hello, this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories this hour... the white house says russia's claim of withdrawing troops surrounding ukraine is false and that in fact it's sent in thousands more troops. heavy rains trigger landslides in brazil killing almost a hundred people — rescuers launch a desperate search for survivors. america's top covid advisor says it's time to inch back to normality, despite the risks that still remain from the virus. they are trying to balance the fact that the world and the united states and particularly certain parts of the united states are just up to here with covid, theyjust really need to somehow get their life back.

and, more bad news for britain's royalfamily — police investigate one of prince charles�* charities over cash for honours claims. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. for the last couple of days, russia has been claiming its troops have been withdrawing from border areas near ukraine. the united states has now pushed back against that, with a white house official calling that claim "false". these pictures were released earlier by russia's defence ministry showing tanks on the move — along with a statement saying some troops were returning "as planned" to their garrisons. but the white house says russia has in fact increased its military presence along the ukrainian border — by as many as 7,000 troops. david willis is in los angeles.

david, good to see you. what has the white house said? in has the white house said? in the has the white house said? in the last few hours, the white house has basically accused russia of lying over the claims made of withdrawing troops from along the border with ukraine. a white house official, quoted as saying that far from withdrawing forces from the region, the russians in the last few days had added 7000 more troops, including some who have arrived today, that is wednesday here in the us. that basically echoing the made earlier in the day by the nato secretary—general who said that more russian troops were on the way and the white house has once again accused russia of saying one thing and doing another. they are claiming that it is up for negotiation, up for a diplomatic solution for

the crisis but in actual fact, ramping up its military presence in eastern europe. david we have already had days and weeks of talking, is there any suggestion as to how the us might proceed? the any suggestion as to how the us might proceed?— might proceed? the united states has _ might proceed? the united states has made _ might proceed? the united states has made clear - might proceed? the united states has made clear that| might proceed? the united | states has made clear that it prefers a diplomatic solution to this, but it remains ready, depending on what the russians decide to do and today the united states secretary—general, sorry us secretary—general, sorry us secretary of state antony blinken said that in his words and that he could pull the trigger at any time and the united states had two main ready for the possibility. he said there is no doubt at all that there is a package of economic sanctions being drawn up economic sanctions being drawn up by economic sanctions being drawn up by the united states in europe, ready to be implemented, the us says, as soon as any invasion takes place, were that to happen. david willis in los angeles, thank you very much. meanwhile, on wednesday 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.

later in the programme we'll speak to to an expert in open—source analysis — using satellite footage and other publicly avaialable footage, to study troop movements on the ground. landslides and severe flooding have killed over ninety people in brazil. more than a month's worth of rain fell in just a few hours in the worst affected area — the city of petropolis — in rio dejaneiro state. sam cowie is a journalist in sao paulo. sam, very good to see you, thank you forjoining us. what is the picture on the ground at the moment in the patroclus? good morning. this is a scenario of absolute devastation in the city, at least 94 people have been killed during these horrendous landslides. that was the latest tally recorded at half past eight local time, tally recorded at half past eight localtime, it tally recorded at half past eight local time, it is half past 11 here now. you know,

this is a death count which is expected to increase over the next few days, writers on the seine are saying that an unaccountable number, an immeasurable number of people have died or have gone missing and thisjust brings have died or have gone missing and this just brings back terrible memories of 2011, when 918 people were killed in the same city and to other cities in this mountainous area of rio dejaneiro. these are mainly poor people, living in a precarious dwellings on the sides of mountains and in this mountainous region and that is basically due to the fact that brazil has a huge chronic deficit of affordable housing stock and this is a problem which we see repeatedly happening, it is a re—occurring problem in brazil and it happened in sao paulojust a few weeks ago, dozens of people were killed and before that it was in a different state and before that in a different state. you do not have to be a

geologist to realise that the rain was coming and people would die. rain was coming and people would die-— rain was coming and people would die. , ., ., would die. sam, you mentioned the 2011 flooding _ would die. sam, you mentioned the 2011 flooding and _ would die. sam, you mentioned the 2011 flooding and heavy - the 2011 flooding and heavy rainfall over the past few days and weeks as well. this could have been predicted and it does not seem like officials acted on that information.- not seem like officials acted on that information. there are some very _ on that information. there are some very brave _ on that information. there are some very brave people - on that information. there are some very brave people at - on that information. there arej some very brave people at the scene now, we are talking 400 firefighters really doing their best, 200 expert witnesses that have been called in to look for evidence, there are sniffer dogs, but this is a curative approach to what, quite frankly, needs to be a preventative approach, for what is an historic problem in this region and across brazil. this basically comes down to the fact that in brazil, these are poor people, these are people, the city is a fairly wealthy city, but these people live on the outskirts, these are the maids, the cooks, the drivers, the bricklayers, the handyman

that service these houses, the wealthier houses in the core of the city and quite frankly we see this happening over and over again in brazil, because poor peoples lives there are quite frankly disposable. we have a very popular commentator who said that the headline of his story which has just come out today was, everybody knew that these rains would kill in rio except seemingly the politicians, the government and the governors. politicians, the government and the governm— the governors. sam, thank you forjoining _ the governors. sam, thank you forjoining us- _ presidentjoe biden�*s senior medical adviser on coronavirus, dr anthony fauci, has said it's time for americans to start moving back towards normality, despite the remaining risks from the virus. dr fauci admitted many states are facing tough choices. ido i do apologise, we will have to move on.

here in the uk — the royal family is facing further turmoil — after the metropolian police said it would be investigating 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 a women who accused him of sexual assault. prince andrew denies the allegation. 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 royal family, the threat of a damaging court case involving prince andrew has been avoided. but a number of questions remain. presidentjoe biden�*s senior medical adviser on coronavirus, dr anthony fauci, has said it's time for americans to start moving back towards normality, despite the remaining risks from the virus. dr fauci admitted many states are facing tough choices. there is no perfect solution to this. they are trying to balance the fact that the world and the united states and particularly certain parts of the united states are just up to here with covid, theyjust really need to somehow get their life back. you don't want to be reckless and throw everything aside, but you have

got to start inching towards that and when you do that you then veer away from paying attention to something that might be important, so someone has got to ask the question which i do not have the answer to, what is the balance? really being strict to prevent any kind of infection or the negative impact on society of being too restrictive and people argue about that all day. i mean, is the impact on mental health, is the impact on development of children, the impact on schools, is that balanced against trying to be covid pristine and protect against infection? i don't have the right answer to that and i don't pretend to have the right answer. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:(00v + vamp)an onslaught of the omicron variant sees hong kong's hospitals overwehlmed and overflowing. 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 bbc world news, the latest headlines the white house says russia's claim of withdrawing troops surrounding ukraine is false and that in fact it's sent in thousands more troops. it's notjust the white house and us military analysts who've been watching the movements of russian soldiers and military equipment. journalists and other civilians have been poring over satellite images and other publicly available �*0pen source' information — and sharing their findings on social media. kyle glen is an open—source analyst — and cofounder of conflict news. hejoins us live he joins us live from swansea. we have got rusher he joins us live from swansea. we have got rusher on he joins us live from swansea. we have got rusher on one he joins us live from swansea. we have got rusher on one hand saying one thing and nato and the usa and another, what is your interpretation of what is going on?— going on? well, my overall interpretation _ going on? well, my overall interpretation is _ going on? well, my overall

interpretation is russia - going on? well, my overall interpretation is russia is l going on? well, my overall. interpretation is russia is not being entirely honest with their claims that they are pulling back. they seem to be making some kind of token moves away from the border, the videos they are releasing are not necessarily that close to the border and as far as i can tell and others can tell, there is no real solid evidence to back russia's claim that any of the troops are heading home. let us look specifically at this picture that the russian ministry of defence released and you have been analysing this, can you talk us through it? yes, the tanks withdrawing from the border.— from the border. this is one of the video _ from the border. this is one of the video is — from the border. this is one of the video is the _ from the border. this is one of the video is the russian - from the border. this is one of the video is the russian state | the video is the russian state media have released via the ministry of defence. they claim to show russian troops moving away from the training grounds and boarding trains and heading

home towards their bases. a lot of analysts have found that the footage actually shows the opposite, it actually shows tanks moving towards training grounds rather than away from them. that seems to be the same with a lot of the russian claims. they are either moving towards the area or they are releasing videos which are about 200 kilometres away from the ukrainian border. the troops were never really making any threat to ukraine. hag? troops were never really making any threat to ukraine.— any threat to ukraine. how can ou any threat to ukraine. how can you tell? _ any threat to ukraine. how can you tell? it _ any threat to ukraine. how can you tell? it is _ any threat to ukraine. how can you tell? it is troops _ any threat to ukraine. how can you tell? it is troops moving i you tell? it is troops moving towards the border rather than away and we saw the still images, areas boxed off, what of the signs you are looking at? .,, of the signs you are looking at? ., , . , of the signs you are looking at? .,, ., , ., ., at? those images are from someone _ at? those images are from someone i _ at? those images are from someone i work _ at? those images are from someone i work with - at? those images are from i someone i work with regularly who does good work with geolocation of work like that. the coloured boxes being

partitioned off, it is using kind of imagery, imagery that is open to everyone, from search engines, to kind of match up the areas that you are looking at to the areas in the video. whether it is street signs or a mountain range or recognisable buildings, you can match up images from archive images to recent footage and make a good, identify exactly where the footage is coming from. ., ., ., , from. you have also been looking — from. you have also been looking at _ from. you have also been looking at images - from. you have also been looking at images in - from. you have also been i looking at images in belarus from. you have also been - looking at images in belarus to the north of ukraine were russian troops have been on manoeuvre and we can see some of those images. manoeuvre and we can see some of those images-— of those images. talk us through _ of those images. talk us through these. - of those images. talk us through these. yes. - of those images. talk us i through these. yes. russia of those images. talk us - through these. yes. russia have been moving a huge amount of troops into belarus over the last weeks and one of the areas that were spotted was an airbase just to the north of

the border of ukraine. the interesting thing about this is the airbase was as far as we could tell, completely unused prior to these exercises. looking at the satellite imagery,, the imagery, the green and pink kind of pixels, the more intense they are, it shows how urban an area is and if you're looking at a military base, for example, if an area was dark and the next imagery it was very colourful, you can make a safe assumption that something is awry at that pace. it is difficult to say what, but you can tell there is more activity. there has been more activity. there has been more activity at the bases around the ukrainian border and i think there was some high—resolution imagery which showed field hospital is built

as well as numerous temps and they have also very quickly been dismantled and moved elsewhere, and we do not know where at the moment. they are definitely building and dismantling and moving quite a large number of camps around the ukrainian border and whether it isjust the ukrainian border and whether it is just standard exercises or whether it is designed to confuse western intelligence orjust designed to confuse western intelligence or just social media journalists and analysts, should i say, it is difficult to say. should i say, it is difficult to sa . �* , should i say, it is difficult tosa. to say. as well as land-based movements. _ to say. as well as land-based movements, you _ to say. as well as land-based movements, you have - to say. as well as land-based movements, you have been l movements, you have been watching activity around the black sea, what have you seen there? , ., , ., there? yes, there was quite a lane there? yes, there was quite a large russian _ there? yes, there was quite a large russian camp _ there? yes, there was quite a large russian camp in - there? yes, there was quite a large russian camp in crimea| there? yes, there was quite a i large russian camp in crimea in recent days and we noticed the camp started emptying, there was less equipment in the camp and it was moving or seem to be moving to a dock on the black sea. recently we saw low

resolution imagery on the 15th which appeared to show at least two russian landing ships which arrived in the black sea at this dock near this camp and the assumption at the moment is that equipment is moving from the camp onto the landing ships. they did not arrive by ships, the equipment arrived by road and rail, so if they were going home, that would be unusual. ~ going home, that would be unusual-— going home, that would be unusual. ~ ., ., ., unusual. we will have to leave it there, unusual. we will have to leave it there. kyle _ unusual. we will have to leave it there, kyle glenn _ unusual. we will have to leave it there, kyle glenn joining - unusual. we will have to leave it there, kyle glennjoining us| it there, kyle glennjoining us from swansea. thank you for joining us. from swansea. thank you for joining us— china's president — xijinping — has urged hong kong's leaders to take �*all necessary measures�* to control an outbreak of coronavirus. more than four—thousand new cases were reported on wednesday — a new record. the territory's chief executive — carrie lam — has admitted 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. you can reach me

you can reach me on you can reach me on twitter. thank you for watching and we will see you next time. goodbye. 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 the us has dismissed reports that russia is withdrawing from ukraine's border and has instead accused moscow of sending more soldiers. a senior white house official said russia's presence had increased by as many as 7,000 troops — labelling moscow's claims of a reduction "false". landslides and flooding in the brazilian city of petropolis have killed at least 94 people. many more have been made homeless. nearly a month's worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing mudslides that buried homes and flooded streets. presidentjoe biden's senior medical adviser on coronavirus, dr anthony fauci, has said it's time for americans to start moving back towards normality, despite remaining risks. dr fauci acknowleged infections would likely rise as restrictions were lifted and said tough choices lie ahead. now on bbc news: the media show.