tonight at 10:00pm, it's understood roman abramovich suffered symptoms of a suspected poisoning at peace talks over the war in ukraine earlier this month. sources close to the owner of chelsea football club say he had sore eyes and skin peeling. two ukrainian peace negotiators were also affected. it does appear that there are organophosphates, aka, nerve agents, involved, and we really need to see the medical records. also on the programme ukraine's president says he wants peace without delay and would discuss a neutral status for his country as part of any deal with russia. peace talks are expected to resume tomorrow in istanbul, but for now the war here in ukraine rages on.

the other leaders have said that if they intervened in the war, if there was a no—fly zone, there could be world war iii. maybe. maybe, but if they don't close the sky they will be next. also tonight, a shock at the oscars. the academy condemns will smith for slapping the comedian chris rock after a joke about his wife. smith blamed the pressure of fame. in this business you've got to be able to have people disrespecting you, and you've got to smile and you've got to pretend like that's ok. the first police fines over parties held in government buildings during lockdown, will soon be issued. and, the city of shanghai with 25 million people, goes into lockdown, after a dramatic rise, in covid infections... and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel — should he stay or should he go?

england captainjoe root gets the backing of interim head coach paul collingwood after another test series defeat. good evening. it's been reported that the russian billionaire roman abramovich and two ukrainians have suffered a suspected chemical poisoning after peace talks over the war in ukraine. it's alleged to have happened earlier this month, on the border with belarus. it's understood the chelsea football club owner, who's thought to be acting as a go—between in the negotiations, suffered sore eyes and skin peeling. two ukrainians are also said to have been affected, with all three making full recoveries. here's our security correspondent frank gardner. recent pictures of roman abramovich at tel aviv�*s airport. but 11 days earlier, on march three, something happened to him and to others

following peace talks on ukraine's border with belarus. i was after these russian and ukrainian delegates met, three of them, including mr amber pavic suffered searing pain in the eyes, dimness of vision and inflamed and red and skin. —— including mrabramovich. later that night in the ukraine capital kyiv, according to the investigative website bellingcat, all three were suffering symptoms of intentional poisoning with a chemical agent. intentional poisoning with a chemicalagent. it intentional poisoning with a chemical agent.— intentional poisoning with a chemical agent. it is potentially very serious _ chemical agent. it is potentially very serious and _ chemical agent. it is potentially very serious and hopefully - chemical agent. it is potentially very serious and hopefully the i very serious and hopefully the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons will be called in to investigate, both the ukraine and russia are signatories to the chemical weapons convention, so that would be within the remit of both, particularly ukraine, to bring in. there was no immediate comment from moscow and no proof russia was behind this. but back in 2020, the russian opposition activist alexey navalny was hospitalised and nearly

died inside siberia after being poisoned with the nerve agent novichok. he recovered, but bellingcat�*s investigators were able to prove it was the work of russia's federal security service, the fsb. two years before that the same nerve agent, novichok, was used in an attempt to murderformer agent, novichok, was used in an attempt to murder former kgb agent sergei skripal in the town of salisbury. roman abramovich's associates say he is fine now and will continue to try to broker peace between his native russia and ukraine. it's thought to poisoned him on the other delegates was looking to sabotage those peace talks by sending a sinister warning. studio: frank, this is all very murky indeed. was it a chemical poisoning? it murky indeed. was it a chemical poisoning?— murky indeed. was it a chemical oisonina? , . ~ ., ., poisoning? it is cloak and dagger stuff. it depends _ poisoning? it is cloak and dagger stuff. it depends who _ poisoning? it is cloak and dagger stuff. it depends who you - poisoning? it is cloak and dagger stuff. it depends who you listen | poisoning? it is cloak and dagger i stuff. it depends who you listen to. ukrainian mps say it didn't happen, nonsense. an unnamed us official says it could have been

environmentalfactors. but investigators are in no doubt whatsoever. interestingly, the ukraine foreign minister has commented on national television tonight, if you are going to peace talks, peace negotiations with the russians, don't eat or drink anything and be careful who you shake hands with.— anything and be careful who you shake hands with. frank gardner, security correspondent, - shake hands with. frank gardner, security correspondent, thank - shake hands with. frank gardner, | security correspondent, thank you. now, for the very latest on the war in ukraine, let's join my colleague, ben brown, who's live in the western city of lviv. ben. good evening from lviv here in western ukraine. well those peace talks roman abramovich has been part of resume tomorrow in istanbul and just ahead of them, ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky has made an offer to russia: he said his country could adopt the status of neutrality if that would help end the war here,

though it would have to be agreed in a referendum. on the battlefield, russian advances have stalled recently. this map shows the areas of ukraine currently under russian control. russian troops still haven't been able to encircle the capital kyiv — the closest they are is about 15 miles away. elsewhere, ukraine has set up humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged towns and cities, but some of those corridors haven't opened yet because of fears russian forces might attack people who are fleeing. ourfirst report tonight is from jeremy bowen in kyiv and contains some distressing images. why make the russians attacked an oil storage depot in western ukraine. the war is settling into a deadly daily grind. medics live and sleep at the hospitals. there is no time to get home. in one in kyiv, the patients include a ukrainian diplomat. victoria said it was ironic that she was wounded in her own home

when she came back from belarus, russia's ally. but i won't lie, she said, i'm very scared. gennady�*s home was also hit. the russians thought they would be greeted with hugs, he says, but if we don't get weapons to take the offensive, missiles and planes, the war is going to drag on for a long time. president zelensky hinted at compromise to russian journalists on ukrainian neutrality and territory. translation: i understand it's impossible to force - russia completely from the ukrainian territory. it would lead to the third world war. i understand it, and that is why i'm talking about a compromise. in kyiv, a few cafes are open, and it is less tense than a month ago. slava and katarina were intrigued by what the president had said. nobody is saying we should

give up the territories, but there should be some compromise or concession. translation: we hope that putin is a sane person. - that is a very small hope. but, at the end of the lonely roads out to the front line towns, the war feels much closer. people risk a trip to the market here. but the mayor shows off his ukrainian made assault rifle and says that nato's only choice is to give them the planes and the tanks they need to beat the russians. i think if putin wins this war, they don't stop. next will be poland, maybe romania, bulgaria and other countries in the european union. i think. biden and some of the other leaders have said that if they intervened in the war,

if there was a no—fly zone, it could be world war iii. maybe, maybe, but if they don't close the sky, they will be next. ukraine's president was right to talk about compromise. but it may never happen. ceasefire agreements that work generally require either two sides fighting each other to exhaustion, or the weaker side making concessions because it fears defeat. or an outside intervention. none of those conditions applies in ukraine at the moment. so the most likely option is a continuation of a war of attrition. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. in the south, ukrainian forces have had some success in recent days pushing back russian forces raising doubts over whether the kremlin will still try to seize control

of the whole coastline. in the strategic port city of odesa, the immediate fear of russian bombardment has eased but people there are unsure whether it's just a temporary lull in the fighting. from there, andrew harding sent this report. somewhere out there is the russian navy. and on ukraine's black sea coast, no—one is letting down their guard. "we've had a lot of incoming fire, rockets, bombs," says anatoly, and with them, the fear of an amphibious landing. and yet, in the nearby port city of odesa, clubs and restaurants are reopening — not exactly packed yet, but the mood here appears to be easing. the city's coming alive, i feel, something like this. why is that? i don't know.

i think the fear is going away a little bit. people think that odesa won't be attacked? i think, yes. and here's why he may be right. along the black sea coast, russian hardware — and russian plans — lie in ruins. the kremlin�*s advance here has stalled, or even been pushed back. which may explain these tense scenes in kherson, a front—line city occupied by the russians. but they're having growing trouble controlling it. when they started using this gas, smoke pellets and stun grenades, so i started running. it seems they are using more threatening techniques and tactics. i think they are in panic. panic or not, back in odesa,

ukrainians are still preparing for a russian attack, from land, sea or air. but what if this war is edging towards some kind of a stalemate? of course, anything is still possible, but here in the south, ukrainians increasingly are looking for reasons to be hopeful, maybe even confident. a guide takes us down into odesa's ancient catacombs. these vast tunnels once helped families shelter from the nazis. there's some graffiti here from the 1940s. it reads, "hitler, go. death to fascism." now, the past and present seem to mingle in the musty air. and yet, from its catacombs to its clubs, today's odesa is embracing optimism, as if that alone were a form of defiance against the kremlin. andrew harding, bbc news,

in southern ukraine. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, joins us from the capital kyiv. lyse, this offer from president zelensky to make ukraine a neutral state, could it make a difference to those peace talks that start tomorrow? president zelensky has talked about neutrality before and talked about notjoining nato. while it does seem clear there is some progress on some issues, some language, it is also clear there is not going to be major progress at the negotiating table until from progress at the negotiating table untilfrom russia progress at the negotiating table until from russia there progress at the negotiating table untilfrom russia there is major progress on taking territory. we heard from last week the defence ministry that in their words, liberating east ukraine was the priority and while russia has taken

ground in the south and east, it doesn't control the entire area and we still don't really know what its plans are for other places, including the capital, kyiv. president zelensky does use the word compromise. he used it when he spoke to russian journalists, compromise. he used it when he spoke to russianjournalists, proposing to russian journalists, proposing russia to russianjournalists, proposing russia pulled back to areas it controlled before the invasion and then come up with a compromise. but pulling back from territory isn't a compromise for president putin, it would be a climb—down, and a humiliating climb—down. from him we have to bear in mind this isn'tjust about ukraine, it's also about his relationship with nato and of course the united states. president biden has been speaking about his comment about, for god's sake, this man can't remain in power, saying it was his moral outrage, not the policy of his moral outrage, not the policy of his administration. but he didn't take back those words. in the same way president putin didn't take back the words when he said ukraine is a

country should not exist.— country should not exist. thank you to l se country should not exist. thank you to lyse doucet _ country should not exist. thank you to lyse doucet in _ country should not exist. thank you to lyse doucet in kyiv. _ country should not exist. thank you to lyse doucet in kyiv. that's - country should not exist. thank you to lyse doucet in kyiv. that's it - to lyse doucet in kyiv. that's it from me and the team in ukraine. back to clive in the studio. studio: thank you, ben brown in lviv in western ukraine. the actor, will smith, has apologised to the organisers of the oscars and to his fellow nominees, after stunning a global audience of millions, by slapping the comedian chris rock, on stage, at last night's ceremony. the comic had made a joke about the actor's wife, jada pinkett smith. it happened just before he accepted the oscar for best actor, and so far, smith hasn't apologised to chris rock. police say no complaint has been filed, though tonight, the film academy has condemned smith's actions. our culture editor, katie razzall, has sent us this report, from los angeles, which contains some flashing images. will smith was always going to make news at the oscars, but he dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons. and now the academy has condemned what happened and announced a formal review.

while presenting an award at the ceremony, comedian chris rock had made a joke about will smith's wife's lack of hair. jada, i love you. gi jane 2, can't wait to see it. all right? watch jada pinkett smith's reaction. it clearly got to her husband, who strode onto the stage and delivered this. oh, wow! at first, it wasn't clear if it was an elaborate joke, but those involved weren't laughing. the tv broadcast muted the sound, but inside the dolby theater, shocked guests watched as will smith continued to abuse rock. keep my wife's name out your...mouth! i'm going to. now, at this point, i can only laugh. i you all know i've been struggling with alopecia, and... _ jade pinkett smith has previously opened up on social media about her hair loss, so the joke wasn't in the best taste. but there's clearly history here, too. when he hosted the oscars in 2016,

chris rock mocked the couple after she'd announced she was boycotting the awards for their lack of diversity. isn't she on a tv show? jada's going to boycott the oscars. jada boycotting the oscars is like me boycotting rihanna's panties! i wasn't invited! last night, long before the slap, one of the hosts, actress regina hall, said this. will smith, um, you're married, but you know what? you're on the list, and it looks like jada approved you, so you get on up here! will smith laughing off that joke about the couple's reportedly open relationship. he wasn't laughing later, to the upset of those there. it was kind of hard to watch, i guess, because it's probably the best night of his life, in a way, and then also might have some repercussions. and the oscar goes to... and when that more predictable event of the night happened... will smith! ..his best actor win making him only the fifth black man in history to do so, the only question was whether he would apologise.

now, i know to do what we do, you've got to be able to take abuse. you've got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. in this business, you've got to be able to have people disrespecting you, and you've got to smile and you've got to pretend like that's ok. i want to apologise to the academy, i want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. love will make you do crazy things. it overshadowed what had the makings of a glorious night, with a film about deaf culture making history. troy kotsur was named best supporting actor — the first deaf man ever to win an oscar. this is dedicated to the deaf community, the coda community and the disabled community. this is our moment. coda, the movie in which he stars,

also snatched best picture. jane campion became only the third woman ever to win best director, for power of the dog. for the brits, sir kenneth branagh finally won an oscar after seven unsuccessful attempts — original screenplay for belfast — and riz ahmed was rewarded for his short film the long goodbye. will smith appeared defiant after the ceremony, posting this video, saying he and his wife got "dressed up to choose chaos". he apparently partied into the night, but may now have to face up to the consequences of what he's done. so what happens next? it seems pretty clear they will not be taking away will smith's oscar, whoopi goldberg, an academy member, said as much this morning but i've looked at the academy's code of conduct, it bans uninvited physical conduct and abusive and threatening behaviour and will smith broke those rules

certainly. they could expel him, they could prevent him from voting, but people in this town are divided over what happened and in the end hollywood is often pretty forgiving of big stars. katie razzall, thank you, live in los angeles. the bbc understands that the first police fines for breaches of covid—i9 rules, in relation to government lockdown parties, will be issued as soon as tomorrow. the met police investigation into 12 events, was launched in late january. ben wright is at westminster for us tonight. just take us back to the allegations. clive, viewers might remember that before russia invaded ukraine, all the talk at westminster was about parties in number 10 and whitehall during lockdown. it was a saga that plunged boris johnson's during lockdown. it was a saga that plunged borisjohnson�*s premiership plunged boris johnson's premiership into plunged borisjohnson�*s premiership into crisis. first we had that internal whitehall report, a partial report that concluded that covid rules were broken and for the last two months the metropolitan police

have been investigating whether people should be fined. they sent out over 100 questionnaires to officials and ministers including borisjohnson and the chancellor, trying to work out what happened at 12 separate events in 2020 and 2021. we know from sources tonight that the first vines are expected to be issued by the met tomorrow. these are fixed penalty notices for breaches of covid rules. the met had always said it would reveal how many fines it issued and number 10 has always said that if the prime minister receives a fixed penalty notice they would let us all know. so this saga did not disappear, it has been smouldering away as the police investigate and soon we will know if it could still cause number 10 damage. know if it could still cause number 10 damage-— know if it could still cause number 10 damaue. �* ~ ., ~ i. 10 damage. ben wright, thank you, at westminster- — in china, the city of shanghai, home to nearly 25 million people, is heading into lockdown, to combat a resurgence of coronavirus cases. shanghai is a key financial and manufacturing hub, with restrictions being imposed in the eastern half of the city today,

and the western half from friday. in the last two years, china has enforced a strict zero—covid policy, using swift lockdowns and aggressive restrictions. but the emergence of more transmissible variants are proving harder to contain. here's our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell. panic buying led to fights as shanghai's 25 million residents prepared to go into lockdown. from today the east side of the financial capital is a ghost town. the west side will follow on friday. across china, daily covid tests are mostly orderly but at times chaotic. in the third year of this crisis, the government's complete elimination strategy is under huge strain, with signs of pandemic exhaustion. those who break the rules are being taken away by the police. some are forced to make public confessions. here a woman pleads to be allowed to leave home so her husband can receive urgent cancer treatment.

from the north—east to the south, tens of millions of people are now confined to their homes. beijing as a city is not under lockdown, but if you live in this compound right now you can't leave. that's because there's been a case here. now, these are the deliveries of food and other provisions. you can see they're marked up according to the flat number, and the staff here will take these provisions and deliver them to people, and in that way everybody can stay inside for the next two weeks. in hong kong, 6,000 mostly elderly and non—vaccinated people died in two months. yet it is thought that nearly half the population was infected, boosting herd immunity. china, by learning from the mistakes that hong kong have made, they will be upscaling their vaccination, especially among the eldest.

on the mainland, officials say the vaccine booster rate for those over 80 is at only 19.7%. one 85—year—old tells us she and her husband have only just been vaccinated. translation: i'm not worried, we just need to be careful. - translation: chinese people do what they are told. - they listen to the government. yet it is hard for the party to shift when it is making political mileage attacking other countries for sacrificing lives by opening up. translation: if we chose to lay down now our efforts _ will have come to nothing. we unswervingly insist on zero covid. blue fences mark communities under strict isolation. the world's covid emergency started here. it looks like this will be the last country to emerge from it. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. a second p&o ferry, is being detained, afterfailing a safety inspection. the maritime and coastguard agency, says the pride of kent

is being held in dover, and is one of eight ships requiring inspections, before re—entering service, after p&o sacked 800 staff with no notice last week. in a letter today, the transport secretary, grant shapps, said the company's boss had been given "one final opportunity" to re—employ sacked staff, on their previous salaries. anoosheh ashoori, the british iranian man, who was freed from prison in tehran earlier this month, has spoken about his experience of being held on spying charges since 2017. the 68—year—old was released alongside nazanin zaghari ratcliffe, after the uk settled a historic military debt with iran. he's been speaking with our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. finally free and back home. well done, well done. good girl. anoosheh ashoori spent almost five years in a jail he describes as hell. he can hardly believe the nightmare's over.

i'm trying to pinch myself, to see that this is the reality, and i don't want to wake up to my cell. he drew a sketch of one of the cells. this was where he was held after he attempted several times to take his own life. can you describe that hell for us? i know in your cell, you had bedbugs, cockroaches, there were rats, but what was it like? i mean, there are people there who are like zombies. theyjust go back and forth, and they are... sometimes, you see they're talking to themselves and gesticulating and they are in their own world. because of what they've been through? yes. when you're in your cell, you are always looking behind you, you are always trying to remember all the good memories that you had with your family. you're living in your memories, i think? yeah, in fact, you are living in your memories. and is it those memories that keep you going? yes. otherwise i would go insane. why do you think you were arrested?

you always ask, "why me?" it wasn't me who was important. i wasn't important to any sides. it was the passport that was being arrested, but the holder of that passport was me. anoosheh, who do you blame for what you've been through? well, most of all, my captors. but then again, the british government, at the leadership level, yes, for the procrastination that, in fact, happened. they could have done this much earlier. nazanin could see her beautiful daughter much earlier. i could be back with my family. this was a debt that had to be paid. why didn't you do it earlier? why do you have to go through all these years? could they stand even one day of it at evin prison? if they had actually experienced that, then they would have

done it much earlier. sherry, how does it feel to have him back? i'm not usually lost for words, but i think, this time, i was. and has he changed much? he's developed a few odd habits. yeah, he keeps asking permission for stuff — to take mugs, to... i don't know, very normal things that you don't ask permission for. still, still, at night, sometimes i touch sherry�*s hand as we are asleep, to see if this is real, this is happening. and i'm very fearful that i may wake up, to wake up and see that all of it was a nice dream, and i'm still back and i still have to wait for another six years to finish my sentence. anoosheh ashoori speaking to caroline hawley. you can hear more of that interview

tomorrow morning on bbc breakfast. tomorrow, the royal family will gather at westminster abbey for a thanksgiving service, in memory of prince philip. it's hoped the queen will be able to attend. it will also be prince andrew's first public appearance, since his father's funeral last april. for so many families, like the royals, who had to hold funerals under covid restrictions, later celebrations of a life, are an important part of the grieving process. our royal correspondent, daniela relph has more. giving thanks for 99 years of life. as a public servant. as a naval officer. and as a family man. it's almost a year since prince philip died. like so many others, the royal family held a funeral with only 30 guests. the queen, a vivid image of grieving during covid restrictions. seeing her dressed in black alone,

this speaks of so, so many people's experience. even in death, really, losing somebody, she still keeps that dignity. a chance to say thank you, i think, would be wonderful, and healing as well at the same time. the thanksgiving service here for prince philip will be a celebration of a life on a grand scale. but across the country, families who held restricted funerals, whose mourning was limited by covid, are now finding ways to celebrate the lives of the people they loved. music: clair de lune by claude debussy. it was one of his favourite pieces of music. now, sue horsfall has learned it too — her own tribute to her husband, steve. steve died of complications from covid in 2020. with a small funeral, the family couldn't properly celebrate the full life he had lived.

now, with greater freedom, they are planning a mini music festival in his honour.