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. 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 are not living in the stone age. just up the road, we heard of another rape case. it is 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 are told, was left

by a separate unit of russians who found her body and buried her here. they later told a neighbour, oksana, about the dead woman. translation: they told me - she had been raped and that her 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 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. this translation: about 25 girls and women, aged 14-24, - were raped during the occupation, . in the basement of one house in bucha. - nine of them are pregnant. a 25—year—old woman called

to tell us her 16—year—old i sister was raped in this street in front of her. l to calculate the number of such sexual crimes is impossible - at the moment, because not everyone has come to us. i not everyone has come to us. everyone is willin- to ta to not everyone is willing to talk to us — among the people we met, there is no relief that the russians have gone, because they have 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 is 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 bloody. 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. meanwhile, in the last couple of hours, president zelensky has warned about alleged russian threats to use chemical weapons in ukraine. translation: today, the occuwers _ translation: today, the

occupiers issued _ translation: today, the occupiers issued a - translation: today, the occupiers issued a new. occupiers issued a new statement, which testifies to their preparation for a new stage of terror against ukraine and our defenders. one of the mouthpieces of the occupiers stated they could use chemical weapons against the defenders of mariupol. we take this as seriously as possible. i want to remind the world's leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the russian military has already been discussed. 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. the white house says president biden emphasised it was not in delhi's interest to increase its imports of energy from russia. 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 decisive juncture, 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. 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. the 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 injail. 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 of 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 movement 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 her 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 seemed just to slide away under 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 ukrainian women have suffered at the hands of russian forces. ukraine says russian tanks have begun advancing towards the eastern donbas region for a renewed offensive. 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. great to getjuanmi programme. how was that lifting of the restrictions intended to work or residents of shanghai —— get you on the programme. or residents of shanghai -- get you on the programme. officials have laid out _ you on the programme. officials have laid out a _ you on the programme. officials have laid out a blueprint - you on the programme. officials have laid out a blueprint that - have laid out a blueprint that lays out under the different residential units in different risk groups, which will essentially allow some of the city to start moving again full and those that are in a low area risk group, that means that they don't have covid, haven't had it for the past 14 days, so they can go about their business. but what we do know is that only about two of these units have been called out at this point, so the majority of the citizens are still under some sort of lockdown. as you have

mentioned, they have been incredibly frustrated and angry, taking out their frustration on social media. they have had trouble getting food and medicine and, in some cases, parents have been separated from their children in the event that either one has tested positive for covid. now, there is an alternate argument being made online and thatis argument being made online and that is that it is a risky move given that the cases are spiking. wejust heard given that the cases are spiking. we just heard from officials earlier this morning that 23,000 cases, new ones, have been reported just on monday alone. beijing officials say they're not going to give up say they're not going to give up this government policy because it puts vulnerable people at risk.— because it puts vulnerable people at risk. monica miller reporting — people at risk. monica miller reporting on _ people at risk. monica miller reporting on that _ people at risk. monica miller reporting on that story. - people at risk. monica miller. reporting on that story. thanks forjoining us on the programme. to the uk now, and a man from london who was radicalised by the islamic state group has been found guilty of murdering conservative mp sir david amess. ali harbi ali killed sir david last october. he spent months researching how he might murder mps. dominic casciani reports.

15 october last year, and in the leafy suburbs of leigh—on—sea, a man has just 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 the jury took just 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. 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 "and buy groceries to eat." "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 of jean—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. he has vehemently denied abusing her amber heard argues that she's immune from liability because her article dealt with a matter of public concern. our north america correspondent david willis is across the story and hejoins me now from los angeles. it's great to get you on the programme. in the first instance, my understanding of this, david, he has tried to do this, david, he has tried to do this before and that time in london, but now he is trying again, because he was not successful that last time, why does he think he will be

successful this time? that is a very good _ successful this time? that is a very good question. _ successful this time? that is a very good question. as - successful this time? that is a very good question. as you i successful this time? that is a i very good question. as you say, johnny depp has tried this before, unsuccessfully, suing the sun newspaper was accused him of being a wifebeater and now, in a sense, he is taking his career on the outcome of this case in fairfax county, virginia. this libel case he is bringing against his ex—wife. and that ruling, the high court in london in november 2020, led to him losing his place in the fantastic beasts franchise. and he lost his role as captain jack sparrow in the pirates of the caribbean. he is suing amber heard for $50 million, basically claiming that she implied in an article in the washington post, an op—ed article in the washington post, that he was an abuser. she is counter suing for $100 million, claiming that he smeared her by calling her a liar. this case

is expected to last about six weeks in fairfax county. and, 'ust weeks in fairfax county. and, just briefly. — weeks in fairfax county. and, just briefly, before _ weeks in fairfax county. and, just briefly, before we - weeks in fairfax county. and, just briefly, before we enter l just briefly, before we enter the programme, there is a higher burden of proof, isn't there, in the united states for these sorts of legal trials. he has to show that his ex—wife defamed him with malice as well. is that likely at all? well, you're absolutely right. there is a higher burden of proof here. for example, in the uk, the person being sued has to basically prove that the allegations they made were true. in this particular case, johnny depp has to prove that amber heard —— amber heard knowingly made claims that were false. now, she is expected to claim that she is shielded from liability because this is a matter of public concern, namely an article that was devoted to domestic abuse. but the very fact that it is being

staged off so sorry to jump in. so much to talk to about. we have to end the programme. that is all from david and that is all from me. thank you for joining us. hello there. it was a much milder start monday morning, largely frost free as it will begin this morning. that's because we have change the wind direction. they are coming in off the atlantic, they gather round of the area of low pressure, which means we are pulling in more cloud and showery rain as well. it will at least a relatively mild, if not warmer is again as we saw in monday night, 19 degrees in either group. lots of heavy showers have been gathering towards the south in a, there could be rumbles of thunder, patchy rain heading northwards elsewhere, that's why we are seeing our temperatures holding out. the wind is starting to ease so it won't be as windy on tuesday. we still have this onshore breeze for the east of scotland and northern isles, chilly here, you won't be as silly for the eastern side of

england, but, as you can see, we have showers along of rain, some heavy, some boundary, putting away northwards and through the day we see some sunshine temperatures were left above average, particularly for england and wales. 18—20 possibly across is anglican region. little bit above par exit we have more persistent rain, that is likely to continue asjohnny northwards through tuesday night into wednesday, eventually the rain reaches the northern isles and it looks like a relatively mild start to wednesday. but misty and murky in places. we could have patches of fog around tuesday as well as wednesday, which would take the time to break up. then it is more likely to be a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. 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 warm across scotland and northern ireland on wednesday. come thursday, we have another weather system

starting to work its way in from the west, and head of that early morning mist and fog taking time to break up. again, temperatures 15—19, that is above average for this time of year. furtherahead above average for this time of year. further ahead into the easter weekend, that weather system weakens as it works eastwards as it is working into high pressure, so it is how established that high pressure becomes this weekend, how good it is keeping the weather fronts at bay. there is still a bit of uncertainty with low pressure close by to the west later on into the easter weekend. but, at the moment, for many there will be often dry and bright, but we do need to keep an eye on that one. do stay tuned.