this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a former ukrainian mp linked by britain to an alleged russian plot to take control of ukraine says his country needs new political leaders. ukraine's ambassador to britain urges allies to stand with them. that's our message to all international parties — if you'd like to help us, if you can find the nerve and the spine to help us, we are there. we are fighting anyways. former british conservative minister nusrat ghani says she was sacked from herjob because of her muslim faith. the government chief whip says that's false. the taliban meet civil society groups and women's rights activists in norway as they seek access to billions of dollars frozen in us banks.

tonga's government warns there's a long road to recovery, eight days since it was devastated by a volcanic eruption and tsunami. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. i'm shaun ley and we begin this half hour with events in ukraine. a former ukrainian mp linked by britain to an alleged russian plot to take control of ukraine has said his country needs new political leaders. not yearning for the past. yevhen murayev urged people to stop dividing ukrainians into pro—russian and pro—western camps, saying the time

of politicians who took such stances was over. but he dismissed the british allegation that russia was planning to install him as leader after a possible invasion of ukraine. an adviser to the ukrainian president said the british allegation needed to be taken seriously, but disparaged the status of mr murayev within the country's political scene. meanwhile, the us secretary of state has said it's too soon to impose sanctions against russia. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. american weapons arriving in ukraine — 90 tonnes of what washington calls lethal aid. others including britain also sending supplies. hardly enough to defeat an invading russian army, but the message to moscow is clear. "if you do this, it will come at a price." but now, the foreign office says it's seeing signs of a russian plan to install a puppet government in kyiv after an invasion. washington made similar claims on thursday. pro—russian politicians, they say, in contact with russian

intelligence officers involved in planning an attack. it's totally unacceptable, contrary to international law. the international community as a whole needs to step up to the plate. so, one of the things you're seeing, and the foreign secretary, i think, is doing a very good job of this, is making it clear what's at stake, so other countries come and support. the reality is... but is that what you are expecting to happen? an invasion? i think there's a very significant risk of it. the foreign office says this man, former mp yevhen murayev, is being considered as a future leader by the kremlin. he's denied it. four others named are thought to be in moscow. it's not clear what, if any, role they could realistically play. the foreign office has released very few details. the kremlin says it's all propaganda. but russia's build—up goes on. fighterjets now flying to locations in belarus, north of ukraine. moscow says they'll be carrying outjoint drills. but diplomacy also continues. friday's meeting in geneva settled nothing,

but the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has promised a written reply within days to russia's expansive demands. further talks could follow. british ministers are expected to travel to european capitals in the coming days. the defence secretary, ben wallace, likely to visit moscow. downing street says it plans to ramp up pressure on russia. sanctions being discussed among allies, the government says, would pierce the heart of the russian economy. paul adams, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to ukrainian ambassador to the uk, vadym prystaiko. frankly, i believe that actually, it's good progress over the 30 years. you have been here and this island has been established as a nation for much more than us and still not all people know what we are, and it's getting there, the same to our russian neighbours mostly. yes, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. i mean, the serious point is that russia occupied and annexed crimea,

you still insist crimea is part of ukraine. there are parts of ukraine that are not under the control of the government of kyiv. do you feel that these latest threats are just a continuation of something that ukrainians have been living with now for the best part of a decade? absolutely. i do believe that when these peaceful wars happened 30 plus years ago and all of us we decided to go our different paths peacefully, deciding to find a better place, it doesn't mean we have to fight each other but look at what happened with belarus, with kazakhstan, now ukraine is the biggest chunk and the most important part in this puzzle. yours is an enormous country. there are those who say it just isn't credible ever for russia to invade ukraine, and ukraine knows that and russia know that, that this is about achieving certain political objectives that will never result in an actual land invasion. i believe putin sees himself in the history books, but the question is what he wants to see written there.

that he united the soviet union back? which he believed was the global geopolitical catastrophy when it collapsed. we believe that he can be somebody who would probably find peace with the russians themselves, and will take care of russians because they have to be taken better care of better than they are now. let me ask you in terms of the possible military threat. you clearly regard it as credible. the americans have said they think they will be some kind of incursion, they don't know how much, the british have said much the same, and yet neither the british, nor the americans, nor any other western european country, has promised to send its own troops to help ukraine if ukraine is attacked. isn't that a mistake? i believe they are working on the presumption that putin will stop at some particular point, he is just raising the stakes. again, i do understand how sensitive people are here to be sending people anywhere as soldiers, and believe me ukrainians also wouldn't like to send their children into war. the problem is that some

are reminding us, hey, you are not members of nato, in a poke and nudge each and every second. this is not helping for sure, so uk's position, and united states�* position, some are like neighbours to us, this position is important, guys. realise your strengths. we will help you, but everyone is trying to stay away from even thinking of sending soldiers into battles. you the uk conservative mp nus ghani, who was sacked as transport minister two years ago, says she was told that her muslim faith was one of the reasons for her dismissal. she also says that when she told borisjohnson what happened, he told her he couldn't get involved. the conservative chief whip, mark spencer, says ms ghani had been speaking to him when she was sacked, and he's called her allegations "completely false." downing street says the prime minister had invited her to make a complaint,

but she didn't do so. here's our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. on the eve of a crucial week for him, this is a new dispute borisjohnson has been drawn into. what are you hoping to hear today? nus ghani is now a senior backbencher and was the first senior muslim women to speak in the commons — a moment she described woman minister to speak in the commons — a moment she described as importance and she has continued to speak out against the islamic state group and the tally man. group and the taliban. as a muslim woman, i will stand with people of all faiths who go against this ideology, their rhetoric and their actions. she told the sunday times when asked in 2020 for when asked in 2020 for an explanation from party whips, which is why she had lost in a uncomfortable, and if she persisted in raising the issue she would be ostracised by colleagues and her career and reputation destroyed. the chief whip, mark spencer, last night took the unusual step of outing

himself as the person who talked to her, and said that these accusations are completely false. adding... someone was trying to bully her. if she what she is saying is true. you have two scenarios, maintaining that she is the education secretary said miss ghani was a brilliant mp and there was no place for any form of racism in the conservative party and the health secretary, sajid javid, today said... he called for an investigation into the party three years ago and found that anti—muslim sentiment was a problem, but islamophobia was not institutional.

it didn't refer to ms ghani's claims. i believe at times like this, it shouldn't happen, and makes the complaint formally, that is when procedures formally, that's when procedures and makes the complaint formally. that's when procedures kick in and to be clear about this, that advice was given to nus back in 2020. now downing street has stepped in to say borisjohnson met ms ghani at the time and invited her to begin a formal complaint process about her extremely serious claim but she did not, and the party does not tolerate prejudice of any kind. but she has fired back, saying she made clear an internal party investigation was not appropriate and this was government business and all she wants is for the government to investigate properly. so, as borisjohnson waits for the results on a vote in the party that could decide his fate, he's now under pressure to launch another.

damian grammaticas, bbc news. four teenagers are under arrest in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 16—year—old boy in manchester. kennie carter was found injured shortly before seven o'clock last night in stretford, but died despite treatment in hospital. a 22—year—old thai man has been charged with the murder of a british man in western thailand, according to local officials. thai police say 49—year—old marcus evans died after being attacked in kanchanaburi in the early hours of saturday. the foreign office says another briton was injured and is being treated in hospital. a 75—year—old frenchman who was trying to row across the atlantic ocean has been found dead at sea. jean—jacques savin had previously made the crossing in a large barrel in 2019. the adventurer had triggered two distress beacons on thursday night. three days of talks on the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan have opened in norway, with taliban representatives holding discussions with civil society groups and women's rights activists. western envoys are expected to emphasise the need for a more inclusive taliban government

and human rights. our south asian editor, anbarasan ethirajan, told us more about what is expected from the discussions. it's the first meeting of its kind for the taliban, they are coming to europe for the first time after they seized power in kabul last august, and for the last five months, they have been running the show there. now, the west wants to engage with the taliban. you may remember the taliban has not been recognised by the world community yet and giving aid to a country where the government is not recognised, and many of these taliban ministers, they are on the un sanctions list, so it is a complicated process to give aid to afghanistan. at the same time, after the war ended, there are millions of people waiting for food aid and almost all activity has come to a standstill in afghanistan and people are running short of food and there is a shortage of currency, so that is why the west wants so that's why the west wants

to send aid into afghanistan but they want to engage with the taliban, and that's why they have invited them to oslo for these three—day talks. at the same time, they do not want to give moneyjust like that. they want the taliban to respect what they had promised earlier, for example you know, opening schools, reopening schools for teenage girls and also allowing women in employment in other sectors and also respecting human rights. so, they want to emphasise these things for the taliban when they talk — that is on monday and tuesday. on the first day, the afghan women activists and civil society activists, they are having these face—to—face talks and then they are finding out what the taliban can offer. the government of tonga says it's facing a long programme of rebuilding and reconstruction, just over a week after it was devastated by a volcanic eruption and a tsunami. foreign aid is arriving, but strict coronavirus—prevention rules are hampering humanitarian efforts, as the local authorities try to keep the virus out of the country. tonga is made up of a group of islands in the south pacific.

entire villages were destroyed in the tsunami and some are still without basic necessities, like clean water. much of the relief effort for tonga is being coordinated in neighbouring fiji, from where our correspondent shaimaa khalil reports. aid has arrived in tonga, and a lot of it is being coordinated from here in fiji. countries like australia, new zealand, japan and britain have sent everything from water supplies to shelter kits, generator, even sweeping machines as well. the concern now is that this is going to be a slow process. getting aid and distributing it to people who need it the most is very, very tricky on any occasion — add the fear of a covid—i9 outbreak to that equation and you see how complex this is. the tongan government has insisted that the aid should be contactless. theyjust do not want a covid—i9 case in the country. they don't want to be dealing with a covid—i9 outbreak as they're dealing with

the devastation, which means that supplies are there on the ground, but aid workers are not. so, essentially, it's up to people in tonga to distribute that aid, whether it be volunteers or other aid workers inside the country. the concern now is how fast the aid is going to get to people and how far it can get, especially to far—flung places. there are also, of course, health concerns, the quality of the air, the quality of the water. they have been compromised by the ash in the atmosphere, not just the thick ash that you see, the fine particles that could be inhaled and can cause respiratory diseases. there are high levels of sulphur in the water, and these also can cause waterborne diseases. so, apart from the aid distribution, the physical destruction all around tonga, there are also also the health risks. and un officials have said that the country, the pacific nation, will rely on food aid for a long

time to come because the crops have been destroyed, farmers have lost their livelihoods, they've lost their homes. and one of the tongan officials have also said that the road to recovery for this pacific nation is going to be long and hard. so, in the days to come, as this destruction reveals itself, as the extent of it becomes clearer, the challenges facing tonga are also being revealed. shaimaa khalil reporting on the situation in tonga. heavy fighting is taking place in north—eastern syria between islamic state militants and kurdish forces backed by us war planes. the fighting began on thursday when the extremists attacked a prison in the city of hasaka, and attempted to free thousands of is prisoners, as mark lobel reports. scenes syrians never wanted to see again. jihadists attacking a prison containing thousands of militants on thursday.

there was a swift and determined fight back by kurdish—led forces guarding the area. taking on islamic state fighters in one of the group's biggest operations since their self—declared caliphate was defeated almost three years ago. from above, us—led coalition aircraft supported the syrian defense forces. many prisoners were recaptured with troops in pursuit of other fugitives that had fled to surrounding houses. families moved to safety in fear of their lives. translation: there's been shelling and killing since yesterday. - the jihadists killed four orfive people in our neighborhood, liquidated them. while this was playing out, across the border in iraq, is claimed responsibility for an ambush on a military post there in which 11 soldiers were killed. in syria, it's claimed the prison

is largely under control. however, is claim they're holding hostages. the kurdish authorities had long warned that they did not have the capacity to hold, let alone put on trial, many of the suspected fighters under their watch. there's also concern that this much—feared jihadist group is ramping up once again. mark lobel, bbc news. unrest is spreading in burkina faso, where protesters have attacked the headquarters of the ruling party following a mutiny by troops. there's been heavy gunfire at several army barracks, including two in the country's capital city, waggadoogoo. gunfire has also been reported at two military bases in the north. some mutinous troops are demanding more support for their campaign against an islamist insurgency, which is spreading across the country, and for the military leaders to be replaced. the government has acknowledged the shooting, but says the military are not

trying to seize power, and it's denying claims the president has been detained. here's burkina faso's defence minister. across our city, and this situation is at present translation: early this morning, shots were fired across our city, and this situation is at present being investigated so we can determine the true reasons for those shots which were heard. i deny any claims that the head of state was arrested. they were not. riot police in belgium have used water cannon and tear gas to disperse a group of protesters in brussels, after a demonstration against covid restrictions turned violent. officers had been pelted with rocks and pieces of pavement. the entrance to the offices of the european union's diplomatic service was damaged. earlier, a much larger crowd had marched peacefully, holding placards condemning what they called vaccine dictatorship. new zealand's prime minister has cancelled her own wedding after placing the country

on the highest level of covid—i9 restrictions. nine cases of the omicron variant have been detected, and under new restrictions, gatherings will be limited to 100 fully vaccinated people. here's jacinda ardern speaking earlier. my wedding will not be going ahead, but ijustjoin many other new zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic and to anyone who's caught up in that scenario. i'm so sorry, but you are, we are all so resilient, and i know we understand that we're doing this for one another, and i know that will help us continue on. let me move on. i think we may be on the wrong story. forgive me for that.

meanwhile let's have a look at the latest coronavirus data for the uk. almost 75,000 new infections have been recorded in the latest 24—hour period. there were 75 further deaths reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive test. on vaccinations, almost 69,000 jabs were given yesterday, with a little over 64 % of all over 12s now having had a booster or three doses of a coronavirus vaccine. health departments in the uk are devolved between the different countries meaning different restrictions in each. and earlier today the first minister of wales, mark drakeford, said he would't rule out recruiting nhs workers from england, who leave theirjobs due to england's mandatory vaccination policy. vaccines are not compulsory for nhs staff in wales. speaking to radio 4's broadcasting house programme, mr drakeford said a "vast majority" of care sector staff had also taken the "protections that vaccination offers". we are not going to make vaccinations mandatory in our nhs, we haven't in our social care services, because we have succeeded

by persuasion in getting the vast majority of people who work in our services to do the right thing and to take up the protections that vaccination offers. so, will you recruit actively in england? no, i do not expect us to go looking for people who have not been vaccinated, but if people apply, then they will be interviewed in the normal way. we would look to see what lay behind their decision, we would not rule them out but we certainly would not be going out there looking for them. them out, but we certainly would not be going out there looking for them. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said the impact of covid restrictions on business and hospitality there have been "worth it." she was speaking to my colleague sophie raworth this morning. is scotland in a better position now than we were previously, and are we in a better position than we would have been without these restrictions? now, it is always difficult in any country to absolutely prove cause and effect in

the handling of a virus. but if you look at what we were predicting through our modelling would be the case injanuary before christmas, what we were on track for — it was around 50,000 infections a day and we didn't see that materialise, or anything like that materialise. and i think that was a combination of the acceleration of the booster campaign. scotland is the most vaccinated part of the uk in terms of first, second, third and booster doses _ these sensible, balanced, protective measures we introduced before christmas, and lastly, perhaps most importantly, the magnificent responsible response of the public. they changed their behaviour in the face of omicron in order to try to stem transmissions. so, yes, i think what we did has been worth it and we are hopefully now seeing scotland, as other parts of the uk, very firmly on the downward slope of that omicron wave. nicola sturgeon. brothers from nepal

who are among the country's most renowned sherpa guides have returned home after becoming the first nepali team to reach the south pole. it's part of a broader quest known as the "explorers' grand slam". tanya dendrinos explains what exactly the ambitious pursuit entails. battling the elements. it's so cold. there's so much wind here. three brothers approaching the summit of mount vincent, the highest peak in antarctica. hey, guys, we are three brothers, we are first time been to the vincent and we reached the summit today. wejust came back from south pole. we are the first brothers, i think, who did the south pole and vincent together. the trio marks the first nepali team to reach the south pole. it's part of their quest to conquer the explorers grand slam, a challenge that involves reaching the south and north poles,

along with the highest mountain peaks in each of the seven continents. they hope to complete it within a year. translation: once we do this, | there is nothing more adventurous left to do. it's like getting a masters degree. it's an ambitious task, but these mountaineers are no strangers to a tall order. nima and dawa chnang hold the world record for being the first siblings to climb all 14 mountains above 8,000 metres. while tashi sherpa was the youngest person to climb everest without the use of supplementary oxygen. we are very good team here. five nepalese and one, our sister, from qatar. | hand—in—hand with the records is recognition these siblings are part of an elite group ensuring nepali mountaineers escape from the shadows of foreign climbers, carving a place in history in their own right. tanya dendrinos, bbc news.

quite a challenge. very impressive record. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello. it has been a very dry january so far weather—wise, with most parts of the uk only having seen around half of the rainfall they'd normally have expected by this point in the month. —— ben rich. this area of high pressure has kept things dry for most of us during this weekend, but it has also trapped a lot of cloud underneath it. this is the earlier satellite picture. you can see the extent of the cloud, only limited bright or sunny spells, but where we do stick with that cloud as we head through this evening and tonight, it will at least hold the temperatures up. if there are clear spells, say, through parts of wales, the midlands, up into northern england, northern ireland, southern scotland, temperatures could drop away maybe low enough for a touch of frost in a few places, and there could be some fog patches around as well. by the end of the night, we see

a band of rain starting to push into the far north of scotland, but this will be quite a week affair, this weather system, and it won't make much progress southwards as we go through the day tomorrow. for most of us tomorrow, it is another largely dry but rather cloudy day. best chance of sunshine through parts of north wales, the north midlands, northern england, northern ireland, southern and eastern scotland, and may be late in the day across the far southeast of england. stuck under the cloud through parts of the midlands, maybe only 4 or 5 degrees. a bit milderfurther north — 9 or 10 for parts of scotland. now, that weather front will tend to get the life squeezed out of it through monday night into tuesday as our area of high pressure builds back into the picture. so, really, we're back to square one on tuesday — there could be some fog patches around as well. this westerly flow will feed some spots of light rain and drizzle into some western parts of scotland. temperatures at 4 degrees for birmingham, maybe 8 or 9 in parts of western scotland. now, as we head through tuesday

night into wednesday, we will see another weather system approaching, and this one is likely to have a bit more life about it. so, the potentialfor some heavier rain, but really only affecting parts of scotland. some of that perhaps into northern ireland and the far north of england, but further south, it is largely dry. still quite a lot of cloud, some spells of sunshine, but temperatures a little higher by this stage. it will feel milder — 9—ii degrees in many places. and we will see some milder weather as we head towards the end of the week, a little bit of sunshine around on thursday, more cloud on friday, and it stays dry for most of us.

hello, this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines: a former ukrainian mp linked

by britain to an alleged russian plot to take control of ukraine says his country needs new political leaders. ukraine's ambassador to britain urges allies to stand with them. a former british conservative party government minister, nusrat ghani, says she was sacked from herjob because in part of her muslim faith. the government chief whip says the claims are false. the taliban meet civil society groups and women's rights activists in norway in an attempt to access to billions of dollars frozen in us banks. and tonga's government warns there's a long road to recovery, eight days since it was devastated by a volcanic eruption and tsunami. lewis will be here from the top of the hour keeping you company in the evening. the papers at 10:30pm and