welcome to bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: president biden approves the deployment of 3,000 troops to europe. russia calls it an unjustified and destructive move. the united states stands shoulder—to—shoulder with our nato allies. the current situation demands that we reinforce the deterrent and defensive posture on nato�*s eastern flank. new zealand begins the phased re—opening of its borders. vaccinated citizens in australia can finally return home. a key part of the brexit deal unravels, as northern ireland halts customs checks on goods coming from the british mainland. and royal rivals. the husband and wife now taking opposing sides on the rugby pitch.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president biden has approved the deployment of 3,000 troops to bolster nato allies in the region. this would be the first major movement of us forces in russia's military stand—off with ukraine. 2,000 will be sent to poland and germany and a 1,000—strong squadron will be redeployed from germany to romania. a pentagon spokesman said the deployments were a signal that america was ready to defend its allies, but he was keen to stress the troops were not going to fight in ukraine. the united states stands shoulder—to—shoulder with our nato allies. the current situation demands that we reinforce the deterrent and defensive posture

on nato�*s eastern flank. president biden has been clear that the united states will respond to the growing threat to europe's security and stability. our commitment to nato, article five, and collective defence remains ironclad. so, away from the military tension and high—level diplomacy, what do ordinary russians think of the prospect of full—scale war in ukraine? the bbc�*s moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports now from the city of vladimir. bell tolls in russia, putin is but one of many vladimirs. this is vladimir, the town. it was founded by a medieval prince who ruled from kyiv — a reminder that russia and ukraine have common roots. andre's mother is from ukraine. he calls the two countries brotherly nations, but he clearly sees russia as big brother.

translation: russia must have a sphere of influence. | it's a superpower. smaller countries can ally with whoever they choose, but it's up to big countries to help them decide. i find that many russians do believe what they are being told — the constant stream of claims in the state media here that it is ukraine and the west that risk turning a cold war hot. at vladimir market, though, on people's minds are troubles on the home front, economic ones. lydia is trying to sell produce from her garden. the money she makes here is a lifeline. "the situation in ukraine is a worry," lydia says, "but so is the russian economy. "prices are rising on everything. "my pension is barely enough to survive on." with all the problems russians have right now —

economic hardship, the coronavirus pandemic — there is little appetite here amongst the public for a full—scale war with ukraine, let alone a war with the west. but that doesn't mean russians don't fear such a war. many do. with east—west tension close to boiling point over ukraine, iten and her husband, viktor, blame their government. they believe the russian authorities have created imaginary enemies as a distraction. so, they want us to hate, they want us to imagine that there is an enemy because there must be an enemy, otherwise people will focus on the problems they have and will be focusing on what's wrong, why they are not living the life they could live if the government would be different, if the policy could be different. so, will russia compromise, or will there be conflict? iten knows that will depend on the other vladimir — russia's current leader,

back in moscow. steve rosenberg, bbc news, vladimir. we can now speak to bradley bowman, who's senior director of the center on military and political power at the foundation for defence of democracies. he previously served as a national security advisor to members of the us senate armed services and foreign relations committees. so perfectly placed to speak to us. you are very welcome. we were hearing a little earlier from the pentagon spokesperson john kirby, very clear to say that troops, the us troops, will not be deployed in ukraine. how much of a threat to do you think troops being deployed to places like germany, romania, poland will be for russell?— be for russell? thank you for the opportunity _ be for russell? thank you for the opportunity to _ be for russell? thank you for the opportunity to join - be for russell? thank you for the opportunity to join you i the opportunity to join you and the question. i think they zero threat to russia. nato is a

collect of defence alliance. nato is not napoleon threatening russia, it is not nazi germany threatening russia and let bluenoser. as the chairman of the joints she just mcgreejoint chiefs of staff said, this is fabricated by the kremlin to try to coerce kia. it is based on a model where vladimir putin says they are more powerful than ukraine, can tell you what to do and with whom to associate, so these are prudent steps the biden administration is taking to send a clear message that the united states will honour its article five metal commitments, but will not send combat troops to ukraine. instead they are sending six shipments, already, defensive weapons to ukraine so ukraine can defend itself. so what do you think would be a deterrent for mr putin and russia to pull back, to de—escalate, that is a word we have heard today? i de-escalate, that is a word we have heard today?— have heard today? i think additional _

have heard today? i think additional defensive - have heard today? i think - additional defensive weapons, to ukraine, it is good but insufficient and belated. i'm glad to see countries like the united kingdom and poland and some of the baltic countries and others stepping forward to provide arms to ukraine. these weapons don't believe the kremlin talking points to your audience, these are not an offensive threat to moscow, they will simply raise the cost of aggression and hopefully change putin's mind or convince him that he cannot achieve his political object lives in ukraine with additional aggression against ukraine. haw aggression against ukraine. how do ou aggression against ukraine. how do you see _ aggression against ukraine. how do you see this _ aggression against ukraine. how do you see this playing out? we have had a lot of high—stakes diplomacy over the past few days that continued today. we are also hearing from russians how they are feeling at the moment. we have heard from ukrainians as well, so worried about what may happen on their borders. how do you see it? mt; borders. how do you see it? my heart borders. how do you see it? ij�*i heart goes borders. how do you see it? m heart goes out to borders. how do you see it? m1: heart goes out to the people of ukraine. they have suffered the invasion in 2014 in crimea, an illegal annexation, they have seen since that time the

russian backed separatists in the donbass, were roughly 14,000 people have died, they have seen cyber attacks and warfare, they have roughly 100,000 combat troops all around their borders and almost every side, including to the west. and occupied crimea. the best way to de—escalate this is for the russian soldiers to return to their bases and make clear, in a believable way with their actions, that there won't be another russian military invasion of ukraine. i suppose the question _ invasion of ukraine. i suppose the question is _ invasion of ukraine. i suppose the question is their _ invasion of ukraine. i suppose the question is their how - invasion of ukraine. i suppose the question is their how can l the question is their how can president putin do that without losing face? do you have an idea what his end game really is with this holder buckle that has been happening over the past few weeks in particular —— debacle? i past few weeks in particular -- debacle? ~ , ., , ., debacle? i think you trying to do a former— debacle? i think you trying to do a former us _ debacle? i think you trying to do a former us secretary - debacle? i think you trying to do a former us secretary of's george wilson saying casting a shadow power of the negotiating table. think is trying to get a commitment that ukraine would neverjoin nato and that, i think, conceding that would be

a betrayal of nato's aquatic principles, of american intervals, and transatlantic principles stop again, it is two worldviews, the kinds of things that are so committed to honour in the 1994 budapest memorandum, which they are blowing off now.— blowing off now. bradley bowman. _ blowing off now. bradley bowman, thank - blowing off now. bradley bowman, thank you - bowman, thank you so much for speaking to us now on bbc news. we will wait and see what happens in the coming hours and days. new zealand has announced a five—stage process to reopen its international borders, which have largely been closed for almost two years because of the pandemic. from the end february, fully—vaccinated new zealand citizens and residents from australia will be granted entry without spending two weeks at an official quarantine centre. they will have to self—isolate instead. new zealanders in the rest of the world can return from mid—march, and the final border restrictions are due to end in october. prime ministerjacinda ardern says the changes are part of a "journey back to a new normal".

let's go to our correspondent phil mercer in sydney. good to have you with us. gosh, a long time coming for the people of new zealand. when i was hearing about the five point plan which will be going on until october i was remembering, due remember that zero covid policy, and has that been abandoned now completely? talk us through a little bit of what has been said?- talk us through a little bit of what has been said? covid zero was a policy — what has been said? covid zero was a policy in _ what has been said? covid zero was a policy in a _ what has been said? covid zero was a policy in a new— what has been said? covid zero was a policy in a new zealand, | was a policy in a new zealand, but events really did overpower that particular policy. now there is an expectation that this phased approach will give new zealanders and the government an opportunity to learn to live with the virus. it is time to move again was the message from the prime

minister, jacinda ardern, when she announces. as a cautious, face reopening, as you said, it will begin at the end of this month and will stretch well into the end of the year into 0ctober. so new zealand has had some of the world's toughest by a security border controls keeping out most foreigners for the best part of two years. now the best part of two years. now the fortress is gradually being dismantled. i the fortress is gradually being dismantled.— dismantled. i am 'ust wondering, �* dismantled. i am 'ust wondering, here h dismantled. i amjust wondering, here in i dismantled. i amjust _ wondering, here in london there are a lot of people from new zealand who live here, of course, you often hear chatter about them wanting to go home and feeling very sad about how strict the restrictions were. what about in new zealand or, perhaps, australia, because they are quite close neighbours in the sense of people going back and forth there as well, how were they received, with a fully accepted? i how were they received, with a fully accepted?— fully accepted? i think they will be anxiety _ fully accepted? i think they will be anxiety in _ fully accepted? i think they will be anxiety in new- fully accepted? i think they i will be anxiety in new zealand as the borders gradually reopen. prime minister ardern

made reference to that. she also made reference to the fact that the managed isolation facilities that have forced new zealanders, many of them, to wait to return home, this is a system where new zealanders arriving home have to go in to two weeks of monies isolation, jacinda ardern said it was a situation that had created a separation and heart rate, but new zealand's rate defence, according to the government, is its vaccination rate. eligible people in new zealand, 94% of them, have two doses of the covid—19 vaccine. so the government says it is confident that this staged reopening will be safe, but it is part of a journey for new zealand going into uncharted territory of living with the virus. that is why we have a very cautious stage approach announced by the prime ministerfew hours stage approach announced by the prime minister few hours ago. thank you so much. there were

only 53 deaths due to covid—19 in new zealand, which really is such a low figure. let's get some of the day's other news four men have been charged in connection with the overdose death of actor michael k williams in september last year. the men are alleged to have been involved in the distribution of fentanyl—laced heroin that resulted in the death of williams, who was best known for playing 0mar little on the wire. officials in argentina say at least 12 people have died and another 50 are in hospital after taking adulterated cocaine. police have raided a house and made ten arrests in a poor neighbourhood of buenos aires, where they believe the cocaine was sold. the manchester united footballer mason greenwood has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of rape and assault. manchester united says he won't return to the pitch until further notice. a unionist minister in the belfast assembly has directed officials to stop carrying out checks on goods entering northern ireland from the rest of the uk. the checks effectively keep northern ireland in the eu single market post brexit. it also prevents the need for customs at the land border

between northern ireland and the irish republic, which is in the european union. but the northern ireland protocol, as it's called, is deeply unpopular amongst unionist politicians who don't want any barriers between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. emma vardy reports. it's the most defiant step yet from the dup to frustrate the brexit arrangements in northern ireland. since the uk left the eu, goods from britain have had to undergo new checks when they reach northern ireland's ports. tonight, the dup department responsible for operating these checks has ordered civil servants to stop carrying them out. i have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on the 31st of december 2020 from midnight tonight. i will prepare a paper for executive consideration in the near future to seek a way forward. thank you.

the new checks on goods crossing the irish sea were part of the brexit deal that the uk government signed up to to avoid the need for checks on goods which travel into the irish republic. for unionists, who view this as effectively severing northern ireland's place in the uk, they have been a source of much contention. but it's an arrangement which is supported by other parties in northern ireland. the government in dublin says ordering the checks to stop goes against an international treaty. the protocol is part of an international agreement. it was agreed and ratified by the uk and the eu, and so to deliberately frustrate obligations under that treaty, i think, would be a very serious matter indeed. i think it's essentially playing politics with legal obligations. what is not clear to me is how civil servants,

who are responsible for border checks here, will react tomorrow. there are conflicting views in the northern ireland government over whether the order is lawful, and the first lorries carrying goods will begin to roll off the ferries here just after 6am. other parties at stormont have accused the dup of a political stunt ahead of the elections in may. more than a year since the brexit arrangements were put in place, they're still at the heart of political division and uncertainty. emma vardy, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the young man who took his own life after finding a website offering advice on suicide. we report on a potentially deadly online threat. 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: president biden approves the deployment of three—thousand troops to europe — russia calls it an unjustified and destructive move. new zealand begins the phased re—opening of its borders — vaccinated citizens in australia can finally return home. a leading uk charity has said criticised parts of the government's online harms bill. the samaritans says the government needs to strengthen the proposed laws to ban websites advocating suicide. they're backed by the family ofjoe nihill who ended his life aged 23 after he found a website where other users told him how to buy poison. the government says the new bill will bring accountability to internet firms by giving them legal duties to protect uk users from harm. 0ur correspondent angus crawford has the story — some viewers may find his report distressing. imagine a website where the sad and lonely learn how to die.

that website exists. and joe nihill, who was 23 and struggling with depression, found it. telling people to die, to take their life, it's not going to get any better. they're monsters. joe went looking for help, but was encouraged to end his life. the site even showed him where to buy the poison he used. "i've advised over 1000 people how to end their life." his mother catherine and sister—in—law melanie want it shut down, but it's still there, pulling in the desperate and the vulnerable. ifjoe had not found himself on there, we could have had a more fighting chance that... he'd still be here. it needs to go.

it needs... it needs banning. the whole thing needs to go. it's disgusting. we are not naming the site because we don't want others to find it. there are detailed instructions on suicide methods, even people posting their final messages. and there are users looking to find suicide partners, to die together. italy and germany have restricted access to the site, but in the uk, it's still freely available. we know of 21 suicides in britain linked to this site, but there may be many more. jeremy keeling found the site, and someone to sell him poison, sent all the way from eastern europe. but at the last minute, he did not take it. i know what it's like to be in a situation where you're in the darkest place you've ever been and you don't feel

as though that will end. you feel is if there's no light at the end of the tunnel. don't give up. jeremy is now recovering and well supported, but angry the authorities have not done more to take the site down. i think they're out of touch. i think they don't know the details of what's going on, to be honest with you. there is a site out there that is coaching british citizens on how to end their life and something needs doing about it. the government says it's already illegal to encourage or help someone to take their own life, and the new online safety bill will further strengthen legislation. but will it? some charities don't think so. in its present form, the bill is not fit for purpose. it's very focused on under 18s, which is crucial of course, we must protect our children. but we have to recognise that there are vulnerable adults. you don't stop having thoughts of suicide or self—harm just because you become 18 years old. it's signed, joe nihill. "please do your best in closing that website for anyone

else and look after my mum and my family." i miss my son. joe left a note, asking the police to shut down the website. his family say they won't stop until it, and others like it, are gone for good. it's just there for anybody to find. how many more lives are going to be taken before... they do something? angus crawford, bbc news. for the first time since the taliban seized power in afghanistan — some public universities have reopened — allowing female students to return to the classroom. girls remain barred from secondary schools, even though boys were allowed to go back last september. there are conditions for the university return though. female students must wear the hijab, although they were already doing this. classes must be segregated by gender with female students entering via separate doors. and the curriculum must be

based on �*islamic principles'. the taliban's deputy minister of culture and information, said his department aims to open classrooms for all girls in six provinces in this country which have warmer weather, universities have reopened, and we have been speaking to students there, and from some areas, we are being told that female students have been allowed to go back to university. in some areas, we're being told that boys are going to their classes in the morning and girls are going to their classes in the evening. in some places where the facilities are available, there are segregated classrooms and different entries for men and women. i've also been speaking to female university students here in kabul. universities in this city, in this province are not yet open, but they are saying that looking at the developments today, they're feeling hopeful. of course, at the moment, secondary schools across

the country remained barred for girls except for a few provinces. on that front, the taliban have been saying that when spring term opens in march, girls will be allowed to go back to secondary schools as well. now selecting a different team to support from your sibling or your partner may lead to plenty of friendly rivalries at home. but now the duchess of cambridge and her husband prince william appear to have taken it to a whole new level. prince william is the longstanding patron of the welsh rugby union. and now his wife has taken on a similar role with teh england rugby team. here's our royal correspondent sarah campbell hoping to give english rugby a lift, the players were certainly impressed with their new patron's performance on the pitch. she's seriously skilful. like, it was really impressive. we thought we'd throw her in the scrum, so... i'm not sure she loved it, but we threw her in there.

you know what she did, she was great. until last year, prince harry was english rugby's royal cheerleader. a lot�*s changed since this picture was taken back in 2015 at the world cup. with prince harry, his wife meghan and now prince andrew all losing their royal patronages, the queen and the family are working out which of the remaining royals are best placed to take on more positions. and the captain of the women's team couldn't be happier with harry's replacement. i think women's rugby in this country is going to take off domestically and internationally, so, yeah, hopefully to have her as an advocate and, like, pushing in that direction is really important. england kits for the cambridge children, who are rugby fans, according to their mum. the only issue may be with dad, as prince william is the patron for welsh rugby. she said that they're pretty competitive in their household between the two of them, so she's not really too sure how it's going to go down

when england play wales. during this six nations, expect the royal rivalry to be as fierce as that on the pitch. sarah campbell, bbc news, twickenham. hello there. it's been mild for the time of year, for the last few days. thursday's also another mild day for most of us. quite a bit of cloud around once again, but i think we should see a little bit more sunshine into the afternoon. and it's going to be breezy, as well, i think a windier day today than what we had on a wednesday. you can see why more isobars on the charts, particularly across the north of uk, and especially when this cold front arrives across the northwest of the country later on. but we're still in this mild wedge of air, as you can see from the yellow and orange colours there. so, a mild, rather cloudy, rather breezy start to the day. some spots of light rain and drizzle across northern and western hills, which should tend to fizzle out. increasing amounts of sunshine, we think into the afternoon, but this weather front will bring some more persistent rain to north—west scotland, northern ireland later on. it'll be a blustery day for all the winds picking up,

but turning very strong across the northwest, with this weather front in excess of 50 mph. now, for most of us, it's going to be mild, 10—13 celsius, but it will be turning colder behind that weather front — only five celsius there for stornoway. so you can see why this colder air moves in behind the cold fronts, as the name suggests, as it slowly works its way southeastwards during thursday night. so it'll be lying through central parts of the country by the middle parts of the night. eventually, that rain will be pushing through england and wales, a little bit of wintriness on its back edge as colder air digs in. there'll be wintry, blustery showers and clear spells for scotland and northern ireland. could see a touch of ice across northern parts of the country by the end of the night, but less cold further south and east ahead of the weather front. so for friday, then, we start with that wet weather with that weather front lying across the southeast. could see some wintriness on its back edge as it clears away — eventually it will — and then, all of the country will have a chillier but bright day for friday with blustery showers. these will be wintry across northern and western areas, not even down to the hills, maybe even down to lower levels, as well. temperatures much lower than of late, 3—9 celsius. factor in the strong

northwest wind and it'll feel even colder than those temperatures suggest. it is a fairly short—lived cold spell because, as we head on into the weekend, we start to draw up some milder air again from the southwest. but it will be quite a windy weekend, and this weather front will be waxing and waning across the country to bring outbreaks of rain. so a milder theme into the weekend, particularly on sunday, but that weather front�*s likely to bring thicker cloud with outbreaks of rain to many areas. that's it from me, bye for now.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: russia has condemned the announcement by the united states that it will deploy 3,000 troops to support nato allies in europe. the russian foreign ministry called it an unjustified and destructive move. it's the first major movement of us forces since the russian military began massing on the ukrainian border. new zealand has announced a five—stage process to reopen its international borders, which have largely been closed for almost two years because of the pandemic. vaccinated new zealand citizens and some others from australia will be granted entry without spending two weeks at an official quarantine centre. northern ireland's minister for agriculture has told his officials to stop carrying out checks on goods entering the region from the british mainland. the checks must be carried out under the part of the brexit deal struck with the european union that's known as the northern ireland protocol. and they are your headlines. now on bbc news, it's time for the media show with katie razzall.