welcome to bbc news: i'm monika plaha. our top stories: the us defence department says it's confident that a balloon spotted over montana is a chinese surveillance platform. 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. _ translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. the _ translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. the colonel - translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. the colonel put i a blindfold on. the colonel put a blindfold on. the colonel put a pistol to the prisoner's forehead and said i am going to counter three and then shoot you the head. meanwhile, president putin uses the 80th anniversary of the soviet victory over the nazis in stalingrad to insist that russia will win the war in ukraine. a convicted italian mafia

killer has been arrested in france after 16 years on the run. he was hiding out as a pizza chef. and covid, vaccines and those conspiracy theories — we speak to the microsoft founder, bill gates. i guess people are looking for the bogeyman behind the curtain — their oversimplistic explanation. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. and we begin in the us where the department of defence says a chinese surveillance balloon is hovering over the northern us. officials at the pentagon say the balloon had flown over the state of montana, but haven't revealed its current location. the pentagon press secretary brigadeer general pat ryder posted a statement on the department of defence website saying the balloon is being tracked. he added:

he also said: our north america correspondent peter boes joins me now. we heard from officials say it isn't a threat but what more do we know about the story? this is unusual— we know about the story? this is unusual but _ we know about the story? this is unusual but not _ is unusual but not unprecedented situation. we have the surveillance balloon in the stratosphere, so extremely high altitude, and as hejust extremely high altitude, and as he just referred to it, not deemed to be a danger to commercial aircraft or indeed to people on the ground. we understand that one point there was some consideration given to shooting this balloon down, using the us military. that

option was rejected because of the danger of debris falling down to earth and potentially hurting people. that is not necessarily rule that option out, and although this was apparently quite a remote part of the state of montana, officials will need to be absolutely certain that there was no danger to the public below to take that option. for now, it continues to hover somewhere over the united states. if the pentagon knows that location, they are not telling us or revealing the location. they've also, to some extent, played down the security threat by saying that they don't believe that this platform is capable of gathering intelligence or secure security information from the united states, that it couldn't, or china could not necessarily get using other means. so for now, an unusual situation, it seems this balloon can use to hover somewhere over the united states.

peter bowes, thank you. i just want to take you live to canberra next where the australian tennis star nick kyrgios is due in court in canberra any minute — 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. our correspondent phil mercer is outside the court in canburra. just give us a sense of where we are at right now with this case? nick kyrgios is due to arrive here in the law courts in the australian capital, canberra. eminently there is a small media contingent here to meet him. his lawyers will ask the court to dismiss this assault charge on the grounds of mental impairment. according to the law in the australian capital territory under the crimes act, the magistrate has the authority to dismiss the case

if they consider the defendant to have a mental impairment, and if that sort of decision would benefit the community. lawyers for nick kyrgios, the australian tennis star, have said that his mental troubles have been well documented in his medical history for many years, and indeed, the australian tennis star has spoken openly himself about his battles with loneliness, depression and alcohol abuse. he has not appeared in person for previous hearings, so this will be the first time that nick kyrgios has appeared in court. so quite clearly, his lawyers believe that a very talented man on the tennis court, but a very troubled person of it, and in the next few hours it will be up to a magistrate to decide what happens next. phil mercer, thank you. we'll give you more on this news as

we get it. a former russian army officer has told the bbc that he witnessed russian soldiers committing crimes in ukraine — including torture, looting, and threats of rape. konstantin yefremov is the most senior figure to have spoken out so far — he says he saw one ukrainian prisoner of war being beaten and shot. he is now considered a traitor by the russian authorities. he's been speaking to our 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 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: during anotherj 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: | apologise i 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. now to russia, where on the 80th anniversary of the soviet victory over the nazis in the battle of stalingrad. president putin has vowed that russia will win the war in ukraine. during the commemorations president putin compared russia's invasion of ukraine to the fight against nazi germany and said his country was once again being forced to resist the aggression of the west. he claimed russia is again being threatened by german tanks. it comes after germany's government has allowed its battle tanks to be sent to ukraine so they can be used against russian forces.

translation: now unfortunately we see that _ translation: now unfortunately we see that the _ translation: now unfortunately we see that the ideology - translation: now unfortunately we see that the ideology of - we see that the ideology of nazism and its modern form and manifestation, once again directly threatens the security of our country. again and again we have to repel the aggression of the collective west. it's incredible, but it's a fact. we once again being threatened with german leopard tanks. once again they are preparing to battle rusher ukrainian soil. professor david stone is a russia historian at us naval war college. he'sjoins us now from rhode island. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. president putin comparing russia's invasion of ukraine to the battle against nazis in stalingrad. what do you think of this? ,., . , stalingrad. what do you think of this? ,., ., , ., of this? personally were not officially. —

of this? personally were not officially. i _ of this? personally were not officially, i found _ of this? personally were not officially, i found the - of this? personally were not. officially, i found the remarks officially, ifound the remarks unsurprising. putin and his regime since the beginning of the war had tried to paint ukraine as a nazi state, a fascist state, and try to use that language of the struggle against nazis to legitimise war against nazis to legitimise war against a democratic country. nothing surprising and what i would have expected to mark the anniversary of such an important battle of stalingrad. we also heard that ukraine it claims that russia may be planning a major offensive on the first anniversary of the war. there are concerns that president putin is trying to tap into the spirit of that battle and draw parallels. what ou make battle and draw parallels. what you make of — battle and draw parallels. what you make of this? _ battle and draw parallels. what you make of this? not - you make of this? not surprising. i can't know for sure exactly the russians are planning for the first anniversary of the war, but certainly when the war went so badly to russia, when pollution expected a quick victory and when the war last year with a manifest like of success for russia, that will require an explanation or action to try to

justify and explain it. for the russian public, putin believes that using a memory of the second world war is something that he can at least try to build popular support and legitimacy for his actions. that's something that has deep residence in russian culture and again is natural he would try to use that even when historically it's quite appropriate. there is really no parallel but something he could try to use. parallel but something he could try to use-— try to use. president zelensky said russia — try to use. president zelensky said russia was _ try to use. president zelensky said russia was liberated - try to use. president zelenskyj said russia was liberated take revenge against the west for aiding ukraine. isaid revenge against the west for aiding ukraine. i said earlier they think the major offensive will be lodged. our ukraine ready for this?— will be lodged. our ukraine ready for this? what happens next? very — ready for this? what happens next? very difficult _ ready for this? what happens next? very difficult to - ready for this? what happens next? very difficult to say. i next? very difficult to say. certainly the russians have not performed particularly well until this point. one of the big problems the russian army is going to have his skilled leadership at lower levels. a lot of experienced russian officers have already been killed in this war and the way the russians immobilise manpower and structure themselves to fight in the

first months of the war scripted many of the units experienced leadership. while they have conscripted and brought back into the military hundreds of thousands of soldiers, we are yet to see whether the soldiers will be led effectively, whether they will be equipped sufficiently and whether there are sufficiently trained to fight in an effective way. russia has been using lots of manpower and lots of firepower to make up the lack of butterfield execution. whether they could continue that remains to be seen. ., ~' continue that remains to be seen. . ~ ,, continue that remains to be seen. . ~ i. ., continue that remains to be seen. . ~ ., seen. thank you for your analysis _ seen. thank you for your analysis here _ seen. thank you for your analysis here on - seen. thank you for your analysis here on bbc - seen. thank you for your i analysis here on bbc news. thank you. well, russia's invasion of ukraine has led to rising energy prices — and the uk oil and gas giant shell has posted record annual profits on the back of that surge. shell's profits hit nearly $40 billin in 2022,

the highest in its one hundred and 15—year history and double last yea r�*s total. it comes on the day that a lawsuit was filed in the high court in london against the energy company by more than 11,000 people in nigeria's delta region. they're seeking damages for pollution of their land and the local environment which they say the company is to blame for. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: meeting the man behind microsoft — we talk covid vaccines and conspiracy theories with bill gates. 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. mission control: 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, 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 l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming i in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo _ around the world, non—stop. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us defense department says it's confident a balloon, spotted over montana, is a chinese surveillance platform. a former russian officer tells the bbc he witnessed russian soldiers humiliating and shooting ukrainian prisoners of war. house republicans in the us have voted to remove

a prominent progressive democrat from a powerful committee. ilhan omar was one of the first muslim women elected to congress, five years ago, but republicans say she should not serve on the foreign affairs committee because they consider some of her past comments about israel to be anti—semitic. here's her defiant response. my leadership and voice will not be diminished if i am not on this committee for one term. my voice will get louder and stronger... standing ovation and applause. ..and my leadership will be celebrated around the world as it has been. so take your vote or not, i am here to stay and i am here to be a voice against the harms around the world, and advocate for a better world. many colleagues say it is the

republicans taking revenge. the house republicans taking revenge. tue: house minority republicans taking revenge. tte: house minority leader republicans taking revenge. tt9: house minority leader called republicans taking revenge. tt9 house minority leader called it that, calling at revenge and citing the five democrats kicked off two republicans from committees two years ago. she has been somewhat of a fixation and they have been wanting to get rid of it for a long time. kevin mccarthy, did not get all the votes he wanted to begin with but he did, once he agreed that ilhan omar can appeal the removal. aco, who is very close to ilhan omar said she was being targeted for being a woman of colour. members of the republican party she said also

that anti—semitic comments and nothing has been done. katherine clark said getting rid of her, especially from such a powerful committee like the foreign affairs committee was depriving the panel of someone like ilhan omar, a refugee from somalia and a survivor of war. let's get some of the day's other news: president of peru dina boluarte has unveiled a new bill to bring elections forward to 2023, amid congress infighting. the country is in its eighth week of anti—government protests. their key demand being to fast track new elections, after former president pedro castillo was ousted in december. forty—eight people have died in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. hundreds of police in pakistan have taken to the streets in protestm, after 84 people were killed in the peshawar mosque attack, and all but one were police officers. many say they feel abandoned and that they've been thrown to the beasts with a rise in militant attacks on the country's security forces.

in germany, a freight train has hit pedestrians, killing one child and severely injuring a second. eyewitnesses in the town of recklinghausen 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. a convicted italian mafia killer has been arrested in france, after 16 years on the run. he had taken a new identity and was working in a restaurant as a pizza chef. this is the second high profile mafia arrest in a matter of weeks. our reporter sofia bettiza has been following the story. she joins me in the studio. bring us up—to—date with the latest. this was a big international police operation that led to the arrest of edgardo greco. he was a fugitive and a member of a criminal network called

�*ndrangheta which is italy's vigurs mafia group. they operate on every continent and dominate the global cocaine market. edgardo greco was wanted for murdering two brothers who belonged to a rival gang back in the 90s. it was given a life sentence in italy and there was a european arrest warrant out for him. haifa arrest warrant out for him. how did officials _ arrest warrant out for him. how did officials manage _ arrest warrant out for him. how did officials manage to - arrest warrant out for him. how did officials manage to arrest him? ,:, :, :, :, :, him? he somehow managed to esca -e him? he somehow managed to escape police _ him? he somehow managed to escape police custody - him? he somehow managed to escape police custody in italy i escape police custody in italy and settled in saint—etienne, a city in the south—west of france. got new identity, got a job as a pizza chef at an italian restaurant. for 16 years, he led a very quiet life but back in italy, anti—mafia prosecutors never stopped looking for him. and he got a bit too competent. injuly 2021, he gave an interview to a

local french newspaper where he boasted about his restaurant's home—made recipes like tortellini or risotto and eventually italian and french authorities tracked him down. this is a second high—profile mafia rest in a matter of weeks?— mafia rest in a matter of weeks? :, �* , g , mafia rest in a matter of weeks? :, �*, . , :, weeks? that's right. just a few weeks? that's right. just a few weeks ago. — weeks? that's right. just a few weeks ago, italy's _ weeks? that's right. just a few weeks ago, italy's most i weeks? that's right. just a few| weeks ago, italy's most wanted boss, matteo messina denaro, was arrested intensity and he had been on the run for 30 years and committed some of the most horrific crimes italy had ever seen. most horrific crimes italy had everseen. both most horrific crimes italy had ever seen. both of these arrests are a huge win for anti—mafia prosecutors. arrests are a huge win for anti-mafia prosecutors. thank ou ve anti-mafia prosecutors. thank you very much- _ bill gates, the billionaire founder of microsoft, has told the bbc that he was surprised to be at the focus of so many conspiracy theories during the pandemic. mr gates has given tens of billions of pounds to the causes of global health, including fighting malaria and tackling climate change. he's been talking to

the bbc�*s amol rajan. 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 raisd 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 round in 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, i said, "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 it's 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 vague 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. for more on that story you can visit the bbc news website and the full version of that interview will be on a podcast on bbc sounds coming out over the weekend. you're watching bbc news.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm@monika plaha thank you very much forjoining me. 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, over 5 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 it 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, 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, they will be a little bit higher than they were on thursday, up to around 13, 1a degrees 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 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. they'll 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 are down, yes, and a frosty night to follow on sunday night.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the us department of defence says it's tracking what's believed to be a chinese surveillance balloon flying over the country. these are believed to be the first images. a pentagon official said the balloon entered us airspace two days ago, with its flight path carrying it over a number of sensitive sites. a former russian army officer has told the bbc that he witnessed russian soldiers committing crimes in ukraine, including torture and looting. the claims also include a ukrainian prisoner of war being beaten and shot. meanwhile, president putin has used the 80th anniversary of the soviet victory over the nazis in the battle of stalingrad, to insist that russia will win the war in ukraine. mr putin said his country was once again being forced to resist the aggression of the west.