welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. a glimmer of hope in ukraine — russia says it'll scale back military operations around the capital kyiv. the ministry of defence of the russian federation has taken the decision to drastically reduce the combat operations in the kyiv areas in order to boost mutual trust. but the us is warning russia still has the capability to do great damage in ukraine. our other main stories. at least five people have been killed in a shooting in israel — the third such attack in the past week. the prime minister of the solomon islands denies he's come under pressure to host a chinese naval base.

and — after the parties — the fines. police hand out punishments to uk government officials — and there could be more to come. it's seven in the morning in singapore, and two am in kyiv where there appears to be a glimmer of hope following peace talks between russia and ukraine. the negotiations — in istanbul — were the first for a fortnight. ukraine confirmed it was prepared to be a neutral country and abandon ambitions tojoin the nato military alliance. for its part, moscow announced what looks like a change of military strategy —— it says russian troops will �*drastically reduce�* their operations around the capital kyiv.

our first report is from steve rosenberg. away from the fighting, another attempt at diplomacy. delegations from ukraine and russia came to istanbul. but would there be any room for compromise? negotiating behind the scenes, the russian billionaire roman abramovich. today, the kremlin dismissed reports he'd been poisoned at a previous round of talks as an "information war". president erdogan was the host. he called on both sides to push for peace. translation: it will be in everyone's interest i to achieve a ceasefire and peace as soon as possible. as members of the delegation, you've taken on a historic responsibility. the whole world is waiting to hear good news from you. at these talks, ukraine made concrete proposals to russia it hopes could end the conflict. ukraine proposed becoming

a neutral state. it won'tjoin military alliances or host foreign military bases. in return, it's asked for legally—binding security guarantees, with other countries acting as guarantors. ukraine is ready to discuss the status of crimea, the peninsula russia annexed. it's also insisting that russia shouldn't prevent ukraine from joining the european union. translation: our. proposal has not been accepted yet by russia. we are handing it over to the russian side. we say, this is our position, our official position. we will wait for their answer. russia responded with what it presented as a significant concession. it said it would scale back its offensive near the ukrainian capital, kyiv. translation: the ministry of defence of the russian . federation has taken the decision to drastically reduce combat operations in the kyiv and chernihiv areas, in order to boost mutual trust and create the conditions

for further negotiations and signing of the agreement. if russia does cut back its military activity around ukraine's capital, that would mark a key shift in what moscow calls its "special military operation," but what most of the world calls russia's war. an admission, perhaps, that after struggling to make advances, russian troops have realised they cannot take the city of kyiv. but — and there are lots of buts here — russia hasn't ceased hostilities in ukraine. it made that clear today. its troops are continuing to fight. although their main focus now, moscow says, is on the donbas, in eastern ukraine. and what about those areas in the east and their status, under any potential deal? also, not clear. and remember, from the very beginning, vladimir putin's

objective was to force the whole of ukraine back into russia's orbit. will he really give up on that? steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. since russia began its invasion of ukraine, the capital kyiv, has been a key target. but its forces have not got past the outskirts of the city. now — as you heard there in steve's report — russia says it will drastically reduce its offensive around the capital. the ukrainian general in charge of defending kyiv has told the bbc that russia is suffering heavy losses and can twin. our international correspondent, orla guerin, sent this report from a key frontline, north of the capital. ukrainian forces keep watch on a critical front line to the north of the capital. having said it had no plans to invade, russia now says it will drastically reduce attacks around kyiv. these troops won't be dropping their guard. the man in charge of defending the city, colonel general

oleksandr sirsky, was handing out promotions and medals today. he's been fighting the russians in eastern ukraine since 2014. now, they're on his doorstep. the russians are four kilometres from here. is it painful for you that they have come so far on this soil? it's painful, yeah. especially here, because i fight against russia eight years, during eight years. so i'd like to say, together, we are stronger. and, er, we will...win. he told me his men are being shelled constantly,

but are on the offensive in some areas. and he insisted the russians would never set foot in kyiv. sirens wail and inside the city, there is vigilance, night and day. territorial defence units out on patrol — through deserted streets, now lined by checkpoints and roadblocks. their mission, to monitor any movements and search for the enemy within. saboteurs passing information to the russians. after being stopped and searched, this man was allowed to go on his way. but in the past month, in this area, they've detained about 30 alleged informants. then, a sudden threat over our heads. they spot a russian drone

and follow its path. "i'm working on it," says this fighter, nicknamed chechen. blasts well, it was quite tense here in the last few moments, with that russian drone overhead. it has now disappeared, but members of the unit say this is happening as often as ten times a night. the russians are sending their drones to try and gather intelligence from above. there's incoming fire, but from a distance. if russia does limit its offensive on the city, it's probably because it

had stalled already. orla guerin, bbc news, kyiv. so, how have ukraine and the west assessed russia's scaleback announcement? ukraine's president zelensky has said while initial signs from the talks were "positive", they do not "drown out" the explosions of russian shells. the us said they would judge moscow on its actions rather than its words. again, very early stages here. it does recently in the last few hours make this proclamation. so, we have seen a small number begin to move away from kyiv, that's about the most i can give you. i don't have any information on their resupply efforts for troops that are still going against kyiv. the russians still have a significant majority of their assembled combat power to include logistics and sustainment capable to them inside ukraine. the pentagon can confirm that a small number of russian

in other news — officials say four people — plus a gunman — have died in shootings east of tel aviv in the third such attack in the past week. it happened in the strictly orthodox city of bnei brak. police believe he was a palestinian from the occupied west bank. the palestinian president mahmoud abbas has condemned the attacks. our correspondent yolande knell has the latest from jerusalem. the picture is still a bit confused but i can say at the stage this is the deadliest attack of its kind in years and it's only a week since i last said that. we had a medic in the ultra—orthodoxjewish neighbourhood to the east of tel aviv describing finding victims spread out at intervals along the street and some of them had been on foot and one of them had been in a car and there was some reports from witnesses in the neighbourhood saying that they earlier heard gunshots being fired towards apartment balconies and footage that

appears to show the man dressed in black, walking with a rifle on the street and what israeli media are saying at the moment and security officials are saying that this attacker that was shot dead was from the northern occupied west bank affiliated with a palestinian military group that is different from attacks we've seen in the others to be seen in the past. which have been associated with israeli arab citizens who were linked to islamic state group. it's a very crowded neighbourhood, an orthodox jewish neighbourhood and a place where people really are religious and so the attacker went and the pace that we have seen, those addressed in black—and—white and working along the streets and at the time of the day this happened early evening, lots of people would've

been just out and about. now, the pictures that we're getting there are quite chaotic and can see lots less of emergency vehicles and police and that is added to some of the confusion of what is going on. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. to boldly go where no australian has gone before — we find out more about the country's new space defence agency. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing.

the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become - a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians| wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is- being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustav eiffeh — this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines. a glimmer of hope in ukraine — as russia says it will scale back military operations around the capital kyiv.

western leaders express doubts about russia's intentions. the us secretary of state says moscow continues to brutalise ukraine. in other headlines for you today — police in london say there could be more fines issued, on top of the 20 announced on tuesday after covid laws were broken during lockdown in the british government. police say they won't reveal who's to be fined, though prime minister borisjohnson was at some of the events. mrjohnson attended the memorial service for queen elizabeth's husband prince philip —— as our political editor, laura kuenssberg reports. a moment to stand on ceremony. the prime minister on the list for a grand gathering that would have been forbidden under the covid laws he set. laws that meant the queen mourned her husband alone. today, arriving for this major memorial quietly, through a side door. borisjohnson�*s already had

to apologise to the monarch for rules being flouted under his own roof. diagonally opposite each other today, the queen, frail, tucked at the end of a row, but ministers were trying to avoid the subject. when people are dying in ukraine and there's a cost—of—living crisis/challenge, i think we should be focused on that. how damaging is all this? fines are being issued. there's a war in europe, if you hadn't noticed. not so long ago, claims of rule breaking in downing street were a full—blown political emergency. now, today, the police have concluded that the law was broken at least 20 times. we don't know who is receiving fixed penalty notices, but we do know they're issuing 20 fines, and this is just the first batch, with more likely to come. fines are expected to be £100 or £200, but don't come with a criminal record. and the individuals will not be named by the police, although number ten has vowed to reveal if mrjohnson is one of them. so far, that hasn't happened.

it's important thatjustice is done without fear or favour this may all be hard to dismiss. evidence emerged over many weeks of gathering during lockdown. e—mail invites, loud music, staff laughing about what happened. is cheese and wine all right? claims, denials, of parties, even in the downing street flat. we know now some laws were broken, even though this was what the prime minister used to say. all guidance was followed completely during number ten. some number ten staff already paid with theirjobs when a senior civil servant found there were serious failures in leadership. with the first fines now emerging, the opposition says mrjohnson�*s handling of this means he should go. first of all, he said there wasn't any, then he said it was outrageous that there'd been some parties. and then, when he found out that he was at them, he says — i didn't know that they were a party. i mean, the prime minister has completely lied about this situation. the police have issued fines so, therefore, lockdown rules have been breached and the prime

minister has to go. borisjohnson denies misleading anyone, but spin back a couple of months and some tory mps were so dumbfounded by the mess, they believed he would have to quit. a few of them were publicly prepared to say so. privately, more of them were plotting to make it happen. but russia's invasion of ukraine upended priorities round here. the upset faded, but it was never forgotten. tonight, the prime minister invited all of his mps for and if borisjohnson is found to broken the law himself, he may find keeping his tribe in step an almost impossiblejob. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, downing street. australia and new zealand have both voiced their concerns about the potential for a chinese military presence on the solomon islands. a document leaked last week indicates that china could deploy troops to the south pacific island nation — and potentially establish a naval base there. the solomon islands and australia have long been closely linked.

here's australia's prime minister talking about the issue over the weekend. oui’ our government is the government that stepped up in the pacific and be stepped up and the face of increasing threats and increasing pressures and responding to those and we will respond as a family of pacific nations of which australia is one. the solomon islands' prime minister has said the proposed security agreement with beijing was "ready for signing", and denied reports that his country had been pressured to allow a chinese naval base to be built in the pacific island nation. here he is speaking in parliament. we are not pressured in any way by our new friends and there is no intention whatsoever, mr speaker to ask china to build a military base in the solomon islands. goodness. we are insulted!

in beijing, the foreign ministry dismissed all concerns, and said the new pact should not be criticised. as we have clearly stated multiple times already, the law enforcement and security corporation of two sovereign countries such as china and the solomon islands is in line with international law and international law and international practice. it is conducive to lasting peace and social stability and is beyond reproach. we don't know very much about the agreement at all. it is leaked documents days ago, but we have not seen the full text. even from the leaked documents, it seemed the claims of a chinese naval base are a bit of a stretch. it would certainly

strengthen beijing's ties with them but china, like all of us, has limited resources and to be frank, it's has limited resources and to be frank, its strategic priorities do not lie in the south pacific, they lie in central asia and the south china sea and so on. so as an naval base, this feeds into growing concern in australia about china's power in the south pacific. i think it will turn out to be something less than that. turn out to be something less than that-— than that. professor, how should we, _ than that. professor, how should we, rather, - than that. professor, how should we, rather, look. than that. professor, how| should we, rather, look at these close relations between china and the solomon islands? is it something that the prime minister said that there absolutely within their rights to having to do?—

absolutely within their rights to having to do? that is right. and of course, _ to having to do? that is right. and of course, that _ to having to do? that is right. and of course, that is - to having to do? that is right. and of course, that is true. i and of course, that is true. although australia has been putting an awful lot of effort and money and and if there is more money that came down last night. and to aid for the south pacific. but the issues involved here, ithink pacific. but the issues involved here, i think are that solomons, which switched recognition from taipei to beijing and 2019 wants to demonstrate to australia that it has other options besides just lining up beside us on everything. china is also trying to demonstrate both its growing interest in the world and also, i think it was send a

message to australia which was rather poor relations in the past few years. so, i think that domestic politics in the solomon islands also plays into this. (singmore concerns about china being expressed from australia more concerns about china being expressed from australia — last week australia unveiled a defence agency aimed at boosting their military capabilties in space, and countering the influence of russia and china. it follows the creation of the united states' space force three years ago and is seen by some as evidence that space could one day be the setting for future conflicts. for more on this, we can cross to canberra and joinjames brown who is the ceo of the space industry association of australia.

just to get a sense of how this new space command and space agency from australia might work and what its purpose is? it is a big development for australia. we've had a history in space, we are at the third satellite in world history launched in australian soil, but australia has not been an active space fighter. and now it has $17 billion in building defence capabilities. and announcing the first civilian national space mission and so, the space command will bring together a lot of capabilities but it is focused on knowing what is happening in space and being able to develop, intelligence data or communication from space and we will protect australian interest, whether or not it satellite or territory from

space. satellite or territory from sace. ~ , ., satellite or territory from sace. ~ ., ., space. when you look at some of the ambitions _ space. when you look at some of the ambitions behind _ space. when you look at some of the ambitions behind the - space. when you look at some of the ambitions behind the space l the ambitions behind the space agency, what is this being targeted at, what is the future by australian officials by what might happen in space? i think sace might happen in space? i think space just _ might happen in space? i think space just become _ might happen in space? i think space just become a _ might happen in space? i think space just become a much - might happen in space? i think. space just become a much more spacejust become a much more critical piece of infrastructure whether it's defence intelligence or enabling financial transactions, there is a much greater peace for dependence on space. and getting all this information on whether data comes from a japanese satellite, a lot data comes from a us satellite and so, despite having our own capabilities but also increasing military activity in space, satellites such as the chinese as to 21 which was demonstrated this year which can clap with other satellites, pull them down out of orbit or

the russian anti—satellite mission with her was conducted late last year. these are significant developments that put at risk their access to space capabilities and we need to have the people they can respond to that situation and manage it. respond to that situation and manage it— respond to that situation and manaue it. ~ . . ,, ., ., manage it. what are russian and chinese capabilities _ manage it. what are russian and chinese capabilities in _ manage it. what are russian and chinese capabilities in space - chinese capabilities in space and no the compare with those in australia? it’s and no the compare with those in australia?— in australia? it's delay between _ in australia? it's delay between that - in australia? it's delay between that they - in australia? it's delay between that they can | in australia? it's delay i between that they can do in australia? it's delay - between that they can do what australia can do. it's really just emerging as a space power and a civilian sense, they have more space cargo in the us and russia is a long time space power and a lot of expertise and significant capabilities. australia works its allies not just the united states pick uk as well. ., ~ , ., ., just the united states pick uk as well. . ~' i., ., ., as well. thank you for “oining us on the i as well. thank you forjoining

us on the programme. - that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. the weather has been turning colder, and on tuesday, it was certainly cold enough for snow in the far north of the uk. that was the wintry—looking scene for a weather watcher in shetland. those colder conditions continue to sink southwards behind this weather front, the front bringing some outbreaks of rain, but with some sleet and snow mixing in, especially over high ground. and to the north of that weather front, a very cold start to wednesday. particularly in northern scotland, a widespread frost. further snow showers giving some accumulations in places and the risk of ice, but there will be some spells of sunshine to start off wednesday, whereas southern scotland will start off cloudy. a bit of sleet and snow in places, some patchy rain to start off in northern ireland, some wet weather in northern england, some snow mixing in up over the pennines, bit of rain into north wales

and the north midlands. but to the south of that, a mainly dry start with some areas of low cloud, mist and fog, but equally some spells of sunshine. now, our band of cloud in the rain, sleet and snow will continue to push southwards, most of the snow over high ground, but we could see some to low levels. to the north of that, sunny spells and wintry showers. to the south, some spells of sunshine, but increasing amounts of cloud, the odd shower. still quite mild in the south at 12 degrees, but more widely, we're looking at top temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees. it will feel cold, particularly as the wind starts to pick up. now, through wednesday night, this band of rain, sleet and snow continues to move southwards. could be some wintry weather, especially over the hills in the south, but possibly even to low levels. and behind that band of rain, sleet and snow, a very cold and frosty start to thursday morning. there will be some icy stretches here and there. thursday, a day of sunny spells and wintry showers, the showers tending to push westwards as the day wears on. a keen north or northeasterly

breeze just adding to a cold feel. top temperatures for many of us between 5 and 8 degrees. some spots in the west — maybe glasgow, plymouth — getting up into double digits. now, as we head towards the weekend, as this area of high pressure sinks its way southwards, a subtle change. we lose the northerly winds. we pick up something of a westerly wind, bringing something just a little bit less cold. there won't be a heat wave, but temperatures will climb a little. a lot of dry weather, just one or two showers.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine united the eu in shock and outrage, but four weeks into the war, with ukrainian cities besieged and civilians suffering unimaginable horrors, cracks are already evident in the european response. how far should sanctions go? should ukraine be offered fast—track eu membership?

my guest is eu commissioner for financial stability and services, mairead mcguinness.