kirsty wark, which is just getting under way on bbc two. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it s time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are, but from the ten team, it s goodnight. tonight, newsnight assesses the state of the battle. as vladimir putin raises the age of conscription to the armed forces from 27 to 30, which side has the initiative in the war? we ll be speaking to a ukrainian mp and to the former uk ambassador to the us lord darroch. also tonight: on the eve of rishi sunak s appearance in front of the inquiry into the infected blood scandal, will the government commit to widening compensation to all those who suffered? we ll talk to a man who lost his father and two uncles to hiv. the saudis are on a sports buying spree and their eyes are on kylian mbappe, the captain of the french football team. is the gulf state trying to use the shield of sport to deflect criticism of its human rights record? we ll be speaking
britain s government is accused of utter failure over its plans to stop migrant boats, but the prime minister insists they re the people s priority . and australia looks set to become the first country insists they re the people s priority . and australia looks set to become the first country in the world to totally eliminate cervical cancer. welcome to bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in the former soviet republic of georgia, where large crowds, as you can see here in the live pictures, have been protesting against new laws which critics say will limit freedoms. the biggest demonstrations were in the capital, tbilisi where police used water cannons and tear gas to try to disperse the crowds. stu n stun guns have also been used. the scene on the ground still pretty chaotic, as you can see there. our correspondent rayhan demytrie is in tbilisi and she sent us this update. every big moment in history has its iconic image this may
welcome to the programme. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has been in kyiv today hoping to shore up a deal struck that was between ukraine and russia in the summer to allow for the export of grain from both countries. the agreement, which was brokered in turkey and is overseen by the un, must be renewed by 18 march, but there s concern, moscow will refuse to renew it. the deal also aimed to facilitate the export of russian food and fertilisers. moscow says those shipments are still being disrupted by us and european sanctions. exports of ukrainian, as well as russian food and fertiliser are essential to global food security and food prices. i want to underscore the critical importance of the rollover of the black sea grain initiative on 18 march, and are working to create the conditions to enable the greatest possible news of export infrastructures through the black sea, in line with the objectives of the initiative. this really matters. ukraine is one of the to
we start with a denial from ukraine of any involvement in september s attacks on the nord stream pipelines, which were built to carry russian natural gas to germany. the denial follows this report from the new york times. it cites us intelligence officials, suggesting a pro ukrainian group was to blame. before we look at those claims, let s get more details about the nord stream pipelines. let s get more details this map shows where they run along the sea bed, from russia, across the baltic, to germany. the damage was discovered near the danish island of bornholm. it s also relatively close to the russian territory of kaliningrad. it was first noticed when huge amounts of gas were spotted bubbling up to the surface. when cameras were sent down, this is what they recorded. several experts said it appeared the pipes had been damaged by an explosion on the outside of the pipe. here s ukrainian defence minister oleksi reznikov on the new allegations. for me, it s a little bit o