welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: the philippinejournalist and nobel peace prize winner maria ressa has been acquitted of tax evasion charges. today facts win, truth wins, justice wins. as the us and uk renew their commitment to helping ukraine, troops on the frontline tell the bbc they desperately need western tanks to make progress. belgian police say a key suspect in a corruption scandal at the european parliament has cut a deal with investigators. and the tesla founder elon musk goes on trial in california

over accusations of share price manipulation. hello and welcome to the programme. the philippinejournalist and nobel peace prize winner maria ressa has been acquitted of tax evasion charges by a manila court. her news site, rappler, was also cleared of tax evasion. ms ressa, who was awarded the nobel prize alongside a russian journalist in 2021, is head of rappler, which earned a reputation for its in—depth reporting and tough scrutiny of the former president rodrigo duterte. she was convicted in 2020 for libel and does face several other charges, which she says are politically motivated. she spoke a short time ago. today, facts win, truth wins, justice wins.

a brazen abuse of power... voice waivers and meant to stop journalists from doing theirjobs, but...give me a second, these cases are where capital markets, where rule of law, where press freedom meet, right? so, this acquittal inaudible is notjust for us, _ for rappler, it is for every filipino who has ever been unjustly accused.

maria ressa speaking earlier on. brad adams, who was the asia director of human rights watch from 2002 to 2022, gave me his reaction to the news. you can see the toll this case has taken on her. as it has taken on all the staff and writers at rappler, and the filipino journalist community. what i think it signifies is that rodrigo duterte, who engaged in mass killings as president, is no longer in power. marcos, who was not known as a supporter of the free press is in power, and it is hard to imagine this case would have been dropped, they would have been an acquittal of detector was in power so i guess there is a bit of hope that marcos has decided that either he doesn't want to preside over trumped up cases against journalists like maria ressa, or he isjust going to let the judiciary do the work, and since there was not a shred of evidence of tax evasion here — basically rappler received a donation

as a non—profit from an american donor, which was not taxable. that maybe the filipino courts may be allowed to go back to theirjobs of looking at the facts, as maria said, and delivering justice, she said. you touched on the politics there — maria has said throughout that the charges against her were politically motivated. just remind us of that relationship she had with rodrigo duterte and what started this whole process. it seemed duterte hated maria for a long time because she interviewed him. he had a bad temperament. in an interview with her many years ago he admitted killing three people while he was the mayor of a city in mindanao island. and she then was leading the newspaper in documenting his war on drugs, which led

to thousands and probably tens of thousands of extra—judicial killings by the police officers. he always denied any involvement but he did call for the killing of drug traffickers and drug users and there was substantial evidence of police involvement enactment, many, many of those guns including by human rights watch, so had a vendetta against her and basically turned the courts loose on maria and rappler, and other journalists. either way, one of the biggest deviations in the country lost the license under matthew because he didn't like reporting. so this is the product of a political crusade against a journalist who is simply doing herjob. turning now to ukraine, with russian forces in ukraine's eastern donetsk again claiming again they've taken control of the city of soledar. it's not the first time they've said this — and once again it's been denied by a ukranian army spokesperson, who says fighting there is ongoing. it comes as troops on the frontline tell the bbc they welcome news from the uk

that it's sending several challenger tanks. ukraine hopes these will help turn the tide in the war. the bbc�*s andrew harding has been with a tank unit near the eastern city of bakhmut and sent this report. lurking in a snowbound forest just behind the front lines, a cluster of ukrainian tanks. but these are ancient war horses, half a century—old — no match for russia's army. "they are just not suitable for this era," the commander admits. distant artillery fire they work, but the technology has moved on, which is why there is great excitement here about the prospect of new western machines. if you could have any tank, any of these foreign tanks, would it make a difference? i think abrams is very good for us.

any tank? any tank. it is required for victory. suddenly there is incoming fire close by. a hurried exit for us, a reminder of the unpredictable nature of artillery warfare. we head closer to the front towards two furiously contested towns, soledar and bakhmut. ukrainian footage of a recent tank battle here, firing on the move. on a frozen hillside near bakhmut, we watch more ukrainian tanks in action. artillery fire they call this section of the front line the meat grinder, a savage artillery war that has raged for months with precious little progress on either side, but ukrainians here insist that's about to change. if, that is, they get

western tanks here soon. if you are going to counterattack and seize more territory, then you need tanks, need mobile artillery. sure, it very useful for counterattacking because infantry covered by tanks. for sure. . .win. without them, these front lines are going to be stuck like they are? yeah. for now, it grinds on, a cold and lethal winter stalemate. andrew harding, bbc news, in ukraine's donbas. let's get some of the day's other news. a $10,000 reward is being offered for help in catching the people who killed three generations of one family at their home in california on monday. a teenage mother, her baby and a grandmother were among six people killed at a residence in the small town of goshen. the address had recently been linked to drug—related activity, and police have said the attack was a cartel—like

execution. italian police have released cctv footage showing the alleged mafia boss matteo denaro arriving at a private hospital, just minutes before he was arrested. this is him, wearing a hood, mask and dark glasses, at the la maddalena clinic on monday morning. he had been receiving treatment for cancer, having spent three decades on the run, and has been convicted in his absence of involvement in scores of mafia murders. the swedish climate activist greta thunberg has been detained by police during a demonstration against the expansion of an open cast coal mine in western germany. ms thunberg had been protesting with activists seeking to stop the abandoned village of lutzerath from being demolished to make room for the mining project. let's go to brussels, now, and belgian prosecutors say

they've struck a deal with one of the main suspects in a european union corruption scandal. pier antonio panzeri will receive a reduced prison sentence in exchange for information. qatar has contested claims it offered bribes to try to influence the european parliament. earlier i spoke to our reporter sofia bettiza, who's been following the story. he has become a centralfigure, arrested in december with other eu officials. what is new is that he has admitted to participating in criminal organisations and actively correcting people. he has agreed to a plea bargain and thatis agreed to a plea bargain and that is significant because it means he will give a lot of information about how this criminal network was operating. mr panzeri has a lawyer who has given an interview. let's listen to what he has to say.

translation: it listen to what he has to say. translation:— listen to what he has to say. translation: it is clear that mr panzeri — translation: it is clear that mr panzeri is _ translation: it is clear that mr panzeri is involved. - translation: it is clear that mr panzeri is involved. he - mr panzeri is involved. he doesn't _ mr panzeri is involved. he doesn't deny it. this is a man who— doesn't deny it. this is a man who is— doesn't deny it. this is a man who is destroyed. he will have to tell— who is destroyed. he will have to tell everything he knows, but the _ to tell everything he knows, but the beneficiaries of the corruption phenomena, the organisation that was implemented, and the financial circus_ implemented, and the financial circus that existed. he will have — circus that existed. he will have to _ circus that existed. he will have to see everything he knows _ have to see everything he knows. this part of the commitment he has made. tell is a bit more — commitment he has made. tell is a bit more about _ commitment he has made. tell is a bit more about the _ commitment he has made. tell is a bit more about the back - commitment he has made. tell is a bit more about the back story i a bit more about the back story to these allegations because make in december, four people were by belgian police and they are accused of accepting huge amounts of cash from her three goal which hosted the world cup recently. in goal which hosted the world cup recentl . ., ., . recently. in order to influence olitical recently. in order to influence political statements. - political statements. especially when it comes to workers rights. belgian police also released some pictures. they said they found huge amounts of cash — about one and amounts of cash — about one and a half million euros — stashed

in suitcases, hotels, and an apartment. in suitcases, hotels, and an apartment-— in suitcases, hotels, and an apartment. this goes to the heart of the _ apartment. this goes to the heart of the european - apartment. this goes to the | heart of the european union. some arrested with senior officials?— some arrested with senior officials? , ~ » officials? one is a greek mep, a vice president _ officials? one is a greek mep, a vice president of _ officials? one is a greek mep, a vice president of the - a vice president of the european parliament. she denies wrongdoing, but it doesn't look good for eu institutions. it is worth remembering that qatar strenuously denies trying to buy influence in the european parliament through cash and gifts, but you know, as wejust heard from his lawyer, mr panzeri is preparing to reveal key information, including the names of the people that he bribed. ,, . ~' names of the people that he bribed. ,, . ~ , ., bribed. stick with us here on bbc news- _ madonna will tour the us and europe this summer to celebrate more than a0 years of hit songs. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several

hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him 'the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot — - a tide of humanity that's i believed by officials to have broken all records.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines — the philippinejournalist and nobel peace prize winner maria ressa has been acquitted of tax evasion charges. as the us and uk renew their commitment to helping ukraine — troops on the front line tell the bbc they desperately need western tanks to make progress. jury selection has begun in california for a civil case against the tesla owner, elon musk. the case centres on two tweets, which mr musk put out in 2018, which caused huge fluctuations in the tesla share price. the case is considering whether those tweets constituted fraud. it's being brought by investors who say the tweets were materially false and cost them billions of dollars. mr musk has already been fined $20 million by the american stock market regulator — he denies having been deceitful. 0ur north america correspondent

david willis has been following story and gave this. well, as you say, this dates back more than four years to two tweets that elon musk put out saying that he had reason to believe that he could acquire a tesla floated, basically, acquire it privately and that funding had been secured for that. $70 billion in fund that was necessary. those two tweets caused the share price of the company to soar only for it to plummet ten days later when it became clear that funding had, indeed, not been secured. now, that group of shareholders are sueing elon musk and other former and current directors of tesla for undisclosed damaged claiming that basically they committed fraud in share price manipulation. so what we have here

is elon musk being sued by his investors for remarks that he made on social media platform that he himself later acquired to the shack gran to many of those same investors. to many people, you don't have to be a tesla investor to find that all a little bit bizarre but in the often whacky world of elon musk, it's just wednesday. and, david, what is mr musk�*s defence here? well, he and his fellow defendants deny any wrongdoing in this case and they said they had ever reason to believe that funding had been secured in order to take the company into private hands based on several meetings that had taken place with a saudi billionaire. now, they have an uphill task, his lawyers, in persuading the jury to believe that based on the fact that the judge last year decided that the tweets in question were reckless and untrue as he put it, and the fact that the judge has

denied a request by mr musk to move the trial out of san francisco to texas on the grounds that he doesn't think he will get a fair trial in san francisco following the listing surrounding his acquisition of twitter. so it will take place, jury selection has taken place today. the trial itself will begin with opening statements tomorrow, and elon musk himself is expected to give evidence at some point during the three—week trial. in southern africa, thousands of children have gone back to school in malawi, after classrooms were forced shut, following an outbreak of cholera. more than 750 people have died from the disease in malawi in the last year, and schools in the capital lilongwe and elsewhere have been closed for two weeks as a precaution. daniel dadzie reports. life returns to normal in malawi's schools. the two

weeks, these children have been forced to stay at home as an outbreak of cholera ravaged the country. malawi's cholera epidemic began after tropical storm ida anna and cyclone gumby caused extensive flooding last year and overwhelmed the country's water and sanitation systems. between december and january more than 300 more deaths were recorded with 19 lives lost on new year's eve alone. the ministry of health therefore postponed the reopening of schools in the capital and the second largest city in order to check the spread. 0n city in order to check the spread. on tuesday, the students were allowed to go back to their classrooms, though the death toll continues to rise. authorities have given assurances that the school's sanitation has improved. we

have not sanitation has improved. - have got water to wash hands and soap. we also have disinfectants, chlorine cleaning the toilets and the classrooms.— cleaning the toilets and the classrooms. , ,, , , ., classrooms. the supply brought in will help _ classrooms. the supply brought in will help 89 _ classrooms. the supply brought in will help 89 schools - classrooms. the supply brought in will help 89 schools in - classrooms. the supply brought in will help 89 schools in both i in will help 89 schools in both cities — in will help 89 schools in both cities and _ in will help 89 schools in both cities and that will help around _ cities and that will help around 200,000 learners to have access_ around 200,000 learners to have access to — around 200,000 learners to have access to better hygiene. malawi _ access to better hygiene. malawi is among 31 countries hardest hit by cholera. the disease affects between 1.3 million and 4 million people each year, causing up to 143,000 deaths. the world health organization has warned that the planet is witnessing a worrying upsurge in outbreaks with climate change adding to traditional triggers such as poverty and conflict. this will

provide they hope a permanent solution. madonna has announced a new tour this summer, to mark more than 40 years of hit singles. the best—selling female music artist of all time used her instagram to share a video teeing up the tour, which will take her to 35 cities, starting in north america and moving through europe ending in amsterdam in december. the tour will kick off in the canadian city of vancouver injuly, and joining me now, the canadian screen award—winning entertainment journalist, will reid. kicking off the tour in canada, as we mentioned, what are you expecting? as we mentioned, what are you “peeling?— expecting? very excited to start in canada, _ expecting? very excited to start in canada, three - expecting? very excited to i start in canada, three shows, very excited about that. looking at it, a lot that reconnects, including the scale of it. a return to form for her in the sense that pre—covid she had not done stadiums, arenas

rather since i think 2016, so it is a return to the massive scale we know from madonna, so the stage, because it has been four years since she taught. a lot to look forward to up front but also 40 years of hits to cover, that's a lot, and awful few artist altering, so a lot to fit into the show and we know that madonna has set the precedent for a lot of the terms of the scale of the show, the content, the boundary pushing. we can expect her to be competing with a lot of younger artists, be competing with a lot of youngerartists, but be competing with a lot of younger artists, but she has influenced and they say have been influenced by her. you mention _ been influenced by her. you mention toronto, _ been influenced by her. you mention toronto, some - been influenced by her. you mention toronto, some people may be surprised because she had a run—in with the police there on the previous tour, didn't she?— there on the previous tour, didn't she? yes, that was in 1990, she — didn't she? yes, that was in 1990, she was _ didn't she? yes, that was in 1990, she was on _ didn't she? yes, that was in 1990, she was on her - didn't she? yes, that was in | 1990, she was on her blonde ambition tour. she was accused by the police here of having a lewd and indecent portion of her show and they threatened to arrest if she were to go on with it. her tour people supposedly told police they could cancel the show and then

they would have to explain comedy police, the cancellation to 30,000 people. so the show went on unchanged. she performed three sold—out shows actually and has been back to toronto several times since, so i don't think there is any reason worry. we have seen her push boundaries further since then, we have seen other artists push boundaries so i think we can expect to see a full show from her.- full show from her. you mentioned _ full show from her. you mentioned earlier - full show from her. you mentioned earlier on i full show from her. you | mentioned earlier on the influence she has had on so many other musicians during her career. are we expecting any special guest appearances during this tour?— special guest appearances durin: this tour? ., ., during this tour? you mentioned her tour announcement - during this tour? you mentioned her tour announcement video . her tour announcement video earlier and that gives you a sense ofjust earlier and that gives you a sense of just the earlier and that gives you a sense ofjust the amount of people she could call. amy schumer, jack black, diplo, copped a drag queen is going to be her opening act, lil wayne was in there. we also nenshi has been very prone to collaborate with artists from the younger generation, so she could pull from a wide range of people. you can deftly expect to see some special guests along the way but i also think you can rest assured that she

will put on a fantastic show. your favourite madonna song? i would say probably like a prayer, may be vogue. there are so many to pull from. there is 40 years of stuff. i’m so many to pull from. there is 40 years of stuff.— 40 years of stuff. i'm sure ou're 40 years of stuff. i'm sure you're looking _ 40 years of stuff. i'm sure you're looking to - 40 years of stuff. i'm sure you're looking to catching | 40 years of stuff. i'm sure i you're looking to catching the show when she comes to canada. thanks very much.— to some sporting news now and the british billionaire, sirjim ratcliffe, has confirmed he's interested in buying manchester united. the 70—year—old, who founded the chemicalfirm ineos, has been a fan of the club since he was a child. mr ratcliffe attempted to buy chelsea last year, but his offer was rejected. 0ur sports editor dan roan has this update. a lot of united fans will be hoping it happens, because so many of them are desperate to see the back of the club's american owners — the glazerfamily — who have presided over a period of decline, both on the pitch, and in terms of the stadium, old trafford, itself. now, last year, they said they would be willing to listen to offers for the club, after potentially bringing to an end a period of

ownership, 18 years almost, defined by fan protests, controversy, and debt. now, this evening, the british chemicals giant, ineos — owned by one of the country's richest men, sirjim ratcliffe — formally said he'd entered the bidding process. will it happen? well, it's important to remember that last year, ratcliffe tried and failed to buy chelsea, having bid too late. there is no doubt he will face fierce competition for united if he does bid — the glazer family are thought to want at least £5 billion, and there's expected to be interest from the middle east and us as well. but having said that, he already has significant sports investment in the likes of sailing, cycling, f1, and, of course, football — he owns the french club, nice. and he's made no secret of the fact he is a united fan — it was his boyhood club, having grown up here in manchester. and i think, for that reason, many united fans will hope the first person to formally

declare their hand when it comes to united ends up being the club's next owner. but it's important to note the process could have several months more to run. just before we go, a reminder of the top story this hour. the philippine journalist of the top story this hour. the philippinejournalist and nobel philippine journalist and nobel peace philippinejournalist and nobel peace prize maria ressa has been acquitted of tax evasion charges by a court in manila. speaking after the verdict, she described the charges as a brazen abuse of power, intended to stop journalists from doing theirjob. she has faced a string of criminal charges and investigations, which she says are part of a pattern of state harassment. she was a consistent critic of the former president rodrigo duterte and his controversial war on drugs. much more on this story and all the other stories on the bbc news website. 0r the other stories on the bbc news website. or you can download the bbc news app.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston from all of us on the team here in london, thanks for watching and we will see you next time. goodbye. hello, there. the cold weather is here to stay for a bit longerjust yet, but the amount of snow we've seen has varied a lot from place to place. many of us haven't seen a single flake over recent days. there's been a smattering over the tops of the hills of the beautiful cumbrian lake district. but a bit more than that in highland, where we have seen some places reporting over 30cm of lying snow. that's where the majority of the disruption's been, but i suspect the disruptive potential is growing — these shower clouds, many of them with snow mixed in, are starting to become more widespread, and are moving their way across more areas of the western side of the uk, and with that comes the threat of disruption. so a band of snow crosses scotland southwards, crosses northern ireland southwards, with showers becoming much more widespread for wales and areas of western england.

now, we are going to see accumulations of snow building up — 5—15cm for these areas over modest hills, but at times, the snow will come all the way down to sea level. like recent nights, we still have seepage coming in from the fields, and with a sharp frost around, it's notjust the snow that has the potential to cause some transport disruption on into wednesday morning. but there'll be widespread ice, again, bringing very, very dangerous conditions out on the roads. 0n the face of it, temperatures not quite as low as recent days. however, we've got stronger winds, and if anything, i think that's going to make it feel even colder. certainly a bitter—feeling day on wednesday. the winds ease off a little bit as we head into thursday, but we're not finished with the stream of showers — they will, this time, mostly be concentrated across scotland, perhaps a bit more of a mixture here. some rain, some sleet and a bit of snow over the hills. there'll also be a few showers affecting the northwest of both england and wales. that aside, there'll be plenty of sunshine around, and our temperatures, well, not really changing a great

deal, 5—6 celsius, maybe a seven towards parts of southwest england. however, we will see some bigger changes in our temperatures as we head into the weekend, particularly across the western side of the uk, as we start to draw up these southwesterly winds. but cold air slower to move away from the east. so, there will be a big jump up in temperatures across northern and western areas — in many cases, back into double figures — as we go through the weekend. but with that will come thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain. the colder air still hanging on across eastern areas, but even here, temperatures should slowly rise closer to normal.

hello there. this is bbc news. the headlines: the philippinejournalist and nobel peace prize winner maria ressa has been acquitted of tax evasion charges. her news site, rappler, was also cleared. after the verdict, ms ressa described the charges as "a brazen abuse of power" intended to stop journalists from doing theirjob. the us secretary of state says his country and the united kingdom are in lockstep over their commitment to supporting ukraine in its fight against russia's invasion. ukrainian troops on the frontline have told the bbc that they desperately need western tanks to make progress against the russians. the former mep pier antonio panzeri — who's one of the key suspects in a european parliament corruption scandal — has agreed to help prosecutors

in brussels in return for a reduced prison sentence. both qatar and morocco deny claims they bribed officials to win influence in parliament. good morning dew. it is 3.30. now on bbc news, here's panorama. the nhs is under intense pressure. emergency departments are packed. it is pressure. emergency departments are acked. , pressure. emergency departments are packed-— are packed. it is the most pressure _ are packed. it is the most pressure i _ are packed. it is the most pressure i have _ are packed. it is the most pressure i have felt - are packed. it is the most pressure i have felt as - are packed. it is the most pressure i have felt as a l pressure i have felt as a clinician in my time since i qualified. clinician in my time since i qualified-— clinician in my time since i qualified. staff say they are at breaking _ qualified. staff say they are at breaking point. - qualified. staff say they are at breaking point. during i qualified. staff say they are at breaking point. during a| at breaking point. during a “an, at breaking point. during a jazz. our— at breaking point. during a jazz, our nhs. _ at breaking point. during a| jazz, our nhs. ambulances at breaking point. during a - jazz, our nhs. ambulances are crueuein jazz, our nhs. ambulances are queueing for — jazz, our nhs. ambulances are queueing for hours. _ jazz, our nhs. ambulances are queueing for hours. it - jazz, our nhs. ambulances are queueing for hours. it can - jazz, our nhs. ambulances are queueing for hours. it can be l queueing for hours. it can be desperate for patients. everyone was absolutely crammed full. 50 everyone was absolutely crammed full. ,, ., ., , everyone was absolutely crammed full. ., , ., full. so what needs to change? i have full. so what needs to change? i have been _ full. so what needs to change? i have been meeting _ full. so what needs to change? i have been meeting doctors i

full. so what needs to change? i i have been meeting doctors and nurses rethinking healthcare, picking problems up early.