welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... the us defence department says it's "confident" a balloon spotted over montana is a chinese surveillance platform. the us also reaches a deal to increase its military presence in the philippines as it seeks to counter chinese influence in the region. a former russian officer tells the bbc he witnessed russian soldiers humiliating and shooting ukrainian prisoners of war. translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. _ the colonel put a pistol to the prisoner's for head and said, "i'm going to count to three and shoot you in the head."

the australian tennis star nick kyrgios is due in court in canberra later, charged with an alleged assault of a former partner in 2021. and covid, vaccines, and those conspiracy theories — we speak to the microsoft founder and philanthropist, bill gates. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello, and welcome to the programme. we start with breaking news from the us — where the defence department says it's "confident" a balloon spotted over montana is a surveillance platform from china. a short while ago, the pentagon press secretary brigadier general pat ryder put a statement on the us department of defence website confirming the high altitude surveillance balloon is being tracked.

he added... he also said... i'm joined now by peter bowes for more on this story. peter, great to get you on the show. in the first instance, what do we know about this? well, according to the pentagon, we know that the surveillance balloon, believed to be china's, has been hovering over the united states for several days — specifically detected over the city of billings, in the state of montana. we don't know, or the pentagon isn't saying where it is believed to be right now, but we understand from what the officials were there saying

there is it is still hovering somewhere over the united states at stratospheric altitudes, which means extremely high, much higher than commercial aircraft— therefore it is imposing any danger to aircraft, it is imposing any danger to people on the ground either. we understand that at one stage, the option of shooting out of the option of shooting out of the air was considered, and in fact military aircraft were involved at one stage. that idea of shooting it down was rejected because of the danger of a potential debris field, that's bits of debris coming down from the balloon and posing a danger to people on the ground. so it is still up there somewhere. also, we understand from those officials that they don't believe it is collecting sensitive material thatis collecting sensitive material that is so critical that it couldn't have been collected in any other ways, in terms of

spying it using satellites, for example. so it seems at least for the time being that the monetary process is continuing, the surveillance is continuing very closely by the military, but the balloon continues to hover. ., hover. indeed, peter, thanks for the update _ hover. indeed, peter, thanks for the update on _ hover. indeed, peter, thanks for the update on that - hover. indeed, peter, thanks for the update on that story. | for the update on that story. and we will be reaching out to the chinese authorities to get there opinions on the claims for the united states and will keep you updated here on newsday. there's been a big development in a story we brought you 2a hours ago. america has sealed a deal to greatly increase its military presence in the philippines. the deal gives the us access to four more military bases in the philippines, which will make a total of nine. china's foreign ministry called the agreement a threat to regional stability. but the us and the philippines said it would boost peace and freedom. i've been speaking to gregory b poling — a senior fellow at the centre

for strategic and international studies in washington — and the author of a recent book on territorial disputes in the south china sea. he told me how significant this agreement could be. it is pretty significant. the american government has made commitments, explicit commitments to the philippines since at least 2019 to defend filipinos if they come under attack in the south china sea. and it's always been pretty clear that it couldn't do that from guam or okinawa. it needed access, more access to philippine facilities. so that's directly important. the other piece is this is part of an 18—month—long process of strengthening the alliance. it's just one of a series of agreements that have been ongoing. what does it say, do you think, about the relationship that the philippines has with both china and the us? because of course, it has had in the past to strike a delicate balance between the two. well, in your intro, you pointed out the previous government of rodrigo duterte

did really bend over backwards in an attempt to appease beijing, improve ties with china, even at the cost of the long—standing alliance with the united states. and china's response to that was to not reciprocate. it didn't deliver aid or investment as requested or as promised, and most importantly, it increased its coercion and bullying, and violence in the south china sea rather than dialling it back. so what all that has done is reinforce this strategic consensus within manila that they face an external threat from china, that it's only getting worse and that their only option is to deepen the alliance with the united states. and ijust wonder what you think of the sort of wider region, gregory, given the fact that, you know, the philippines and that relationship between the us and china is just one of example of the countries that are caught in the middle of these two superpowers. do you think that many other

asian countries might be looking at this and thinking, "we might do the same thing?" well, i don't think that you're going to see the same kind of tightening with non—allies. so the philippines, japan, australia, and the republic of korea are in a camp of their own as longstanding us allies — and in the case ofjapan and the philippines, as the direct targets of chinese coercion. we should not discount the agency of these countries. the philippines is not doing this because it's been tricked by the us. the philippines is doing this because it's been kicked around by china for more than a decade. other countries, though, are deepening security and diplomatic cooperation both with the us and with each other and other parties like the japanese, largely because they don't like what they see from china's behaviour. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... one child has been killed and a second badly injured when a freight train hit pedestrians in the german town of recklinghausen. eyewitnesses say the victims were dragged by the train

for several hundred metres. rescue workers are at the scene of the accident, near a former freight yard. ilhan omar, a high—profile democrat and the first muslim us congresswoman, has been voted off the powerful foreign affairs committee by republicans. they accused her of making repeated anti—semitic comments. the white house has described the move as a political stunt by the recently—installed narrow republican majority. a guantanamo bay prisoner who once worked for al-qaeda and was tortured by the cia has been released and resettled in belize. majid khan said he planned to make the most of his second life. he's the biden administration's first resettlement of a prisonerfrom guantanamo — the us military base in cuba. the manchester united footballer mason greenwood is no longerfacing charges of attempted rape and assault. the crown prosecution service said the withdrawal of key witnesses, and the discovery of new information in the investigation, meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. he was originally charged

after audio of the alleged assault went viral last year on social media. a former russian army officer has told the bbc he witnessed russian soldiers committing war crimes in ukraine. in an exclusive interview, konstantin yefremov said ukrainian prisoners of war were humiliated, beaten, and shot. mr yefremov left the russian army in august last year and has fled abroad. he spoke to the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg. this is the war in ukraine — the official russian version of it. packaged, promoted, propagandised by moscow. fearless russian soldiers fighting the good fight, defending the motherland. but konstantin yefremov was there, and the reality, he says, is very different.

konstantin was a senior lieutenant in the russian army, but he's fled russia and he's agreed to tell me about crimes he says he saw russian soldiers committing in ukraine. starting here. this is one of konstantin�*s first photos from ukraine — an air base seized by russian troops in melitopol. translation: i saw looting there. - soldiers and officers grabbed everything they could. they climbed all over the planes and went through all the buildings. buckets, axes, bicycles — they bunged it all in trucks. konstantin says that on the day russia invaded ukraine, he tried to quit the army. he was warned he'd face up to ten years in prison for desertion. in occupied ukraine, he was sent to guard this artillery unit, and then a facility where he says he witnessed

ukrainian prisoners of war being tortured. translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. _ the colonel put a pistol to the prisoner's forehead translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. _ and said, "i'm going to count to three and then shoot "you in the head." he counted, and then fired just to the side of his head, on both sides. the colonel started shouting at him. isaid, "comrade, colonel, he can't hear you. "you've deafened him." the interrogations became increasingly violent, claims konstantin. translation: duringj another interrogation, the colonel shot the prisoner in the arm and in the right leg, under the knee and hit the bone. i went to the commanders and said, "the ukrainian "needs to go to hospital. "he'll be dead by morning from blood loss." we dressed him up in a russian uniform and took him to hospital.

we told him, "don't say you're a ukrainian prisoner of war "because either the doctors will refuse to treat you or "the injured russian soldiers will hear you and shoot you." the bbc has verified documents, photographs, and videos provided by konstantin confirming his identity and his movements. once he'd returned to russia, back on base, he was accused of a serious breach of discipline — for refusing to go back to ukraine. he was dismissed from the army. a russian human rights group, gulagu.net, has helped him leave the country. translation: i apologise to the whole ukrainian - nation for coming to their home as an uninvited guest with a weapon in my hands. i don't even have a moral right to ask forforgiveness from the ukrainians.

i can't forgive myself, so i can't expect them to forgive me. konstantin says that senior officers called him a traitor for being anti—war, but he points out that he gave an oath to protect his country, not to attack another. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: why a young woman and her tote bag have been at the centre of a debate on class and wealth in singapore. we'll be speaking to tiktoker zoe gabriel right after the break. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile,

the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. a countdown - to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 - of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket —i slashing the cost of a launch — that makes this _ a breakthrough in the . business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing a solo around the world nonstop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani

in singapore. our headlines... the us defence department says it's "confident" a balloon spotted over montana is a chinese the us also reaches a deal to increase its military presence in the philippines, as it seeks to counter chinese influence in the region. the australian tennis star nick kyrgios is due in court in canberra on friday, after being charged with an alleged assault of a former partner in december 2021. lawyers for mr kyrgios have said they will apply to have the assault charge against him dismissed on mental health grounds. i'm joined now by our correspondent phil mercer, who's in canberra. great to get you on the programme, give us a sense of where we're at right now with this case?— this case? lawyers for the australian _ this case? lawyers for the australian tennis - this case? lawyers for the australian tennis star- this case? lawyers for the australian tennis star say| this case? lawyers for the i australian tennis star say his mental health troubles have been well documented in his medical history for several

years. indeed, nick kyrgios has spoken openly about his battles, his loneliness, his depression and also his abuse of alcohol. so under the crime act here in the australian capital territory, the magistrate has the authority to dismiss these assault charges against nick kyrgios on the grounds of mental health. and it is finally a decision for the director of public prosecution if the magistrate decides that's the way the court wants to go. nick kyrgios is expected in court today for the very first time — he's not attended previous hearings, so in the next few hours, we are expecting the magistrate to decide what happens next. phil. decide what happens next. phil, thanks for keeping _ decide what happens next. phil, thanks for keeping us _ thanks for keeping us up—to—date on that story. the new zealand government has

weighed into reports that fifa is set to allow saudi arabia's tourism authority to sponsor the 2023 women's world cup. new zealand sports minister grant robertson said fifa should consider the "empowerment of women and girls" when making commercial arrangements. fifa should consider the "empowerment of women football australia and new zealand football have said they are "shocked and disappointed" by the reported deal. i'm joined now by ben freeman, research fellow at the quincy institute for reponsible statecraft. thank you forjoining us. we haven't heard yet from fifa, half weak, but what are your thoughts on what's happened so far? . ~ thoughts on what's happened so far? ., ~' , ., thoughts on what's happened so far? ., ~ i. ., thoughts on what's happened so far? ., ~ ., ., far? thank you for having me. it's far? thank you for having me. it's curious — far? thank you for having me. it's curious that _ far? thank you for having me. it's curious that fifa _ far? thank you for having me. it's curious that fifa hasn't - it's curious that fifa hasn't responded yet because with this incident, it's yet another iteration of a saudi campaign to sports watch their image. when we think about saudi arabia, they don't want us thinking aboutjamaal khashoggi

thinking about jamaal khashoggi or the thinking aboutjamaal khashoggi or the devastating war in yemen. they want to think about soccer — or what we call football. they want thinking about any of the many sports they are using to launder their reputation. they are using to launder their reputation-— reputation. what do you think the response _ reputation. what do you think the response might _ reputation. what do you think the response might be - reputation. what do you think the response might be from l the response might be from fifa, given their cyst growing criticism and understandable outrage in australia and new zealand —— given there's this growing. it zealand -- given there's this curowin. ., , ., ., ., growing. it would behove for to take saudi _ growing. it would behove for to take saudi arabia _ growing. it would behove for to take saudi arabia off— growing. it would behove for to take saudi arabia off as - growing. it would behove for to take saudi arabia off as a - take saudi arabia off as a sponsor of the women's cup. we know that women's rights in saudi arabia are severely infringed upon. in fact, women infringed upon. in fact, women in saudi arabia are jailed and tortured for even advocating for women's rights. so it seems hypocritical to have a regime like that be one of the lead sponsors of the women's world cup. sponsors of the women's world cu -. . ., . , cup. there were concerns obviously — cup. there were concerns obviously over _ cup. there were concerns obviously over qatar - cup. there were concerns i obviously over qatar holding the football world cup — that

still went ahead despite those concerns, so given that history and the fact that we are seeing increasing pressure and criticism, what do you expect the outcome of this controversy to be? �* , . , the outcome of this controversy tobe? �*, ., , ., ., the outcome of this controversy tobe? �*, ., , ., to be? it's really tough to say with fifa, _ to be? it's really tough to say with fifa, because _ to be? it's really tough to say with fifa, because fifa - to be? it's really tough to say| with fifa, because fifa doesn't seem to have any qualms with working with authoritarian regimes. if you look at the qatar world cup, we knew from the very beginning of that that there were fifa officials who were bribed by qatari agents to even get that world cup to happen in qatar. so in this case, it's not clear to me that evenif case, it's not clear to me that even if you have australia and new zealand being outraged and other countries coming out in opposition to this too, even with all that, it's not clear to me fifa will do the right thing and ask the saudis to step down from sponsorship. ben freeman, thanks forjoining us on the programme. freeman, thanks for “oining us on the programme._ freeman, thanks for “oining us on the programme. now a bit closer to home — a teenage girl is sparking debate about class after posting this seemingly

harmless video. in it, 17—year—old zoe gabriel was thanking her father for buying her, her "first luxury bag". but here's the catch — the bag retails for $80 singapore, or about $60 us. her video has since gone viral, drawing more than 20 million views. while some people wrote positive remarks complimenting her and saying they liked her new bag, others appeared to mock her for using the term "luxury" to describe the item. with me now is zoe. it's wonderful to have you on the show, and can ijust say what a self—assured response you had — i watched both videos and how you handled the criticism, it can't be easy to be in the spotlight that way. are you responded that mike by how there responded to your video. �* ,., how there responded to your video. �* ., , _ ., how there responded to your video. �* ., , video. i'm so happy that they did, and to —

video. i'm so happy that they did, and to see _ video. i'm so happy that they did, and to see all— video. i'm so happy that they did, and to see all the - did, and to see all the positive comments coming in, i'm very happy with them. that's the bag, isn't it? talk us through why this bag was so special for you, us through why this bag was so specialfor you, as i special for you, as i understand specialfor you, as i understand it, yourfather got understand it, your father got it understand it, yourfather got it for you as a gift? especially because it's my first big girl bag — everything elsejust kept breaking first big girl bag — everything else just kept breaking and this is the only one that has stuck with me throughout. find stuck with me throughout. and in the video, _ stuck with me throughout. and in the video, you _ stuck with me throughout. and in the video, you talked about how some commenters criticised you calling it a luxury bag, effectively mocking you for what they believe to not be something luxurious — it's tough being a young person in singapore these days, isn't it, with the focus on status and wealth. give us a sense of what that might be like?— that might be like? how it's like to live _ that might be like? how it's like to live in _ that might be like? how it's like to live in this _ that might be like? how it's like to live in this country i like to live in this country was white as a young person and having to deal with the pressures of the social dynamics of wealth, status and

class? ., , ., ~ , class? for me, i 'ust make sure to appreciate — class? for me, ijust make sure to appreciate everything - class? for me, ijust make sure to appreciate everything i've i to appreciate everything i've been given, whether big or small. in been given, whether big or small. , ., ,.,, small. in terms of the positive comments. — small. in terms of the positive comments, were _ small. in terms of the positive comments, were you - small. in terms of the positive comments, were you pleased| small. in terms of the positive i comments, were you pleased to receive those, and what were telling people about how you to those? i telling people about how you to those? . ., ., ., those? i received a lot of comments _ those? i received a lot of comments of _ those? i received a lot of comments of people - those? i received a lot of- comments of people actually sharing their own experiences, and for those people who have shared their experiences, i've learned a lot and i'm so grateful for those lessons too. what are some of the things they told you and what experiences did you find particularly gratifying to read about, and also share with them? . , , about, and also share with them? ., , , ., about, and also share with them? .,, , ., ., ., them? there was this one woman who e-mailed _ them? there was this one woman who e-mailed me _ them? there was this one woman who e-mailed me with _ them? there was this one woman who e-mailed me with an - who e—mailed me with an experience similar to mine. she said she came to singapore with very little, and that she grounded herself and herfamily — and i could relate to that too, and it's how i can still ground myself today. too, and it's howl can still ground myself today. that's wonderful. _ ground myself today. that's wonderful, and _ ground myself today. that's wonderful, and i'm - ground myself today. that's wonderful, and i'm so - ground myself today. that's i wonderful, and i'm so pleased you had a positive expanse out of this. so we gabriel, thanks forjoining us on the programme. bill gates has said

that he was surprised to be at the centre of so many conspiracy theories during the pandemic. the philanthropist, who has donated tens of billions of dollars to the causes of global health and tackling climate change, was accused of profiting from covid—i9, or even spreading it. amol rajan reports. for most of his life, bill gates has been the richest man in the world. but the founder of microsoft has, somehow, gone from being the face of american computing and capitalism to the front man for endless conspiracy theories. he's given tens of billions to philanthropy, focusing on climate change and global health. particularly that of children. i travelled to kenya to question him on a range of issues, including those raised by critics of his philanthropy. who made you god? i'm not god. i mean, as a percentage of the world economy, i'm kind of rounding there, but, yes, i decided that the death of children, when i read that diarrhoea

was killing half a million children and that the vaccine to stop those deaths was being given to the rich kids but not to the poor kids, isaid, "wow. now i know the area of inequity most of my money will go on." during the pandemic, gates became the subject of countless conspiracy theories. i did not expect that but, you know, during the pandemic, there were tens of millions of messages about, that i intentionally caused it or i'm tracking people, which... it's true i'm involved with vaccines but i'm involved with vaccines to save lives. you know, i guess people are looking for the bogeyman behind the curtain, the oversimplistic explanation, that its malevolence is a lot easier to understand than biology. greta thunberg credits her asperger�*s as her special power. what is your special power? defining whether somebody is on the asperger�*s spectrum is a pretty big thing but my ability to concentrate...

..is very high. and when i was young, it was weirdly high. you know, to memorise things and try out my thinking, which made science and maths super interesting. and then i discovered software and was able to throw all my energy into that. you're going to turn 70 in three years, that's a big milestone for some people. how do you feel about it? no, it's strange to be an old person. i don't think of myself that way. you know, ifeel young but i have limited time. my life is two thirds done. can i get malaria eradication done? i think so. bill gates... thank you. ..a real pleasure to talk to you. amol rajan, bbc news, kenya. that's all for now —

stay with bbc news. hello. weather change is on the way at the weekend. i'll detail in a moment. first, it's been a pretty wet 2a hours across parts of northern scotland, over 50 millimetres of rain in places, overfive hours of sunshine in the sunniest parts of kent on thursday. although much of the uk has been cloudy. some cloud, rain we are all in the mild air at the moment. it's this that changes at the weekend. by sunday, the blue takes over. it will be turning colder but actually will be tipping the balance on sunday in favour of sunnier skies. once again with a big area of high pressure moving right across the uk. we're not there yet and there will be a lot of clouds to start off on friday. there'll be a damp start across parts of southern scotland, northern ireland

and northern england, particularly mild here though, double figure temperatures from the word go. now, any early rain will clear away from northern ireland and northern england and push north across scotland. so any early sunny spells here will be short lived for northern ireland. for england and wales into the afternoon. a lot of cloud around you may still encounter some light rain or drizzle, but there'll also be some brighter spells developing in a few places too. and as for temperatures, there will be a little bit higher than they were on thursday, up to around 13—14 celsius for, say, hull and for london. now on through friday night, we'll keep a good deal of cloud around. it's western areas that are most likely to get some further light rain or drizzle very of wet weather poised to move into scotland as we go on through saturday. another mild start to the day. so here's the weekend under way. we've noticed a lot of cloud around during daylight hours. for england and wales it'll stay mainly dry. there will be a few sunny spells here and there. whereas for scotland

and for northern ireland, we'll see this band of rain working its way southwards during the day, and temperatures for many still in double figures. it will be turning colder in those areas. see the back of the rain before the end of the day. and it's the rain along with this weather front that just moves its way southwards and weakens overnight saturday night into sunday morning. and it's behind that — it is a cold front. the colder air moves in, but with a big area of high pressure across the uk. see the wind circulating around it here. there will be loads of sunshine around on sunday, just parts of scotland, maybe the far southwest of england, holding on to some cloud temperatures down, yes, and a frosty night to follow on sunday night.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the war in ukraine is stuck in a form of bloody winter stalemate. but the expectation is major military offensives are coming as both russia and ukraine seek a game—changing shift in the dynamic of the conflict.

putin has a clear numbers advantage when it comes to fighting an all—out war, but will that be enough