this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm david eades. our top stories: can the french break the ice in tensions between russia and the west? presidents macron and putin to meet. we report on the frontline of hostilities in the east of the country. this entire village is a casualty of the conflict. it is extraordinary that anyone still lives here. the handful who remain are pretty much cut off. chinese tennis star peng shuai again denies making allegations of sexual assault in her first western media interview since the accusations emerged on social media. a second storm wreaks havoc in madagascar — whole villages are swept away as a cyclone leaves a trail of destruction

the canadian capital ottawa declares a state of emergency as truckers continue their rowdy protest over covid rules. and a leap to olympic history for snowboarder zoi sadowski—synnott. it's new zealand's first ever winter gold medal. we catch up with her very proud parents. the french president emmanuel macron appears to be taking the diplomatic lead for the west this week in seeking to avert a russian invasion of ukraine. on monday he heads to moscow to meet president putin, after earlier holding a telephone conversation with us presidentjoe biden.

he's also due to meet ukraine's president zelensky and possibly germany's chancellor later in the week. in eastern ukraine, kremlin backed separatists have been fighting government forces since 2014. our international correspondent, orla guerin, reports now from one village that has been virtually destroyed by the conflict. russia lies across the water, a threat not seen, but felt. on this side of the frozen azov sea, all is quiet on the beaches in the ukrainian seaside town of shyrokyne. these days, less beach resort, more last resort. war came here in 2014, and kremlin—backed separatists are still dug injust a few miles away.

"there are defences on the shore "and mines in the water", says the commander, sergei, who insists president putin is just flexing his muscles. for now, more waiting and wondering — will he, won't he invade? a worry notjust for ukraine, but for the world. and for this village, anotherfront line area, about two hours away. this entire village is a casualty of the conflict. most of the houses are abandoned. most of the people are long gone. it's extraordinary that anyone still lives here. the handful who remain are pretty much cut off. viktor is glad to have a visitor to his home on the first of may street. he's one of the last five

villagers, sticking it out despite the separatist rebels, positioned 4 kilometres beyond the tree line. his wife, ira, who's 59, like him, says they are too old to move, and loneliness is the greatest battle. "i miss the old days", she says. "there were so many people. "now there's no one to talk to. "we watch tv and do crosswords, and we talk to the animals." standing proud down the road, theodore, a hardy 91—year—old. he tells me his daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren live in rebel—held territory, and have been unable to cross the front line to see him in months.

but the villagers are stoic. they have to be. "life is not so bad that we cry all the time", says ira. "we carry on. "of course, we would like it to be better. "but there's nothing we can do." orla guerin, bbc news, eastern ukraine. dmitri alperovitch is chairman of silverado policy accelerator, a washington—based geopolitical think—tank he told me what he hoped would come from president macron�*s meeting later today it is certainly a diplomatic hail mary and i am glad he is going because to this point we have not had a western leader like president macron visit president putin face—to—face and ask him point—blank what would it to pull back forces? what are you looking for specifically from the west, and to try and find

an accommodation. i fear the likelihood is low because putin stands ready to invade and he has forces in position. almost all the equipment has been moved to the ukraine border, navalassets are on the way to the black sea so he has incredible leverage here. but macron seems to think that he can find a way forward. he is speaking in positive terms. i think that he has to. hope never dies and i hope he can ensure a breakthrough. but when you look at what putin wants and what he said he wants, he wants guarantees the ukraine will neverjoin nato — and technically macron could give these guarantees because france does have veto power as does every other member of nato on accession of new members. but binding guarantees like that are unlikely to be given to putin. and beyond that i think putin will want more. he's going to want all nato infrastructure and weapons to be pulled out of ukraine, and that is not something that macron can accommodate,

so i fear the price will be too high that macron can pay. in which case, i'm just trying to work out what you think would happen. you say that we are that much closer to an invasion of sorts. from the american side, at least, they would want and theyjust had a phone call between presidents macron and biden, they would want to understand what putin really wa nts. they want macron to get those details out of putin at the meeting with ihm today, they would want to follow—up from chancellor scholz next week to do the same and then maybe as allies they can come together and try to figure out is there something workable here, is there a last—ditch diplomatic effort that can be made to avoid war? we have been running through this for some weeks now and obviously the buildup has been going on for months. we are still in the diplomatic phase which either gives some cause for confidence or hope, at least, or it points to some sort of military incursion. what would be your best bet is to what they would do?

i have been convinced for the last two months that they were going to invade and everything that has happened since then has only reaffirmed that conviction, u nfortu nately. the reality is i think the russians have been stalling for time diplomatically so they can complete the buildup and they are almost ready and could invade in the next week, if not sooner, and really i think very little would stop them from doing so now. the chinese tennis player peng shuai has said she met with the ioc president, thomas bach, on saturday inside the winter olympics bubble in beijing. during herfirst western media interview with the french newspaper l'equipe, peng shuai said she never accused anyone of sexual assault and she'd deleted her social media post that appeared to make such a claim. the well—being of the three time olympian became a matter of global concern when the allegation first emerged in november.

our beijing correspondent stephen mcdonell has been following the story — he gave me his assessment of this latest development. this seems to me to be yet another attempt by the government and the ioc playing along, to somehow put an end to this furore. now they've chosen a media outlet, i don't know if they've deliberately chosen someone who's not particularly across the issue, or why they chose that french media outlet, but they haven't asked her — like, for example if she says, "i wasn't accusing this former senior party figure of rape, of sexual assault", well, what were you accusing him of? that question was not asked. now this is crucial line in her original post, so i'lljust read it out in chinese, she said of him, that he... speaks chinese. if you speak chinese, that could mean, "you took me to your house and raped me." but it could also mean, depending on the translation,

"you took me to your house and forced me to have sex with you." or some people suggesting it means, "you took me to your house and you pressured me into having sexual relations with you." either way, these are serious allegations being made against a member of the politburo standing committee, and now she's just saying, "well, i didn't say it was assault." but we are none the wiser as to what she really did mean by that post. also in that interview, they didn't ask anything about the bizarre proof—of—life videos that have turned up with people sitting around at the dinner table mentioning the date, and who organised those videos, why were they doing that? so, this has just again forced the story to the forefront of the media's attention, and rather than making it go away, leaves us asking more questions. yeah, i think the l'equipe was saying that we had to submit our questions

beforehand as well, so whilst they then said we got some others in there, it was clearly a bit of a controlled environment, that would seem to be the case. you say we're talking about it again here, without having a conclusive a view as to what really happened, but some suggestion peng shuai thinks she'll be able to travel again, at least? well, that would be good. at the end of all of this, the most important thing is her safety and well—being. and if she can travel around the world and participate in tennis events and what have you, great, that is what people would ultimately love to see. now, we also, you can imagine for her, if there's all this pressure on her, she's made these allegations, she now says she's deleted that social media post, and perhaps she does now somehow want to put all this behind her, and, of course, that is her right. however, every time you do an interview or someone organises for her to do an interview, like i say, itjust brings it all up to the surface again. so, certainly, as long

as she is able to travel again, that would be fantastic. at least, it does seem to be that she's ok, like, she's not in some kind of detention, which people were worried about initially, and in another pretty staged interview she said, she's not even under house arrest. so, she's saying she can move around the country and she seems happy enough when you see her on camera, it's just that all these questions remain. writers have put out a couple of much remarks from the president of the ioc which says it is her life and her story and this is why the communication is a to herfull thatis communication is a to herfull that is how he put it. he said we respect her as an athlete and as a person. at least ten people have been killed after a second cyclone hit madagascar

in as many weeks. cyclone batsirai made landfall late on saturday, leaving a trail of destruction across the indian ocean island, as courtney bembridge reports. widespread flooding has cut off large parts of the island, making rescue efforts even more difficult. one local official in the south—east of the country said the damage there was so bad it was as though the area had been bombed. translation: many houses of collapsed. | we can't say how many people are affected because we are all affected. mana njary is completely destroyed. no matter where you go, everything is destroyed. rooves were ripped off homes and buildings, while others were inundated with water. translation: it was early morning, we were still sleeping. the owner of the house came to tell us the water was rising. we went to the other side of the house and the walls started to crack. translation: the wind was very strong and there has been - a lot of damage. early in the morning, the water was rising and all of the neighbourhood

was under water. cyclone batsirai swept inland late on saturday, slamming into the eastern coastline with heavy rain and wind speeds up to 165 kilometres per hour. translation: we live on the hill, _ on the edge of a cliff. the wind was strong but our house is strong. early in the morning, there was a landslide. to be safe, the head of the neighbourhood told us to go to the evacuation centre. that is why we are here. the red cross was registering arrivals at this evacuation centre, but aide groups say they have not been able to reach many others. what we see now is that 50,000 people are considered displaced and we estimate that up to 150,000 people will be directly affected by the cyclone. and the un has warned those numbers are likely to rise. it comes just a fortnight after the impoverished nation was hit by another deadly stomp, cyclone ana, which killed 55 people and displaced 130,000 residents. courtney bembridge, bbc news.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: celebrations in senegal as they beat egypt to win the africa cup of nations football title for the first time. there's mr mandela, nelson mandela. a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church - to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, - 'ba by doc' duvalier.

because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc world news. the main headline: french president macron to meet with president putin later for the latest efforts to avoid a russian invasion of ukraine. chinese tennis star peng shuai again denies making allegations of sexual assault in herfirst western media

interview since the accusations emerged on social media. in canada, a state of emergency has been declared in the capital ottawa, in response to the ongoing truckers protests against covid restrictions. the mayor, jim watson, said the city was outnumbered and losing the battle against the freedom convoy. the truckers have paralysed the centre of ottawa with vehicles and tents blocking roads. i've been speaking tojustin ling, who's an investigative journalist based in montreal. he's been following the story. patience is definitely running out for the folks who actually live in the downtown core, who have been absolutely fed up with the behaviour of the protesters, the constant noise. just this evening, there was a raucous dance party with djs taking placejust in the shadow of parliament hill. the honking has been nearly incessant. it has gotten so bad, in fact, that a class—action lawsuit was filed just today, demanding that the court put an injunction

in and threaten to fine these protesters up to cad$10 million because they have basically destroyed any sort of normal life that local residents would otherwise enjoy, so things are getting quite tense in the capital, for sure. i bet they are, but their message is clear — we will stay as long as it takes. and ultimately, presumably, that means the removal of the vaccination mandate for those truckers who want to go back and forth across the border to the us? well, it is really important to note that they are notjust asking for an end to that mandate for truckers, they want an end to all vaccine mandates, top to bottom, at every level of government — which that is something that the trudeau administration nationally cannot even do. their demands are absolutely untenable. some of the protesters have even insisted that they will not leave until prime minister justin trudeau resigns from office and calls a new election.

the demands being meted out from these protesters are, you know, could never be abided to. these people represent about 10% of the country who are unvaccinated and they are asking forjustin trudeau to basically remove every requirement for healthcare workers to be vaccinated, for a vaccine to be required for flights — domestically, internationally, and for police officers, firefighters, a host of other jobs, and to have these mandates be lifted, but that is not going to happen. justin ling. one of india's greatest ever singers, lata mangeshkar, has been cremated at a huge funeral ceremony in mumbai, attended by the country's prime minister. narendra modi said she "left a void in the nation that cannot be filled". our correspondent raijini vaidyanathan looks back on her life. sings. lata mangeshkar was one of the most prolific artists in history who recorded more songs than the beatles

and the rolling stones combined. bollywood music plays. as a bollywood singer, her vocals were dubbed over generations of actresses as they lip—synched dance routines in indian films. lata mangeshkar leaves a legacy as old as independent india itself — a career of more than seven decades. today, the country's prime minister narendra modi led tributes to an artist so revered, she was afforded a state funeral. affectionately known as india's 'didi', or sister, to millions in this country and around the world, this loss feels personal. india is now in two days of mourning in honour of lata mangeshkar. her appeal was universal, crossing religious and cultural divides.

her music was played at weddings, funerals and national events. it is hard to find an indian who wasn't moved by the music of lata mangeshkar. translation: i have been a fan since i was a child. _ words cannot express how sad i feel at her passing. in one of her final last interviews, given to the bbc asian network, she talked about reaching that milestone. "i've reluctantly accepted that i'm old," she said, "but i feel like i'm 25." her voice was ever youthful. it was one of a kind. if bollywood is the soul of india, then lata mangeshkar was its beating heart. senegal have won the african cup of nations for the first time.

they've beaten egypt on penalties after the game finished goalless following extra time. in a match billed as being a battle between two liverpool stars, mo salah from egypt and sadio mane from senegal, it was mane who provided the game's most pivotal moments. he netted the winning spot kick as senegal beat egypt 11—2 on penalties. so, a huge moment for senegal and the players from the teranga lions were keen to celebrate, including gatecrashing the post—match press conference being held by their manager, aliou cisse, to make sure he received a traditional soaking of champagne. more sporting history here now. new zealand has won its first ever gold medal at the winter olympics. it came courtesy of snowboarder zoi sadowski—synnott. the 20—year—old clinched the top spot in snowboard slopestyle after a dramatic final run that ended

the united states' run of dominance in the discipline. a little earlier, i spoke to zoi's parents, sean and robin, and they gave me their reaction to her historic win. we were just astounded at the outcome and that was a big - that was a big inaudible - dropped that third run and pull it off after being inaudible| medal position, so you have to dig deep for that. i bet you did. i was going to say for her to come — well, she's 20 now — to reach this level — i mean, she is top of the world — i want to know how she did it. here's new zealand, never won a gold medal in winter olympics before. i know you have some ski resorts not that far probably from you, but are you sort of past kings and queens of the slopes yourselves, or has she done all this of her own bat? —— off her own bat? no, we're both avid sort of skiers and snowboarders back in the day, but more recreational and zoi just

transferred from skis to snowboards when she was about eight years old and_ skis. | mum was an avid skier and i got into trouble for that, but there we go. well, i mean, i can see you're take — you've got to take all this in. i mean, she's actually got another — she has the big air still to come. she might do it again. is there a chance? well, if you go on the form, i guess from the x games, you would be placing a bet on a possibility. we will have our fingers crossed for that. what about the sort of response that you have had from friends and family? i mean, i know new zealand has taken off a bit on this, but it must be party time? yeah. go on. yeah. david chuckles. it certainly has been. i think yesterday afternoon,

i may have dropped the f bomb on a couple of radio shows, live tv, and i know the bbc probably doesn't encourage that l but i will hold those— back for another interview later in the week. i think the big air, she's gonna — she's gonna be there and we're hoping she'll be on the podium and yes, we have been — we had a couple of whiskeys yesterday to celebrate and yeah. not quite sure it is all sunk in yet but possibly more to come. and finally, bolivians have taken to the streets to mark the return of carnival celebrations after they were paused during the pandemic. the festivities in bolivia's capital la paz were full of colourful outfits, dancing and music. great colour, isn't it? there was even a symbolic resurrection as pepino the clown came to life to mark the start of

the carnival. i hope they enjoyed it. that is bbc news. thank you for watching. hello there. a quieter end to the night to come, the wintry showers are easing away, as are the winds, which have been a feature of the weather throughout the weekend. and that's because we're having a little ridge of high pressure building in. so not only are the winds easing but, as the showers die down, the cloud is breaking and temperatures tumbling away. close to freezing in many parts by dawn, so a much colder start by monday morning and potentially as well an icy start where the surfaces are still damp because temperatures notjust in the air but on the roads will be close to freezing. you can stay up to date with the warnings, as ever, on our website. for the day ahead, we've got further weather fronts coming in and fairly brisk winds but not as windy as it has been, and as those weather fronts come in to the high pressure

further south, there won't be that much rain but what they will do is introduce much milder air through the day. so, initially, there could be some snow on the forward edge of that weather front as it moves into the hills of scotland but it will turn back to rain quite quickly. what we will find, though, is the sunshine that we start the day with. lovely bright start will tend to fade as the cloud comes in. still staying largely dry and bright across many central, southern and eastern areas but some drizzly rain and hill fog in western and northern areas. but the temperatures, 10—12 degrees celsius. yes, there will be a stronger wind picking up towards the north—west but much milder air to the south of our weather front and that continues through monday night into tuesday. the colder air returns, though, with a few wintry showers in the north. not as cold as it has been, and still much milder a night for many as we go into tuesday, when we have that weather front straddling the country. probably northern ireland, parts of scotland, northern england, perhaps north wales. the dividing line, if you like, between that mild atlantic air and lots of dry weather but quite cloudy weather in the south, and brighter but showery weather further north. and we will see some sunshine breaking through equally in the south as well and it will be very mild

on tuesday — 13s and 14s. and still relatively around normal further north, even in the colder air. and that battle continues through the week, with our weather front straddling central areas, not producing that much rain, we don't think, as it's coming into the high pressure butjust keeping a lot of cloud with us here, whilst we could see a spell of windier weather midweek in the north enhancing those wintry showers, but then high pressure builds towards the end of the week, for a lot of dry, bright but chillier weather.

this is bbc news, the headlines: french president macron has spoken to president biden to co—ordinate efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the ukraine crisis. mr macron will travel to moscow later to speak to his russian counterpart, vladimir putin. russia has continued to deploy large numbers of troops on the ukrainian border. at least ten people have been killed and thousands left homeless in madagascar — after the island was hit by the second severe storm in two weeks. cyclone batsirai brought strong winds and heavy rains leading to flooding. whole villages were reported to have been almost completely destroyed. the canadian capital ottawa has declared a state of emergency in response to more than a week of protests by truckers against covid restrictions. the mayor said the protests posed a threat to the safety of residents. the truckers have paralysed the city, with vehicles and tents blocking roads.

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.