welcome to the programme. exactly six months ago, vladimir putin ordered his army to invade ukraine. it was a decision that not only unleashed the biggest war in europe since world war ii, but it also turned the world on its head. thousands of ukrainians and russian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. today, in ukraine, it is independence day. normally, there would be parades and celebrations marking 31 years of freedom from soviet rule. but not today, it s not safe. and in the past 6 months, russia has clawed away at ukraine s freedom. this was the map of ukraine on february 24th. russian backed separatists already held significant territory in the eastern regions of donetsk and luhansk and moscow controlled the annexed crimean peninsula. this is how things stand now. russian forces control large parts of the south of the country, all of the luhansk region and continue to make advances in donetsk. but there is still the threat of danger, everywhere in the country and
It is sam is tuesday the greatest newsday. It is 8am in singapore and iam in london. Marawi has been under siege for nearly a week by islamist militants. On monday, the government has said it made decisive progress to retake the city but at least 100 civilians have been killed and 2000 people may still be trapped in militant held areas. Our correspondent has more. We do not know how long it will take. They have been hard to evict from the city. I do not think anyone can put a timeline on it. They can 110w can put a timeline on it. They can now control people going in and out of the city. Once this is over, people will want to know how many of the group that got involved in the attack, this hardline militant group, how many of them managed to escape and once that is done, there are bigger question is that the philippines government have tienza and one is how this terrible battle which has caused so much damage was allowed to take place. It was supposed to be a routine operation to detai
I dont understand going to these negotiations. Why are we negotiating . Why dont we just leave . So far all our couples have got on but will politics get in the way . Well bring you the full storyjust after 09 30. It is now less than 48 hours till voting begins. Weve been to the valleys of south wales traditionally a Labour Stronghold to find out howJeremy Corbyn is going down there, or whether other parties are about to cause a political upset. Hello, welcome to the programme, were live until 11 this morning. Also coming up later in the programme, as part of our van share series i take a spin with senior tory politician Andrew Mitchell. He reveals his favourite coldplay track and how he got the Nickname Thrasher. Do get in touch on all the stories were Talking About this morning use the hashtag victorialive and if you text, you will be charged at the Standard Network rate. Our top story today, Scotland Yard is facing questions over a decision to downgrade a previous inquiry into one o
We are united in our shock. We are united in our anguish. We are united in our shock. We are united in ouranguish. An we are united in our shock. We are united in our anguish. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. Welcome to this Special Edition of Bbc World News as firefighters in west london are still at the scene of a horrendous fire that has killed at least 12 people. The blaze at the 2a storey tower block began in the early hours of wednesday morning. Many people are still missing and the police have warned the number of dead is expected to rise significantly. Our special coverage begins with this report from our uk home editor, mark easton. Oh my god, theyre screaming it is a tragedy that plays to our darkest fears. There was smoke everywhere, literally everywhere. There was people downstairs, bits of the block, cladding, falling off the block. That was on fire. Screaming. People screaming. It wasjust people jumping out, literally. And putting sheets down to try to ge
Fire. In my 29 years in the London Fire Brigade i have never seen a fire of this nature and i have seen many high rise fires. Around 70 people are being treated in six london hospitals, 18 of them are in a Critical Condition. In the us, a gunman opens fire on republican members of congress during a Baseball Practice in virginia. The attacker is killed by Police Officers. We are united in our shock. We are united in our anguish. We are united in our shock. We are united in ouranguish. An we are united in our shock. We are united in our anguish. An attack on one of us is an attack on all others. Of us. 21 hours after this fire started in g ru nfeld 21 hours after this fire started in gru nfeld tower, the 21 hours after this fire started in grunfeld tower, the fire is still blazing. The fire service had been working tirelessly to put the fire out. They have managed to get a hydraulic Crane Imposition and they are firing water remotely into the upperfloors of are firing water remotely into