this is bbc news. 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. i wonder what little lady made these. and — the dog's in the hunt — we'll tell you about the western leading the pack for oscar nominations.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe 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, 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 correspondent 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 — earlier, i asked him if it was time for the truckers to call off their action. i think the drivers and the people that are there, they need to be respectful to the citizens and to the city as well. unfortunately, truckers have been treated poorly all overfor a long time. there's 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 mandates because these truckers 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. do you feel the truckers 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 and 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 was looking at some of the banners, mandate freedom, victory over fear, god bless the truckers which is perfectly understandable, of course.

something like 80 or 90% of canadians and indeed truckers are 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 10%, 15% of truckers, to just following the rest, really? i don't necessarily think it's 10 or 15% truckers who have not been vaccinated that is causing all of this. i just think it's truckers, i think here 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 camel's back, with a lot of other things wrong in trucking. 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 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 hauling 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 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, it's your body, it should be your choice. 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. he stepped down from the papacy in 2013. 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. 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 looking at 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 world 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. returning now to our top story and as russia denies it's preparing to invade ukraine, civilians living in the east of the country are already caught up in violence as separatist fighters backed by russia have occupied some areas since 2014. the bbc�*s fergal keane has reported on the conflict since it began and has sent this report from kyiv. gunfire. voices and sounds recorded over eight years of war, of agonies that can't be erased and which are revived by fears of a new conflict.

in a kyiv veterans centre, the reassurances of childhood for those brutalised by battle. ok, so that was, you reckon, that was a good decision? olena was a combat medic. she's haunted by dreams in which dead comrades return to speak to her. in my dream, i came back home and i met my dead friend and i asked him, what are you doing here? and he told me, "what? i'm living here, i live here". and ijust need to tell him that he's dead. he didn't know that he's dead. i wonder what all this escalation means for you, given what you've seen. once i lost my family and my home and i don't want to lose it again, so

for me, this is a huge problem. i don't have one more life to restart it. since the war began in 2014, i've been photographing some of its faces... ..and hearing the testimonies of those for whom it is a constant presence. treatment of trauma is underfunded, and many are left without help. so, you worked across both military and civilian? vladimir voloshin is a therapist working with trauma patients. translation: those people who've not been treated, - they have a feeling of anxiety in the background waiting for something bad. they have mood swings and when big stress happens like this escalation, it gets worse. amid new threats, it can be easy to overlook what's already been lost.

andre is a traumatised veteran for whom metal work is therapeutic, but it doesn't alter his sense of futility over the war. translation: we wanted to free our land, but - the result was the opposite. that was the trauma for me. what comes back the most is the loss of friends, - those who are gone, those who you could trust - with your life. there's no inevitability about war, and the hope is it will be averted, because its result is always certain — destruction of the body and the mind. fergal keane, bbc news, ukraine. 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 razzell. 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�*s1920s 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.

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. a short time ago, i spoke to scott feinberg, awards columnist for the hollywood reporter — and i asked him how confident he felt about picking an oscar winner. this is a particularly interesting year because it's the return to guaranteed ten best picture nominees so it's been a while since we've had that many in the running which obviously makes it a little bit trickier. there are constituencies for a lot of these movies and at least within the industry, not many of them are box office hits that the general public feels very invested in so we may have an issue with television ratings. but within the business, i think there are a handful of these that have a real shot for best picture, certainly the power of the dog with 12 nominations, only ten movies have ever had more than that, that has to be taken very

seriously but what people need to remember is the best picture oscar is determined using something called a preferential ballot where it is not only one vote for one ballot but you rank your favourites so the movie that actually, then it is tabulated in a way that the movies that most people feel most passionately about whether it's putting it at a three or two or one, that wins, so it's not enough to just be an admired, a respected movie, you have to be a movie people are excited about which also keeps everything from belfast to dune in the mix. you make a very good point. it is quite a variety. power of the dog as you say, an awful lot of nominations, in itself does not amount to anything until you actually pick up the oscar itself but would you see that as a likely contender for some of the big awards, whether it's best actor, best supporting actress, ithink, kirsten dunst, it has an array

of real talent? i think the most likely result of any in the whole field of 23 categories is probably the director of the power of the dog, jane campion winning. she has of course been nominated but has not won before. we have had female winner since she was first nominated, 28 years ago, in fact, this past year, chloe zhao won for nomadland, prior to that you had kathryn bigelow for the hurt locker but whether the power of the dog wins best picture, jane campion will win best director, that could actually not be a positive for the movie because the views of some, that could be a way to take care of the movie and then you use something else with your vote. i know you have interviewed a lot of them on your podcast, the big names here. out of all those people you have interviewed, in terms of who is your favourite, who do you really want to walk

away with a big prize? it's very hard, it's like picking your favourite child. i have to say i loved having steven spielberg on the podcast, it's amazing, he's been nominated for best director in six different decades. 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. and there is more from the brit awards —

all the winners and more reaction from adele — that's on the entertainment pages of the bbc news website and app — you'll also find the full list of nominations from the oscars there too. 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—14 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 disruption at the hands of lorry drivers. they've been leading protests against a federal vaccine mandate. the city's in a state of emergency — as police try to contain the unrest. 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.

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.