welcome to bbc news. our top stories. translation: they tell us that february the 16th will be - the day of the invasion. we will make this into unity day. so, what's motivating the kremlin, and what do ordinary russians think? we'll go to moscow to find out. canada's prime minister invokes emergency powers to try to end the protests against covid measures — they could extend to the freezing of protesters bank accounts. this is about keeping canadians safe and restoring confidence in our institutions.

and the man who brought us �*ghostbusters�* ivan reitman, has died at the age of 75. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky says his country is ready to fight for its freedom — as warnings persist of a russian invasion. president zelensky declared wednesday a day of national unity, after us intelligence suggested that could be the day russian forces attack. the british prime minister borisjohnson has beem speaking with president biden — the pair said that a"crucial window for diplomacy" over the crisis remained. (map around 130 thousand russian troops are massed on ukraine's border. russia's foreign minister also said there is "always a chance" of a negotiated agreement.

our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in kyiv and sent this report. russia still building up its forces, so much so that western governments are saying an invasion could be launched within days now. there are warnings coming thick and fast. the ukrainian prime minister has addressed the nation, assuring ukrainians the country is confident, stronger than ever. that russia is trying to scare them, but they won't succumb. and the talks to defuse this crisis have been intensifying. today, it was the german chance's turning down, showing support for kyiv,

seeking ways to get russia to pull back its troops. the president underlined that will not be by ukraine dropping its right tojoin nato. tomorrow, the german leader heads to moscow. are making it clear once again here in kyiv that ukraine's sovereignty and you territorial integrity are non—negotiable for germany. we therefore expect russia to take the steps to de—escalate the current tensions. in russia, the foreign minister were shown urging president putin to keep talking to the west. it is worth it, he said. but borisjohnson spoke to the us president today, too, and both are still sounding the alarm. we are on the edge of a precipice but there is still time for president putin to step back and what we are urging is for everybody to engage in dialogue for conversation to take place and for the russians to avoid what i think everybody, certainly everybody in the uk, thinks would be a disastrous mistake. it can be hard to make a connection between all the politicians warning of

imminent, all—out war, even the bombing of the city of kyiv. and how things actually feel here on the ground because even as the negotiations, the diplomacy continued. so does life here, pretty much as normal. although, beneath the surface, people say they are feeling increasingly nervous now. we met what we have to say and do, to be afraid every hour of our life. we don't want to live like that and we just want to live. you make the patient for anything. we make readers hope that our city will be safe and families will be safe. for now, the musicians play on. even the school trips have not stopped as ukrainians still cannot quite believe the worst predictions. those warnings of a possible russian incursion have really escalated in recent days. so here in ukraine, you might expect there to be real tension, a sense of panic, possibly people president putin has long made it clear that he considers

ukraine and russia as one people, linked by history. his desire to keep ukraine within russia's sphere of influence is threatened in part by ukraine's desire to be part of nato, a defence alliance of countries in western europe and america. since the end of the cold war , countries have applied tojoin nato, expanding the organisation and pushing it eastward. ukraine has long wanted tojoin, and now the west believes russia, may be willing to go to war, to stop it. so, what's motivating the kremlin, in these next crucial hours? steve rosenberg reports from moscow. eight years after russia annexed crimea, is moscow on the brink of another invasion of ukraine? the west seems to think so, but what's the kremlin�*s view? western leaders may be warning of an imminent russian military escalation in ukraine, but moscow dismisses all of that as hype, hysteria.

and if you look at the way the state media here has been covering the ukraine story, you'll see that the picture presented to the russian public is the polar opposite of how the west sees things. so, according to that kremlin picture, russia has no plans for an invasion — instead, it's america who's the aggressor and pouring weapons into ukraine, it's nato that's threatening russia by expanding eastwards. still, that doesn't explain why russia is massing more than 100,000 troops right now near ukraine's border — and why it launched a large—scale military exercises in the region. so what is vladimir putin's aim? that is a difficult question to answer, because no—one's quite sure.

some in the west think this is all about russia trying to force ukraine back into moscow's orbit. some believe the kremlin�*s objective is much wider — to carve out a new sphere of influence for itself in europe, basically to dismantle the post—cold war european security order, to push nato back. today, with moscow sensing a lack of unity in europe and perhaps feeling that america is too busy with problems at home, a resurgent russia may feel that this is the moment to take action. but if there was all—out war with ukraine, how would the russian public react? it's hard to see the public here supporting a large—scale conflict with ukraine. many russians have said to me that they see ukrainians almost like brothers. there are very deep cultural, historical ties. war is the last thing that people want here. but it won't be the public that decides this. it'll be the president. so what happens next?

well, that may depend on whether president putin is willing to compromise over ukraine and european security — even if he doesn't get everything he wants, like an end to nato enlargement eastwards. whether he's willing to reach a deal or determined to continue with coercive diplomacy. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. i asked melinda haring, from the atlantic council in washington, what she thinks putin's ultimate aim is. putin's ultimate aim is. putin's ultimate aim is. wants putin's ultimate aim is. wants far putin's ultimate aim is. wants far more putin's ultimate aim is. wants far more than ukraine. putin wants far more than ukraine. he is using ukraine as level. you want to divide nato, humiliate the west and rewrite the rules of the european security architecture. it wants to be the boss in europe so it is all of the above.— is all of the above. given that, what _ is all of the above. given that, what you _ is all of the above. given that, what you expect i is all of the above. given that, what you expect to | is all of the above. given - that, what you expect to happen next? we've got wednesday being held up as a day of imminent strike. would you go along with

that? ., ., ., that? for a while i thought that? for a while i thought that they _ that? for a while i thought that they would _ that? for a while i thought that they would go - that? for a while i thought that they would go all - that? for a while i thought that they would go all in i that? for a while i thought i that they would go all in and they wrote an article. putin sees weakness everywhere. he had a really good year 2021. i can make the argument i think pretty persuasively but i've been thinking about it. i am more and more convinced it is going to sit on the border and ministers for the next couple of months and he can turn up the volume and turn down the volume as he pleases. you can get what he wants without invading and without more punitive international sanctions. i think that it is game plan. i don't really expect to see anything on wednesday.— expect to see anything on wednesday. expect to see anything on wednesda . ., , ., wednesday. there would be a reality russia _ wednesday. there would be a reality russia invade - wednesday. there would be a reality russia invade and - wednesday. there would be a reality russia invade and that| reality russia invade and that is, you invade, you perhaps move as far as kyiv and then what do you do? try to hold onto a country that does not want you there? this is a country of 41 million people. then destroyed. he could take about a third of the country. he could go down to kyiv which

should be very hard. if you go to 0dessa. intakes were the words of the use of the air force. it is a piece of cake, honestly. you can hold it. ukrainians will fight. ukrainians will fight. ukrainians will fight. ukrainians will resist putin knows that and that limits its ability to take a huge swab of ukraine and honestly, if he does go when he loses power. everyone is paying attention to putin right now. he is on the front page of every newspaper and he loves this attention. he is being treated like a big international player once again. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has invoked rarely used emergency powers to try and end protests against covid measures. the powers would give police more tools to imprison or fine protestors — and to block their bank accounts, without a court order. cbs correspondent, kris van cleave has more on the story — from the base of ambassador bridge in detroit. the ambassador bridge

is a key trade route. it carries about 25% of the trade between the us and canada. it had been blockaded on the canadian side for nearly a week. that bridge is open tonight after canadian police spent the weekend moving protesters in windsor away from the border and fortify the vote leading away from the bed with cement borders to fortify traffic. that has been a relative success. across canada, however, there remain a lot of issues. police seized ammunition there. in detroit this bridge carries $323 million in goods between us and canada every day. its closure has disrupted auto

production in the us, in canada, costing auto—makers an estimated 800 plus billion dollars just on the one week of disruption. getting things going again this is welcome but likely will take weeks if not months for the supply chain to fully recover. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the us suspends all imports of mexican avocados — we'll explain how that ties in to illegal cartels in the country. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home — the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect for the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next.

as the airlift got under way, there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being. it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded - their new—generation space station with a spectacular night launch. _ they've called it mir — l the russian for "peace". this is bbc news, the latest headlines . ukraine's president zelensky says his country is ready to "fight for its freedom" — as warnings persist that an attack by russia

may be imminent. canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, invokes rarely used emergency powers in an attempt to end protests against covid measures. today marks the fourth anniversary of the parkland shooting in the us. at least 17 people died when a former student opened fire on the campus resulting in one of the deadliest school shootings in recent history. president biden marked the day with a statement saying his adminstration stood with the families, and all those working to end the epidemic of gun violence. earlier today the father of one of the victims manuel 0liver climbed atop a construction crane near the white house, calling on the president to do more to get gun control legislation passed. i'm joined now by zeenat yahya, director of policy at march for our lives. it is campaigning for greater gun controls. thank you very much forjoining us. obviously a very emotional day for you for all those involved. why is it that now you are taking this

rather more public stance in terms of trying to put pressure on president biden? absolutely. thank ou on president biden? absolutely. thank you for— on president biden? absolutely. thank you for having _ on president biden? absolutely. thank you for having me. - on president biden? absolutely. thank you for having me. one i on president biden? absolutely. j thank you for having me. one of the biggest aims to highlight here is that 117,000 people have died under the president's watch and there is clearly a sense of urgency coming from our organisation for some immediate action on the part of the president to be able to address this issue.- the president to be able to address this issue. that number is staggering- — address this issue. that number is staggering- i _ address this issue. that number is staggering. i think— address this issue. that number is staggering. i think everyone l is staggering. i think everyone would recognise that. but i might ask, what you think the president can do because congress is, if you like, the block here, rather than the president?— president? that is a great question- _ president? that is a great question. as _ president? that is a great question. as far _ president? that is a great question. as far as - president? that is a great question. as far as what l president can do, there are things you can do within his scope of power without congress and congressional approval right now. the first thing is pointing a gun violence prevention director in the white house specifically in

declaring gun violence epidemic a national emergency. and on top of that, say we have a gun violence prevention director in the white house will address this issue and this is how we're going to do it. it does not require anything except for his pen to paper.— his pen to paper. how would that help — his pen to paper. how would that help because, - his pen to paper. how would that help because, 0k. - his pen to paper. how would that help because, ok. i- his pen to paper. how would i that help because, ok. i think there is a recognition perhaps that the priority that gun control appeared to be a year orso control appeared to be a year or so ago has not lived up to its name in a sense. i think some people would recognise that. the president has urged states and cities to do more themselves. what difference would it be to have an officer in the white house? absolutely. so a lot of— in the white house? absolutely. so a lot of the _ in the white house? absolutely. so a lot of the things _ in the white house? absolutely. so a lot of the things that - so a lot of the things that have happened in the changes that have happened i particularly revolved around a lot of piecemeal here and there kind of solutions. nothing that was comprehensive. just give nibbling at the edges. we will

need somebody who is going make this the top priority. within his white house team. and that is the most important thing here. somebody needs to make this a priority and not come up with piecemeal solutions but rather, this is a comprehensive plan and this is how we're going to address it at all angles. jn going to address it at all anales. going to address it at all an . les. ., going to address it at all anales. ., ., ._ angles. in the meantime, today in particular. — angles. in the meantime, today in particular, very _ angles. in the meantime, today in particular, very difficult - in particular, very difficult day, i know, for so many people. we had a picture of manuel who will feel that amongst many others, and we will have to live with a certain degree of frustration as those numbers continue to mount. . as those numbers continue to mount- -_ as those numbers continue to mount.. , ., ~ ., mount. . absolutely. you know, as ou mount. . absolutely. you know, as you have _ mount. . absolutely. you know, as you have seen, _ mount. . absolutely. you know, as you have seen, just - mount. . absolutely. you know, as you have seen, just in - as you have seen, just in general today and the power of our ready and we are ready to hold the president accountable around this, specifically. we are really trying to push to show the president what the american people already know here. gun violence is worsening under his watch.—

here. gun violence is worsening under his watch. thank you very much indeed — under his watch. thank you very much indeed for _ under his watch. thank you very much indeed forjoining - under his watch. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. - let's get some of the day's other news 00v) the us accountancy firm mazars says it can no longer �*stand behind' ten years of financial statements, for the trump organisation — and has severed ties with its client. the declaration — revealed in court documents — covers financial statements up to the year 2020. the statements are crucial to legal cases alleging the former president and his company exaggerated the value of its assets. mr trump denies wrongdoing. a study of nearly 260 rivers around the world has detected potentially toxic levels of pharmaceutical drugs in a quarter of them. researchers said drugs used to treat epilepsy and diabetes were the most widely found — they believe the scale of pollution threatens wildlife and could affect human health.

britain has reaffirmed its sovereignty over the chagos islands on the day the mauritian flag was raised for the first time on the disputed archipelago. the mauritian government has warned britain not to remove the flag from the indian ocean islands, saying it would be a provocation. our africa correspondent andrew harding sent this report from the chagos islands. is this idyllic archipelago still british territory? today, the government of mauritius said no. a mauritian delegation, visiting the remote chagos islands for the first time, put up a flagpole and then raised their nationalflag, politely but provocatively staking claim to territory held by britain for half a century. this being part of mauritius, it deserves to have a flag here, so that when people come, they know that they are entering mauritian territory.

the mauritians then sang their national anthem, a little softly, but don't mistake that for a lack of determination. mauritius has won worldwide support, its prime minister sending this recorded message. as the state with sovereignty over the chagos archipelago, mauritius will ensure a wise stewardship of its territory. applause. the mauritians are already acting like it is a done deal, bringing in these international experts to map their new maritime borders, surveying this reef to see if it might actually count as an island. i haven't seen any dry land yet. no dry land. no.

that's not good news, then, for the mauritians? well, the legal aspects, i'll leave them to the lawyers. and the mauritian lawyers have been busy. they have won two victories at the united nations. under international law, britain is illegally occupying these islands. the british and the americans say their priority here is security, that if the uk surrenders sovereignty over this strategic archipelago, before long, the chinese navy could be muscling in here. but the mauritian government insists they won't allow that to happen. but this isn'tjust about sovereignty and security. also visiting chagos today, islanders who were forcibly removed from their homes here by britain, 50 years ago. it is a rare chance to visit their ancestors' graves. "it is in such a mess. it makes me sad", says rosamund. and although the chagossians are not united on this,

the group raises another mauritian flag, in defiance of britain. andrew harding, bbc news, on the chagos islands. the british foreign, commonwealth and development office has said it has established a £40 million support fund for displaced chagos islanders to run over a ten—year period. although there are further claims that very little of that money has been distributed. mexico's avocado industry is huge — worth around $2.11 billion a year and with the us as its key export market. but the american department of agriculture has suspended all avocado imports from mexico until, it says, the safety of american inspectors is guaranteed. on saturday one inspector working in mexico received a threatening text on his phone. all mexican avocado imports to the us come from the state of michoacan where violent gangs often extort growers. earlier i asked npr's international correspondent carrie kahn, what more we know about the incident.

we don't know a lot about the threat. the united states department of agriculture said it was threat. the mexican department of agriculture said the inspector received the threat via the telephone so we don't really know much more. they have not said anything more about that. it is not the first time is it? in relatively recent times, there have been incidents which put us inspectors on the line. this is the most egregious incident that we have seen. there is one hell that they can earn points a few years ago but this is the first time that the us is

actually banned exports and as you said, it is the only state in mexico that is registered and allowed to export products to the us so that means all other cattle exports to the us have been banned. whitebait that is a big hit for a lot of a huge amount of money at stake. what responses been within mexico, whether local or political? it is a big hit. as you said, more than $2.11 billion a year that money flows in a lot of corners of that state in mexico. it was interesting today listening to the president. he has a morning press conference and he was asked about the temporary suspension. he said he did not address the security concerns that we are hearing from the us officials.

instead, what he talked about was he was implying that there was some sort of conspiracy that there are economic and commercial political interests behind this band. and that mexican avocados are so good that inferring this that the us would not want to compete with them. and that there are other interests that were in the barn. the international olympic committee says if she finishes in the top three in the individual competition it won't be holding a medal ceremony. the talking is going on in the last few minutes as well. a spokesman for the ioc also saying that her second sample is not yet been examined by laboratory. they have not yet received a reasoned decision they say. just also that a girl of 15 would not do something wrong alone. those are the main

lines. she competes a little bit later in the day. hello there. a very powerfuljet across the atlantic will pick up areas of low pressure and deepen them into storms later this week. notjust one named storm, but two are heading our way. before this very windy weather arrives, we'll find some spells of rain, again, coming infrom the atlantic, you can see all that cloud that's pushing in from the west. and, after a wet start in scotland in the morning, we'll see that rain pushing up toward the northern isles. we've got this rain pushing its way towards southeastern parts of england, where it could stay a bit wet into the afternoon. but away from here, many places will brighten up — there'll be some sunshine, a few showers, mainly

in scotland, where they could be a bit wintry in the hills. it will be a slightly cooler day here, but again, elsewhere, we'll find temperatures up to 9—10 celsius. it does cloud over in the afternoon in northern ireland, and that cloud will continue to thicken into the evening. rain soon arriving, and that rain will push its way quickly eastwards overnight. could be a bit more snow perhaps over higher parts of northern scotland, it'll still be quite cold here, but elsewhere it should be fairly mild, the rain having cleared away by wednesday morning. but it's only a brief respite because we'll find more rain coming in from the atlantic, mainly affecting northern and western areas of the uk. and ahead of that rain, it'll be extremely mild on wednesday across more southeastern parts of the uk, temperatures at 17 celsius. but the winds will be strengthening through the day, and they will continue to strengthen as we head into the evening and overnight — that's because storm dudley is arriving, it races to the north of scotland with the strongest winds to the south of the storm itself. and, whilst it'll get very windy in most areas, this is where the core of strongest winds is expected to be. this is where we have this amber wind warning from the met office — gusts of 80mph or so could bring some damage and some disruption, as well. the winds do gradually

ease during thursday as the storm races away. we've got a few showers and some sunshine, some wetter weather in scotland, a mixture of rain and some snow to higher levels, as well. temperatures around 6—7 celsius here, highs of 12 in the south east of england. things get windier, though, as we head towards the end of the week. the next named storm — this is storm eunice — this area of low pressure will deepen. there's still a lot of uncertainty about the track, but it'll bring some very windy weather to much of the country, particularly so across england and wales. and further north in the colder air, particularly in scotland, there's likely to be some snow and some blizzards.

this is bbc news,

the headlines... western officials say russia has mobilised enough troops to be able to invade ukraine at the drop of a hat. in a phone call, joe biden and borisjohnson agreed a deal was still possible. moscow has dismissed the warnings of an invasion — its foreign minister said on monday diplomacy is far from exhausted. canada's prime minister has invoked emergency powers to try to end the weeks of disruptive protests against covid measures. the emergencies act gives the government enhanced authority for 30 days, including the power to prohibit public gatherings and travel. the us accountancy firm mazars says it can no longer stand behind ten years of financial statements for the trump organisation — and has severed ties with its client. the statements are crucial to legal cases alleging the former president and his company exaggerated the value of its assets. mr trump denies wrongdoing.