peaceful country. and putin must answerfor everything he has done to alexei. a stark warning from south korea — the country's birth—rate plummets again, amid concerns its working population could halve. prince harry will appeal a judgment made in favour of the uk government's decision to reduce his police protection when he is in britain. and — picture perfect — the incredible effort that goes into maintaining the splendour of the sistine chapel in the vatican. hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. i'm interviews and reaction. sarah campbell. the widow of the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has told the european parliament

that her husband had been tortured for three years on president putin's orders — and then murdered. applause in her address in strasbourg, which received a standing ovation, yulia navalnaya said that people outside russia need to understand that putin is not a politician, but the head of an organised crime gang. she said he can't be negotiated with, and is capable of anything. she promised to continue his work towards a free russia. in her speech to meps, yulia navalnaya spoke of the treatment her husband received during his prison sentence. on his orders, alexei was tortured for three years. he was starved in a tiny stone cell, cut off from the outside world and denied visits, phone calls and then even letters.

and then they killed him. even after that, they abused his body and abused his mother. on the one hand, the public murder has once again showed everyone that putin is capable of anything and that you cannot negotiate with him. and let's just take a moment to remind ourselves of what we know about alexei navalny�*s death. he died in prison in siberia earlier this month — he'd been serving a 19 year sentence, on charges which his supporters said were baseless, and politically motivated. officials say he had fallen ill, and passed away suddenly. his mother has previously said the official death certificate presented to her claimed her son had died of natural causes.

his wife, along with several world leaders have, directly blamed vladimir putin for navalny�*s death. this international blame has led to further sanctions on russia. last week, the us announced more than 500 new sanctions against russia over navalny�*s death and the invasuon of ukraine. mr navalny�*s team had previously accused officials of trying to blackmail his mother into agreeing to a funeral without mourners. earlier today, it was confirmed his funeral will be held in a church in moscow this coming friday. our correspondent nick beake has been in strasbourg keeping across developments. she was talking as a grieving widow, as a grieving wife, but also she was talking about how, as a campaigner, she would take on the work that her husband started, and that ultimately she would do her very best to realise the dream, as she put it, that her husband never got to see — the dream of a free and fair russia. she gave an insight into what it's been like for her and herfamily over the past 12 days or so, saying that they've been struggling to retrieve the body of alexei navalny

from the russian authorities. and she confirmed that, yes, his funeral service would take place on friday afternoon in moscow. she said she didn't know at this point whether it would be a peaceful day, or whether the people who were coming to pay their respects, to say goodbye to him, would be arrested or they would be detained or questioned by the authorities in some way. and yes, she spoke for quite a while about the impact that the incarceration had had on her husband, being in that penal colony far, farfrom moscow, far from his friends and family, but said she would continue to do his work. and she was absolutely 100% clear that this was vladimir putin's murder. she says he was tortured, he was starved. they were denied visits as a family and the kremlin, they effectively killed him and then abused his body afterwards. yes. early on in the speech, she used the word "murder" quite specifically. the kremlin have said that it's unacceptable to suggest

that they were involved in the death of alexei navalny. certainly, the russian authorities have said that he died of natural causes, but there was a lot of criticism of vladimir putin. he was described as a mobster, someone who presided over mafia money. and it was interesting that alexei navalny�*s widow, yulia, was saying that actually the only way that you can really deal with a man like vladimir putin, because he's not a politician, is, you can't have sanctions and you can't have various resolutions. you need to really go for the money and the money of those around him who are supporting this regime. so that was her particular accusation, saying that, you know, the international community has to be innovative. they need to think in new ways if they're going to defeat vladimir putin and bring about some sort of democracy in russia. white that was nick beake reporting

from strasbourg. south korea's record low birth rate has fallen again. it's the lowest in the world, and politicians are warning of a national emergency. data for 2023 shows there were 0.72 births per woman in south korea, down from what was already a record low of 0.78 the year before. it's a similar trend in many developed nations. injapan, the figure was 1.26 in 2022. but new figures show the number of births fell 5.1% last year, the eighth drop in a row. and here in the uk, the birth rate in 2022 was 1.49 7 the lowest since records began. why is that important? for a country's population to hold steady, there must be 2.1 births per woman. and falling birth rates are causing alarm for politicians, facing a future of ageing populations and shrinking workforces. jean mackenzie is in the south korean capital, seoul.

this is a meeting of single minds. yajin and her friends don't plan to get married, or have children. instead, yajin wants to focus on herjob as a tv producer. it's competitive and the hours gruelling. it leaves no time to raise a child. translation: the work culture is too hard here. | at the weekends, sometimes i have an iv drip just to get enough energy to go back to work. with these notoriously long working hours, women in korea feel forced to choose between having a career and having a baby. the birth rate has been plummeting for years as more women like yajin choose theirjobs. jinyung is proof of this dilemma. she quit herjob to raise her children and is in what she calls a single parenting marriage because like many women,

she's expected to do all of the childcare. three, two, one, go! translation: i had a very lonely parenting experience. _ my husband works a lot. i was angry i had to stay at home. i'm just as educated, so it's been hard to accept. this dearth of babies means korea's population is already aging fast. in 50 years�* time, there will be more people over the age of 65 than under. a frightening prospect for its economy, its health care system, and its pension reserves. politicians know they're grappling with a crisis. theyjust don't know how to fix it. yajin has decided to move to new zealand because it has better gender equality. these women know the birth rate is a problem. theyjust don't think it's theirs to solve.

the next generation, ok. i believe, next generation. jean mackenzie, bbc news in seoul. here in the uk, the government has announced plans to spend more than £30 million on increasing security for members of parliament. it comes amid fears that elected politicians are being intimidated — particularly by demonstators who are angry about the war in gaza. measures could be including bodyguards that mps thought to be most at risk and extra police patrols in response to increased community tensions. let's speak to brendan cox, the widower of mpjo cox, who died after being shot and stabbed outside a library in her constituency in birstall, west yorkshire, in 2016. he's the co—founder of survivors against terror. hello to you and thank you for

speaking to us here on bbc news. you more than anyone know the risks that mps can face. just tell us what difference you think this money might make. i think this money will make a difference. it will increase the capacity of the security services to be able to respond. it will increase the ability of mps to have private security where that is needed. obviously, it's incredibly depressing that we have to have this conversation in the first place and that we need to be talking about the mps' that we need to be talking about the mps�* security, people we have elected and chosen to represent us, the idea they should be feeling the threat of intimidation is frankly awful. but i also think that no matter how much money we put behind this problem, that thing that we really need to invest in is a change to our democratic culture, whereby

we understand that alongside all of the rights that we get from living in a democracy, the freedoms that we get, we also have responsibility and thatis get, we also have responsibility and that is to conduct our public debates in a way that does not lead into intimidation. doesn't lead into threats and hatred and until we do that, i think mps will continue to be at risk, even with this welcomed extra investment. it is almost eight years sincejo was killed. do you think that threats, the violence, the intimidation against mps has increased in that time and what do you put this down to? i think the threat level has gone up and down in that period. at the moment, i think it is higher and thatis moment, i think it is higher and that is particularly because of tensions over gaza and israel. but at different times, previously, it was over brexit. there have been different tensions which have contributed to it. but of course,

tensions over policy issues and international conflicts are not new, we have always had them in this country. so we have to ask ourselves why it is that now we are talking about mps being threatened and this becoming, i think, about mps being threatened and this becoming, ithink, a much wider issue. i think some of that is about the way technology has changed. i definitely think that social media is partly responsible for this. i think it has given extremists the sense that they are part of a wider community and that their views are, their views and extremism has got wider support than in fact it has because of the way the algorithms work on social media. but i also think there is a responsibility on our politicians as well. now that feels slightly strange to talk about, given that what we're talking about, given that what we're talking about is their safety, but the reality is, there are members of parliament and other politicians are pouring petrol on the flames of

community tensions. who are using, particularly the dehumanisation of minority groups, to try to fight culture was in this country and that i think is creating an environment where notjust mps but particular people from minority groups, whether they are jewish groups people from minority groups, whether they arejewish groups or muslim groups, are at more risk. so therefore, along with the security response, along with thinking about how the public can play a role, and they definitely can, in changing the nature of this debate and improving this debate, politicians also have a responsibility to stop pouring petrol on these flames. when we are talking about bodyguards and increased security, there must be a concern it means mps are less able to engage directly with their constituents, so there is a balance to be had there as well, isn't there? absolutely a balance, both in terms... jo was an mp in batley. one of their think she loved most was the ability to chat to her

constituents when she was going to the shop or when she was on her way somewhere in the constituency. that informal contact, that ability to be approachable is one of the cornerstones of our democracy and we don't want to lose that if we possibly can. i know there are a lot of mps now who just don't feel that they can take that risk, who don't, for example, have open constituencies. i understand why that happens but i think it is a real shame. we also, the other balance of it is, we want to make sure people's democratic rights are upheld. we want noisy protests, we want people if they disagree to go to parliament or the town hall and say why they disagree. we want those protests, we want to support those. with all of this, we need to get the balance right. we need to be really clear there can be no intimidation, violence or threat of violence but also that we will go out of our way to keep our democracy is open, as vibrant and as passionate as it can

and should be. brendan cox, good to talk to, thank you. brendan cox, co—founder of survivors against terror. the high court in belfast has real plans to give suspects conditional immunity before a crime is committed in the troubles in northern ireland are in breach of the european convention on human rights. the proposalfor an amnesty is part of uk government legislation passed last year. the troubles lasted almost 30 years and cost the lives of more than 3500 people. the case was brought by victims of the conflict. thejudge case was brought by victims of the conflict. the judge said there was no evidence that granting immunity would contribute to reconciliation in northern ireland. we can speak to our correspondent chris page, in belfast for us today. if you could just give us the reaction to this ruling, please. the just give us the reaction to this ruling. please-— just give us the reaction to this ruling, please. just give us the reaction to this rulin: , lease. , ., , ruling, please. the “udge began his rulin: here ruling, please. the “udge began his ruling here at — ruling, please. the “udge began his ruling here at the _ ruling, please. thejudge began his ruling here at the high _ ruling, please. thejudge began his ruling here at the high court -

ruling, please. thejudge began his ruling here at the high court in - ruling here at the high court in belfast by referring to the fact that more than 3700 people were killed during the years of violence, which are commonly called the troubles and the quest as to how unsolved killings from that time has continued to hanover northern ireland for a quarter of a century now of relative peace is an extremely complex and emotive question. the uk government last year passed legislation to set up a new commission to take over all investigations linked to killings from the conflict. out of that plan was that suspects, both former paramilitaries and former members of the state forces who gave information to the commission, would be given a conditional amnesty. the guarantee they would not be prosecuted. so some victims�* families challenged the uk government in court today. the judge ruled the plan for a conditional amnesty was unlawful, that it breached international human rights law, particularly the european convention on human rights and their families afterwards said they were

certainly very pleased about that. it had been many years now of campaigning forjustice for the campaigning for justice for the loved campaigning forjustice for the loved ones who they lost and they felt that the government�*s plans as they stood close down the opportunity forjustice. they they stood close down the opportunity for justice. they were also may be slightly disappointed that the judge didn�*t go further and strike out more aspects of the controversial legislation the families objected to. for example, a plan to end all inquests related to the troubles. the case is likely to go on to a higher court. the uk government has already indicated that. the northern ireland secretary chris heaton—harris has said he will study thejudgment chris heaton—harris has said he will study the judgment heavily but the government remains committed to implementing this legislation, so it is likely an appeal will be taken to another court hearing belfast, then probably to the uk supreme court and in separate legal proceedings, the irish government is taking the uk to court on human rights to try and get these measures are scrapped. no sign of this controversial issue being

fully resolved for some years to come, i think. chris page in belfast, thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news. a power company has kept wood from some of the most precious forests. a panorama investigation found they took timber from red forests in canada which lent no—go areas. it says the wood pellets are sustainable and legally harvested. rapperja rule says he has been denied entry days before his tour is due to start in cardiff. the us musician was due to kick off the european leg in the welsh capital on friday. he says his criminal record was the reason for the refusal. ministers are consulting backbench tory mps on watering down planned protections for renters in england.

the bbc has seen a series of draft government amendments to a bill which aims to ban landlords from evicting tenants without a reason. the proposed changes come from mps who had concerns about no—fault evictions. you are live with bbc news. now we go to some breaking news and the separatist region of trends in istria, which is an eastern moldova on the border with ukraine, says it is asking russia for protection. the region has been controlled by pro—russian separatists for several years, and is not recognised by much of the international community. leaders there say they will now ask the russian government to "implement measures to protect transnistria in the face of increased pressure from moldova." we�*ll have more on this story in the next hour. but we can speak to

vitaly shevchenko, russia editor for bbc monitoring. could you just explain the significance of this development today, please? the thing to remember about transnistria is that russia has a large military base there, which allows it to exercise a significant amount of control over what�*s happening in transnistria and over what such meetings say or do. in fact, it is doubtful that transnistria would exist as a breakaway entity from moldova if this russian base was not there. secondly, importantly, we need to remember that russia�*s full—scale invasion of ukraine started after a russia backed an russian installed

figures in eastern ukraine had asked russia for assistance. it doesn�*t necessarily mean that russia is preparing to invade moldova or launch an attack on ukraine from transnistria. it could just be a way of putting pressure on ukraine, on moldova, on the west and also, in the past, transnistria held a referendum which was... whose results were questioned by members of the international community and the referendum supposedly showed that members of the public there, they wanted to join russia and also in the past, russia back to legislators in transnistria appealed to russia to pass legislation to accept transnistria into russia. so this is a development that needs to be watched closely. watch this

space. be watched closely. watch this sace. . ~' be watched closely. watch this sace. . ~ ,, be watched closely. watch this sace. ., ~ ., , space. thank you for giving us the background _ space. thank you for giving us the background to _ space. thank you for giving us the background to that _ space. thank you for giving us the background to that developing - background to that developing situation. let�*s go to cardiff. farmers in wales are protesting against planned changes to government subsidies — the latest in a series of protests across europe. unions claim the welsh government�*s sustainable farming scheme could cause thousands ofjob losses. on monday, there was chaos in brussels as farmers from across europe protested against european union farming policies — police responded with water cannons, and there were scuffles in the street. protests have been taking place across europe for months, more examples here from the czech republic, italy, bulgaria and germany. they all have their own specific national issues, as well as wider concerns — including the rising cost of living, eu environmental measures, and the impact of the war in ukraine on trade and prices. let�*s go to cardiff now and our correspondent tomos morgan.

— — stefa n —— stefan messenger. -- stefan messenger. on a very wet february afternoon, _ -- stefan messenger. on a very wet february afternoon, the _ -- stefan messenger. on a very wet february afternoon, the welsh - february afternoon, the welsh countryside descended on cardiff bay. buses have been organised across the country to bring thousands of farmers and their supporters here to the welsh parliament building, the senedd, where they have been listening to speeches from farming leaders and farmers themselves, politicians as well. they have come to object to a range of agricultural policies, most notably, that big review of farm subsidies has been taking place post—brexit, in which farmers unions say are unworkable. we are joined by the deputy leader of nfu. why are farmers so angry? i the deputy leader of nfu. why are farmers so angry?— farmers so angry? i think the headhne farmers so angry? i think the headline figures _ farmers so angry? i think the headline figures with - farmers so angry? i think the headline figures with the - farmers so angry? i think the| headline figures with the new farmers so angry? i think the - headline figures with the new farmer support— headline figures with the new farmer support scheme, there could be 11% record _ support scheme, there could be 11% record loss — support scheme, there could be 11% record loss ofjobs, 5500 people, a loss of— record loss ofjobs, 5500 people, a loss of £200 million off the bottom of farming incomes and grazing

livestock— of farming incomes and grazing livestock units.— of farming incomes and grazing livestock units. people are scared and angry- _ livestock units. people are scared and angry- the — livestock units. people are scared and angry. the welsh _ livestock units. people are scared | and angry. the welsh government livestock units. people are scared - and angry. the welsh government says it is listening to your concerns. it says it has to have an ambitious farm subsidy policy in the future. it wants to pay for environmental work to respond to climate change and nature loss.— and nature loss. their payment is based on income _ and nature loss. their payment is based on income foregone - and nature loss. their payment is based on income foregone comel and nature loss. their payment is i based on income foregone come you have to _ based on income foregone come you have to spend it to receive it. there — have to spend it to receive it. there is — have to spend it to receive it. there is nothing to promote the resilience — there is nothing to promote the resilience of farm businesses. we will have — resilience of farm businesses. we will have to deal with increasing issues _ will have to deal with increasing issues of— will have to deal with increasing issues of climate change, flood, drought, — issues of climate change, flood, drought, whatever it may be impacting how we can produce food, without _ impacting how we can produce food, without a _ impacting how we can produce food, without a resilience stability payment, we will be struggling. thank— payment, we will be struggling. thank you very much for your time. worth pointing out that this ultimately will be for a new welsh first minister to decide. a new first ministerfor wales first minister to decide. a new first minister for wales is set to be imposed in a few weeks�* time on this issue that has caused so much anger in rural wales set to be very high on his in tray. there have been calls for the introduction of this new post—brexit subsidy scheme to be paused. the welsh government says it

is listening. there is a public consultation are open at the moment which closes at the end of the week and they say they expect to have to make changes to these proposals as a result of the groundswell of anger and feeling we have witnessed here this afternoon. that update from cardiff. protests from farmers in wales. extraordinary how many protests across europe have been happening over the last couple of weeks or so. stay with us here on the bbc news channel. we will be playing involve the very powerful statement from the widow of alexei navalny. after the break, all of the world business news. stay with us. hello. for them a vast majority of the uk, this afternoon was so cloudy. you can see the extensive sheet of cloud on the satellite picture, just a few breaks across the north of scotland and to the east of the pennines. so for some,

may be some glimpses of sunshine like this but otherwise, extensively cloudy and the cloud thick enough to bring some drizzle to west scotland, northern ireland, wales and western areas of england. a few patches of drizzle working across the midlands and south—east england as well. a mild day, damp at times, none of the rain will be heavy. it will be patchy in nature and tend to come and go. during this evening and overnight, the rain turns heavier for a time as it works its way southwards and eastwards across the uk, followed by some blustery showers into scotland and northern ireland during the second part of the night. a very mild night across parts of england and wales with temperatures for some holding into double figures. coolerair temperatures for some holding into double figures. cooler air in the north and west of the uk. that theme continues into thursday, eventually coda air working across the uk. weather—wise on thursday, some rain in southern and eastern england start the day, could be slow to clear away as well. otherwise, brighter weather with a mixture of

sunshine and blustery showers. some that showers in western scotland and northern ireland could have a bit of hail mixed in at times. temperature is quite close to average for the time of year, 7—9 c. beyond that, we have another area of low pressure set to move through on friday. there�*s occlusion could bring a speu there�*s occlusion could bring a spell of hill snow. that front could move hundred miles north or south so the exact position of the front is not tied down just yet but it looks like we could see a spell of hill snow, potentially affecting parts of north wales, the hills of northern england, the southern uplands and the hills of northern ireland. some places could potentially see five centimetres of snow or more. there is the birth rate of seeing some disruption but at lower elevations where the vast majority of us live, you are likely to be stuck with cold rain, maybe with some sleet mixed in. it will be a cold feeling day, vertically underneath a of rain, with temperatures for a good part of the day struggling around three. into the weekend, it stays

unsettled, sunshine and showers. some showers could have some hail or even sleet mixed in at times. bye—bye for now.

green light for britain�*s biggest ev gigafactory — thousands ofjobs to be created

in the west of england. and is there a crisis in gaming, as companies like sony and microsoft slash jobs. welcome to world business report. we start in the uk where there�*s been confirmation of one of the most important investments in the country�*s motor industry for decades. this is the giant electric car battery factory to be built in somerset by the indian conglomerate tata. it�*s a major boost for the uk�*s ambitions to become a real player in the electric car market. it will create 4,000 jobs, and thousands more in the wider economy. tata is investing £4 billion in the project. let�*s speak now to professor david bailey from birmingham business school. thank you so much forjoining us. just talk us through why this is such a huge deal. this just talk us through why this is such a huge deal.— just talk us through why this is such a huge deal. this is probably

the biggest _ such a huge deal. this is probably the biggest investment _ such a huge deal. this is probably the biggest investment in - such a huge deal. this is probably the biggest investment in uk - the biggest investment in uk automotive since