welcome to bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: 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. after days of confusion, the downing street lockdown parties report is now expected to be delivered without waiting for the police inquiry. president biden uses the collapse of a bridge in pittsburgh to emphasise the importance of his $1 trillion infrastructure bill. more doubts emerge about novak djokovic�*s covid status during his attempt to enter australia for the tennis open. and the influential online streaming platform, twitch, accused of encouraging unhealthy behaviour.

hello. russia's president, vladimir putin, says the us and its allies in the nato military alliance have ignored moscow's main security concerns over eastern europe with ukraine at the heart of tensions. the comments 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. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in kyiv. yes, another momentous day in the growing concern, the crisis between russia and ukraine. telephone calls between world leaders and major capitals, growing concern in allegations and counter allegations about what is happening on ukraine's borders with russia, and

concern about what the future will hold. in the midst of all of these statements emphasising, by russia saying they do not want to go to war, they do not want to go to war, they will not invade ukraine, also statements by those saying that if there is military action, they will be prepared. in the midst of all of it, a press conference, an extraordinary press conference by the ukrainian president, basically saying calm down. expressing concern that all this talk about and escalating prices was itself helping to fuel the escalation. we are going to look in this programme at all of these statements, but let's start in washington where boyd austen was also sending these two parallel messages, that the road for diplomacy was still open, but they were prepared for conflict of conflict came. let's listen to a bit of what he had to say. it has progressed at a consistent

and steady pace involving tens of thousands of russian troops. and it _ of thousands of russian troops. and it is — of thousands of russian troops. and it is 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 president putin has made a final— 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. and there are multiple options available to him, _ multiple options available to him, including the seizure of cities — him, including the seizure of cities and _ him, including the seizure of cities and significant territories, but also coercive acts — territories, but also coercive acts of— territories, but also coercive acts of provocative political acts — acts of provocative political acts like _ acts of provocative political acts like the recognition of breakaway territories. indeed, we are — breakaway territories. indeed, we are seeing russian state media — we are seeing russian state media spouting off now about alleged activities in eastern ukraine _ alleged activities in eastern ukraine. now, this is straight out of— ukraine. now, this is straight out of the _ ukraine. now, this is straight out of the russian playbook and they are — out of the russian playbook and they are not falling us. we remain— they are not falling us. we remain focused on russian disinformation, including the

potential creation of pretext for a — potential creation of pretext for a further invasion or strikes _ for a further invasion or strikes on don bus. lloyd austin speaking - strikes on don bus. lloyd austin speaking a - strikes on don bus. lloyd austin speaking a short l strikes on don bus. lloyd . austin speaking a short time ago from washington. there was ago from washington. there was 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, and it was seen from so they love of as the most positive statement of russia's willingness to engage diplomatically with the united states —— sergey lavrov. there was a lot of criticism as well. translation: iii was a lot of criticism as well. translation:— was a lot of criticism as well. 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 we will not let them in their mind ignore russian interest. i cannot say for sure if negotiations are over now. as you know, the us and nato have been studying our simple proposal for have been studying our simple proposalfor more than have been studying our simple

proposal for more than a month. only the day before yesterday we received answers in western—style that are a bit confusing, but rational in minor— confusing, but rational in minor issues. this is better than — minor issues. this is better than nothing, but the main thing — than nothing, but the main thing for— than nothing, but the main thing for us is to deal with the — thing for us is to deal with the trasic_ thing for us is to deal with the basic concepts of european security — the basic concepts of european security. in the basic concepts of european securi . ., , security. in the middle of this escalating _ security. in the middle of this escalating war _ security. in the middle of this escalating war of _ security. in the middle of this escalating war of words, - escalating war of words, ukrainians for whom this crisis is not new, for them, russia already invaded their country in 2014. they are getting on with their lives and it is for this reason that the president was so concerned today, emphasising as well that all of this talk of an intensifying crisis was having an impact on the ukrainian economy. but still, ukrainianforces, he said, were preparing for an escalation of this crisis. our correspondence has been out with ukrainian forces in western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen field _ western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen field in _ western ukraine. somewhere in a frozen field in western _ frozen field in western ukraine, they are preparing for

war with the help of the british military. ukrainian soldiers are trying out their latest weapon. it is a shoulder held anti—tank missile that has 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. ah, russian tanks in the not too distant future.— russian tanks in the not too distant future. a very big deal when our _ distant future. a very big deal when our partners, _ distant future. a very big deal when our partners, our - distant future. a very big deal| when our partners, our friends from other countries do everything possible to improve our defence capabilities. you need more. _ our defence capabilities. you need more, do _ our defence capabilities. you need more, do you _ our defence capabilities. you need more, do you want more? you know, it is hard to say what we need more, if we have reason to go to war. for this moment we have at least something that we make sure that we are capable to defend our countries.— that we are capable to defend our countries. the british have had a small— our countries. the british have had a small military _ our countries. the british have had a small military presence l had a small military presence here since 25th dean. how many

of you are there? the here since 25th dean. how many of you are there?— of you are there? the team is ranuain of you are there? the team is ranging between _ of you are there? the team is ranging between eight - of you are there? the team is ranging between eight and . of you are there? the team is i ranging between eight and nine individuals. b, ranging between eight and nine individuals.— individuals. a couple of dozen officers in _ individuals. a couple of dozen officers in a — individuals. 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, but by supplying these anti—tank missiles, the uk is sending a strong signal both about its commitment to ukraine and abound how it assesses the current russian threat. part of this is about training ukrainian military of course, and about the ukrainian military being ready for any eventuality. but a big part of this also, the reason we have been invited to film all of this, is because this is about sending a public message. it is russia really about to launch a full—scale invasion of ukraine? view in london and washington at the moment seems to be yes, is likely. but in kyiv, they are playing it down.

translation: are playing it down. tuna/mom- are playing it down. translation: ., translation: you get the impression _ translation: you get the impression from _ translation: you get the impression from the - translation: you get the impression from the mediaj translation: you get the - impression from the media that we are at war, that there are soldiers on the street, that there is mobilisation going on, people are running away. we don't need that panic.- people are running away. we don't need that panic. there is a lot of posturing _ don't need that panic. there is a lot of posturing going - don't need that panic. there is a lot of posturing going on - don't need that panic. there is a lot of posturing going on at l a lot of posturing going on at the moment. the russian troop will drop on the border, the western response increasingly hollande and alarming. this is perilous geopolitical you —— terrain, and ukraine is trying to chart a course through it. there may yet be what they call an off away of defusing the crisis. but there is a danger. the talk of all—out war becomes a self—fulfilling prophecy. gabriel gatehouse, bbc news, western ukraine. b, gabriel gatehouse, bbc news, western ukraine.— western ukraine. a lot of posturing. _ western ukraine. a lot of posturing. a _ western ukraine. a lot of posturing, a lot - western ukraine. a lot of posturing, a lot of - western ukraine. a lot of- posturing, a lot of signalling. tingling is coming from different directions. in washington, president biden speaking of a distinct possibility that resident bruton will invade ukraine next

month. from russia, a very different signal, saying we don't want war, we don't have any intention to invade ukraine. here on the ground and rain, ukrainians preparing for the possibility of an escalation of this crisis. but very much trying to get on with our daily lives. and all the while, this concern that even if there isn't a full—scale investor —— invasion that is being plain, all of this talk and all of the movements could mean a very accidental and consequential tumbling towards an even greater war. lyse doucet there. a senior british civil servant is expected to deliver her report on lockdown parties at downing street to the the british prime minister soon without waiting for the police to finish their investigation. scotland yard has made it clear that it has not delayed the report's publication. here's our political correspondent iain watson. which rules could have been broken behind the famous black door during lockdown? the report from 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 on tuesday that her force was launching its own investigation. the metropolitan police had said then that they had no objections to sue gray's report being published, and in not one, but two statements today, the police insisted they weren't delaying the report. but crucially, they asked for only minimal reference to be made in the cabinet office report to the relevant events, saying this was: so, 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've carried out their own work. the labour leader said this must be done promptly. what i want to see is sue gray's report in full and the investigation finished as quickly as possible, because we're this situation where the whole of government is paralysed.

sue gray's task is to set out the facts about events such as the bring—your—own—booze drinks in the downing street garden and the apparently raucous leaving dos on the eve 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 its intervention causes a potentially damaging report to be delayed or diluted. well, first, 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's been a stitch—up, and the only person that benefits from this is borisjohnson. the government are, of course, entitled to raise questions- about... 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 dead cat strategies, i but this is a sort of- trophy—hunted dead lion being slammed on the table, . which i think is hard to say is helpful. i i'm told sue gray was trying to redraft parts of her report to try to address any police 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 seemed to face a choice of either delay or delete. and if anything less than her full report emerges, there'll be a political outcry. many conservatives will be keen to read that full report because some of borisjohnson's own mps will try to oust him if they don't like what they see — just look at what the former occupant of number 10 said in a letter obtained by her 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 in lockdown to become clear. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. a bridge in the us city of pittsburgh has collapsed hours before a visit to the area by president biden to tout the investment his administration is making in america's infrastructure. six vehicles, including a bus, were on the bridge at the time, but no deaths have been reported. here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. it took just seconds for the snow—covered forbes avenue bridge to collapse early on friday morning. steel structure built in 1970 is a common route for motorists travelling into

downtown pittsburgh. the emergency services were flooded with calls. this woman lives near the bridge. she described the moment it collapsed into a ravine below. it moment it collapsed into a ravine below.— moment it collapsed into a ravine below. ,., ~ ., ravine below. it sounded like a hue ravine below. it sounded like a huge snowplough _ ravine below. it sounded like a huge snowplough pushing - ravine below. it sounded like a l huge snowplough pushing along ravine below. it sounded like a i huge snowplough pushing along a raw tarmac surface. that huge snowplough pushing along a raw tarmac surface.— raw tarmac surface. at the scene, raw tarmac surface. at the scene. a — raw tarmac surface. at the scene, a bus _ raw tarmac surface. at the scene, a bus dangles - scene, a bus dangles precariously from what remains of the bridge with several cars in a similar position. miraculously, no—one was seriously hurt. miraculously, no-one was seriously hurt.— seriously hurt. we were fortunate. _ seriously hurt. we were fortunate. the - seriously hurt. we were fortunate. the bus - seriously hurt. we were | fortunate. the bus went seriously hurt. we were - fortunate. the bus went over and right now we don't have any fatalities. we have three hurt, they are being doubt and ten are saying they are ok, so we will continue to hope for the best and make sure we get this together. best and make sure we get this touether. _, ., , , best and make sure we get this touether. ., ,, , together. the collapse happens 'ust hours together. the collapse happens just hours before _ together. the collapse happens just hours before president - just hours before president biden was due in the area to talk about infrastructure. he

went straight to the bridge to thank first responders and make a promise. taste thank first responders and make a promise-— a promise. we are going to fix them all. _ a promise. we are going to fix them all, not _ a promise. we are going to fix them all, not a _ a promise. we are going to fix them all, not a joke. - a promise. we are going to fix them all, not a joke. this - a promise. we are going to fix them all, not a joke. this is i them all, not a joke. this is going to be a gigantic change. in november, mr biden �*s lines legislation into law that includes $110 billion to repair and rebuild roads and bridges. in his preplanned speech later in the day, the president who grew up in pennsylvania said the bridge collapsed highlighted an urgent need to improve the country's infrastructure. bill improve the country's infrastructure. . , , ., , infrastructure. all these years i never knew _ infrastructure. all these years i never knew pennsylvania, i i never knew pennsylvania, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, more bridges than any other city in the world!— bridges than any other city in | the world!_ across bridges than any other city in - the world!_ across the the world! applause. across the count , the world! applause. across the country. there — the world! applause. across the country, there are _ the world! applause. across the country, there are 45,000 - country, there are 45,000 bridges in poor condition. that isjust simply bridges in poor condition. that is just simply unacceptable. it is just simply unacceptable. it isn't known yet why this bridge collapsed so suddenly. it had been inspected as recently as september, but a report in 2019

revealed its condition was deteriorating. efforts are now under way to remove vehicles from the mangled structure, but given the difficult terrain, officials say it could take months to clear up the debris. peter bowes, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: 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. 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. people on the us north east coast are bracing themselves for a powerful winter storm — bringing high winds and heavy snow — due to hit over the weekend. thousands of flights have been cancelled in the region. a short time ago i got the details from meteorologist matthew cappucci, who is in cape cod,

one of the areas due to be worst affected by the storm. here in the north—east we are used to pretty big snowstorms but the impressive thing is not just the amounts for close descent —— ten centimetres an hour can be done at times. we have destructive winds, blizzard conditions and zero visibility. and snowstorms are not unusual at this time of year in that area but what is so special about this one? this one, we are fortunate it is hitting on a weekend but the really impressive thing is that it is undergoing something called explosive intensification. picture rapid intensification with a hurricane, this is doing something rather similar,

it is moving over the golf stream and it is like a vacuum effect and suddenly that much more air can be drawn in, we go from nothing to a hurricane force storm just off the coast and a textbook position to deposit major heavy snows across much of the northeast corridor and big—name cities too, new york, philly, baltimore, boston impacted and especially south—eastern new england. when you talk about those it is an obviously packed full of people, what advice would you give to people who are going to be in the part of this storm? i think here in the north—east, we are used to big snows but really the rates are going to be very impressive, so any time tomorrow on sunday local time and even into early monday morning the rates will likely be in pretty bad states, just because there is so much snow coming down so incredibly quickly. we could see a foot or more of snow in about three or four hours time and all of that snow will have drift upwards of two

or three metres in places that people just need to be prepared. stay home, don't make any plans at all on saturday, watch netflix, planned to be without power, have your medications and nonperishable foods in advance, just be sure you are good to go for about 36 hours because really if you don't have to hit the roads, and it's not an emergency, plan to stay put. 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. another day, another media scrum. but as novak djokovic received honorary citizenship in a montenegrin 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 16, 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 16. according to the bbc�*s graph, this confirmation code would actually suggest a test some time between the 25th

and 28th of december. djokovic travelled to australia on january 4. 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. playing video games for a living is an aspirational careerfor 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. laughter. 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. they say it encourages long periods online. i'd say it had an effect on my confidence a lot. i still, to this day i still don't open the door. like, 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 lead to anxiety and symptoms of agoraphobia. i don't think i went out in, like, 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 like, 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 an effect on people's physical health or 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 that they're developing a new programme to support streamers with the pressures of the job. sam's reduced her hours on twitch now. it got too much. this could be bad... 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 tv show. it became one of the best selling albums ever

and has accumulated more than 500 weeks on the uk chart. meat loaf died last friday, aged seventy—four. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @sipusey. stay tuned to bbc news. 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 latest headlines: 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. 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. the report might be delayed because of a metropolitan police request. 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. coming up in around 10 minutes' time, we'll have newswatch.

but first on bbc news, here's click.