this is bbc news. our top stories: the us puts thousands of troops on standby for deployment as russia's military activity continues near ukraine's border. at least eight people die in a crush outside a football stadium in cameroon as thousands gathered to watch an african cup of nations match. the incident took place at a perimeter gate where spectators were pushed against the fences by the sheer numbers of those trying to get in. another party hangover for borisjohnson — downing street admits holding birthday events for the pm during lockdown, but denies breaking any rules. so exciting! really? yeah! and taking the temperature in beijing: what's it like to host

the winter olympics amid some of the world's toughest covid restrictions? welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. washington has placed more than 8,000 us—based troops on a heightened state of alert as part of its readiness to respond if russia should carry out any assault on ukraine. a pentagon spokesman said that if deployed, the troops would be sent to bolster nato�*s presence in eastern europe. president biden has been holding talks with key european allies over a common strategy towards russia over ukraine. moscow denies planning to invade, but it has amassed more than a hundred thousand troops close to the ukrainian border. 0ur correspondent gabriel gatehouse sent this report from

the ukrainian capital, kyiv. bell tolls this is a country in limbo, waiting for an invasion that looks more likely with every passing day, but may yet never come. to the east, 100,000 russian troops are massed, but the kremlin says talk of an invasion is hysteria. facing them are ukrainian soldiers who hear western leaders sounding the alarm in ever starker tones. and stuck in between are the people of kyiv who, frankly, don't know what to believe. i think something might happen. i think the probability is very high, but god knows. i think even putin doesn't know yet what kind of decision he's going to take, so... but the situation is horrible. at the weekend, britain warned that russia was planning a coup to install a little—known, former mp as puppet ruler,

suggestions that have been widely dismissed both in moscow and here in kyiv. the uk began pulling staff out of its embassy today, saying an invasion could come at any time. the americans are doing the same. a senior ukrainian politician told the bbc today such actions are not helpful. translation: if people start panicking, - that leaves our country in a very dangerous position. and it will make it easier for russia to manipulate us. the reality is, of course, that this country is already at war and has been since 2014, when russia annexed crimea and funded and provided weapons and sent in troops to support a separatist rebellion in the east. around 1a,000 ukrainians have already died in that conflict. these are some of their faces. and so for people here, the question is not,

"will there be war?" but "will this war escalate?" for months now, the ukrainians have been preparing a territorial defence force. volunteers like marta yuzkiv, a doctor in her 50s, is among those who are training for a possible defence of kyiv. of course i am worried. because i'm a peaceful woman, i don't want to have a war started, but in any case, in case it starts, i should be ready to defend the country. meanwhile, a kind of normal life continues as the people of this country wait nervously to see what fate and larger geopolitical forces have in store. gabriel gatehouse, bbc news, kyiv. i spoke to michael 0'hanlon who's a senior fellow at the brookings institution,

and asked whether the recent moves made by the us and its allies are helping to diffuse or highten tension with russia over ukraine. i think what it does is it reaffirms all of our commitment to existing nato allies, but as you well know, ukraine is not one of them. so these american troops and other nato troops would go to the baltic states and poland to make sure that whatever happens in ukraine doesn't spill over into nato member state territory. that's all well and good, but it doesn't really address the question of russia and ukraine. so that question remains entirely unresolved. yeah, and we are in this sort of day—by—day anxious wait to see where this is going to go. what about the slightly bigger picture? because that's where we're going to have to consider the situation eventually, aren't we? what is ukraine's relationship to russia and to nato? where does it fit? right, and this is where i really think we need to get back to first principles and rethink the situation

that we're in because putin is abominable in all of his tactics, but the fundamental idea that ukraine should be in nato, i think, is a nonstarter. it doesn't make sense. we need a different kind of security arrangement and architecture for ukraine, georgia, moldova and these parts of eastern europe that does not require nato membership. it's inevitable, even though it's regrettable, it's inevitable that russians are going to find this offensive, if we try to move an organisation set up to defeat a soviet threat that no longer exists into their core territorial reign. sorry to interrupt you, michael — what chance do you think of getting to that hurdle, that sort of place you are talking about, when it was only just a few years ago ukraine was on the verge of beginning a route towards eu membership and, ultimately, possibly nato membership, and now you are saying actually that simply shouldn't be even a distant prospect?

yeah, we're in a bad place because i hate to make this argument when vladimir putin is on my side, it's not the right moment. you don't want to concede to a russian dictator who is bullying his neighbours, but it doesn't really make sense for an alliance that was created to defeat a soviet threat that no longer exist, to expand all the way so close to russia. i've never thought it made sense. the question is — how do we change the conversation? i think we're going to have to tough with russia in the short term, we're going to have to threaten various kind of additional sanctions if they move into ukraine. we're going to have to reaffirm and consolidate and strengthen our deterrent against russian aggression against the baltics, but then we have to figure out a quiet way to open a new dialogue and get more strategically creative about the future of these countries. we were talking yesterday with anticipation about the upcoming match in the african cup of naitons between tiny comoros and the might of cameroon for a place in the quarterfinals. unfortunately, the match itself

was overshadowed by news from outside the stadium in yaounde before kick—off. at least eight people were killed in a stampede there with many more injured. the crush happened when fans tried to join those inside by rushing through the stadium gates. the confederation of african football, which organises the tournament, released this statement to say it was investigating the situation and trying to get more details about what had happened. it went on to say that caf's general secretary, veron mosengo—0mba, was sent to visit injured supporters in hospital. in the game itself, which was watched by thousands of fans outside, as well as inside the ground, cameroon progressed to the quarterfinals beating comoros 2—1. 0ur sports reporter piers edwards was commentating on the game and so was inside the stadium, but gave us this update.

a 14—year—old was among the eight victims who died in a crush outside yaounde�*s 0lembe stadium ahead of cameroon�*s crunch africa cup of nations clash with comoros. the incident occurred as fans tried to force their way in roughly half—an—hour before kick—off. the incident took place at a perimeter gate where spectators were pushed against the fenxes by the sheer —— fences by the sheer number of those trying to get in. shoes and clothing were amongst the debris that littered the site. some 50 wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital where there were harrowing scenes of those mourning their love ones. a nurse there has told reporters that some of the wounded will need to be taken to more specialised hospitals. cameroon, which is hosting africa's greatest sporting event for the first time in half a century, has been beset by organisational problems in its staging of these finals. they should have first been played in 2019 only for late preparations to cause the delay. african football's ruling body, caf, has sent a delegation to visit victims in hospital. now, games here should

have a limit and a maximum capacity of 80% for matches involving the host nation, cameroon, but there appeared to be more than that number inside the 0lembe stadium during a victory which was ultimately overshadowed by tragedy. piers edwards, bbc news, 0lembe stadium, yaounde. it's emerged there was a gathering of people in downing street injune 2020 to mark borisjohnson�*s birthday. number 10 has admitted the event took place, but said it was brief, with the british prime minister attending for less than ten minutes. the opposition labour party said it demonstrated how the uk government was now "spending its whole time mopping up sleaze" and it underlined the need for mrjohnson to resign. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. what politicians want to talk about is not always the same as what the public and their fellow politicians want to know. how many times do you have to jab? "jabs, jabs, jabs," boris johnson's mantra.

but this morning, was he sure there would be no other damaging claims about what went on in number 10 before the official report by sue gray? can you guarantee that no more embarrassing allegations about alleged breaches of lockdown within downing street will come out before that report is published? what i can guarantee is that this government is focused 100% on dealing with the big problems that we have. # happy birthday. ..# there was no guarantee, and there was more to come. borisjohnson�*s playground birthday greetings injune 2020 were not the only ones he received. well, what a wonderful way to spend my birthday! a couple of hours later, the prime minister was here. a source who was present told us as many as 30 of his staff were drawn together in the cabinet room. his wife carrie brought a cake with the number 10 flat interior designer

briefly in tow. there was picnic food and chatter for around half an hour. number 10 doesn't deny the event took place and says: for the man who wants to sit in the prime minister's chair, it's more of a reason for him to go. we've got a prime minister who believes that the rules that he made don't apply to him. we can't afford to go on with this chaotic, rudderless government. the prime minister is a national distraction, and he's got to go. number 10's denied there was also a birthday bash in the flat that night, although mrjohnson did see a small number of his family in the garden. but these new claims come just as the tory party is trying to make up its mind over whether the prime minister should stay or go. the question he should be asking himself every morning is — is me staying

in office allowing me to run this office in a way that is making the country better? or am i a distraction? how, then, do ministers defend what happened — a gathering inside of around 30 people on borisjohnson�*s birthday when, at the time, any social gatherings inside were strictly banned? i think some of these allegations have got a little bit out of hand. i mean, what really happened here is a group of staff, small group of staff, who had been working closely with the prime minister brought in a birthday cake at the end of the day and there was ten minutes there sharing a piece of cake. i don't think that really constitutes a party in a way that some of the other more serious allegations that are being investigated maybe do. number 10's claim that all guidelines were followed at all times feels a lifetime ago. as the allegations have piled up, so the defence has shifted. and the danger to the prime minister moves closer still.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: 1.5 million kilometres later, the james webb telescope reaches its vantage point in space. we will have more on that. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman schoolteacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word 'revolution'. the earthquake - singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. _ tonight, the search for any survivors. has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. i the new government is firmly in control

of the entire republic of uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of their liberation. they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria and relived their horrifying experiences. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: the us puts thousands of troops on standby for deployment, as russia's military activity continues near ukraine's border. at least eight people die in a crush outside a football stadium in cameroon, as thousands gathered to watch an african cup of nations match. the army in burkina faso says it has seized power. speaking on state television, a military spokesman said that president rock kabo—ray had been ousted, and the government

president roch kabore had been ousted, and the government and national assembly dissolved. the un secretary—general has condemned the takeover and urged soldiers not to harm those held during the coup. the government of burkina faso, which actually stands for land of the honest men, had become increasingly unpopular for its alleged failure to deal with corruption and an islamist insurgency. the bbc�*s senior africa correspondent anne soy reports. all is not well in 0uagadougou. protests have been growing. over the weekend, tensions boiled over — a mutiny in the barracks, then confirmation of a coup. translation: the movement, which brings together _ all the components of the defence and security forces, has decided to put an end to the power of mr roch marc christian kabore today, the 24th of january 2022. this is a decision taken with the sole aim of enabling our country to get back on track and to gather all its forces

in order to fight for its territorial integrity, its recovery and its sovereignty. there has been support from the streets. civilians have been unhappy as well. insecurity in the country is growing. translation: our hearts are with the army, - all the people. all burkinabes are with the army. insecurity, bad governments — we are fed up, we are fed up. and we want it to end. we want it to end. translation: nothing is going well. _ we expected a lot from president roch, and he has only disappointed with more new appointments, always with a new government, but he was the real problem. but previous attempts to make their voice heard were met with this, deepening frustrations with the government. president roch kabore came to power in 2015 and was reelected in 2020. growing extremism has

beset his entire presidency. islamists linked to al-qaeda and isis expanded into the country from neighbouring mali. after years of fighting jihadism, local forces want more resources. they mutinied over the weekend to demand for change in the leadership of the military. shots were fired overnight around the president's residence. this vehicle belonged to the presidential fleet, and now they're holding him in what they say is a safe location. but on the streets of the capital, the mood was celebratory. civilians came out to show their support for the disgruntled soldiers. they blame the deposed president for failing to defeat militants. anne soy, bbc news. 30 days after it was launched, the james webb telescope has arrived at its final position in space.

the $10 billion observatory has been parked a million miles from earth. engineers will spend the next five months getting it ready to take images of the first stars to shine in the cosmos. i asked dr ken kremer, research scientist and space journalist, why it needs to be precisely where it is. it needs to be there so we can operate. 1.5 million kilometres from earth and it needs to be far away so that it can be cooled because the instruments that operate the infrared spectrum need to be extremely cold, about a0 degrees above absolute zero and it can only do that when they are out there at that low branch point, that stable point so can stay there and operate for many years using a minimum amount of fuel. it blocks the sun and, for the most part, a little bit of sunlight to get through to the solar panel but most of it is blocked and that way you can keep extremely cold

because that is the only where the instruments can operate. i am sure you are dying for that to start but i presume it takes a while, nonetheless before they can actually put the telescope into operation, as it were. it does. i saw the telescope myself five years ago when they were building it with the mirrors installed but those mirrors are not functioning as one unit right now they all need to be aligned. they were just released from launch locks and moved about half an inch and now they will spend a few months, about three months, aligning them and then it will take another one and a half or two months to get the instruments operating. altogether we have about five months until we see those first images but the dramatic part, the launch on christmas, getting it unfolded like origami, that is all done now and it is in its parking orbit. most of the risk is done.

we are seeing the pictures you had of it in its state two or three years ago so we have an idea of what it looks like. in a nutshell then, can you explain what is the challenge now for this telescope? what does it need to do? what it will do is look back almost to the beginning of time, almost to the big bang within 200 million years of the big bang. we will be able to see how the first stars and galaxies formed. we don't know because hubble cannot go that far back. the other thing we will be able to do is look at x0 planets, planets beyond our solar system and we will basically be able to search for life and look at their composition and look at their atmosphere and see if they had oxygen or water and, if they do, maybe we could find another earth. and that is basically what we want to do. we also want to look within our solar system at moons like europa where there are geysers of water, maybe, if there are certain spots where there

could be life within our solar system, notjust mars but some of the moons ofjupiter and saturn and elsewhere. the organisers of the beijing winter olympics, which begin in ten days time, say 15 new covid cases have been confirmed among games—related personnel in the last day — the organisers of the australian open appear to have overturned the ban on t—shirts showing support for the chinese tennis player punctuate. staff last week asked spectators to remove t—shirt saying "where is punctuate", but australian open ceo craig tiley now says it is fine, provided fans are peaceful. the tennis status disappeared for several weeks after choosing senior —— accusing senior chinese government official of sexual assault in november, but has not been seen in public since december 19. the organisers of the beijing winter olympics, which begin

in ten days time, say 15 new covid cases have been confirmed among games—related personnel in the last day — 12 of them, new arrivals. already officials have imposed a strict olympic bubble isolation system to control the spread of the omicron variant in particular, and decided not to sell tickets to the public. china correspondent stephen mcdonell asked the skating enthusiasts of the host city how they felt about this. screaming. the olympics is expected to produce a boom in winter sports here, sports which in the past haven't really involved

mass participation. ice skating, though, is something of an exception. there have been scenes like this in cities across the north of china for quite a while now. really?

you can see there are plenty of people enjoying themselves today. everyone we've spoken to says they're really looking forward to the olympics, and that they have faith that officials can still control the coronavirus. however, we are yet to see the omicron variant really take off here, so that could change.

they will certainly be hoping they can count those days down to the start of the game without too many cases in —— emerging. hello. tuesday promises more of the weather we've been so used to lately — largely dry, but often cloudy. the satellite picture shows this pale grey colour here — that's the sheet of low cloud that's been with many of us for the last few days. this bright white cloud out towards the west is the first sign of the frontal systems that will eventually get things moving and bring about something of a change. but for tuesday morning, most places starting off grey and cloudy, some mist and fog patches, too. the fog should tend to lift as the day wears on, as the breeze picks up a little. best chance of sunshine perhaps for north east wales, the west midlands, north east england, but more especially for northern ireland, for southern and eastern scotland, where the breeze really will be

picking up, turning that cloud over and breaking it up. some spots of rain into northwest scotland. temperatures ranging from just 3—4 celsius in parts of eastern england, to maybe 8—9 in western scotland and northern ireland. now as we head through tuesday night, we'll see one band of cloud and a few spots of rain pushing south towards — a very weak weather front. our big area of cloud will start to retreat southwards, so we will see a few more clear breaks developing that could allow temperatures to drop relatively close to freezing — at the same time, there'll be more of a breeze. so i think quite a few places will stay frost—free, there'll be a few pockets of frost here and there. but wednesday morning starts under the influence of this area of high pressure — the high really has been with us for quite a few days now. but a weather system approaching from the northwest will start to get things moving and change things — and certainly, the wind will be strengthening through the day across northern ireland and scotland, gales in exposed northwestern areas later with outbreaks of rain pushing in. much of england and wales dry,

a little more in the way of sunshine and slightly higher temperatures, as well, 8—10 celsius. now as we go through wednesday night and on into thursday, we push this frontal system southwards, we'll see some really strong winds for a time around the far north of scotland. that weatherfront, as it gets into the south, well, not much rain left on it, but maybe a legacy of cloud and drizzle for a time across southwest england and the channel islands. however, for most of us on thursday, we will see quite a lot more in the way of sunshine, a few showers into the north of scotland. temperatures not doing too badly, actually, 7—12 celsius. friday will bring the return of the cloud, pushing in from the west — but it will be quite mild, quite breezy and dry for most.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us has placed more than 8,000 troops on a heightened state of alert — as part of its readiness to respond if russia invades ukraine. a pentagon spokesman said that if deployed, the troops would bolster nato's presence in eastern europe. at least eight people have been killed in a crush at a stadium in cameroon hosting an africa cup of nations football match. dozens of others were injured when fans tried to push through the gates of the 0lembe stadium to see the host nation play comoros. downing street has admitted that staff gathered inside number 10 to celebrate borisjohnson�*s birthday during the uk's first coronavirus lockdown. it's the latest in a long line of party revelations surrounding the pm. an official report into the gatherings is due in the coming days.

now on bbc news, hardtalk.