welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. ukraine's military warns that russia is regrouping its forces — we've a special report from the south of the country. shows land periodically in this area and it is occupied by russian troops with civilians being killed in these areas. we'll also have the latest from russia — where the u—s says president putin is having military setbacks hidden from him. also in the programme. president biden gets a second covid boosterjab — and urges americans to keep their guard up in fighting the virus. two senior british judges resign from hong kong's highest court because of china's

sweeping national security law. and — celebrities pay tribute to australian cricket legend shane warne at a star—studded memorial service in melbourne. it's seven in the morning in singapore, and two in the morning in kyiv where ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has spoken to president biden seeking further military support, as russia continues its assault on his country. it comes as fighting is continuing around the capital kyiv and other northern cities, despite russia's pledge

yesterday to draw back from these areas. in the south too, russian forces have advanced further into the ruined city of mariupol — while in meekolaiv, 12 people were killed by a russian strike. in the east, russia's defence ministry has said they are focusing on the donbas region. our correspondent wyre davies reports from the frontline town of ori—khiv in southern ukraine — a warning some viewers may find his report distressing. 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 of polohy. 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, but 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'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. that's the picture in ukraine — meanwhile, the white house says it has intelligence that president putin feels misled by the russian military over ukraine, resulting in tensions with top generals — more on that in a moment. in russia itself, there's further signs of a clampdown on internal dissent. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. there were peace talks this week, but there's no peace yet. the russian military released 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 form the letter z, that's 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 orlov. those who criticise russia's onslaught in ukraine have become targets of abuse. translation: russia is heading 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 dmitry reznikov 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 just for 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 are being 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 white house says it has intelligence that president putin feels misled by the russian military over ukraine, resulting in persistent tensions with top generals. the white house spokesperson said senior advisors were scared to tell the russian leader the truth about how badly his military was performing, a view echoed by the pentagon: we would concur with the conclusion that mr putin has not been fully informed by his ministry of defence at every turn over the last month. i want the caveat that. we do not have access to every bit of information that he has been

given every conversation that he has had. i'm joined now by our news reporter azadeh moshiri. what else are you hearing from the white house about president putin's perception of the war? according to us intelligence officials, the issue is that he has been badly misled about the situation on the ground in ukraine and has not been informed by the various setbacks the russian military has been facing and the result is this has led to a rift between him and his most senior military advisers that includes the defence minister who was traditionally one of president putin's most trusted advisers, part of that inner circle which is quite small for president putin and that is why we have been seeing less and less of him in the public eye front and centre of this wall. and

according to us intelligence officials, these people feel they could feel some repercussions if there to tell president putin of news that he does not want to hear and secretary abe lincoln said that autocracies, people do not feel like they can or should give their leaders news that they do not want to hear. fight next fascinating stuff but how much can we trust this intelligence given that it is coming from the us? , ., ., , the us? the question of trust because traditionally - the us? the question of trust because traditionally us - because traditionally us intelligence has been very careful about what information it releases and when it it always serves a purpose but there are a few things we can keepin there are a few things we can keep in mind here, first is that the us intelligence group are the ones who warned us about this invasion in the first place and here, the information is backed up by the

uk intelligence service, and we do know its chief is going to be giving a speech tomorrow in australia where sirjeremy is going to say that president putin badly misjudged the situation on the ground in ukraine and overestimated the abilities of his military advisers and it's worth keeping in mind that their peace negotiations going on right now and the us white house has said that as part of that, they're concerned that president putin may not be getting all the information he actually needs to make proper decisions on the ground. so, this work is stalling for russia it could be that president putin did not completely understand that this was happening. 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 un—hway.

and sergei lavrov, russia's foreign minister, was there on wednesday. 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. both mr lavrov and china's foreign minister, wang yi condemned western sanctions against russia, calling them illegal and counter—productive. after the meeting, mr lavrov said moscow and beijing had a shared view. 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 are sympathisers,

will move towards a multi—polar, just democraticjust world order. in fact, as you mentioned, he praised russia along with others for preventing a humanitarian crisis as he put it in ukraine. he also said the issue was complex and was the result of a cold war mentality. whenever he says that, that is a reference to the us and nato thatis a reference to the us and nato that is china's weight of blaming the west for the war and far from blaming the west for the war and farfrom china delivering a tough message to russia over the war, not the slightest hint of tensions in terms of china applying in a rush at all on russia to ease off in any way. steve mcdonell there, on the meeting between russian and chinese foreign ministers. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. a state memorial service at the melbourne cricket ground

to honour former australian cricketer shane warne. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant.

it has become - a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians| wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is- being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustav eiffeh — this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our main story. ukraine's military has warned that russia is regrouping its forces. the outskirts of kyiv and the city of chernihiv have come under attack a day after russia said it would scale down its military operations. in the us, health officials have authorised a second covid booster for those over the age of 50, citing data showing waning immunity and the risks posed by omicron variants of the virus. the f—d—a says it should be given at least four months after the previous dose. president biden, who

received his own booster on wednesday, has been speaking about the decision to offer a second booster vaccine. we have enough supply to give booster shots to those eligible individuals. but if congress fails to ask, we will not have the supply we need this fall to ensure the shots are available for free, ensure the shots are available forfree, easily ensure the shots are available for free, easily accessible for all americans. for free, easily accessible for allamericans. it for free, easily accessible for all americans. it is critical to our ability to protect against new variants. i spoke to our correspondent peter bowes in los angeles and asked how significant this guidance from the fda is in terms of the us covid recovery plans. it is significant. the present describes it as a new moment in the pandemic. this is the second booster and interesting that it second booster and interesting thatitis second booster and interesting that it is based on data largely coming out of israel that the second booster does improve the immunity of those people who have had the initial shots and the first booster.

some scepticism and criticism from yours who suggest the data is actually quite limited and there haven't been any long—term studies of those who have had the second booster so far. that said, the authorities here in this country believe it is indeed worthwhile for people of 50 and over, as you said, not 65 and over, which is what a lot of people have been expecting an officials explaining here that a lot of people in the united states over the age of 50 have those underlying conditions, those potentially killer diseases of old age they begin to start that makes them more vulnerable to a virus like covid—i9 and therefore, they believe that it is important to just boost that immunity once again. but peter, there's still _ immunity once again. but peter, there's still so _ immunity once again. but peter, there's still so many _ immunity once again. but peter, there's still so many americans l there's still so many americans unwilling to get vaccinated as they understand it. with this announcement make much of a difference in the us governments attempts to get

more people to get vaccinated? i think the government is going to continue to attempt to get more people vaccinated but the key question is whether or not those people will be persuaded, if they've made that decision for whatever their reasons. they did not want the initial vaccinations, they do not want the first booster. it seems unlikely from what i've heard, many people were discussing that they would change their minds neither the second booster is available. i think what officials are hoping is that those who decide to have the second booster, that will improve what is known as the herd immunity, that those were fully vaccinated will be stronger, they'll be better protected against a virus and overall, populations and cities from the country, people will be better able to fight covid—i9 because the concern is the new variant and the sub variant of omicron which is rising here and accounts for one half of all new cases here in the us.

the only trial in the us — involving a member of one of the most infamous terrorist organisations in the world — has begun. 33—year—old el shafee el sheikh — from the uk — was part of an islamic state group cell nicknamed the beatles" by their captives — because of their english accents. el sheikh is accused of murdering american and british hostages in syria. 0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. they were once considered one of the most brutal terrorist organisations on the planet. the islamic state group, the self—declared caliphate, controlled huge parts of syria and iraq in 2014, claiming responsibility for acts of terror across the world, including the 2015 paris attacks. a group of men became infamous as part of is propaganda. the so—called beatles were given their nickname by their captives due to the fact all four were from the uk.

they were a cell of is and filmed gruesome and horrific beheadings ofjournalists and aid workers on camera. the chief member was mohammed emwazi, nicknamedjihadijohn. today, your military air force is attacking us daily in iraq. he was eventually killed by a drone strike in 2015. aine davis is injail in turkey, convicted on terrorism offences. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh were captured in 2018 by syrian kurds. they were asked by the bbc at the time about their involvement with the so—called 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. el shafee? same question? yes. the uk eventually agreed for the men to be tried here in the us, after the death penalty was taken

off the table. the entire united states government remains committed to bringing to justice anyone who harms our citizens and today we are demonstrating that resolve by bringing to our shores two men who left britain to become isis terrorists. now they are going to face justice in an american court of law for crimes against american citizens. but last year, kotey pleaded guilty in a us court to all the charges. el shafee elsheikh maintains his innocence. he is charged with the murders ofjournalists james foley, steven sotloff and aid workers abdul—rahman kassig and kayla mueller. he is also accused of being involved with the deaths of british aid workers david haines and alan henning. none of their bodies have been found. this is a huge moment for the families of those who died. they will be attending the trial and looking for answers. they have long wanted this once—feared terror group to

finally face western justice. nomia iqbal, bbc news, virginia. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the future of pakistan's prime minister — imran khan — looks uncertain — after the largest partner in the government's coalition, switched sides ahead of a parliamentary vote of no confidence. 0pposition parties accuse imran khan of mis—managing the economy, and foreign policy, as well as targeting critics. the hubble space telescope has set a new record for capturing a picture of a single, distant star. the light from the giant sun has taken twelve—point—nine billion years to reach us. while the star appears faint, it's probably more than fifty times the mass of our sun. hollywood's bruce willis will step away from his acting career after being diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that impedes a person's ability to speak and write.

the 67 year olds family released a statement that his cognitive ability is said to have been impaired. willis is best known for playing john mcclane in the 1988 hit, die hard to australia now — where the coastal area of byron bay, known for its celebrity residents and idyllic beaches, has been inundated by floodwaters as severe storms again battered the country's east. torrential rain that began on monday has proved unrelenting — byron's normally buzzing high street was transformed into a river by the metre—high, mud—brown floodwaters. the authorities have placed 16 evacuation orders across the affected region. in melbourne — thousands of people have attended a memorial service — celebrating the life of shane warne — one of cricket's greatest—ever, spin bowlers. the australian star died of a suspected heart attack, earlier this month, at the age of 52. phil mercer reports.

this was a celebration of an extraordinary life. operatic singing. both on and off the cricket pitch, shane warne was an australian icon who elevated his sport and took showmanship to a new level. his family has struggled to cope with his sudden death. looking forward to a future without shane is inconceivable. but we do take comfort in knowing that shane packed more in his life of 52 years and five months and 19 days than most people would in two lifetimes. # i sit and wait # does an angel...#. there were powerful messages and musical performances, too, from famous friends. even though he played for australia and he dismantled england too many times, everybody on the planet who has seen him play and experienced, i don't know, warney

being warney, thinks he is one of us. with shane warne, scandal was never far away. he took money from illegal bookmakers, was banned for using prohibited drugs, and his private life delighted the tabloid newspapers. but, despite his flaws, he's remembered as a sporting genius. when he was in the team, australia believed they could beat anyone and he had so much gratitude for the era he played in as well. he often talked about how lucky he was to play with the legends that he did. he had so much passion for cricket and the history of cricket as well. shane warne said of himself, "i smoked, i drank, and i played a little cricket." phil mercer, bbc news, at the melbourne cricket ground. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

hello there. spring is on hold as we edge towards the end of march. cold air has been sweeping southwards. some of us have seen some sleet and some snow. and through thursday, the day starts off with a widespread frost and some ice. it's going to turn into a day of sunny spells and wintry showers. this cold front has been ushering in the cold air. along the line of this weather front, a band of cloud, rain, sleet and snow. behind it, speckled shower clouds in cold air. that's where we have some wintry showers feeding in from the north. so the very first part of the morning, we'll tend to clear that rain, sleet and snow away from the far south. some of those wintry showers continuing to push in the especially eastern scotland and northeast england, but there will be

one or two elsewhere. temperatures widely falling below freezing, “4 or —5 to start the day across some rural northern areas, and ice a potential difficulty across parts of eastern scotland and northeast england. through the day, it's a mix of sunny spells and wintry showers, the showers a mixture of rain, sleet, hail and snow, most accumulating snow, i think, confined to the hills. could be a few more showers just easing into southeast england at times, where it will be windy. around some of these eastern coasts, could see gusts of 40—50 miles per hour, just adding to that cold feel. temperatures for most between 5 and 8 degrees, maybe 10 in parts of south wales and southwest england. through thursday night, we will see further wintry showers streaming in from the northeast, potentially some more persistent rain, sleet and hill snow clipping the far southeast of england, and temperatures again widely below freezing. a widespread frost for friday morning. could well be some icy stretches here and there. for friday, for most, it's a similar day, a cold day, a bright day, with plenty of sunshine but some further wintry showers. we will see some slightly more widespread rain, sleet and snow pushing into western scotland, maybe getting into parts of northern ireland as we go

through the afternoon. temperatures, well, maybe just a notch higher, but still disappointing for what will be the 1st of april, 6 to 10 degrees. and those temperatures don't climb an awful lot through the weekend. they may climb a little. there's quite a lot of dry weather on the way, but there will be some showers as well. but as we head into next week, signs of a more significant change. the winds turn to westerlies, and that will bring milder air from the atlantic. with that, though, some rain at times.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. where does vladimir putin's self—styled special military operation in ukraine go from here? he expected kyiv to fall quickly. it didn't. ukraine's determination to resist has not crumbled, despite the terrible human cost. russian losses mount and its economy is hurting. my guest is pro—putin russian mp maria butina. in the invasion�*s second month, what do russians

think it's achieving?