live from washington, this is bbc news. taiwan's president meets some of america's top lawmakers. in beijing, france's president touches down for a high—stakes visit with president xi. and coming up, we'll bring you a bbc investigation into one of the ukraine war�*s most notorious crimes. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start tonight in the us, where speaker kevin mccarthy has become the most senior elected official to meet a taiwanese president on us soil in decades. here's taiwanese president tsai ing—wen meeting mccarthy and a group of bipartisan lawmakers near los angeles

earlier today, despite objections from china. mccarthy stressed the need to speed up arms deliveries to taiwan. china, which has long considered taiwan as part of its country, denounced the meeting, accusing the us of seeking taiwanese independence. it comes on the heels of other high profile summits, including then—speaker of the house nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan last year. speaking after the meeting, mccarthy responded to warnings from china of escalating tensions. well, my first message to china, there is no need for retaliation. the one thing i will say to china, at no time, ims speaker of the house, there is no time that china is going to tell me where i can go and who can speak to, whether you be so all you befriend. the california visit is not the first stop on president tsai's trip. last week, she flew to new york where she met with three us senators. tsai then made her way to central america for official visits to guatemala and belize, two of taiwan's few allies

on the world stage. and on her way back, her last stop was today's meeting with mccarthy outside los angeles. it's her seventh such trip as president to the us in as many years. earlier in the day, president tsai thanked congress for standing by taiwan, but sounded the alarm on the threats to the island. it is no secret that today the peace that we have maintained and the democracy which we have worked hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges. we once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat. mccarthy says lawmakers had a productive discussion with president tsai. earlier, we spoke with one of the congressmen who was in the room for those conversations, democratic representative seth moulton of massachusetts who serves on the house select committee on strategic competition with china. congressmen, thank you very

much forjoining us. what was discussed with president tsai in these meetings. the partnership _ in these meetings. the partnership between i in these meetings. tue: partnership between our nations, notjust a security partnership, better economic partnership, better economic partnership and the opportunities to improve that. we talked about a wide range of issues. there is obviously a very real concern about china invading taiwan and so we talked about military deterrence. we also talked a lot about economic competition, we talked about trade issues and trade opportunities and we talked about our allies in the region. tt talked about our allies in the reuion. ., ~ talked about our allies in the reuion. . ~ ., region. if we talk about the threat of — region. if we talk about the threat of a _ region. if we talk about the threat of a chinese - region. if we talk about the threat of a chinese attack l region. if we talk about the l threat of a chinese attack on taiwan, did president xi specifically asked for assurances from the us? == specifically asked for assurances from the us? -- tsai ins-wen- _ assurances from the us? -- tsai ins-wen- she — assurances from the us? -- tsai ing-wen. she did _ assurances from the us? -- tsai ing-wen. she did not— assurances from the us? -- tsai ing-wen. she did not ask - assurances from the us? -- tsai ing-wen. she did not ask any i ing—wen. she did not ask any change in our long—standing policy, but she did ask that we accelerate our deliveries of weapons systems and things that taiwan has and we are looking to provide. our goal here is

peace and we're sitting at the reagan library, we understand that you achieve peace through strength. we want to make it clear to the chinese communist party and to xi jinping, clear to the chinese communist party and to xijinping, their leader, that invading taiwan is a bad idea and that there is going to be a united airlines that will oppose that. just as the west has stood together to oppose vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. the leaders are meeting at the great hall of the people. present macron is expected to press xi jinping present macron is expected to press xijinping and other high—level officials to do more for peace in ukraine. summer comes tensions between china and the west are running high and, as we have heard, as president tsai ing—wen was in california meeting with us speaker of the house, kevin mccarthy. let us go live to our corresponded mariko oi standing by for us in singapore covering

the story. tell us about emmanuel macron�*s a project, was the receptiveness to take this claim from president macron for them to take it forward, that they could do more to andy war in ukraine? well, he is about to start a slew of meetings with chinese leaders with lee chung—yong followed by xi jinping, leaders with lee chung—yong followed by xijinping, the president of china. beijing has always said it is neutral when it comes to the war in ukraine and it has refused to condemn russia's aggression, for example, at the united nations and it has also proposed the 12 point peace plan, but many of our viewers will remember president xijinping's our viewers will remember president xi jinping's trip to moscow to meet with president putin and partly because of the timing ofjapan�*s prime timing of japan's prime minister's timing ofjapan�*s prime minister's trip to the exact same day, the pictures became a stark contrast as to how the two biggest economies in asia

are responding to the conflict in ukraine and following that visit, the premier, who president macron is about to meet, he also held a phone conversation with russia's prime minister, talking about their approach to the war in ukraine. so that is something that a lot of analysts are watching closely how president xi and other chinese leaders will react to france's request, but don't think many are expecting a breakthrough that. exactly. what you think we can to come out of the store that macron will hold with president xi? ~ ., , , xi? well, of course president macron is _ xi? well, of course president macron is also _ xi? well, of course president macron is also keen - xi? well, of course president macron is also keen to - xi? well, of course president macron is also keen to push i xi? well, of course president l macron is also keen to push for close investment and trade ties with china, partly because he has been facing those rather embarrassing pension protests back home. we want to score some economic victories, if you like, and he has been pushing for a new accord which, if ratified, could boost investment ties between the

two. that is something he will likely bring up as well as other issues, notjust the war in ukraine but also human rights and taiwan, because you were talking about taiwan's resident an�*s stopover in the us and meeting with mr mccarthy, all those issues will likely be brought up as well. corresponded mariko oi reporting for us from singapore. thank you, good to talk to you. around the world and across the uk, you're live with bbc news. reporting for duty after clocking up more than 500,000 miles, most recently in dorset, it is patients not passengers who will be looking for this bus stopping in ukraine. we have a huge shortage of doctors in ukraine, but mobile hospitals can move from village to village, from a small town

to small town. the job of converting it is already under way. out with their seats, in with the hospital beds. while the donated military hardware may have grabbed the headlines, medical help like this flood, carrying both battle casualties and the sick who struggled to get care in the war damaged hospitals, is also needed. this bus could be the first of many setting out on that same journey. you're live with bbc news. we want to bring you a bbc news exclusive. since russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine in february last year, over 70,000 possible war crimes have been committed by the russian armed forces. the sheer volume of the work facing prosecutors is so big it could take them decades to bring the perpetrators to court. there are thousands of videos of alleged atrocities circulating on social media. one such film appeared in the first week of march. this is a still from that video, widely seen on twitter.

the man in the picture an unarmed ukrainian soldier. this christian fraser, with the help of ukrainian producer 0lga malchevska, have been investigating that video and the open source material that goes around it to make sense of what happened. it took several weeks, which revealed to us how time consuming just one of these investigations will be. a warning — some of this report is distressing from the start. the battle for bakhmut. it is the battle for bakhmut. it is the longest sustained russian assault of the war. and in the fight for control of the town

and the route to it, both sides have suffered grievously stop neither will divulge any accurate figure of how many have been killed. but in the midst of this savage conflict, there are some horrific crimes being committed. 0ne there are some horrific crimes being committed. one of which was captured on film. when we set out on this investigation some weeks ago, we had still not confirmed the name of the man in this video. the confusion around his identity and stem from the initial statement issued by the ukrainian military.— ukrainian military. according to preliminary _ ukrainian military. according to preliminary information i ukrainian military. according to preliminary information a | to preliminary information a soldier shot by russian war criminals was from salters brigade, it will be given by

relevant examination. the name we were given — relevant examination. the name we were given was _ relevant examination. the name we were given was timothy - we were given was timothy sitora. this is him from a village north—west of the stop he bears some resemblance to the dead soldier in our video. we know that he went missing around 12 hours from where the execution video was allegedly filmed. the army said the body was still lying behind emily lyons. but a journalist who had spoken to the ukrainian forces in that area question whether it was him. there is another name being circulated. from this picture taken some time prior to that you see this man has a and a+ above the right eye which matches what we see in the video. we have since made contact with the man who was commanding the unit. . translation: we was commanding the unit. . translation:—

was commanding the unit. . translation: ~ , , translation: we were set up in the bushes _ translation: we were set up in the bushes which _ translation: we were set up in the bushes which meant - translation: we were set up in the bushes which meant it - translation: we were set up in the bushes which meant it was i the bushes which meant it was difficult to keep eyes on each other difficult to keep up with the blast initiating, in a, moments ago has managed to get close and that is when they found the two bodies in a tiny trench. we knew they were ours, but we couldn't tell who they were. they had been stripped of their weapons. were. they had been stripped of theirweapons. he were. they had been stripped of their weapons.— their weapons. he was 42, from nissin, north-west _ their weapons. he was 42, from nissin, north-west of— their weapons. he was 42, from nissin, north-west of kyiv, - their weapons. he was 42, from nissin, north-west of kyiv, he l nissin, north—west of kyiv, he was born in moldova, he worked in russia, was divorced and with a son before the world had worked as an electrician. by march when the video began to circulate the family at, in fact, already been informed that he was dead, a body had already been returned to them. we know he had gone to the front where he had been missing in action. solider had become a key area. this is video of russian soldiers coming under fire trying to advance on the

town, they had been given very little detail on how he had been killed but then came this video of the execution which by now was attracting worldwide attention. it was seen by his mother. here is the one interview she has given to german media.

now, remember that until this point we thought i'd had reported that it was this man. there will�*s media, including the bbc, had to issue a correction. from that moment, 0leksandr would become the image of the resistance. his face had been appearing all over the social media and even in the artwork on the side of buildings. a week later president zelensky presented 0leksandr�*s mother with the volden star. —— golden star. glory to ukraine, which were 0leksandr�*s final words. so where was killed, why was he alone, seemingly isolated from his unit and who were the russians they killed him?

0leksandr had joined the fight in my 2022, his commander said he had less than two weeks training. he belongs to 163 battalion comedy 119 brigade the territorial defence force. it is not a regular unit, they are volunteers, more like dad's army. there are these units who are all over ukraine, in fact, the bbc film such a team in car kyiv last year. usually the line of command for these units is pretty vague and, putting it bluntly, these men and women are not normally at the front of the queue when it comes to the supply of weapons and ammunition. translation: we don't have walkie talkies _ translation: we don't have walkie talkies for _ translation: we don't have walkie talkies for each - walkie talkies for each soldier. it's one cost 1000 us dollars. it's one cost 1000 us dollars. i have machine—guns from the 19305. i have machine—guns from the 1930s. they are about 80 years old and with machine—guns on

wheels i am expected to intercept the shaheds, rainey and jones. since my trip to bakhmut, make unit had shooting training. maybe three times, 30 round each time. 50. training. maybe three times, 30 round each time.— round each time. so, who killed him? the _ round each time. so, who killed him? the inexperience - round each time. so, who killedj him? the inexperience shoulder with an old gun and limited ammunition. from mueller investigation we havejoe located 0leksandr�*s last known location close to this farm track on the eastern outskirts of a town. it is around soledar on the approach to bakhmut and you will notice this wooded area close to the farm track which corresponds to the trees that we seep behind 0leksandr in the video. in fact, we can be even more precise than that. we have uncovered the exact co—ordinates. 0leksandr died at this exact spot. but who was it that killed him? without signals intelligence which belongs to the army and the

prosecutor there is only so much we can do, but let's start with this map that was taken from the social media telegram channel of the waggoner group, the russian contractors, mercenaries, who have played a significant role in the fighting in this part of ukraine —— wagner. this map is dated the 30th of december, the day 0leksandr was executed. if we take it and put it over the top of the we take it and put it over the top of the google we take it and put it over the top of the google map, we take it and put it over the top of the google map, you we take it and put it over the top of the google map, you will see that this advancing red is practically right on top of 0leksandr�*s position. now, for much of december the russian advance on soledar had stalled but before 0leksandr�*s death the russians spearheaded by the wagner group advance from the south and the east. it isa it is a classic pincer movement. you can see the ukrainians fighting back and the ferocity of the fighting.

the same day he was killed, the telegram channel on the russian defence force says that: but there is a bitter divide between the ministry of defence and this man — the man who runs wagner. he was not about to let the army take credit for this advance and here he is in a bakhmut in february, congratulating his men who had fought their way to the outskirts of the city. around that time he was boasting on the social media messaging app telegram that it was his men who had taken the city. in this post from the press office they issued the statement which says:

we have found within these are very same channels of communication a series of photographs of his men inside the town. again, we have geo— located these photographs. this one was taken at the western exit of krasna hora, and this one from the town. this is outside the construction factory and put them down here on the south—western edge of the town. now, many of these men who were fighting for wagner were former russian convicts who offered pardons if they survive six months. in the past week some have returned to russia but many have not. there are russian mothers and wives posting photographs on it telegram of loved ones who have simply disappeared, and in february, around the same time it 0leksandr�*s body was

returned to his family, there was a film from russia of scores of these unnamed coffins that had been returned from the same battle. many were killed, many were killed — and some were captured. 0ur colleague 0lga malchevska has spoken to ukraine about the investigation.- ukraine about the investigation. ukraine about the investiuation. . ,~' , ukraine about the investiuation. . , ., investigation. our task is to t to investigation. our task is to try to find _ investigation. our task is to try to find out _ investigation. our task is to try to find out everything i try to find out everything possible once again. what tools do ou possible once again. what tools do you have _ possible once again. what tools do you have to _ possible once again. what tools do you have to identify - possible once again. what tools do you have to identify those i do you have to identify those people who killed the unum soldier? qt people who killed the unum soldier? u, , soldier? of course, it will take time. _ soldier? of course, it will take time, but, _ soldier? of course, it will take time, but, you - soldier? of course, it will| take time, but, you know, soldier? of course, it will - take time, but, you know, one of the sources we have our prisoners of war which are in our possession. we will try to concentrate our efforts, also not only with open source intelligence, but other sources of intelligence information in order to find who committed this crime.

order to find who committed this crime-— this crime. the video which started our— this crime. the video which started our investigation i this crime. the video which started our investigation is| this crime. the video which l started our investigation is of course a crucial piece of evidence. 0leksandr had clearly surrendered. we know he had been stripped of his weapons. he was compliant — so much so that he was smoking a cigarette. the geneva convention stated is a war crime to kill a prisoner of war who has laid crime to kill a prisoner of war who has laid out crime to kill a prisoner of war who has laid out his crime to kill a prisoner of war who has laid out his arms crime to kill a prisoner of war who has laid out his arms and surrendered. it states: it is intentional execution of the prisoner of war, which violates all possible international humanitarian law obligations. international humanitarian law obligations-— international humanitarian law obligations. how many russian war crimes _ obligations. how many russian war crimes have _ obligations. how many russian war crimes have you _ obligations. how many russian war crimes have you found - obligations. how many russian war crimes have you found so l war crimes have you found so far? ~ ., war crimes have you found so far? ~ ., ., far? we have documented over 72,000 incidents _ far? we have documented over 72,000 incidents of _ far? we have documented over 72,000 incidents of war - far? we have documented over| 72,000 incidents of war crimes. how much resource does it take to commence its war crime? some of them took _ to commence its war crime? some of them took months _ to commence its war crime? some of them took months and - to commence its war crime? some

of them took months and they - of them took months and they are still committed on ukrainian land, and against ukrainian land, and against ukrainian people. tn ukrainian land, and against ukrainian people.— ukrainian land, and against ukrainian people. in this case the challenge _ ukrainian people. in this case the challenge is _ ukrainian people. in this case the challenge is not _ ukrainian people. in this case the challenge is not so - ukrainian people. in this case the challenge is not so much| the challenge is not so much proving a war crime was committed. it is proving who was present and who was responsible in the chain of command and that as the prosecutor says it is time consuming. the investigators it means notjust looking at the physical evidence but pulling all open source material identifying people, verifying movements, documenting it, making sense of it. these are pictures of an investigation can in kharkiv were 450 bodies, most civilians, were found in a mass grave in september, each with an individual story, and there are more than 70,000 other individual stories. wagner boss has been asked whether it was his men who killed 0leksandr. the earlier boastful statements about wagner movement seem at odds with the denials he is now posting on it telegram. he tries to suggest the video is a

fake, and he questions whether there is any proof of his unit's involvement. " if "if that can be proved we will invest detail," he says. it will be good for my christie's family that a body was found and it has been identified and he has been interned in his home town, but let's not forget where our story started. tymofiy shadura — what of him? what of the other people killed that day? the family have heard nothing and continue to wait for news. in many ways, this case is still far from close. my case is still far from close. my colleagues christian fraser and 0lga malchevska with that special bbc investigation. former us ice president mike pence will not require a judges

ruling requiring him to testify on the january sex attack on the us capitol. it sets up a possible appearance by olga malchevska in front of a grand jury malchevska in front of a grand jury in the coming weeks — one of the investigations into former president trump. the governor of the us state of missouri says it could take months to rebuild from a deadly tornado that tore through the states south—east on wednesday. five people were killed in the incident. and thousands of people have been protesting across argentina against spending cuts imposed by the international monetary fund under a new debt repayment deal. destruction was reported in 135 cities. the imf has eased economic targets in its latest deal to lend argentina $44 billion but critics say the agreement is setting the country up for more economic failure. former new zealand prime ministerjacinda ardern has bowed out of parliament with a standing ovation following herfarewell with a standing ovation following her farewell speech. the 42—year—old spoke about the

honour she has built representing her country and steering its people through some of the hardest times, including natural disasters, the covid—19 pandemic and the 2019 christchurch mosque attack. she shocked the country earlier this year when she announced that she was stepping down as prime minister and retiring from politics, saying she no longer had enough in the tank. t she no longer had enough in the tank. ., ., , ., tank. i do hope i have demonstrated - tank. i do hope i have i demonstrated something tank. i do hope i have - demonstrated something else entirely — that you can be anxious, sensitive, kind and where your heart on your sleeve. you can be a mother or not. you can be an ex— mormon, or not. you can be a nerd, a crier, a hunger, you can be all of these things, and is not only can you be here, you can lead just like me.—

leadjust like me. you are in washington. _ leadjust like me. you are in washington. stay _ leadjust like me. you are in washington. stay with - leadjust like me. you are in washington. stay with us i leadjust like me. you are in washington. stay with us on lead just like me. you are in - washington. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. the easter weekend just around the corner, a heads—up for what to expect coming shortly, but first of all, let's take a look at wednesday's weather. best of the sunshine was certainly across eastern england. yes, it clouded over into the afternoon, but most of us had skies like this — fairly grey with outbreaks of rain at times. now, that rain is pushing its way east and it will clear over the next few hours and allow this ridge of high pressure to build and quieten things down. so, first thing thursday, it's a rather grey, damp, dreary start across the east, but it's a mild one with the cloud around, temperatures holding up above freezing, so that early rain will ease away. mist and fog patches lift to sunny spells and scattered showers into the afternoon.

maybe some of those showers filtering down through the cheshire gap could be quite heavy, maybe with the odd rumble of thunder mixed in there as well. so, by the middle part of the afternoon, it's sunny spells and scattered showers. highs of 11—14 degrees, slightly drier, brighter skies into northern ireland and western scotland as that ridge of high pressure takes over. but there will be some showers across the northeast of england and eastern scotland here, highs of 9—12 celsius. so, by the end of thursday, the high pressure is building and quieting things down quite nicely. a spell of really wet weather for a time, moving away through east anglia and southeast england. but under those clearer skies out to the west, once again, those temperatures fall away low enough for a touch of frost to form first thing on friday morning. but good friday is going to be a reasonable day — dry, settled and sunny. these weather fronts trying to push in from the atlantic, but they will take most of the easter weekend before they arrive. so, on the whole, we could just see a little more in the way

of cloud just pushing in off north sea coasts, unfortunately for eastern england. but most of us dry with some sunshine coming through and light winds. it'll be pleasant enough — highs of 10—14 celsius. similar story as we go into saturday, but there's a greater chance of seeing more cloud developing from the north sea with that easterly flow. there's our weather front, trying desperately hard to push in from the atlantic. it takes its time to do so, perhaps not arriving until sunday, with more significant rain for some of us by easter monday. take care.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. selma blair made her name in cult classics of the �*90s and 2000s like cruel intentions and legally blonde. although she once described herself as not being a world—famous bombshell, she has amassed millions of fans. in 2018, she announced she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. her honesty on the subject has made her a hero for people with disability and with chronic conditions. in conversation with bbc 100 women, selma talked about her diagnosis, inclusivity in hollywood and beyond and the progress that women have made.