this is bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: britain is among the countries telling their citizens to leave ukraine as america warns an invasion could be imminent. we continue to see signs of russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the ukrainian border. we are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time should vladimir putin decide to order it. an injunction designed to end the protests in the canadian province of ottawa comes into force, but many demonstrators are still there. the so—called �*freedom convoy�* seems to have inspired copycats around the world. in france, president macron calls for calm. borisjohnson receives a legal questionnaire from the police as part of the investigation into parties held at downing street.

and not running so smooth: why inflation and supply chain problems may have a negative impact on valentine's day. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. let's begin with ukraine, and the us is warning that russian forces could invade at any time, although there is not yet any intelligence suggesting vladimir putin has decided to do so. president biden held a virtual meeting with the leaders of america's major european allies and nato member on friday, and the white house has confirmed that he is due to speak to vladimir putin by phone on saturday. with the latest from washington, here's our north america editor sarah smith. gunfire

the russians are not trying to camouflage these military exercises their troops are conducting in belarus near the ukrainian border — these pictures were provided by the russian defence ministry. has vladimir putin decided to order these troops into ukraine? the us say they simply don't know, but they believe he is in a position to do so, so they are escalating warnings military action could be imminent, possibly within days. now, we can't pinpoint the day at this point, and we can't pinpoint the hour, but what we can say is that there is a credible prospect that a russian military action would take place even before the end of the olympics. borisjohnson and other european leaders joined a call convened by president biden this evening, along with nato chiefjens stoltenberg, johnson urging allies to have ready punishing economic sanctions against russia. with fears that aerial bombing and missile attacks against kyiv could precede any ground invasion, brits in ukraine are being urged to leave. ..leave now.

america's warning its citizens us forces will not go into ukraine to rescue them. that's a world war. when americans and russians start shooting at one other, we're in a very different world than we've ever been in. not even on behalf of simply evacuating americans? no. how do you do that? how do you even find them? "things could go crazy very quickly" — that's how president biden put it when he repeated his warning to all us citizens to leave ukraine. the administration is also withdrawing more officials from the country, and that's because there is deep concern in washington that if someone were to get killed or injured, it would then be very difficult to avoid a major escalation in tensions between america and russia. the defence secretary, in moscow, heard again russian assurances there are no plans to invade, but left less optimistic about the chances of a diplomatic solution. look, it's all about actions. currently, there's over 100,000 — 100,000-130,000 troops stationed at readiness, or exercising, plus warplanes, plus ships into the black sea

on the borders of ukraine, and that is an action that is not normal. us forces are already being deployed to poland and romania to bolster those nato allies on ukraine's border, with an additional 3,000 troops being announced tonight as the white house warns a conflict they think could begin any day now would bring enormous human cost. the us are being remarkably frank about sharing the intelligence that they've gathered, and also about what they simply don't know — whether president putin has actually decided to invade ukraine — and the reason that such dire warnings are emanating from here is notjust to try to deter russia, but also to galvanise and unite european allies as well. but the white house has not completely given up the hope of a diplomatic solution — president biden is planning to talk to vladimir putin on the phone tomorrow. 0ur north america editor sarah smith reporting from washington.

and more countries have now warned their citizens in ukraine to leave the country — australia, new zealand, south korea and japan are among the latest, adding to warnings, as we heard there, from the us and uk governments. an injunction has come into force in the canadian province of ontario to end days of protests at a major crossing with the us. but large numbers of people are reported to be still at the ambassador bridge which connects canada with the us. police have been handing out leaflets that outline the penalties protesters will face under a state of emergency declared by ontario. i've been speaking to the mayor of windsor, drew dilkens, who told us that some of the impact these protests were having and what the next moves would be. they started rolling through many communities including ours. the protests were peaceful, they kept moving traffic towards the busiest

border crossing in north america, continued to flow. it was by surprise at all of a sudden it came to a halt. it became very problematic immediately, the impact was material because we are talking about $400 million a day in trade that crosses at one border crossing.- trade that crosses at one border crossing. what wider im acts border crossing. what wider impacts are _ border crossing. what wider impacts are these _ border crossing. what wider impacts are these protests. impacts are these protests having? it's very disruptive to the auto industry. we are the auto capital of canada. just the other side of the river, about 1.5km away is detroit, michigan — the auto capital of the us. and all of the supply chains that support the auto industry in north america rely on smooth and efficient border crossings and this has to be open, there is no alternative but to get this bridge open because plants are starting to shut down, running out of supplies. and so, things have to happen, action has to be taken. we have an injunction and if people won't leave voluntarily, we'll have to help them leave

with police support. and is your message to those protesters, is that to say you can protest, that is your right, but not in this way? yeah, protesting, of course, is permissible. we live in a democracy. the hallmark of democracy is the ability to express oneself and protest and demonstrate. that's ok. what's no 0k is choking off the busiest border crossing between our two countries. and you talk about the court injunction there. locally, what are the windsor police and local authorities doing to try and de—escalate these protests? obviously, there is emotion around at the moment. what are you trying to do? they've been trying to de—escalate and negotiate for the better part of five days, so we have additional police resource that has been sent from all across the province of ontario to our city. the royal canadian mounted police have sent units down here as well. public order units are here. listen to thejudge's injunction and move on voluntarily. failing which, police will have to move in and take additional actions. what do you see happening in the near future? do you think there is any chance that this will escalate

or do you think the likelihood is that these will fizzle out now? well, that is the million—dollar question, and so, the difficulty with this particular protest is that you have people here who have said they are willing to die for the cause. and although it's a sort of framed by many to be a vaccine mandate protest or a mask mandate protest, it has morphed into something entirely different and i would describe this as more of an anti—government protest, where people are here, protesting climate change. it's more like the things you would see at a g7 or 620 meeting, where there are all sorts of protesters who've arrived. there's no leader and there's no common message and that is basically what we have on the ground here today. drew dilkens. the mood here is quite a party atmosphere. the mood here is quite a party atmosphere-— the mood here is quite a party atmosphere. the in'unction that was referred h atmosphere. the in'unction that was referred to — atmosphere. the injunction that was referred to earlier- atmosphere. the injunction that was referred to earlier came - was referred to earlier came into effect at seven o'clock this evening, there has been no effort by the police to enforce that injunction. behind me see

people waving the canadian flag, people have signs, people have been drinking all day. it is a party atmosphere. we had a meeting about whether they will obey thatjunction. the dock about different things and the first option is they would stay and not go. we will see whether in fact that happens later today. in fact that happens later toda . , , , , . ., today. despite this in'unction and despite * today. despite this in'unction and despite various _ today. despite this injunction i and despite various authorities have been saying to move on, do get the senses protesters are in it for the long haul?- in it for the long haul? they have said — in it for the long haul? they have said for _ in it for the long haul? they have said for several - in it for the long haul? they have said for several days, | in it for the long haul? they i have said for several days, we have said for several days, we have been at this protester a couple of days, we were in toronto, and there have been many protest than the words that you hear from many protest than the words that you hearfrom people many protest than the words that you hear from people are we're not going to leave until many these mandates are removed, untilall of many these mandates are removed, until all of them are removed, until all of them are removed actually. but that is not likely to happen, the mandates at least. we know from a policing perspective,

hundreds of police have been deployed here. the local police have been buoyed up by the provincial police force, the royal canadian mounted elyce, their tactical unit has arrived, and we know they are massing hundreds of police officers to be able to evict these protesters should that be required, and as i am saying right now, they are not leaving on their own, the injunction is in effect, it is nighttime, there is a atmosphere. many people here are from the community, but the main countdown protest consists of trucks, pickup trucks, cars, people sleeping here and who are in here and have been here since the very beginning. the big question is, will the police moving and when will they move in. we police moving and when will they move in.— police moving and when will the move in. . , ., , they move in. we can see dozens of --eole they move in. we can see dozens of people behind _ they move in. we can see dozens of people behind you _ they move in. we can see dozens of people behind you at - they move in. we can see dozens of people behind you at the - of people behind you at the moment. what is a significant of the area you are in at the moment?— of the area you are in at the moment? . . ., , moment? the area we are in is 'ust at moment? the area we are in is just at the _ moment? the area we are in is just at the canadian _ moment? the area we are in is just at the canadian end - moment? the area we are in is just at the canadian end of -

moment? the area we are in is just at the canadian end of the | just at the canadian end of the ambassador bridge. this is a most important thing in north america. trade, about a third of it goes along this bridge. it has been closed for days. this is never happened before. that is so tremendously difficult for businesses, auto manufacturing on both sides of the border, the parts, businesses, for the people that work there, it is just tremendously difficult, and so this is the area they have blocked. i had to close the bridge because there was no way for people to get off the bridge. as i said, they control this area, have done so for several days. in spite of the fact that police are off to my left and right basically doing crowd control at this point. but we know from our sources that there are hundreds of police officers waiting to be deployed here, knowing that it may take force to remove the people who have been asked to leave should they decide not to. meanwhile, in france, president macron has appealed for calm after so—called �*freedom convoy�* supporters landed in paris,

inspired by the canadian trucker demonstration. it�*s a ripple effect being seen in other countries across europe, including austria and belgium. stephanie prentice reports. dance music plays a party atmosphere with a serious message. demonstrators from across france have now reached paris to protest against all covid restrictions, harking back to some french fundamentals. all chant: liberte! liberte! _ the crowd, bolstered by the presence of far right candidate florian philpott, who�*s campaigned against health passports. translation: hang in there! don't you fall apart! _ because their world is falling apart. it�*s you — we — who are going to win! bravo to you! long live freedom! love live the resistance! long live the freedom convoys! horns blare the �*freedom convoy�* is a reference to the situation unfolding in canada,

where truckers have brought the capital, ottawa, to a standstill, triggering the closures of local businesses and an avalanche of noise complaints. horns blare oh, the horns are back! inspired by them, french drivers setting off from bayonne, lyon, lille and strasbourg. people from all corners of the country united by one message — we want our lives back. liberte! translation: we want our liberty. that's it. but it may not all be all about liberty. many protesters are angry about rising food and energy prices, and some see this latest protest as a resurgence of the yellow vest movement for economic and political reform. translation: when you ask the people here, _ they don�*t have money for electricity, for gas and especially for fuel. the price of fuel has almost doubled — it now costs 2 euros per litre. we can�*t live like this because the salaries aren�*t going up. horns blare across europe in austria,

the honking sounds that have come to define daily life in ottawa with truck drivers showing their opposition to restrictions by blocking off parts of vienna, defying police orders to not enter the city. horns blare as with canadian and french organisers, the group here say their intention is to be peaceful, but the threat is there — no more restrictions and no vaccine mandates or it�*s the city streets, not its residents that will be on lockdown. stephanie prentice, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, not running so smooth: why inflation and supply chain problems may have a negative impact on valentine�*s day. there�*s mr mandela, mr 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 news. the latest headlines:

britain is among the countries telling their citizens to leave ukraine as america warns an invasion could be imminent. a court in canada orders an end the anti—vaccine blockade that is choking off one of country�*s main bridges to the us. let�*s return to our top story on the ukraine crisis now. under soviet communism, as many as four million died of hunger when moscow forced people from small holdings onto inefficient collective farms. the bitterness remains to this day, and in a special report fergal keane has been to kharkiv, close to the russian border, to meet some of the last survivors of the famine. as the kremlin�*s choirs praised stalin, the world was told ofa happy land. archive: and today it is, above all, the granary - of eastern europe, with the black earth bringing

forth millions of acres of wheat. but 95—year—old petra knows what a lie that was. forced collectivisation of farms brought starvation and terror to his family. translation: it was very scary. there was a brigade with pitchforks, who came to every house searching for bread. i was five at that time. you locked the door and all the windows, but they used crowbars to come inside, and then they went to all the barns trying to find any buried bread. food was seized to punish peasants who resisted collectivisation. it is thought up to 4 million people died in what ukraine calls the holodomor — killing through hunger. russia denies the famine was a deliberate attempt to break the independent

spirit of ukrainians. this woman, aged 98, remembers the corpses of the starved. translation: what could i see? i saw people who died. they made a big pit and threw all the bodies there. my father went to western ukraine, taking everything good from our home to exchange for food, but he got nothing. you can say i had a life, but it was no life. her great—grandson has heard her memories, as has his older brother, who is serving in the ukrainian army. near the family home, there is a mass grave from the famine era. stories of the famine are passed on within families from generation to generation.

but it�*s also an important part of modern ukraine�*s story of origin — this idea of a nation in the 1930s suffering the oppression of a dictatorship based in moscow. this old steel door here... ukrainians who resisted ended up in places like this. some historians say 5,000 or 10,000 people was killed here. interrogation cells of the secret police in kyiv. i went there with a man who is creating a national record of what happened. it is just impossible to imagine what went through people�*s minds as they came through that door, into this place. yes — pain. investigation of stalin�*s crimes has been suppressed in russia. this man sees a clear line between this and aggression towards ukraine.

they protect stalin. they hide the truth. they attack us. they don�*t recognise us as an independent country. why? we don�*t understand why. perhaps because all in this conflict know the power of the weapon of memory. fergal keane, bbc news, kharkiv. the prime minister has received a legal questionnaire from police investigating a number of parties at downing street and other government buildings during the covid lockdowns. london�*s metropolitan police force has said that about 50 people will be asked for further information about attending particular gatherings. our political correspondent ione wells reports from westminster. number ten have confirmed that borisjohnson has now received a questionnaire from the metropolitan police, and his spokesman said that he will be responding to this as required. now, what we know is that the metropolitan police

have said these questionnaires and are sending these questionnaires to more than 50 people who are alleged to have been at various different events between april—may 2020 and april 2021. people receiving the questionnaires, including the prime minister now, will be expected to account for why they were there and also expected to answer all the questions fully and truthfully as well. now, the fact that the prime minister has received this questionnaire doesn�*t necessarily mean the police will find him to have broken rules. it doesn�*t necessarily mean that he will get a fine. this is all part of their ongoing inquiry. but i think it�*s fair to say that politically, this is an incredibly uncomfortable situation for the prime ministerto be in, if he is found to have broken rules, if he gets a fine, some say that his position could be untenable. let�*s get some of the day�*s other news: the united nations is warning that south sudan is in danger of returning to civil war due to delays in implementing

the 2018 peace deal. a visiting un team said key elements of the agreement were behind schedule, including setting up a court to try perpetrators of atrocities. president biden has ordered half of the afghan government assets frozen in the us to be used for humanitarian aid in the country. the other half is being held for settlement of claims filed against the taliban over its role in the 9/11 attacks. government data from brazil shows that the amazon rainforest recorded the worst monthly rate of deforestation injanuary. the country�*s space agency said 430 square kilometres of timber were felled. that is five times the rate in january last year. a boat sent by the government of mauritius to the disputed chagos islands will arrive in the next few hours. the islands are administered by britain, which has refused to recognise a ruling at the international court ofjustice that it should relinquish control. those on board include a number of islanders who were for forcibly evicted to make way for a us military base.

our correspondent andrew harding sent us this report. we are with the mauritian government and their delegation. they have already run up the mauritian flag and they have brought other flags with them that they are going to plant on two of the disputed chagos islands. there are also scientists on board who are going to be measuring the reefs. that�*s part of a maritime dispute between the mauritian government and neighbouring maldives and their archipelago. and perhaps most significantly, there are also five people who were thrown off the chagos islands 50 years ago by the british government, and they are now returning for the first time without british government permission to see their island homes and to return again to inspect the graves of their ancestors. they say they are victims of a british crime against humanity. andrew harding there, on the mauritian boat heading to the chagos islands.

it is not long now until what is supposed to be the most romantic day of the year. all around the world, people will be giving cards and gifts to their loved ones. but for some, this valentine�*s day may not go exactly to plan. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. at the california flower mall, this should be one of the busiest times of the year. but the course of true love never did run smooth. there are supply problems, trouble with deliveries, and even a shortage of roses. inflation isn�*t helping much, either. i don�*t think you can put a pricetag on — on the cost of love. it has ultimate value, so you do what you can with your heart, and you flood your loved one with flowers and appreciation. it�*s — it�*s just going to cost a little bit more this year. if you can�*t say it with flowers, why not say it with chocolate instead ? this award—winning belgian chocolatier has all kinds of flavours on offer. translation: for valentine's day, i made different - of hearts.

there�*s a caramel and sea salt, which is a must—have. aside from that, i made a raspberry coulis and another heart — passionfruit and apricot smoothie. although the proof of the pudding is usually in the eating, some have other things in mind. "it can spice up relationships," says this woman. "it�*s possible to put it on the body. you can eat it, especially if it contains an aphrodisiac. i think it goes well with love." but what if your romantic situation is currently a little sub—optimal? well, here at this conservation centre in the uk, you can name one of these cockroaches after an ex — proof not every love story has a happy ending. there we go. tim allman, bbc news. you can get more news on our

website. you can reach me on twitter. i�*m @sipusey. thank you for watching. stay tuned to bbc news. hello there. during friday afternoon, you might�*ve noticed that we had a lot of high cloud moving in across our skies — high cloud that was picked up by the setting sun here in nottinghamshire to give a fine end to the day. but this cloud was the first signs of an approaching weather system that will be bringing wet and windy weather our way this weekend. choose your moments wisely and there will be some windows of drier and brighter weather to be found. now, on the satellite picture, this is our area of low pressure that�*s moving in to bring that wet and windy spells — notjust for saturday, but there�*s another dollop waiting in the wings for sunday as well. all the while, fairly tightly packed isobars, with the winds coming in from a south—westerly direction. it will continue to be on the mild side for february.

now, right now, we�*re seeing the rain affecting western areas. we did have a frost earlier in the night, but as the winds continued to pick up, most of that lifted out of the way. and heading into the first part of saturday morning, these are your temperatures — around 3—8 degrees. now, it is going to be quite a wet day for some of you and, broadly speaking, the weather slices and dices into three zones. we�*ve got this area of fairly heavy, persistent rain working in particularly to wales and northern england, where it�*s not going to be the greatest of days weather—wise. scotland and northern ireland — quite a bit of cloud, a few bright spells, but there will be showers here. it�*s across east anglia, south—east england and the south—east midlands that you�*ve got the best chance of just about staying dry, but it will be breezy and there will be some high cloud around. so, bright for much of the day rather than sunny. temperatures are about 8—10 degrees, so a bit milder than friday. there will be some rain around as well through saturday night, but the next zone of rain really coming in quickly as we go through sunday with some strong winds. now, we�*re looking probably at gales developing

towards the south coast of england as this area of rain extends all the way towards parts of scotland, although perhaps not reaching the far north. it may well stay bright here through much of sunday, with just a few showers around, particularly for shetland and orkney. a mild day for the time of year, though. highs of 8—11 degrees celsius. now, looking beyond this weekend and into next week, the atlantic stays pretty lively. we�*ll see further weather systems coming in from the west, bringing rain or showers, so it is going to stay pretty unsettled. and so far, this february has been pretty mild. well, that theme�*s set to continue as well in the week ahead, the temperatures at times reaching around 14 or 15 degrees.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: an injunction has come into force in the canadian the white house says russia has got the troops in place to attack ukraine at any time, and urges all us citizens to leave the country within the next 48 hours. other countries have also advised their nationals to leave, including britain, the netherlands, japan and south korea. an injunction has come into force in the canadian province of ontario, to end days of protests at a major crossing with the us. but large numbers of people are reported to be still at the ambassador bridge, despite a court asking them to clear the area. britain�*s prime minister borisjohnson has received a legal questionnaire from the metropolitan police as part of their investigations into a number of parties held in his downing street residence and other government venues during coronavirus lockdowns. a spokesperson said that mrjohnson would respond as required.

the home secretary, priti patel,