welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... as the diplomatic standoff continues — we report from the frontline in eastern ukraine, where government forces, have been fighting russian backed separatists. this is about more than the future of ukraine. it's about the future shape of nato, about the security of europe. battle lines are being drawn now in a new cold war. north korea is thought to have tested one of its most powerful ballistic missiles in years — the us urges pyongyang to join direct talks without preconditions. manchester united footballer mason greenwood has been

arrested on suspicion of rape and assault following allegations on social media. spotify responds to protests by some music stars and others — by announcing it will act to combat covid disinformation. and, he's done it. rafa nadal wins a record 21st grand slam — with victory at the australian open. hello and thanks forjoining us. nato�*s secretary general has issued a stark warning to president putin over the increasingly tense stand—off on the ukrainian border take the diplomatic approach offered — or one of confrontation with the west. russia continues to deny it

has any plans to invade its neighbour, despite months of building up its troop numbers in the region. we have a special report now from the front line — where our international correspondent, orla guerin, has the latest. on the frozen front lines, of eastern ukraine, it is heads down in the trenches, to avoid sniperfire. maria is following in the footsteps of her military father. she keeps watch for the enemy, separatists, backed by moscow, who seized territory here eight years ago. if russia invades, she will be facing far worse. do you believe the russians are coming? i try to avoid politics, she says. psychologically, i try not to get worried. we have heard about their military build—up,

but if they try to break through, we will be ready. troops here say they are not on a higher level of alert. so far, they stress, there is nothing to see here. a view echoed by the government in kyiv. these front lines have not moved in years, but the fear is there could soon be a much bigger conflict here and this is about more than the future of ukraine. it is about the future shape of nato, about the security of europe, battle lines are being drawn now in a new cold war. for now, all is quiet on the eastern front. and moscow continues to deny it will invade. but is this the calm before the storm? some here know only too well what russia and its allies can do.

shelling by separatists last november destroyed ludmila's home of 30 years. she has come back to show us the wreckage. and she had this plea for president putin. translation: make peace. reach an agreement. you are all adults. educated people. make peace, so that people can live freely, without tears and suffering. this might be just a foretaste of what is ahead. the international warnings are stark. president biden says a russian invasion would change the world. only vladimir putin knows what is coming in his modern—day version of war and peace. orla guerin, bbc news,

eastern ukraine. if you want more on the situation in ukrainejust head to our website — there's plenty of analysis and backgrond — including answers to the main questions. that's all at bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. the united states has made a direct appeal to north korea to join talks about its nuclear and missile programs. it comes after pyongyang tested one of its most powerful ballistic missiles in years. the japanese government said it reached an altitude of around one thousand, two hundred miles, before landing harmlessly in the sea ofjapan. earlier, i spoke to policy expert soo kim on why north korea has launched seven missile tests this month. we could look at the timing, i think. the geopolitical atmospheres

are fairly conducive to north korean provocations. as you mentioned previously, we have the potential for russia to invade ukraine, we have covid—19, the elections coming up we also have the beijing olympics. domestically there is two upcoming korean anniversary. so the timing is right for north korea to draw attention and also distract us. and also potentially for north korea to increase its leverage if and when there is another opportunity to negotiate with the united states. it looks like that opportunity is being offered by the us with washington making that appeal to north korea to engage in direct talks about missiles and its nuclear programme. will north korea take this sincerely, will those talks actually happen? that's a really good question because before the united states or south korea offers the option to negotiate again with

the north koreans we really need to understand the motivations from kim jong—un and for that i don't think that he's going to want to fight —— opportunity if is not going to make significant gains in his negotiating an nuclear issue. we might see of course a return to 2018 negotiations but i don't think that's going to reduce the nuclear threat, if anything kim has shown greater incentive, a greater intention to keep his weapons and also to continue to use it to increase his negotiating position. when you look at the kinds of weapons that north korea, the test i should say, that north korea has conducted over the last month, what does that tell us about where the regime is technology in terms of weapons development? i think it tells us that despite the cries for help to the international community about sanctions,

kim has his priority to keep his weapons and to show weapons in the missiles. he is able to show and continue to wield pressure notjust over the united states but over the region as well for sub it's becoming more diversified and i think that's where the danger is. still to come a bit later in the programme — i'll be talking to lauren conlin about spotify�*s latest announcement to combat disinformation. but first... the manchester united footballer, mason greenwood, has been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault. it follows allegations made on social media. the premier league club says the 20—year—old won't be training or playing any matches, untilfurther notice. he hasn't responded to any of the claims.

our sports correspondent, jane dougall has more from manchester united's stadium, old trafford. tonight it's understood that mason greenwood remains in custody whilst inquiries are continuing. greater manchester police have confirmed that they arrested a man in his 20s on suspicion of rape and assault and that arrest followed allegations posted on social media early this morning which police became aware of. video footage, photographs and an audio recording in which a woman alleged that she had been assaulted by the manchester united striker greenwood were made public for a few hours but have since been deleted. earlier today manchester united also confirmed that they too had been made aware of the allegations and said that they had suspended their striker saying he would not be returning to training or playing in any matches until further notice. the club also added in a statement that they do not condone violence of any kind. mason greenwood has been involved with this club from the age of seven,

he worked his way up the academy until he made his debut for the first team in 2019, since then he's made 129 appearances for the club, he also has on or england. he also as one cap but so far the striker has not made any response to the allegations on social media. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. france says up to sixty militants have been killed in burkina faso in operations involving local and french troops. at least two thousand people have died in jihadist attacks in the country since 2015, when militants — linked to al-qaeda and the islamic state group started conducting raids from neighbouring mali. at least 18 people have been killed in flooding and landslides, triggered by heavy rains in the brazilian state of sao paulo. state authorities say some 500 families have been left homeless after a weekend of torrentials rain. brazil has been affected by several major weather disasters since the rainy

season began in october. exit polls in portugal suggest that the governing socialist party is on track to win the most votes in sunday's snap parliamentary election. but portuguese media says it's unclear whether the party of the prime minister, antonio costa, will gain the overall majority they were seeking. the music streaming platform spotify has announced new measures to combat covid—19 disinformation. it follows a row that saw artists neil young and joni mitchell remove their music from the platform. they were unhappy over podcasterjoe rogan�*s interview with an infectious disease specialist who opposes covid—19 vaccines for children on spotify. for more on this i am joined now by lauren conlin,

she is a new york city based entertainment reporter and host of the podcast lauren interviews. she's in new hampshire. wonderful to have you on the programme. i want to start by asking you what your reaction from spotify is and what do you think the way they manage this is going to be successful with eight successful, whether these measures are necessary? released a very long statement which i think was very smart on his behalf because they have been somewhat silent until this point. so they simply said that they are going to be basically doing what facebook did and adding an advisory or disclaimer to any content or podcast that might talk about coronavirus or covid—19. and then they are going to be adding some sign doing that kind of link where you can get more information about the pandemic. now do i think this is going to work, to a dick it's going to make people happy who are complaining about

what's going on withjoe rogan and the way that they speak about covid's no, i don't tickets get to work. because neil young made a statement that basically said it's either me orjoe rogan. and joe rogan is their moneymaker. so there's no way they're getting rid of joe rogan. and they haven't removed the december 31 episode that caused everybody to become so upset. that caused everybody to become so u set. , , that caused everybody to become so uset., , ., ., that caused everybody to become souset. , ., . _ , so upset. just on that december 31 episode _ so upset. just on that december 31 episode for — so upset. just on that december 31 episode for seminar - so upset. just on that december 31 episode for seminar audience | 31 episode for seminar audience who aren't aware of the controversy around how this all kicked off, talk us through that. what happened and how did it all kick off? 50 that. what happened and how did it all kick off?— it all kick off? so as you said, it all kick off? so as you said. he _ it all kick off? so as you said, he had _ it all kick off? so as you said, he had doctor- it all kick off? so as you i said, he had doctor robert malone who strongly anti—backs and especially anti—vax for children. i think a lot of people are maybe on the fence about vaccinating their kids. it took a lot more people are thinking maybe they won't do that over adults getting the vaccine. so when this came out

a few hundred health experts, scientists wrote to spotify saying it's very dangerous, we want this to be removed, this is just not right. and that artist like neil young, joni mitchell they got wind and said this is not ok, this is endangering people. so they basically said working to remove our music on until you remove our music on until you removejoe rogan or remove this episode. and spotify came back and said look, we've removed over 20,000 pieces of content that we deem unacceptable and dangerous was up this just wasn't one of them. so that really upset people. and then more artists arejumping really upset people. and then more artists are jumping on the bandwagon. more artists are “umping on the bandwagon.— bandwagon. sadly, 'ust to say we are running _ bandwagon. sadly, 'ust to say we are running out h bandwagon. sadly, just to say we are running out of- bandwagon. sadly, just to say we are running out of time - bandwagon. sadly, just to say we are running out of time on| we are running out of time on this. what do you think it tells us about the way that platforms will have to manage these sorts of situations in these sorts of situations in the future?— the future? briefly, i'm afraid- _ the future? briefly, i'm afraid. sure, _ the future? briefly, i'm afraid. sure, it's- the future? briefly, i'm afraid. sure, it's a - the future? briefly, i'm i afraid. sure, it's a slippery slope. ifeel so bad for these platforms having to deal with this. already apple, if you open apple music they said hey,

you can find neil young music here. so apple is on top until they make some sort of mistake and people try to cancel them. i feel for all these platforms but there are smart ceos behind them and they will succeed, they will succeed after all. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday with your thoughts on that story. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... predictions of a tough year ahead for travellers in asia due to omicron. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for after his long years in exile the first hesitant steps of the ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid.

and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. the countdown to the critical moment, the worlds most. powerful rocket ignited - all of its 27 engines at once and part of its power is this recycling of the rocket - slashing the cost of - the launch that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. _ two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to this patient. ——spaceship one would call it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yauchtwoman alan macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world nonstop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore, our headlines. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov says moscow wants equal, mutually respectful relations

with the united states and its allies, as tensions continue over ukraine. north korea confirms it tested an intermediate—range ballistic missile on sunday — the us offers pyongyang direct talks without preconditions. omicron is expected to make 2022 another tough year for the travel industry in asia. that's the view of the economist's intelligence unit. simon baptist, global chief economist for the group, explains how asia might navigate its covid challenges in the coming year. asia is going to retain its generally more risk averse approach to covid—19, that's been apparent throughout the pandemic. the difference in 2022 is the isolation of 2020 it looks like it's turning into the risk of being left behind.

the policies of closed borders and stricter lockdowns in asia did lead to generally a lot of case counts of death and reduced economic impact through 2020 and the first part of 2021. but now that the rest of the world has really much more decisively move towards a stance on living with covid and trying to treat it more like in an endemic disease, albeit quite serious one, asia has been starting to get left behind and they restrictions that still in this region are starting to have an economic impact. particularly in those countries that are more focused on service sectors, particularly tourism and international education. do you see that pressure then building on governments as they see that economic impact filtering through to ease travel and commercial curbs, will people say look, i just can't deal with this any more we need to start moving into an endemic state? it does differ country

by country but i do expect the trend to be more and more asian governments will slowly start to relax or belatedly start to relax their travel and other curbs. we just had an announcement last week that the philippines is going to reopen to vaccinated travellers from february and thailand has putting restrictions on and off but they are now off again. the economy really has been the in the doldrums largely because hit to tourism but also some other factors such as trouble in the automatic net automate sectors as well. as travellers are able to move around the rest of the world were easy really that's why business and leisure business to feel that pressure. on business side we have seen dubai in particular being quite upfront and proactive about making itself

more attractive nation for international business. that's to take the opportunity against hong kong and singapore. the 1st of february marks a year since the military seized power in myanmar, deposing the elected leader aung san suu kyi, and reversing a ten—year experiment in building a democracy there. here's our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. a year after the crew miramar is gripped on the thai border right across the country. you could see over there people displaced by the fighting who sought safety here. in recent days we see tgs coming over this river, referred the sound of gunfire and explosions as the myanmar military tries to crush popular resistance which is sprung up almost everywhere. it's a very different scene from year ago when there were high hopes that the massive peaceful protests they were holding might reverse the coup. the militaries savage reaction shooting, beating interesting

thousands killed those hopes. instead some families have taken the difficult decision to flee the country with no idea when they can safely return. others have given up comfortable lives in jobs and taken up arms, oftenjoining the ethnic insurgent forces who've been fighting in these border regions of myanmar for decades. they are desperately short of weapons, equipment, funds and experience. they are hugely outgunned by the military. and yet remarkably, most of them are still fighting on and even attracting yet more volunteers. the coup leaders when they seized power grossly misjudged the public mood yet they are refusing to compromise. despite the catastrophic consequences of their actions. catastrophic consequences of theiractions. but catastrophic consequences of their actions. but for most burmese it's their sense of outrage over those actions which is driving their determination to get the military out of politics once and for all. it is a brutal

stalemate, a conflict from which at the moment there is no clear way out. rafael nadal has completed a stunning comeback to win the australian open and become the most successful male tennis player of all time. he came from two sets down against the top—seeded player, daniil medvedev. it means the spanish player has now won 21 grand slams — more than any man in history, and one more than his great rival, novak djokavic, who was denied entry to australia because he is unvaccinated against covid. our tennis correspondent russell fuller was at the match in melbourne. one of the great sporting achievements for nadal who has so many achievements, one of the greatest achievements of his career, the greatest triumph of his career as well. he needs to recover from two sets to love down to a man chen ——ten years hisjunior to win in five sets, 75 in the final set. i think he was shocked at the moment of victory.

the capacity crowd in the arena were hugely for rafael nadal. they made life very difficult for medevid at time. once the moment sunk in and rafael nadal realise what he achieved he celebrated mike a much younger man. no one had ever come from two sets before to win the australian open as the doll did. —— nadal as a result he becomes a 21 grand slam singles champion and that is one more that both roger federer novak djokovic. the beauty of that moment, the achievement on his face, certainly something well worth watching i have to say. just speaking about his rivals as you pointed out, they booked —— both congratulated him in this remarkable victory, haven't they? roger federer was the first to take to social media to offer his heartfelt congratulations to his friend and great rivals. in just a few minutes later it know that djokovic paying

tribute to nadal�*s fighting abilities. and congratulating him on the wind. which seemed so improbable because nadal has had a couple of problems in couple he contracted covid just before christmas and didn't know whether he be fit enough in time to travel to australia. but the big issue for rafael nadal is he's had a chronic foot problem ever since he started his career but particularly in the last 12 months he had a minor medical intervention in september but that didn't really do didn't really do as much as he would've liked to move the pain. frustrated and wondering whether he be able to continue in his professional tennis career he decided to push through the pain, he didn't quite know where it would lead, i don't get any idea that it would lead to a second australian open title in the 21st grand slam singles title. absolutely, how that change of fortune is come about for him is quite remarkable. just briefly, hard to mention all of this without talking about novak djokovic and how

he dominated headlines before the australian open began. how much more does this put rafael nadal ahead of his rivals with this victory in the future? roger federer is a0 and is off the tour with injuries. it would be extremely unlikely that he could add to his grand slam tally. djokovic has the advantage of being one year younger than rafael nadal and it started so many injuries over the years. you think he would have a very good chance of taking my produce new record of 21 grand slam titles. the issue for djokovic is 22 is going to be it uncertain year. i don't like is going to change his stance on vaccination. if future grand slam tournaments require a plate to be vaccinated to owes two enter the host country it could be a problematic 12 months for djokovic. just to say that rafael nadal said he felt physically destroyed after clinching that

australia open. destroyed after clinching that australia open. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. storm corrie continuing to bring some damaging gusts of wind during the overnight period and to start monday morning. met office warnings remain in force, for strong winds across more eastern parts of the country. and we'll also have an ice risk to start the day across northern scotland, some cold air digging in behind the storm as it moves out into the north sea. but you can see a real squeeze in the isobars still across eastern coastal parts of scotland, down towards the wash and norfolk, so the yellow warnings remain in force through this morning for further gusts of 50—60 mph. eventually, the strongest of the winds will pull away from the east coast, and then it'll leave a blustery day for all. after that icy start across northern scotland, temperatures will rise a little bit, but it's going

to be one of sunshine and blustery showers. these showers again wintry over the hills of scotland, some of these showers also getting into parts of northwest england, the midlands, wales and southwest england. probably the best of any sunshine will be reserved for eastern england, but a fairly cool day to come and temperatures of 5—9 degrees, particularly when you factor in the strong northwest wind. as we move through monday night, we'll see a more substantial area of patchy rain pushing into western scotland, perhaps western wales, northwest england, tending to stay drier across eastern areas. but it will turn a bit murkier because we're starting to import some milder air from the west. lows of 4—8 degrees. and you can see that here on the pressure and air mass chart. into tuesday, it's a lot milder. it's fairly strong winds again from the west, but this air source coming in from the mid—atlantic. it will still be quite chilly and breezy across the far north of scotland, for the northern isles, with showers here. but elsewhere, some sunshine. more cloud for northern ireland, large parts of england and wales. could see a bit of murkiness, some drizzle, over western hills, but it's the temperatures that'll be

notable on tuesday — in the low teens celsius for many. wednesday's another mild day, rather murky again, rather cloudy too. it'll be another breezy one. and those temperatures will range from around 11 to 13 degrees. then some changes as we move out of wednesday into thursday. this cold front spreads southeastwards across the country and introduces much colder, fresher air which will reach all areas by the end of friday. so temperatures will be coming down on thursday, particularly across the north. into friday, could see some wintry showers across northern areas, although we'll hold onto some dry weather in the south.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. my guest is somebody who can claim to be one of south america's best—known global icons. she knows the continent well. born in peru, raised in chile, she was also schooled in bolivia and has lived in venezuela. isabel allende is not only an acclaimed novelist, she's also known for

her political writings. her uncle was salvador allende, the chilean democratic leader