this is bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: as russian forces show no sign of pulling back from ukraine's border, president putin accuses the us of trying to �*drag russia into war�*. translation: their most important goal _ is to contain russia. in this sense, ukraine itself is just a tool to achieve this goal. bomb threats are made to several historically black us colleges and universities, as america begins to mark black history month. the us considers approving covid vaccines for children underfive, as omicron cases in the young spike. and an american football great retires. ali—year old tom brady quits at the top, with an astonishing seven super bowl victories to his name.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe president putin says the us is ignoring russia's security concerns over ukraine. in his first public comment on the situation since december, he said the us was using ukraine simply as a tool to contain his country, adding that washington had failed to address russia's key demand — that nato should not expand further eastwards. meanwhile, ukraine's president has warned that any russian invasion of his country would lead to a full—scale war in europe. he's been hosting britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, for talks in kyiv, from where our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. for borisjohnson today, a change of subject,

a change of place. he arrived in ukraine to make a show of support for a country facing the threat of invasion — a country where political survival has an existential meaning. first stop, the presidential palace. he told volodymyr zelensky that britain would always stand up for ukraine's freedom. he promised him £88 million in aid, and he had a clear warning for moscow — if a single russian toecap crossed the border, they'd be met by devastating economic sanctions and a resolute ukrainian army. they will put up a very, very fierce and bloody resistance. and i think that parents, mothers in russia should reflect on that fact, and i hope very much that president putin steps back from the path of conflict. translation: there would be a tra . ed if an escalation against our country starts. and that's why i'm saying openly that this wouldn't be a war

between ukraine and russia. this would be a full—scale war in europe. the uk's been one of ukraine's of most vocal supporters, sending them 2,000 anti—tank weapons and british troops to train ukrainian forces how to use them. but this is what's facing them just over the border — the continued build—up of more than 100,000 russian troops that moscow insists are training and pose no threat. president putin, meeting today his hungarian counterpart, insisted his country's security interests were not being addressed by the united states. "their most important goal is to control russia, "that's the thing. "in this sense, ukraine itself is just a tool "to achieve this goal," he said. the russian president is expected to speak to borisjohnson tomorrow. a planned call on monday was postponed

because of the row over lockdown parties in downing street. why should the international community take your diplomacy seriously when you're so preoccupied at home? when you put talking to mps ahead of talking to president putin? it's absolutely vital that the uk government should step up now, bring together our friends and partners in the west. "russia has a gun to ukraine's head," mrjohnson said, "and is using it to try to redraw "the security map of europe." it was a critical moment. all sides saying that this is no longer about ukraine, it is about wider issues. you've got mr putin saying that the west are using ukraine as a tool to threaten his security. you've got mrjohnson saying that mr putin has a gun against ukraine's head to redraw the map of european security. and you've got the president of ukraine saying, "well, look, if there's any fighting, "this soon becomes a fully—fledged european war." the stakes could not be higher. james landale, bbc news.

that is james landale, our diplomatic corresponded in here. the white house has condemned a spate of bomb threats against a number of historically black colleges. the threats, made to more than a dozen universities and schools in cities from baltimore to new orleans, began on the first day of black history month in the united states. here's the latest from our north america correspondent david willis. no exclusives have so far been found. and a lot of these colleges have now issued clear messages after being searched by local law enforcement officers —— no exclusives. this caused many of the colleges to go into lockdown and revert to virtual lessons. you mentioned that there the white house has expressed concern, so to the

fbi was that it was working with local law enforcement to basically address any potential threats and the agency continues to urge members of the public to be vigilant around those campuses. earlier, patrice bell vice—president and chief of staff at xavier university of louisiana explained what had happened to their institution. early in the morning oni february, we received a bomb threat that caused us to go into an emergency lockdown. we evacuated students who were in the quadrant of campus, that was impacted by this threat, that was named in this threat, and we did have them shelter in place in a clear area in their residential facilities. right, so you were dealing with that in the middle of the night, though? yes, yes, we were. it was early in the wee hours of the morning oni february, quite in advance of the start of the business day. a few hours after, we started working with law enforcement and had secured our residential students, we made the call to move classes to remote instruction for the vast

majority of the morning, and then upon finding, getting the all clear message, we did return to face—to—face instruction on the first. right, and how straightforward is that, to switch from one to the other? i suppose covid has given you experience of managing that, but nonetheless, it sounds like a real hassle. well, it's difficult to manage, but certainly, covid and living in a community that is facing storm threats pretty regularly, we have to be able to be flexible with our learning modes, covid has certainly taught us how to move to virtual instruction pretty seamlessly. 0urfaculty, our staff, our administration really are all committed to making certain that our students, no matter what the event, have a continuity of learning experience, because the work we do here in america, as the only black and catholic institution in this nation, the top producer of mds and phds of colour, is so very

critical to making certain that the united states can be successful and can continue to address issues of diversity and representation that we have to make certain that our students are safe, first and foremost, but that we continue their education. of course you do, i fully understand that. but this isn't the first time, is it? not the only time. you're being confronted with these sorts of bomb threats from time to time. that must be wearing you down. yes, this is actually xavier university of louisiana's second bomb threat in 30 days. we are not alone in this. hbcus around the nation, more than a dozen today were impacted by bomb threats. thankfully, all of them received the all clear, and these were not threats that created actual issues or affects to campus. but this is the third of its type group of bomb threats against historically black colleges and universities since the beginning of 2022.

yeah, i suppose the point is — there is a clear message there — they're trying to disrupt you, they're trying stop you doing what you do. how do you respond to that? i think how we respond to that is to stay the course. we work together as a collective, all of the different hbcus consider ourselves sibling institutions. we collaborate together to support each other, we advocate for investments and security infrastructure for our campuses and we actually, as an hbcu, as a black and catholic institution, xavier specifically has been on the forefront of reconciliatory conversations and we have to approach all of this with the spirit of love and healing and reaching out to those actors who have some ill intent against us while continuing our work, continuing to stay the course, continuing to do the things we need to do with alert systems, with securing, with surveilling our campus, and with preparing

our community members, faculty staff and students to certainly see something and say something and make certain that we can always respond to these in the most conscientious manner. that is patrice bell of the xavier_ that is patrice bell of the xavier university - that is patrice bell of the xavier university of - that is patrice bell of the - xavier university of louisiana talking — xavier university of louisiana talking to _ xavier university of louisiana talking to me _ xavier university of louisiana talking to me earlier. - let's get some of the day's other news. the pharmaceutical company johnson &johnson and three major us drug distributors have agreed to pay about $600 million to settle lawsuits by native american communities devastated by the opioid crisis. the companies have not admitted wrongdoing, but the settlement will speed up the process of distributing funds. tonga is imposing a covid lockdown after the pacific island nation, which had been virus free, recorded two cases. the prime minister said the measures would be reviewed every two days. the two men who tested positive had been working in the capital's port, where humanitarian aid has been pouring in after last month's

volcanic eruption and tsunami. the norwegian mass murderer anders breivik has lost his bid for parole after a court decided he remains a risk to society. he was jailed for killing 77 people in oslo and utoya injuly 2011, but applied for parole last month. after a three—day hearing, the court decided it did not trust his claim that he would now only promote his ideology through peaceful means. lionel richie has pulled out of his forthcoming european tour due to his concerns over covid. the 72—year—old, currently performing in las vegas, said the well—being of his fans, band, and crew were uppermost in his mind. as well as gigs in several european cities, he was also due to perform at the isle of wight festival this summer. a commitment he originally agreed to do in 2020. the president of guinea—bissau

says the situation is under control after a coup attempt, which he described as a failed attack on democracy. umaro sissoco embalo said the attack on a government building in the capital, bissau, where he was chairing a cabinet meeting, had lasted five hours. 0ur west africa reporter mayenijones has more. standing in front of a left turn and surrounded by officials, resident embalo was keen to assure the citizens of his country as well as the international community. he said the coup attempt had been well organised. but that the government was now back in control. he added that some of those involved in the failed takeover had been arrested, but didn't give any details. earlier reports describe sustained gunfire around the government willing on tuesday

afternoon. the president and prime minister was said to be a cabinet meeting inside the building. schools and offices were closed and the military was deployed across the capital. there have been at least nine coup and coup attempt�*s since 1980. the region has experienced a resurgence of military takeovers in the past two years, with the armed forces seizing power in guinea and chad. mayenijones reporting. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as the fallout from the uk government partygate report continues, we visit one town which has the opportunity to deliver a people's verdict. 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 world news. the latest headlines: president putin says the west is ignoring his demands over

security — and accuses the us of trying to drag russia into war. the white house has condemned a spate of bomb threats made to several historically black us colleges and universities as america begins to mark black history month. the united states has signalled it will approve coronavirus vaccines for children under the age of five by the end of february. officials at the food and drug administration say they expect vaccine manufacturer pfizer to submit evidence in the coming days. the company has trialled a two shot vaccine, in which dosing levels are much smaller than those given to adults. covid—19 cases among children in the us have spiked since the rise of the omicron variant which has also led to higher hospitalizations. well, earlier, ispoke to dr peter hotez, who's co—director of the texas children's hospital centre for vaccine development in houston. i began by asking how big

an omicron spike is currently happening among children. now the cases are starting to come down, and in many cases, they're coming down as quickly as they went up. the big question we have here for this omicron wave is does it continue to plummet and go back down to a very low level or does it resemble what's happening in the united kingdom, where it goes down about halfway and then it plateaus. we are seeing a lot of paediatric hospitalisations, however, with this omicron wave and that seems to be what's driving both the us government and pfizer to try to accelerate a paediatric vaccine for those under the age of five. i'm interested in what you make of that. given, as you said, omicron infection rates are falling. is this a wise move? there is more than we don't know than we do know. and i've been talking to colleagues all day, we're not quite certain we have all the dots connected here. there are some unusual features about this. first of all, what pfizer is saying in their press release is they anticipate this will be a three dose vaccine,

the first two doses three weeks apart, followed by a pause of eight weeks, and then the third dose. but they only have collected data for immunogenicity, the ability to produce an immune response and safety for the first two doses. so the idea would be, it sounds like the emergency authorisation would be granted, potentially, based on information from two doses, with the understanding and the hope it will be the third dose that does the trick and really boosts a large immune response. my colleagues and i really haven't seen that before, so trying to understand the dynamics of it and hopefully more information will be forthcoming. just tackling the issue of vaccine hesitancy, clearly an issue in the us. if i look at what's happening in the uk, the message is children between five and 12 years old could have the vaccine, if they're deemed to be vulnerable, essentially. but this seems like a readiness to say, across—the—board, under fives, fair enough?

well, we have seen a lot of paediatric illness under the age of five, we don't have all the risk factors in hand and we are seeing some unusualfeatures, more like a bronchiolitis. i do think vaccination for those under the age of five may be warranted, but why the need to accelerate it like this, without having the data in hand for the third dose, that one is a little less clear. so i'm hoping we will get more information, pretty soon. dr peter hotez, joining us there on the issue of covid—19 vaccinations for the underfives in the us. the fallout from monday's release of the initial findings into lockdown parties in downing street rumbles on. the deputy prime minister, dominic raab, says conservative mps still "overwhelmingly" support borisjohnson, despite the findings by a senior civil servant concluding there'd been a "failure of leadership." but another conservative mp said he has submitted a letter of no confidence in

the prime minister. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. after a mauling from mps in public and pleading with his backbenchers in private yesterday, fleeing abroad — even to a potential war zone — must have felt like a relief for the prime minister today. but 1,500 miles and a few hours later, the questions he faces at home had followed him to ukraine. he didn't want to say much about them... my focus is entirely on delivering on the priorities of the british people, and they include ensuring that we are secure in our relations with our friends and allies, and that our friends and allies are secure. back here in westminster, conversation is still reflecting on the report that said there was rule—breaking at the top of government. not only did the prime minister and others break the rules, but they've taken the country for fools

by insulting our intelligence in the cover—up that's gone on since. borisjohnson's promised a shake—up in how downing street works... reporter: are you sticking around, chief whip? hope so. ..which means questions for the man in charge of persuading conservative mps to back the prime minister... are you making a run for it, dan? ..and ones with the prime minister's chief of staff, too. down the road in parliament, one of mrjohnson's most loyal allies insisted... we're moving on with delivering with the british people. we're implementing the manifesto in which he got an intensely personal mandate in 2019. but others have had enough... thank you, thank you. people want honesty, that's what they want. yeah, i agree. this conservative backbencher congratulated by a passer—by for talking candidly about his grandma's funeral. i didn't hug my siblings, i didn't hug my parents. i gave a eulogy, and then afterwards i didn't even go to her house for a cup of tea. does the prime minister think i'm a fool? ifeel this is tarnishing us all,

and the longer it goes on, the more damage it does the conservative party as a whole. that means finding another leader? it may well do. i've had hundreds of people in my inbox overnight, and they don't feel that they can vote for this government as it stands. the prime minister has survived for now, but there are two big questions — for how long and can he recover? even some of borisjohnson's biggest supporters acknowledge privately he has been damaged by this, perhaps irreversibly changing some people's perceptions of him. and this is farfrom over. with a police investigation ongoing, there is still the prospect the prime minister could be found to have broken the law. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. one of the biggest stars in world sport, the american football quarterback tom brady, is retiring. he's considered by many to be the best nfl quarterback player in the history of the game.

the 44—year—old played for a remarkable 22 seasons. he won seven super bowls in total, six with the new england patriots before joining the tampa bay buccaneers and winning a seventh just last year. he appeared in a record ten super bowls, winning the game's most valuable player award, or mvp, five times. i spoke to nick hamilton. he is a reporter and host at nitecast media and siriusxm. i asked him what made tom brady change his mind as it was thought he would retire next year. i don't think he necessarily changed his mind. i think he wanted to have the opportunity to retire for himself and not have other people speak for him. and he definitely earned that right, as you mentioned his acolytes earlier — 22 seasons, seven super bowl titles, broke records — there is never going to be another quarterback like tom brady. i don't see anybody ever breaking his records, at least in my lifetime. but tom brady is definitely a goat and it is the end of an era.

it certainly will be that. what is it then that made a tom brady? what is it that made him stand out? the success and the statistics tell a story, but what about the player? well, the player — this is a guy that was drafted in the sixth round, 199 pick, nobody really had any type of expectations, at least large expectations about tom brady, but he definitely defied the odds. this was a guy that people really did not pay attention to, but made sure that all eyes were on him as it pertained to his game in making sure that he exemplified the best. he was a man of excellence. he demanded excellence out of his players, and he made sure that he willed his way to win. he had an incredible football iq, as we saw, and made sure he was going to be the creme de la creme of the nfl and that's why we refer to him as the goat, because he has defied early odds but made sure that he got the ball in the end zone as many times as possible. the greatest of all time, of course. is it fair to say — we're going back 22 years, for goodness sake, that is just crazy —

that he brought into play simply a different mentality about what the job of a quarterback or even a professional footballer should be in terms of professionalism, in terms of attention to detail? knowing your opposition, managing your diet, etc? was he that pioneer there? 0h, absolutely. this is a man that paid attention to detail, he studied his opponents as best as anybody could ever study opponents, he watched hours upon hours of film, as we like to say he had the �*mamba mentality�* to a degree, as far as just being locked in and being focused. we talk about names like we say kobe bryant, michaeljordan and now we have to put tom brady in that category because tom brady definitely made sure that he was going to go out on top. also too, this is something about tom brady, when you look atjust what he exemplified and also just inspired other quarterbacks that are coming

into the national football league, they are going to continue to carry that torch as they move forward. by the time you get to 44, a lot of former players have had ten years building up to becoming a coach, is that his destiny? will he stay in the game? i don't know if he'll stay in the game on the sidelines, i think more so he will be a part of the game in some way or fashion, whether it's occasional commentary. we're seeing that he is working with his son who has an incredible arm just as a young man so you may see that brady extension but i think he will go ahead and just retire and enjoy the family life and doing something around football. who knows. nick hamilton there for us. british airways plane got caught in high wind on monday. storm corrie sweeping across the uk. just having a look at

aircraft. as it came in to land at heathrow. the term looks like it hit the runway. luckily, all 0k, well done to the pilot stop. hello there. it was another windy day for many on tuesday, but the winds will be a notch down for the day ahead, as will the amounts of sunshine — actually, it's been the sunniest january on record for england. and we did have a fair deal of sunshine during tuesday. but through the overnight period, we've introduced a weather front and that weather front will mean a cloudier day for many and, in fact, it's giving us some patchy rain and drizzle as well. now, it's this weather front that i'm talking about — the rain most significant in the north, but i think it's just because it's introduced that milder air, we'll notice that difference. still a cold start in the far north—east of scotland and the northern isles. but, as i say, it's the change in wind direction — we've lost the north westerly, we're picking up this south—westerly air,

coming in off the atlantic. it will be with us for a couple of days now and so therefore, there will be more cloud around and some patchy rain and drizzle. the cloud sitting on the hills and the coasts in northern and western areas, giving some hill fog. but inland, there's a good chance of some brightness developing for parts of wales, the midlands, southern england, perhaps east of the pennines. it won't be as windy, but there'll still be a fair breeze blowing through the day. as you can see, a steady brisk breeze but it's milder — temperatures of 11—12 celsius above where they should be for this time of year — except in the north of scotland, where we stay in the chilly air. and we continue to feed in that rain and that drizzle, and then, as we go through the night, something perhaps a little bit more significant across scotland, as you can see. and temperatures also held up because of all that cloud, and still that breeze at 7s and 8s. now, as we go through thursday, we do have that more significant weather front moving in. so, again, ahead of it, still quite unsettled, showery outbreaks of rain, some brightness, but this is looking more significant, isn't it? and behind it, it could turn to snow, some cold air digging back in. but for many, the day bringing stronger winds in the north,

but a lot of drier weather, cloudier weather, milder weather further south. there's that mild air. but it's transient because, as i say, it's with us through today and tomorrow, and then, behind it on friday, we sweep in with that north—westerly wind once again coming up from the arctic. so, perhaps some snow on the trailing edge of this weather front, particularly over the hills, and then, plenty of wintry showers, rain, hail, sleet, yes, snow mostly over the hills following, but a much colder—feeling day by the time we get to friday. as ever, there's more on the website.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president putin says the us is ignoring russia's security concerns over ukraine, and added that the west is using ukraine as a tool to contain his country. he accused washington of failing to address russia's key demand — that nato should not expand further eastwards. the white house has condemned a spate of bomb threats against a number of historically black colleges in the united states. more than a dozen have reported the threats, just as america begins to mark black history month. several have moved back to virtual teaching for the time being. one of the biggest stars in world sport, the american football quarterback tom brady, is retiring. he's considered by many to be the best nfl quarterback player in the history of the game. the 44—year—old played for a remarkable 22 seasons and won seven super bowls in total.

now on bbc news it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.