jonathan head, bbc news, north—eastern thailand. welcome to bbc news, i'm ben boulos. our top stories: ukraine says more mass graves have been unearthed in areas of the country recently liberated from russian forces. in a bbc interview, ukraine's president zelensky urges russian civilians to make a stand against the war. all that putin is afraid of, it is not even a nuclear strike. he is afraid of his own society, he is afraid of his own people. grief beyond measure, families mourn the deaths of 36 people murdered at a nursery school in thailand.

france urges all its nationals to leave iran "as soon as possible", saying they now face a high risk of arbitrary detention. and, jubilation as liverpool is picked to host next year's eurovision song contest. ukrainian authorities say they've located two burial sites in the eastern town of lyman which was recently liberated from russia. these images of the burial sites havejust come in. one site is believed to contain about two hundred graves of civilians while another mass grave is believed to contain both civilians and soldiers. the discovery comes as president zelensky says the world must act now to stop

russia's nuclear threat. speaking in kyiv to our world affairs editorjohn simpson, ukraine's leader warns that russian officials have begun to �*prepare their society�* for the possible use of nuclear weapons, although he does not believe the country is ready to use them. here'sjohn�*s report. yesterday, president zelensky alarmed a lot of people by seeming to say he wanted a pre—emptive strike to stop russia using battlefield nuclear weapons. today, he was keen to say he'd just been talking about pre—emptive sanctions against russia, but he says that russia is preparing people for the use of nuclear weapons. 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. do you think that president putin is capable of launching nuclear weapons and using them? translation: |f| say, - for example, they are incapable of using nuclear weapons, then an inadequate person who has this power in his hands will say, "really? i can't?" "well, here, see how i can,"

and therefore use it. now, if i say he can use it, it can cause panic moods in many countries, including ukraine. all that putin is afraid of — it's not even a nuclear strike — he's afraid of his own society. he is afraid of his own people, because only these people can replace him — strip him of his power and give it to another person. do you think they should stand up against him? translation: they shouldn't be afraid. | let them not fight against somebody, but for themselves. and he had a word for the russian soldiers who are sent here. translation: those mobilised kids - now, well, they come with nothing, without guns or body armour. they are being thrown here like cannon fodder, not people. if you do win, will vladimir putin survive?

translation: i don't care. you don't care if he is still in power, whether he's thrown out? translation: not in the slightest. . mr zelensky has developed into an impressive war leader, but he knows the war is now entering its most dangerous phase. john simpson, bbc news, kyiv. in moscow, president putin has been celebrating his 70th birthday, with rallies of support and praise from the head of the orthodox church, but there is now open criticism of the ukraine war on russian television. and this year's nobel peace prize has been awarded to human rights campaigners from russia, belarus and ukraine. our 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 oslo, the nobel peace prize went to defenders of democracy and civil society. russian rights group, memorial, belarus activist ales bialiatski, and ukraine's centre 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 from the authorities? no, it will only increase. i'm sure that in the current climate, our authorities will say, "right, their fifth 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. we're joined byjames acton, co—director of the nuclear policy programme at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he's in arlington in virginia. good to have you with us, what do you make of president biden�*s comments and has reference to armageddon? this is a dangerous _ reference to armageddon? ti 3 is a dangerous situation and i think the comments are revealing in they indicate that the president who is responsible for the safety of hundreds of millions of people in an honest to god nuclear crisis, very much has his mind on trying to resolve this in a way that doesn't use nuclear weapons. and i think it is important to realise that although russian�*s first use of

nuclear weapons in the unlikely but possible event that that occurs would likely have very limited direct effect. a risk of escalation would be present in any nuclear conflict.- in any nuclear conflict. what are the options _ in any nuclear conflict. what are the options open - in any nuclear conflict. what are the options open to - in any nuclear conflict. what are the options open to the | are the options open to the united states in terms of the assistance they can provide to ukraine without tipping putin towards that threat he keeps making of deploying what was it, he said all means necessary to protect russian territory, which in his view now includes certain eastern regions of ukraine?— certain eastern regions of ukraine? ~ ., , , ukraine? the white house is t in: to ukraine? the white house is trying to walk _ ukraine? the white house is trying to walk a _ ukraine? the white house is trying to walk a tightrope - trying to walk a tightrope here. there should be no doubt that ukraine is morally and legally in the right in this conflict. it has the moral legal right to take back all its territory including crimea. the question is, are you willing to pay the possible price of a nuclear war for that? and i think what the

white house is trying to do is to support ukraine, provide it with material and equipment to fight the conflict, but not do so in such a way that leads russia to use nuclear weapons and i think there are very hard questions to be asked here about what engagement the us should ask the ukraine to accept an exchange for the support it is receiving. something that has been imposed is that ukraine is not allowed to use these weapons to attack russia, and i think there are important questions here about whether it is in ukrainian and us interests for that matter, particularly for ukrainians, to take back crimea, were they in a military position to do so which is farfrom certain. i which is far from certain. i mean, the worry is, the greater the losses that russia enjoys on the battlefield, in a sense, the less putin may feel he has to lose by escalating, because

he is determined to spin some sort of victory out of this invasion. so is there potentially a paradox in that the west is willing ukraine on to succeed, if it does, it almost put ukraine in greater jeopardy. almost put ukraine in greater 'eo ard . ., ., ~' ~' almost put ukraine in greater 'eoard . ~ ., , jeopardy. look, ithink that is exactly right- _ jeopardy. look, ithink that is exactly right. i've _ jeopardy. look, ithink that is exactly right. i've always - exactly right. i've always thought there are three conditions that would make nuclear use by russia much more likely. one is a catastrophic conventional defeat. i happen to think that ukraine taking back the don bass bubbly wouldn't trigger russian nuclear use, a worry much more about crimea. a second is putin losing his hold on power and a third is the complete collapse of the russian economy. and in those circumstances, one can imagine putin making much more severe threats and conceivably even using weapons on a limited scale and impact order to try

to extract concessions. we have to extract concessions. we have to take a very cold, hard evaluation of our interests in this calculus and it doesn't seem to be that our interest is served by a nuclear war. for that matter at an ukraine's interests are served by a nuclear war although it is certainly not up to me to find what those interests are. none of this is just, what those interests are. none of this isjust, none of what those interests are. none of this is just, none of this is right but it is the reality of fighting a war against a nuclear armed state which is that it nuclear armed state which is thatitis nuclear armed state which is that it is not in your interest to push the adversary so far that it might use nuclear weapons. that it might use nuclear weapons-_ that it might use nuclear weaons. . ., weapons. thank you for your analysis. _ weapons. thank you for your analysis, james. _ let's get some of the day's other news. at least three people have died following an explosion in county donegal in ireland. emergency services are continuing to search the area in case there are others trapped under debris. a number of others are being treated in hospital. the blast caused significant damage to a petrol station although it's not clear yet where the centre of the blast

was from. in texas, the entire police department in the uvalde school district has been suspended, following the mass shooting in may. 19 students and two teachers were killed at robb elementary school. the delayed police response has been widely criticised and is under investigation. a trade minister in the british government, conor burns has been sacked after a "complaint of serious misconduct" against him. he has also been suspended from the conservative parliamentary party. the mp says he has not been given any information about the allegation and that he looks forward to clearing his name. 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 yesterday. 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 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. by a terrible event which as yet cannot be explained. jonathan head, bbc news, north—eastern thailand. the mother of a teenage girl who died during protests in iran has accused authorities of murdering her daughter. authorities say nika shakarami, 16, appears to have been thrown from a building, possibly by workmen. but nasrin shakarami said she had seen injuries on her daughter's body which contradict an official statement. meanwhile, an officialforensic report has said a woman whose death sparked the protests died from "ill health". the family of mahsa amini, a 22—year—old iranian kurd, say she died as a result of being beaten by morality police.

meanwhile france is urging all its nationals to leave iran "as soon as possible", and said they now face a high risk of arbitrary detention. this comes after iranian state television aired what it says are "confessions" by two french citizens of spying in the country. iran has continued to claim that the widespread protests led by women, are orchestered by the west and israel. france as well as other countries like the netherlands are concerned that iran is going to use a tactic it has used before, and that is the arbitrary detention of dual nationals. this comes after state media in iran on thursday at an apparent confession of two french citizens who said they were spies sent by the french government to sow dissent within the country as well as lay the groundwork

for a revolution. france has of course called for their release, it says they are hostages who were arrested back in may, and that they are in fact coerced into these confessions. it is important to remember that the supreme leader ali khamenei as well as the government have regularly said that widespread protest within the country are in fact orchestrated by the west and by israel. and so these apparent confessions fit neatly into that argument, and the timing is particularly opportune for the government. but this hasn't deterred western countries from taking strong actions in response to the violent crackdown we are seeing now, and that includes expanded sanctions by the us as well as canada this week against leaders in iran. and within iran itself, that development that the medical examiner's report on the death of mahsa amini, what more do we learn from that? yes, so the protests we are seeing today are protests that were galvanised by the death of mahsa amini in custody by the morality police,

it was after allegations and reports that the police in fact beaten her, and that she had received blows to the head. now this medical report that has finally been released confirms what the government said from the beginning, that in fact she had an underlying health condition. but her family has regularly denied this to bbc persian, as has her lawyer through public statements, and they have called for an independent enquiry. the question is also, who is this report for? who is the audience here — because this wasn't just about the morality police's tactics, these protests on the streets are about what the protesters say is a system that represses women's rights, that denies them fundamental rights, and it is also about a government that the protesters say they are simply rejecting right now. so if this was meant to calm them down, to calm the unrest in the country, that seems unlikely to happen. but what is more likely is that this is one piece of the islamic republic's strategy to deal with

the current dissent, and that is why the supreme leader ali khamenei has also been supporting the security forces in their violent crackdown against protesters. the aviation industry has agreed to a long—term goal of decarbonising air travel. the international civil aviation organisation, meeting in canada, has accepted a plan for net—zero emissions by 2050. airlines have agreed to offset their carbon and develop greener fuels. the bbc�*s tim allman has the story. when you look up to the skies, you can see the threat to our climate first hand. criss—crossing through the air, an industry that endangers the environment with every single flash. but now, airline companies have agreed a deal that could perhaps make a difference. in a statement, the

head of airports council international said: and john kerry, president biden�*s climate invoice said he was: so what have they agreed? well, the aviation industry contributes around 2.5 — 3% of global co2 emissions. the plan is to decarbonise with a target of net zero by 2050. the airlines say it will require an investment of more than $1.5 trillion. how will they do it? apparently they will use a system of carbon offsetting. for every flight, a certain number of trees will be planted which can absorb co2 from the air. the airline industry may also try to encourage the development of greener more sustainable fuel.

critics remain unconvinced, saying this is a non—binding goal that will fail to reduced carbon emissions to zero by 2050. but the airline industry insists it is a start, a step, even a flight in the right direction. tim allman, bbc news. there was lots of excitment here in the uk tonight and beyond as the host city of the 2023 eurovision song contest was announced. liverpool! congratulations! cheering and applause liverpool beat glasgow to be named as the host of the 2023 eurovision song contest. this year's competition was actually won by ukraine, with britain coming second. but the event's organisers, the european broadcasting union, decided next year's competition couldn't be hosted by ukraine because of the danger posed by the war, and asked britain to step in. alasdair rendall is

the uk's top eurovison superfan. i asked him earlier what the eurovision fans' verdict was after hearing liverpool will host in 2023. yeah, so i was watching the live reveal earlier this evening with a bunch of other eurovision fans here in cardiff, and the reception was great. whatever city had won, glasgow or liverpool, would have been an amazing choice, but there were big cheers in the room when liverpool was announced, i think it is going to be a fantastic host city. you say cheers for liverpool — lulu said her heart sank when the announcement was made that it wasn't glasgow. how could they do that to her! i know, poor lulu! but then of course sonia, she was cheering for liverpool, so the big eurovision heavyweights were up against each other. ok, alasdair, we are speaking — clearly there is a bit of shared enthusiasm for eurovision here, but there will be some people who look at this and say, goodness, it is going to cost liverpool millions

and millions of pounds to host this — is it worth it? it is absolutely worth it. it will be the focal point notjust for europe but for the world for that week in may next year. it is going to be an absolutely amazing experience, there will be people travelling from across europe and beyond to descend on liverpool to watch the show, to soak up the atmosphere, all the host cities have done an amazing job over the last few years, and ijust know liverpool is going to do just a fantastic show. the atmosphere — we are months away already and the atmosphere is really building, it's going to be incredible. of course one of the big difficulties — not difficulties, but one of the logistics to sort out is all the acts that were scheduled to be in the arena, they have got to reschedule those dates. so presumably they have got to send some big apologies to fans who were looking forward to seeing some of our favourite pop stars? i know, there will be a few difficult conversations to be had, but you know, it is eurovision, it's absolutely worth it. if i was one of those global

superstars who had been preparing to play in liverpool, i would be happy to give up a week or so, because it is the world's biggest music event after all. the next challenge will be to get people's hands on not only hotel rooms but putting it as well, that is the big challenge. it will be like gold dust trying to get tickets for liverpool this year. every year it is a real battle for fans to get tickets to the show, but i think this year, even moreso for 2023. but for those lucky people it is really going to be worth it. and even if you don't get tickets for the grand final, there is the semifinals, there's the jury finals, you will hopefully be able to watch it on big screens in the city, so it is going to be a great show nonetheless. before we go, we thought we'd bring you the official unveiling of a statue to honour a rescue dog called frida. known for her custom—made doggy goggles and boots, the yellow labrador became a social media star after her search and rescue efforts in mexico in the aftermath of the september 2017 earthquake, turning into a source of inspiration

and pride for mexicans. thanks for watching, i will see you very soon. 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 and exposure. few showers getting into the north and west of england, and into north—west 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 celsius 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 16 or 17 celsius further south. the area of high pressure continues to bring fine weather through tuesday and wednesday in the south—east. 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. in thailand, distraught

families have been mourning the deaths of 36 people, including more