this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. downing street is considering sending more uk troops and military hardware to eastern europe, as nato weighs up options to increase pressure on russia. here in the uk, the prime minister and the chancellor commit to going ahead with the planned rise in national insurance contributions. storm malik batters northern britain, leaving two people dead. thousands are without power as forecasters warn of further high winds tomorrow. historic blizzards in the united states as a fierce winter storm bringing heavy snowfall hits the east coast. the medical trial which is throwing new light on why

some people experience breathlessness after covid. and one of the biggest stars in world sport, quarterback tom brady is retiring from the nfl after 22 seasons and 7 superbowl titles. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we start with developments on ukraine — and britain says it's preparing a series of diplomatic and military initiatives in europe next week, in the wake of growing tensions with russia. borisjohnson has issued a statement saying the uk is willing to double its nato troop contingent in the baltic states and eastern europe, as well as send defensive weapons to estonia. mrjohnson is also due to go

to eastern europe in the coming days as part of diplomatic efforts to prevent russia invading ukraine. our political correspondent jonathan blake explained the uk response to the crisis in ukraine. what we had tonight is more detail on what borisjohnson said to mps and housing comment on west minister a few days ago. and that was that britain was prepared to deploy troops to protect nato allies in europe if russia invades ukraine. but it seems this possible move to double the number of uk forces in estonia which currently stands at around 900 or so, would put it around 900 or so, would put it around 2000, a preemptive move, not necessarily in response to any russian invasion. downing street is talking about this as an example of the biggest possible offer to nato that the uk is willing and able to make. to step up its presence is a reason the neck region, to

protect nato allies and protect the ukraine itself, bolster its defences. now it isn't necessarily going to happen, were told diplomats will go to brussels this week to finalise the details. of course it would have to be signed off you would imagine by other members of nato. the prime minister will go to the regions become able to talk to vladimir putin and in contrast to this or alongside, this preemptive move to send extra uk troops. we are told he will reiterate the need for russia to engage diplomatically as uk sees it as an attempt to persuade russia to step back from any potential aggressive moves.— to step back from any potential aggressive moves. now, we will be auoin aggressive moves. now, we will be going in _ aggressive moves. now, we will be going in a — aggressive moves. now, we will be going in a bit— aggressive moves. now, we will be going in a bit more _ aggressive moves. now, we will be going in a bit more detail - be going in a bit more detail when it comes to the situation with ukraine. and attention between, while we've got you on set i want to look at something close at home because the morning papers, the sunday times in particular has there's joint article by the british

prime minister and also the chancellor rishi sunak, a very united in their stance would have sued national insurance which is been a big headline recently. which is been a big headline recentl . , , recently. yes, big commitment here which _ recently. yes, big commitment here which is _ recently. yes, big commitment here which is something - recently. yes, big commitment here which is something that i recently. yes, big commitment here which is something that isj here which is something that is already government policy and has already been voted for by members of the house of commons but up for debate in recent days. it is as you say, an increase in national insurance payments which go towards funding the nhs and social care, the government says there's a particular need to invest heavily in that to clear the backlog caused by the pandemic and to fix the problem of social care in england particularly. they have been suggestions that borisjohnson has been wavering and commitment to this policy coming at a time when a household are already struggling with rising bills on several fronts, struggling with rising bills on severalfronts, a struggling with rising bills on several fronts, a lot of conservative mps themselves don't like the idea of this policy and have been speaking out publicly, calling for it to be paused or scrapped or to be changed somehow. but here you have the prime minister and the chancellorjointly in public

chancellor jointly in public saying chancellorjointly in public saying in a joint article for the sunday times that they must go ahead with this plan, it is the right plan they say, and a very sensitive time for the government a report coming into claims of parties during lockdown starting the pandemic could be very difficult for borisjohnson. here is with the chancellor seen as potentially his successor if he was to face a leadership challenge or publicly on the same page. jonathan blake on one of the more domestic stories making the front pages of the uk papers. back to ukraine — well russia has gathered 100 thousand troops, tanks and missiles at the border with ukraine, but denies plans to invade. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet has more from kyiv. ukrainians have long lived with war. dozens of british soldiers here since 2015, not long after russia first invaded. but with more of moscow's

troops and weapons now massed along the border, diplomacy builds, too. next week, borisjohnson�*s visit to this region takes it up a notch. here in kyiv, there is concern that too much talk of war can be risky, too, but they need theirfriends. it's a good signal for us, not only for us, not only for ukraine, but also to russian federations, that we have strong partners, we will not be alone with this if the invasion comes to be, so it is a good signal. moscow sends conflicting signals. more troops, more weaponry moving in but its doors still open to find a way out. washington does the same, talking to allies in moscow, too, while readying military reinforcements and warnings about any war. it would be horrific,

it would be terrible and it's not necessary and we think a diplomatic outcome is the way to go here. this is what it looks like now. russia released these images of its anti—aircraft missiles arriving in neighbouring belarus for next month's military exercises. a month fraught with ever—growing risk. a fierce storm, with heavy snowfall and hurricane—force wind, is sweeping across the east coast of the united states. more than 5 thousand flights have been cancelled and people told to stay at home. with more, here's our north america correspondent, peter bowes. a blanket of snow covers time square in new york city. the streets largely deserted as most people hunkered down at home. this is been a colossal storm, a bomb cyclone as it's known,

a combination of heavy snow and strong winds approaching the strength of a hurricane. this winter wonderland in the heart of new york city is fun for some but heading out for a selfie moment is not advised by the authorities. the blizzard conditions can be extremely dangerous. these no scapes in new york are repeated across great swathes of the eastern united states for the boston airport in massachusetts is under a thick layer. across the region around 6000 weekend flights have been cancelled. in many neighbourhoods snowplows and salt spreaders have been working for hours to try to clear the roads. many homes are without power. you get the prevailing northeast winds, it really impacts the coastal areas, they get that strong wind that comes off the ocean is so in addition to having to deal with borderline historic amounts of snow you get the winds thatjust push all of that water onshore.

along the coast battered by strong winds flood warnings have been issued as the storm moves northwards. with frigid, potentially life—threatening temperatures overnight officials are urging people to stay indoors until the storm passes. this is what is the dangerousness were talking about now, we are expecting temperatures in the single digits tonight, into tomorrow morning and this is when frostbite kicks in. look at how serious that can be so we are trying to have everybody take this very seriously. the worst of the snowfall is almost over but the dangers posed by the extreme conditions will linger with a huge clean—up operation likely to last several days. two people have been killed by falling trees in the uk, as storm malik batters several areas of the country. thousands of homes are without power along the east coast of england and the north east of scotland. catrina renton has the latest.

widespread disruption as storm malik swept its way into northern parts of the uk. in bradford lee warner and his friend richard had been packing up after a bike ride. we were sat between the back seats, just croutching down, really. it pushed me further down. i lay down on the my floor. friend pulled me out of the back. an almighty crash, to be honest, i thought my friend was dead, he has been really lucky. northern powergrid says in tens of thousands of customers are still without power, mostly in northumberland and county durham. tonight county durham county council has declared a major incident following the impact of the storm. this is day one, the previous storm lasted more than a week, ten days because people, so we are not in the same position now as we then, thankfully.

the numbers we are dealing with a much smaller this time but of course for anyone affected by it, it is a significant disruption. this afternoon in staffordshire police were called after a tree fell near stoke—on—trent, a nine—year—old boy later died in hospital. and in aberdeen in north east scotland, emergency services were called at 10:30am to the place where this tree had fallen. but sadly a 60—year—old woman had died. gusts of 85mph were recorded on the aberdeenshire coast. at one point more than 80,000 homes in scotland were without power, and transport was disrupted. a second storm, storm corrie, is now on its way, expected to bring further high winds, especially to northern scotland tomorrow. catriona renton, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. clashes have continued

between us—backed kurdish forces and islamic state group fighters in and around a prison in the northeast of syria. kurdish fighters had claimed to have retaken the jail near hasakah on wednesday, after it was attacked nearly a week earlier by scores of is insurgents. libya's interior ministry has received nearly $47 million worth of new equipment from italy to help the country combat illegal immigration to europe. the eu—funded hardware includes spare parts for coastguard boats, mobile administrative offices and logistical support. mps in italy have re—elected sergio mattarella as the country's president — after failing to agree on an alternative candidate. the 80—year—old had made it clear he did not want a second term — but was persuaded to stay on after a week of inconclusive votes in parliament. after a week—long drive across canada, a convoy of trucks has arrived in ottawa to protest

against vaccine mandates and covid—i9 measures. the movement was sparked by new rules for truckers crossing the us—canada border, implemented byjustin trudeau's liberal government earlier this month. it's thought that 1.3 million people in the uk are living with long covid, and hundreds of thousands of them experience breathlessness. traditional lung scans often appear to be normal though. but researchers in oxford are using a different technique in a clinical trial which does show problems in these patients' lungs. they hope that understanding the problem will lead to better treatment options. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns explains. flo van diemen van thor was never one forjust sitting down inside. but she says long covid has been a horror show. it was not just the breathlessness that was really hard, it was muscle weakness, legs like jelly and just thinking if i try to go down the stairs, they might

not carry me. but this is the ct scan of flo's lungs and, like so many long covid patients, everything looks normal and healthy. these are my lungs, i've had them all my life. i know there's something wrong with them. flo is taking part in a study in oxford. breathe in and out. researchers think they're the first in the world to be able to show abnormalities in the lungs of long covid patients. flo and the other volunteers have an mri scan as they suck in xenon gas. it behaves like oxygen and should cross from their lungs into their bloodstream. the numbers are small so far. 36 patients, 11 who didn't need hospital care when they were first infected but went on to get long covid. it's a very exciting and very encouraging first step. so what we have here is one of the patients from our trial and the ct scan is entirely normal.

they have then gone on and had a xenon gas mri. this is the xenon getting through normally into their bloodstream from their lungs and the blacker areas are where the xenon gas or oxygen would struggle to get through. it's early days for this study and there are still lots of questions, including exactly what is causing these abnormal lung scans. in the meantime, there aren't many of these specially adapted mri scanners across the country. if this research proves they are worthwhile, it would take some serious investment and several months to scale them up across the nhs. and breathe out... lovely, really good. flo says this was the turning point for her, learning breathing techniques with a respiratory physiotherapist. i just want you to try and slow... it might take her longer to recover after exercise now, but she's moved up a level in karate. she's not back to normal yet, but thinks she will get there. catherine burns, bbc news.

this is bbc news. our main headlines... as tension remains high on the border between russia and ukraine — the uk is considering doubling the number of uk troops in eastern europe. two people have been killed in the uk by falling trees during storm malik. a nine year old boy died in staffordshire while a sixty year old woman was killed in aberdeen. the leader of the tigray people's liberation front in ethiopia says there have been encouraging signs during indirect talks with the government aimed at ending the war which began almost fifteen months ago. debretsion gebremichael told the bbc that the tplf wanted a peaceful resolution to the conflict in northern ethiopia. the news comes as the bbc has heard that some of the nurses and doctors at the biggest hospital in ethiopia's war—torn tigray region are having to beg for food to feed themselves. mark lobel reports.

life in food starved to gray in northern ethiopia where pregnant mothers often go twos on an empty stomach. translation: because of the food shortages we feed our children first. and if there's anything left, we can eat. she is not alone. _ anything left, we can eat. she is not alone. in _ anything left, we can eat. she is not alone. in total - anything left, we can eat. she is not alone. in total well over 9 million people that have no access to food at home. vital food aid and no access to food at home. vitalfood aid and medical supplies have been cut off for much of the last 15 months as ethiopian federal government forces have been battling rebels from this region. but now a key rebel leader has told the bbc of a possible breakthrough.- the bbc of a possible breakthrough. we started talkinu breakthrough. we started talking with _ breakthrough. we started

talking with federal - breakthrough. we started - talking with federal government communications and discussions, we will see. there are signs of improvement but we are still waiting. we are waiting withdrawn a week, we are giving this a chance.— this a chance. also indicating a move away _ this a chance. also indicating a move away from _ this a chance. also indicating a move away from military i a move away from military action is ethiopian prime minister. he is part in political prisoners and is no longer seeing the rebels as a threat to his power so has lifted a six month state of emergency in the country. but for now the fighting goes on. any effort to reach a cease—fire may be complicated by the ongoing involvement of troops in the war. a conflict in which millions have been displaced and many have lost loved ones. for locals any peaceful resolution couldn't come soon enough.

one of the biggest stars in world sport, the american football player, tom brady, has announced that he's to retire from the game after a 22 year career. the seven—time winner of the superbowl, who is forty—four, is considered by many to be the best nfl quarterback players in the history of the game. leigh sessions, who coaches american football teams in cambridgeshire, explains why brady has announced his retirement now. the defeat last week against the la ramsey was must finish and he not had a record—breaking year. he smashed some really big records passing touchdown records, amongst many other records. he will be remembered as the greatest of all time. he will live on with that for the rest of his life as of yet, 1

million of quite happen for him. this year he sent a fantasticjob. aha, fantasticjob. a record—breaking career, he's only a0 for, he's gonna do lots more isn't he, what do you reckon?— more isn't he, what do you reckon? ., , ., ., reckon? qb aa any athlete who is can say _ reckon? qb aa any athlete who is can say they've _ reckon? qb aa any athlete who is can say they've been - reckon? qb aa any athlete who is can say they've been playing | is can say they've been playing until they're aa is dreaming, i think. tom brady is an athlete, he was draughted 199th think. tom brady is an athlete, he was draughted199th in the year 2000 and he didn't actually win his first super bowl until 2002. and since then he's come up in leaps and bounds as yuri port said previously, his 16 super bowls with the new england patriots and again last year with a completely different team, the tampa bay buccaneers. categorically, you would believe that he is the greatest quarterback in nfl history? was a kind of moment that you

thought, my goodness, that was just amazing? just thought, my goodness, that was just amazing?— just amazing? just the way his mood. just amazing? just the way his mood- he's — just amazing? just the way his mood. he's aa _ just amazing? just the way his mood. he's aa and _ just amazing? just the way his mood. he's aa and if- just amazing? just the way his mood. he's aa and if you - just amazing? just the way his. mood. he's aa and if you watch any of the film from this year seeing him still throwing the ball down the field with such ease at his age is phenomenal. and i think most normal quarterbacks in the league will last anywhere between two, three years until about ten years, some people manage a little bit longer but tom's been going at it since the year 2000. he is the greatest of all time and i don't think anyone will ever argue that fact. because he's holding all these records. the singer—songwriter, joni mitchell, has said she will remove her music from the streaming service, spotify, in a row about coronavirus misinformation on a podcast. in a statement on her website,

she said she stood in solidarity with neil young — who withdrew his music this week — overjoe rogan — whose podcast appears exclusively on spotify. joe rogan been criticised for interviewing an infectious disease specialist who is critical of covid vaccines. i spoke to music journalist allison hussey. she explained why spotify appear to be siding with joe rogan over the musicians. withjoe rogan they certainly have a big investment they are, they put a lot of money into it. i think at this point spotify i feel like they'll likely protect this thing they put a lot of money into. at this point a day really made some big decisions about what they want to do what they want to support.

there are a lot of other discussions right now about how spotify is paying artist. i think the decisions that neil young and joni mitchell had made with regards to this is going to be an interesting component looming into this bigger discussion about what is spotify is and what's tenable. they are not so much making their own content this is very exclusive to tears streaming out lead, when you think about them using about them as a streaming house the night outlet where this is like production and creating their own content. any other artists you have heard of that might be thinking about or thinking about having to ask for their music to be removed ? i think this is something else that's going to be fascinating to watch play out. because david crosby is someone who said he would asked to have his music removed but because he no longer owns his masters, which is a pretty recent development that he doesn't have that kind of say in taking his music down. different artists do have different levels of control over their masters.

when it comes down to it, it would be great to see more and more people making these kinds of stands and really taking charge of their art like theirs. the fact is, a lot of them don't have their masters. again, that's another facet of the music industry and the way that it does not protect or help artists in a lot of ways. talking about this further, there is a pr balance that spot ——spotify needs to do. you touched upon one of the things that is been struggling to overcome the bad publicity, the payment of artist. how do you think this impacts the image of this company? this kind of move on neil young's part does seem to have attracted peoples attention to the different

responsibilities that spotify may or may not have in ways that i don't think other people had necessarily been paying attention to did before. but yeah, i'm interested to see who else gets engaged and if this gets more and more listeners to turn their attention to, what does it mean for a platform to host different kinds of content, what kind of relationship should it be with artists or other people who contribute to what's on that platform? it matters how other creators within all of these systems are treated now they are able to live out their work. which for a lot of people, spotify is not how they are able to do that. just before we go... the us first family have welcomed the newest resident of the white house, a two—year—old cat named willow. the first ladyjill biden took to social media to show off the new feline addition to the family — apparently named after the cat's hometown of willow grove, pennsylvania.

the first cat to take up residence in the white house since george w bush's presidency — willow willjoin commander, joe biden�*s german shepherd. hello there. the winds from storm malik eased down quite quickly during the latter part of saturday, and we saw a ridge of high pressure build in to give us a fine start for sunday morning — cold, frosty and sunny for many. but conditions will deteriorate across the north and the west of the country later, as the next deepening area of low pressure hurtles in off the atlantic. this has been named by the uk met office as storm corrie, and that'll arrive later on sunday across scotland, northern ireland, northern england. but we start the day off largely fine and settled with lots of sunshine around. the sunshine will hold on across central, southern and eastern parts of england through the day. cloud will build up further north and west and it'll start turning wetter and windier for northern ireland. northern and western scotland, some snow developing on the hills, gales developing

across the western isles. it's going to be a chilly day across the board for sunday, highs of five to nine degrees. and then through sunday evening and overnight, as storm corrie moves across the north of the uk, a real squeeze in the isobars behind the system as it pushes out into the north sea, so i think some of the greatest impacts will be felt once again across scotland. but we have a blanket yellow warning of wind gusts for the northern half of the uk, 50—60 mph gusts here, and an amber warning for the northern half of scotland, where we could see gusts 70—80 mph, maybe even stronger than that for a time across the northwest of the country. along with that, there will be some heavy rain and mountain snow, which will clear away, and then in the early hours of monday, we will see a rash of blustery showers pushing down from the northwest, with clear spells in between, some wintriness over the higher ground. a chilly night to come, but not as cold as the previous night. so we start monday, then, off on a chilly note. there will be some sunshine around across eastern areas. the strong winds will have cleared away by this point, but it will be a breezy day

with further showers packing to northern and western areas. again, some of these will be wintry on the hills. anotherfairly cool day to come, 6—9 degrees. we could just make ten degrees across south wales, southwest england. beyond then, as we move through the week, we'll see further wet and windy weather affecting northern and eastern parts of the country, around this area of high pressure. not as windy as what we've had over the weekend, but with higher pressure always towards the south, many southern areas will tend to stay a lot calmer. and there will be some milder air moving in from the southwest for a time, most of the rain in the north. signs of it turning chillier for all by the end of the week.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: britain says it's preparing a series of diplomatic and military initiatives in europe next week in the wake of growing tension between ukraine and russia. boris johnson issued a statement saying the uk was willing to double its nato troop contingent in eastern europe. two people have been killed in the uk by falling trees during storm malik. a nine—year—old boy died in staffordshire while a 60—year—old woman was killed in aberdeen. thousands of homes are without power along the east coast of england and the northeast of scotland. a storm is also causing chaos in the us, as heavy snowfall and hurricane—force winds are sweeping across the east coast. more than 5,000 flights have been cancelled and people have been told to stay at home. new york, newjersey and massachusetts have declared states of emergency. now on bbc news, we follow three people from northern