welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines.. ukraine's president says his troops will continue to defend the eastern city of bakhmut, as the mercenaries fighting for russia there complain they don't have enough ammunition. one month after the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 50 thousand people in turkey and syria, many are still living without proper shelter. the legacy of japanese boyband mogul johnny kitagawa is examined in a new bbc documentary, including multiple allegations of sexual abuse from boys and men

who once worked with him. the wonders of the natural world — for the first time ever sir david attenbourgh looks at britain's wildlife. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky says the country's military commanders want to continue defending the embattled eastern city of bakhmut. it follows reports from a us— based think tank suggesting ukraine was probably withdrawing some of its forces from the city. russia is continuing it's all out assault to capture the eastern ukrainian city,

while the city's deputy mayor has told the bbc that "not a single building" had remained untouched, and that the city is "almost destroyed". here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. after more than six months of fighting, much of bakhmut now lies in ruins, yet the fighting remains hard. street by street, house by house. for those few civilians who remain in the city and in villages nearby, conditions are terrible, with little access to water, heat or power. translation: iwant peace, silence, calmness, and just to be _ at home in our own land. the ukrainian army still holds the centre of bakhmut. they can get in and out from the west, but... this ukrainian soldier says the situation is tense, tanks are shelling the road and bridges are broken.

defending this city is coming at a high price in ukrainian lives. translation: i would like to pay . special tribute to the bravery, l strength and invincibility of the warriors fighting in donbas. it is one of the toughest battles — painful and challenging. russian forces continue to bombard the city and their troops continue to make small advances from the north and south, but at great cost. british military officials say some russian soldiers are even being forced to attack with little more than their spades. and while russia's defence ministry shows images of paratroopers supposedly making an assault, russian mercenaries at the heart of the fighting complain they are not getting enough ammunition. translation: what if they want | to set us up, calling us scoundrels, and that's why they don't give us ammunition? they don't give us weapons and they don't let us recruit more people from amongst prisoners? if wagner retreats from bakhmut now,

the whole front will collapse. there is not much left to win or lose in this city but ukrainian forces are defending these streets hard and many russian soldiers are dying trying to take them. for more on this i'm joined now by elisabeth braw, a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. thank you forjoining us on the programme. we've been seeing tensions in the russian ministry for some time but why has it reached a fever pitch now? ukraine wants to take it back and russia wants to fully capture it. it seems like such an insignificant town, why would you shed this amount of blood over it because mac but it is so at this point because they are advancing or

they are making gains. they haven't made very many gains in recent months at all and ukraine obviously wants to. defend every part of his territory. wants to. defend every part of his territo . , , . wants to. defend every part of his territo . ,, ., ,, ., territory. russian troops are losing their lives at _ territory. russian troops are losing their lives at an _ territory. russian troops are losing their lives at an alarming _ territory. russian troops are losing their lives at an alarming rate. - territory. russian troops are losing their lives at an alarming rate. sol their lives at an alarming rate. so a lot of analysts are saying that this particular place doesn't have any strategic battle. why are people fighting over it, both ukraine and the russians's i fighting over it, both ukraine and the russians'_ the russians's i think for the russian side, _ the russians's i think for the russian side, it's _ the russians's i think for the russian side, it's an - the russians's i think for the russian side, it's an effort . the russians's i think for the | russian side, it's an effort to the russians's i think for the . russian side, it's an effort to be able to show something to the russian public because otherwise what is this whole war about if you can't even when or capture a small ukrainian town. for the ukrainian side it is about being able to defend their territory. i think what is really interesting about this battle in particular is this is something we should pay attention to in future battles —— human wave upon human wave into the back moat as your correspondent said very poorly

and clearly the russian side isn't planning on this many surviving. they want to wear out the ukrainian defenders by sending in men after wave after wave of men who are essentially going to their deaths. elizabeth explain who is the wegner group and why are they fighting in this warfor russia? group and why are they fighting in this war for russia? it’s group and why are they fighting in this war for russia?— this war for russia? it's a very mysterious — this war for russia? it's a very mysterious group. _ this war for russia? it's a very mysterious group. the - this war for russia? it's a very | mysterious group. the founder this war for russia? it's a very i mysterious group. the founder of this war for russia? it's a very - mysterious group. the founder of it even denied that it existed. the founder is a close friend of putin who has accompanied him through his rise through the various chapters of recent russian history. he started his career as a caterer to putin and he has clearly done very well as he now owns this mercenary company that supplies russia with these troops in this war, which is what makes it so

unique. we haven't seen anything similar in european, recent european wars. and there's wegner group also supports across government regimes and other parts of the world, especially in african countries. so those are genes rely on the troops to essentially keep them in place. in this situation and ukraine, they are —— not we are not sure whether they are supposed to, whether they are operating under geneva conventions are not and that's something that is being discussed. elizabeth, we will have to leave it there. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. well, it's been a month since the devastating earthquake which killed more than 50,000 people across turkey and syria which left vast numbers without proper shelter. the un estimates that in turkey alone, at least one and a half million people who are still within the disaster

zone are homeless. this figure could even be higher. our correspondent who has been covering the tragedy from the start said this report from a province in southern turkey. surviving in the ruins. turkey's south is unrecognisable, ripped apart by the power of the quakes. this new landscape brings new challenges. those with nowhere to live now sleep where they can. some try to stay close to their damaged houses, songol tells me it's all they have left. the earthquake killed 17 members of her family. home is now a tent, but she isn't leaving. translation: having no | electricity is a big problem. the fear, it's too big. all night long there are nonstop aftershocks, it is so hard to sleep.

anger at the slow response has only grown louder. shokrut complained about this building four years ago. eight people died here. translation: help us, - save us, they were shouting. arms and legs were dangling out but there was nothing we could do. negligence greatly exaggerated this. so what has happened is more and more people havejoined this conversation at the building and they are telling us that some of them who lived here, they knew it was dangerous, they said they had filed a complaint, so what we are doing now is finding out why, finding out what they saw, what they said, and try to pull together some evidence of the conversations they had with the person who owned this building. first shokrut showed us proof of his official complaint on the government website. "the columns have cracked, no—one has shown any interest,

i request your attention before any loss of lives." over the next seven days we try to get the building's owner to tell us why it wasn't made safe. camera is on. he didn't reply. this part of the country isn't the only place with dangerous buildings. istanbul, turkey's biggest city. a studyjust three months ago said a quake here could kill up to 90,000 people. massoud's apartment block was condemned when it failed its earthquake safety test. he lost family members four weeks ago, now he is losing his home as well. translation: a relative called and we all woke up screaming. | he sobs. it's a horrible situation.

from north to south, this is a country in shock. rebuilding will take time, healing will take even longer. people here in turkey will feel the impact for years. anna foster, bbc news, hatay. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has called a wave of suspected poisonings of schoolgirls in recent months an "unforgivable crime". more than a thousand girls at dozens of schools across the country have been affected by unexplained illnesses since november. some politicians have suggested that religious groups opposed to girls' education may be to blame. parham gho—badi from bbc persian reports. they gasp. the shocking images of iranian schoolgirls gasping for breath after possible gas attacks.

the poisoned students are bussed away in ambulances to packed hospitals. concerned parents run to save their children. some are barred from entering the school. protests have been held in front of the education ministry. but they were beaten and arrested. many students say they were not allowed to leave school despite the smell of gas. translation: they closed the school doors, saying it was a sewage smell and nothing to worry about. i fainted in the corridor. school poisonings have been going on for more than three months. here at bbc persian, we've been monitoring school poisonings and verifying the videos posted on social media. here are ourfindings. on november 30th, schoolgirls in the religious city of qom said they felt sick

after inhaling odorous gas. in december, cities in two more provinces reported the same incidents. injanuary, students in two other provinces were poisoned, while schools in qom and other cities were repeatedly attacked in the meantime. in february, two more, including capital tehran. in march, it expanded exponentially and now almost the entire country is affected. after months, iran's supreme leaderfinally broke his silence on the issue. translation: they must be condemned to severe punishments. it's a serious and unforgivable crime. there will be no amnesty for them. many iranians suspect these are revenge attacks on schoolgirls who joined the protests that swept the country for months since september. iranian girls were at the forefront of fighting for freedom. now they are facing a frightening and invisible adversary. parham ghobadi, bbc news.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme.. sir david attenborough is back on location and for the first time, he will explore the british isles in a new landmark bbc documentary. we heard these gunshots and they were starting to fire we were petrified.

were starting to fire we were etrified. , ., , ., were starting to fire we were petrified-— were starting to fire we were etrified. �* . , . . . , . petrified. james are already are sentenced _ petrified. james are already are sentenced to _ petrified. james are already are sentenced to 99 _ petrified. james are already are sentenced to 99 years - petrified. james are already are sentenced to 99 years in - petrified. james are already are sentenced to 99 years in jail- petrified. james are already are sentenced to 99 years in jail for the murder of martin luther king jr.. what is if you like to be married at last? it jr.. what is if you like to be married at last?— jr.. what is if you like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank yon — married at last? it feels fine, thank you. will _ married at last? it feels fine, thank you. will it _ married at last? it feels fine, thank you. will it change - married at last? it feels fine, | thank you. will it change your life's i don't _ thank you. will it change your life's i don't know _ thank you. will it change your life's i don't know i've - thank you. will it change your life's i don't know i've never. life's i don't know i've never been married before. _ this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk.... london's metropolitan police has apologised for missing opportunities to arrest one of their officers before he killed sarah everard. wayne couzens, who is already serving a life sentence, was jailed for a further 19 months for exposing himself

to women on three occasions. a parole board has heard that charles bronson, one of the uk's most violent offenders, would not cope with being released. the 70—year—old was convicted of armed robbery in 1974, when he was only 21 years old, and has spent the majority of his life in prison. the panel is still deciding if he should be released. the uk government is set to annouce plans to ban migrants who arrive in the country in small boats from france from ever returning to the uk. the opposition labour party leader, sir keir starmer, says the proposals are unworkable, while refugees groups, say thousands of people will be left in legal limbo. here's our political correspondent, david wallace—lockhart. migrants have arrived on this beach and plenty like it all along the south coast.

and this is becoming a bigger and bigger and bigger problem. and rishi sunak has made it one of his five priorities. three of those were economic, one related to the nhs. and then this, and his promise to stop the boats, setting the bar incredibly high to try to achieve that. tomorrow we'll get a sense of exactly how he plans to do it. how does he plan to break up the smuggling gangs so central to the operation? how does he reduce the incentive for people to get on the boats and cross the english channel? and how does he speed up the processing of migrants once they are here? something that is currently costing a huge amount of money. he will make an argument about fairness, saying it is unfair that people are crossing the channel in small boats — disproportionately young men seeking a better life, not exclusively, but disproportionately, rather than those who might be fleeing war. but there's, of course, broader questions as well around the morality of all of this and exactly how the uk should respond to it

and how it should work with neighbouring countries to do something about it. the reason it's happening tomorrow is because on friday the prime minister will meet the french president, emmanuel macron, in france. and a decent relationship with paris is absolutely crucial to trying to do something about this and doing it successfully. torrential rain and landslides on a remote indonesian island have killed at least 15 people and left dozens missing. a disaster agency spokesman told local media that houses had been flattened on serasan island. officials say strong winds damaged communications networks, making it hard to get accurate information. serasan island is several hours by boat from the nearest help. a new bbc documentary examines the legacy of the japanese music executivejohnny kitagawa. kitagawa founded a male—only talent agency which has produced many of japan's biggest boybands.

however, multiple allegations of sexual abuse have been made by boys and men who once worked with kitagawa and aspired to make it in the japanese pop market. mobeen azhar reports. japan has the biggest music market in the world after the us and one companyjoining in associates has dominated thej—pop orjapanese pop market since being established in the 1960s. its founder, johnny kitagawa, has had rumours surrounding him for decades that he sexually abused boys in his male only talent agency throughout his 50 year career. a few photos of him are known to exist, so we've drawn a picture of him to show you instead. claims of abuse were upheld in a 2003 libel case, but despite this, he continued to work until his death in 2019,

and he's still revered injapan. i spoke to a fan on the streets of tokyo. he is god, is god, he is god. such a big statement? some of the abuse happened while boys were staying at kitagawa was home. i spoke to a victim for the bbc�*s this world programme who shared his story for the first time. johnny sang, johnny told me, go and have a bath. johnny filled up the bath. i thought, isn't he kind? but then he reached for my trousers. i said, i'll take them off myself. but he replied with silence, and that terrified me. later, several boys told me, "you have to put up with it or you won't succeed." we tried several times to get answers from johnny and associates about the allegations and struggled to speak to anyone. eventually, i went to their offices and i was met by one of the marketing team. we already replied to them.

please let any further communications be handled to the person who responded to you. i hear what you're saying, but that's not happening. i'm not getting a response at the moment. they've replied to you already. they've replied to say that they don't want to respond to the allegations. that's all they've said. i'm very sorry. any further conversation should go there. so i want to speak to someone senior. i want to work out how we can make that happen. to be frank, i don't think, given the seriousness of the allegations, the fact that this relates to dozens of cases of young men..

we co nta cted we contacted the police, entertainment reporters, newspapers, tv networks, and even the public broadcaster. none of them would speak to us. an iron curtain is drawn when you mention the name johnny, and so to this day he is protected injapan, even after his death. the full programme �*predator: the secret scandal ofj—pop' is coming soon to bbc world news tv, or if you're in the uk, you can watch it now on the bbc iplayer. the legendary bbc wildlife presenter sir david attenborough is returning to the screens, and for the first time his focus is on the british isles. filmed over a three year period, it's the first time we've seen sir david on location in several years. it promises to reveal a previously unseen side of british wildlife. here's our climate editor, justin rowlatt.

welcome to a place that is astonishing. nature in these islands can be extraordinary. it rivals anything i've seen elsewhere. it's not far. it's home. at 96 years old, sir david attenborough is back on location to bring you the british isles as you have never seen them before. scenes like this. orca killer whales hunting a baby seal off the coast of scotland. their strategy is one of surprise. these programmes cost the same as a major international wildlife series, and the sequences they capture are as spectacular as anything you could see anywhere on earth. the orca takes its catch out into open water, and there shows younger members of the pod how

to drown it. i think very few people realise that we are actually globally important for wildlife. we have more ancient oak trees in england than the whole of europe. we've got 50% of the world's common bluebells, a quarter of europe's badgers, most of the world's chalk streams. the series shows animal behaviours that have never been filmed before, like our biggest bird of prey, white—tailed eagles hunting barnacle geese in flight. the goose is so heavy, the young eagle has to struggle to hold on. but our wildlife is at risk. 60% of our flying insects have vanished in the last 20 years. 97% of our wild flower meadows since the second world war. wild salmon could be extinct in the british isles within two decades, the series warns. it prompts an urgent call to action from sir david.

britain as a whole is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. never has there been a more important time to invest in our own wildlife, to try and set an example for the rest of the world and restore our once wild isles forfuture generations. so what can be done? we can make choices ourselves about what we buy, how we travel, what we eat. we can also put pressure on our politicians at local and national level and force them to really show the leadership that's required to see big scale visionary changes in how we manage the environment. the message is clear — it's up to us all to save the fragile and beautiful ecosystems of our island nation. justin rowlatt, bbc news.

just extraordinary. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. the weather on thursday into friday could be very interesting. more on that later on. but were going to find a bit more snow across more of the country in the next few days. so far, most of it has been falling across northern scotland and the snow is continuing to pile up here. cold start to tuesday, icy conditions as well. temperatures not quite so low for the south where we've got more cloud. we are continuing to see mostly rain but there could be a little of sleet and snow in there was well. it peterd out a little bit more through the day. there will be a few wintry showers though developing further north as you continue northwards. we are seeing some sunshine, that snow continuing to push into northern scotland. on a chilly wind all the way from the arctic.

where you are whether you've got the sunshine in the north or the cloud in the south, it's going to be a cold temperatures about four, 5 degrees. we are seeing this weather front sliding slowly and from the atlantic and those fronts really mark this battleground between the milder atlantic air that stays just to the south of the uk in the colder arctic air that's really going to be more dominant. and overnight tuesday night, those temperatures will fall away very quickly where we have the clearer skies and over the snowfields in scotland it could be —10. widespread frost to start the day on wednesday. and maybe some more snow falling across southern parts of england and south wales, a couple of centimetres in places. again, it may die out, but we will see some wetter windy weather in the southwest later. more snow over the moors. scotland, northern ireland seeing fewer showers, probably more sunshine on wednesday. but it's going to be another cold day after that frosty start. then things get very interesting through thursday and perhaps into friday as well. the risk of this disruptive snow is moving further north. there could be some quite heavy falls of snow in places as well. the reason for all that is this area of low pressure. that's going to be deepening

and it's going to push these weather fronts further north into that colder air. any snow that does fall across southern parts of england and wales should turn back to rain as it gets milder here, a bit windier too, but we've got that wedge of cold air further north so we're going to find a longer spell of snow, particularly falling particularly falling across northern ireland and northern parts of england. and will see that snow moving its way northwards eventually into parts of scotland. over the hills of scotland and the northern parent nines, we could get some heavy falls of snow, widely in that area though, five to ten cm.

good evening, i'm tt and this is your sports news where we start in the premier league and brentford's push for european football next season was strengthened with a 3—2 win against fulham. the home side took the lead afterjust six minutes when ethan pinnock�*s strike deflected past bernd leno fulham pulled one backjust before half—time, andreas perreira's free kick hitting the crossbar and landing at the feet of manor solomon for his fifth goal in five games. ivan toney�*s penalty saw brentford regain the lead and then mathiasjensen made it three in the 85th minute. carlos vinicius scored for fulham in stoppage time but brentford take the win. they're ninth but only three points from newcastle in 6th. attention turns to the

champions league this week — and the pivotal game for chelsea tomorrow night against dortmund.