this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, or around the globe. our top stories... us presidentjoe biden has his first face—to—face meeting with ukrainian government ministers since the russian invasion of their country. on his visit to poland, he spells out a clear message to the kremlin: nato stay absolutely, completely, thoroughly united. ukraine's president says his troops have dealt russian forces a series of "powerful blows", and calls for urgent, meaningful peace talks. in other news... a ferry operated by p&0 has been detained in northern ireland, because of fears about staff training. and tributes from across the music industry for taylor hawkins, the drummer with the rock band,

the foo fighters, who's died at the age of 50. hello and welcome. president biden has been holding face—to—face meeting with ukrainian government ministers since the russian invasion of their country. he met ukraine's defence and foreign ministers in warsaw, before talks with the polish president, andrzej duda. in other developments ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has urged russia to engage in serious peace talks, and claimed that more than 16,000 russian troops have now died in a month of fighting, including several senior officers. russia announced that it was entering what it called "stage two"

of its invasion of ukraine and focussing its forces on the east of the country in an attempt to secure the donbas region. western officials have suggested this means russia's initial strategy of capturing ukraine's major cities has failed. and the world health organization says it is deeply concerned about attacks on hospitals and other health care facilities in ukraine. it has recorded 72 incidents so far. russia denies deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. anna foster reports. a show of strength in is stalling offensive. this russian military video shows cruise missiles launching from the black sea. it claims ukrainian weapons and fuel supplies were destroyed, but the russian advance is slow and has not come close to capturing the capital kyiv. it says it will now focus on the complete liberation

of the eastern donbas region, for some western officials that is an admission of failure. but where russia is hitting, it's hitting hard. the deputy mayor of the besieged city of mariupol has told the bbc people there are desperate and dying. a lack of food, some dying of a lack of medicine, insuline and something like this, because people cannot find medical help. ukraine says it is still pushing russian forces back. it believes it could retake the city of kherson in the south, which has seen fierce fighting. the president says more support is still needed. it is injustice that is the basis of what russia is doing against ukraine. as they exploit their privileged positions in international organisations and the fear of the use of nuclear weapons. the fear that russia

is constantly spreading. in poland, the us president joe biden join talks between senior american and ukrainian officials and later he will make a speech in warsaw, calling on the international community to oppose the russian invasion. the world now waits to see if this conflict really is about to enter a new phase, although russia is keen to show that it can and will continue its military campaign in ukraine. president biden�*s been talking in the last hour. let's hear some of what he had to say. i am confident that vladimir putin was counting on being able to divide nato, being able to separate the eastern flank from the west, being able to separate nations based on past histories. but he has not been able to do it. we have all stayed together, and so, ijust think

it is so important that we, poland and the united states, keep in lockstep how we are proceeding. 0ur correspondent mark lowen is in warsaw — he told me what more to expect from president biden�*s talks with the polish government. i think we are likely to hear an expression of complete solidarity with poland and unity really between poland and its nato and eu partners. that is very much the message of president biden�*s trip up until now, first in brussels and then here in poland. he is meeting the polish president after a slight disagreement a couple of weeks ago when the polish authorities had proposed that polish fighterjets would be transferred to ukraine via an american air base in germany. that met a fairly cool response from the americans, who said that they were taken by surprise.

they were not consulted about that and that they did not think that was a workable plan. because they fear that that would have been perceived by the russians as a direct military confrontation between nato and russia. but we understand that the poles are saying that i still on the table, so perhaps part of those discussions between poland and the us and i think an interesting part of all this, rebecca, is that the relationship between these two presidents actually was on a fairly downward spiral before the ukraine war. mr biden had spoken about poland's illiberal drift. he had warned that poland was heading towards totalitarianism. because of all this right—wing populism here in poland. remember, the polish president was a kind of donald trump man. but now the russian aggression has kind of pulled the two men together, the two governments together. so even if vladimir putin was hoping to exploit divisions amongst western nations, it appears certainly from these discussions here.

and president biden post presence here in warsaw that really has achieved by the opposite. so we know that before this meeting, mark, prison biden has met other officials in warsaw. what is the significance of that? —— president biden. ukrainian defence and foreign ministers and other various officials from the government in kyiv. they've obviously spoken by phone of the last month but this is a moment when the ukrainians can press, probably expected to have the americans to give them more direct military assistance. remember, they've been calling for a no—fly zonein they've been calling for a no—fly zone in ukraine which the americans are so far rejecting saying that they do not want nato troops or nato boots on the ground in ukraine. so an important time to take stock of what is happening and to try to see if they can find ways of

transferring even more military hardware to ukraine. poland is very much the logistics and military hub of everything going into ukraine. when we have spent the last month on the border between poland and ukraine we saw a massive build—up of nato military hardware in the airport where prison biden was yesterday with military planes and anti—missile systems stationed there ready to drive over the border into ukraine. so clearly there will have been discussions and not such topic as well. dr victoria vdovychenkois an associate professor at borys grinchenko kyiv university. and i'm pleased to say she joins and i'm pleased to say shejoins me now. welcome to bbc news. i'd like to discuss if i may some of those lines that are coming out of poland in the wake of president biden�*s meetings with his polish counterpart also with ukrainian defence and foreign ministry. and i wanted to pick up specifically on his statement that we must keep in lock

step, that the west must have a united response to the russian invasion. but isn't it the truth that the west is actually far from united on how to respond? thank you so much first— united on how to respond? thank you so much first of— united on how to respond? thank you so much first of all— united on how to respond? thank you so much first of all for— united on how to respond? thank you so much first of all for the _ so much first of all for the opportunity to speak to you today and actually i do agree with you today that for the moment we don't so much of the west united in terms of this response as just even the nato summit just two of this response as just even the nato summitjust two days ago and the outcomes of the nato summit. they do prove that there are, let's say, misunderstandings or not complete unity of how nato sees things about the out chrome dreamer outcome of the war. at the moment inside nato there are different complications and scenarios how they see the future going on. so nato allies focus on not tempt in the

russian federation with some tactics. therefore, the question of lethal weapons supply orjust heavy weapons apply is not under discussion any more and i think i was one of the points being discussed. with the ukrainian ministry of defence and the foreign affairs minister. they spoke with mr bidenjust right now, the meeting finished a couple of minutes ago. so there are all so nato ally members who definitely support and saying that not only the defence weapons should be supplied to ukraine. in this regard with very thankful with the united kingdom position on the polish position. the discrepancy is that there are with inside the nato alliance, it was seen actually during the summit and therefore the implication for that we do understand that the no—fly zone is not an option and presidents lenski

was voicing during his speech to the nato summit that there should be —— the ukrainian president. because for some of the partners the tactics and the tactical and logistical moments in a couple of days for the ukrainian defence forces and territorial defence, they see that it can be a provocation from the russian side that the russian side do not want to give crimea back or do not want to give crimea back or do not want to give the territories of donbas back, that is basically those ukrainian territories. there is a secret of this discrepancy happening from some of the nato allied members. still some of the positions of france and italy and luxembourg, which is interesting, being a small country but putting a hint into the foreign policy implications into that. it is just to try to talk to putin, which is

not the case of the statements of the president of the united states. it is not the case for the implication is how borisjohnson is presenting it or even the president of poland as how you were saying in your interview before.— of poland as how you were saying in your interview before. professor, we must leave — your interview before. professor, we must leave it — your interview before. professor, we must leave it there _ your interview before. professor, we must leave it there are _ your interview before. professor, we must leave it there are afraid - your interview before. professor, we must leave it there are afraid but. must leave it there are afraid but a very comprehensive answer to my question and we are grateful to you. in one of its largest military exercises in recent years, nato has been simulating its response to an attack on a member state. it's been taking place in norway, which shares a border with russia and was planned before the invasion of ukraine. but as our defence correspondent jonathan beale reports, the war has given the training a sharper focus. gunfire. another neighbour of russia has been invaded. this is northern norway, but it is just an exercise — a test for nato allies to come to its defence. something nato says it will do

to protect a member state, though not for ukraine. but what's happened in ukraine has suddenly made this training feel more real. an exercise like this, it's really good to have, uh, to prove to countries like russia and other foreign states that you don't want to mess with nato. i think there have been some discussions about if the co—response should take place, but i think it's more important to do it now than ever. and what signal does it send to russia, do you think? that we're willing to fight. we will not give up our land. exercise cold response in norway is one of nato's largest, involving 30,000 military personnel from 27 countries. it was planned long before russia invaded ukraine, but russia's been building up its military presence in the arctic, too — one reason why british and american marines

are also stepping up their training here in this harsh, unforgiving environment. president putin wanted less nato near his border. what he's getting is more. notjust more exercises like this, but thousands more nato troops stationed along nato's eastern flank, all the way from the baltic to the black sea. it's notjust nato allies taking part. so are finland and sweden, with a long history of neutrality. but both countries have seen a recent surge in public support to join nato. russia's war in ukraine is forcing more of europe to pick sides. the military is ready, if the political decision — and there is a decision tojoin, but it's not up to us to make that decision. russia's war in ukraine has sent shockwaves throughout the world. i met borisjohnson yesterday... and the head of nato, who met troops taking part in cold response,

says the consequences will be felt for many years to come. resident putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he wants. he wants less nato at his borders, he's getting more nato at his borders. he wants to divide nato. he has actually united, is uniting nato. but there's still a limit as to what nato is willing to do. it stands ready to defend its members, but it won't be using its military power to intervene in ukraine. jonathan beale, bbc news, narvik, norway. let's talk about an aspect of the conflict in ukraine now that we can't see easily — but which our next guest will say is a crucial element in the war for both russian forces and for the ukrainians. dr tom withington is an expert in electronic warfare — and he joins us now in toulouse, france. it is very good to have you with us. welcome. before we go any further i need you to explain exactly what

electronic warfare is and why you think it is so important.— electronic warfare is and why you think it is so important. well, good afternoon. — think it is so important. well, good afternoon, rebecca. _ think it is so important. well, good afternoon, rebecca. it— think it is so important. well, good afternoon, rebecca. it is— think it is so important. well, good afternoon, rebecca. it is an - afternoon, rebecca. it is an excellent question and i always use the analogy of the human body to explain electronic warfare. if we think of an army we can think of the soldiers on the command has been that army's brain. they're the people who take the decisions and the actions. the arms, the weapons, the actions. the arms, the weapons, the tanks all that kind of thing, they are the limbs of the body, they are the things that make the effect on the ground. the brain and the limbs need a nervous system to connect them. and what army's used to connect those two parts is radio. radio communications. and they also use radar, the use systems to sense as well. but electronic warfare really is about attacking that nervous system in the context of army's it is about attacking his communications link in that brain to those limbs. and once you attack that network, that nervous system, thenit that network, that nervous system, then it becomes very difficult for

then it becomes very difficult for the army to then perform whatever mission it is trying to do. if it is trying to simply capture a piece of territory or an entire city. that is really what electronic warfare is going after. really what electronic warfare is going after-— really what electronic warfare is auoin after. ., , ., ., , going after. you explain that very well, so it — going after. you explain that very well. so it is _ going after. you explain that very well, so it is essentially - going after. you explain that very well, so it is essentially about. going after. you explain that very| well, so it is essentially about the ability to communicate. and therefore what role is it playing in this particular war?— this particular war? well, it is been very _ this particular war? well, it is been very interesting - this particular war? well, it is i been very interesting observing this particular war? well, it is - been very interesting observing the electronic warfare aspects of the conflict so far. just to rewind a little bit, back in 2010, mr putin made a very big thing about the reform of the russian armed forces. the man included a lot of investment going into new technology and equipment. some of that investment went into electronic warfare technologies for the russian army. so when this war started, myself and many of my colleagues expected that we would see a lot of energetic electronic warfare. that the ukrainians would have a great deal of trouble communicating. their cell phones would simply stop working, their internet would be down. your

colleagues for instance in ukraine at the moment are using satellite to senseit at the moment are using satellite to sense it dispatches back to your southwards find it very difficult to use their satellite communications that purpose. but what we have seen so far as there has been some electronic warfare but not as much as we would have expected. and not quite as severe as we would have expected either. now, iwould quite as severe as we would have expected either. now, i would add the caveat that obviously i'm here in south—west france so i'm not on the ground and i'm relying really on the ground and i'm relying really on the information i can get back from the information i can get back from the front. and as you know yourself as a journalist you have to always look at things as critically as you possibly can. but that is one of the early takeaway is at this point is that the onslaught if you like, the electronic onslaught that we expected hasn't materialised. we haven't got much time but i dojust haven't got much time but i do just want to ask you that there are reports one of russia's most advanced pieces of electronic warfare has been captured and sent to the 96 for analysis. how significant _ to the 96 for analysis. how significant that _ to the 96 for analysis. how significant that be? - to the 96 for analysis. how

significant that be? this i to the 96 for analysis. firm" significant that be? this could be very significant because the equipment you talked about, it is a particularly advanced piece of electronic warfare equipment. it is relatively new. so i think the united states and nato will be very, very keen to have a very good look at that and see what understanding they can get out, see if it yields any secrets perhaps that maybe useful to nato and useful to the ukrainians on the ground. really aood to ukrainians on the ground. really good to talk— ukrainians on the ground. really good to talk to _ ukrainians on the ground. really good to talk to you. _ ukrainians on the ground. really good to talk to you. thanks - ukrainians on the ground. really good to talk to you. thanks so i ukrainians on the ground. really - good to talk to you. thanks so much. thank you. formula one has confirmed the saudi arabian grand prix will go ahead despite friday's missile attack on an oil facilty 12 miles from thejeddah circuit. f1 and its governing body, the fia, said they have been provided "full and detailed assurances that the event is secure." drivers met for several hours until early on saturday to discuss their position. in a joint statement, they said seeing the smoke from the attack as they practised on the challenging circuit had made it difficult to remain focused. houthi rebels in neighbouring yemen said they had targeted the oil facility.

a p&0 ferries ship is being held in northern ireland, after it was declared "unfit to sail," according to the transport secretary grant shapps. no freight or passengers were onboard the european causeway when it was detained in larne. the maritime and coastguard agency said it was being held because of missing documentation and "failures in crew training." here's katie prescott. going nowhere. this is the european causeway detained this morning. deemed unfit to sail. the new crewing of p&0 ferries ships has been tagged by the maritime and coastguard agency since they sacked eight ended seafarers without notice in nine days ago and replaced them with cheaper agency workers. former employees say they are not surprised that it hasn't gone smoothly. they have replaced experienced seafarers, approximately

35% of the entire crew, with people that are unfamiliar with the vessel and let's not forget those people who have been replaced very many of them are in leadership positions, the captain has been replaced, the chief engineer. the company said it made the decision to replace crews because it was losing £100 million a year. the longer it ships i grounded the more these losses increase. it hits trade. these ships carry goods as well as passengers. a lot of businesses are having to prioritise what they send them when they send it and us and businesses are bringing in extra staff to work in distribution centres here but the key message is that need to get here still getting through, but it is creating a heavy workload. in front of mps, the p&0 boss admitted they acted and lawfully.

there is no doubt we were required to consult with unions, we chose not to do that because we... you decided to break the law? we decided not to consult and we are and will compensate everybody in full for that. labour would like the government to act, they say in the public interest and force him to step down. ministers say they can't make him but that... if you sit in front of a select committee of the house of commons and say you knowingly broke the law, as a chief executive of a large company like p&0, you ought to question your position. protests in ports around the country are calling on people to boycott p&0. the rest of the company plasma ships are due to be checked in the coming days. the decision to ground the european causeway doesn't bode well. the united states has called for tougher international sanctions on north korea, following its latest missile test. washington's ambassador to the un accused pyongyang of �*increasingly dangerous provocations', after the north korean leader, kim jong—un, oversaw the launch of its largest ever

inter—continental ballistic missile. the authorities in shanghai say the chinese city is too important to the national and world economy to go into full covid lockdown. the statement suggests china may be ready to abandon its zero—covid strategy, despite a rising number of infections. shanghai recorded more than 2,000 new cases on saturday. in the past, china locked down entire towns and cities following the discovery ofjust a few infections. but in shanghai, the authorities are closing down only affected neighbourhoods and relying on self—testing. the foo fighters' drummer, taylor hawkins, has been found dead in his hotel room, during the band's tour of south america. he was 50 years old. the band, who were due to play at a festival in the colombian capital bogota today, said they were devastated.

mark savage reports. when taylor hawkins joined foo fighters in 1997, he was their third drummer, but there's a reason he stuck around for 25 years. his muscular but melodic playing style was a perfect fit for front man dave grohl, and the pair were inseparable on stage and off. in his autobiography last year, grohl called hawkins "a tornado of hyperactive joy, my best friend, and a man for whom i would take a bullet." the musician was born in texas but raised in california. he fell in love with the drums the first time he sat behind a kit in his neighbour's garage at the age of ten. i just took to it immediately, and so, i mean, that day, there was like a lightning bolt shot into me, and it was like, "ah!" and i was like, "i'm a drummer, that's what i'm going to do", and that sort of became my armour and then ijust fell in love with it. # you live, you learn...#.

he came to prominence playing with alanis morissette before volunteering his services to foo fighters. # when i sing along with you...#. sing along! with them, he co—wrote the grammy—winning hits best of you and all my life, and would often interrupt concerts to perform covers by his favourite band, queen. # da—da—dum da—ay, shu—bu—dum da—ay...#. foo fighters had been due to play a festival in colombia at the time of his death. 0rganisers lay candles on the stage and foo fighters posted a short statement online, saying, "his musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever." and without taylor hawkins' energetic and charismatic playing, the band will never be the same again. cheering and applause taylor hawkins who has died at the age of 50. and you are watching bbc

news. hello. a glorious day for many, you can hardly believe it is only the end of march when we see sights like this, not a cloud in the sky. there are some showers to be found, mostly across the northern and western isles. this is the western isles earlier on this morning. that is because we have that cloud stubbornly sitting there unfortunately spoiling the sunshine. a little bit of fair weather cloud developing across southern scotland down to north west england as well, but the emphasis is dry, settled and sunny with light winds continuing through the afternoon and once again the temperatures peaking quite widely — mid to high teens. don't forget, when you're off to bed tonight, put the clocks forward an hour, we lose

an hour's sleep and emerge tomorrow in british summer time, so what a surprise to see there will be a little more cloud for many of us, spilling in off the north sea, particularly anywhere south of hull down towards the south—east. that cloud will act as a friend to the night, preventing temperatures from falling quite as far as they have been, but does mean it could be a rather grey and gloomy start for some on mothering sunday, the cloud tending to nudge further westwards, thinning and breaking for some glimpses of sunshine, but the best of the sunshine for sunday looks likely to be further north and west. that is where the highest values will be, 18 degrees perhaps in one or two spots, cooler where that cloud lingers along north sea coasts. as we move out of sunday into the start of a new working week, a weather front starts to slip across the top of the weakening high, running down to the north sea. that will bring more in the way of cloud, a few scattered showers, some could be hefty across north—east england in particular, we can start the day on monday with a lot of low cloud, mist

and fog which will be slow to lift. the highest values perhaps down towards the south, 16 degrees, starting to get colder, only 6 degrees across lerwick. the colder air will be the story as we move through the week, pushing its way gradually south, accompanied by a northerly wind, it will feel certainly much different. in fact, we are going to close out the month of march with temperatures just below the average for the time of year and we could see some of those showers turning increasingly wintry. that's it, enjoy the sun.

this is bbc world news, the headlines: president biden, who's in poland for talks on russia's invasion of ukraine, says ignoring the crisis would come back to bite the us. earlier, he held his first face—to—face meeting with ukrainian government ministers since the start of the war. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, has urged russia to engage in serious peace talks. he claimed more than 16,000 russian troops had been killed, including senior officers. a ferry operated by p&0 has been held in northern ireland because of fears about staff training. the uk transport secretary,

grant shapps, said the maritime and coastguard agency deemed the european causeway