welcome to bbc news — i'm celia hatton. our top stories... speaking to the bbc — ukraine's president zelensky urges russians to make a stand against the war. translation: all that putin afraid of, it's not| even a nuclear strike, he's afraid of his own society — he's afraid of his own people. the nobel peace prize is jointly awarded to two ukrainian and russian civil liberties groups — and an activist imprisoned in belarus. five months after the uvalde mass shooting — the school district suspends its entire police force responsible for school security. and — merry across the mersey — liverpool is picked to host next year's eurovision song

contest. president biden�*s warning that any use of nuclear weapons would lead to armageddon. he's urged russians to stand up against the war. it comes as ukrainian troops continue making steady progress in reclaiming land occupied by russian forces in the east and south of the country. our world affairs editor john simpson has been speaking to president zelensky in kyiv. they begin to prepare their society. that is very dangerous. they are not ready to do it, to use it, but they begin to communicate. what, you mean prepare society for using a nuclear weapon, you think? you know, it's. .. they don't know if they will

use or they will not use. i think that it's dangerous even to speak about it. i said, you have to do preventive kicks, not attacks, we are not terrorists, and we don't fight on another territory. even our attitude from our society, attitude to to russians after this invasion, after all these eight years war, eight years blood tragedy, even after this, attitude from us, to them, to society, we are not ready to kill people, like russians do it. translation: i would like to say that it is necessary - to act, and i will return to preemptive sanctions again. it is necessary to act now. there is no need to think about the risks that will arise later. i agree that this is armageddon. it's a risk for the whole planets.

still, why do we have to think about whether it will happen or not? is russia's made the step, it's captured our nuclear power station. the world can stop — and it can do this urgently — the actions by the russian occupiers. the world can make an appeal and it can implement a sanctions package in such cases and do all it can to make them leave this nuclear power station. in other words, they are making use of these risks. they exist already. do you think that president putin is capable of launching nuclear weapons and using them? translation: |f| say, i for instance, that they are incapable of using nuclear weapons, then someone who is not sensible can — to be contrary — and show everyone, "i can't? look how i can." and use them. if i say that he can use them, than this can cause panic in many countries, including ukraine.

all that putin is afraid of — and it's not even a nuclear strike — he's afraid of his own community. he's afraid of his own people, because only these people can remove him now — take power away from him and hand it to someone else and so on. do you think they should stand up against him? they, the people, the first thing they should fight for is themselves, and so speak their minds, take to the streets, write it, say it without being afraid. fight for themselves. these children are being mobilised now without anything, without machine guns or flag jackets. they are being deployed as meat, they are meat. they are not people. if they want to get barbecued, then fine, let them come, but if they are people after all, if they think it's about their own lives, then they need to fight. not for ukraine — we fight for ourselves —

fight for your own bodies, yourfreedom, your rights and your souls. if you do win, we'll the vladimir putin survive? translation: i don't care. we are nowjoined by john herbst, he is a former united states ambassador to ukraine, and the senior director of the eurasia centre at the atlantic council, one of leading washington think tanks, with expertise in foreign policy. what do you make of the appraisal byjoe biden and now volodymyr zelenskyy as we have just heard that any use of nuclear weapons would lead to armageddon?— nuclear weapons would lead to armageddon? well, i think this is a possibility, _ armageddon? well, i think this is a possibility, but _ armageddon? well, i think this is a possibility, but nothing - is a possibility, but nothing more. putin has been threatening the west and ukraine with at least tactical nuclear weapons since before this major invasion in february. put an�*s objective

with that is to intimidate, especially western powers, from taking strong steps to defeat his aggression in ukraine. but it's also true as nuclear experts have written and that if put in where to use a tactical nuclear weapon in ukraine, united states has such an vast superiority and weapons that we could respond with conventional weapons and a devastating fashion. so armageddon is closer if put in where to use tactical nuclear weapons, but it doesn't mean we will find ourselves in armageddon.- will find ourselves in armageddon. will find ourselves in armaueddon. ~ ., armageddon. do you think that would be the _ armageddon. do you think that would be the point, _ armageddon. do you think that would be the point, if- armageddon. do you think that would be the point, if put - armageddon. do you think that would be the point, if put in . would be the point, if put in did use a tactical nuclear weapon, would that be the point where the united states would step in to intervene in this conflict?— step in to intervene in this conflict? ., . ., ., conflict? i'm not certain what president _ conflict? i'm not certain what president biden _ conflict? i'm not certain what president biden has - conflict? i'm not certain what president biden has in - conflict? i'm not certain what president biden has in mind. | president biden has in mind. but he issued a tough statement on our programme 60 minutes a couple of sundays ago and another tough statement at the un over a week ago. jake

sullivan said something similar on us news stations on sunday two sundays back, that there would be devastating consequences for russia if they were to use it. he said it privately, we said it publicly. i think putin understands that. and we don't know what put and ultimately build the site, because he's losing the war on the ground and ukraine. we do know that this is put in�*s work, and even his advisers don't like this war much. so i suspect the council in moscow would be not to use weapons of mass destruction.— mass destruction. volodymyr zelenskyy — mass destruction. volodymyr zelenskyy has _ mass destruction. volodymyr zelenskyy has re-issued - mass destruction. volodymyr zelenskyy has re-issued a . mass destruction. volodymyr| zelenskyy has re-issued a call zelenskyy has re—issued a call for more sanctions to be placed on russia. what is your view on sanctions? what what they do at this point? sanctions? what what they do at this oint? ., this point? there are additional _ this point? there are additional sanctions l this point? there are . additional sanctions that this point? there are - additional sanctions that we could put down. specifically certain russian financial institutions have been removed from the swift system, the international payment system, but the russian economy saw

that act as sweat. if they were to use a tactical nuclear weapon, think we are moving all swift contact to the russian financial system and would have an immediate very strong impact, negative, on the russian economy, but i think, again, if put in where to use tactical nuclear weapons, the us would have to respond with military response. [30 us would have to respond with military response.— us would have to respond with military response. do you think americans _ military response. do you think americans will _ military response. do you think americans will continue - military response. do you think americans will continue to - americans will continue to support ukrainians to the same extent as the war continues to drag on? if extent as the war continues to dra: on? , , drag on? if the president explains _ drag on? if the president explains to _ drag on? if the president explains to the _ drag on? if the president explains to the american j drag on? if the president - explains to the american people all the stakes, i have no doubt that they will support it. put an�*s objective is not to seize an�*s objective is not to seize a little part of ukraine and declare peace. his objective is notjust declare peace. his objective is not just to declare peace. his objective is notjust to conquer ukraine and declare peace. his objective, which has been made clear many times, is to restrict kremlin influence across the whole space that used to make up the soviet union, and even the space that used to make up the

warsaw pact. so he wants major criminal influence in three nato member states, latvia, lithuania, and substantial influence in six or seven nato states. he wants to destroy nato, and it's a vital interest of ours to protect our nato allies. so we need to stop tuten in ukraine, simply with american money in american weapons. if biden and his team explain this clearly to the american people as ijust did, i have no doubt that there is very strong support that would continue as long as it takes. really good to get your analysis. thank you very much. my analysis. thank you very much. my pleasure. analysis. thank you very much. my pleasure-— my pleasure. former united states investor _ my pleasure. former united states investor to _ my pleasure. former united states investor to ukraine. | in moscow president putin has been celebrating his 70th birthday. the head of russia's orthodox church told the nation mr putin's rule was "mandated by god," praising him for "transforming russia's image" and defending "its national interests". but on russian television, there's now open criticism of the ukraine war. and this year's nobel peace prize has been awarded to human rights campaigners from russia, belarus and ukraine.

0ur russia editor steve rosenberg reports from moscow. 70 today, vladimir putin was hosting regional leaders — a little summit in a large palace. his guests, of course, had brought him gifts, including, bizarrely, a mountain of melons. out on the streets, a highly choreographed happy birthday. "putin's my president", they spell out. but apart from a little organised adoration, no widespread celebration. perhaps this is why. pro—kremlin commentators are now admitting that russia's doing badly in ukraine. "it's not going our way", the presenter says. "we must stop lying", says this mp and retired general. "certain leaders need to understand that." no present here for putin.

in 0slo, the nobel peace prize went to defenders of democracy and civil society. russian rights group, memorial, belarus activist ales bialiatski, and ukraine's center for civil liberties. they have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power. for more than 30 years, memorial has been cataloguing the victims ofjoseph stalin's terror and rights abuses in modern russia. the authorities have shut it down but it's still trying to operate. translation: will the prize lead to less pressure on us l from the authorities? no, it will only increase. i'm sure that in the current climate, our authorities will say, "right, theirfifth column, and they also got a nobel prize. "we'll show you how we'll

restore order in our country." a prestigious peace prize for a russian rights group will not impress russia's president. vladimir putin still seems determined to secure victory in ukraine and against the west. but at the very least, it's a show of solidarity to those inside this country who still believe it's possible to build here a civil society. don't expect the kremlin to help. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. earlier i wasjoined by one of this year's nobel peace prize winners and board member of memorial humans right defence centre, tatiana glushkova. we were shocked, we were happy, we were grateful, but i think the most important for us was that this prize was awarded jointly to ukrainian, belarusian and russian human rights defenders. and our opinion is that it is very

illustrative and important to highlight ourjoint efforts in this building and confronting what is happening now in our countries. and how do you think winning this prize will change things for you moving forward? well, our main hope is that this prize will help them to get freedom, this is our main hope. but when it comes to the change of the memorial situation, we all realise that being a nobel peace prize laureate did not protect others from being expelled from the soviet union. being a nobel peace prize winner didn't prevent others from being sent to exile. and the fact that the editor in chief was the nobel prize

winner didn't protect them from being closed by russian authorities this year. so we don't think that it will actually change the attitude of the russian authorities, but we see this as a powerful sign of support and solidarity to human rights defenders who are trying... ..who are trying to be destroyed by autocrats. let's get some of the day's other news. in thailand, distraught families have been mourning the deaths of 36 people, including more than 20 children, murdered by a former police officer in their nursery school. the country's prime minister hasjoined grieving parents placing flowers on the steps of the centre in the town of uthai sawan, where the attack took place. jonathan head has been there throughout the day,

and sent this report. how do you deal with a loss like this? in this temple, not far from the school where so many young lives were ended in the most brutal way imaginable... ..it was with heart—tearing howls of anguish. as mothers and grandmothers saw the undersized coffins — and, for the first time, the little bodies they contained. what we've been witnessing at this temple is grief on an immeasurable scale, as the full impact of the inexplicable horror visited on this community has hit home. it is grief that's being shared among friends and neighbours and by much of the country. but it is still grief as raw

and as harrowing as it gets. this couple rushed back here on news of the attack. jobs are scarce in this part of thailand, and they have to work far away. their three—year—old son, phubet, who lived with his grandmother, was one of the victims. this is a national tragedy for thailand, and the big names in thai politics came to pay their respects at the gate of the nursery building where, just 2a hours before, the former police officer had gone on his mindless killing spree. the prime minister then handed out giant cheques to the bereaved — a sign, he said, that the state would take care of those who had lost so much. probably a welcome gesture in a poor region which usually gets little attention

from the central government. but this community has been profoundly shaken by a terrible event which as yet cannot be explained. jonathan head, bbc news, north—eastern thailand. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... italy introduces measures to limit the use of gas over the winter — in the face of the global energy crisis. this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything is going to be different from now on. they think their country will be respected in the world once more as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade reached its climax, two grenades exploded, a group of soldiersjumped from the military truck taking

part in the parade and ran towards the president, firing automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeletal ribs of henry viii's _ tragic warship emerged, i but even as divers worked to bouy her up, the mary rose went through another- heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines in an interview with the bbc — ukraine's president zelensky has urged russians to stand up against the war. the nobel peace prize has been jointly awarded to a ukrainian and a russian civil liberties group — and a

belarusian activist. the shocking death of nika shakarami made her the second icon of iran's current protest movement. the 16—year—old girl was found dead days after going to protests. the authorities said she fell off a building but herfamily and their supporters disagree. her mother now says the authorities contacted them and tried to make them say that nika had killed herself. the bbc�*s parham ghobadi has this report. like many fearless iranian women, 16 year old nika karami joined the protests in tehran. but she went missing and was found dead ten days later. in her last call to herfamily, she said she was being chased by security forces. her mother says they killed her.

translation: i saw her body, her limbs, fingers, legs and body were fine, but herface, cheeks and teeth were broken. her skull was dented at the back of her head as a result of a severe blow. all the damage was done to the head. the family had no peace, even in death. her mother says security forces stole the body from the morgue and buried her secretly a0 kilometres away. this infuriated mourners who chanted "death to the dictator", a reference to iran's supreme leader, ayatollah khomeini. the police responded by firing bird shots. among the victims was this 70 year old man who had a message for the iranian leader. "the revolution has begun." all of this happened on the day nika was supposed to turn 17.

today was your birthday, sweetheart. instead, i should say happy martyrdom. like many young people from generation z, nika loved to sing. these young women and men pose the most serious challenge to the clerical regime. iranian state tv tells a different story. they say nika fell from this building. security forces contacted my relatives, threatening me to tell the story they had fabricated and to falsely confess so they can film and broadcast it to say nika committed suicide. nika might have been one of the first child victims of the protests, but she is sadly not the last. sarina, another 16 year old who rights group amnesty says was killed after severe blows to the head. the authorities said she fell off a building

too. bbc news. now for the energy crisis in the eu. far more reliant on russian gas to produce electricity and heating. governments have been fomenting strategies to reduce energy consumption. in italy, people are being urged to reduce household thermostat byi degrees and use heating for an hour or less each day. in france, then act of 19 celsius has been put on heating in public buildings. a similar limit is being imposed in spain, which extends to shopping centres and other public spaces such as airports. shop windows must fall dark by ten p:m.. here in the uk, the government has decided against imposing restrictions on public buildings or launching an advice campaign on how to save energy. let's hear more from our uk political correspondent, alex recites. we our uk political correspondent, alex recites.— our uk political correspondent, alex recites. we know about the ressure alex recites. we know about the pressure on _ alex recites. we know about the pressure on energy _ alex recites. we know about the pressure on energy supply - alex recites. we know about the pressure on energy supply and l pressure on energy supply and on prices. so within the

department of business, they been looking at a plan for a campaign to advise people on how to produce tears consumption, but downing street said that shouldn't go ahead. ministers say they are pretty secure in our energy supply committee are confident, despite the fact that there have been warnings about blackouts and the worst—case scenario, and a sense of not wanting to worry the most vulnerable, so they don't turn on heating they need to. there is an ideological on the. she doesn't want to tell people what to do, so now we have got the national grid, we've got private energy companies looking at a way to incentivise people to use less energy, particularly at peak times, and yet from the government, no advice. the host city of the 2023 eurovision song contest has been announced. the winner turned out to be liverpool — beating its rival glasgow. britain is holding the competition in may after organisers decided the winning country, ukraine, was unable to — because of the danger posed by the war. 0ur correspondent david sillito reports. liverpool, and fingers

were being crossed. the choice of which uk city would host eurovision was down to a battle between the mersey and the clyde. the city...that will host the 67th eurovision song contest in 2023 is... and the winner, announced on this evening's one show... ..liverpool. congratulations! what fantastic news! i'm absolutely over the moon. when graham was opening that envelope, iwas like, "oh, my goodness, please, please!" oh, i'm ecstatic, it's marvellous! of course, this eurovision should be taking place in ukraine, and it is now for liverpool to prove that while it can't take place in ukraine, this is going to be a eurovision for ukraine. liverpool's already had the endorsement of its twin city, 0desa, and this year's winner, the kalush 0rchestra have offered their congratulations to a city that wants eurovision to be a citywide party and a celebration of music and peace.

wejust had a real moment, haven't we, in this city, where we've won eurovision? and it feels like the whole city kind ofjumped in the air at exactly the same time tonight. and now we've got seven months to deliver something that will be truly astonishing, incredible for ukraine, our sister city 0desa, but also incredible for the whole uk, so we are delighted. but tonight liverpool, it will be absolutely buzzing, it will be incredible. and in the bars, watching the announcement, you could see what this means. the place that prides itself on being a party city... # and celebrations. ..#. ..now has a lot to organise. david sillito, bbc news, liverpool. fantastic news. and a reminder of our top story. ukraine's president zelensky has told the bbc that he echoes president's biden warning that any use of

nuclear weapons would lead to armageddon. he has urged russians to stand up against the war. it comes as ukrainian troops continue making steady progress in reclaiming land occupied by russian forces. that is all from us for now. bye—bye. hello there. brief respite on the horizon across the whole country to start the weekend, thanks to a ridge of high pressure building in. that'll settle things down to bring quite a lot of sunshine around and lighter winds on saturday for all areas. but it will be turning wet and windy again on sunday across scotland and northern ireland, tending to stay drier further south. so here it is, our area of high pressure, building in for saturday. fewer isobars on the charts, as well, so winds will be lighter, as well. so it's a chilly start to saturday, maybe a little bit of mist and fog across southern areas, but plenty of sunshine around. however, the far north and west of scotland will tend to remain breezy. more cloud here with a few showers at times, and there could be the odd shower, northern ireland, north west england too,

but most places dry — temperatures reaching 14—17 celsius. feeling quite pleasant in the south, with lighter winds. through saturday night, conditions start to deteriorate across the north and west of the country. winds pick up, cloud starts to push in, so temperatures recover, but central—southern eastern england could be really quite chilly by sunday morning with some mist and fog in places. well, the temperatures recover across the north and the west because we've got this area of low pressure sweeping into scotland and northern ireland throughout the day on sunday. so it turns much wetter here, winds picking up to gale force, maybe even severe gale force in exposure. few showers getting into the north and west of england, and into northwest wales at times, too. but for the rest of england, it'll stay dry with plenty of sunshine after that chilly start. a breezier day in the south, but very windy across the north and west with gales or even severe gales, like i mentioned. those temperatures ranging from around the mid teens in the north, again up to 17—18 celisus in the south. that band of rain spreads across all areas during sunday night, but into monday,

it will eventually clear away from the south east, and then we're into another ridge of high pressure. so many places will be dry across central and southern areas on monday. a bit more of a breeze, though, across scotland, perhaps northern ireland, the far north west of england, one or two showers here. we've got the low teens here, quite a cool feel — in fact, up to 117 celsius further south. the area of high pressure continues to bring fine weather through tuesday and wednesday in the southeast. but areas of low pressure start to turn things more unsettled again in the north and the west as we move deeper into the week. so, i think by the end of the week, all areas will be turning cooler and more unsettled with wet and windy weather spreading in at times.

this is bbc news — the headlines... ukraine's president zelensky has told the bbc that he echoes president biden�*s warning that any use of nuclear weapons would lead to armageddon. he's urged russians to stand up against the war. it comes as ukrainian troops continue making steady progress in reclaiming land occupied by russian forces. this year's nobel peace prize has been split three ways — to recognise human rights work in belarus, russia and ukraine. it's been awarded to the jailed belarusian activist — ales bialiatski — the banned russian rights group —

memorial — and the ukrainian centre for civil liberties.