steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. that was steve rosenberg.s will be _ mood was like in the court. i'm sure efforts will be made _ mood was like in the court. i'm sure efforts will be made by _ mood was like in the court. i'm sure efforts will be made by wiadimir - efforts will be made by wladimir kara—murza's colleagues, friends and family what to do all they can to secure his release, but that will be very difficult. it was clear today in the court that the authorities were determined to deliver the maximum possible sentence to mr kara—murza. 25 years, a quarter of a century, in prison. when you consider that relations between russia and the west are very bad, mr kara—murza is a british citizen as well as russian. that will not help him hear and think. well as russian. that will not help him hearand think. he well as russian. that will not help him hear and think. he has been a thor and the side of the kremlin, and outspoken critic of putin, n—terminal and persuading western governments to introduce sanctions for human rights violations, for

steve rosenberg with the latest in i the domestic audience. ster, the prime minister, rishi sunak, is under investigation after allegations of a possible failure to declare his wife's financial interest in a childcare agency — an agency that might benefit from the recent budget. the inquiry has been opened by parliament's standards watchdog. under the rules, all mps have to be "open and frank" when declaring their interests as our political editor, chris mason, reports. laughter meeting parents and toddlers in st austell in cornwall in february, the prime minister and his wife akshata murthy. well done for knowing it's a two! that's clever! the centrepiece of this spring's budget was a big expansion in the provision of free care for preschool children in england. hello, boys and girls! part of that, and boosting the number of providers, the chancellor announced a trial of payments for new childminders, with more for those who sign through agencies. the prime minister was asked about the government's plans, and his wife being a shareholder in on

at the end of steve rosenberg's piece we l for. sian democracy. what do you think of that? i think he is quite right. the kremlin is now closed down all of these independent centres like memorial dedicated looking into stalin and one for a physicist and a human rights campaigner. a lot of valuable human rights work and it is a message that they will not tolerate any of this anymore and, again, they are really going back to the soviet playbook. not soviet playbook of gorbachev but the soviet playbook of the brezhnev area and beyond. you soviet playbook of the brezhnev area and beyond.— area and beyond. you said it is important _ area and beyond. you said it is important for _ area and beyond. you said it is important for the _ area and beyond. you said it is important for the us _ area and beyond. you said it is important for the us and i area and beyond. you said it is important for the us and uk i area and beyond. you said it isj important for the us and uk to keep up pressure. what opportunity, what avenue is there then for dialog

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.east european studies for more on the arrest. you have taken part in panels and discussions with vladimir kara—murza, what is your reaction to this? as steve said it is an unprecedented sentence, particularly in the post—soviet era. you know, we should note that the judge who sentenced him was a judge who was on the magnitsky list and he himself, vladimir kara—murza, had campaigned after the death of magnitsky to push russian human rights violators on this list and ban them from travel, certainly to the us. and this veryjudge who also sentenced magnitsky has also sentenced kara—murza. it is a sign that the kremlin is so concerned about opposition to the war that this is supposed to deter anyone from speaking out against it. a 25—year prison sentence is unprecedented. why do you think the kremlin sees kara—murza as a threat? because he has consistently spoken out about russian human rights abuses for years now. he was a friend of an opposition leader who was assassinated, and we still d

our russia editor steve rosenberg has the story. t was the first time evan had been seen in public since being arrested. the wall street journal reporter was appealing his detention. the appeal was rejected. he is the first western journalist here to be charged with spying since the cold war. a charge that he, his newspaper, and his government categorically reject. >> the charges against evan are baseless and we call on the russian federation to immediately release him. >> a rare glimpse inside the prison where the american journalist is being held. a russian tv documentary when inside the jail 20 years ago. it is notorious for the sense of isolation. his lawyer told me what is helping him get through this. >> he receives a lot of letters and he tries to respond to these letters. he has huge support from everybody. >> the u.s. has classified him as wrongfully detained. it means a back in america his case has been taken up by the u.s. special envoy for hostage affairs in trying to secure his release. >> experience shows it won't be ea

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.e's also writing a book entitled "putin's war on ukraine". great to get you on the program. what we heard from my colleague, 25 years, in unprecedented sentence. were you surprised by this? imelt. years, in unprecedented sentence. were you surprised by this? well, i was a bit surprised, _ were you surprised by this? well, i was a bit surprised, they _ were you surprised by this? well, i | was a bit surprised, they crackdown very strongly. they done something similar, you have to look at the timing of this crackdown as well. it's coming at a time with the russian military is ——. 0n the cost of being under way for the russian tried to silence all dissent at this time. ~ ., , ., tried to silence all dissent at this time. ~ . , ., ., ~ time. what signal do you think the sentence sends _ time. what signal do you think the sentence sends inside _ time. what signal do you think the sentence sends inside russia? - time. what signal do you think the sentence sends inside russia? as| time. what

from moscow, our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. most prominent critics. vladimir kara—murza faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdict, guilty. the punishment, a quarter of a century in prison. access to the court room was heavily restricted. with otherjournalists and with foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he'd lobbied western governments to sanction russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses, and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of his conviction. the british government will continue to support him and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we are continuing to ask for consular access to mr kara—murza, and we will continue to do that. for c

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. meters has intensified. new rules — which limit the practice — have been criticised by campaigners, who say they don't go far enough. the regulator 0fgem says customers must be given more chance to clear their debts and thay forced meter installation will be banned in homes where the residents are over 85. charities say the measures are not enough because as things stand there's no legal obligation on energy firms to follow them, as our cost of living correspondent colletta smith explains. a warrant had been executed. they'd come in my house, opened the door, gone in, and changed the gas meter to a pre—payment meter. the first thing tarique knew about his pre—payment meter was coming back to his house in leeds to find it in place. i've been burgled in the past. it felt like that. it felt like an intrusion. i kept it from my children for a couple of days, but i did tell them and they were terrified. it was because of a previous tenant who hadn't paid their bill. my situation was create

steve rosenberg. . the time is 1:17pm.d by police investigating the party's finances. and still to come: why encrypted messaging services like whatsapp are urging the government to make changes to the online safety bill. coming to the online safety bill. up on bbc news, can che salvage coming up on bbc news, can chelsea salvage their season? frank lampard's side take on real madrid in the champions league quarterfinal later, trailing 2—0 from the first leg. machetes and knives with no practical use which are designed to look menacing would be banned in england and wales, under new government proposals. the plans also include increasing the maximum prison sentence for making or supplying such weapons from six months to two years. labour said the weapons should have been banned years ago. celestina olulode reports. a brazen attack in broad daylight with a so—called zombie knife, a type of blade inspired by horrorfilms. these are some of the weapons that could be banned under new government proposals, something this mother, w

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.work in the uk has risen asjob vacancies fall. the figures also show that pay continues to rise sharply — especially in the private sector — but not fast enough to keep up with the increase in prices. a black teenager in the us state of missouri almost paid with his life when he rang the wrong doorbell to pick up his younger brothers and was shot — once in the head and once in the arm. 84—year—old andrew lester has been charged with the attack on 16—year—old ralph yarl, which happened last thursday night at a house in kansas city. prosecutors say there was a �*racial component�* to the shooting, as our north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. it was a wrong turn, which almost turned deadly. 16—year—old ralph yarl had gone to pick up his twin siblings late thursday night, but he went to the wrong house. same number, a different street. he rang the doorbell and was shot in the head and arm. he managed to get help from some residents before being taken to hospital. he is now recov

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the town of dadeville. there's been no information on the motive. the bbc�*sjess parker sent this report. what happened ? what happened? confusion and fear, the routine _ what happened? confusion and fear, the routine gun _ what happened? confusion and fear, the routine gun violence l fear, the routine gun violence in america, devastating for a community and alabama. police tape hiding what you can hear, the sound of horror and grief. four lives were lost in a tragic event that occurred here in a developed. as far as the injuries, there are 28 individuals who were injured in the course of the event. thea;r the course of the event. they were out _ the course of the event. they were out to — the course of the event. they were out to celebrate - the course of the event. they were out to celebrate a - the course of the event. they| were out to celebrate a sweet 16, which became a fatal crime scene stopping most of the victims, dead and wounded, it is believed, were teenagers. philstavious

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.hail kasyanov is a former russian prime minister who served under president putin, and since 2015, he has served as the leader of the political opposition party, people's freedom party. i began by asking him about his thoughts about recent events in president putin's russia. oh, that's development. development, which expected to a certain extent, but not to such an extent, like 25 years on, a strict regime prison for vladimir kara—murza for criticism. and he was blamed as a high treason. but unfortunately, unfortunately, that that is the i would say, the making fear among people. of course, will not see it for 25 years because i'm sure putin's regime will not exist, but not last fought for for more than five years. but today there is repression. like in stalin's time, mr putin started to undertake just the last the last efforts to to keep people under fear so that to manipulate by them and to continue this bloody war against ukraine. why do you think he wants to create this environment

our russia editor steve rosenberg reports from moscow. hand proved and in a bulletproof cage, one of president putin's most prominent critics. he faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdicts -- guilty. the punishment -- a quarter of a century in prison. access to the courtroom was heavily restricted with other journalists and foreign diplomats crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, he has been a high profile opponent of the kremlin. he lobbied western governments to sanction russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. he is also a british citizen. the u.k. has joined international condemnation of his conviction. >> we will continue to call for his release. >> he has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? >> we are continuing to ask for access and will continue to do that. >> a prison sentence of 25 years is unprecedented in its severity. it is a sign that in today's russia, the authorities are determined

steve rosenberg has more.orter: let's rewind slightly because ever since alexander was sent to prison in 2021 four alleged parole violations he is facing more charges and criminal cases and prison time. so he was given another nine years, convicted of fraud, important to say his supporters insist all the charges past and present are politically motivated. he is vladimir putin's most prominent critic. last autumn he said he was facing another set of charges, new charges, of promoting extremism and terrorism and predicted that could add 30 more years to his time. today there was a technical hearing about this new case to decide how many days he will be given to study the case against him before it goes to trial. more than 196 volumes in the case and he was given until may 5 to study them. at this technical hearing, he said one of the investigators had told him that part of the case had been taken out and a new case made around it. he will also be accused of terrorism. so in fact there could be two more court cas

here steve rosenberg.uffed and in a bullet—proof cage, one of president putin's most prominent critics. vladimir kara—murza faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdict, guilty. the punishment, the maximum possible — 25 years in prison. access to the courtroom was heavily restricted. along with otherjournalists and foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he helped persuade western governments to impose sanctions on russian officials for corruption and human rights violations. and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of what happened here today. the british government will continue to support him, and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we

this report from our russia editor steve rosenberg. crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he'd lobbied western governments to sanction russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses, and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of his conviction. the british government will continue to support him and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we are continuing to ask for consular access to mr kara—murza, and we will continue to do that. for critic of the kremlin, a political opponent of president putin, a prison sentence of 25 years is unprecedented in its severity. and it's a sign that in today's russia, the authorities are determined not only to silence or criticism, but to neutralise anyone and

my colleague steve rosenberg in moscow has the latest.t to prison in 2021 for alleged parole violations, he has faced more and more charges. more and more criminal cases and more and more prison time. so he was then given another nine years, convicted of fraud. it's important to say that his supporters insist that all of the charges, past and present against him, are politically motivated. as you mentioned, he is vladimir putin's most prominent critic. last autumn, mr navalny said that he was facing another set of charges, new charges of promoting extremism and terrorism. and predicted that that could add 30 more years to his time behind bars. today, what happened, there was a technical hearing about this new case to decide how many days mr navalny would be given to look through, to study the case against him before it goes to trial. we are talking about more than 196 volumes in this case, he was given until 5th may to study the case. at this technical hearing he said that one of the investigators had told him that part of this case had b

from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg has the latest. bullet—proof cage. one of president putin's most prominent critics. vladimir kara—murza faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdict, guilty. the punishment, the maximum possible. 25 years in prison. access to the courtroom was heavily restricted. along with otherjournalists and foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he helped persuade western governments to impose sanctions on russian officials for corruption and human rights violations. and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of what happened here today. the british government will continue to support him, and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we are continuing

our russia editor steve rosenberg has been following this story in moscow from mr kara—murza's arrestrial to the stalin—era proceedings. kara—murza who is one of the most prominent kremlin critics, he was arrested just over a year ago. mr kara—murza was instrumental in persuading western governments to impose targeted sanctions on russian officials for corruption and human rights violations. and that sparked a lot of anger in the corridors of power here, towards the end of his trial, vladimir kara—murza said that he is being tried for political reasons. he sees himself as a political prisoner and the case is widely viewed and condemned as politically motivated. he compared the proceedings to a stalin—era show trial of the 1930s. let's speak now to vitaliy shevchenko, the bbc monitoring russia editor. good to see you. how is this being reported in russia? if good to see you. how is this being reported in russia?— reported in russia? if you look at state tv, reported in russia? if you look at state tv, it _ reported in russia? if you look at state tv, it is _ reported in russia? if you

from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports.cage, one of president putin's most prominent critics. vladimir kara—murza faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdict, guilty. the punishment, a quarter of a century in prison. access to the court room was heavily restricted. with otherjournalists and with foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he'd lobbied western governments to sanction russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses, and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of his conviction. the british government will continue to support him and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we are continuing to ask for consular access to mr kara—murza, and we w

also outside a courthouse for us is our russia editor, steve rosenberg.brought to the moscow city court house behind me for this appeal against his pre—trial detention. i think a few people were expecting that appeal to succeed and he certainly did not appear to be surprised when the appeal failed. he listened calmly in the courtroom as the judge turned the appeal that down. speaking to his lawyers afterwards, they did not seem too surprised either. this was our first chance to see mr gershkovich since he was arrested about three weeks ago. just before the proceedings began, tv cameras were allowed into the court written just for a little while. we got there and we could see he looked quite calm, he was pacing up he looked quite calm, he was pacing up and down the dock, a bullet proof glass cage. he acknowledge familiar faces among the press, he made no comment, but he seemed pretty calm. he was arrested last month and accused by the russian security forces of espionage. he was detained on a reporting trip. he and his newspaper vehemently denies that he i

. >> for years, steve rosenberg made his case in illegal conferences, to anybody who would listen.edly for an interview with randy snead, the officer who took roberts confession. but, as close as we got was -- county police chief, colonel steve sellers, since retired. he wasn't in office when snead was detective, but you've talked to him. what's your sense of how he feels? >> i think he acted in his best interest. i think there wasn't malice in his actions. i think he had a very strong relationship with robert davis. >> but, this was interesting. chief sellers did not support needs interrogations. not at all. >> i would say this, i believe the confession is an unreliable confession. >> what's more, the chief updated police methods when he took over. helping to prevent the kind of interrogation that ended up in roberts confession. >> as you look at it, what are things that would not be done? >> using terms like the ultimate punishment, length of the interview. those kinds of things would be clearly not done today. >> cold comfort for robert davis, who by 2014, had been president, go

live now to moscow to speak to our russia editor, steve rosenberg. steve, welcome.y, vladimir putin's biggest critic, most vocal critic of the most well—known critic. what happened today? well-known critic. what happened toda ? , , , �* , today? lets rewind slightly. because ever since alex _ today? lets rewind slightly. because ever since alex in _ today? lets rewind slightly. because ever since alex in the _ today? lets rewind slightly. because ever since alex in the valley - today? lets rewind slightly. because ever since alex in the valley was - ever since alex in the valley was sent to prison in 2021 for alleged parole violations, he has faced more and more charges. more and more criminal cases and more and more prison time. so he was then given another nine years, convicted of fraud. it's important to say that his supporters insist that all of the charges, past and present against him, are politically motivated. as you mentioned, he is vladimir putin's most prominent critic. last autumn, mr novelli said that he was facing another set of charges, new charges of