begins in the united states. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we begin in ukraine, and as more russian forces head to the east of the country for a major new offensive, horrors are being uncovered in the villages and towns close to the capital in the north, that they used to control. there are repeated stories of violence against women, in particular of soldiers using rape as a weapon of war. sharing these stories is important as it shines a light on claims of abuses, and gives a voice to the victims of this war. our correspondent yogita limaye, has been speaking to some of those affected, and a warning that her report does contain material you may find upsetting, including descriptions of sexual violence. a quiet rural neighbourhood, shattered by barbaric violence. in a village west of kyiv, a first—hand account of rape by invading soldiers. when we started talking to this woman, we didn't know what we were about to hear. we are hiding her identity to protect her. translation: a soldier entered our house. - my husband and i were there. at gunpoint, he took me to a neighbouring house. he was ordering me, "take your clothes off or i'll shoot you." then he started raping me. while he was doing that, four more soldiers entered. i thought i was done for, but they took him away. she returned home to find her husband shot in the abdomen. he died two days later. she buried him in the backyard. translation: i found drugs and viagra that they left behind. - they would get high and they were drunk. most of the invading soldiers are killers, rapists and looters. only a few are ok. i want to ask putin, "why is this happening?" i don't understand. we are not living in the stone age. just up the road, we heard of another rape case. it is being investigated by the police. this is the house a woman was taken to and assaulted. upstairs, the bedroom where she was later killed. it's a disturbing scene. blood stains all over. on the mirror, a message in lipstick. tortured by unknown people, buried by russian soldiers, it says. out in the garden, we were shown her grave. a day after we went, ukrainian police exhumed her body. the note in lipstick, we are told, was left by a separate unit of russians who found her body and buried her here. they later told a neighbour, oksana, about the dead woman. translation: they told me - she had been raped and that her throat was either slit or stabbed, and she bled to death. they said there was a lot of blood. we travelled 70 miles east to another village, to what used to be the home of a family. a couple in their 30s, and their young child. signs of their peaceful, ordinary life lie amidst the ruins. on 9 march, russian tanks rolled in. two soldiers shot the man dead. the woman who lived in this house managed to escape, along with her child. she called the ukrainian police and she has given them her testimony. she has told them she was raped multiple times by the two drunk russian soldiers who killed her husband. and she said that they threatened to kill her little boy, too, if she didn't do exactly as they said. as the soldiers left, they burned down the house. the police chief has told us they have gathered evidence and plan to go to the international court. in kyiv, we met ukraine's human rights ombudsman, lyudmyla denisova, who has been recording rape cases. translation: about 25 girls - and women aged 14-24 were raped during the occupation in the basement of one house in bucha. nine of them are pregnant. russian soldiers told them they would rape them to the point where they wouldn't want sexual contact with any man, to prevent them from having ukrainian children. a 25—year—old woman called to tell us her 16—year—old sister was raped in the street in front of her. to calculate the number of such sexual crimes is impossible at the moment, because not everyone has come to us. among the people we met, there is no relief that the russians have gone, because they have left behind deeply wounded lives that might never recover. yogita limaye, bbc news, kyiv. austria's chancellor has said he's pessimistic about the chances for diplomacy over ukraine, after a face to face meeting with president putin. chancellor nehammer said the russian leader had massively entered into the logic of war and there was no interest in moscow in a meeting with the ukrainian president. he said it was not a friendly meeting but it was important to confront the russian leader with the facts. meanwhile in the last couple of hours president zelensky has warned about alleged russian threats to use chemical weapons in ukraine. take a listen to this. translation: today, the occuwers _ translation: today, the occupiers issued _ translation: today, the occupiers issued a - translation: today, the occupiers issued a new. occupiers issued a new statement which testifies to their preparation for a new stage of terror against ukraine and our defenders. one of the mouthpieces of the occupiers stated that they could use chemical weapons against the defenders of maria pol. we take this as seriously as possible. i want to remind the world's leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the russian military has already been discussed. —— mariupol. and britain's foreign secretary liz truss earlier posted on twitter to say there are "reports that russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of mariupol". she says "we are working urgently with partners to verify details" and that "any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict". she says the uk government would "hold putin and his regime to account". let's go to south asia now, and a new prime minister has been sworn in in pakistan, after the former cricketer imran khan was ousted in a confidence motion. his successor shahbaz sharif is the brother of another former prime minister, nawaz sharif, and takes office amid corruption allegations, which he has said are politically motivated. farahnaz ispahani is a global fellow at the woodrow wilson center and former member of pakistan parliament and shejoins us now from washington. thank you very much for being with us. elections due in pakistan next year anyway. why was this vote of no confidence against imran khan necessary now? . , , ., ., now? that is the question of the owler. _ now? that is the question of the owler, and _ now? that is the question of the owler, and i _ now? that is the question of the owler, and i think - now? that is the question of the owler, and i think that l now? that is the question of| the owler, and i think that is a very simple answer to that. firstly, imran khan when prime minister hounded the opposition to the point where they all got together, very disparate political parties from the left to the right and in between, and also, he lost the support of the pakistan military which you know is a very important institution. so he lost their political support as well so basically he got himself into a situation where he hounded the opposition, his allies deserted him and at the end of the day, the military left political support for him. so that is why he ended up where he was, the first prime minister in pakistan to face a no—confidence motion and although he and his supporters like to think there is a bigger conspiracy, these are the facts. they are just three points in front of you that any student of politics would tell you is very realistic. student of politics would tell you is v1 of realistic. student of politics would tell you is v1 of course :. student of politics would tell you is v1 of course mr khan's agenda. of course mr khan's huge rallies in the street are obviously disconcerting for people here also but the bottom line is, i think they will be reassured here in washington that they are dealing with someone who at least is calm, capable and experienced. you a reassured _ capable and experienced. you a reassured but _ capable and experienced. you a reassured but no _ capable and experienced. you a reassured but no western - reassured but no western government really likes instability in this, as you say, the first time a pakistani premise to have been forced from office in this way. we have seen thousands of people out on the streets, is this really reassuring to western nations? is mr sharif a safe pair of hands?— nations? is mr sharif a safe pair of hands? let's look at it this way- _ pair of hands? let's look at it this way- he _ pair of hands? let's look at it this way. he is _ pair of hands? let's look at it this way. he is a _ pair of hands? let's look at it this way. he is a safe - pair of hands? let's look at it this way. he is a safe pair - pair of hands? let's look at it this way. he is a safe pair of| this way. he is a safe pair of hands because he has run the country's largest province, 60% of pakistan's population for over a decade, three terms. so yes he knows how the bureaucracy works, he knows how to deal with the opposition, he has a lot of experience. secondly, whatever we are seeing in the streets today, we have to remember that such a population of 220 million, yes, rallies are huge, but rallies have been huge in the past also, so i think, mr sharif is going to have to deal with the economy, with foreign—policy, and obviously the noise of imran khan and his supporters, but in a nutshell, to answer your question, why now? why now is exactly the three things are said to you earlier. hounded the opposition, lost his allies, and lost the political support of the military. so these three things together... we will need to live there, i am very sorry cut you off, we are out of time unfortunately. thank you very much for being with us. let's get some of the day's other news. president biden has announced new rules to crack down on what are known as �*ghost guns', privately made firearms without serial numbers that are increasingly being used in violent crime in the us. ghost guns are sold in kits and can be assembled at home. they do not require a licence or a background check. mr biden said such guns were the weapons of choice for many criminals. the prime minister of sri lanka, mahinda rajapaksa, says his country has reached a decisivejuncture and called for patience as protests continue over the government's handling of the economic crisis. in a televised address, mr rajapaksa said the unrest was harming the economy. officials in shanghai have announced a slight easing of strict covid lockdown measures for a limited number of residents. communities which go for at least two weeks without a covid infection will have their restrictions altered. the current rules have provoked increasing anger from those unable to orderfood to their apartments. in the philippines, at least 25 people have died in landslides and floods caused by tropical storm megi which hit the country's eastern and southern regions on monday. authorities say they've recovered 25 bodies so far. let's go live now to our correspondent in the philippines, howard johnson. thank you for being with us. what is the situation on the ground? that what is the situation on the round? �* ., ground? at the moment the philippine — ground? at the moment the philippine coastguard - ground? at the moment the philippine coastguard are i philippine coastguard are trying to help people in the central part of the philippines, and we're footage on social media of people waiting chest height through water, fast moving water. since sunday, it has dumped nearly 300 millimetres of rain in some parts of the country. and we have seen that people have been disconnected from their land, from their homes. we have seen the electricity go down, the phone signal is down in certain areas, they are being badly affected. we saw landslides that killed more than 20 people and still the full extent of the storm will only emerge in the storm will only emerge in the days ahead. this is during holy week, a time when most people travel back to their home provinces to be with their families and also during presidential campaigning. we have seen both the front runners, bong bong marcos, and lenny robredo offering their help with aid. and this was an area that was hit four months ago by a subito fearne, the red cross had people in this area, at least 2.4 million people are still in need from that storm and are being devastated again by a second storm and that will definitely up and people's lives in this period when people should be celebrating with their families. ok. people should be celebrating with their families. ok, howard johnson, with their families. ok, howard johnson. our— with their families. ok, howard johnson, our correspondent - with their families. ok, howard johnson, our correspondent in i johnson, our correspondent in the philippines, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: back on the campaign trail, emmanuel macron heads for areas that are strongholds for his rival marine le pen. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers, is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for her sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world—best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. this is bbc news. our top story: the bbc uncovers more evidence of the sexual violence ukrainian women have suffered at the hands of russian forces. nearly two—thirds of all ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since russia's invasion. unicef emergency programmes director manuel fontaine, who returned from ukraine last week, spoke to the un security council on monday. two—thirds of the children population of ukraine is displaced right now. almost pretty much two—thirds of them. and that is in a matter of six weeks. i was saying to the security council that in my 31 years as a humanitarian, don't recall a situation that went so bad so fast and needs being so high, so fast. joining us now isjoe english from unicef. he's in new york. thank you very much for being with us. you are just back from ukraine. what were some of the things you saw on the ground? thank you so much for having me. as you were saying, and as manuel said, the scale of this is just manuel said, the scale of this isjust staggering, more manuel said, the scale of this is just staggering, more than two—thirds of ukraine's children forced from their homes. one was a force from their homes, many of these kids will not have homes to go back to. we have all seen the scale of devastation in places like mariupol and karki. this situation can we talk about those who fled their homes as either refugees or those displaced in the country, but the situation for those who remained in their homes is also desperate. we estimate that almost half those children may not be getting enough food. many of those families are stuck in these places because they have no other options. they have nowhere safe to go to. , ., ., ., , to. the geneva conventions exist to protect _ to. the geneva conventions exist to protect -- - to. the geneva conventions exist to protect -- protect l exist to protect —— protect civilians during times of war, there are specific references to women and children, but we are hearing repeated evidence that these are just being ignored. that these are 'ust being innored. , that these are 'ust being ignored._ that these are 'ust being innored. , ~ ., ignored. yes, you know, the stories we — ignored. yes, you know, the stories we are _ ignored. yes, you know, the stories we are hearing, - stories we are hearing, listening to the reportjust now as well, i don't think anyone can hear these reports, can see these images are not be absolutely horrified. we know that the killing and maiming of children, sexual exploitation, sexual violence, rape, the denial of humanitarian access, attacks on schools and hospitals, these are all great veillas seasons —— violations of children's rights in conflict. so when we hear these reports there has to be independent investigations and, ultimately, the perpetrators have to be held to out. you have to be held to out. you have mentioned _ have to be held to out. you have mentioned some - have to be held to out. you have mentioned some of. have to be held to out. you have mentioned some of the risks that women and children face. what are some of the others that when people are fleeing their homes, fleeing their towns, the dangers they face was yellow there is a direct impact, when manuel was speaking to the security council he is tokavai little boy, four years old, who was shotin boy, four years old, who was shot in the stomach trying to flee with his family, i'm at one boy, 15, who lost his mother in a landmine accident, he was in the vehicle at the same time, he saw his mother passed away in flames in front of his eyes. so the impacts of this, notjust the direct impacts of the violence, but the long—term psychological impact, the trauma that children are bound to go through any support they need to deal with this is sky high. a new mentioned support, people be watching this feeling desperate and helpless, what can people do to help?- desperate and helpless, what can people do to help? yes, as ou can people do to help? yes, as you know. _ can people do to help? yes, as you know. i — can people do to help? yes, as you know, i was _ can people do to help? yes, as you know, i was in _ can people do to help? yes, as you know, i was in poland - can people do to help? yes, as you know, i was in poland and| can people do to help? yes, as| you know, i was in poland and i was in ukraine. an eye have seen the impact that our humanitarian work does. when people donate to unicef this money is providing surgical beds in places like karki of two doctors and nurses who are operating in bunkers, and bomb shelters, it is providing toys to kids who spent the last month living in a subway system because they can't go above ground because of the threats of poms and air strikes. so humanitarian organisations, unicef, the un, where delivering supplies, but ultimately the children of ukraine need pisa may need now. 0k, joe english from unicef. thank —— piece. in france, emmanuel macron and marine le pen have begun the final stage of their campaign for the presidency, with both of them through to the second round of voting in two weeks' time. some polls have put them almost neck and neck. mr macron went straight to areas that are regarded as strongholds for madame le pen, who leads the far right national rally party. the bbc�*s lucy williamson in paris explained what happens next. i think you can expect a very intense campaign over the next couple of weeks with both candidates criss—crossing the country, looking for those extra votes. in one place they are very keen to attract them from is the far left, there were lots of far left voters in the first round of the selection. five years ago those voters largely backed mr macron, the picture is much more complicated now. marine le pen has largely expanded her appeal by focusing on issues around economic hardship and buying power and offering solutions like cutting income tax to zero for everyone under 30, slashing vat on fuel. and mr macron says, look, she can't afford to put forward those policies, she hasn't costed them. and when you look at a wider programme, she is still a danger to france. so watch out for those kind of arguments. many more of them building up to a showdown between the two candidates in the low presidential debate on television next week. lucy williamson there. jury members have been chosen for the legal battle betweenjohnny depp and the actress amber heard. the actor is suing his ex—wife for $50 million, claiming she defamed him in an opinion piece she wrote for the washington post about being a domestic abuse survivor. he has denied abusing her. our north america correspondent david willis is across the story and hejoins me now from los angeles. david, good evening to you. what we to know here? johnny de . . l what we to know here? johnny de -, as what we to know here? johnny depp. as you _ what we to know here? johnny depp, as you said, _ what we to know here? johnny depp, as you said, sued - what we to know here? johnny depp, as you said, sued the i l depp, as you said, sued the i newspaper over claims he was a wife beater and lost. now he is suing his ex—wife, amber heard, $450 million, that she defamed him in an article that appeared in the washington post in 2018, in the washington post in 2018, in which she described herself as a domestic abuse survivor. now that, according tojohnny depp, a or claim that was himself an abuser. the london court laid bare some very unsavoury details about the couple's relationship. his affinity for drugs and alcohol and he said that it cost, the surrounding publicity, cost him his role as captainjack sparrow in the paris of the caribbean franchise and a role in fantastic beasts. for her part, amber heard has said he basically labelled her when he described her as a liar and she is counter suing for $100 million. opening statements are due to begin in the morning. proceedings will be televised and, even though the judge in this case has urged both amber heard and johnny depp to avoid posing for photographs and giving autographs outside the court, as they did in the high court case in london, fans were queueing from 5am this morning to try to get a seat in the courthouse. and they are expected to lay siege to that building in the next few weeks to hear not onlyjohnny depp and amber heard give evidence, but also some very famous witnesses, including actors james franco and paul besenyei and amber heard's x boyfriend, elon musk. why is this taking place in fairfax, virginia? when both of these two people, amber heard and johnny depp live here in los angeles? according tojohnny depp's lawyers, it is very obvious, fairfax is where the online edition of the washington post is published. amber heard's lawyers take a more cynical view of that, they say it is simply because virginia's defamation laws are more favourable to plaintiffs than those in california. and this star—studded trial is expected to last about six weeks. ok. to last about six weeks. ok, david wilson _ to last about six weeks. ok, david wilson -- _ to last about six weeks. ok, david wilson -- will- to last about six weeks. ok, david wilson -- will is - to last about six weeks. 0k, david wilson —— will is there. britney spears has announced she is pregnant, months after she escaped the legal arrangement that gave her father control over many aspects of her life. the singer told her 40 million instagram followers she was having a baby with partner sam asghari. the 40—year—old, who has two teenage sons, also revealed she suffered depression during a previous pregnancy said she "won't be going out much" following her announcement. that's it, bye—bye. hello there. it was a much milder start monday morning, largely frost—free, as it will be again this morning. and that's because we've changed the wind direction. they're coming in off the atlantic, they are gathered around an area of low pressure, which means we are pulling in more cloud and showery rain, as well. but it will at least stay relatively mild, if not warm in the sunshine as we saw on monday night, 19 celsius in heathrow. but lots of heavy showers have been gathering towards the south through the night. there could be some rumbles of thunder, patchy rain heading its way northwards elsewhere, and that's why we are seeing our temperatures holding up. the winds starting to ease, so it won't be as windy on tuesday, and we've still got this onshore breeze for the east of scotland, the northern isles — so quite chilly here, but it shouldn't be as chilly for the eastern side of england, but as you can see, we've got showers and longer spells of rain, some of them heavy, some of them thundery pushing their way northwards and eastwards through the day. where we see some sunshine, temperatures will lift above average, particularly for england and wales. 18—20 celsius possibly across the east anglian region in the southeast, but for most, temperatures a little bit above par, except where we have the more persistent rain, which is likely to continue its journey northwards then through tuesday night into wednesday. eventually, the milder air reaches the northern isles, and again, it looks like a relatively mild start to wednesday, but misty and murky in places. we could have some patches of fog around tuesday as well as wednesday, which will take their time to break up. and then it's more likely to be a day of sunny spells and scattered showers, so perhaps a bit more sunshine on offer. but again, like we will see on tuesday, pollen levels pretty high, and temperatures getting into the high teens more widely as well further north, it will feel warmer, i think, across scotland and northern ireland on wednesday. come thursday, we've got another weather system starting to work its way in from the west ahead of that early morning mist and fog taking the time to break up. but again, temperatures 15—19 celsius, and that's above average for this time of year. and then further ahead into the easter weekend, that weather system weakens as it works eastwards because it's working into high pressure. so it's how established that high—pressure becomes, really, this weekend, how good it is at keeping our weather fronts at bay. there is still a little bit of uncertainty, as you can see, with low pressure close by to the west later on into the easter weekend. but at the moment, for many, there will be some warmth around, often dry and bright, but we do need to keep an eye on that one. do stay tuned. this is bbc news, the headlines: the authorities in kyiv say they're documenting numerous cases of women who have been raped by russian soldiers, moscow denies any such cases. meanwhile ukraine says russian tanks have begun advancing towards the eastern donbas region for a renewed offensive. shahbaz sharif has been sworn in as the new prime minister of pakistan during a ceremony in islamabad. mr sharif, whose brother nawaz held the same job for three terms, was chosen following a chaotic session in parliament. the election was held after imran khan was ousted in a no—confidence vote. the hollywood star johnny depp's legal battle with his former wife amber heard has begun in the us over allegations made by the actress about domestic abuse.