welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... ahead of the first anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine, outright defiance from president putin. he tells an audience of tens of thousands in moscow that the conflict in ukraine is entirelyjustified, to protect russia's security. translation: there are battles i going on right now on our historical frontiers for our people. courageous warriors are fighting. we'll have details of the putin rally, and we'll look at the latest military cooperation between russia and china. also in newsday this hour... 11 palestinians were killed in over a hundred were injured on an

occupation on the western bank occupation on the shamima begum, who fled the uk tojoin islamic state when she was 15, has failed to regain her british citizenship. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. president putin has been addressing crowds filling moscow's main stadium for a patriotic gala concert to mark one year of russia's invasion of ukraine. he insisted that his decision to launch military action was entirelyjustified to protect russia's security. mr putin went on to stress that the cooperation between china and russia on the world stage is very important to stabilise the international situation. our russia editor steve rosenberg in moscow. to russia's largest football stadium

they came in their tens of thousands, not to cheer on their team, but to support their president. from colleges, factories and state enterprises, they had been bussed in specially for a kremlin show, designed to show that russians back president putin and his war in ukraine. irina seems to. "we weren't the ones to start this", irina says. "i trust our president." inside the stadium, the main event. vladimir putin shared the stage with russian soldiers back from ukraine. it was putin who had ordered the full—scale invasion a year ago. from the sound of things, he has no intention of withdrawing his troops. translation: there are battles i going on right now on our historical frontiers, for our people. courageous warriors are fighting,

just like the ones that are standing here with us now. they are battling bravely and heroically. we are proud of them. let's give them three cheers! cheering. this is the picture the kremlin wanted — russia united. it's —15, but as you can see, this place is packed. now, that doesn't mean that russians idolise vladimir putin and are willing to come out and freeze themselves just to support him. this is a highly stage—managed, kremlin—choreographed concert. that doesn't change the fact that much of what putin says and does does strike a chord with a lot of people here. when vladimir putin speaks about russia reasserting itself and challenging the west, when he claims that russians and ukrainians are one people, it goes down well at home. because they think as he thinks. they want what he wants.

they view ukraine as he views and he reflects their... his popularity is not based on the air platform, his popularity is deep—rooted in the russian public opinion and perceptions and this is his strength. away from the stadium, president putin met china's top diplomat. russia and china have close ties. beijing is promising to play a constructive role in resolving the ukraine conflict. for now, the war continues. russians are being told by their leaders that this is a just war, an alternative reality, but can the kremlin sustain it? history will look at it and will look at it badly and we will look bad. whether russians will be able to accept that horrible guilt, i don't know. i hope they can and they will because they will be better for it. and here's a sign, perhaps,

that some here are less happy with the direction in which russia is moving. they didn't stick around to hear vladimir putin's speech — they left the stadium before the president arrived. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. on russia with china and south africa, amongst the vessels that's the view from moscow. meanwhile, on wednesday russia began taking part in a full military exercise with china and south africa, off the coast of south africa itself. among the vessels is a frigate — that's a type of warship — equipped with hypersonic cruise missiles. russia is expected to fire artillery, but not the cruise missiles, during the exercises. the frigate �*admiral gorshkov�* arrived in richards bay, near durban, for the initial drills. south african opposition politicians say the exercises show their government is siding

with moscow in the war in ukraine. but officials insist south africa is neutral. that alexander korolev is a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at australia's university of new south wales. it's great to get you on the programme, alexander. ijust want to put to you the fact that we have seen i just want to put to you the fact that we have seen china's top foreign official wang yi has been in moscow, calling for closer ties between the two sides. what does this tell you about what china's thinking right now in terms of its strategy with russia? i think china is thinking long term. there is an increasing perception in beijing that china is on a long—term collision course with the united states, that sooner or later the two powers, us and china will collide in some form. so in russia, china is calculating. china will need russia's support when its relations with the united states deteriorate further. and over the last year, like especially the last couple of

months, we have seen the deterioration, significant deterioration, significant deterioration of us china relations. so china's foreign policy, the main focus is us china relations and how china will deal with the united states in the years to come. [30 china will deal with the united states in the years to come. do you think this is — states in the years to come. do you think this is sort _ states in the years to come. do you think this is sort of _ states in the years to come. do you think this is sort of a _ states in the years to come. do you think this is sort of a definitive - think this is sort of a definitive position in the past the rhetoric from china husband look, we are being neutral, we want peace. we don't want an escalation of the war. has that changed you think by saying that russia and china are now closer to each other�*s i that russia and china are now closer to each other"— to each other's i don't think it's a significant _ to each other's i don't think it's a significant change _ to each other's i don't think it's a significant change in _ to each other's i don't think it's a significant change in terms - to each other's i don't think it's a significant change in terms of. to each other's i don't think it's a l significant change in terms of that. china is very careful to remain neutral as put it. of course it's not,. but china i think will continue trying to perform this diplomatic dance of trying to remain neutral but at the same time continuing business as usual with

russia but providing support. so this is what china has been doing. it's position has been, china's position was characterised by two contradictory arguments. one is that sovereignty of every state needs to be perfected. the other one is that russia has a security interest in ukraine. so i think this ambiguity will continue. i don't think china will continue. i don't think china will announce explicit support of russia and ukraine. it’s will announce explicit support of russia and ukraine.— russia and ukraine. it's hard to talk about _ russia and ukraine. it's hard to talk about this _ russia and ukraine. it's hard to talk about this relationship - russia and ukraine. it's hard to . talk about this relationship without talking about taiwan? right. when you look at this through what's happening with the taiwan relations, how important do you think beijing is looking at this entire situation and gleaming lessons for itself's it's very important because even

though the two cases, ukraine and taiwan are very different that they have one important feature in common. both of them have to do with great power confrontation. not only ukraine it's russia against the west. in taiwan it's a big problem, it will be about great power rivalry between china and the united states. so i think china is observing, china is watching the war in ukraine quite carefully, especially how far the west is willing to go in supporting ukraine and what options russia has. but also, china is trying to assess its relationship with russia to cash the check at some point for being neutral and neutral or supportive of russia during ukraine crisis. of course china will expect the same or even more perhaps, in case of direct confrontation with the united

states. ., confrontation with the united states. . ., ., , confrontation with the united states. . ., ., states. thanks for “oining us on the programme. _ president biden has concluded his two day visit to poland, after his unexpected trip to kyiv earlier this week. in a meeting with nato leaders from nine eastern european countries — known as the �*bucharest nine' — he came under pressure to offer further security guarantees, including demands for nato troops to be permanently stationed on the alliance's eastern flank, rather than rotated in and out as at present. the us president repeatedly reiterated his commitment to nato and supporting ukraine. and ukraine very much on the agenda at the united nations general assembly — lets take you there live now — where a meeting in new york is under way. they're discussing the war in ukraine, with more pressures on member states to condem russia's actions. a motion has been tabled, calling on russia to withdraw from all ukrainian territory, and foran immediate cessation of hostilities.

you can see people making their speeches they are right now. netta, as always, great to get you on the show. i have to ask, how effective is yet another vote. we have seen this before, countries tend to abstain or veto harsh language altogether. what does this achieve? doctor great question, especially here when it's a general assembly resolution but not binding but rather more symbolic, it holds political weight. rather more symbolic, it holds politicalweight. i rather more symbolic, it holds political weight. i think what diplomats will tell you is they are under no illusions that this will change anything on the ground. if you listen to what the russian ambassador set in the hall, he urged member states not to support the resolution, saying it wouldn't be helpful to ease the tensions between russia and the west. he largely says

his country blames the west for trying to destroy russia and he believes that this resolution, if passed, would as he put itjust lead to more russia phobic militaristic lies from the west. so there is certainly that rhetoric and those divisions which are extremely large of course, given the war in ukraine. what diplomats say is that it is important with the one—year anniversary coming up for the nation of the world to really take a stand and protection of the un charter. that's what the western ukraine supporter want to see. in the past, nearly three quarters of the general assembly has voted alongside ukraine condemning russia's action. its invasion, its attempt to annex ukraine's territory. and so what we have seen is that russia has been isolated on the international stage. that is a symbolic victory that the country of the west feel is

important given what's happening with ukraine and its people at the moment. ., with ukraine and its people at the moment. . ., ., , moment. thanks for “oining us in the programme. _ in israel, ten palestinians have been killed and more than a hundred have been injured following a raid by israeli troops in the occupied west bank. that's according to palestinian officials, who say that several of those killed were civilians, including two elderly men and a teenage boy. the israeli military said its troops, none of whom were injured, came �*underfire' whilst targeting suspected militants in a what they called a hideout apartment in the city of nablus. our middle east correspondent tom bateman reports. well, we are in one of five hospitals in nablus now treating people with bullet wounds. and i've just been up to one of the wards where the doctor described this as one of the worst events of his kind he's seen in recent years. he called it a disaster. we spoke to a 15—year—old boy who has a bullet wound to the leg. he told me that he was standing

near militants and he was hit by israeli gunfire. and what is so striking about this is the time of day this raid happened. it was the middle of the morning when the old city of nablus is packed with families and people shopping, when the israelis encircled a building where they said three militants were holed up. those men were all killed, all senior palestinian militants and members of the lion's den group, which is a militant group that's been active in the city over the last year. but the other thing that is so striking about what's happened here today is, the death toll, which matches the most deadly raid in the occupied west bank in the last two decades. and it's the number of wounded. so the palestinian health authority, palestinian health ministry is saying that 80 people, or more than 80 people have gunshot wounds. and on the ward we were just in, they were treating at least eight people. one of them also, they said,

was shot in the back. now, the israeli military says it operated because the men that it targeted, it was trying to arrest them. they refused to surrender. it says that palestinian militants fired on them and they upgraded their response, firing shoulder launched missiles towards this building. it says that those men were involved in the planning and the killing of an israeli soldier last year. and also they were planning imminent attacks. the palestinian authority, though, has described this as a massacre. and amid reported concerns about retaliation, hamas, the militant group, has said that its patience is running out. and all of this when the united states have been trying to broker a kind of understanding between the palestinian leadership and the israelis to ease what have been spiralling tensions recently, this shows that those attempts are failing. still to come on the programme, can you solve the mysterymarket watch

stop on a japanese beach and everyone is asking what is at?

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines — to northern ireland now — and police there have confirmed that an off—duty officer has been shot at a sports centre in the town of omagh, county tyrone. our ireland correspondent emma vardy gave us this update from the police headquarters in belfast. we know this incident happened as around 8pm this evening. police are saying a serving police officer was shot and taken to hospital injured. we don't know anything more about his condition. local political leaders have been quick to condemn this incident.

sinn fein saying it is a shameful attack, the dup calling it reprehensible. here in northern ireland, there is always a continuing security threat against police officers. that is something that dates back to the conflict here known as the troubles, but today it is much more rare for police officers to come to harm. the last time a police officer was shot was in 2017. a murder attempt by dissident republican paramilitaries, and in 2011, a police officer was murdered in a bomb under his car. so, tonight, this incident will come as a real shock. we don't know the details yet behind the attack, but all police are saying is a serving police officer has been shot and remains in hospital. a british woman who travelled to syria as a teenager to join the islamic state group has lost her appeal against the government's decision to strip her of british citizenship. shamima begum was 15 years old when she left the uk and married an is fighter. shamima begum was 15 years old when she left the uk

and married an is fighter. today's ruling means she remains barred from returning to the uk and the government says she is still thought to be a national security risk. her legal team insist she was a victim of child trafficking. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. shamima begum was 15 years old when she left the uk she spent the next four years in islamic state territory, emerging after the california collapsed. she immediately had her british citizenship removed. her lawyers have challenged that, arguing that she was a child victim of trafficking for sexual exploitation, as she was married off within days of arrival to an adult is fighter. in their ruling today, the judges said that they found that this was a case of great concern and difficulty. they said that there was a credible

suspicion that shamima begum had been recruited, transferred and harboured for the purposes of sexual exploitation. they said the idea that she could have conceived and organised the trip herself was not plausible. but in the end, they decided that that did not make the home secretary's decision to take away her british citizenship unlawful. shamima begum's lawyers said the case had been a lost opportunity to put into reverse a continuing injustice. the outcome that we face is that no british child who has been trafficked outside the uk will be protected by the british state if the home secretary invokes national security. well, i was a security minister in the home office when she lost her citizenship, alongside many other people that posed a direct or a dangerous threat to this country. so i'm pleased the courts have upheld our interpretation

of the nationality rules for the country and i think that's the right thing to do. you don't want to see her back in the uk? no. other countries in europe are now starting to bring women and children back from the camps in north—east syria and the government's own reviewer of terrorism legislation says he thinks the uk may not want to continue its policy forever. if nothing else, it would create this sort of awful spectre - of britain's guantanamo. i'm sure it would be a propaganda coup for britain's enemies. - so i can't believe the uk - is going to be a complete outlier. but even speaking before today's decision, shamima begum clearly had little hope of making it back to britain. what do you think you'll be doing in seven years' time from now? i'll still be in this camp. really? yeah. you don't think you'll be home? nope. not at all? nope. why not? because isis was the worst

thing of the 21st century and i was a part of it, and now i have to face the consequences of my actions, and this camp is the consequences of my actions. shamima begum's legal team will continue to challenge the decision, but home secretaries do have huge powers to take away british citizenship when national security is threatened. daniel sandford, bbc news. british steel has confirmed it's planning to close the coke ovens at its plant in scunthorpe, meaning up to 260 people will lose theirjobs. the chinese—owned firm blamed an "unprecedented" rise in energy costs as well as demands to be greener. here's our business editor simonjack. an exciting future — 4,000 jobs secured and over £1 billion in new investment. that was the promise three and a half years ago, when chinese firm jingye bought troubled british steel out of public ownership. today, workers were digesting plans to close ovens that turn coal into coke,

with 260 job losses. it's disappointing news. hopefully the job losses that announced, there should be hopefully some redeployment for them with the ageing workforce on the site. do you think we seem to go from crisis to crisis in the steel industry? what's the problem? they're saying its energy prices at the minute. obviously the rising cost of living — it uses a lot of electric running a plant like this. unions fear today's announcement won't be the last and thatjob cuts here will ripple right through the supply chain. well, our fear is that the recent announcements are probablyjust the tip of the iceberg. and if it closes, i would see scunthorpe as being almost on its knees. british steel's chinese owners don't deny they are looking to cut costs further, which the unions fear could mean hundreds more redundancies. in fact, they say the entire future of uk steel—making is on a knife edge. now in the past, the government has said that steel making

is a strategic interest that it wants to preserve. but recently, the new business secretary said it wasn't a given that the uk needed a domestic steel making industry, which is sending alarm bells ringing here in scunthorpe and at port talbot in south wales. uk steel production has been steadily falling over decades, and our output is now less than a quarter of what it was 50 years ago. world steel production is now dominated by china, which produced a billion tonnes of steel last year, with the uk producing less than 1% of that, atjust six million tonnes. steel industry bodies say energy costs are 60% higher here than in germany, for example, and that means the uk just can't compete. unless government absolutely addresses this problem, then we won't have that competitive business landscape in the uk and therefore it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that we'll be priced out of the market. the government said today's news was disappointing given negotiations

are ongoing to provide british steel and port talbot owners tata with around £300 million each in support. but those offers are conditional on long term job guarantees and are tied to decarbonisation goals the firm say will cost billions. they haven't proved enough to stop jobs leaving this site today. simonjack, bbc news, scunthorpe. now let me leave you with images of what's being described as the "godzilla egg" by locals injapan. it's a large mystery metal sphere which has washed up on the shore near the city of hamamatsu, causing huge speculation as to its origin. it's hollow, and not deemed to pose any kind of threat. many suspect it may be a type of anchored float. if you know, you've got to let us know as well. you know how to reach you know how to reach me. that's all for now —

stay with bbc world news. hello there. wednesday brought our first appreciable rain for some time. in fact, for eastern england, more rain than we've seen all february so far. but the other element was, of course, a cooler day. temperatures dipped from the 13 in harden on tuesday to just eight on wednesday, which is about average for the time of year. and the change was due to a change in wind direction behind this rather raggedy looking weather front on our satellite picture, the north westerly wind developed and that north westerly wind is blowing our cloud away further south, although we've had a smattering of snow across the moors in the southwest. so, it is cold air. we could see something a little bit wintry on the hills as that continues southwards through the rest of the night. behind it, temperatures are dropping to freezing and of course, where we're seeing any wintriness. so with the surfaces damp, it could well be quite icy.

so that's something we haven't seen for a while, either. so, a cold and frosty start for many of us in the morning. our weather front and its cloud still in the south. the next one starting to approach the north. but the high pressure in between does promise more sunshine for many across scotland, northern ireland, northern england, wales. this cloudier zone, cool. some bits and pieces of rain drizzle takes a while to clear, and later on something more significant comes back into the north and west and the northern isles, along with a strengthening and quite gusty wind. so, that will make it feel chillier. but some sunshine elsewhere, and temperatures similar to those of wednesday, which as i say, is about average for this time of year. then through the evening, that weather front will weaken. the rain amounts almost peter out as it pushes its way southwards. and so behind it, the cloud breaks. and ahead of it we could see some frost as well. so colder to start friday morning. again, a cold start across central and southern areas, but the high pressure isjust relinquishing its grip for a while. now, these weather fronts will introduce more cloud and also that northerly winds.

so i do think it'll feel quite chilly on friday even when the cloud starts to break with some sunshine for the north east of scotland, eastern england, there's a bracing wind and we will still have some rain on this weather front. again, it doesn't look like anything significant, but it will introduce more cloud across the skies and give us some patchy nuisance rain. but as i say, a little bit chillier than the nine or ten would suggest. and then the high pressure's back for the weekend. a strong high pressure building, keeping those weather fronts at bay once again. so as we look towards the end of february and through the weekend, there could be quite a bit of cloud around, some drizzly showers, fog and frost, but not a lot of rain is in the forecast.

good night, and here's your latest sports news. a long—awaited government white paper, proposing the biggest shake—up to english football

governance in years, has been published. it begins the process for a new independent regulator to oversea financial stability across the game, tougher ownership rules, a ban on sides joining breakaway leagues, and a greater say for supporters. jane dougall has more: this white paper says it finds that fans should have a greater say in the running of their clubs in terms of team name and badges. if you remember cardiff, whose original strip is blue, known as the bluebirds, they were bought by malaysian owners who unveiled a red kit that did not go down well with fans. because of that it didn't go ahead. there are owners who wouldn't listen to their fans. and more importantly, they oppose the breakaway super league which was important. this would allow the regulator to block clubs from joining breakaway leagues like that one. which is huge.

this comes from recommendation letter.