welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines this hour... russia intensifies its offensive in eastern ukraine. we have a special report from a village that's bracing for the worst. they're doing their best, but this is going to be a difficult, protracted war. the united states and its allies respond by promising more military support for ukraine. in the uk, borisjohnson apologises again for breaking covid lockdown rules, insisting it was not done deliberately. as soon as i received the notice, iacknowledged the hurt and the anger, and i said that people had a right to expect better

of their prime minister. and the actorjohnny depp takes the stand in his $50 million defamation trial against his former wife, amber heard. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in eastern ukraine, where russia has launched a major offensive after pulling back its forces from near the capital, kyiv. moscow claims to have struck more than 1200 military targets overnight as part of efforts to establish full control over the donetsk and luhansk regions,

known collectively as the donbas. in mariupol, a strategic port on the edge of the donbas, russian—backed separatist fighters have been trying to storm an industrial complex. the city's last defenders have been holding out inside, along with hundreds of civilians. our correspondent catherine byaruhanga sent this report from a village close to the eastern front line. russia unleashed its long—anticipated assault on eastern ukraine, thousands of troops backed by heavy weaponry on the move. it's a campaign to seize the donbas region, an attempt to salvage some kind of victory after significant losses in the north. another stage of this operation is beginning and i'm sure this will be a very important moment of this entire special operation. villages like novoselivka are becoming the new

front line of this war. russian forces have stepped up their bombardment. a small bomb squad has been called in to defuse unexploded munitions. they have to work carefully, but quickly. explosion. there are more and more people needing their services. translation: the enemy has started deploying these - munitions in large numbers and quite a few of them failed to function in certain conditions. from this village, we can hear live artillery rounds in the distance, their loud booms. and this community is trying to prepare itself for a full on russian offensive. they're doing their best, but this is going to be a difficult, protracted war. mykola ivanovich was home when the explosion started. from a population of 300

people, there are just a handful left in novoselivka. translation: it happened at night. it started with three massive explosions. at 6am, i got up to work and saw people running around. i saw bits of bombs covering farms. i told them not to go there. some time ago, a woman picked one up over there and got killed. there's a devastating cost to russia's invasion. mariupol, in the south, has been razed to the ground. aid agencies say thousands of civilians are trapped here, under siege. a few ukrainian forces refuse to let the city fall, holding out in an iron and steel plant. today, russian special forces began storming buildings nearby. but a russian victory is far from certain in ukraine. catherine byaruhanga,

bbc news, novoselivka, in the east of ukraine. president biden has pledged to send more artillery to ukraine, in what is just the latest round of military assistance being given to the country. but it's notjust the machinery. yesterday, the pentagon confirmed that the us will start training ukrainian forces on how to use new equipment at facilities outside the country. john spencer, a retired major in the us army and now the chair of urban warfare studies at the madison policy forum, says the battle for donbas is actually like a new war. i think it'll be, actually, much worse. the conditions are more favourable to open warfare, so big formations spread across large areas, bringing down massive amounts of artillery barraged because that's what russia does as part of their doctrine and that's what we're already

starting to see today. starting to see today — massive fires in large forces. massive fires in large forces, as they really are desperate and are throwing everything they literally have at eastern ukraine to get a win for putin. this announcement that the us will start training those ukrainian soldiers, why now, not earlier? yeah, that's a good question. there's a polity shift, to be clear, and i think it's a huge need. but they're not the systems that the ukrainians are trained on. they're trained on 152 and other variations. these are american volunteers which require a bit of training. they're going to put them in an undisclosed location. train them up and send them with the artillery that they can train others to fire quickly.

there's a huge urgency to this, that'll take time. and how will moscow see this? will they see it as a further escalation or provocation? my personal opinion is no. this is no more weaponry than past systems have been given. javelins. .. it is a much more needed system because it fires longer ranges. ukrainians have never asked anybody to fight for them, they've asked for the weapons to fight russia for us, because if russia doesn't stop here, who knows where he'll go? of course, the focus currently is on the donbas, but the war is still continuing in other parts of ukraine. how will this phase of the war, in your view, shape this conflict? so, i agree with you that this is a new war. russia failed in the war to take ukraine, so not to take ukraine, so now wants to take the donbas, which they think they can do if they have enough forces.

i actually don't think they do. they will continue to terrorise. tuten is a terrorist with a nuclear bomb. putin is a terrorist with a nuclear bomb. he's going to continue to show all the cities as far as lviv as lviv to kyiv as part of his operation to keep forces keep forces engaged. they're in chaos mode, really. still to come a bit later in the programme — we'll explain why the international monetary fund has been downgrading its growth forecast for the global economy this year. but first, british prime minister, borisjohnson, has been facing his fellow politicians for the first time since he was fined over breaching covid regulations. he once again apologised, but insisted he didn't mislead his fellow lawmakers in earlier statements to them and he wouldn't resign. but his apology wasn't enough for one former minister who said he'd lost confidence in him. the bbc�*s deputy political editor, vicki young, has the latest.

he may want to talk about something else, but this isn't over yet. did you lie to parliament, prime minister? boris johnson's honesty and integrity are being questioned. many of his mps offered support as he made a choreographed commons entrance with his chancellor. "you're cheering a criminal", shouted labour. i now call the prime minister. all he could do was apologise — again. it did not occur to me then, or subsequently, that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. i repeat, that was my mistake, and i apologise for it unreservedly. mrjohnson said last week he'd been fined for a gathering with colleagues that had lasted just nine minutes. the labour leader accused him of coming up with insulting and absurd excuses.

what a joke. even now, as the latest mealy—mouthed apology stumbles out of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections and distortions pour from the other. but the damage is already done. the public have made up their mind. they don't believe a word the prime minister says. the most uncomfortable moment for the prime minister and his chancellor came when sir keir talked about a husband who couldn't be with his wife in hospital. john would have given the world to hold his dying wife's hand, even if it was just for nine minutes. but he didn't, because he followed the prime minister's rules. the prime minister continues to apologise for his behaviour, but he's effectively downplaying the seriousness of his lawbreaking, saying there are far more important

things a prime minister should be concentrating on, but this wall of tributes to those who lost their lives to covid goes some way to explaining why it could be so difficult for him to move the debate on. lockdown and the harsh restrictions we all lived underfor so long won't be easily forgotten. scotland yard continues to investigate all this, which means mrjohnson and conservative mps can't be sure the trouble is over for the government. that report by vicki young. i talked to professor andrew blick, the head of the department of political economy at king 5 college london spoke about what was next at king's college london, spoke about what was next for the prime minister. the upcoming elections will certainly be in the mind of mps. so far, we haven't seen a large wave of people announcing wave of people denouncing johnson on his own side, but the complexion of this may

change, depending on what happens during those elections. and as vicki mentioned in her report, the prime minister says there are more pressing matters that he should be focusing on, but as tragic as the situation is in ukraine, his critics would argue that it's given him something else to talk about. yes, it's interesting the way in which he approached the apology and made the apology and definitely went on to talk about his policy agenda, and also ukraine, clearly trying to say, "you've got to keep me "because there are these things that need to be "done and i am leading the world." whether the wider public will fully buy into that or think, actually, the prime minister is trying to exploit these issues to keep himself

in thejob, and that's a bit distasteful, again remains to be seen. notjust in the uk, this scandal has put a spotlight on the country's political system around the world, how the prime minister cannot be sacked, even though he's broken the law. yes, the only person who has the legal power to sack the prime minister is the queen and the monarch by a long—established tradition kept out of that that keeps out of that political controversy. the rules that may or may not be broken ultimately are interpreted and applied by the prime minister themselves, so there's an interesting flaw in the uk political system, in that the system is one of self—regulation, and if the person who has the responsibility in these areas is themselves the public areas is themselves the subject of the problem, there's an issue there. how do we deal with that? and before we let you go,

i know this is a very difficult question to answer, but where do we go from here? what are the likely scenarios, given especially those upcoming elections? i think in the first instance, it's unlikely immediately that his own mps are going to vote to bring him down. another feature of the uk system is that governments are formed out of parliament, therefore by definition, they have a majority normally in the house of commons, the dominant chamber of parliament. it's unlikely he'll be brought down immediately. we will see what happens in the may elections. not everybody get the vote in these elections, and we don't necessarily know that they're voting precisely on their view of borisjohnson and his fitness for office, but that will certainly be a factor in the campaign. and the media and commentators and politicians will interpret it in that way, so it partly depends on how well or badlyjohnson is doing in these elections, but even that's difficult precisely to answer. there'll be a lot of expectation management.

the conservatives may well be talking up how they will do at the moment, so that when the results come through, even if they're not that great, they're not as bad as people anticipated. there's lots of variables and there. that was professor andrew blick speaking to me. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme — the actorjohnny depp takes the stand in his defamation case against his former wife. the stars and stripes at half mast outside columbine high — the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. one of the most successful singer—songwriters of all time, the american pop star prince,

has died at the age of 57. ijust couldn't believe it, i didn't believe it. - we just~~~ — he wasjust here saturday. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions, a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. 0ur headlines... russian forces have stepped up their offensive in the donbas region of eastern ukraine. ukraine's allies say they will send more military support, with the us promising supplies of artillery weapons.

the international monetary fund gave its verdict on russia's invasion of ukraine on tuesday, saying it was sending economic shockwaves around the world. the military conflict comes as many countries are already trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and as china continues to impose covid lockdowns in huge cities like shanghai. the global forecast for growth has been cut down almost a whole percentage point, to just 3.6% this year. the russian economy is predicted to shrink by 8.5%, and ukraine's economy is expected to contract by more than a third. and that, according to the imf, means no major global economy will grow as much as previously forecast for 2022. with his analysis from washington, here's our economics editor, faisal islam. just as the world appeared to

be recovering, another unprecedented economic shock has hit — the war in ukraine. severe setback to the recovery. finance ministers are meeting to tackle these shocks. for the world economy at the same time as raising its forecasts for inflation. we view a number of clouds on the horizon. first and foremost, the war itself could escalate militarily, but also the sanctions could be tightened. then there is inflation growing and broadening everywhere, and that might lead to a more aggressive path of monetary policy tightening in many parts of the world, including the us, but also in europe or the uk, and that would weigh down growth.

the world economy had been on a mending road, according to the imf, but now, that suffered the severe setback, as the imf puts it, of russia's invasion of ukraine — sending growth down across the world and inflation in prices rising even more. about six out of seven of the world's economies have faced downgrades in this new world economic outlook that comes out today at the imf ahead of important meetings of the world's financial ministers and central bank governors. it's notjust the world's advanced economies that are facing lower growth and those economies most exposed to russia's invasion of ukraine, mainly russia and ukraine and the neighbouring countries, but in particular, emerging economies dependent on this region for theirfood. also, those dependent on lower energy prices are also seeing their price inflation forecasts going up and their forecasts for growth going down, too. so, a troubling set of forecasts from a world economic outlook, but also concerns that this twin shock

of pandemic and then war has its own set of difficult dilemmas and consequences that we're just beginning to unpick. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. at least nine people have been killed in the afghan capital, kabul, in a series of explosions which were reported to be aimed at schoolchildren. it's thought the islamic state group was behind the attacks in a western part of the city. police in sri lanka have opened fire on people protesting about severe fuel shortages. one man was killed and 11 people wounded in the central town of rambukkna. the country is facing its worst economic crisis since 1948. fuel prices increased today by more than 60%. china says it has signed a security agreement with the solomon islands. a spokesman for the pacific

nation said it would not include a chinese miltary base, which had sparked concerns among some countries. johnny depp, the hollywood actor, has appeared in court in virginia on the fifth day of the defamation case he brought against his ex—wife, amber heard. the lawsuit centres on an article ms heard wrote for the washington post in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. david sillito was in court and sent this report. good afternoon, mr depp. good afternoon. can you please tell the jury why you're here today? erm, yes, erm... that pause rather captures the moment. his audience, a court, and this, johnny depp�*s one chance to salvage his reputation. watching was his ex—wife, amber heard, who says she endured months of violence

during their brief marriage. all of it, he says, is a lie. never... ..did i myself reach the point of striking miss heard in any way, nor have i ever struck any woman in my life. two completely opposed accounts of a marriage, and so many of the witnesses are either close friends or employees. and the events, most of them took place behind closed doors, so the heart of this for the lawyers is who to believe, which is why today matters. he talked of childhood abuse, his long career and the effect of the allegations. one day, you're... ..cinderella, so to speak, and then, in 0.6 seconds, you're quasimodo. and i...

..i didn't deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all these years. 0k, we'll take a recess, thank you. thank you. throughout, he was careful, hesitant, serious. of course, this isjust one side of the story — amber heard's will follow. but as they rose to leave for recess, a little whistle... whistling. ..a smile. david sillito, bbc news, fairfax, virginia. and finally to the story of an empty house near bristol in south west england — two sisters from ukraine — and a conflict that has driven one of them more than a thousand miles from her home.

i was helpless. i didn't know what to do. i was helpless. i didn't know what to da— i was helpless. i didn't know what to do. when ukraine was ou what to do. when ukraine was you invaded. _ what to do. when ukraine was you invaded, irina _ what to do. when ukraine was you invaded, irina was - you invaded, irina was desperate. she has lived in bristol for eight years, but her sister and family were trapped in the war zone. my sister's trapped in the war zone. ij�*i sister's daughter trapped in the war zone. m: sister's daughter requires constant medication, that is why it was quite important that she would get it.— she would get it. after a lot of paperwork. _ she would get it. after a lot of paperwork, the - she would get it. after a lot of paperwork, the sisters i she would get it. after a lot i of paperwork, the sisters were reunited. the family escaped ukraine and arrived in bristol. finally together! but ukraine and arrived in bristol. finally together!— finally together! but where were the five _ finally together! but where were the five new - finally together! but where were the five new arrivals l were the five new arrivals going to live? that's where della comes in. my going to live? that's where della comes in.— going to live? that's where della comes in. my dad 's house was empty- _ della comes in. my dad 's house was empty- he _ della comes in. my dad 's house was empty- he is— della comes in. my dad 's house was empty. he is in _ della comes in. my dad 's house was empty. he is in a _ della comes in. my dad 's house was empty. he is in a care - was empty. he is in a care homa _ was empty. he is in a care homa they— was empty. he is in a care home. they needed - was empty. he is in a care - home. they needed somewhere to stay _ home. they needed somewhere to stay it_ home. they needed somewhere to stay it was— home. they needed somewhere to stay it was a — home. they needed somewhere to stay. it was a family _ home. they needed somewhere to stay. it was a family unanimous i stay. it was a family unanimous decision — stay. it was a family unanimous decision it_ stay. it was a family unanimous decision it was _ stay. it was a family unanimous decision. it was the _ stay. it was a family unanimous decision. it was the best - stay. it was a family unanimous decision. it was the best one. l

decision. it was the best one. and _ decision. it was the best one. and guess _ decision. it was the best one. and guess what _ decision. it was the best one. and guess what — _ decision. it was the best one. and guess what — the - decision. it was the best one. and guess what — the houses| and guess what — the houses right next door to where irina already living, so these two ukrainian families, the two sisters are not only reunited, but closer than they've ever been. you're together, you're safe and you're next—door neighbours. laughter what luck! it's perfect. fire what luck! it's perfect. are ou what luck! it's perfect. are you sure — what luck! it's perfect. are you sure it's _ what luck! it's perfect. are you sure it's perfect? - what luck! it's perfect. are you sure it's perfect? it's l what luck! it's perfect. are you sure it's perfect? it's aj you sure it's perfect? it's a bit challenging, _ you sure it's perfect? it's a bit challenging, but - bit challenging, but definitely. i haven't been cooking _ definitely. i haven't been cooking for two weeks, which is amazing — cooking for two weeks, which is amazinu. ., , , ., , amazing. your sister does the cooking? _ amazing. your sister does the cooking? are _ amazing. your sister does the cooking? are you _ amazing. your sister does the cooking? are you happy? - amazing. your sister does the | cooking? are you happy? yes. because we're _ cooking? are you happy? yes. because we're safe. _ cooking? are you happy? yes. because we're safe. now - cooking? are you happy? yes. because we're safe. now theirj because we're safe. now their mum is safe — because we're safe. now their mum is safe too. _ because we're safe. now their mum is safe too. larissa - because we're safe. now their mum is safe too. larissa has l mum is safe too. larissa has joined her daughters here. they say they're thinking of those who are still in ukraine, and the sisters hope one day soon, they can all go home. jon kay, bbc news, near bristol.

with that happy ending, that this edition of newsday. hello. for the keen gardeners out there, if your garden and your planters are looking a little bit parched at the moment and you missed out on some of the showers we saw on tuesday, you're going to be grabbing the watering can for the rest of this week — very little rain around. there will be a few showers across western areas, but notice how high pressure is dominating the weather charts in and around the uk, pushing rain bearing low pressure systems down towards iberia time and time again. through the week, the breeze will be strengthening. in fact, a bit more breeze tonight across england and wales into the morning, which means it won't be quite as chilly as it has been. for scotland and northern ireland, a touch of frost and patchy mist and fog around. that should clear by the end of the morning rush hour. there will be some cloud drifting westwards across england and wales, but overall, a lot more sunshine around on wednesday compared with tuesday, although a few showers will pop up through the afternoon across some of these western

districts. most, though, dry, as i said, a bit more of an easterly breeze making it feel cooler along those north sea coasts of england especially, 9—10 celsisus for one or two, but actually, the air�*s a little bit warmer than tuesday, so central and western areas, temperatures up to around 16—17, 17 also possible in and around the moray firth as well. now, as we go through wednesday night into thursday, we continue with a predominantly dry story, a little bit of cloud drifting in on that breeze, but with the breeze continuing to pick up. notice how the temperatures aren't going to drop as much. we should be clear of a frost as we go into thursday morning. a lot of dry and sunny weather, though, to come on thursday. greater chance of some mist and low cloud though, the coast of north east england, eastern scotland, a bit of cloud drifting through england and wales, but sunny spells for many and still pleasantly warm where you have that sunshine. it is going to start feeling cooler down those eastern coasts, and you've got to bear in mind that easterly wind coming off sea temperatures around 7—8 celsius. it is always going to feel cooler here, especially on friday as that wind picks up even further. greater chance of some slightly thicker cloud, especially across england and wales by this stage with some light showers,

even a little bit of drizzle in places, but most will be dry, sheltered from the breeze. western areas, where it could be quite gusty in that wind, is where we'll see the highest of the temperatures, 15—16 celsius west of scotland, maybe up to around 15 or 16 celsius on the south coast of england. quick look into the weekend, and a bit of a complication as to what happens to this area of low pressure, how further north out of iberia it gets and its influence on us. throughout the weekend, we'll still have that breeze with us and that will make it full—on for eastern coasts. the sunshine feeling quite pleasant, but a greater chance of one or two more showers. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. iran's rocky relations with the west have cost a host of individuals their freedom. the islamic republic has imprisoned citizens from the us, britain and a number of other countries for spying. now, the charges may be trumped up, but tehran's determination

to use western prisoners for political purposes