making an extraordinary visit to the capital kyiv. air raid sirens sounded, but the kremlin had been informed. president biden brought a promise of more military aid, and a message of defiance against moscow. russia's aim was to wipe ukraine off the map. putin's war of conquest is failing. translation: the result of this visit will undoubtedly be - felt on the battlefield, strengthening our troops and liberating our territories. we're on the front line in eastern ukraine, as russia tries to advance, ahead of the one—year anniversary of the war.

and the other main stories on bbc news at ten... a body found in the river wyre is that of nicola bulley, who went missing three weeks ago. police conveyed the family's sadness. nikki, you are no longer a missing person. you have been found. we can let you rest now. more strike action in the nhs, asjunior doctors in england vote overwhelmingly to protest over pay. and the growing debate over "updating" the works of roald dahl — one author says it's a form of censorship. on bbc london, the mayor promises free school meals for every primary and coming up on the bbc news channel... liverpool's american owners say they're not selling the club just on the hunt for investment after previously saying they would consider new shareholders.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at ten, live from kyiv, where an american president has made an extraordinary visit to an active war zone. joe biden�*s trip here was short on time, just a couple of hours, but long on symbolism, ahead of the first anniversary of the russian invasion of this country. he said america would stand with ukraine for as long as it takes and praised the ukrainian troops�* "heroic" fighting, while pledging another $500 million of military aid. speaking while air raid sirens were going off, he added that president putin's war of conquest was failing. our first report tonight comes from our international editor jeremy bowen, on a historic day in this year—long war. the air—raid alarm, as the two presidents arrived at st michael's church, where ukraine commemorates its war dead, felt too well timed to be a coincidence.

with unprecedented security in kyiv, the americans had warned the kremlin that joe biden was coming. he had just arrived from a long train journey and a point was being made. ukraine was still under attack, its most powerful ally was there, in an active war zone, to show its leader support. president biden told the people running ukraine's war that this is where he wanted to be in the days leading up to the first anniversary of russia's attempt to extinguish ukraine's independence. president zelensky knows ukraine's future depends on america and joe biden. translation: we can and must make this year, 2023, _ the year of victory, and i want to emphasise that this unprovoked and criminal russian war against ukraine, the whole of europe and the democratic world, must end

with a clearing of all ukrainian land from russian occupation, and firm guarantees of long—term security for both our country and the whole of europe, and the whole world. putin's war of conquest is failing. russia's military has lost half its territory it once occupied. young, talented russians are fleeing by the tens of thousands, not wanting to come back to russia. he thought he could outlast us. i don't think he is thinking that right now. strong support, but the ukrainians want more than words — they want war—winning weapons. the hard reality of russian aggression has forced nato leaders, and especially president biden, into a series of difficult decisions. the biggest so far may be looming. ukraine doesn't just want weapons that will allow it to survive, it wants to win the war, and up to now, that is a level of help that

president biden has not been prepared to grant. the ukrainians are pressing for a decisive upgrade as soon as possible. time might not be theirfriend. the cost that ukraine has had to bear has been extraordinarily high. and the sacrifices have been far too great. they have been met, but they've been far too great. ukraine doesn't release casualty figures, not as high as russia's... ..but still in the tens of thousands. the russians are bleeding another generation of ukrainian fighters. that is a big reason why president zelensky wants urgently to convincejoe biden to help ukraine win, notjust hold steady in a long war of attrition.

the wall commemorates the dead of the earlier fighting with russia, that started in 2014. each flag represents a life lost in the last 12 months. the kremlin believes it will win a trial of endurance. ukraine doesn't want to wait to find out. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. as the first anniversary of russia's invasion approaches this friday, fierce fighting is continuing in the east of the country. russian forces are stepping up their assault on the city of bakhmut, which they've been trying to capture for more than six months. vladimir putin appears to be pushing for a victory before this week's anniversary. this map shows the latest russian positions in red, and their troops�* advance towards bakhmut. president zelensky says the defence

of the city would continue, but not at any price. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin has sent us this report from the outskirts of bakhmut. gunfire. battles raging on the outskirts of bakhmut. ukrainian troops still defending every inch. still fighting for every street. screaming. but the enemy is closing in. gunfire. near enough now for hand grenades. shouts. and for many casualties. he's asked if he can feel his left leg. "it's ok," he replies. then, a desperate struggle to drag

him away from the front line. "help us," he says. ukraine may have to give up the fight in bakhmut, to save lives and resources for battles elsewhere. radio chatter. for now, there is no pull out. wejoined this mortar team on the outskirts. keeping the enemy at bay on their section of the front line. well, the troops are waiting now for co—ordinates for their second strike. the target is russian forces in their trenches, about two kilometres away. day after day, and night after night, ukrainian forces here are battling to hold bakhmut.

below ground, their commander ivanko directs the strike, with help from a drone. but smart weapons don't change the fact that they are outnumbered. how much longer can they stand their ground? maybe long enough to deny president putin a victory on friday's anniversary. and certainly long enough for more casualties. the wounded keep coming from bakhmut and other front lines. they could be targeted even here, so we can't reveal the location. most of the casualties are under 30 — ukraine's future. "you can prepare for the medical aspects," says dr miroslav. "but it's impossible to get used to the fact that young men are dying,

who are fighting for the freedom of this country. you can't get used to it." president zelensky has called this the year of victory. but the reality is ukraine and its western allies may need to be ready for a long war. 0rla guerin, bbc news, eastern ukraine. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is here with me. how would you characterise the importance of today? i how would you characterise the importance of today?— how would you characterise the importance of today? i think we will onl reall importance of today? i think we will only really be _ importance of today? i think we will only really be able _ importance of today? i think we will only really be able to _ importance of today? i think we will only really be able to judge - importance of today? i think we will only really be able to judge the - only really be able to judge the importance of the day when we see how this war will unfold in the next six weeks to six months. war, as we know, can take some nasty turns and it has done so far in ukraine. today's visit smacked of an imminent victory and if you read very carefully what president zelensky said today, words like, our

conversations today will bring us closer to victory, we have discussed weapons you haven't supplied but still may supply in the future. will this be seen as a turning point again in terms of us and nato support to ukraine? we know president biden will speak again tomorrow in poland with more details of this support. the national security adviserjake sullivan security adviser jake sullivan called security adviserjake sullivan called this a critical moment. it comes as we know russia is preparing a spring offensive. the ukrainians are preparing a spring offensive. the ukrainians and their allies want to finish this war quicker and they want to finish in a victory. but this visit may harden the resolve of president putin. he wanted to be here in kyiv before president biden. thank you, lyse doucet, there. given what's at stake in this conflict, what we saw here today was perhaps one of the most significant us presidential trips of recent times.

all eyes will be on moscow tomorrow, and a major speech by vladimir putin, as he outlines his vision for the war. with that, from the team here in kyiv, it's back to you in the studio, huw. thank you both very much from here. —— from kyiv. lancashire police have confirmed that a body found in the river wyre is that of nicola bulley, who went missing three weeks ago. the body was found yesterday, not far from where she disappeared on the 27th of january. her family released a statement saying their worst fears had been confirmed, and went on to criticise some sections of the media for ignoring their appealfor privacy. lancashire police have been criticised for their handling of the case, particularly their disclosures of personal information about nicola bulley. our correspondentjudith moritz reports from the village of st michael's on wyre. the lancashire landscape held on to its secret

for more than three weeks. the river wyre, snaking its way through the fields here, had the answer all along. what happened to nicola bulley? now, we know. sadly, we are now able to confirm that yesterday we recovered nicola bulley from the river wyre. nicola's family have been informed, and are, of course, devastated. nicola's family have asked that we release the following statement on their behalf as follows. "our family liaison officers have had to confirm our worst fears today. we will never be able to comprehend what nikki had gone through in her last moments, and that will never leave us. nikki, you are no longer a missing person. you have been found. we can let you rest now. we love you, always have and always will. we will take it from here."

as nicola went missing whilst walking her dog next to the river, the wyre was searched extensively, but she lay unseen for 2h days. yesterday, her body was found by members of the public about a mile downstream. lancashire police said all along they believed nicola had fallen into the water, but the force has been criticised for its response, and especially for its decision to release personal details about the mother of two. when the cameras have left this village, and the posters and ribbons have been taken down, the police and the media will have some soul searching to do. including whether the relationship between them had any influence on the way the case itself was handled. nicola's disappearance has had mass coverage. the media converged on her small village, and herfamily directly criticised some organisations.

"we tried last night to take in what we had been told in the day, only to have sky news and itv making contact with us directly when we expressly asked for privacy. it is shameful they have acted in this way. ourgirls our girls will get the support they need _ our girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most _ need from the people who love them the most. it saddens us to think that one — the most. it saddens us to think that one day, we will have to explain — that one day, we will have to explain to _ that one day, we will have to explain to them that the press and members — explain to them that the press and members of the public accused their dad of— members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified _ dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family. " as a retired lancashire detective, bob eastwood has watched the case and its coverage with interest. can you separate out the way the communications were dealt with and the investigation? well, i think that it became a big beast that was hungry for information.

people were going out for their own information. people were making things up, experts were adding to it and quite clearly in my view they were making it up based on no evidence whatsoever. the yellow ribbons still fluttering were supposed to signify hope. tonight, that has run out. now, nicola bulley�*s family know she's not coming back. the mystery of her disappearance ending with the saddest of answers. judith moritz, bbc news, lancashire. as we heard, nicola bulley�*s family have been highly critical about the way her disappearance has been treated by parts of the media and indeed by some members of the public. the significant public interest since she went missing, seen particularly on social media, saw people taking their own approach to try to solve the mystery. our disinformation correspondent marianna spring looks at the way in which nicola's story drew the attention of so many. media interest in huge stories like

this is nothing new, but it's the social media frenzy that's really marked out nicola bulley�*s case. social media feeds awash with speculation, sinister conspiracy theories and even clips of people visiting the scene. one person on tiktok was arrested and fined after he livestreamed himself at a house opposite where nicola bulley went missing. tiktok in particular seems to be sucking on a huge number of people. as of friday 17 february tiktok videos discussing nicola bulley�*s case and using her name as a hashtag had accumulated more than 270 million views. in comparison posts and videos using the same phrase and other major social media sites have had less traction. caroline lives in a town nearby and had been sharing videos about this in tiktok told me she had been seeing hundreds of videos pushing false suggestions. in messages to me she said...

amateur sleuths on the ground and hate and threats online have had a huge impact on those in the community who have been targeted. i spoke to oliver, whose family owns a caravan park close to where nicola was last seen. filming the house, taking pictures, printing our address, naming us all online. my 79—year—old grandmother at times has been frightened to leave the house. caught people in the garden and i know other villagers have found people filming through their windows. it's not a set, we're real people in this community and of course the worst of the abuse and torment— has been angled at the bulley family. ina in a statement tiktok says its thoughts are with the family at this difficult time. it says it doesn't tolerate bullying and harassment on tiktok and it removes content that

violates the policies was that this is notjust violates the policies was that this is not just about social media. violates the policies was that this is notjust about social media. a significant number of people well—versed in online conspiracy is presented with a complex disappearance at a time when trust in the police is low is a perfect storm. questions now loom over how the police investigation has been hampered by this social media frenzy and how forces across the country will deal with this the next time it happens. marianna spring, bbc news. another earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 has struck the border region of turkey and syria, just two weeks after the area was devastated and tens of thousands of lives lost. the quake was captured on this car's dashcam footage. the epicentre was near to the southern turkish city of antakya. authorities say so far at least three people have been killed and more than 200 injured. industrial action in the nhs

will intensify next month, afterjunior doctors in england voted overwhelmingly to go on strike over pay. the health secretary steve barclay said the decision was deeply disappointing. our health editor hugh pym joins us. let's talk about the impact the likely impact of this latest action and who is likely to be affected. i think there will be a lot more disruption for patients. nhs providers, which represents trusts in england says the situation was extremely worrying and that more than 140,000 patient appointments had already been postponed because of industrial action and this would rise significantly with doctors now joining the sort of action we have seen from other health unions. remember, junior doctors covers a range of different levels of the medical profession, newly qualified doctors right through to those just below consultant level. they are saying they will walk out for three days of all forms of care, emergency and urgent as well as routine

procedures. we have already seen the royal college of nursing saying it will step up its action and next week it will stage walk—outs for 48 hours, the most it has done so far. that will affect a huge range of care and we have ambulance unions expected to announce further strikes. a lot to come. steve barclay saying he understands that junior doctors do a very important job but he is deeply disappointed at this decision.— this decision. hugh pym, health editor, thank _ this decision. hugh pym, health editor, thank you. _ devon and cornwall police were responsible for a "catastrophic failure" and a "seriously unsafe culture" in the unit that licences firearms. that was the finding of an inquestjury in plymouth, which examined the deaths of five people who were all shot dead by a lone gunman, jake davison, who was 22. he shot the victims, including his mother and a three year—old girl, with a gun which he lawfully owned. the jury said he shouldn't have been granted a gun licence

because of a lack of medical information, and his history of violence. our south west of england correspondentjenny kumah reports. this is the momentjake davison left home, armed with a shotgun. he had just killed his own mother — 51—year—old maxine davison. he then murdered four others at random. a short walk from his house, three—year—old sophie martyn was pushing a buggy with a teddy in it and holding herfather lee's hand. at a nearby park, 59—year—old stephen washington was walking his dogs. and 66—year—old kate shepherd was returning home from shopping. the gunman then turned his legally—owned weapon on himself. speaking after the inquest, the victims�* families said their deaths were preventable. "we will never be able to understand or comprehend why davison did what he did. it was an act of pure evil.

the system has hopelessly failed us. in particular, the devon and cornwall police force has failed us. they have failed to protect our loved ones. warning signs were ignored and a licence to kill was granted." those warning signs were davison�*s violent past and evidence of his emotional and behavioural problems. the inquest heard that the firearms licensing unit had an unsafe culture and that staff were inadequately trained. the victims�* families say it is unbelievable that police gave davison his gun back after he carried out this assault on two teenagers in 2020. he told the police he "snapped" after someone insulted him. the police confiscated this gun after those assaults, then gave it back to him just weeks before the fatal shootings. on behalf of devon and cornwall police, i am deeply sorry for the loss of those families

and for the failings in my force that led to jake davison having a gun when he shouldn't have. myjob now is to make sure that the findings of the inquest and those improvements we put into place are properly and sustainably embedded within that unit to make sure that nothing like this can hopefully happen again. davison�*s actions left a community in shock and pain. the families who lost loved ones finally have some answers about why he legally owned a weapon. they now want to see more changes in gun licensing to help stop further deaths. jenny kumah, bbc news. scotland�*s finance secretary kate forbes has become the third person to confirm they�*re entering the race to succeed nicola sturgeon as scotland�*s first minister and leader of the snp. kate forbes is cutting short her maternity leave to vie with scottish health secretary humza yousaf and former minster ash regan. our scotland editor james cook reports. only five weeks to go, guys.

only five weeks to go, which means just next month humza yousaf could become the youngest ever first minister of scotland, as well as the first ethnic minority politician and the first muslim to hold the post. he says he has the skills and experience to run the country and build support for independence. if you get independence as the settled will of the scottish people, then it becomes a political reality, inevitability in fact. what we�*ve alos got to do is discuss the process now. the first minister has a view. i have to say, i�*m not wedded to that view... this the idea of treating the next general election as a referendum in all but name. you�*ve said there are problems with that. yeah, there are. there are disadvantages, it disenfranchises young people, 16 and 17—year—olds. it disenfranchises european citizens and others as well. his chief rival, kate forbes, is five years younger and has broken into maternity leave from her role as finance secretary tojoin the race. she says growing the economy is the best way to win

support for independence. competent leadership is what will inspire confidence. that's about propelling our economy to grow, it's about unleashing the talent that we have here. but this campaign is also about social issues. ms forbes was on leave when holyrood passed a bill designed to make it easier to legally change gender. as a devout christian, what would she have done? i have been on record saying that i had significant concerns about self—id. and i would have had those significant concerns about self—id... would you have voted for the bill? ..and therefore the bill in its current form, i would have struggled to vote for. you would have opposed it? i would not have been able to vote for the principle of self—id. you�*d have had to resign. well, obviously, that would have been a question of collective responsibility. humza yousaf says he�*ll challenge the uk government�*s decision to block the bill. ms forbes said she would be loathe to do so. my polling, as it were, is based

on conversations with normal, ordinary people over the last seven months. and to a person they say, "focus on the nhs, focus on the cost—of—living crisis and focus on making the case for independence." she also said she would have voted against gay marriage, although she would defend it now as a democratic and legal right. and tonight, a brief, friendly encounter between front runners who don�*t always see our right to live. —— —— who don�*t always see eye to eye. kate forbes at the window. james cook, bbc news, glasgow. scientists in the us say they�*ve used new technology to restore movement in the arms and hands of two people who�*d suffered strokes. the team in pittsburgh were able to stimulate the spinal cords by implanting electrodes in the neck. more research is still needed to develop the technology, but those who led the study say the technique could have a huge impact on people�*s lives.

the heated debate on updating the books of roald dahl has drawn the attention of the prime minister, rishi sunak. he�*s the latest to criticise changes to some of the books, including the big friendly giant, and charlie and the chocolate factory to update references to the characters�* appearance and weight. words such as fat, ugly, crazy and mad have been updated to be more suitable for modern audiences, according to the publishers. mr sunak�*s spokesman said works of fiction should be "preserved and not airbrushed". our arts correspondent david sillito reports. charlie and the chocolate factory, a much—loved children�*s story, here read by michael palin, featuring... there was augustus gloop who was always eating and was very fat indeed. however, augustus is nowjust enormous — the word fat has gone. and it�*s one of a number of changes made to dahl�*s writing to make them less judgmental and avoid words

like "crazy" and "fat". however, this rewriting to avoid offence has itself created an upset. we don't seem to think children can cope with words like "fat" any more. we have to protect children from distressing feelings, and i think that idea is causing all sorts of problems in society. you see it in all sorts of places, and we need to make children more resilient. the roald dahl story company said today any changes had been small and carefully considered. it�*s also worth noting there is a precedent. this isn�*t the first time roald dahl has been rewritten. even back in the 1970s, there were already discussions around his texts. for instance the oompa loompas, which were originally from africa, were already changed much earlier. but these were english birds and they couldn't understand the weird african language the monkeys spoke. the word "weird" has gone as well,

and for some this is just about care about words. we want our children to enjoy books but we don�*t want them to be taking language that could be offensive into the playground and that could potentially lead to bullying. i think children, they're very coarse in their talk together. so, absurd censorship orjust a way of preserving stories as attitudes change? david sillito, bbc news. nothing too offensive about the weather at the moment. we may well have started on a very windy note this morning but we finished off on an incredibly mild note across the country. temperatures peaked this afternoon at 17 celsius, 63 fahrenheit, imparts. the average for the time of year should generally be around eight celsius. we have a pizza wedge of mild air at the

moment with weather fronts toppling across that milder air but on