good morning, everybody. it is 8:00. just shy of six years detained in iran, arriving home on u.k. sale, early this morning. touching down just after 1:00 a.m. the british government settled an historic debt with the iranian administration, securing his release, as well as that of fellow national. the foreign minister says he has huge admiration for all of the

families. we will speak about it in the program this morning. it is thursday, the 17th of march. it's st. patrick's day. she arrived back in the u.k., after a six-year or deal in iran. >> and a wave and a smile, as she walked off the plane along with her fellow detainee just after 1:00 a.m. reunited with her loved ones on british soil, her husband says it is time to abnormal family once again. >> the moment their little girl got her parents back. live outside the office, questions remain how to make sure this never happens again and why it took so long to settle the outstanding debt owed

to iran. >> we owe this debt. we accepted that debt. obviously, the sanctions positions are incredibly difficult and you cannot just write a check. it doesn't work like that. no safe haven in the country. ukrainian city of mariupol, russian forces bombed a theater used as a shelter. in the southern port city, desolate streets, deserted, as fears of a russian attack continue to grow. and we'll speak to the ukrainian mp who has taken up arms and fighting for his region in the country. coming up in the program for you this morning, a free house for refugees. we will chat with a family converting the hostel into a home for ukrainians needing a place to live. ♪

ed sheeran's copyright case continues with the music expert, over whether another song was ripped off. and it's a very good morning this morning. nationals back home in the u.k., the plane touched down at 1:08 this morning and it ended uncertainty and they were reunited with their families once again. we have their homecoming. >> this is the moment they were dreaming of. both in iran, walking off a plane and on to british soil again. finally, they are home and they

are safe. >> an emotional reunion with their family. nazanin with her husband and cradling her daughter gabriella. together again, this time, for good. >> i met the families, and they are in very, very good spirits. it has been a really difficult 48 hours. the expectation that they would see release, but we weren't sure right until the last minute, so it has been very emotional but also really happy. >> it was exactly 8 minutes past 1:00 this morning that the plane carrying nazanin

zaghari-ratcliffe and annosheh ashoori spen the name talking and hugging before spending the name in accommodations and a journey that gave them freedom from an unimaginable or deal. the nightmare began in 2016, when she was detained by easternian security services, as she tried to leave the airport in tehran, after a holiday. the hidden cameras can touring her shock. accused of spying against the iranian regime, she was held for years on charges she always denied. and subjected to what her husband richard said amounted to torture. it was his years of relentless campaigning that helped to secure her release. including a hunger strike outside the foreign office. persistence that finally paid off as photos emerged as they

are grinning on the plane that was to bring them home, their relief palpable. now the might -- nightmare is over, they can finally look forward to life with their family again. katie banfield, sky news. >> we will tell you more about ukraine in just a moment. the president has been, in fact is speaking right now, he spoke to the british parliament, a little while ago, last week, and he spoke to the american lawmakers earlier in the week, and he is now, as you can see, speaking to the german parliament. let's listen in. >> thank you.

>> the address, before we hear from the president of ukraine, as we said, more on what is happening in ukraine, coming up, very shortly, including our man nodesa. the foreign minister james cleverly has been part of the negotiations to release the iranian nationals and i asked earlier why it took so long to repay a debt the u.k. owed to iran for years. >> we have been looking at ways to settle the debt, but we can see that we owe this debt, we accepted that debt, and obviously the sanctions position made it incredibly difficult. you cannot just write a check. it doesn't work like that. the details of how we have done it of course have to remain confidential but it has taken a huge amount of work to come up with a method of ensuring that money for humanitarian purposes.

>> let's talk about that in more detail with lucy powell for labor this morning, hi, lucy. always good to see you. thanks for joining us on the program this morning. you must be thrilled and delighted to know that two brits are home but still one who needs to come home. what can labor do to make sure that happens? >> well, absolutely thrilled, to wake up this morning, to some good news. we have not had much good news of late. and it's really a story that we have all closely followed, those in apartment have closely followed as well. because it has been continually raised in parliament as well. absolutely thrilled to hear this news this morning and to pay tribute to richard for all of his dogged determined campaigning over the years. and the british governments have come good in the end, and it has taken a very long time and

perhaps didn't need to take so long at all. >> and anoosheh ashoori was born in the u.k. and trapped in iran, and part of his nationality is american and it is hard to get him out. >> the issues are extremely complex and i'm not party to some of the detail about that. but we've got to keep the pressure up, you know. obviously the house encountered some change over the recent months, i think in iran especially, a bit of a change there with, the government changing, and so on, and so it's very, if there is a new window of opportunity, we must press harder and press to fully open so that all of the detain and the longstanding issues can be resolved. >> labor is completely content

with 90 million being paid to the iranian government? >> well, it's been a cross opinion party view actually for a very long time, that this is a debt that we owed iran. it's not a ransom. it's not a payoff. this is money that we have owed that country for decades actually. so you know, that's something that cross parties we've all been calling for that to be found a way, for that to be paid, so that it cannot be held against the country, because we hold ourselves to the highest standards when it comes to international law, international arrangements, international treaties, and international debts as well. so if we want to maintain the moral high ground, then we have to come good on our own debts as well. >> online safety bill, finally, finally, finally finding itself, finding its way into the commons today. it has been long delayed. what you are hoping for?

>> it really has been a long delay. and we support the principle of this bill absolutely, because it is long overdue, that the online space, the big tech companies that thrive in them, that have done so well out of them, have finally regulated in the way that sky news is regulated, and others, providers of news and information are regulated as well. but for four years that we have waited now for this bill to be published. and i have not seen it. it has not yet been published. later today. four years that we waited and the many years before that that it was coming, we have seen a large amount of harm happening online in that time. we've seen a huge escalation in online scandals, people leaving money, huge escalation in disinformation being spread online, particularly by russia

and we've seen that in recent weeks as well and unfortunately we've seen a massive increase on child abuse online, to name a few. so the delays we're seeing from the government taking so long over this i'm afraid have cost us dearly in this area. >> and just looking as we're chatting to you, that the ukraine defense minister has just said that russian troops are committing genocide against ukrainians in mariupol, and looking at the images that we've seen coming just here at sky center, direct hit on a theater, where hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were sheltering against bombs. what more can we do? >> i mean it is absolutely barbaric. this was clearly identified as a shelter. as a theater. where women and young children were sheltering. and for it to be so clearly targeted and bombed in this way, and for the whole, that whole city, as you say, to be, to be

cut off from supplies, from water, food, warmth, these are acts of crimes of war crimes, these are bare barbaric and we want to see the this situation ending as quickly as possible. so-so again, what we've been calling for, over recent weeks, we support the government actions in this space, but can we go further, and faster, on more sanctions? are we getting as much military aid as well as humanitarian aid through to ukraine, as we can, you know, these are things that we've got to continually look at, and keep up the pressure and stay united across the west, through nato, through, with our eu partners, and across the atlantic as well. >> absolutely. let's leave it there. thank you very much indeed for joining us on the program. thank you.

so the ukrainian defense minister is saying that it's genocide what's happening in mariupol. he is speaking to the german parliament actually at the moment. let's listen in. >> translator: each bomb that falls on our land, on ukraine, each day that you don't take measures to promote peace, even though you can help, when this happened, the politicians, the german people, how is it possible, when we told you that the russians were preparing weapons and troops, and we knew that they were preparing for war, but all you did was the

economy. when we asked you what you needed to do for ukraine to become a nato member, that you needed security guarantees, we heard an answer, and we don't have this on the table yet, and it is not in the near future. and there's no place for us at this table. now, you are talking about ukrainian entrance into the european union, this is politics. this is a stone. this is a stone, a brick for a new wall. we asked you about preventive sanctions. we urged europe, to many countries, we urged you, with

such sanctions, and the enemy is here, we know you wanted to support your economy, and now the trade channels between you and the country that brought another war into europe is under, there's a new war now that separates europe and you see what's behind that wall, this wall between us, between the peoples of europe, and not everybody understands what we are experiencing now. i address you on behalf of the ukrainians. i'm addressing you on behalf of people from mariupol. where the russian troops lay siege and razing the city to the ground, destroying everything that is there and everybody that is there, hundreds and thousands of people under shelling.

without food. 24 hours a day. without water. and electricity. 24/7. without reception. the whole week. weeks. the russian military does not discriminate between military and civilians. civilian facilities are their targets. the maternity hospital was a target. the whole area that don't have any military installations, they're destroying everything, and don't allow any humanitarian convoy into our own besieged city. and the russian troops don't even stop the shelling so that we could rescue our people.

if you just look over this wall, you will see this. and you could have done more than average to create, to make our skies safe, and now, so we can't even stop russian bombs and missiles. i address those who are older who lived through the second world war, who survived the occupation and destroyed the holocaust, the president came to the anniversary of the tragedy, to the memorial, and this is where russian missiles fall now, killing a family who was visiting that memorial.

80 years later, the same. address you and all. every year, the politicians say never again. you see these words are not -- >> he continue, the president of ukraine, president zelenskyy, appealing for further help for the people of ukraine, and we did ask the british government what it is going to do about the fact that once again, we've seen an atrocity by the russians, targeting a theater in mariupol. >> absolutely. and the message is condemnation, calling it bar bashlg, calling barbaric, calling it a war crime and president biden called it a war crime and president zelenskyy urged the congress, he got a standing ovation, he said he doesn't want just more sanctions of russia all the

time, new package of sanctions every time, and he wants to close the skies and a no-fly zone and that is not going to happen and a firm message from all of nato. we do see how it is going for the germans. they are not only canceling the nord stream pipeline to russia, the germans buy an enormous amount of russian energy but selling wednesday for the first time in decades. the germans have been moving a long way and praised by boris johnson and others by doing so and increasing desperation, looking at appalling atrocities but it is very difficult to see if the ukrainians aren't going to give up any territory in a firm message from our government is they shouldn't have to, where the basis for this peace deal lies, you have these awful images and you have a scene in parallel, suggesting that there may be the basis for a deal between russia and ukraine, it's very difficult to marry them up. >> in the meantime, the

ukrainian defense minister this morning, referring to what is happening in mariupol and saying that the russians are caring out genocide in mariupol. thank you. still to come, this hour, following the return of nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe, we will speak to a british citizen unable to return to her own country over safety concerns. we will hear from the ukrainian mp who is in the front line in the fight against russian invaders. and with anoosheh ashoori now free, we will speak to a representative later. representative later meantime, latest intelligence from the ministry of defense says the russian invasion of ukraine has largely stalled on all fronts. it comes after the u.s. president joe biden said vladimir putin was a war criminal. we have more from odesa. >> under the sign of russian

aggression against civilians in ukraine, a bombing of a theater in the besieged city of mariupol, a number of casualties is not yet known. but local officials say hundreds of people were sheltered there. these satellite images show the theater a few days before the bombing. the russian world for children spelled out on the ground. russia's defense ministry has denied carrying out the attack. following another day of violence, u.s. president joe biden has, for the first time, called russian leader vladimir putin a war criminal. comments which the kremlin has described as unacceptable and unforgivable. >> i think he is a war criminal. >> the peace talks between russia and ukraine are ongoing. the mayor of mariupol was kidnapped by russian forces last week has been released, according to ukrainian officials.

they say it was part of an exchange that saw ukraine agree to hand over nine captured russian soldiers. there is caution optimism that progress is being made. >> translator: my priorities for the negotiations are absolutely clear. the end of the war guarantees a security, sovereignty, restoration of territory integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country. >> with shells continuing to fall on ukrainian cities, all people can do is hide. the thought of cowering children doesn't stop the russian bombardment, what will? nick martin, sky news, ukraine. just hearing from president zelenskyy, he has been speaking to the german parliament today, saying politicians always say never again, but we see that these words are worthless.

and we heard from his defense minister, accusing russia of genocide in mariupol. looking at today's other headlines for you now, four people have died and nearly 100 have been injured after a powerful earthquake in japan. a magnitude 7.4 quake struck shortly before midnight on wednesday in the northeast of the country. thousands of households are still without power. uniforms have been promised by the government to stop russian oligarchs using british courts to silence critics. the measures designed to protect journalists from the super rich who can afford to threaten journalists with little action for trying to expose wrong doing. to the latest in ukraine. where a russian bomb has landed on a theater which was housing hundreds and hundreds of those sheltering from the fighting.

we have more now from a member of the ukrainian parm. you are in odesa of course, and tell us what the situation is there this morning, please, sir, good morning. >> good morning. hello. you see this is a volunteer center in odesa, where people are gathering and making sacks for the ukrainian army. citizens of odesa are working here 24 hours a day, seven days per week, just helping ukrainian army. and yes, putin is continuing his attack, his tactics of terror the people, ordinary civilians, and we see he has bombed a theater, he has bombed a maternity house, and new attacks in kyiv, where one person was killed because of a russian missile attack on a residential

area, there are russian ships nare odesa which which are in preparation of landing an operation near the city. so the city is preparing to defend itself. so yes, the war is continuing. but the morale of people is very high. and those without weapons in their hands are helping the army in any way you can. >> you have been threatened previously by the russian regime, your life very much in danger. your family has moved away? >> my family is in ukraine, so theydon leave the country. they are in ukraine here, that's important for me. and i'm most time in kyiv. but these two last days in odesa. my major city. and my constituency. and speaking about safety, after one attempt of mi assassination from the russian secret service, and one attempt of kidnapping, now i'm like, i'm all calm,

there is no sense to worry, today, all ukrainians are under attack, from putin, and we are all the targets of him. >> and as far as the mood is concerned, we can see that people are doing what they can to try to help each other. but odesa is becoming more and more targeted by the russians. it's such an important and geographical point for the russians. and can you talk to us in any way about how people are feeling? >> certainly people are concerned, but we feel that ukrainian army can hold the ground, and can hold the city. and like kyiv, and odesa, so i'm sure that we will not surrender, and they i can tell you, yesterday i was on the front line here in the southern part of ukraine, and i can tell you, there are even counter-attacks, from ukrainian military force,

and yesterday, for example, we were, they were captured, we took back several villages in the region, the only regional center in ukraine which is occupied by russian forces, which she succeeded to take, and now ukrainian forces are approaching, and yesterday, i was in the army lines, just in particular, in the area, so i hope that soon, we will have a possibility, after new weapon help, that yesterday was announced by president biden, also by prime minister biden, and the british government will also help us, i think we can go and w-a -- with a counter offensive, with a counter attack. >> thanks for joining us. keep well. thank you. >> keep well. well, we of course will bring you the very latest as the

situation develops throughout the course of the day in ukraine here, on sky news. president zelenskyy is speaking to the german parliament this morning saying politicians always say never again but we see that these words are worthless. more on that during the course of the day. also more on what is happening with nazanin back home with her family back home in almost six years. anoosheh ashoori also with her on the plane, arriving just after 1:00. fantastic news. and meantime music experts have been thinking out loud in a high court trial to whether this ed sheeran hit is significantly close to another song that he is accused of copying. ♪ >> ed sheeran's 2017 track, "shape of kwu" shape of you,"

has been, but it is objectively unlikely that similarities between the two are a result of copying. however, another expert, found both songs were too similar for this not to be considered. ed sheeran and his team deny any claim the song has been copied. a great song, whatever you think. and now a couple in new zealand who thought they dug up the largest potato in the world only to have their hopes crushed when they told it was t-wasn't a potato after all. see what you think. it might be something you like. here it is. discovered by colleague craig brown and his wife donnaed on their farm. and they put a hat on it. 7.8 kilos and they nicknamed it doug. and if it was a crown, i suppose it would be king edward?

what do you think? and sadly they were left russet-faced when they were ruled to be a type gourd. they won't have the hassle of putting it back into the ground. yes. very difficult to peel. now let's take a look at. so pictures making the morning papers for you. the eye has this picture of leading wnba basketball star brittney griner detained in russia just before the invasion of ukraine, the paper reports that some u.s. officials believe that the two-time olympic champion arrested on alleged drug charges is being used as a bargaining chip in the conflict. and a shot of a u.s. submarine emerging through a large sheet of ice, impressive, in the arctic, during a three-week training exercise. that's the uss illinois, and the twin vessel, the uss pasadena, both being used to increase its

appearance in the region. and a look here this morning, i love this picture, an interesting shot of a muddied jockey taking part at the cheltsman festival. he looks very happy, doesn't he, as you can probably tell, guessing he won, jockeys were greeted by a large deluge of mud after heavy rain fell on the second day. top stories, russia advances in ukraine have largely stalled on all fronts says the ministry of defense in the u.k. with forces making little progress in the recent days. recent reforms by the british government of russian oligarchs using british courts to silence critics. and the top stories, nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe back in the u.k. after years of detention in

iran. we have more now from emma, what fantastic news. >> yes, it is. i mean it's something that they doesn't dare think that was going to finally happen after so many dashed hopes over the years, but finally, in the early hours of this morning, nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe, and annosheh ashoori stepping foot on u.s. soil for the first time in six years, and anoosheh for the first time in five and it is intense negotiations behind the scenes to try and deal with this debt that has been hanging about since the 1970s. and an arms deal that fell apart. so the uk has finally, after these negotiations, paid close to 400 million pounds to iran. but what the government wants to make sure is that this can never

happen again. but for now, this is a great news story. we have families reunited. that no doubt is going to be tough to reintegrate back into normal life. but today, it's the first day that they are waking up all together. >> okay, for now, thanks so much indeed. the arrival back to the u.k. after nearly six years in iran have been celebrated by the government ministers and mps across the house. but what role did diplomatic efforts play in a landmark moment like this? our guest knows about it. ambassador to the u.s. 2012 to 2016, spent four years in iran, before the 1979 revolution. thanks for joining us on the program this morning. more than 40 years to pay this debt. the money paid to iran on the

same day. >> what do we read into it? >> i think we read into it it was a very long and complex negotiation with a lot of moving parts. there are several different elements to this. one is we did owe the iranians for a contract that was passed when the shah was on his throne and never delivered and the british government has recognized for many years that we owed the money. that wasn't an issue. equally unfortunately, the easternian government has had a bit of a habit of taking what they call geo nationals and they regard as iranian citizens, kind of hostage, if you like, in exchange for things that they want from other governments. it is not just the british. it's the australians. it's the germans. >> many people have geo nationals ins cars rated in iran for purposes of what we call trumped up charges and that ends tragically and others were caught up in this. so that was an awful human

element. then the element of the americans who have very strong angsts against iran of their own, different from the multinational sanctions with the nuclear deal, not wanting any part of the international banking system paying any money to the iranian regime because of what the money might be used for. and there was also an element which was up to almost the last minute, i understand, there was a hope that other people would be included in this deal including, another person who was not released in iran and that didn't happen in the end and wonderful news for the ones back in the united kingdom united with their families and nothing should detract from that. >> and it becomes more complex when there is a third country involved and thinking particularly, with american nationality as well, born here in london, originally. and then when three countries start to negotiate, i'm guessing that becomes even more complicated, suggestions that we've heard here at sky news, is

that that is why this deal was originally going to go through last year, and didn't. it fell at the final hurdle. >> you're right, kay. as you say, one who was born in the united kingdom, and there is quite a strong sense of disappointment amongst his group that he is not on the plane as well. it does complicate things. and so does the fact that as the negotiation last year, we got close to having a deal, and there was a waiver i think from the u.s. treasury department allowing for money to be paid to iran which then expired. it got caught up in the electoral situation with iran with a new president elected and got caught up also i believe in the posits of trying to get the nuclear deal from 2015 which i was involved, with back on the rails after donald trump had torn it up. and i think a lot of people felt if there was going to be progress with iran, let's try to put everything together. sometimes in my opinion, linking too many things together means that you don't make progress on

any of them. but i think that was an additional complicating factor certainly during last year. >> the minister we had on the program earlier in the last hour, he spoke about the deal, how it was actually done, and he's confident though that the money will be used not for weapons, and will be used for humanitarian aid, how can we be sure? >> well, what i understand is the money has gone into i think a swiss bank account, with careful provision, and will only be disbursed for purposes which are humanitarian. you might say well, how can we be sure because the money is a fungible quantity, once it's been spent, who knows what is going on, and whether the money is even available for spending on other purposes. i think this is probably a legal requirement, in which to ensure it is not contrary to existing u.s. sanctions on anything to do with the international banking

system and dollars we attribute to iran, can you be sure that the money will not be directly or indirectly be used for something else. frankly no. we can be sure that that particular 394 million pounds which i think is the sum of money will itself only be spent on legitimate purposes, which is consistent with sanctions law. so i think from that point of view, it's okay, but it has never realistic to say to a government, to give back its own money, after paying a ransom, this is their money, their debt, the money that the british government owed them, that we are going to be able to determine exactly how you spend your own money. so there's a limit to how realistic those constraints are. >> peter, fascinating stuff. thank you for taking the time to ex plain to us this morning. much appreciated. >> thank you. oochs. appreciated >> thank you oochs. >> . joining us is labor mp as well, janet daily, hello to you janet. thank you so much for taking the time to join us this morning.

it's fantastic news, isn't it? >> fantastic. and good morning to you. and thank you for inviting me on. absolutely. i mean this is a great news, great news that came about, both for the annosheh family and nazanin family as well. absolutely. and also in the last 14 hours really, so wonderful. >> what involvement did you have in trying to secure the release? >> i have been working with the family. anoosheh has been in prison for five years. and the family contacted me after the first two years, really, they felt that they needed to campaign, to make it public, to make the public aware of what had transpired and what was happening, and i've been involved alongside of them with the campaign, with parliament, speaking at debates, and really, doing anything i can do, really,

to bring it to the public's attention and hold the government to account. but it's a really joyous moment for the family and i'm absolutely delighted for them, that anoosheh has been returned to them. and it will be a level of adjustment. but for now, there is so much excitement, and i think i imagine that it is all totally a relief, a huge relief to be on british soil and back home as well. >> i've spoken to his wife in the past, she's been on the program, and she's been trying to campaign for her husband's relief and we heard her on video from this morning, sobbing with delight, really, that he is finally home. have you managed to speak to them at all? do you know how they're doing? >> the last time we spoke was yesterday and i think there was some level of shock and just

relief. and i think they were all just so desperate for them to arrive, that obviously, in the early hours of this morning, they're all pretty still awake chatting, i can't imagine any of them could get some sleep but i am looking forward to speaking to her and to him later today. >> what do you think we've learned as a country? pay our debts sooner? >> you said it really, haven't you? >> this money didn't belong us to. it belonged to iran. she has endured a lot of heartache and separation. and why this takes six years, for nazanin and five years for anoosheh is outrage and the government should pay it much sooner. >> and as far as one more stuck

in iran. >> he was born in london. he has a dual nationality with the u.k. and the u.s. and why hasn't he been put on a plane back to the u.k.? i'm not clear on all of this. and i'm not sure what is happening quite frankly. >> probably something very different in iran in this case as opposed to what people might think here in the united kingdom. so is' for another day to try -- it's for another day to try to secure his release. we should celebrate today, good news, that two geo nationals have come back home. do you think it is safe now for geo nationals to return to iran if they want to? >> so i suppose, with iran, absolutely. at least the ongoing apartment, the government still needs to be held to account, absolutely. and i think this isn't going their way. with nazanin and anoosheh families, these have been

trefrpous rears for all of them. so more needs to be done. and in terms of nationalities, and the nation, family, british and not dual nationality at all, and it pays to be cautious when you go to iran and that's shocking and sad, but this is the way it and we know they have taken hostages in the past, more recently, and i think there needs to be a huge level of caution. but to put it right as well, this was money owed to iran. this was not a hostage ransom. this was their money. and rightly so, this money has been given back to them. but it was still wrong, absolutely wrong, what iran has done taking hostages to get their money back. >> okay. good to talk to you. thank you so much. when do you speak to them, do pass along our congratulations. >> i will. thank you very much. >> thank you. well, chelsea manager, he

says his evening was ruined last night by reports the club may not be able to sell tickets for any future home champion league games this season due to sanctions on the owner, roman abramovich, let's find in more and bring in tom standing by for us. hi, tom. tell us more about what you learned. >> well, of course, chelsea, with the turmoil around the club, to deviate from winning ways, if they got to the champions league, here in northern france last night, very impressive performance last night, and afterwards, the manager, who is heralding this crisis in a really positive and transparent way, he is being as honest as he can be, but clearly quite taken aback when sky sports saying that the sanctions, the quarterfinals will not allow chelsea fans to

attend the home game because of the sanctions that are in place against roman abramovich and he said, and you could see it in his face, that ruined my evening because they have done incredibly well and the manager of the women's team, and everyone not keeping up with every single development as they are trying to keep the team on the path this season and it is a blizzard of different stories around chelsea at the moment and the deadline on friday this week, all of these groups, bidding to take chelsea off roman abramovich's hands, they have until tomorrow to put those bids forward. another name in the framework, one of those groups, and one the other consortiums, all sorts of talks going on off the field at chel sir, but a win here last night, through to the quarterfinals of the champions league. >> that's great. that's fantastic. just slightly obstructed by your

ear piece which is black and i've never seen those before. pretty cool. >> i was told it was a cool ear piece. >> i like it. good to talk to you. thanks very much. latest business news for you from the city now. and ian standing by. good morning. >> hello, kay. we have, i think we've had the u.s. federal reserve raising interest rates for the first time since december 2018 and we're expecting the bank of england to follow suit, the third interest rate in a row from the bank should it happen and most expecting the bank to raise interest rates from half of 1% to three quarters of 1%, however there may be an outside chance that it may go higher, the bank has never raised rates by half a percent since 1997 but came close last month. it will only take one more member to vote the other way and

we so woo have had a half point -- so we would have had a half point rise last month. but the vast majority of economists here expect a rate rise this lunchtime. why? inflation is running at nearly three times the bank's target rank of 2%. currently it is 5.5%. that was a february, a january figure and we get the february figure next wednesday. that of course, as we say, way above what the bank's target rate is at 2%. currently running at the highest level since march, 1992. and it's a tricky decision for the bank because obviously the war in ukraine has let the commodity price fight across the area, oil, metals, wheat, you name it, so after that, concerns over what the war will do to growth, it means that it is quite a finer decision for the bank of england, than probably many people expected. worth pointing out as well, kate, this is a global situation. inflation in the united states currently running at some 7.9%, which is the highest for four

decades. back since when ronald reagan was president. the difference then of course was the inflation was coming down. it's still going up here. >> you already got your pint of green guinness for later on? >> i have an invitation to go out to the festival here, kay, and i rather wish i had take continue up. >> pretty muddy though yesterday. pretty muddy. go next year instead. thank you. of course, a special day today, if you are irish, 17th of march. and green guinness. i'm not sure i particularly like that. but i'm sure many of you will. happy st. patrick's day. now, as the ukrainian refugee crisis worsens, many are asking why britain's generous open-hearted support to this situation is not the same for the syrians. >> and we have more from the university of east london who

also houses refugees in her home. thanks for joining us on the program. why do you think there is such a difference? >> good morning. well, there is a double standard, clearly. in the way in which the refugees from ukraine are being described and the ways in which protections are being given to them. and it does indicate some discriminatory basis to some undertones that create a hierarchy of refugees. >> why do you think that? why do you think that? >> well, we can see the language of media and the public and the politicians that uses, you know, phrases like brothers, they look like us, and this language is very different from the one that was used to describe afghans, where sometimes seen as the, you know, a threat, as invaders, and the reception treatment of afghans and ukrainians is also different. so in practice, even though they

are refugees, fleeing from conflict, they are different types of protection. >> i believe there's a report on cbs news, from day one of the russian invasion, reports of discrimination at ukraine's border began to surface, as what they were saying. have we also seen evidence of discrimination at the borders? and if so, what does that look like? >> well, it's interesting how countries in the eastern europe had been quite vocal against migrants in the past so there is definitely a different treatment. and a different way of welcoming the ukrainian refugees. which we haven't seen in the past. >> although i suppose, you know, if you look at germany, they would say something different, wouldn't they? didn't they take in a million refugees? >> yes, they did. and they have had quite a generous approach compared to other european countries.

what we are seeing now is a limited kind of number of refugees being accepted. which in a way, i very much welcome, and i wish that there was a similar kind of approach to other people fleeing conflicts. >> you have taken in two refugees yourself and i think eritrea refugees i'm right in saying, professor, what are you planning to do as far as ukrainian refugees are concerned, do you have a capability to look after more? >> i have taken both in my home and it has been quite an amazing experience, which i would recommend. and also, just also to my people, that when you take on somebody, you don't just give them a room, you also have to look after their needs for adaptation, and also many of them are traumatized by what has happened, so there is a lot of emotional need, and that is also being requested. but it is quite an amazing experience. i will continue to host refugees but again, i also think that

welcoming ukrainian refugees but i also know there are so many other refugees who are now slightly invisible in the currents crisis, and i would continue to offer accommodation to those refugees and i would encourage people to also think that there are many other refugees in need. >> so your message to people who want to house refugees, this time around, is that you need to, it's not just a matter of offering a recover over their head, it's much, much, much more than that. >> absolutely. it is an encounter of lives, and also long-term relationships, and also keeping in mind that it's not just taking any one person, but this person will have family members, who are either back in ukraine or other countries of origin, who are in refugee camps. so their life is half here, but also transnational, so it's not just taking one person, you are really taking a family, a community. >> okay. it's good to talk to you.

thank you so much for explaining that to us on the program here this morning. we appreciate it. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. just updating you actually onl the very latest that we're hearing as far as ukraine is concerned we heard from the ukrainian president, he has been speaking to the german parliament this morning. and he was upset about the fact that he didn't feel that potentially germany had been doing as much as it might to be able to support the people of ukraine at this challenging time. he also went on to say that politicians always say never again, and yet, here we are again. and we also heard from his defense minister who has been speaking this morning as well, referring to an incident that happened in mariupol, that seems to be constantly bombarded, doesn't it, the city of mariupol, and many, many, many hundreds of people in mariupol have fled to a theater, if you will, they were hiding in the basement, against the bombing of their city, and it had a direct

hit. hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were in that theater when it had a direct hit. and the ukrainian defense minister has now, these images, we don't know about injuries or death toll at this stage. we're waiting to find out more information on that. but the ukrainian defense minister has described this situation in mariupol as genocide. we also heard from president biden, and he has referred to putin as a war criminal. president putin very upset about that. we'll bring you the latest on what he had to say in the next hour here on the show. and also, some happier news, nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe, and anoosheh ashoori immediately

reunited with their families, just after 1:00 this morning. more to come. just after 1:00 thg more to come this is a game changer who dares to be fearless even when her bladder leaks. our softest, smoothest fabric keeping her comfortable, protected and undeniably sleek. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you.

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