this is bbc news. our top stories: the us says a chinese spy balloon is hovering over the us. this image taken in montana has appeared on social media. russia's highest ranking defector tells the bbc he witnessed his soldiers humiliating and killing ukrainian prisoners of war. translation: the ukrainian had a blindfold on. _ the colonel put a pistol to the prisoner's forehead and said, "i am going to count to three "and then shoot you in the head." australian tennis player nick kyrgios is in court in canberra to contest a charge of assault against his ex—girlfriend. 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 over—simplistic explanation. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. and we begin in the us, where the department of defense 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.

these are the first pictures we have received, which are believed to be of the balloon. the department of defence says the balloon was most certainly launched by china, but there's been no word yet from beijing. the pentagon press secretary brigadier general pat ryder posted a statement on the department of defense website, saying, our north america correspondent, peter bowes, has been following the story and gives us some more detail. this is an unusual but not unprecedented situation. we have the surveillance balloon in the stratosphere, so extremely high altitude and,

as you refer to it, not deemed to be a danger to commercial aircraft or indeed to people on the ground. we understand that at 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 and potentially hurting people. that doesn't necessarily rule that option out, and although this was apparently quite a remote part of the state of montana, officials would 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 has the location, they are not telling us, they are not revealing the location. they have 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 couldn't get it using these means. so, for now, as i say, quite an unusual situation. it seems this balloon continues to hover somewhat over the united states. peter bowes reporting. 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. mr yefremov is now considered a traitor by the russian authorities. he's been speaking to our russia editor steve rosenberg. victorious music 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 the ideology - of nazism, in 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 are once again being threatened with german leopard tanks. once again they are preparing to battle russia on ukrainian soil. professor david stone is a russia historian at the us naval war college. this is his reaction

to president putin's speech. speaking personally, not in any officially capacity, i found those remarks really unsurprising. putin and his regime, since the beginning of the war, have tried to paint ukraine as a nazi state, a fascist state, and tried to use that language of the struggle against nazis to legitimise war against a democratic country. nothing surprising what he is doing, 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 you make of this? again, not surprising. i cannot know for sure exactly the russians are planning for the first anniversary of the war, but certainly when the war went so badly for russia, when putin expected a quick victory, and when the war last a year

with a manifest lack 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 the 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 resonance in russian culture and again is natural that he would try to use that even when historically it's quite inappropriate. there is really no parallel but something he could try to use. president zelensky said russia was preparing to take revenge against the west foraiding ukraine. i said earlier they think the major offensive will be launched. are ukraine ready for this? what happens next? very difficult to say. certainly the russians have not performed particularly well up to this point. one of the big problems the russian army is going to have is 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 structured themselves to fight in the first months of the war scripted many of the units of 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 they are sufficiently trained to fight in an effective way. russia has been using lots of manpower and lots of firepower to make up for the lack of battlefield execution. whether they can continue that remains to be seen. that was professor david stone speaking to me earlier. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: groundhog!

it's that time of the year again, crowds gathered to see pennsylvania's members groundhog, but will he predict a normal winter? 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 - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo _ around the world, non—stop. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the us defence department says it's confident that a balloon spotted over montana is a chinese surveillance platform. these are believed to be the first images. 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 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 harms around the world and advocate for a better world. many of ilhan omar�*s democratic party colleagues say it's the republicans taking revenge, as our correspondent in washington nomia iqbal explains. the house minority leader hakeem jeffries called it that. he said this is political revenge and citing the fact

that democrats kicked off two republicans from committees two years ago. you know, ilhan omar has been somewhat of a fixation for the republicans. they've been — a lot of them have been wanting to get rid of herfor a long time and, obviously, they are now newly empowered in the house, they've wasted no time removing her. however, kevin mccarthy, the house republican leader, didn't get all the votes he wanted to begin with, but he did once he agreed that she could appeal, so she can appeal this removal. just to give you a reaction from others. you have alexandria ocasio—cortez, who is very close to omar. she's also, like omar, a very progressive democrat. she said, just to her that, "she was being targeted "for being a woman of colour." she pointed out that there are members of the republican party who have made comments that could also be considered anti—semitic and nothing has ever been done about them. and also another colleague of ms omar, katherine clark, said that getting rid of her —

especially from such a powerful committee like the foreign affairs committee — was depriving the panel of someone like omar, who is a refugee — she came from somalia — and a survivor of war. 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. a little earlier i spoke to our reporter sofia bettiza, who has been following the story. so, 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 biggest mafia group. they operate on every continent and they dominate the global cocaine market. now, edgardo greco was wanted for murdering two brothers

who belonged to a rival gang back in the �*90s. he was given a life sentence in italy and there was a european arrest warrant out for him. and how did officials manage to arrest him? so, he somehow managed to escape police custody in italy and settled in saint—etienne, which is a city in the south—west of france. he got a new identity, changed his name to paolo and got a job as a pizza chef at an italian restaurant. so, 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 confident. 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 so, eventually italian and french authorities tracked him down.

this is the second high—profile mafia arrest in a matter of weeks, isn't it? that's right. so, as you say, just a few weeks ago, italy's most wanted boss, matteo messina denaro, was arrested in sicily and he had been on the run for 30 years and committed some of the most horrific crimes that italy had ever seen. so, both of these arrests are a huge win for anti—mafia prosecutors. sofia bettiza there. the president of brazil has brought a bill forward. the country is in the fourth week of protests and the key is to pass track new elections of the former president who was ousted in december. hundreds of police in december. hundreds of police in pakistan have taken to the streets in protest after 84 people were killed in the

pashawar must attack and many were police officers. many say they feel abandoned and they have been thrown to the beast with a rise of militant attacks on the security forces. in germany, a freight train has hit pedestrians, killing one child and severely injuring a second. eyewitnesses say the victims were dragged by the train for several hundred metres. rescue workers are at the scene of the accident near a formerfreight yard. the scene of the accident near a former freight yard. the manchester united football at mason greenwood is no longer facing 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. 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... and what is this? ..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, you know, i'm kind of round in there but, yes, i decided that the death of children — when i read that

diarrhoea was killing 500,000 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 it's malevolence is a lot easier to understand than biology. greta thunberg credits her asperger�*s as her special power. what's your special power? you know, 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 weird — 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. summer breaking you to bring you now.

the australian tennis star nick kyrgios has admitted to assaulting a girlfriend. the guilty plea came after his lawyers failed to have the charge dismissed on mental health grounds. a magistrate has to agreed not to report a conviction against nick kyrgios after he admitted to assaulting an ex—girlfriend and we will bring you more on that story on bbc news, so, do stay with us. for everyone in the northern hemisphere, it is still very much the deaths of winter. but how long will the cold weather last? here is one way to find out. packed crowds braving the cold, music, merriment and period headwear — all in the small community of punxsutawney, pennsylvania. what else could it be but the annual gathering to summon a world—famous... groundhog! all: groundhog! their intentions now

clear, the crowd move on to the protagonist of this piece — the sleepy rodent who became a household name in the classic movie groundhog day. all chant: phil! phil! according to a tradition from 1887, if punxsutawney phil sees his shadow when summoned from this stump, there will be another six weeks of winter. punxsutawney phil, ladies and gentlemen! if he doesn't, residents can expect an early spring. cheering and applause per tradition, phil defers to handlers to deliver the news. i see a shadow on my stage and so, no matter how you measure, it's six more weeks of winter weather! not ideal, but at least now, phil can go back to his peaceful tree stump. oh, wait... # life is short! # praise the groundhog! no rest for the critter but some wise words for us, at least. # life is short!

# praise the groundhog. stephanie prentice, bbc news. well, thanks for watching bbc news. and you can reach me on twitter. hello. weather change is on the way at the weekend — i'll detail in a moment. first, it's been a pretty wet 24 hours across parts of northern scotland — over 50mm of rain in places. over five hours of sunshine in the sunniest parts of kent on thursday, though 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 cloud 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, they will be a little bit higher than they were on thursday — up to around 13, 14 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. an area of 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 that 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 south—west 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, but they've not been independently verified. 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 shot. the australian tennis star nick kyrgios is in court in canberra, where he's admitted assaulting a former girlfriend.

the 27—year—old's guilty plea came after his lawyers failed