welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... scientists find "compelling evidence" that covid—19 started in wuhan�*s seafood and wildlife market — casting more doubt on claims it came from a lab. the international monetary fund warns that the world could be teetering on the brink of the worst recession for half a century. russia says it will withdraw from the international space station and build its own — ending decades of cooperation with the us and other countries. far from the front line of ukraine's battle with russia — we have a special report

on the shameful treatment of disabled people. it is intolerable. if ukraine wants to be part of the western world, law—abiding democracy, it can't write off children with disabilities. and england beat sweden 4—0 in the women's euros semi final — giving them a chance to win a first ever major women's tournament. 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. our top story for you today: scientists say there's "compelling evidence" that a market selling live animals in the chinese city of wuhan

was the early epicentre of the covid 19 pandemic. it's a significant contribution to what's always been the dominant theory — that the outbreak began with the coronavirus spreading from animals to humans at the so called "wet market". this is the seafood wholesale market in wuhan. one of the studies just published in the journal science, says genetic information suggests there were two crossover events where animals infected humans in late 2019. a second study — also in science — shows the earliest known cases in the city were clustered, around that market. i'm joined now by dr michael worobey, one of the lead victoria gale has more. that whole ara ument victoria gale has more. that whole argument became _ victoria gale has more. that whole argument became more _ victoria gale has more. that whole argument became more politcisedl victoria gale has more. that whole - argument became more politcised than scientific. there was a who or world

health organization investigation, the tone of their dismissal of the lab leak theory was criticised and then became politcised in a blame game essentially between the us and china, each trying to blame the other. at the scientists are saying is let's get back to the evidence, and when they examined the evidence in this way with this new lens and all of the knowledge that we have, that people would have been wandering around in these communities possibly asymptomatic, possibly with just a mild cold that that virus would've been spreading, and when you gather up that data and information from you see that it centres on that lab. what they are saying is, what they are hoping, is that the scrutiny of evidence will point us back to where the scientific data leads us, rather than its to get mired in politics, because it's only by understanding what did happen that we can figure out how to stop something as terrible as this from happening again. terrible as this from happening aaain. . terrible as this from happening aain, ., ., , terrible as this from happening aaain. . “ �*, terrible as this from happening aaain. . . again. that was the bbc's science correspondent. _ again. that was the bbc's science correspondent. more _ again. that was the bbc's science correspondent. more on - again. that was the bbc's science correspondent. more on that - again. that was the bbc's science | correspondent. more on that story again. that was the bbc's science - correspondent. more on that story on the bbc website. if you are looking for mary in depth analysis commit to

have a look at victoria's report on the bbc website. in other top stories for you today: the worst recession in half a century. that's the warning from the international monetary fund. in its world economic outlook it predicts global growth will be slower than previously forecast. the funds chief economist said higher interest rates to curb inflation are making the risk factors much worse. we're expecting inflation to be more of a short—lived problem than it proved to be, and if the standard response when you get elevated energy price would be to say, look, there's not much the central banks can do to control the price of oil. therefore, if it's going to be transitory, let's just wait. there's not much we can do. but what we realise that it's not just that, as ijust explained. it's a combination of factors — sort of the perfect storm for inflation. we can supply disruption, strong demand, and on top of that, and energy price shock. all of these things

are pushing inflation outside of the comfort zone. the imf chief economist. i want to bring us back to our top story now, where as we have been reporting, scientists say there is compelling —— compelling evidence that a market selling live animals was the early epicentre of that covid—i9 virus. wonderful to get you on the programme, professor, took us to the research that was involved in coming to these conclusions.— involved in coming to these conclusions. , , , , ., conclusions. yes, we published two -a ers in conclusions. yes, we published two papers in science _ conclusions. yes, we published two papers in science magazine - conclusions. yes, we published two papers in science magazine today, | papers in science magazine today, the first time as you mentioned, places the neck or to market at the epicentre of this pandemic very, very clearly, and on that one, we relied on data that had been collected as part of that who

mission that was joint with china, has he mentioned, and that data has been around for about a year, but the location information, the residences of the earliest 174 cases backin residences of the earliest 174 cases back in december of 2019 weren't really easily available, and the first thing we did was work out where most of those where. and with that, we were off to the races. we could see this exquisite signal that they were clustered very near to and surrounding the wuhan market in a way that was statistically off the charts, very clear that these cases where centred on and then diffusing into the local community from the earliest time point from there. the second... earliest time point from there. the second--- if— earliest time point from there. the second- -- if i _ earliest time point from there. the second... if i may. _ earliest time point from there. the second... if i may. sorry, just to jump second... if i may. sorry, just to jump in there, i suppose what you are saying to us right now is that it helps to clear point of the

earlier mysteries of the origins of the pandemic doesn't it, how did the virus go from that wet market the wider community. i also want to point out one of the other aspects of the study that i found particularly interesting i think the reviewers will come of the pandemic, and i'm quoting here was very likely to has been a consequence of an unhealthy unhygienic practice that chinese authorities had been warned about. that's coming from one of those two studies. knowing what we do now, could we have prevented the pandemic to the extent that the world didn't need to shut down for two years? i world didn't need to shut down for two ears? ., world didn't need to shut down for two years?— two years? i went to correct you there, that — two years? i went to correct you there, that is _ two years? i went to correct you there, that is not _ two years? i went to correct you there, that is not coming - two years? i went to correct you there, that is not coming from l there, that is not coming from either of my two studies. i do apologise. — either of my two studies. i do apologise, professor, - either of my two studies. i do apologise, professor, i- either of my two studies. i do apologise, professor, i believe that does come from one of the other reports around this, but in terms of the practices that we are seeing at that wet market, i apologise, what did we learn from that?— that wet market, i apologise, what did we learn from that? well, what we are trying _ did we learn from that? well, what we are trying to — did we learn from that? well, what

we are trying to do _ did we learn from that? well, what we are trying to do here _ did we learn from that? well, what we are trying to do here is - did we learn from that? well, what we are trying to do here is figure i we are trying to do here is figure out as scientists what happened so that we can figure out how we can prevent it from happening again, so rather than getting into this game of pointing fingers, which the world has seen more than enough of, frankly, i would like these papers to be the end point of that exercise. i want to know what happened and what we can do to prevent the next one from going down the same lines, and what we know now is the wildlife trade in china is at the centre of this outbreak, so, yeah, absolutely, let's figure out what we can do to stop that from happening again, and there is plenty began to. happening again, and there is plenty bean to. ., happening again, and there is plenty bean to. . , , , began to. indeed, and 'ust briefly, talk us through h began to. indeed, and 'ust briefly, talk us through some _ began to. indeed, and just briefly, talk us through some of _ began to. indeed, and just briefly, talk us through some of the - began to. indeed, and just briefly, talk us through some of the things that we should be looking to do in the event of another outbreak. fiifi the event of another outbreak. ok, so, when the event of another outbreak. ok, so. when at — the event of another outbreak. ok, so. when at the _ the event of another outbreak. ii, so, when at the things that

the event of another outbreak. (ziii, so, when at the things that is amazing, actually, is how quickly we identify this outbreak and chinese doctors by december 27 had worked out that this was anything, and went our paper shows is that it only probablyjumped into humans may be in late november, so this is a very quick connecting of the dots when you consider how few people are infected early on. we need to detect weird cases of pneumonia that can't be explained by the things that we already know cause pneumonia, very quickly, and we need to take those people to take samples from then and to molecularly characterise them, which we can do any day now and find out is this a new coronavirus, is this a new flu virus. all of that, this a new flu virus. all of that, this pandemic has shown we can do, but we didn't do a good job in terms of moving through the paces as quickly as we could to public health

measures that actually stopped it from becoming a pandemic, but i'm encouraged that we can do a lot better and a virus like this, we could stop it next time. indeed. professor. _ could stop it next time. indeed. professor, thank _ could stop it next time. indeed. professor, thank you _ could stop it next time. indeed. professor, thank you so - could stop it next time. indeed. professor, thank you so much i professor, thank you so much for joining us on that story, and just remind our viewers that professor is one of the lead authors of that study and the professor of ecology at the university of arizona. two rationale, —— to russia now — which has said it will withdraw from the international space station after 2024, ending two decades of cooperation with the united states and other countries. washington has described the announcement as unfortunate. the head of the russian space agency said moscow would instead build its own orbiting station. here is the chief of the agency speaking to president vladimir putin earlier. translation: undoubtedly, | we will fulfil all our obligations

towards our partners, but the decision on leaving the station after the year 2024 has been made. i think that by that time, we will start forming a russian orbital station. i'm joined now by retired canadian astronaut chris hadfield, whose 20—year career in space saw him command the international space station, help build the russian space station mir, and lead a nasa team at russian mission control in moscow. chris, great to have you with us. in the first instance, ijust in the first instance, i just want to get your reaction to the news that we have had it coming from russia. ., ~' ., that we have had it coming from russia. ., ~ ., , ., that we have had it coming from russia. ., ~ ., ., , russia. you know, if you actually listen to what _ russia. you know, if you actually listen to what he _ russia. you know, if you actually listen to what he just _ russia. you know, if you actually listen to what he just said, - russia. you know, if you actually listen to what he just said, it's i listen to what he just said, it's after 2024, we are going to leave the international space station. that is at least over two years away, everybody is going to leave the space station sometime after 2024. so i see it very much, the man has only been on the job for 11 days now, so it is a good negotiating ploy. now, so it is a good negotiating ploy, but i wouldn't put too much weight into it. there are all sorts of legal things that would have to happen, but it gives them a lot of

manoeuvring and negotiating room as they look at what they want to move forward with on the space station. what do you think is behind this statement? what are they trying to achieve? ~ , ., ., achieve? well, every nation, including _ achieve? well, every nation, including the _ achieve? well, every nation, including the united - achieve? well, every nation, including the united states l achieve? well, every nation, i including the united states and achieve? well, every nation, - including the united states and all the other 13 or 14 partners of the station, they have to regularly him as their politics change, how they are going to participate in the international station. at level they are going to contribute, but their returns are going to be, so each christ —— country has their own national agenda, so everyone wants to be in a strong bargaining position from and i think by saying something sort of outlandish like this, it improves the russian bargaining position, you know, i think it makes sense if you are playing chess. it's kind of a good early move. playing chess. it's kind of a good early move-— playing chess. it's kind of a good earl move. ., ~ ., , ., ., early move. you know, you wear in sace at early move. you know, you wear in space at a — early move. you know, you wear in space at a time _ early move. you know, you wear in space at a time when _ early move. you know, you wear in space at a time when arguably - space at a time when arguably relations between depressions and

international community was better. talk us through what it was like being one of these international space missions, astronauts from all over the world, us russia working together. i over the world, us russia working totether. ., , over the world, us russia working totether. . , ., over the world, us russia working totether. ., ., . ., together. i was also a cold war ilot together. i was also a cold war pilot intercepting _ together. i was also a cold war pilot intercepting soviet - together. i was also a cold war. pilot intercepting soviet bombers together. i was also a cold war- pilot intercepting soviet bombers as a combat cold war pilot. so i have seen politics come and go and positions shift. i helped build the russian space station and i was nancy's director of operations in russia for a few years. it has never been easy, you know? we where participating during the devaluation of the rouble and during the crash of the rouble and during the crash of 2008, there is always conflict, but there is always cooperation, and just on friday, samantha christopher betty did a spacewalk with the cosmonauts, just this past week on the space station. you know, it is the space station. you know, it is the crown jewel of their programme. it is the biggest and best thing that they have in their entire space programme. so, yeah, it has never

been easy, international cooperation is difficult, but we are still doing it on a daily basis, and none of that has changed. i5 it on a daily basis, and none of that has changed.— that has changed. is it more difficult now, _ that has changed. is it more difficult now, do _ that has changed. is it more difficult now, do you - that has changed. is it more difficult now, do you think, | that has changed. is it more - difficult now, do you think, given the current tensions that the world is seeing? the the current tensions that the world is seeint ? ., , ., , is seeing? the world is a tense lace. i is seeing? the world is a tense place- i think _ is seeing? the world is a tense place. i think when _ is seeing? the world is a tense place. i think when russia - is seeing? the world is a tense . place. i think when russia invaded the crimea several years ago, that caused a lot of tension. obviously the invasion of ukraine is a traumatic and horrific thing for so many different players, specifically for everyone in ukraine and for the russian people for a long time as well. that, of course, adds to the attention of so many different fields, but meanwhile, there are seven people up on a space station running 200 experiments working very closely together, being supported by mission controls all around the world on a 24 hour basis seven days a week, and we have been doing it for almost three decades now, including mia, so i don't want to

overreact to a couple of sentences that somebody said in moscow earlier today. that somebody said in moscow earlier toda . ., , that somebody said in moscow earlier toda. ., , ~ , today. that sounds like very sensible and _ today. that sounds like very sensible and wise _ today. that sounds like very sensible and wise advice. i today. that sounds like very - sensible and wise advice. canadian astronauts, thank you so much for joining us on us on newsday. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... england beat sweden 4—0 in the women's euros semifinal, giving them a chance to win a first ever major women's tournament. the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol here, once an everyday part of the soldier's lot of trudgery

and danger, now no more after almost four decades. each one is on one's own in a private house not doing any harm to anyone. i don't really see why all these people should wander in and say "you are doing something wrong." six rare white lion cubs— are on the prowl at worchester park, and already, they've been met with a roar of approval - from visitors. they were lovely, yeah, really sweet. yeah, they were cute. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani, in singapore. our headlines... scientists find "compelling evidence" that covid—19 started in wuhan's seafood and wildlife market — casting more doubt on claims it came from a lab. the international monetary fund warns that the world could be teetering on the brink of the worst

recession for half a century. i want to tell you about a special report now, from a team of bbc journalists that have been conducting an investigation — which has uncovered the abuse and neglect of disabled people locked away in institutions in ukraine. more than a hundred thousand children and young people live in these facilities across the country hidden away from society. the majority of them have parents — but poor community services, and a lack of support means so many end up left in a system that can't meet their needs. the bbc�*s disability news producer ruth clegg, and bbc correspondent danjohnson have more — i want to warn you though, their report includes some scenes that some viewers might find upsetting. far from the front line... i've been to hundreds of institutions and i get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

..international investigations eric and halyna are uncovering ukraine's most shameful secret. the abuse and neglect of disabled people. look into these cots and you see the smothered potential and stunted growth of lives stolen by a state system that is stuck in the past. these are not children. they're young men in their 20s or 30s. what you have here is failure to thrive, because this is this person's life. inside this crib, this is all of the stimulation he has. this person is dying a slow death in this bed. here's an evacuee from the fighting in the east, but his suffering long predates the invasion. oh, my god. this is his ribs. this is his ribs hanging out. to have this kind of lack of development, that is a product

of many years of neglect. he's skin and bones. these places are relics of the soviet era, long since left behind by other countries, but the director here says ukraine still needs them. translation: this is the situation as it is. l i'm sure that for these children, instead of being in dysfunctional families where they could be uncared for, without food, here we have all the essentials. we don't need material support, but we definitely need advice — from doctors or other organisations — because i understand nothing is ideal. an hour away... ..another institution... ..with its own sights and sounds. howling.

this is vasil — a teenager, wearing a nappy and tied to a bench. and he's not the only one who's been restrained and left. there are signs the staff can't cope. they went from ten residents to 52 overnight, taking in those escaping the war. like viktor, having physiotherapy to unravel his gnarled limbs. rigid from years of institutional neglect. it's another painful illustration of a system that can seem rough and uncaring. three hours after we arrived, vasil�*s still tied down. he wants to be free, and his frustration is growing. vasil, like so many in these places, is not an orphan.

his parents have come to see him. but not many visit their children. vasil�*s mum and dad were told to give him up when he was five. he's now 18. translation: if we lived in the uk, | our son would probably live with us. | we love our country, i'm proud to be ukrainian, but we need to have this support from our state. we would like to have better conditions and more staff, of course, but this is the reality. the reality for generations of young ukrainians. their parents, the staff, everyone persuaded these institutions are where disabled people belong. this is remote, even by institutional standards. deeper into the country, we get a vision of what vasil�*s future could be like. a home for disabled adults, from which there is no escape. they'll spend the rest

of their lives here. like antonina, who's 26 — tied down by staff, in a system devoid of humanity. the nurse says there's nothing she can do to help antonina. she says, unfortunately, nature has decided their fate. and it's this system that looks natasha in the eye and says, "this is all you're worth." the doctor says they have a bath once a week, but there aren't enough staff to take everyone outside. and down the corridor we find lesha, who does something and next door, there's more desperate need. the staff are consumed by the hopelessness of an unfeeling system that reduces life to this.

do you think they're actually feeling pain? translation: yes. and you're not doing anything to help? we try to help them. it doesn't mean that we're doing nothing, but our abilities are very limited. we're not able to change either the situation or a patient. they are as they are. and there it is — the stubborn shadow of a soviet system still darkening these places and the mindset that sustains them, 30 years after ukraine's independence. a mindset that could damage its hopes ofjoining the european union. it's intolerable. if ukraine wants to be part of the western world, a law—abiding democracy, it can't write off children with disabilities. so, for how much longer will ukraine tell victor and ivan — and so many more — this is all they deserve in life?

dan johnson, bbc news. such a heartbreaking report there, and such importantjournalism. a lot more on the bbc website, i want to add, in fact, more on the bbc website, i want to add, infact, ruth more on the bbc website, i want to add, in fact, ruth clegg, the producer of that report, has written an extensive piece on the subject, so if you are looking for more in—depth analysis, do turn to the bbc website for more. turning to a different story you now and tell you about how england are through to the final of the women's euros — after beating sweden 4—0 in the semi—final. the lionesses will now face either france or germany in the final at wembley on sunday. it's theirfirst major tournament final since 2009. our sports reporter dan whitworth is in sheffield in the north of england, where the match was played. i am in the fan zone here in sheffield. this game has just finished. it's about a mile down the road.

30,000 fans have been cheering on the lionesses there, and is up to 5000 fans here in the fan zone in sheffield. i've got some i want to introduce you to. now, girls, ispoke to some of the earlier. one of you said it was going to be 4—0. what is your name? willow. willow, so you said it was going to be 4—0. it is 4-0. how do you think the game went? what do you think, how are you feeling? i think the game was amazing. i really enjoyed it. what about you ? how did you find the game? good. and where you happy with 4—0? was that enough? would you have preferred a few more goals? 4-0 is ok. who is your favourite player? who do you think deserves women of the match? i think they all did good. they all did good. i a very good answer. and what about you? i think they all that good. they all smashed it, and hopefully we will be able to snatch the finals. that's the next question, of course, because i couldn't speak to you about the final earlier. it's going to be germany or france. who do you want to play? does it matter, briefly? france. france, and you think we can beat

them and take the title? yeah. yeah? what do you say, boys? it's coming home! that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. it felt rather cool for the time of year on tuesday across much of the country, particularly in the north and the west, where we also had 1—2 heavy showers around. but high pressure dominates the scene, as well, as we head into wednesday, but its centre will be pushing towards the east of the country — and that means gradually, we'll start to import air from the south. always a slightly warmer direction, so it'll feel a touch warmer i think across the country on wednesday. we start off dry and sunny, but through the afternoon, cloud will tend to build, many places will turn quite grey, and we could see a few showers sparking off, particularly northern england in towards scotland. temperatures a bit higher — 19—20 celsius in the north, and around 20—23 celsius across england and wales, and winds will remain light. now through wednesday night, we continue with this slightly warmer southerly airflow.

quite a bit of cloud around, some splashes of rain here and there, particularly through central areas. and temperatures no lower than around 13—15 celsius in the south, still a few cooler spots in the north. so, it is warming up as we end the week. for all areas, but in particular for england and wales, it won't be wall—to—wall sunshine, there will be quite a bit of cloud around, and also some showers again, affecting more northern and western areas. thursday, our area of high pressure is very weak, out towards the north sea, bringing south southeasterly winds — these weather fronts slowly encroaching into the far west of the country later in the day. so, it'll going to be a pretty benign day, light winds, variable clouds, some sunshine around — the best of the sunshine across central and southern areas, thicker cloud across northern england and scotland, where we could see some splashes of rain here or there. but it'll feel warmer, up to 21 celsius in the central belt of scotland, maybe 24—25 celsius across the southeast. similar story on friday — probably a chance of seeing some showery rain through central and northern parts.

best of the sunshine in the south with the highest temperatures. but we'll start to see these weather fronts encroaching into the west of scotland, northern ireland later in the day. again, a warm day — up to 22 celsius in scotland, perhaps up to 27—28 in the southeast. beyond friday into the weekend, it looks like low pressure could bring more substantial rain to the north and the west of the country. very little rainfall getting into the southeast, where we really do need it. so, it'll stay quite warm into the weekend, though, with low pressure nearby, certainly to the north, we're likely see the rain here, and there will be quite a bit of cloud around at times, too.

this is bbc news. the headlines... scientists say they've found "compelling evidence" that wuhan's seafood and wildlife market was at the centre of the covid—19 outbreak. it casts more doubt on claims it came from a lab. the international monetary fund has warned that the world could be teetering on the brink of the worst recession for half a century if the effects of the ukraine war and high inflation go unchecked. russia has said it will withdraw from the international space station after 2024, ending two decades of cooperation with the united states and other countries. it said it would build its own orbiting station instead. england are through to the final of the women's european football championship after beating sweden 4—0 in sheffield.

they'll take on either germany or france at wembley on sunday.