this is bbc news —— these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun — but president zelensky remains defiant. no matter how many of the russian troops are driven there, we will be fighting, we will defend ourselves. russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than a thousand targets in ukraine overnight, downing a ukrainian mig fighterjet. uk prime minister borisjohnson faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. so borisjohnson�*s expected to apologise today. is that enough for you? orare you still making up your minds? we'd like to hear from you, do get in touch at @annitabbc using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions

a judge in the us throws out the covid—19 mandate forcing people to wear a mask in public buildings and public tranport. and it's 100 days to go until the start of the commonwealth games — we'll be hearing about the athletes who are hoping to shine hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. ukraine says battle for the donbas — or the "second phase" of the war — has begun, after russia launched a major offensive in the east of the country. according to president volodymyr zelensky, a large part of the russian army is now focusing on the east.

moscow's forces already occupy large parts of the area. this attack had been widely predicted — as russia seeks to link the territory it already controls with the occupied crimean peninsula. ukraine's national security council says russia has already tried to break through the whole front line in the donetsk, luhansk and kharkiv regions. but officials at the pentagon are reporting that the besieged port city of mariupol still hasn't fallen. russia has attacked elsewhere too. moscow claims to have struck more than 1,000 targets overnight. seven people died yesterday in the western city of lviv — which had largely escaped attack until now. president biden is expected to discuss the current situation in a call with nato leaders later. and the humanitarian situation is also reported to be dire — with ukraine saying it's had to stop the evacuation of civilians from cities in the east, because the escape routes aren't safe.0ur defence correspondent, jonathan beale reports from eastern

ukraine. distant explosions. this is now the sight and sound of donbas. severodonetsk, another city and another target for russia's unrelenting bombardment. translation: we can assess i now that the russian troops have begun the battle for donbas for which they have been preparing for a long time. a very large part of the russian army is now concentrated on this offensive. no matter how many of the russian troops are driven there, we will be fighting. we will defend ourselves. we tried to speak to families taking shelter. but the thump of artillery was steadily coming closer. we just came here to go to a shelter, but there is shelling a bit close to us and so we had to move out.

a lot of crump of artillery going on at the moment. nothing appears to be sacred when russia wages war. this, one of the holiest sites in the donbas, but that did not save svaytogorsk�*s historic monastery from being scarred by a russian air strike. the few who have stayed behind have to queue for food. they are notjust hungry, though. they are scared. translation: i cry every day. what kind of god would allow this to happen? i cry every day. what kind of god should we ask to stop all this? there is now a strong military presence in this town. just a few miles down the road, russian forces are advancing from the north. a ukrainian soldier shared this drone footage of how they were trying to slow down the russian columns, blowing up a bridge.

but they know more will be coming. translation: we know that russian forces are bringing i reinforcements into this region, but we are doing everything possible. we are ready to repel the russian occupiers and prevent the capture of our cities. we will stand to the last and defend our homeland. we headed south, the roads eerily empty. we soon found out why. plumes of smoke. once again, we were within range of russian artillery. the constant bombardment is also taking its toll on the city of avdiivka. here, they are praying for divine intervention. nowhere here is safe within range of russian artillery and, as we have seen, russia is pushing forward from the north, from the east and from the south.

and there is a real danger that ukraine's forces here could be surrounded. for now, they are holding out. so, too, are the remaining citizens of avdiivka, hiding in bunkers. but for how long? jonathan beale, bbc news, eastern ukraine. 0ur correspondent danjohnson is in lviv in western ukraine — where seven people died in air strikes yesterday. he told me president zelensky is determined to resist the new russian assault. the president is defiant, he says that his forces are ready for the new offensive. they are reinforced, re—equipped and digging and in the east and determined to stop the russian advance. they will fight for every inch of ukrainian territory. it was underlined yesterday how dangerous the situation is across the country, there were four air

raid alerts in the last 2a hours, attacks on a number of cities. the missile strikes that hit their city taking civilians lives yesterday showed people how dangerous it can be. people were caught up in the attack who had just arrived as refugees from the east having been told to evacuate in expectation of the conflict there intensified. there was a hotel which a missile landed near to had its windows blown out, refugee families staying there, having got off the train from the area is considered to be more dangerous. there were children who were hit by flying glass and had to be treated in hospital. we believe one of those missiles could have been intended for the railway network. that is part of russia's attempt to disrupt the supply of weapons to the forces in the east. lviv has become an important staging post on the supply line for those weapons, ammunition and armour coming in from other countries. that attack looked to have been unsuccessful, it missed target but

caused civilian loss of life instead. everybody here is nervous, is aware of the risk. i spoke to people over the weekend who came into the city from other places, other countries like poland. a mother brought her sons over the border for a few days to see their dad who had to stay behind. her sons were nervous, she had reassured them that this part of the country was safe. she, like everybody else, now knows they are not safe anywhere in ukraine. the russian air strikes can hit at any time. earlier i spoke to the military analyst, justin crump, from the risk advisory company, sibylline. he said russia is intensifying its bombardments across the country, to create better conditions for the assault on the east. they have been doing this with increasing intensity over the last couple of weeks, we've seen artillery bombardments increase, airpower increase, and as it was covered in the report, ukraine has had to delay in some

areas, ukraine has tried to destroy bridges to slow down the russians, rely on large wooded areas and rivers to slow things down as the russians increase the pressure. shaping operations, creating the conditions for russia to launch a more major attack or attacks around the donbas. reports that the us military is going to be training ukrainian military in the use of anti—artillery weapons which they are supplying, reports of the uk sending mobile missile launchers. how useful will those be in the fighting to come? this all reflects what the ukrainians have been asking for for a period of time, more weaponry to fight a conventional war. originally the expectation was that russia and ukraine would be fighting insurgency, and that explains the weapons they were sent originally. very focused on defence, anti—tank missiles, we have seen so much of them. now they need artillery, artillery rounds, a challenge that

nato weapon systems fire different artillery rounds to ex soviet systems that the ukraine's used traditionally, that are slowing up the supply of these weapon systems to ukraine when you need them the most. it is a race, getting the training, supplies, reinforcements to ukraine, and the equipment has to get across the country to the donbas while the russians try to stop it. there is a number of challenges for the support to flow and whether it will be effective enough. we shall see hard fighting ahead as ukraine tries to hold

some units are only 50 miles from the headquarters, and they have got good railway lines running through, they have sorted out electronic warfare, command control is better. they have problems with morale, with ground and terrain being hard to navigate at the moment, and problems with resilience of the ukrainian defence. this could be more evenly balanced than we saw round kyiv and in the north—east in the earlier days.

how protracted could it be? we are now looking to see whether the outcome is going to be followed by peace, a pause or protracted conflict. that has been going on since 2014 anyway. we focus on the war in the last 52 days, this is a long—running conflict. i do not think anything short of potentially insignificant russian failure that means they have to accept that they can hold is going to mean the end of the conflict in the short term. there may be a pause as we saw in 2015, frozen front lines, that is why the next couple of weeks are very significant. it will tell us so much about what we will see in the long term. how much of a victory is president putin able to eke out if any at all and what it means for the future of ukraine. this is why both sides regarded as a pivotal period. russia has options to extend the conflict afterwards if it needs

to or wishes, president putin has to deliver the success or he has probably finished in terms of domestic security and he knows that. the british prime minister will face mps later today — for the first time since police fined him for breaking covid laws. borisjohnson is expected to apologise once again when he addresses the commons this afternoon. 0pposition parties say he misled parliament when he claimed no parties had been held in downing street, and that no covid rules were broken. here's our political correspondent — nick eardley. this won't be an easy return from the easter break for boris johnson. he will face mps later after being fined for breaking his own lockdown laws. more than 50 penalties have now been issued for parties in government buildings. the chancellor, rishi sunak, got one, so did the prime minister's wife, carriejohnson. many are expecting more fines to come. in a statement in parliament later, mrjohnson is expected to apologise to mps.

he is said to understand the strength of feeling about rule breaking in downing street. but he also wants to move on and focus on other issues, like the war in ukraine and the cost of living squeeze. his critics say he should be resigning for breaking the law. in manchester yesterday, different opinions among voters. i think it should just be left now. yes, he has apologised, he said what he needed to say. just come out with the truth now. just get on with it. if nothing gets done about... obviously, these fines in the past, lyou know, it isjust going to keepl on going until the next a sort of election, so, anything - they cannot sweep it under the carpet would be good. i if there are laws that are made for the uk, or people that live in the uk, i feel like it should go across the board. it should notjust be for the common man, it should be for the politicians, as well. the prime minister is also facing claims he misled parliament with comments like this one.

there was no party and that no covid rules were broken. 0pposition parties want an investigation, but downing street sources say mrjohnson always spoke in good faith and he has the backing of cabinet ministers. when the pm spoke at parliament, he did not knowingly appreciate that stepping into the room was going to be something that breached the rules, given that he had been in the room with exactly the same people for official meetings earlier in the day. it was wrong, he's apologised, he has accepted the fixed penalty notice and we move on. the mood around westminster has changed since rows over parties threatened boris johnson's future. this time, only a few conservative mps have called for him to stand down. but there could be more fines to come and the prime minister can't be certain where this story goes next. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. earlier i spoke to our chief political correspondent —

adam fleming — who told us what we can expect to hear from the prime minister today. at the moment the prime minister is facing the cabinet because they are having their first weekly meeting since the easter recess. cabinet ministers are arriving now, downing street is a bit of a car park, i imagine if the prime minister addresses partygate with his immediate colleagues, he will stick to the script he used last week — he is paying the fine, he broke the rules, but he did not do it knowingly. and that is certainly the message that was coming from the northern ireland secretary when he spoke to the media this morning. over the years, actually, ministers of both parties have had fixed penalty notices for various different reasons including speeding which i appreciate is not the same as the covid—19 regulations, but it is fixed penalty notices. what the prime minister has done is he's accepted that, he's acknowledged that, he's apologised for that. we've seen the other party leaders over the last few days being told that they have broken rules and regulations are around covid—19, what our prime minister has done

is outlined that he recognised that things at number 10 were not being done in the way the public would have expected them to be done, he has changed the team, he has done what he said he would do on that. he has accepted the fixed penalty notice last week, he has paid that fine, apologised for that and he's getting back to and has been absolutely focused on the issues that are really going to have those long term as well as short term benefits and effects for people across the uk. they suggest that when he speaks to mps at 3.30pm this afternoon, a lot of what he says will sound familiar. what could be different is what the opposition parties do. we know that labour, the lib dems, the snp and the greens have been looking at the parliamentary rule book to see what tactics they can use to hold the prime minister to account, both for breaching covid—19 rules and what they see as misleading statements to parliament on earlier appearances. that will be up to the speaker whether something is done and what format it takes. could it be some kind of vote of censure against the prime minister or could he be referred

to a parliamentary committee to investigate, for example? but emily thornberry shadow attorney general from labour was candid that anything that relied on a vote would be unlikely to get through because of the parliamentary arithmetic. we are looking at various ways in which parliament may be used to hold the prime minister to account. but the fundamental point is this, is that even if there was a great mechanism for holding the prime minister to account, we still need the votes. and the truth is, as at the last general election, the conservative party won an 80—seat majority, so even if all the opposition stood united on this, the question is, what are the conservative mps going to do? and when it comes to conservative mps, they are still in those three groups that have become familiar. the smallest group, people who have publicly called for the prime minister to resign or do something equally dramatic, the next biggest group is the super loyalists who have made up their minds and sticking with him

through thick and thin and the largest group is the conservative mps who are waiting to see what happens, will there be further fines and further fixed penalty notices heading to downing street? also, what happens when the report into the whole partygate affair is published, the one that is being conducted by sue gray the senior civil servant? of course, the results of the may elections. all of those things will be taken into their calculations. again, today, will be another one of those moments where people will be judging the tone, the demeanour of the prime minister and the content of what he says. iam going i am going to read out comments you have been sending, lots about whether you think if the prime minister apologies today that is enough for you. this message says that last week, my mother was dying of sepsis and alzheimer's, seeing

the staff, all masked and a print and gloved. her effects were put in the car park because sorting through them was not one of the exemptions to the covid—19 rules, now there were social gatherings at work. this message, move on, he apologised. we have this from, it is time for the prime minister to step down, you cannot lead a nation expecting them to follow when you are breaking the rules. 0ne to follow when you are breaking the rules. one more which says it seems bonkers that the use k has a system of government that does not provide safeguards to remove a prime minister who breaks the law and lies to parliament. thank you very much for sending those messages in. i have not had time to count through them, 30 or a0 contacts from you, three of them, i have read them, have been supportive of the prime minister, the rest have all said the

prime minister should resign. to give you a sense of the numbers there. joining me now is caroline slocock, former private secretary to margaret thatcher and john major, and the first woman to hold the post. we are told that borisjohnson is facing a piece to set the record straight over what he has told mps about lockdown parties in downing street. he has already been found by the police to have broken the law. is this a resignation matter, do you think? ~ , y is this a resignation matter, do you think? ~ , , , ., think? absolutely. the ministerial code is clear _ think? absolutely. the ministerial code is clear that _ think? absolutely. the ministerial code is clear that ministers - think? absolutely. the ministerial code is clear that ministers mustl code is clear that ministers must uphold the law. he is the prime minister. i think he is has also misled parliament. he is debasing the whole system by not taking proper responsibility for it. the sort of thing would never have happened under margaret thatcher or john major who i did not support politically, i was a civil servant,

but i knew they upheld the institutions and respecting the law of this country. i do not think it would have happened with any other prime minister either. i think he should be held to account, the problem here, though, is there is no one other than his own mps to do that in our system. we one other than his own mps to do that in our system.— one other than his own mps to do that in our system. we have heard the defence. _ that in our system. we have heard the defence, if _ that in our system. we have heard the defence, if you _ that in our system. we have heard the defence, if you want _ that in our system. we have heard the defence, if you want to - that in our system. we have heard the defence, if you want to call - that in our system. we have heard the defence, if you want to call it i the defence, if you want to call it that, the explanation that the prime minister should not resign in the middle of the war in ukraine. how do you respond to that? the middle of the war in ukraine. how do you respond to that?— you respond to that? the war in ukraine is _ you respond to that? the war in ukraine is about _ you respond to that? the war in ukraine is about democracy - you respond to that? the war in ukraine is about democracy and j ukraine is about democracy and democratic standards, and i think this is absolutely the moment to make sure that we uphold our own democracy and i was there when margaret thatcher was forced to resign by her own mps. it was the beginning of the gulf war. iraq had invaded kuwait a few months before

she resigned, ourforces were deployed in neighbouring countries and then they were sent in. it was a moment of even greater danger for this country. there are many other instances of prime minister is being deposed at a time of war, not least neville chamberlain during world war ii. if you have a democracy, it depends on the defence of standards, and if this is —— if he is light of this, we are lowering the bar not just for him but for any future prime minister. that is a dangerous thing for any democracy to do. mb? thing for any democracy to do. why do ou thing for any democracy to do. why do you remain _ thing for any democracy to do. why do you remain convinced that previous prime minister is including those who worked for would not have acted in this way?— acted in this way? because they believed in _ acted in this way? because they believed in the _ acted in this way? because they believed in the institutions. - acted in this way? because they believed in the institutions. of. believed in the institutions. of government. margaret thatcher, for example, she knew she had to walk

the talk and everyone who worked for her knew that everything that we did, whether inside number ten or outside, would potentially be scrutinised and seen as a reflection of her. she knew that her, ultimately her authority relied on the trust of the british public. john major, when he saw corruption in his own party, set up the principles. they worked because we knew he would enforce them. subsequent prime ministers would do so. and now we have a situation where the prime minister himself is not respecting those principles or the ministerial code which he ultimately... who is it in this country who enforces standards against the prime minister? this is revealed, and i think it is tremendously damaging that our constitution has no protection against what was called a rogue prime minister. we cannot rely on conservative mps to do the job. this

is clear. they will always find excuses and that is what they are doing at the moment. is excuses and that is what they are doing at the moment.— excuses and that is what they are doing at the moment. is set up to the ublic doing at the moment. is set up to the public to _ doing at the moment. is set up to the public to defend _ doing at the moment. is set up to the public to defend democracy? | doing at the moment. is set up to. the public to defend democracy? in the public to defend democracy? in the public to defend democracy? in the elections in may, there is an opportunity for this and the next general election is a long way off. there was a report on the committee on standards in public life which at least called for the adviser to ministers on their standards to be more independent, to have the right to investigate without being asked to investigate without being asked to do so by the prime minister and to do so by the prime minister and to reach a judgment on whether they had breached the code. the prime minster has not done anything about that report. i suspect he will not. ultimately, i don't know, we need more protection in our democracy and i think that is one of the debates that needs to be sparked off today. what can we do every prime minister is determined not to tell the truth and to break his own laws? they are

notjust and to break his own laws? they are not just any laws, and to break his own laws? they are notjust any laws, they and to break his own laws? they are not just any laws, they are and to break his own laws? they are notjust any laws, they are not speeding fines, they were the most draconian laws placed on the british people that any of us can remember and they were a matter of and death. he has played fast and loose with them and the defence that he did not know was breaking the law falls apart when you looks at his director of communications during a mock press conference in which she knew that it was indefensible to the public that parties had taken place and she laughed because she could not do it and nor can he. you and she laughed because she could not do it and nor can he.— not do it and nor can he. you have civen a not do it and nor can he. you have given a rebuttal _ not do it and nor can he. you have given a rebuttal of _ not do it and nor can he. you have given a rebuttal of the _ not do it and nor can he. you have given a rebuttal of the idea - not do it and nor can he. you have given a rebuttal of the idea that i given a rebuttal of the idea that the prime minister should not resign in the middle of a war by citing margaret thatcher who was deposed during the gulf war one of the key issues raised by supporters of boris johnson and by the prime minister himself is that we are in the middle of an economic crisis, a cost of living crisis, he needs to get on with the job of sorting that out and doing his best for the public. what

you say to that defence? the doing his best for the public. what you say to that defence?— you say to that defence? the truth is that this — you say to that defence? the truth is that this issue _ you say to that defence? the truth is that this issue is _ you say to that defence? the truth is that this issue is going - you say to that defence? the truth is that this issue is going to - you say to that defence? the truth is that this issue is going to be - you say to that defence? the truth is that this issue is going to be a i is that this issue is going to be a constant distraction for him getting on with thejob. constant distraction for him getting on with the job. there are more fines, i think, on with the job. there are more fines, ithink, rumours on with the job. there are more fines, i think, rumours are that there will be more fines delivered to his door. we await the sue gray report. it is an enormous distraction from the job. it is critical that the public have faith in the man or woman who leads them. they need to believe in his word, they need to believe he has the interests of the country at heart. it all looks very hollow when he is facing these kinds of accusations whilst people are suffering. immensely from a cost of living crisis. in their personal lives. former private secretary to margaret thatcher and john major, thank you very much for your thoughts today. in about ten minutes i will be

speaking to sir geoffrey clifton—brown, conservative mp for the cotswolds, one of the longest serving conservative mps to talk to him about all of this. at least two bomb blasts at a high school in the afghan capital kabul have killed at least six people and injured a number of children, according to local officials. the blasts occurred in a neighbourhood populated mainly by hazara shi'ite muslims, an ethnic and religious minority frequently targeted by sunni militant groups. no one has admitted carrying out the attack, which followed a respite in violence over the winter months , and after foreign forces withdrew last year. passengers will no longer have to wear a facemask on planes, trains and all public transport in the us, after a federal judge ruled that the requirement was unlawful. the florida judge , who was a donald trump nominee — said health officials had exceeded their legal powers in issuing the mask mandate. it was recently extended because of a rise in coronavirus cases. the white house called the judgment "disappointing,"

as our north america correspondent peter bowes. this mandate has been in force since just afterjoe biden took office, february of last year. it has been extended several times, most recentlyjust a couple of weeks ago, extended for about two weeks, over concerns about the rise of the 0micron variant and the fact that around the united states, the number of new infections is rising, not huge numbers, but raising concern amongst health officials that this mandate, as it applies to public transport, should at least be extended for a while, to protect people and to prevent the further spread of the virus. but thejudge in florida does not agree with that. in fact, this is a judge who was appointed by the former president donald trump, and she has decided that health officials in effect overstepped their legal authority, their legal powers, by introducing this mandate in the first place,

so it comes to an end. now, the white house says it is disappointed. the official advice from health officials is that people should in fact continue to wear face coverings when using public transport, but significantly, the administration saying now that this mandate will not be enforced. authorities in shanghai have reported another seven deaths from covid—19, following three deaths confirmed on sunday. all the patients were said to have had underlying health conditions. lockdowns remain in place across parts of the city, almost four weeks after they were first introduced. civil servants in britain are being ordered back to the office. the minister for government efficiency, jacob rees—mogg, has written to all secretaries of state, saying they must send a "clear message" that it's time to end the work from home culture. according to official figures, the department for education had the lowest number of staff back in the office in the first week of april — amounting to only a quarter. the fda union, which represents

civil servants, said ministers couldn't point to productivity losses, and there was no rationale for the move. it's 100 days to go until the 2022 commonwealth games begins in birmingham. it will be the first multi—sport event to be held in front of fans since the coronavirus. 0ur sports correspondent laura scott is at sandwell aquatics centre in birmingham. yes, iam yes, i am here at the only purpose built facility for the commonwealth games, which as you say begin in 100 days' time. there will be 19 sports across 11 days of competition. it will be the biggest power sports programme at a commonwealth games with eight sports, more medals for women than men. this facility has cost about £90 million. there has

been £778 million of central and local government funding. 0rganisers hoping it will be the biggest and boldest commonwealth games ever. i am joined by the chief executive of birmingham 2022. today is a major milestone in the countdown to the games. how excited are you about the summer? , ~ games. how excited are you about the summer? , . ., , , ., games. how excited are you about the summer? , . .,, i. _ summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 da s summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 days to — summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 days to go — summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 days to go now — summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 days to go now until— summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 days to go now until the - summer? hugely excited, as you say, 100 days to go now until the opening | 100 days to go now until the opening ceremony on the 28th ofjuly and todayit ceremony on the 28th ofjuly and today it is fantastic to be here and the sandwell aquatics centre, it is looking incredible, you get a sense this morning of the atmosphere that will be in here as one of the spurs —— first sports in the games and everyone has done a brilliantjob getting this ready working through the pandemics are really excited. talk to us about the scale of the ambition for the game.- ambition for the game. hugely ambitious. _ ambition for the game. hugely ambitious, this _ ambition for the game. hugely ambitious, this will— ambition for the game. hugely ambitious, this will be - ambition for the game. hugely ambitious, this will be the - ambition for the game. hugely i ambitious, this will be the largest sporting event ever held in the west midlands and the largest for ten years since the london olympics to be held in the uk and we want to make sure the west midlands really benefits from the investment going into the games, whether that is through development, jobs, tourism,

infrastructure that is getting built around the games, notjust the sporting venues but the accelerated transport and other infrastructure. it is a huge event for the region. how confident are you that the games will be a success?— will be a success? really confident. we still have _ will be a success? really confident. we still have tickets _ will be a success? really confident. we still have tickets to _ will be a success? really confident. we still have tickets to sell- will be a success? really confident. we still have tickets to sell but - will be a success? really confident. we still have tickets to sell but we | we still have tickets to sell but we have sold nearly 1.1 million tickets already so there was a huge enthusiasm right across the country, 300,000 still to sell, so if anyone is interested, get on the website and see what is left. it is notjust about sport, of course, what these multisport events bring is an incredible cultural programme around, live sites, so we will encourage everyone, let's get back out and celebrate the west midlands this summer and out and celebrate the west midlands this summerand birmingham out and celebrate the west midlands this summer and birmingham 2022.1hmd this summer and birmingham 2022. and of course the return of full crowds will be quite something given what we have gone through over the last few years. how important do you think it will be for the commonwealth games as an event in itself to have crowds back?— itself to have crowds back? hugely im ortant itself to have crowds back? hugely important and _ itself to have crowds back? hugely important and i — itself to have crowds back? hugely important and i think _ itself to have crowds back? hugely important and i think it _ itself to have crowds back? hugely important and i think it is - itself to have crowds back? hugely important and i think it is a - itself to have crowds back? hugely important and i think it is a great l

important and i think it is a great opportunity, as you say, one of the first multisport events back with full crowds so the world will be watching. it is great people get the chance to view these events lives but also hugely important for the athletes. i think they have really struggled in the last couple of olympics in particular in the stadiums without the atmosphere. they are always tame me they are looking forward to birmingham and getting the crowd back. —— tellingly. getting the crowd back. -- tellingly-— getting the crowd back. -- tellingly. getting the crowd back. -- tellinal . ., , ., tellingly. one of the things that will happen _ tellingly. one of the things that will happen this _ tellingly. one of the things that will happen this is _ tellingly. one of the things that will happen this is the - tellingly. one of the things that will happen this is the pilot - tellingly. one of the things that will happen this is the pilot of. will happen this is the pilot of e—sports, talk to us about that, there has been criticism of their potential entry into the commonwealth games but why do you think it is important to have the pilot? it think it is important to have the ilot? , ., ., ., pilot? it is not part of the main commonwealth _ pilot? it is not part of the main commonwealth games - pilot? it is not part of the main commonwealth games but - pilot? it is not part of the main commonwealth games but it . pilot? it is not part of the main commonwealth games but it is pilot? it is not part of the main - commonwealth games but it is about testing about, what is the appetite like in particular among young people to engage with the future of the commonwealth games? we are looking at the broadcast engagement, how people engage in mind, the enthusiasm from across the commonwealth to get involved. i think it will be really interesting to get all of that data and think about next steps for future events around whether it will work or not. there has been some criticism of a

perceived lack of diversity or celebration of diversity from the organisers, local cultural leaders are suggesting that but what is your message to people who don't think the commonwealth games will be diverse enough?— diverse enough? there is a huge number of— diverse enough? there is a huge number of opportunities - diverse enough? there is a huge number of opportunities around | diverse enough? there is a huge i number of opportunities around the games, whether being in the opening ceremony, as part of the cultural programme, being about on beara for the queen's baton relay, or a volunteer and we are confident the work we have done will showcase the diversity across the region and all of those opportunities and of course we could be doing more, we all could and we continue to engage with all groups across the city to look at opportunities but i am really confident that when people come here, we can really showcase the diversity of birmingham and west midlands. ., ., diversity of birmingham and west midlands. ., ,, , ., ., ., , midlands. thank you for “oining us. the countdown * midlands. thank you for “oining us. the countdown is h midlands. thank you for “oining us. the countdown is very _ midlands. thank you forjoining us. the countdown is very much - midlands. thank you forjoining us. the countdown is very much on - midlands. thank you forjoining us. the countdown is very much on to. midlands. thank you forjoining us. i the countdown is very much on to the start of these games, hoping to be the biggest and boldest ever, a celebration of sport, notjust in birmingham but the west midlands as well. not long to wait, just 100 days to go until the commonwealth games begins in birmingham. laura scott, there. russia's invasion of ukraine has had

a devastating impact on the country's children, with local authorities saying at least 205 have been killed since the conflict began. the un also estimates that as many as two thirds of all children in the country have been displaced because of the fighting. yogita limaye has been talking to families who have been caught up in the conflict. the worst moment of a parent's life. a father's final conversation with his boy. a community scattered by war, together in grief, to honour the life of a child they loved. this is yelisei's grandmother. he was 13. a month ago, he was killed in firing

by russian soldiers, as his family tried to leave their village. remembered as a humble, helpful boy, who didn't like to fight. and who refused to play aggressive sport. one last time, his mother, inna, tended to her son before they took him away. in moments like these, the senselessness of war is so plain to see. translation: | want the world - to know about the crimes of russia. i want every victim to be counted. russian soldiers had allowed us to leave. they even waved us goodbye. then when we were crossing the field, they started firing at us from every direction. i rescued my younger son by crawling through the field with him.

he's the reason i carry on. he is among 200 children known to have been killed in ukraine, so far. the impact of war on the lives of ukraine's children is evident in the spaces they once occupied. two—thirds have been forced to leave their homes. this school in bucha near kyiv was used as a base by russian soldiers. hundreds of schools and colleges in ukraine have been damaged. many more are empty because people have fled. when you walk through classrooms like this one, there are so many questions that come to mind. what must this place have looked like on any given weekday before life was suddenly interrupted?

who were the children that sat here? did they survive? did their families survive? we followed the story of one student from bucha. ilya now lives in one room of a rundown government building in kyiv, with his whole family. they managed to escape the fighting through a humanitarian corridor that had been opened in march. "it was so hard to get through the nights — we were afraid a shell would hit us at any moment", he said. "even here, i can't escape feeling war is still all around us. i dream about my family being killed, or taken hostage by the russians. i wake up in cold sweat." these children have seen burning buildings, destroyed tanks, and corpses on their way to safety.

valentyna told us about the difficult conversations they've been forced to have. translation: i had to make them understand that they lived one life | before, where they had everything. i've had to explain to them now that the time has come for them to grow up. children like yelisei didn't have the chance to grow up. and it's farfrom over forfamilies in ukraine. every day, thousands of young lives are at risk. yogita limaye, bbc news. some of the day's other news now. the manchester united footballer cristiano ronaldo has announced

the death of his baby son. in a statement posted on social media, the footballer and his partner georgina rodriguez, who had twins, said it was the "greatest pain that any parents can feel". they said the birth of their baby daughter gave them "the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness". a new study suggests that excess weight significantly increases a woman's risk of developing womb cancer. researchers at the university of bristol analysed genetic samples from 120,000 women in seven countries, including the uk. they found that the risk of developing womb cancer rose by 88 percent for every five extra units of bmi — or body mass index. they say the levels of two hormones, insulin and testosterone — both influenced by weight gain — increased the likelihood of a diagnosis. the uk's energy regulator 0fgem is investigating claims that energy companies are increasing payments by more than necessary, and directing customers to tariffs that are not in their interests. millions of customers in britain face higher utility bills amid surging inflation.

joining me now is the chief executive of 0fgem, jonathan brearley. thank you forjoining us. you have a couple of concerns you are investigating, firstly, let's look at the issue of suppliers raising their customers' direct debit payments by more than is necessary. what evidence have you found that? look, we should start by saying that customers are facing an incredibly difficult time at the moment. we have seen record increases in prices through the race in the price cap in april and many families are struggling. i talk to families every week to understand their circumstances so these are tough times for customers. what we are seeing our reports, and they are just reports right now, that people feel their direct debits have been adjusted by more than the price rise so of course customers are raising concerns, charities are raising concerns, charities are raising concerns and what we are saying todayis concerns and what we are saying today is we are going to look closely at this, not only at this issue but more widely at customer service across the board. what we

are saying to the industry if this is a really tough time for customers so you should be doing your level best to raise standards, not let them fall. ., best to raise standards, not let them fall-— best to raise standards, not let them fall. ., ., ., them fall. you mentioned other concerns and _ them fall. you mentioned other concerns and you _ them fall. you mentioned other concerns and you are _ them fall. you mentioned other concerns and you are saying - them fall. you mentioned other| concerns and you are saying that them fall. you mentioned other - concerns and you are saying that you have seen troubling signs that companies were allowing services to deteriorate. what do you mean by that? ., ., 4' deteriorate. what do you mean by that? ., . ., ., that? look, our most recent data su: rests that? look, our most recent data suggests that _ that? look, our most recent data suggests that satisfaction - that? look, our most recent data suggests that satisfaction with i suggests that satisfaction with customer services is going down. people are not feeling their complaints are being resolved and of course people are raising concerns around bills. with the regular data we have had, we said we will look much more closely at these issues and again, the message to the industry, notjust the retailers but the network companies and everyone involved in looking after the customer is now, more than ever, customer is now, more than ever, customer service matters and looking after your customers matters, particularly those facing financial hardship or in vulnerable circumstances.— hardship or in vulnerable circumstances. ., ., circumstances. you are saying the cost of living _ circumstances. you are saying the cost of living crisis _ circumstances. you are saying the cost of living crisis should - circumstances. you are saying the cost of living crisis should act - circumstances. you are saying the cost of living crisis should act as l cost of living crisis should act as a call to action to energy suppliers. what more will you be doing in terms of your contacts with them as you investigate these issues

and what more advice can you give to customers who have concerns? weill. customers who have concerns? well, let's start off — customers who have concerns? well, let's start off with _ customers who have concerns? well, let's start off with the _ customers who have concerns? -ll let's start off with the customers who have concerns. we have very clear rules in place. if you are worried your direct debit has been raised by more than it should be, contact your supplier and make sure they make the change. it is complex and they have to think about your costs over the year but make the focal and make sure your supplier is aware of your concerns. —— make the phone call. we will look systemically at the way supplies are behaving and make sure they are behaving and make sure they are behaving within the rules and if they are not, we have tried and tested processes that can ultimately lead to fines for the companies. what i am saying right now is the most important thing for everyone and particularly the industry is now more than ever, customers matter. they are going through a difficult time which is outside all of our control, with the change we have seenin control, with the change we have seen in gas prices and the increasing cost of energy and what we can do as an industry is make sure customers are looked after as best as we possibly can. but; best as we possibly can. any secific best as we possibly can. any specific warnings _ best as we possibly can. any specific warnings about signing up

to new deals? it is a complex market at a difficult time so what concerns do you have around that? what at a difficult time so what concerns do you have around that?— do you have around that? what i would say _ do you have around that? what i would say to _ do you have around that? what i would say to any _ do you have around that? what i would say to any customer- do you have around that? what i would say to any customer is - do you have around that? what i l would say to any customer is think really hard about the trade—offs you will make, it is a bit like a mortgage, you can track their rates or you can go for a fixed deal. what i can't do is sit here and predict what might happen to prices in the future, it is hard to tell but i encourage customers to pay particular attention to any offers being made and make sure it is the best offerfor them. being made and make sure it is the best offer for them.— best offer for them. thank you for “oininr best offer for them. thank you for joining us- — best offer for them. thank you for joining us- the — best offer for them. thank you for joining us. the chief _ best offer for them. thank you for joining us. the chief executive - best offer for them. thank you for joining us. the chief executive ofl joining us. the chief executive of jem, there. a family whose son was knocked down by a driver who was under the influence of drugs are speaking out about what happened to highlight the dangers of drug driving. eight—year—old noah was out on a bike ride with his dad when he was hit by a car doing 60mph. he suffered serious injuries including a bleed on the brain before making a full recovery. a warning — you may find parts of fiona trott�*s report distressing.

pick a line, good lad. you go first. a father teaching his son how to be safe on the road. this is a bike lane. where? this red one here. then, a moment that changes their lives for ever. noah, noah! noah herring has been hit by a car at 60 mph. noah, sit down, don't move! don't move, noah. this is the video his family want you to watch. please, ambulance, please! he's in a lot of pain, he's in a really bad way. a car has crashed into us. noah, just stay with me, noah. i'm going to the cinema. today, the eight—year—old is back in the park they were cycling to that morning. it's something his dad never thought he would see. what do you think about drugs and people who take drugs when they are driving? that it's naughty. and it's not good.

because people might die from it, because they might crash into other people. you were really brave, you know, noah, when that happened to you. do you think you are brave? yes. james is putting on a brave face. he is still coming to terms with what happened. just a big explosion. and then... a couple of seconds went by. i couldn't see noah. and that is when i went over to him and i saw him and i thought that was going to be the last time i was going to see my son. and i wasn't ready for that. he was broken and i couldn't fix him. something just inside kicked in and ijust did everything i could for him.

i am arresting you on suspicion of driving whilst over— the prescribed drug limit. harry summersgill had taken cocaine, ketamine and cannabis when he hit noah. he was jailed for three years. he had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs twice before. but, in the weeks it takes for drug test results to come back, motorists like him can continue driving. james says that needs to change. magistrates, they willjust get a piece of paper telling what the person has done and hasn't done. whereas police see this day in, day out. i think if the police had more power to do something about it on the spot, revoke that licence or suspend that licence, i think that is the fastest way to do things. in the meantime, the government has launched a consultation on whether high—risk offenders should take a rehabilitation course before they can get their licence back.

i definitely think it is a step in the right direction. drug—driving ruins lives. for me, i believe the more information, help and support out there, the more chance we have to stop drug—drivers. this is the victim impact statement i read out in court. "this is not a simple accident. the biggest question i ask myself is, how can i protect my son from someone like you? i live by the fact that noah is still with us, by some miracle. i hope your punishment will affect your life as you have affected mine. you may not have taken my life that day, but you have taken my spirit." how do you feel when you read it out now, do you feel you have been able to move on from that? yeah, i definitely feel... people around me have helped me through the situation. yeah.

look up to the sky. got your brakes covered? good lad. as a family, what does the future hold for you guys? a lot more bike riding, hopefully. cycling is a massive part of my life and, hopefully, it will be a big part of noah's. noah is my hero. no kid should go through what he went through, but he went through it. and he's had a lot of support and he's supported us and he's back to being a happy little child again. fiona trott, bbc news, teesside. a very powerful report. let's get some of the day's other news. israel has carried out its first air strikes on the gaza strip in months. the israeli military said it had targeted a weapons manufacturing site belonging to the militant group, hamas, in response to a palestinian rocket attack. there are no reports of injuries. in libya, demonstrators have staged protests at several oil facilities across the country, halting production at the sites.

the protestors are demanding that the country's tripoli—based prime minister hand over power to a rival government formed last month. libya's national oil corporation says disruptions to the energy sector are likely to get worse. the south african government has declared a state of disaster in response to floods in kwazulu—natal province. 10,000 soldiers are being deployed to the region as part of the relief effort. rainstorms and mudslides have killed more than a00 people. at least 60 people are believed to be missing. a million off—peak railfares in britain are being cut — some by as much as half. the move is an attempt by the government and train operators to get more people travelling. i spoke to our business correspondent ramzan karmali about this big rail sale earlier. from today, you can go online and purchase these tickets but they are only valid for off—peak fares between the 25th april and the 27th may, but there are some big discounts.

the transport secretary grant shapps has called this a unique initiative because it is the first time that a number of operators have got together to put the scheme together. for example, you can go from london to edinburgh off—peak, it would have been £aa and it is now £22. you can travel from wolverhampton to liverpool forjust over £5 so there are some big savings but it is only for off—peak fares and not peak fares. the campaign for better transport says this just highlights people are priced off the railway most of the time, in their view, and that costs should be cut further and i'm sure a lot of people who travel by train will say, look, rather than doing a one—off sale, why not offer us some reductions on a more permanent basis? and that argument is also being brought forward by labour, who point to the fact that back in 2010, the average season ticket was around just over £1,000, and today it is over £3,000. fare rises, the fare rise announced

in march of 3.8% is the highest we have had in england and wales for nine years. so there is that, too. the government are saying they are trying to encourage people to get out more and they want this to boost uk tourism. they believe that by making people get on the trains, it will encourage people to travel in a more green way as well. so this is their initiative to try and boost that. don't forget, the numbers of people travelling on trains are still far below what they were pre—pandemic and so this is just one initiative to start the ball rolling, to get more people on the trains. now, the tourism economy. coastal towns were the big winners from the first easter bank holiday weekend without covid restrictions in three years. 0ur reporter ben bolous is in brighton.

coast—to—coast, for it out for the first easter holiday without restriction since 2019. mice first easter holiday without restriction since 2019. nice to see --eole restriction since 2019. nice to see people again _ restriction since 2019. nice to see people again after _ restriction since 2019. nice to see people again after three - restriction since 2019. nice to see people again after three years - people again after three years locked down, lovely, nice weather, what else could you ask for? film; what else could you ask for? any excuse to — what else could you ask for? any excuse to get — what else could you ask for? any excuse to get out and see people and 'ust excuse to get out and see people and just have _ excuse to get out and see people and just have that human interaction again— just have that human interaction again rather than being locked inside — again rather than being locked inside and not being able to do everything you want to. it�*s inside and not being able to do everything you want to. it's nice to be able to walk _ everything you want to. it's nice to be able to walk around. _ everything you want to. it's nice to be able to walk around. no - everything you want to. it's nice to be able to walk around. no masks| everything you want to. it's nice to . be able to walk around. no masks on. you can see people smiling rather than before, your face was covered up, it— than before, your face was covered up. it is— than before, your face was covered up. it isjust— than before, your face was covered up, it isjust happy. than before, your face was covered up. it isjust happy-— up, it is 'ust happy. seaside resorts up, it isjust happy. seaside resorts did _ up, it isjust happy. seaside resorts did best _ up, it isjust happy. seaside resorts did best but - up, it isjust happy. seaside i resorts did best but attractions like these boat trips and train rides in devon also had a welcome boost from domestic tourists. in brighton, it was notjust uk holiday—makers soaking up the sun. nice to see all people walking around, or people seeming to be happy, to be out on the streets again. happy, to be out on the streets aaain. ., ., ., again. the hot weather meant business was _ again. the hot weather meant business was booming - again. the hot weather meant business was booming in - business was booming in burnham—on—sea, to. business was booming in burnham-on-sea, to. really busy, nice to see —

burnham-on-sea, to. really busy, nice to see it _ burnham-on-sea, to. really busy, nice to see it happening _ burnham-on-sea, to. really busy, nice to see it happening and - burnham-on-sea, to. really busy, nice to see it happening and lots i burnham-on-sea, to. really busy, j nice to see it happening and lots of people _ nice to see it happening and lots of people around and the whole town was chock—a—block all day yesterday and todax _ chock—a—block all day yesterday and todax so _ chock—a—block all day yesterday and today. so we're pleased. thank goodness! _ today. so we're pleased. thank goodness! it today. so we're pleased. thank goodness!— today. so we're pleased. thank noodness! ., goodness! it has been a really good bank holiday. _ goodness! it has been a really good bank holiday, the _ goodness! it has been a really good bank holiday, the weather- goodness! it has been a really good bank holiday, the weather has - goodness! it has been a really good bank holiday, the weather has been quite nice, a bit windy but not bad, really, had a lot of customers, yeah. really, had a lot of customers, eah. ., really, had a lot of customers, eah. ,, ., , yeah. the bank holiday boost is welcome news _ yeah. the bank holiday boost is welcome news for _ yeah. the bank holiday boost is welcome news for an _ yeah. the bank holiday boost is welcome news for an industry i yeah. the bank holiday boost is i welcome news for an industry that suffered huge losses. the big question is, can this momentum be carried into the all—important summer break? just time to squeeze in some tweets on your views on the prime minister as a speech to parliament for the first time after being fined for breaking the covid regulations. mike says, what chaos do we expect if the rest of the uk citizens break different laws and then just apologise each time laws are broken? chaosis apologise each time laws are broken? chaos is coming to the country. and the majority of the tweets i have

had today have been criticising the pm, one or two saying, let him get on with thejob. joanna pm, one or two saying, let him get on with the job. joanna gosling is here next but for me, goodbye for now. hello again. as we go through the next few days, there's going to be an east—west split in terms of temperatures, with the east pulling in an easterly breeze, so here, it will be cooler than in the west. but there will be plenty of dry weather after today, with just the odd isolated showers. you will notice i keep saying after today because we are looking at quite a few showers today, and we have got this weak weather front moving across north—west scotland, getting into northern ireland, also bringing some showers with it. at times, there will be large areas of cloud across parts of england and also wales. showers developing further through the afternoon. some could be heavy and thundery. but in between them, we should see some sunshine and we will still have our weather front drifting a little bit further south across western scotland and northern ireland. here, it is not going to be as windy as it was yesterday.

as we head on through the evening and overnight, there will still be areas of cloud but many of the showers will fade. under clear skies in scotland and northern ireland, we will see some patchy mist and fog form. and here too, in sheltered glens and rural areas, it could well turn out to be cold enough just for a touch of frost. but we're also looking at some sunny skies first thing the morning. with the breeze coming in along the east coast, the cloud that starts off in the east drifting over towards the west through the day, with a few showers. thicker cloud coming into the west of northern ireland, and these are our temperatures. 9—18 degrees but always feeling cooler along the north sea coastline in the breeze. as we move on into thursday, the fronts coming into northern ireland, or trying to, don't succeed. they are connected to this area of low pressure which pushes away. note the wind direction. it is coming in from the east and quite a brisk wind as we head on through the latter part of the week. so during the course of thursday, we still have this onshore breeze so it is still going to feel cool along the north sea coastline. quite a brisk breeze inland. thursday looking largely dry. once again, areas of cloud floating

around but some sunshine, with temperatures nine to about 17 degrees. into friday, a very similar story in that it is going to be largely dry. we still have this brisk breeze, particularly along the north sea coastline, but you can see it right the way across the land, and areas of cloud with some sunshine. the highest temperatures tending to be out towards the south—west. cardiff looking at about 17 degrees. then as we head to the latter part of their weekend, we are looking at a few showers in the south but still quite a bit of cloud around at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun — president zelensky remains defiant. no matter how many of the russian troops are driven there, we will be fighting, we will defend ourselves. russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than a thousand targets in ukraine overnight. the prime minister borisjohnson faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. a million off—peak rail fares are being cut — some by as much as half — in a bid to boost train travel. the manchester united footballer cristiano ronaldo and his partner georgina rodriguez have announced the death of their baby son.

and it's100 days to go until the start of the commonwealth games — we'll be hearing from the athletes who are hoping to shine. good morning. ukraine says the battle for the donbas, or the "second phase" of the war, has begun, after russia launched a major offensive in the east of the country. according to president volodymyr zelensky, a large part of the russian army is now focusing on the east. moscow's forces already occupy large parts of the area. this attack had been widely predicted, as russia seeks to link the territory it already controls with the occupied crimean peninsula.

ukraine's national security council says russia is attacking along a 300 mile front in eastern ukraine, but officials at the pentagon are reporting that the besieged port city of mariupol still hasn't fallen. russia has attacked elsewhere too. moscow claims to have struck more than 1,000 targets overnight. seven people died yesterday in the western city of lviv, which had largely escaped attack until now. president biden is expected to discuss the current situation in a call with nato leaders later. the humanitarian situation is also reported to be dire, with ukraine saying it's had to stop the evacuation of civilians from cities in the east because the escape routes aren't safe. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale reports from eastern ukraine. distant explosions. this is now the sight and sound of donbas. severodonetsk, another city and another target for russia's unrelenting bombardment.

severodonetsk, another city and another target for russia's unrelenting bombardment. translation: we can assess i now that the russian troops have begun the battle for donbas for which they have been preparing for a long time. severodonetsk, another city and another target for russia's unrelenting bombardment. a very large part of the russian army is now concentrated on this offensive. a very large part of the russian army is now concentrated on this offensive. no matter how many of the russian troops are driven there, we will be fighting. we will defend ourselves. we tried to speak to families taking shelter. but the thump of artillery was steadily coming closer. we just came here to go to a shelter, but there is shelling a bit close to us and so we had to move out. a lot of crump of artillery going on at the moment. nothing appears to be sacred when russia wages war. this, one of the holiest sites in the donbas, but that did not save svaytogorsk�*s historic monastery from being scarred by a russian air strike.

the few who have stayed behind have to queue for food. they are notjust hungry, though. they are scared. translation: i cry every day. what kind of god would allow this to happen? i cry every day. what kind of god should we ask to stop all this? there is now a strong military presence in this town. just a few miles down the road, russian forces are advancing from the north. a ukrainian soldier shared this drone footage of how they were trying to slow down the russian columns, blowing up a bridge. but they know more will be coming. translation: we know that russian forces are bringing i reinforcements into this region, but we are doing everything possible. we are ready to repel the russian occupiers and prevent the capture of our cities.

we will stand to the last and defend our homeland. we headed south, the roads eerily empty. we soon found out why. plumes of smoke. once again, we were within range of russian artillery. the constant bombardment is also taking its toll on the city of avdiivka. here, they are praying for divine intervention. nowhere here is safe within range of russian artillery and, as we have seen, russia is pushing forward from the north, from the east and from the south. and there is a real danger that ukraine's forces here could be surrounded. for now, they are holding out. so, too, are the remaining citizens of avdiivka, hiding in bunkers. but for how long? jonathan beale, bbc

news, eastern ukraine. i'm joined now by phillips 0'brien, who previously ran the scottish centre of war studies and is now a professor of strategic studies at the university of st andrews. welcome. thank you forjoining us. first of all, tell us a bit more about the donbas, how heavily populated, what sort of territory, how much of a sense of allegiance might there be for russia and how much resistance will there be? it has been the heart of what had been previously been talked about as russian speaking ukraine and it was temperature industrial heartland as well, so territory of some economic and cultural value. though, one of the catastrophes that putin has unleashed on this is he has played a great role in destroying russian

identity in ukraine, that there is no sign now that the ukrainians, even the russian speaking ukrainians in the donbas wish to be part of putin's russia. it isjust in the donbas wish to be part of putin's russia. it is just changed the situation, so, it is one historically you would say republican would have had interest in but there doesn't seem to be any indication donbas wishes to be rucks, russia will have a problem holding it because they will be taking a territory that wishes to be and is ukrainian. bud taking a territory that wishes to be and is ukrainian.— taking a territory that wishes to be and is ukrainian. and does it mean that all the — and is ukrainian. and does it mean that all the focus _ and is ukrainian. and does it mean that all the focus will _ and is ukrainian. and does it mean that all the focus will go _ and is ukrainian. and does it mean that all the focus will go to - and is ukrainian. and does it mean that all the focus will go to that i that all the focus will go to that region and the rest of ukraine is effectively left? if i region and the rest of ukraine is effectively left?— effectively left? if i could sli . htl effectively left? if! could slightly quibble _ effectively left? if! could slightly quibble win i effectively left? if! could slightly quibble win the i effectively left? if i could i slightly quibble win the way the earlier report, think about what we are saying, the russians are trying to tack over 300 mile front, with not ma many forces, they might not have them to take the donbas, i know it likes to be one we talk about heavy large russian force, pentagon

estimates last night were that russia has 76 battalion tactical groups in ukraine, so that is around 70,000 plus forces. if you take away the troops attacking mariupol they may be have 60,000 force, a little over 60,000 for all of ukraine to attack over 300 miles. maybe they can take more territory, and breakthrough, but if the ukrainian resistance stays as smart as well supported as it is, the russians are really at present in a very difficult situation, they can take but it is very hard to hold, and thatis but it is very hard to hold, and that is why the stress should be on getting ukraine what it needs, to really beat this force off. it is not as large as i think we think it is. �* , ., . ~' not as large as i think we think it is. and, when you talk about beating the force off. — is. and, when you talk about beating the force off, there _ is. and, when you talk about beating the force off, there has _ is. and, when you talk about beating the force off, there has been - the force off, there has been obviously conflict in this region, for eight years. obviously conflict in this region, for eight years-— obviously conflict in this region, for eight years. yes. are you talkin: for eight years. yes. are you talking about _ for eight years. jazz are you talking about completely repelling the russians from that area, would that be possible, what sort of

support would ukraine need, what are you thinking?— you thinking? well, what it is, is, sort of get _ you thinking? well, what it is, is, sort of get the — you thinking? well, what it is, is, sort of get the russian _ you thinking? well, what it is, is, sort of get the russian army i you thinking? well, what it is, is, sort of get the russian army that | you thinking? well, what it is, is, i sort of get the russian army that is there and cause such attritional battle losses, that it becomes a combat ineffective force and that ultimately the war reaches negotiated settlement or the russians have to make a very difficult choice about whether they wrapped to build up a new army and continue for a long war, that is ultimately going to be russia's choice, what ukraine wants to do now, which is exactly what it did round kyiv, is to waste russian forces to such a degree they become difficult to maintain operations, and with the russian army at this size, that is a distinct possibility, if ukraine is given the kind of help it is ask for.- kind of help it is ask for. thank ou ve kind of help it is ask for. thank you very much- _ thank you very much. 0ur correspondent danjohnson is in lviv, in western ukraine, where seven people died yesterday in air strikes. of course, dan, that underlined

although the focus now primarily goes to the donbas there have been air strikes elsewhere. yes. goes to the donbas there have been air strikes elsewhere.— air strikes elsewhere. yes, and last niuht air strikes elsewhere. yes, and last night russia — air strikes elsewhere. yes, and last night russia a _ air strikes elsewhere. yes, and last night russia a defence _ air strikes elsewhere. yes, and last night russia a defence ministry i air strikes elsewhere. yes, and last| night russia a defence ministry said it launched 1200 air strikes across ukraine, focussed on the east, ahead of that fresh offensive, that had been expected for weeks now, but also in other cities too. there have been four air—raid' alerts here in the last 2a hours. people are on edge, they thought it was a safe city. hundreds of miles away from the front line fighting in the east, but the fact that civilian lives were lost in the city yesterday morning showed everybody what the nature of the risks are. and there were people here as refugees who had just arrived from the east, having fled the ex —— expected escalation in the conflict. some were staying in the conflict. some were staying in a hotel close to where one of the missiles hit. some of those people were injured having just got off the

train from the area of the country where they thought the fighting would be more intense. the ground fighting and the shelling is intensifying along that eastern front, that 300 mile line, the eastern flank of ukraine, where the russian forces are now trying to make some progress, breakthrough the ukrainian resistance, and we are hearing this morning that russian special forceses are storming the steelworks in mariupol, that has been the scene of intense battles for day, ukrainian resistance was clinging on but the russians have been trying to take that city as well. ., ., been trying to take that city as well. . ,, , ., been trying to take that city as well. . ,, i. the prime minister will face mps later today — for the first time since police fined him for breaking covid laws. borisjohnson is expected to apologise once again when he addresses the commons this afternoon. 0pposition parties say he misled parliament when he claimed no parties had been held in downing street, and that no covid rules were broken. here's our political

correspondent, nick eardley. this won't be an easy return from the easter break for boris johnson. he will face mps later after being fined for breaking his own lockdown laws. more than 50 penalties have now been issued for parties in government buildings. the chancellor, rishi sunak, got one, so did the prime minister's wife, carriejohnson. many are expecting more fines to come. in a statement in parliament later, mrjohnson is expected to apologise to mps. he is said to understand the strength of feeling about rule—breaking in downing street, but he also wants to move on and focus on other issues, like the war in ukraine and the cost of living squeeze. what our prime minister has done is outlined that he recognised the things at number ten were not being done in a way the public would expect them to be done. he's changed the team, he has done what he said he would do on that. he's accepted the fixed penalty notice last week. he's paid that fine, apologised for that, and he's getting back to, and has been absolutely focused on,

the issues that are really going to have those long term as well as short term benefits and effects for people across the uk. his critics say he should be resigning for breaking the law. it's his ministerial code. it's his face at the beginning of the code. he writes the preface to it, saying these are the rules that people should stick to, but he is judge and jury on that. one of the breaches of the ministerial code is if you lie to parliament, so what is he going to do about it? in manchester yesterday, different opinions among voters. i think it should just be left now. yes, he has apologised, he said what he needed to say. just come out with the truth now. just get on with it. if nothing gets done about... obviously, these fines in the past, lyou know, it isjust going to keepl on going until the next sort of election, so, anything i they cannot sweep it under the carpet would be good. i if there are laws that are made for the uk, or people that live in the uk, i feel like it should go across the board. it should notjust be

for the common man, it should be for the politicians, as well. the prime minister is also facing claims he misled parliament with comments like this one. there was no party and that no covid rules were broken. 0pposition parties want an investigation, but downing street sources say mrjohnson always spoke in good faith and he has the backing of cabinet ministers. when the pm spoke at parliament, he did not knowingly appreciate that stepping into the room was going to be something that breached the rules, given that he had been in the room with exactly the same people for official meetings earlier in the day. it was wrong, he's apologised, he has accepted the fixed penalty notice and we move on. the mood around westminster has changed since rows over parties threatened boris johnson's future. this time, only a few conservative mps have called for him to stand down, but there could be more fines to come and the prime minister can't be certain where this story goes next. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster.

let's speak to sir geoffrey clifton—brown — who's one of the longest serving conservative mps and is treasurer of the 1922 committee — the group who would oversee any leadership contest. welcome, thank you very much for joining us. welcome, thank you very much for “oininr us. ,., ., welcome, thank you very much for “oininr us. _, ., ., welcome, thank you very much for joining us-_ he - welcome, thank you very much for i joining us._ he claimed joining us. good morning. he claimed no arties joining us. good morning. he claimed no parties were _ joining us. good morning. he claimed no parties were held _ joining us. good morning. he claimed no parties were held at _ joining us. good morning. he claimed no parties were held at downing i no parties were held at downing street, and now he has been fined for exactly that, what is your view of that? ~ ~ . ., ., ., of that? well, helen mcnamara the director of propriety _ of that? well, helen mcnamara the director of propriety and _ of that? well, helen mcnamara the director of propriety and ethics, i director of propriety and ethics, the prime minister's conscience, the most senior civil servant in number ten also got a ticket for a prolonged party appearance, so he wasn't getting advice from his top civil servants that he should not be going to the party, clearly with hindsight we know it was wrong, but i believe when the prime minister spoke those words in parliament, he

genuinely believed he had not broken the rules. did genuinely believed he had not broken the rules. , ., , ., the rules. did he not understand the rules is that — the rules. did he not understand the rules is that your _ the rules. did he not understand the rules is that your view? _ the rules. did he not understand the rules is that your view? well, i the rules. did he not understand the rules is that your view? well, also, l rules is that your view? well, also, the helen, — rules is that your view? well, also, the helen. the _ rules is that your view? well, also, the helen, the kate _ rules is that your view? well, also, the helen, the kate josephs, i rules is that your view? well, also, the helen, the kate josephs, who i rules is that your view? well, also, i the helen, the kate josephs, who was the helen, the katejosephs, who was after all the director general of the covid task force, the task force set up to make the rules also broke the laws and got a ticket, now, what we were calling for in parliament is a chance to debate all these rules, and see whether they were sensible. sorry to come in again, are you saying none of them understood the rules then, because the police say they did break the rules? i rules then, because the police say they did break the rules?- rules then, because the police say they did break the rules? i have no doubt that with _ they did break the rules? i have no doubt that with hindsight _ they did break the rules? i have no doubt that with hindsight the i they did break the rules? i have no| doubt that with hindsight the police are entirely right, they did break the rules but this was the churl that was going on number entering at the time, and i don't think at the time, the prime minister thought he had broken the rules but clearly with hindsight he did. so had broken the rules but clearly with hindsight he did.— had broken the rules but clearly with hindsight he did. so your view is the culture _ with hindsight he did. so your view is the culture at _ with hindsight he did. so your view is the culture at time _ with hindsight he did. so your view is the culture at time was - with hindsight he did. so your view is the culture at time was they i with hindsight he did. so your view| is the culture at time was they were making rules they didn't understand,

they weren't therefore following them, and now in retrospect it is clear they were breaking them? rfrgets i think it is clear that at the time they had broken the rule, the time they had broken the rule, the rules were constantly changing, they were quite complex, on the other hand the whole of the nation did stick to those. we were rigorous in the office and constituency we stuck to those and the prime minister must now i think apologise to parliament, but as i say, i think looking at the bigger picture, as to whether the prime minister should resign now or not, one has to look at that picture and say when i have thousands of constituents who are suffering the biggest squeeze on their incomes for a generation, when we are in the middle of the most bloody war since the second world war and when the imf is saying that the world economy is likely to slow down and difficult economic decisions have to be taken, what is in the country's greater interest? for the prime minister to resign, or to have eight weeks at least, of instability before we are able to

elect a new prime minister? of course all of those are very real issues that people are dealing with on a daily basis and as you say, it is within thejob on a daily basis and as you say, it is within the job of the prime minister to be dealing with them, but they are not issues thater were foreseen at the time. if those things weren't there do you this he should resign?— things weren't there do you this he should resin? ~ ., ., , ., ., ,, should resign? well, one has to make a 'udument should resign? well, one has to make a judgment and _ should resign? well, one has to make a judgment and i _ should resign? well, one has to make a judgment and i think— should resign? well, one has to make a judgment and i think also _ should resign? well, one has to make a judgment and i think also we - should resign? well, one has to make a judgment and i think also we don't i a judgment and i think also we don't yet any of us know the full picture, will there be more tickets, what is sue gray going to say? the electorate will have their say on this on the elections that take place on may 5th. there is more yet we need to consider, and then make a judgment on the very serious matter of whether the prime minister should resign or not. 50 of whether the prime minister should resign or not-— resign or not. so were, yes, were there to be — resign or not. so were, yes, were there to be more _ resign or not. so were, yes, were there to be more fines _ resign or not. so were, yes, were there to be more fines then, i resign or not. so were, yes, were| there to be more fines then, were there to be more fines then, were the tories to do badly in the local elections would you revise your view on whether he should go? i elections would you revise your view on whether he should go?— on whether he should go? i would take into account _ on whether he should go? i would take into account that _ on whether he should go? i would take into account that new - on whether he should go? i would i take into account that new evidence, and make a decision based on that

evidence, who got ticket, how many, what that are which doing, there is a lot variables in to speculate until with get the actual evidence. 0n the prime minister specifically do you have a thought in your mind as to the number of tickets he could accrue, the number of fine he would have to pay before you felt that enough was enough. let have to pay before you felt that enough was enough.— have to pay before you felt that enough was enough. let us hope he doesnt enough was enough. let us hope he doesn't get — enough was enough. let us hope he doesn't get any _ enough was enough. let us hope he doesn't get any more _ enough was enough. let us hope he doesn't get any more tickets - enough was enough. let us hope he doesn't get any more tickets and i doesn't get any more tickets and that would be the best situation, but i think we need to await events until we can make those judgments. thank you. joining me now is hannah white, who is deputy director at the institute for government think tank. welcome. thank you forjoining us hannah white. so, borisjohnson's position boils down to he will take the punishment, but he doesn't believe that what he didn't believe that what he was doing at the time was against the rule, and the language being used this morning, for the apology that he will make in

the commons later is being described as a full throated apology, while he insists he did not mislead parliament, how do you see that? is it compatible?— it compatible? well, from what is bein: it compatible? well, from what is being briefed _ it compatible? well, from what is being briefed ahead _ it compatible? well, from what is being briefed ahead of _ it compatible? well, from what is being briefed ahead of the - being briefed ahead of the statement, it seems like a bit of a technical apology to me, rather than a full throated apology. it sounds as though he is sorry he has been found to have broken the rules, although he doesn't think that it was reasonable for him to have understood them at the time, and i think a lot of people feel that given that the main thing he was doing at the time was seeking to convey to us, the rest of the population, what those rules entailed, it's very surprising that he is able to mount that defence. and i don't know if you could hear sir geoffrey clifton—brown. he was

pointing to the fact that others who were making the rules senior civil servants, those he said who should have been add slicing him, didn't think there was a problem either, is that relevant for you?— that relevant for you? well, at the end of the day. — that relevant for you? well, at the end of the day, advisers _ that relevant for you? well, at the end of the day, advisers advice i that relevant for you? well, at the | end of the day, advisers advice and ministers decide, and in the past there have been instances of ministers, including amber rudd in 2018, who were given the wrong advice by civil servant, about an immigration matter, gave the wrong information to parliament, and subsequently resigned, so it is not, hasn't in temperatures past been deemed to be the case that if the advice given was wrong that necessarily absolves ministers from having to resign. at}! necessarily absolves ministers from having to resign-— having to resign. of course she chose to resign, _ having to resign. of course she chose to resign, if _ having to resign. of course she chose to resign, if he - having to resign. of course she chose to resign, if he doesn't, | having to resign. of course she i chose to resign, if he doesn't, how strong is his position? his chose to resign, if he doesn't, how strong is his position?— strong is his position? his position is unassailable _ strong is his position? his position is unassailable in _ strong is his position? his position is unassailable in terms _ strong is his position? his position is unassailable in terms of- strong is his position? his position is unassailable in terms of the i is unassailable in terms of the ministerial code, he is the arbiter of the ministerial code, he owns it.

it is up to him to determine if it has been breached and what the consequences are, and that is a technical thing, consequences are, and that is a technicalthing, his consequences are, and that is a technical thing, his position is entirely in the hands of conservative mp, and it is for them to decide whether this is a position they are happy with the prime minister taking. the bud they are happy with the prime minister taking. the— they are happy with the prime minister taking. the and 'ust before we move — minister taking. the and 'ust before we move can t minister taking. the and 'ust before we move on, can i i minister taking. the and 'ust before we move on, can ijusti minister taking. the and just before we move on, can ijust get- minister taking. the and just before we move on, can ijust get your i minister taking. the and just before | we move on, can ijust get your view of civil servants going back to the office, up to 75% of civil servants in some departments are not back. jacob rees—mogg has said that they absolutely should go back, and departments should push for that, what is your view, can they be forced to go back and should they? i forced to go back and should they? 1 think it, there is no no one tones that, what has been discovered over the course of the pandemic there are better and different ways of doing thing, sometimes actually, you know the civil service could save cost, and downsize you know, its estate, if it is possible for civil servants to move to work more from home so i think it's a question of what their roles are and whether it is necessary for them to be in an

office, whether there are benefits or whether there are some roles that can be done perfectly well remotely and whether that would be in line in some ways with the government's wider agenda of levelling up and moving civil servants away from south—east and london, so i think we don't want to be too sweeping about this. ., ., don't want to be too sweeping about this. . ,, , ., don't want to be too sweeping about this. ., ~' , ., , don't want to be too sweeping about this. . ,, i. , . from today you an buy up to 1 million discounted train tickets as the government launches its 'great british rail sale'. lets see what this means... one million train tickets have gone on sale today. the sale is only valid for off peakfares... for off peak fares, and the discounted tickets available are valid for travel between 25 april and 27 may. the scheme won't coverjourneys made during half—term or the four—day uk bank holiday weekend from 2—5 june, which will mark the queen's platinum jubilee. as part of the plans,

some manchester to newcastle journeys could be reduced to about £10, while seats on some london to edinburgh services will be slashed from £aa to £22. transport campaigners have welcomed the move, but argue that costs should be cut even further. joining me now is norman baker from better transport. welcome, thank you forjoining u what is your view? welcome, thank you for 'oining u what is your view?i welcome, thank you for 'oining u what is your view? well, we think this is a good _ what is your view? well, we think this is a good first _ what is your view? well, we think this is a good first step. - what is your view? well, we think this is a good first step. after- what is your view? well, we think this is a good first step. after a i this is a good first step. after a series of railfare this is a good first step. after a series of rail fare rises which have been eye—watering in some case, we have got a situation where the government has embraced the idea of cutting fares and we they is sensible, we think the treasury may find out that by cutting fares, they get far more people on the railways and get more money coming in than if they put fares up. and get more money coming in than if they put fares up— they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats. _ they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats. it _ they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats, it is _ they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats, it is for _ they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats, it is for a _ they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats, it is for a limited i of caveats, it is for a limited period and it is not going to cover holiday times, how much take up do you expect there to be? well. holiday times, how much take up do you expect there to be?— you expect there to be? well, you are ruite

you expect there to be? well, you are quite right _ you expect there to be? well, you are quite right to _ you expect there to be? well, you are quite right to say _ you expect there to be? well, you are quite right to say it _ you expect there to be? well, you are quite right to say it is - you expect there to be? well, you are quite right to say it is limited i are quite right to say it is limited in its effect. it doesn't cover commuters as you mentioned at all. leisure travellers back 102% to where it was pre—covid so they are aiming for a where it was pre—covid so they are aiming fora market where it was pre—covid so they are aiming for a market which has been returning, but it is worthwhile doing it, because it is going to be the first time the government has tried cutting fares rather than increasing them and for that reason alone it is worth doing. i hope what will happen is a million tickets available will sell out quickly and give a clear signal cutting rail fares is the way to get more money coming in. fares is the way to get more money cominu in. ~ ., , fares is the way to get more money cominu in. . ., , , , ., coming in. would it be sustainable to continue — coming in. would it be sustainable to continue going _ coming in. would it be sustainable to continue going forward? - coming in. would it be sustainable to continue going forward? well, i coming in. would it be sustainable i to continue going forward? well, yes i mean if to continue going forward? well, yes y i mean if they _ to continue going forward? well, yes y i mean if they get _ to continue going forward? well, yes y i mean if they get enough - to continue going forward? well, yes y i mean if they get enough people i y i mean if they get enough people coming on the trains and we are talking about off—peak where there is a capacity, then, those trains are running any way, they are running with driver, with conductors in some case, they have to pay the cost of the fuel, and therefore getting more people on, helps meet the bills for those trains. the best

way to get the cost of the railways down is get more people on the trains rather than pushing fares up. this will be one element of what used to be done, there used to be the a change to strategy in total. it doesn't make sense toe have a 9.30 cut off point where by the last peak train is half empty and the first off—peak train is packed out. it doesn't make sense. it doesn't make sense to assume the commuters are the captive market when clearly many are working from home, we are in a different world and the railway has to adjust tae that and deal with a different market. this is one sensible step towards that, there is a lot more needs to be done. thank ou. it's100 days to go until the 2022 commonwealth games kicks off in birmingham. it will be the first multi—sport event to be held in front of fans since the coronavirus. 0ur sports correspondent laura scott is at sandwell aquatics centre in birmingham.

0ver over to you, hi. well, yes, this is the only purpose—built venue that has been built especially for the birmingham 2022 commonwealth games ands as you say major milestone with 100 day to 90, say major milestone with 100 day to go, the countdown to the event on 28th july. there go, the countdown to the event on 28thjuly. there will be 19 spearmints across 11 day, the biggest parasports programme at a commonwealth games and for the first time more medals for women than men, and we have seen the first two few divers and swimmers taking to the centre this morning i am joined by dan goodfellow who won commonwealth games in 2018. that was with tom daley n the ten metre synchro. he will be hoping to qualify for a different event, talk about the switch. ? j different event, talk about the switch. ? ., different event, talk about the switch. ? . ., switch. ? i have turned to the three metre individual, _ switch. ? i have turned to the three metre individual, and _ switch. ? i have turned to the three metre individual, and to _ switch. ? i have turned to the three metre individual, and to be - switch. ? i have turned to the three metre individual, and to be honest| metre individual, and to be honest they are two different event, you have the platform where it doesn't

move and the springboard does so it is more technical but you could argue it is not as scary and i will be doing it on my own, so a bit of a change. be doing it on my own, so a bit of a chance. ~ ., be doing it on my own, so a bit of a chane. . ., ., be doing it on my own, so a bit of a chance. . . ., i. be doing it on my own, so a bit of a chance.~ . ., ., , ., , ., change. what are your ambitions for this event we _ change. what are your ambitions for this event we have _ change. what are your ambitions for this event we have to _ change. what are your ambitions for this event we have to qualify, i change. what are your ambitions for this event we have to qualify, we i this event we have to qualify, we have nationals _ this event we have to qualify, we have nationals in _ this event we have to qualify, we have nationals in five _ this event we have to qualify, we have nationals in five weeks' i this event we have to qualify, we | have nationals in five weeks' time so you know, our selection is down from that, so fingerses crossed i dive well and i get to compete in this beautiful venue. the organisers are hoinr this beautiful venue. the organisers are hoping this _ this beautiful venue. the organisers are hoping this will _ this beautiful venue. the organisers are hoping this will be _ this beautiful venue. the organisers are hoping this will be the _ this beautiful venue. the organisers are hoping this will be the first i are hoping this will be the first multi—sport event toe have full crowds back because of the pandemic, how special would that be to have a full capacity crowd of nearly 5,000 here? we full capacity crowd of nearly 5,000 here? ~ ., full capacity crowd of nearly 5,000 here? . . ., full capacity crowd of nearly 5,000 here? e . ., ,, ., here? we have had know event, let alone in this — here? we have had know event, let alone in this country, _ here? we have had know event, let alone in this country, so _ here? we have had know event, let alone in this country, so we - here? we have had know event, let alone in this country, so we have i alone in this country, so we have had a couple of national championships since then, but it is not the same as where people can come in and cheer us on, so, it through be amazing, we have the temporary seating here, it looks like we can fit a lot of people in so i amount sure the atmosphere he will be as i —— amazing. that so i amount sure the atmosphere he will be as i -- amazing.— will be as i -- amazing. that would rive ou will be as i -- amazing. that would give you a — will be as i -- amazing. that would give you a home — will be as i -- amazing. that would give you a home advantage? i will be as i -- amazing. that would give you a home advantage? yes, i

give you a home advantage? yes, --eole give you a home advantage? yes, people say _ give you a home advantage? yes, people say does _ give you a home advantage? yes, people say does it _ give you a home advantage? yes, people say does it add _ give you a home advantage? ye: people say does it add pressure? it does, but i say it is only going to be an advantage for us and hopefully get thejudges behind us be an advantage for us and hopefully get the judges behind us as well. you know what it takes to win a commonwealth games gold, where does the commonwealth games rank in terms of the other events you do? it is a of the other events you do? it is a ma'or of the other events you do? it is a major competition _ of the other events you do? it is a major competition for _ of the other events you do? it is a major competition for us, - of the other events you do? it is a major competition for us, you i of the other events you do? it is a i major competition for us, you know, and, it doesn't come round every year, so, it is obviously in a sense like the olympics, where you have to take your opportunity when it is shown to you, again, it is a major eventin shown to you, again, it is a major event in the calendar and yes, i think, all of us want to go and show what we can do and it's a really important event for us this year. and this facility itself, obviously a purpose—built venue, how important is it for the wizards to have a facility like this?— is it for the wizards to have a facili like this? , ., facility like this? there is nowhere like this in this _ facility like this? there is nowhere like this in this area _ facility like this? there is nowhere like this in this area and _ facility like this? there is nowhere like this in this area and there i facility like this? there is nowhere like this in this area and there is i like this in this area and there is only a handful of pools that facilities like, so you never know, we might see some future 0lympians

coming out of this area. ilirui’ith we might see some future olympians coming out of this area.— coming out of this area. with 100 da s to coming out of this area. with 100 days to go. _ coming out of this area. with 100 days to go. time _ coming out of this area. with 100 days to go, time for _ coming out of this area. with 100 days to go, time for the - coming out of this area. with 100 days to go, time for the practice, j days to go, time for the practice, dan is going to show one of his dive, dan, take it away. —— whitesides. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello. there is a weak weather front bringing some outbreaks of rain to northern ireland and the south—west of scotland. temperatures down a

touch. we are looking at between ten and 15 degrees. through the evening and 15 degrees. through the evening and overnight, many of the showers will fade. there still will be areas of cloud to clear skies across scotland and northern ireland means there will be patchy mist and fog and also in parts falling below freezing, so we could see a touch of frost here and there. generally it will be a chilly night. tomorrow with this easterly breeze developing, the cloud that starts off in the east will drift westward through the day. we will also see cloud building across northern ireland and in the sunshine we are looking at temperatures between nine and 18 degrees. hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun. president zelensky says his nation remains defiant. russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than 1,000 targets in ukraine overnight.

the prime minister, borisjohnson, faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. a million off—peak rail fares are being cut, some by as much as half, in a bid to boost train travel the manchester united footballer cristiano ronaldo and his partner, georgina rodriguez, have announced the death of their baby son. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. here's holly. good morning. today marks an important milestone in the countdown to the birmingham commonwealth games — just 100 days to go. with over 5,000 athletes competing across 21 sports in 19 disciplines, it's the first major multi—sports event to take place free of any covid—19 restrictions.

this is the sandwell aquatics centre in smethwick, which has been purpose—built for the games and has opened for the first time today. two—time paralympic champion maisie summers—newton will be making her commonwelath debut at these games. i think it is so important that para— sport is being included and hopefully over time the whole programme of para— sport will be able to be included in future commonwealth games, but i think this just throws shows how important para— sport is and how can inspire people as well. hopefully if these games i can inspire the next generation of para— swimmers and hopefully by their time there will be a full programme para— sport. derby boss wayne rooney says he hopes their former owner mel morris had a bad night's sleep after their relegation to the third tier was confirmed. the club have been plagued by financial difficulties and couldn't recover after a points deduction. rooney said the club

was left in a complete mess and hopes their relegation plays on morris' mind. fulham meanwhile can be promoted if they beat preston later. scottish premiership side hibs have sacked manager shaun maloneyjust four months after he took charge. it comes just a few days after they were beaten by their bitter edinburgh rivals hearts for the second weekend in a row, this time in the scottish cup semifinals. maloney was only appointed in december, with hibs down in seventh in the table and without a league win since february. the snooker world championships continue this morning at the crucible theatre in sheffield. let's go live to the crucible now where austrlia's neil robertson went into the mornin session leading ashley hugill 6—2. he now leads 9—3. 0ne he now leads 9—3. one more frame and a takes that victory. one more frame and a takes that victory. over on table one, yan bingtao is facing chris wakelin. it is 2-2.

it is 2—2. you can follow all the action on the bbc sport website and the app. meanwhile, world number one ronnie 0'sullivan could be fined for appearing to make a lewd gesture at the tournament when he failed to pot the black during his match against david gilbert on sunday. the six—time world champion has been refered to a disciplinary committee. former world champion amir khan says he has been robbed at gunpoint while out with his wife in east london. the olympic silver medallist was with wife when his watch was stolen, but said "the main thing is we're both safe". former tennis world number one ashleigh barty has fuelled speculation she may attempt a top—level career in a third sport by signing up to for a golf exhibition. the aussie announced her shock retirement from tennis in march aged just 25. she is a keen amateur golfer with a reported handicap of four. she will play in the icon series injuly, alongside manchester city boss pep guardiola and olympic

champion swimmer michael phelps. barty had previously turned her hand to professional cricket, playing in the women's big bash league in 2015. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. images of the bodies of civilians in the streets of ukriane have led to international condemnation of russia and further accusations that its forces are committing war crimes. the international criminal court has already begun investigating whether war crimes are taking place and ukraine has also set up a team to gather evidence. sue black is an anatomist and a forensic anthropologist specialising in the field of war crimes investigations. thank you forjoining us. what will these teams be doing, how much evidence do they need to gather, how difficult is it to gather the

evidence? it difficult is it to gather the evidence?— difficult is it to gather the evidence? , , , . difficult is it to gather the evidence? , , '. ., evidence? it is very difficult and there are no _ evidence? it is very difficult and there are no two _ evidence? it is very difficult and there are no two situations i evidence? it is very difficult and there are no two situations thel there are no two situations the same. because you have plans for something in the past doesn't necessarily mean it will fit for the current situation. it is still a war situation, therefore there are security issues, so it is really important that the teams on the grounds are very well supported in terms of both their military security and their personal security. the international criminal court, like any code, is about evidence, and what is the evidence of an alleged crime, that contravene international human rights. it is about is their witness evidence, that in some ways it's quite easy to collect. is it about physical evidence? if it is, that might require there to be a crime scene. that crime scene over time will change if the teams can get in swiftly, so time is the most

important elements, but that time has to be balanced against security of those teams. if has to be balanced against security of those teams.— of those teams. if the physical evidence can _ of those teams. if the physical evidence can be _ of those teams. if the physical evidence can be gathered i of those teams. if the physical evidence can be gathered how| of those teams. if the physical- evidence can be gathered how much then does the witness evidence come into play? how robust can that be treated by the court? the forces will be aware of potentially what may be for the fallout from any crimes committed, so evidence could just be destroyed on the ground. yes, it could, and physical evidence is often the most challenging in terms of that relationship with time. but it can't survive extensively. it might be photographs, images taken on people because my cameras. satellite imagery, satellite tv. it can be evidence taken from the bodies

themselves. are there so billets retained within the body is? can it tell you something about the position of the person who was killed? were they caught in crossfire, was it an execution? those kind of evidence still deeper sets —— do still persist. there will also be documentary evidence, people who send communications to each other. the witnesses are important, but we know how they grease in terms of memories, memories do change. what we think we know it isn't often not necessarily happen. witness testimony is one element but we do need the physical evidence and the documentary evidence.— documentary evidence. there were re orts, documentary evidence. there were reorts, i documentary evidence. there were reports. i don't _ documentary evidence. there were reports, i don't know— documentary evidence. there were reports, i don't know if— documentary evidence. there were reports, i don't know if they i documentary evidence. there were reports, i don't know if they are i reports, i don't know if they are true, of mobile incinerators, for instance being used to destroy bodies, to destroy evidence of war crimes. if that was so, it sounds like from what you're saying there are many other ways of gathering

evidence. ~ , ,., , are many other ways of gathering evidence. ~ , , ., , . are many other ways of gathering evidence. ~ , ,., , ., , evidence. absolutely. if that is true then there _ evidence. absolutely. if that is true then there may _ evidence. absolutely. if that is true then there may well- evidence. absolutely. if that is true then there may well be i evidence. absolutely. if that is i true then there may well be imagery that shows these things in operation, but wherever their art there will still be evidence inside them. it is really difficult to dispose of bodies entirely. even if what you find is just ash, being able to analyse that will tell you what was in that incinerator. the evidence may change over time, but it doesn't necessarily mean that we have an absence of evidence. thank ou for joining us. the manchester united footballer christiano ronaldo and his partner have said one of the twins they were expecting has died. writing on social media, the star said, "it is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness". the message was signed by him and his partner, georgina rodriguez. i'm nowjoined by zoe clarke—coates, who has also lost a twin

and is founder of charity saying goodbye, that supports people through losing a baby. thank you very much forjoining us. i imagine it is something that you can never really get over, and hearing this from cristiano ronaldo and his partner may bring back some very difficult memories. i and his partner may bring back some very difficult memories.— very difficult memories. i think for many people _ very difficult memories. i think for many people hearing _ very difficult memories. i think for many people hearing anything i very difficult memories. i think for many people hearing anything in l very difficult memories. i think for i many people hearing anything in the press surrounding baby loss can be a real triggerfor them, press surrounding baby loss can be a realtriggerforthem, but also people really appreciate having the opportunity to talk about the subject, which is often very taboo and not talked about. any parent that goes through loss will tell you that goes through loss will tell you that the grief does not get less over time, you just get stronger at carrying that loss. i always say that your grief muscles get stronger. as you move through life you're still carrying that same weight of loss and grief but you are just better equipped to dealing with it. .,

just better equipped to dealing with it. . , ., , , it. that is a very interesting thins it. that is a very interesting things you _ it. that is a very interesting things you said _ it. that is a very interesting things you said there i it. that is a very interesting things you said there are i it. that is a very interesting i things you said there are about people appreciating the opportunity to talk about it, because often people don't know what to say, but what does someone say, and how much do you think that will open up this conversation? it is do you think that will open up this conversation?— conversation? it is definitely o enin: conversation? it is definitely opening up _ conversation? it is definitely opening up a _ conversation? it is definitely opening up a conversation, i conversation? it is definitely i opening up a conversation, just conversation? it is definitely - opening up a conversation, just like it does with anybody else in the public eye when they have spoken out, or even when tv shows cover it. there is always a snowball effect when people then are willing to talk and just feel they have been given permission to share their story. as to what do you say, it is just don't be afraid to talk about the subject in general if you know somebody who has gone through a loss. reach out to them, ask them about it, how labour —— however long ago it was because you're not reminding them, they always know about the loss. people will appreciate the opportunity to know you are thinking about it and remembering it. that will bring great comfort to anybody

going through any kind of baby loss. going through a situation where there is such awful sadness at the same time as the joy of the newborn baby who arrives. that must be very difficult to navigate those emotions. it really is. there is a real tension there, you are grieving and heartbroken, but also you want to celebrate the life that you have in your arms. celebrate the life that you have in yourarms. it celebrate the life that you have in your arms. it is such a conflict and it is really hard. that is when so many people will start throwing in comments like, well, at least you have one child, they will keep you busy. all of those comments just because so much more pain on top of the trauma. having a child with you, whether it be a twin or not or a sibling to that child, none of them

replaced a child that you have lost and they don't make up for the fact that you have gone through the loss. you are grateful for every baby, but you also need to be given that space, that sacred space to say this is that child? space and i will grieve for them and have that loss and that may be acknowledged. it is and that may be acknowledged. it is a real conflict when you have got the loss of a twin. for us it is the fact that every single year, birthdays even you are conscious that there should be to have them there. every milestone, there should be two of them. wear with other types of loss, because we have also lost four other babies who are not so acutely aware of every single milestone or step, you have a physical demonstration of that child to have lost in your home, so it definitely does provide a few more challenges. definitely does provide a few more challenues. ., ., definitely does provide a few more challenues. ., ~' , ., ., ., challenges. thank you for 'oining

us. the headlines on bbc news: ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun, but president zelensky says his nation remains defiant russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than 1,000 targets in ukraine overnight. uk prime minister borisjohnson faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. a new study suggests that excess weight significantly increases a woman's risk of developing womb cancer. researchers at the university of bristol analysed genetic samples from 120,000 women in seven countries, including the uk. they found that the risk of developing womb cancer rose by 88% for every five extra units of bmi, or body mass index. a normal bmi is up to 25. above 30 is classed as obese. we can speak to the lead

author of the report, emma hazelwood from bristol medical school. thank you very much forjoining us. the evidence sounds pretty overwhelming. it is a huge increase in risk and a lot of people were looked at through the survey. yes. looked at through the survey. yes, exactl . looked at through the survey. yes, exactly- as — looked at through the survey. yes, exactly- as she _ looked at through the survey. yes, exactly. as she said, _ looked at through the survey. yes, exactly. as she said, we _ looked at through the survey. ye: exactly. as she said, we looked at the genetic information of over 120,000 women across seven countries and we find that for every five unit increase in bmi, the risk of womb cancer nearly doubles, which is even larger than we had previously thoughts. d0 larger than we had previously thou~hts. ,, larger than we had previously thou~hts. i. ~ ., , larger than we had previously thou~hts. ~ ., , thoughts. do you know why it is? what our study _ thoughts. do you know why it is? what our study looked _ thoughts. do you know why it is? what our study looked at - what our study looked at specifically was we tried to unpick how obesity might be increasing the risk of womb cancer. we find that this largely seems to be through the

effect of obesity on two hormones, so insulin and testosterone. having obesity increases your levels of both of these hormones and our study suggest that it could be that these hormones then go on to increase your risk of one cancer. i suppose there are two ways then to come to that, because obviously weight loss potentially is a solution, but other ways of tackling those hormones, where do you end up in terms of your findings? exactly, it is really important to maintain a healthy weight. 0besity not only increases someone plus 's risk of womb cancer, but also 12 other cancers and other diseases outside of cancer. however, i would say that we have known that obesity causes all of these diseases for a really long time and despite this

the incidence of diseases like womb cancer are still increasing, that is why i think it is really important that we start to look at how obesity might be causing these diseases so we can start to look at other ideas for disease prevention. is we can start to look at other ideas for disease prevention.— for disease prevention. is there a direct link between _ for disease prevention. is there a direct link between the _ for disease prevention. is there a direct link between the increase i for disease prevention. is there a l direct link between the increase in the number of cases and the increase in the number of people who are obese? , , ., ., , obese? yes, it is not that is the case. obese? yes, it is not that is the case- around — obese? yes, it is not that is the case. around a _ obese? yes, it is not that is the case. around a third _ obese? yes, it is not that is the case. around a third of- obese? yes, it is not that is the case. around a third of all- obese? yes, it is not that is the | case. around a third of all womb cancer cases could be because of obesity, so as obesity continues to increase worldwide, we would also expect one cancer to mirror that increase. ~ ., ., expect one cancer to mirror that increase. e . . , ., ., , increase. what are survival rates for womb cancer? _ increase. what are survival rates for womb cancer? survival i increase. what are survival rates for womb cancer? survival rates | for womb cancer? survival rates aren't as dire — for womb cancer? survival rates aren't as dire as _ for womb cancer? survival rates aren't as dire as for _ for womb cancer? survival rates aren't as dire as for some - for womb cancer? survival rates aren't as dire as for some other| aren't as dire as for some other cancers but i think the key thing is, because womb cancer is so common nearly half a million people were diagnosed with it worldwide in 2020,

that even the most of those women will survive, quite a few debts come from it. i, ~ , i, will survive, quite a few debts come from it. i, ~' , i, , will survive, quite a few debts come from it. i, ~ g? , i i, from it. thank you very much for 'oinin: from it. thank you very much for joining us- _ there's a call for free or low—cost covid testing kits to be made available to companies to help them cope with large numbers of staff catching the virus. according to the british chambers of commerce, as many as three quarters of employers reported workers off sick with coronavirus in the last four weeks. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has more. there is extra pressure on this bus to keep staff safe while the business is picking up again. we have a business is picking up again. , have a number of cases in the warehouse, enough for us to shut down production for a week or two. figures show that the omicron paper factory for workers was injanuary, factory for workers was in january, but for office—based staff it has

beenin but for office—based staff it has been in recent weeks. i but for office-based staff it has been in recent weeks.- but for office-based staff it has been in recent weeks. i think that data is pretty _ been in recent weeks. i think that data is pretty much _ been in recent weeks. i think that data is pretty much spot - been in recent weeks. i think that data is pretty much spot on. - been in recent weeks. i think that data is pretty much spot on. we l been in recent weeks. i think that i data is pretty much spot on. we find that our manual workers in the unit had it at the end of last year of the year before,, then the management team has had it in the last eight weeks. we management team has had it in the last eight weeks.— management team has had it in the last eight weeks. we have plenty on the table ready _ last eight weeks. we have plenty on the table ready to _ last eight weeks. we have plenty on the table ready to go. _ last eight weeks. we have plenty on the table ready to go. leslie - last eight weeks. we have plenty on the table ready to go. leslie works i the table ready to go. leslie works on the office _ the table ready to go. leslie works on the office upstairs _ the table ready to go. leslie works on the office upstairs and - the table ready to go. leslie works on the office upstairs and had - the table ready to go. leslie works| on the office upstairs and had covid herself a couple of weeks ago. we do have to crack — herself a couple of weeks ago. we do have to crack on _ herself a couple of weeks ago. we do have to crack on and _ herself a couple of weeks ago. we do have to crack on and make _ herself a couple of weeks ago. we do have to crack on and make the - herself a couple of weeks ago. we do have to crack on and make the best l have to crack on and make the best events. we have in the office to testjust in case anyone is feeling off colour. we do our best, but you do have to just get on with it. moise do have to 'ust get on with it. now it is u- to do have tojust get on with it. now it is up to individual companies to decide what to do about covid cases, the british chamber of commerce is calling for every business to have access to free or cheap lateral flow tests so they can keep their workforce safe while keeping the workflow moving. laura's and unemployment lower and said that the

company now face a new minefield. the typical issue seem to be what policy is to put in place if people think they might have covid, particularly now that tests aren't so readily available, people aren't sure if they have it or not and what to do about that. what to do about staff that they think aren't being honest about whether they might have covid more symptoms because they don't want to lose pay.— don't want to lose pay. round here we are all trying — don't want to lose pay. round here we are all trying to _ don't want to lose pay. round here we are all trying to help _ don't want to lose pay. round here we are all trying to help each - don't want to lose pay. round here we are all trying to help each other out. ., we are all trying to help each other out. . . , we are all trying to help each other out. . ., , ., ., , ., we are all trying to help each other out. . ., . . , . ., out. kieran has already had covid but appreciate — out. kieran has already had covid but appreciate still _ out. kieran has already had covid but appreciate still being - out. kieran has already had covid but appreciate still being given i but appreciate still being given options. but appreciate still being given 0 tions. ~ , ., but appreciate still being given 0 tions. ~ ,, ., but appreciate still being given otions. ~ ., ., ., options. when you do have covid, ou're options. when you do have covid, you're given _ options. when you do have covid, you're given the _ options. when you do have covid, you're given the option _ options. when you do have covid, you're given the option whether i options. when you do have covid, | you're given the option whether to stay off. _ you're given the option whether to stay off, or— you're given the option whether to stay off, or you can take the label tone _ stay off, or you can take the label tone with — stay off, or you can take the label tone with you. stay off, or you can take the label tone with yon-— stay off, or you can take the label tone with you. getting staff on site with sickness _ tone with you. getting staff on site with sickness policies _ tone with you. getting staff on site with sickness policies will- tone with you. getting staff on site with sickness policies will be - with sickness policies will be crucial to keeping the order stacking up. crucial to keeping the order stacking up. ajudge in the united states has struck down mask mandates on planes and public transport, less than a week after federal health authorities had extended it through to may.

major american airlines have been advocating for masking rules to be dropped, but as covid cases are on the rise in the us, health officials worry it may lead to more infections. the bbc�*s business correspondent samira hussain has more from new york. a federaljudge in florida said the rules that were imposed by the centers for disease control and prevention went beyond its authority when it said people had to wear masks on planes and other forms of public transportation. now, the original lawsuit was actually filed by a group that opposes these public health mandates and two individuals who said that wearing masks while flying exacerbated their anxiety and panic attacks. this is the first successful lawsuit against biden administration mask mandates. previous lawsuits have tried and failed to block the rules. it's unclear how quickly this new ruling will be implemented on trains and planes across the country, or if the justice department will look to halt the ruling until it can appeal.

airlines have repeatedly asked the biden administration to drop the mask mandate, as well as other restrictions, like testing requirements, saying that believing the decision to wear facemasks should be left to the flying public. all of this comes as covid—i9 cases are on the rise in the us. authorities in shanghai have reported seven deaths from covid—i9. this comes after three deaths were confirmed on sunday. all are said to have had underlying health conditions. they're the first deaths from covid in shanghai since 2020. lockdowns remain in place across parts of the city, almost four weeks after they were first introduced. civil servants are being ordered back to the office. the minister for government efficiency, jacob rees—mogg, has written to all secretaries of state saying they must send a "clear message" that it's time to end the work from home culture. according to official figures, the department for education had the lowest number of staff back in the office in the first week of april at 25%.

the fda union, which represents civil servants, said ministers couldn't point to productivity losses and there was no rationale for the move. coastal towns were the big winners from the first easter bank holiday weekend without covid restrictions in three years. our reporter ben bolous is in brighton. there is something to keep everyone here entertained in brighton, welcome to the world—famous brighton palace pier which has been here for more than 100 years and in that time, many people have come to the city to enjoy a seaside break and the fresh sea air. but like so much of uk tourism, it took a battering during the pandemic, the last couple of years, which is why the easter weekend has been such a crucial time. let's find out how uk tourism did as a whole, with bernard, who represents visitor attractions, and tracey represents one of the big hotel chains. firstly, how was the easter weekend for visitor attractions? it was really good, really successful, the best possible start

to a spring and summer recovery for uk tourism. the weather really helped, it was great weather practically all the way across the uk. we saw people coming out and spending in really good numbers. where were the big winners? the big winners were outdoors, places like safari parks and zoos, stately homes and places like that but actually, some people still wanted to go into city centres and museums and galleries because they are less crowded and busy because overseas visitors are not here at the moment. a really good tip if you want to enjoy visitor attractions without the crowds, now is the time. tracey, your chain of hotels, how has it been in terms of bookings? it has been really encouraging, a great kind of return to the norm. brighton is always busy during the school holidays but compared to easter 2019, we were actually 20% up, 26% in fact in brighton, and 36% nationwide. so very encouraging visitor numbers and guests are really loving being back out. how are you feeling about the summer, how's it looking?

really good. seaside locations are incredibly popular for obvious reasons but nationwide, we have some beautiful locations that i think people are more keen than ever to explore so the summer is looking really positive. thank you to you both. if the easter weekend was the beginning of the recovery, the summer is going to be even more crucial, especially as firms have so much to grapple with, staffing issues as well as the cost of living squeeze that we are hearing so much about. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. as we go through the next few days, there's going to be an east—west split in terms of temperatures, with the east pulling in an easterly breeze, so here, it will be cooler than in the west. but there will be plenty of dry weather after today, with just the odd isolated showers. you will notice i keep saying after today because we are looking at quite a few showers today, and we have got this weak weather front moving across north—west scotland, getting into northern ireland, also bringing some showers with it.

at times, there will be large areas of cloud across parts of england and also wales. showers developing further through the afternoon. some could be heavy and thundery. but in between them, we should see some sunshine and we will still have our weather front drifting a little bit further south across western scotland and northern ireland. here, it is not going to be as windy as it was yesterday. as we head on through the evening and overnight, there will still be areas of cloud but many of the showers will fade. under clear skies in scotland and northern ireland, we will see some patchy mist and fog form. and here too, in sheltered glens and rural areas, it could well turn out to be cold enough just for a touch of frost. but we're also looking at some sunny skies first thing the morning. with the breeze coming in along the east coast, the cloud that starts off in the east drifting over towards the west through the day, with a few showers. thicker cloud coming into the west of northern ireland, and these are our temperatures. 9—18 degrees but always feeling cooler along the north sea coastline in the breeze. as we move on into thursday, the fronts coming into northern ireland, or trying to, don't succeed. they are connected to this area

of low pressure which pushes away. note the wind direction. it is coming in from the east and quite a brisk wind as we head on through the latter part of the week. so during the course of thursday, we still have this onshore breeze so it is still going to feel cool along the north sea coastline. quite a brisk breeze inland. thursday looking largely dry. once again, areas of cloud floating around but some sunshine, with temperatures nine to about 17 degrees. into friday, a very similar story in that it is going to be largely dry. we still have this brisk breeze, particularly along the north sea coastline, but you can see it right the way across the land, and areas of cloud with some sunshine. the highest temperatures tending to be out towards the south—west. cardiff looking at about 17 degrees. then as we head to the latter part of their weekend, we are looking at a few showers in the south but still quite a bit of cloud around at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines. ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun — president zelensky remains defiant. translation: no matter how many of the russian | troops are driven there, we will be fighting, we will defend ourselves. russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than a thousand targets in ukraine overnight. the prime minister borisjohnson faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. a million off—peak rail fares are being cut — some by as much as half — in a bid to boost train travel. here in smethwick, we're marking 100 days to the start of the commonwealth games.

ukraine says the battle for the donbas — or the "second phase" of the war — has begun, after russia launched a major offensive in the east of the country. according to president volodymyr zelensky, a large part of the russian army is now focusing on the east. moscow's forces already occupy large sections of the area. this attack had been widely predicted, as russia seeks to link the territory it already controls with the occupied crimean peninsula. ukraine's national security council says russia is attacking along a 300 mile front in eastern ukraine. but officials at the pentagon are reporting that the besieged port city of mariupol still hasn't fallen. russia has attacked elsewhere too. moscow claims to have struck more than 1,000 targets overnight.

seven people died yesterday in the western city of lviv — which had largely escaped attack until now. president biden is expected to discuss the current situation in a call with nato leaders later. and the humanitarian situation is also reported to be dire, with ukraine saying it's had to stop the evacuation of civilians from cities in the east, because the escape routes aren't safe. in a televised address, president volodymyr zelensky laid out the scale of the attack and the challenge for his forces in the donbas. translation: we can assess now that russian military has begun _ the battle for donbas, for which they have been preparing a long time. a very large part of the russian army is now concentrated for this offensive. no matter how many of the russian troops there, we will be fighting, we will defend ourselves and do everything we must to keep what ukrainian. what is not, we simply

don't need it. in the last hour, the governor of the eastern luhansk region has been giving an update on the situation there. serhiy haidai was asked about the town of kreminna, which has been seized by russian troops. he was speaking through a translator at a press conference — which used a still image of him. translation: crimea - unfortunately is already under the control of the russians. they moved in, but we, our defenders had to retreat because they were holding up the defence for two months, and the enemy was shelling every metre of our defence line, and everyone understood clearly that there is, there was nothing to hold on to there, there was no shelter, and our men were dying, and not being able to hit the enemy, so they moved away. they settled new positions and will carry on fighting russian army, but in a more effective way.

our correspondent danjohnson is in lviv in western ukraine and earlier he sent us the latest. last night russia's defence ministry said it launched i200 last night russia's defence ministry said it launched 1200 air strikes across ukraine, focussed on the east, ahead of that fresh offensive, that had been expected for weeks now, but also in other cities too, there have been four air—raid alerts in this city in the last 2a hours and people are on edge after what happened here yesterday, that i thought this was a safe city, hundreds of miles away from the front line fighting in the east, but, the fact that civilian lives were lost in the city yesterday morning showed everybody what the nature of the risks are and there were people here, as refugees who had just arrived from the east, having fled the expected escalation in the conflict there, we know that some refugees were staying in a

hotel close to where one of those missiles hit, the windows of the hotel were shattered and some of those people were injured having just got off the train from the area of the country where they thought the fighting would be more intense, the fighting would be more intense, the ground fighting and shelling is intensifying along that eastern front, that 300 mile line, the eastern flank of ukraine, where the russian forces are now trying to make some progress, breakthrough the ukrainian resistance, and we are hearing this morning that russian special forces are storming the azovstal steel works in mariupol, that has been the scene of intense battles for days now, ukrainian resistance was clinging on but the russians have been trying to take that city as well russians have been trying to take that city as well earlier our moscow correspondent jenny hill gave us the latest developments from russia. we heard just now from the foreign minister here, saying that the new phase of the so—called special military operation — remember of course that moscow does not acknowledge that this is a war, or an invasion —

sergei lavrov said this will be a very important phase. as you probably know, russia's stated aim currently is to try to take the entire donbas region, and this morning officials have issued an ultimatum to the fighters still defending the azovstal steelworks plant in mariupol, telling them if they are prepared to lay down their weapons at around midday they will be able to leave the steelworks within a couple of hours, and they will be given safe passage out the area, they will be safe. that will is the ultimatum from moscow. we have had quite a lot of fairly bullish updates all morning from the ministry of defence, talking about having struck well over 1200 military targets in ukraine overnight, and that really remains the mood here. as you know, vladimir putin wants russians to believe that his special military operation is going well, so we very rarely hear bad news here. that said, a few reports are surfacing on social media and so on, following the sinking

of the moskva warship, that great flagship of the black sea fleet. its sinking was a huge and humiliating loss for vladimir putin. defence officials have continued to insist that all the crew were safely removed, but some reports are surfacing on social media channels, we haven't been able to confirm them, but there are a number of them from relatives who say their sons and husbands have either been killed or were lost when the warship went down. earlier, professor phillips o'brien, from the university of st. andrews said the change in russian strategy has hit ukraine hard. the thing to look out for is whether the russians have enough troops to press forward in the donbas, we have some intelligence, according to the pentagon, that the russians have only 76 battalion tactical groups in ukraine, that is at most 1,000 each,

so, somewhere, 70,000 plus combat troops, if you take away the troops fighting round mariupol you are somewhere over 60,000 combat troops and that is maximum. that is not a lot, as your reporter said, to cover 300 miles of different offences, so, it might not be they have enough, particularly if the ukrainians fight as well as they fought round kyiv, and don't get the aid they have been requesting from nato and eu countries. requesting from nato and eu countries-— requesting from nato and eu countries. ~ . ~ ., ., countries. what kind of fighting are we expecting _ countries. what kind of fighting are we expecting to _ countries. what kind of fighting are we expecting to see? _ countries. what kind of fighting are we expecting to see? well, - countries. what kind of fighting are we expecting to see? well, we - countries. what kind of fighting are we expecting to see? well, we are| we expecting to see? well, we are exectin: we expecting to see? well, we are expecting to _ we expecting to see? well, we are expecting to see — we expecting to see? well, we are expecting to see more _ we expecting to see? well, we are expecting to see more sort - we expecting to see? well, we are expecting to see more sort of - we expecting to see? well, we are| expecting to see more sort of large armoured formation fighting than we saw round kyiv, say, the ukrainian army has said the russians are doing army has said the russians are doing a betterjob building up force in the donbas than they did round kyiv. they never really were able to construct the kind of offensive forces round kyiv they seem to be able to do in the donbas but we don't know can they break out? you

can build up some force, they still have to supply that force, and what they have not been shown since the beginning of this invasion, is the ability to break out and move quickly. the front line round an area, the pivotal point where they will try to break out and cut cut off the donbas, that has only moved three miles in three week, we need the see if they can do that. we have been hearing _ the see if they can do that. we have been hearing there _ the see if they can do that. we have been hearing there haven _ the see if they can do that. we have been hearing there haven been - been hearing there haven been successful counter attacks from ukrainian force, it has always had to verify this of course, what shape is the ukrainian forces? in that to verify this of course, what shape is the ukrainian forces? ir- is the ukrainian forces? in that is the mystery. _ is the ukrainian forces? in that is the mystery. the _ is the ukrainian forces? in that is the mystery, the western - the mystery, the western intelligence services don't talk about the shape of the ukrainian forces because they don't want to give the russians any kind of aid, in knowing the shape of the ukrainian, so we don't have and the russians themselves are not really seeing any useful estimates of the ukrainian enemy they are fighting, so we don't know, we can say two

things, one, round the kyiv and the battle of kyiv, ukrainian forces fought intelligently in a well conceived plan and drove the russians out and secondly they have been able, so far, to resist heavy russian attacks in the donbas area, relatively well, relatively well as well, so, that at least in terms of what they have done to this point, the ukrainian resistance has been certainly far superior to anything the russians could have imagined and actually better than anything that most western allists would have imagined. in the luhansk region. the prime minister will face mps later today for the first time since police fined him for breaking covid laws. borisjohnson is expected to apologise once again when he addresses the commons this afternoon. opposition parties say he misled parliament when he claimed no parties had been held in downing street, and that no covid rules were broken. here's our political correspondent, nick eardley. this won't be an easy return from the easter break for boris johnson. he will face mps later after being fined for breaking

his own lockdown laws. more than 50 penalties have now been issued for parties in government buildings. the chancellor, rishi sunak, got one, so did the prime minister's wife, carriejohnson. many are expecting more fines to come. in a statement in parliament later, mrjohnson is expected to apologise to mps. he is said to understand the strength of feeling about rule—breaking in downing street, but he also wants to move on and focus on other issues, like the war in ukraine and the cost of living squeeze. what our prime minister has done is outlined that he recognised the things at number ten were not being done in a way the public would expect them to be done. he's changed the team, he has done what he said he would do on that. he's accepted the fixed penalty notice last week. he's paid that fine, apologised for that, and he's getting back to, and has been absolutely focused on, the issues that are really going to have those long term as well as short term benefits and effects

for people across the uk. his critics say he should be resigning for breaking the law. it's his ministerial code. it's his face at the beginning of the code. he writes the preface to it, saying these are the rules that people should stick to, but he is judge and jury on that. one of the breaches of the ministerial code is if you lie to parliament, so what is he going to do about it? in manchester yesterday, different opinions among voters. i think it should just be left now. yes, he has apologised, he said what he needed to say. just come out with the truth now. just get on with it. if nothing gets done about... obviously, these fines in the past, lyou know, it isjust going to keepl on going until the next sort of election, so, anything i they cannot sweep it under the carpet would be good. i if there are laws that are made for the uk, or people that live in the uk, i feel like it should go across the board. it should notjust be for the common man, it should be for the politicians, as well. the prime minister is also facing

claims he misled parliament with comments like this one. there was no party and that no covid rules were broken. opposition parties want an investigation, but downing street sources say mrjohnson always spoke in good faith and he has the backing of cabinet ministers. when the pm spoke at parliament, he did not knowingly appreciate that stepping into the room was going to be something that breached the rules, given that he had been in the room with exactly the same people for official meetings earlier in the day. it was wrong, he's apologised, he has accepted the fixed penalty notice and we move on. the mood around westminster has changed since rows over parties threatened boris johnson's future. this time, only a few conservative mps have called for him to stand down, but there could be more fines to come and the prime minister can't be certain where this story goes next. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. earlier i spoke to sir geoffrey clifton—brown,

who's one of the longest serving conservative mps and is treasurer of the 1922 committee, the group which would oversee any leadership contest. i think it is clear that at the time they had broken the rules, the rules were constantly changing, they were quite complex. on the other hand, the whole of the nation did stick to those rules. we were rigorous in the office and in the constituency that we stuck to those rules, and therefore the prime minister must now, i think, apologise to parliament, but as i say, i think, looking at the bigger picture, as to whether the prime minister should resign now or not, one has to look at that picture and say, when i have thousands of constituents who are suffering the biggest squeeze on their incomes for a generation, when we are in the middle of the most bloody war since the second world war, and when the imf is saying that the world economy is likely to slow down considerably, and therefore difficult economic decisions have to be taken, what is in the country's greater interest? for the prime minister to resign, or to have eight weeks, at least, of instability before we are able

to elect a new prime minister? someone who looks at public opinion and ratings is joe twyman from deltapoll. welcome, thank you forjoining u what polling have you done on this? elsewhere the most recent polling explored a number of different issued round party gate. it found that the vast majority of people over nine out of ten people believed that the government, sorry that the prime minister had broken the rules, and similarly, only a small proportion of people believed that senior government figures had kept to those rules. there was also a feeling that the prime minister should resign, round six out of final, a few months ago said this theory if the prime minister were to have broken the rules they should resign and the number is pretty much the same now it has happened. it is similarfor rishi sunak, obviously as you would expect there are differences depending on which party

you support, even among conservative, depending how you can the question those believe the prime minister should resign. what is the end result? our most recent poll had the labour party 11 points ahead of the labour party 11 points ahead of the conservatives, now while this isn't all down to party gate it is not a good position to be in the you are wanting to close that gap. mould are wanting to close that gap. would ou sort are wanting to close that gap. would you sort of. — are wanting to close that gap. would you sort of, could _ are wanting to close that gap. would you sort of, could you _ are wanting to close that gap. would you sort of, could you put _ are wanting to close that gap. would you sort of, could you put a - are wanting to close that gap. would you sort of, could you put a figure, l you sort of, could you put a figure, it is hard to put a figure on, how much do you think party gate is a factor in that picture? it is difficult to _ factor in that picture? it is difficult to know _ factor in that picture? it is difficult to know for - factor in that picture? it is difficult to know for sure l factor in that picture? tit 3 difficult to know for sure because we don't have the, what would have happened had it not occurred. we do know that significant moments throughout the coverage of party gait have had an impact on the poll, notably the video of leg a stratton and the allegation that the government had a partyjust before the funeralfor prince government had a partyjust before

the funeral for prince philip. government had a partyjust before the funeralfor prince philip. both had an impact on the polls. it is unlikely that individual incident also have a lasting impact, indeed the more likely option is that people out there, in the general public will instead take notice of all of this and it will inform narrative, stories we tell ourselves about what they think of the conservative party. it is unlikely that someone will go into the voting booth in a year's time or two years time at a general election and say i am not voting conservative because borisjohnson had a birthday party, but it is more likely they will say i am not going to vote conservative because i don't trust them and they don't act fairly. all of those thoughts are being reinforced by the effect of these stories and of course there may be more to come. we have local elections coming up quickly. your polling is, you speak to people who will give their view

privately to the pollster, that will be a moment when people go out and say in a sort of public arena what they think, with a real impact? yes. they think, with a real impact? yes, that is right- — they think, with a real impact? yes, that is right. but _ they think, with a real impact? yes, that is right. but of— they think, with a real impact? yes, that is right. but of course - they think, with a real impact? use: that is right. but of course the local elections aren't taking place every where the interesting configuration of places that are voting this time round may benefit the conservatives, simply by fact they are not really defending that many places and it is unlikely they will have any high profile loss, they might lose somewhere like barnet or sunderland, but the idea that someone will turn round and say the prime minister should resign because he lost barnet, it doesn't hold up. he may be saved by over exceeding low expectations. thank ou ve exceeding low expectations. thank you very much- _ and now the sport. we have had a

statement from manchester united. they have confirmed that cristiano ronaldo will not feature in tonight's premier league clash with liverpool, following the death of his baby son, ronaldo and his partner announced this sad news on social media last night, they said that it social media last night, they said thatitis social media last night, they said that it is the greatest pain that any parents can feel. in a statement, the club has said that family is more important than everything and ronaldo is supporting his loved ones at this immensely difficult time. the scottish premiership side hibs have sacked their managerjust four months after he took charge. this comes just months after he took charge. this comesjust a months after he took charge. this comes just a few days after they were beaten by their birth edinburgh rivals hearts for the second weekend in a row. this time in the scottish cup semifinals. he was only appointed in december with hibs down in seventh in the table and without a league win since february. and today marks an important milestone

in the countdown the birmingham commonwealth games. it is just 100 days to go now and with over 5,000 athletes competing across 21 sports in 19 disciplines this will be the first major multi—sports event to take place free of any covid restriction, and what you are seeing now is the sandwell aquatic centre in smethwick which has opinion purpose—built for the games. —— been. two time paralympic champion maisie will be making her debut. i think it is sop important that parasport is being included and hopefully over time, i mean, the whole programme of parasport will be able to be included, but i think thisjust shows how able to be included, but i think this just shows how important parasport is and how it can inspire people as well, so, yes, hopefully in these games i can inspire the next generation and hopefully by their time they the there will be a full programme of parasport. the

former tennis _ full programme of parasport. the former tennis number one ashleigh barty has fuelled speculation she may attempt a top level career in a third sport by signing up for a golf exhibition. she announced her shock retirement from tennis in march at the age of 25. we know she is a keen amateur golfer with a reported handicap of four and she will be playing in the icon seriesjuly alongside pep guardiola and michael phelps. you might remember she previously turned her hand to professional cricket. what a talent. and the world snooker championship continues in sheffield where tournament favourite neil robertson on the table with ashley hugill right now, he isjust one on the table with ashley hugill right now, he is just one frame from victory, leading nine frames to four you can follow that on the bbc sport website. it is on the red but top too and the app. it is on bbc two right now. see you later.

see you later. britain's four biggest energy suppliers say the government needs to take drastic action to ensure that millions of households don't fall into fuel poverty in the coming months. speaking to mps, the bosses of e—on, edf, centrica and scottishpower say they're already seeing the effect of an 'unprecedented' rise in bills, with customers on pre—paid meters missing their payments in particular. it comes as the energy regulator 0fgem announced it's investigating claims that energy companies are increasing payments by more than necessary, and directing customers to tariffs that are not in their interests. from today you can buy up to one million discounted train tickets as the government launches its 'great british rail sale'. one million train tickets have gone on sale today. the sale is only valid for off peak fares, and the discounted tickets available are valid for travel between 25th april and 27th may. the scheme won't coverjourneys made during half—term or the four—day uk bank holiday weekend from 2—5june, which will mark the

queen's platinum jubilee. as part of the plans, some manchester to newcastle journeys could be reduced to about £10, while seats on some london to edinburgh services will be slashed from £41; to £22. transport campaigners have welcomed the move, but argue that costs should be cut even further. the transport secretary, grant shapps, has said this is the biggest sale ever seen. he said it won't solve the cost of living crisis, but will help people. i think it's one of these things, no—one is saying that it will solve everything, but every little bit helps. this is something where, for example, a london to edinburgh ticket could be as low as £22 — exactly half price in that case. manchester to newcastle for £10.30. these are very substantial reductions, particularly on advance tickets, and for people who perhaps haven't had the opportunity to visit friends and family or indeed need to travel for work. these are very substantial discounts. it's never happened

before because we didn't have a single railway to do it with and great british rail is the reason why we have been able to do that, and i think it will be widely welcomed by people who want to travel. i know i will be taking advantage of it during the month ahead. earlier, i spoke to norman baker from better transport, who told me this is a good step forward, but more needs to be done. well, we think this is a useful first step and after a series of rail fare rises in recent years, which have been eye—watering in some cases, we have now got a situation where the government has embraced the idea of cutting fares and we think that is very sensible. we think the treasury may actually find out that by cutting fares they get far more people on the railways and get more money coming in than if they put fares up. there are a lot of caveats there, though, aren't there? it is for a limited period and it's not going to cover holiday times.

how much take—up do you expect there to be? well, you're quite right to say it is limited in its effect and it doesn't cover commuters, as you mentioned, at all and commuting traffic is a traffic that hasn't come back. leisure travel is back to 102% of where it was pre—covid, so in a sense they are aiming for a market which has already been returning, but it's worthwhile doing it because it's going to be the first time the government has tried cutting fares rather than increasing them, and for that reason alone it's worth doing. i very much hope what will happen is a million tickets available will sell out quickly and give a clear signal to the government that cutting rail fares is the way to get more money coming in and more passengers on the trains. would it be sustainable to continue going forward? well, yes. i mean, if they get enough people coming on the trains, and we are talking about off—peak trains where there is a capacity, then those trains are running anyway. they are running with drivers, with conductors in some cases, they have to pay the cost of the fuel and, therefore,

getting more people on helps meet the bills for those trains. the best way to get the cost of the railways down is get more people on the trains rather than pushing fares up. of course, this is only one element of what should be done. there should be a complete change to fares and ticketing strategy in total. it doesn't make sense to have a 9.30am cut—off point, where by the last peak train is half—empty and the first off—peak train is packed out. it doesn't make sense. it doesn't make sense that the off—peak single is the same as the off—peak return. it doesn't make sense to assume the commuters are a captive market when clearly, as you were discussing in your previous piece, many are working from home. we are in a different world these days and the railway has to adjust to that and deal with a different market. this is one sensible step towards that, but there's a lot more needs to be done. norman baker, thank you. it's100 days to go until the 2022 commonwealth games kicks off in birmingham. it will be the first multi—sport event to be held in front of fans since the coronavirus. our sports correspondent laura

scott is at sandwell aquatics centre in smethwick in the west midlands. yes, this is the only venue for the commonwealth games that has been purpose—built for the vent. it is the sandwell aquatic centre it has cost round 90 million and it is officially open today, with the first few swimmers and divers taking to the quarter ahead of the games this summer. there will be 11 days of competition beginning on 28th july, 19 sports, including eight parasports making it is biggest parasports making it is biggest parasport programme at the commonwealth games and for the first time in a global multi—sport event there will be more medal events for women than men. organisers hope that the commonwealth games also with the biggest and boldest commonwealth games in history, and we know that events like these are nothing without the volunteers, and i am joined by two of the 111,000 volunteers that will be helping the

games run this sum. you live in birmingham this is first time vow volunteered at an event like this. why did you want to sign upjust volunteered at an event like this. why did you want to sign up just top art of it why did you want to sign up just top part of it all. — why did you want to sign up just top part of it all. i _ why did you want to sign up just top part of it all, i know— why did you want to sign up just top part of it all, i know that _ why did you want to sign up just top part of it all, i know that it's - part of it all, i know that it's going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity, so, i reallyjust wanted to be a part of it and get the experience and meet new people as well. ., ., �* ~ ., ., the experience and meet new people as well. ., ., �* ~' ., ., as well. you don't know what your 'ob will as well. you don't know what your job will involve _ as well. you don't know what your job will involve yet? _ as well. you don't know what your job will involve yet? not _ as well. you don't know what your job will involve yet? not yet, - as well. you don't know what your job will involve yet? not yet, i - job will involve yet? not yet, i will have to — job will involve yet? not yet, i will have to a _ job will involve yet? not yet, i will have to a wait _ job will involve yet? not yet, i will have to a wait for - job will involve yet? not yet, i will have to a wait for the - job will involve yet? not yet, i i will have to a wait for the training to start. is will have to a wait for the training to start- i— will have to a wait for the training to start. i �* g i. ., to start. is and jen, you live round the corner— to start. is and jen, you live round the corner am _ to start. is and jen, you live round the corner am i _ to start. is and jen, you live round the corner am i right _ to start. is and jen, you live round the corner am i right in _ to start. is and jen, you live round the corner am i right in thinking i the corner am i right in thinking you will be volunteering here? yes” you will be volunteering here? yes i have been told _ you will be volunteering here? yes i have been told that, _ you will be volunteering here? yes i have been told that, yes. _ you will be volunteering here? yes i have been told that, yes. how i have been told that, yes. how excited are — have been told that, yes. how excited are you _ have been told that, yes. how excited are you to _ have been told that, yes. how excited are you to be - have been told that, yes. how excited are you to be a - have been told that, yes. how excited are you to be a volunteer in? t excited are you to be a volunteer in? ., excited are you to be a volunteer in? . . , . excited are you to be a volunteer in? . ., , . , in? i am really excited. it feels now it feels — in? i am really excited. it feels now it feels real _ in? i am really excited. it feels now it feels real now _ in? i am really excited. it feels now it feels real now i - in? i am really excited. it feels now it feels real now i am i in? i am really excited. it feels now it feels real now i am in i in? i am really excited. it feels. now it feels real now i am in the building. now it feels real now i am in the buildinu. ~ ., now it feels real now i am in the buildinu. . ., ., now it feels real now i am in the buildinu. ~ ., ., now it feels real now i am in the buildinu. . ., ., now it feels real now i am in the buildinu. ., ., building. what do you both hope that this event brings _ building. what do you both hope that this event brings to _ building. what do you both hope that this event brings to birmingham, i building. what do you both hope thatj this event brings to birmingham, and the west midlands? i this event brings to birmingham, and the west midlands?— the west midlands? i think that, well i am hoping _ the west midlands? i think that, well i am hoping the _ the west midlands? i think that, well i am hoping the event i the west midlands? i think that, well i am hoping the event will l well i am hoping the event will bring _ well i am hoping the event will bring more people to come down to like see _ bring more people to come down to like see birmingham and experience

it, it, _ like see birmingham and experience it, it, experience the diversity as well because that is what birmingham is about _ well because that is what birmingham is about to— well because that is what birmingham is about. ., , .. ., is about. to bring the carnival atmosphere. _ is about. to bring the carnival atmosphere, we _ is about. to bring the carnival atmosphere, we are - is about. to bring the carnival atmosphere, we are a - is about. to bring the carnival atmosphere, we are a vibrant| is about. to bring the carnival i atmosphere, we are a vibrant city and it is about time the world saw it i ., , , . . , and it is about time the world saw iti . ., it i there has been criticism about a perceived _ it i there has been criticism about a perceived lack— it i there has been criticism about a perceived lack of _ it i there has been criticism about a perceived lack of diversity i it i there has been criticism about a perceived lack of diversity at i it i there has been criticism about| a perceived lack of diversity at the game, do you hope it showcases the best of birmingham, the best of west midlands and as you mention has a diverse group of people helping and taking part? diverse group of people helping and takin: art? ., diverse group of people helping and takin: art? . ., , , diverse group of people helping and takin art? . ., , , ., taking part? yeah, i do, because to be honest birmingham's _ taking part? yeah, i do, because to be honest birmingham's extremely| be honest birmingham's extremely diverse _ be honest birmingham's extremely diverse in — be honest birmingham's extremely diverse in itself, and as being part 0 after_ diverse in itself, and as being part 0 after that — diverse in itself, and as being part 0 after that diversity it means a lotto _ 0 after that diversity it means a lotto rne — 0 after that diversity it means a lot to me so i am hoping that people can see _ lot to me so i am hoping that people can see that— lot to me so i am hoping that people can see that and bring that to the game _ can see that and bring that to the game as— can see that and bring that to the game as well. as _ game as well. as you have heard the excitement very much building adds the momentum ramps up to the games this summer, the countdown very much on, only 100 days to go until the start of the commonwealth games. thank you very much.

today, broadly speaking, is an afternoon of sunshine and showers, but we do have the tail end of a weather front affecting the north—west with thick cloud working its way in. that will bring some range in northern ireland. it looks like a wet afternoon for western counties here, with some rain getting into the far west of scotland. there are some showers forming across parts of wales, but the greatest risk of a downpour, and a heavy one, will be across central and southern england and the central and southern england and the central and southern england and the central and southern midlands later on this afternoon. across eastern england it should stay dry with sunny spells coming and going. overnight, the showers fade away. we keep the clearest of disguise it will turn quite chilly, cold enough for some frost. quite a cool started the day. for tomorrow, there will still be a few showers, but not as many as today and they will tend to be across more western areas. a bit more sunshine further east and that

should boost the temperatures up to 18 degrees in the london area. for some of us, starting to feel a little bit warmer once again. hello this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun. president zelensky says his nation remains defiant. russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than 1,000 targets in ukraine overnight. the prime minister, borisjohnson, faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. a million off—peak rail fares are being cut, some by as much as half, in a bid to boost train travel. the manchester united footballer cristiano ronaldo and his partner, georgina rodriguez, have announced the death of their baby son. borisjohnson is preparing to face

the commons for the first time since he was fined for breaking coronavirus laws. opposition parties are expected to question the prime minister about whether he intentionally misled parliament when he claimed previously that no rules had been broken. labour has accused mrjohnson of trying to use the situation in ukraine "as a shield" to stay in his post. joining me now is stewart hosie, who is the scottish national party mp for dundee east. welcome, thank you forjoining us. borisjohnson is expected to make a full throated apology, followed by a plea for perspective. would you accept the apology and contextualise it? i accept the apology and contextualise it? . ., ., , it? i will contextualise it right now. he it? i will contextualise it right now- he has _ it? i will contextualise it right now. he has already - it? i will contextualise it right now. he has already said i it? i will contextualise it right now. he has already said he l it? i will contextualise it right| now. he has already said he is it? i will contextualise it right i now. he has already said he is going to accept responsibility at the same time denying he has done anything wrong. the bottom line is he has lied to the public, like to parliament and laughed in the faces of the families of the hundred and

72,000 people in the uk who have died during this pandemic. it is pretty straightforward. an apology will be welcome, but he has to go. he has said that he was clear in his mind that rules were broken because when he went into a room it was a work environment, it was his birthday, a scenario whereby it wasn't a party as he would have understood that word. is that fair? i think all that does is allow people to question even further his judgment. he may have believed those words the moment he set them, but they weren't true then and they aren't true now. this is a man who has been fined for breaking covid laws, laws that his government enacted. it simply isn't credible to say i have done nothing wrong, but i take full responsibility, i didn't

realise was a party, oops, it was a party. none of this watch is any more. ., . ., party. none of this watch is any more. ., ., ., , more. you want him to resign, he won't resign- _ more. you want him to resign, he won't resign. the _ more. you want him to resign, he won't resign. the conservative i more. you want him to resign, he i won't resign. the conservative party have an 80 seat majority so his position is pretty robust. i’m have an 80 seat majority so his position is pretty robust. i'm not sure that's _ position is pretty robust. i'm not sure that's true. _ position is pretty robust. i'm not sure that's true. i _ position is pretty robust. i'm not sure that's true. i am _ position is pretty robust. i'm not sure that's true. i am watching l position is pretty robust. i'm not i sure that's true. i am watching tory backbenchers cringing in horror when the prime minister's spokespeople which are on about this being equivalent to a parking ticket, and as the labour party have also said, he is hiding behind the heroes of ukraine to say that now is not the time. i think there will be a multiple motion soon. share time. i think there will be a multiple motion soon. time. i think there will be a multile motion soon. �* , ., ., ~ multiple motion soon. are you making efforts to try — multiple motion soon. are you making efforts to try to _ multiple motion soon. are you making efforts to try to make _ multiple motion soon. are you making efforts to try to make that _ multiple motion soon. are you making efforts to try to make that happen? i efforts to try to make that happen? are you in conversation with other parties, the speaker? let’s are you in conversation with other parties, the speaker?— parties, the speaker? let's 'ust ho -e that parties, the speaker? let's 'ust hope that there i parties, the speaker? let's 'ust hope that there can i parties, the speaker? let's 'ust hope that there can be i parties, the speaker? let's 'ust hope that there can be a i parties, the speaker? let'sjust i hope that there can be a bootable motion at some point very soon. i would prefer that to be this week.

weather there is or isn't, weather it is successful or not, the tory mps who are cringing in horror at the lines they are hearing need to take action. just the lines they are hearing need to take action-— take action. just to be clear, thourh, take action. just to be clear, though, when _ take action. just to be clear, though, when you _ take action. just to be clear, though, when you say i take action. just to be clear, though, when you say your. take action. just to be clear, i though, when you say your hope take action. just to be clear, - though, when you say your hope there is about, previously the opposition parties letter to tory mps to try to call a vote. the opposition parties, are they now taking matters into their own hands? the are they now taking matters into their own hands?— are they now taking matters into their own hands? ., , their own hands? the way i would put it, we in their own hands? the way i would put it. we in the — their own hands? the way i would put it. we in the snp _ their own hands? the way i would put it, we in the snp would _ their own hands? the way i would put it, we in the snp would be _ their own hands? the way i would put it, we in the snp would be more i their own hands? the way i would put it, we in the snp would be more than| it, we in the snp would be more than happy to support a measure and weigh in the snp are pushing for such a book to happen. we have reached the point now where it may be the tory mps have to take actions into their own hands, but we can't rely on bats. you simply cannot have a prime minister who will lie to the public, lighter parliaments and laugh at those who have lost so many loved ones during the pandemic.- ones during the pandemic. nicola sturueon, ones during the pandemic. nicola sturgeon. your— ones during the pandemic. nicola sturgeon, your party _ ones during the pandemic. nicola sturgeon, your party leader, i ones during the pandemic. nicola sturgeon, your party leader, has| sturgeon, your party leader, has been talk about the police for

breaching the covid rules she said, not wearing a mask and a public space. they have decided not to punish because they said it wouldn't be proportionate. that was a straightforward breaking of the rules that she sets, wasn't it? i think a momentary lapse rules that she sets, wasn't it? i thinka momentary lapse in think a momentary lapse in concentration is night and day from what appears to be the systemic breaking of the law by boris johnson. remember, she also apologised immediately, in the case of the prime minister we have a man who can't even fully take responsibility for his failure is. this situation in ukraine requires the full attention of the prime minister. the tory mps say they are not happy, but this isn't the right time to change later. [10 not happy, but this isn't the right time to change later.— not happy, but this isn't the right time to change later. do they have a oint? time to change later. do they have a point? no. — time to change later. do they have a point? no. i— time to change later. do they have a point? no, i don't— time to change later. do they have a point? no, i don't think— time to change later. do they have a point? no, i don't think they - time to change later. do they have a point? no, i don't think they do. i point? no, i don't think they do. while much of the cost of living

crisis is not under direct control of the uk government, brexit has been an unmitigated disaster. that has not helped. the failure to take action against spiralling fuel costs has not helped, and although there is a war in ukraine, a tragic, tragic war, the uk is not directly involved. there is no impediment for getting rid of a bad prime minister. indeed, there might be an imperative to replace him with someone who has an attention to detail and can take responsibility for his own actions. stewart hosie, thank you. russia's invasion of ukraine has had a devastating impact on the country's children with local authorities saying at least 205 have been killed since the conflict began. the un also estimates that as many as two—thirds of all children in the country have been displaced because of the fighting. yogita limaye has been talking to families who have been caught up in the conflict. the worst moment of a parent's life.

a father's final conversation with his boy. a community scattered by war, together in grief, to honour the life of a child they loved. this is yelisei's grandmother. he was 13. a month ago, he was killed in firing by russian soldiers, as his family tried to leave their village. remembered as a humble, helpful boy, who didn't like to fight. and who refused to play aggressive sport. one last time, his mother, inna, tended to her son before they took him away.

in moments like these, the senselessness of war is so plain to see. translation: | want the world - to know about the crimes of russia. i want every victim to be counted. russian soldiers had allowed us to leave. they even waved us goodbye. then when we were crossing the field, they started firing at us from every direction. i rescued my younger son by crawling through the field with him. he's the reason i carry on. he is among 200 children known to have been killed in ukraine, so far. the impact of war on the lives of ukraine's children is evident

in the spaces they once occupied. two—thirds have been forced to leave their homes. this school in bucha near kyiv was used as a base by russian soldiers. hundreds of schools and colleges in ukraine have been damaged. many more are empty because people have fled. when you walk through classrooms like this one, there are so many questions that come to mind. what must this place have looked like on any given weekday before life was suddenly interrupted? who were the children that sat here? did they survive? did their families survive? we followed the story of one student from bucha. ilya now lives in one room of a rundown government building in kyiv, with his whole family. they managed to escape the fighting through a humanitarian corridor that

had been opened in march. "it was so hard to get through the nights — we were afraid a shell would hit us at any moment", he said. "even here, i can't escape feeling war is still all around us. i dream about my family being killed, or taken hostage by the russians. i wake up in cold sweat." these children have seen burning buildings, destroyed tanks, and corpses on their way to safety. valentyna told us about the difficult conversations they've been forced to have. translation: i had to make them understand that they lived one life | before, where they had everything. i've had to explain to them now that the time has come for them to grow up.

children like yelisei didn't have the chance to grow up. and it's farfrom over forfamilies in ukraine. every day, thousands of young lives are at risk. yogita limaye, bbc news. the manchester united footballer christiano ronaldo and his partner have said one of the twins they were expecting has died. writing on social media, the star said, "it is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness". i'm nowjoined by rob allen who founded sands united fc, a charity football team supporting dads who have lost a baby. thank you so much forjoining us. it

is devastating to hear what they have experienced, and our sympathies go to you as well for having experienced similar. what were your thoughts when you heard about what had happened to cristiano ronaldo and his partner?— and his partner? yeah, very much shock i think. _ death doesn't discriminate between anybody and from the outside cristiano ronaldo is a globalfigure and everyone seems to assume that he has everything. unfortunately, he has everything. unfortunately, he has experienced this devastation that nobody should have to go through in this day and age, really. i spoke to somebody earlier who has also been through it and set up a charity for others to give that sort

of solidarity, i suppose, for people to come together and one of the first thing she said was this gives a chance for people to talk about it. what was your experience of people talking about it and feeling like you could talk about it, or whether you wanted to talk about it? yes, personally, iwas whether you wanted to talk about it? yes, personally, i was very open to talking about it. at the early stages, even now, four years down the line, if i don't say her name, not many people do. i try to show other people that talking about it can be a real strength. this other people that talking about it can be a real strength.— can be a real strength. this is really frustrating, _ can be a real strength. this is really frustrating, i _ can be a real strength. this is really frustrating, i want i can be a real strength. this is really frustrating, i want to i can be a real strength. this is| really frustrating, i want to be able to hear what you're saying, but

unfortunately the line is terrible so we can't hear you very well, but perhaps we can try and get a better connection later and talk to you later in the day, if you would have time, but for now, rob allen, thank you. the headlines on bbc news: ukraine says russia's large—scale offensive on the donbas has begun, but president zelensky says his nation remains defiant. russia says artillery and missile forces struck more than 1,000 targets in ukraine overnight. prime minister borisjohnson faces mps today for the first time since he was fined for attending a birthday party during lockdown. a family whose son was knocked down by a driver who was under the influence of drugs are speaking out about what happened to highlight the dangers of drug—driving. eight—year—old noah was out on a bike ride with his dad when he was hit by a car going 60mph. he suffered serious injuries, including a bleed on the brain, before making a full recovery. a warning — you may find parts of fiona trott�*s report distressing.

pick a line, good lad. you go first. a father teaching his son how to be safe on the road. this is a bike lane. where? this red one here. then, a moment that changes their lives for ever. noah, noah! noah herring has been hit by a car at 60 mph. noah, sit down, don't move! don't move, noah. this is the video his family want you to watch. please, ambulance, please! he's in a lot of pain, he's in a really bad way. a car has crashed into us. noah, just stay with me, noah. i'm going to the cinema. today, the eight—year—old is back in the park they were cycling to that morning. it's something his dad never thought he would see. what do you think about drugs

and people who take drugs when they are driving? that it's naughty. and it's not good. because people might die from it, because they might crash into other people. you were really brave, you know, noah, when that happened to you. do you think you are brave? yes. james is putting on a brave face. he is still coming to terms with what happened. just a big explosion. and then... a couple of seconds went by. i couldn't see noah. and that is when i went over to him and i saw him and i thought that was going to be the last time i was going to see my son. and i wasn't ready for that. he was broken and i

couldn't fix him. something just inside kicked in and ijust did everything i could for him. i am arresting you on suspicion of driving whilst over— the prescribed drug limit. harry summersgill had taken cocaine, ketamine and cannabis when he hit noah. he was jailed for three years. he had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs twice before. but, in the weeks it takes for drug test results to come back, motorists like him can continue driving. james says that needs to change. magistrates, they willjust get a piece of paper telling what the person has done and hasn't done. whereas police see this day in, day out. i think if the police had more power to do something about it on the spot, revoke that licence or suspend that licence, i think that is the fastest way to do things.

in the meantime, the government has launched a consultation on whether high—risk offenders should take a rehabilitation course before they can get their licence back. i definitely think it is a step in the right direction. drug—driving ruins lives. for me, i believe the more information, help and support out there, the more chance we have to stop drug—drivers. this is the victim impact statement i read out in court. "this is not a simple accident. the biggest question i ask myself is, how can i protect my son from someone like you? i live by the fact that noah is still with us, by some miracle. i hope your punishment will affect your life as you have affected mine. you may not have taken my life that day, but you have taken my spirit." how do you feel when you read it out now, do you feel you have been able to move on from that? yeah, i definitely feel... people around me have helped me

through the situation. yeah. look up to the sky. got your brakes covered? good lad. as a family, what does the future hold for you guys? a lot more bike riding, hopefully. cycling is a massive part of my life and, hopefully, it will be a big part of noah's. noah is my hero. no kid should go through what he went through, but he went through it. and he's had a lot of support and he's supported us and he's back to being a happy little child again. fiona trott, bbc news, teesside. after 70 years of service, this year is a milestone in the queen's long reign — her platinumjubilee. to mark the occasion, our reporterjohn maguire has been speaking to some of the people who've had the opportunity to meet her majesty over the decades, including the bbc�*s weather forecaster carol kirkwood.

allow me to introduce yvonne, jacquie, ann, and carol. ten years ago, during the diamond jubilee, carol was invited to speak at the sandringham women's institute, and in attendance would be its president — her majesty the queen. i can't believe it's been ten years since that day. where has the time gone?! i don't know, carol. we're absolutely delighted to see you again, it really is lovely — and in the platinum jubilee year, as well. i mean, it's fantastic that you could get here. queen mary set up the wi here more than 100 years ago. since then, the sandringham branch has boasted a royal presidential lineage. she actually became a member in her own right in 1943, and princess margaret came along, as well — and queen mary. i mean, they all used to come, when you read back in the minutes. and so we were pleasantly surprised when she agreed to take it on. carol was asked to speak

about her life and career for a strict 20 minutes — during which she told her audience they could ask questions whenever they liked. and i did not expect the queen to be asking me questions, and one of them was about wearing green on television, and why she couldn't do it. and, of course, it's because if you're standing in front of a green screen and you're wearing green, all you'll see is your head and your hands. it's a very good way of making yourself look very thin! laughter. i'm doing it tomorrow, actually! during her talk, carol wanted to relay a funny story about the dangers faced by colleagues in the early days of television weather presenting. she checked with the palace beforehand, and it was a story that saw eyebrows raise, jaws drop — but one in the audience was very much amused. and it was about a weatherman from many years ago, in the days when they used magnetic boards to display the weather, and it had the symbols and it also had individual letters for ice

and forfog. so as he was doing this live on television, he got to tonight, when we were expecting some fog, and he noticed the f had slipped off and he said, "sorry about the f in fog." laughter. and two of the ladies gasped and i thought, "what have i said? !" but then the queen was laughing so much, it was ok — in fact, she was laughing so much she dropped her glasses case on the floor. the queen is widely renowned for putting people at their ease, and it's just as well. the very first time i had to take the meeting, i had 15 minutes' notice. and i'd met the queen several times, but even so i was absolutely a nervous wreck! forjacquie, a baptism of fire — asked tojudge pictures of horses in a competition, she failed to spot a crucial detail. one of the embroideries - was a picture of the queen's horse in the queen's colours, but i didn't — obviously| didn't know anything _ about horse racing at the time,

and didn't choose that one as first, but... i laughter. and you have to remember who you're talking to after a while... yes, yeah. ..because she'll chat to you as if you're almost her next—door neighbour, you know? and you think, "gosh, this is the queen of england!" and that's a view shared by ian shearman, an artist from gloucestershire whose a sculpture of the renowned horse breeder peter burrell was unveiled by the queen in newmarket in 1996. i don't know what you expect, but she isn't anything like that. she's...like you're talking to your grandmother, or you're talking to somebody in the street. she's very easy to... yes, to be around. she's remarkable, a most impressive character. one of the most memorable moments came due to a wardrobe malfunction, when they realised their eight—year—old son tom was still wearing his favourite slippers. well, i'd forgotten to put any other shoes in, i and he was standing in line, i

not bothered by his thunderbird slippers, and the queen came down the line, looked at him, _ shook his hand. she always notices everything, apparently, about people — i has this thing ofjust noticing, and putting people at ease. i and she leant towards him and she said, "i watch i thunderbirds, too." and that was it! he shook her hand. and he said to me the other day, |it's one of his fondest memoriesj and he'll never forget it. nice lady. a simple act of kindness and humour that made a special day very special. an audience with her majesty the queen — no matter how brief — lives long in the memory. john maguire, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. as we go through the next few days, there's going to be an east—west split in terms of temperatures, with the east pulling in an easterly breeze, so here, it will be cooler than in the west.

but there will be plenty of dry weather after today, with just the odd isolated showers. you will notice i keep saying after today because we are looking at quite a few showers today, and we have got this weak weather front moving across north—west scotland, getting into northern ireland, also bringing some showers with it. at times, there will be large areas of cloud across parts of england and also wales. showers developing further through the afternoon. some could be heavy and thundery. but in between them, we should see some sunshine and we will still have our weather front drifting a little bit further south across western scotland and northern ireland. here, it is not going to be as windy as it was yesterday. as we head on through the evening and overnight, there will still be areas of cloud but many of the showers will fade. under clear skies in scotland and northern ireland, we will see some patchy mist and fog form. and here too, in sheltered glens and rural areas, it could well turn out to be cold enough just for a touch of frost. but we're also looking at some sunny skies first thing the morning. with the breeze coming in along the east coast, the cloud that starts off in the east drifting over towards the west through the day,

with a few showers. thicker cloud coming into the west of northern ireland, and these are our temperatures. 9—18 degrees but always feeling cooler along the north sea coastline in the breeze. as we move on into thursday, the fronts coming into northern ireland, or trying to, don't succeed. they are connected to this area of low pressure which pushes away. note the wind direction. it is coming in from the east and quite a brisk wind as we head on through the latter part of the week. so during the course of thursday, we still have this onshore breeze so it is still going to feel cool along the north sea coastline. quite a brisk breeze inland. thursday looking largely dry. once again, areas of cloud floating around but some sunshine, with temperatures nine to about 17 degrees. into friday, a very similar story in that it is going to be largely dry. we still have this brisk breeze, particularly along the north sea coastline, but you can see it right the way across the land, and areas of cloud with some sunshine. the highest temperatures tending to be out towards the south—west. cardiff looking at about 17 degrees.

then as we head to the latter part of their weekend, we are looking at a few showers in the south but still quite a bit of cloud around at times.

russia says it has struck 1,200 military targets in eastern ukraine, and calls for the country's forces to lay down their arms. as moscow releases images of its fighterjets over ukraine, president zelensky says the long expected battle for the donbas region has begun. no matter how many of the russian troops are driven there, we will be fighting, we will defend ourselves. we'll have the latest live from lviv and moscow. also this lunchtime: borisjohnson is expected to apologise to mps this afternoon at his first appearance in the commons since being fined for breaking lockdown laws. covid's impact on business — a call for free or affordable testing kits for firms struggling to cope with large numbers of staff catching the virus.