in the city of mariupol, he says people will die if they're not rescued. india struggles under the weight of an extreme heatwave as firefighters tackle flames at a huge landfill site near delhi, which is releasing toxic fumes into the air. torrential rain and flooding wreaks havoc in venezuela, causing damage to shops and houses in the capital, caracas. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president putin has warned that russia will respond immediately to any country attempting to interfere in the war in ukraine. speaking to lawmakers in st petersburg, mr putin said he had all the tools to respond, and that he'd already chosen his likely approach. that's after the european union accused moscow of economic blackmail and of escalating the war by cutting off russian gas supplies to poland and bulgaria. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. the venice of the north, they call it. it was peter the great who built st petersburg, to make russia look and feel european. today, though, the gulf between russia and europe is growing ever wider. in the st petersburg palace, the president... vladimir vladimirovich putin. ..vladimir putin was addressing lawmakers. from them, a sign of loyalty, the letter z, symbol of russia's offensive in ukraine. from him, a warning to ukraine's western allies. translation: if anyone from the outside intends to interfere in what's happening, then they should know this — if they create threats for us, threats of a strategic nature, our retaliation, our counter—strike, will be instantaneous. we have all the necessary instruments, ones that no—one else can boast of. all the decisions on this have already been taken. across town, another decision announced. state energy giant gazprom had shut off gas supplies to poland and bulgaria, an escalation condemned across europe. the european union has accused russia of using gas as an instrument of blackmail. it said that was unjustified and unacceptable. but russia is unrepentant. in fact, the speaker of parliament here said, "good, let's cut off the gas now to all countries who are hostile to russia." talking of hostile... ..russia continued to attack ukraine. here, with cruise missiles. there are russians who oppose this operation, but public protest is dangerous. sasha skochilenko knows that. she has been charged with spreading fake news about the russian army. she is accused of replacing supermarket price tags with anti—war messages. for that, she faces up to 10 years in prison. sonia, her partner, believes it's a case that says so much about russia. translation: what this tells us is that freedom of speech - in our country is being stamped out, political repression has got worse, and that people who are against the war are being persecuted and put in prison. what those in power here demand is unflinching support for the offensive in ukraine, and for russia's confrontation with the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. despite president putin's warning to the west, britain's foreign secretary liz truss has said western allies must double down in their support for ukraine. in the clearest indication yet of the uk's aims for the conflict, she said russian forces must be pushed out of the whole of ukraine. we can't be complacent. the fate of ukraine hangs in the balance. but let's be clear. if putin succeeds, there will be untold further misery across europe and terrible consequences across the globe. we would never feel safe again. so we must be prepared for the long haul. we've got to double down on our support for ukraine and we must follow through on the unity that we've shown in the crisis. the us accused moscow of using its natural gas supplies as a weapon. here's white house spokespersonjen psaki. this is the type of step, the type of almost weaponising energy supplies that we had predicted that russia could take in this conflict. that is why we've been in touch with europe, with these countries, including over the last 2a hours, with leaders in poland and bulgaria. and we have been working, for some time now, for months, with partners around the world to diversify natural gas supply to europe, in anticipation of and to also to address near—term needs and replace volumes that would otherwise have come from russia. i spoke to gregory daco, chief economist at ernst & young parthenon, and asked him if russia cutting supplies to two countries could lead to wider global ripples for energy supplies. i think in today's environment, any type of disruption to natural gas flows to europe or even oilflows to europe will have effects on global markets. we know global commodities prices have already risen. today with the announcement of this cut—off to bulgaria, we saw a rise of 20% in natural gas prices in europe. we fell back somewhat, but these prices will affect the rest of the global economy and also affect downstream sectors that will depend on natural gas as an import. bulgaria in particular gets 90% of its gas from russia. the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, says, "don't worry, europe can cope, we can fill this void." can they? well, i think it's always a possibility to reorient imports from different types of providers. the key question though is whether the infrastructure is in place and whether there is capacity in other providers and that is a big uncertain point at this point in time so i think while there is that possibility in theory, reorienting imports, given the magnitude of imports into bulgaria and poland, it's going to be very difficult to replace that and replace that rapidly via other sources given the infrastructure and capacity constraints. and what about where you are in the united states, any impact on gas supplies there? we're not seeing any impact in terms of supplies but we are seeing repercussions in terms of prices. natural gas prices have also risen of late. that is a function of essentially this tension and increase in sanctions that we are seeing in europe filtering through to the us with the us deciding to export more natural gas to europe and that is putting downward pressure in terms of inventory stocks in the us and therefore upward pressure on prices. this is a global market in the natural gas market is a global one and there are ramifications which do end up affecting the us, even if their direct dependency is very limited. and just briefly, finally, is there a potential fringe benefit in that the cutting of gas supplies will push people towards renewables more quicker than they would have otherwise? i think this certainly is a positive aspect in that there is a greater push for renewables and energy independence in europe but these transitions do not happen overnight. they are longer transitions which require investment. pushing for greater energy and independence, these are multi—year projects which require a lot of investment before there is that level being achieved so yes, there is a push towards more renewables, but this will take some time. mysterious explosions in transnistria, a breakaway russian—controlled territory in moldova bordering on ukraine, have raised fears that the ukraine conflict may be spreading. no casualties were reported, but a red anti—terrorism alert is now in force, meaning heightened security in the territory, which broke away from moldova in a brief war in 1992. i spoke to emma ashford. she's a senior fellow at the atlantic council, and i asked her if she thought russia was behind the blasts. i think at this point, we can't say for sure what happened. we know the russians have blamed the ukrainians, we know the ukrainians have blamed the russians, the moldovan government has blamed what they call pro—war elements, which could be separatist groups inside the country, so it's too soon to say, but i think right now, many people are assuming this is related to russia in some way and may be designed to sort of undermine the moldovan government at a difficult time. so if this continues, what could a flare—up in moldova mean in the country? well, so transnistria, where these explosions took place, is one of the frozen conflicts of the post—soviet zone. so we've seen conflicts flare up in other places over the last 20 years, recently, most recently in nagorno—karabakh last year, the year before, there was a full—blown war between armenia and azerbaijan, so with a frozen conflict, there is a potential that it could start again and this is not a good time for moldova, it is dealing with a lot of refugees from ukraine, there is a conflict on its border, and it is a very poor state compared to many of its neighbours so this could be quite serious. some officials in moldova have said russian speakers in the country are being oppressed. the same excuse, the same reasoning is used for russian forces to go into ukraine. is there a possibility that russia could be looking to do the same thing here, do you think? this is a consistent refrain in russian foreign policy, notjust in recent years, as far back as the early 1990s, that russian speakers are oppressed, but i do think, i'm somewhat sceptical that the russians are going to engage in full—scale military action near moldova, in moldova, in the future. the russians are already struggling to field enough force to make gains in the donbas in ukraine that they are pushing for, so if we are going to see further destabilisation, it is going to come from low—level or covert things rather than a full—out military assault. and there are various layers here. there is crimea, which russia annexed in 2014. it's fighting over areas like mariupol, fighting for what is calls the liberation of donetsk of donetsk and luhansk. how does moldova play into that for ukraine? moldova is one of these post—soviet republics which is in the in—between area, the area between the nato members, the eu members that have made it into those western alliances, and russia. there are about six states which fall into that category. moldova, georgia, ukraine. and so again, there is a very real possibility here that the russians would like to see moldova somewhat destabilised, would like to see conflict on its territory but again, the timing is suspicious. the russians do already have their hands full with other things so i'm not sure how much we can really read into this incident right now. a ukrainian marine commander inside the azovstal steel works in the besieged port city of mariupol has made another impassioned appeal for rescue. serhiy volina says about 600 soldiers who've been resisting russian attack are badly injured. he said many civilians are trapped with them. translation: in our group, - there are more than 600 wounded people, with different levels of severity. they badly need medical help. here, there are no conditions, no medicine, no personnel who could help them. we have wounded civilians and we help them as much as we can. we have civilians here with us too. there are hundreds here, dozens of children, many people with disabilities and the elderly. the situation is very difficult. there are serious problems with water, food, various supplies, provision of troops, military equipment and weapons. let's get some of the day's other news. the number of daily active facebook users grew to 1.96 billion in the first three months of the year, according to its parent company meta. but meta, which also owns instagram and whatsapp, still reported its slowest revenue growth in at least a decade. but sharesjumped 19% in after—hours trade on wednesday. donald trump has appealed against a ruling that held him in contempt of court forfailing to hand over documents demanded as part of an investigation into his business empire. on monday, a judge ordered the former president to pay a fine of $10,000 a day until he complied with the subpoena. hundreds of trade unions in sri lanka have called for a nationwide, day—long strike, urging the government to resign following an unprecedented economic crisis. transport, health and banking sectors are expected to be affected. the government has been struggling to pay for imports due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves. the electoral court in mexico has said that a vote in april on whether to remove the president halfway through his term in office is invalid because not enough people cast their ballots. president andres manuel lopez 0brador had himself proposed the vote as a means of strengthening his mandate for his remaining three years. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: why zoom meetings may not be bringing out the best in people. we'll explain why. 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 to 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 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was seven o'clock in the morning - on the day— when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, l when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. - this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: president putin cuts gas supplies, and declares that russia will respond immediately to any country attempting to interfere in ukraine. but, despite that warning, the uk's foreign secretary liz truss says western allies must �*double down�* in their support for ukraine. a heatwave which has gripped india for the past few weeks is expected to continue, with forecasters predicting record breaking temperatures for the capital, delhi. firefighters have been tackling flames at a huge landfill site near the city, releasing toxic fumes in to the air. prime minister narendra modi says his country is getting too hot, too early in the year. nickjohnson has this report: a pile of smouldering rubbish, 60 metres high, and spewing toxic fumes. this landfill site on the outskirts of delhi has been burning for days, the school in its shadow. "we can't let the children sit in the smoke", this teacher says. "we have had no choice but to close the school". others who live nearby speak of feeling trapped. translation: i'm not| able to breathe, and my eyes are burning. we are helpless, but what can we do? we cannot leave our homes and go anywhere else. it is thought the fire at this landfill site was sparked by india's stifling temperatures in recent weeks. the country has already experienced its hottest march since records began, more than 120 years ago. a month later, the heat shows no sign of letting up. large parts of the country are sweltering, as temperatures reach the mid—40s celsius, more than 110 fahrenheit, on a daily basis. some forecasters have predicted temperatures in delhi could reach a record—breaking 46 celsius this week. authorities have issued an alert, and asked vulnerable people to avoid the outdoors. the prime minister, narendra modi, seen here greeting eu leaders in delhi earlier this week, admitted temperatures across india were raising much earlier in the year than usual, and warned of the risk of fires in hospitals and factories. a leading climatologist in the country says it is beyond doubt that climate change has been a contributing factor to the consistently high temperatures here. forecasters predict temperatures will continue for at least the next few days, and there are fears that fires like this could become more widespread. nickjohnson, in delhi, bbc news. in venezuela torrential rain has wreaked havoc in the capital, caracas. there are no reports of fatalities, but as the rainy season gets under way, president nicolas maduro has warned that there's a high probability of more heavy rain in the coming days. wendy urquhart reports. from the air, the extent of the flooding is obvious. a river has burst its banks, and the roads and fields are awash with dirty brown water and mud, the cows huddled together, stranded. this pile of rubble used to be a shop, but now it's been completely destroyed, leaving the owner desperately worried about the future. translation: yesterday, i we had to evacuate the shop, but i couldn't take all my belongings, because it happened so fast. the government says we will be relocated, because it is a natural disaster. i depend on this shop. it's myjob, and it's how i make a living. now that it's been destroyed, i don't know what i'm going to do. the rainy season has onlyjust begun, and more hail and torrential rain is forecast, but the venezuelan president nicolas maduro says everything that can be done is being done to prepare the venezuelan population for what's to come. translation: with god's help and his blessing, - i hope that we will get through this and move forward with the social, economic and political recovery of our country. there is a government, there are people, and that's what matters the most. all over the city, homes and businesses have either completely collapsed, or look dangerously precarious. 0wners are trying to salvage what they can. when this is what you are faced with, it must be so difficult to know where to start. wendy urquhart, bbc news. how many times over the last two years have you been asked to "jump on a zoom call" or "have a quick teams meet?" virtual meetings became the norm for many during the pandemic, and it's unlikely they're going away any time soon. but while they may be good for being able to have a meeting while still in your pyjamas — a new study shows a major downside. they limit our capacity for creative thinking. earlier i spoke to dr melanie brucks co—author of that new report. we were really interested in how this shift to virtual interaction could affect innovation, and we were interested in two forms of innovation. there's the idea generation form of innovation, which is when we are coming up with new ideas. but then once we have generated these ideas, we need to evaluate them and decide which ideas we want to go forward with. and any idea why people are less creative then when they're communicating virtually? yes, so what we found was in particular that they were bad at idea generation but we weren't finding a difference with idea evaluation. and we found this was because people were more focussed when they're on zoom. so i am more likely to look at the screen, we are compelled to look at the screen when interacting virtually, and that visually focusses us. and that visual focus through to the cognitive focus and that hurts out creativity. is there some kind of hack that people can take away with them to help them be more creative? yes so i recommend turning your video off so that you can liberate yourself from the screen, you do not feel compelled to look at your partner, and you can wander visually the room, and also cognitively wonder as well. i'm interested in how you were able to learn this? what were some of the tests that you used in your study? in the lab, we randomly assigned people to either ida, face—to—face, in the same physical room, or we put them into two identical rooms and had them generate ideas on zoom. and we looked at focus by measuring their eye gaze. we actually recorded their faces from the task computer and extracted where they were looking at at any point in time. we found that, during idea generation, people look at their partner almost twice as much when they are interacting on zoom, and this explains why they're so much less creative. just briefly, you mentioned idea generation versus evaluation. not all meetings need to be creative — it doesn't sound like it is all bad news? no, it really is not. an important thing to take away from this is it's not that zoom is just worse and a lot of people think that because it is a less familiar and less natural way to interact but what we find is, it is really particularly bad for idea generation but for idea selection, people perform either the same or even perhaps better when they are interacting on zoom than in person. so it is not all bad news. there are definitely tasks you can do remotely and maybe even prefer to do remotely. america's political elite have been paying tribute to former secretary of state madeleine albright, at herfuneral service in washington. ms albright died last month, aged 8a. she was the first woman to hold the office of secretary of state in 1997, under president bill clinton. among those in attendance at the national cathedral were barack 0bama, bill and hillary clinton, and president biden. her name is still synonymous with america as a force for goodin with america as a force for good in the world. madeleine never minced words or wasted time when she saw something needed fixing, or someone who needed fixing, or someone who needed helping. shejust got needed fixing, or someone who needed helping. she just got to work. nasa's spacex dragon capsule carrying four astronauts has docked with the international space station. in the past few minutes, the hatch opened and the astronauts were welcomed by seven crew members already on station. —— in the past few hours, the hatch opened and the astronauts were welcomed by seven crew members already on station. the dragon spacecraft was launched from the kennedy space center in florida on wednesday. nasa says it's one of the fastest commercial crew flights to the international space station. hello again. many parts of scotland, northern ireland, western england and wales had some decent spells of sunshine, but across central and eastern england, we had some of this cloud yesterday. this is called stratocumulus. now, through the afternoon, in hastings, that cloud began to break up, and because it's a thin cloud, it's only 200—300 metres thick, above that, you've got clear blue sunny skies, and once it starts to go, it can go very, very quickly, so it was a lovely end to the day here. now, i'm telling you about that because that's what this type of cloud is, running in off the north sea, affecting parts of eastern england and the midlands at the moment. now, that is going to be prone to thinning and breaking up a bit more, i think, as we go through thursday. but with clearer skies out towards the west, it's cold at the moment. we've got some frost to watch out for, heading into the first part of the morning. now, across southern england, a better chance of seeing some sunshine. should have some sunshine, as well, across much of the northwest of the uk, and i suspect this cloud will tend to get eroded, so the areas that are most likely to keep it into the afternoon, well, probably east midlands, lincolnshire, norfolk and suffolk, but otherwise, i think most of you will see some sunshine. dry for many, an odd shower for northern scotland, an odd shower in southwest england, but in the best of the sunshine, we're looking at highs up to 16 degrees. it's a similar kind of day, really, on friday. again, we start off with some of that patchy cloud coming in off the north sea, but for many of us, it's a dry day, again with some spells of sunshine, and starting to turn just a little bit warmer as well. 17 the top temperature in cardiff and glasgow as well. after this lengthy spell of dry weather, caused by this high pressure, we're actually going to see some changes into the weekend. it starts to weaken, to allow this weather front to move in from the north and west. so, saturday, although england and wales is looking at another fine day, with some further spells of sunshine, much thicker cloud than we've seen all week will be heading into scotland and northern ireland, with outbreaks of rain, especially through the afternoon, the rain turning heavier and steadierfor a time. temperatures, though, out of the rain, still around 15 or 16 degrees, which will feel pleasant given the light winds. through saturday night and into sunday, the rain moves southwards across england and wales, but as it does so, it will weaken, so it will turn lighter and patchier. temperatures on sunday should reach a high of around 1a or 15 degrees, with the best of the drier and brighter weather in scotland and northern ireland. this is bbc news. the headlines: president putin has warned that russia will respond immediately to any country attempting to interfere in the war in ukraine, saying he has all the tools to respond. that's after the european union accused moscow of economic blackmail and of escalating the war by cutting off russian gas supplies to poland and bulgaria. despite president putin's warning to the west, britain's foreign secretary liz truss has said western allies must double down in their support for ukraine. she said russian forces must be pushed out of the whole ukraine. india is struggling under the weight of an extreme heatwave as firefighters tackle flames at a huge landfill site near delhi, which is releasing toxic fumes into the air.