welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines — the bbc finds evidence of russian troops using ukrainian civilians as human shields in villages just north of kyiv. and they put them in that school, and they held them as human shields. thousands remain trapped in the city of mariupol as the ukrainian government urges people in the east to flee. another record high for covid infections in china as the shanghai lockdown starts to bite. and we'll tell you about the dinosaurs that had a very bad day 66 million years ago.

live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and 2am in ukraine, where the bbc has found evidence of russian troops using civilians as human shields in villages just north of the capital, kyiv. some families have been telling us they were forced to leave basements where they were hiding and rounded up at gunpoint. they say they were then taken to a local school and held there for 2h hours as the russians tried to stop ukrainian forces taking back their village. our correspondentjeremy bowen has this report, and i want to warn you, it contains details you may find distressing. deep in the forest, towards the border with belarus, ukrainian forces were securing the territory the russians have left. large areas are hard

to reach as bridges are down and roads blocked by mines. on the the edge of the exclusion zone around the site of the chernobyl nuclear disaster is a village. really swampy ground. everyone wanted to talk about the russians. bogdan showed a place where russian soldiers made him dig a shallow grave to bury a man they'd killed. and they had to sleep under these rags? he said that with four other young men, he was held as a prisoner for 15 days in the open, often bound and blindfolded, threatened with fake executions, then one shot him in the leg. translation: he put me - on the bench, aimed his machine gun at me and shot my knee. it's because my younger brother was in the army. they found his military cap in photos.

ukrainian soldiers and others said the russians had used civilians as human shields in the next village. it's a small place on a lake. the russians tried unsuccessfully to blow up the dam before they left. the people of the village are still traumatised by the russian occupation and by the 2a hours when they were held as human shields at the village school. ivan said it was chaos. children were crying, everyone was crying. how would you describe the experience? "vandals, fascists. i don't want to think about the russians. they're not people." what happened that day? "they were getting bombarded, that's what," said ludmilla. she said at night the russians force them out of cellars where they'd been sheltering pointing their machine guns.

they broke open the doors if people didn't answer them. on the 14th of march, there was heavy fighting in the area. the ukrainians were on the attack. the russians were losing men. that night, the russians went door—to—door in the streets around here and at gunpoint marched, estimates vary, 100—150 people of all ages — old people, children as well — and they put them in that school and they held them as human shields. maria said she survived the second world war. "they were like the germans except they spoke russian, so i knew what they were saying." we were invited into the house. maria, the great—grandmother, was left behind, terrified about the rest of the family, who were held in the freezing cold school gymnasium. marina said her daughter still show signs of anxiety. translation: i was afraid we

would all be shot in that gym. | i was scared for my daughter. i don't have the words. i'm still frightened. machine guns, a two—year—old girl should not see this. i'm sorry. i'm going to cry. slowly this part of ukraine is being reconnected to the rest of the country. a temporary crossing has replaced a bridge the russians blew up as they retreated. many families were using the chance to get out of the war zone. this woman was desperate. "we've been in a cellar for more than a month. my daughter has a new baby. they stole everything. i cut my hair so i wouldn't get raped." further down the road is a village destroyed in the fighting.

the only person left is this man. he used to have a neighbour. he took us to his home. he died on his own three weeks ago while the village was in russian hands. animals have eaten the flesh from his head. he had basic medications, but it's not clear how he died. it is clear that the occupiers didn't help him. where ukrainian forces are back, evidence is accumulating that russian troops repeatedly broke the laws of war. the question is how the russians are treating civilians in the places which they still occupy. jeremy bowen, bbc news, ivankiv. the ukrainian government has urged people in the east of the country to flee

while they still can as russian forces continue to shell towns and cities there. meanwhile, an estimated 130,000 people remain trapped in the southern port city of mariupol in appalling conditions. the ukrainian authorities say they're trying to evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors with limited success. our correspondent tom bateman reports now from the city of zaporizhzhia, north of mariupol, and he's been speaking to some of those who've managed to escape the fighting. some of the people arriving here didn't know if their country still existed. these are the survivors of europe's biggest humanitarian crisis in a generation. they've had no contact with the outside world for weeks. and they faced the choice of a journey through the front line... air raid siren sounds. ..or starvation

and siege at home. "the russians claim they came to liberate us," anna tells me. "mariupol has become a graveyard and all the neighbourhoods are covered with the graves of civilians." "the air strikes were the scariest," nina tells me. "they are constantly shelling. one of their strikes killed seven people, two of them children. the craters in the ground were seven metres deep. it was terrifying," she says. yulia, with her two girls, survived in a basement for five weeks. their grandmother, tatyana, tried to ration the only food they had and says they drank dirty water from a well. translation: people - are having mental breakdowns. there's a woman we know who hanged herself. people are being buried in the streets. shallow graves, half—a—metre deep at best, with some

earth on top, dead bodies all over the city. for every person on these buses, as they arrive, there are thousands more still under russian siege, under bombardment, cut off from the outside world. ukraine has said at least 5000 dead have been counted in mariupol. today, local officials said the true number could be more than double that. but these are the pictures moscow wants the world to see, filmed by reporters whose access is tightly controlled. russian aid is being handed out. survivors from elsewhere in the south are living two families per room. ludmar�*s children say the tanks and artillery arrived next to their home. they tell me they hid in the basement. what did you feel like?

was it frightening? "yes," they say. as the war moves to the east, ukrainians don't know how long their lines will keep holding, and they want more heavy weapons. they fear today's reunions could be short—lived. tom bateman, bbc news, zaporizhzhia, in eastern ukraine. the united states and western nations have responded to the allegations of war crimes against russia by imposing fresh sanctions. for more on president biden�*s response, here's our north america editor sarah smith in washington. there was quite an emotional response from president biden today when he declared that what's happening in ukraine is nothing less than major war crimes. and he directly linked the atrocities that are now being revealed in ukraine to new economic sanctions that are being announced today, saying russia must pay an immediate and severe

price for what he called its "sickening brutality". so, the us and the uk have been working together on a new round of sanctions. both countries announcing today sanctions against sberbank, russia's largest financial institution, and also an outright ban on any new financial investment in russia, as well as personal economic sanctions against vladimir putin's two adult daughters, as well as the wife and daughter of the russian foreign minister and some other oligarchs and politicians. the white house described this as a dramatic escalation in the sanctions, and they believe that the total package of sanctions imposed on russian now will shrink the economy by 15% as well as pushing the inflation rate up to 15% as well. and at the same time, america has announced another $100 million of weaponry to go to ukraine, newjavelin missiles, those shoulder—launched anti—tank missiles. and it's been revealed they've been training some ukrainian soldiers here as well in the use of switchblade drones, and they will soon be going back to ukraine to teach others how to use them as well.

we turn next to china, which has reported its highest daily total of covid—i9 cases since the pandemic began with more than 20,000 new infections. those figures come as the country's largest city, shanghai, begins a new round of mass testing on its population of 25 million people. the city's lockdown has now been extended into a second week as the authorities pursue what's been called a "zero—covid" strategy. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has more on the situation in shanghai. there's been another round of mass testing started of everybody in that city. the problem is if you test positive, it means you must go to a centralised isolation facility, even if you have no symptoms. now, these facilities are at times squalid, and so many residents are saying why can't we just stay at home and isolate? well, at the moment, they're not being allowed to do that. a big part of the problem, too,

has been that children are getting separated from their parents. even small babies are being taken away from their parents if they test positive. overall, this is a massive challenge for china's zero—covid approach because it's notjust the locked down cities where we're seeing cases, there are cases all over the country now. how many more times can china keep locking down cities, keep shutting off big portions of its economy? and they could be even making it worse for themselves by continuing to just lock down and refusing to even slightly adjust this zero—covid approach at the moment. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, ed sheeran wins a legal battle over claims part of his track shape of you was copied from a song by another artist.

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. our headlines — the bbc finds evidence of russian troops using ukrainian civilians as human shields in villages just north of kyiv. thousands remain trapped in the city of mariupol as the ukrainian government urges people in the east to flee. sri lanka's president will not be resigning, his government's whip has told parliament. the declaration defies calls from the public and political opponents for gotabaya rajapaksa to step down amid the worst economic crisis in the country's history. crowds have protested for weeks over lengthy power cuts and shortages of gas, food and other basic goods.

dr chulanee attanayake is from singapore's institute of south asian studies. she joins us now from the city of kandy in central sri lanka. wonderful to have you on the programme. and i have to say it's very early in the morning there in the crew of three so thank you forjoining us at this time. i understand you usually are in singapore for work but you are in sri lanka on a family trip and you found yourself caught in all this will stop just talk us through what the situation is like right now for your family. well, yes, iwork right now for your family. well, yes, i work in singapore. i came to sri lanka for a vacation and this trip is after closer to two years, so what i saw is totally different country than i left in 2020 december. so, whati

country than i left in 2020 december. so, what i saw was a huge queue awaiting me at the fuel stations to get fuel come along hours of power cuts and i knew that this has been going on for a long period of time. and but it was completely different to experience it first—hand than listening to it over the phone or seeing it on media calls. so, what i see is that it has completely disrupted the life of the general public, and this has been going on for a long period of time. odyssey that has led to the frustration. but also right now the protests are adding to this.— right now the protests are adding to this. doctor, almost protests. _ adding to this. doctor, almost protests. i _ adding to this. doctor, almost protests, i think _ adding to this. doctor, almost protests, i think we _ adding to this. doctor, almost protests, i think we are - adding to this. doctor, almost| protests, i think we are seeing some images of them now. they are becoming increasingly more widespread. how frustrated are sri lankans with politicians and the political situation

there? i and the political situation there? ~ , and the political situation there? ~' , ., there? i think they are quite frustrated. _ there? i think they are quite frustrated. they _ there? i think they are quite frustrated. they are - there? i think they are quite frustrated. they are angry . there? i think they are quite | frustrated. they are angry at the rajapaksa family for they believe being the cause of the issue. i think when you centralise the power and then you try to do it on your own, you try to do it on your own, you also have to take the fall on your own. but this is an issue that has been brewing for a long period of time in my opinion because this is an economic crisis that is turning to a political crisis. but this, crisis has been brewing for a long period of time because the mismanaged policies, misplaced policies of successive governments over a long period of time.— long period of time. right. , so in the _ long period of time. right. , so in the situation _ long period of time. right. , so in the situation where - long period of time. right. , l so in the situation where there have been because of the president to step down and he is refusing, where does this go from here?— from here? well, that is a ma'or from here? well, that is a major concern _ from here? well, that is a major concern because - from here? well, that is a | major concern because like from here? well, that is a - major concern because like what we see that slogans like go home are demanding, but i also

think that they are targeting politicians in general. i think the message is very clear for every politician that they are frustrated with the current system. they want a complete change. the concern is that it is possible that this will continue and build up and until the president resigns what it is also possible that the general public might think it but we cannot say anything at the moment because the situation is evolving quite fast and apace you cannot imagine. but the challenge i think is if this creates a power vacuum, where does this take sri lanka what will happen the future? like, who is going to take the leadership from their because we see a divided future as well. i their because we see a divided future as well.— future as well. i see. indeed, uncertain _ future as well. i see. indeed, uncertain times _ future as well. i see. indeed, uncertain times there - future as well. i see. indeed, uncertain times there that. future as well. i see. indeed, | uncertain times there that you have just described it.

uncertain times there that you havejust described it. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme and i do hope you and yourfamily stay the programme and i do hope you and your family stay safe in sri lanka. and your family stay safe in sri lanka-— singer ed sheeran has won his legal battle over claims that he'd copied part of his song shape of you from another artist. he'd been accused of ripping off part of a track by the grime artist sami chokri. here's our music correspondent mark savage. # i'm in love with the shape of you # we push and pull like a magnet do...# this is ed sheeran�*s shape of you. #oh|,oh|,oh|,oh| # i'm in love with your body...# and here's the song he was accused of stealing it from. # oh why, oh why, oh why, oh why, oh # why do i put myself through this?# in an unusual step, ed sheeran took the artist behind that song, sami chokri, to the high court to have his copyright claim dismissed. today, he won and called it a victory for songwriters everywhere. i feel claims like this are way too common now and have become

a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there's no base for the claim. it's really damaging to the songwriting industry. there's only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. coincidence is bound to happen. # the club isn't the best place to find a lover # so the bar is where i go...# the court heard how shape of you was written in under an hour in october 2016. lawyers for mr chokri said that speed proved ed sheeran had copied the melody. sheeran�*s team said it just proved his genius. in his ruling, thejudge said that although there were similarities between the two songs, they were not big enough to constitute copyright infringement. he also accepted ed sheeran�*s testimony that he had never heard sami chokri's song before he wrote shape of you. millions of pounds in royalties have been frozen since the case began. today's decision means ed sheeran gets to keep his share of that money. mark savage, bbc news. the theory that dinosaurs

were wiped out by a huge asteroid colliding with earth over 66 million years ago could soon be proved. for the first time, scientists may have found direct evidence of a dinosaur that died in the immediate aftermath. a tiny fragment of the asteroid itself may also have been found at a secret site in north dakota in the united states. it's been nicknamed tanis. our science editor rebecca morelle has more. it was most cataclysmic day in our planet's history. 66 million years ago, an asteroid seven miles across slammed into the earth. the age of the dinosaurs was over. now a mass graveyard unearthed in north dakota could contain the first evidence of creatures killed on that day. wow! oh, my god, look at that.

look, the scales are preserved. in the crumbling rock, animals, plants and trees are tangled together, frozen in time like a prehistoric pompeii. we've got so many details of this site that tell us what happened moment by moment. it's almost like watching it play out at the movies. we're able to see what happened within that first hour of so after impact, and that's the front—row seat to one of the most amazing events in the cretaceous. despite all of the dinosaurs discovered and displayed in museums, they don't tell the full story. the dinosaurs here were found all around the world and they span the entire 180 million year reign on the planet. it's widely accepted this domination came to an end when the asteroid struck. but there's a mystery. no—one's ever found direct evidence of a dinosaur killed by the impact or even a dinosaur that died within 1000 years of it.

now, though, a discovery at tanis may have changed that. there's something here. that's hard. that's bone right next to the skin. this is the moment dinosaur�*s leg was discovered, captured by a bbc documentary crew. the fossil belongs to a small plant eating dinosaur called a thescelosaur. the team thinks it died in a huge flash flood set off by shockwaves from the asteroid strike. this looks like an animal whose leg has simply been ripped off really quickly. there's no evidence of disease, there are no obvious pathologies or traces of the leg being scavenged. this could be the first bit of dinosaur ever found that died as a direct result of being involved in the cataclysm that occurred after the meteorite hit. tanis is 2000 miles away from where the asteroid struck, but what links the two are these tiny beads scattered amongst the fossils. it's thought they're remnants of molten rock thrown up by the impact which rained back down as glass droplets. inside one may be something even more remarkable, a fragment of

the asteroid itself. we were able to identify the| composition of the material. all the evidence, all- the chemical data from that study, suggests strongly that we're looking - at a piece of the impactor, the asteroid that ended iti for the dinosaurs. these discoveries now need to be submitted to the scientific community for scrutiny, but the team says they've only scratched the surface and there's much more of this lost world waiting to be revealed. rebecca morelle, bbc news. before we go, a reminder that you can follow all the latest developments on the war in ukraine by going to our online live coverage. the latest story on our site is about the sanctions the us has placed on russian elites including president putin's daughters. that's in respone to the allegations of attrocities in bucha carried out by russian troops. follow it on bbc news online or the bbc news app. that's all for now.

stay with bbc news. hello. i think skies like this on thursday — large cumulus clouds — and over the high ground, certainly the possibility of some wintry showers. but wherever you are on thursday, there's a chance of catching a little bit of rain. but there'll be lengthy sunny spells, too, so it's not all bad. but the weather is unsettled, and you can see low pressures there moving off the atlantic in our direction. one such area of low pressure currently crossing the uk, giving a spell of some very windy weather from northern ireland through the irish sea, but particularly windy around northern parts of wales, gusts of wind here approaching 60 mph for a time during the early morning, and also across the highlands of scotland, the cold northerly wind bringing a covering of snow

across the hills there. now the temperatures early on thursday morning, three celsius in aberdeen, eight celsius in london. and then this is the picture through the day — the low pressure is out in the north sea by this stage, but on the backside of it, the winds are coming in from the north. so it's a cold wind, a really gusty wind, it really will feel very chilly. these are the gusts of wind approaching, 40—50 mph in places. so with temperatures of only around seven celsius, it really will feel very nippy on the north sea coast — only seven there in newcastle. and again, i said those showers could be wintry across the high ground. further south, i think the sunny spells will be most prolonged, so actually feeling pretty decent in the southwest. now this is the following night — so thursday night into friday — the possibility of some rain grazing the south of the country. here temperatures will be four celsius, but for the rest of us the following night, it will be quite frosty. so a chilly start to friday morning, the possibility of some rain along the southern

counties, and also the possibility of further wintry showers across scotland, mostly across the hills there. but i think, again, lots of sunny spells on the way, and disappointing temperatures between 8—12 celsius so below the average for the time of the year. here's the outlook, then, as we head over the next few days and into the weekend — it will calm down, i think saturday is actually not a bad day for most of us. sunday will become more unsettled once again. that's it from me, bye—bye.

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. since vladimir putin launched his invasion of ukraine, russia has faced new levels of international isolation. that's had a big impact in sport, an arena which putin has long used to project russian pride and power. russian footballers have lost their chance of going to the world cup. my guest today has seen his

sporting dreams shattered, too. nikita mazepin was a formula 1 driver backed by his