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 combat operations in the kyiv and chernihiv 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 killed in a shooting in israel, the third such attack in the past week. after the parties, the fines.

police hand out punishments to uk government officials, and there could be more to come. a helping hand for the queen — she steps out in public for the first time in weeks alongside her son prince andrew as they commemorate the life of the duke of edinburgh. it's 8am here in singapore, and 3am 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 face—to—face talks for a fortnight. ukraine confirmed it was prepared to be a neutral country and abandon

ambitions to join 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 moscow editor steve rosenberg reports. 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't win. 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. 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. they only just recently in the last few hours made 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 capability available to them inside ukraine. in other news, officials say five 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. 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 this stage this is the deadliest attack of its kind in years in israel, and it's only a week since i last said that. we had a medic in the ultra—orthodoxjewish neighbourhood of bnei barak 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. video 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 quoting security officials they're 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 seen in the past week. which have been associated with israeli arab citizens who were linked to islamic state group. bnei barak is an orthodox jewish neighbourhood and a place where people

really are religious and so the attacker went and the place that we have seen, those dressed in black and working in black and walking 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 of emergency vehicles and police and that has added to some of the confusion of what is going on. in china, a record number of coronavirus cases has been reported in shanghai. the city government said most of the 5,656 cases were asymptomic. millions endured a second day of lockdown — with panic buying in some parts — residents

of the city's eastern half have been confined to their homes for four days and subjected to mandatory testing. australians will remember shane warne at a televised memorial service at his home stadium, the melbourne cricket ground. nearly 50,000 people will attend the venue, where the spin bowling great captured his 700th test wicket against ashes foes england. warne died of a heart attack three weeks ago, aged just 52. president biden has said the united states supports implementing its mooted indo—pacific strategy, despite the current focus on europe and ukraine. he made the comments at a meeting with prime minister lee hsien loong of singapore at the white house. washington has pledged resources to counter what it sees as china's bid to create a regional sphere of influence. more from washington for you now, where president biden has signed into law the first federal legislation to make lynching a hate crime. anyone convicted under the new law will face up to 30 years in prison. the emmett till anti—lynching act is named for the black

teenager who was brutally murdered in mississippi in 1955. the law follows more than 100 years and 200 failed attempts by us lawmakers to pass anti—lynching legislation. the law is notjust about the past, its about the present, and our future as well. from the bullets in the back of ahmaud arbery to other countless acts of violence, victims known and unknown, the same racial hatred that grows a mob to hang a news, carrying torches out of the fields of charlottesville just a few yea rs charlottesville just a few years ago. racial hate isn't an old problem, it's a persistent

problem. 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 eiffel. i this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur 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. 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. 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. as you just saw there, the queen hasjoined other members of the royal family, at a service commemorating the life of the duke of edinburgh. she was accompanied into westminster abbey by prince andrew, on his first public appearance since settling a civil sex assault case last month. royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. trumpet fanfare. discomforts and mobility issues were set aside. this was a service that could not be missed. more personal than a state occasion, this was a service of thanksgiving for a beloved husband.

for a man who had been the most constant presence in the queen's life for the 73 years of their marriage. the queen had made her way to her seat accompanied by the duke of york. his first appearance in public since his enforced withdrawal from royal life. already in their places, four generations of the british royal family, including prince george. the only notable absentees were the sussexes, who chose to remain in california. we give thanks for his royal highness, the prince philip, duke of edinburgh. a man of rare ability and distinction. the duke of edinburgh had championed young people through his award scheme, and one of its gold award recipients spoke of its importance. the world has been through so much turmoil and in these times, it is so important to show our support to young people. to encourage them to have opportunities and empower them to reach their full potential. the dean of windsor recalled a man who could be abrupt

but who'd devoted his energy to many different causes. as we give thanks for the life of a remarkable man, perhaps our greatest tribute to him, most especially in these far too troubled times, will be for us to accept the challenge to play our part, however small in working for a kinderfuture. # god save our gracious queen... the service had been a chance denied by the pandemic at the duke's funeral, forfamily and so many more to come together in tribute. a long life had been honoured. for the person who knew that life best, it will surely have stirred many memories and moments of reflection.

the service had been a short one. at its end, the queen left, walking with care, escorted once again by the duke of york. nicholas witchell, bbc news. could space one day be the setting for future conflicts? it seems several nations are contemplating that possibility. three years ago, the us created its space force. russia and china have their own agencies dealing with space defence. now australia has unveiled an agency it says is aimed at boosting its military capabilities in space, and countering the influence of russia and china. so how big a deal is this? i asked james brown, the ceo of the space industry association of australia. it is a big development for australia. we've had a history in space, we had the third satellite in world history launched

in australian soil, but australia has not been an active space player. and now it has $17 billion in building defence capabilities. and last night announcing the first civilian space mission and so, the defence 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 interests, whether it's satellites or territory from space. when you look at some of the ambitions behind the space agency, what is this being targeted at, what is the fear by australian officials of what might happen in space? i think space just becomes

a much more critical piece of infrastructure whether it's defence intelligence data or enabling financial transactions, there is a much greater awareness for dependence on space. weather data comes from a japanese satellite, a lot of 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 one which was demonstrated this year which can work with other satellites, pull them down out of orbit or the russian anti—satellite mission mission 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. 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 what are russian and chinese capabilities in space and no

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, a 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. 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.

a deep dive into the deserts of june.