travelled to the region. also on the programme... for the first time black women artists from britain and the united states win awards at the prestigious, venice biennale. of course it is an enormous accolade but i also think, why has it taken so long? live from studio in singapore... this is bbc news. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the world's richest man, elon musk, has bought the social media platform twitter in a $41; billion deal. in a joint statement, the two sides said they wanted to make the social media platform better than ever, and stressed the importance of free speech. elon musk said "free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated..." he went on to say.... "i also want to make twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features". and shortly before the annoucement elon musk tweeted �*i hope that even my worst critics remain on twitter, because that is what free speech means�*. well, as you would expect there's been plenty of reaction to the news. white house press secretaryjen psaki weighed in on elon musk�*s twitter takeover, saying tech companies need to be held accountable amid controversy over freedom of speech on the platform. i'm not going to comment on a specific transaction, what i can tell you as a general matter, no matter who owns or runs twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms, the power they have over our everyday lives. has long argued tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause. one commenting on the drama that has been going on. == cause. one commenting on the drama that has been going on.— that has been going on. -- jen psaki. for more on this i'm joined by our north america technology reporterjames clayton. this puts a line under the speculation we've seen. what do we know about what elon musk plans to do with twitter? we know about what elon musk plans to do with twitter?— do with twitter? we don't know is the honest _ do with twitter? we don't know is the honest answer. _ do with twitter? we don't know is the honest answer. we've - do with twitter? we don't know is the honest answer. we've see - do with twitter? we don't know is l the honest answer. we've see loads of cryptic tweets. one thing we do know as elon musk says he is a free—speech fundamentalist, saying today even his worst the tractor should be on twitter because that is what free speech means. in practice what free speech means. in practice what he has in store is light—touch moderation, likely people like donald trump who have been banned will be at least invited back on. trumper said he will not come back on but we will see about that. i think the platform will become much more light—touch in terms of moderation. what does that mean? more disinformation, potentially more hate speech, the platform itself could become much more poisonous. on one hand it's a poisonous. on one hand it's a poisonous thing, free speech is good, we all want free speech, but it it could make the platform into quite an unpleasant place, and the places that do have a genuine free speech on the internet that are unmoderated very quickly. although elon musk has said he is pro—free speech what he is actually going to do in terms of moving the company forward in that direction, only elon musk knows. just forward in that direction, only elon musk know-— forward in that direction, only elon musk knows. just on the fact that i should point— musk knows. just on the fact that i should point out _ musk knows. just on the fact that i should point out it _ musk knows. just on the fact that i should point out it might _ musk knows. just on the fact that i should point out it might get - musk knows. just on the fact that i should point out it might get more| should point out it might get more unpleasant, there is already a fair amount of criticism that twitter is already quite a grim place to be, and as you say, the likes of donald trump, if they do come back onto the platform although he said he won't, what's that mean for users? what you see happening there? if what's that mean for users? what you see happening there?— see happening there? if you look at what joe see happening there? if you look at what joe biden _ see happening there? if you look at what joe biden says, _ see happening there? if you look at what joe biden says, he _ see happening there? if you look at what joe biden says, he says - see happening there? if you look at | what joe biden says, he says twitter whatjoe biden says, he says twitter does not moderate enough, if you look at all the criticism facebook have either not taking down kew and on enough, not doing enough to take down his speech, and what elon musk is doing is taking a different direction and sink it is fine to have that on your platform because thatis have that on your platform because that is what free speech is. if you believe in the fundamental tenet of free speech, you have to put up with this. and others will say no we don't platforms can be moderated to stop this kind of content being promoted by algorithms. there is a huge debate here and what we will see for users almost certainly is not very much in the short term, but slowly what you may see as more and more stuff coming into your feet that looks a little bit nastier, because that is, in reality, that is what free speech on these platforms mean. there is no genuine free—speech platform that isn't incredibly poisonous. very light—touch moderation can be extremely nasty. it is a real difficulty and challenge for twitter going forward because it is bad for business if your platform becomes poisonous. business if your platform becomes oisonous. . ,. ., business if your platform becomes oisonous. ., , , business if your platform becomes oisonous. . , , , ., poisonous. fascinating stuff. great to net ou poisonous. fascinating stuff. great to get you on _ poisonous. fascinating stuff. great to get you on the _ poisonous. fascinating stuff. great to get you on the programme - poisonous. fascinating stuff. great to get you on the programme with| to get you on the programme with your thoughts. i want to bring you the latest now on the war in ukraine. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, has again suggested there's a danger of the conflict leading to a third world war, but he said he expected it to end with a peace agreement. speaking to russia's state media, mr lavrov said nato was in effect engaging in a proxy war with russia, and that weapons delivered to ukraine from the west would be what he called legitimate targets. five train stations were struck by russian missiles in western ukraine on monday. the railways have become a key target for russian forces, as they're crucial for both bringing in supplies and evacuating civilians. meanwhile, unrelenting russian attacks continue in the eastern donbas region. there's been fighting there since 2014, between ukrainian troops, and separatists, backed by moscow. russian artillery has been targeting towns and cities, where mainly civilains have been sheltering in basements, short of food and water. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, has travelled close to the front lines. birdsong. explosion. the first signs of spring, now drowned out by heavy shelling. in eastern ukraine, their battered flag still flying. but signs of life are vanishing fast in the face of a renewed russian offensive. russia is making small gains, but creating widespread chaos and devastation right across the region. most have already fled the towns and cities of the donbas. it's the few, like valentina, who've stayed behind. we found her trying to find food during a lull in the fighting. translation: of course it's dangerous. _ everybody is scared. now we are even afraid of silence. you never know what will happen next. this is now her home. lysychansk has become an underground city. she shares a dark, dank shelter with another 50 people. they say they're running out of clean water and food, and some don't even care which side is winning. translation: my brain hurts. two idiots are fighting, two old men. all of them are guilty. all of them. distant bangs. but there is no peace from the constant barrage of artillery. it's becoming yet another russian war of attrition. they're trying to break ukrainian forces along a front line that stretches for 300 miles. we have bomb attacks, rocket attacks every day. every day, every time, every day, every house, all day. if we lose, lose not only ukraine, lose all world. and your countries, and other countries too. here, they're still relying on mostly old soviet weaponry. they proudly show off their one british—supplied anti—tank missile, the nlaw. they've already used the other one to destroy a russian tank. we need that weapon for our freedom, for a win, for that war. we need that weapon. and when we have more that weapon, war is ending. do you have enough of them? that position? yeah. this position? no. ukrainian forces have been holding the line here since 2014 against russian—backed separatists. they're still holding the line, but this time against the russian army. and what has been sporadic fighting over the last eight years has now turned into a full blown war, and they are being pounded by russian artillery. this war is grinding down life in the donbas. deserted towns and cities slowly being destroyed as we travel through the region. from lysychansk to slovyansk, to lyman in the north. the only certainty — this will be costly and brutal for whoever wins this war. jonathan beale, bbc news, eastern ukraine. in russia, there've been at least two huge explosions at an oil depot, around 95 miles from the border with ukraine. the cause is still being investigated, but it follows moscow's claims in recent weeks, that ukrainian attack helicopters, have been hitting targets on russian soil. there's been no official comment from either side about the explosions, which happened bryansk)not far from the border in the town of bryansk. from there, our russia editor, steve rosenberg, hasjust sent us this report. caught on cctv, the prelude to an inferno. the russian fuel depot was engulfed in a fireball. flames lit up the night sky over bryansk. then, over to the right, you can see a second explosion. the border with ukraine is less than 100 miles from here. so, was this the result of a ukrainian strike to disrupt logistics for russia's military offensive? was it sabotage? neither moscow nor kyiv are saying. all day, plumes of thick, black smoke hung over the city, making bryansk feel like a war zone. this never happened before, she says. at 3am, we heard explosions. we were amazed. i don't know what this is, he says. is it war here? i suppose we're on the front line. i wonder if ukraine did this. we've seen something similar. early this month, in belgorod. russia claimed that ukrainian helicopter gunships had opened fire. kyiv wouldn't confirm it. whatever the cause of today's fire, it sparked concern in this city. when the kremlin launched its so—called special military operation two months ago, for many here it was a case of out of sight, out of mind. this was a conflict playing out on tv screens. but that's changing. and, for many russians now, hostilities are starting to feel much closer to home. back in moscow, president putin accused the west of prolonging hostilities in ukraine. translation: to our surprise, senior diplomats in europe - and the us are ordering their client state ukraine to do everything possible to achieve victory on the battlefield. this is impossible. so now they plan to destroy russia from within. vladimir putin claims he sent his troops into ukraine to bring russians security. but there is little sign of that. steve rosenberg, bbc news, bryansk. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... ajudge in new york has found donald trump in contempt of court for failing to provide documents demanded as part of an investigation into his business empire. the former us president has been ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 dollars a day until he complies. his lawyer said mr trump was not being evasive, but simply did not have the documents being sought. a court in turkey has sentenced the businessman and civil rights campaigner osman kavala to life in prison on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. the ruling by a panel of three judges was met with boos from a packed courtroom. mr kavala, who was born in paris, has already spent more than four years behind bars without being convicted. in the us, wildfires in arizona, nebraska and new mexico have burned over 150 thousand acres and killed at least one person. there have been nearly two dozen fires across the us southwest, raising concern over the intensity and duration of the fire season. the federal firefighters that are fighting the blazes say they are vastly understaffed this year and worry not enough help is coming soon enough. the government of peru has submitted a bill to congress calling for a referendum this year on whether to redraft the constitution. president pedro castillo, who's been in power for less than a year, wants the vote to take place in october, along with scheduled regional elections. he thinks the country needs a more inclusive constitution to replace the current one, which was approved thirty years ago. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... female black artists at the centre of this year's venice art biennale. we will have a report on those who won an award. nothing, it seemed, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. . this is the end of a i 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been - fighting for for so long. it was 7am in the morning on the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is newsday on the bbc. our headlines... elon musk, has clinched a deal to buy twitter — in a joint statement, the two sides said they wanted to make the social media platform better than ever. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, says nato is in effect engaging in a proxy war with russia, and that weapons delivered to ukraine from the west would be what he called legitimate targets. here in singapore — naga—enthran dharmalingam faces execution this week over drug trafficking charges. the malaysian national�*s case includes pleas by his lawyers and family that he is intellectually disabled. but singapore's legal system has turned down those pleas, and civil groups, such as reprieve in the uk and othes, are appealing for clemency in writing and calling on the malaysian and singapore authorities to consider a prisoner swap. the case has raised new questions on the death penalty for drug trafficking. for more on what's expected to happen next, i'm joined from london by maya foa, joint executive director at reprieve. i understand at this stage and execution could take place as early as wednesday. the legal process at this point appears to be exhausted. it is fair to say that, i think. what else can be done in this case? thank you, you're absolutely right, there could be an execution as soon as tomorrow morning, the early hours of the morning tend to be the time at which executions take place. this isn't the last option, we are still hoping the court might hear an appealfrom his elderly hoping the court might hear an appeal from his elderly mother who has travelled from malaysia to singapore to stand up in court and seek to defend her son and seek to get a stay of execution. on the other hand, we are also hoping there may still be the opportunity for malaysia to negotiate a prisoner transfer. we are in the last stages now, but we are maintaining hope and holding up the pressure on this case, because execution really would be an absolute ofjustice. in case, because execution really would be an absolute ofjustice.— be an absolute of 'ustice. in terms of what his _ be an absolute ofjustice. in terms of what his lawyers _ be an absolute ofjustice. in terms of what his lawyers have _ be an absolute ofjustice. in terms of what his lawyers have been - be an absolute ofjustice. in terms i of what his lawyers have been saying and what the singapore high court have said, my understanding is singapore rejected the pleas from his lawyers that he has an intellectual disability, the court found he was knocked intellectually disabled. can you talk us through what happened in the proceedings? what there where were five separate reports which variously found actually not one but a range of different intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions, so he has been found to have an iq of 69, which is below the threshold which international losses you can execute a person. he also has adhd, low executive functioning, all of these different experts have looked at his case and have all commented on his intellectual functioning, very low intellectual functioning, very low intellectual functioning. under singapore plus intellectualfunctioning. under singapore plus my own one now, you shouldn't be able to execute someone with those kind of intellectual difficulties. unfortunately due to an interpretation by one of the courts, that this did not constitute all of the different intellectual disabilities, didn't constitute what they call an abnormality of mind, they call an abnormality of mind, they said he would not be granted relief. what is really going on behind the scenes, we expect pressures been put on the court to find this, we know the system is... this has not been a fair trial, and if five experts can find the same thing there is something to worry about. an additional factor that is important to note here, his mental health... , , ., important to note here, his mental health... , ., �* ., health... just to say, i'm worried we are running _ health... just to say, i'm worried we are running out _ health. .. just to say, i'm worried we are running out of— health... just to say, i'm worried we are running out of time - health... just to say, i'm worried we are running out of time and i | health... just to say, i'm worried i we are running out of time and i do want to ask you about public opinion, just to say the courts did find that he wasn't a totally disabled, as you were mentioning there, but what does public opinion in singapore suggest about the feeling around this case? and the debate around this case?- feeling around this case? and the debate around this case? there is a hue debate around this case? there is a huge groundswell, _ debate around this case? there is a huge groundswell, unprecedented i huge groundswell, unprecedented levels of support. against the death penalty in his case and more broadly. i think what the public are seeing and feeling as this is a man who is extremely vulnerable, clearly has intellectual functioning difficulties, his mental health has deteriorated in who was trafficked, who thinks he might be going home to his family to have a meal, doesn't comprehend he is on death row and might be facing execution. i think the public recognises his execution would be an intolerable injustice, and that has led them to question the validity of the death penalty in singapore writ large. the death penalty in singapore writ larae. ., ~' ,, the death penalty in singapore writ lar-e. . ~ i. the death penalty in singapore writ larae. ., ~ . the death penalty in singapore writ larae. . ~ . ., the death penalty in singapore writ larae. ., . ., ., large. thank you so much for 'oining us on the programme. * large. thank you so much for 'oining us on the programme. just h large. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. just to - large. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. just to say i large. thank you so much forjoiningl us on the programme. just to say the singapore government did not respond to the bbc�*s invitation to send a representative to appear on our programmes to discuss the specific case in order to provide a statement, however in november last year singapore's ministry of home affairs said the following... the british artist, sonia boyce has won the top prize, the golden lion at the venice art biennale, which hasjust opened. she had already made history by being the first black woman to represent britain at the international art exhibition. her work looks at the contribution of black british female musicians to british culture. our culture editor, katie razzall met sonia boyce at the british pavilion in venice. the british pavilion at the venice art biennale has been transformed to the sound of five black female musicians. it's a hugely noisy, but hopefully joyously noisy, experience. sonia boyce's work here, called feeling her way, is the latest stage in a wider project that tells the stories of black women singers and musicians. you are the first black female artist to ever represent britain. i wonder what you feel about that? i mean, of course it's an enormous accolade. but i also think, "why has it taken so long?" i mean, there are so many brilliant british female black artists out there. it should have happened before now. it's her time in the sun now. with a golden lion for the show, she's joined the likes of other famous british names, bridget riley and henry moore amongst them, to the very top biennale prize. boyce had this message. there is a longer arc of people that we need to keep saying, they are here. for more than a century, the world's most high profile art exhibition has centred around men. not this year. close to sonia boyce's pavilion, america's has a new temporary thatched roof, and an exhibition courtesy of simone leigh, the first black woman to represent the us here. they want to start this part of the show with this monumental artwork. simone leigh won the other golden lion prize for this 16 foot bronze sculpture at the central biennale show, curated by cecilia alemani. of the 213 artists featured in what's called the milk of dreams, between 80% and 90% are female. i wanted to give the stage and the platform to many amazing, wonderful artists who also happen to be women. and why has it taken so long, do you think? because we still live in a very sexist society, and it's very, very hard to advance. advance is happening in scotland's exhibition. this tapestry looks at slavery under the stories we're told. the artist, alberta whittle, is the first black woman to represent scotland in venice. that's all for now. hello. if it's rain you're after it you won't find any substantial amount in this forecast. we were on monday teased by a few showers out there that only produced a few millimetres of rain here and there and they are not a sign of things to come. this weak front in scotland and northern england will squeeze out a little light and patchy rain on tuesday. but this is the main weather feature building and for the rest of the week and looks like the rest of the month to. high pressure right across us keeping things largely dry and settled. with the chance though on the cool side out there of the touch of frost over the next few mornings. tuesday morning across parts of southern scotland, northern and eastern england. many starting the sunshine but some thicker cloud across parts of scotland running down in northern england will produce a little light and patchy rain, not amounting to very much. the far northeast of scotland brightens up a touch. northern ireland, wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern england, a lot of early sunshine, some cloud building, the chance of an isolated shower, that's all it's going to be. these areas seeing some of the highest temperatures, warmest near 17 degrees. getting quite cold through eastern scotland in northeast england, and northeast england, especially with this onshore breeze. any showers that have developed along with cloud will melt away overnight and into wednesday morning for that will keep some cloud across eastern most parts here, at the chance again of a frost looks to be on wednesday. parts of scotland and northern england. then on wednesday it does look as if that area of high pressure moves right in to be a mainly dry day. where you start with cloud in the east, it made then and breaking places, where you start elsewhere was sunshine, some called is going to build but will continue to see some sunny spells. and there'll be a range of temperatures from the cooler north sea coast, something closer towards the mid—teens and the warm air spots elsewhere. but then on thursday morning could be quite a bit of cloud to wales in much of england although there's a hint of something sunnier towards england and south wales, although breezier as well. just may lift the temperature a little bit higher here than it's been. a few spells still around in scotland and northern ireland and that area of high pressure stays with us into the weekend. there is a chance on saturday, perhaps seeing a little patch of rain towards northern ireland and scotland. not set in stone. it is the exception to the otherwise largely dry theme. bye— bye. this is bbc news, the headlines. the social media company, twitter, has agreed to a $41; billion takeover offer, from the world's richest man, elon musk. the tech entrepreneur says twitter has "tremendous potential," that he can unlock. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, says nato was in effect engaging in a proxy war with russia, and that weapons delivered to ukraine from the west would be what he called legitimate targets. a court in turkey has sentenced the businessman and civil rights campaigner osman kavala to life in prison on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. mr kavala, has already spent more than four years behind bars without being convicted. in beijing the authorities have announced they are expanding a mass covid—19 testing campaign to another ten districts. a mass—testing campaign is already under way for millions