this is bbc news... us presidentjoe biden warns russian leader vladamir putin that he'll respond with "severe economic sanctions" if ukraine is invaded. russia says the west is creating hysteria — and it's absurd to suggest an invasion will happen. the ukrainian president warns against creating panic. the best friend for enemies — that is panic in our country. and all this information, that helps only for panic. it doesn't help us. in paris, french police fire tear gas at demonstrators — it's after a convoy carrying protesters against coronavirus restrictions made it into the capital.

the presidents of the us and russia have held direct talks by phone to try to resolve tensions over ukraine. the white house said president biden had told his russian counterpart vladimir putin that the us and its allies would impose "swift and severe costs" on russia in the event of an invasion of ukraine. earlier, following a phone call with president macron of france, mr putin dismissed claims that such an attack was imminent as "provocative speculation". our north america editor sarah smith has more. it's clear that the us is now deeply concerned that there is possibly less chance of a diplomatic solution. the white house say it's not clear whether putin actually wants to pursue diplomacy, so they say, well, they are prepared to remain engaged with it.

they are equally prepared for other scenarios as well. they say that on that call between president biden and president putin, it was made very clear that a fresh —— if russia further invades ukraine, they are ready with swift and severe economic sanctions be imposed by the us and their allies. that something that was discussed on a call between president biden and european allies, including borisjohnson yesterday. so, they are continuing to look for a diplomatic solution. notjust that call between president putin and president biden, the us defence and foreign secretaries have been talking to their russian counterparts today. emmanuel macron of france has spoken to putin today and will speak to president biden later. so the talking continues, but it is becoming obvious that the us is now more concerned than ever that there may not be a diplomatic path out of this, and that an armed conflict could begin, as they say, any day now. our correspondent fergal keane is in kyiv and has been speaking to ukrainians at a protest in the city. the event was organised by a right

wing nationalist group, but those attending were from across the political spectrum. this is the first real manifestation we've had of public feeling since the anxiety of a possible russian invasion has increased over the last 2a hours. what you can see around me here is people of all ages and seemingly from all sides or all shades of political opinion coming out onto the streets here in a very important place in terms of ukraine's progress to democracy. people saying they will resist any russian intervention. why have you come here? the main reason is to show the unity of the people before the threat of russian occupation. this is the main reason, that we are all united, because different people, different political positions, different political parties,

but today we are altogether because we have a threat of a russian invasion, and that's why we show this to each other, the whole world that we are ready to fight and ready to defend our motherland, our country, that's the reason, actually. i'm here because i want to show that i'm not terrified by the threat. - we are ready to oppose i putin or anyone who wants to invade our country even more because you know some regionsi already don't belong to us, - so we are ready to fight by any means that we have. i'm getting some training, but i will fight with any. means i have in my hands. i will do anything my. country asks me to do. medicine, shooting, anything.

i love my country, i'm not afraid. well earlier, my colleague samantha simmonds spoke to sir mark lyall grant — former uk ambassador to the un, and a former national security adviser. she asked him if at this stage, there was any hope for a diplomatic breakthrough. i think it's important that there is still diplomacy going on, and i don't think that we should just assume that a conflict is inevitable. all the signs are that president putin hasn't taken a final decision on exactly what he's going to do. there were a number of military options that he has at his disposal, including a full—scale land invasion, marching to kyiv, but his other options short of that, and also non—military options that he has too. i think it's important that diplomacy continues. you mentioned the various talks that have been happening today and in the last couple of days, and i think chancellor schultz of germany is planning to visit moscow next week. it's important to keep those lines

of diplomacy open at the same time as preparing for the worst and making clear that there will be very severe consequences for russia if they do engage in the military aggression against ukraine. indeed president biden has reiterated that today and said there will be severe sanctions i mean that they are most likely to be economic, but we also know that president putin has proved impervious to economic sanctions in the past. will that have any impact? well, i think they can because the sort of scale of the sanctions being discussed now are much greater than russia has suffered in recent years, not only, sort of, economic sanctions in terms of may be a ban on microchips and things like that going to russia, but also the possibility of not starting, suspending the nordstream gas pipeline, which is important for russia, and also expelling russia from the swift international banking

messaging system, so there are tools at the west's disposal which would be extremely damaging for putin personally and his entourage as well as for the russian state. some are calling this the greatest political crisis since the end of the cold war. do you agree with that assessment? well, i think we have had a number of crises and particularly in the middle east, but, yes, i think in terms of europe and the fact that it is threatening to forcibly have a major change of borders of the sort we haven't really seen since the second world war with the inevitable rest that this —— since the second world war with the inevitable risk that this might spill over not only through mass immigration out of poland but also anyone who thinks that putin would be satisfied with stopping with ukraine if a he decided to take action against ukraine i think is very illusionary. i think that the risk to the baltic states, poland and other eastern european states, all of whom are members of nato, is very severe.

it's absolutely right that the western europeans are taking this risk very seriously indeed. in france police have fired tear gas on demonstrators protesting against covid restrictions in the capital paris. there were scuffles between police and protesters near the champs elysees. earlier police stopped hundreds of cars that arrived in convoys from across france to take part in protests. the demonstrators say they've been inspired by the blockade by truckers on the us—canada border. similar protests have been taking place in countries across europe, including austria, the netherlands and belgium. our paris correspondent hugh schofield has more on the situation there. it's much improved. there are still skirmishes of a very limited nature taking place at the top end of the champs—elysees. essentially what happened was that some of these vehicles that

were driven by protesters did get through the various roadblocks and checkpoints, up to the champs—elysees earlier in the afternoon. there they stopped and got out of their cars, and blocked the traffic. and that formed a, kind of, hub for protesters to come on foot and engage with the police who were out in force. that went on for 2—3 hours — scenes that were very reminiscent of the yellow vest protests of three years ago, if you remember when we saw again, protesters out in force. here, there was a lot of tier gas being fired to break up little groups of protesters who were forming, but nothing terribly serious. but still a certain degree of tension. and then gradually, the police were able to bring in special vehicles to tow away — tow trucks to take away the vehicles that had been accumulating at the top of the champs—elysees. it's more or less over now, but there's still lots of people and plenty of police out there. i don't think there's any more tier gas being fired.

the united states warns russia against invading neighbouring ukraine in a day of intense diplomacy. presidentjoe biden reminds vladimir putin of the costs of an incursion but he denies any intent to invade. more than a dozen countries including britain urge their citizens to leave ukraine. just crazy. it's a peaceful country and, in this day and age, and you're talking about tanks and bombs coming in... it's just crazy. i don't understand — we're in europe. we'll be live at the white house asking if diplomacy is easing tensions. also tonight... feeling the pinch — new figures show the price of basic foods has jumped in the last year, squeezing household budgets. police in paris fire tear gas to clear demonstrators

protesting against the government's covid restrictions. and wales beat scotland in a tight match for their first win in this year's six nations. good evening. the us presidentjoe biden has held talks with the russian leader vladimir putin on a day of intense diplomacy aimed at preventing war in ukraine. in a phone call lasting more than an hour, mr biden warned that america and its allies would respond decisively and impose swift and severe sanctions on russia if it invaded ukraine. russia continues to deny that it's planning an invasion. a dozen nations including the uk have told their citizens to leave ukraine. our correspondent paul adams has been speaking to some of those affected. do you want to go to spain?

yeah. right. how best to leave? stuart mackenzie is looking for flights with his sons, robert and stuart. after 28 years of life here, he can't quite believe it. this is just crazy, just crazy. it's a peaceful country and, in this day and age, you're talking about tanks and bombs coming in... it's just crazy. i don't understand — we're in europe. there is a lot to think about — what to do with stuart's elderly mother—in—law, his brother's family also here, and his 20 local employees. if there are flights available for the family, then that's a good option for us, that gets us out within hours. if that's not the case, then plan b is taking the car and trying to get to the border — and praying that we're not too late. at the british embassy, signs of urgency and departure — no one here willing to talk. the foreign office says it's not

in a position to help british citizens with their plans. nearby, a march of defiance in the face of a gathering storm — a rare display of public feeling at a time when russia is menacing their borders, staff are leaving embassies, and foreigners are being told to get out. i have to analyse all the information which we have. touring the south, ukraine's president seemed frustrated by apocalyptic warnings coming from washington. and the truth is that we have different information and now the best friend for enemies, that is panic in our country. and all this information helps only for panic, it doesn't help us. russia's war games in belarus are now well under way. this, american officials warn, is how an assault on ukraine could begin. moscow still says it

has no plans to invade. joe biden and vladimir putin spent an hour on the phone this evening. mr biden told the russian leader that if russia launches a further invasion of ukraine, the us and its allies will impose swift and decisive sanctions. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. let's join our north america editor, sarah smith, in washington. what signs are there that diplomacy is working? i have to say that there is a very pessimistic mood in washington tonight, with a senior visual say nothing changed in the dynamic after the phone call betweenjoe biden and vladimir putin. the us is not clear if russia wants to achieve its goals through a diplomatic solution rather than the use of force and that is why president biden was blunt about his intention to impose punishing economic sanctions, swift and severe cost, he called them, on russia if it does further invade ukraine. and

there are warnings as well because america believes that vladimir putin is now in a position to be able to order an invasion any day now, they are warning about the possibility of are warning about the possibility of a manufactured attack on russian forces that could be blamed on ukrainians, that would then act as a triggerfor military ukrainians, that would then act as a trigger for military action. new details about what the us call a false flag operation were discussed in an emergency meeting in the white house situation room two nights ago and they say it could involve russian operatives with explosives attacking russian forces which would then be used as the pretext for an invasion of ukraine. the us says tonight they are open to the possibility of further talks but they also say they are planning for a worst—case scenario. they also say they are planning for a worst-case scenario.— they also say they are planning for a worst-case scenario. sarah smith in washington. _ a worst-case scenario. sarah smith in washington, thanks _ a worst-case scenario. sarah smith in washington, thanks for - a worst-case scenario. sarah smith in washington, thanks forjoining . in washington, thanks forjoining us. protests have been held in several towns and cities around the uk to highlight the impact of the cost of living crisis on workers

and theirfamilies. the austerity campaign group, the people's assembly, co—ordinated the demonstrations, supported by trades unions. inflation, the measure of how quickly prices are rising, is at a 30—year high, because of steep increases in the cost of fuel, heating and food. official inflation figures look at a wide range of goods, notjust food, so can often mask some steep rises seen at the supermarket tills, especially on everyday items. new data for the bbc suggest that a basket of mid—range groceries has gone up in price by 8% injust one year. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. charlotte jessops, a money—saving blogger. she hosts a monthly zoom session, passing on tips. thank you for coming. we're going to be talking about the rising costs of food. my shopping bill for me and my partner has gone up at least £20 a week. the bread, even the, you know, the lower end brand has- gone up 20, 30p. everyone's shopping basket is different.

we looked at some popular items. take a pack of spaghetti. it's gone up by an average of 41% since last year. a tin of tomatoes has jumped 21%. and a jar of strawberry jam up by 20%. in the cheapest range, the prices were also up, but not by as much. this is a once—in—a—generation moment forfood price inflation in this country. this is just the start. it's going to go on for two, two—and—a—half years, probably, as various costs and problems filter through into the system and are accommodated. here in the aisles, the battleground is all about price. the supermarkets are grappling with how much of their costs to pass on, but if they put their prices up too much, shoppers will vote with their feet. this business is hoping to nab some of them. poundland's biggest store opening in nottingham today. feels like a supermarket. are you after more of the weekly shop?

yeah, absolutely we are. and that's why we're providing all these new categories, fresh foods, produce. but costs are rising across his supply chain, too. high, single—figure inflation is what we're facing. that doesn't mean that our shoppers have to face that as well. so, you know, i'm not a magician, not paul daniels. i can't magic all of this stuff away, but what i can do is work as hard as i can on behalf of shoppers to make sure that we mitigate as much as we can to protect them. that may be, but overall, food prices are moving in one direction, and that's up. emma simpson, bbc news, nottingham. canadian police have begun clearing protesters blocking a bridge linking canada and the us, more than 12 hours after a court ordered an end to the blockade. the demonstrators are protesting about covid restrictions and vaccination rules for essential workers. the blockade has affected trade and supply chains. the motor industry says it's been losing millions of dollars a day. meanwhile, french police have fired

tear gas to disperse groups of activists attempting to blockade paris as part of protests against covid restrictions there. hundreds of vehicles were intercepted on the way to the city and more than 300 fines have been issued. many of the protesters had driven in convoys from all over france. hugh schofield reports from paris. in the early afternoon, 20 or 30 cars managed to get past the police checkpoints and block the champs—elysees at the top end by the arc de triomphe. chanting. the occupants flying tricolour flags and chanting anti president macron slogans. there was a tense standoff

with police firing tear gas to disperse groups of protesters, scenes similar to if less violent than the yellow vest protests of three years ago. protesters said they were inspired by the canadian blockades and wanted an end to government covid rules. translation: we've come - from reims, an hour and a half away from paris to be a part of this freedom convoy. we are here today notjust because we are against the vaccine pass but also because of all the taxes the government is imposing on us. police tow trucks were brought in to remove the protesters' vehicles and traffic was able to resume. but some hours later, as evening set in, there were still small—scale skirmishes down the avenue and more tear gas being fired. the scenes on the champs—elysees may have been reminiscent of the yellow vest movement but, overall, the impact of the french so—called "freedom convoys" has been limited with no serious disturbance to life in the capital. many of the protesters who'd driven in convoys from points all over france in recent days have said they now intend to continue on to brussels. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. a new campaign to highlight early signs of a heart attack is being launched by nhs england, aimed at saving thousands of lives. doctors say lesser—known symptoms of a heart attack can include sweating, feeling faint or dizzy, as well

as a cough, shortness of breath or nausea. the survival rate is nine in ten for those who receive early hospital treatment for a heart attack. you can see more information about the nhs campaign on our website — bbc.co.uk/news. with all the sport now, here's olly foster at the bbc sport centre. good evening. after two rounds of matches, france are top of rugby union's six nations championship. they beat ireland by 30—21; in paris. and wales are up and running, they have their first win. dan biggar with the decisive drop—kick as they held off scotland. here's our sports correspondentjoe wilson. well, it's cardiff, with all the atmosphere one stadium could summon. but for the welsh players, for the captain, would that be enough? because the visitors were scotland, england beating scotland. out to the winger and just a gap just a glimmer, enough for him.

the genius of darcy graham. you can dive for the line like that or you can pirouette like this. with the weight of the forwards behind him, thomas francis, half—time 14—14. now look at finn russell's arm here. the officials decided the scottish player knocked the ball on deliberately, yellow card. so scores level, but wales with the man advantage. dan biggar, in his 100th international, tried a drop goal. he scores the points that put wales in front. the match—winning points, yes, wales are back _ the match—winning points, yes, wales are back it_ the match—winning points, yes, wales are back. it has been a really difficult — are back. it has been a really difficult week, we have had to put up difficult week, we have had to put up with_ difficult week, we have had to put up with a lot of luck and rightly so, but — up with a lot of luck and rightly so, but come back with this crowd and granger result out, roll our sleeves — and granger result out, roll our sleeves up. _ and granger result out, roll our sleeves up, it is one of my best victories — sleeves up, it is one of my best victories in_ sleeves up, it is one of my best victories. . , sleeves up, it is one of my best victories-_ sleeves up, it is one of my best victories. . , ., . ,_, victories. in paris, france scored auainst victories. in paris, france scored against ireland _ victories. in paris, france scored against ireland after _ victories. in paris, france scored against ireland afterjust - victories. in paris, france scored against ireland afterjust 67 - against ireland afterjust 67 seconds. mac hanson watched the ball go right into his hands and to the

line. france landed penalties, ireland kept going with the tries, cutting the french lead to just a point at one point. but with a crushing run and outstretched arm, friend stayed ahead, just. friend stayed ahead, “ust. try, surel , friend stayed ahead, “ust. try, surely. for t friend stayed ahead, “ust. try, surely, for france? _ friend stayed ahead, just. try, surely, for france? yes, - friend stayed ahead, just. try, surely, for france? yes, saysl friend stayed ahead, just. try, i surely, for france? yes, says the referee. watch _ surely, for france? yes, says the referee. watch the _ surely, for france? yes, says the referee. watch the referee - surely, for france? yes, says the | referee. watch the referee tumble but turn his eyes to the line. brilliant. two matches and two wins. for france. chelsea have won the club world cup for the first time. the uefa champions league winners beat the south american champions palmeiras 2—1 in abu dhabi. beat the south american champions kai havertz scored the winner from the spot in extra time against the brazilians. chelsea have now won every major club title. depending on where you're watching, premier league and scottish cup goals are coming up after the news, or stay right there if you want the results. manchester city have stretched their lead at the top of the premier league to 12 points.

raheem sterling scored a hatrick in a 4—0 win at carrow road. norwich remain in the bottom three, as do watford, who lost to brighton. everton beat leeds 3—0 at goodsion park to move five points clear of the relegation zone, that's frank lampard's first home league win since he took charge. elsewhere, manchester united drew 1—1 with southampton. the game between brentford and crystal palace was goalless. it's the fifth round of the scottish cup this weekend. no upsets in the five ties today. hearts needed penalties to get past livingstone, motherwell, dundee united and st mirren are into the quarterfinals, as are rangers, who eased past fourth—tier annan athletic. warrington wolves have started their super league season with a win over leeds rhinos at headingley. they came from behind against i2—man leeds to win by 22—20. connor wrench's late converted try sealed the win. in the day's other game, huddersfield beat toulouse. it was a big race day at newbury, with a surprise winner in europe's richest handicap hurdle. there was a photo finish,

with victory in the betfair hurdle given to the 20—1 shot "glory and fortune", ridden by stan sheppard. trainer tom lacey is now targetring the champion hurdle at next trainer tom lacey is now targetting the champion hurdle at next month's cheltenham festival. we are halfway through the winter olympics and team gb are still without a medal, for the first time in 20 years the british skeleton athletes have failed to reach the podium at a games. there are still hopes in the curling and eve muirhead's team secured an important win against the usa. they lie fifth in the women's standings, with five more matches to play. the top four progress to the semi—finals. great britain's men are third in their round—robin group. day 9 at the winter olympics gets going in the next few hours, you can keep on top of all the action on the bbc sport website. but from me, goodnight. thank you very much. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel.

and sophie raworth will be here at 9am tomorrow, where she'll be speaking to the northern ireland secretary brandon lewis and to a senior adviser to the us secretary of state. that's all from me. goodnight. good evening. it looks like this. heavy rain affecting parts of the uk. when the weather across the south, lighter winds further north. on the satellite picture, you can see that shield of cloud racing and from the atlantic. this will bring wet weather to start sunday across western england, wales, quickly getting into northern ireland, northern england and up into southern scotland as well. for east anglia in the southeast, they will start off on a drying out, rain will arrive here to the afternoon. not in

scotland likely to stay mostly dry lips and spells of sunshine and the hot shower. slightly drier conditions could develop in northern ireland through the afternoon. the winds across northern areas relatively light, southern areas, brisk winds, the average wind speeds, gusts can touch 50 mph for english channel coasts. relatively mild, 7—ii celsius. have a soggy sunday evening across east wales, central and eastern parts of england, that rain taking a long time to clear way. some drier conditions will develop out west, but with some showers, fairly brisk northerly breeze, but i think given the strength of the praise come it's not going to be a particularly cold night. low pressure will still be close by and to monday morning, showers circulating around the low. some brisk winds. a bump a nicer bars, ridge of high pressurejust trying to dry things out as it topples and from the west. so we will see some early rain across seven parts. that will clear to a mix of sunshine and showers. some of those showers wintry in scotland especially of those showers wintry and scotland especially over high ground and eventually to low levels,

feeling relatively chilly on monday, given the strength of the breeze top temperatures between 6—10 celsius. and to tuesday from another band of rain pushing into the west, some snow for a time across high ground in scotland and some wintry showers following him behind with some sunny spells in between. top temperatures on tuesday 6—ii celsius. another windy day, those winds could well stepped up a gear as we move into wednesday thanks to this deepening area of low pressure. lots and lots of white lines on the chart here, lots of isa by squeezing together while the details of this forecast will change, it does look like we could see gales or severe gals and places on wednesday with some heavy bursts of rain. it will be really mild for a time turning chillier towards the end of the week.

hello, this is bbc news.

i'm annita mcveigh. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first, the headlines. us presidentjoe biden warns russian leader vladimir putin that he'll respond with "severe economic sanctions" if ukraine is invaded. russia says the west is creating hysteria and it's absurd to suggest an invasion will happen. the ukrainian president warns against creating panic. there is panic in our country, and all this information, it helps only for panic. doesn't help us. and also ahead — police in canada break up a protest against covid restrictions after several days of a major trade route to the us being blocked. tear gas on the streets of paris, as french police try to disperse a demonstration against covid regulations.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be