welcome to bbc news — i'm david eades. our top stories... another frantic day of diplomacy over ukraine — it's been called the worst crisis in europe for more than three decades. protests against covid vaccine laws continue in canada — truckers had earlier blocked a key route into the us. pope benedict xvi admits to errors in the handling of sexual abuse cases when he was archbishop of munich. the nuclear option — as part of our climate critical series — we debate whether atomic energy is green energy. i wonder what little lady made these. and — the dogs in the hunt — we'll tell you about the western leading the pack for oscar nominations.

european leaders have pledged unity in their goal to avert war on the continent, as the french president, emmanuel macron, said he could see a path towards easing tensions with russia over ukraine. mr macron has been updating the german chancellor, olaf scholz, and the polish leader, andrzej duda, tonight following lengthy talks with president putin in russia, and a meeting with the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, in kyiv. here's stephanie prentice. as nato allies run drills in the adriatic sea, on the ground, key members of the security alliance united with one goal in mind. preventing what they think will lead to a war in europe. their chief emissary france's

leader emmanuel macron making his way through meetings and briefings in berlin and kyiv to push the message that peace is possible. translation: | believe | we have concrete practical solutions that will allow us to move forward. we have had the opportunity to discuss this together, i have also had the opportunity to discuss this with president putin. as he spoke in kyiv, russian warships moving to his south making their way in the dark through turkey's bosporus strait for naval drills. their movements however no secret. russian military also released footage of their fleet in action, turkey which shares maritime borders with ukraine and russia has advised moscow to stand down. but president putin has told macron that russia would not be the source of an escalation despite surrounding his neighbour with military hardware. the us have been backing president macron from afar

while keeping a broad view of russia's intentions. we cannot control what russia will do next but what we can do and what i think president macron played a role doing yesterday is making clear with our allies and partners that there will be massive consequences should putin choose to further invade ukraine. the big sticking point still implementing the minsk agreements that would require russia to pull back but ask ukraine to step forward in opening a potential back door to russian power by holding local elections in the disputed eastern territories. that's one of three red lines kyiv has previously said it will never cross. and theirfinal decision on upholding a semantic separation now critical when it comes to upholding the integrity of their beleaguered borders. stephanie prentice, bbc news. a standoff between truckers and the canadian government over covid restrictions shows no sign of ending. prime ministerjustin trudeau

was loudly heckled by opposition mps in parliament on tuesday as he defended the use of restrictions to fight the covid—i9 pandemic, measures canadian truckers have opposed by taking to the streets in their vehicles. earlier, the us—canada border crossing at windsor was blocked, closing the bridge to traffic. it has now re—opened. our correspondent samira hussain sent this update from ottawa. the protests here in ottawa, canada, have clearly entered into their second week and it doesn't seem like anyone is going to be leaving soon. this entire road has been blocked off and it is the main thoroughfare to which you can get to parliament hill, it is the centre of canada's government and the protests aren'tjust here in ottawa, it has spread to other canadian cities. that said, the kind of tensions you were seeing in the earlier days of the protests have eased somewhat between the residents

and the protesters, as the truckers are no longer honking their horns. without that noise, there is much less anxiety, in fact there was somewhat more of a carnival—like atmosphere happening here with a stage set up and music and dancing. of course the big question is how long will these truckers remain here? and many of those i had spoken with have said they have spent many weeks on the road away from theirfamilies. they are in it for the long haul. that was our corresponent samira hussein in ottawa and a little earlier the city's deputy mayor spoke to us. laura dudas says her city is being damaged by events outside the control of residents. the majority of residents in the city of ottawa, as across the country, believe in the vaccinations. the protesters are here, they have concerns. however, it's turned into an occupation.

they have removed the tyres off their big wheel trucks, they are bringing fuel and they have set up temporary shelters. this is no longerjust a peaceful conversation or attempted negotiation. this is a hostage taking of our city. lewie pugh is the executive vice president of the owner—operator independent drivers association, hejoins me live now from holden, missouri. thank you forjoining us. the horns are no longer honking and i know the residents are relieved about that but you probably heard the deputy mayor they are saying effectively the truckers are holding ottawa hostage and residents are being intimidated. is it time to call this off? i intimidated. is it time to call this off? ~ , this off? i think the drivers and the people _ this off? i think the drivers and the people that - this off? i think the drivers and the people that are - this off? i think the drivers - and the people that are there, they need to be respectful to

they need to be respectful to the citizens and to the city as well. unfortunately, truckers have been treated properly all overfor have been treated properly all over for a have been treated properly all overfor a long have been treated properly all over for a long time. have been treated properly all overfor a long time. there's no excuse to be tearing things up no excuse to be tearing things up or honking horns by any means. it seems like they should be peaceful, they should protest, when you start tearing things up and destroying things, you turn the general public against you which they definitely do not want to do that. the general public in the beginning seemed to be on their side against these triggers have been holding back and forth across the border until about two weeks ago, with no mandate, it's been fine and all of a sudden now they need a mandate or a vaccine card to get across the border which really doesn't make a lot of sense. ,, a , sense. do you feel the truckers themselves _ sense. do you feel the truckers themselves have _ sense. do you feel the truckers themselves have become - sense. do you feel the truckers i themselves have become hostage to other activists and other groups and agitators? unfortunately, yes, this is what we see a lot of times. you know. with any kind of protest. i think a lot of people start

with good intentions in the right intentions and there is probably still people there with those good intentions but again, you have fringe groups and other folks who want to make noise and take advantage of the situation, destroy things, which does not help anyone and it hurts the original cause or what they started to do in the first place. i started to do in the first lace. . , started to do in the first lace. .,, ., started to do in the first lace, .,, ., ., 4' ., ,., ., place. i was looking at some of the banners. — place. i was looking at some of the banners, mandate - place. i was looking at some of| the banners, mandate freedom, victory over fear, the banners, mandate freedom, victory overfear, god bless the truckers which is perfectly understandable, of course. something like 80 or 90% of canadians and indeed truckers fully vaccinated. there is a general understanding and acceptance that the vaccinations have made a big difference. why is there such a resistance in this little ten, 15% of truckers, to just following the rest, really? i don't necessarily think it's ten or 15% truckers who have not been vaccinated that is causing all of this. ijust

think it's truckers, i think you're in the united states, truckers have asked and been gotten the short straw a lot of times from the government, the government never seems to listen, maybe this is the inevitable straw that broke the camels back, with a lot of other things wrong in tracking. i go back to what i said earlier, it'sjust the i go back to what i said earlier, it's just the fact they are saying you have to have a mandate, you have to have a mandate, you have to have a mandate, you have to have a shot, that is the problem because again, ever since covid started, truckers have been going back and forth across the border and across canada, the united states, they were holding things to first responders, emergency supplies, masks, even the shots, the vaccine, when the truckers could not get it, they were giving it out to other people and all of a sudden, two weeks ago, they come out in canada and here in the united states and here in the united states and say if you are going to cross the border you have to have a shot and it is a mandate. again, it seems to us,

covid is winding down, we in the association do not support a mandate, which is your body, it should be your choice. fin it should be your choice. on that note. _ it should be your choice. on that note, we _ it should be your choice. on that note, we will have to leave it but thank you for joining us. let's get some of the day's other news disaster management officials in colombia say a landslide triggered by heavy rain has killed at least ia people in risaralda province near the city of pereira. they said dozens more were in hospital after several homes were engulfed. other residents living close to a swollen river nearby have been moved to safety. a report by a police watchdog says officers colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders in belfast in the 1990s. the northern ireland police ombudsman examined the killings of five catholics at a bookmakers' shop and six other fatal shootings. senior officers said the report had made for "uncomfortable reading" and they had apologised to victims' families. the usjustice department says it's seized

stolen bitcoin worth 3.6 billion dollars. a husband and wife have been arrested in new york city on suspicion of laundering the cryptocurrency, which was stolen in a hack on the bitfinex exchange in 2016. the university of california has agreed to pay out nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to more than 200 women who claim they were sexually assaulted by a campus gynaecologist. multiple lawsuits claim the university's los angeles site deliberately hid james heaps' alleged sexual abuse of patients over many years. he faces criminal charges for more than 20 other offences; he has pleaded not guilty. peter bowes has been analysing the scale of alleged abuse. this was huge. james heaps, that gynaecologist, worked for the college for some 35 years but it wasn't until 2017 that the college

started to investigate complaints against him, complaints of sexual abuse from many, many of the thousands of patients he had seen over those years. about 12 months later, the college refused to renew his contract and he retired and also about that time, after an internal investigation, the college reported its findings to the police and that's when he was arrested and charged and those charges, some 21 charges, are still outstanding. he has pleaded not guilty, he strongly proclaims his innocence. he is due to go on trial, a date has not been set yet but this civil settlement does not involve him, this is a settlement between the college and the women making the claims and the very specific allegation that over those years, the college essentially ignored the allegations, delayed the investigation. as i suppose often happens with a settlement, it does not acknowledge wrongdoing in the process. this is a pretty staggering case.

but it's certainly not in isolation, is it? it certainly is not isolated, there have been very similar cases, the university of southern california here, a neighbouring college in los angeles, had a very large payout in similar circumstances. michigan state university and we are learning of a case at harvard university, arguably one of the most prestigious colleges in the country, of some students again accusing it of ignoring allegations against, in this case, a professor of anthropology, accused of unwanted kissing and groping of students, and also making the threat against those students if they essentially reported him, to make it difficult for them to eventually getjobs. this professor strongly denies those allegations, there has been an internal investigation and he is currently

on administrative leave. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... queen of the brits — adele celebrates a big night at the uk's most prestigious music awards. there's mr mandela, mr nelson mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khamenei, 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 all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... another frantic day of diplomacy over ukraine — it's been called the worst crisis in europe for more than three decades. pope benedict xvi has acknowledged errors were made in the handling of sexual abuse cases before he assumed the papacy. in a letter released by the vatican — he asked forgiveness for any �*grievous fault�* — but denied personal wrongdoing. the cases date back to his time as archbishop of munich more than a0 years ago.

the bbc�*s tim allman reports. long before he was pope, joseph ratzinger was archbishop of munich. during his time there, several priests were accused of sexually abusing young boys. it is claimed he knew what was happening and failed to stop it. now, many years later, he denies any cover—up but admits mistakes were made. translation: i have had great responsibilities - in the catholic church. all the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate. it was this report published last month that laid out a series of claims against the pope emeritus. not only was he accused of overlooking the alleged abuse, he denied attending a meeting to discuss the matter in 1980, a denial he now admits was wrong. translation: amid the massive

work of those days, _ an oversight occurred regarding my participation in the meeting. this error was not intentional and i hope may be excused. cheering. the issue of child sexual abuse has dogged the catholic church long before and long after pope benedict took office. he has talked of his profound shame and deep sorrow, making a heartfelt request for forgiveness and he admits soon he will find himself before the finaljudge of his life. tim allman, bbc news. every week at this time we take a look at the climate crisis — bringing you stories with big implications for our planet. this week on climate critical, we focus on nuclear power, which could be counted as �*green energy�* under controversial plans unveiled last week in europe. the move — which had divided the eu — is likely to help the industry to attract more climate—conscious investment.

but can nuclear be seen as a clean alternative to fossil fuels and a key part of a low carbon future? let�*s take a look. there are more than a50 operating percent 25 years ago. ageing reactors and a lack of investment have had their impact on economies like the us and europe but asia is backing new gear in a big way, 36 new plants currently under construction, mostly in china and india with many more planned. the nuclear industry says greater global investment would help to phase out fossil fuels that much quicker. but critics point to the success of renewables like wind and solar, they say nuclear projects are costly, often take decades to build and come with inherent risks. like the potentialfor accidents in the long term

storage of radioactive waste. daniel kammen is professor of nuclear engineering at the university of california, berkeley — and a climate change advisor to us administrations over two decades. thank you forjoining us. i know the international atomic energy agency association says you�*re going to have to double the generation of nuclear by 2020 if the world is ever going to get to net zero emissions. the message would seem to be we cannot do without it? i the message would seem to be we cannot do without it?— cannot do without it? i think this is an — cannot do without it? i think this is an area _ cannot do without it? i think this is an area where - cannot do without it? i think this is an area where views i cannot do without it? i think i this is an area where views are really quite different. the challenges that nuclear faces are certainly quite significant. all of the nuclear reactors that you mentioned, of those a50 reactors around the world may all need to be retired by mid century and so what that means is just to hold the amount of generation constant, the nuclear industry would have to build another fleet of a50 and there really is not a pathway to do that

yet. with the current designs. sorry to interrupt, does the european commission is idea of helping in terms of the green deal, giving eligibility for a sustainable finance, possibly provide some of the answer to that? it provide some of the answer to that? , provide some of the answer to that? y ., , , that? it definitely opens the doon that? it definitely opens the door- the — that? it definitely opens the door. the challenge - that? it definitely opens the door. the challenge for- that? it definitely opens the i door. the challenge for nuclear as you said in the beginning, is that it is quite expensive, very expensive in some cases, relative to not only renewables, some like solar, wind and geothermal but when you add an energy storage through lithium ion batteries, through lithium ion batteries, through pumped hydro, three new emerging technologies like flow batteries, by moving rock uphill, gravitationalstorage, there�*s a whole range of things that if you add those to renewables, they still beat nuclear not only on price but also on speed of construction and of what i would call technological elegance in the

sense that you can merge these technologies into our greats and so nuclear does have a real pathif and so nuclear does have a real path if the new reactors that are being proposed through some large traditional plans put a whole new generation of small plants that are being backed by many investors. if those can deliver on the most optimistic promises there is definitely a role for nuclear in that low carbon future.— role for nuclear in that low carbon future. ., ., carbon future. let me ask about one of the _ carbon future. let me ask about one of the issues _ carbon future. let me ask about one of the issues which - carbon future. let me ask about one of the issues which so - carbon future. let me ask aboutj one of the issues which so many people have been bothered about for so long. that is the disposal of the waste of the storage of the west. it looks as if finland is not far away from having some sort of programme that will actually deal with this, will have this geometric approach to burying the waste and it could work, would you buy into that? it certainly could work. united states for example put all of its eggs in the basket of a geologic storage site, yucca

mountain facility which has proved to be unworkable because of water intrusion. the plan in finland is currently the nuclear choice to shore but these are a lot of ifs and long—term nuclear storage safety is expensive, something thatis safety is expensive, something that is not fully tried, not worked out. here in california, for example, new nuclear plants are prohibited because we did not have a viable waste storage solution so there�*s a lot of ifs. it solution so there's a lot of ifs. . ., ., ~ :: ifs. it could work. in 20 seconds _ ifs. it could work. in 20 seconds left, _ ifs. it could work. in 20 seconds left, in - ifs. it could work. in 20 seconds left, in an - ifs. it could work. in 20| seconds left, in an ideal ifs. it could work. in 20 - seconds left, in an ideal world for you nuclear would not be part of the green equation? ida. part of the green equation? no, i would actually _ part of the green equation? iirr, i would actually like to see nuclear as part of the mix but the challenge that nuclear faces is really significant. and renewables plus storage currently offer a much clearer, much less expensive path that doesn�*t raise these significant environmental problems, risk problems and problems of

adjustments. i am problems and problems of adjustments. iam reading problems and problems of adjustments. i am reading for it but it has a big lift in front of it.— it but it has a big lift in front of it. . ., , front of it. the challenge is massive- — front of it. the challenge is massive. thank _ front of it. the challenge is massive. thank you - front of it. the challenge is massive. thank you for - front of it. the challenge is i massive. thank you forjoining us. the oscar nominations are out — and the 1920s western the power of the dog is dominating this year�*s line up. the sci—fi film dune is not far behind and sir kenneth branagh�*s 1960s drama belfast is also one of the front—runners. olivia colman, benedict cumberbatch and andrew garfield are among the british nominees in the lead acting categories. with more details here�*s our culture editor katie razzall. it�*s showtime. 25 years since our first run together, 1900 and nothing... the power of the dog leads the oscar charge with 12 nominations, including best picture. netflix�*s 1920s western, starring a resplendent benedict cumberbatch, is best on the big screen, and i�*ve got the best seat in the house with film critic larushka ivan—zadeh. jane campion, the director, she has made history today.

that�*s right, she�*s the first woman to ever be nominated twice for best director. and her cast have done quite well as well. that�*s right, you�*ve got benedict cumberbatch, kirsten dunst and jesse plemons and kodi smit—mcphee, who i think is the definite for best supporting actor. sci—fi epic dune has picked up ten nominations, best picture amongst them. and steven spielberg�*s remake of the musical west side story has seven, including best picture and director. it�*s the bookies�* favourite at 3—1, but i think its best chance for winning is best supporting actress for ariana debose. you know who you are, don't you? yes, pop. belfast has seven nominations, and with the two for best picture and best original screenplay, its director, kenneth branagh, has broken another oscar record. speak, if you can. denzel washington getting his tenth nomination this year,

though it has been 20 years since he won for training day. but the big favourite to win best actor is will smith. he�*s never won, and he�*s playing the father of venus and serena williams for king richard. and you think he�*ll win? he�*ll win. and king richard, the film he�*s in, is also nominated in the best picture category. are there any surprises there? but is it the year of power of the dog? i think it�*s netflix�*s power of the dog, and this could be the year that netflix finally wins the best picture category. we�*ll find out next month. katie razzell, bbc news. speaking of awards, the uk�*s big music awards the brits have taken place in london. adele was the big winner, taking home the song and album of the year prizes. she also was also named artist of the year — the first time the award ceremony has scrapped separate male and female categories for the prize. i understand why the name of this award has changed but i really love being a woman and being a female artist, i do. i do. i�*m really proud of us.

i really am. thank you so much. thank you for watching. hello. we�*re certainly starting to see the signs of spring on the ground and in the trees in parts of the uk, all being helped certainly on tuesday by well above—average temperatures — widely12—1a degrees across england and wales, just a touch cooler in scotland, northern ireland. but a much cooler end to the week on the way. temperatures dropping down, but closer to where it should be for this stage in february. that cooler air has been to the north of us. it�*ll be pushing southwards behind this weather front, which, overnight, only slowly works its way southwards and eastwards, the mildest air becoming confined to the southern half of england and wales as we start wednesday morning. a chilly start further north with some ice in places, covering of snow and the showers overnight in scotland. those wintry showers continuing through the day here and on the hills in northern ireland, best of the sunshine

to the south and east. brightening up in northern england, north wales through the morning, and after a damp start through the rest of wales and the midlands, should turn brighter into the afternoon. but after a bright start in southern areas, it turns cloudier and damper, breezier, too. strongest of the winds with gusts in excess of 50—60 mph across the north, where it could feel colder than four or five celsius would suggest. still holding onto that milder air in southernmost counties. where we�*ll continue to see clouds and rain into the night through wednesday night into thursday morning, attention turns to what�*s happening in the north of scotland. we could see severe gales develop with more extensive snow to take us into thursday morning. those strong winds stop temperatures widely falling below freezing, but it will be a cold start to thursday morning with subzero temperatures on the hills. and with severe gales gusting 60—70 mph in the north of scotland to begin with, heavy snow for a while — that breaks up into sunshine and showers. showers on and off through the day across some western areas, brightening up to the south after a hazy start, and some sunshine continuing in the east through the afternoon. but all of us will feel chillier than the past few days. add on the effect of the wind,

a substantial wind—chill for parts of scotland, feeling subzero as we go through thursday afternoon. with that colder air in place, a ridge of high pressure building in — the blue colours showing the cold air — it�*ll be the coldest morning of the week as we head into friday. temperatures widely below freezing right across the uk, maybe —6 or —7 through parts of scotland. but a lovely, bright start to the day, crisp, sunshine overhead, a few mist and fog patches. cloud increases from the west, one or two showers here and there before the day�*s out, and many places will stay dry and bright. that�*s how it�*s looking. see you soon.

this is bbc news — the headlines. western efforts to revolve the tensions over ukraine are continuing. french president emmanuel macron met the german and polish leaders after talks in moscow and kyiv. he says the key is to end the conflict in eastern ukraine. but kyiv is refusing to talk directly to the russian—backed insurgents there. ottawa police have said �*volatile�* and �*determined�* demonstrators remain in canada�*s capital after nearly two weeks of a trucker—led anti—vaccine mandate protest. ottawa is under a state of emergency — as police try to contain the protest. nearly 80 criminal investigations have been opened relating to the protests. pope benedict the sixteenth has acknowledged there were errors in the handling of child abuse

cases during his time as the archbishop of munich. but he didn�*t address accusations in an official report that he�*d personally failed to take action against four priests who�*d been accused of sexually abusing children. i�*m returning to a country that�*s survived decades of war. now, afghanistan is on the brink of an economic catastrophe. people lost their jobs, they lost their salaries. they are scared of poverty, they are scared of hunger. almost the entire population is living in poverty and more than half don�*t have enough to eat. i feel terrible for my people.

it's so sad to see how dependent people are and how