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 the ukraine. it is about a future shaped by nato and by the security of europe. battlelines 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 tojoin 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. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. 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 forwards. 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 ukraine, just head to our website — there's plenty of analysis and backgrond on the conflict — that's all at bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. 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. a survey by an afghan news agency says the number of women working as journalists in the country has halved since the taliban seized power in august. the pajhwok news agency said one television channel, which used to employ fifteen

women, now has none. many female reporters say they left their jobs for their own safety. protests over covid—related restrictions have brought the centre of the canadian capital, ottawa, to a standstill for a second day. thousands of truck drivers frustrated by a vaccine mandate for crossing the border into the united states have led the protests, holding banners and blocking roads. israeli president isaac herzog is in the united arab emirates on the first—ever visit there by an israeli head of state. mr herzog said it wasn't every day that you had the privilege of making history. the portuguese prime minister says his socialist party has won a full majority. provisional results show they got 42% of the result and they said they secured an absolute

majority in parliament but he said this does not mean absolute power. 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 i200miles, before landing harmlessly in the sea of japan. 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 atmospherics are, i would say, fairly conducive to provocations. we have the potential for russia to invade ukraine and we have covid—i9, we have the south korean election coming up in the beijing olympics. domestically there is also two upcoming

south —— north korean anniversaries so the timing is right for north korea to draw attention and potentially for north korea to increase its leverage if and when there is another opportunity to negotiate with the united states. it negotiate with the united states. ., ., negotiate with the united states. ~' negotiate with the united states. ~ ., states. it looks like that opportunity _ states. it looks like that opportunity is _ states. it looks like that opportunity is being - states. it looks like that. opportunity is being offered 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 takes this sincerely? will those talks actually happen? that is 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 i don't think he is going to want to buy did another opportunity if he will not be able to make significant gains in his negotiating position so we might see, of course, a

return to the us north korean negotiations but i don't think thatis negotiations but i don't think that is going to reduce north korean nuclear threat. if anything it has shown greater incentives, greater intention to keep its weapons and also to continue to use them to increase its negotiating position. increase its negotiating position-— increase its negotiating position. increase its negotiating osition. ~ ., position. when you look at the kinds of weapons _ position. when you look at the kinds of weapons are - position. when you look at the kinds of weapons are north . kinds of weapons are north korea, the tests, i should say, that north korea has conducted over the last month, what does that tell us about whether regime is technologically terms of weapons development? i think it tells us that _ of weapons development? i think it tells us that despite _ of weapons development? i think it tells us that despite the - it tells us that despite the cries for help to the international community about the sanctions, kim jong—un has his priorities straight which is, of course, to keep his weapons and show incrementally notjust weapons and show incrementally not just the weapons and show incrementally notjust the increase in the range but i think, the unpredictability and the variety of nuclear weapons and vessels that he is able to show and will continue to wield

pressure, notjust over the united states but over the region as well. it is becoming more diversified and i think thatis more diversified and i think that is where the danger is. 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. denied it is understood that mason greenwood remains in custody while enquiries are continuing. greater manchester police confirmed 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, remained public for a few hours it has 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 issued 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 and since then he has made 129 appearances for the club and also has a cap for england. so far, the striker has not made any response to the allegations on social media. with the winter olympics days

away, how is china keeping people safe from covid? we will have a special report for you. but first, let's talk about this story. spotify, says it's working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about covid, after a row about misinformation. the musiciansjoni mitchell and neil young asked for their songs to be removed from the platform, in protest at its work withjoe rogan who has interviewed vaccine—sceptics. earlier i asked entertainment reporter lauren conlin for her reaction to spotify�*s response. the ceo took to twitter today and 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 basically doing what facebook did and adding an advisory or a disclaimer to any content or pod casts that may talk about coronavirus or covid—19 and then they will add some kind of

link where you can get more information about the pandemic. do i think this is going to work? do i think it is going to make people happy who are complaining about what is going on withjoe rogan and the way that they speak about covid? no, i don't think it is going to work because neil young made a statement that basically said it is either me orjoe rogan and, you know, joe rogan is a moneymaker so there is no way they are getting rid of him. and they have not removed the december 31 episode that caused everybody to become so upset. just on that december 31 episode, for our audience who perhaps are not aware of the controversy around how this kicked off, talk us through that. what happened and how did it all kick off? figs that. what happened and how did it all kick off?— it all kick off? as you said he had doctor— it all kick off? as you said he had doctor robert _ it all kick off? as you said he had doctor robert malone i it all kick off? as you said he l had doctor robert malone who it all kick off? as you said he - had doctor robert malone who is strongly and tiebacks and especially and tiebacks for children. many people —— anti—

vaccination. many people may be on the fence about vaccinating children i think many more people are thinking they will not do that over adults getting vaccine. so when this came out, a few hundred health experts and scientists register modify saying this is very dangerous and we want this to be removed. this is just not right. and then artists like neil young and joni mitchell got wind of it and said this is not ok, this is a endangering people. they basically say we will remove our music until you remove our music until you removejoe rogan or you remove this episode. and specify came back and said, we removed over 20,000 pieces of content that we deem unacceptable and dangerous this was just not one of them. so that really upset people and more artists started jumping on. people and more artists started jumping on— jumping on. sadly, 'ust to say we are jumping on. sadly, 'ust to say we out * jumping on. sadly, 'ust to say we are out ofh jumping on. sadly, 'ust to say we are out of time h jumping on. sadly, just to say we are out of time on - jumping on. sadly, just to say we are out of time on this - jumping on. sadly, just to say we are out of time on this butj we are out of time on this but what you think it tells about the way that platforms will have to manage these threats of situations in the future? just

briefly. it situations in the future? just briefl . , ., situations in the future? just briefl. , ,,, briefly. it is a slippery slepe- _ briefly. it is a slippery slepe- i _ briefly. it is a slippery slope. ifeel- briefly. it is a slippery slope. i feel so - briefly. it is a slippery slope. i feel so bad i briefly. it is a slippery| slope. i feel so bad for briefly. it is a slippery - slope. i feel so bad for these slope. ifeel so bad for these platforms that have to deal with this because already apple, if you open apple music they say hey, you can find your young music here. apple is on top until they make some sort of mistaken people try to counsel them. so i feel for all these platforms but, you know, there are smart ceos and smart teams behind them and they will succeed. they will succeed after all. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: record breaking rafa, the spaniard wins his 21st grand slam title with victory at the australian open. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of 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. mission control: three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment — the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket slashing the cost of a 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 their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo - around the world, non—stop. 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. later this week, beijing will become the first city ever to host both the summer and winter olympics. putting on one of the world's biggest sporting events in a country still committed to zero—covid, and with the omicron variant spreading, has presented a massive logistical challenge. the solution has been to enforce enormous, strict, separation bubbles, as our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, explains.

in beijing, olympic athletes and the public are not in beijing, olympic athletes and the public are not allowed to mix. from arrival at the airport, visiting teams are in their own bubble. people will recognise the nest olympic stadium and this is one of the main bubble areas, without special olympic accreditation or without permission from officials you can't go past those gates there to enter the bubble. even though it is a huge area with venues and the like, a small village effectively, even within their, there are discrete bubbles so that athletes don't mix with the media or invite and spectators. using dedicated driving lanes, olympic vehicles moved between zones. special high—speed trains connect the city and the mountain venues. to get an idea of the scale of

this, let's have a look at a map stopping there are three main bubble areas. one in downtown beijing. one in beijing's mountains and another in the mountains of neighbouring hubei province with double transport in between. but it's even more collocated than you might think because there are also these little satellite bubbles attached to the main ones are stopping this 5—star hotel for example is its own isolation bubble. those staying there won't meet anyone out here in street, they willjust won't meet anyone out here in street, they will just shuttle from the hotel to the olympic events then after that leave china. thousands of university students will help to make the olympics run smoothly. some inside the bubbles, some outside. this woman was a volunteer at the 2008 beijing olympics and this year she is volunteering again. translation:- volunteering again. translation: ~ ., , translation: we are 'ust ordinary people i translation: we are just ordinary people working i

translation: we are just ordinary people working as assistant as best we can. if we do every little thing well, we can help complete something huge like the olympics. nearly 2000 volunteers _ huge like the olympics. nearly 2000 volunteers have - huge like the olympics. nearly 2000 volunteers have joined l 2000 volunteers have joined armies of security staff. they will separate categories of people to reduce covid—19 transmission at the games. beijing has been testing entire housing communities following recent outbreaks of the virus. the is for the public, they may not be able to buy olympic tickets but at least they can watch the games on television during the lunar new year holiday. omicron is expected to make 2022 another tough year for the travel industry in asia, according to the economist 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 asia is going to retain, it's generally more risk averse approach to covid—19, that has been apparent throughout the pandemic but the difference in 2022 is that the splendid isolation of 2020 looks like it isolation of 2020 looks like it is turning into the risk of being left behind. the policies of closed borders _ being left behind. the policies of closed borders and - being left behind. the policies of closed borders and stricter| of closed borders and stricter lockdowns in asia could lead to generally lower case counts and deaths 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 moved towards a stance of living with covid and trying to treated more like an endemic disease, albeit a quite serious one, asia has been started to get left behind and the restrictions are starting to have that economic impact, particularly in those countries

that are more focused on service sectors, particularly tourism and international education. 50 tourism and international education.— tourism and international education. ,, i, ., tourism and international education. ,, i, , education. so simon, do you see that pressure _ education. so simon, do you see that pressure then _ education. so simon, do you see that pressure then building i education. so simon, do you see that pressure then building on i that pressure then building on governments as they see that economic impact filtering through as you have described, to ease travel and commercial curbs? will people be saying look, i'djust curbs? will people be saying look, i'd just can't deal with this anymore and we need to start moving into an endemic state? it start moving into an endemic state? ., , ' start moving into an endemic state? , , state? it does differ country by country _ state? it does differ country by country but _ state? it does differ country by country but they - state? it does differ country by country but they do i state? it does differ country i by country but they do expect the trend to be through this year will be that more and more asian governments will kind of 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 been vaccinating and putting restrictions on and off but they are now off again and the thai economy really has beenin and the thai economy really has been in the doldrums, largely because of the hit to tourism

but also some other factors such as trouble in the automotive sector as well, so as travellers are enabling the rest of the will to move around more easily, business and leisure travellers, countries in asia are going to feel that pressure. on the business side of course we have seen dubai in particular being quite upfront and very proactive about making itself a more attractive destination for any international business, and thatis international business, and that is to take the opportunity against hong kong and singapore. rafael nadal has completed a stunning comeback to win the australian open, and become the most successful male tennis player of all time. he's now won 21 grand slams, more than any man in history. our tennis correspondent russell fuller was at the match in melbourne. one of the great sporting achievements and for rafael nadal who has won so many huge titles, i think one of the most unexpected rounds of his career, he will reflect may be

the greatest triumph as well because he had to recover from two sets to love down to a man ten years hisjunior to two sets to love down to a man ten years his junior to win and five sets 75 in the deciding set and i think he was shocked at the moment of victory, the capacity crowd in the rod laver arena were hugely pro rafael nadal, they made it quite difficult for daniil medvedev at times and once the moment sunk and and he realised what he had achieved, we saw him celebrate like a much younger man. no—one had ever come from two sets to love down before to win the australian open final as nadal did and as a result he becomes a 21 grand slam singles champion and that is now one more than both roger federer and novak djokovic. the more than both roger federer and novak djokovic. and novak d'okovic. the beauty ofthat and novak djokovic. the beauty of that moment, _ and novak djokovic. the beauty of that moment, the _ and novak djokovic. the beauty l of that moment, the achievement on his face certainly something well worth watching, i have to say. butjust speaking about his rivals as you have pointed out, they have both congratulated him, haven't they, in this remarkable victory?—

they, in this remarkable victo ? , ., victory? yes, roger federer was the first to _ victory? yes, roger federer was the first to take _ victory? yes, roger federer was the first to take to _ victory? yes, roger federer was the first to take to social- the first to take to social media to offer his heartfelt congratulations to his friend and great rival and then just a few minutes later novak djokovic too playing tribute to nadal�*s fighting abilities and congratulating him on the win which seems so improbable because nadal has had a couple of problems in recent months. like many other people and tennis players around the world, he contract with covid just before christmas and didn't know whether he would be fit enough in time to travel to australia but the big issue for nadal has been the fact that he has had a chronic foot problem, ever since he started his career but particularly in the last 12 months. he had a minor medical intervention and september and that didn't really do as much as he would have liked to remove the pains are frustrated and wondering whether he would be able to continue his professional tennis career, he decided to push through the pain, i don't think he had any idea at all it would lead to a second australian open title in the zist australian open title in the 21st angles grand slam title.

that's it from us, thanks for watching. do stay with bbc 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 airfrom 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 will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. hello. a major trial will take place this year in the us. you'll remember the story behind it. el shafee elsheikh is accused of being a member of the islamic state group and of being one of the notorious is beatles. so named by their hostages because of their british accents and accused of torturing and beheading journalists and aid workers. itv news' rohit kachroo secured interviews with el shafee elsheikh and another man before they were

transferred into us custody.