welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm mariko oi. the headlines: the ukraine crisis reaches a critical moment — nato says there's no sign of de—escalation and warns that tensions with russia could become the "new normal" for europe. so far, we do not see any sign of de—escalation on the ground, no withdrawals of troops or equipment. further turmoilfor the royalfamily — police investigate one of prince charles�* charities over claims of cash for honours. prince charles�* aides say he had "no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or british citizenship." who's behind the canada truckers�* protest?

growing signs that the blockades are being orchestrated by the far—right. and a sharp rise in the price of beer, one of the many signs of inflation. we report on how prices are soaring across the board, including the cost of food and fuel. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting live from singapore to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin with the tensions over ukraine, after the secretary—general of nato said russia's readiness to use military force in pursuit of its goals has created a "new normal" in europe. jens stoltenberg said russia has maintained a huge invasion force on the border of ukraine that is ready to attack and had not

begun to withdraw its troops. meanwhile, ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky travelled across the country to rally his forces. the bbc�*s sarah rainsford was with him and sent this report. today was ukraine's turn for a show of force, aiming its tanks and missiles at an imaginary invader. military exercises, as the president looked on. it's the kind of cross—border attack that western governments fear russia is planning here. some had even named today as the launch date. instead, volodymyr zelensky was on a morale—boosting tour. laid out for him to admire, weapons sent by allies, including britain. remote assistance. i asked mr zelensky whether the threat had receded now.

translation: we react to the reality we have. l and we don't see any withdrawal yet. we've only heard about it. when the troops do withdraw, everyone will see that. notjust reconnaissance or the military, we'll all see it. but, for now, all we have are statements. so, they're preparing for every scenario. this exercise is all about simulating a massive incursion into ukraine. and, of course, in this country, that's notjust a hypothetical threat, because there are still tens of thousands of russian troops on ukraine's border. today, moscow produced this, meant to prove its tanks were heading home, never a threat. and this — vladimir putin, busy showing he doesn't need friends in the west, he has other options. so, nato is still sounding the alarm about the biggest concentration of forces in europe since the cold war. we face a dangerous moment

for european security. russia has amassed an invasion force on the borders of ukraine. at the same time, there are signs from moscow that diplomacy should continue. ukrainians today put on a show of unity, a flutter of patriotism and defiance. this nation that's trying to turn west, but that russia won't let go. from military exercises, president zelensky headed towards ukraine's very real conflict, and we flew east alongside him, to where troops have been fighting russian—backed forces for eight years now. there, he told soldiers they were heroes, thanked them for standing firm in a crisis which the world is watching nervously, but in which it's ukraine

that's on the front line. sarah rainsford, bbc news, mariupol. i'm joined now by nina jankowicz. she's a fellow at the wilson centre, a washington think—tank, and has advised the ukrainian government. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. in that report by a sarra, president zelensky saying that he does not see russian troops withdrawing. what is your assessment?— withdrawing. what is your assessment? , ., assessment? yes, looking at the open source intelligence _ assessment? yes, looking at the open source intelligence that's _ assessment? yes, looking at the open source intelligence that's available - source intelligence that's available on the internet as well as ordinary russians who are posting lots of videos on platforms like tiktok, we have seen no evidence of withdrawal either. in fact, there is satellite imagery showing that russian troops have built a bridge across the pre—pre—op river, which is have built a bridge across the pre-pre—op river, which is about 64 km away from the ukrainian border with belarus, and this is deep in the chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone, where people should not be, so this is a very staggering sign, as is take activity that has been noted

on tiktok close to a ukrainian city. still plenty of troops along the belarusian and russian borders with ukraine. even if a few battalions have moved from crimea, that is unlikely to have been the attack point anyway. unlikely to have been the attack point anyway-— point anyway. you are a disinformation - point anyway. you are a disinformation expert, i point anyway. you are a i disinformation expert, and point anyway. you are a - disinformation expert, and over point anyway. you are a _ disinformation expert, and over this crisis, there's been lots of conflicting information. and while the us has been predicting an imminent attack, president zelensky even sang those boardings could cause internal instability. yes. even sang those boardings could cause internal instability.- cause internal instability. yes, i think the united _ cause internal instability. yes, i think the united states - cause internal instability. yes, i think the united states and - cause internal instability. yes, i think the united states and its l think the united states and its allies are doing a good job trying to pre—bunk russian disinformation and frankly to deter russia through d caused vacation. we have seen both britain and the united states declassify intelligence about potential russian false flag operations, use to potentially justify an invasion, and we have not

seen those come to fruition. i think that intelligence was, they were highly confident in that intelligence, and it's certainly a tactic that russia has used before, so i think that we should all get behind that intelligence, and i understand president zelensky�*s concern. he has tried to keep its population calm, do not instill panic, to keep the economic situation in ukraine stable, but this is also what ukrainians have been looking for for many years. it's western support and western attention to russia's aggression against ukraine. so i think regardless, an absence of activity is not necessarily negating but we have seen coming from russia. we know what their intentions are and they still have over hundred 25,000 troops stationed on the borders of a sovereign nation, and i should not be the status quo for anyone around the world. . g ., . ., ~ i. the world. nina jankowicz, thank you so much for— the world. nina jankowicz, thank you so much forjoining _ the world. nina jankowicz, thank you so much forjoining us _ the world. nina jankowicz, thank you

so much forjoining us on _ the world. nina jankowicz, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday i so much forjoining us on newsday today. so much for “oining us on newsday toda . . ., ., there's further turmoil for the british royal family, with the police beginning an investigation into allegations of cash—for—honours linked to one prince charles' main charities. the inquiry centres on the prince's foundation and accusations involving a saudi national. prince charles' aides say he had "no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or british citizenship, on the basis of donation to his charities." the news comes as questions are raised about prince andrew, and how he'll pay possibly several million pounds agreed in a financial settlement with virginia giuffre, who'd accused him of sexual assault in a civil claim. there are no details of the size of the financial deal and prince andrew hasn't accepted any liability. he's also consistently denied the allegations. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. i'm here! turbulent moments they may be

for members of her family. one person, though, was, as ever, staying calm and carrying on. good morning, your majesty. how are you? well, as you can see, i can't move. well, many congratulations on the start of yourjubilee year. good morning. the queen was at windsor castle this morning, meeting military officials. there are still evidently some mobility issues, but her appearance dispels the rumours that she caught covid from the prince of wales. and the underlying message — it is business as usual, despite the problems faced by not one, but two of her sons. first, prince charles. there is to be a formal police investigation into his charity, the prince's foundation, over allegations that honours and british citizenship were promised to a saudi billionaire in return for cash donations to the charity. in a statement, the metropolitan police said...

the man who is expected to be at the centre of the investigation is michael fawcett, chief executive of the prince's foundation until his recent resignation. he's worked for charles for decades. he used to be the prince's valet. in a statement, clarence house said... and then, to prince andrew and the continuing questions around his out—of—court settlement with virginia giuffre, variously estimated to be costing him anything up to £12 million. it's not thought andrew has that kind of spare cash, so will the queen have to help him? if andrew goes to the queen for help, more than likely,

the money will come from the duchy of lancaster, which is effectively the queen's cash cow. last year, it brought her about £22 million in money. and it's really rental income from a portfolio of land. it seems inconceivable that any public money from the sovereign grant would be used. but already there are calls for greater openness from the palace. andrew is going to have to confirm that the public haven't paid this, because that threatens to have wider implications for the royal family. for the royalfamily, the threat of a damaging court case involving prince andrew has been avoided. but a number of questions remain. that report by nicholas witchell. landslides and severe flooding have killed at least 78 people in brazil, north of rio dejaneiro. storms have caused more than a month's worth of rain in just a few hours. here's our south america correspondent, katy watson. well, we're talking around 200 individual mudslides. around 400 firefighters are on the ground, and it's very much an active rescue effort.

the governor of rio dejaneiro, he talked about the fact that this was a war zone. and they've brought in dozens of trucks, water trucks, diggers. they've even enlisted the help of 2,000 people to be able to clear the way for these vehicles to be able to get to the site where most of the mud is and where they are still digging and trying to find anybody who is missing. i think it's very much an active case on the ground, active rescue effort at the moment. this is a city that's about an hour and a half from rio dejaneiro. it used to be the summer residence for former brazilian empresses, it's now a weekend retreat for many people in rio and neighbouring states. it's a mountainous region, so landslides have happened before. in 2011, more than 900 people were killed after mudslides in petropolis and in neighbouring

cities, but the quantity of rain that fell on tuesday afternoon and tuesday evening, we're talking the same amount of rainfall in three hours that the city normally has in about a month. and it devastated parts of the city that were completely wiped out by these mudslides. and, of course, it often hits poor neighbourhoods where the foundations perhaps aren't as strong. that's the inevitable reality in such an unequal country such as brazil. but you've also got to look at the wider picture. here in brazil, we've had floods near the state of rio dejaneiro, in sao paulo just a few weeks ago and in the northeast of brazil, and i think that's something that people are linking these floods and the extreme weather conditions. certainly it's something that a lot people are looking at. so while landslides are not uncommon, perhaps the ferocity, the intensity of these landslides is something that's worrying a lot of people.

that was katy watson for us. china's president, xijinping, has urged hong kong's leaders to take "all necessary measures" to control a surging outbreak of coronavirus. more than 4,000 new cases were reported on wednesday — a new record. the territory's chief executive carrie lam has admitted the authorities are overwhelmed as space runs out for the infected to self—isolate. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. in hong kong, the hospitals are almost bursting at the seams. at this accident and emergency department, the patients queue up on trolleys outside. for more than two years, the authorities have tried to keep the virus out, but covid numbers are rising at an alarming rate. none of this lost on the central government in beijing, with president xijinping urging the hong kong authorities to get a grip. quoted in a local state—run newspaper, he told them to...

..they should... the effects of the virus are being felt in numerous ways. locals are facing food shortages, as many of the lorry drivers who bring supplies into the territory have tested positive. hong kong imports around 90% of its food, most of it coming from the mainland, but the authorities insist action is being taken. translation: the first task. is to recruit more lorry drivers who have not been exposed to infection risk, and second is to ensure that all cross—border drivers will have covid—i9 tests every day. once the results are negative, they're allowed to work across the border. so far, hong kong has been relatively lucky, with only around 200 deaths since the pandemic began. but with medical experts warning the number of daily cases

could reach nearly 30,000 a day by the end of march, that luck may be running out. tim allman, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the soaring price of beer, one of the many signs of rampant inflation. we report on how prices are spiralling across the board, particularly for food and fuel. 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. 0ur headlines: nato says there's no sign of de—escalation on ukraine's border and warns that tensions with russia could become the "new normal" for europe.

further turmoilfor the royal family — police investigate one of prince charles' charities over claims of cash for honours. canadian police have warned protestors blockading downtown 0ttawa that they must leave or face arrest. demonstrations against covid restrictions have disrupted cities across the country for over three weeks. prime ministerjustin trudeau has invoked the emergencies act to help the government end the protests. some reports say these are being organised by far—right extremist groups. to tell us more, i'm joined by sarah nir, who has been reporting on these groups behind the protests. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. so tell me what you found, who is actually by these protests? yeah, my name is sarah maslin nir, i and a reporterfor the new york times. as you can tell, i have come

from outside interviewing the truckers. i have not found that already stream his have organised them, although they are not truckers. some are former members of the military and law enforcement, many of them have ideologies that are really counterfactual, they have eight strange belief that the vaccine was by the government to, designed to thin the population or that it was, the disease, originally, covid—19, was caused by the pharmaceutical companies to be a cash flow operation, but they are managing to create a highly structured organised protest that is now in its 20th day, deeply entrenched in the streets of this country's capital. i entrenched in the streets of this country's capital.— country's capital. i guess it is important. — country's capital. i guess it is important, though, - country's capital. i guess it is important, though, to - country's capital. i guess it is i important, though, to mention country's capital. i guess it is - important, though, to mention that not everyone going to these protests are affiliated with this group, but do you think those conspiracy

theories and misinformation that you mentioned, that affected other ordinary citizens as well? i think that the primary _ ordinary citizens as well? i think that the primary reason - ordinary citizens as well? i think that the primary reason for - ordinary citizens as well? i think that the primary reason for this| that the primary reason for this protest, and especially the thousand people who come on the weekends and join the roughly 400 truckers, is pandemic fatigue. they are fatigued with the rules, the lockdowns and ostensibly the original impetus for the protest was a vaccine mandate for the trucking community. 90% of truckers here are vaccinated as they are compelled to be in order to cross borders. and they want bodily autonomy — that's what they say. and their supporters are not necessarily steeped in these conspiracy theories, but there deeply, deeply fatigued by the pandemic and its restrictions. find fatigued by the pandemic and its restrictions.— restrictions. and it appears opinions — restrictions. and it appears opinions are _ restrictions. and it appears opinions are somewhat - restrictions. and it appears| opinions are somewhat split restrictions. and it appears - opinions are somewhat split on how the police have been handling the protests. too tough sometimes, not tough enough in other opinions. so tough enough in other opinions. sr in autolock, which is the tough enough in other opinions. srs in autolock, which is the capital of

canada and these protests are around the parliament buildings, really choking the heart of the city's legislative structure, there has been almost no police activity —— in ottawa. the police are badly 0ttawa. the police are badly outnumbered. there are 1200 of them in the local force and they are standing there as these protesters are occupiers some 0ttawa residents are occupiers some 0ttawa residents are calling them are violating the law in varying ways. in other parts of the country, where they have been crippling economic effects by protests, such as the windsor bridge between windsor, canada and detroit in america, which had a devastating effect on the automotive industry because it stops the flow of goods, there, police have made some inroads and actually cleared those protesters off the bridge, but there have been very few arrests and almost no violence.— have been very few arrests and almost no violence. sarah maslin nir from the new _ almost no violence. sarah maslin nir from the new york _ almost no violence. sarah maslin nir from the new york times, _ almost no violence. sarah maslin nir from the new york times, thank - almost no violence. sarah maslin nirj from the new york times, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. thank you for having me. let's take a look at some other

stories in the headlines. germany has set out a three—step plan to lift most of its remaining covid restrictions by mid—march. switzerland and austria have also announced an easing of restrictions. the attorney general in the us state of texas is sueing the biden administration over a government mandate requiring that masks be worn at us airports and on aeroplanes and other transit modes. it's a challenge to the centers for disease control and prevention transit mask rules, which have been in place since february 2021. the european union's highest court has ruled that the eu can reduce funding for member states found to have breached certain democratic standards. the governments of poland and hungary have had major differences with the eu over immigration, lgbt rights and judicial independence. a swimmer has been killed by a shark off the coast of sydney in australia, in the city's first fatal attack for 60 years. eyewitnesses at little bay beach said the shark was over four metres long.

police later said they had recovered human remains from the water. as inflation bites around the world, the price of beer is going up. one of the world's biggest brewers, heineken, says it will raise its prices around 15% or more in an effort to offset higher costs, including sharp increases in the price of ingredients, energy and shipping. it's just one sign of rapidly rising prices across the board, including food and fuel. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. leah has two demanding jobs — being a busy mum—of—three and working as a care worker. it's round—the—clock. 6am every morning, sometimes half past 5am, and sometimes i don't get home till 10pm at night. you're going ice skating with church next week, as well. forgot to tell you. the thought when your wage

is going in the bank, you think, "i've got this much left to budget with for the month." she didn't need official figures to show her prices were rising faster than they have in 30 years. everything has shot up in price. all the staple foods like tinned tomatoes, things that you would use to bulk out meals, that's all shot up. global forces like the pandemic and the risk of war in ukraine have driven up fuel costs, coming home to leah's kitchen shelves. my son only eats a particular brand ofjam because he's got additional needs, and the price of the jam has gone up by 40p a jar. just down the road in wythenshawe is the factory where the jam's made. through that wall there is the warehouse. we've arranged a visit for leah to find out why manufacturers are boosting their prices. richard, i'mjust wondering, why are the prices ofjam going up as much as they are at the minute? it's really down to a number of things. it's shipment costs, so that's getting the raw materials from around the world to the uk.

that's a massive part of it. it's the cost of those raw materials. it's also the packaging materials, which is largely driven by energy costs. we've seen our costs increase by around £8 million over a 12—month period. we can't absorb those costs. the cost of gas, for example, is up 28%, liquid fuels like propane up 47%, and petrol�*s close to a record high. i can't afford to live as it is. i'm getting rid of my car because i can't afford to keep it any longer. i'm happy to get buses and stuff moving forward. the price of petrol�*s now feeding through to other prices, with the average price of goods up by no less than 7.2%. prices are rising, and inflation is going to increase to its highest rate in over 30 years. in the city, traders now fully expect the bank of england to raise interest rates again next month to try to dampen an inflationary inferno fuelled by the price of petrol. andy verity, bbc news. that's all we have time for for this

edition of newsday. stay with bbc news. a stormy end to our week — the first of the storms, storm dudley, arrived during wednesday afternoon and into the evening. and as we went through the latter stages of the day, wind gusts were quite widely around 70 mph, gusting in excess of 80 mph through capel curig. now, it looks likely that we'll continue to see some rain and snow, as well, over the next few hours, even snow falling at lower levels across the highlands — so there will be some accumulations, there will be some icy stretches to look out for first thing. so we keep the potential for some rain and some snow over the next few hours, further south across england and wales. quite breezy still, but the winds will start to ease down, and it will stay largely fine and dry here. but temperatures will hold up above freezing — so first thing tomorrow morning,

around 4—7 celsius, noticeably colder into the far north. now, as we start off thursday, then it looks likely that we'll continue to see some showers slowly easing and, as we go through the day, still windy, but not as strong as they have been. a good deal of dry weather on thursday, with some sunshine coming through. temperatures in the north between 5—7 celsius — not quite as mild in the south, with 12 celsius the high here. but we have to draw your attention to what's happening during thursday into friday — this is storm eunice. now, this will intensify quite dramatically, this area of low pressure, and will cause some issues. now, in several areas across scotland and northern ireland, it's not the wind, it's the snow. we are likely to see some heavy wet snow falling on power lines that could have an impact, 10—30 centimetres of snow. as i say, the winds not quite as strong here, we're looking at gusts of winds around 25—35 mph. but the snow will start to tot up. now further south of that,

the snow will ease and it'll be largely dry with some sunshine — but look at the gusts of wind. we are likely to see, widely, gusts in excess of 70—80 mph inland, and on extreme west—facing coasts, we could see wind strength around 90 mph gusts, potentially up to 100 mph. so the met office has issued an amber warning. be prepared for some significant disruption, dangerous, damaging gusts of wind. and, even as we head into the weekend, we keep plenty of isobars on the chart — showers on saturday being replaced by longer spells of rain.

this is bbc news, the headlines. nato leaders who've been meeting in brussels say they're considering strengthening the bloc�*s eastern flank, in the light of the crisis over ukraine. that would mean creating new battle groups in central and southern europe. nato also says, it's seen no evidence to confirm russia's claims, that some forces have been pulling back, following the completion of military exercises in crimea. police in london are investigating allegations of cash for honours linked to one of the prince of wales's charities. his aides say he had "no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or british citizenship" to a saudi national. at least 70 people have died in landslides in brazil. a month's worth of rain fell — in just a few hours, causing landslides in the town of petropolis, not far from rio de janeiro.