welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm mariko oi. the headlines: no pull—back from ukraine — the us says russia's claims to have withdrawn troops from the border are "false". a white house official says 7,000 more troops have, in fact, been sent in. heavy rains trigger landslides in brazil, leaving dozens dead and a desperate search for survivors. more bad news for britain's royalfamily — police investigate one of prince charles�* charities over cash for honours claims. hong kong's leader describes an 0micron onslaught overwhelming the city. as health care and basic services suffer, president xi calls for tighter controls in the territory.

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. us officials have now concluded that russia's claim that it was withdrawing troops from the ukrainian border was false. in fact, a white house official says russia has increased its troop presence there by as many as 7,000 troops. 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. 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. earlier, i spoke to nina jankowicz from the wilson centre think—tank, to find out if there has been any evidence of withdrawal of russian troops.

looking at the open 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 pripyat river, which is about 64 km away from the ukrainian border with belarus. —— six to four. and this is deep in the chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone, where people shouldn't be, so this is a very staggering sign, as is tank activity that has been noted on tiktok close to the ukrainian city of kharkiv. so, 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. 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 saying that those warnings could cause internal instability. yes, i think the united states and its allies are doing a good job trying to pre—bunk russian disinformation and, frankly, to deter russia through declassification. we have seen both britain and the united states declassify intelligence about potential russian false flag operations, used to potentiallyjustify an invasion, and we haven't 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 is trying to keep his population calm, to 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 what we have seen coming from russia. we know what their intentions are, and they still have over 125,000 troops stationed on the borders of a sovereign nation, and that shouldn't be the status quo for anyone around the world. nina jankowicz speaking to me a little earlier. 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 de janeiro. it used to be the summer residence forformer brazilian emperors, 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 de janeiro, in sao paulojust 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.

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. there's further turmoil for the british royal family, with the police beginning an investigation into allegations of cash—for—honours linked to one of 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 royalfamily. for the royalfamily, the threat of a damaging court case involving prince andrew has been avoided. but a number of questions remain. you�*re watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: who�*s behind the canada truckers�* protest? we�*ll have an update

from ottawa. 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—generationl 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. our main story this hour: the white house says russia�*s claim of withdrawing troops from ukraine is false and that, in fact, it�*s sent in thousands more troops. to recap the breaking news this hour, the united states has flatly denied russia�*s claim that it�*s withdrawing troops from the border with ukraine. russia�*s defence ministry had said on tuesday some troops were returning to their garrisons "as planned" and published video of tanks on the move. but a white house official has now descibed

that claim as "false" — and said russia had in fact increased its military presence along the ukrainian border by as many as 7,000 troops. —— has described that claim. more on that story now. with the world wondering whether president putin will order an invasion of ukraine, russia has one obvious ally to turn to as the political sparks fly with the west. beijing�*s diplomatic and military ties with moscow may be strong, but its economic relationships are a lot more complex. for more on this, we�*re joined by natasha kassam from the lowy insitute in sydney. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. in your view, what is china trying to achieve by supporting russia�*s concerns over ukraine while at the same time distancing itself from a potential war?— potential war? thank you so much for — potential war? thank you so much for having _ potential war? thank you so much for having me. - potential war? thank you so much for having me. china i potential war? thank you so | much for having me. china is trying to do quite a lot here. we can see they are trying to walk a fine line. on the one

hand, there are many ways in which china and russia have become more aligned in recent years. their attitude to global governance, their attitude to the west, the idea that the international system should have a more shared power structure and not be dominated by the united states and even their concept of democracy. it is more aligned than it isn�*t. you can see how they have become natural partners in some ways. 0n the other hand, though, china does still have commercial interests in ukraine, it is walking a very fine line with its relationship with europe and with the united kingdom, and ultimately it wants its relationship with the world to be on its own terms, a potential invasion pretty close by and very messy war, that all leads to instability in china�*s mind, and that�*s the last thing it wants. mind, and that's the last thing it wants. , .. , ., it wants. indeed, because china does have _ it wants. indeed, because china does have a _ it wants. indeed, because china does have a very _ it wants. indeed, because china does have a very strong -

does have a very strong economic religion with du as well. in your view, economic religion with du as well. in yourview, if economic religion with du as well. in your view, if an attack indeed is imminent as the us says, how would china react if rush indeed does invade ukraine?- react if rush indeed does invade ukraine? ,, ., invade ukraine? this is good to be really hard _ invade ukraine? this is good to be really hard for _ invade ukraine? this is good to be really hard for china - invade ukraine? this is good to be really hard for china to - be really hard for china to stop they long have talked about noninterference —— going to be really hard for china. i think they�*re going to be quiet. i think they are not going say anything. that will be a level of tacit complicity, that they are not going to come out and openly support it. you cite in the recentjoint statement that they said they were sympathetic of some of russia�*s asks, sympathetic, but it don�*t think they can support an invasion. i also don�*t think russia will ask china to come out and say something if they know they are not going to get it. ,, ., know they are not going to get it. _ ., know they are not going to get it. some say china is watching the situation _ it. some say china is watching the situation very _ it. some say china is watching the situation very closely, - the situation very closely, because of its relationship or claims over taiwan. is it fair to compare the crisis over ukraine and china�*s claims over

taiwan? i ukraine and china's claims over taiwan? ., �* ~' , taiwan? i don't think there is much that — taiwan? i don't think there is much that is _ taiwan? i don't think there is much that is related - taiwan? i don't think there is much that is related to - taiwan? i don't think there is| much that is related to them. one thing that is very noticeable is, we talk about these crises over ukraine, over taiwan. in most cases, we don�*t talk about the people most affected, the ukrainians, the taiwanese. that�*s the similarity. i do think there are a lot of differences. it is clear that russia is perhaps willing to invade, to use military forces, to risk this hot war over ukraine. china may end up in a similar position, the right now i believe that china thinks it can get taiwan back through coercion, through pressure, through isolation in the international field. pressure, through isolation in the internationalfield. i think president xi jinping believes, over time, think president xi jinping believes, overtime, he can think president xi jinping believes, over time, he can get taiwan without having to fire a single shot. taiwan without having to fire a single shot-— single shot. natasha kassam, thank you _ single shot. natasha kassam, thank you so _ single shot. natasha kassam, thank you so much _ single shot. natasha kassam, thank you so much for- single shot. natasha kassam, i thank you so much for speaking to us on newsday today. thanks for having _ to us on newsday today. thanks

for having me. _ 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—19 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. 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 groups. earlier, i spoke to sarah maslin nir, who has been reporting on the protests for the new york times, and i asked her who is behind the protests. i have not found that a far right community is organising them, though the organisers are not truckers. they are some

right—leaning activists. some are former members of the military and law enforcement. many of them have ideologies that are really counterfactual. they have a strange belief that the vaccine was by the government, designed to thin the population, or that it was, the disease originally, covid—19, 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 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 reason for this protest, and especially the thousands of people who come on the weekends and join the roughly 400

truckers, is pandemic fatigue. they are fatigued with the rules, the restrictions, the lockdowns. and ostensibly, the original impetus for the protest was a vaccine mandate for the trucking community. 90% of truckers here are vaccinated, because 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 they�*re deeply, deeply fatigued by the pandemic and its restrictions. before we go, a reminder of our breaking news. the united states says russia continues to reinforce its military presence around the borders of ukraine, with as many as 7,000 troops recently deployed. a white house official said russia could, at any moment, stage an incident serving as a pretext for invasion. satellite images show a new pontoon bridge has been built several kilometres from the ukrainian border

in belarus, where russian troops have been operating. and that�*s it for the show. thanks for watching. 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 wind�*s 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. we�*ll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i�*m stephen sackur. russia and ukraine have powerful ties on history and energy. when it comes to the geopolitics energy is a key factor. ukraine has long profited from being the middleman for russian gas export into europe. moscow is in the business of changing that reality. my guest today yuripacheco