this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm yalda hakim. our top stories. nato leaders meeting in brussels pledge more military aid to ukraine and strengthen their presence in eastern europe allies are also equipping ukraine with significant military supplies including anti—tank and air defence systems and drones which are proving highly effective. the ukrainian military says it's destroyed a russian landing ship in the port of berdiansk — west of the besieged city of mariupol. iam ben i am ben brown, reporting from lviv in western ukraine. the war entering its second month.

and female high school students in afghanistan left devastated — rights groups denounce the taliban for backtracking on their commitment to reopen schools for all girls. it's one month since russia invaded this country and began this devastating war — a war that is certainly not going as president putin had hoped or planned. there are estimates that some 10,000 russian troops have died, with between 30,000 and 40,000 injured. western intelligence agencies suggest russian troops are increasingly demoralised and some of them even risk being encircled near the capital kyiv, where ukrainian forces have been counter—attacking. nato leaders are meeting in brussels where they have pledged more military aid to ukraine, including

the means to help the country defend itself against biological, chemical or nuclear attacks as well as cyber—warfare. let's go to my colleague ben brown, who is in lviv. the united nations human rights office has said that there have been a huge number of casualties here. the death toll in terms of russian troops in the war so far is estimated at anywhere between 7000-15,000. estimated at anywhere between 7000—15,000. between estimated at anywhere between 7000-15,000. between 30,000-40,000 dead russian troops. the ukrainian forces are saying they have gone on the counterattack, especially around the counterattack, especially around the capital kyiv. let's get this report from there. at 5am on the 24th of february, this city woke up to the unthinkable. after months of gathering his troops on ukraine's borders and the endless speculation over

what he was planning, vladimir putin launched his invasion. translation: i have decided to conduct a special— military operation. its aim is to protect people who have been subjected to tortures and genocide from the kyiv regime for eight years. whoever tries to interfere with us or threaten our country should know that russia's response will be immediate and lead to such consequences that have never been experienced in history. there were the thuds of air strikes, police on megaphones telling people to get to safety, the sounds ofjets passing above the clouds, queues outside cashpoints and thousands of cars filled the roads out of the city. many people were afraid, and most couldn't believe what was happening. many predicted kyiv would fall quickly, president zelensky would be removed and russia could achieve its goal. that goal hasn't yet been achieved,

and still isn't clear. president zelensky is still in power and, in a rare use of english, called for people to protest around the world. come with ukrainian symbols to support ukraine, to support freedom, to support life. come to your squares, your streets, make yourself visible and heard. russian forces on the outskirts of the city continue to be plagued by supply and moral issues, according to the uk's ministry of defence. in towns like irpin and bucha, where there's been intense fighting, ukrainian troops could even surround them, it's thought. kyiv, like so many other europeans cities, was full of choice, life and noise. the fast moving shadow of this war has left it feeling quiet and hollow. you can see it, but no longer feel it. translation: we are waiting for the victory. we are waiting for peace in our ukraine.

but right now, it's on a daily basis, fear of, i don't know, bullets, bombs. bombs are continuing to fall on other surrounded ukrainian cities, like chernihiv and mariupol in the south—east, where the russians have made the most gains. they've also suffered big losses, nato thinks between 7,000 and 14,000 russian soldiers have been killed. as vladimir putin continues to be frustrated, the question is how many more lives will be lost or destroyed. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. so here we are, one month into this war — with the russian advance stalled and thousands of its troops dead. ukrainian forces meanwhile say they are counter attacking. our security correspondent, frank gardner, has this assessment of the russian military campaign, and the problems its troops have encountered.

so just why has it gone so badly for russia in these first few weeks of the war? well, there are a number of reasons. there is a strength of ukrainian resistance. most of the population has rallied round their government, with troops using western—supplied weapons like javelin and stinger missiles. and when it comes to getting inside big cities, russia doesn't have enough troops to take on the defenders in most cases. here's their charismatic president, volodymyr zelensky, a one—time comic actor who has rallied the nation, refusing to leave the capital even though there is a bounty on his head. then there's poor russian tactics. russian commanders on the ground have largely failed to take full advantage of all the tools at their disposal. things like armoured vehicles, artillery, rocket launchers, helicopters — all of which, when combined with infantry, can have massive effect but which the russians have failed to master. the russian air force is 15 times bigger than ukraine's,

yet they have failed to achieve supremacy in the skies. and finally, there's poor russian logistics and communications. russian soldiers have not always maintained their vehicles properly, meaning that many of them are breaking down. and when it comes to radios, a lot of them don't work, forcing them to use mobile phones which can be easily intercepted by the ukrainians. many of the russian soldiers fighting in ukraine thought they were just going on exercise like this one in belarus. that didn't give them enough time to prepare for battle. exercises never prepare troops properly for combat, so they were not combat—ready, and that puts real strain on the non—commissioned officers, the sergeants and the corporals, to get things ready in time, make sure the troops do theirjob properly. and in the russian army, the sergeants and the corporals are renowned for their inefficiency, their corruption and the bad relationships they have with the soldiers. so everything that could go wrong more or less did go wrong. and today, a small victory for ukraine on the sea of azov.

its forces claim to have destroyed a russian amphibious landing ship. russia still has plenty more ships, but the fact that ukrainians are still fighting back one month on shows russia has grossly underestimated them. frank gardner, bbc news. nato's secretary general, jens stoltenberg, says leaders have pledged more to support ukraine. speaking after today's emergency summit, he confirmed that the alliance would also do more to help the country defend itself against biological, chemical or nuclear attacks as well as cyber—warfare. on land, we will have substantially more forces in the eastern part of the allilance at higher readiness, with more pre—positioned equipment and supplies. in the air, we will deploy more jets and strengthen our integrated air

and missile defence. at sea, we will have carrier strike groups, submarines and significant numbers of combat ships on a persistent basis. we will also strengthen our cyber defences and enhance our exercises, focusing on defence and interoperability. i expect we will decide on the details at our next summit in madrid, injune. today, allied leaders also agreed to provide further support to ukraine. helping to uphold the fundamental right to self defence. allies are also equipping ukraine with significant military supplies including anti—tank and air defence systems and drones, which are proving highly effective. as well as

substantial financial and humanitarian aid. the nato secretary—general, jens stoltenberg. when answering a question on how serious the threat of chemical, radiological and nuclear threats could be, mr stoltenberg said such actions would totally change the nature of the conflict. we are concerned, partly because we see the rhetoric and waste either that russia is trying to create some sort of pretext, accusing ukraine, united states, nato allies for preparing to use chemical and biological weapons. and we have seen before that this is a way, accusing others, to create a pretext for doing the same themselves. and of course accusations against nato and ukraine are absolutely false. any use of chemical weapons will totally

change the nature of the conflict. it will be a blatant violation of international law and it will have widespread consequences and of course be extremely dangerous. that's the nato secretary—general jens stoltenberg. many reservists and ordinary citizens have taken up arms to defend their country against the russian invaders — joining me is taras ishchyk, from the territorial defence forces of the ukrainian armed forces. thanks for being with us. you've onlyjustjoined up. what were you doing before? onlyjust joined up. what were you doing before?— doing before? actually all of us 28 da 5 auo doing before? actually all of us 28 days ago were _ doing before? actually all of us 28 days ago were regular— doing before? actually all of us 28 days ago were regular engineers, | days ago were regular engineers, managers. for me, i'm a marketing manager. today we are all soldiers for the ukrainian army and we are

staying in the front line of this really crazy war for all the civilised world. at really crazy war for all the civilised world.— really crazy war for all the civilised world. �* ., , ., civilised world. at the moment you and our civilised world. at the moment you and your fellow _ civilised world. at the moment you and your fellow reservists, - and your fellow reservists, soldiers, you're training, training hard for what you fear maybe to come. ., ., ., ._ ., come. for all of the day we are trainin: come. for all of the day we are training very — come. for all of the day we are training very actively. - come. for all of the day we are training very actively. it's - come. for all of the day we are training very actively. it's a - come. for all of the day we are training very actively. it's a lot | training very actively. it's a lot of training, tactics, shooting, working in small units. it's really a lot of trainees in the defence forces. we have a lot of instructors who also have nato... they are instructing the defence forces. [30 instructing the defence forces. do ou instructing the defence forces. do you think this is a war you can win, that ukraine can win? the russian armed forces are enormous, we know that and they are very, very powerful. that and they are very, very powerful-— that and they are very, very owerful. �* ~ . , powerful. actually we will win in this war, especially _

powerful. actually we will win in this war, especially with - powerful. actually we will win in this war, especially with the - this war, especially with the support of western countries because first of all we need to close the guy and then we'll finish the war —— we need to close the sky. we need more support from western countries. it's very important to defend the civilised world against russia, which don't have any moral rules in the war. its which don't have any moral rules in the war. , ., ., , . the war. its one month since the russian invasion. _ the war. its one month since the russian invasion. is _ the war. its one month since the russian invasion. is this - the war. its one month since the russian invasion. is this a - the war. its one month since the russian invasion. is this a war. the war. its one month since the l russian invasion. is this a war that you think is going to go on for many more months?— you think is going to go on for many more months? actually we don't know how much time _ more months? actually we don't know how much time will— more months? actually we don't know how much time will be _ more months? actually we don't know how much time will be the _ more months? actually we don't know how much time will be the war - more months? actually we don't know how much time will be the war but - how much time will be the war but i'm sure we will win. we do all the best what we can. actually i'm sure that we will finish this war and we will return why mere and all our occupied territories. == will return why mere and all our occupied territories.— occupied territories. -- we will return crimea. _

occupied territories. -- we will return crimea. you _ occupied territories. -- we will return crimea. you feel- occupied territories. -- we will return crimea. you feel fear? l occupied territories. -- we will| return crimea. you feel fear? if occupied territories. -- we will- return crimea. you feel fear? if you are sent to the front line to fight the russians, does that make you nervous, scared? mil the russians, does that make you nervous, scared?— the russians, does that make you nervous, scared? all of our soldiers are full of fury _ nervous, scared? all of our soldiers are full of fury now _ nervous, scared? all of our soldiers are full of fury now because - nervous, scared? all of our soldiers are full of fury now because the - are full of fury now because the russians don't have any moral rules. they called thousands of civilians, children, old people and it's very disgusting in this crazy war. so we are very motivated to finish the war and to win in this war because we know why we are fighting but they don't know why they fight. it's a big difference.— big difference. that's an interesting _ big difference. that's an interesting point - big difference. that's an interesting point about i big difference. that's an - interesting point about motivation because the russian forces are often conscripts, aren't they? some of them thought they were still on exercise apparently when they came into the ukraine but you are defending your homeland, defending your towns and villages and cities. actually all of our soldiers are

motivated first of all to defend our regions, families and homes. it's a higher motivation for us. all of our soldiers are motivated to wane in this war and to end this war and to return our territory, so it's very important to every person in our defence forces.— important to every person in our defence forces. ., ~ , ., , . defence forces. thank you very much indeed, defence forces. thank you very much indeed. from — defence forces. thank you very much indeed, from the _ defence forces. thank you very much indeed, from the territorial - defence forces. thank you very much indeed, from the territorial defence l indeed, from the territorial defence forces of the ukrainian army. that's it from me in lviv in western ukraine. i'll hand back to you. let's go to the rest of the day's news. young girls in afghanistan are facing an uncertain future, as the taliban broke its promise to finally allow high—school girls to go back to school yesterday. instead, they were turned away from the gates they used to walk through. the taliban said a decision still has to be made on the uniforms the girls can wear. the un has urged the taliban

to reopen schools immediately. here is the spokesperson for un secretary general antonio guterres. the de facto authorities's failure to reopen school for girls above the sixth grade, despite repeated commitments, is a profound disappointment, and deeply damaging for afghanistan. the secretary—general says the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education. it also jeopardises the country's future in view of the tremendous contributions by afghan women and girls. the secretary—general urges the taliban de facto authorities to eopen schools for all students without delay. i'm joined now by adela raz, who is the former afghan ambassador to the us up until the closure of the afghan embassy a week ago. she was appointed by the former ghani government, but not recognised by the taliban. thanks forjoining us on the

programme. we were hearing from the un, demanding that schools are open. is that sufficient? two days ago we heard antonio guterres welcoming the move that girls schools would be opened and now they are obviously in a position where they welcomed it, it didn't happen and now they say that you need to open it again. it's not going to happen?— that you need to open it again. it's not going to happen? thank you for havin: me not going to happen? thank you for having me on _ not going to happen? thank you for having me on the _ not going to happen? thank you for having me on the show _ not going to happen? thank you for having me on the show on - not going to happen? thank you for having me on the show on this - not going to happen? thank you for| having me on the show on this really important topic, which is close to the hearts of many afghan women. i think the un needs to be stronger and take assertive action because as you said, rightly, there was a statement by the secretary—general earlier and it was welcome. somehow it was expected for many afghans, especially afghan women, that the taliban may not deliver what they had promised. there has to be strong action by the united nations. it's an independent entity that's on the ground right now with the largest

footprint, the biggest development project it is bringing to afghanistan, so it is something they can h with the taliban. simply making a statement condemning it will not bring the results that many afghan women look up to, especially to the un —— something they can leverburgh. to the un -- something they can leverburgh— to the un -- something they can leverburuh. ~ . . , leverburgh. what are the practical thin . s the leverburgh. what are the practical things they can — leverburgh. what are the practical things they can do? _ leverburgh. what are the practical things they can do? they - leverburgh. what are the practical things they can do? they have - leverburgh. what are the practical things they can do? they have the| things they can do? they have the biggest footprint on the ground but given there is a humanitarian crisis in the country, what can the un do to hold the afghanistan accountable? they are engaged on the humanitarian side and the political side. there is a political issue on the ground. on the humanitarian side they must deliver the aid that is needed in afghanistan. politically, they have to be more vocal. they have to be more engaged in a way that the

communication must be very clear to the taliban because the taliban is looking forward to have recognition by the international community and if they are not delivering on the basic rights of afghan women, of women in islam, which is education, then they are banning women to have access to schools, that's not going to take them any closer to any kind of recognition that they hope and expect to see. share of recognition that they hope and exoect to see-— of recognition that they hope and expect to see. are you disappointed in the resoonse _ expect to see. are you disappointed in the response of— expect to see. are you disappointed in the response of the _ expect to see. are you disappointed in the response of the international| in the response of the international community? given that they spent billions supporting, funding, backing afghan women and girls when they entered the country in 2001. you are a product of that and you lived your childhood under the taliban but went on to be educated in american universities and in afghanistan. he went on to be the un and us ambassador to afghanistan. i mean, you are the quintessential example of the gains of the last two

decades. , ., ., ., , decades. yes and not only me, there are so many — decades. yes and not only me, there are so many afghan _ decades. yes and not only me, there are so many afghan women - decades. yes and not only me, there are so many afghan women that - decades. yes and not only me, there| are so many afghan women that truly made tremendous progress with their lives. they were contributors to society and in 20 years we bought a change in the country. you can measure the lives of people and their access and the kind of education they received. it's true that 25 years ago i was in the country and i was banned from going to school for five years. i remember every day we came and hoped that the miracle happens and i would be able to go to school, and the miracle never happened. the response from the international community, i think it's not only to me but to other afghan women, we hope to see more from the international community. we always say that today the women of

afghanistan can play the role as their partners in the international arena but half of the population are women and we want to work with international partners. we need to see more from our allies and friends and partners, invested in the country, invested in afghanistan. but there are many afghan women and girls who now feel a sense of abandonment because of what's happened in august, the taliban takeover. you said you'd waited five years for some sort of miracle. the teenage girls left in tears yesterday, devastated in the country, will there be a miracle when they too can go to school and get to school and have a life where they feel empowered? it’s get to school and have a life where they feel empowered?— they feel empowered? it's a difficult answer, _ they feel empowered? it's a difficult answer, what - they feel empowered? it's a difficult answer, what i - they feel empowered? it's a l difficult answer, what i should they feel empowered? it's a - difficult answer, what i should tell those girls because the miracle

never happened to me in those five years. but as somebody who has gone intense hardship and really seeing the difficult side of it, for me and so many afghan women going through the hardship and those living in the country, they are who we will continue to fight for. we will never give up. we will try to push to ensure they get access to education. our communication with the international community as well, they can't simply abandon 38 million people in the country, half of them women, to simply assume that this is the type of life that they need to agree to because this wasn't the kind of life we agreed to. we are an islamic society and we have the right to be educated and this is in

every afghan family, when we grow up, that my rights are equal to the rights of my brother in terms of education. that for every muslim woman. and in this conversation we also need to engage the great examples. if we look around we haven't seen any evidence of a country that brings such a decision by the government to say that women are banned from going to school. this say that women are banned from going to school. �* , , ., say that women are banned from going to school. �* , ,, _ say that women are banned from going toschool. a ~ ., ,., to school. as you say, afghanistan is the only — to school. as you say, afghanistan is the only country _ to school. as you say, afghanistan is the only country on _ to school. as you say, afghanistan is the only country on the - to school. as you say, afghanistan is the only country on the planet i is the only country on the planet now that won't allow girls to go to school. always good to talk to you, thank you for talking to us on the programme. thank you for talking to us on the programme-— here in the uk, the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak, has defended his spring spending statement, after critics said he hadn't done enough to help families who are struggling with rising bills.

one think tank has warned that 1.3 million people will fall below the poverty line from april, even with the government measures announced yesterday. labour have called the policies a disaster for working families. here's our political correspondent, iain watson. the view from downing street the morning after the day before. rishi sunak had a spring in his step yesterday when he took 5p a litre off fuel duty, and he was pumped when he announced a pre—election income tax cut. but with living standards set to fall further than in any year since the 1950s, today he faced accusations that he hadn't grasped the scale of the cost of living crisis. but he argued it helped millions of people by blunting the impact of his national insurance rise. raising national insurance thresholds, which is a tax cut for £330 for 30 million workers, and then getting round to cutting income tax, those are all tax—cutting measures. we also cut tax for businesses to make it cheaperfor them to employ staff. it's the hardest part about this

job, not being able to do everything that people would like you to do, but i can't make every problem go away, but where we can make a difference we want to, and that's what yesterday was about. even some newspapers usually supportive of the conservatives have been pushing for more help for hard—pressed families. many of my constituents in south dorset are already impoverished, we have deep pockets of deprivation and poverty and i fear that, despite the generous news by the chancellor and the tinkering he has done, they haven't gone far enough. the treasury would point out that many factors pushing up prices globally are beyond its control, but the opposition is accusing the chancellor of making the wrong political choices. there is now a big political dividing line between the government and the opposition. they are claiming that the chancellor simply isn't doing enough to help consumers and is letting big corporations off the hook.

next year, rishi sunak does intend to increase taxes on big business, but labour and the liberal democrats say what is needed is action now to tackle the profits of the big energy companies. what i would have done yesterday as chancellor would have been to introduce a windfall tax on the big profits being made by north sea oil and gas companies at the moment. overall we want a fairer tax system, don't we? we want to tax people who have these huge profits in the oil and gas companies and take taxes down for struggling families. the treasury has rejected that approach, arguing it would reduce much—needed investment in energy production. but even some of rishi sunak�*s own mps are saying privately he will have to expend more economic and political energy himself to tackle the current crisis. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. we'll be back in the next few minutes with all the latest headlines and business news and updates on the situation in ukraine.

in the meantime you can contact me on twitter. hello, there. hasn't it been a glorious week of weather so far? we've had cool, misty nights leading to plenty of clear skies, plenty of spring sunshine and warmth. this was wiltshire just a few hours ago, but i could have shown you several weather watcher pictures. they really are quite beautiful at the moment as the high pressure dominates the weather story. there is a weak weather front toppling across that high, and that is bringing some subtle changes into scotland, northern ireland, north west england. this was cumbria just a few hours ago, so a little more in the way of cloud. and perhaps as we go through the afternoon, maybe the odd isolated shower here. but elsewhere we keep the blue sky, sunshine, light winds, temperatures responding quite nicely into the afternoon, peaking between 19, possibly one or two areas seeing 20 degrees yet again.

now, as we go through the night, we will keep those clear skies around, so temperatures again falling away quite sharply to a chilly night to come with some mist around as well. even the cloud will tend to thin. it will linger across parts of northern ireland here, not quite as cold a start, but elsewhere a chilly one, but again, lots of sunshine to look out for for friday. now, any low cloud and mist will lift quite readily away. we'll see more in the way of sunshine, generally through northwest england, northern ireland and for the bulk of scotland on friday, as the high pressurejust changes its position a little. and again, those temperatures are likely to range from 12 to 19 degrees across the country. now, as we move into the weekend, the high pressure continues to drift its way that little bit further west and the wind direction changes somewhat. there'll be a fresher breeze, particularly through the channel, and we'll start to see a little more in the way of cloud and even inland. some of that cloud will burn away, butjust cling on to the coastline as we go through saturday afternoon. not quite as warm for some,

but 12 to 19 degrees, particularly inland with the sunshine. there'll be more low cloud mist and murk on sunday, particularly across england and wales. bear that in mind for mothering sunday here. temperatures not quite as promising the best of the sunshine in scotland, where we could see 16 or 17 degrees the high. but it's this cooler trend that looks likely to return as we move into next week, the blues really pushing far south. so as we go into next week, we close out the month of march. we're likely to see a different face of spring cooler again, potentially with some wintry showers in the northeast.

this is bbc new. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm yalda hakim. our top stories: nato leaders meeting in brussels pledge more military aid to ukraine and strengthen their presence in eastern europe. allies are also equipping ukraine with significant military supplies including anti—tank and air defence systems and drones which are proving highly effective. the ukrainian military says it's destroyed a russian landing ship in the port of berdyansk, west of the besieged city of mariupol. and female high school students in afghanistan left devastated — rights groups denounce the taliban for backtracking on their commitment to reopen schools for all girls.

more than 3.5 million people have now fled ukraine in the month since the war began, with more than two million of them crossing into poland. our correspondent mark lowen has been there since the first day and sent this report from the border. it's been a month of lives ripped up, a generation driven out, certainty torn apart. a month that we've been here seeing the heartbreak of the sick forced to flee. but compassion, too, of hearts and homes opened. of the democratic world standing up to the aggressor. four weeks on, the only change is warmer weather. the arrivals keep coming, seeking safety from a war

some don't understand. welcomed where poland can put them. this, a school, a smile for the kids at the ready. inside, volunteers bring comfort after an exhausting journey. yulia kirilenko and her sons fled kyiv, her husband staying to fight. translation: children were killed and teenage girls were raped. - we had to leave. they were shooting at the cars as we tried to escape. we prayed as we drove. it's good here, but we want to go home. i just want this to end. the trauma on the youngest could take years to show and last a lifetime. olga's little ones already feel it. translation: they were asking why helicopters were flying, _ why there were sirens, why people were dying. i had to explain it in a way that didn't hurt them.

at the start of the invasion, we watched as panic prompted the immediate first rush to escape. but these are the people who didn't want to leave, thinking they could stick it out, that the bombs might stop. but they didn't stop and more than 3.5 million refugees later, there's a growing feeling of the long term about this, with all the challenges that that will entail. destination warsaw, whose population is up by almost a fifth. new arrivals given id numbers and school places. they have a journey to safety, but their country still has no passage to peace. mark lowen, bbc news, on the poland—ukraine border. while western military assistance to ukraine helps sustain the fightback of ukrainian troops on the ground, humanitarian and medical assistance from european union countries is helping prop up ukrainian hospitals. some of that help reaches ukraine from italy,

via romania, as nick thorpe reports. ambulances donated by the italian government pass through the romanian border. other humanitarian supplies go through poland and will soon start through slovakia. one month into the war, ukraine is grateful for every form of support it can get. these boxes contain drugs, bandages, surgical equipment, mobile x—ray machines, even lights for operating theatres. translation: we have many injured| people who need the medical supplies donated by the european union. we distribute these items to places where we have the most difficult cases in the hospitals and with these medicines we help people who have suffered from the russian aggression. first, the handover. we hope that very soon we will win and we will all together celebrate our victory.

these trucks have just arrived here from northern italy, containing medical supplies and equipment donated by the italian government, coordinated by the european union. from here they are being loaded into ukrainian trucks and taken across the border to the city of chernivtsi. fora moment, it could almost be italy. less than an hour to the border. the colours of the ukrainian flag are everywhere. over the rolling plains, the foothills of the carpathians. the smoke rising here is just from burning straw. memories of peacetime. nick thorpe, bbc news, on the romania—ukraine border. president biden's in brussels for talks on toughening sanctions against russia. samantha simmonds has more on that.

thanks very much. presidentjoe biden is meeting with world leaders in europe as russia's war in ukraine reaches the one—month mark. biden will take part in an emergency nato summit, a g7 summit and a meeting of the european council in brussels. for more on this i'm joined now by michelle fleury from new york. top of the agenda or near the top will be discussion of sanctions and aid. what do we think the us could be pushing for now? we aid. what do we think the us could be pushing for now?— be pushing for now? we have the release from _ be pushing for now? we have the release from the _ be pushing for now? we have the release from the us _ be pushing for now? we have the release from the us treasury - be pushing for now? we have the release from the us treasury and be pushing for now? we have the - release from the us treasury and the detail a list of companies in the defence sector that they are adding to or imposing sanctions on, also members of the russian duma and in addition the ceo of the sperm bank, one of the big russian banks. this is a ratcheting up of pressure under

russian economy, economic warfare instead of the traditional warfare we have seen in past conflicts and the other area they are trying to do is imposing more pressure on the russian economy by stopping it from accessing its gold reserves. this was viewed by us officials as a way russia was trying to prop up the rouble and prevent the worst pain affecting its economy, the treasury fine tuning its instruments to make sure the central bank of russia cannot get around that. there had been whispers in the financial community that it was using its gold reserves as a workaround so again the idea of grazing pressure on the russian economy to see if that will have any impact on the way vladimir putin is acting. the have any impact on the way vladimir putin is acting-— putin is acting. the us are far less reliant on russian _ putin is acting. the us are far less reliant on russian energy - putin is acting. the us are far less reliant on russian energy than - reliant on russian energy than europe, could be a conflict there with european leaders. we

europe, could be a conflict there with european leaders.— europe, could be a conflict there with european leaders. we have seen that in the past. _ with european leaders. we have seen that in the past. in _ with european leaders. we have seen that in the past. in the _ with european leaders. we have seen that in the past. in the case - with european leaders. we have seen that in the past. in the case of- that in the past. in the case of europe, you have them 40% dependent on natural gas from russia so if you removed that overnight, at a point when energy prices are already elevated and the pain that is causing to people in terms of this rising cost of living crisis, that is what is giving leaders in europe pause and making the situation harder for them to behave as they would. many people are talking about this taking a couple of years to change suppliers and look for different sources, an unwinding of globalisation. we have seen the impact on notjust energy but also food, ukraine and russia big suppliers of wheat, that is impacting supply chains elsewhere, other countries in the middle east depend on it forfood and other countries in the middle east depend on it for food and you were talking about precious metals from russia that is vitally important to

parts of industry so the supply chain impact of this conflict will increase the price of living that we talk about not just increase the price of living that we talk about notjust in energy but other areas of manufacturing. {line other areas of manufacturing. one other areas of manufacturing. one other story. _ other areas of manufacturing. one other story. the — other areas of manufacturing. one other story, the iconic yellow cabs that are part of new york life, there will be a difference with how you can get one. there will be a difference with how you can get one-— you can get one. there are so customers — you can get one. there are so customers in _ you can get one. there are so customers in the _ you can get one. there are so customers in the big - you can get one. there are so customers in the big apple i you can get one. there are so - customers in the big apple where i am will soon be able to hail a yellow card using their uber apt and this is a huge change because this industry was ravaged by hueber but now working together. there is a common—sense reason for this come in the last few years yellow taxi drivers have seen their ridership levels fall dramatically, nearly 1000 bankruptcies and even suicides and

happening at uber since the pandemic, a shortage of drivers has led to soaring prices which upset customers so this deal potentially alleviates that and helps drive business to more drivers so potentially a win win but it will be interesting to see more detail about how that works because uber takes commission, will they do that with yellow cab drivers? there are still some detail that we will hear more about. ~ . ., ~ some detail that we will hear more about. ~ . . ~' ,, the chief executive of p80 ferries has admitted that the decision to sack 800 workers without consulting unions broke the law. peter hebblethwaite said he chose not to consult because he didn't believe "there was any other way to do it". he also said he would make the same decision again because the business as it was wasn't viable — and now it is. speaking to a committee of mps, mr hebblethwaite said the move was the only way to save the company. mick lynch from the rmt rail union told the same committee that p&o had "made flagrant breaches of the law". here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. arriving to face mps, the boss of p80,

a week after making 800 workers redundant without notice. peter hebblethwaite didn't get an easy ride. the chair of the joint transport and business committee set the tone from the outset. are you in this mess because you don't know what you're doing, or are you just a shameless criminal? no answer there, but the p80 boss did admit breaking the law by not consulting with unions. there is absolutely no doubt we were required to consult with the unions. we chose not to do that because we believe... you chose to break the law? we chose not to consult and we are and will compensate everyone in full for that. the ferry crews were sacked so they could be replaced with cheaper agency workers. the average hourly rate of hourly pay is £5.50. that is below the national minimum wage of this country, how do you reconcile that? where we are governed by the national minimum wage, we will absolutely pay national minimum wage. this is international seafaring

model, consistent with models throughout the globe and our competitors. but unions had already told mps what they thought the company was trying to do. that's what p&o are aiming to achieve, to kill our merchant marine and to kill our employment laws, and something has got to be done about it today. the prime minister said he is going to prosecute. this government has got to intervene now. impound these ships and get our people back to work. meanwhile, p&o's ferries stand idle, services on most routes are suspended as new crews are trained up. eventually they'll sail again but the political storm stirred up by p&o's actions shows no sign of dying down. theo leggett, bbc news. to the uk now, where the government's finance chief, chancellor of the exchequer rishi sunak, has been setting out measures to ease the impact of soaring energy, food and fuel prices. he has cut fuel duty by five pence a litre and raised the threshold

at which workers start paying national insurance by almost £300,000. he has also promised an income tax cut in 2024, when he says the economy will be in better shape. but he has resisted calls to scrap a rise in the rate of national insurance, due to come in next month. for more on this, i'm joined now by carl emmerson, deputy director institute for fiscal studies. welcome, thank you for being with us. despite promising these tax cuts can you say almost all people in work will be paying more tax in the next few years. um? work will be paying more tax in the next few years-— work will be paying more tax in the next few years. why is that? by 2025 it is to the chancellor _ next few years. why is that? by 2025 it is to the chancellor will _ next few years. why is that? by 2025 it is to the chancellor will have - it is to the chancellor will have done some tax cutting, he would have taken people out of national insurance and cut the basic rate of income tax but we will also have done a lot of tax rising, in particular frozen the point at which people start paying income tax and a

point they start paying higher rate of income tax and also increased the rate of national insurance. those freezes when inflation is so high bite deeply and that means by 2025 the take away from the tax rises is much bigger than the giveaway from the tax cuts so the vast majority of workers will be paying more tax overall. 50 workers will be paying more tax overall. , , , ., workers will be paying more tax overall. ,, , ., , overall. so i guess she would accept the chancellor _ overall. so i guess she would accept the chancellor has _ overall. so i guess she would accept the chancellor has been _ overall. so i guess she would accept the chancellor has been in _ overall. so i guess she would accept the chancellor has been in a - the chancellor has been in a difficult position. what would you like to have seen permit given higher inflation and lots of shocks coming our way from brexit? there are two points _ coming our way from brexit? there are two points for _ coming our way from brexit? there are two points for the _ coming our way from brexit? there are two points for the least - coming our way from brexit? there are two points for the least we - are two points for the least we would like to hear is more about why he is making these choices. he hasn't explained why it's right to freeze the point at which you start to pay income tax yet cut the basic rate of income tax, why reshape income tax in that way? it's a very regressive way to inform income tax. the second point is the way the

benefit system works is it operates benefits of each april by the inflation rate the previous september. there is no problem when inflation is stable but when it increases rapidly it means the poorest in our society who need benefits will see a drop in their income for 12 months and there inflation rate could be something like 10% at the moment but benefits go like 10% at the moment but benefits 9° up like 10% at the moment but benefits go up ijy like 10% at the moment but benefits go up by something like 3%. and why not use a more up—to—date measure of inflation to cost benefits, it would cost more in the short run but would not cost anything in the long run and we now do you universal credit can handle changes to rights more quickly than its predecessor system. could the government have done more to help the poorest in society? there was very little in that statement for the past, that cost of

energy will bite especially hard for those on low incomes and wild benefit rights may catch up in a few years that will not help people who are planning a week to week and might be unemployed this year. that's all. back to you. sam, thank you. the taliban have reversed a decision to allow teenage girls back to secondary school in afghanistan. on wednesday, many of them showed up at the school gates, only to be sent home. the reason given by the taliban was that a decision still has to be made on the uniforms the girls can wear. i'm joined now by dr weeda mehran, co—director from the centre for advanced international studies at the university of exeter. thank you forjoining us on the programme. what you see in afghanistan is something you yourself experienced in the 1990s.

you were a student who was denied an education when you arrived at the gates of your school. tell us about that experience.— that experience. exactly. unfortunately _ that experience. exactly. unfortunately history - that experience. exactly. j unfortunately history has that experience. exactly. - unfortunately history has repeated itself here for afghan girls again. in the mid—1990s the taliban closed down our schools, or schoolgirls in her rap city where i was living, it all happen overnight. i remember very distinctly that i packed my school and there was a taliban fighter at the gates and he returned me and a number of other girls who were waiting there, returned us all back home saying the schools are closed and they will remain closed until further notice. closed and they will remain closed untilfurther notice. in closed and they will remain closed until further notice. in fact that was one of the most dreadful experiences that millions of schoolgirls in afghanistan had in the mid—1990s. i’m

schoolgirls in afghanistan had in the mid-1990s.— schoolgirls in afghanistan had in the mid-1990s. �* , ., , ., the mid-1990s. i'm 25 years later we are seeinu the mid-1990s. i'm 25 years later we are seeing something _ the mid-1990s. i'm 25 years later we are seeing something so _ the mid-1990s. i'm 25 years later we are seeing something so similar, - are seeing something so similar, exactly the same. it is are seeing something so similar, exactly the same.— exactly the same. it is very very similar and _ exactly the same. it is very very similar and right _ exactly the same. it is very very similar and right now— exactly the same. it is very very similar and right now millions . exactly the same. it is very very| similar and right now millions of schoolgirls in the country have been returned back home. unfortunately yet again we have observed the same level of oppression by the taliban towards the youth and the future of afghanistan. i remember distinctly went the taliban were in the country in the mid—1990s, when we couldn't go to school it was one of the darkest times of my life. waiting each day and getting promises by the taliban through the radio is that the schools will be open next month, next two months or in the persian new year when schools are supposed to start and they never opened while

the taliban were in power and again now we are seeing these schoolgirls experiencing the same feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness while they are being confined in the precincts of their households and they are not allowed to enter educational institutions and gain an education. x�*t�*et educational institutions and gain an education. .,, ., education. yet those who were conducting _ education. yet those who were conducting peace _ education. yet those who were conducting peace talks - education. yet those who were conducting peace talks with - education. yet those who were | conducting peace talks with the taliban in the last few years said the taliban had vowed they had changed, they themselves made all sorts of promises about inclusivity and girls education and women's rights. the taliban spokesperson in his first press conference spoke about the importance of girls' education. they spoke to me about the importance of girls' education. why have they done this? it is

the importance of girls' education. why have they done this? it is very cruel move — why have they done this? it is very cruel move toward _ why have they done this? it is very cruel move toward schoolgirls - why have they done this? it is veryj cruel move toward schoolgirls right now but is a strategic move by the taliban who were using girls' education as a bargaining chip to gain international legitimacy. they want to put pressure on the international community to recognise the islamic republic before they open schools and that is america that has been put forward by the taliban leadership again and again, however i believe if we are recognised and upon the condition they would open the girls' school, then the taliban will not have to share power and form an inclusive government. i don't believe the taliban has changed much. there are elements within the taliban who still believe in the same strict ideologies that education is not for

women. howeverthe ideologies that education is not for women. however the taliban leadership at this point is actually using this as a political bargaining chip. idr using this as a political bargaining chi -. , . . using this as a political bargaining chi. , . . ~ ., ., ~ using this as a political bargaining chip. dr weeda mehran, thank you for “oininu us chip. dr weeda mehran, thank you for joining us on — chip. dr weeda mehran, thank you for joining us on the _ chip. dr weeda mehran, thank you for joining us on the programme, - chip. dr weeda mehran, thank you for joining us on the programme, sharing| joining us on the programme, sharing your thoughts. prince william has expressed "profound sorrow" at "abhorrent" slavery in a speech to dignitaries during his visit to jamaica. the duke and duchess of cambridge are currently on the second leg of their tour of the caribbean in honour of the queen's platinum jubilee. our royal correspondentjonny dymond reports from kingston and just a warning, his report contains flash photography. in swept the couple for dinner with the great and the good ofjamaica. ever since this trip was announced, a question hung over it. how would william address the issue of slavery, the brutal exploitation of hundreds of thousands of enslaved africans whenjamaica was run by britain? i strongly agree with my father, the prince of wales,

who said in barbados last year that the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history. i want to express my profound sorrow. slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened. this has been quite a political part of the caribbean tour, because earlier the jamaican prime minister made very clear to the couple in front of the cameras that he wanted an end to the role of the queen as the head of state here and to the constitutional link to britain. jamaica is, as you would see, a country that is very proud of our history and very proud of what we've achieved. and we're moving on and we intend to attain in short order our development goals and fulfil our true ambitions and destiny as an independent,

developed, prosperous country. william tried to answer some of the questions about britain's past injamaica with his speech. less clear is what the royal family's future, if any, is in a truly independentjamaica. before we go, let's just show you these pictures that have just come through of that russian ship burning in berdyansk. it's being reported the landing ship is anchored off the occupied port — west of the besieged city of mariupol. it's understood a massive explosion was seen above the ship. there are unverified reports of another two ships ablaze. taking the port city of mariupol is a key part of russia's effort to create a land corridor linking the occupied territories of crimea and the donbas.

the corridor would establish a supply line to russian forces on the southern flank. and as we have been reporting for the last few weeks and is this conflict began, mariupol is so strategic and the city has been beseeched for a couple of weeks and we are hearing of tens of thousands of people who remain trapped in the city, desperate to get out and the icrc has desperately tried to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate those people in the besieged city who have been left without food or water or heating. i was in ukraine just last week and conditions were freezing, we are also hearing that they have been plunged into darkness, there is no electricity, no heating in the cold of winter and we will continue our coverage of

ukraine in the next edition of bbc world news so stay with us. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcyaldahakim i will be back in the next few minutes. hello, there. hasn't it been a glorious week of weather so far? we've had cool, misty nights leading to plenty of clear skies, plenty of spring sunshine and warmth. this was wiltshire just a few hours ago, but i could have shown you several weather watcher pictures. they really are quite beautiful at the moment as the high pressure dominates the weather story. there is a weak weather front toppling across that high, and that is bringing some subtle changes into scotland, northern ireland, north west england. this was cumbria just a few hours ago, so a little more in the way of cloud. and perhaps as we go through the afternoon, maybe the odd isolated shower here. but elsewhere we keep the blue sky, sunshine, light winds, temperatures responding quite nicely into the afternoon, peaking between 19, possibly one or two areas seeing 20 degrees yet again. now, as we go through the night, we will keep those clear skies

around, so temperatures again falling away quite sharply to a chilly night to come with some mist around as well. even the cloud will tend to thin. it will linger across parts of northern ireland here, not quite as cold a start, but elsewhere a chilly one, but again, lots of sunshine to look out for for friday. now, any low cloud and mist will lift quite readily away. we'll see more in the way of sunshine, generally through northwest england, northern ireland and for the bulk of scotland on friday, as the high pressurejust changes its position a little. and again, those temperatures are likely to range from 12 to 19 degrees across the country. now, as we move into the weekend, the high pressure continues to drift its way that little bit further west and the wind direction changes somewhat. there'll be a fresher breeze, particularly through the channel, and we'll start to see a little more in the way of cloud and even inland. some of that cloud will burn away, butjust cling on to the coastline as we go through saturday afternoon. not quite as warm for some, but 12 to 19 degrees, particularly inland with the sunshine.

there'll be more low cloud mist and murk on sunday, particularly across england and wales. bear that in mind for mothering sunday here. temperatures not quite as promising the best of the sunshine in scotland, where we could see 16 or 17 degrees the high. but it's this cooler trend that looks likely to return as we move into next week, the blues really pushing far south. so as we go into next week, we close out the month of march. we're likely to see a different face of spring cooler again, potentially with some wintry showers in the northeast.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories. nato leaders meeting in brussels pledge more military aid to ukraine and strengthen their presence in eastern europe. our allies are equipping ukraine with significant military supplies including anti—tank and drones, which _ including anti—tank and drones, which are — including anti—tank and drones, which are proving highly effective. the ukrainian military says it's destroyed a russian landing ship in the port of berdiansk — west of the besieged city of mariupol. calls for the un to do more — after the taliban backtracked on its commitment to reopen schools for all girls — leaving students devastated. the boss of p80 ferries has admitted

that sacking 800 workers without consulting unions broke the law. i completely hold our hands up, my hands up, that we did choose not to consult. that's quite amazing, isn't it? you're coming to this parliament, putting your hands up and saying you wilfully chose to break the law. the british chancellor defends his spring spending statement — saying he's taken action to support those affected by the rising cost of living. but one think tank says more than a million people will now be pushed into poverty from april. it's one month since russia invaded ukraine and began this devastating war — a war that is certainly not going as president putin had hoped or planned. there are estimates that some 10,000

russian troops have died, with between 30,000 and 40,000 injured. western intelligence agencies suggest russian troops are increasingly demoralised and some of them even risk being encircled near the capital kyiv — where ukrainian forces have been counter attacking. nato leaders are meeting in brussels where they have pledged more military aid to ukraine including the means to help the country defend itself against biological, chemical or nuclear attacks as well as cyber—warfare. more on that shortly but first lets hear from our kyiv correspondent, james waterhouse, has this report from the ukrainian capital. at 5am on the 24th of february, this city woke up to the unthinkable. after months of gathering his troops on ukraine's borders and the endless speculation over what he was planning, vladimir putin launched his invasion. translation: i have decided to conduct a special— military operation. its aim is to protect people who have been subjected to tortures

and genocide from the kyiv regime for eight years. whoever tries to interfere with us or threaten our country should know that russia's response will be immediate and lead to such consequences that have never been experienced in history. there were the thuds of air strikes, police on megaphones telling people to get to safety, the sounds ofjets passing above the clouds, queues outside cashpoints and thousands of cars filled the roads out of the city. many people were afraid, and most couldn't believe what was happening. many predicted kyiv would fall quickly, president zelensky would be removed and russia could achieve its goal. that goal hasn't yet been achieved, and still isn't clear. president zelensky is still in power and, in a rare use of english, called for people to protest around the world. come with ukrainian symbols to support ukraine, to support freedom, to support life.

come to your squares, your streets, make yourself visible and heard. russian forces on the outskirts of the city continue to be plagued by supply and morale issues, according to the uk's ministry of defence. in towns like irpin and bucha, where there's been intense fighting, ukrainian troops could even surround them it's thought. kyiv, like so many other europeans cities, was full this of choice, life and noise. the fast moving shadow of this war has left it feeling quiet and hollow. you can see it, but no longer feel it. translation: we are waiting for the victory. we are waiting for peace in our ukraine. but right now, it's on a daily basis, fear of, i don't know, bullets, bombs. bombs are continuing to fall on other surrounded ukrainian cities, like chernihiv and mariupol

in the south—east, where the russians have made the most gains. they've also suffered big losses, nato thinks between 7,000 and 14,000 russian soldiers have been killed. as vladimir putin continues to be frustrated, the question is how many more lives will be lost or destroyed. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. let's see some pictures of the russian ship burning in berdiansk. it is reported that the ship is anchored off the port to the west of mariupol. it's being reported the landing ship is anchored off the occupied port — west of the besieged city of mariupol . it's understood a massive explosion was seen above the ship. taking the port city of mariupol is a key part of russia's effort to create a land corridor linking the occupied territories of crimea and the donbass. the corridor would establish

a supply line to russian forces on the southern flank. nato's secretary general, jens stoltenberg says leaders have pledged more to support ukraine. speaking after today's emergency summit, he confirmed that the alliance would also do more to help the country defend itself against biological, chemical or nuclear attacks as well as cyber—warfare. we will have more forces in the eastern part of the alliance with more pre—positioned equipment and supplies. in the air we will deploy morejets and strengthen supplies. in the air we will deploy more jets and strengthen our integrated air and missile defence. at sea, we will have carrier strike groups, submarines and significant numbers of combat ships on a persistent basis. we will also strengthen our cyber defences and

enhance our exercises, focusing on collective defence and interoperability. i expect we will decide on the details at our next summit in madrid injune. today, allied leaders also agreed to provide further support to ukraine. helping to uphold their right to self defence. allies are also equipping ukraine with significant military supplies including anti—tank and end defence systems and drones. they are proving highly effective. as well as substantial financial and humanitarian aid. when answering a question on how serious the threat of chemical, radiological and nuclear threats could be, mr stoltenberg said such actions would totally change the nature of the conflict. we are concerned, partly because we see the rhetoric and waste either that russia is trying to create some sort of pretext, accusing ukraine, united states, nato allies for preparing to use chemical

and biological weapons. and we have seen before that this is a way, accusing others, to create a pretext for doing the same themselves. and of course accusations against nato and ukraine are absolutely false. any use of chemical weapons will totally change the nature of the conflict. it will be a blatant violation of international law and it will have widespread consequences and of course be extremely dangerous. our correspondentjessica parker is in brussels. clearly his greatest concern in the

press conference and in general for the nato leaders is chemical, biological warfare. the nato leaders is chemical, biologicalwarfare. can the nato leaders is chemical, biological warfare. can you hear me? no we have lostjessica parker and brussels but we will go back to her as soon as we get it. so here we are, one month into this war — with the russian advance stalled — and thousands of its troops dead. ukrainian forces meanwhile are counter attacking. our security correspondent, frank gardner, has this assessment of the russian military campaign, and the problems its troops have encountered. so just why has it gone so badly for russia in these first few weeks of the war? well, there are a number of reasons. there is a strength of the ukrainian resistance. most of the population has rallied round their government, with troops using western supplied weapons like javelin and stinger missiles. and when it comes to getting inside big cities, russia doesn't have enough troops to take

on the defenders in most cases. here's their charismatic president, volodymyr zelensky, a one—time comic actor who has rallied the nation, refusing to leave the capital even though there is a bounty on his head. then there's poor russian tactics. russian commanders on the ground have largely failed to take full advantage of all the tools at their disposal. things like armoured vehicles, artillery, rocket launchers, helicopters — all of which, when combined with infantry, can have massive effect but which the russians have failed to master. the russian air force is 15 times bigger than ukraine's, yet they have failed to achieve supremacy in the skies. and finally, there's poor russian logistics and communications. russian soldiers have not always maintained their vehicles properly, meaning that many of them are breaking down. and when it comes to radios, a lot of them don't work, forcing them to use mobile phones which can be easily intercepted by the ukrainians.

many of the russian soldiers fighting in ukraine thought they were just going on exercise like this one in belarus. that didn't give them enough time to prepare for battle. exercises never prepare troops properly for combat, so they were not combat—ready, and that puts real strain on the non—commissioned officers, the sergeants and the corporals, to get things ready in time, make sure the troops do theirjob properly. and in the russian army, the sergeants and the corporals are renowned for their inefficiency, their corruption and the bad relationships they have with the soldiers. so everything that could go wrong more or less did go wrong. and today, a small victory for ukraine on the sea of azov. its forces claim to have destroyed a russian amphibious landing ship. russia still has plenty more ships, but the fact that ukrainians are still fighting back one month on shows russia has grossly underestimated them. frank gardner, bbc news. let's go back to brussels now and our correspondentjessica parker. i think we've got you this time? can

you hear me?— i think we've got you this time? can you hear me?_ we - i think we've got you this time? can you hear me?_ we were l you hear me? yes, i can. we were heafina you hear me? yes, i can. we were hearing from — you hear me? yes, i can. we were hearing from jens _ you hear me? yes, i can. we were hearing from jens stoltenberg - you hear me? yes, i can. we werej hearing from jens stoltenberg who was expressing concern about chemical and biological warfare. clearly top of the agenda for the nato leaders.— clearly top of the agenda for the nato leaders. . , . ,., ., nato leaders. yeah very much so and i think it nato leaders. yeah very much so and i think it will — nato leaders. yeah very much so and i think it will be — nato leaders. yeah very much so and i think it will be something _ nato leaders. yeah very much so and i think it will be something that - i think it will be something that will be discussed here as well at the european council of eu leaders and of course president biden is expected tojoin that and of course president biden is expected to join that european council. we even think he's going to walk up the red carpet here. they've recently put some us flags next to the european union flag's. in terms of concerns about an escalation in the type of warfare, there are warnings of consequences should something like that occur. in terms of the european union of course it's not a military alliance, it is largely an economic one so the discussion as to what could happen as a consequence will be potentially more sanctions but to be honest with you some countries already in the eu

want more sanctions now. the prime minister of latvia has arrived for the summit and he said that the night he will push for a discussion on energy sanctions, especially oil and coal, imports from russia because there is a particular concern among the bolton stakes —— the baltic states and elsewhere that the baltic states and elsewhere that the eu is sending money to russia to pay for the export which is then being used to fund president putin's war. but there are countries notably germany who are not keen on any overnight energy in bago. i suppose in many ways many of these european nato leaders are feeling the pressure from president zelensky as well pressure from president zelensky as wel ., ., ., , pressure from president zelensky as wel ., ., ._ , pressure from president zelensky as wel ., ., , ., ,, well who night and day is addressing their parliaments. _ well who night and day is addressing their parliaments. yeah _ well who night and day is addressing their parliaments. yeah absolutely. | their parliaments. yeah absolutely. the diplomatic— their parliaments. yeah absolutely. the diplomatic efforts _ their parliaments. yeah absolutely. the diplomatic efforts of _ their parliaments. yeah absolutely. the diplomatic efforts of president | the diplomatic efforts of president zelensky, he has been beaming in through the video link to the european and british parliaments,

the g7 and he'll do it this afternoon for the european council as well. he calls for more support, things like a no—fly zone, which nato says it won't do, but always pressing for more sanctions and giving these assessments of what's happening on the ground, clearly very disturbing, upsetting, horrific of elements, especially in places like mariupol. so i think there's a lot of pressure on world leaders to look at what more they can do and interesting tonight to see whether the presence of president biden, who is only here for a couple of hours, whether his presence does anything to galvanise the eu to go further in terms of sanctions, because there are member states who use this phrase sanctions fatigue, thinking that after four rounds of sanctions, which are unprecedented in the eu, in terms of how far they go and how quickly they were passed, something that fatigue is setting in and that it's time to do more. that will be part of discussions today. in

it's time to do more. that will be part of discussions today. in many wa s part of discussions today. in many ways president _ part of discussions today. in many ways president biden _ part of discussions today. in many ways president biden has, - part of discussions today. in many ways president biden has, you - part of discussions today. in many i ways president biden has, you know, talked about the unity within nato. they want to show that something will come out of the summit as well because we don't often see summits like these, frankly. trying to hang on to you because i want to see president biden walk past you, just behind you! i president biden walk past you, 'ust behind ou! ., �* ~' ., behind you! i don't know when exactly that — behind you! i don't know when exactly that might _ behind you! i don't know when exactly that might happen. - behind you! i don't know when - exactly that might happen. overall, take a step back. there's been a lot of unity in the west and today is to some extent symbolic of that. president biden crossing the atlantic for the first time since russia invaded ukraine, to show solidarity with the west, with europe, as a war takes place on european soil. but i think there are some serious political purposes as well. defence spending really being one of them. the eu isn't a military alliance but it is actively talking about doing more around defence,

working more closely together, spending more. we've already seen commitment from germany to spend more on defence, matching the 2% of gdp nato target. the us has long wanted to see members spending more on defence and the russian issue has pushed out to the four and pushed some countries in that direction. it's true to say that eu countries in terms of unity have frayed a bit in terms of unity have frayed a bit in terms of sanctions but overall the russian invasion of ukraine appears to have breathed new life into nato and seen unprecedented western unity in the eu, into nato and of course there's been a g7 summit as well today. three summits in one day and this one will go on into tomorrow.— into tomorrow. thanks for the u date. into tomorrow. thanks for the update- no — into tomorrow. thanks for the update. no doubt _ into tomorrow. thanks for the update. no doubt at - into tomorrow. thanks for the update. no doubt at some - into tomorrow. thanks for the l update. no doubt at some point into tomorrow. thanks for the - update. no doubt at some point he will walk behind you. many reservists and ordinary citizens have taken up arms to defend their country against the russian invaders. earlier my collegue ben brown

spoke to taras ishchyk, who hasjustjoined up the territorial defence forces of the ukrainian armed forces. 28 days ago we were regular engineers, managers. for me, i'm a marketing manager. today we are all soldiers for the ukrainian army and we are staying in the front line of this really crazy war for all the civilised world. at the moment you and your fellow reservists, soldiers, you're training, training hard for what you fear may be to come. for all of the day we are training very actively. it's a lot of training, tactics, shooting, working in small units. it's really a lot of trainees in the defence forces.

we have a lot of instructors who also have nato deployments. they are instructing the defence forces. do you think this is a war you can win, that ukraine can win? the russian armed forces are enormous, we know that and they are very, very powerful. actually we will win in this war, especially with the support of western countries because first of all we need to close the guy of western countries because first of all we need to close the sky and then we'll finish the war. we need more support from western countries. it's very important to defend the civilised world against russia, which don't have any moral rules in the war. it's one month since the russian invasion. is this a war that you think is going to go on for many more months? actually we don't know how much time will be the war but i'm sure we will win.

we do all the best what we can. actually i'm sure that we will finish this war and we will return crimea and all our occupied territories. do you feel fear? if you are sent to the front line to fight the russians, does that make you nervous, scared? all of our soldiers are full of fury now because the russians don't have any moral rules. they kill thousands of civilians, children, old people and it's very disgusting in this crazy war. so we are very motivated to finish the war and to win in this war because we know why we are fighting but they don't know why they fight. it's a big difference. that's an interesting point about motivation

because the russian forces are often conscripts, aren't they? some of them thought they were still on exercise apparently when they came into the ukraine but you are defending your homeland, defending your towns and villages and cities. actually all of our soldiers are motivated first of all to defend our regions, families and homes. it's a higher motivation for us. all of our soldiers are motivated to wane in this war and to end this war and to return our territory, so it's very important to every person in our defence forces. young girls in afghanistan are facing an uncertain future, as the taliban broke its promise to finally allow high—school girls to go back to school yesterday. instead, they were turned away from the gates they used to walk through. the taliban said a decision still has to be made

on the uniforms the girls can wear. the un has urged the taliban to reopen schools immediately. here is the spokesperson for un secretary general antonio guterres. the de facto authorities's failure to reopen school for girls above the sixth grade, despite repeated commitments, is a profound disappointment, and deeply damaging for afghanistan. the secretary—general says the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education. it also jeopardises the country's future in view of the tremendous contributions by afghan women and girls. the secretary—general urges the taliban de facto authorities to reopen schools for all students without delay. earlier, i spoke to adela raz, the former afghan ambassador to the us up until the closure of the afghan embassy a week ago. she was appointed by the former ghani government, but not recognised by the taliban. she said the un condemning the

taliban's decision is not enough. i think the un needs to be stronger and take assertive action because as you said, rightly, there was a statement by the secretary—general earlier and it was welcome. somehow it was expected for many afghans, especially afghan women, that the taliban may not deliver what they had promised. there has to be stronger action by the united nations. it's an independent entity that's on the ground right now with the largest footprint, the biggest development project it is bringing to afghanistan, so it is something they can leverage with the taliban. simply making a statement condemning it will not bring the results that many afghan women look up to, especially to the un.

what are the practical things they can do? they have the biggest footprint on the ground but given there is a humanitarian crisis in the country, what can the un do to hold the afghanistan accountable? the un are engaged on the humanitarian side and the political side. there is a political issue on the ground. on the humanitarian side they must deliver the aid that is needed in afghanistan. politically, they have to be more vocal. they have to be more engaged in a way that the communication must be very clear to the taliban because the taliban is looking forward to have recognition by the international community and if they are not delivering on the basic rights of afghan women, of women in islam, which is education, and they are banning women to have access to schools, that's not going to take them any

closer to any kind of recognition that they hope and expect to see. are you disappointed in the response of the international community? given that they spent billions supporting, funding, backing afghan women and girls when they entered the country in 2001. you are a product of that and you lived your childhood under the taliban but went on to be educated in american universities and in afghanistan. he went on to be the un and us ambassador to afghanistan. i mean, you are the quintessential example of the gains of the last two decades. yes and not only me, there are so many afghan women that truly made tremendous progress in their lives. they were contributors to society and in 20 years we bought a change in the country. you can measure the lives of people

and their access and the kind of education they received. it's true that 25 years ago i was in the country and i was banned from going to school for five years. i remember every day we woke up and hoped that the miracle happens and i would be able to go to school, and the miracle never happened for five years. the response from the international community, i think it's not only to me but to other afghan women, we hope to see more from the international community. we always say that today the women of afghanistan can play the role as their partners in the international arena but half of the population are women and we want to work with international partners. we need to see more from our allies and friends and partners, invested in the country,

invested in afghanistan. the chief executive of p80 ferries has admitted that the decision to sack 800 workers without consulting unions broke the law. peter hebblethwaite said he chose not to consult because he didn't believe "there was any other way to do it". he also said he would make the same decision again because the business as it was, wasn't viable — and now it is. speaking to a committee of mps in the uk, mr hebblethwaite said the move was the only way to save the company. here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. arriving to face mps, the boss of p80, a week after making 800 workers redundant without notice. peter hebblethwaite didn't get an easy ride. the chair of the joint transport and business committee set the tone from the outset. are you in this mess because you don't know what you're doing, or are you just a shameless criminal? no answer there, but the p80 boss did admit breaking the law by not consulting with unions. there is absolutely no

doubt we were required to consult with the unions. we chose not to do that because we believe... you chose to break the law? we chose not to consult and we are and will compensate everyone in full for that. the ferry crews were sacked so they could be replaced with cheaper agency workers. the average hourly rate of hourly pay is £5.50. that is below the national minimum wage of this country, how do you reconcile that? where we are governed by the national minimum wage, we will absolutely pay national minimum wage. this is international seafaring model, consistent with models throughout the globe and our competitors. but unions had already told mps what they thought the company was trying to do. that's what p&o are aiming to achieve, to kill our merchant marine and to kill our employment laws, and something has got to be done about it today. the prime minister said he is going to prosecute. this government has

got to intervene now. impound these ships and get our people back to work. meanwhile, p&o's ferries stand idle, services on most routes are suspended as new crews are trained up. eventually they'll sail again but the political storm stirred up by p&o's actions shows no sign of dying down. theo leggett, bbc news. the british chancellor, rishi sunak, has defended the measures he set out yesterday to help people with the rising cost of living. critics say he hasn't done enough, with one think tank warning that 1.3 million people will fall below the poverty line from april. the main opposition party, labour, has called the policies a disaster for working families. here's our political correspondent, iain watson. the view from downing street the morning after the day before. rishi sunak had a spring in his step yesterday when he took 5p a litre off fuel duty, and he was pumped when he announced a pre—election income tax cut.

but with living standards set to fall further than in any year since the 1950s, today he faced accusations that he hadn't grasped the scale of the cost of living crisis. but he argued it helped millions of people by blunting the impact of his national insurance rise. raising national insurance thresholds, which is a tax cut for £330 for 30 million workers, and then getting round to cutting income tax, those are all tax—cutting measures. we also cut tax for businesses to make it cheaperfor them to employ staff. it's the hardest part about this job, not being able to do everything that people would like you to do, but i can't make every problem go away, but where we can make a difference we want to, and that's what yesterday was about. even some newspapers usually supportive of the conservatives have been pressing for more. many of my constituents in south

dorset are already impoverished, we have deep pockets of deprivation and poverty and ifear that, despite the generous moves by the chancellor and the tinkering he has done, they haven't gone far enough. the treasury would point out that many factors pushing up prices globally are beyond its control, but the opposition is accusing the chancellor of making the wrong political choices. there is now a big political dividing line between the government and the opposition. they are claiming that the chancellor simply isn't doing enough to help consumers and is letting big corporations off the hook. next year, rishi sunak does intend to increase taxes on big business, but labour and the liberal democrats say what is needed is action now to tackle the profits of the big energy companies. what i would have done yesterday as chancellor would have been to introduce a windfall tax on the big profits being made by north sea oil and gas companies at the moment. overall we want a fairer tax system, don't we? we want to tax people who have these huge profits in the oil and gas companies and take taxes down

for struggling families. the treasury has rejected that approach, arguing it would reduce much—needed investment in energy production. but even some of rishi sunak�*s own mps are saying privately he will have to expend more economic and political energy himself to tackle the current crisis. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. we will be going back to all the latest news in a moment. let's pause for a moment and get all the sport now, with louisa. thanks. a host of nations around the world are hoping to take a step towards the world cup finals in qatar. wales' gareth bale has declared himself fit for the play—off semifinal with austria later in their path a group. bale dropped out of the real madrid squad for sunday's el clasico against barcelona with what was described as a "little niggle". wales haven't qualified for a world cup since 1958 and bale is determined to change that.

it's something i would love to achieve for myself and my country and the fans of wales. we deserve to be in a world cup, it's been a long time but it will be a regret if we don't give it 100% so the main thing is we go out on the pitch and give 100% and don't leave anything in the tank and once you have done that, they will never be any regrets regardless of the result. european champions italy are one of the biggest teams in action — they face north macedonia in their play—off semifinal in palermo later. the italians have some injury problems, though, and are missing at least three of their starting back four. they've had a difficult time in world cups in recent years — italy were knocked out in the group stage both in 2010 and 2014 and failed to qualify for russia in 2018. so the winners of italy v north macedonia will earn a play—off

final against portugal or turkey. portugal have some injuries — they'll will be without their two first—choice centre backs. ruben dias has a hamstring problem while pepe is missing after testing positive for covid. it's unclear if he could return for next week's playoff final if portugal get past turkey. so here are all the european playoffs later — in path b, sweden play the czech republic. the resurgence of england's women at the cricket world cup has taken them to the verge of the semi—finals after an outstanding nine—wicket win over pakistan. they made a dreadful start to the tournament but katherine brunt was back in form, taking three wickets, as pakistan were swept aside for 105. and england raced to their target insidejust 20 overs, danni wyatt with an impressive 76 not out. that moves the defending champions into the top four of the round robin group — they'll make the semis if they avoid

defeat to bangladesh on sunday. england's men are also in action, it's day one of the third and final test against the west indies in grenada and it's all to play for as the first two tests ended in a draw so whoever wins this test wins the series. west indies won the toss and put england into bat. that is looking like a good decision as zak crawley was out for just seven runs and captainjoe root followed shortly afterwards, he was out for a duck. england are 35—2. now after ashleigh barty stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement, at the age of 25, she's been talking about her decision overnight. the wimbledon and australian open champion has set a date for her wedding. she's not ruled out competing in golf or aussie rules football, but her main focus, she says, is giving something back to tennis — especially when it comes to encouraging young indigenous australians into the sport.

i know my contribution with the aboriginal and indigenous side of our sport will only grow, i'm really excited for that, i'm excited to have the opportunity to give indigenous and aboriginal youth around our nation more opportunity to get into the sport and that is something we will work on down the track but i'm excited to spend more time in that space. that's all the sport for now. when russian tanks rolled into ukraine exactly four weeks ago, all eyes were on the capital, kyiv, as russian forces advanced from all directions. but the russian army had other objectives too, and taking the southern port city of mariupol was high among them. if they could do this, they would be able to join up russian—held crimea with the russian—held areas of eastern ukraine and create a land corridor to russia itself. around 100,000 people are believed to be trapped there with supplies running out and aid blocked from entering.

residents have endured weeks of russian bombardment with no power or running water. last wednesday, hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children, were in sheltering in the city's main drama theatre, when the building took a direct hit from a russian airstrike. within seconds, the theatre had split in two and was left in ruins. earlier i spoke with igor mostovoi, an opera singerfrom mariupol, he used to preform at the theatre and spoke with me about his memories there. i performed many times in the theater when i was a kid as well. theatre when i was a kid as well. so when i'd just started singing, it was one of the places where i was at first dreaming to be. and then when i went on that stage, it was a feeling ofjoy, of happiness, to be there and to be in one of the main theatres of the city. and the last time i performed there was on march 8th 2021

for the international women's day to congratulate our mothers, our sisters and all of the women of the city. a point of, you know, bringing something bright and human became the symbol of, you know, inhuman deeds of russia in ukraine and in my city. yeah, we'rejust looking at the pictures now of the destroyed theatre, but ijust wonder if we can just play a little bit of a clip of you performing at the theatre. we're just listening to it there, but i just want our audiences to hear your voice. i think they're lining that up now. let's have a listen. he sings.

incredible voice there, igor, and you also were due to perform in many european cities in april, but of course, because of martial law, you can't leave the country now. exactly, yes, i'm trying to find an official way to leave the country because these concerts that are organised by my agents in europe, they're meant to support my country, they are meant to support my city and all of the money and financial support that i will be able to get from this concerts are supposed to go towards towards supporting my country and people in need. and i hope it will be possible for me to go and do this because i find my mission in supporting my country in this way. and i hope it will be possible. we know of the devastation in mariupol. horrific stories of mass graves, bodies in the streets. no heating, no water, no food.

people running out of food. you still have family there. just tell us about the situation for them. exactly, i have my brother there, and actually ijust got the news that my uncle was evacuated, unfortunately, to the russian side. but my brother is still there and we didn't have connection to him for five days already and my stepsister, so this uncle who was evacuated, his daughter, we have lost all kinds of connection with her and she is lost and we don't know where she is. that must be terrifying. it's impossible. it keeps us in constant stress and constant shock of everything that is happening. we just hope that she is alive. we hope that my brother is alive and we have lost all kinds of hope that my grandfather, who also is in mariupol

and he was already in state that he couldn't walk by himself and couldn't eat by himself. so we have lost hope that he is alive. that was an opera singer from mariupol who has managed to be evacuated. more than three—and—a—half million people have now fled ukraine in the month since the war began, with more than two million of them crossing into poland. our correspondent mark lowen has been there since the first day and sent this report from the border. it's been a month of lives ripped up, a generation driven out, certainty torn apart. a month that we've been here seeing the heartbreak of the sick forced to flee. but compassion, too, of hearts and homes opened. of the democratic world standing up to the aggressor. four weeks on, the only change is warmer weather. the arrivals keep coming, seeking safety from a war some don't understand.

welcomed where poland can put them. this, a school, a smile for the kids at the ready. inside, volunteers bring comfort after an exhausting journey. yulia kirilenko and her sons fled kyiv, her husband staying to fight. translation: children were killed and teenage girls were raped. - we had to leave. they were shooting at the cars as we tried to escape. we prayed as we drove. it's good here, but we want to go home. i just want this to end. the trauma on the youngest could take years to show and last a lifetime. olga oleshko's little ones already feel it. translation: they were asking why helicopters were flying, _ why there were sirens, why people were dying. i had to explain it in a way that didn't hurt them. at the start of the invasion, we watched as panic prompted

the immediate first rush to escape. but these are the people who didn't want to leave, thinking they could stick it out, that the bombs might stop. but they didn't stop and more than 3.5 million refugees later, there's a growing feeling of the long term about this, with all the challenges that that will entail. destination warsaw, whose population is up by almost a fifth. new arrivals given id numbers and school places. they have a journey to safety, but their country still has no passage to peace. while western military assistance to ukraine helps sustain the fightback of ukrainian troops on the ground, humanitarian and medical assistance from european union countries is helping prop up ukrainian hospitals. some of that help reaches ukraine from italy, via romania, as nick thorpe reports.

ambulances donated by the italian government pass through the romanian border at siret. other humanitarian supplies go through poland and will soon start through slovakia. one month into the war, ukraine is gratefulfor every form of support it can get. these boxes contain drugs, bandages, surgical equipment, mobile x—ray machines, even lights for operating theatres. translation: we have many injured| people who need the medical supplies donated by the european union. we distribute these items to places where we have the most difficult cases in the hospitals and with these medicines we help people who have suffered from the russian aggression. first, the handover. we hope that very soon we will win and we will all together celebrate our victory. these trucks have just arrived here from northern italy, containing medical supplies

and equipment donated by the italian government, coordinated by the european union. from here they are being loaded into ukrainian trucks and taken across the border to the city of chernivtsi. fora moment, it could almost be italy. less than an hour to the border. the colours of the ukrainian flag are everywhere. over the rolling plains, the foothills of the carpathians. the smoke rising here is just from burning straw. memories of peacetime. nick thorpe, bbc news, on the romania—ukraine border. let's get some other news. the south korean military says north korea has fired a suspected long range ballistic missile. the japanese coastguard said

the suspected missile had landed in its waters — some 170 kilometres off north japan. the south korean president, moonjae—in, has convened a national security meeting in response to the test. north korea has carried out a record number of weapons tests this year. it has not tested an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017. here's howjapan and south korea reacted. translation: the government strongly condemn the launch _ translation: the government strongly condemn the launch as _ translation: the government strongly condemn the launch as it _ translation: the government strongly condemn the launch as it is _ translation: the government strongly condemn the launch as it is a _ translation: the government strongly condemn the launch as it is a clear- condemn the launch as it is a clear violation of un security council resolutions on a reversal of the moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile launchers which north korea promised the international community. it is international community. it is estimated _ international community. it is estimated to _ international community. it is estimated to have _ international community. it is estimated to have flown 1100 kilometres at an altitude of over 6000 _ kilometres at an altitude of over 6000 kilometres. the lunch is a serious — 6000 kilometres. the lunch is a serious threat to japan's security. north_ serious threat to japan's security. north korea launched the missile

without— north korea launched the missile without any warning and it landed in japan's _ without any warning and it landed in japan's exclusive economic zone. south korea has responded by test—firing its own missiles — none of them were aimed at north korea. laura bicker, bbc seoul correspondent has more. this missile flew more than an hour and a numberjust170 kilometres from japan's coastline. officials in tokyo say this is a new type of missile. if true that will mean this is the first time since november 2017 that north korea has fired such a weapon. the south korean military said in the last few hours it fired five missiles in response, they came from the air, the sea underground, again the first time that has happened since 2017. this feels like a major escalation on the korean peninsula. in 2017 we had fire and fury, it led to talks between then

us president trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un, us president trump and the north korean leader kimjong—un, who us president trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un, who at that time promised not to test these long—range weapons. the reason analysts wonder about these weapons is the fact they could have the potential to reach the united states and that is why so many people are currently concerned. their world's attention has been elsewhere in the biden administration has made it clear north korea is not their priority although they have said they are willing to meet with officials from north korea at any time although they are not willing to give any more concessions. pyongyang is proving after 12 missile tests this year alone and now this potential intercontinental ballistic missile that it is capable of producing new weapons capable of going further and faster even though it is under strict economic sanctions. laura bicker reporting from seoul.

a senior british judge has concluded that the ruler of dubai inflicted �*exorbitant�* domestic abuse on his ex—wife princess haya, sir andrew mcfarlane said that 72 year old sheikh mohammed bin rashid al maktoum "consistently displayed coercive and controlling behaviour with respect to those members of his family who he regards as behaving contrary to his will." princess haya will now have sole responsibility for their two children. his ruling marks the end of a three—year custody battle at the high court in london. prince william has expressed "profound sorrow" at "abhorrent" slavery in a speech to dignitaries during his visit to jamaica. the duke and duchess of cambridge are currently on the second leg of their tour of the caribbean in honour of the queen's platinum jubilee. our royal correspondentjonny dymond reports from kingston and just a warning his report contains flash photography. in swept the couple for dinner with the great and the good ofjamaica. ever since this trip was announced, a question hung over it.

how would william address the issue of slavery, the brutal exploitation of hundreds of thousands of enslaved africans whenjamaica was run by britain? i strongly agree with my father, the prince of wales, who said in barbados last year that the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history. i want to express my profound sorrow. slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened. this has been quite a political part of the caribbean tour, because earlier the jamaican prime minister made very clear to the couple in front of the cameras that he wanted an end to the role of the queen as the head of state here and to the constitutional link to britain.

william tried to answer some of the questions about britain's past injamaica with his speech. less clear is what the royal family's future, if any, is in a truly independentjamaica. let's get some more on ukraine now — because both russia and ukraine produce a third of the world's wheat and barley exports, which feed millions of people in the middle east, asia and africa. earlier, i spoke to un assistant secretary general miryana spolyarich egger about the long—term implaications on the conflict on wheat production.

the long—term implications would be that we would have to do everything as of today to join forces with the humanitarians to preserve the functioning lines coming out of ukraine so what we have to do as of todayis ukraine so what we have to do as of today is look at development, to work with the government to ensure the ukraine economy continues to subsist and continues to function for the people of ukraine but also for the people of ukraine but also for other regions so our investments doubt to working with local municipalities to sustain the provision of public services and agriculture and the people are willing to do that and are willing to work together. is willing to do that and are willing to work together.— to work together. is that even ossible to work together. is that even possible in — to work together. is that even possible in a _ to work together. is that even possible in a place _ to work together. is that even possible in a place like - to work together. is that even l possible in a place like mariupol work curse on work kharkiv? —— in

kherson or kharkiv? it is work curse on work kharkiv? -- in kherson or kharkiv?— kherson or kharkiv? it is not --oular kherson or kharkiv? it is not popular in — kherson or kharkiv? it is not popular in mariupol- kherson or kharkiv? it is not popular in mariupol but - kherson or kharkiv? it is not| popular in mariupol but there kherson or kharkiv? it is not - popular in mariupol but there are large parts of the country including in the west that we have to preserve the economic elite and will have to use to kick—start the economy as possible —— preserve economically. i possible —— preserve economically. i amjust possible —— preserve economically. i am just going to play this clip because you have been elected as the next president of the international committee of the red cross and the current president who has been in moscow today said he met with foreign minister sergei lavrov at a press conference and this is what he had to say. i press conference and this is what he had to sa . ., press conference and this is what he hadtosa. . . ., , had to say. i am certainly committed with the icrc — had to say. i am certainly committed with the icrc to — had to say. i am certainly committed with the icrc to have _ had to say. i am certainly committed with the icrc to have as _ had to say. i am certainly committed with the icrc to have as objective . with the icrc to have as objective as possible and as fact and evidence based _ as possible and as fact and evidence based as— as possible and as fact and evidence based as possible decisions, we now

this is— based as possible decisions, we now this is always a challenge and the difficulties in conflict i do respect _ difficulties in conflict i do respect also that after my visit in kyiv and — respect also that after my visit in kyiv and here, never always different— kyiv and here, never always different of international law. he is different of international law. is talking different of international law. he: is talking in that clip about the different interpretations of international law but the targeting of maternity hospitals in mariupol, of maternity hospitals in mariupol, of theatres where we know women and children are seeking shelter, is not open to interpretation? the tar: etinu open to interpretation? the targeting of— open to interpretation? tue targeting of hospitals open to interpretation? tte targeting of hospitals and civilian infrastructure is not open to interpretation, it creates senseless suffering and it is a direct attack on the livelihood and economic basis of a country, which we have to prevent. 50 of a country, which we have to revent. , :, prevent. so if you were meeting seruei prevent. so if you were meeting sergei lavrov —

prevent. so if you were meeting sergei lavrov in _ prevent. so if you were meeting sergei lavrov in your _ prevent. so if you were meeting sergei lavrov in your next - prevent. so if you were meeting i sergei lavrov in your next position as president of the international committee of the you would disagree with peter maura. t committee of the you would disagree with peter maura.— with peter maura. i don't think i will ever disagree _ with peter maura. i don't think i will ever disagree with - with peter maura. i don't think i will ever disagree with peter - will ever disagree with peter because neither he nor i will ever seekjustification because neither he nor i will ever seek justification for attacks on civilian infrastructure, especially hospitals and schools. 50 civilian infrastructure, especially hospitals and schools.— civilian infrastructure, especially hospitals and schools. so when he sa s it's hospitals and schools. so when he says it's different _ hospitals and schools. so when he says it's different interpretations l says it's different interpretations of international law, what do you think he is referring to international law can be interpreted differently by other parties but it's clear in the sense of not allowing attacks on civilian infrastructure. that was the deputy un secretary general speaking to me earlier. let's take you to the nato summit in brussels were german chancellor olaf scholz is speaking to the press. he has continued to

discuss the conflict in ukraine and he says we call on the russian president to agree to a ceasefire in ukraine and establish a humanitarian corridor, corridors and some of the worst affected areas like mariupol. he also said we are more united in this difficult situation than ever before and he spoke about the situation with refugees, saying we are obliged to take those people who were fleeing the country. matthew will be back with all the latest headlines on ukraine and other news. goodbye for now. hello, there. hasn't it been a glorious week of weather so far? we've had cool, misty nights leading to plenty of clear skies, plenty of spring sunshine and warmth.

this was wiltshire just a few hours ago, but i could have shown you several weather watcher pictures. they really are quite beautiful at the moment as the high pressure dominates the weather story. there is a weak weather front toppling across that high, and that is bringing some subtle changes into scotland, northern ireland, north west england. this was cumbria just a few hours ago, so a little more in the way of cloud. and perhaps as we go through the afternoon, maybe the odd isolated shower here. but elsewhere we keep the blue sky, sunshine, light winds, temperatures responding quite nicely into the afternoon, peaking between 19, possibly one or two areas seeing 20 degrees yet again. now, as we go through the night, we will keep those clear skies around, so temperatures again falling away quite sharply to a chilly night to come with some mist around as well. even the cloud will tend to thin. it will linger across parts of northern ireland, here not quite as cold a start, but elsewhere a chilly one, but again, lots of sunshine to look out for for friday. now, any low cloud and mist will lift quite readily away. we'll see more in the way of sunshine, generally through northwest england, northern ireland and for the bulk of scotland on friday, as the high pressurejust changes its position a little. and again, those temperatures

are likely to range from 12 to 19 degrees across the country. now, as we move into the weekend, the high pressure continues to drift its way that little bit further west and the wind direction changes somewhat. there'll be a fresher breeze, particularly through the channel, and we'll start to see a little more in the way of cloud and even inland. some of that cloud will burn away, butjust cling on to the coastline as we go through saturday afternoon. not quite as warm for some, but 12 to 19 degrees, particularly inland with the sunshine. there'll be more low cloud, mist and murk on sunday, particularly across england and wales. bear that in mind for mothering sunday. here temperatures not quite as promising, the best of the sunshine in scotland, where we could see 16 or 17 degrees the high. but it's this cooler trend that looks likely to return as we move into next week, the blues really pushing far south. so as we go into next week, we close out the month of march, we're likely to see a different face of spring, cooler again, potentially with some wintry showers

in the northeast. to tackle the profits of the big energy companies.

this is bbc news — i'm matthew amroliwala. one month on from russia's invasion of ukraine. another setback for moscow — as the ukrainian navy destroys a landing ship west of mariupol. ukraine accuses russian forces of forceibly deporting 15 thousand residents of mariupol to russia from the districts they've captured. by by an in kyiv where president zelensky talks of a month of heroic resistance and dark suffering. nato leaders approve plans to send 40,000 extra troops to their eastern border — they call it the biggest security crisis in a generation.

more than 3.5 million people, have now fled ukraine — with more than two million crossing into poland. in other news here in britain, ajury at the old baily is shown footage of the moment the man accused of murdering mp sir david amess was tackled by police. he denies murder. the boss of p80 ferries has admitted breaking the law by sacking 800 workers without consulting unions. welcome to bbc news. it is exactly a month since russian troops invaded ukraine. since then, thousands of civilians, ukrainian soliders and russian troops have been killed. some cities — like mariupol — have faced a relentless russian bombardment, and suffered almost complete destuction. president zelensky has called it

a �*terrible dark month and protest against the invasion. president putin has never called it a war, but rather a �*special operation' to demilitarise his neighbour. in brussels it is a day of crucial diplomacy. president biden has joined western leaders with a flurry of meetings of nato, the g7 and eu council. in the g7 and eu council. the last few moments the c leaders in the last few moments the g7 leaders have warned russia not to use biological or chemical weapons in ukraine. we're live with our correspondents, lyse doucet in kyiv and jessica parker in brussels. let's go to kyiv first. you said on the first day of the war that it was like everything was turned upside down and inside out. we are a month in and what are your reflections?— reflections? every life in this country and _ reflections? every life in this country and indeed - reflections? every life in this country and indeed far- reflections? every life in this. country and indeed far beyond reflections? every life in this - country and indeed far beyond has been upended by russia's invasion of ukraine. it's been a month like no

otherfor ukraine. it's been a month like no other for this country and countries beyond its borders. president zelensky has described it as a month of heroic resistance but also dark suffering. how can we forget that about a month ago at this time there was dread that it was just a matter of time, possibly days before russian forces already heading here from the belarusian border would be in the capital within days. at hostomel airport here, it had already been attacked and captured by russian forces. and where is ukraine now? the airport is still contested and much that still hasn't seized a major city, a city of strategic and symbolic value. and not only are the ukrainians holding ground, they're also going on the offensive. they've taken back a town

on the border of kyiv and they have taken territory in the south. but russia continues to attack. look at mariupol, now described as hell on earth and its not the only place. one month on this is still a place where russia continues its offensive and the ukrainians continue their attacks, too. let's look at the latest developments. pictures from a ukrainian source appearing to show a strike on a russian naval ship in the occupied port of berdiansk. plumes of smoke are seen billowing from the larger vessel. if confirmed, this would be a setback to russia's attempt to create a land bridge in the south—east of ukraine. seen here three days ago the ship was capable of carrying up to 1500 tonnes of military equipment. the attack took place 80 kilometres from the besieged port city of mariupol. once vibrant, these

are the scars of a month of war. russian bombardment, leaving ruins and rubble throughout. standing defiant, the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelensky, last night unusually in english, urged people worldwide to show their support for ukraine. this is only the beginning for russia on the ukrainian land. show your standing, 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. come to your squares, your streets, make yourselves visible and heard. say that people matter, freedom matters. peace matters, ukraine matters. a significant amount of strategic territory has been taken by russia but the capital kyiv remains in ukrainian pounds with troops taking back some surrounding areas.

britain will provide 6000 missiles and £25 million to support the ukrainian army. but as the war continues into a second month, ukraine's demands for a no—fly zone are yet to be met. celestina olulode, bbc news. and so another day where president zelensky has been expressing gratitude for all of the military, humanitarian, political, every kind of support being offered by his neighbours and from many capitals beyond. but another day where he says it isn't enough for a war that grinds on, a war of attrition it is now being called, with such a deep sense of foreboding that as bad as it has been, the worst could still be to come. it has been, the worst could still be to come-— it has been, the worst could still be to come. ~ �* ., , be to come. we've heard very little over the last _ be to come. we've heard very little over the last week _ be to come. we've heard very little over the last week of _ be to come. we've heard very little over the last week of anything - over the last week of anything surrounding peace talks. what's your reading of that?—

reading of that? yes, very interesting, _ reading of that? yes, very interesting, as _ reading of that? yes, very interesting, as soon - reading of that? yes, very interesting, as soon as . reading of that? yes, very| interesting, as soon as the reading of that? yes, very - interesting, as soon as the evasion started the discussions began between ukrainian and russian negotiators. we being hearing that they've been making progress, not just in the negotiating teams but the many mediators who are very keen to be able to say that they are the ones who got presidents a lengthy and president putin together to end this war. —— to get president zelensky and president putin together. although progress has been made, the talks are described as more realistic. president putin doesn't apparently call for that word, decapitating the ukrainian government, removing residents alexey and his team. he doesn't call for the removal of the military —— removing president zelensky and his team. ukraine have said it isn't going tojoin nato any team. ukraine have said it isn't going to join nato any time soon, if

at all. but the issues of territory, what russia still wants, and wants to keep, remains the most contentious issues of all. mediators say president putin will meet president zelem ski when the time is right about one month on it seems that the time isn't right yet —— will meet president zelem ski. he has called for protests around the world but in terms of help, zelensky has been clear about what he wants in brussels and especially around weapons. in brussels and especially around wea ons. �* , in brussels and especially around weaons. h . , ,~ weapons. he's always very clever in his choice of— weapons. he's always very clever in his choice of words. _ weapons. he's always very clever in his choice of words. he _ weapons. he's always very clever in his choice of words. he or - weapons. he's always very clever in his choice of words. he or his - weapons. he's always very clever in his choice of words. he or his staffl his choice of words. he or his staff do the research, he touches on the foreign parliament and touches on the history of the country in question, drawing on their most evocative moments and then asks them to think about ukraine. today addressing the nato military alliance he looked carefully at what kind of weaponry they had and he

said, just give us 1% of your combat aircraft, 1% of your tanks. give us 500 tanks. you've got some 20,000. you can see the faces of the nato leaders sitting there and knowing that of course ukraine is fighting a war for them, that of course ukraine is fighting a warforthem, on that of course ukraine is fighting a warfor them, on their that of course ukraine is fighting a war for them, on their borders. that of course ukraine is fighting a warfor them, on their borders. wait outside time and again that they will not go beyond the borders of nato members's territory. there has been consistent support and supplier, we don't know the details because we aren't privy to the discussions today. yens of stoltenberg said they couldn't reveal but they are talking about air defence systems while saying no to a no—fly zone. they are talking about continuing the supply of weapons and no doubt president putin and his officers have a close line on those supply lines as well, knowing full well that they are the

key to the ukrainian resistance on the ground and in the air.- the ground and in the air. thanks very much- _ the nato secretary general — jens stoltenberg — has said vladimir putin made a "big mistake" by invading ukraine, and had undestimated the strength and bravery of the ukrainian people. president biden has joined borisjohnson and other nato leaders in brussels for an emergency summit, to try and find solutions. here's nato's secretary generaljens stoltenberg laying out further support that the alliance will provide to ukraine. on land, we will have substantially more forces in the eastern part of the allilance at higher readiness, with more pre—positioned equipment and supplies. in the air, we will deploy more jets and strengthen our integrated air and missile defence. at sea, we will have

carrier strike groups, submarines and significant numbers of combat ships on a persistent basis. we will also strengthen our cyber defences and enhance our exercises, focusing on collective defence and interoperability. that was jens stoltenberg few minutes ago. let me show you pictures from the meeting. in your —— emmanuel macron is at the microphone. we'll keep you across the feed that's coming into the bbc had anything significant from the french president, we'll return. watching this for us in brussels is our correspondentjessica parker. a our correspondent jessica parker. a flurry our correspondentjessica parker. a flurry of meetings over the next few hours, what are you expecting? the g7 way think— hours, what are you expecting? tte 67 way think has just wrapped up, g7 way think has just wrapped up, after the nato summit and now the

european council summit. that's eu leaders gathering here, as they often do but this meeting has a difference. president biden we suspect is going to walk up the red carpet fairly shortly. you can maybe see that there are flags there as the backdrop for the president. the first time, we are told, a president of america has attended such a meeting in brussels. this is to show unity in the west, to try and demonstrate to ukraine that they are behind their efforts to fight russia and as well as talking about how to impose sanctions, make sure there aren't any loopholes, talk about possible future sanctions but the key between the eu and america is that of energy supply. ursula von der leyen, the european commission president, hasjust arrived, talking about how american liquefied natural gas can help europe to wean itself off the russian gas supply. the greatest concern is that europe is

filling putin's offers by buying so much russian energy.— filling putin's offers by buying so much russian energy. ursula von der le en much russian energy. ursula von der leyen arriving _ much russian energy. ursula von der leyen arriving for _ much russian energy. ursula von der leyen arriving for that _ much russian energy. ursula von der leyen arriving for that meeting. - much russian energy. ursula von der leyen arriving for that meeting. in i leyen arriving for that meeting. in terms of the hybs, what are the hopes of perhaps terms of the hybs, what are the hopes of perhaszoe biden bringing something to the table on the issue of energy —— talking in terms of the hopes. it is a contentious issue within the eu, some member states are so concerned about the amount of money being sent to russia to pay for gas, oil and coal that they want to see swift action in terms of potentially an energy embargo. the president of latvia arriving this afternoon said he would be pushing efforts at tonight's meetings, particularly on oil and coal, which europe is slightly less reliant on in terms of russian gas. other countries notably germany say that they simply cannot switch off the russian energy

supplies overnight. olaf scholz has warned publicly this week that he thinks it could lead to a european recession and the argument from their perspective is, white week in europe when europe needs to be strong? the question here is, to what extent america can step in and fill some of the gap, to help the eu wean itself off russian gas sooner rather than later. there is unity in terms of the need to do that. it's a question of how fast. thanks very much, perhaps we'll get some of those answers of the next couple of hours. —— in the next couple of hours. —— in the next couple of hours. —— in the next couple of hours. more than three and a half million people, have now fled ukraine — with more than two million of them crossing into poland, although the numbers have been decreasing in recent days. our correspondent mark lowen has been there since the first day, and sent this report from the border. it's been a month of lives ripped up, a generation driven out, certainty torn apart.

a month that we've been here seeing the heartbreak of the sick forced to flee. but compassion, too, of hearts and homes opened. of the democratic world standing up to the aggressor. four weeks on, the only change is warmer weather. the arrivals keep coming, seeking safety from a war some don't understand. welcomed where poland can put them. this, a school, a smile for the kids at the ready. inside, volunteers bring comfort after an exhausting journey. yulia kirilenko and her sons fled kyiv, her husband staying to fight. translation: children were killed and teenage girls were raped. i we had to leave. they were shooting at the cars as we tried to escape. we prayed as we drove. it's good here, but we want to go home. i just want this to end. the trauma on the youngest

could take years to show and last a lifetime. olga oleshko's little ones already feel it. translation: they were asking why helicopters were flying, _ why there were sirens, why people were dying. i had to explain it in a way that didn't hurt them. at the start of the invasion, we watched as panic prompted the immediate first rush to escape. but these are the people who didn't want to leave, thinking they could stick it out, that the bombs might stop. but they didn't stop and more than 3.5 million refugees later, there's a growing feeling of the long term about this, with all the challenges that that will entail. destination warsaw, whose population is up by almost a fifth. new arrivals given id numbers and school places. they have a journey to safety, but their country still has no passage to peace. mark lowen, bbc news,

on the poland—ukraine border. so — as we enter the second month, let's take stock of where we are when it comes to strategy. the ukrainian presidential adviser has been speaking to reuters saying that the situation on the front line is practically frozen and says that many russian forces don't have the resources for an offensive. that's the latest assessment from the ukrainian presidential adviser. let's get the assessment from frank gardner. so just why has it gone so badly for russia in these first few weeks of the war? well, there are a number of reasons. there is a strength of the ukrainian resistance. most of the population has rallied round their government, with troops using western supplied weapons like javelin and stinger missiles. and when it comes to getting inside big cities, russia doesn't have enough troops to take on the defenders in most cases.

here's their charismatic president, volodymyr zelensky, a one—time comic actor who has rallied the nation, refusing to leave the capital even though there is a bounty on his head. then there's poor russian tactics. russian commanders on the ground have largely failed to take full advantage of all the tools at their disposal. things like armoured vehicles, artillery, rocket launchers, helicopters — all of which, when combined with infantry, can have massive effect but which the russians have failed to master. the russian air force is 15 times bigger than ukraine's, yet they have failed to achieve supremacy in the skies. and finally, there's poor russian logistics and communications. russian soldiers have not always maintained their vehicles properly, meaning that many of them are breaking down. and when it comes to radios, a lot of them don't work, forcing them to use mobile phones which can be easily intercepted by the ukrainians. many of the russian soldiers fighting in ukraine thought they were just going on exercise like this one in belarus. that didn't give them enough time to prepare for battle.

exercises never prepare troops properly for combat, so they were not combat—ready, and that puts real strain on the non—commissioned officers, the sergeants and the corporals, to get things ready in time, make sure the troops do theirjob properly. and in the russian army, the sergeants and the corporals are renowned for their inefficiency, their corruption and the bad relationships they have with the soldiers. so everything that could go wrong more or less did go wrong. and today, a small victory for ukraine on the sea of azov. its forces claim to have destroyed a russian amphibious landing ship. russia still has plenty more ships, but the fact that ukrainians are still fighting back one month on shows russia has grossly underestimated them. frank gardner, bbc news. frank garner with his assessment. let's get the view from moscow. our correspondent caroline davies — gave us the view from the kremlin.

there is no suggestion that the authorities are apologetic or changed their view on this at all, and that's in the face of unprecedented sanctions, of runs on their foreign currency reserves, of international companies leaving russia, from it through to mcdonald's. and while the rest of the world cup cuts russia off, the kremlin is cutting off anyone that disagrees with it. we've seen media outlets here closed, social media channels like facebook and instagram blocked. thousands of people arrested for protesting and if you were to turn on any state media or listen to any state official, you will hear the same lines again, that russia is right, that russia brings peace, that ukraine is the one to blame, regardless of what the rest of the world thanks, regardless of the images that we see coming out of ukraine. divert, deflect, deny. the kremlin has doubled down on its stance here and as a result russia is a different and far more isolated place.

we'll have more from ukraine in a moment or two but i wanted to turn away from that for a moment. one more major story. a jury has been shown video of the moment a man accused of murdering the british mp — sir david amess — was tackled by police. ali harbi ali allegedly stabbed mr amess moe than 20 times in an attack in his constituency year. ali, from kentish town in north london, denies murder — and preparing terrorist acts. let's go live now to the old bailey in london, where the trial continues. our correspondent daniel sandford is there. take me through the videos that the jury take me through the videos that the jury has been shown. tt take me through the videos that the jury has been shown.— jury has been shown. it was the 15th of october last _ jury has been shown. it was the 15th of october last year _ jury has been shown. it was the 15th of october last year when _ jury has been shown. it was the 15th of october last year when sir - jury has been shown. it was the 15th of october last year when sir david l of october last year when sir david amess was stabbed in a 30 in lyon seeing in his constituency of southend west. —— in a constituency. quickly his assistants dialled 999. the first two police officers to

arrive were pc ryan curtis and pt scott james who are essentially unarmed. they didn't have guns or tasers. theyjust had batons. this video is quite distressing. yes. we need the taser _ video is quite distressing. yes. we need the taser unit _ video is quite distressing. yes. we need the taser unit here. - video is quite distressing. yes. we need the taser unit here. they i video is quite distressing. yes. we need the taser unit here. they say he's got _ need the taser unit here. they say he's got a — need the taser unit here. they say he's got a knife and stab someone. he has— he's got a knife and stab someone. he has got— he's got a knife and stab someone. he has got a knife.— he has got a knife. we've got a taser unit _ he has got a knife. we've got a taser unit one _ he has got a knife. we've got a taser unit one minute - he has got a knife. we've got a taser unit one minute away, i he has got a knife. we've got aj taser unit one minute away, so he has got a knife. we've got a i taser unit one minute away, so we're going _ taser unit one minute away, so we're going to _ taser unit one minute away, so we're going to go _ taser unit one minute away, so we're going to go in — taser unit one minute away, so we're going to go in— going to go in. he's not right there. going to go in. he's not right there- can — going to go in. he's not right there. can you _ going to go in. he's not right there. can you show - going to go in. he's not right there. can you show us, i going to go in. he's not right i there. can you show us, mate? going to go in. he's not right - there. can you show us, mate? stay back, yeah? — there. can you show us, mate? stay back. yeah? 0n _ there. can you show us, mate? stay back, yeah? on the _ there. can you show us, mate? stay back, yeah? on the left. _ there. can you show us, mate? stay back, yeah? on the left. yeah, i there. can you show us, mate? stay back, yeah? on the left. yeah, go i back, yeah? on the left. yeah, go on. just outside. _ back, yeah? on the left. yeah, go

on. just outside. white, _ back, yeah? on the left. yeah, go on. just outside. white, drop i back, yeah? on the left. yeah, go on. just outside. white, drop the l on. just outside. white, drop the knife. on. just outside. white, drop the knife- drop _ on. just outside. white, drop the knife. drop that _ on. just outside. white, drop the knife. drop that knife! _ on. just outside. white, drop the knife. drop that knife! drop i on. just outside. white, drop the knife. drop that knife! drop it i on. just outside. white, drop the i knife. drop that knife! drop it now! mate, drop — knife. drop that knife! drop it now! mate. drop the _ knife. drop that knife! drop it now! mate, drop the knife. _ knife. drop that knife! drop it now! mate, drop the knife. listen i knife. drop that knife! drop it now! mate, drop the knife. listen to i knife. drop that knife! drop it now! | mate, drop the knife. listen to me, drop the knife. drop the knife. drop the knife. listen to me. look, it's only going to go one way. just drop the knife, please drop it for me. we'll talk about it. you don't want to do— we'll talk about it. you don't want to do this — we'll talk about it. you don't want to do this. just drop the knife. right. — to do this. just drop the knife. right. get _ to do this. just drop the knife. right, get the taser. on the floor! taser, tizer. right, searching. white, — taser, tizer. right, searching. white, you're under arrest for murder~ — white, you're under arrest for murder. you do not have to say anything — murder. you do not have to say anything but anything you say maybe -iven anything but anything you say maybe given as _ anything but anything you say maybe given as evidence. do you understand me? he _ given as evidence. do you understand

me? :. . given as evidence. do you understand me? :, , , :, , , given as evidence. do you understand me? . me? he has stabbed... what's the man's name? _ me? he has stabbed... what's the man's name? david _ me? he has stabbed... what's the man's name? david amess. i me? he has stabbed... what's the man's name? david amess. and i me? he has stabbed... what's the i man's name? david amess. and caused him to be deceased. _ terror. i'd say hate, yeah. religious- _ terror. i'd say hate, yeah. religious. as _ terror. i'd say hate, yeah. religious. as well - terror. i'd say hate, yeah. religious. as well as i terror. i'd say hate, yeah. religious. as well as that l terror. i'd say hate, yeah. i religious. as well as that arrest video the jury — religious. as well as that arrest video the jury have _ religious. as well as that arrest video the jury have been - religious. as well as that arrest i video the jury have been watching cctv images of ali harber ali in westminster and also looking through phone records, showing he was several times outside michael gove's house in west london in the months before the attack was carried out —— images of ali harvey ali. the prosecution say that he was preparing a terrorist attack, reconnoitre ring areas where he might attack mps before settling on

attacking sir david amess. the actually denies murder and denies preparing terrorist acts. the trial continues. before we take a break, let me return to ukraine. meetings going on in brussels. emanuel macron says that the sanctions have been tangible and that they must continue with them. we have the latest pictures from mariupol, the strategic city in the south. the latest pictures from the last couple of days. from ground level, you can see the extraordinary extent of the destruction, between 80—90% of the city has been destroyed. the authorities, the ukrainian deputy minister complaining that russian forces are preventing civilians from leaving mariupol. 100,000 people are

still in the city without food, water or power. i'm back with the latest in a moment. we are being spoilt at the moment, another day of glorious sunshine for many. this was cornwall earlier today. this suggests a warm's summers afternoon not a spring afternoon. high pressure still with us. high pressure over the introducing more cloud and moisture. ireland scotland, a claudia story —— highland scotland, more cloudy. north west england impacted by the cloud. some breaks and sunny spells but the best sunshine was across england and wales. over the next few hours the cloud is going to retreat

back to the north—west coast and under clearing skies with temperatures falling away quite sharply. low single figures to start the day tomorrow. then patches of early frost and mr early in the morning. they were left quite early and the emphasis is with dry, settled and sunny. still cloud across the far north and west and the cloud is thick enough in the northern isles to produce showery outbreaks of rain. top temperatures on friday afternoon, the mid to high teens. the frontal system bringing showers through the northern isles may well just drift down across the east of the high through the north sea which could have an impact to the north seacoast on saturday. more cloud just shrouding the east coast for a time. some cloud for western scotland and the irish sea as well. inland is where we will see the highest values, 19 degrees point saturday afternoon. sunday, around the high, the potentialfor more

cloud. if that happens and with those light winds, it isn't going to move very far, very fast which may have an impact on the feel of the weather. not as warm on sunday afternoon. 14 or 15. the best sunshine further north and the best temperatures as well. the cold air is going to return next week. a northerly wind driving the cold air further south which means that temperatures will be below par for the time of year and some of the showers in the far north—east may have a wintry flavour.

welcome back to bbc news. it is a month since russian troops invaded ukraine — a shocking, devastating month, with no end in sight. thousands of civilians, ukrainian soliders and russian troops have been killed. some cities, like mariupol, have faced a relentless russian bombardment, and suffered almost complete destuction. in brussels it is a day of crucial diplomacy. president biden has joined western leaders with a flurry of meetings of nato, the g7 and eu council. our world affairs editor, john simpson, joins me now. your headline thoughts a month into this war? t

your headline thoughts a month into this war? :, your headline thoughts a month into this war? ., ,._ your headline thoughts a month into this war? ., _ ., your headline thoughts a month into this war? ., ., �*, your headline thoughts a month into thiswar? ., ., �*, , this war? i would say that it's been an extraordinarily _ this war? i would say that it's been an extraordinarily successful i this war? i would say that it's been an extraordinarily successful time i an extraordinarily successful time for the ukrainian army and the armed forces. they have done wonders but do not think that the war is over. it will only be over when vladimir putin says it is over and is essentially a dictator and now, that's what he has virtually become in russia, he cannot be seen to lose a war. he cannot go back to his people and say i'm sorry, this was a mistake, we didn't do well so we will stop. the only way he can go back to the russian people is to say we have won this extraordinary victory, we destroyed the neo—nazis, we have given you back territory that you really should have had all the time and what a fantastic

success this is, so all the time you were getting encouraging stories about the extraordinary defence that the ukrainian forces are putting up, the ukrainian forces are putting up, the destruction of the ship today, a major success in every way and the morale of russians soldiers is clearly very low but this can only end really when putin says it's going to end. t end really when putin says it's going to end-— end really when putin says it's going to end. i will come back to that thought _ going to end. i will come back to that thought about _ going to end. i will come back to that thought about vladimir i going to end. i will come back to | that thought about vladimir putin going to end. i will come back to i that thought about vladimir putin in a moment as we see those pictures from the ukrainian navy stripe on this russian vessel you were talking about, in the last few moments the presidential advisor fort ukraine's presidential advisor fort ukraine's president says the front lines in their assessment have become almost frozen despite being four weeks into this campaign. i want to talk about

that meeting going on in brussels because few weeks ago the german chancellor used that word which meant turning point and that was when germany changed their fundamentalforeign policy when germany changed their fundamental foreign policy on military spending, and a sense nato facing exactly the same issues as all those leaders meet.— all those leaders meet. yes, and germany's _ all those leaders meet. yes, and germany's change, _ all those leaders meet. yes, and germany's change, that - all those leaders meet. yes, and germany's change, that turning l germany's change, that turning point, is extraordinary. it's beyond the abilities of us president after us president to persuade german chancellors to do it and in an instant it was done, the agreement was made to increase german defence spending. every single country in nato is going to have to increase its defence spending as a result of this attack in ukraine and that is

partly what will be discussed privately, quietly, in the margins of this nato summit which is also being held in parallel with an eu meeting and a g7 meeting, so all the western powers essentially are there but every one of them now is that the days of low defence spending are finished. �* . :, the days of low defence spending are finished. �* , ., a, ,., the days of low defence spending are finished. �*, ., a, ,., ., finished. let's turn to mariupol, of course such _ finished. let's turn to mariupol, of course such devastation _ finished. let's turn to mariupol, of course such devastation in - finished. let's turn to mariupol, of course such devastation in that i course such devastation in that city. i want to put on screen some of the latest pictures because pictures coming into the bbc at ground level, we have seen a lot of drone pictures over the last few days which show the extraordinary amount of devastation but at ground level you really see the enormity of the damage done, this relentless bombardment of the southern port city, and reports have been

circulating for a couple of days with ukraine accusing russia of forcibly taking up to 15,000 people from mariupol, the district they have taken, to russia. what is your assessment of what exactly is going on there? t assessment of what exactly is going on there? .. �* . assessment of what exactly is going on there? ~ �*, ,., ., ., on there? i think it's part of a kind of collective _ on there? i think it's part of a kind of collective punishment| on there? i think it's part of a i kind of collective punishment that russia is imposing on ukraine, taking its people away. i've looked into this a bit, you are always in the hands of the people you speak to but the evidence for this does seem to be pretty strong, that people are being taken out and held, no doubt, as hostages at some stage, part of whatever final agreement, well, hopefully part of whatever final agreement is reached, but the way

that mariupol has been treated is really going directly back to russia's experience in syria where it got away with destroying city after city, time after time, in this kind of brutal way and you do kind of wonder what's in the mind of president putin, what he thinks the western powers will put up with if they put up with that kind of, as it were, syrian treatment, and he must now realise that they are not going to put up with it nearly as easily as he thought. tt’s to put up with it nearly as easily as he thought.— to put up with it nearly as easily as he thou:ht. fl , , as he thought. it's been interesting from the absence _ as he thought. it's been interesting from the absence of— as he thought. it's been interesting from the absence of seeing - as he thought. it's been interesting from the absence of seeing those i from the absence of seeing those defence officials or military advisers on our screens, it has been dominated by vladimir putin, and a

final question about what young stoltenberg said earlier, morning that russia not to use chemical weapons, we saw a warning from the g7 and president biden repeatedly. i spoke yesterday to the uk's un ambassador who said perhaps today was the time for clear red lines to be laid out, notjust about saying you cannot use them but the consequences of what would happen if they were used. do you think that is likely? t they were used. do you think that is likel ? ~' they were used. do you think that is likel ? ~ , , ., likely? i think it must be a possibility _ likely? i think it must be a possibility but _ likely? i think it must be a possibility but the - likely? i think it must be a possibility but the fact i likely? i think it must be a possibility but the fact is l likely? i think it must be a i possibility but the fact is that nato is in this with one arm tied behind its back and an unnamed official but clearly somebody petite senior in the nato hierarchy came out today at that meeting and said that actually the use of chemical weapons inside ukraine, against ukrainian people, is not a red line

for nato, that's to say if the russians do use that, nato will not use it as an excuse to move in and take on russian troops, and the russians will have noticed that. they will know that they can, if they wanted to connect to get away with using chemical weapons. the one thing they won't be able to get away with is if the effects of those chemical weapons drifts across into nato territory, in one area or another, perhaps poland or something like that. that nato would consider an absolute red line, and attacks on nato territory, but if it's done within ukraine, it looks as though nato will look on at that and just have to put up with that. nato will look on at that and 'ust have to put up with that.i nato will look on at that and 'ust have to put up with that. that's a very bleak _ have to put up with that. that's a very bleak assessment _ have to put up with that. that's a

very bleak assessment if - have to put up with that. that's a very bleak assessment if that i have to put up with that. that's a very bleak assessment if that is l have to put up with that. that's a i very bleak assessment if that is how it pans out. we'd come full circle a month into this campaign because the impact of it, the ripples from the shock waves being felt in every capital. shock waves being felt in every caital. . shock waves being felt in every caital. , ., ., ., , capital. yes, quite extraordinary and the far _ capital. yes, quite extraordinary and the far east, _ capital. yes, quite extraordinary and the far east, in _ capital. yes, quite extraordinary and the far east, in india, i capital. yes, quite extraordinary and the far east, in india, in i and the far east, in india, in britain with the chelsea football club, i cannot think of a crisis from an international crisis which has had this extraordinary ripple effect and changed the lives and the way that countries work can like germany, suddenly being prepared to stand up and spend the money that's necessary on its own defence, but right across the world we will be feeling the effects of this for a very very long time.—

feeling the effects of this for a very very long time. john simpson, thanks very — very very long time. john simpson, thanks very much _ very very long time. john simpson, thanks very much for _ very very long time. john simpson, thanks very much for your - very very long time. john simpson, i thanks very much for your assessment of what we have gone through over the first four weeks of this invasion. let's get more insight on president putin's strategy. i'm joined now by the great—granddaughter of nikita khrushchev, whojoins me live from new york and it's great to have you on the programme. a lot of people out the military build—up was just a negotiating tactic. how surprised are you that putin went ahead and invaded? t are you that putin went ahead and invaded? :. . are you that putin went ahead and invaded? ., , ., ., .,, are you that putin went ahead and invaded? .,, ., ., , .,, invaded? i was one of those people who argued — invaded? i was one of those people who argued that _ invaded? i was one of those people who argued that russia _ invaded? i was one of those people who argued that russia is _ invaded? i was one of those people who argued that russia is a - invaded? i was one of those people who argued that russia is a grand l who argued that russia is a grand country to which negotiating tactics are grand and scary so i was in shock when it happened because it

seems rational and we can see it's a month into this war and its completely irrational and goes against every national interest, it goes against all the goals that putin stated he wanted, new security negotiations in europe, collective security, we want nato to be less direct link to russia and what remarkable is that he achieved absolutely the opposite, in fact nato countries are meeting in brussels and there is a certain amount of unity that probably they haven't seen since the war in iraq or even war in afghanistan since the early 2000 when all the american wars were declared, so he achieved the opposite. you wars were declared, so he achieved the opposite-— the opposite. you said in a recent article you — the opposite. you said in a recent article you felt _ the opposite. you said in a recent article you felt shame _ the opposite. you said in a recent article you felt shame at - the opposite. you said in a recent article you felt shame at this i article you felt shame at this invasion. why, given that this is

straight out of the kremlin, out of one man? �* :. straight out of the kremlin, out of one man? �* . ,, ., straight out of the kremlin, out of one man?�* . ,, ., �* one man? i'm a russian, i'm responsible _ one man? i'm a russian, i'm responsible for— one man? i'm a russian, i'm responsible for my _ one man? i'm a russian, i'm responsible for my nation, i one man? i'm a russian, i'm i responsible for my nation, that is what we all talk about when we talk about democracy, that is why you express your opinion, that is why there is freedom of speech in normal countries, because you are responsible for the actions of your nation. you also mentioned nikita khrushchev and he had his own share of bad behaviour, so oppressive behaviour and i do feel responsible for that because i try to be a good citizen, so i am ashamed and i think a lot of russians, i know you have reported on this, at least 300,000 russians left because they feel responsible, they feel ashamed, they feel they can speak freely from elsewhere because in russia and now you cannot make a peep if it's not

in agreement with the kremlin and the ministry of defence. tote in agreement with the kremlin and the ministry of defence.— the ministry of defence. we are seeinu the ministry of defence. we are seeing pictures _ the ministry of defence. we are seeing pictures of— the ministry of defence. we are seeing pictures of your - seeing pictures of your great—grandfather and you have written about the cuban missile crisis and you say that khrushchev was a major participant in that you go on to say you think if you are going to push and your opponent links, then you push and your opponent doesn't link, what do you do then? so what is the way out of this? —— your opponent blinks. tt was a nice comparison with the cuban missile crisis when their work negotiations for three months but we are past that, khrushchev was an impulsive politician who would get to the brink of confrontation when he went through the cuban missile crisis because he realised even the smallest mistake would bring disaster for the world so he and

kennedy quickly wrapped it up, it only took 13 days but comparing with newton, khrushchev now seems very zen compared to what putin has done in ukraine. i don't know what the exit strategy is for putin, it seems he is no longer therefore any negotiations, he is there to say if you disregard me and by definition you disregard me and by definition you disregard me and by definition you disregard russia, you don't respect it, then you will get it at any cost and that is why i find all this mention of nuclear and chemical weapons are frightening because it does seem like putin is ready to go as far as he needs to prove a point that russia is a great country and he is putin the first, the great president of russia. you he is putin the first, the great president of russia.— he is putin the first, the great president of russia. you have met vladimir putin, _ president of russia. you have met vladimir putin, does _ president of russia. you have met vladimir putin, does what - president of russia. you have met vladimir putin, does what he i president of russia. you have met vladimir putin, does what he is i vladimir putin, does what he is doing now fit with the man you

thought you knew? t doing now fit with the man you thought you knew?— doing now fit with the man you thought you knew? i never thought i knew him, i — thought you knew? i never thought i knew him. i just _ thought you knew? i never thought i knew him, ijust met _ thought you knew? i never thought i knew him, ijust met him _ thought you knew? i never thought i knew him, ijust met him twice i thought you knew? i never thought i knew him, ijust met him twice and l knew him, ijust met him twice and it was early in his presidency and he is much more, we know that he's a very good recruiter so we has the charm of a recruiter, he was a former kgb operative, or form charm of a recruiter, he was a former kgb operative, orform or whatever, but what he does now shows that absolute power corrupts absolutely, during covid he was hidden from the world for two years, finally you come out and the map of geopolitics in putin because my head is different from what geopolitics is different from what geopolitics is and therefore when i met him in 2000 he was still much more connected to the world now after 22 years in power and he is not connected, he cannot be and that is why i think he is dangerous. tote

connected, he cannot be and that is why i think he is dangerous. we have seen a wave — why i think he is dangerous. we have seen a wave of— why i think he is dangerous. we have seen a wave of protests _ why i think he is dangerous. we have seen a wave of protests and - why i think he is dangerous. we have seen a wave of protests and arrests l seen a wave of protests and arrests in the last four weeks, we have the most severe sanctions anyone can remember. can vladimir putin insulate himself from all of that, the impact of it? tie insulate himself from all of that, the impact of it?— insulate himself from all of that, the impact of it? he does and he has and he will and _ the impact of it? he does and he has and he will and that's _ the impact of it? he does and he has and he will and that's why _ the impact of it? he does and he has and he will and that's why i - the impact of it? he does and he has and he will and that's why i think- and he will and that's why i think those sanctions, economic weapons of mass destruction, people will feel them, the people who will suffer, it's not the kremlin because once again a descendant of khrushchev, those in the kremlin never suffered because they have enough stuff, they have enough resources for them to continue to live the way they have stuck now they will not travel abroad but still it's the russian people who will suffer and that is when the collective punishment comes in and that's why i think the russian future is so undetermined because they are going to be

completely oppressed by the state which effectively the security forces are running the state, it's notjust putin although he makes decisions, or it will be a repetition of 1991 when people go to the streets and refused to take it but that would mean horrific bloodshed so i'm very concerned and traumatised by the tragic future of my country. traumatised by the tragic future of my country-— traumatised by the tragic future of my country. nina khrushcheva, we have to leave _ my country. nina khrushcheva, we have to leave it _ my country. nina khrushcheva, we have to leave it there _ my country. nina khrushcheva, we have to leave it there but - my country. nina khrushcheva, we have to leave it there but thank i my country. nina khrushcheva, we| have to leave it there but thank you for joining have to leave it there but thank you forjoining us live on bbc news. we were talking about sanctions, we are expecting more sanctions from both the eu and president biden. sam simmons is here with a look at that and the rest of the business news in terms of how they tighten the screw. president biden's in brussels for talks on toughening sanctions against russia.

a g7 summit and a meeting of the european council in brussels. a key part of their discussions will of course be sanctions. for more on this, i'm joined now by michelle fleury from new york. what is the latest on the sanctions? earlier we heard from the us are unveiling the latest raft of sanctions including russian elites, the ceo of a giant russian bank and various members related to defence companies and members of the russian duma, all of this trying to ratchet up duma, all of this trying to ratchet up economic pressure on this country. there was also a move to restrict russia's ability to use its massive gold reserves to circumvent some of the sanctions already in place which has made it difficult for the country's currency to maintain its value. the central bank has been acting to try to prop it up and they are trying to remove one of its abilities to do that with these sanctions. we heard from the german chancellor olaf scholz saying he

supported these measures and they were prepared to go further if necessary. one of the key stumbling blocks has been your�*s dependence on natural gas from russia, it gets about 40% of its supply there so that has been one area where they have had to hold back some of perhaps their strongest economic weapons. interestingly russia responded by saying they would start to demand payment for natural gas in roubles, that drew a response from italy's prime minister mario draghi saying that would violate the contract that exists between europe and russia. tithe contract that exists between europe and russia. :, contract that exists between europe and russia. ., , ., , , and russia. one other story is the famous yellow _ and russia. one other story is the famous yellow cabs _ and russia. one other story is the famous yellow cabs seen - and russia. one other story is the famous yellow cabs seen all i and russia. one other story is the famous yellow cabs seen all overl and russia. one other story is the i famous yellow cabs seen all over new york, part of its dna, there will be a change in how you can fail one from now on?— a change in how you can fail one from now on? , a, , , a, , from now on? customers will be able to hail them — from now on? customers will be able to hail them through _ from now on? customers will be able to hail them through the _ from now on? customers will be able to hail them through the right - to hail them through the right healing app uber unlike many major cities around the world the arrival

of uber has closed a lot of financial heartache for new york's find yellow cabs. ridership is massively down since its arrival in the city so the idea that there would be some sharing of technology has caught many people off guard. what's behind it is one�*s site there has been a shortage of drivers since the pandemic so that lead to customers complaining about higher prices, on the taxi site there have been many bankruptcies, about 1000 new york cab drivers have filed for bankruptcy in recent years so this is a way to help both sides but if you take a yellow taxi from the airport, jfk, there is a fixed fee. if you take a uber typically that fee is higher so how these to match up fee is higher so how these to match up given this new system is the sort of detail people are waiting to hear

more about. of detail people are waiting to hear more about-— the chief executive of p&0 ferries has admitted that the decision to sack 800 workers without consulting unions broke the law. peter hebblethwaite said he chose not to consult because he didn't believe "there was any other way to do it". he also said he would make the same decision again because the business as it was, wasn't viable — and now it is. speaking to a committee of mps, mr hebblethwaite said the move was the only way to save the company. mick lynch from the rmt rail union told the same committee that p&0 had "made flagrant breaches of the law". here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. arriving to face mps, the boss of p80, a week after making 800 workers redundant without notice. peter hebblethwaite didn't get an easy ride. the chair of the joint transport and business committee set the tone from the outset. are you in this mess because you don't know what you're doing, or are you just a shameless criminal? no answer there, but the p&0 boss did admit breaking the law by not consulting with unions. there is absolutely no

doubt we were required to consult with the unions. we chose not to do that because we believe... you chose to break the law? we chose not to consult and we are and will compensate everyone in full for that. the ferry crews were sacked so they could be replaced with cheaper agency workers. the average hourly rate of hourly pay is £5.50. that is below the national minimum wage of this country. _ how do you reconcile that? where we are governed by the national minimum wage, we will absolutely pay national minimum wage. this is international seafaring model, consistent with models throughout the globe and our competitors. but unions had already told mps what they thought the company was trying to do. that's what p&0 are aiming to achieve, to kill our merchant marine and to kill our employment laws, and something has got to be done about it today. the prime minister said he's going to prosecute.

this government has got to intervene now. impound these ships and get our people back to work. meanwhile, p&0�*s ferries stand idle, services on most routes are suspended as new crews are trained up. eventually they'll sail again but the political storm stirred up by p&0�*s actions shows no sign of dying down. theo leggett, bbc news. there's been increasing criticism from some quarters, of the uk government's finance chief, chancellor of the exchequer rishi sunak, after he set out measures to ease the impact of soaring energy, food and fuel prices. he has cut fuel duty by five pence a litre and raised the threshold at which workers start paying national insurance by almost £3000. he has also promised an income tax cut in 2024 — when he says the economy will be in better shape. but he has resisted calls to scrap a rise in the rate of national insurance — due to come in next month. well, earlier i spoke to carl emmerson, deputy director

of the institute for fiscal studies and started off by asking him why — despite promising tax cuts — almost all people in work will be paying more tax. yes, so, by 2025 it is true that the chancellor, as a result of yesterday's statement, will have done some tax cutting. he will have taken people out of national insurance and he would have cut the basic rate of income tax. he also will have done a lot of tax rising. in particular he will have frozen the point at which they start to pay income tax, frozen the point at which people pay the higher rate of income tax and increased the rate of national insurance. those freezes in tax points, when inflation is so high, bite very deeply. that means that by 2025 the takeaway from the tax rises is much bigger than the giveaway from the tax cuts. as a result the vast majority of workers will be paying more tax overall, not less. that's it from me, back to you,

matthew. before we take a break let me bring you up—to—date with those events in brussels. we are expecting the european council summit to be addressed byjoe biden soon. we heard in the last few moments the us and then sing another round of sanctions against russia's lawmakers in response to the invasion of ukraine, this the g7 bout out that was taken earlier in the day. a couple of interesting lines, pullen's prime minister has said russia is trying to re—establish an empire of evil and emmanuel macron saying i want to believe china will continue to want the war in ukraine to end, saying he believes china will do nothing to escalate the war in ukraine, a reference to those reports suggesting russia had asked china for assistance but the fight out from earlier, plenty more from brussels and all those meetings and

plenty more from ukraine, from all of our teams across the country and on the borders. coming up for you in just a moment, don't go away. we are being spoilt at the moment, another day of spring sunshine and warmth for many. this was cornwall earlier today. this suggests a warm's summers afternoon not a spring afternoon. high pressure still with us. this has introduced more moisture at south highland scotland this afternoon cloudier than earlier in the wake and there were a few isolated showers. some breaks and sunny spells but the best sunshine was across england and wales. over the next few hours a lot

of the cloud is going to retreat back to the north—west coast and under clearing skies with temperatures falling away quite sharply. low single figures to start the day tomorrow. then patches of early frost and most early in the morning. sorry to leave that come straight to brussels as borisjohnson has just started speaking. the brussels as boris johnson has 'ust started speakingi started speaking. the uk and our allies in nato _ started speaking. the uk and our allies in nato and _ started speaking. the uk and our allies in nato and the _ started speaking. the uk and our allies in nato and the g7 - started speaking. the uk and our allies in nato and the g7 here - started speaking. the uk and our i allies in nato and the g7 here today are clear, we will not stand by while putin vents his fury on ukraine. i have rarely seen our nations more united in recent years than we are now. putin's failure in ukraine is vital for the than we are now. putin's failure in ukraine is vitalfor the peace than we are now. putin's failure in ukraine is vital for the peace and prosperity of all of us and his barbaric invasion has galvanised the international community into collective action. we will work with like—minded allies to ramp up lethal

aid to ukraine at scale, providing kit to president zelensky in the quantity and with the quality that he needs to defend his country from its bullying neighbour. today i have announced that we in the uk will send an additional 6000 missiles and provide £20 million in unrestricted funding for ukraine's armed forces, more than doubling the lethal aid we have provided before now. we are bolstering support for nato countries on the front line, sending a new deployment of uk troops to bulgaria on top of doubling our troops in poland and estonia. this is just the troops in poland and estonia. this isjust the beginning. we must support a free and democratic ukraine in the long term. this is a fellow european democracy fighting a war of national defence. nato and g7

leaders were also united today in our determination to continue turning the screws on the kremlin's war machine including by weaning ourselves off russian oil and gas and reshaping global energy security. the uk has already hit over 1000 russian individuals and entities in our toughest ever sanctions and the foreign secretary has announced 65 new sanctions against russian banks, weapons manufacturers and oligarchs just this morning. i also discussed the humanitarian response with our allies today as we continue to see huge numbers of ukrainians flee their homes. and the message that president putin can take from two's the extraordinary meeting of nato and the g7 is this, ukraine is not

alone. we stand with people of kyiv, mariupol, of done and donetsk. and as zelensky has said the people of ukraine will prevail and putin will fail. thank you very much and i will take questions from as many of you as i can but we have to rush for a plane. let's go to nick beek from the bbc. ., ~ plane. let's go to nick beek from the sac. ., ~ , ., ., plane. let's go to nick beek from the sac. ., ~ _, ., _, the bbc. thank you. he said that you were sending — the bbc. thank you. he said that you were sending the _ the bbc. thank you. he said that you were sending the quality _ the bbc. thank you. he said that you were sending the quality and - were sending the quality and quantity— were sending the quality and quantity of weapons that ukraine deserves— quantity of weapons that ukraine deserves and needs, but it's clear from _ deserves and needs, but it's clear from what — deserves and needs, but it's clear from what president obama saying to you and _ from what president obama saying to you and other world leaders that he would _ you and other world leaders that he would like _ you and other world leaders that he would like more. so, first of all, are you — would like more. so, first of all, are you comfortable with the level of weapons you are sending collectively and secondly how uncomfortable does it make you feel that by— uncomfortable does it make you feel that by rolling out a no—fly zone, liy ruling —

that by rolling out a no—fly zone, by ruling out nato troops