welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: as the diplomatic standoff continues — we report from the frontline in eastern ukraine, where government forces have been fighting russian backed separatists. 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. spotify responds to protests by some music stars — and others — by announcing it will act to combat covid disinformation. 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. record—breaking rafa. the spaniard wins his 21st grand slam title with victory at the australian open.

nato�*s secretary general has issued a stark warning to president putin over the increasingly tense stand—off on the ukrainian border. his message: take the diplomatic approach offered — or one of confrontation with the west. in an interview with the bbc, jens stoltenberg insisted nato would support ukraine with military and technical resources, but said there were no plans to put alliance troops into the country. 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. as the pressure from the west against russia builds — there are calls from ukraine not to heighten the potential for an invasion.

our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet is in the capital, kiev. written is prime minister boris johnson says he is heading this way to exhilarate diplomacy and to send a stark message to moscow. now there is already an awful lot of pork and telephone calls to try to avert a shooting war. this is also a moment when western leaders want to be seen to be doing something and the view coming from london seems to be matching that of washington, that an attack by russia next month is all but certain. there is far less certainty in most european capitals and here in care of where as we have been reporting, the president has been warning that too much talk of escalation can actually predate it. no—one is certain what happens next, perhaps not even president putin.

the music streaming platform spotify has announced new measures to combat covid—i9 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—i9 vaccines for children on spotify. i'm joined now by the tv presenter and pop culture commentatorjawn murray. he's in washington. good to see you. spot if i call this the world's largest pod casts and it does tackle many contentious issues. do you think it should have removed that podcast in its entirety? you know, david, i don't know that's modify really wants to shake up the business ofjoe rogan because, unlike recording artists to make about 3500 us

dollars peri million streams on spotterfire, joe dollars peri million streams on spotter fire, joe rogan dollars peri million streams on spotterfire, joe rogan is making a lot of money with them and for them. they should have may be isolated that individual podcast and other pope that make other pod casts he has done where he fosters scientific misinformation and some things people would call racial insensitivity and racism. spotterfire, as you mentioned, released a statement saying and reaffirming what their standards are as far as covid information regarding vaccines and masks but some people find that statement hollow because just a slight adjustment of several words is what allows joe rogan do adjustment of several words is what allowsjoe rogan do not have his podcast touched or taken down or isolated episodes. the devil is in the detail as it pertains tojoe rogan and people are still not happy with the actions of spotter fire. happy with the actions of spotterfire. it happy with the actions of spotter fire.— happy with the actions of spotter fire. it runs to over three hours, _ spotter fire. it runs to over three hours, this _ spotter fire. it runs to over three hours, this podcast | spotter fire. it runs to over i three hours, this podcast and this particular discussion and obviously it covers a lot of

ground in that but there are some nuggets there which some people are finding deeply offensive. i get from what you are saying that even though names like neil young and joni mitchell are huge in the music industry, they are small fry alongside the financial rewards that now come in on that pod casts side of things. absolutely. and that is why it made such big news today when we saw that meghan markle and prince harry decided to really attempt to use their platforms to encourage spotify to do what is right. sometimes people do what neil young and joni mitchell did and they protest, they take their music of a platform and we know that they are artists from the 60s where activism and protesting is a language, that is how they affect change. sometimes you can effect change from within and i believe that is what meghan and prince harry are aiming to do. they want to sit down with spotify executives and speak to them about really implementing change because whatjoe rogan is doing is a

distortion of what the americans like to call their freedom of speech. but a private company really does not have the freedom of speech application. in america if you do things and use freedom of speech you can also face the consequences.— speech you can also face the consequences. auskicker then, ou sa consequences. auskicker then, you say it _ consequences. auskicker then, you say it is — consequences. auskicker then, you say it is a _ consequences. auskicker then, you say it is a distortion - consequences. auskicker then, you say it is a distortion of- you say it is a distortion of what you would call freedom of speech in terms ofjoe rogan is doing, spotterfire speech in terms ofjoe rogan is doing, spotter fire saying, right, we will now put, we will, we will flag these issues and direct you to a site where you can fact check for yourself. isn't that there for undoing the problem? it gives freedom of speech with an opportunity to go and check it if you are not comfortable. when i was a young child they used to be a platform here in the us called the psychic friends network and the fcc made them put a disclaimer on the top of it that said for entertainment purposes only. the truth of the matter is that the psychic friends network caused life and death. the misinformation thatjoe rogan

misinformation that joe rogan is misinformation thatjoe rogan is fostering literally can lead to life and death. people who do not apply the science because you can have your own opinion but you cannot have your own fact. so people who do not apply the science and do not apply the science and do not believe the information thatis not believe the information that is literally helping them to stay alive in helping us in a global pandemic, that does not give you free speech and that does not give you the ability to foster misinformation. it ability to foster misinformation. it is a fascinating _ misinformation. it is a fascinating and - misinformation. it is a fascinating and highly| fascinating and highly contentious area. thank you very much for discussing that with me. ., ~' ,, . let's get some of the day's other news. 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. 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. portugal's governing socialist party has won a clear victory in a snap general election. provisional results show they got around 42% of the vote. the prime minister antonio costa said they had secured an absolute majority in parliament. the election was called in november after parliament rejected the minority government's budget. the united states has made a direct appeal to north korea to join talks about its nuclear and missile programs. it comes after pyongyang confirmed that it tested a hwasong—i2 nuclear—capable intermediate—range ballistic missile on sunday. it was the seventh missile test so far this year and one of its most powerful in years. these pictures — released by the state news agency — show parts of the korean peninsula and surrounding areas

seen from space as the rocket reached a maximum altitude of2,000km. i'm not sure of the hide, i will check that for you. == will check that for you. -- sure of— will check that for you. -- sure of the _ will check that for you. -- sure of the height. - i'm joined now by north korea analyst ankit panda in washington. just what sort of altitude did this missile reach? fix, just what sort of altitude did this missile reach?— this missile reach? a little over 2000 _ this missile reach? a little over 2000 kilometres - this missile reach? a little - over 2000 kilometres according to the south korean and japanese authorities. so that is auoin japanese authorities. so that is going a — japanese authorities. so that is going a long _ japanese authorities. so that is going a long way _ japanese authorities. so that is going a long way up. - japanese authorities. so that is going a long way up. i - japanese authorities. so that i is going a long way up. i would say boasting about being one of the most powerful launches that they have had, one of a series. what is going on? what are they trying to prove at this point. this is the longest range north korean missile launch since november 2017 and since then we have had a lot happened. diplomacy has thrived and collapsed under president trump, a number of north korean

short—range missile launchers. what is most interesting about this launches the way it was presented inside north korea. the national leader was not present to guide this launch. he was present every time it was tested in 2017. in their internal party newspaper, the launch was not even front—page news. so i worry that north koreans are entering a dangerous new phase where they regularise this kind of missile testing but it is carried out as it is in so many countries including here in the united states, when the united states tests missiles our national leader does not monitor the tests. north koreans are trying to effectively normalise this activity and i think that is concerning because each and every test like this does help them to refine their capabilities and increased threat to the region. [30 capabilities and increased threat to the region. do you think that — threat to the region. do you think that is _ threat to the region. do you think that is the _ threat to the region. do you think that is the same - threat to the region. do you think that is the same viewl think that is the same view being held in washington? you have senior us officials they are saying let's hold direct talks and get on with it. for the united _ talks and get on with it. iff?" the united states i think there is certainly, i don't think the

administration here is being too glib about what this represents. i think the notion of inviting the north koreans to talks, while noble, is insufficient. king john last october gave a speech which implied he implied he would focus much more un—american behaviours than american but words and while they invite north korea to talks without preconditions, kimjong—un preconditions, kim jong—un wants to preconditions, kimjong—un wants to see action and the action he did see earlier this month after north korea launched a re—entry vehicle, the us introduce new sanctions on the north koreans basically deemed that to be a hostile action and that over road all the words that came out of the biden administration. and here we are now with long—distance missiles being launched. this ear at missiles being launched. this year at least _ missiles being launched. this year at least is _ missiles being launched. this year at least is ten _ missiles being launched. this year at least is ten years - missiles being launched. this year at least is ten years of kimjong—un and year at least is ten years of kim jong—un and i suppose that is another anniversary moment, in one sense or another, perhaps psychologically, and once again, presumably, he wants to show how influential and powerful he is. i wants to show how influential and powerful he is.— and powerful he is. i think

that is and powerful he is. ithink that is part _ and powerful he is. ithink that is part of _ and powerful he is. ithink that is part of it _ and powerful he is. ithink that is part of it and - and powerful he is. ithink that is part of it and the i that is part of it and the other part is that everything else in north korea outside the missile programme is going quite horribly. kimjong—un has been open about the economic difficulties, they look down their injanuary difficulties, they look down their in january 2021 difficulties, they look down their injanuary 2021 covid—19, that epidemic in china was thread this —— deemed a quote to their national survival. he spoke about how agricultural impact —— output needed to increase. and internally free zone political legitimacy and for propaganda purposes emphasising the successes of the missile programme does have a benefit. one last point, about beijing.— a benefit. one last point, about beijing. about bei'ing. what sort of about beijing. what sort of response might _ about beijing. what sort of response might this - about beijing. what sort of response might this illicit i response might this illicit from them? they often stand back and watch and wait rather than jump back and watch and wait rather thanjump in but where are back and watch and wait rather than jump in but where are they with this now?— with this now? publicly i don't think the chinese _ with this now? publicly i don't think the chinese are - with this now? publicly i don't think the chinese are going i with this now? publicly i don't think the chinese are going to criticise the north koreans. earlier this month the un security council meeting, china rejected the idea of imposing new sanctions on north korea for its missile launchers which

do violate security council resolutions. what is interesting now with the beijing olympic games, i'm sure china does not want northern korea to create the perception of the region heading into a crisis but it is difficult to perceive the internal dynamics of what exactly is happening with the china north korea relationship behind the scenes. i suspect there is much more there than meets the eye. thank ou ve there than meets the eye. thank you very much — there than meets the eye. thank you very much indeed. _ stay with us on bbc news, still to come: going into a bubble — how beijing is sealing off the venues for the winter olympics to stop any spread of covid. 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 bbc news. the latest 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.

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. 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 allowed to mix. from arrival at the airport, visiting teams are in their own bubble. people will recognise the bird's 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 there, there are discrete bubbles so that athletes don't mix with the media or invited spectators. using dedicated driving lanes, olympic vehicles move between zones. special high—speed trains also connect to the city and the mountain venues. to get an idea of the scale of this, let's have a look ata map. 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 bubble transport in between. but it's even more complicated than you might think because there are also these little satellite bubbles

attached to the main ones. this 5—star hotel, for example, is its own isolation bubble. those staying there won't meet anyone out here in street — they will just shuttle from the hotel to the olympic —— those staying there won't meet anyone out here in the street — thousands of university students will help to make the olympics run smoothly, some inside the bubbles, some outside. zhang junying was a volunteer at the 2008 beijing olympics. this year, she is volunteering again. translation: we are just ordinary people working i as assistants as best we can. if we do every little thing well, we can help complete something huge like the olympics. nearly 2,000 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. as for the public, they may not be able to buy olympic tickets, but at least they can watch the games on television during this lunar new year holiday. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. let's keep the sporting theme going from rather a warmer climate, actually. rafa nadal has achieved a huge amount in his tennis career but a serious foot injury meant he hardly competed last year and even he wondered if would play again. well, he has, and he has defied the odds to win the australian open and become the most successful men's singles player of all time. he came from two sets down against world number two daniil medvedev. it means the spanish player has now won 21 grand slam titles, breaking the tie with his great rivals roger federer and novak djokovic, who was sensationally denied the ability to play in the tournament, deported from australia for being unvaccinated against covid—19. someone who watched every last

bowl being hit in more than five hours in the end is tanya dendrinos. it was an amazing match to watch because it went on and on forever. but so does nadal, actually? on and on forever? it nadal, actually? on and on forever?— nadal, actually? on and on forever? . , . , ., forever? it was incredible on so many _ forever? it was incredible on so many levels _ forever? it was incredible on so many levels and - forever? it was incredible on so many levels and as - forever? it was incredible on so many levels and as you i forever? it was incredible on l so many levels and as you said a couple of months ago he did not know if he would be fit to play and here he is winning and no wonder he described it as one of the most emotional matches of his career and yes, i watched every last bowl and it was thrilling, for the whole 5.5 hours. as a spectator, and it could not ask for more in a grand slam title. they sorted out to the bitter end and as you say, medvedev, the world number two is that for a reason and he showed it in opening the sets and that i was looking shaky, terrible service game, really, at the start but he grounded out and got the historic win and as you say putting himself ahead of those rivals, federerand putting himself ahead of those rivals, federer and djokovic. particularly sweet for him given it was only his second, and he has only ——he has 120,

his first australian —— only his first australian —— only his second australian open win but brockovich is one umpteen times, nine or ten and was not there and we have this huge covid who heart over —— djokovic. —— hoo—ha. all that put him over everyone in tennis or would that be the awful djokovic issue that played out? we had no spectators into some of the matches, and this year to surpass it, i think it will go down in history as the most controversial open ever. as you say, the critics will be asking if djokovic was there and allowed to play, would he have been first to the magic number 21? i don't think we can take anything away from rougher nadal though, anything away from rougher nadalthough, he's anything away from rougher nadal though, he's been playing at the australian open for 18 years and still be playing at that level is phenomenal —— rafa. not only did he reach 21 yesterday but another, you mentioned, second australian

open title but this puts him in the exclusive company of djokovic of being the second player in the open era to win each of the four majors at least twice and not even roger has that. i least twice and not even roger has that. ~ ., ., has that. i know both have exoressed. _ has that. i know both have expressed, given - has that. i know both have expressed, given the - expressed, given the congratulations, haven't they, too nadal and well they might. i think we have the kreuziger, roger federer. —— the quotes here. he has done rather more now, coming off the crutches, roger federer hoping to come back as well. and novak djokovic must be finding all of this rather difficult to deal with but has been magnanimous in his praise for nadal. coming back to ashleigh barty and of course a great win for an australian, on her home soil. we have waited a long time for a tennis player in the women's game, actually, to really stamp your authority on the sport. is she doing that now, do you think? i she doing that now, do you think? ~' she doing that now, do you think? ~ , ., , think? i think this has particularly _ think? i think this has

particularly cementedj think? i think this has - particularly cemented her as a force in women public tennis. serena williams has really been the only dominant one for long time and we have been waiting, there has been no consistency in the finalists for such a long time in the women's game and the wind came off the back of her wimbledon when in summer and she won the french open in 2019 and the reason that is important is that she joins an exclusive group of current players who have won the grand slam titles on all surfaces, clay, grass, hardcourt, and it is the likes of those big three in the men's game and serena williams and i think that will silence some of the critics who, when she claimed the world number one title back in 2019, said she was not the real deal and she would not be at the top for a long time. i think she will be one to watch. i think her message _ will be one to watch. i think her message was _ will be one to watch. i think her message was i - will be one to watch. i think her message was i have - will be one to watch. i think her message was i have a i will be one to watch. i thinkl her message was i have a lot will be one to watch. i think - her message was i have a lot of improvement to make, which says something. thank you indeed, nice to have a round—up of the australian open. a reminder, if you want more on that, have a look at our website, all of the

stories there, as we do as well on the main issue which is the tensions along the ukrainian border with russia. that is bbc news. thank you for watching. hello there. storm corrie continuing to bring some damaging gusts of winds 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 north west england, the midlands, wales and south west 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 north—west wind. as we move through monday night, we'll see a more substantial area of patchy rain pushing into western scotland, perhaps western wales, north west 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 south—eastwards 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,

the headlines: russia's foreign minister has said moscow wants equal, mutually respectful relations with the united states and its allies, as tensions continue over ukraine. sergei lavrov accused russia's rivals of infringing its security on a daily basis. russia denies planning to invade ukraine. 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. north korean state media has released photographs it says were taken from its biggest missile launch since 2017. the pictures show parts of the korean peninsula and surrounding areas seen from space from a camera on the missile's nose.

now on bbc news, it's time for political thinking