welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines — ahead of the first anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine — president putin once again defends his special military opposition. translation: there are battles going on right now on our- historical frontiers for our people. courageous warriors are fighting.

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 is 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

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 idolize 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 to russia's largest football stadium they came in their tens

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. 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

i began by asking him what the his close ties between russia and china suggest in terms of its strategy with russia. i think china is thinking long—term.

i think china is thinking long term. there is an increasing perception in beijing that china is on long term collision course with the united states, that sooner or later the two ours, us and china will collide in some form. so in russia, china is calculating. china will need russia, russia support when its relations with the united states deteriorate further. and over the last year, and especially the last couple of months, we've seen the deterioration, significant deterioration of us—china relations. so the chinese foreign policy calculus is oriented, sort of. has this changed by saying that china and russia are closer to each other? don't think that significant change. china is very careful to remain neutral as you put it. of course it's not fa ct. 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 in fact providing support. so this is what china has been doing. it's position has been

very ambivalent. china position is characterised by two contradicting arguments. one is that sovereignty of every state needs to be perfect but the other one is that —— i think this ambiguity will continue. i don't think china will announce explicit support of russia and ukraine. a motion has been tabled calling on russia to withdraw from all ukrainian territory and for an

from all ukrainian territory and foran immediate from all ukrainian territory and for an immediate cessation of hostilities. earlier i spoke with a woman who spoke and told me more about the assembly on how effective another vote might be. a general assembly resolution which isn't binding but rather more symbolic, it holds political weight. i think what diplomats will tell you is they are no illusions where that is will change anything on the ground. , if you look back to what the russian ambassador said, he urged member states not to support the resolution, saying it wouldn't be helpful to ease 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 it, just lead to more russia lies from the west. so there is that rhetoric and divisions which are extremely large given the war in ukraine. but what diplomats say

is that it is important, with the one—year anniversary coming up, orfor the nations of the world to take a stand in the protection of the un charter. that is what the west and ukraine's in the past, nearly three quarters of the general assembly has voted alongside ukraine, condemning russia's actions, it's envisions, it's attempts to annex ukrainian territory. so, what we have seen is that russia has been isolated on the international stage and that is a symbolic victory that the countries of the west feel is important given what is happening with ukraine and its people at the moment. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. at least two people have died and more than 50 are missing after a coal mine collapsed in northern china. several people have been rescued and a search and rescue mission is under way. the mine is located

in inner mongolia, one of the china's biggest coal producing regions. mission is under way. the mine is located in inner mongolia, one of the china's biggest coal producing regions. france has matched its record dry spell of 31 days without significant rainfall. weather service meteo france said the country has experienced less than one millimetre of rain per day in the last month. there are concerns that water reserves in parts of europe are yet to recover from last year's severe drought. in italy, venice's gondolas are unable to move because of the dry spell. 75 million people across the united states are under some kind of winter weather alert, as a mix of record high and record low temperatures sweep the country. forecasters predict an icy band will impact states from nebraska to new hampshire, with much of the west, including california, experiencing snow, and blizzard conditions. in israel, 11 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. then more rated. it was mid—morning. the streets packed with people. sparking gunfights with people. sparking gunfights with palestinian militants. troops opened fire. and blew up

a building in the old city. i was woken by an explosion and saw special forces with dogs, troops, connected wires which i assume were for explosives, says this man who lives nearby. the destructive force of an israeli rocket fired at a palestinian house. israel said its troops killed three militants of the lions den group who refused to surrender. they wanted him over the killing of a soldier last year and for planning new attacks. but as paramedics struggled to move more people were killed outside. gunmen and civilians, including a 72—year—old man. while others, apparently unarmed, were seen running away as gunshots were heard. palestinian officials called it a massacre. in the hospitals, the wounded and their relatives

poor end. 15—year—old islam said he threw stones towards the soldiers. he got a bullet in the leg. his grandfather tells me young and old were hit. translation: they came in with so much rage, so much hatred against the palestinian people. as the first time i've known it like that since 2004, he says. will seeing more and more relatives arrive here. on this board alone they are treating people in every room now with bullet wounds. one doctor i spoke to said this is one of the worst events of its kind he seen recently. he called it a disaster. thousands turned out for another day of funerals. today's raid is now the deadliest in the occupied west bankin deadliest in the occupied west bank in nearly two decades. israel said it's been trying to stem the rise in palestinian attacks on it streets. the northern west banks become home

to growing militancy with the official palestinian leadership losing control here. now the militant group, islamichhad, is threatening retaliation. the scale of bloodshed shows recent international efforts to restore calm are failing. tom bateman, bbc news. 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 that an off—duty officer has been shot, at a sports 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 any 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 any of the details yet behind the attack, but all police are saying is a serving police officer has been shot and remains in hospital. in the last few minutes prime minister rishi sunak has said i am appalled by the shooting tonight. my thoughts are when the officer and his family. there is no police in our society for those who seek to

harm public servants protecting communities. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme — can you solve the mystery? look at this — it washed up on a japanese beach — and everyone is asking �*what is it?�* prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this has had its fair share of bullets, a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malaca nang. the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world that the winner of the best film was la la land, the only trouble was it wasn't. the mistake was only put right in the middle of gushing speeches by the team behind

the modern musical. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope very soon for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will in his own words be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines... ahead of the first anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine, president putin once again defends his special military operation. 11 palestinians are killed and more than a hundred injured in an israeli raid on the occupied west bank. 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. shameema 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. in february 2015, eight years ago, shamima begum left gatwick airport with two school friends to go and join the islamic state group in syria. the three of them travelled through a bus station in turkey and were smuggled across the border by a man who, it later turned out, was providing information to canadian intelligence. she spent the next four years in islamic state territory, emerging in february 2015, after the caliphate 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 awfulj spectre of britain's guantanamo. - i'm sure it would be a propaganda coupl 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. at least four people have died after cyclone freddy made landfall in madagascar. there's been heavy damage to buildings, along with power cuts and flooding in the east of the country where among the casualties was a 27—year—old man who drowned near the town of mahanoro. the storm is now headed towards mozambique. dorcas wangira had this update. when cyclone fredy

made its landfall in it was an intense tropical cyclone, but as it moved across madagascar, it weakened to a tropical storm. by this evening, it is projected to leave the island. however, national authorities are urging residents to remain vigilant. according to government officials, four people have died. thousands have been displaced. houses have been destroyed, roofs ripped off. more buildings, including the manjari stadium. the manjari hospital has also been destroyed and flooding still continues. and heavy rainfall in many of the affected parts. translation: like i said earlier, there have been four deaths, one at mano and three in number. how and why they died? because i'm sorry to say it was due to negligence.

despite the awareness that we spread, people still dare to ignore the instructions and the warnings. the three that died, the house collapsed. tropical storm freddy is projected to make landfall in mozambique friday. dorcas wangira, bbc news. before we go go our homes become computers by the next decade? that's what new research suggests, suggesting that everyday tasks like cooking dinner, mixing up on my heater if thought your fancy or even walking the dog could be done by robots. the study from the university of oxford and japan's university looked into the role of technology in our homes and concluded that up to 39% of domestic chores could be automated by 2033. that's not very far away, is it.

i'd love to know what household chores you would like to have done for you — do get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma 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, we would love to get your thoughts on this. it's caused quite a stir injapan with lots of people coming up to inspect that, trying to figure out what it is. authorities say it poses no threat to people there. for now, that's it for us. thanks so much forjoining me on the show. do you stay with bbc news

for than latest global headlines.

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 it's 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. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the earthquakes that rocked southern turkey in early february not only caused a humanitarian disaster, they exposed cracks in president erdogan�*s carefully crafted image as turkey's indispensable leader. amid the ruined cities, and the anguish of millions of displaced people, basic government competence is being tested.