hello, i'm maryam moshiri, this is outside source. russia says there was no breakthrough in peace talks with ukraine. moscow says it will pull back forces from kyiv and the city of chernihiv. no sign of that in chernihiv, as shelling continues there. ukraine's president had this message. translation: of course we see all the risks. translation: of course we see all the risks- of — translation: of course we see all the risks. of course _ translation: of course we see all the risks. of course we _ translation: of course we see all the risks. of course we see - translation: of course we see all the risks. of course we see no - the risks. of course we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of a state that continues to fight. meanwhile, russia says it's building a new democratic world order with china, as theirforeign ministers meet and here in the uk, catastrophic failures in maternity care at an nhs trust led to hundreds of babies dying or being left with life—changing injuries, a review has found.

welcome to the programme. it's been a month since russia invaded ukraine, and now after face—to—face peace talks between the two sides on tuesday, moscow has denied those meetings yielded any kind of breakthrough. this is the kremlin spokesperson. translation: the positive - is that the ukrainian side at least begin to specifically formulate and lay down on paper what he proposes. this is a positive factor. otherwise, we cannot state anything very promising, any breakthroughs at all. there is a very, very long road ahead. you might remember one of the main outcomes of those peace talks was a promise from russia to scale

back its military activity. specifically in the ukrainian capital kyiv, and the northern city of chernihiv. let's look at whether that's actually happening. chernihiv�*s mayor told the bbc that fighting there continues. translation: it's the practice | and long experience of relations between ukraine and russia where such that you could could trust at least one word by the russians, this would be good news. but i want to know that it was only yesterday that when inhuman arterial shelling of several residential areas of the city took place, where about 35 people were hospitalised, where people lost their legs and some people were killed. and often the russians say one thing, but a different thing actually happens. only time will show how much truth is in those words. ukraine's military says it's seen some individual russian units withdraw from positions near kyiv. this was the ukrainian capital this morning. shelling reportedly continued on the city's outskirts, according to the mayor of kyiv —

former heavyweight champion — vitali kitschko. we received information yesterday, right now the russian forces - are moving away from kyiv — it's not true, all night we've i been attacked and we've heard huge explosions. i east of kyiv and north of kyiv, many battles there. _ people still died. in the last hour, we've heard that ukrainian president zelensky has spoken with us presidentjoe biden. on twitter, mr zelensky wrote... and earlier today, we heard from mr zelensky on the outcome of yesterday's talks. translation: yes, we can call positive the signals we hear - from the negotiating platform. but these signals do not silent the explosions of the russian shells.

—— silence the explosions. of course, we see all the risks. of course, we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of a state that continues to fight. i want to show you this map. it shows the areas under russian control at the moment. the town of irpin, near kyiv, has been a hotspot for fighting. it was taken back from russian forces this week. let's hearfrom its mayor. we are constantly shelled from war zones, from mortars, mortar shelling, artillery shelling. and sometimes they shell from towns and shoot from rifles, but the city is completely controlled by our military and there are no russian invaders in irpin any more.

let's turn to the donbas region — where russia says it plans to refocus its military strategy. donetsk and luhansk are the key areas — they're in the east of the country. and parts of them have been controlled by russian—backed separatists since 2014. let's hear from an expert on the russian military. the kremlin clearly intended to capture kyiv, and that failed in its early — the early section of the war here, sort of a misallocation of what they'll be doing. i do think they'll be focusing on the east, of course, as you noted, heavy concentration of fighting in mariupol — unfortunately we think the city will likely fall within the next week or so. as well as an emphasis on taking the entirety of donetsk and luhansk. we've been seeing a lot of russian forces around chernihiv and sumy, up in northeastern ukraine being pulled down into fighting around an area southeast of kharkiv, likely seeking to link up with russian forces that are pushing west. now we've already seen the situation in the east intensify. this drone footage is from donetsk shows a heavily damaged residential building after shelling. uk intelligence says this pivot to the east is "a tacit admission from russia that it is struggling to sustain more than one

significant axis of advance." a former head of the british army has been speaking to the bbc. many western observers, _ myself included, have been surprised at the woeful performance of the russian military, i of the russian army. we had rather assumed that, after weeks of preparation i and training, and getting ready- to launch this attack, they would do so in a fairly efficient way. that has clearly notl been the case at all. let's get more from jeremy bowen in kyiv. i don't think there's any sense of relief here at the moment. there is a feeling of cynicism where you can't believe a word that the russians say. those hopes that some people perhaps here, perhaps abroad may have had after the positive vibes are coming after those talks in istanbul 2a hours ago dissipated really quickly. shelling overnight

and into the day— not here in the city of the capital city, kf, but in the suburbs where a lot of it has been going on dashed kyiv. there's a feeling that this war is here to stay for a while, going into a new and attritional longer phase. jeremy, give us a sense of what's happening, what the view is in terms of peace negotiations and where they may be headed. of peace negotiations and where they may be headed-— may be headed. well, there were unexnectedly _ may be headed. well, there were unexpectedly positive _ may be headed. well, there were unexpectedly positive noises - may be headed. well, there were i unexpectedly positive noises coming out of those negotiators when they finished their meeting in turkey. however i think it's always wiser to look at not what people say, but what happens on the ground. and there hasn't been any noticeable change in terms of the things the russians talk about, which was reducing the temper of what they

were trying to do. here around kyiv and turney of —— chernihiv, north of here. what can people conclude from this? the russians will always say what they think at that particular time, but there was a meeting today between president zelensky and president biden in washington, dc, and the official readout of that said that they talked about the americans giving the ukrainians more stuff that they need to continue fighting the war in terms of money, weapons, tightening sanctions on the russians. there was no talk in there about what may or may not be in the peace deal, perhaps they talked about that, but i think that at this particular point in the conflict, i don't think the russians or the ukrainians are in a place where they are prepared to make the kind of concessions that would get the other

side signing up to a deal. and concessions that would get the other side signing up to a deal.— side signing up to a deal. and of course, side signing up to a deal. and of course. we've — side signing up to a deal. and of course, we've heard _ side signing up to a deal. and of course, we've heard from - side signing up to a deal. and of course, we've heard from the i side signing up to a deal. and of - course, we've heard from the mayor of chernihiv, saying the fight is continuing there, as well? it’s continuing there, as well? it's continuing _ continuing there, as well? it�*s continuing there, as well? it�*s continuing there, and the mayor here has been talking about the continuations in the city. i went out to a very large food warehouse that got hit and burnt, gutted huge amounts of food destroyed in one of these russian raids. i'm sure the ukrainians are hitting the back with their artillery, ukrainians are hitting the back with theirartillery, i've ukrainians are hitting the back with their artillery, i've seen them using it. but what all this means is that while the russians clearly unable to get into the city, they aren't necessarily pulling away from it either — which seemed to be the invocation of what they are saying, because their weapons are still there and they are still using them.

in the south of the country, analysts say the besieged port city of mariupol could fall in a matter of days. these latest satellite pictures show residential buildings levelled by russian shelling. in this one, you can see artillery on the outskirts of the city. president putin made is clear the way he intends to end the fighting, saying... and fierce fighting continues elsewhere in the south. our correspondent wyre davies has this report. a warning, there are some distressing images from the start. russia says it's not deliberately targeting civilians in this war. but there is no other description for what happened to natalia than deliberate. it's a miracle that she is still alive, after the day russian troops occupied her town. translation: | walked i to where my mother lived. a soldier stopped me

and i raised my hands. i told them i had been let through, but the soldier fired a burst of gunfire, hitting me in the legs. hitting me everywhere from the waist down. everything is damaged — my private parts, too. he was shooting to kill. orikhiv is the next town along the southern road from where natalia was shot. still in ukrainian hands, but regularly shelled by russia. this village is the last one before the front line. shells land in these fields periodically and the next village, down the road, is occupied by russian troops and civilians have been killed in these villages. now, many younger people have left here already, but others in particular, the elderly, they remain and they know that they are taking a big risk. lyda's modest farm is right at the edge of orikhiv, the most exposed, dangerous part of town. she takes me to see where she sleeps.

not in the house, but in this cold, damp cellar. primitive cover from the russian shells. "i am hiding here in this bunker, because they are bombing us and attacking us from each side," says lyda. "i hate them, i hate them. we used to live in peace, and we were happy." speculation about russian troop withdrawals around kyiv is treated with scepticism here in the south, where heavy fighting continues. russia's assault on mariupol is intense. civilians like natasha, who was blinded by russian shelling, are still suffering. translation: my sons were in the basement. l the 19—year—old visits me, but as for the five—year—old, i don't think he should be seeing his mum like this. i miss them so much.

i want to give my little boy a hug and a kiss. wyre davies, bbc news, orikhiv. the un says russia's use of heavy weapons against ukrainian cities may amount to war crimes. here's the un's human rights chief michelle bachelet. we've verified 77 incidents in which medical facilities were damaged, including 50 hospitals, seven psychoneurological facilities, and 20 other medicalfacilities. overall, 55 medical establishments were damaged, then destroyed, and two were looted. actual numbers are again likely to be considerably higher, and reports of additional incidents are being correlated by the human rights commission. indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law, and may amount to war crimes. matilda bogner is head

of the un human rights monitoring mission in ukraine. thanks so much forjoining us on os. let me ask you first of all, is there evidence of war crimes, do you think, is it out there?— think, is it out there? well, what we've been _ think, is it out there? well, what we've been seeing _ think, is it out there? well, what we've been seeing is _ think, is it out there? well, what we've been seeing is the - think, is it out there? well, what we've been seeing is the extent. think, is it out there? well, what. we've been seeing is the extent of damage to civilian objects, as you just heard, hospitals, theatres, other places that civilians use to the extent of that damage, as well as the high number of civilian casualties really strongly suggests that there had been a violation of international humanitarian law, in particular a violation of the prohibition against indiscriminate attacks, and a violation indicate there could have been war crimes committed across the country. how difficult will — committed across the country. how difficult will it — committed across the country. how difficult will it be _ committed across the country. how difficult will it be to _ committed across the country. how difficult will it be to verify all

the instances that are being pointed out to you? the instances that are being pointed out to ou? ~ �* ., g; :: :: :: out to you? we've reported over 3000 civilian casualties _ out to you? we've reported over 3000 civilian casualties in _ out to you? we've reported over 3000 civilian casualties in the _ out to you? we've reported over 3000 civilian casualties in the country. - civilian casualties in the country. we verify them individually, we don't take estimates, we look at each individual case and collect sufficient information the same the civilian objects that are being destroyed and damaged — we look at each individual case. as you said, if you need to prove international crimes, then you need to really look at that from a criminal justice perspective and get sufficient evidence that you can try somebody beyond reasonable doubt. what evidence that you can try somebody beyond reasonable doubt. what about risoners of beyond reasonable doubt. what about prisoners of war? _ beyond reasonable doubt. what about prisoners of war? have _ beyond reasonable doubt. what about prisoners of war? have you _ beyond reasonable doubt. what about prisoners of war? have you seen - prisoners of war? have you seen issues in terms of treatment of pows on both sides?—

on both sides? what we've been seeinu is on both sides? what we've been seeing is different _ on both sides? what we've been seeing is different videos - on both sides? what we've been seeing is different videos that i on both sides? what we've been i seeing is different videos that have been released. there was a well—known video that came out over the weekend that showed ukrainian soldiers torturing, injuring russian prisoners of war — but we have also seen the same on the other side, we've seen videos put out by the russian federation also that show prisoners of war from ukraine russian federation also that show prisoners of warfrom ukraine being ill treated. these such videos should not be being released at all. this goes against international humanitarian law principles, but also it shows that there are serious concerns regarding ill—treatment and possible torture. of course each video must be assessed on its own grounds to see whether it is in fact authentic, but that's where the governments need to come in and

fully investigate and, if there are grounds, they need to prosecute the perpetrators. grounds, they need to prosecute the perpetrators-_ perpetrators. let's go back to talk about civilians, _ perpetrators. let's go back to talk about civilians, because _ perpetrators. let's go back to talk about civilians, because just - about civilians, because just watching about civilians, becausejust watching the previous video there, you can see that those in many ways who are left behind, more vulnerable are the ones who are put in danger now. how worried are you about the vulnerability of those left in ukraine and what might happen to them? . �* , . ukraine and what might happen to them? ., �*, ., �* , ukraine and what might happen to them? ., �* , them? that's what we've seen across them? that's what we've seen across the country. — them? that's what we've seen across the country. and _ them? that's what we've seen across the country, and if _ them? that's what we've seen across the country, and if you _ them? that's what we've seen across the country, and if you take - them? that's what we've seen across the country, and if you take the - the country, and if you take the example of mariupol, a lot of people have evacuated from the city, but they have the physical abilities to evacuate. but those that remain are unable to leave, and they are left in a completely vulnerable situation. we have people who cannot even leave their beds, or their

apartments and ordered to go down to shelters, they don't have the support needed, and they are extra vulnerable staying in their apartments when their city is being shelled. so we are seeing the most vulnerable who are suffering the most at this moment.— vulnerable who are suffering the most at this moment. we're going to talk about the relationship between russia and china now — and what russia's invasion of ukraine means for that relationship. against the backdrop of this war, china is hosting talks on the afghanistan crisis — and russia is attending. they're taking place in china's eastern province of enway. and sergei lavrov, russia's foreign minister, was there today. after china, he will visit india. it looks like an effort by russia to maintain relations with both countries amid global criticism of its invasion. sergey lavrov met china's foreign minister, wang yi, today and they held talks.

and sergei lavrov said this. translation: we are living through a very serious - stage in the history of international relations. i am convinced that at the end of this stage, the international situation will be much clearer, and that we, together with you and our sympathisers, will move towards a multipolar, just, democratic world order. that was russia calling china part of an emerging "democratic world order". let's take a closer look at their relationship. after decades of hostility, they say they have entered a new era of cooperation. this was vladimir putin and xijinping before the invasion, at the winter olympics in beijing. the two presidents released a joint statement saying the "friendship between the two states has no limits". and sergei lavrov said today that the friendship continues. translation: we have an interest in seeing relations with china - develop in a stable and consistent manner, which is what our leaders, putin and xijinping, agree on.

they also discussed ukraine. china has refused to condemn russia's invasion, but it hasn't explicitly supported it either. china abstained on two un votes to condemn russia's invasion. beijing has also said the "national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including ukraine, should be respected and protected." here's the cia director's take... and so it appears — as the financial times says — "russia's invasion of ukraine leaves china facing a difficult balancing act." and there had even been hope among western leaders — and ukraine — that china would put pressure on russia to end this war. well, sergei lavrov briefed wang yi on ukraine today — and afterwards, china released a statement. here's stephen mcdonell on what was said. according to this readout, china hasn't criticised russia at all for the invasion in ukraine.

in fact, as you mentioned, wang yi praised russia along with others for "preventing a humanitarian ci’isis", as he put it, in ukraine. he also said the issue was complex and the result of cold war mentality — whenever he says that, that's a reference to the us and nato, so that's china's way of blaming the west for the war. and so, far from china delivering a tough message to russia over the war, not the slightest hint of tensions in terms of china applying any pressure at all on russia to ease off in any way in that war. so, no sign of tensions between russia and china, or of china putting pressure on russia. wang yi even said today that china is ready to take its relationship with russia "to a higher level". but there was no explicit support

for the invasion yet either. here's jenny hill's take. obviously what russia really wants is full chinese support. _ i think what we saw the statements the chinese side were fairly- tentative levels of support. dashed from the china is very much sitting - on the fence diplomatically here, saying it wants to be on the right side of history. _ let's discuss more with dr yu jie, a senior china research fellow at chatham house. thank you so much forjoining us. let thank you so much forjoining us. let me _ thank you so much forjoining us. let me ask— thank you so much forjoining us. let me ask you _ thank you so much forjoining us. let me ask you first _ thank you so much forjoining us. let me ask you first of _ thank you so much forjoining us. let me ask you first of all, - thank you so much forjoining us. let me ask you first of all, this i let me ask you first of all, this is clearly a difficult balancing act for china. . ~ clearly a difficult balancing act for china. ., ~ ,., clearly a difficult balancing act for china. . ~' ,. ., clearly a difficult balancing act for china. ., ~ i., ., ., for china. thank you for having me. absolutely. — for china. thank you for having me. absolutely, difficult _ for china. thank you for having me. absolutely, difficult diplomatic - absolutely, difficult diplomatic struggle beijing has been sitting in the last month. beijing very much cherish to this un charter, the sovereignty of the country should be respected. what russia has done towards ukraine has infringed on the

sovereignty of that country. on the other hand, according to your news, china has developed a so—called relationship with its own limits with moscow. so i'm afraid at the end of the day, the partnership will have to come with certain limits which is on the baseline, it is not infringing on china's national interest. has infringing on china's national interest. �* , ., , infringing on china's national interest. a ., , _ interest. as time goes by in the wars continue, _ interest. as time goes by in the wars continue, does _ interest. as time goes by in the wars continue, does this - interest. as time goes by in the wars continue, does this make | interest. as time goes by in the - wars continue, does this make things difficult for china? it wars continue, does this make things difficult for china?— difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china _ difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china for _ difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china for sure, - difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china for sure, but - difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china for sure, but i i difficult for china for sure, but i think economically as well as politically — china has been a major trading partner with both countries, such as the war drags along it won't help the chinese economy. but on the international stage, the also could put china in a very difficult position, they've been a great power but with great power comes great responsibilities. and judging by the statement today, we haven't seen that much. 50 statement today, we haven't seen that much-— statement today, we haven't seen that much. . , ., . that much. so what is more important to china? is — that much. so what is more important to china? is of— that much. so what is more important to china? is of the _ that much. so what is more important to china? is of the global _ that much. so what is more important to china? is of the global power - to china? is of the global power struggle or is it economic

supremacy? i struggle or is it economic supremacy?— struggle or is it economic surema ? ~ ., ., supremacy? i think it's a matter of both, and supremacy? i think it's a matter of both. and we _ supremacy? i think it's a matter of both, and we should _ supremacy? i think it's a matter of both, and we should put _ supremacy? i think it's a matter of both, and we should put this in - supremacy? i think it's a matter of| both, and we should put this in the context of the us — china competition. the argument beijing is trying to make right now is this is all viewed through nato expansion, therefore america is the root cause of all this. so i think what china is trying to do now is to divert this debate into one between china and the us. and perhaps the us doesn't even want china to be that sense of mediator. because if china were to become that mediator, then the mediation would be happening on chinese terms, not necessarily american terms, and that is not what us policy policymakers want to see. do you think china has any redlines that if russia crossed, would mean the end of any support from china? there are two redlines here, first is the deployment of nuclear

technology or nuclear arms. secondly, this is also that there'd be no way for china to bypass economic sanctions that have been imposed by the west. so even though we've seen china has deployed the sanctions dashed up lord of the sanctions dashed up lord of the sanctions largely in principle, but actually they did not bypass them at all. ~ �* , . ~ actually they did not bypass them at all. ~ �* , ., ~ ., ., ., all. we've been talking about taiwan in context of — all. we've been talking about taiwan in context of how _ all. we've been talking about taiwan in context of how people _ all. we've been talking about taiwan in context of how people view - in context of how people view ukraine, but it's a very different story insofar as china is concerned? it's a different story and i think again, beijing wants to make this very clear that ukraine and taiwan are not compatible, because ukraine is a full un member state whereas taiwan, in the eyes of a zhang, is the province of china. so china wants to make this clear, china is not taiwan. wants to make this clear, china is not taiwan-_ wants to make this clear, china is not taiwan. thank you so much for

takin: the not taiwan. thank you so much for taking the time _ not taiwan. thank you so much for taking the time to _ not taiwan. thank you so much for taking the time to talk _ not taiwan. thank you so much for taking the time to talk to - not taiwan. thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. - not taiwan. thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. more news coming up injust a few minutes' time, stay with us on bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcmaryam. hello, there. we have seen some snow across the north of the uk in showers. the snow that has come down has come down in big, chunky flakes like these, because often the temperature's just been above freezing, and that helps snowflakes kind of stick together to bring these fairly large flakes. the other thing is a lot of the snow has not been settling on the roads, butjust on grassy hills across the north of the country. however, overnight tonight, as temperatures drop and also we start to get some drierair moving in, increasingly we'll see more of the showers tend to snow for scotland and northern england, and probably towards the back of this weather front. you might even see a bit of snow for a time across wales, the midlands, and the hills of southern england, as well. it's going to be a cold night with a widespread frost and, of course, the combination

of those showers and the frosty conditions will give us icy stretches. first thing thursday morning, particularly but not exclusively across parts of scotland and northern england. now through thursday, it is a day of sunshine and showers. the showers will come through as sleet, still a bit of hill snow around, and with this more pronounced band of showers in kent, we could see a bit of snow there over the highest ground. east anglia and southeast england having strong gusts of wind throughout the day — that will make it feel cold, particularly given that temperatures are going to be lower than they've been today. we're looking at highs of 6 celsius in norwich, but for most of us, temperatures will be quite a few degrees below average for the time of year. now, heading through thursday night, showers continue to feed on that gusty wind, particularly across eastern areas. again, there's a risk of some icy stretches building up almost anywhere, really, as we have another widespread and sharp frost. well, that's the last of march. heading into april, april 1st, april fool's day is friday. it's another day of sunshine and showers. now, the showers could be quite lengthy across

the northwest of scotland. maybe a bit of hill snow mixed in with these, and we've still got those fairly strong winds across east anglia and southeast england, although they will begin to calm down a little bit. it will be another cold day — temperatures between 6—10 celsius. now this weekend will continue with that rather showery theme. some of the showers quite heavy might have a bit of hail, bit of sleet mixed in with some of those, and temperatures still a little below par for the time of year. however, into next week we've got milder air coming around an area an area of high pressure, and so temperatures will be rising next week.

hello, i'm maryam moshiri. this is outside source. brasher said there was no breakthrough in peace talks with ukraine. shelling continues. ukraine's president had this message. {iii ukraine's president had this message-— ukraine's president had this messaue. , , ., message. of course, we see all the risks. of course, _ message. of course, we see all the risks. of course, we _ message. of course, we see all the risks. of course, we see _ message. of course, we see all the risks. of course, we see no - message. of course, we see all the risks. of course, we see no reason| risks. of course, we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of the state that continues to fight.— representatives of the state that continues to fight. | representatives of the state that continues to fight.— continues to fight. russia says it is buildin: continues to fight. russia says it is building a _ continues to fight. russia says it is building a new _ continues to fight. russia says it is building a new democratic - continues to fight. russia says it i is building a new democratic world order with china as their foreign ministers meet and even the uk, a report finds catastrophic failings in maternity care at a hospital

trust that led to of babies dying or being left with life changing injuries. even england, the biggest review of maternity services in nhs history has found that catastrophic failures at a hospital trust led to the deaths and injuries of hundreds of babies and mothers. the review was initially tasked with looking into the deaths of 20 babies in the west midlands. that grew to investigating the early 1600 cases over 20 years from the year 2000 to 2019. today's finding show repeated failings and maternity care led to the deaths of more than 200 babies. nine mothers also lost their 94 children were left with life changing injuries.

the trust also failed to investigate deaths and highlighted concerns about present day care. the health secretary today apologised to those families and promised to make changes at a and national level. our social affairs correspondent has this report. year after year for two decades, children that should have thrived never made it to school, entire classrooms never filled, whole lives never lived. at least 201 babies might have survived had they received better maternity care. we now know that this is a trust that failed to investigate, failed to learn, and failed to improve. they lie to families, they didn't investigate when occurred. they hid many failings from nhs regulators. this is all the more concerning when his clear that major issues in safety were apparent in both the midwifery led unit and

consultant settings. unfortunately, these cases were not isolated incidents and, through the timespan of our review, we have found repeated errors in care, which lead to injury to either mothers or their babies. it is thanks to the efforts of these two families, who each lost daughters in unavoidable circumstances seven years apart, that the review was set up. i think we were absolutely right to do what we did, absolutely right. and i hope that all the other families that never had the opportunity to ask questions or didn't get the answer that they should have had, when they suffered their harm, i hope that they get answers. criticism of this hospital trust is comprehensive and it is absolutely what we have experienced and what we have been saying all along. 11—year—old adam cheshire is profoundly disabled, after developing an infection

shortly after birth. at least 94 children, said the review, had been left with life changing injuries such as cerebral palsy, due to poor treatment. adam's mother believes he is one of them. they had induced me sooner because natural labour wasn't starting, if they had monitored him appropriately after his birth, if they had make sure you fed, if they had even taken me seriously when i was saying there was something wrong, that's why i believe they are responsible for all of those warning signs that they missed. in the commons today the english health secretary sajid javid said the report made for harrowing reading. to all of the families that have suffered so bravely, i am sorry. the report clearly shows that you were filed by a service that was there to help you and your loved ones, to bring life into this world. we will make the changes

that the report says are needed, at both local and national level. nine women died in childbirth that might also have survived, had the trust provided better care, had the culture been open, supportive and transparent, but these are not historical problems. today's report says that there are significant concerns about ongoing maternity services. the trust chief executive apologised for the failings and said they would improve. i welcome the report because it gives us that opportunity to make sure that we make changes based on the findings of her review, talking to all of those families so that we can improve care going forward. having had her concerns repeatedly ignored, today, the families that they felt had revealed the true scale of the trust's failings, but it was more of a moment of relief and celebration. are candy trust go from this? something needs to happen. —— where can the trust go. for me this is bittersweet, because we are missing

daughters that should be with us today because they are avoidable deaths were exactly that, avoidable, and we will lie to all the way through, and we have been vindicated —— we were lied to all the way through. we can talk to michael who has reported extensively on these stories. these are shocking findings. the trial of one of four british men — accused of being members of an islamic state cell nicknamed "the beatles" — has begun today in the us state of virginia. 33—year—old el shafee elsheikh is accused of hostage—taking, conspiring to murder american and british hostages in syria and supporting a foreign terrorist organisation.. these are sketches of him in court yesterday with his attorney nina ginsburg. their captives dubbed elsheikh and three others "the beatles" because of their english accents. they all grew up in west london. ringleader mohamed emwazi, known as "jihadi john," was killed by a us drone in syria in november 2015.

after being captured by kurdish forces in syria in 2018, el shafee elsheikh — dubbed "george" and another member — alexanda kotey — were asked by the bbc about their involvement with islamic state. do you still deny that you are a member of the group known as the beatles, which carried out executions and beheadings? yes. beatles, which carried out executions and beheadings? yes, of course. executions and beheadings? yes, of course- same _ executions and beheadings? yes, of course. same question? _ executions and beheadings? yes, of course. same question? yes. - yes. the uk agreed for the pair to be tried in the us after the death penalty was taken off the table. they were handed over to us forces in iraq and flown to virginia in 2020. kotey pleaded guilty in september 2021 and is awaiting sentence. under his plea agreement, he'll serve 15 years in jail in the us and then be extradited to britain to face further charges. it's the first trial on us soil of an alleged major figure in the islamic state group. here are the thoughts of one analyst:

what is unique about this case is that the british nationality is different from the others. but also, the nature of the crimes. personally, with this level of notoriety, perhaps greater than any other western isis member that we know of, but unlike the other, who pleaded guilty, in september or so, he is actually going to trial and dozens of witnesses, we expect, will provide testimony including sex slaves and victims of genocide perpetrated by the group. we can cross live to virgiia and nomia iqbal, who's outside the court in alexandria. nomia iqbaljoins us now live from virginia. what are these men accused of? today was the start of the trial, effectively. it was an opportunity for the prosecution and defence to lay out their opening arguments. it was giving everyone a road map,

given thejury a was giving everyone a road map, given the jury a road was giving everyone a road map, given thejury a road map was giving everyone a road map, given the jury a road map as to what evidence to families and most of the hostages were inside as where the accused sporting a long beard. he was wearing a black covid mask which of course he will be asked to remove that point during the trial by witnesses who will be asked to identify him but identification was at the heart of his defence case that his lawyer, his argument is that his lawyer, his argument is that this is mistaken identity. that he was a member of the so—called islamic state and was a simple fighter but he was not a member of the so—called beatles. is their argument. they say that he went to syria alone and is not guilty of any other charges that he has been accused of. by the prosecution, obviously, it is the complete opposite argument. they say that he knowingly got involved with this hostagetaking scheme and those

charges, eight in total, he is accused of conspiracy to commit murder, hostagetaking resulting in death, conspiracy resulting in death and conspiracy to support a terrorist group resulting in death. the works legally as if the jurors find that he agreed to be in a conspiracy involving the killing of hostages he could be convicted of those charges without being involved in the planning or the execution. but it is day one and the trial is expected to last about a month, and there is expected to be about more than 50 witnesses including intelligence officials and former hostages who managed to get away from the group who were in court as well who will be testifying. some of the victims families i believe, were in court today. it must been pretty harrowing for them. the prosecution did go into details of those graphic videos which show the execution of

their loved ones and, remember, the bodies of the four american hostages and the british hostages and japanese nationals and others have never been found and the family are hoping for answers. now, the prosecution also did say that those graphic videos and graphic images will not be shown during the trial but, if thejurors will not be shown during the trial but, if the jurors want to see them, they will make them available. what was interesting is that the prosecution and defence agree on one thing. this is a horrific and heartbreaking case. obviously, they differ on what arguments they are presenting but the defence did say to the jurors it may be hard for them to keep an open mind but they believe that the evidence will show that it believe that the evidence will show thatitis believe that the evidence will show that it is a case of mistaken identity and the prosecution hopes to prove the opposite. the israeli prime minister, naftali bennett, says his country

is facing a new wave of terror after five people died in a third attack in less than a week. on tuesday five people were shot dead by a palestinian gunman in a suburb of tel aviv — called bnei brak, one of the country's most populous ultra—orthodox jewish areas. israeli media report that he first shot dead two ukrainian men who were sitting outside a grocery shop. he also opened fire at a passing car, killing a man who was driving it. two of the victims were identified as israeli residents of bnei brak this is the funeral of one of them — avishai yehezkel, a 29—year—old father of one — being held today. mr yehezkel�*s brother told local radio that he was shot while taking a walk and that he "defended his baby with his own body". yolande knell reports from tel aviv. you can see the candles here. this is where two people were killed. they were ukrainian workers and just on the streets nearby, that is where

there were two local men who were shot dead. both of them fathers. one of them is actually out with his small child. there was an israeli arab citizen killed as well. he was a police officer who shot and killed the palestinian attacker, man who came from the north of the west bank. people here, in this religious neighbourhood, talk about the deep shock that they feel about this very sudden attack and there is fear, too, notjust here but across much of israeli and palestinian society, that this could lead to another round of deadly violence. israel has been hit by two other attacks in the last few days — those were carried out by arab israelis with links to the islamic state group. on sunday two police officers — both 19 years old were killed in an attack by two gunmen in the northern city of hadera. the assailants were shot dead by counter—terrorism officers who happened to be at a restaurant nearby. the islamic state group said it was behind the attack last week, an man killed four people

in a stabbing and car ramming attack outside a shopping centre in the southern city ofbeersheba, before he was shot dead by a passerby. israeli authorities said he was an islamic state sympathiser. there are fears of further incidents in the month ahead, when the muslim festival of ramadan, the jewish festival of passover and the christian festival of easter coincide in a rare convergence. in may last year, on the last friday of ramadan, palestinians and israeli police clashed at the al—aqsa mosque complex injerusalem's old city — one of islam's most revered locations, but its location is also the holiest site injudaism, known as the temple mount. israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades as palestinians threw stones and bottles. at least 163 palestinians and 17 israeli police officers were injured allison kaplan sommer, journalist for the israeli news outlet haaretz, joins me live from tel aviv.

did you talk to you. how worrying is this latest spate of violence? thank ou for this latest spate of violence? thank you for having _ this latest spate of violence? thank you for having me. _ this latest spate of violence? thank you for having me. well, _ this latest spate of violence? thank you for having me. well, it - this latest spate of violence? thank you for having me. well, it is - you for having me. well, it is extremely worrying, especially since the recent and deadly attacks took place in very areas of israel and from very different aspects of palestinian and israeli arab society so it is not as if the attacks came from one terrorist organisation, coming from one organisation and the israeli authorities could target that organisation specifically, but we have a attack from the south, from the north and this latest attack yesterday was from the northern area of the west bank. is northern area of the west bank. is that i worry about israeli intelligence and how well it is functioning right now? titers; intelligence and how well it is functioning right now? very much so. two attacks — functioning right now? very much so. two attacks in — functioning right now? very much so. two attacks in which _ functioning right now? very much so. two attacks in which the _ functioning right now? very much so. two attacks in which the attackers - two attacks in which the attackers were identified as sympathisers of

isis, it was no secret to the authorities that they had the sympathies, and in fact, they were both cases in which they had attempted, back in 2011 and the years afterwards, you know, the peak of isis, had attempted to cross the border into syria in order to fight with isis and the islamic state and they were convicted of isis related charges and went back home. and the fact that they then went on recently to commit these crimes is viewed as a failure of israeli intelligence. we have passover and ramadan coming up we have passover and ramadan coming up and as well as easter. how much anxiety is there that the three religious festivals at the same time may cause problems?— religious festivals at the same time may cause problems? well, there is a tricky group —

may cause problems? well, there is a tricky group of — may cause problems? well, there is a tricky group of negotiations _ may cause problems? well, there is a tricky group of negotiations that - tricky group of negotiations that the israeli authorities are going to have to wait. ahead of time, this government, which, you know, has attempted to conduct a more logical and less hard—nosed policy towards the palestinians offering a carrot rather than a stake in allowing an unprecedented number of palestinians to come during ramadan in order to worship at the temple mount including men of a certain age who are often fired because they viewed as terror threats. it has opened up gaza, allowing an increased number of people to come there and work which is very important source of income. so, the big debate in israel is whether, in the face of these violent attacks, whether there should be a crackdown or not and those who are arguing that if israel does not stand firm and show some consequences for these kind of attacks that they will continue and there are those who think that

hard—nosed retaliation by israel will only backfire and lead to a cycle of increased violence and make things worse. i'd make these attacks come after a period of relative calm and peace in this real? yes, because there has been a lot of behind—the—scenes negotiations, you know, both authority led by the president in the west bank and very quietly and behind—the—scenes also with gaza, the fact that israel has not seen little attacks for some time is not a coincidence. of behind—the—scenes negotiations and back and forth including these coveted work permits. so this period of calm, it is notjust these three recent attacks. they did not make headlines internationally when everyone was focused on ukraine but there have been five stabbing attacks mostly in eastjerusalem since the beginning of march. there was kind of overlap to this period of violence and i think the interest

of violence and i think the interest of leaders on both sides is that things do not get worse and escalate from here. it things do not get worse and escalate from here. . , things do not get worse and escalate from here. ., , , things do not get worse and escalate from here. . , , ., ., things do not get worse and escalate from here. ., , ., ., from here. it has been good to have ou on from here. it has been good to have you on the — from here. it has been good to have you on the programme. _ from here. it has been good to have you on the programme. thank you l from here. it has been good to have i you on the programme. thank you for joining us. thank you forjoining us. now let's return to the ukraine crisis and get a russian perspective. you'll remember that moscow says it is carrying out a "special operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbour and a law has been brought in to punish anyone spreading "false information", with up to 15 years in prison. well there are further signs of a clampdown on internal dissent, as our russia editor steve rosenberg reports there were peace talks this week, but there's no peace yet. the russian military police these images of it launching ballistic missiles towards ukraine. an army spokesman said russia wa operation, and had destroyed fuel storage sites, arms depots, - and ukrainian drones.

continuing in russia, encouraged by the authorities, public displays of support for the offensive. these buses forming the letter z, as painted on russian military vehicles in ukraine. you will find zs on billboards, on government buildings, even on the side of theatres. and here, this is the home of human rights activist, oleg arlov. those who criticise russia's onslaught in ukraine have become targets of abuse. translation: russia is heading i towards, in fact has almost arrived at, something very similar to what we saw in - germany in the 1930s. everything feels very familiar. and that's important. in russia right now, there is no room for alternative views. for public expressions that contradict the official opinion. and that is particularly true of events in ukraine.

the kremlin wants the public here to believe that the russian offensive there is both necessary and just. the russian authorities have banned the word "war", in relation to ukraine. so, when dimitri took part in an anti—war protest, he didn't use any words at all. he was still arrested, though, and fined for discrediting the russian army. translation: i was detained within 30 seconds. _ i don't think it would have mattered what was written there. _ some people have been. arrested forjust holding up a plain piece of paper. because everyone knows what it means and what it stands for. _ in vladimir putin's russia, even the slightest hint of dissent is seen by those in power here as a significant threat, to be eliminated. but, in a country where opposition

to the government has been crushed, where critical voices have been silenced, where the media is under almost total state control, for now, the kremlin doesn't feel under any public pressure to make peace in ukraine. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the uk government has been accused of putting "paperwork ahead of people", after new figures showed that fewer than 3,000 visas have been issued for refugees coming to the uk through the �*homes for ukraine' scheme. more than 28,000 people have applied for a visa via this route — which lets people in uk host ukrainian refugees. the government has admitted that the system is not perfect and they are trying to speed things up. lucy manning reports. that's her. that's her, isn't it? yeah. ajourney 11 years in the making, war and refuge reuniting them.

hello. i'm so glad you're here. oh, my god. you ok? er, yes. a decade ago, claire and herfamily took in diana, visiting with the chernobyl children's charity. now she's brought diana back to england, this time with her mum. how do you feel now you're here? translation: we are in safety. this is amazing, and i knowl that my daughter is in safety and we are very grateful to claire for hosting us _ they fled from heavily—bombed irpin. translation: we had to find the courage to choose - the safest moment for us to escape the shelling. . they are very, very brave, making that really terrifying journey. i just can't tell them how incredibly sad i am that they've had to make thatjourney. but the reality is not many families are getting through on this scheme so far. there is deep, deep frustration that matches are still being done

on facebook mainly and that visas are taking nine, ten, 11, even more days to be issued. yulia and her daughter have now waited 11 days in a polish refugee centre. the uk's visa system not as quick as the speed they fled their homes. come and play in our garden. the contrast in essex couldn't be greater. generosity awaits them, but those waiting for them feel despair. so i'm suggesting you as quick as it's possible that we can. i check my mailbox every hour. the scheme has been slow. it's frustrating. the process hasn't been thought through enough. it's embarrassing, to some points, having to ask every day, have you had any news on your visa? it's just constantly no.

people have opened their arms but few have had the chance to wrap them round those who really need help. claire, what's your main task now? to teach them english, to introduce them to fish and chips. er, i'm going to give them a bit of breathing space to settle in. the government says it's improved the visa process but, when your whole life fits into a car boot, every day waiting is a day too long. lucy manning, bbc news. time to bring you breaking lines from washington. the white house says it has information that �*s president putin has been misled by the military and that there are tensions with a top aide. he says it underscores the tensions and says it

cannot release sources or intelligence on president putin. cannot release sources or intelligence on president putin. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcmaryam. hello, there. we have seen some snow across the north of the uk in showers. the snow that has come down has come down in big, chunky flakes like these, because often the temperature's just been above freezing, and that helps snowflakes kind of stick together to bring these fairly large flakes. the other thing is a lot of the snow has not been settling on the roads, butjust on grassy hills across the north of the country. however, overnight tonight, as temperatures drop and also we start to get some drier air moving in, increasingly we'll see more of the showers tend to snow for scotland and northern england, and probably towards the back of this weather front. you might even see a bit of snow for a time across wales, the midlands, and the hills of southern england, as well. it's going to be a cold night with a widespread frost and, of course, the combination of those showers and the frosty conditions will give us icy stretches. first thing thursday morning, particularly but not exclusively

across parts of scotland and northern england. now through thursday, it is a day of sunshine and showers. the showers will come through as sleet, still a bit of hill snow around, and with this more pronounced band of showers in kent, we could see a bit of snow there over the highest ground. east anglia and southeast england having strong gusts of wind throughout the day — that will make it feel cold, particularly given that temperatures are going to be lower than they've been today. we're looking at highs of 6 celsius in norwich, but for most of us, temperatures will be quite a few degrees below average for the time of year. now, heading through thursday night, showers continue to feed on that gusty wind, particularly across eastern areas. again, there's a risk of some icy stretches building up almost anywhere, really, as we have another widespread and sharp frost. well, that's the last of march. heading into april, april 1st — april fool's day — is friday. it's another day of sunshine and showers. now, the showers could be quite lengthy across the northwest of scotland, maybe a bit of hill snow mixed in with these,

and we've still got those fairly strong winds across east anglia and southeast england, although they will begin to calm down a little bit. it will be another cold day — temperatures between 6—10 celsius. now this weekend will continue with that rather showery theme. some of the showers quite heavy, might have a bit of hail, a bit of sleet mixed in with some of those, and temperatures still a little below par for the time of year. however, into next week, we've got milder air coming around an area of high pressure, and so temperatures will be rising next week.

hello, i'm maryam moshiri, this is outside source. russia says there was no breakthrough in peace talks with ukraine. moscow said it would pull back forces from kyiv and the city of chernihiv. no sign of that in chernihiv, as shelling continues. ukraine's president had this message. translation: of course we see all the risks. - of course we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of a state that continues to fight. meanwhile, russia says its building a new democratic world order with china as their foreign ministers meet. and here in the uk, a report finds catastrophic failures in maternity care at a hospital trust that led to hundreds of babies dying or being left with life—changing injuries.

the review into the failings was triggered by a campaign by two families, who both lost baby girls. this is bittersweet that we are missing daughters that should be with us today because their avoidable deaths were exactly that, avoidable, and we were lied to all the way through. welcome to the programme. it's been over a month since russia invaded ukraine. and now, afterface—to—face peace talks between the two sides on tuesday, moscow has denied that those meetings yielded any kind of breakthrough. this is the kremlin spokesman. translation: the positive - is that the ukrainian side at least began to specifically formulate and lay down on paper what it proposes. this is a positive factor. otherwise, we cannot state anything very promising, any breakthroughs at all.

there is a very, very long road ahead. you might remember one of the main outcomes of those talks was a promise from russia to scale back its military activity, specifically in the ukrainian capital kyiv and the northern city of chernihiv. let's look at whether that's actually happening. in chernihiv, the mayor told the bbc that fighting continues. |translation: it is the practice j and long experience of relations between ukraine and russia where such that you could could trust at least one word by the russians, this would be good news. but i want to know that it was only yesterday that when inhuman arterial shelling of several residential areas of the city took place, where about 35 people were hospitalised, where people lost their legs and some people were killed. and often the russians say one thing, but a different thing actually happens. only time will show how much

truth is in those words. ukraine's military says it's seen some individual russian units withdraw from positions near kyiv. this was the ukrainian capital this morning. shelling reportedly continued on the city's outskirts, according to the mayor of kyiv, former heavyweight champion vitali klitschko. we received information yesterday. right now, the russian forces move away from kyiv. - it's not true. all night, we've - been attacked and we've heard huge explosions. east of kyiv and north of kyiv, many battles there. _ the people still died. in the last few hours, we've heard that ukrainian president zelensky has spoken with us presidentjoe biden. on twitter, mr zelensky wrote... and earlier today, we heard from mr zelensky on the outcome

of yesterday's talks. translation: yes, we can call positive the signals we hear - from the negotiating platform. but these signals do not silence the explosion of the russian shells. of course, we see all the risks. of course, we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of a state that continues to fight. i want to show you this map. it shows the areas under russian control at the moment. the town of irpin, near kyiv, has been a hotspot for fighting. it was taken back from russian forces this week. let's hearfrom its mayor. we are constantly shelled from war zone and multiple grad rocket launcher systems, from mortars, mortar shelling, from heavy artillery shelling. and sometimes they shell from tanks and they shoot from rifles, but the whole perimeter of the city is completely controlled by our military and there are no

russian invaders in irpin any more. let's turn to the donbas region, where russia says it plans to refocus its military strategy. donetsk and luhansk are the key areas. they're in the east of the country, and parts of them have been controlled by russian—backed separatists since 2014. let's hear from an expert on the russian military. the kremlin clearly intended to capture kyiv, and that - failed in its early...the early section of the war here, - sort of a misallocation _ of what they're going to be doing. i do think they'll be i focusing on the east, of course, as you noted, heavy concentration - of fighting in mariupol. unfortunately we think the city will likely fall within— the next week or so. as well as an emphasis on taking the entirety of donetsk _ and luhansk oblasts. we've been seeing a lot of russian forces around chernihiv and sumyl up in north—eastern ukraine i being pulled down into fighting around an area southeast of kharkiv, likely seeking to link up _ with russian forces i that are pushing west. now we've already seen the situation

in the east intensify. this drone footage is from donetsk. it shows a heavily damaged residential building after shelling. uk intelligence says this pivot to the east is "a tacit admission from russia that it is struggling to sustain more than one significant axis of advance". a former head of the british army has been speaking to the bbc. many western observers, myself included, have been surprised at the woeful performance of the russian military, of the russian army. we had rather assumed that, after weeks of preparation and training and getting ready to launch this attack, they would do so in a fairly efficient way. that has clearly not been the case at all. let's get more from jeremy bowen in kyiv. i don't think there's any sense of relief here at the moment. i think that there's a feeling of cynicism that you can't believe a word that the russians say. those hopes that some people perhaps here or perhaps abroad might have had after the positive vibes that were coming out of those talks

in istanbul 24 hours ago dissipated really very quickly. shelling overnight and into the day, not here in the city of the capital city, kyiv, but in the suburbs, where a lot of it has been going. so, i think a feeling that this war is here to stay for a while, going into a new and attritional longer—term phase. and, jeremy, give us a sense of what is happening and what the view is in terms of peace negotiations and where they may be headed. well, there were unexpectedly positive noises coming out of those negotiators when they finished their meeting in turkey. however, you know, ithink it's always much wiser to look at not so much what people say, but what happens, what happens on the ground. and there hasn't been any noticeable

change in terms of the things the russians talked about, which was reducing the tempo of what they were trying to do. here around kyiv, the capital, and also in chernihiv, which is north of here. so, what are people concluding from that? well, first of all, that the russians will always say what they think will suit them at that particular time, but there was a meeting today, a virtual meeting, between president zelensky and president biden in washington, dc. and the official readout of that said that they talked about the americans giving the ukrainians more stuff that they need to continue fighting the war in terms of money, in terms of weapons, in terms of tightening sanctions on the russians. there was no talk in that about what may or may not be in a peace deal, perhaps they talked about that, but i think that at this particular point in the conflict,

i don't think the russians orthe ukrainians are in a place where they are prepared to make the kind of concessions that would get the other side signing up to a deal. and, of course, we've heard from the mayor of chernihiv saying that the fight is continuing there as well? yep, it's going on there, and the mayor here, vitali klitschko, has been talking about the continuations in the city. i went out to a very large food warehouse that got hit and burnt, gutted, huge amounts of food destroyed in one of these russian raids. so, all of that is going on. i'm sure the ukrainians are hitting the back with their artillery. they do have it, and i've seen them using it. but what all this means is that while the russians clearly are unable to get into this city, they aren't necessarily pulling back from it either, which seemed to be the implication

of what they were saying, because they're still there, their weapons are still there and they're still using them. in the south of the country, analysts say the besieged port city of mariupol could fall in a matter of days. these latest satellite pictures show residential buildings levelled by russian shelling. in this one, you can see artillery on the outskirts of the city. president putin made is clear the way he intends to end the fighting, saying... and fierce fighting continues elsewhere in the south. our correspondent wyre davies has this report. a warning — there are some distressing images from the start. russia says it's not deliberately targeting civilians in this war. but there is no other description for what happened to natalia than deliberate.

it's a miracle she's still alive, after the day russian troops occupied her town. translation: | walked i to where my mother lived. a soldier stopped me, and i raised my hands. i told them i'd been let through, but the soldier fired a burst of gunfire, hitting me in the legs. hitting me everywhere from the waist down. everything is damaged. my private parts, too. he was shooting to kill. orikhiv is the next town along the southern road from where natalia was shot. still in ukrainian hands, but regularly shelled by russia. this village is the last one before the front line. shells land in these fields periodically, and the next village down the road, is occupied by russian troops and civilians have been killed in these villages. now, many younger people have left here already, but others, in particular the elderly, they remain,

and they know they're taking a big risk. the most exposed, dangerous part of town. she takes me to see where she sleeps. not in the house, but in this cold, damp cellar. primitive cover from the russian shells. "i'm hiding here in this bunker, because they're bombing us and attacking us from each side," says lyda. "i hate them, i hate them. we used to live in peace, and we were happy." speculation about russian troop withdrawals around kyiv is treated with scepticism here in the south, where heavy fighting continues. russia's assault on mariupol is intense. civilians like natasha, who was blinded by russian shelling, are still suffering.

translation: my sons were in the basement. l the 19—year—old visits me, but as for the five—year—old, i don't think he should be seeing his mum like this. i miss them so much. i want to give my little boy a hug and a kiss. wyre davies, bbc news, orikhiv. the un says russia's use of heavy weapons against ukrainian cities may amount to war crimes. here's the un's human rights chief michelle bachelet. we have verified 77 incidents in which medical facilities were damaged to various degrees, including 50 hospitals, seven psycho—neurological facilities and 20 other medical facilities. overall, 55 medical establishments were damaged, ten destroyed and two were looted. actual numbers are again likely to be considerably higher, and reports of additional incidents are being corroborated by the human rights monitoring mission. indiscriminate attacks

are prohibited under international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. matilda bogner is head of the un human rights monitoring mission in ukraine. well, what we have been seeing is the extent of damage to civilian objects, as you just heard, hospitals, schools, theatres, other places that civilians use. so, the extent of that damage, as well as the high number of civilian casualties, really strongly suggests that there have been a violation of international humanitarian law, in particular a violation of the prohibition against indiscriminate attacks. and a violation of that does mean that there could well have been war crimes committed across the country. how difficult is it going to be to verify all the instances that are being pointed out to you?

well, we are verifying civilian casualties. we've recorded over 3000 civilian casualties in the country. we verify them individually. we don't take estimates. we look at each individual case and collect sufficient information to be sure that that did, in fact, occur. the same with the civilian objects that are being destroyed and damaged, we look at each individual case. but as you said, if you need to prove international are being committed, then you need to really look at that from a criminaljustice perspective and get sufficient evidence that you can try somebody beyond reasonable doubt. and what about prisoners of war? have you been seeing evidence in terms of treatment of pows on both sides?

well, what we have been seeing is different videos that have been released. there was a well— known video that came out over the weekend that showed ukrainian soldiers torturing, injuring russian prisoners of war, but we have also seen the same on the other side. we've seen videos put out by the russian federation also that show prisoners of war from ukraine being ill—treated. these, firstly, such videos should not be being released at all. this goes against international humanitarian law principles, but also it shows that there are serious concerns regarding ill—treatment and possible torture. of course, each video needs to be assessed on its own grounds to see whether it is in fact authentic, but that's where the governments need to come in and they need to fully investigate and if there are the grounds, then they need to prosecute

the perpetrators. let's go back to talking about civilians, becausejust watching wyre davies' video there, you can see that those in many ways those who are left behind, those who are more vulnerable are the ones who are put in danger now. how worried are you about the vulnerability of those left in ukraine and what may happen to them? exactly, that's what we've seen across the country, and if you take the example of mariupol. a lot of people have evacuated from the city, but they're the people who are able to evacuate, have the means, have the reasources, have the physical abilities to evacuate. but those that remain

are the elderly, the disabled, those who are for whatever reason unable to leave, and they're left in a completely vulnerable situation. we hear stories of old people who maybe cannot even leave their beds, or their apartments in order to go down to shelters, they don't have the support needed. and they are extra vulnerable staying in their apartments when their city is being shelled. so, we see it is the most vulnerable who are suffering the most in this conflict. we're going to talk about russia and china now and what russia's invasion of ukraine means for the relationship between them. against the backdrop of this war, china is hosting talks on the afghanistan crisis, and russia is attending. they're taking place in china's eastern province of anhui, and sergei lavrov, russia's foreign minister, was there today. after china, he will visit india. it looks like an effort by russia to maintain relations with both countries amid global criticism of its invasion. sergei lavrov met china's foreign minister, wang yi, for talks, after which the russian foreign minister said this. translation: we are living through a very serious - stage in the history of international relations.

i am convinced that at the end of this stage, the international situation will be much clearer, and that we, together with you and with our sympathisers, will move towards a multipolar, just, democratic world order. that was russia calling china part of its emerging "democratic world order". let's take a closer look at their relationship. after decades of hostility, they say they've entered a new era of cooperation. this was vladimir putin and xijinping before the invasion, at the winter olympics in beijing. the two presidents released a joint statement saying the "friendship between the two states has no limits". and sergei lavrov said today that the friendship continues. translation: we have an interest in seeing relations with china - develop in a stable and consistent manner, which is what our leaders, putin and xijinping, agree on. they also discussed ukraine. china hasn't denounced russia's

invasion, but it hasn't explicitly supported it either. china abstained on two un votes to condemn russia's invasion. beijing has also said the "national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including ukraine, should be respected and protected@. here's the cia director's take. and so it appears, as the financial times says, "russia's invasion of ukraine leaves china facing a difficult balancing act." there had even been hope among western leaders and ukraine that china would put pressure on russia to end this war. well, sergei lavrov briefed wang yi on ukraine today, and afterwards, china released a statement. here's stephen mcdonell on what was said. according to this readout, china hasn't criticised russia at all for the invasion in ukraine. in fact, as you mentioned,

wang yi praised russia along with others for "preventing a humanitarian crisis", as he put it, in ukraine. he also said the issue was complex and the result of a cold war mentality. whenever he says that, that's a reference to the us and nato, so that's china's way of blaming the west for the war. and so, far from china delivering a tough message to russia over the war, not the slightest hint of tensions in terms of china applying any pressure at all on russia to ease off in any way in that war. so, no sign of tensions between russia and china or of china putting pressure on russia. wang yi even said today that china is ready to take its relationship with russia "to a higher level". but there was no explicit support for the invasion yet either. here's jenny hill's take. obviously what russia really wants

is full chinese support. _ i think what we saw- in the statements from the chinese side were fairly tentative levels of support. | china is very much sitting - on the fence diplomatically here, saying it wants to be on the right side of history. _ dr yu jie is a senior china research fellow at the london—based think tank chatham house. i asked her how difficult this balancing act is for china. absolutely, really difficult diplomatic struggle that beijing has been sitting in the past month. because on the one hand, beijing very much cherish this un charter, the sovereignty of the country should be respected. what russia has done towards ukraine has infringed on the sovereignty of that country. on the other hand, according to your news, china has developed a so—called relationship with its own limits with moscow. so, i'm afraid at the end of

the day, the partnership will have to come with certain limits, which is on the baseline it is not infringing or interfering in china's national interest. as time goes by and the wars continue, does this make things difficult for china? it makes things difficult for china for sure, but i think economically as well as politically. obviously, economically, china has been a major trading partner with both countries, so as the war drags along, it won't help the chinese economy. but on the international stage, that also could put china in a very difficult position. they've been a great power, but with great power comes shouldering great responsibilities. and judging by the statement today, we haven't seen that much. so, what is more important to china? is it the global power struggle or is it economic supremacy? i think it's a matter of both, and we should put this in the context of the us—china competition. that the argument beijing is trying

to make right now is this is all viewed through the lens of nato expansion, therefore america—led nato expansion, therefore america is the root cause of all this. so, i think what china is trying to do now is to divert this debate into one between china and the united states. and perhaps the us doesn't even want china to be that sense of mediator. because if china were proactively to become that mediator, then the mediation would be happening on chinese terms, not necessarily on american terms, and that is not what us policy policymakers want to see, as well. do you think china has any red lines that if crossed by russia would mean the end of any support from china? i think there are two red lines here, and the first is the deployment of nuclear technology or nuclear arms. secondly, this is also that there'd be no way for china to bypass

any economic sanction that have been imposed by the west. so, even though we've seen china has deplored the sanctions widely in principle, but actually in practice, they did not bypass them at all. we've been talking about taiwan in context of how people view ukraine, but it's a very different story insofar as china is concerned? it's a different story, and i think again, beijing wants to make this very clear that ukraine and taiwan are not compatible, because ukraine is a full un member state whereas taiwan, in the eyes of a beijing, is a renegade province of china. before we go, lines coming in from the pentagon is saying that russia is repositioning plea percent of its forces around the capital of achaea. the pentagon cautions that russia is set to refit and resupply some of these forces for readable and not

bring the forces home as some are suggesting. there is of course more coming up on that story coming up in the next few minutes. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcmaryam. play more to come. stay with us on bbc news. hello, there. we have seen some snow across the north of the uk in showers. the snow that has come down has come down in big, chunky flakes like these, because often the temperature's just been above freezing, and that helps snowflakes kind of stick together to bring these fairly large flakes. the other thing is a lot of the snow has not been settling on the roads, butjust on grassy hills across the north of the country. however, overnight tonight, as temperatures drop and also we start to get some drier air moving in, increasingly we'll see more of the showers tend to snow for scotland and northern england, and probably towards the back of this weather front. you might even see a bit of snow for a time across wales, the midlands, and the hills of southern england, as well. it's going to be a cold night with a widespread frost and, of course, the combination of those showers and the frosty conditions will give us icy stretches.

first thing thursday morning, particularly but not exclusively across parts of scotland and northern england. now through thursday, it is a day of sunshine and showers. the showers will come through as sleet, still a bit of hill snow around, and with this more pronounced band of showers in kent, we could see a bit of snow there over the highest ground. east anglia and southeast england having strong gusts of wind throughout the day — that will make it feel cold, particularly given that temperatures are going to be lower than they've been today. we're looking at highs of 6 celsius in norwich, but for most of us, temperatures will be quite a few degrees below average for the time of year. now, heading through thursday night, showers continue to feed on that gusty wind, particularly across eastern areas. again, there's a risk of some icy stretches building up almost anywhere, really, as we have another widespread and sharp frost. well, that's the last of march. heading into april, april 1st — april fool's day — is friday. it's another day of sunshine and showers. now, the showers could be quite lengthy across the northwest of scotland, maybe a bit of hill snow mixed in with these,

and we've still got those fairly strong winds across east anglia and southeast england, although they will begin to calm down a little bit. it will be another cold day — temperatures between 6—10 celsius. now this weekend will continue with that rather showery theme. some of the showers quite heavy, might have a bit of hail, a bit of sleet mixed in with some of those, and temperatures still a little below par for the time of year. however, into next week, we've got milder air coming around an area of high pressure, and so temperatures will be rising next week.

hello, i'm maryam moshiri, this is outside source. russia says there was no breakthrough in peace talks with ukraine. moscow said it would pull back forces from kyiv and the city of chernihiv. no sign of that in chernihiv, as shelling continues. ukraine's president had this message. translation: of course we see all the risks. - of course we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of a state that continues to fight. meanwhile, russia says its building a new democratic world order with china, as theirforeign ministers meet and, here in the uk, a report finds catastrophic failures in maternity care at a hospital trust that led to hundreds of babies dying or being left with life—changing injuries.

here in england, the biggest review of maternity services in nhs history has found that catastrophic failures at a hospital trust led to the deaths and injuries of hundreds of babies and mothers. the review by the senior midwife donna ockenden was initially tasked with looking into the deaths ofjust over 20 babies at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust in the west midlands. but that grew to investigating nearly 1600 cases over 20 years from 2000 to 2019. today's findings show that repeated failures in maternity care led to the deaths of more than 200 babies. 9 mothers also lost their lives and 94 children were left with life—changing injuries. donna ockenden said the trust often failed to investigate babies' deaths — and she also highlighted concerns about present—day care.

the health secretary sajid javid today apologised to those families and promised to make changes at a local and national level. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has this report. year after year for two decades, children that should have thrived never made it to school, entire classrooms never filled, whole lives never lived. at least 201 babies might have survived had they received better maternity care. we now know that this is a trust that failed to investigate, failed to learn, and failed to improve. the failings of this trust are unprecedented. they lied to families, they did not investigate when mistakes occurred and the head failings from nhs regulators. this is all the more _ failings from nhs regulators. t'i 3 is all the more concerning when major issues and safety were apparent in both midwifery led units

and consultant settings. unfortunately, these cases were not isolated incidents and through the timespan of our review, we have found repeated errors and care which lead to injury to either mothers or their babies. it is lead to injury to either mothers or their babies.— their babies. it is thanks to the efforts of these _ their babies. it is thanks to the efforts of these families - their babies. it is thanks to the efforts of these families who . their babies. it is thanks to the i efforts of these families who each lost a daughter is in avoidable circumstances, seven years apart, that the review was set up. i circumstances, seven years apart, that the review was set up.- that the review was set up. i think we were absolutely _ that the review was set up. i think we were absolutely right - that the review was set up. i think we were absolutely right to i that the review was set up. i think we were absolutely right to do i that the review was set up. i think. we were absolutely right to do what we were absolutely right to do what we did, _ we were absolutely right to do what we did, absolutely right. i hope that all— we did, absolutely right. i hope that all the other families that never— that all the other families that never had the opportunity to ask questions — never had the opportunity to ask questions or did not get the answer is that— questions or did not get the answer is that they— questions or did not get the answer is that they should have had, when they suffered their harm, i hope that they— they suffered their harm, i hope that they get answers. our criticism of this trust — that they get answers. our criticism of this trust is _ that they get answers. our criticism of this trust is comprehensive i that they get answers. our criticism of this trust is comprehensive and i of this trust is comprehensive and it is absolutely— of this trust is comprehensive and it is absolutely what _ of this trust is comprehensive and it is absolutely what we _ of this trust is comprehensive and it is absolutely what we have i it is absolutely what we have exuerience _ it is absolutely what we have experience in _ it is absolutely what we have experience in what _ it is absolutely what we have experience in what we - it is absolutely what we have experience in what we have i it is absolutely what we have i experience in what we have been saying _ experience in what we have been saying all— experience in what we have been saying all along _ experience in what we have been saying all along. this _ experience in what we have been saying all along-— saying all along. this 11-year-old is profoundly _

saying all along. this 11-year-old is profoundly disabled _ saying all along. this 11-year-old is profoundly disabled when i saying all along. this 11-year-old is profoundly disabled when he i is profoundly disabled when he developed an infection shortly after birth. at least 94 children, said the review, were left with life—changing injuries, such as cerebral palsy, due to poor treatment. his mother believes he is one of them. hf treatment. his mother believes he is one of them-— one of them. if they had induced me sooner, because _ one of them. if they had induced me sooner, because nate _ one of them. if they had induced me sooner, because nate -- _ one of them. if they had induced me sooner, because nate -- natural- sooner, because nate —— natural labour was not starting and if they had monitored him appropriately, if they had major he was feeding, if they had major he was feeding, if they had major he was feeding, if they had made sure, if even if they had made sure they took me seriously when i said there was something wrong, that is why i believe they are responsible for all the warning signs they missed. in are responsible for all the warning signs they missed.— are responsible for all the warning signs they missed. in the commons toda , the signs they missed. in the commons today, the health _ signs they missed. in the commons today, the health secretary - signs they missed. in the commons today, the health secretary sajid i today, the health secretary sajid javid said the report made for harrowing reading. to javid said the report made for harrowing reading.— harrowing reading. to all the families that _ harrowing reading. to all the families that have _ harrowing reading. to all the families that have suffered i harrowing reading. to all the| families that have suffered so greatly, — families that have suffered so greatly, i am sorry. the report clearly— greatly, i am sorry. the report clearly shows that you were failed by a service that was there to help you and _ by a service that was there to help you and your loved ones, to bring life into _ you and your loved ones, to bring life into this — you and your loved ones, to bring life into this world. we will make

the changes that the report says were _ the changes that the report says were needed, at both local and national— were needed, at both local and national level.— were needed, at both local and national level. ., national level. nine women died in who miaht national level. nine women died in who might also _ national level. nine women died in who might also have _ national level. nine women died in who might also have survived i national level. nine women died in who might also have survived if i national level. nine women died in | who might also have survived if the trust are provided better care and the culture had been open, supportive and transparent. these are not historical problems, this report says the review team have significant concerns about ongoing services and their chief executive apologise for the failings and said they would improve. l apologise for the failings and said they would improve.— apologise for the failings and said they would improve. i welcome the re ort, they would improve. i welcome the reort, it they would improve. i welcome the report. it gives _ they would improve. i welcome the report, it gives us _ they would improve. i welcome the report, it gives us that _ they would improve. i welcome the report, it gives us that opportunity| report, it gives us that opportunity to ensure — report, it gives us that opportunity to ensure that _ report, it gives us that opportunity to ensure that we _ report, it gives us that opportunity to ensure that we make _ report, it gives us that opportunity to ensure that we make changes i report, it gives us that opportunity i to ensure that we make changes based on the _ to ensure that we make changes based on the findings — to ensure that we make changes based on the findings of _ to ensure that we make changes based on the findings of her— to ensure that we make changes based on the findings of her review, - on the findings of her review, talking — on the findings of her review, talking to _ on the findings of her review, talking to all— on the findings of her review, talking to all of _ on the findings of her review, talking to all of those - on the findings of her review, i talking to all of those families, so that we _ talking to all of those families, so that we can — talking to all of those families, so that we can improve _ talking to all of those families, so that we can improve the - talking to all of those families, so that we can improve the care i talking to all of those families, sol that we can improve the care going forward _ that we can improve the care going forward. l, that we can improve the care going forward. t, a, that we can improve the care going forward. . ., ., that we can improve the care going forward. ., ., ., ~ . ., forward. having heard that michael had the concerns ignored, - forward. having heard that michael had the concerns ignored, today i forward. having heard that michaell had the concerns ignored, today the failings have been revealed, but it was more of a moment of relief and celebration. was more of a moment of relief and celebration-— celebration. work on the trust go from this? _ celebration. work on the trust go from this? something _ celebration. work on the trust go from this? something needs - celebration. work on the trust go from this? something needs to l from this? something needs to happen, they cannot hide from this. for me it is bittersweet that we are

missing _ for me it is bittersweet that we are missing daughters that should be with us_ missing daughters that should be with us today, because there are avoidable — with us today, because there are avoidable deaths were exactly that, avoidable, — avoidable deaths were exactly that, avoidable, and we were lied to all the way— avoidable, and we were lied to all the way through. we have been vindicated, we have spoken up and spoken— vindicated, we have spoken up and spoken out— vindicated, we have spoken up and spoken out on behalf of pepper and kate _ that report from our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan. now to the us, where the trial of one of four british men — accused of being members of an islamic state cell nicknamed "the beatles" — has begun today in the state of virginia. 33—year—old el shafee elsheikh is accused of hostage—taking, conspiring to murder american and british hostages in syria and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.. these are sketches of him in court yesterday with his attorney nina ginsburg. their captives dubbed elsheikh and three others "the beatles" because of their english accents. they all grew up in west london. ringleader mohamed emwazi, known as "jihadi john," was killed by a us drone in syria in november 2015. after being captured by kurdish forces in syria in 2018,

el shafee elsheikh — dubbed "george" and another member — alexanda kotey — were asked by the bbc about their involvement with islamic state. do you still deny that you are a member of the group known as the beatles, which carried out executions and beheadings? yes, of course. same question? yes. the uk agreed for the pair to be tried in the us after the death penalty was taken off the table. they were handed over to us forces in iraq and flown to virginia in 2020. kotey pleaded guilty in september 2021 and is awaiting sentence. under his plea agreement, he'll serve 15 years in jail in the us and then be extradited to britain to face further charges. it's the first trial on us soil of an alleged major figure in the islamic state group. here are the thoughts of one analyst: what is unique about this case

is that the british nationality is different from the others. but also, the nature of the crimes. personally, with this level of notoriety, perhaps greater than any other western isis member that we know of, but unlike the other, who pleaded guilty, in september or so, he is actually going to trial and dozens of witnesses, we expect, will provide testimony including sex slaves and victims of genocide perpetrated by the group. here's our north america correspondent nomia iqbal on today's proceedings in court. today was the start of the trial, effectively. it was an opportunity for the prosecution and the defence to lay out their opening arguments. it wasn't a case of giving evidence, but it was giving everyone a road map, giving thejurors a road map on what evidence to expect. the families of most of the hostages were inside as was el shafee elsheikh.

he was sporting a long beard. he was wearing a black covid mask, which of course he will be asked to remove at points during the trial by witnesses who will be asked to identify him. so his lawyer, his argument is that this is a case of mistaken identity. that el shafee elsheikh was not a member of the so—called that el shafee elsheikh was a member of the so—called islamic state, that he was a simple fighter but he was not a member of the so—called beatles. that's their argument. they say that he went to syria alone and is not guilty of any of the charges that he's been accused of. whereas for the prosecution, obviously, it's the complete opposite argument. they say that he knowingly got involved with this hostage—taking scheme and those charges, eight charges in total, he's accused of conspiracy to commit murder, hostage—taking resulting in death, conspiracy to commit hostage—taking resulting in death and conspiracy to support a terrorist group

resulting in death. the way it works legally is if the jurors find that he agreed to be in a conspiracy involving the killings of hostages, he could be convicted of those charges without being involved in the planning or the execution. but it is day one. the trial's expected to last about a month, in which there's expected to be about 50 witnesses, including intelligence officials and former hostages who managed to get away from the group who were in court as well who will be testifying. some of the victims families i believe, were in court today. it must�*ve been pretty harrowing for them. it was because the prosecution did go into details of those graphic videos which show the execution of their loved ones. and, remember, the bodies of the four american hostages and the british hostages and japanese nationals and others have never been found, and the family

are hoping for answers. now, the prosecution also did say that those graphic videos and graphic images will not be shown during the trial, but if the jurors want to see them, they will make them available. what was interesting is that the prosecution and defence both agree on one thing, that this is a horrific and heartbreaking case. obviously, they differ on what arguments they're presenting, but the defence did say to the jurors it may be hard for them to keep an open mind, but they believe that the evidence will show that el shafee elsheikh, it's a case of mistaken identity. the prosecution hopes to prove the opposite. the israeli prime minister, naftali bennett, says his country is facing a new wave of terror after five people died in a third attack in less than a week. on tuesday five people were shot dead by a palestinian gunman in a suburb of tel aviv — called bnei brak, one of the country's most populous

ultra—orthodox jewish areas. israeli media report that he first shot dead two ukrainian men who were sitting outside a grocery shop. he also opened fire at a passing car, killing the male driver. two of the victims were identified as israeli residents of bnei brak. this is the funeral of one of them, avi—shai ye—hez—kel, a 29—year—old father of one — being held today. mr yehezkel�*s brother told local radio that he was shot while taking a walk and that he "defended his baby with his own body". yolande knell reports from tel aviv. you can see the candles here. this is where two people were killed. they were ukrainian workers and just on the streets nearby, that is where there were two local men who were shot dead. both of them fathers. one of them is actually out with his small child. there was an israeli arab citizen killed as well. he was a police officer who shot and killed the palestinian attacker,

man who came from the north of the west bank. people here, in this religious neighbourhood, talk about the deep shock that they feel about this very sudden attack and there is fear, too, notjust here but across much of israeli and palestinian society, that this could lead to another round of deadly violence. israel has been hit by two other attacks in the last few days — those were carried out by arab israelis with links to the islamic state group. on sunday two police officers — both 19 years old — were killed in an attack by two gunmen in the northern city of hadera. the assailants were shot dead by counter—terrorism officers who happened to be at a restaurant nearby. the islamic state (is) group said it was behind the attack. last week, a man killed four people in a stabbing and car ramming attack outside a shopping centre in the southern city of beersheba, before he was shot dead by a passerby. israeli authorities said

he was an islamic state sympathiser. there are fears of further incidents in the month ahead, when the muslim festival of ramadan, the jewish festival of passover and the christian festival of easter coincide in a rare convergence. in may last year, on the last friday of ramadan, palestinians and israeli police clashed at the al—aqsa mosque complex injerusalem's old city — one of islam's most revered locations, but its location is also the holiest site injudaism, known as the temple mount. israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades as palestinians threw stones and bottles. at least 163 palestinians and 17 israeli police officers were injured i've being speaking to a journalist at israeli media outlet haaretz about how much this recent spate of attacks has increased tensions there. it's extremely worrying, especially since the recent and deadly attacks took place

in very areas of israel and from very different aspects of palestinian and israeli arab society, so it's not as if all three attacks came from one terrorist organisation coming from one organisation and the israeli authorities could target that organisation specifically. but we had an attack from the south, we had israeli arabs from the north and this latest attack yesterday was from the northern area of the west bank. is there a worry about israeli intelligence and how well it's functioning right now? very much so. the two attacks in which the attackers were identified as sympathisers of isis, it was no secret to the authorities that they had these sympathies, and in fact, they were both cases in which they had attempted — you know, back in 2011

and the years afterwards, you know, the peak of isis — had attempted to cross the border into syria in order to fight with isis and the islamic state. and they were convicted of isis—related charges, served their time and went back home. and the fact that they then went on, you know, recently to commit these crimes is viewed as a failure of the israeli intelligence to pick and perceive that they were again interested in being active on the behalf of isis. we have passover and ramadan coming up and as well as easter. how much anxiety is there that the three religious festivals at the same time may cause problems? well, there's a tricky group of negotiations that the israeli authorities are going to have to weight. ahead of time, this government, which, you know, has attempted to conduct a more logical and less hard—nosed policy towards the palestinians, was offering a carrot rather than a stick

in allowing an unprecedented number of palestinians to come during ramadan in order to worship at the temple mount, including men of a certain age that are often barred because they're viewed as terror threats. and has opened up gaza, allowing an increased number of people to come there and work in israel, which is a very important source of income. so, the big debate in israel is whether, in the face of this violence and these attacks, whether there should be a crackdown or not and there are those who are arguing that if israel doesn't stand firm and show some consequences for these kind of attacks, that they will continue. and there are those who think that very hard—nosed retaliation by israel will only backfire and lead to a cycle of increased violence and make things worse. and these attacks come after a period of relative calm and peace in israel? yes, because there has been a lot of behind—the—scenes negotiations, you know,

both with the palestinian authority led by the president in the west bank and also very quietly and behind—the—scenes also with gaza, the fact that israel has not seen missile attacks for some time is not a coincidence. it's a result of behind—the—scenes negotiations and back—and—forth including these coveted work permits. so, breaking this period of calm, and it's not only these three recent attacks. they didn't make headlines internationally when everyone was focused on ukraine, but there have been five stabbing attacks mostly in eastjerusalem since the beginning of march. so, there was kind of roll—up to this period of violence, and i think the interest of leaders on both sides is that things don't get worse and escalate from here. let's look at what's happening inside russia now. there's further signs of a clampdown on internal

dissent against this war. our russia editor steve rosenberg sent this report. i knew law has been brought in for spreading with the kremlin calls false information about the law with “p false information about the law with up to 15 years in prison. our russia editor steve rosenberg sent this report. there were peace talks this week, but there's no peace yet. the russian military police these images of it launching ballistic missiles towards ukraine. an army spokesman said russia was continuing its special military operation, and had destroyed fuel storage sites, arms depots, and ukrainian drones. continuing in russia, encouraged by the authorities, public displays of support for the offensive. these buses forming the letter z, as painted on russian military vehicles in ukraine. you will find zs on billboards,

on government buildings, even on the side of theatres. and here, this is the home of human rights activist, oleg arlov. those who criticise russia's onslaught in ukraine have become targets of abuse. translation: russia is heading i towards, in fact has almost arrived at, something very similar to what we saw in - germany in the 1930s. everything feels very familiar. and that's important. in russia right now, there is no room for alternative views. for public expressions that contradict the official opinion. and that is particularly true of events in ukraine. the kremlin wants the public here to believe that the russian offensive there is both necessary and just. the russian authorities have banned the word "war", in relation to ukraine.

so, when dimitri took part in an anti—war protest, he didn't use any words at all. he was still arrested, though, and fined for discrediting the russian army. translation: i was detained within 30 seconds. _ i don't think it would have mattered what was written there. _ some people have been. arrested forjust holding up a plain piece of paper. because everyone knows what it means and what it stands for. _ in vladimir putin's russia, even the slightest hint of dissent is seen by those in power here as a significant threat, to be eliminated. but, in a country where opposition to the government has been crushed, where critical voices have been silenced, where the media is under almost total state control, for now, the kremlin doesn't feel under any public pressure to make peace in ukraine.

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. so the kremlin may be controlling the narrative of this war inside russia — but not inside ukraine. there have been reports of russia suffering heavy losses. and moscow is looking to foreign fighters. it says it's signed up some 16 thousand from the middle east. social media in syria has been flooded with requests, for people to join russian troops — in return for money. one former syrian regime soldier, who's been offered thousands of dollars to fight in the war — told his story to the bbc�*s hanan razek. it has been over a month since russia invaded ukraine. the russian troops are advancing, but the ukrainian resistance is slowing them down, and it seems that the war could be heading towards a prolonged fight. and for this, moscow needs those who are willing to take the risk.

we have spoken to a former syrian soldier who wants to fight alongside the russians in ukraine in a war he doesn't really believe in. russia is carrying out massacres in ukraine, but in syria, it is taking the poor people who cannot find a living and giving them the money to go and fight alongside its troops. he told us that pro—russian recruiters enrolled soldiers and civilians. if successful, they go first to the russian military airbase in a syrian city, and from there to russia. moscow had announced that 16,000 middle eastern fighters volunteered to join its troops. there are two contracts offered. one to fight in front lines for $7,000, and one to provide security behind the lines for $3,500. they say that $50,000 will go to my family if i die. on social media, we have looked into different pages mobilising for what they described

as cooperation with russian friends. many here are expressing their wish to go to ukraine because of the dire economic situation in war—torn syria. even if it means going to a fight they might not come back from. so it could be pretty much they are getting thousands of personnel to push them to the front line so they die instead of the russian forces, or they help in logistics, but there's also a lot of contextual elements that make thisjourney difficult. syrian soldiers do not speak languages, they are not trained to live and to fight in very cold weather between russia and ukraine now on the front. there have been no confirmed reports that syrian fighters have arrived in ukraine yet. the russian ministry of defence has reported it lost over 1000 of its troops since the beginning of the war, but the us intelligence says that the accurate death toll could be in the several thousands. it's likely 90% will go and die.

i don't know if i will be back or not, but i will earn money to feed my kids. hanan razek, bbc news. intelligence that president putin feels, it has intelligence that president putin feels misled by the russian military over ukraine rear consulting in tension with top generals. the white house spokesperson says senior advisers were scared to tell the russian leader about the truth about oh no —— about his military were performing, a declassified assessment also suggest that vladimir putin does not have full understanding of the damaging impact of western sanctions on the russian economy. the biden administration said his main strategic error in ukraine and that is why they say moscow has been trying to redefine the goals of its invasion. there has been no response from the kremlin. more on that story and all the stories you have been watching here on our website.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcmaryam. hello, there. we have seen some snow across the north of the uk in showers. the snow that has come down has come down in big, chunky flakes like these, because often the temperature�*s just been above freezing, and that helps snowflakes kind of stick together to bring these fairly large flakes. the other thing is a lot of the snow has not been settling on the roads, butjust on grassy hills across the north of the country. however, overnight tonight, as temperatures drop and also we start to get some drier air moving in, increasingly we'll see more of the showers tend to snow for scotland and northern england, you might even see a bit of snow for a time across wales, the midlands, and the hills of southern england, as well. it's going to be a cold night with a widespread frost and, of course, the combination of those showers and the frosty conditions will give us icy stretches.

first thing thursday morning, particularly but not exclusively across parts of scotland and northern england. now through thursday, it is a day of sunshine and showers. the showers will come through as sleet, still a bit of hill snow around, and with this more pronounced band of showers in kent, we could see a bit of snow there over the highest ground. east anglia and southeast england having strong gusts of wind throughout the day — that will make it feel cold, particularly given that temperatures are going to be lower than they've been today. we're looking at highs of 6 celsius in norwich, but for most of us, temperatures will be quite a few degrees below average for the time of year. now, heading through thursday night, showers continue to feed on that gusty wind, particularly across eastern areas. again, there's a risk of some icy stretches building up almost anywhere, really, as we have another widespread and sharp frost. well, that's the last of march. heading into april, april ist — april fool's day — is friday. it's another day of sunshine and showers. now, the showers could be quite lengthy across the northwest

of scotland, maybe a bit of hill snow mixed in with these, and we've still got those fairly strong winds across east anglia and southeast england, although they will begin to calm down a little bit. it will be another cold day — temperatures between 6—10 celsius. now this weekend will continue with that rather showery theme. some of the showers quite heavy, might have a bit of hail, a bit of sleet mixed in with some of those, and temperatures still a little below par for the time of year. however, into next week, we've got milder air coming around an area of high pressure, and so temperatures will be rising next week.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching context on bbc news. "there's nothing very promising" — that's the kremlin's verdict on the latest round of peace talks between ukraine and russia. and so the war drags on. with more evidence today of the destruction, it's wreaking across the country, with civilians paying the heaviest price. nowhere is safe in ukraine. there are millions displaced internally and 4 million that have fled into neighbouring countries. most treat putin as the pariah he has now become, but the former us president donald trump thinks he could still be useful. in his latest televised interview, he has asked the russian president to "dig up dirt" on president biden. tonight with the context, the daily mail columnist sarah vine and amanda renteria, chief executive of code for america and former adviser to hillary clinton.