welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: ukraine's ambassador to the uk says the country may drop any ambitions to join nato, in a bid to prevent a russian invasion, as the number of countries urging their citizens to leave grows. we have a special report from the eastern ukrainian port of mariupol, which could be vulnerable if russia does attack. many here in ukraine still say they don't believe that president putin will invade. some, though, have come here to take up this basic weapons training. they say they want to be readyjust in case. canadian police say they have cleared the covid restriction protests which had closed a key

bridge to the us for almost a week. also ahead, "the one with the censorship" — we'll look at why chinese streaming platforms are being accused of deleting scenes from re—runs of the us sitcom friends. and you are looking at live pictures of the preparations. not long now until kick—off at super bowl 56. we will look at how the big game is even bigger this year. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and ”pm in the uk, where ukraine's ambassador has told the bbc that his country may contemplate dropping any ambitions tojoin nato,

in order to avoid military conflict. ukraine's desire to join the mutual defence alliance has been one of the key fault lines in diplomatic talks between the west and russia. moscow has demanded assurances from western powers that ukraine will not be admitted. but the us is refusing to bar ukraine from nato, saying that, as a sovereign nation, it should be free to decide on its own security alliances. earlier today, us president biden spoke to the ukrainian president zelensky by phone with the two agreeing to pursue "diplomacy and deterrence" in response to russia's military build—up on ukraine's borders. in other developments on sunday, more than a dozen countries have now urged their citizens to leave the country — including some in asia, like here in singapore. and international monitors left a part of eastern ukraine which is held by pro—russian groups. dutch airline klm said it would stop flying to ukraine and germany's lufthansa said it was considering suspending flights.

and a consignment of stinger surface to air missiles have arrived in kyiv from lithuania — one of the nato member countries sending military support to ukraine. here's our political correspondentjonathan blake. taking steps to bring russia back from the brink. the defence secretary, ben wallace, has been holding talks in moscow this week to avoid a possible russian invasion of ukraine. russia denies it's planning for that, but with more troops moving to its border with the country, some fear diplomacy may be futile. in an interview with the sunday times, ben wallace said the current situation had a whiff of munich in the air from some in the west — a reference to attempts in the german city to appease hitler before world war ii. some saw it as criticism of allies taking a softer approach. a cabinet colleague disagreed. he's not talking about appeasement.

i think the comparison ben was drawing on — i know the comparison he was drawing on — was around the attempts for a diplomatic outcome that it turned out adversaries at the time weren't really interested in... and is he directing this at france, at germany? who is he directing this to? no, no, no, the point ben is making is that we are all working on this to find a diplomatic outcome, but he is expressing the fear that russia may not be as genuine around that diplomatic outcome and the diplomatic engagement as we hope they are. labour says it shares the government's concern. it is immensely serious and nobody should be naive about what russia is up to and the scale of the troops amassing on the ukraine border. and that's why i think there has to be this extremely strong and swift and severe economic sanctions, financial sanctions, including the energy sector. drawing a parallel with events in the build—up to world war ii is bound to get attention. and regardless of the subtleties of the defence secretary's points, it is a reminder of the seriousness

with which the uk and others are taking this situation, and a warning that whatever diplomatic efforts they pursue, president putin's mind may already be made up. the german chancellor, olav schultz, will travel to kyiv tomorrow and on to moscow for talks with president putin. translation: he again warned i of a strong reaction and immediate sanctions if russia invades. in south—eastern poland, more us troops and equipment arrived in a show of support for america's nato allies bordering ukraine. while diplomacy continues, the white house warned again, russian military action could come any day. jonathan blake, bbc news. in the last few hours, ukraine's ambassador to the uk has spoken to the bbc and was asked if his country would contemplate dropping ambitions tojoin nato, to avoid military conflict. this is what he said.

we might... you know, especially being threatened like that, blackmailed by that and pushed to it. and, you know, we're sometimes hearing voices from the nato that, guys, maybe really... ..we will be able to work. the question which a nation of a0 million people is asking ourselves — how will we survive if they come tomorrow? will we defuse this particular situation? will we again stay unprotected by anybody, by any friends, not being a member of any alliance, when everybody, all the members, all the neighbours of ours, are already in their organisation? and, frankly, russia is already bordering nato. poland is a member of nato, slovak republic, hungary — romania, bulgaria, turkey. every of them neighbouring russia, already neighbours. it didn't change the security situation. the security of russia, so just another addition, ukraine, won't change it that much. that was ukraine's ambassador to the

uk there, speaking to the bbc a little earlier. max bergmann is a former us department of state official and is now a seniorfellow at the policy institute the center for american progress, where he focuses on europe, russia and us security. it is great to have you on the programme. i want to stop byjust picking up off those comments from the ukrainian ambassador to the uk, that's a big statement to make, that they would contemplate giving up that ambition ofjoining nato. what do you make of that? i that ambition of joining nato. what do you make of that?— do you make of that? i think there would be a — do you make of that? i think there would be a significant _ do you make of that? i think there would be a significant step - do you make of that? i think there would be a significant step by - would be a significant step by ukraine, buti would be a significant step by ukraine, but i am of the view that i don't think this is ultimately about ukrainian membership of nato. right now, rush occupies part of ukraine, which means that if, and ukraine is at war with russia and the easter party country currently, so the notion that ukraine would join nato any time soon, when you would need the consensus of 30 nato members to

agree to have ukrainejoin, and ukrainejoining at this moment agree to have ukrainejoin, and ukraine joining at this moment would mean war with russia, to me, the notion that the us or ukraine can promise to not make ukraine part of their nato or ukraine would drop its ambitions tojoin nato, that their nato or ukraine would drop its ambitions to join nato, that would defuse this crisis, i don't think that would work. because ultimately, what i think this crisis is about is the kremlin, vladimir putin, wanting to control ukraine, bring it under pressure's sphere of influence. and right now, the only way for him to do that or the wei putin sees to do thatis do that or the wei putin sees to do that is by invasion, and that is why the united states is so worried and invasion is imminent.— invasion is imminent. max, that intel from _ invasion is imminent. max, that intel from the _ invasion is imminent. max, that intel from the us, _ invasion is imminent. max, that intel from the us, we _ invasion is imminent. max, that intelfrom the us, we have - intel from the us, we have consistently heard from russia that they are denying to plan any plans of an attack. they have said that the outcry from the us and its allies is hysterical. how robust is

the us's intel on russia?- allies is hysterical. how robust is the us's intel on russia? look, what the us's intel on russia? look, what the us's intel on russia? look, what the us has basically _ the us's intel on russia? look, what the us has basically done _ the us's intel on russia? look, what the us has basically done since - the us's intel on russia? look, what the us has basically done since 1945| the us has basically done since 1945 is develop a vast intelligence complex to focus on, then, the soviet union, then russia, in particular russia's military movements, because as the two largest nuclear powers, they were in constant fear that the other would move to strike against the other one. our intelligence and our ability to focus on russia's military movements is extremely good, and i think what we are seeing here is the united states has access to vast intelligence resources that the ukrainians are simply do not have at their disposal, and we are seeing movement of russian forces. every indicator points to a potential invasion, and this is an invasion force right now that is roughly on par with invasion forces

the us and uk invaded iraq with. justjump in there, max, we are also hearing from president zelensky of ukraine, who has criticised the panic he says has been caused by these statements from the us, saying that he has got no proof that russia is going to invade in the coming days. what you make of that descendents? i days. what you make of that descendents?— days. what you make of that descendents? ithink, let's be clear, descendents? ithink, let's be clear. the _ descendents? ithink, let's be clear, the us _ descendents? ithink, let's be clear, the us is _ descendents? ithink, let's be clear, the us is not _ descendents? ithink, let's be clear, the us is not trying - descendents? ithink, let's be clear, the us is not trying to l clear, the us is not trying to create any panic, neither is the uk, but when you see these forces arrayed to surround a country, and the troop movements and ship movements, all pointing in one direction, and on the diplomatic front, there is no different matter talks right now. us and europe have engaged with russia to try and open up a diplomatic talk and they have been rejected by the russians, so i think there is a difference of perspective, i think zelensky has to try and keep calm, once investors to stay in. he is hoping russia is deterred and this is all a bluff.

and so i think both leaders are just coming at this from a different perspective, but for the united states, it has to take certain steps, whether to close its embassy or remove demo medic personnel, so it'sjust an unfortunate or remove demo medic personnel, so it's just an unfortunate situation that they are not quite on the same page, but i think we will see in the coming weeks if russia begins to de—escalate, because it's not going to be able to maintain his current force posture indefinitely —— diplomatic personnel. force posture indefinitely -- diplomatic personnel. fascinating stuff. max bergmann, _ diplomatic personnel. fascinating stuff. max bergmann, thank- diplomatic personnel. fascinating stuff. max bergmann, thank you | diplomatic personnel. fascinating l stuff. max bergmann, thank you so much forjoining us on the programme at. much for “oining us on the programme at. . ~' , ., so now you've heard what the situation is on the political front. meanwhile, there's tens of millions of ukrainians now living with the grim threat of war — and particularly communities along the borders, close to where russia has amassed troops. our international correspondent orla guerin has travelled to the south—east of the country, near territory already held by russian—backed separatists

to talk to residents of mariupol, as it's feared that a russian invasion here could create a land corridor from russia to the crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. choir sings a hymn in ukraine, there is much to pray for. a nation that could be days from a devastating war if the worst fears in london and washington are realised. at this ukrainian orthodox service in the city of mariupol, they remembered their soldiers on the front line. father roman is a military chaplain. he says its president putin who should be worried. "i think these are the final convulsions of the russian regime," he told me. "i hope people understand they shouldn't die for this regime." some here have faith that the worst can be averted, that there is still time.

"i think diplomatically, somehow, we will overcome this crisis," irina tells me. "i don't think that all russians support this kind of aggression towards ukraine." russia insists it won't invade. if it does, mariupol is within easy reach. this strategic port city is about 30 miles from the russian border, and kremlin—backed separatists are closer still. so sunday afternoon is now time to get to grips with an ak—47. weapons in young hands. what might the future bring for her? civilians lining up for a few hours' military training with the national guard. the international warnings are getting more and more ominous.

despite this, many here in ukraine still say they don't believe that president putin will invade. some, though, have come here to take up this basic weapons training. they say they want to be readyjust in case. and that very much includes valentina, who is 78. a granny with a gun. translation: i am a very peaceful person and i can. forgive a lot of things. i can give away everything, but when something is taken against my will, when an invader comes, i will resist and i will be furious. for now, just a training exercise, but soon it might be real. one commander here says he believes president putin's men are coming, but ukraine will fight them

all the way. it will be not an easy war for them. but you think he will try to invade? maybe, yes. the risks are very high, really. and soon? i think it will be... it may be started in a few days. there is a sense of peril for ukraine and its people, like five—year—old jaroslav. a sense that danger is closing in. orla guerin, bbc news, mariupol. well, for more on ukraine, just head over to our website, where we have a special section devoted to the topic. you can read up on all of the latest developments and look back at how the situation has turned out the way it has. just log on to bbc.com/news — or use the bbc app. police in canada say they've cleared

the remaining protesters blocking a key bridge between canada and the united states, after a week of disruption. despite a court order to end the occupation, trucks and cars had blocked the ambassador bridge in ontario, which is north america's busiest land border crossing. the demonstrators oppose covid restrictions and sparked copycat protests around the world. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: switzerland votes to ban almost all advertising of tobacco products to protect young people. 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, baby 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines: ukraine's ambassador to the uk has told the bbc that his country may

contemplate dropping any ambitions ofjoining nato, in order to avoid military conflict with russia. police have cleared the remaining protesters blocking a key bridge between canada and the united states, after a week of disruption. several chinese streaming platforms have been accused of censoring lgbt plotlines from hit us sitcom friends. the show was re—released in china earlier this week, but chinese fans have complained of scenes being deleted, including those that reference a lesbian character and another featuring a same—sex kiss. it's unclear why the scenes have been removed. chris berry, a professor of film studies who specialises in chinese film and tv, talks to us. in the last few years, as more lgbtq content has become circulating in china, there's been a reaction on the part of the government —

they've become much more conservative. friends originally went out in china at least 20 years ago, and the whole system was a little relaxed then, but also people weren't so conscious of lgbtq issues. and more recently, there's been a move towards much more conservative gender roles and sexuality roles, and i think two or three years ago, there was a specific regulation forbidding lgbtq content on the internet. it's been happening a lot. of course, spotting it all and weeding it all out is not something that the chinese government would find very easy. and it relies on individual streaming services to police themselves and self—censor, basically. but because friends remains the most popular sitcom in china, the one that has received the highest ratings from local

viewers, of course, it's very prominent and they'd be paying special attention to that. voters in switzerland have backed legislation banning tobacco advertising anywhere it might be seen by young people. the move will bring the country into line with its european neighbours. 56% voted in favour in a referendum. north korean state tv has shown the country's leader kim jong—un attending what it said was a ceremony marking the start of construction of 10,000 new apartments in pyongyang. courtney bembridge has more. sunglasses on, entourage around him, ready for the big stage. the army waiting and cheering in a draw perfected over many years and broadcast live on state tv. these days, captured by modern technology.

north korea's leader kim jong—un days, captured by modern technology. north korea's leader kimjong—un has good news to announce. he is handling the construction of the first of 50,000 apartments. this is were 10,000 of them will be built, as part of the state's five—year plan. this comes as north korea is facing mounting economic problems, suffering from international sanctions its weapons programme and the pandemic, which has meant a significant cut in trade with china, previously a major economic lifeline. earlierthis previously a major economic lifeline. earlier this month, the country's parliament pledged to develop the economy and improve people's livelihoods, to alleviate what it called a persevering struggle against the sanctions. courtney bembridge, bbc news. the biggest event in american football will kick off in los angeles in a few minutes' time. around 100 million people worldwide are expected to tune in to watch the cincinnati bengals take on the los angeles rams

at the super bowl. a star—studded line—up is planned for the half—time show that's become as important as the game. the match is also a huge event for advertising. i'm joined now by nfl reporter melissa jacobs. and she is here to tell us all about the excitement. melissa, it is wonderful to have you on the programme. and you certainly do look excited. tell us, what can we expect? what's in store tonight? a nail—biting finish or one for the favourites to win? nail-biting finish or one for the favourites to win?— nail-biting finish or one for the favourites to win? thanks for having me, and it favourites to win? thanks for having me. and it is — favourites to win? thanks for having me. and it is so _ favourites to win? thanks for having me, and it is so hard _ favourites to win? thanks for having me, and it is so hard to _ favourites to win? thanks for having me, and it is so hard to tell. - favourites to win? thanks for having me, and it is so hard to tell. i - me, and it is so hard to tell. i will say i literally keep changing my pick every five minutes of who i think it's going to win this one, but it's really a story of the los angeles rams, who have a lot of stars and spent a lot of money and have the small window to win adverse of this is 90 bengals, who are the cinderella story, nobody thought

they would get here —— versus the cincinnati bengals. there kind of plane with house money right now si blu—ray from the sport, this is big business, isn't it? $1 blu-ray from the sport, this is big business, isn't it?— business, isn't it? $1 million for one 32nd advertising _ business, isn't it? $1 million for one 32nd advertising slot? - business, isn't it? $1 million for one 32nd advertising slot? forl business, isn't it? $1 million for - one 32nd advertising slot? for those of us who perhaps are not as familiar with how important it is, this is, in the american psyche — both as a sporting event and is a cultural phenomenon — just talk us through, what's the appeal here? {131 through, what's the appeal here? of the whole game or the advertisements and themselves? the whole game, and the fact that people are willing to spend so much money. it goes hand—in—hand having that 100 million person audience, and this is the debut of so many spots. there's staples like beer companies and soda companies, and then you see new people on the scene, and even the ratings of the commercials, that's big business in and of itself, and

then you mentioned the half—time act, and of the hundred million people, say, 30 million are really into the football part, the rest of them, probably the majority, are there for all the side stuff. yeah, all the side _ there for all the side stuff. yeah, all the side stuff, _ there for all the side stuff. yeah, all the side stuff, perhaps - there for all the side stuff. yeah, all the side stuff, perhaps the - there for all the side stuff. yeah, | all the side stuff, perhaps the big draw of the programme. i think we can show our viewers actually some preparation, live shots of the preparation, live shots of the preparation of the event itself, and in not a long time frame now, at that stadium, in fact, we are expecting mega stars performing tonight, aren't we, melissa? just talk us through some of the highlights. talk us through some of the highlights-— talk us through some of the hiuuhlihts. ., , ., ., , highlights. yeah, it is going to be five hip-hep _ highlights. yeah, it is going to be five hip-hop artists, _ highlights. yeah, it is going to be five hip-hop artists, spanning - highlights. yeah, it is going to be l five hip-hop artists, spanning even five hip—hop artists, spanning even the late 80s, through now, so you have snoop dogg, dr dre, maryjane elijah, eminem ob ken duke lamar, and there is usually one or two acts that perform together and this is kind of a departure from the nfl, to

go to that hip—hop direction —— mary j blige. something they have shied away from the past. it will be interesting to see how this shows comes across, who is on stage first, what songs they sing and how it is perceived by the public. find what songs they sing and how it is perceived by the public.— perceived by the public. and 'ust briefl , perceived by the public. and 'ust briefly, melissa, i perceived by the public. and 'ust briefly, melissa, this is i perceived by the public. and just l briefly, melissa, this is happening of course as the us is still grappling with covid cases, like many parts of the world still are, but it is taking place in la, in that $5 billion stadium that we have just shown our viewers. is this a sense that the covid situation is being put behind us now in the united states?— being put behind us now in the united states? ., ~ ., �* , united states? yeah, i think that's a ureat united states? yeah, i think that's a great question, _ united states? yeah, i think that's a great question, and _ united states? yeah, i think that's a great question, and ethic - united states? yeah, i think that's a great question, and ethic the - a great question, and ethic the optics... the nfl, and even a state of california, which is actually ending its indoor mask mandate into days, i think wants show this as the jumping point, this is ok, there are people hugging without masks. indeed. melissa, i'm so sorry to cut

you off their, but it's wonderful to have you on the programme. thanks so much for watching, everyone, and do stay with bbc news. hello there. after what was a very soggy sunday for most parts of the uk, the weather has plenty more to throw at us through the coming week — not only heavy rain, but some very mild weather for the middle of the week, and then, some stormy weather later. and that could well cause some damage and disruption. on balance, monday is one of the quieter days, but that's not to say it'll be completely dry by any means — we've got cloud and showery rain sinking south—eastwards across england and wales, some brighter spells, as well. for northern ireland and scotland, it's a sunshine—and—showers day, some of the showers wintry over high ground in scotland. the winds slowly easing a little as the day wears on, temperatures north—to—south 6—10 celsius. now, as we go through monday night, we see a quieter interlude, but it doesn't last all that long.

outbreaks of rain will return from the west into northern ireland, scotland, western england, and wales. some snow developing for a time over high ground in scotland. and those are your overnight temperatures, ranging from freezing in the north to around 6 in the south. and then, into tuesday, this weather system will continue its journey eastwards, and some of the outbreaks of rain are expected to hang around for a good part of the day across some southern parts of england and wales. it will tend to clear to a mix of sunshine and showers as we get into the afternoon, and temperatures north—to—south around 5—11 celsius. and then, as we get into the middle of the week, well, things really step up a gear — and it's all because of the jet stream, the winds high up in the atmosphere. the jet stream is likely to be blowing at up to 200 mph or more in the core of the jet, and that willjust provide the energy to spin up deep areas of low pressure — this the first of those moving to the north of the uk on wednesday. this will bring some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain splashing

in from the northwest, the winds strengthening all the while. but those winds coming up from the southwest, so it is going to feel really mild for northern ireland, england and wales, particularly, temperatures 12—15, maybe 17 celsius in east anglia — pretty extraordinary for this time of year. but it is the strength of the winds that gives most cause for concern. as this low moves to the north of the uk, we see this squeeze in the isobars, there will be gales or severe gales potentially in the most exposed places. we could have gusts of wind up to 90 mph. already a met office warning for the northern half of the uk, the risk of damage and disruption through wednesday night and thursday.

hello. this is bbc news with me,

samantha simmonds. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first, the headlines — in a phone call with ukraine's leader, president biden says he'll respond "swiftly and decisively" if russia invades the country. more than a dozen countries tell their citizens to leave ukraine. over 100,000 russian troops remain at the border. canadian police say they have cleared the covid—restriction protests which had closed a key bridge to the us for almost a week. 13 people are injured after a mezzanine floor collapses at a pub in east london. hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. i'm joined by thejournalist daisy mcandrew and the broadcaster matthew stadlen. tomorrow's front pages, starting with... the daily mirror's front page — the "world holds its breath" as russia massed its troops along ukraine's border. "countdown to war" is its headline. the times reports how western leaders will make a last—ditch for diplomatic talks as fears of an imminent russian invasion

of ukraine continue.