welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm monica miller. the headlines: howitzer fires ukraine's president says his troops will continue defending bakhmut, as russian mercenaries complain they don't have enough ammunition. one month on from the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria, thousands are still living without proper shelter. having no electricity is a big problem. the fear is too big. all night long there are after—shocks, it is so hard to

sleep. lucky to be alive — almost 350 people rescued from a truck in mexico. the driver's whereabouts are unknown. the legacy of japanese boyband moguljohnny kitagawa is examined in a new bbc documentary, including multiple allegations of sexual abuse and we meet the team behind the elephant whisperers, the indian documentary hoping to win at sunday's oscars. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news — it's newsday. welcome to the programme. 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 its 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. our correspondentjames landale sent this report from kyiv. after more than six months of fighting, much of bakhmut now lies in ruins, and 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: i want 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: | would l like to pay special tribute to the bravery, 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. james landale, bbc news, kyiv. elisabeth braw is a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. she says bakhmut has become important to the russian military, which has struggled to deliver any positive news to the kremlin. ukraine wants to take it back and russia wants to fully capture it. and it seems like such an insignificant town. why would you shed this amount of blood over it? but it's so significant at this point, because if the russians take it, they can claim that that 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 its territory. i mean, russian troops are losing their lives at an alarming rate. so a lot of analysts are saying that this particular place doesn't have any strategic value. why are people fighting over it, both ukraine and the russians? i think it's — 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 win or capture a small ukrainian town. and for the ukrainian side, it is about being able to defend their territory. and i think what is really interesting about this battle in particular is the large role that the wagner group is playing. that's something that we should pay attention to in future

battles to come, because the wagner group is sending in a human wave upon human wave into bakhmut, as your correspondent said, men armed very poorly. and clearly, the russian side isn't planning on these men surviving, but they want to wear out the ukrainian defenders by sending in men after wave after wave of men, who are essentially going into their deaths. elizabeth, explain to our viewers exactly who is the wagner group? where did they come from? why are they fighting in this war for russia? it's a very mysterious group, and until recently, the founder of it even denied that it existed. the founder is a close friend of putin who has essentially accompanied him through his rise through various chapters of recent russian history. he has been — he started his career as a caterer to first to to ordinary russians, then to putin. and he has clearly done very well since, because now he 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 — in recent european wars. and this wagner group also supports or props up governments or regimes in other parts of the world, especially in sub—saharan african countries. so those regimes rely on wagner group to essentially keep them in place here. in this situation in ukraine, they are playing a very dirty game with the troops and we are not sure whether they are supposed to whether they are operating under geneva conventions or not. but that's something that's being discussed. it's a month since the devastating earthquakes which killed more than 50,000 people across turkey and syria and which left vast numbers without proper shelter. the un estimates that in turkey alone at least 1.5 million people who are still within the disaster zone are homeless. the true figure could be even higher. our correspondent anna foster,

who's been covering the tragedy from the start, sent this report from hatay 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 herfamily. 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

"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. there we go, 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 too. 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. let's take a look at some other stories mexican officials have found ove 340 people in an abandoned truck in the state of veracruz. 103 of them were children. the migrants were from guatemala, honduras, el salvador and ecuador. there was no sign of the driver. officials said the trailer was fitted with ventilation fans and air vents. i'm joined now by our correspondent will grant, who's in mexico. this has been a treacherous route for many of these migrants trying to make their way into the us but luckily

this time they survived. what do we know about this incident? it doesn't seem like pure luck that people survived on this instance. this is a shocking case simply in the fact it involves more than 100 unaccompanied minors heading north from central america, almost 350 people in total. the truck had a sort of two layers in it because the smuggling gang, who was presumably moving this people north to the united states, created a second level so they could cram more people in there. it was found abandoned on a highway in the eastern state of veracruz, no driver anywhere to be found. and had things gone on for longer with the temperatures, even though there was some rudimentary effort to get ventilation, it might not been enough for very long. very

little to drink and eat. these other conditions in which people are travelling to be smuggled into the united states and only year i was in veracruz with the family members of three members of the same family that two brothers and a cousin that who had ended up in an abandoned truck trailer in texas, part of more than 50 people who died on that occasion and their bodies had been repatriated back to the same state where people had been found. fortunately without loss of life here butjust by sheer luck rather than anything else. . ~ , ., sheer luck rather than anything else. . ~' , ., , sheer luck rather than anything else. . ~ , . ., else. thank you very much for that undate- _ you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the tainted legacy of japanese boyband mogul johnny kitagawa is examined in a new bbc documentary.

the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym _ then he came outj through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged a1, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — _ i've never been married before.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. our headlines: ukraine's president says his troops will continue defending bakhmut as russian mercenaries complain they don't have enough ammunition. one month on from the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria, thousands are still living without proper shelter. iran's supreme leader has called a wave of suspected poisonings of schoolgirls in recent months an "unforgivable crime". more than 1,000 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 ghobadi from bbc persian reports.

the bbc persian reports. shocking images of iranian schoolgirls the shocking images of iranian schoolgirls guscott and for breath. after possible gas attacks. the poisoned students are bust away in ambulances. two 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 smell of gas. translation: they closed the _ the smell of gas. translation: they closed the school— the smell of gas. translation: they closed the school doors, i they closed the school doors, saying it was a sweet smell and nothing to worry about. i fainted in the corridor. school poisonings — fainted in the corridor. school poisonings have _ fainted in the corridor. school poisonings have been - fainted in the corridor. school poisonings have been going 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 videos posted on social media. there are our findings. on november 30, schoolgirls in the religious city of qom said they felt sick after inhaling odorous gas. in december, cities into more provinces reported the same incidents. injanuary, students into other provinces were poisoned while students —— schools are qom another cities were repeatedly attacked in the meantime. in february, two more, including the 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 iranian suspect _ be no amnesty for them. many iranian suspect these - be no amnesty for them. many iranian suspect these are - iranian suspect these are revenge attacks on schoolgirls who joined the protests that swept the country for months since september. iranian girls

wrote the forefront of fighting for freedom. wrote the forefront of fighting forfreedom. now wrote the forefront of fighting for freedom. now they are facing a frightening and invisible —— now they are facing a frightening and invisible adversary. parham ghobadi, bbc news. 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 company joining 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. 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. why is he god? such a big statement. some of the abuse happened while boys were staying at kitagawa's home. i spoke to a victim for the bbc�*s this world programme who shared his story for the first time. translation: 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 through 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 through them. 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 were asked to stop filming.

in reporting the story, 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 kitagawa, 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. it's less than a week before the 95th academy awards

— or the oscars — and one of the films shortlisted for best short documentary is the indiam film, the elephant whisperers. the film follows a couple, bomman and bellie, who devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant guneet monga explained how the director, kartiki gonsalves, came to make this film. she has a really cute story about one day driving down from her house and meeting this really cute little baby calf and bonding with it in the calf was so tiny, she got curious, followed them and made friends. and what was your intention about making this documentary? intention was to let people around the world know about coexistence, the emotional bond between the wild anime, the

nature and the human. it was definitely to lead into the emotions and know there is a world where we can live together. world where we can live together-— world where we can live touether. ., ., ., together. you can't go wrong with baby — together. you can't go wrong with baby elephants. - together. you can't go wrong | with baby elephants. certainly on the big screen. tell me a bit about what your processes and thinking when you take on a project like this? for and thinking when you take on a project like this?— project like this? for me, definitely _ project like this? for me, definitely as _ project like this? for me, definitely as a _ project like this? for me, definitely as a filmmaker| project like this? for me, i definitely as a filmmaker in this place, with the story, in this place, with the story, in this case, it was a female first time filmmaker. she is of south asian, the only south asian director this year and the academy is nominated and this is herfirst film and it's definitely for me, the process is the story. it's very institutional, actually, the process, how much the story impacts, doesn't resonate with me, will it resonate with local audiences and lean into the

vision, lean into their passion and in this case, she had the truest form of storytelling that she leaned into and both of us, this is to women, i could not be more happy than supporting a female filmmaker as a producer.— as a producer. this is not your first time _ as a producer. this is not your first time at — as a producer. this is not your first time at the _ as a producer. this is not your first time at the oscars. - as a producer. this is not your first time at the oscars. you l first time at the oscars. you had also been nominated for a film period: end of sentence which won an award. tell us about how, after this, your life my change? i about how, after this, your life my change?— life my change? i was an executive _ life my change? i was an executive producer - life my change? i was an executive producer on i life my change? i was an - executive producer on period: end of sentence in my film did win an oscar. i was personally not nominated. this is the first time i am nominated and yes, it will be history in the making. 1.4 billion people in india and 100 years of indian cinema filmmaking and this is the first time a film with two

women making it, pushing it forward has made. i think this is history in the making and definitely fingers crossed if we win, it would be just epic. there aren't many people actually get to sit in that there are expect better as the awards happen. what goes in your mind as you are sitting there, with all your stars there, with all your stars there, as well? aha, there, with all your stars there, as well?— there, as well? a lot of gratitude _ there, as well? a lot of gratitude and _ there, as well? a lot of gratitude and a - there, as well? a lot of gratitude and a lot - there, as well? a lot of gratitude and a lot of l there, as well? a lot of - gratitude and a lot of anxiety mixed. i don't have a word for that. definitely but a lot of gratitude to be shortlisted and nominated and the whole experience, it's so exciting, because of the academy awards and netflix, the whole world of audience are watching the film. we are getting fanart from around the world, it's so powerful and i think, for all that, we're grateful already. of course will have full coverage of the oscars next sunday night. that's it for us

now. stay with bbc world news. you can always follow the latest on what's going on in the world i visiting bbc .com. thank you for watching. hello there. the weather on thursday into friday could be very interesting. more on that later on. but we're 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 bit of sleet and snow in there as well. it does tend to peter 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.

whereever you are, whether you've got the sunshine in the north or the cloud in the south, it's going to be a cold day, temperatures about 4, 5 degrees. we are seeing this weather front sliding slowly in from the atlantic and those fronts really mark this battleground between the milder atlantic air that stays just to the south of the uk, and 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. northern 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 colder air further north so we're going to find a longer spell of snow, particularly falling across northern ireland and northern parts of england. and we will see that snow moving its way northwards eventually into parts of scotland. it's over the hills of scotland and the northern pennines, we could get some heavy falls of snow, widely in that area though, five to ten cm.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. the digital revolution is in full swing. expanding the internet of everything and moving life to the cloud is driving a boom in the tech industry, particularly in the world of data and where it's kept. from the drive to autonomous cars to using ai chat bots, to your emails and text or storing your photos and to watching your favourite show — all of this, almost everything

we do on our devices is dependent on these kind of places.