this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughanjones with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. after days of confusion over when the downing street lockdown "parties" report will be published, sue gray's report is now expected to be delivered without waiting for the police inquiry. the us warns the russian troop build—up near ukraine is the largest since the cold war — as attempts to find a diplomatic solution continue. we don't believe that president putin has made a final decision to use these forces against ukraine. he clearly now has that capability. more doubts emerge about novak djokovic�*s covid status during his attempt to enter australia for the tennis open.

welcome to my... and, the influential online streaming platform, twitch, accused of encouraging, unhealthy practices. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. it's understood the senior british civil servant, sue gray, who's been investigating lockdown parties at downing street, is expected to deliver her final report to borisjohnson shortly. the exact timing however, is still unclear. there had been speculation, that the report might be delayed, because of a metropolitan police request, that the findings make only "minimal reference," to alleged events at number ten, forfear of prejudicing their own investigation. scotland yard says it's now received all the material it's asked forfrom downing street,

for it's inquiry. with the latest, here's our political correspondent, iain watson. which rules could have been broken behind the famous black door during lockdown? a report by the senior civil servant sue gray was expected to provide some answers this week. that was until cressida dick, the country's top police officer, said herforce was launching its own investigation. the metropolitan police had said then it had no objections to sue gray's report being published, but today, they asked for only minimum reference to be made crucially, they asked for only minimal reference to be crucially, they asked for only minimal reference to be made in the cabinet report to events to give detectives the most reliable picture of what happened. to translate, they don't want to see too much in the public domain about the more serious allegations of rule breaking in downing street until they have carried

out their own work. the labour leader said this must be done promptly. i want to see sue gray's report in full and the investigation finished as quickly as possible, because we are in a situation where the whole of government is paralysed. sue gray's task is to set out the full facts behind events such as the bring your own booze drinks in the downing street garden and the apparently raucous leaving dos on the evening of prince philip's funeral. other political leaders at westminster have gone so far as to suggest that the met could be helping out borisjohnson. if it's intervention causes a possibly damaging report to be delayed or deleted. thus the met said they had to wait for the sue gray report. now they say the sue gray report has to wait for the met. so of course people feel this looks like a stitch up. this does look as if it has been a stitch up,

and the only person that benefits from this is borisjohnson. the government are entitled to raise questions about... i these suggestions were met with derision by this government minister. i don't think any prime - minister would suddenly think it was a great idea to be i interviewed by the police. i know people get excited by these strategies, - but this is a sort of trophy- hunting dead lion being slammed on the table, which i think it is hard to say is helpful. i am told sue gray was trying to redraft parts of her report to try to address these concerns. she wanted to avoid redactions, in other words, blanking out whole swathes of text, in case that looked like a whitehall whitewash. but tonight, she seems to face a choice of either delay or delete. and if anything less than her full report emerges, there will be a political outcry. many conservatives will be keen to read that full report, because some of borisjohnson�*s own mps were try to oust him if they don't like what they see.

just look at what the former occupant of number ten said in a letter obtained by the local paper. theresa may stated... some say that the events have descended into farce at the heart of government. but for those directly affected by the tragedy of the pandemic, it's no laughing matter. for the people who are here at the wall every week painting hearts, it's infuriating. it's distressing, and it's really disappointing. tonight, it seems these families as well as the politicians are going to have to wait longer for the full picture of what happened on lockdown to become clear. our uk home affairs correspondent daniel sandford gave more details on the explanations given by the metropolitan police as to why they had requested certain information to be left out of sue gray's report. the met simply felt they had

to get onto the front foot. they have become everybody�*s punchbags. they were obviously heavily criticised for weeks for not carrying out their own investigation into alleged breaches of lockdown in downing street and elsewhere in whitehall and then when the evidence did reach a threshold and they started their investigation and asked that not all information should be put into the public domain, they have been criticised for that. tonight, you have heard that some opposition parties are criticising for being involved in some kind of stitch—up with downing street and they felt they had to defend themselves by saying categorically that they are not responsible for the delay to sue gray's report. they feel that those delays are the result of rows going on elsewhere in whitehall. but they have also said an interesting thing tonight about how they are carrying out their own investigation, and that is all about how they are going to be writing to people who were allegedly at these parties were allegedly, rules were broken, and they will be asking for written replies from people saying whether they had a reasonable excuse for doing

what they were doing and once they have processed that, they will be looking at who should be given these fixed penalty notices, these on the spot fines. there is a sense here that they need to reassure the junior staff involved in downing street and elsewhere in whitehall that they are not going to be dealt with in a disproportionate way. they should have a similar experience to people, for example, who were caught breaching lockdowns in parks in the summer of 2020. thanks to daniel for that update. russia's president, vladimir putin, says the us and it's allies in the nato military alliance, have ignored moscow's main security concerns over eastern europe, with ukraine at the heart of tensions. the commons were made in a phone call with president macron of france, after washington had rejected russian demands that nato rule out ukraine joining the defence alliance. moscow has deployed an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with ukraine, angry that a country once part of the soviet union, is now seeking closer

ties with nato. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kyiv. we can cross to her now. another momentous day in the growing concern of the crisis between russia and ukraine. telephone calls between world leaders in major capitals, growing concern and allegations and counter allegations about what's happening on ukraine's borders with russia. in concerned about what the future will hold. in the midst of all of these statements, emphasising by russia saying they do not want a war. they will not invade ukraine. also statements by those saying if there is military action they will be prepared. in the midst of all of it, an extraordinary rest conference by the

ukrainian president basically saying calm down. expressing concern that all of this talk about an escalating crisis was it self helping to fuel the escalation. we are going to look in this programme at all of these statements. let's start in washington where the secretary of defence was also sending these two parallel messages, that the road for diplomacy was still open, but they were prepared for a conflict if conflict came. let's listen to a bit of what he had to say. it let's listen to a bit of what he had to say.— he had to say. it has progressed - he had to say. it has progressed at - he had to say. it has progressed at a - he had to say. it has - progressed at a consistent and steady — progressed at a consistent and steady pace involving tens of thousands of russian troops. it's being _ thousands of russian troops. it's being supported by increased russian naval activity _ increased russian naval activity in the northern atlantic and the mediterranean sea _ atlantic and the mediterranean sea. while we don't believe that— sea. while we don't believe that president putin has made a final decision to use these forces _ final decision to use these forces against ukraine, he clearly _ forces against ukraine, he clearly now has that capability. there are multiple

options — capability. there are multiple options available to him, including the seizure of cities and significant territories, but — and significant territories, but also _ and significant territories, but also provocative political acts — but also provocative political acts like _ but also provocative political acts like the recognition of breakaway territories. indeed, we are — breakaway territories. indeed, we are seeing russian states military— we are seeing russian states military spout off now about alleged _ military spout off now about alleged activities and eastern ukraine _ alleged activities and eastern ukraine. this is straight out of the — ukraine. this is straight out of the russian playbook. they are not— of the russian playbook. they are not fooling us. we remain focused — are not fooling us. we remain focused on russian disinformation, including the potential creation of pretext for further invasion or strikes on don— for further invasion or strikes on don bosse.— on don bosse. lloyd austin speaking — on don bosse. lloyd austin speaking a _ on don bosse. lloyd austin speaking a short _ on don bosse. lloyd austin speaking a short time - on don bosse. lloyd austin speaking a short time ago i on don bosse. lloyd austin - speaking a short time ago from washington. a very different message earlier today from moscow where the russian foreign minister was speaking to russian media. it was the first response after president biden gave a written response to president putin's demand. it

was seen as the most positive statement of russia's willingness to engage diplomatically with the united states. there was a lot of criticism in it too. here's what he had to say. translation: iii what he had to say. tuna/mom- what he had to say. translation: , , ., translation: if it depends on russia, there _ translation: if it depends on russia, there will _ translation: if it depends on russia, there will be _ translation: if it depends on russia, there will be no - translation: if it depends on russia, there will be no war. i russia, there will be no war. but — russia, there will be no war. but we — russia, there will be no war. but we will not let them ignore russian — but we will not let them ignore russian interests. i cannot say for sure — russian interests. i cannot say for sure if— russian interests. i cannot say for sure if negotiations are over— for sure if negotiations are over now _ for sure if negotiations are over now. as you know, the us and _ over now. as you know, the us and nato — over now. as you know, the us and nato has been studying our simple — and nato has been studying our simple proposals for more than a month — simple proposals for more than a month. only the day before yesterday we received the answer _ yesterday we received the answer is in western style that are a _ answer is in western style that are a trit— answer is in western style that are a bit confusing but rational and minor issues. this is iletter— rational and minor issues. this is better than nothing, but the main _ is better than nothing, but the main thing for us is to deal with— main thing for us is to deal with the _ main thing for us is to deal with the basic concepts of european security. in with the basic concepts of european security.- european security. in the middle of _ european security. in the middle of this _ european security. in the middle of this escalating | european security. in the - middle of this escalating war, for ukrainians for whom this crisis is not new, for than russia already invaded their

country and 2014. they are getting on with their lives. it's for this reason that president zelensky was so concerned today emphasising that all of this talk of an intensifying crisis is having an impact on the ukrainian economy. still, he said ukrainian forces were preparing for an escalation of this crisis. our correspondence has been out with ukrainian forces in western ukraine. somewhere in western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen _ in western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen field _ in western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen field in _ in western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen field in western - in a frozen field in western ukraine, _ in a frozen field in western ukraine, they are preparing for war with — ukraine, they are preparing for war with the help of the british— war with the help of the british military. ukrainian soldiers _ british military. ukrainian soldiers are trying out their latest — soldiers are trying out their latest weapon. it's a shoulder held _ latest weapon. it's a shoulder held anti—tank missile that's been — held anti—tank missile that's been provided by the uk. this is an exercise, but here they know they may have to use

their weapons against real russian tanks in the not too distant future.— distant future. is a big deal when our — distant future. is a big deal when our partners, - distant future. is a big deal when our partners, our - distant future. is a big deal. when our partners, our friends from other countries are doing everything possible to improve our defence capabilities. do our defence capabilities. do you need — our defence capabilities. do you need more? do you want more? ., ~' ., you need more? do you want more? ., ,, ., �*, ., ., more? you know, it's hard to say what _ more? you know, it's hard to say what we _ more? you know, it's hard to say what we need _ more? you know, it's hard to say what we need more - more? you know, it's hard to say what we need more if - more? you know, it's hard to say what we need more if we | more? you know, it's hard to . say what we need more if we are facing the war, for this moment, we at least have something that we make sure that we are capable to defend our countries.— our countries. the brits have had a small— our countries. the brits have had a small military - our countries. the brits have| had a small military presence here since 2015. how many of their are you?— their are you? the training team is ranging _ their are you? the training team is ranging between l their are you? the training - team is ranging between eight to nine. b. team is ranging between eight to nine. �* .., , team is ranging between eight to nine. �* , ., team is ranging between eight to nine. ~ , ., ., to nine. a couple of dozen officers — to nine. a couple of dozen officers in _ to nine. a couple of dozen officers in a _ to nine. a couple of dozen officers in a training - officers in a training capacity. the ukrainians have been fighting russian backed separatists in the east for nearly eight years now. by supplying these anti—tank missiles, the uk is sending a strong signal both about its commitment to ukraine and about

how it assesses the current russian threat. part of this is about training the ukrainian military, of course, and about ukrainian military being ready for any eventuality, but a big part of this also and the reason that we have been invited to fail all of this is because it's about sending a public message. our russia really about to launch a full—scale invasion? the view in washington at the moment is yes, it's likely. mtf, they are playing it down. yes, it's likely. mtf, they are playing it down-— playing it down. you get the impression _ playing it down. you get the impression from _ playing it down. you get the impression from the - playing it down. you get the impression from the medial playing it down. you get the - impression from the media that we are at war. they are soldiers on the streets, mobilisation going on, people running away. we don't need that panic. running away. we don't need that panic-— that panic. there is a lot of posturing _ that panic. there is a lot of posturing going _ that panic. there is a lot of posturing going on - that panic. there is a lot of posturing going on at - that panic. there is a lot of posturing going on at the l posturing going on at the moment. the russian troop build—up on the border, the western response increasingly alarmed and alarming. this is a

peerless geopolitical terrain and ukraine is trying to chart and ukraine is trying to chart a course through it. there may yet be what they call an off ramp, a way of diffusing the crisis. but there is a danger that talk of all at war becomes a self—fulfilling prophecy. ads, a self—fulfilling prophecy. lot of posturing, a lot of signalling and signalling is coming from different directions. from washington, president biden speaking of a distinct possibility that president putin will invade ukraine next month. from russia, a very different signal thing we don't want war, we don't have any intention to invade ukraine. here on the ground and ukraine, ukrainians preparing for the possibility of an escalation of this crisis but very much trying to get on with their daily lives. all the while commit is concerned that evenif while commit is concerned that even if there isn't a full—scale invasion being planned, all of this talk and all of the troop movements

could mean a very accidental and consequential tumbling towards an even greater war. you talked us through so many angles of the story there. just before i let you go i want to touch briefly on the ukrainian president there, zelensky. sending out that message effectively downplaying events there which may come to many observers as a surprise. beautfiy observers as a surprise. beautify guarding more international support would lead to talking up the threats not down the threats. what exactly is going on there? has exactly is going on there? as often as exactly is going on there? is often as he would see in circumstances like this, when you have a leader who needs the support of external allies to perhaps talk up the situation on the ground or to emphasise how critical it is in order to be sure that allies will be there the hour of need. i think president zelensky�*s remarks are very much that this isn't a new crisis for him and indeed for anyone in ukraine. they have been living, we have been

reporting since 2014. they are not worrying about the next russian invasion, because there's already been an invasion in 2014 and dealt with the consequences every sense. perhaps the world has turned the other way, and it's not surprising that there may be some bitterness about that, now suddenly there is a laser focus on what's happening on ukraine's borders and worry about what comes next for the ukrainian president, what comes next may be more of the same. they wouldn't dismiss the idea that there could be more conflict with russia, another russian invasion but he said it is not certain. if you wait, better not to exaggerate what is happening on the ground. thank you for that update from jihad. right, you are watching bbc news. the report into parties held at downing street during lockdown is expected to be delivered to the prime minister shortly. there had been speculation

the report would be delayed. the us has warned that the build—up of russian troops on the ukraine border is the largest since the cold war. earlier, the russian president, vladimir putin, told his french counterpart, emmanuel macron, that he had no plans for an offensive. research from the bbc, has cast doubt on the timing of the positive covid test result, that novak djokovic recently used, to enter australia. it allowed him exemption from rules barring unvaccinated people. however the serial number on his test dated december 16th, appears out of sequence with a sample of tests analysed by the bbc. our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, has the details. cheering. another day, another media scrum. but as novak djokovic received honorary citizenship in a montenegran town today, this hero's welcome was a far cry from his treatment in australia.

this shot of the unvaccinated star stuck at the border was the beginning of a saga that ultimately saw him deported. fighting to stay, he'd argued he'd been granted an exemption to play by tennis australia because, very close to the wire, he'd tested positive for covid—19. his legal team presented two covid test certificates to the court from the serbian institute of public health. the first, allegedly taken on december 16th, shows a positive result. the second, processed from a different lab six days later, shows a negative one. but a couple of weeks ago, a german research company wondered why the unique confirmation code on the early test was higher than the later one. usually they're generated in chronological order. the bbc has delved deeper. a total of 56 test certificates were collected, and their unique confirmation codes plotted against the date of each result. in all cases, the earlier

the result, the lower the unique code. all except one — novak djokovic's positive test on december 16th. according to the bbc�*s graph, this confirmation code would actually suggest a test some time between the 25th and december 28th. djokovic travelled to australia on january 4th. how likely is it that that is a glitch in the system? it's not likely, but we don't know all the aspects, and it's possible that there is some other explanation. so, i really hope the public institutions will provide transparency and clarify all this. so far, djokovic, the serbian institute of public health, and its office of information technology have not responded to bbc requests for comment. i think everyone's polarised at the moment on novak djokovic, which will be hurtful to him, but it won't do his reputation any good if it's found out that

he's been telling porky—pies. rafael nadal will contest the australian open final on sunday — locked on 20 grand slams with the serbian, a 21st is unprecedented in men's tennis. djokovic may only have himself to blame as his rival takes shot at the prize he so covets. natalie pirks, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news president biden has used the collapse of a bridge in the us city of pittsburgh to defend his one trillion dollar infrastructure bill. arriving in the city hours after the collapse, mr biden said the us had been "so far behind on infrastructure for so many years". he promised to fix all the aging bridges of the country. a rights organisation has criticised a decision to allow north korea to chair a key un disarmament committee focused on preventing nuclear proliferation. un watch said it was wrong

to put pyongyang in charge while it was still being sanctioned for its own nuclear programmes. playing video games for a living is an aspirational career for millions across the world. however, the most influential online streaming platform, twitch, is accused of encouraging unhealthy practices. there are now calls for the billion—dollar company to change the way it operates, as the bbc�*s gaming reporter, steffan powell explains in this exclusive report. singing: welcome to my... what the... like, what?! i'm in trouble! this is twitch, where all day, every day, you'll find people filming themselves playing video games and interacting with viewers. some, like ninja here, can earn big bucks. he's reportedly worth around £18 million. owned by amazon, 30 million people across the globe visit the site daily. traditionally, communal gaming meant coming somewhere like this and sharing a screen with a mate.

but today, online gaming means that people play with friends from all over the world from home, and what online streaming platforms like twitch have done is allowed some to turn that into a job. i missed every shot, i think. which is what sam, known to her followers as sooshi, did. the former office manager loved it — but is one of many i've spoken to that says they've sacrificed their health to make a living using the site, saying it encourages long periods online. i'd say it had an effect on my confidence a lot. i still to this day don't open the door. i don't open the door to anyone. sam took a financial risk to stream for a living. she was online for up to ten hours a day, every day, to pay the bills. that led to anxiety and symptoms of agoraphobia. i don't think i went out in the first year that i was full time, barely. maybe to the shop, at a push. it sounds really silly, but i don't really like talking to anyone face—to—face because it's been so long since

i've done it to another human. streamers have told me the longer you're online, the more your channel will grow subscribers and advertising revenue. it is a numbers game with twitch. it's a lot about being on throughout the day as often and as long as you can, so that it's really, really dis—incentivised to stream for short bursts. as a result of these concerns, bbc news has been told that twitch needs to make changes to better protect content creators. it encourages streamers to be on stream for many hours, sometimes 24 hours or more, and that clearly has affected people's physical health and mental health. and i think the platforms really need to think about changing the mechanics of the platform, changing the financial model, to protect the health of streamers. in a statement, twitch said that streamers' safety is their number one priority. they added that advice

and mental health resources are available on their site and say they are developing a new programme to support streamers with the pressures of thejob. sam's reduced her hours on twitch now. it got too much. today, she's notjust battling for victory in the virtual world, but also to get a conversation going about healthy streaming practices in the real one. steffan powell, bbc news. a week after his death, the rock star meat loaf�*s most popular album, bat out of hell, has re—entered the uk charts at number three — its highest ever placing. released in 1977, the operatic rock album originally failed to chart at all, only starting to sell the following year when meat loaf appeared on a bbc television show. it became one of the best selling albums ever and has accumulated more that five hundred weeks on the uk chart. meat loaf died last

friday, aged 74. that's it from me. this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello there. so far this month, it's been pretty quiet with high pressure dominating the scene. we've had light winds for most, but that's certainly not the case this weekend. northern parts of the country will be impacted by some severe gales at times which could cause some disruption. and we'll see another spell of wet and windy weather during sunday night. higher pressure further south, which means the winds will be lighter, but this deepening area of low pressure's been named by the danish met service as storm malik, and you can see why. plenty of isobars across the north of the uk as this system continues to push down in towards the norwegian sea. widespread yellow wind warnings across the north of the country, gusts of 70—80 mph likely across parts of scotland.

an amber warning issued for parts of eastern scotland, could see some impacts from aberdeen down towards edinburgh. got a weather front sinking southwards through the day. that will bring some cloud to southern england, where it will stay quite mild, but behind it, skies brighten, sunshine and blustery showers but it will be turning colder. it will be very windy for a time across the north and east of the country saturday night, but very quickly a ridge of high pressure builds in. winds will turn lighter, most of the showers will ease down, so under those clear skies with lightening winds, then temperatures will fall. a touch of frost out of town under those clear skies. so, our ridge of high pressure will bring us a fine, settled start for much of sunday, but we'll see the next area of low pressure hurtling into the north west of the country. that's going to bring another round of rain, gales and mountain snow. so, it will start chilly with some frost, but plenty of sunshine for much of england and wales. a bit more cloud for scotland and northern ireland. later in the day, it will start to get wetter and windier across the north west. some mountain snow for scotland and gales developing once again, particularly across the west of scotland and then pushing into northern ireland, the rest of scotland, then northern england later in the day. those winds always little bit

lighter further south, but it will be a chillier day compared to saturday, with temperatures of 4—9 degrees. and then that area of low pressure moves across the north of scotland. we'll see a real squeeze in the isobars. gales or severe gales affecting northern ireland, much of scotland, perhaps the north of england. again, gusts of 70—80 mph for a time, so this could cause some disruption. so, two storms this weekend for the north of britain, which could bring some damaging gusts. we're likely to see some disruption in places, so stay tuned to the forecast. see you later.

this is bbc news. the headlines — after days of confusion over the publishing date of the downing street lockdown parties report, it is now expected to be delivered without waiting for the police inquiry. the exact timing is still unclear. there had been speculation that the report might be delayed because of a metropolitan police request. the us has warned that the build—up of russian troops on the ukraine border is the largest since the cold war. earlier, the russian president, vladimir putin, told french president, emmanuel macron, that he had no plans for an offensive, but that nato had failed to address russia's main demands. doubts have emerged over the timing of the positive covid test which the tennis player novak djokovic used to enter australia. the serial number appears to be out of sequence with a sample of test results obtained by the bbc which had been taken in serbia around the same time. now on bbc news, it's time for the media show.