security, for fraud.

this was mr navalnyjust over a year ago, russia's most prominent opposition figure detained when he flew into moscow. his arrest and imprisonment sparked nationwide protests. but what followed was a kremlin crackdown. the result — more repression, less freedom. so much has happened here in the last year. the russian opposition has been crushed, kremlin critics have been silenced. this feels like a very different russia. and that feeling is all the stronger after president putin's decision to send his troops into ukraine. the kremlin calls what it's doing in ukraine a special military operation. it demands that everyone do the same. the freedom of speech is non—existent. this is the horrible war

that we are not even allowed to call the war, because here it is called a special operation. and people that come onto the streets with a banner saying "no war" are detained. russian mp maria butina thinks that in times of trouble, russians should support the motherland. as for alexei navalny? he cheated on the government, he cheated on certain businesses. it is widely seen as politically motivated. it is not politically motivated. absolutely not. so there are no political prisoners in russia? there are no political prisoners in russia. not a single one? not a single one, absolutely. and that is precisely the picture that the kremlin paints for the russian people, hoping they'll believe that there's no repression here, no war, no problem. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: william and kate are welcomed to jamaica, but they could face protests over the british monarchy�*s past links with slavery. applause i'm so proud of both of you. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition.

praying streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. wow! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. 0ur headlines: ukraine's president says there's a chance of surviving the war, as his military stops the russian advance on some key targets. the us condemns the latest jail sentence given to kremlin critic alexei navalny — washington says it's part of the crackdown on dissent, to hide the war in ukraine. so as we've been hearing, much of the focus of the current

fighting is in the south of the country, where cities of key strategic importance lie along the coastline. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera has this assessment of russia's military tactics, almost one month on from the invasion. russia invaded ukraine from a number of directions, but it's the south where the fighting has been fiercest and which looks to be strategically most important. russian forces entered through crimea, which they had already seized in 2014. we've just seen details of some of the fighting around voznesensk. it is one of a number of places where russia has met much tougher resistance than it expected. this is a strategically important place. the reason is, if russia seized it, it would offer them a land route towards the historic city of 0desa. the port of 0desa has already been preparing its defences.

0ne western official today said it remains a prime military objective for moscow. there has been concern there could even be an amphibious assault from the sea, where russia has assembled dozens of vessels, but an attack from the sea would be hard, unless there was also a move from land towards the city. so let's look at the south—east now. we have heard a lot about mariupol. you can see the importance of the city because it would give russia a land bridge between the east and crimea if they were able to seize it. russian forces, seen here in red, have encircled the city and have started to go in. and the devastation has been pretty terrible, with some estimates putting up to 90% of mariupol destroyed. so the russian ambition may be to seize the whole of the south, leaving ukraine landlocked. that would impose economic as well as military costs. but russia has faced fierce resistance, its forces are spread thin, and it's not

always been able to keep territory it has taken, so that may be an ambition too far. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. rescuers at the site of a plane crash in southern china have found burnt wreckage and personal belongings of those on board, but no sign of any survivors. china eastern flight mu—5735 was carrying 132 people when it nose—dived 30,000 feet into hills in guangxi province on monday near the town of wuzhou. recovery work has been hampered by difficult terrain. myanmar�*s military government has rejected the declaration by the us on monday that violence committed by the burmese armed forces against the rohingya minority amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity. thousands of rohingya muslims were killed and hundreds of thousands driven into bangladesh following the 2017 offensive. a foreign ministry statement

said the us declaration was far from reality. at least four people have been killed and several wounded in an attack in southern israel. police in the city of beersheba say a man first stabbed a woman at a petrol station, then drove off and rammed his car into several people. the israeli security services have identified the man as an arab israeli citizen from a nearby town, who'd spent time in jail. us—based scientists say they've found a way of using plants to remove harmful microplastics from the world's water supplies. the nontoxic solution involves okra and other slimy plants often used in cooking. extracts from the plants help remove microplastics from both fresh and sea water, often outperforming the chemicals now used in treatment plants.

professor dale fisher is chair of who's global 0utbreak alert and response network. and i asked him why china is still sticking to its zero covid policy. because as we have been reporting, the country is facing its worst outbreak since the pandemic first started in wuhan in 19. —— 2019. no country has been able to keep 0micron out, and all countries, particularly in east asia, have one by one accepted endemicity. and i think the chinese health authorities are not fools, they will understand this, so i think it is really about positioning themselves for the necessary surge that would happen as they start to accept endemicity. i think some of the things they might be waiting for

would be probably vaccinating the most vulnerable. we've seen in both singapore and hong kong, there was quite a lot of reluctance to take the vaccine in the senior age groups, quite different to the west, so i think there's a cultural phenomenon there. and the elderly chinese people have got their own reasons for not wanting to take it. and therefore, even if you've got a high vaccination rate, if those unvaccinated are the most vulnerable, then you need to wait until that's done. the other thing, i think, is the necessary surge, getting all the health facilities, all the resources, ready. and we've seen recently that china is allowing the public to buy rapid tests, so i think this is probably the first sign that they're going to be accepting that people can test themselves and recover at home. you mentioned hong kong, which now has the highest death rate in the world.

do you expect possibly china seeing a surge in a scenario as bad as hong kong? well, i think that's what the chinese authorities would be concerned about. so if you consider the different scales, there would be some degree of carnage in the elderly people that haven't been vaccinated. so, as i said, singapore realised this quite early on, towards the end of last year, when our hospitals were not overwhelmed but heading that direction, with large numbers of severely ill elderly people. hong kong has now realised that. and i think china are taking stock of that lesson. the duke and duchess of cambridge have left belize after a four—day visit, as part of their caribbean tour marking the queen's platinum jubilee. the next stop is jamaica, asjonny dymond reports. into the sunshine and into controversy.

it all looks like business as usual. the governor—general brought a warm welcome. the couple brought thanks from the queen for seven decades of support over her reign. but not everyone is feeling supportive. some here, and some in government, want an apology for slavery, the slavery that britain ran and that some britons made vast profits from, the slavery that did so much damage to this country. and there is talk of financial compensation too. 0utside britain's high commission, its embassy to jamaica, today, a reminder of past pain and present anger. this is an issue that is only building momentum. it's clear to see that belizeans value their environment, whether it's the marine environment or the land environment. from the couple's household, new pictures from their last stop, belize.

the government there wanted the couple to see the country's barrier reef. as jamaicans waited for the couple's arrival, it was football star raheem sterling that took the spotlight. the prince will address the issue of slavery here tomorrow night. as jamaica's future turns out to see the couple, there's no escaping the shadow of the past. jonny dymond, bbc news, kingston, jamaica. you have been watching newsday. a reminder of the headlines: the pentagon says ukrainian soldiers are succeeding in reclaiming ground from invading russian forces, particularly in the south of the country. and fierce fighting is going on in the city centre of mariupol, where an intense russian bombardment contiues unabated. a ukrainian deputy prime minister says rescue workers

are still being prevented from reaching the theatre in mariupol where people are trapped. that's it from the show. thank you very much for watching. at this time of year, warm days are often followed hello there. at this time of year, warm days are often followed by decidedly chilly nights. and tuesday was certainly a warm day, with temperatures in northwest wales getting close to 21 degrees, the warmest day of the year so far. plenty of other places not too far behind. but as soon as the sun went down, the temperatures followed. it has been turning quite chilly out there. high pressure still close by on wednesday. it stays mostly dry, but with those clear skies overhead, quite a chilly start to the morning, with temperatures down around freezing, below freezing in a few places. one or two early fog patches around as well. they should tend to lift and clear by the middle part of the morning. and then it is another beautiful spring day, with lengthy spells of sunshine. the vast majority will stay dry. there's just a small chance

of one or two showers popping up in northeast scotland and maybe across eastern counties of england. not as breezy as it was on tuesday across western areas and every bit as warm. top temperatures between 16 and 20, maybe 21 degrees. but as we head through wednesday night, again, the sun goes down, the orange colours drain away from the map, replaced by blues and greens, with temperatures again dropping down to around freezing. those are the values for the towns and the cities. out in the countryside, i think there will be a touch of frost, and again potentially some fog patches on thursday morning. now, england and wales will once again have a mostly sunny day, with just the odd rogue shower. for scotland and northern ireland, expect more cloud creeping in from the northwest, with some spots of light rain and drizzle. top temperatures through thursday between 16 and 19 degrees in most places. now, for friday, again, the further north you are, there will be a bit more in the way of cloud. some rain for the northern isles. furthersouth, more in the way of sunshine, a bit more of a breeze through the english channel at this stage, and temperatures maybe down just a fraction

but still getting up to between 15 and 19 degrees. and then we head into weekend, and some of that cloud in the north associated with a weak frontal system will try to work a little further southwards, but high pressure continues to hold firm, so despite that extra cloud and the greater chance of a bit of fog, it is going to stay fine and dry with some spells of sunshine. into next week, though, we develop a northerly wind. it'll start to feel quite a lot colder and there could even be some wintry showers.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm sarah montague. 30 years ago, the soviet union collapsed and communist governments fell across eastern europe. liberal democracy appeared to have won the cold war and triumphed in the battle of ideas. my guest, the renowned political scientist francis fukuyama, posed a question, if humanity had arrived at the most effective form of government,