this is bbc news with the latest headlines. in the uk and across the world. as fears grow that russia could be about to invade ukraine, us and russian foreign ministers are due to meet for urgent talks. the uk foreign secretary has warned any invasion by russia would be a massive strategic mistake. they claim they want stability, while they work to threaten and destabilise others. we know what lies down that path, and the terrible toll in lives lost. ukraine's ambassador to the uk says he hopes diplomatic talks can avert what he says could be a catastrophic

wall. we what he says could be a catastrophic wall. ~ , , , ., wall. we still believe there is a sli . ht wall. we still believe there is a slight possibility _ wall. we still believe there is a slight possibility that _ wall. we still believe there is a slight possibility that the - slight possibility that the catastrophe can be averted. watch could be a catastrophic _ catastrophe can be averted. watch could be a catastrophic vote. - catastrophe can be averted. watch could be a catastrophic vote. we l could be a catastrophic vote. we will bring you the latest through the day from those key talks in geneva. meat loaf, the us rock star whose hits included bat out of hell, has died at the age of 7a. he sold more than 100 million albums across a six decade career. a £1 billion shortfall in state pension payments to tens of thousands of women has been branded a shameful shambles by a committee of mps. adele has postponed her entire las vegas residency, just 2a hours before opening night. the singer posted a tearful apology online, saying covid cases and delivery delays had caused major problems. i'm so sorry. it's been impossible. we've been up against so much and itjust ain't ready. i'm really sorry. i'm sorry.

welcome if you are watching in the uk all around the world. the british foreign secretary, liz truss, has warned russia there will be consequences if it invades ukraine. she said the kremlin seems to be dreaming of recreating a greater russia but this would create a terrible toll in lives lost. the us secretary of state antony blinken is meeting with sergei lavrov to try to defuse the tensions. mr blinken has said that if forces try to cross the

it will be met with a swift, severe response. russia has 100,000 troops at the border but denied trying to invade. president vladimir putin has issued demands, including that ukraine be stopped from joining nato. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale sent this report. it's notjust the russians who are conducting military exercises. these are pictures released by ukraine's defence ministry showing their forces training close to crimea, which was annexed by russia in 2014, in the kind of incursion ukraine and its allies are trying to deter once again. i've been absolutely clear with president putin, he has no misunderstanding that if any, any assembled russian units move across the ukrainian border, that is an invasion. it will be met with a severe and coordinated economic response. in some of the most intensive american diplomacy for years, the us secretary of state has been touring western capitals, rallying support for ukraine and appealing directly

to the people of russia. you deserve to live with security and dignity. but what really risks your security is a pointless war with your neighbours in ukraine. western allies are threatening russia with massive economic sanctions if there's any invasion. behind the scenes, there are differences over what those penalties should be. in australia, the foreign secretary urged president putin to step back from making an historic mistake. they claim they want stability while they work to threaten and destabilise others. we know what lies down that path. and the terrible toll in lives lost and human suffering it brings. that's why we urge president putin to desist and step back from ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake. fresh satellite images appear to show how russia has amassed not just troops near ukraine, but also military equipment.

from klimovo to the north to soloti on ukraine's eastern border, and novoozernoye in the south near crimea. the diplomacy now moves to geneva where mr blinken arrived for talks with his russian counterpart. but the discussions at this hotel may be difficult because the gap between both sides is so large. the americans want to talk about avoiding war in ukraine, but the russians want to talk about their demands, for nato to step back and allow moscow to establish a new sphere of influence across eastern europe. in eastern ukraine, they know what that might mean. pro—russian separatists have been fighting government forces here since 2014, and the scars are all to see. the question now is whether all these exercises might soon become the real thing. james landale, bbc news, geneva.

antony blinken and sergei lavrov have now met face—to—face, they are meeting currently. this isjust before they sat at the tables for talks with their teams, the moment of handshake, i think. there you go. antony blinken has said prior to these talks starting, we are facing complex problems and solving them will take time, i do not expect us to solve than in geneva. these are live pictures from the talks. you said ou live pictures from the talks. you said you did _ live pictures from the talks. you said you did not _ live pictures from the talks. 7m. said you did not expect a breakthrough from these negotiations, we do not expect a breakthrough either. what we expected concrete answers to concrete proposals in compliance with the obligations that were adopted at the highest level within the oecd, referring to the principle of the indivisibility of security as

well as the obligation for countries not to strengthen their own security at the expense of the security of others. we would very much be interested to listen to how the us interprets these obligations and principles. thank you, and once again i am very glad to see you. sergei, thank you very much, it is good _ sergei, thank you very much, it is good to— sergei, thank you very much, it is good to see — sergei, thank you very much, it is good to see you and i appreciate the opportunity for us all to get together. this is part of an ongoing effort _ together. this is part of an ongoing effort to— together. this is part of an ongoing effort to de—escalate tensions and prevent— effort to de—escalate tensions and prevent further russian aggression against _ prevent further russian aggression against ukraine. i come from consulting with allies and partners as well_ consulting with allies and partners as well as — consulting with allies and partners as well as from ukraine itself, that too is _ as well as from ukraine itself, that too is part— as well as from ukraine itself, that too is part of an ongoing effort to work_ too is part of an ongoing effort to work closely, coordinate with, consult — work closely, coordinate with, consult with all of our allies and partners — consult with all of our allies and partners who share our deep concerns

about— partners who share our deep concerns about the _ partners who share our deep concerns about the moment we are in. we are, all of— about the moment we are in. we are, all of us, _ about the moment we are in. we are, all of us, equally committed to the path of— all of us, equally committed to the path of diplomacy and dialogue to try to _ path of diplomacy and dialogue to try to resolve our differences, but we are _ try to resolve our differences, but we are also — try to resolve our differences, but we are also committed, if that proves— we are also committed, if that proves impossible and russia decides to pursue _ proves impossible and russia decides to pursue aggression against ukraine, _ to pursue aggression against ukraine, to a united, swift and severe — ukraine, to a united, swift and severe response. iwant ukraine, to a united, swift and severe response. i want to take this opportunity— severe response. i want to take this opportunity to share directly with you the _ opportunity to share directly with you the common view of allies and partners. — you the common view of allies and partners. as— you the common view of allies and partners, as well as concrete ideas to address — partners, as well as concrete ideas to address some of the concerns you have raised — to address some of the concerns you have raised as well as the deep concerns— have raised as well as the deep concerns that many of us have a borussia's — concerns that many of us have a borussia's actions. i will also make clear— borussia's actions. i will also make clear the _ borussia's actions. i will also make clear the fundamental principles we are determined to defend. i also want _ are determined to defend. i also want to— are determined to defend. i also want to say, sergei, that we need to

talk about— want to say, sergei, that we need to talk about two us citizens who were tourists _ talk about two us citizens who were tourists in _ talk about two us citizens who were tourists in russia, who were arrested _ tourists in russia, who were arrested and convicted without credible — arrested and convicted without credible evidence and we again ask russia _ credible evidence and we again ask russia to _ credible evidence and we again ask russia to do the right thing and let them _ russia to do the right thing and let them come home. the bottom line is this, this _ them come home. the bottom line is this, this is _ them come home. the bottom line is this, this is a — them come home. the bottom line is this, this is a critical moment, you are right _ this, this is a critical moment, you are right that— this, this is a critical moment, you are right that we don't expect to resolve — are right that we don't expect to resolve our differences here today but i resolve our differences here today but i hope — resolve our differences here today but i hope and expect we can sense whether— but i hope and expect we can sense whether the path of diplomacy, dialogue, remains open. we are committed to walking that path and resulting _ committed to walking that path and resulting our differences peacefully and i hope we can test that proposition and see why we go from here _ proposition and see why we go from here. thanks for being here. —— and see where— here. thanks for being here. —— and see where we— here. thanks for being here. —— and see where we go from here. here. thanks for being here. -- and see where we go from here.- see where we go from here. thank ou. see where we go from here. thank you- studio: _ see where we go from here. thank you. studio: those _ see where we go from here. thank you. studio: those opening - see where we go from here. t�*iafia; you. studio: those opening remarks on camera, this is the moment i expect weather cameras will be

switched off —— where the cameras will be switched off, but those were the opening position statements from both sides and sergei lavrov starting by saying that like the united states, not expecting for that to be a breakthrough today but antony blinken saying that what he expects today, and these talks are only going on for two hours, it will not be a long meeting, but he says i expect we can test whether there is a path of diplomacy through theirs. he says, we are committed to walking the path of diplomacy and he said on the path of diplomacy and he said on the american side they have concrete ideas to address the concerns that have been raised by moscow. earlier i spoke to the ukrainian ambassador to the uk, he said sooner or later russia will have to decide whether

to date ukraine a withdrawal from the border. frankly, i believe they have already achieved something they wanted. they managed to divert the attention of the international community from the war they have been with us for seven—plus years. by this build—up they have brought everybody�*s attention to this new build—up instead of seeing how we are resolving the crisis in ukraine. sorry, can you just explain what you mean by that? you think there is a proxy going on that is not the way that we are all looking at it? all the negotiations all of these years were about how to resolve the conflict in ukraine which already existed. suddenly the russians came with additional forces and everybody has sort of switched to resolving this particular one. they can de—escalate, but the war which is ongoing in ukraine, we have already lost 13,500 people, is forgotten, at least for the moment. and this has been going on since 2014? exactly. do you not believe therefore that russia has the intention to escalate and have a wider offensive?

i do believe, they want to force us more into an even softer position in negotiations that we already have and this is how they achieve it. in terms of your position with nato membership, i think we can look at a map that will show... just to look at what is going on around your country, to the north, there's belarus, russian troops are going there, you have troops gathering... there we go, we have a different map, belarus is named on this map. crimea in the south, but all of those countries to the left of ukraine, i think it is 1a countries, from poland down to moldova, including the two countries right up there on the border with russia, estonia and latvia, have joined nato since 1997.

do you understand russia's concerns around the nato expansion? we understand their concerns, but we also understand our primary goal of the concerns of our own people. the best we can have in this part of the globe is nato. i know russia is not happy but i am sorry, we tried many different times, we tried treaties, we gave up nuclear weapons physically to them, we gave them rockets back and it did not work. they promised to even defend us if anything happened. instead, they came fighting with us. do you believe ukraine can ever become a member of nato? one day, we will. i was myself ambassador to nato. i understand how difficult these discussions are with nato about ukraine's fate. first of all, because it's big. in europe, it is the biggest one. it is too close to russia, it used to be the soviet union. i understand the concerns but i also don't see why the baltic states

can be part of nato but ukraine cannot be. doctor vadym prystaiko, the ukrainian ambassador to the uk. —— that was vadym prystaiko. joining me now is neil melvin, director of international security studies at the royal united services institute. do you see a diplomatic way through? the two sides are still talking, which is important, last week at the end of negotiations the russians basically said they did not see a way forward, but at the same time we have heard both foreign minister suggesting that expectations are quite low under two little can be achieved. the russians have made very high level demand, calling for nato to pull back to 1997 borders, to never extend the option for ukraine and georgia to join nato and for the united states to pull back its nuclear commitment. this is clearly unacceptable, the

americans have said that, the russians have said that is what they want, we seem to be at a stalemate, antony blinken has said he wants to try to de—escalate, and option to russia to de—escalate, i think that will be the focus. he russia to de-escalate, i think that will be the focus.— will be the focus. he said there will be the focus. he said there will be the focus. he said there will be concrete _ will be the focus. he said there will be concrete proposals, - will be the focus. he said there l will be concrete proposals, what potentially could they look like as far as you are concerned? what potentially could they look like as far as you are concerned? what nato has been looking _ far as you are concerned? what nato has been looking at _ far as you are concerned? what nato has been looking at is _ far as you are concerned? what nato has been looking at is a _ far as you are concerned? what nato has been looking at is a discussion i has been looking at is a discussion with the russians about how to perhaps have an arms control track on intermediate weapons, the intermediate nuclear forces agreement broke down largely because russia was developing new capabilities, the united states withdrew. the us has said it is prepared to enter discussions. secondly there has been a proposal on military transparency, better contacts, better regulations for military exercises between the two sides to try to build confidence and take tension out of the relationship, but russia has said

those proposals are not sufficient, what they want is the security guarantees that ukraine will never join nato, nato can't make that kind of commitment. d0 join nato, nato can't make that kind of commitment.— join nato, nato can't make that kind of commitment. do you think ukraine will everjoin — of commitment. do you think ukraine will everjoin nato? _ of commitment. do you think ukraine will everjoin nato? in _ of commitment. do you think ukraine will everjoin nato? in a _ of commitment. do you think ukraine will everjoin nato? in a way, - of commitment. do you think ukraine will everjoin nato? in a way, i - will ever 'oin nato? in a way, i think will everjoin nato? in a way, i thinkthat _ will everjoin nato? in a way, i think that issue _ will everjoin nato? in a way, i think that issue is _ will everjoin nato? in a way, i think that issue is a _ will everjoin nato? in a way, i think that issue is a bit - will everjoin nato? in a way, i think that issue is a bit of- will everjoin nato? in a way, i think that issue is a bit of a - will everjoin nato? in a way, i | think that issue is a bit of a red herring, russia has sought to frame it as this question but the bigger question is the emergence of ukraine is a significant factor in its own right and this is what i think russia is focusing on, trying to weaken ukraine as an independent actor. while it may have concerns about nato membership and enlargement over the last few years, the timeframe of this particular crisis is driven by military imperative rather than diplomatic, which is why i think everyone is very concerned that russia will indeed now expanded to intervention indeed now expanded to intervention in ukraine. d0 indeed now expanded to intervention in ukraine. ,, indeed now expanded to intervention in ukraine. i. ,, ., in ukraine. do you think that will be inevitable _ in ukraine. do you think that will be inevitable in _ in ukraine. do you think that will be inevitable in the _ in ukraine. do you think that will be inevitable in the end? - in ukraine. do you think that will be inevitable in the end? i - in ukraine. do you think that will be inevitable in the end? i think| in ukraine. do you think that will.

be inevitable in the end? i think we are very close _ be inevitable in the end? i think we are very close to _ be inevitable in the end? i think we are very close to that _ be inevitable in the end? i think we are very close to that moment, - be inevitable in the end? i think we l are very close to that moment, after today's consultations in geneva i think the decision will have to be made on the russian side, it is a huge military force, it cannot sustain it that for very long so it looks increasingly like that is the most likely outcome.— looks increasingly like that is the most likely outcome. issues around as most likely outcome. issues around gas supplies — most likely outcome. issues around gas supplies with — most likely outcome. issues around gas supplies with this _ most likely outcome. issues around gas supplies with this all— most likely outcome. issues around gas supplies with this all going - most likely outcome. issues around gas supplies with this all going on, | gas supplies with this all going on, what are the potential ramifications? if what are the potential ramifications? , , ., , , ramifications? if russia uses military force _ ramifications? if russia uses military force in _ ramifications? if russia uses military force in the - ramifications? if russia uses military force in the way - ramifications? if russia uses military force in the way it i ramifications? if russia uses . military force in the way it looks like then how nato and the eu respond will be crucial. economic question is fundamental, germany's position on the gst gas pipe will be central —— on the nord stream 2 gas pipe will be central, it will be important for the economy if we impose significant economic sanctions especially on the military sector, but there will be a military outcome, nato has announced a

willingness to commit troops to romania, the uk is looking at moving troops formative russia intervenes and the us and others will do that too. ., ~ and the us and others will do that too. . ,, , ., and the us and others will do that too. ., ~' , ., , and the us and others will do that too. . ,, i. , . too. thank you very much, neil melvin. the united states has charged four government officials from belarus with aircraft piracy over the diversion of a passenger plane in order to arrest a journalist. the ryanair plane was forced to land in minsk, supposedly because of a suspected bomb threat. security officials then arrested the belarusian opposition journalist, roman protasevich. the us singer meat loaf — whose album bat out of hell became one of the biggest—selling albums of all time — has died. he was 7a. a statement said the singer — whose real name was michael lee aday — died overnight. the statement said, "our hearts are broken to announce "that the incomparable meat loaf passed away tonight with his wife "deborah by his side." lizo mzimba looks back at his life. # the sirens are screaming, and the fires are howling

# way down in the valley tonight... the thundering rock opera sound. # there ain't no coup de ville # hiding at the bottom of a crackerjack box... the grandiose lyrics. # noone's gonna know it, noone's gonna know it # noone's gonna know where you've been! the consummate showmanship. there was no one quite like meat loaf. his first album, bat out of hell, became one of the biggest selling albums of all time. he was born marvin lee aday in dallas, texas, the only child of a schoolteacher mother and a policeman father who was quick with his fists. he was an alcoholic, and he would always beat me up as a kid, threw me through a plate glass window, threw me through a door. his size made him a natural for the high school football team but his first love was drama. when his mother died, he escaped his bullying father and moved to los angeles. there was a chance audition for the musical hair, an album for motown.

# whatever happened to saturday night? and the rocky horror picture show, first on broadway, then on screen. a meeting with composer jim steinman proved to be a turning point. steinman's wagnerian over—the—top style and meat loaf�*s three octave range was a marriage made in musical heaven. it took time, but this performance on the bbc�*s 0ld grey whistle test pushed the album to number one in the uk. but the demands of fame and the constant touring proved too much. the singer's voice failed and he had a breakdown. and there were arguments with steinman, who felt he wasn't getting a fair share of the limelight. meat loaf�*s popularity in the uk did take his second album, dead ringer for love, to number one but it was a pale imitation of bat.

there were court cases, he suffered two years of depression, his house was repossessed and then found himself playing tiny bars and clubs. # i would do anything for love... then, in 1990, he and steinman healed their rift. the result, bat out of hell ii. 16 years after the original, the magic still worked. the first rule is, i'm not supposed to talk about it. he also made something of a name as an actor in the film fight club. look at my face, bud. but his legacy will always be bat out of hell, one of the most extraordinary and certainly one of the most successful rock albums ever made. tributes have been pouring in to meat loaf.

as news broke of his passing. singer cher has been among the people remembering the musician, saying said she had "so much fun" when she worked with him on his 1981 album dead ringer. "am very sorry for his family, friends, & fans." the musician boy george also tweeted a tribute to meat loaf. he wrote: "rip meatloaf. "love and prayers to all his family and close friends. "he once turned me upside down in a chinese restaurant in stjohns wood." and english singer nik kershaw has also written a tribute. he said in a tweet: "proper sad to hear this. "i got to hang out with him for a while in australia. "larger than life character and true force of nature obviously. "but also a sweet, funny and gentle man." i'm joined now by lorraine crosby, the female vocalist on meat loaf�*s 1993 hit single i'd do anything for love (but i won't do that). welcome, thank you so much for joining us, such a sad day.

presumably you are mourning his passing along with everybody else. whatever thoughts been? everybody is ringing me up saying good morning, but it is not really a good morning. it is a very, very sad day. he was such a great man. he gave me a break that i might not have ever got if i hadn't sang that song, it is incredible.— hadn't sang that song, it is incredible. , , ., ., . incredible. did you have much contact with _ incredible. did you have much contact with him _ incredible. did you have much contact with him over - incredible. did you have much contact with him over the - incredible. did you have much i contact with him over the years? incredible. did you have much - contact with him over the years? not reall , i contact with him over the years? not really. i had — contact with him over the years? ijrrt really, i had more contact withjim steinman he wrote all the songs, i met up with meat loaf from time to time and i was with him at newcastle when he was very ill and had collapsed on stage, i have seen meat loaf over the years quite a bit but he was a fantastic performer and a fantastic singer and the world has lost one of the greatest rock singers of all time, really. tell us how our singers of all time, really. tell us how your part _ singers of all time, really. tell us how your part in _ singers of all time, really. tell us how your part in that _ singers of all time, really. tell us how your part in that i _ singers of all time, really. tell us how your part in that i would - singers of all time, really. tell us how your part in that i would do | how your part in that i would do anything for love, came song, about? my

anything for love, came song, about? my word, it was a fairy tale story, it was being at the right place at the right time. i sang the demo for the right time. i sang the demo for the song, meat loaf was struggling with the vocal because he is a bit of a method actor and they asked me to go into the booth and sing it with him, ijust happen to be there. six months later he called me up and said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. next thing it is number one across the world and giant catapulted to superstardom, incredible.— catapulted to superstardom, incredible. , ., _ ., ,, ., incredible. obviously we all know our incredible. obviously we all know your voice. _ incredible. obviously we all know your voice, but _ incredible. obviously we all know your voice, but your _ incredible. obviously we all know your voice, but your name - incredible. obviously we all know your voice, but your name wasn't incredible. obviously we all know i your voice, but your name wasn't on the credits, was it, because of the way that educating about. haifa the credits, was it, because of the way that educating about. how did ou feel? way that educating about. how did you feel? it _ way that educating about. how did you feel? it was _ way that educating about. how did you feel? it was my _ way that educating about. how did you feel? it was my fault, - way that educating about. how did you feel? it was my fault, i - way that educating about. how did you feel? it was my fault, i had i way that educating about. how did you feel? it was my fault, i had al you feel? it was my fault, i had a band at the time called mrs loud and we were trying to launch our career through mca records, we thought it was appropriate to use the name of the band as the singer. meat loaf always said to me, you should use

your own name, he said to me, i am going to change it, and he did, about ten years after the fact, i am credited as lorraine crosby because everybody was like, who is the girl? i would imagine you spend particulates into people, i am the voice on that song and having to persuade people? —— i would imagine you spent part of your life. i tell --eole you spent part of your life. i tell people today — you spent part of your life. i tell people today and _ you spent part of your life. i tell people today and they _ you spent part of your life. i tell people today and they still- you spent part of your life. i tell people today and they still don't believe me. tell people today and they still don't believe me— people today and they still don't believe me. , ., ., , ., believe me. tell us more about your memories of— believe me. tell us more about your memories of him, _ believe me. tell us more about your memories of him, you _ believe me. tell us more about your memories of him, you were - believe me. tell us more about your memories of him, you were there i believe me. tell us more about your. memories of him, you were there when he collapsed on stage at newcastle? that must have been quite difficult? really hard. i performed with him twice, once on broadway when the album was released and then at whitley bay, where i live, basically. what a great man, he was really generous with everything, i stayed at his house in connecticut because i was living in new york at the time and could get no sleep, he said, stay at my house, he sent a

driver for said, stay at my house, he sent a driverfor me and said, he said, stay at my house, he sent a driver for me and said, he will be at your disposal is what —— as long as you want and i stayed at his house in connecticut for a whole we had to get away from the noise in new york, he was a very generous man, but you did not want to be rented when he had a temper, but he was fantastic. tell rented when he had a temper, but he was fantastic— was fantastic. tell us more about his character. _ was fantastic. tell us more about his character. he _ was fantastic. tell us more about his character. he was _ his character. he was larger-than-life, - his character. he was larger-than-life, if. his character. he was i larger-than-life, if you his character. he was - larger-than-life, if you saw his character. he was _ larger-than-life, if you saw him on larger—than—life, if you saw him on the apprentice anger, he gets angry, he projects out through a bit at the keyboard player one day, he was having an argument with him and you do not argue with a guy about sites, he is like an american footballer. he threw a bit at him, the keyboard player left and came back about one day later and they were friends again, he did not fall out with you for long if you had a temper, he would say his bait and everything would say his bait and everything would be fine the next day, but i loved him to bits, i am so sad today. ijim steinman deljust

passed last year, we have lost them both, it is horrendous —— andjim steinmanjust both, it is horrendous —— andjim steinman just passed away. what both, it is horrendous -- and jim steinman just passed away. steinman 'ust passed away. what did his steinman just passed away. what did his friends call _ steinman just passed away. what did his friends call him? _ steinman just passed away. what did his friends call him? his _ steinman just passed away. what did his friends call him? his name - steinman just passed away. what did his friends call him? his name was i his friends call him? his name was martin, which i did not know until today, did you call him meat? everybody called him meat, it was weird. �* , , everybody called him meat, it was weird. ~ , , weird. apparently he was very red when he was _ weird. apparently he was very red when he was born _ weird. apparently he was very red when he was born and _ weird. apparently he was very red when he was born and had - weird. apparently he was very red when he was born and had to - weird. apparently he was very red when he was born and had to stayj weird. apparently he was very red i when he was born and had to stay in hospitalfor a when he was born and had to stay in hospital for a little while and his dad apparently said to the medical staff, he looks like 9.5 lbs of ground meat, put meat on the nametag. apparently he sat that to 0prah. i nametag. apparently he sat that to orah. ., ., , nametag. apparently he sat that to orah. ., oprah. i thought it was when he was -la in: oprah. i thought it was when he was playing football _ oprah. i thought it was when he was playing football later, _ oprah. i thought it was when he was playing football later, they - oprah. i thought it was when he was playing football later, they had - oprah. i thought it was when he was playing football later, they had a - playing football later, they had a football player called a refrigerator, i thought it was because of american, you have taught me something. we because of american, you have taught me something-— me something. we are learning lots. i think we have _

me something. we are learning lots. i think we have some _ me something. we are learning lots. i think we have some pictures - me something. we are learning lots. i think we have some pictures of - me something. we are learning lots. i think we have some pictures of you| i think we have some pictures of you and him together, what would be the memory when you think of him, what is the image that comes up?- is the image that comes up? always in the studio — is the image that comes up? always in the studio when _ is the image that comes up? always in the studio when we _ is the image that comes up? always in the studio when we sang - is the image that comes up? always in the studio when we sang that - is the image that comes up? always| in the studio when we sang that song together. i think about looking at him and him looking at me, collaborated really well and we just gelled perfectly obviously that is why the song went the weighted, celebrity time i think of meat loaf i think of being in the studio with him in ocean way, recording backtrack. did him in ocean way, recording backtrack-— him in ocean way, recording backtrack. , ,, ., backtrack. did you know when you were doing _ backtrack. did you know when you were doing it _ backtrack. did you know when you were doing it hit _ backtrack. did you know when you were doing it hit was _ backtrack. did you know when you were doing it hit was something i were doing it hit was something special? were doing it hit was something secial? , ,, were doing it hit was something secial? , i. , were doing it hit was something secial? , , ,, special? yes, you 'ust knew it was auoin to special? yes, you 'ust knew it was going to be _ special? yes, you just knew it was going to be great. _ special? yes, you just knew it was going to be great, yes. _ special? yes, you just knew it was going to be great, yes. i'm - special? yes, you just knew it was going to be great, yes. i'm sorry, | going to be great, yes. i'm sorry, i'm getting... you just knew instinctively that the album was going to be huge, because all the songs were amazing and everybody loved that song, just loved it. l am loved that song, 'ust loved it. i am sory--- r—

loved that song, 'ust loved it. i am sory--- i mean. — loved that song, just loved it. i am sorry... i mean, it— loved that song, just loved it. i am sorry... i mean, it is— loved that song, just loved it. i am sorry... i mean, it is obviously upsetting that you don't need to apologise for being sad, but if you are ok, it is so nice to talk to you. ijust wondered, i learned earlierfrom one of you. ijust wondered, i learned earlier from one of our correspondents that the album bat 0ut correspondents that the album bat out of hell was rejected four times, i think, because it was so different. it is extraordinary the way people who end up becoming a huge success, how difficult they had to fight to get it out. he was so different from what was out there previously, was that something tucked he was aware of, i suppose? 0nce tucked he was aware of, i suppose? once he broke through and was such a legend there was absolutely no questioning that extraordinary talent, but was it something he ever spoke about, how difficult it was to make it? l spoke about, how difficult it was to make it? , ,., ~' spoke about, how difficult it was to make it? , ., ., spoke about, how difficult it was to make it? , ., make it? i spoke more to jim, he used to battle _ make it? i spoke more to jim, he used to battle with _ make it? i spoke more to jim, he used to battle with everyone - make it? i spoke more to jim, he used to battle with everyone and| make it? i spoke more to jim, he . used to battle with everyone and pay people lots of money to play songs,

i know he did, fortunes to get stuff on the radio, pluggers, he spent all his money doing that, and he and meat loaf struggled and struggled. they met in new york, i know that much, jim was looking for a singer and when he found meat loaf he thought all his christmases had come, he liked that he was a big guy and unique and different and jim has always gone for unique and different, their pairing was no mistake, it was conscious. an effort from jim mistake, it was conscious. an effort fromjim steinman mistake, it was conscious. an effort from jim steinman for them to move forward. ~ , ., , ., forward. when you first met him and ou first forward. when you first met him and you first heard _ forward. when you first met him and you first heard what _ forward. when you first met him and you first heard what came _ forward. when you first met him and you first heard what came out - forward. when you first met him and you first heard what came out of - forward. when you first met him and you first heard what came out of his| you first heard what came out of his mouth, what did you think? l was you first heard what came out of his mouth, what did you think?- mouth, what did you think? i was a fan from being _ mouth, what did you think? i was a fan from being young, _ mouth, what did you think? i was a fan from being young, i _ mouth, what did you think? i was a fan from being young, i bat - mouth, what did you think? i was a fan from being young, i bat out - mouth, what did you think? i was a fan from being young, i bat out of| fan from being young, i bat out of hell, i sign it into my hairbrush when i was little, i was a huge meat loaf fan —— i loved bat 0ut

when i was little, i was a huge meat loaf fan —— i loved bat out of hell. it was incredible to end up singing with him. amazing.— with him. amazing. were you intimidated _ with him. amazing. were you intimidated when _ with him. amazing. were you intimidated when you - with him. amazing. were you| intimidated when you stepped alongside him? i was terrified really terrified. do you still listen to — really terrified. do you still listen to these _ really terrified. do you still listen to these songs? - really terrified. do you still listen to these songs? of | really terrified. do you still - listen to these songs? of course, i can't help it. _ listen to these songs? of course, i can't help it. it— listen to these songs? of course, i can't help it. it is— listen to these songs? of course, i can't help it, it is on _ listen to these songs? of course, i can't help it, it is on everything! i can't help it, it is on everything! i will be going around the supermarket with my trolley, and it will come on in sainsbury�*s! there is no escape! l will come on in sainsbury's! there is no escape!— is no escape! i am tempted to ask ou to is no escape! i am tempted to ask you to sing _ is no escape! i am tempted to ask you to sing along _ is no escape! i am tempted to ask you to sing along now, _ is no escape! i am tempted to ask you to sing along now, we - is no escape! i am tempted to ask you to sing along now, we were i is no escape! i am tempted to ask. you to sing along now, we were just listening. you to sing along now, we were 'ust listeninu. ., ., you to sing along now, we were 'ust listeninu. ., , you to sing along now, we were 'ust listening._ well, i you to sing along now, we were 'ust listening._ well, it i you to sing along now, we were 'ust listening._ well, it is i you to sing along now, we were just listening._ well, it is an i listening. too early! well, it is an anthem, listening. too early! well, it is an anthem. some — listening. too early! well, it is an anthem, some of _ listening. too early! well, it is an anthem, some of that _ listening. too early! well, it is an anthem, some of that music - listening. too early! well, it is an anthem, some of that music is i listening. too early! well, it is an| anthem, some of that music is the soundtrack to so many of our lives, and it has been a real privilege to talk to you and for you to share your memories with us, thank you. mr; your memories with us, thank you. m pleasure. your memories with us, thank you. my pleasure- and — your memories with us, thank you. my pleasure. and we _ your memories with us, thank you. my pleasure. and we have _ your memories with us, thank you. my pleasure. and we have just _ your memories with us, thank you. my pleasure. and we have just heard - pleasure. and we have 'ust heard that bat pleasure. and we have 'ust heard that sat out i pleasure. and we have 'ust heard that bat out of h pleasure. and we have 'ust heard that bat out of hell_ pleasure. and we have just heard that bat out of hell the - pleasure. and we have just heard that bat out of hell the musical. pleasure. and we have just heard i that bat out of hell the musical has paid tribute to meat loaf following

his death, saying tonight's show will be performed in his memory. a statement from the production says the company of the musical in the uk is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of their great friend and producer, meat loaf. he was with us when the show first launched and came to the show at the dominion theatre in london on the 25th of july 2018, adding the beat is yours for remembering meat loaf. the commons public accounts committee has described a £1 billion shortfall in state pension payments as a "shameful shambles". more than 130,000 pensioners — mostly women — were underpaid pensions owing to errors dating back nearly a0 years. 0utdated computer systems and manual processing of pensions have been blamed for the failures which first came to light two years ago. the department for work and pensions says it's resolving cases as quickly as possible. our business correspondent sarah corker had more details. today's report is both detailed and damning. thousands of women have been underpaid the state

pension for decades, and the public accounts committee found mistakes going back as far as 1985. it's been described by mps as a shameful shambles. more than 130,000 pensioners, mostly women, have been underpaid. those affected are widows, divorcees and women able to claim through their husbands pension contributions. some people are still unaware they're missing out. they are huge sums of money, in some cases, life—changing amounts. so what went wrong? complex rules, outdated computer systems and manual processing have all been blamed. mps say these mistakes at the department for work and pensions just were not detected early enough and they are worried that some errors are still being made. it was former pensions minister steve webb who first revealed

the scale of these issues. it is clear to me mistakes are still being made today, i hear from people who are told everything is fine, then it is clearly not. we need to fix notjust the past but the future. these issues have gone on for a very long time and the department checks cases but did not take this one seriously enough. it is small change to the department, but it can be life changing amounts for individuals. the average amount of money owed is around £9,000, but others have missed out on six figure sums. most will be fully repaid but some will only get the amount of backdated for three months. jan tiernan from fife has been fighting for years to try to get the money she believes is entitled to.

the fact that they kept saying it was your fault, you should have told us — no, i never received any information telling me to fill in forms, over the different letters they gave me several different reasons why this was never done. firstly it was my fault for not filling in the form, then a letter said it was my husband's fault for not checking a box, the excuses were numerous and ijust kept answering them back and saying, no, this is not the case. for people like janet, it has been a real battle to try to get the errors corrected. we know 500 civil servants are trying to trace all those affected but the process could take until the end of 2023 to complete,

the dwp has said it is trying to resolve all these cases as quickly as possible, but for some people it will be too late, because around 40,000 women have already died without getting the money they are owed, and there is no plan to trace theirfamilies. this is costing the taxpayer, staffing costs to correct the mistakes are estimated to reach around £24 million and experienced staff are being moved away from day—to—day activities to try to fix these problems, that is causing problems, backlogs and processing, new applications, it is causing a major issue here, and there are some major questions for the dwp. why weren't these errors noticed? they went on for decades. why weren't they sorted out when it was raised? lots of questions to answer,

but i think this process of contacting all these women will take many years. the new zealand navy has started distributing humanitarian aid to the people of tonga following last weekend's volcanic eruption and tsunami. the first two ships have arrived since the disaster. the un has estimated that more than 80% of tonga's population have been affected. that's about 84,000 people. at least three people have died. the un have warned that they remain seriously concerned about access to safe water for some 50,000 people throughout the country, with many areas coated in a thick layer of volcanic ash. one of the ships sent by new zealand is capable of producing drinking water through a desalination plant. here's simonjones. all of tonga seems to have turned grey — roads covered in ash after the volcanic eruption which was followed by a tsunami. the main concern right now is first trying to clean the dust

here in the country, because we've been experiencing dust everywhere. there is no rain, and we've been told where it may be expecting rain on saturday onwards, but we've been experiencing that. another concern is our drinking water. aid is now getting through. this is the new zealand military flying in, while ships carrying equipment are now arriving too, bringing freshwater — vital supplies have been polluted by ash — along with shelter kits, electricity generators, and communications equipment. but it's being dropped off without any contact with locals to prevent the risk of covid spreading to the island — it's seen just one case in the pandemic. in auckland in new zealand, charities are coordinating efforts to send in supplies. auckland council, on behalf of the people of auckland, has made a donation from its charitable trust fund of $25,000 to help ensure that we can get these things that they need so badly, the food and the water, to tonga,

and these eight containers, and there will probably be more, should be up in tonga by the end of next week. communication with the outside world has been crippled. it is slowly being restored. but contact is revealing just how much rebuilding will be needed — officials say it will take a mammoth effort. simon jones, bbc news. an electric vehicle battery plant in northumberland in north east england has secured government funding and financial backing from the private sector. the gigafactory is being built near blyth by a start—up company, britishvolt. it was first announced two years ago. bbc news understands that roughly £100 million of taxpayers' money is going into the project, which should see batteries coming off the production line within two years. theo leggett reports. a windswept building site in northumberland. in a few years, this will be home to the uk's first gigafactory. if all goes to plan, britishvolt�*s giant facility will be capable of making 300,000 batteries

for electric vehicles every year. now the project has the government's seal of approval in the form of funding worth £100 million. that in turn has helped the project raise another £1.7 billion from private investors. the fantastic thing today is the announcement of government support for the project, from the atf, automotive transformation fund. and what that has enabled us to do, we have now been able to, in the capital market, with the government's support, access the funding to get the building built. britishvolt says 3000 newjobs will be created in the factory itself and some 5000 more at its suppliers. for a government that's been coming under fire lately, it's some badly needed good news. i think the key message here is that we are re—industrialising our economy, and the north east has a huge part to play in that. people look back to the industrial revolution. the north east had an enormous role in that 150, 200 years ago. we de—industrialised, but now we are re—industrialising.

this isn't the only gigafactory in the pipeline. nissan has already said it will build one close to its own plant in sunderland. the uk wants to become a big player in the fast—growing market for electric vehicles, but it's in a race with other european countries that want to do the same. and experts say to win that race many more of these giant battery plants will soon be needed. theo leggett, bbc news. a huge explosion in western ghana has killed at least 17 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. thursday's blast happened when a truck carrying explosives to a mine collided with a motorbike. mark lobel has more. a community decimated after a truck collided with and drove over a motorbike. the dynamite—laden truck was 140km from the chirano gold mine, run by the canada—based company kinross gold. both drivers had enough time to escape their vehicles before an enormous explosion occurred. the police, army and

rescue services joined locals to contain the situation. 0nlookers were struggling to make sense of the widespread destruction. the blast carving out a large crater beside a road. many were injured, and bodies were pulled from the rubble. the blast hit a small residential town near bogoso, which has a population of under 10,000, of mostly farmers and miners. ghana's president, nana akufo—addo, wrote it was a sad, unfortunate and tragic incident, expressing deep condolences to the families of the deceased. but his promise not to spare any effort to return the situation to normal may take some time, with so many broken lives and damaged buildings. police have appealed to nearby towns to open up their classrooms and churches to accommodate surviving victims, as ghana, one of africa's largest gold producers,

suffers yet another mining—related accident. mark lobel, bbc news. the first minister of wales says his government is confident it's safe to lift restrictions on outdoors sporting events and outdoor hospitality from today. limits introduced after christmas meant fans were effectively banned from stadiums. pubs and restaurants will also be able to operate outdoors without the rule of six or social distancing. first minister mark drakeford has been speaking to the bbc about the decision to lift restrictions now. he was also asked about recent events in westminster and suggested the uk government is more focused on being in the news at the moment than actually keeping an eye over the covid situation in england. i don't think there's any doubt at all the uk government has long abandoned any sense that it is following the science. it is a government desperately mired

in difficulties of its own making and is forever on the lookout for a headline that will distract people's attention from the awful mess that it finds itself in. covid restrictions are being relaxed in northern ireland, where the rule of six will be dropped at hospitality venues. coronavirus passes will be scrapped at pubs, restaurants and cinemas from next wednesday, and nightclubs will also reopen. the headlines on bbc news: talks have begun between the us and russian foreign ministers, overfears russia could be about to invade ukraine. both sides say they don't expect a diplomatic breakthrough today. meat loaf, the rock star whose hits included bat out of hell, has died at the age of 74. he sold more than 100 million albums across a six decade career. adele has postponed her 24—show residency at the caesar's palace hotel in las vegas —

a day before it was due to begin. in a tearful message posted on social media, the singer blamed delivery delays and said half of her crew have covid. she said she felt embarrassed and promised to reschedule the concerts. i'm so sorry but, erm... ..my show ain't ready. we've tried absolutely everything that we can to put it together in time, and for it to be good enough for you, but we've been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and covid. half my crew, half my team are down with covid, they still are. and it's been impossible to finish the show. and i can't give you what i have right now. many fans have been supportive on social media, saying it is the right decision, but others face losing

hundreds of pounds from flight hotels and bookings. 0ne fan account tweeted. .. celebrity blogger perez hilton has labelled the move as unprofessional and says he thinks adele could have done more to make it up to herfans. i am saddened by how this was handled. i personally think it is unprofessional and disrespectful to herfans on many fronts. she waited until the day before the show was supposed to start. this was opening weekend, and fans flew from all over the world to attend. i actually anticipated that adele was going to delay the opening, because she and the policy of the show

was very stringent with regards to covid. adele was demanding that you take a covid test and provide a negative result within 48 hours of the show and show proof of vaccination. so i thought because 0micron was spiking so hard, that she would delay it, but what was troubling to me is that it seemed as if covid was a secondary and the main reason the show is not going forward is because she's not happy with the results of where it is right now. but i say ok, i understand that, adele, but there was just really bad planning involved. i don't understand why she and her team have announced already that they are rescheduling all dates — through april! why notjust delay it opening by a week or two or three weeks? but they have rescheduled even their april shows.

joining me now is kaylee golding, music critic and presenter at kiss fm. white what do you thank you for havin: white what do you thank you for having me! _ white what do you thank you for having me! i— white what do you thank you for having me! i completely - white what do you thank you for i having me! i completely understand why she has rescheduled the show, if a lot of her team and down due to covert, the show would not be how she would wanted to be, and herfans deserve the best, especially if they are flying across the whole world to see her perform at the residency, so i understand why it was delayed, it seems like a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity for adele to perform, superstars do this residency, so it is great she was doing it in the first place. but i do understand the frustration of fans that, really, cancelling one day before, when people have flown over, it is very, very naughty. so maybe she should have at least cancelled a week in advance, i would say at least. but i

also understand why she has rescheduled all the shows, because fans fans have tickets later on... what is the situation with fans who have spent money on travel or hotels? do they get the money back? to be honest, i don't actually know, and i think it depends on the travel company, it depends on the hotel. because this is the thing with holidays, everything, it depends on the company's policy and insurance, so it is a gambling game at the moment. ., , . , so it is a gambling game at the moment. ., , ., , ~ moment. how big are these adele shows at vegas — moment. how big are these adele shows at vegas going _ moment. how big are these adele shows at vegas going to _ moment. how big are these adele shows at vegas going to be - moment. how big are these adele shows at vegas going to be when l moment. how big are these adele i shows at vegas going to be when they happen? how quickly have they sold out? , ,., happen? how quickly have they sold out? , , ., ., happen? how quickly have they sold out? , ,., ., , , happen? how quickly have they sold out? , ., , , .,, out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest. _ out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, i _ out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, ithink— out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, i think it _ out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, i think it is - out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, i think it is a - out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, i think it is a lot- out? they sold out very, very fast. to be honest, i think it is a lot of. to be honest, i think it is a lot of money, and as i said, it is a las vegas residency, she is going to want it to be the very best that it can be, and if herteam want it to be the very best that it can be, and if her team are not there because of covid, we

understand why it has to be rescheduled, but she could have gave people more than a day's notice. band people more than a day's notice. and in terms of — people more than a day's notice. and in terms of something that suits her, i was talking to one guest earlier who was saying that, you know, versus the prospect of touring, which is so difficult these days, the las vegas residency obviously has huge appeal. yeah, for sure, 10096. — obviously has huge appeal. yeah, for sure, 10096. this _ obviously has huge appeal. yeah, for sure, 10096. this is _ obviously has huge appeal. yeah, for sure, 10096. this is the _ obviously has huge appeal. yeah, for sure, 10096. this is the thing, - obviously has huge appeal. yeah, for sure, 10096. this is the thing, like, i sure, 100%. this is the thing, like, with any kind of performances, touring is amazing, but when you have a bigger residency, like the las vegas one, or a massive festival performance, that is a larger scale to what you would see at a tour performance. so it is understandable that a lot more work went into the residency, that has always been the case. ., ~' residency, that has always been the case. . ~ , ., residency, that has always been the case. . ~ i. residency, that has always been the case. . ~ . ., residency, that has always been the case. . . ., ., case. thank you so much for “oining us. no worries, i case. thank you so much for “oining us. no worries, thank i case. thank you so much for “oining us. no worries, thank you i case. thank you so much forjoining us. no worries, thank you for- case. thank you so much forjoining| us. no worries, thank you for having me. scientists say the plant enset, known as the false banana, could be a new superfood and a lifesaver in the face

of climate change. an ethiopian staple, the banana—like fruit of the plant is inedible, but the starchy stems and roots can be fermented and used to make porridge and bread. enset is only grown in one part of ethiopia, but according to the new study, it could be grown in other parts of africa and potentially help feed more than 100 million people. i'm joined now by drjames borrell from the royal botanic gardens in kew. he is one of the researchers involved in the study. ifa if a thank you forjoining with like a banana on steroids, can you tell us more about it? the whole plant looks like a giant banana, it can grow up to ten metres tall, but as you said, it is not the fruit that is eaten, it is not like the familiar banana we have for breakfast, it is the entire trunk

and underground core, and 15 plants can feed a person for a year. so what is it that makes it potentially a superfood?— what is it that makes it potentially a superfood? well, we never try to use the word _ a superfood? well, we never try to use the word superfood, _ a superfood? well, we never try to use the word superfood, because l a superfood? well, we never try to l use the word superfood, because all our crops are remarkable and fit into ouragri— our crops are remarkable and fit into our agri— systems in different ways, but what is really unusual and special about enset is that it can buff out seasonal food insecurity. what i mean by that, you can plant it at any time of year, harvested at any time of year, and it is perennial, it keeps growing year after year. what that means for farmers is that it is always there and they can use it to buffer the availability of other species. 50 it availability of other species. so it is used in ethiopia _ availability of other species. so it is used in ethiopia to _ availability of other species. so it is used in ethiopia to make porridge and bread, can it be used for anything beyond that?- and bread, can it be used for anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that _ anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that they _ anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that they use _ anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that they use it _ anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that they use it for - anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that they use it for is - anything beyond that? well, i mean, the bread that they use it for is a i the bread that they use it for is a staple for 20 million people.

farmers make a huge number of other different types of food from it, so it is really versatile, but it is notjust it is really versatile, but it is not just food, it is really versatile, but it is notjust food, it is used for medicine, the leaves are used like baking paper, the stems are used as fodderfor baking paper, the stems are used as fodder for cattle. so almost every single part of the plant is used. what is the medicinal use of it? well, there are lots of different varieties of enset, they all look a little bit different, and you can see some of those in our glasshouses, but the red ones are used in medicine, and they are meant to be particularly good for broken bones. we talk to lots of different farmers from different cultural groups and lots of different languages, and they all tell us the same thing, so that is really something we are particularly interested in, getting to the bottom of what is going on there. hoot interested in, getting to the bottom of what is going on there.— of what is going on there. how did ou land of what is going on there. how did you land on _ of what is going on there. how did you land on it _ of what is going on there. how did you land on it as _ of what is going on there. how did you land on it as potentially - you land on it as potentially something that could be a sort of...

i know you don't like the word superfood, but a superhero of food in the future.— in the future. absolutely, i think what i in the future. absolutely, i think what i would _ in the future. absolutely, i think what i would say _ in the future. absolutely, i think what i would say is _ in the future. absolutely, i think what i would say is that - in the future. absolutely, i think. what i would say is that ethiopians have grown this form may be thousands of years, so they already know it's amazing potential, they call it the tree against hunger, so this kind of researchers by our partners. you know, uk overseas development funding helps us work with universities in countries like ethiopia, and we really address their major challenges, so food security and climate change. and they really brought that plant to our attention, and it is an opportunity for us to apply some of the science and knowledge and experience of our partners to see how we can apply this crop to address challenges like food security. really led by our partners, we are supporting them in every way we can. collide globally, rice, wheat and maize provide about

half of all rice, wheat and maize provide about halfo�* . ., . rice, wheat and maize provide about halfo . ., . .«r rice, wheat and maize provide about half o— yes- - half of all calorific intake. yes. could this _ half of all calorific intake. yes. could this potentially - half of all calorific intake. yes. | could this potentially challenge that? , ., could this potentially challenge that? , . ., , could this potentially challenge that? , . ., . could this potentially challenge that? , . ., that? yes, and many other crops, so as ou that? yes, and many other crops, so as you said. — that? yes, and many other crops, so as you said, more _ that? yes, and many other crops, so as you said, more than _ that? yes, and many other crops, so as you said, more than half- that? yes, and many other crops, so as you said, more than half our- as you said, more than half our calories come from just three species, putting all your eggs in one basket. and we now, research keeps showing there are more than 30,000 plants that people use, so huge diversity. what we are really saying is that enset is just one of those amazing crops with different attributes that could help diversify our food system. attributes that could help diversify ourfood system. having attributes that could help diversify our food system. having a diversified system with more of these underutilised crops as components of it, can help us be resilient to things like climate change and new pests, you know, and other challenges. it is change and new pests, you know, and other challenges.— other challenges. it is fascinating, thank ou other challenges. it is fascinating, thank you so _ other challenges. it is fascinating, thank you so much _ other challenges. it is fascinating, thank you so much for— other challenges. it is fascinating, thank you so much for telling - other challenges. it is fascinating, thank you so much for telling us i other challenges. it is fascinating, | thank you so much for telling us all about it, thank you. you are watching bbc news.

annita will be here with the news at 11 but his day weather update with matt. hello. it was the coldest night of the winter so far in wales. temperatures for a few down to —6, up to —7 in parts of central southern england. but whether you started mild, cold, it is a dry day, much more cloud across the north and the west, and the dry story continues, in fact, over the coming days. this is our rainfall chart for the next five days, the blue colours showing where rain is most likely, highlands and islands in particular, most places will stay dry. and certainly just about all of us staying dry through today. a sunnier day for some eastern areas compared with yesterday, but actually a lot more cloud around, particularly in the west. some breaks and some sunny spells just about winning through. and temperatures after that cold start in central southern england up to around six or 7 degrees, holding at around eight or nine celsius as we started the day in the far north of scotland, where there will be a noticeable breeze blowing today. and that breeze will strengthen a bit further into tonight, cloud thickening up. outbreaks of rain for the highlands and islands. the rest of us will stay dry.

a fair bit more cloud than we had seen in recent nights, so nowhere near as cold. the frost a bit more hit and miss across england and wales and eastern parts of scotland. and that will be the story, actually, this weekend. a patchier frost and also a few fog patches here and there. the dry story continues for most, but cloud amounts will gradually increase. it is also going to start to turn a little less cold too. the area of low pressure out towards the east means the coldest air has been dragged down towards greece and the mediterranean. high pressure for us, the air circulating around it, pulling back on itself and just warming a little bit day by day. so a milder day on saturday, indeed this weekend. still some patchy rain across the highlands and the western isles but most will be dry. a fair bit more cloud, some sunny spells, the best of which in the east, and temperatures a few degrees above where we'd normally be for this stage injanuary. another patchy frost again to take us through the night and into sunday, but the dry story continues other than one or two isolated showers in the western isles. here we could see temperatures into double figures. if we've got any lingering fog, it will be slightly cooler towards the south—east of the country, but really very little changes this weekend. and little changes into next week.

high pressure is still there or thereabouts, the dry story continues for most, the capital city forecast shows that dry story. quite a bit of cloud, some sunny spells but whether you have got the sunshine or the cloud, it is over a month now since the winter solstice, so the days are drawing out that little bit more. we are currently gaining between two and four minutes of daylight every single day. bye for now.

this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 11: talks are under way between foreign ministers from russia and the us overfears russia could be about to invade ukraine. both sides in the talks in geneva say they don't expect to reach a full conclusion today. translation: we do not expect a breakthrough _ translation: we do not expect a breakthrough of _ translation: we do not expect a breakthrough of these _ translation: we do not expect a | breakthrough of these negotiations. we expect concrete answers to our concrete proposals. we are, all of us, equally committed to the _ we are, all of us, equally committed to the path— we are, all of us, equally committed to the path of diplomacy and dialogue to try to resolve our differences. as those talks continue, we'll bring you the global response to escalating tensions. # like a bat out of hell, i'll be gone when the morning comes...#

meat loaf, the us rock star whose hits include bat out of hell and i would do anything for love, has died at the age of 74. he sold more than 100 million albums across a six decade career. a £1 billion shortfall in uk state pension payments to tens of thousands of women has been branded "a shameful shambles" by a committee of mps. thames water has launched an investigation after footage emerged showing what looks like untreated sewage being discharged into the river thames in 0xfordshire. adele has postponed her entire las vegas residency just 24 hours before opening night. the singer posted a tearful apology online, saying covid cases and delivery delays had caused major problems.

the foreign secretary, liz truss, has warned russia there will be consequences if it invades ukraine. moscow has sent thousands of troops to the border, but said it does not intend to attack. the uk has sent anti—tank missiles to ukraine for it to use in self—defence and a small team of british troops has been deployed to the region to provide training. the us secretary of state antony blinken is currently meeting russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov in geneva to try to defuse tensions. that was just ahead of these talks. russia has 100,000 troops at the border, but denies planning to invade. president vladimir putin has issued demands to the west, including that ukraine be stopped from joining nato. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, is in geneva, and has the background

to these talks. it's not just it's notjust the russians who are conducting military exercises. these are pictures released by ukraine's defence ministry, showing their troops training close to crimea, which was annexed by russia in 2014, the kind of incursion that ukraine and its allies are trying to get air once again. i have been absolutely clear with president putin. he has no misunderstanding. if russian units move across the ukrainian border, thatis move across the ukrainian border, that is an invasion, and will be met with severe coordinated economic response. in with severe coordinated economic resonse. ,., ., .,, response. in some of the most intense in _ response. in some of the most intense in american _ response. in some of the most intense in american diplomacy| response. in some of the most i intense in american diplomacy for years, the us secretary of state has been touring western capitals, rallying support for ukraine and appealing directly to the people of russia. you deserve to live with security and dignity, but what really risks your security is a pointless war

with— your security is a pointless war with your— your security is a pointless war with your neighbours in ukraine. behind the scenes, there are differences over what penalties should be. president putin was urged to step back from making an historic mistake. they claim they want stability while they work to threaten and destabilise at this. we know what lies down that path, and the terrible toll in lives lost in human suffering it brings. that's why we urge president putin to desist and step back from ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake. fresh satellite images show how russia has it appears to have mass notjust reach near ukraine but also military equipment. from the north to the eastern border, and to the south near crimea. the diplomacy now moves to geneva, where mr blink

arrived for talks with his russian counterpart. at the discussions at this hotel may be difficult, because the gap between both sides are so large. the americans want to talk about avoiding war in ukraine, but the russians want to talk about their demands to allow that would step back and allow moscow to enjoy a new sphere of influence across eastern europe. in ukraine, they know what that might mean. pro—russian separatists have been fighting government forces here since 2014 and the scars are they are to see. the question now is whether all these exercises might soon become these exercises might soon become the real thing. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, said he wants full and complete answers to concerns that nato will expand its presence in eastern europe. translation: i heard one of your last statement _ translation: i heard one of your

last statement is _ translation: i heard one of your last statement is here _ translation: i heard one of your last statement is here in _ translation: i heard one of your last statement is here in your- last statement is here in your european tour when you said that you didn't expect a breakthrough from these negotiations. we did not expect a breakthrough from these negotiations either. what we expect as concrete answers to our concrete proposals, and compliance with the obligations that were adopted at the highest level within the 0ecd. i refer particularly to the principle of the indivisibility of security is one of the obligation of countries not to strengthen their own security at the expense of the security of others. we would very much be interested to learn how the us interprets these obligations and principles. the us secretary of state antony blinken said he wants to address russia's concerns and hopes the talks the bottom line is the this. this is a critical moment. you are right. we don't expect to resolve our differences here today, but i do expect and hope that we can test whether the path to diplomacy

and dialogue remains open. we are committed to resolving our differences quickly, and we will see where we go from here. earlier, vadym prystaiko, ukraine's ambassador to the uk, told my colleaguejoanna gosling that the current build—up of troops is a distraction from the tensions that have existed since 2014, and that sooner or later russia will have to decide whether to invade ukraine, or withdraw from the border. frankly, i believe they have already achieved something they wanted. they managed to divert the attention of the international community from the war they have been with us for seven—plus years. by this build—up they have brought everybody�*s attention to this been and this has been

going on since 2014? exactly. do you not believe therefore that russia has the intention to escalate and have a wider offensive? i do believe, they want to force us more into an even softer position in negotiations that we already have and this is how they achieve it. in terms of your position with nato membership, i think we can look at a map that will show... just to look at what is going on around your country, to the north, there's belarus, russian troops are going there, you have troops gathering... there we go, we have a different map, belarus is named on this map. crimea in the south, but all of those countries to the left of ukraine, i think it is 14 countries, from poland down to moldova, including the two countries right up there on the border with russia, estonia and latvia, have joined nato since 1997. do you understand russia's concerns around the nato expansion? we understand their concerns, but we also understand our primary goal of the concerns of our own people.

the best we can have in this part of the globe is nato. i know russia is not happy but i am sorry, we tried many different times, we tried treaties, we gave up nuclear weapons physically to them, we gave them rockets back and it did not work. they promised to even defend us if anything happened. instead, they came fighting with us. thank you forjoining us, vadym prystaiko. joining me now is the guardian columnist and author simonjenkins. thank you very much forjoining us today. we have had a lot of rhetoric in the build—up to these talks, president biden talking about russia paying a heavy price if it invades ukraine, liz truss talking about consequences, russia are denying it plans to invade. where a man on this rhetoric is there space, do you think, for antony blinken and seeing a ladder rock to find a way to de—escalate?

a settlement was reached years ago between russia and ukraine and germany and france. this is essentially a border dispute. it is a classic european problem of a dissident part of the country at odds with the capital city. it is essentially a dispute between ukraine and russia. that is not western europe's problem. it is hard to say this to people who are desperate for allies, but ukraine is not in nato. hopefully, thank goodness. i always thought advancing nato nearer and nearer to russia was a stupid thing to do in 1992. this is precisely why we didn't do that, and it is at dispute with everything to be said for the escalating it and talking and talking, making concessions, but russia is the dominant factor in this dispute, much more powerful than ukraine, and ijust think it is an absolutely classic case of how wars happen by

accident. we need to be on guard against that all the time. war by accident. nobody wants that. where in all of this is the room for ukraine to have autonomy? you say that essentially this is between russia and ukraine, that the west should not be involved but it is involved. where is ukraine's voice and all of this? is there more that ukraine can do on its own to try to de—escalate this situation without having the us in the uk speaking up for them, as it were? well, i'm sorry for ukraine, i really am, but i am not ukraine. this is ukraine's problem. ukraine has always been a sensitive neighbour of russia, right back in history. it is not like britain or france or scotland. it is ukraine. ukraine is entitled to have our, so to speak, moral support. ukraine is entitled to have our, so to speak, moralsupport. i ukraine is entitled to have our, so to speak, moral support. i don't think it is entitled to our military support. we never offered it, we are under no obligation to supply it,

and that includes the sort of rhetoric that western politicians love to do at these moments of crisis. they think it makes them seem much or virile. i crisis. they think it makes them seem much orvirile. i mean, the idiocy of the british foreign secretary sitting on top of the tank and one in moscow, this is all sort of childish diplomacy. it's exactly what preceded was. and that's why i think, wherever you are in this crisis, everything is to be said for saying to both sides, come on, keep talking, keep talking, keep talking. but eventually there has to be some progress in those talks. just pick it when you are saying about populist in trouble, i do include vladimir putin in that and the threat of war being a distraction, —— and you include vladimir putin in that, do you think despite the russian troops massed on the border that vladimir putin doesn't want to get embroiled in a war in ukraine? i don't know what he wants, i really don't. i have been to russia quite a

few times and i just don't. i have been to russia quite a few times and ijust know don't. i have been to russia quite a few times and i just know that a lot of russian policies dictated by what we call populist politics, by patriotism, by paranoia, are undoubtedly about the west circling russia. it is i was in the case in russian foreign policy back to history. i know is there is a dispute over the donbass, the dispute over the donbass, the dispute between the russian speaking people of that area and russia, a dispute that russia is immensely more powerful in. it is usually the case that ukraine is in a weak position. strengthening ukraine's position. strengthening ukraine's position risks open conflict. simonjenkins, thank you very much for your time today. i'm joined i'm joined from kyiv by ukrainian mp yegor chernev who is also chairman of the ukrainian parliamentary delegation to nato. good to have you with us today. i hope you were able to hear a

little bit of what my previous guest was saying. it is one view, one opinion. he thinks ukraine is entitled to the west�*s moral support but not its military support. what do you make of that view? do you think there is a danger that if that western support for ukraine builds any further it enhances the risk of war of escalation? unfortunately, being war of escalation? unfortunately, bein: , war of escalation? unfortunately, beina , ., ., ., being being in the uk, we have a lot of support. — being being in the uk, we have a lot of support. rrot _ being being in the uk, we have a lot of support. rrot just _ being being in the uk, we have a lot of support, notjust physical, - being being in the uk, we have a lot of support, notjust physical, but i of support, notjust physical, but my weapon. a delegation of the uk parliament were on the front line and on this same point, one of the main points of the clashes of russia, pro—russian soldiers and ukrainian army. and they buy their eyes saw what is happening here, and

this is my opinion and the opinion of my nation, this is not a war of ukraine and russia, it is a war of authoritarianism against democracy. because right now in ukraine, we have made our decision in 2014 and we decided we are historically a part of european nations, and right now, we have our more than 80% of support and movement see and almost 60% of her movements in nato, so this is a fight for democracy in the land of ukraine, and if you remember the speech of putin several years ago about a global project from vladivostok to lisbon, he will never stop in ukraine. he will go further,

and this problem will be the problem of the west. so that's why i hope and i see that the west help us. we see this unity over the western world, and we do from our side hope for the best, and we will fight for ourfreedom, for our for the best, and we will fight for our freedom, for our sovereignty, for our choice of european direction to the last blood of our last soldier. what are you hoping for from the talks in geneva? can this be solved through diplomacy? as both sides said, they don't expect to break through, so we are also, but i think this isjust, you know, russia tried to get a tight,

because they're blackmailing it so hard that they are just trying to find the next step. we saw the other day about their missiles in cuba. is it possible, in 2021, this is like a medieval savage, you know, so they tried to take a time for finding some solution. because the next step, as he tried to convince of there wasn't a war at next there should be an invasion, but they don't want this invasion, because they clearly understand the consequences of this invasion, by sanctions, by their people losses, by our resistance not only our army,

but our societies, i mean partisan war, i mean national resistance in occupied territories, etc. the chairman of the ukrainian parliamentary delegation to nato, thank you very much for your time this morning. thank you. and to let you know, we are expecting some news conferences after those talks in geneva, the russian foreign secretary sir gail avril, at around midday, and around 12:30pm, we believe the us secretary of state antony blinken, so we will bring you details of that as they happen, and see what has emerged from those talks. —— sir gay lavrov. oh the us singer meat loaf, whose album bat out of hell became one of the biggest selling albums of all time, has died.

he was 74. a statement said the singer, whose real name was michael lee aday, died overnight. the statement said: �*0ur hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable meat loaf passed away tonight with his wife deborah by his side. lizo mzimba looks back at his life. the thundering rock opera sound. # there ain't no coup de ville # hiding at the bottom of a crackerjack box... the grandiose lyrics. # noone's gonna know it, noone's gonna know it # noone's gonna know where you've been! the consummate showmanship. there was no one quite like meat loaf. his first album, bat out of hell, became one of the biggest selling albums of all time. he was born marvin lee aday in dallas, texas, the only child of a schoolteacher mother and a policeman father who was quick with his fists. he was an alcoholic, and he would always beat me up as a kid, threw me through a plate glass window, threw me through a door. his size made him a natural for the high school football team but his first love was drama.

when his mother died, he escaped his bullying father and moved to los angeles. there was a chance audition for the musical hair, an album for motown. # whatever happened to saturday night? and the rocky horror picture show, first on broadway, then on screen. a meeting with composer jim steinman proved to be a turning point. steinman's wagnerian over—the—top style and meat loaf�*s three octave range was a marriage made in musical heaven. it took time but this performance on the bbc�*s 0ld grey whistle test pushed the album to number one in the uk. but the demands of fame and the constant touring proved too much. the singer's voice failed and he had a breakdown. and there were arguments with steinman, who felt he wasn't getting a fair share of the limelight. meat loaf�*s popularity in the uk did take his second album,

dead ringer for love, to number one but it was a pale imitation of bat. there were court cases, he suffered two years of depression, his house was repossessed and then found himself playing tiny bars and clubs. # i would do anything for love... then, in 1990, he and steinman healed their rift. the result, bat out of hell ii. 16 years after the original, the magic still worked. the first rule is, i'm not supposed to talk about it. he also made something of a name as an actor in the film fight club. look at my face, bob. but his legacy will always be bat out of hell, one of the most extraordinary and certainly one of the most successful rock albums ever made.

tributes have been pouring in to meat loaf. we can look at some of those now. singer cher has been among the people remembering the musician, saying said she had "so much fun" when she worked with him on his 1981 album dead ringer. in a tribute posted to twitter, she added: the musician boy george also tweeted a tribute to meat loaf. he wrote: and english singer nik kershaw has also written a tribute. he said in a tweet: earlier my colleaguejoanna gosling spoke to lorraine crosby, the female vocalist on meat loaf�*s 1993 hit single "i'd do anything for love (but i won't do that". she started by asking her for her

reaction to the sad news. a voice ringing me up saying good morning, but it is not a good morning. it is a very sad day. a superstar, really. it is a very sad day. a superstar, reall . , , ., it is a very sad day. a superstar, reall . , ,~. ., . it is a very sad day. a superstar, reall., ., . really. did you have much contact with him over _ really. did you have much contact with him over the _ really. did you have much contact with him over the years? - really. did you have much contact with him over the years? not i really. did you have much contact i with him over the years? not really. i had with him over the years? not really. i had more — with him over the years? not really. i had more contact _ with him over the years? not really. i had more contact with _ with him over the years? not really. i had more contact with jim - i had more contact withjim steinman, who wrote all the signs. i did meet up with meet loaf at times. i was there in newcastle when he was very ill and collapsed on stage. i have seen them over the years quite a bit, but he was a fantastic performer and a fantastic singer, and the world has lost one of the greatest rock singers of all time, really. tell us how your partner in that song i'd do anything for love came about. , ., ., , ., ., ,

about. oh, my word. it was a fairy tale story — about. oh, my word. it was a fairy tale story for. _ about. oh, my word. it was a fairy tale story for, really. _ about. oh, my word. it was a fairy tale story for, really. it _ about. oh, my word. it was a fairy tale story for, really. it was - about. oh, my word. it was a fairy tale story for, really. it was being | tale story for, really. it was being in the right place at the right time. i sang the demo. meatloaf was struggling with the vocal because he was a bit of an actor, and they asked me to go in the booth and singing with him. six months later, you got me up and said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! in the next thing i know, it is number one all over the world, and catapulted to this, you know, superstardom. incredible. this, you know, superstardom. incredible-— this, you know, superstardom. incredible. �* ., _ ., incredible. but obviously, we all know your _ incredible. but obviously, we all know your voice, _ incredible. but obviously, we all know your voice, but _ incredible. but obviously, we all know your voice, but your - incredible. but obviously, we all know your voice, but your name | incredible. but obviously, we all- know your voice, but your name was nhat on the credits, was it, because of the way it came about? how did you feel about that?— of the way it came about? how did you feel about that? well, it was my fault. i you feel about that? well, it was my fault- i had — you feel about that? well, it was my fault- i had a — you feel about that? well, it was my fault. i had a band _ you feel about that? well, it was my fault. i had a band at _ you feel about that? well, it was my fault. i had a band at the _ you feel about that? well, it was my fault. i had a band at the time - fault. i had a band at the time called mrs loud, and we were trying to launch our career at the time through mca records and thought it was appropriate to use the name of the band as the singer, and it did cause an awful lot of controversy, but meat loaf always said to me, you

should use your own name! he said to me, i'm going to change it, and he did, about ten years after the fact. i'm now credited as lorraine crosby, because everyone was saying, he was the girl, who is the girl? that is good to hear. i the girl, who is the girl? that is good to hear-— the girl, who is the girl? that is good to hear. i would imagine you sent art good to hear. i would imagine you spent part of— good to hear. i would imagine you spent part of your _ good to hear. i would imagine you spent part of your life _ good to hear. i would imagine you spent part of your life kinda - spent part of your life kinda saying to people, i am the voice on that song! and almost having to persuade people! to song! and almost having to persuade --eole! ., , ., , people! to be honest, i tell people toda , people! to be honest, i tell people today. and — people! to be honest, i tell people today. and they — people! to be honest, i tell people today, and they still _ people! to be honest, i tell people today, and they still don't - people! to be honest, i tell people today, and they still don't believe l today, and they still don't believe me! so tell us more about your memories of him. you mention that you were there when he collapsed on stage in newcastle. that must actually have been quite a difficult time. it newcastle. that must actually have been quite a difficult time.- been quite a difficult time. it was really hard- _ been quite a difficult time. it was really hard- i— been quite a difficult time. it was really hard. i performed - been quite a difficult time. it was really hard. i performed with i been quite a difficult time. it was really hard. i performed with him twice. i performed with him on broadway when the album was released and then at whitley bay, where i live, basically! and what a great man. he was very generous with everything, and they went to stay at his house in connecticut, because i lived in new york at the time, they couldn't get any sleep, and he said,

go on sale at my house, and he sent a driverfor me, and he said, it will be at your disposal for as long as you want some, they went to stay at his house in connecticut for the weekend to get away. that kind of thing, meatloaf would do. it was a generous man. you didn't like being around him when he had a temper, but around him when he had a temper, but a fantastic man. lorraine crosby with her memories are meat loaf, who has died at the age of 74. bbc news has seen footage of what looks like untreated sewage being discharged into the river thames in 0xfordshire. these pictures were taken by a local environmental group — windrush against sewage pollution. they say thames water is breaching its permit by releasing the waste from its cassington treatment works. thames water says it hasn't discharged untreated waste from the plant since march last year and it's investigating the claim. let's talk to our correspondent zoe conway. you have been to the spot and talk to campaigners. what did you find there? we stood on the river bank at

castings cent near 0xford we stood on the river bank at castings cent near oxford and watched the local campaign group windrush against sewage pollution lowering a camera into the river thames to record what was coming out of an overflow pipe. that was last week. we have also seen footage that they recorded in mid—december, and what that footage appears to show its untreated sewage coming out of that overflow pipe and, sorry to be disgusting, but one of the campaigners, in his opinion, and he has worked in the water industry for 40 years, in his opinion, what we were looking at was... as part of that discharge, faeces and toilet tissue, what his opinion. the campaigners locally think that thames water could be in breach of their permits. just to explain, that overflow pipe is connected to castings and treatment works near 0xford, which processes the waste water of 18,000 people. so what is thames water saying in

response to this, and indeed, the government? thames water say that they haven't discharged untreated sewage from that works since march, but they say they are determined to find out what is coming out of that pipe. they think the problem is with the long pipe. they also say they assessed the river area last week and it was in good health. we spoke to the environment minister to get her reaction, and she said that if it is what we think it is, if it is untreated sewage, if it is what the campaigners think it is, then it is completely unacceptable, and if it is illegal, then the environment agency will act. just to explain, water companies can discharge untreated sewage into rivers in exceptional circumstances. so, for example, heavy rainfall. where it could be illegal is if the conditions are dry or if they are not treating enough of the sewage before they discharge it. so that is

the legal position. let's broaden this out a little bit, because i know you have looked into theissue because i know you have looked into the issue of how widespread this might be, the idea that untreated waste, that untreated sewage is being discharged into rivers elsewhere. what can you tell us? the bbc elsewhere. what can you tell us? the: bbc revealed later elsewhere. what can you tell us? t'i9: bbc revealed later this elsewhere. what can you tell us? ti9: bbc revealed later this week elsewhere. what can you tell us? ti9 bbc revealed later this week that was compiled by a bbc campaigner, —— was compiled by a bbc campaigner, —— was compiled by a bbc campaigner, —— was compiled by a campaigner, peter hammond, was also with the windrush against sewage group, and he suggests that over the past four years, there have been thousands of spills of untreated sewage. they call it spills. into our rivers. some of the water companies questioned some of this methodology, but what is really interesting about that data is just how detailed it is and his point is that why isn't the environment agency looking in detail what the treatment works are doing,

and he feels the environment agency have dropped the ball. in response, they say they have launched a major investigation into the water companies can come into thousands of treatment works and that investigation is ongoing. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. talks are under way between foreign ministers from russia and the us, overfears russia could be about to invade ukraine. both sides in the talks in geneva say they don't expect to reach a full conclusion today we do not expect a breakthrough at these negotiations either. we are all of as equally committed to the _ we are all of as equally committed to the path of diplomacy and dialogue to try to resolve our differences.

meat loaf, the us rock star whose hits include bat out of hell and i would do anything for love, has died at the age of 74. he sold more than 100 million albums across a six decade career. a £1 billion shortfall in uk state pension payments to tens of thousands of women has been branded a shameful shambles by a committee of mps. thames water has launched an investigation, after footage emerged showing what looks like untreated sewage being discharged into the river thames in 0xfordshire. adele has postponed her entire las vegas residency, just 24 hours before opening night. the singer posted a tearful apology online, saying covid cases and delivery delays had caused major problems. a damaging conversation which was apparently secretly recorded between conservative mps and the chief whip could soon be published by those who want to oust borisjohnson. that's the claim in the times this morning.

chief whip mark spencer's job is to maintain discipline and make sure conservative mps vote in the way the party wants them to. there have been recent claims by some mps that they have been threatened with bad publicity and cuts to constituency funding. with me now is ben howlett, a former conservative mp between 2015 and 2017, who says he had threats as a new mp. thank you forjoining us today. can you give us some sense of what those threats where? when i was an mp, back in 2015, until 2017, when i was an mp, back in 2015, until2017, i when i was an mp, back in 2015, until 2017, i was campaigning for a range of different things for my constituents, particularly my constituents, particularly my constituents will remember my campaign on a link road. there were some dicey votes for the government. i was some dicey votes for the government. iwas campaigning some dicey votes for the government. i was campaigning to receive government funding. 0ne i was campaigning to receive government funding. one of the tactics used to make sure that i fell into line on some of the back seat rebellions was to threaten

withholding of money to pay for an investigation into whether or not this link road would be built. these are not new allegations. these have been going on for a long period of time. it takes a huge amount of gas for a new mps to stand up and see these things are still happening to me and my colleagues. you were told if you did not fall in line on certain votes that you were trying to get for your constituency, bath, it would be withdrawn or withheld? :, , :, , , withheld? that is absolutely right. unfortunately. _ withheld? that is absolutely right. unfortunately, i— withheld? that is absolutely right. unfortunately, i am _ withheld? that is absolutely right. unfortunately, i am no _ withheld? that is absolutely right. unfortunately, i am no longer- withheld? that is absolutely right. unfortunately, i am no longer an i unfortunately, i am no longer an mp,. that -- that unfortunately, i am no longer an mp,. that —— that quip is no longer an mp. —— that quip. quips do two things. mps do not have an hr department. theirjob is to get

government business through. they cannot stand in front of an mp and say they will withhold money. i challenge them at the time. but they also provide an hr service to mps as well. deputy chief whip in the days when brexit rebellions were difficult where they are supporting mps through that with their well—being and also mental health issues and all the rest. there are pros as well as corns to the prepping operation is going on in parliament. the due in that particular instance report what has happened to anyone? yesterday in the commons, it was urged to mps to perhaps talk to police or talk to the speaker. did you talk to anyone about what happened to you? the you talk to anyone about what happened to you? you talk to anyone about what ha ened to ou? , :, happened to you? the minister at the time, who happened to you? the minister at the time. who had — happened to you? the minister at the time. who had a _ happened to you? the minister at the time, who had a close _ happened to you? the minister at the time, who had a close relationship i time, who had a close relationship with, shocked by what we had both

heard. in respect of the conversation on the brexit rebellion as well. :, , :, conversation on the brexit rebellion as well. :, : :, , as well. how did you characterise what was said _ as well. how did you characterise what was said to _ as well. how did you characterise what was said to you _ as well. how did you characterise what was said to you by - as well. how did you characterise what was said to you by that - as well. how did you characterise i what was said to you by that whip? did you take it as somehow normal, this isjust what did you take it as somehow normal, this is just what happened, and assertive way of trying to ensure party discipline, or did you see it as blackmail? i party discipline, or did you see it as blackmail?— as blackmail? i did not see it as blackmail at _ as blackmail? i did not see it as blackmail at that _ as blackmail? i did not see it as blackmail at that time, - as blackmail? i did not see it as blackmail at that time, i - as blackmail? i did not see it as blackmail at that time, i saw i as blackmail? i did not see it as blackmail at that time, i saw it | as blackmail? i did not see it as i blackmail at that time, i saw it as a standard tactic in order to get government business through. i have been allowed politics for a long period of time. i can see what the tactics were because i have seen it happen to other mps also. but for those that are less resilient i do not know their political system it must be very difficult in order to know whether or not that whip is wielding a damocles sword on you and your constituents or not, a very pressured environment. they really should stop it, it is unacceptable, particularly to a new intake colleagues as well. during those days they did not have any of the

training which i ended that receiving, because covid is happening at the same time, so they could not call upon colleagues to provide that sort of support blankets around them, like i was benefiting from with more senior colleagues providing me with that. it is very unfair and is absolutely appalling to hear the news coming out of parliament today. clearly in hind sight and reflecting back on that period, you think, some might say, it is just what happens in the comments and this is what happens to ensure party discipline. but it sounds as though you think there should be a rethink, a new approach, and that it is completely unacceptable? it is approach, and that it is completely unacceptable?— unacceptable? it is completely unacceptable. _ unacceptable? it is completely unacceptable. there _ unacceptable? it is completely unacceptable. there does i unacceptable? it is completely| unacceptable. there does need unacceptable? it is completely i unacceptable. there does need to be a rethink around this. the case that has come out from christian wakeford over the last couple of these has informed those mps to see it is not acceptable, it is also that whips cannot withhold money from

constituents. it is absolutely not true that that is the case. hopefully this will provide a bit more support for those mps do know that when they are going into battle with whips, when they are providing that sort of negotiation in their constituencies, they can stand and say no, that does not make sense. also, stop trying this tactic on me. the new zealand navy has started distributing humanitarian aid to the people of tonga following last weekend's volcanic eruption and tsunami. the first two ships have arrived since the disaster. the un has estimated that more than 80% of tonga's population have been affected. that's about 84,000 people. at least three people have died. the un have warned that they remain seriously concerned about access to safe water for some 50,000 people throughout the country with many areas coated in a thick layer of volcanic ash. one of the ships sent by new zealand is capable of producing drinking water through a desalination plant. here's simonjones.

all of tonga seems to have turned grey — roads covered in ash after the volcanic eruption which was followed by a tsunami. the main concern right now is first trying to clean the dust here in the country, because we've been experiencing dust everywhere. there is no rain, and we've been told we may be expecting rain on saturday onwards, but we've been experiencing that. another concern is our drinking water. aid is now getting through. this is the new zealand military flying in, while ships carrying equipment are now arriving too, bringing freshwater — vital supplies have been polluted by ash — along with shelter kits, electricity generators, and communications equipment. but it's being dropped off without any contact with locals to prevent the risk of covid spreading to the island — it's seen just one case in the pandemic.

in auckland in new zealand, charities are coordinating efforts to send in supplies. auckland council, on behalf of the people of auckland, has made a donation from its charitable trust fund of $25,000 to help ensure that we can get these things that they need so badly, the food and the water, to tonga, and these eight containers, and there will probably be more, should be up in tonga by the end of next week. communication with the outside world has been crippled. it is slowly being restored. but contact is revealing just how much rebuilding will be needed — officials say it will take a mammoth effort. simon jones, bbc news.

an invitation as talks are taking place in geneva between the russian foreign minister and his us counterpart. we are expecting those talks to end pretty soon. we are expecting to hear from talks to end pretty soon. we are expecting to hearfrom both men, although both seeing they are not necessarily expecting any huge progress at that meeting. a huge explosion in western ghana has killed at least 17 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. thursday's blast happened when a truck carrying explosives to a mine collided with a motorbike. mark lobel has more. a community decimated after a truck collided with and drove over a motorbike. the dynamite—laden truck was 140km from the chirano gold mine, run by the canada—based company kinross gold. both drivers had enough time to escape their vehicles before an enormous explosion occurred. the police, army and rescue services joined locals to

contain the situation. onlookers were struggling to make sense of the widespread destruction. the blast carving out a large crater beside a road. many were injured, and bodies were pulled from the rubble. the blast hit a small residential town near bogoso, which has a population of under 10,000, of mostly farmers and miners. ghana's president, nana akufo—addo, wrote it was a sad, unfortunate and tragic incident, expressing deep condolences to the families of the deceased. but his promise not to spare any effort to return the situation to normal may take some time, with so many broken lives and damaged buildings. police have appealed to nearby towns to open up their classrooms and churches to accommodate surviving victims, as ghana, one of africa's largest gold producers, suffers yet another

mining—related accident. mark lobel, bbc news. russell bishop, who murdered 29 year schoolgirls in brighton in 1986, has died in hospital. he was found guilty at a second trial of the murders of two girls. it was named, babes in the root —— babes in the wood killer.

the commons public accounts committee has described a one billion pound shortfall in state pension payments as a "shameful shambles". more than 130,000 pensioners — mostly women — were underpaid pensions owing to errors dating back nearly a0 years. outdated computer systems and manual processing of pensions have been blamed for the failures which first came to light two years ago. the department for work and pensions says it's resolving cases as quickly as possible. our business correspondent, sarah corker, has been investigating this. today's report is both detailed and damning. thousands of women have been underpaid their state pension for decades, and the public accounts committee found mistakes going back as far as 1985. it's been described by mps as a shameful shambles. more than 130,000 pensioners, mostly women, have been underpaid. those affected are widows, divorcees and women able to claim through their husband's pension contributions. some people are still unaware they're missing out. they are huge sums of money, in some cases, life—changing amounts. so what went wrong?

complex rules, outdated computer systems and manual processing have all been blamed. mps say these mistakes at the department for work and pensions just were not detected early enough and they are worried that some errors are still being made. it was former pensions minister steve webb who first revealed the scale of these issues. it is clear to me mistakes are still being made today, i hear from people who are told everything is fine, when it is clearly not. we need to fix notjust the past but the future. these issues have gone on for a very long time and the department checks cases but did not take this one seriously enough. it is small change to the department, but it can be life changing amounts for individuals. the average amount of money owed is around £9,000, but others have missed out

on six figure sums. most will be fully repaid but some will only get the amount of backdated for three months. jan tiernan from fife has been fighting for years to try to get the money she believes she is entitled to. the fact that they kept saying it was your fault, you should have told us — no, i never received any information telling me to fill in forms, over the different letters they gave me several different reasons why this was never done. firstly it was my fault for not filling in the form, then a letter said it was my husband's fault for not checking a box,

the excuses were numerous and ijust kept answering them back and saying, no, this is not the case. for people like janet, it has been a real battle to try to get the errors corrected. we know 500 civil servants are trying to trace all those affected but the process could take until the end of 2023 to complete, the dwp has said it is trying to resolve all these cases as quickly as possible, but for some people it will be too late, because around 40,000 women have already died without getting the money they are owed, and there is no plan to trace their families. this is costing the taxpayer, staffing costs to correct the mistakes are estimated to reach around £24 million and experienced staff are being moved away from day—to—day activities to try to fix these problems,

that is causing problems, backlogs and processing, new applications, it is causing a major issue here, and there are some major questions for the dwp. why weren't these errors noticed? they went on for decades. why weren't they sorted out when it was raised? lots of questions to answer, but i think this process of contacting all these women will take many years. an increase in people working from home has led to a reported increase in pet ownership in the uk, according to new research from animal charity blue cross, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. over 60% of people surveyed said the pandemic made them realise the importance of owning a pet — with 42% stating that owning a pet is a vital tool to help them combat loneliness. kerry taylor, education manager at the blue cross joins us now.

lovely to have you with as as you mark 125 years of the blue cross. one of the ways is to point out the m one of the ways is to point out the joy and comfort of owning a pet. we are joy and comfort of owning a pet. , are excited to be celebrating 125 years. many more to come. it has been amazing. our survey highlighted that relationship that people have with pets. over 60% of people agreed that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of pets in their lives. what i loved was 40% of people said how owning a pet was one of their fondest memories of their childhood. . , . of their fondest memories of their childhood. ., , . ., ., childhood. that is nice to hear as well. that there is a lovely thought. what are the challenges that pets and pet owners are facing now, compared to 125 years ago, the charity was

founded i believe by a group of animal lovers to care for their working horses of london. yes, in 1887. working horses of london. yes, in 1887- very — working horses of london. yes, in 1887. very different _ working horses of london. yes, in 1887. very different challenges. i 1887. very different challenges. mainly for the horses that were used on the streets of london. the overworked and underfed. that is how blue cross supported them. nowadays there are many different challenges. there is still a massive connection with pets. we are having such an issue with people import buying, buying pets during the pandemic, struggling with those pets. maybe not understanding those behaviours they are showing. we have also got fashion. we want everything instantly, we want it now. we have the trend of flat faced the deeds, they may suffer with breathing issues or eye conditions. these are all things that the future of blue cross, still dedicated to helping pets, we will be looking to make sure we can support pets and their owners in the future. and i know that puppy farming is

another issue you are concerned about. yes, definitely. especially with more people owning pets. 3a million pets in our household. that is a lot. puppy farming is such a big industry now. it is very hard to tell if you are getting a puppy from a puppy tell if you are getting a puppy from a puppy farm. we urge people to get in touch with a rescue centre like blue cross if you're looking for a dog. make sure you do that research. we are also looking at lobbying government to try and improve that legislation so that we can stop puppy legislation so that we can stop puppy farming and make sure that pets out there are really looked after and loved. we wish you continued good luck with your work. thank you very much. we are going live to geneva, the russian foreign minister is talking about that meeting he has had with the us secretary of state on ukraine. january ten, january 12, we heard the first reaction of the us so far,

done orally to the discussions that have taken place. when they view it is suggested that we should vote these meetings, we were warned that this would be just a preliminary action. this reaction was accompanied by a number of clarifying questions. as secretary told me during telephone conversations a number of days ago these questions and our answers would help the us side clarify and best prepare their responses to our initiatives. this is how it was today. in the 1970s, when helsinki was signed, it took three years. in 2009, we were signing a treaty on

european security. these agreements, all of them, can they simply be stymied or are they dragging our feet? our experience of talking to our western counterpart, this experience is full of examples like the ones you have just cited, when something was promised, and the promise was not kept. i remember what us president said after the helsinki final act was signed in 1975. ithink after the helsinki final act was signed in 1975. i think it was gerald ford. he said, solemnly marking this event, signing the helsinki final act, marking this event, signing the helsinki finalact, he marking this event, signing the helsinki final act, he said, descendants would judge as not on the promises we give but on how good we keep them. in that sense, our

american counterparts and other europeans and members of nato, they are not very good at keeping. once again you heard today repeated the arguments seeing that countries are free to choose alliances, security arrangements, but we cited the number of documents, conditioned as freedom to choose a security arrangements, on the commitment not to strengthen once a security at the expense of other countries security. we asked antony blinken to comment on how they interpret these commitments that were adopted at the highest level, and were on multiple occasions confirmed there. secretary lincoln said he was satisfied that

the exchange of views he had just had —— antony blinken said he was satisfied that this would help them. last night the state department put out information that there was no threat _ out information that there was no threat to— out information that there was no threat to going towards russia, they also said _ threat to going towards russia, they also said that my network was responsible for propaganda, reporting on neo—nazis and right—wing groups. this is something that humah— right—wing groups. this is something that human rights watch has also said _ that human rights watch has also said. what is the russian foreign ministry— said. what is the russian foreign ministry is— said. what is the russian foreign ministry is response to these statements from the state department? how has the amount of weaponry— department? how has the amount of weaponry from both the united states and uk _ weaponry from both the united states and uk that has been arriving in ukraine— and uk that has been arriving in ukraine affected the talks you have been having?— ukraine affected the talks you have been havin: ? �* ,, . .,

been having? translation: you said eve hinu been having? translation: you said everything for— been having? translation: you said everything for me- — been having? translation: you said everything for me. these _ been having? translation: you said everything for me. these documents l everything for me. these documents the state department has prepared, especially for today's meeting, is impossible to read these documents but we have a special department headed by special envoy, they are charged with studying all that. the response has already been given. i do not think that we should additionally comment on that. you just have to look at these pages. you can randomly open a page and if you read what is written there you will see that it holds no water whatever. it falls under critical analysis. it is lies a pure and simple in many cases. as far as ukraine is concerned, we have talked about it, once again our american counterparts try to push to the forefront the issues at the border between russia and ukraine. they tried to condition everything of the need of the so—called de—escalation,

which is turned into some kind of a mantra. but i would like to iterate once again, at the end of our meeting, we agreed next week the us is going to present as with written answers to all of our proposals. and you also said in particular that ukraine represents no threat to russia. i would like to once again remind everyone who analyses our public statements in our analysis, and i would like to say, never before has russia threatened through its representatives the ukrainian people. the western colleagues have taken the ukrainian president under their wing, taken the ukrainian president under theirwing, condoning taken the ukrainian president under their wing, condoning anything he does, and the president has said if the ukrainian does not feel ukrainian, feels russian, they should get out of the country. those

who fight the state terrorism in donbass, he dubbed them, as you might remember, not people, but specimens. all this hysterics from our western counterparts, sikhs, specimens. all this hysterics from ourwestern counterparts, sikhs, if not to provoke some forceful actions —— seeks, if not to provoke some forceful actions, to sabotage. when someone tales as, that is your territory, we recognise that there are too many troops, but at the same time, they say it is not our

business what the americans do with their troops in europe. this is something that we discussed with antony blinken during our talks today. he agreed that the dialogue has to be more reasonable. i do hope that the emotions will recede to the background although there is no guarantee this is going to happen. you have come out of this meeting, satisfied, _ you have come out of this meeting, satisfied, disappointed? first and forenrost— satisfied, disappointed? first and foremost how big do you think right now the _ foremost how big do you think right now the threat of war is in europe through— now the threat of war is in europe through some miscalculation, gathering around ukraine? finally, one question that a lot of people have _ one question that a lot of people have treen— one question that a lot of people have been asking internationally, why is— have been asking internationally, why is russia doing this now? why do you feel— why is russia doing this now? why do you feel the _ why is russia doing this now? why do you feel the need to make troop deployments now, when security of us and nato _ deployments now, when security of us and nato really hasn't changed in the past —

and nato really hasn't changed in the past couple of years? translation: the state department has to analyse with regard to accuracy of information. you see that we intend to attack ukraine on multiple occasions. we have said that we never intended to do that. when you see that this is going to happen, you ask the next question, why now? this is a very strangely formulated question. as far as our approach goes with regard to the need to put an end to an indefinite enlargement of nato, antony blinken reaffirmed his position with regard to each country has the right to

their own security arrangements. i in turn asked how it fits with the commitment not to reinforce 1's security at the expense of security of others. he promised me that they would respond. this is not the end of our dialogue, as i said. next week, as antony blinken has said on many occasions, we will get a written reaction to our response. as far as the principal reaction just to cite an example, let's take the eastern europeans, and in particular the baltic states. when they were aspiring to become nato members, we want this would be a

mistake, that this would not strengthen nato's security. we warned that this would only fuel extremist sentiment. on many occasions, they said it's quite the opposite, we will accept them and these phobias passed down from the soviet times will simply disappear, and these will be your peaceful neighbours. but it turned out to be quite the opposite. a minority, headed by these countries, poland and the baltic, are setting the tune, notjust in nato but also in the european union, making others pursue this deadlock of policy with regard to russia on all issues. so, cnn, i would like to call on you to be more accurate with your facts. izvestia, please.

secretary boynton said in his remarks that they would be response to aggression in ukraine, so they will be a written response next week, so i think the tonality is something you understand right now, that it can be predicted, or that they think something different is going to happen. as i said, once again, ouramerican going to happen. as i said, once again, our american counterparts tried to put ukraine into the foreground during today's discussion. i understand that they have kept their concerns, but still, after our explanations, they understood that they have to concentrate on the substance of the essence of our proposals, and the promise was given to us. i'd like to reiterate that, to provide us with a written response to our proposals next week, and i'm confident that in this or that way, ukraine will still figure in those responses, but i have not heard any single argument today that would corroborate the us

position on what is happening at the border, just concerns, concerns, concerns. our concerns regarding not just an imagined threat. our concerns are about a real threat, that no one is hiding the fact that weapons are being handed over to ukraine, that hundreds of military instructors are flocking to ukraine right now, the eu doesn't want to lag behind the us and wants to set “p lag behind the us and wants to set up a training camp in ukraine, so it's going to be quite an interesting turn in the eu's ambitions. maybe this is an attempt by the eu to remind everyone of its existence, because so far, it hasn't figured the series conversations. yes, we understand that this issue requires a great deal of attention, but we shouldn't reduce the issue of european security architecture to

this single issue. regarding ukraine, secretary blinken has reaffirmed what president biden said, that they are willing to help with the implementation of peace keeping i have called on once again to exercise their influence on the kyiv regime to get back. maybe in russian today, spanish, have you touched on the possible deployment of prussian infrastructure on cuba, in venezuela? how serious is this eventuality from the point of view of russia, and are you engaged in talks with the governments of these countries? we have not touched upon this topic in our negotiations today.

tass, please. minister lovecraft, good afternoon. you said this is not your first contact, your contacts will continue, and after the written response of the us, there will be more contacts. —— minister lavrov. is this possible and can you contact that would comment on the decision to provide greater military assistance to ukraine, and particularly and munitions. even though the government of the czech republic said that he doesn't want to be on the list of non—friendly nations that was drawn up non—friendly nations that was drawn up by non—friendly nations that was drawn up by moscow, so can you comment on that to? i forgot your first question. yes, is a summit possible. i told you that we are waiting for a written response, and once this happens, we will plan a new contact at our level. let's not get ahead of ourselves. president putin has

always ready for contacts with president biden, but these need to be prepared seriously, and we need to understand what the outcome should be if we decide to tap into the potential of our leaders, as it were. as far as the czech government is concerned, we hear these statements, but of course, we need these words and proposals to be concrete, signal is addressed to us. i cannot comment on what our nato neighbours are doing, our eu neighbours are doing, our eu neighbours are doing, with regard to ukraine. on many occasions, we have warned that the only thing that the kyiv regime is doing is speculating, and this patronage provided to it by its western sponsors, once this hysteria stops, everyone will see it

crystal clear that this regime is what it is. i crystal clear that this regime is what it is. ~ crystal clear that this regime is what it is— crystal clear that this regime is what it is. «a, ., ., , what it is. i think a lot of people in the world _ what it is. i think a lot of people in the world are _ what it is. i think a lot of people in the world are very _ what it is. i think a lot of people in the world are very concerned | in the world are very concerned about— in the world are very concerned about these conversations, like the one last _ about these conversations, like the one last week in the one today, that there _ one last week in the one today, that there can _ one last week in the one today, that there can be — one last week in the one today, that there can be some kind of progress that is— there can be some kind of progress that is being made today. you — that is being made today. you mentioned a written response to the united _ you mentioned a written response to the united states. next week. you characterise that for us, please? as that's— characterise that for us, please? as that's a _ characterise that for us, please? as that's a step — characterise that for us, please? as that's a step in the right direction? do you see that as a concession _ direction? do you see that as a concession from the us? how long is russia _ concession from the us? how long is russia going to be willing to wait for a _ russia going to be willing to wait for a satisfactory answer? translation:— for a satisfactory answer? translation: ~ ., ., ., translation: well, do i have to tell ou translation: well, do i have to tell you everything?! _ you everything?! well, you know, this attempt to go into each and every detail, well, i do not think it is useful right now.

i have told you everything i needed to about how today's constructive, useful discussion. i cannot say whether we are on the right path or not. we will understand that once we get the american response in writing to or the points that we have enumerated. good afternoon. izvestia tv channel. the state duma is discussing the initial to recognise the donetsk people's republic, so do you think if washington refuses to agree to these security guarantees, is russia going to be willing to recognise these republics out of the referendum takes place there? well, i am not going to speculate on that. i think the kremlin has spoken out already. as far as a referendum is concerned, i think this was a turning point in the history of the ukrainian crisis after the bloody

coup d'etat, and so far, the state department is trying to avoid our question as to what really had happened there from the point of view of the west. so they decide to say that, yes, there was this, and then the crimea happened, and then then the crimea happened, and then the insurgency in donbass, and then we tried to remind them about the peaceful agreements between presidentjanne peaceful agreements between president janne kovacic peaceful agreements between presidentjanne kovacic and the opposition. you were the guarantors of those agreements. poland, france and germany, next morning, the opposition simply to all of those agreements down, putting forth comments requiring russians to be expeued comments requiring russians to be expelled from the crimea, and then there were militants sense of the premier to seize the supreme council, which led to a revolt of the chromium to demand demanded a

referendum. what took place in the donbass region and another was formally discussed when the minsk agreements were prepared, and the leaders of france and germany were asking us to persuade the representatives of donetsk and lieu hand sc to put their signature to those minsk agreements. as a matter of fact, they decided to accommodate the normandy four and revoked their previous decision on independence. but only on the condition that the minsk agreements would be respected, namely the special status that had to be granted to the territories, the special status that had to be enshrined in the ukrainian constitution, and the decentralisation that had to happen, and of course, the amnesty, and once

again, elections had to be held, but everything had to be done in coordination with donetsk and luke cancer. —— luhansk. that is where we are with the status of these territories. we spoke about that today and we spoke about that when the foreign ministry of germany visited us with the french, and we said that they have to stop condoning the actions of the kyiv regime and have to do what was agreed by the un security council. president micron has proposed a new security— president micron has proposed a new security order to stand together against — security order to stand together against russia. what do you think about— against russia. what do you think about this? is as a provocation for you? _

about this? is as a provocation for you? -- _ about this? is as a provocation for you? —— macron. translation: | you? -- macron. translation: �* ., ., translation: i didn't get that. can ou reeat translation: i didn't get that. can you repeat your— translation: i didn't get that. can you repeat your question, _ translation: i didn't get that. can you repeat your question, please? l you repeat your question, please? he says the new security alliance for europe — he says the new security alliance for europe must stay strong against russia _ for europe must stay strong against russia is— for europe must stay strong against russia is it— for europe must stay strong against russia. is it a problem for you? translation:— russia. is it a problem for you? tuna/mom— russia. is it a problem for you? translation: well, i didn't hear president macron _ translation: well, i didn't hear president macron say _ translation: well, i didn't hear president macron say anything . translation: well, | didn't hear. president macron say anything about creating anything against russia. i know that president macron is a steady advocate of increasing the capacity of the eu to play a greater role in world politics. he is a proponent of the eu's strategic autonomy. i know there is a programme, so—called strategic compass. we follow that and understand there is a strong influence of the so—called luhansk

three, and they did not calm down —— the so—called russophobes. but i did not hear president macron citing the need to stand firm against russia when he proposed this, unless there was some misunderstanding. bbc. what does russia want the most, and unstable, dependent ukraine, or and unstable, dependent ukraine, or a new— and unstable, dependent ukraine, or a new sphere of influence in eastern europe? _ europe? translation: ~ , ., europe? translation: ~ ~ ., translation: well, you know, we soke translation: well, you know, we spoke about _ translation: well, you know, we spoke about spheres _ translation: well, you know, we spoke about spheres of— translation: well, you know, we spoke about spheres of influence . spoke about spheres of influence today as well. and unstable ukraine is indeed a factor of our everyday political life, but this instability, well, i know you are an experienced journalist, and i do

understand where this instability comes from. if you look at what is happening... will continue to watch events here in geneva on the bbc news channel, but right now, we will say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. as spheres of influence go, i asked antony blinken today to explain... well, after the president of kazakhstan asked for help to these sea sto, based on the sea sto chapter for assistance in suppressing the terrorists —— csdo, and there were demands that kazakhstan should explain why it did what it did, you know, this illustrates that the west is confident of its own special status. they are allowed to do everything. others are not allowed to do anything. look at how the eu is

behaving. let's remember the predecessor as the high commission of the eu, back in 2018, when she spoke of the meeting of the eu permanent representatives, saying, and i must rotate directly, saying about the balkans, if the eu was present there, there is no place where anyone else in this region. —— no place for anyone else. i think this is a very good illustration and applies to everything that is happening in eastern europe. let's look at the west balkans. there are some countries that are not part of nato and the eu there and attempts are undertaken to make them associate themselves. they are trying to dissuade them from having

good, close ties with china, with russia. it is not about trying introduce their own spheres of influence? spheres of influence exist due to the policies pursued by colonial powers. when decolonisation happened, colonial powers and want to lose their influence and spheres of influence was about trying to steal, you know, control. it was about controlling these territories. and they are trying to expand their presence in these territories and attract new ones into their sphere of influence. we spoke about whether mr blank and today, and it's a pity aduu mr blank and today, and it's a pity adult people are involved in this measuring contest, with stuff, with cooler. if we all assumed the adult

attitude and if we think about how we can make this world a safe place to live in a given climate change, drug—trafficking, terrorism, health issues, because people run terrible risks because of the pandemic and i'm afraid this is not the last pandemic. these are the issues we have to think about instead of trying to reduce all these problems to the us — russia relations, or how president zelinsky feels in his regime. it is not true. we're not trying to get a sphere of influence, but what nato is doing shows us unequivocally nato considers ukraine to be part of its sphere of influence. could you repeat that, please?

yes, is the foreign ministry going to publish the us response to your proposals? well, this is not a question to us. this is a question to our american counterparts. so far, there is no response, so we will not raise this issue. so far, it is going to be their property which they will hand over to us. so i think... i would like to make this response public, but i am going to have to consult secretary blink on that. said the us secretary of state antony blinken expected shortly to give his response to the source, but that was the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. let me take you through a view of his points. he said his us counterpart would

presenter written response to russia next weekend he said that he had reiterated that russia had never threatened the ukrainian people and that the russia had no plans to attack ukraine. but he said that nato was working against russia and he had heard nothing today that would corroborate the us or what the us is saying about what is happening on the border between russia and the ukraine. he said it wasjust on the border between russia and the ukraine. he said it was just an sense, that sense, concerns. so let'sjust sense, that sense, concerns. so let's just pick up and get an assessment on that with a senior policy fellow at the european council on foreign relations, whose research focuses on russia and the baltic region. thanks forjoining me and i hope you had that mr love rav said. what is your assessment? the key takeaways that this was an interim meeting, that talks will

continue and diplomacy will be given some more time. i think that was obvious. the two sides were comparing notes, probably arguing a little bit, but i don't think that there was any breakthrough or breakdown. so no breakthrough or breakdown. i suppose it is the latter that is absolutely key here, no breakdown, and that the talks will continue. but where do they go from here? is there any scope or space for de—escalation or compromise or agreement? well, i think the task for diplomats, including foreign ministers is to try to chart what is possible to achieve for the other side, and then it will be up to their respective presidents to decide whether this is something they consider acceptable or not. the key point is, what does vladimir putin want? is he determined to lock in ukraine with russia for decades

to come, no matter what, regardless of the cost? and in that case, i don't think there is very much the west can do. or, is he happy to settle for arms control agreements and measures like this that could make sure that things don't go in an entirely negative direction for russia but four short of his maximalist demands. it is a fact that because of its location and with russia to the east and the expansion from the west eastwards of nato that ukraine is always going to be a country of interest because of the potential sphere of influence, the phrase our reporter used a few moments ago in his question to sergei lavrov. so is

there anything more that ukraine in a purely autonomous way can do to help with this de—escalation? i think it would help if ukraine was a little bit more outspoken about how kyiv views the situation and how does it plan to handle it diplomatically. as we know, zelinsky has had many contacts with foreign visitors recently, but has returned quite disappointed. we know he is more worried about tackling the domestic position then any crisis. so they are trying to get their act together a little bit more, diplomatically. the third option is to engage in serious options with western partners about diplomatic options that could be there. i think that would be helpful. whether it is efficient, one cannot be sure. what you think we are going hear

from secretary of state antony blinken? —— what do you think? the us is a huge amount on its domestic agenda. it probably doesn't want to be involved in any situation in the ukraine and on the borders with russia, but nonetheless, it clearly is defending nato, its position in nato. , , , ., ., is defending nato, its position in nato. , ,, ., ., ., nato. yes. i guess i want to get a --rinciled nato. yes. i guess i want to get a principled and — nato. yes. i guess i want to get a principled and eloquent _ nato. yes. i guess i want to get a | principled and eloquent statement nato. yes. i guess i want to get a - principled and eloquent statement as to what is at stake, white russia should de—escalate, some information about what they expect the next steps to be, but i think as with lavrov, blinken is not the ultimate decision—making here. it will all go back to the present stop for the moment, thank you for your analysis. —— it will all go back to the president. that's so you seen live in geneva,

where we are expecting the secretary of state antony blinken to hold his news conference on the conclusion of those talks between and the russian secretary sergei lavrov. we will come back to that when it begins. now, one of the other main stories of the day. the us singer meat loaf, whose album bat out of hell became one of the biggest selling albums of all time, has died. he was 7a. a statement said the singer, whose real name was michael lee aday, died overnight. the statement said: �*our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable meat loaf passed away tonight with his wife deborah by his side'. lizo mzimba looks back at his life. # the sirens are screaming, and the fires are howling # way down in the valley tonight... the thundering rock opera sound. # there ain't no coup de ville # hiding at the bottom of a crackerjack box... the grandiose lyrics. # noone's gonna know it, noone's gonna know it # noone's gonna know where you've been!

the consummate showmanship. there was no one quite like meat loaf. his first album, bat out of hell, became one of the biggest selling albums of all time. he was born marvin lee aday in dallas, texas, the only child of a schoolteacher mother and a policeman father who was quick with his fists. he was an alcoholic, and he would always beat me up as a kid, threw me through a plate glass window, threw me through a door. his size made him a natural for the high school football team but his first love was drama. when his mother died, he escaped his bullying father and moved to los angeles. there was a chance audition for the musical hair, an album for motown. # whatever happened to saturday night? and the rocky horror picture show, first on broadway, then on screen. a meeting with composer jim steinman proved to be a turning point. steinman's wagnerian over—the—top style and meat loaf�*s three octave range was a marriage made

in musical heaven. it took time but this performance on the bbc�*s old grey whistle test pushed the album to number one in the uk. but the demands of fame and the constant touring proved too much. the singer's voice failed and he had a breakdown. and there were arguments with steinman, who felt he wasn't getting a fair share of the limelight. meat loaf�*s popularity in the uk did take his second album, dead ringer for love, to number one but it was a pale imitation of bat. there were court cases, he suffered two years of depression, his house was repossessed and then found himself playing tiny bars and clubs. # i would do anything for love... then, in 1990, he and steinman healed their rift. the result, bat out of hell ii.

16 years after the original, the magic still worked. the first rule is, i'm not supposed to talk about it. he also made something of a name as an actor in the film fight club. look at my face, bob. but his legacy will always be bat out of hell, one of the most extraordinary and certainly one of the most successful rock albums ever made. tributes have been pouring in to meat loaf. we can look at some of those now. singer cher has been among the people remembering the musician, saying said she had "so much fun" when she worked with him on his 1981 album dead ringer. in a tribute posted to twitter, she added: the musician boy george also tweeted a tribute to meat loaf. he wrote:

and english singer nik kershaw has also written a tribute. he said in a tweet: many people will have his songs on a loop today. time now for a look at the weather, with darren. hello. it won't be as cold tonight, with cloud coming down over the top of the colder conditions, it will feel particularly chilly today and that cloud, across the likes of herefordshire, worcestershire and also 0xfordshire. a chilly day here, with some sunshine across eastern

areas of the uk, but it feels that little bit better here. overnight today, a lot of cloud coming in, particularly across northern ireland, scotland and wales. the client will be more variable, so we do have a risk of a touch of frost where it breaks. not as cold as last night by any means. there could be if you missed and fog patches to clear away during tomorrow morning as well. a lot of cloud to come tomorrow. really a weak weather from struggling scotland, producing rain in the far west. otherwise a dry day, sunshine coming through now and again, and temperatures across england and we around about a dry day, sunshine coming through now and again, and temperatures across england and way around about 8—9. likely to make double where there stronger breeze. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. amid warnings that russia could be about to invade ukraine — two superpowers face to face. russia and america have concluded their latest talks — with moscow laying out its concerns.

no one is hiding the fact that hundreds of military instructors are flocking to ukraine. america's secretary of state antony blinken is about to give a press conference — we'll be carrying it live. meat loaf, the us rock star whose hits include bat out of hell and i would do anything for love, has died at the age of 7a. he sold more than 100 million albums across a six decade career. a £1 billion shortfall in uk state pension payments to tens of thousands of women has been branded a shameful shambles by a committee of mps. adele has postponed her entire las vegas residency, just 2a hours before opening night. the singer posted a tearful apology

online, saying covid cases and delivery delays had caused major problems. let's return to the news that the us singer meat loaf, who was also known as michael lee aday, has died aged 7a. a statement on his official facebook page said: our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable meat loaf passed away tonight with his wife deborah by his side. my colleague stephen sackur spoke with meat loaf back in 2016 — and he detailed some of the injuries he had experienced during the six decades of his career. i've had 18 concussions, i've fallen three stories off a balcony. i've been on planes that the landing gears didn't come down. i'm a cat with 49 lives. and you've got a bad back, which is restricting your movement right now. yeah, which i can't work, which is driving me crazy. well, i'm telling you, you've got a plan to tour europe, you said you weren't going to tour so much any more, but you've got this plan to tour europe

with the new album — how can you do it, having battered your body to a degree which you have? well, i'll get my back fixed, and when i do, i had a knee replacement that never healed, so i have three months of therapy already to go for that. do you really want to tour, with all of the pressures and stresses that come with that? i don't want to travel and i don't want to pack. but i want to do the shows. but that means you've got to travel and you've got to pack. yeah, i don't want to do those two, so two out of three ain't bad! i think i've heard that before! a teenage pilot has become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world following a five—month challenge. zara rutherford, 19, landed in kortrijk. zara joins us now. it is lovely to talk to you. i spoke

to you back injuly last yearjust before you were due to set off. it is nice to bring thisjourney before you were due to set off. it is nice to bring this journey to a conclusion. congratulations. how does it feel to have completed this challenge which you have been training for since you were 14? that is riuht. it training for since you were 14? that is right- it is _ training for since you were 14? that is right. it is really _ training for since you were 14? trust is right. it is really strange. it has been a long five months. really difficult. i am still processing it. i am sure you are. the journey was expected to take three months. it took a little bit longer than that. tell us why. i was stuck in alaska and russia for a month because of the weather. the weather by then, it was winter. delays flying over the west coast of the us. it was so bad. it was getting colder and colder. the days were getting way shorter as well. at a point of time in the year when days are three hours long, that

was not enough time to fly to my destination. we are showing pictures of the welcoming committee as you completed that epic journey. welcoming committee as you completed that epicjourney. you welcoming committee as you completed that epicjourney— that epic 'ourney. you had a special escort that epic journey. you had a special escort for that _ that epic journey. you had a special escort for that last _ that epic journey. you had a special escort for that last stage? - that epic journey. you had a special escort for that last stage? that - that epic journey. you had a special escort for that last stage? that is i escort for that last stage? that is right. i had the belgian red devils by my side. it was really nice. you held those tears back. what was the most challenging, perhaps the scariest moment? what was the most euphoric moment? the most challenging, flying across siberia was tough. on the ground it was —30 celsius. you were aware that if the engine stops for any reason, suddenly you are hours away from rescue and cold temperatures. but

also achieving those flights was really rewarding. it was amazing, flying through the desert in siberia, reaching bulgaria, and thanking my main sponsors that live there. i thanking my main sponsors that live there. ~ ., ,, thanking my main sponsors that live there. ~ ., thanking my main sponsors that live there. ~' ., ,., .., ., thanking my main sponsors that live there. ~ ., ., ., ., , there. i know you come from a family of ilots. there. i know you come from a family of pilots- but — there. i know you come from a family of pilots. but still— there. i know you come from a family of pilots. but still it _ there. i know you come from a family of pilots. but still it is _ there. i know you come from a family of pilots. but still it is an _ of pilots. but still it is an astonishing achievement. it shows real grit, real determination, and bravery. what did you learn most about yourself when you are taking part in this journey? i about yourself when you are taking part in this journey?— part in this 'ourney? i learned to be grateful— part in this journey? i learned to be grateful for _ part in this journey? i learned to be grateful for the _ part in this journey? i learned to be grateful for the smaller - part in this journey? i learned to i be grateful for the smaller things. for things that make home home. your cat is determined to make an appearance. yes, my cat wants some fame.

being gratefulfor the yes, my cat wants some fame. being grateful for the smaller moments, walking to the bakery on sunday, spending times with friends and family. stand sunday, spending times with friends and famil . �* , sunday, spending times with friends and famil . . , i. sunday, spending times with friends and famil . �* , ,, and family. and seeing your cat when ou aot and family. and seeing your cat when you got home- _ and family. and seeing your cat when you got home. yes, _ and family. and seeing your cat when you got home. yes, exactly. - you got home. yes, exactly. tell us more _ you got home. yes, exactly. tell us more about - you got home. yes, exactly. tell us more about the - you got home. yes, exactly. i tell us more about the reaction you got home. yes, exactly. - tell us more about the reaction you have had from family and friends? i note your head teacher in your school has been praising you and seeing, how many girls at your old school have been inspired to try flying as well. give us a sense of the reaction. it flying as well. give us a sense of the reaction-— the reaction. it has been incredible. _ the reaction. it has been incredible. people - the reaction. it has been incredible. people havel the reaction. it has been - incredible. people have been so the reaction. it has been _ incredible. people have been so kind and supportive. when i was stuck in alaska it was tough to get the motivation to keep going. every flight went badly. there was always something going wrong. receiving messages from both girls and boys are saying, what you are doing is amazing, that was really nice. we all want to see your cat. not to steal the limelight. just as a final

thought, how do you follow this? what is next? i would love to keep talking to people about my experiences, and keep encouraging girls to go into aviation. 5% of commercial pilots are women. considering aviation will be big in the future, hopefully with electric aircraft, i would love to see more female pilots. i am hoping to study engineering at university. whatever you do, with all the skills and determination you have shown in yourjourney, you will achieve what yourjourney, you will achieve what you want to do. huge congratulations. thank you for your time. and thank you to your cat as well for the wonderful side effects in the background. i will let her know. lovely to talk to you. it is nice to talk to someone when they are about to set off on a huge challenge, and

then to follow up with them when they complete that challenge very successfully. we are waiting on the us secretary of state, antony blinken, to hold a news conference in geneva at the conclusion of those talks between him and russian foreign minister serey die lara. sergei lavrov speaking in the last few minutes said the us had undertaken to come back. —— foreign minister sergei lavrov. the new zealand navy has started distributing humanitarian aid to the people of tonga following last weekend's volcanic eruption and tsunami. the first two ships have arrived since the disaster. the un has estimated that more than 80% of tonga's population have been affected. thats about 84,000 people. at least three people have died. the un have warned that they remain seriously concerned about access to safe water for some 50,000 people

throughout the country with many areas coated in a thick layer of volcanic ash. one of the ships sent by new zealand is capable of producing drinking water through a desalination plant. here's simonjones. all of tonga seems to have turned grey — roads covered in ash after the volcanic eruption which was followed by a tsunami. the main concern right now is first trying to clean the dust here in the country, because we've been experiencing dust everywhere. there is no rain, and we've been told we may be expecting rain on saturday onwards, but we've been experiencing that. another concern is our drinking water. aid is now getting through. this is the new zealand military flying in, while ships carrying

equipment are now arriving too, bringing fresh water — vital supplies have been polluted by ash — along with shelter kits, electricity generators, and communications equipment. but it's being dropped off without any contact with locals to prevent the risk of covid spreading to the island — it's seen just one case in the pandemic. in auckland in new zealand, charities are coordinating efforts to send in supplies. auckland council, on behalf of the people of auckland, has made a donation from its charitable trust fund of $25,000 to help ensure that we can get these things that they need so badly, the food and the water, to tonga, and these eight containers, and there will probably be more, should be up in tonga by the end of next week. communication with the outside world has been crippled. it is slowly being restored. but contact is revealing just how much rebuilding will be needed — officials say it will take a mammoth effort. simon jones, bbc news. a huge explosion in western ghana

has killed at least 17 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. thursday's blast happened when a truck carrying explosives to a mine collided with a motorbike. mark lobel has more. a community decimated after a truck collided with and drove over a motorbike. the dynamite—laden truck was 140km from the chirano gold mine, run by the canada—based company kinross gold. both drivers had enough time to escape their vehicles before an enormous explosion occurred. the police, army and rescue services joined locals to contain the situation. onlookers were struggling to make sense of the widespread destruction. the blast carving out a large crater beside a road. many were injured, and bodies were pulled from the rubble. the blast hit a small residential town near bogoso, which has a population of under 10,000, of mostly farmers and miners.

ghana's president, nana akufo—addo, wrote it was a sad... foreign minister sergei lavrov and i finished our meeting a short while ago. i thank him for his hospitality, that was much appreciated. i came to geneva following up on last week's discussions. the nato— russia council. and broader european security issues. our objective was to determine whether russia is prepared to take the diplomatic path and other necessary steps to de—escalate the situation in ukraine, and ultimately to resolve our differences through diplomacy and dialogue.

the discussion today with sergei lavrov was frank and substantive. our position, we stand firmly in support of ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity. we have been clear, if any russian military forces move across ukraine's border, thatis forces move across ukraine's border, that is a renewed invasion, it will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the united states and our partners and allies. we also know from experience that russia has an extensive playbook of aggression short of military action, cyber attacks, paramilitary tactics, other means of advancing their interests aggressively without overtly using military action. those types of russian aggression will also be met with a decisive, calibrated, and again, united

response. that is the clear message coming out of my meetings in wednesday with ukraine president. yesterday in germany, with my counterparts from germany, uk, france and european union. and with the german chancellor. we are united in our commitment to finding a way forward through diplomacy and dialogue. equally, in our resolve to oppose massive consequences should russia choose the path of confrontation and conflict. i expressed again to minister sergei lavrov on security concerns that russia has raised in recent weeks, united states and european allies and partners are prepared to pursue means of addressing them any spirit of reciprocity. which means, russia must also address our concerns. there are several steps we can take, all of ours, russia included, to increase transparency, to reduce risks, to advance arms control, to build trust. i conveyed directly to

minister sergei lavrov are specific concerns for russia's actions, not only in ukraine, but throughout europe, and indeed in the world. i also laid out several ideas to reduce tensions and increase security, which we developed in consultation with our partners and allies, and where we believe we can find common ground again, based on the principle of reciprocity. this was not a negotiation, but a candid exchange of concerns and ideas. i made clear to minister sergei lavrov that there are fundamental principles that united states and partners and allies are committed to defend. that includes those that would impede the right of the ukrainian people to determine their own future. there is no trade space there. none. foreign minister lavrov and i also talked about the way forward. let me also say that he heard from us and from me that what

is for as an unviable rule, nothing about ukraine without ukraine, nothing about nature without nature, nothing about nature without nature, nothing about nature without nature, nothing about europe without europe. based on our discussion, i believe we can carry forward this work of developing understanding agreements together that ensure our mutual security. but that is contingent on russia stopping its aggression towards ukraine. that is the choice that russia faces now. it can choose the path of diplomacy that can lead to peace and security, or the path that leads only to conflict, severe consequences, and international condemnation. united states and our allies and partners in europe stand ready to meet russia on either path. we will continue to stand with ukraine. i believe that foreign minister lavrov now has a better understanding of our position, and vice versa. today's discussion was

useful in that sense, that is why he met. i will return to washington this afternoon to consult with president biden and our entire national security team, as well as members of congress, and critically, allies and partners in the days ahead. based on the discussions today, foreign minister lavrov and i agreed it is important for the diplomatic process to continue. i told them that following the consultations that we will have in the coming days with allies and partners, we anticipate that we will be able to share with russia our concerns and ideas in more detail, and in writing, next week. and we agreed to further discussions after that. we agreed as well that further diplomatic discussions would be the preferable way forward. but again, it is really up to russia to decide which path to pursue. i should mention as well, the foreign minister and i had mention as well, the foreign ministerand i had an mention as well, the foreign

minister and i had an opportunity to discuss iran, example of how united states and russia can work together on security issues of shared concern. talks with iran about mutual return to compliance have reached a decisive moment. if a deal was not reached in the next weeks, iran's ongoing nuclear advances will make it impossible to return, but right now where it is still a window, a brief one, to bring these talks to successful conclusion and address remaining concerns on all sides. we did not expect any major breakthroughs to happen today. but i believe we are now on a clear path in terms of understanding each other�*s concerns and positions. let us see what the next day spring. with that, i'm happy to take your questions. mr lavrov has spoken today about

hysterical— mr lavrov has spoken today about hysterical rhetoric, what he calls hysterical— hysterical rhetoric, what he calls hysterical rhetoric, what he calls hysterical rhetoric, that claims to provoke — hysterical rhetoric, that claims to provoke ukraine. president biden said what— provoke ukraine. president biden said what has happened so far, he believes— said what has happened so far, he believes that putin will move in because — believes that putin will move in because he has got to do something. do you _ because he has got to do something. do you think, as of today, because of the _ do you think, as of today, because of the better understanding of mr lavrov. _ of the better understanding of mr lavrov, what putin's intentions are, do you _ lavrov, what putin's intentions are, do you have — lavrov, what putin's intentions are, do you have any commitment at all that _ do you have any commitment at all that the _ do you have any commitment at all that. the aggression that you see it standing _ that. the aggression that you see it standing in — that. the aggression that you see it standing in the way of any agreement? he says that you are going — agreement? he says that you are going to _ agreement? he says that you are going to present the responses which you have _ going to present the responses which you have just confirmed, but he wants— you have just confirmed, but he wants them to be to his original proposals, _ wants them to be to his original proposals, which you and everyone in the administration has said from the beginning _ the administration has said from the beginning are not starters, proposals to limit nato expansion. will your— proposals to limit nato expansion. will your written answers have any difference — will your written answers have any difference response to him about nato _ difference response to him about

nato expansion, which you just said is not _ nato expansion, which you just said is not negotiable? where do you see a space _ is not negotiable? where do you see a space for— is not negotiable? where do you see a space for any kind of engagement to defuse _ a space for any kind of engagement to defuse this crisis? and since you bought— to defuse this crisis? and since you bought up— to defuse this crisis? and since you bought up iran, you think there is a possibility. — bought up iran, you think there is a possibility, after talking to mr lavrov. — possibility, after talking to mr lavrov, that you and russia, the us and russia, — lavrov, that you and russia, the us and russia, and the other allies, can get— and russia, and the other allies, can get iran _ and russia, and the other allies, can get iran agreeing to come into compliance, and with the us then agree _ compliance, and with the us then agree to — compliance, and with the us then agree to lift the sanctions perhaps simultaneously?— simultaneously? first, we are not proceeding _ simultaneously? first, we are not proceeding on _ simultaneously? first, we are not proceeding on the _ simultaneously? first, we are not proceeding on the basis _ simultaneously? first, we are not proceeding on the basis of - simultaneously? first, we are not. proceeding on the basis of caution, we are proceeding on the basis of facts and history. the facts are that russia has amassed very significant forces on ukraine's border. and continue to do so. 100,000 troops, most recently, including forces deployed to belarus. that would give russia the

capacity, if president putin so chooses, to attack ukraine from the south, from the east, from the north. we have seen plans to undertake a variety of destabilising actions, some of them short of the over use of force, to destabilise ukraine, to topple the government. a variety of things. as i said, this is not on the basis of emotion, it is not on the basis of emotion, it is on the basis of facts, and also history. russia invaded ukraine in 2014, seizing crimea, provoking an ongoing conflict in donbass, changing ukraine's borders by force. that's what we're looking at. we have heard russian officials say they have no intention invading ukraine. in fact, they have no intention invading ukraine. infact, minister they have no intention invading ukraine. in fact, minister lavrov repeated that to be today. but again, we are looking at what is

visible to all, and it is deeds and actions, not words, that make the difference. i suggested to minister lavrov, as we have repeatedly, that if russia wants to begin to convince the world that it has no aggressive intent towards ukraine, the place to start would be de—escalating, bite bringing back on moving its forces from ukraine's borders, as well as engaging in diplomacy and dialogue, which is what we did today. and what we plan to continue doing in the days and weeks ahead. we have said all along that we intended not only to respond to the concerns that russia has raised, but to share our own concerns, which are many, about the actions that russia takes that we see as a threat to security in europe and indeed beyond. it was

important in the course of the conversations that we had today, and last week at the strategic security dialogue between united states and russia, to make sure that we fully understood each other�*s positions and concerns. after that and after consulting very intensely with allies and partners president but i me to have this opportunity, having digested would we have heard over the last week, and presumably the russians having had an opportunity to discuss what they heard initially from as, to president putin, to see where we are directly with foreign minister lavrov, to determine whether there is a path forward for dialogue through diplomacy, and then to look at how we would pursue that.

what was agreed today, we will share with russia a response to the concerns it has raised, our own concerns, and put some ideas on the table for consideration. and then we plan to meet again after russia has had an opportunity to look at that paper. then we will see where we go from there. it may also be clear about this. to the extent that russia is engaged for now in diplomacy, but at the same time continues to take escalator reactions, continues to build its forces on ukraine's borders, continues to plan for aggressive action against ukraine, we and all other allies and partners are equally committed to make sure that

we are doing everything possible to make clear to russia that there will be, as i said, a swift, severe and united response to any form of aggression by russia directed towards ukraine. finally, let me say this, based on the conversation today, i believe that there are areas where on a reciprocal basis we can address some of each other�*s concerns. they go to things like greater transparency in our military activities, various risk reduction measures, pursuing arms—control, and other ways to build trust that i think would address concerns that russia has expressed as well as their many concerns that we have. but it is very important to be equally clear about things we will not do. one of those is we will not go back on the fundamental principles that we have, and that we

are committed to defend. and one of thoseis are committed to defend. and one of those is nato's open door, and others include, as i have said in recent days and weeks, our commitment to the principle that one nation cannot simply violate and change the border of another country by force, that cannot propose to dictate to another country its choices, its policies, and that it cannot exert a sphere of influence that would subjugate its neighbours to its will. we are not going to put any of those principles in question. and i think russia understands that very well. again, based on the conversations we have had, extensive conversations we have had, extensive conversations over the past week and today he is in geneva, i think there are grounds to address some of the mutual concerns that we have about

security. we will see if that bears out. meanwhile we will continue to prepare resolutely both a path that we have laid out, the path of diplomacy and dialogue, or the path of renewed aggression, conversation and consequences. question about iran. fin and consequences. question about iran. ., ., question about iran. on iran, i have to say that— question about iran. on iran, i have to say that russia _ question about iran. on iran, i have to say that russia shares _ question about iran. on iran, i have to say that russia shares our- question about iran. on iran, i have to say that russia shares our sense | to say that russia shares our sense of urgency, the need to see if they will come back into mutual compliance in the weeks ahead. we hope that russia will use the influence that it has in relationship with iran to press upon iran that sense of urgency, and equally, that if we are not able to do that because iran refuses to

undertake the obligations that are necessary, that we will pursue a different path in dealing with the danger posed by iran's renewed nuclear programme, a programme that has been put in a box by the agreement that we had reached in the past, and then unfortunately has now escaped from that box as a result of as pulling out of the agreements, and iran restarting its dangerous programme. us secretary of state, antony blinken, describing his talks with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov, over ukraine, as not a negotiation but a candid exchange of concerns and ideas. he said if any russian forces move across the border with ukraine they would be met with a swift response, but he

said on the security concerns that russia had raised, the us was prepared to address in a spirit of reciprocity, and the expected russia to do the same. he said there were some areas, including transparency, reducing risk, arms—control. that is it from me for today. in a couple of minutes, bbc news at one. for now, goodbye.

moscow says it has no plans to attack, despite its military presence on the country's border. the us says it will stand with ukraine. if any russian military forces move across ukraine's border, that is a renewed innovation. it will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the united states and our partners and allies. we'll have the latest on those developments from geneva. also this lunchtime... a "shameful shambles" — a damning report from mps looking at shortfalls in state pension payments to more than 100,000 women.

is this untreated sewage being discharged into a river?