welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... more evidence emerges about sexual violence ukraininan women have suffered at the hands of russian forces. we have a special report. the woman who lived in this house managed to escape, along with her child. she called the ukrainian police, and she has given them her testimony. she has told them she was raped multiple times by the two drunk russian soldiers who killed her husband. ukraine's president warns russia is amassing tens of thousands of troops ahead of a fresh offensive in the eastern donbas region. we'll hear from our defence correspondent who's in that region. also on newsday. .. the murder of british mp sir david amess, a supporter

of the islamic state group, is found guilty. a new era for pakistan — but can shehbaz sharif heal the country's divisions after imran khan is ousted as prime minister? back on the campaign trail — emmanuel macron heads for areas that are strongholds for his rival, marine le pen. and back in court for a blockbuster defamation case, asjohnny depp�*s trial against his ex—wife, amber heard, begins in the united states. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello, and welcome to the programme. as more russian forces head to the east of the country for a major new offensive,

horrors are being uncovered in the villages and towns close to the capital in the north that they used to control. time and again, we've been hearing stories of violence against women — in particular, of soldiers using rape as a weapon of war. it is important to share these stories with you, to shine a light on abuses, to bear witness to the pain of this terrible conflict. our correspondent yogita limaye has been speaking to some of those affected — and i want to warn you, you may find some of the vivid descriptions of abuse in her report distressing. a quiet rural neighbourhood, shattered by barbaric violence. in a village west of kyiv, a first—hand account of rape by invading soldiers. when we started talking to this woman, we didn't know what we were about to hear. we are hiding her identity to protect her.

translation: a soldier entered our house. - my husband and i were there. at gunpoint, he took me to a neighbouring house. he was ordering me, "take your clothes off or i'll shoot you." then he started raping me. while he was doing that, four more soldiers entered. i thought i was done for, but they took him away. she returned home to find her husband shot in the abdomen. he died two days later. she buried him in the backyard. translation: i found drugs and viagra that they left behind. - they would get high and they were drunk. most of the invading soldiers are killers, rapists and looters. only a few are ok. i want to ask putin, "why is this happening?" i don't understand.

we're not living in the stone age. just up the road, we heard of another rape case. it's being investigated by the police. this is the house a woman was taken to and assaulted. upstairs, the bedroom — where she was later killed. it's a disturbing scene. on the mirror, a message in lipstick. "tortured by unknown people, buried by russian soldiers," it says. out in the garden, we were shown her grave. a day after we went, ukrainian police exhumed her body. the note, we're told, was left by a separate unit of russians who found her body and buried her here.

they later told a neighbour about the dead woman. translation: they told me - she had been raped and that her throat was either slit or stabbed, and she bled to death. they said there was a lot of blood. we travelled 70 miles east to another village, to what used to be the home of a family. a couple in their 30s, and their young child. signs of their peaceful, ordinary life lie amidst the ruins. on the 9th of march, russian tanks rolled in. two soldiers shot the man dead. the woman who lived in this house managed to escape, along with her child. she called the ukrainian police and she has given them her testimony. she has told them she was raped multiple times by the two

drunk russian soldiers who killed her husband. and she said that they threatened to kill her little boy, too, if she didn't do exactly as they said. as the soldiers left, they burned down the house. the police chief has told us they have gathered evidence and plan to go to the international court. in kyiv, we met ukraine's human rights ombudsman, lyudmyla denisova, who has been recording rape cases. translation: about 25 girls - and women aged 14-24 were raped during the occupation in the basement of one house in bucha. none of them are pregnant. —— nine of them are pregnant. a 25—year—old woman called to tell us her 16—year—old

sister was raped in the street in front of her. to calculate the number of such sexual crimes is impossible at the moment, because not everyone has come to us. not everyone is willing to talk to us. among the people we met, there is no relief that the russians have gone, because they've left behind deeply wounded lives that might never recover. yogita limaye, bbc news, kyiv. meanwhile, ukrainian troops defending the beseiged city of mariupol on the black sea, say they're now making a last stand, with ammunition running out and russian forces closing in. mariupol has been surrounded for a month, with president zelensky saying the siege has reduced the city "to ashes," and he fears tens of thousands of civilians have died there. it's believed thousands of russian troops are preparing for a new wider offensive in the east, to seize the entire donbas region. satellite images suggest a huge column of russian armoured vehicles is on the move there.

our defence correspondent jonathan beale is in eastern ukraine. many people who live in this region have already left — that's why you can see few lights on in the block of flats behind me. i think the fighting here will be different from what we've seen in kyiv — it's more open countryside. the advantage the ukrainians have is that they are already well dug in. remember, they've been fighting russian—backed separatists here for the past eight years, they are some of their most battle—hardened troops — also tired, but it looks like their morale is still high. the advantage for the russians as they are now fighting on fewer fronts. they also have the numeric advantage — one western official said he expected russia to notjust double, but possibly triple the number of forces it has in this region, but also saying that could take some considerable time. i think everybody knows that this next phase of the war could be decisive in the east, it could also be bloodied. the new russian general in charge is known as "the butcher of syria" for a reason.

that was our defence correspondentjonathan beale in luhansk in the donbas, eastern ukraine. austria's chancellor has said he's pessimistic about the chances for diplomacy over ukraine, after a face—to—face meeting with president putin. chancellor nehammer said the russian leader had massively entered into the logic of war, and there was no interest in moscow in a meeting with the ukrainian president. he said it was not a friendly meeting, but it was important to confront the russian leader with the facts. and some breaking news for you — in the last hour the uk foreign secretary liz truss has said via twitter that there are "reports that russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of mariupol". she said, "we are working urgently with partners to verify details and that any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict" and that the uk

government would "hold putin and his regime to account". let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... president biden and indian prime minister narendra modi have discussed the war in ukraine during talks via video link. mr biden was expected to urge modi to toughen his stance towards moscow. delhi has so far declined to impose sanctions or directly criticise the invasion. last month the us president described india's stance as "somewhat shaky". at least 25 people have died in landslides and floods caused by tropical storm megi which hit the country's eastern and southern region on monday. philippine authorities have confirmed they recovered 22 bodies in the eastern province of leyte, and a further three in the southern davao region. the sri lankan prime minister, mahinda rajapaksa, says the country has reached a decisivejuncture and called for patience as protests continue over the government's

handling of the economic crisis. in a televised address, mr rajapaksa said the unrest was harming the economy. thousands of people have gathered in colombo calling for the prime minister and his brother, president gotabaya rajapaksa, to stand down. students have been demonstrating across indonesia following suggestions that presidentjoko widodo wants to extend his stay in office. the police fired tear gas and water cannon on protesters at the parliament building in the capital, jakarta. indonesian leaders are allowed two five—year terms — and joko widodo's presidency is due to end in 202a. the indonesian leader has denied that he's aiming to extend his term. a new prime minister has been sworn in in pakistan, after the former cricketer imran khan was ousted in a confidence motion. his successor, shahbaz sharif, is the brother of another

former prime minister — and takes office amid corruption allegations, which he has said are politically motivated. our correspondent in islamabad secunder kermani has more. well, shahbaz sharif heads a broad coalition. he's a well—known figure here, part of one of two dynasties that have dominated pakistani politics for decades until the appearance of imran khan. that sharif brothers have a reputation for delivering big infrastructure projects but, as you say, they're also accused of corruption. they dismiss that as "politically motivated", but public opinion is deeply polarised. supporters of this new administration hope it will improve services for ordinary people, but its critics see it as a return to a past they hoped had been left behind. imran khan had personally led a crusade to see the sharif brothers in jail. instead, imran khan has been ousted from office, his mps have resigned from their seats, and he will be leading protest rallies later this week. imran khan still has

significant support, though, he's widely seen as honest by his supporters, and many of them believe his rather dubious claims that he was overthrown as a result an american—led conspiracy because he was drawing closer to countries like russia. here, political tensions look set to escalate further. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: back in court for a blockbuster defamation case, asjohnny depp�*s trial against his ex—wife amber heard begins in the united states. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers, is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians.

there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked, and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock. and, as for a sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world—best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she seemedj just to slide away under i the surface and disappear. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines... the bbc uncovers more evidence of the sexual violence

ukraininan women have suffered at the hands of russian forces. ukraine's president warns russia is amassing tens of thousands of troops ahead of a fresh offensive in the eastern donbas region. turning to china now — where officials in shanghai have announced a slight easing of strict covid lockdown measures for a limited number of residents. communities which go for at least two weeks without a covid infection will have their restrictions altered. the current restrictions have provoked increasing anger from those unable to order food to their apartments. i'm joined now by our reporter monica miller, who has been looking into this for us. monica, how is the lifting of the restrictions going to work? talk us through that. officials there had _ talk us through that. officials there had laid _ talk us through that. officials there had laid out— talk us through that. officials there had laid out a _ talk us through that. officials there had laid out a blueprint| there had laid out a blueprint that laid out together more

than 7500 different residential units in different risk categories in order to get the city moving again. and for those who are in a low risk category, meaning they've had zero cases for 14 days, they are allowed to go out and shop and move about their business. however, therejust and move about their business. however, there just two districts that we know of right now that fall under that category, so the majority of people in shanghai are still under lockdown. as you've mentioned, it's been hard for them to find food and medicine in some cases. there is a very controversial move where children had separated from their parents in the instance that one or the other had tested positive for the virus. so people have taken their rage out on social media — they are angry and they are tired of the conditions that they are living in. however, there is an alternate argument that is taking place on social media, and that is from people who say this blueprint, or these rules are risky and the fact that the city is still facing thousands

of cases — yesterday they saw almost 26,000 new cases, even though they were asymptomatic. the government officials are saying they are sticking with their zero covid plan despite as they look to ease some of these measures here in shanghai, they say to find the omicron variant as a big flu is a misconception —— to define the omicron variant. and they need to get these cases down to zero because it really is having an impact on those who are vulnerable, particularly the elderly, they don't want to put them at risk. nowjust to remind you, shanghai is the financial centre of china. business groups like the eu chamber of commerce have come out to say that this has had a huge impact on relationships with big companies that do business there. they even suggested that if there are a quarantines that need to take place, not to have them take place, not to have them take place in a hospital but may be at home. movements like places

like singapore had implemented when cases were also spiking. but at this point, people are still angry and they just aren't sure exactly when they'll be able to leave. monica, thanks so much for keeping us up—to—date on those latest lines out of china. to the uk now — and a man from london who was radicalised by the islamic state group has been found guity of murdering the conservative mp, sir david amess. ali harbi ali killed sir david at the mp's weekly constituency surgery in leigh—on—sea last october. ali had spent months researching how he might murder other mp5, even staking out the home of a government minister. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani reports. 15 october last year — and in the leafy suburbs of leigh—on—sea, a man hasjust murdered an mp. they say he's got a knife and he's just stabbed someone.

two officers with just batons and pepper spray are the first to the scene. they decide they can't wait for firearms or taser units to arrive. stay back, yeah? mate, drop the knife! on the floor now! on the bleep floor! get it down! taser, taser! we've got him. it's all right, it's all right. right, search him. right, mate, at the moment, you're under arrest— for murder, all right? at southend police station, the killer declares his motive. ali harbi ali grew up in croydon, in south london. he was clever enough to consider becoming a doctor until syria's civil war changed the teenager's ambitions. at first, he wanted to fight for the islamic state group. but in 2019, he followed a worldwide call from the group's propagandists to strike at home instead.

his target — any of the 524 mps who had voted to bomb is fighters. and, carrying a knife, he was tempted to kill any one of them as they came and went from parliament. people can self—radicalise and do this almost entirely in secret, alone in their house, and do that online. and some of their activity when they then leave their house presents an opportunity for us and the public, maybe, to work together and identify their behaviour. harbi ali considered attacking cabinet ministers, but settled on this man, sir david amess, mp for southend west. he'd advertised his constituency surgery on twitter and, lying that he was local, harbi ali fixed an appointment, e—mailing to say, "i don't think i'll take too long." ali harbi ali arrived

here at the old bailey a self—confessed terrorist killer, but he then taunted sir david's family, declaring that he'd done nothing wrong. he said he'd killed to protect muslims in syria. but the judge said that was no defence to the crime of murder, and thejury tookjust 18 minutes to convict him. he literally did something that you can't even imagine. and it doesn't heal, itjust hurts. he's hurting all the people that were involved, making them relive it. arrogant to the end, he refused to stand for the verdict. just metres away, sir david's grieving family, watching the killer's final insult to them and a public servant who had only ever wanted to do good. dominic casciani, bbc news, at the old bailey. in france, emmanuel macron and marine le pen are beginning a fortnight of campaigning, after reaching the second round of the presidential election last night. mr macron won more than 27%

of the votes in the first round with ms le pen, who leads the far—right national rally party, four points behind. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. in the north—eastern town of dinard today, mr macron got a master class on why people are voting for marine le pen. "everyone talks about the taxes, the taxes, the taxes," this woman says. "we have no spending power, we just work and buy groceries to eat." "we are in deep trouble in france." "let's see how we compare with others," mr macron replies. he is here to chase the support of far left voters. there were lessons there, too. translation: i'd like you to address the needs of us - workers, increase salaries, because today we can't make ends meet. marine le pen is doing better in this election because she has spent years talking about rising prices and the struggle to make ends meet. her solutions include no income

tax for anyone under 30 and a huge cut in vat on fuel. it has helped make her the first choice for voters in their late 20s, 30s and 405. and her team includes lots of young faces in key roles, like the party's temporary president, who is only 26. translation: we talk- about all kinds of protections, all insecurities, and it is our greatest strength. i don't feel that our measures are radical because they are the majority view in the country. priority for french nationals, economic patriotism, closing radical mosques, deporting offenders. when we defend radical ideas, i think we are defending common sense. at the final result in this election could come down not to supporters of marine le pen or emmanuel macron, but supporters ofjean—luc melenchon, the far left candidate who came in third, people like clementine here. five years ago, they voted mostly for mr macron in the run—off.

this time around, many of them say they are not going to vote at all and of those that are, half say they will vote for marine le pen. i'm not going to go vote. there is no way i can let her win and there is no way i can let him win. and people don't know any more where to go, you know, what to think and who to believe. and if we compare melenchon and le pen's programmes, we can find some similarities, we can find some points that are in le pen's programme and melenchon�*s programme. the hopes and fears of voters may be outgrowing this election. mr macron is still the favourite but before there is any change in government, what has changed in france is the mood. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. jury members have been chosen for the legal battle betweenjohnny depp and actress, amber heard.

the pirates of the caribbean actor is suing his ex—wife for $50 million, claiming she defamed him in an opinion piece she wrote for the washington post about being a domestic abuse survivor. whenjohnny depp arrived at court on monday, he was met by a smattering of fans, some waving banners with slogans like "justice forjohnny". he has vehemently denied abuse and called the allegations "an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity for ms heard and advance her career. " amber heard, who was also in court, argues that she's immune from liability because her article dealt with a matter of public concern. she didn't name depp in the article, but his lawyer say she was clearly referring to the actor, and claim the piece damaged his film career and reputation. lots more on the website about all our news stories. that's it

from us, thanks so much for joining. hello there. it was a much milder start monday morning, largely frost—free, as it will be again this morning. and that's because we've changed the wind direction. they're coming in off the atlantic, they are gathered around an area of low pressure, which means we are pulling in more cloud and showery rain, as well. but it will at least stay relatively mild, if not warm in the sunshine as we saw on monday night, 19 celsius in heathrow. but lots of heavy showers have been gathering towards the south through the night. there could be some rumbles of thunder, patchy rain heading its way northwards elsewhere, and that's why we are seeing our temperatures holding up. the winds starting to ease, so it won't be as windy on tuesday, and we've still got this onshore breeze for the east of scotland, the northern isles — so quite chilly here, but it shouldn't be as chilly for the eastern side of england, but as you can see, we've got showers and longer spells of rain, some of them heavy, some of them thundery

pushing their way northwards and eastwards through the day. where we see some sunshine, temperatures will lift above average, particularly for england and wales. 18—20 celsius possibly across the east anglian region in the southeast, but for most, temperatures a little bit above par, except where we have the more persistent rain, which is likely to continue its journey northwards then through tuesday night into wednesday. eventually, the milder air reaches the northern isles, and again, it looks like a relatively mild start to wednesday, but misty and murky in places. we could have some patches of fog around tuesday as well as wednesday, which will take their time to break up. and then it's more likely to be a day of sunny spells and scattered showers, so perhaps a bit more sunshine on offer. but again, like we will see on tuesday, pollen levels pretty high, and temperatures getting into the high teens more widely as well further north, it will feel warmer, i think, across scotland and northern ireland on wednesday. come thursday, we've got another weather system starting to work its way in from the west ahead of that early morning mist and fog taking the time to break up.

but again, temperatures 15—19 celsius, and that's above average for this time of year. and then further ahead into the easter weekend, that weather system weakens as it works eastwards because it's working into high pressure. so it's how established that high—pressure becomes, really, this weekend, how good it is at keeping our weather fronts at bay. there is still a little bit of uncertainty, as you can see, with low pressure close by to the west later on into the easter weekend. but at the moment, for many, there will be some warmth around, often dry and bright, but we do need to keep an eye on that one. do stay tuned.

this is bbc news. we will have all the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continue straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. russia's invasion of ukraine and kyiv�*s defiant response will have a long—term impact on geopolitics far beyond europe's eastern flank. the west insists putin must fail, but this century's rising power, china, offers mr putin friendship without limits. could the ukrainian invasion foreshadow an effort by beijing

to eliminate the thorn in its side — namely,