welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines — the ukraine war — we report on the scenes of devastation in borodyanka near the capital, kyiv, after it was targeted by russian missiles. under the laws of war, killing civilians and wanton destruction are both crimes unless, somehow, it can be proved that that was a military target. in the town of bucha, also near kyiv, satellite images show streets littered with bodies. president zelensky says this is the reality of life under russian control. at the united nations, president zelensky alleges the worst war crimes since world war ii have been committed.

russia denies it. translation: unfortunately this is only one of many examples - of what the occupiers have been doing in our land. translation: during the time - that the town was under the control of russian armed forces, i not a single civilian suffered from any kind of violence. and in the uk, covid is still keeping high numbers of schoolchildren out of the classrooms. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. it's 6am in the morning in singapore and 1am in the morning in ukraine, where president volodymyr zelensky has accused russia of committing the most terrible war crimes since

the second world war. in an address to the un, he accused vladimir putin's forces of creating "mass starvation" and shooting and raping civilians. it comes as images emerge from the town of bucha after the russian retreat showing the bodies of civilians lying in the streets. russia says the images shown are staged and fake. however, ukraine's leader says the numbers killed in towns and villages like borodyanka could be even higher. our correspondentjeremy bowen has just visited there. this is his report. a warning — you may find it distressing. the destruction in the centre of borodyanka is the worst for its size i've seen in any of the towns around kyiv, including much fought—over irpin and bucha. the worst killing in borodyanka might have come when these flats were destroyed. a line of them stood here. you can see the gaps.

after you. next door to the rubble, dmytro inspected his shop. this is your shop? medical, pharmacy, it's a pharmacy, yeah? destroyed, everything's gone. we went upstairs where his wife svetlana was trying to clean up his mother's flat. their family is safe, but not their friends in the destroyed building nextdoor. translation: they were all our neighbours. - shortly after the air strike, people nearby heard some voices shouting for help. russian soldiers stopped them digging. they threatened to shoot if they tried. dmytro left 30 others in the cellar before the strike. when he went back in the morning, it was full of rubble. all 30 are missing. you're lucky to be alive, aren't you? "yes," he said, "my wife, mother

and daughter were praying for me." this is a civilian block of flats. now, only a ballistic missile or an air strike can do this sort of damage. under the laws of war, killing civilians and wanton destruction are both crimes unless it can somehow be proved that that was a military target. close by, local people were getting some food organised by their priest, who said he'd seen the russians shooting civilians. you saw civilians being killed by a russian sniper? translation: it was the 2nd of march near the petrol station. _ we were driving along, followed by two civilian cars. theyjust shot them. it was an execution. most people here left during the russian occupation. svitlana said coming back made her empty and scared. tell us what the town was like before.

eventually she said it was very nice, very green. hundreds of people could be lying dead under the rubble, say the police. once the heavy lifting gear arrives, they'll know more. jeremy bowen, bbc news, borodyanka. staying with ukraine, and ukrainian human rights officials say that nearly 300 bodies might be in a mass grave near a church in bucha. yogita limaye has this report. destruction and death are expected during a conflict. but what's happened in bucha violates the rules of war and of humanity. irina abramova lived peacefully here with her husband until 5th march.

then a russian tank pulled up outside. their home was shelled. as it was burning, russian soldiers shouted, calling the couple outside. translation: they wanted to know where the nazis are. _ they said we have an evil government with nazis in it and we should be punished for it. i said, "we're not guilty. we're just humans. " minutes later, her husband 0leg, a ao—year—old welder, was shot in the head. russia saying it's not killed civilians deliberately in ukraine. what do you want to say about that? translation: my husband wasn't a soldier. _ he'd never held a gun. he was a peaceful man.

they took him from our home in his slippers, asked him to take his shirt off, made him kneel on the ground and killed him. she wears 0leg's wedding band around her neck. she says it's all she has left of him now, along with the shirt and sweater he was wearing the day he died. translation: | want. the whole world to know that the russians are killers. they�* re not human. they're killing women, children, civilians. she shows us the spot outside their home where 0leg was killed, bloodstains still visible where his body lay for weeks. translation: he was -

the best man in the world. he was kind and caring. he was the love of my life. i could give anything to bring him back. the more you talk to people in bucha, the more you learn of the terror that this town lived through. a local resident told us that a woman riding a bicycle was shot on this street. in a house down this road, a man was trapped in his basement for weeks without much food. he dared not go anywhere because there was a russian tank standing outside. in the backyard of the church in bucha, the bodies of people who died here continue to pile up in a shallow trench. ukrainian and russian soldiers and ordinary people together in a single grave. more than 300 civilians have been killed here. only a few have so far had the dignity of a proper burial.

yogita limaye, bbc news, bucha. to the united nations now, and in president zelensky�*s speech to delegates this afternoon, he not only accused moscow of war crimes, but he said the un was proving ineffective because russia is abusing its veto on the security council. and that, he said, was preventing international action. the kremlin denies these claims. here's our north america editor sarah smith. horrific images of dead civilians lying in the streets of bucha shocked the world, but russia claims the scenes have been staged. analysis of satellite imagery taken in mid—march shows bodies lying in the precise positions corpses were laterfound, proving they were killed when russian forces controlled the area. ukrainian president zelensky told the un security council the most terrible war crimes since world war ii

are being committed in ukraine, saying what's been revealed in bucha is also happening elsewhere. translation: the massacre l in our city of bucha is only one, unfortunately only one of many examples of what the occupiers have been doing on our land for the past 41 days. there are many more cities, similar places, where the world has yet to learn the full truth. he lambasted the security council for failing to guarantee the security of ukraine and showed an extremely graphic video of dead civilians in several ukrainian towns which visibly shocked the council. we are appalled by what we have seen and reiterate our solidarity with ukraine. the us wants russia to be removed from the un human rights council in response to human rights abuses in ukraine. reports indicate that russian federal security agents - are confiscating passports and ids, taking away cell phones _

and separating families from one another. - i do not need to spell out - what these so—called filtration camps are reminiscent of. it's chilling. russia denies that its forces have killed civilians and says the pictures of dead bodies are fake news. translation: during the time - that the town was under the control of russian armed forces, not a single civilian suffered from any kind of violence. that impassioned plea from president zelensky to the un, along with harrowing accounts coming out of ukraine, are piling pressure on world leaders to respond. further sanctions are expected to be announced tomorrow, and the us has committed to hold the russian leadership accountable for war crimes. but with no explanation as to how or when that might happen. the un needs to act immediately, president zelensky demanded. if it can't do anything

beyond talking about the war in ukraine, he told them, then it might as well close down. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. 0ur correspondent in moscow steve rosenberg sent this update on how russia is reacting. russian tv has been showing graphic video from bucha of bodies scattered along a road, but because the kremlin controls completely television here, it controls the messaging. and it's been using these images to paint a very different picture for the russian public. so, for example, when i watched the main political talk show today on russian state tv, it did run the bucha pictures, but with the word "fake" in big red letters plastered across the screen to try to convince the viewers that these claims of russian war crimes were simply an invention. in the same way that the kremlin uses television to try to persuade russians that there is no war

going on in ukraine, it's simply a special military operation and that russia is not the aggressor, it's acting in self—defence. now, do russians have access to alternative views, to alternative sources of information? well, that's becoming harder and harder, because virtually all independent russian news sources, news outlets now have either been shut down or blocked. it is the kremlin that dominates the information space in russia today. and as always, you can always find more on this story on our website, the latest updates from the teams on the ground and our correspondents in the field, including the latest on how europe has responded to the atrocities in bucha. that's on bbc.com/news or simply download the bbc news app. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, we look at accusations that rape and sexual violence are among

the war crimes being committed in ukraine. 25 years of hatred and rage as theyjump up on the statue. this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power, of power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's i

works were beautiful, they were intelligent, and it's a sad loss - to everybody who loves art. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines — scenes of devastation in borodyanka in ukraine after it was targeted by russian missiles. at the united nations, president zelensky alleges the worst war crimes since world war ii have been committed. russia denies it. as russian troops withdraw from areas of ukraine, the scale of violence and rape they have inflicted on women and girls is emerging. an international studyjust published estimates that around 70% of women and children refugees can experience sexual violence, but because the war in ukraine is still ongoing, ukrainian

testimonies are not yet included. the theme of violence and rape used as a weapon in war is sadly common to all conflicts. let's speak with one of the authors of the report, associate professor cathy vaughan from the university of melbourne, and she joins us from there. great to get you on the programme, professor. i want to start byjust going through some of the findings of your report. it found that 70% of people, most women said they had experienced sexual and gender—based violence during a conflict or on theirjourney out of a conflict. that's an astonishing figure. how accurate is it? could it be even higher? i5 accurate is it? could it be even hither? , , ' ~ accurate is it? could it be even hither? , , ' . ., higher? is very difficult to get quantitative _ higher? is very difficult to get quantitative data on - higher? is very difficult to get quantitative data on the - higher? is very difficult to get - quantitative data on the prevalence of violence against women who are fleeing a conflict because her number of reasons. it's very

difficult to record instances of violence along the way that it happened, and in arrived in a place of safety or refuge or even during transit, it's a painful thing to talk about. and we know that the level of violence against his underreported globally, and it certainly is in this instance will provide a place of safety and they just want to get their kids to school and they want to have a roof over their head and it's not necessarily their first priority to disclose the awful things that have along the way. disclose the awful things that have along the way-— along the way. indeed. professor, “ust in along the way. indeed. professor, just in terms _ along the way. indeed. professor, just in terms of— along the way. indeed. professor, just in terms of the _ along the way. indeed. professor, just in terms of the kinds - along the way. indeed. professor, just in terms of the kinds of- just in terms of the kinds of violence and testimonies that you have collected, what kinds of violence and experience? supplement re orted violence and experience? supplement reported violence _ violence and experience? supplement reported violence at _ violence and experience? supplement reported violence at each _ violence and experience? supplement reported violence at each stage - violence and experience? supplement reported violence at each stage of - reported violence at each stage of the fight and leaving conflict settings port forced migrant situations. sometimes women from a vessel that left him as a woman thought about forced marriage. the data we were collecting was largely

with women who were fleeing the syrian conflict at that time was we collected data from late 2018 up to 21 was a lot of participants with syria and iraq and some from sub—saharan africa about leaving a conflict because of violence and leaving their homes because of violence, violence and conflict. so that's a lot of what has been discussed at the moment in relation to ukraine is the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war, which of course is a war crime but incredibly common and complex equations. women also about violence along the way, and i could be from border guards, it could be in reception centres, they could be from host communities or other genes. and of course all along the journey, including resettlement and the people arriving countries of refuge, women were experiencing partner violence as well. and in very stressful and distressing

circumstances that we have a level of partner violence can go up, insulin have arranged people who were using violence against and the active professor, i know from ukraine have not been collected in this report yet, but we have already heard from our correspondence and teams on the ground that these reports are beginning to emerge. hater reports are beginning to emerge. how widesread reports are beginning to emerge. how widespread he can think the issue of sexual violence and rape could be ukraine certainly the accounts that are coming out of ukraine are quite distressing and relation to women prospects �*s stories of sexual violence. prospects 's stories of sexual violence. �* ., prospects 's stories of sexual violence-— prospects 's stories of sexual violence. ., , ., prospects 's stories of sexual violence. �* ., , ., ., violence. and of course the two of course it will— violence. and of course the two of course it will violence _ violence. and of course the two of course it will violence can - violence. and of course the two of course it will violence can also - violence. and of course the two of course it will violence can also be | course it will violence can also be used against men and people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity and conflict settings as well. but 740 of the victims that we hear about all women. and it does sound like this has been used quite widely the number of settings and also more about women who are on the move. because they are very vulnerable at that time, whether it's from

combatants or people who are opportunistically using sexual violence against them. so, i think the likelihood is that we will hear increasing accounts of sexual violence for this period as we hear the company from the warm weather it's the right reason in ethiopia or obviously violence gives given in afghanistan was pre—existing. thank afghanistan was pre-existing. thank ou so afghanistan was pre-existing. thank you so much — afghanistan was pre-existing. thank you so much of— afghanistan was pre-existing. thank you so much of what _ afghanistan was pre-existing. thank you so much of what he _ afghanistan was pre-existing. thank you so much of what he has - afghanistan was pre-existing. thank you so much of what he has on - afghanistan was pre—existing. thank you so much of what he has on the programme, associate professor kathy vaughn. the day's other main story is the state of the pandemic in the uk. the overall number of children absent from school in england because of covid has fallen slightly in the past fortnight, but teachers' unions say rates of absence "remain at concerningly high levels". 0ur education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. girls, keep moving, don't stop in the middle. back in time for the end of term. i was off last week, positive with covid, as was my deputy head.

at the prescott school in knowsley, a high number of staff are off sick with covid. today, we've got five staff off for covid—related reasons. last week, we had about ten. for this head, keeping the school open has been a challenge this term. it's been very touch and go in terms of thinking do we have to send a year group home? and of course who do we send home? so, on days where we've struggled to get supply, or where we haven't been able to get the staff to teach the subjects that we need to teach, we've had to collapse some classes with teachers teaching more than their usual number of students within a lesson. we are very much living with the impact of covid on a day—to—day basis. next term, these year 115 will be sitting their gcses. for tori, there's a lot to do in a short space of time. trying to grasp the fact that we have our gcses next month. like, it hasn't sunk

in for a lot of people. we've had a load of different supply teachers this term. i feel like if we didn't i have the most time off when we would've done a lot better throughout all the - mocks we have done. ben is keen to get into construction. in his mocks, he got a borderline pass in maths and english. but, despite the disruption, he's hopeful. me maths teacher and me english teachers are - doing the most they can. through the easter holidays, - we've got three revision sessions throughout the week, - and i think it will really help. next term, there'll be more changes. in england, children with covid can return to school after three days, however they're advised to stay at home if they're unwell or have a high temperature. the government has also confirmed that schools will no longer be able to order free lateral flee tests. we're appealing to government to really bring tangible support, using interventions such as testing again to really make sure that we avoid that vicious circle of infection and reinfection and keep children in school, where we all want them to be.

the government says schools in england are learning to live with covid by managing the virus with good ventilation, hygiene and vaccinations. here, as the pressure of the pandemic continues, they're desperate to get to the end of term. we are on our knees as we come towards the end of another very, very busy and very, very challenging term. elaine dunckley, bbc news, in knowsley. now to the crisis in sri lanka, where the president has lifted the state of emergency. the government there has been rocked by ongoing protests protests against food and fuel shortages. 40 lawmakers have now left the coalition government led by president rajapaksa. the president has called for opposition parties to form a national government. sri lanka is seeing widespread unrest caused by power cuts and shortages because of an economic and foreign exchange crisis. rajini vaidya nathan reports. well, it's been another day of protests across sri lanka, and we're here in colombo in independence square. and as you can see, there's a large

crowd that's been gathering here. many of them are calling for president gotabaya rajapaksa to leave office. some of them have chanting things like saying, "go to the moon, president rajapaksa." huge pressure on the president, but he remains in office. now that's despite a day of intense politics. at parliament today, more than 40 mps quit his coalition government, and the new finance minister left his role after less than 24 hours in the job. now, away from the political, the personal suffering continues. people still say they're struggling to get hold of cooking gas and petrol for their cars. and i was talking to two labourers earlier who said that even the cost of a basic bag of rice has now become prohibitively expensive. the country is still experiencing regular power cuts. the power in this area also went off recently as well. itjust gives you an idea

of the suffering, and people here are asking even if the government eventually forms, which at the moment doesn't like it's happening anytime soon, what will be the solution in this deepening economic crisis and how will sri lankans have a way forward? elon musk has been given a seat on the board of twitter after becoming the the social media firm's single biggest shareholder. twitter says the tesla billionaire's passionate belief in the services the platform provides is exactly what the company needs. two "stolen" notebooks written by charles darwin have been mysteriously returned to cambridge university 22 years after they were last seen. the small leather—bound books are worth many millions of dollars and include the scientist's "tree of life" sketch. their return comes 15 months after the bbc first highlighted they had gone missing.

that's all for now. stay with bbc news. hello again. if you come in to see what being a mild day. 0ften pretty cloudy and happy sunday spells to be found at different letter in scotland where we return and heavy snow for a time in the highlands. 0n the cold side of this weather system. what will happen overnight is that milder air will actually move its way and what that means is even over the tops of the mountains, snow will turn back to right before clearing northwards. a weather front heading across 0rkney working its way towards shetland. for the rest of the uk, overnight, we've got a mixture of clear spells and passing showers. it's not a cold night, temperatures about 7—9 for most areas. wednesday, an unsettled day on the cards. it is generally speaking a day of sunshine and showers, although there will be this band

of rain that moves across england and wales through the day. that could be fairly heavy, lasting about 20 or 30 minutes. then the sunshine will be back out. the showers most frequent, though, across the northwest of the uk. temperatures for most areas about 11 or 12 degrees. not quite as mild as it has been for most on tuesday. wednesday night sees colder air return, particularly across northern scotland. a band of rain last seen across shetland comes back southwards. as it gets engaged and picked up by that cold air, we see the rain turn to hill snow. and again, we could see something like five, maybe ten cm of snow across the high ground in scotland. thursday, bit of rain to start the day across southern areas. 0therwise, again, it's a day of sunshine and showers. some of the showers, though, will be wintry, bit of sleet or hail mixed in, and we've got these colder winds extending their way southwards. for most of us, temperatures just in single figures — cold for the time of year — but we're still holding onto some 11s or 12s for southern parts of england and wales. we end the week with an area of low pressure, hopefullyjust about staying away from our shores and working across france, where it will also be pretty windy.

away from that system, though, for most of the uk, we are looking at a fine day — sunshine and again some showers. the showers start off the day across northern areas, but as the temperatures rise during the day, the showers break out more widely across inland areas. and again, some of them could be quite heavy with a bit of hail or thunder mixed in, maybe some wintry across northern areas, where temperatures won't be that high. now, the weekend, saturday the better of the two days. we start frosty, but it's dry and sunny. sunday, cloud builds in and we'll see some rain arriving in the north and west.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has delivered a devastating address to the un security council. he's listed a catalogue of war crimes he said had been carried out by russian forces — in bucha and other towns. with pictures emerging from neighbouring borodyanka, ukraine's proecutor general says the situation there was the worst in the kyiv area. washington and the eu have promised more sanctions on russia. shanghai has entered a covid lockdown for all 25 million citizens. reported cases have risen to more than 13,000 a day. in some areas of the city, people can't even leave their homes to collect essential provisions.