hello and welcome to the programme. president putin has been addressing crowds filling moscow s main stadium for a patriotic gala concert, to mark one year of russia s invasion of ukraine. he insisted that his decision to launch military action was entirelyjustified to protect russia s security. mr putin went on to stress that the cooperation between china and russia on the world stage is very important to stabilise the international situation . our russia editor steve rosenberg is in moscow. to russia s largest football stadium they came in their tens of thousands, not to cheer on their team, but to support their president. from colleges, factories and state enterprises, they had been bussed in specially for a kremlin show, designed to show that russians back president putin and his war in ukraine. irina seems to. we weren t the ones to start this , irina says. i trust our president. inside the stadium, the main event. vladimir putin shared the stage with russian soldie
he s been taken to hospital but his condition s unknown. shameema begum, who fled the uk tojoin islamic state when she was 15, fails to regain her british citizenship. and, at least four people are killed, after cyclone freddy makes landfall in madagascar. hello and welcome to the programme. president putin has been addressing crowds filling moscow s main stadium for a patriotic gala concert, to mark one year of russia s invasion of ukraine. he insisted that his decision to launch military action was entirelyjustified to protect russia s security. mr putin went on to stress that the cooperation between china and russia on the world stage is very important to stabilize the international situation . our russia editor steve rosenberg is in moscow. to russia s largest football stadium they came in their tens of thousands, not to cheer on their team, but to support their president. from colleges, factories and state enterprises, they had been bussed in specially for a kremlin sh
andm we ll be hearing all about the appeal and we ll be hearing all about the appeal to recruit more bell ringers, in time for the king s coronation. good morning and welcome to bbc news. health secretary steve barclay will meet members of the royal college of nursing today after the union announced it would suspend a planned strike in england next week to enter talks on pay with the government. in a joint statement, both the college and the department of health and social care said they would begin intensive talks on pay, terms and conditions and producitivity enhancing reforms. government proposals for next year s public sector pay are also being drawn up. the rcn had originally asked for a pay rise of 5% above inflation. it has since said it would be willing to meet the government half way. next week s walk out in england, from the first to the third of march, was set to be the biggest strike so far of this winter s dispute, with half of front line services affect
reeling, letting in five goals at anfield for the first time in their history in the champions league. the swimming pools struggling to stay afloat an urgent plea from grassroots sports bodies for more government help to pay the energy bills. something needs to happen in some capacity, because if it s not funding, well then, how are these places going to survive? we ve actually got some rain around this morning quite widely. things were brighten up in the north and west later. it will feel chillier. good morning. it s wednesday, 22nd february. the health secretary, stephen barclay, is to meet representatives of the royal college of nursing this morning, after the union suspended a strike planned for next week in england. following months of disputes, the two sides have said they would begin intensive talks on pay, terms and conditions, and reforms. discussions about public sector pay for the next financial year are also underway. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson r