going to be a big star. welcome to bbc news, i'm mark lobel. our top stories: as the war in ukraine enters its second month, the country's president calls for a show of support around the world. come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities. come in the name of peace. come with ukrainian symbols to support ukraine, to support freedom, to support life. nato says it'll double the number of battlegroups deployed on its eastern flank, in response to russia's invasion. a siege without end, we talk to one of the survivors of mariupol, the ukrainian city under relentless russian shelling. no return to class for the girls of afghanistan. the taliban orders secondary

schools to remain closed. and, tributes are paid to madeline albright, america's first female secretary of state, who's died at the age of 8a. it's exactly a month since russia defied expectations and invaded ukraine. a month in which ukraine has resisted the russian onslaught. in a speech to mark the occasion, president volodymyr zelensky appealed, in english, to people all over the world, to come out onto the streets on thursday to show their support for ukraine. he reflected on the russian plan to, in his words, wipe ukraine off the face of the earth. he also said, "they were

wrong", words aimed at those who thought ukrainians would be frightened and wouldn't fight. it comes as nato is expected to agree to send more troops to eastern europe at an emergency meeting in brussels on thursday. for the latest here's gareth barlow. for ukrainians, it is the war that should have never begun and for president putin it is the special military operation that was supposed to take days. but a month on the brutal conflict continues. in the face of superior forces, conflict continues. in the face of superiorforces, ukrainian of superior forces, ukrainian soldiers of superiorforces, ukrainian soldiers and civilians are digging in, preparing the capital kyiv for the full force of moscow's military might. but despite overwhelming odds in some areas, russian forces are being pushed back.— being pushed back. from the west of ukraine, _ being pushed back. from the west of ukraine, from - being pushed back. from the west of ukraine, from the . west of ukraine, from the north, and there is a big bottle and from official

sources, right now the small city and almost whole irpin under control of ukrainian soldiers. under control of ukrainian soldiers-_ under control of ukrainian soldiers. , , soldiers. daily life has become death. soldiers. daily life has become death- with — soldiers. daily life has become death. with each _ soldiers. daily life has become death. with each week - soldiers. daily life has become death. with each week a - death. with each week a frustrated russian army has increasingly sought to grind down ukrainian morale and the very fabric of ukraine itself. and as western arms poor in, the country's resident has sought to get the message out of the devastation caused by the russian invasion. on wednesday in his nightly address, addressing the world in english, volodymyr zelensky called for people to unite. come in the name of peace. become with ukrainian symbols to support ukraine, to support freedom, to support life. come to your squares, your streets. make yourselves visible and heard. say that people matter, freedom matters, peace matters,

ukraine matters. the freedom matters, peace matters, ukraine matters.— ukraine matters. the conflict has seen _ ukraine matters. the conflict has seen nato _ ukraine matters. the conflict has seen nato bolster - ukraine matters. the conflict has seen nato bolster its - has seen nato bolster its presence along its eastern flank. around 40,000 forces are now gathered there and on thursday after flying into brussels, president biden will meet with allies to discuss deploying more troops close to the conflict. i deploying more troops close to the conflict.— the conflict. i expect leaders will agree — the conflict. i expect leaders will agree to _ the conflict. i expect leaders will agree to strengthen - the conflict. i expect leaders i will agree to strengthen nato's posture in all domains, with a major increases to our forces in the eastern part of the alliance. on land, in the air and at sea. the first step is the deployment of four new nato at all groups. in bulgaria, hungary, romania, and slovakia. despite continued talks between russia and ukraine, there sign president putin is prepared to back down and end the suffering inflicted it on ukraine. but

despite the grief and bloodshed the country has already endured, month on there is no sign ukrainians are prepared to back down in defence of their country. gareth barlow, bbc news. for more on the significance of president zelensky latest appeal here's our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. let mejust let me just first remind viewers the speech that he recorded in the early hours of february 24 which was just hours before russia invaded ukraine. he was sitting in his office in his suit and he said he had tried to contact president putin but he only got silence and he appealed in russian to the people of russia to stop the invasion which was also met with silence. in the early hours of march 24 here in care of his recorded another

address in his fatigues tonight outside residential buildings and he has appealed in english to people around the world saying this is notjust a fight against ukraine, this is a fight forfreedom, the against ukraine, this is a fight for freedom, the freedom of the world and his called on people around the world to leave their offices, schools, homes, to take ukrainian symbols, to go into streets and squares and basically show that they will fight this war because he has said only the world can defeat this was. it is a big gamble to see, we have already seen a response in many countries around the world and now he is again upping the stakes to say if it really matters to you, show it. he is a man who was a former entertainer, he understands that in a war there is a narrative about the war and the war unfolding on the ground and tonight he has shown that he understands that more than most. as we've been reporting, nato is expected to boost its forces in eastern europe, at an emergency summit on ukraine. kay bailey hutchison,

served as a former us ambassador to nato. she says the west is doing all it can to counter russia's invasion. i think we are trying everything in our toolbox to stop this heinous aggression against a sovereign nation that is a democracy. as you have just seen, you have shown to your viewers, it is just a horrible devastation of a free country. so we are going to talk, i know, to our allies about what more we can do, certainly more sanctions. we would like to cut off the oil that is flowing out of russia because that's paying for the killing of ukrainian civilians, and that will be discussed. it's very hard for europe because they have more reliance on that russian oil but we want europe to have more reliance on us and on our allies and on middle eastern partners that are willing to step up and provide more options for oil and natural

gas to fuel europe. and more than that, i think the whole group of heads of state that are meeting tomorrow in brussels will talk about what we need to do to build deterrence now. for instance, more troops, we are talking about double the numbers in the perimeter around russia that is in our alliance but also, a more permanent base. a more long—term presence because we now see that this could be a long—term problem and we don't know where putin will stop. nato says it's doubling the number of battlegroups well on the ground in ukraine, the port city of mariupol is still under intense russian bombardment. around 100,000 civilians are now trapped there without food, water or power. our correspondent wyre davies has been speaking to a survivor of the attack on the city's theatre, where hundreds

of civilians including children had been taking shelter. maria walked for four days to escape mariupol. without money, a car orfamily, she has nothing. she's the first known survivor of the mariupol theatre attack to speak about what happened. translation: the theatre was j completely packed with people. there was no space to lie down. people were just sitting. it was clear that this was a shelter, people knew this. also there was massive signs saying "children" that were made on both sides of the theatre. where were you at the exact time of the attack? translation: we were getting our breakfast, and by breakfast, i mean we were getting some boiled water. someone brought me some pieces of fish, i think, to feed the dogs. when they finished eating,

i went outside to the water tank to get a bowl of waterfor them. this is when the shell landed. i saw that it landed just where i had been sitting. i was outside and survived only because there was some man nearby. he heard the shell falling, grabbed me by the collar, pinned me between the ground and the wall and covered me with his body. we were sprayed with broken glass and concrete. i was stunned, probably even concussed, because i fell unconscious several times since. when the dust settled a bit, i cleared my eyes. i saw injured people around. i tried to make my way inside. the dogs were the family for me. they were everything i had left. i could not find a way to get inside, to at least find out whether they are alive or dead. i sincerely hope they died instantly.

maria says there were at least a thousand people inside the theatre. while russia denies targeting civilians and says it wasn't responsible, what maria saw suggests otherwise. translation: i don't know how many people died, sorry. - there were some rooms in there. those were allocated for families with children. that part of the theatre is completely gone. partially deafened by the blast, her back in pain, maria now relies on the kindness of friends. she worries for her grandmother in mariupol and mourns her dead pets. atjust 27, it's difficult to stay strong. wyre davies, bbc news, zaporizhzhia. let's get some of the day's other news. military sources in yemen say a senior general has been killed in a car bomb attack in the southern port city of aden. major—general thabet

jawas was a commander of the saudi—led coalition forces fighting the rebels to restore president hadi's internationally recognised government. rescuers in china have found one of the two black box recorders from a passenger plane that crashed on monday with more than 130 people on board. no survivors have been found, although the search of the wreckage continues, despite being hampered by rain. cars have been swept away in paraguay�*s capital asuncion as heavy rains and floods lashed the south american country. streets in the capital turned to rivers. cars were immersed in water up to their roofs, and many vehicles were washed away. from an immigrant fleeing persecution — to america's top diplomat. that was the journey we're remebering today of the former us secretary of state, madeleine albright, who has died at the age of 84. arriving in america

in 1948 as a child refugee from czechoslovakia, she was the first woman to become sectretary of state. president biden said working with her in the senate was one of the highlights of his career at the time. our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal, looks back at her life. madeleine albright was a trail—blazer. so help me god. congratulations, madam secretary. in 1997, she became american�*s top diplomat, the first female to do so. but her story began outside america. the daughter of a czech diplomat, herfamily fled prague from the nazis when she was a year old. a decade later, herfamily was granted political asylum in the us. her childhood would go on to shape her views and her policies. on the political stage, madeleine albright was the face of us foreign policy during the president clinton years. she pursued what she called "aggressive multi—lateralism", pushing for intervention in the wars

that tore apart yugoslavia. she was a major influence on us policy in the middle east, clashing with saddam hussein over sanctions on iraq. he called her a serpent, and so began her use of jewellery to make a diplomatic point, starting with a snake. russia's president putin once said he knew what the mood of a meeting would be by looking at her left shoulder. the 84—year—old supported getting other women in higher positions. she backed hillary clinton in 2016 with a comment that some considered controversial. she later apologised for it. just remember — there's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other! arriving in europe tonight, president biden said in a statement that madeleine albright was a force and hers were the hands that turned the tide of history. there was also a tribute in the un from those who have followed in her footsteps. she left an indelible mark on the world and on the united nations.

our country and our united nations are stronger for her service. only last month, she warned that if president putin invaded ukraine, it would be an historic error. madeleine albright was raised in a time when eastern europe was in crisis, to only see that crisis return during herfinal days. madeleine albright who's died at the age of 84. let's speak now to charles kupchan. he served as a special assistant to president obama and was on the staff of the national security council in both the obama and clinton administrations. thank you forjoining us. what will you miss most about madeline albright? i got to know her back in the 1990s when i was working in the clinton white house. she was at the united nations and then came back to washington to become the first woman secretary of state. very accomplished. but i must say that what i almost

miss about secretary albright is secretary albright. she was a wonderful colleague, i have been working alongside her at georgetown university for a couple of decades. she was generous with her time and she was a very, very decent person who brought that decency to diplomacy. i think the two things she will most be remembered for a secretary of state, number one, getting the united states and nato allies to intervene in the balkans to stop the killing and bring peace to coso and number two, opening the doors of nato to new democracies of europe. she has always been someone who stood on the side of democracy and decency, right through her career. fin and decency, right through her career. . ., ., ~ ., career. on leaving that mark on us foreign _ career. on leaving that mark on us foreign policy, _ career. on leaving that mark on us foreign policy, she - career. on leaving that mark on us foreign policy, she had - career. on leaving that mark on us foreign policy, she had a - us foreign policy, she had a particular style, us foreign policy, she had a particularstyle, it us foreign policy, she had a particular style, it was said she shaped a generation of leaders with her smile, not afraid to gossip and an intimacy that served her aggressive advocacy very well. was that the key to her

success?— was that the key to her success? , ., , ., success? number one she had the riaht success? number one she had the ri . ht set success? number one she had the right set of— success? number one she had the right set of intellectual _ right set of intellectual skills training. herfather was also a diplomat. she was a student of the soviet union, a student of the soviet union, a student of the soviet union, a student of international affairs and she brought to the job great personal warmth and grace and also, as your correspondentjust grace and also, as your correspondent just said, grace and also, as your correspondentjust said, she really cared deeply about the role of women and moving women up role of women and moving women up the ladder. i can think of many of my own students who are now in very high ranking positions in the us government, thanks to madeline albright. she mentored them and guided them. the last time i saw her before she passed away was a few months ago in a restaurant in georgetown where she was having dinner, one—on—one with one of the people who she mental ward who is now one of the highest ranking officials in the us department of state. that was secretary albright. indeed. and when she made mistakes, as we heard on the package, see apologise for them

as well. thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. we appreciate that. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: jamaica's prime minister tells his royal visitors the country is �*moving on�* , and intends to become a republic. 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. recites islamic blessing streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: as the war in ukraine enters its second month, the country's president calls for demonstrations of support around the world. nato says it'll double the number of battlegroups deployed on its eastern flank, in response to russia's invasion of ukraine. it was their first day back at school, full of hope, but they were sent packing. the taliban abruptly ordered girls' secondary schools

in afghanistan to close on the day they were due to re—open. many had been shut since last august, when the taliban retook control of the country. a spokesman says more time's needed, to decide what uniforms our correspondent, secunder kermani reports from kabul. for these students in the west of kabul, returning to school is poignant. last year, more than 90 were killed here in an attack by the local branch of the islamic state group. we want to be successful so we can fulfil their dreams of our martyred classmates says this girl. that will be our revenge for those who are responsible. not long after they arrived unexpected bad news. the girls have literallyjust unexpected bad news. the girls have literally just sat down

unexpected bad news. the girls have literallyjust sat down at their desks and their teacher got a message from the local taliban in charge saying that teenage girls cannot come back to class just yet. and the girls are just devastated. we just want to learn and to serve our country. what is our sin she asked the taliban. you are always talking about is lamb. does islam say to treat women like this? it does not. i want to address the goals of afghanistan. please do not give up afghanistan. please do not give up fighting for your rights. the telegram's ministry of education had a ceremonial to mark the start of the new academic year. it seems that a loss to explain what had gone wrong. the central leadership has said that telegram is developed on the basis of

sharia and afghan culture and schools will remain closed local spokesman told us. teenage girls are in tears because they have been told that they have to go home again. who should they blame for this? again. who should they blame forthis? i again. who should they blame for this? i work for the ministry of education, he says. we made our preparations. you need to ask somebody representing the leadership. the students filed home an hour orso the students filed home an hour or so after arriving. in private, taliban members admit that hardline elements within the group still find the idea of female education controversial, even those schools are already segregated. that means that these young women are deeply worried for the future. jamaica's prime minister has told the duke and duchess of cambridge, that his country is moving on and intends to become an independent nation. our royal correspondent, jonny dymond, has sent us this report from the jamaican capital, kingston. today looked like

business as usual. the duke and duchess at a teacher training college, pursuing kate's passion for early years learning. but first, from the jamaican prime minister, a public reminder that he wants an end to the british monarch's role as head of state. this won't have been what the duke and duchess were expecting. the prime minister did campaign on a pledge to make jamaica a republic, but to speak to the couple like this in front of the cameras is really strong stuff. if offence was taken, they certainly weren't showing it.

but the prime minister's words are a reminder that the ties between britain and the far flung realms depend on present—day politics, as much as the long links of history. jonny dymond, bbc news, kingston, jamaica. as we've heard , it's one month now since the russian invasion of ukraine began. the war has been particularly traumatic for the children but some are seeking comfort in an artistic way as tim allman explains. how do you explain war to a child? and how do they process the horror they are witnessing? for two ukrainian parents, one answer is to offer a creative outlet with paper, pencils and crayons. they set up as shall media account to let children

use art as a way to channel the trauma of war. we use art as a way to channel the trauma of war.— trauma of war. we definitely feel an urgent _ trauma of war. we definitely feel an urgent need - trauma of war. we definitely feel an urgent need to - trauma of war. we definitely feel an urgent need to give i feel an urgent need to give them a safe space so they can switch their focus with reality from this war, from tanks, from bombs, from missiles. hundreds of drawings. _ bombs, from missiles. hundreds of drawings, all _ bombs, from missiles. hundreds of drawings, all of _ bombs, from missiles. hundreds of drawings, all of them - bombs, from missiles. hundreds of drawings, all of them from - of drawings, all of them from ukrainian children. some showing family and friends, some showing angels. some showing tanks. one girl from odesa to a portrait of her mother who is now serving in the army, trying to protect her hometown. the army, trying to protect her hometown-— hometown. this picture is really like _ hometown. this picture is really like a _ hometown. this picture is really like a beautiful - hometown. this picture is - really like a beautiful woman, this brave and strong woman. she must protect herself. as the war goes on, more paintings drawings and illustrations will surely follow. their message is

crystal clear. like only a child can convey. tim allman, bbc news. hello there. this fine, settled spell of spring weather is set to go on for several more days, with some warm sunshine by day. the nights still rather chilly with some frost and fog in places. one subtle change, a bit more cloud in the north of the uk thanks to this weather front, a very weak affair. for the most part, high pressure is holding firm, and that is what's keeping things fine. but we are going to get off to quite a chilly start to the morning with those clear skies overhead, one or two fog patches around, some general mistiness here and there. that should tend to lift, and then we will see a lot of sunshine across england and wales, just the small

chance for a shower, especially over high ground in northern england. more cloud for scotland and northern ireland, the odd spot of rain, but even here, there will be some sunny spells. temperatures north to south, well, maybe 12 degrees for stornoway, but 18, 19, possibly 20 further south. but with that stagnant air, high pressure in charge, very light winds, air pollution is likely to be a problem. high levels of air pollution, particularly across eastern parts of england. as we go through thursday night, again, temperatures will drop away under the clear skies. there will be some fog patches here and there, more cloud rolling into northern ireland and parts of western scotland. towns and cities typically staying just above freezing, but one or two places in the countryside will drop below, and then for friday, well, more of the same. more sunshine and just a little patchy cloud for england and wales. northern ireland and scotland tending to see a little more cloud, especially up to the northwest. some rain for the northern isles, temperatures getting up to highs of 19, maybe 20 degrees in the sunniest spots. and high pressure is set to stay with us into the weekend. this front up to the north always bringing a bit more cloud, maybe some showery rain for shetland and for orkney. there will be some patches of low cloud and fog elsewhere as well, particularly around some of the coasts, but some good spells of sunshine. temperatures dropping

back maybe a little bit, 15 to 18 degrees. sunday morning could well start with some areas of low cloud and fog, perhaps most especially towards the southeast of england, tending to burn back towards the coasts. lots of sunshine, temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees. but into next week, quite a big change on the way. we will develop northerly winds and we will bring some much colder air southwards across the uk, so the temperatures will be much, much lower than they have been, and there could even be some wintry showers in places.

this is bbc news. the headlines: in a speech to mark one month since the russian invasion, president volodymyr zelensky has appealed to people all over the world to come out onto the streets to show their support for ukraine. speaking in english, president zelensky asked people to bring out their ukrainian symbols. president biden is in brussels for an emergency meeting of nato and a g7 summit to discuss ukraine. nato is expected to agree to deploy additional troops to eastern europe. on the eve of the gathering, britain announced it would send thousands more anti—tank weapons to ukraine. the us president has led tributes to madeleine albright, the first woman to serve as secretary of state, who's died at the age of 84. he called her a force who had turned the tide of history.