welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm mariko oi. the headlines: the us urges russia formally to announce that it will not invade ukraine, as fears mount that it's preparing to create a pretext for war. but let me be clear — i am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one. a judge in new york rules that donald trump and two of his children must answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into fraud. more than a hundred people are now known to have died in floods and mudslides in brazil as the search goes on for those missing.

this is newsday. president biden has said the threat of a russian invasion of ukraine remains "very high" and could take place within days, despite moscow's claim to be pulling troops from its borders. his message was echoed at a nato summit in brussels, where western leaders said that far from withdrawing, russia had in fact added troops. and in a heated un security council meeting, the us secretary of state warned russia may be trying to engineer a pretext for an invasion. there've been reports that pro—russian forces have shelled a village and hit a kindergarten in eastern ukraine. here's our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford. heading right for the front line. ukraine's president went to meet the troops today

and we went with him. if there is an all—out russian invasion, then these positions could be right in its path. so a bit of a morale boost for the soldiers on whom so much might depend. tea and chat with their president. one man even admitted his parents are nervous and keep calling him. just this morning, police had to bundle children to safety after their kindergarten was hit by a missile. ukraine reported a surge in shelling today by forces backed by russia. here, a music room left in ruins. i have to tell you that the picture is very grim. we fear very much that that is the kind of thing we will see more of over the next few days. it's quiet right now but you only have to walk through these trenches in the middle of what used to be a holiday village to realise that, for all the talk of the risk

of conflict, this country is already at war. still, western leaders are warning that russia plans to escalate. every indication we have is they are prepared to go into ukraine, attack ukraine. so volodymyr zelensky had a shout out for the navy today, too. he's trying to keep the nation calm under immense pressure, including from those hinting ukraine will have to make concessions to pacify russia. i just want to understand from you if ukraine is in any way ready to drop its ambition ofjoining nato? it's not ambition, we lost 15,000 people, yes, you know, from the very beginning of this war. it is not ambitions, it isjust our life. people decided to do something they want. it's not about nato, it's about the future of the people.

at the un, there was no sign anyone else was softening their position either. russia still insisting nato was the threat on its border. we have been warning the ukrainian government of all that is coming. and here today, we are laying it out in great detail with the hope that by sharing what we note with the world, we can influence russia to abandon the path of war and choose a different path, while there is still time. ukraine has already paid heavily for standing up to russia. it knows all about the risk. but the warning from here is that any concessions in this crisis are dangerous, because moscow always wants more. sarah rainsford, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. well, moscow continues to insist there are no plans to invade ukraine, but large scale military drills have been taking place. the us claims that at least

150,000 russian troops are now positioned close to ukraine's borders, with an estimated 30,000 of them in belarus equipped with artillery and tanks. our special correspondent fergal keane travelled from the nearby border town of senkivka in ukraine to the capital kyiv — meeting people who could be in the path of any russian advance from the north. nothing's changed — the same forest, and beyond it, the same enemy. the ukrainian patrols that will be the first to see any advancing army. here on the border, with the russians just over there, there is no sense that things have been conclusively resolved, not at all. it's just a pause in what remains a very tense situation. major khomenko grew up

in a border town, his father served in soviet times. now his task is to help keep moscow out of ukraine. translation: the independence of ukraine is enshrined _ in all our documents, it is in our constitution. as a military man i need to protect this. we drove south along the road towards kyiv, to hear the voices of those who must live with the tension of these days. this is slavutych, a soviet model town built after the nuclear disaster at nearby chernobyl in 1986. a place where evacuated workers and their families could start life again and where they know the cost of dramatic upheaval. what year did you move in here? in 1989. just before the berlin wall fell.

like this couple, married a0 years. he's ukrainian, she's russian. it's terrible because... ..we lose a lot of friends. some of our connections broken completely. i think personally that our kind of brotherhood never will come back. it's a terrible problem because my parents lived in russia and our daughter lives in russia now. but there is some tension between us, yes. even in the family? even in the family. in kyiv, at the end of this journey, in a city that feels weary with the endless speculation about war, i met vitaliy and his wife 0lga

with their two—day—old baby. translation: we can't be sure there won't be i another putin tomorrow- who will want to create chaos, but i think peace will prevail and we will do everything i we can to create peace. translation: we need to think about a better life, _ especially now when we have such a miracle in our arms. we can't think about bad things any more. they've named himjaroymr. it means "peace", a name given out of the hope that remains constant here and further north in the quiet towns and villages closer to the border, despite the nervousness about the days to come. fergal keane, bbc news, senkivka, ukraine. well, the mayor of kyiv, vitali klitschko, has been speaking with the bbc�*s chief international correspondent while he attends this week's

munich secruity coference — munich secruity conference — here's lyse doucet. tensions seem to be rising again over what the united states says could still be a possible russian incursion into ukraine. according to president joe biden, it could take place in the next several days. it is certain to be one of the main topics here at the annual munich security conference, and not surprisingly, some leading ukrainians are here, including the mayor of kyiv, vitali klitschko. with all the talk of possible russian incursion, including even into the capital kyiv, the fact you are here suggests that is not imminent? for a very short period of time, yes, it is very important to be present in my hometown, but for a very short time i fly here... ..to the security conference.

it's very important to have support from countries, from politicians who see ukraine as a democratic country, give support to ukraine. we appreciate every country who supports ukraine, financially support, defensive weapon support, we understand without this support, ukraine is not going to survive. what do you read about what is happening on the ground? president biden says that he senses that there could be invasion within the next several days. russia says it is pulling back some troops from its exercises in belarus. we have different information. what is your information? our security services told the russian soldiers still stand in the border of ukraine.

we hope right now here in the security conference in munich, we find the solution, and the democratic solution is the main priority for us. diplomacy isjust one way in this strange situation in this conflict. can it work at this hour? right now, we think it doesn't work, but we hope it is the next couple of days, and this war will not happen. a new york state judge has ruled that the former president, donald trump, and two of his children must comply with subpoenas issued by the state attorney general and give evidence under oath in her investigation into fraud. letitia james has been looking into the trump organisation's affairs and whether it improperly stated the valuations of various real estate assets to obtain more favourable loans, insurance rates and tax benefits. our north america reporter anthony zurcher explains

the importance of this ruling. it's a fairly significant ruling in that there is now a chance that donald trump will have to sit down and testify under oath as to his company's business practices. anytime you sit for a deposition, which typically can be very detailed, there is the potential for unfolding criminal activity or any sort of perjury charges that come from it. so that is something that his lawyers will have to deal with. the arguments that his lawyers have been making was that there is a criminal investigation going into donald trump's businesses at the same time as this civil investigation by the state of new york — the criminal investigation�*s by the city of new york — and that anything that donald trump says or doesn't say, whether he takes the bit, whether he refuses to testify in this civil investigation, could prejudice the criminal investigation, therefore they want all of this to be put on hold until the criminal

investigation is done. the judge did not agree with that — however, it is fairly certain that donald trump's lawyers will appeal this higher up the legal chain and try to get all of this put on hold until the criminal investigation is done. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: after another controverisal day on the ice at the winter olympics in beijing, we ask what the legacy of the games might look like. 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 oi in singapore. our headlines: satellite images show an "increase" in russian troops on the ukraine border, despite moscow's claim that forces are withdrawing. and a judge in new york rules

that donald trump must answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into fraud — along with two of his children. communities across the south west of england and south wales are bracing themselves for the full force of one of the fiercest storms in years, as the met office issues its most serious red weather warning — meaning a risk to life. gusts could reach up to 90 miles per hour when storm eunice hits this red zone tomorrow morning with warnings of flying debris, damage to homes, power cuts and major travel disruption. and in the rest of the country, there's an amber warning for wind across much of england and wales. there are also less severe alerts for wind and snow in much of scotland, the north of england and northern ireland. here's our science editor rebecca morelle. storm eunice hasn't yet hit, but it is already making its presence felt. in weston—super—mare,

the floodgates are shutting, ready for whatever the weather will throw at them. they're also preparing ahead in st ives. we have got our flood defence boards that go on the front the pub. with sandbags behind them. hopefully we'll stop the sea coming in. and the met office has issued a rare red weather warning for friday morning for parts of south west england and south wales, meaning there is a danger to life. it's going to be a bad one. as long as people take notice of the winnings, don't take any risks, don't get washed away, life is more precious than a photograph. what is making storm eunice so potent is a combination of events — it is being driven an extremely active jet stream, blowing at more than 200 miles an hour, high up in the atmosphere. this is creating very strong winds, forecast up to 90 miles an hour in exposed areas, and 70 to 80 miles an houron land. which is unusual for

the south of the uk. the problem is, this is coinciding with a spring tide on friday morning, measuring up to 12.8 metres — that's more than a0 feet — in some areas, which could bring storm surges at the coast and result in flooding inland. meteorologists are concerned because the storm will hit in the morning, when people are out and about. the wind strength will be stronger than we would normally see in these kind of spells and it's going to hit highly populated areas. it's going to have a really big impact. our recommendation, if you don't have to travel tomorrow, if you don't have to go out and about, is to stay indoors. eunice comes straight after another storm, dudley. just north of lockerbie, a tree fell on overhead cables. in hertfordshire, roads were blocked, and in south wales, this wind turbine couldn't cope with the costs. but is climate change affecting storms? the met office says they haven't seen compelling trends of increased storminess,

but the impact of warming may become clearer over time. this was the damage caused by the great storm of 1987, where winds reached more than 100 miles an hour. forecasters say storm eunice shouldn't be as bad, but it could still be the strongest storm we've seen for many years. we have got the army on standby, so if they are needed, they will be able to swing into action, so everyone, all of our emergency teams, are keeping in very close contact. the defences are at the ready. schools are closing and train services cancelled. the country is bracing itself for what lies ahead. rebecca morelle, bbc news. more than a hundred people are now known to have died in landslides and flash flooding in the brazilian city of petropolis, north of rio dejaneiro. a month's worth of rain fell in a matter of hours on tuesday. our correspondent katy watson reports from the scene.

a moment of shock, and then total devastation. this is a country used to tropical rains but the intensity of this downpour was unprecedented. and the destruction left in its wake, incomprehensible. now firefighters and families are quite literally piecing together what happened, in the hope of finding family. you can see how the mudslide came ripping through this neighbourhood, wiping every house out in its wake. now, there are authorities here on the ground, many of them further down the valley, too, and another group has just arrived. but speaking to the residents, they say that help didn't come soon enough and many of them are leading their own recovery effort. nilson and his brother have been here for two days, waiting for news of their sister. "she was in the kitchen with my niece," he tells me. "when she heard the roar coming down the mountain, she pushed her daughter out

of the door and told her to run. she was saved but my sister was left behind." he has not lost hope, though. "it is the last thing to die," he says. it is now more a recovery than a rescue operation. for those who survived, many are fearful of more rain to come, and they are getting out. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. canadian police have warned protestors in central ottawa of �*imminent�* action to clear them from the capital. downtown ottawa has been blockaded for over three weeks as part of demonstrations against coronavirus mandates. the prime minister, justin trudeau, has warned that the crisis was threatening public safety. the dutch prime minister, mark rutte, has apologised to the indonesian people for the dutch military�*s systematic and widespread use of torture and extreme violence against those fighting

for independence in the 1940s. mr rutte said the conclusions of a historical review were painful, but his government accepted responsibility. kamila valieva, the teenage russian skater who earlier failed a drugs test, has failed to win a medal in the individual women's figure skating at the winter olympics. valieva was beaten into fourth place after numerous misrakes in herfree skate routine. she'd been expected to win gold, but herfailure to make the podium means a medal ceremony can now take place. french commanders are speaking with mali's military officials to organise the retreat of french troops from the country. france and military allies have said they will leave mali after almost a decade there fighting islamist insurgents around west africa, and move to niger instead. on sunday, the winter olympics draws to a close. like any games, there have been

moments of high drama — and a few moments of controversy too. but what will the legacy of these olympics — for the competitors and the hosts? i'm joined now by shushu chen in birmingham. she's a lecturer in sport policy and management at the university there. thank you forjoining us on newsday. there have been many challenges, not to mention the pandemic and of course the international media spotlight as well. has china, in your view, met all those challenges? well, indeed, as he said, challenges arose and media attention circled around beijing, and i think if we look at the games, overall, i think it has been a successful games, and in terms of measuring success, we need to look at,

what are the legacies of promises that the chinese government has made when they wanted to host the games back in 2015? they made three legacy promises, one was to reuse venues, which they did, ten out of 39 venues were reused for this winter games, then the second legacy is to inspire 300 million people to get involved in winter sport, they already ticked that box, and the final legacy is to try to promote regional development, social economy of the regional development in beijing and the surrounding area. so i think that on its own shows how china has managed to deliver a successful games.-

has managed to deliver a successful games. there have been quite — successful games. there have been quite a _ successful games. there have been quite a lot _ successful games. there have been quite a lot of— been quite a lot of controversies as well over human rights abuse allegations and so on. even if the chinese government considers the games a success. international community may feel differently? well, politically, ithink there are different things. if we look at the games on its own as a stand, i mean, we're talking about a covid impact, and all those attentions immediately, priorities being shifted to how are we going to make sure the games is a safe place for the athletes that are travelling from all over the world to come and compete? i think if we think about the games itself, as we think about the central players on the stage, as long as the athletes enjoy the games, and all the competitions are organised as

scheduled, then i think the political side of things and the discussions and disputes will be less memorable, compared to the other things. and i guess, you mention to the games in 2008, and things have changed quite a lot in china? definitely. i think china now is different to china back in 2008, in terms of the economic power, in terms of its international standing. we did research specifically looking at sport participation impact of the games, compared to 2008, and inspirational impact, and looking at the legacy pledge to inspire 300 million people to participate in winter games, what we found was that the

inspirational... what we found was that the inspirational. . .— inspirational... i'm so sorry to interrupt _ inspirational... i'm so sorry to interrupt but _ inspirational... i'm so sorry to interrupt but we - inspirational... i'm so sorry to interrupt but we have . inspirational... i'm so sorry| to interrupt but we have run out of town, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday, and thank you for watching. storm eunice is bearing down on the uk. and all indications are this will be a dangerous, disruptive, and damaging storm. in fact, a met office red warning is in force — that means there's a danger to life. the storm system has been developing — you can see it here on the earlier satellite picture, this hook of cloud indicative of a storm that's been deepening and strengthening rapidly. this area of low pressure passing across the uk — and on its southern flank with all the isobars, the white line squeezing together — that is where we have the potential for damaging winds. especially across coastal parts of southwest england and south wales — met office red warning here, gusts of up to 90mph, very rough seas and coastal flooding are likely. and then, we also have this much bigger amber warning area. and still the potential

for some really disruptive and dangerous weather here, as well — gusts of wind up to 80mph. rain and wind quickly spreading northwards through the early part of friday, snow for western counties of northern ireland, high ground of northern england, and up into scotland, as well. but the winds peaking through the morning across some coasts of wales in the southwest, with gusts up as high as 90mph. some very rough seas, also very rough seas through the english channel. and those strong winds will be working eastwards through the day — even inland spots of eastern and southeastern england seeing gusts of 70—80mph — that is very unusual. further north, it won't be as windy, but snow is likely to cause issues. some hill snow for parts of northern ireland and northern england, significant snow in scotland, could see up to 30 centimetres, settling over high ground — that snow coming down very quickly is likely to cause transport impacts and some power cuts, as well. temperatures the least of our worries, but really cold in the north where that snow is falling. now, things will only very slowly calm down

during friday evening, we'll see some wintry showers pushing in from the northwest. and then, for saturday, a band of rain pushing in from the west potentially with some snow, especially over high ground in the north. it will be a windy day — not as extremely windy as friday, but still potentially windy enough to hamper any clean—up efforts. temperatures between 3—10 celsius. and we stick with a fairly blustery theme as we head into sunday. some brisk winds across the uk, outbreaks of heavy rain, but mild, 9—13 celsius.

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. early last year american democracy came under attack from within. supporters of defeated president donald trump stormed the us capitol and provoked deadly violence. my guest today is democratic congressman jamie raskin, a key player in the subsequent impeachment of donald trump and the

congressional investigation