welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: moves are under way for an international summit to discuss ukraine as the us says it fears an imminent invasion by russia. the queen has tested positive for coronavirus and is said to be experiencing mild symptoms. it comes ahead of her 96th birthday and in her platinum jubilee year. australia opens its borders to fully vaccinated travellers for the first time in almost two years. and after 16 days of competition, the winter olympics come to a spectacular close in beijing.

live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's news day. welcome to the programme. france has said moves are underway for a possible summit on ukraine involving the leaders of russia, ukraine, france and germany. presidents macron and putin, in an hour—long telephone conversation on sunday, also agreed to allow a contact group, including ukraine, russia and the osce security organisation, to meet "in the next few hours" to try to secure a ceasefire in eastern ukraine. earlier, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, said the extension of military exercises by russia and belarus has made him more concerned about an imminent russian invasion of ukraine. sarah rainsford reports from kyiv. these drills in belarus were meant to end with russian

tanks rolling back to their bases. but all this firepower is now staying put, indefinitely. not far from ukraine's border. in a crisis that is all about signalling, this is russia refusing to de—escalate. let's really take a moment to understand the significance of what we are talking about. it has been over 70 years and through those 70 years, as i mentioned yesterday, there has been peace and security. we're talking about the real possibility of war in europe. russia is talking up the danger too. helping to evacuate women and children from the breakaway regions of ukraine it controls, claiming kyiv is planning an attack there. so president macron phoned vladimir putin today. the kremlin did agree to continue seeking a diplomatic solution but its troops are still in place despite the threat of sanctions. we have to accept at the moment that vladimir putin is possibly

thinking illogically about this and does not see the disaster ahead. and i think it is vital for us all now to get over what a catastrophe it would be for russia. but for russia, this is all about pulling ukraine back into its orbit. eight years ago, ukrainians came out in huge numbers on this very square to demand their independence. the right to decide their own future and direction without moscow dictating. they paid a really heavy price for that, but the feeling is stronger than ever now. so they are preparing to resist here anyway they can. this was self—defence for women for a wartime scenario. pretty extreme but so are predictions of western governments in this crisis. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kyiv.

some of the latest news we are receiving. coming out of paris, the afp and reuters are reporting a possible summit should take place between president biden and putin, the content of that summit, according to reports will be determined by the us secretary of state anthony lincoln and the russian secretary of state. we will bring you more news on that, as and when we get it. in other headlines, in the uk, buckingham palace has announced that the queen has tested positive for coronavirus. she's said to be experiencing mild cold like symptoms, but is expected to be able to continue with light duties at windsor castle this week. the news came days after the queen marked 70 years since her accession to the throne, and ahead of her 96th birthday. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. i'm here! windsor castle on wednesday.

the queen meeting defence officials. the only health issue then was to do with her mobility. good morning, your majesty. how are you? well, as you can see, i can't move. that exclamation, "i can't move", is thought to indicate that she may be having knee or hip trouble. but now, after two years of careful shielding from the risk of covid, it is clear that the virus has penetrated windsor castle. several staff have tested positive and so has the queen. in a statement, buckingham palace said: those light duties are expected to include continuing with the paperwork as head of state. shortly after the palace confirmed that the queen had covid, she sent a message congratulating the team gb

women's and men's curling teams on their medals at the winter games. the main concern of the queen's doctors will focus around the fact that she is now just nine weeks from her 96th birthday. any person of that age will need to be monitored fairly carefully and, also, i think given antivirals. we do know that if you give antivirals early on in an illness, you can substantially reduce the risk of severe disease. the queen is thought to have been fully vaccinated against covid and if she has given antiviral drugs, they should protect against serious illness. political leaders were quick to tweet their good wishes. the prime minister said: the leader of the opposition tweeted:

in recent days, both the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall have tested positive for covid. the prince, who met his mother at windsor on february 8, has already made a full recovery. it is to be hoped that his mother will do the same. nicholas witchell, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. police in nepal have fired rubber bullets and tear gas as hundreds of people protested over a $500 million grant going before parliament. nepal signed the millennium challenge corporation pact to fund infrastructure projects in 2017 and it has been a bone of contention between the us and china. groups opposing the us funding have said it undermines nepal's sovereignty. the dominican republic has begun the construction of a new barrier along its border with haiti, which extends for

nearly 400 kilometres. the barrier will be much taller than the current fence and will be equipped with cameras and lights. president luis abinader said the new extended barrier would help to control migration, drug trafficking and arms smuggling. an international investigation by reporters into the banking giant, credit suisse, appears to show that its accounts held assets worth billions of dollars on behalf of clients with links to crime. the journalists found that the swiss bank held millions of dollars for heads of state, businessmen subject to sanctions, and alleged human rights abusers from across the world. in a statement credit suisse said it: "strongly rejects the allegations and inferences about the bank's purported business practices." the bank also said that the matters uncovered by reporters are based on "selective information taken out of context". portuguese firefighters have still not been able to put out a blaze on a ship carrying thousands of luxury cars, including porsches and bentleys. the vessel, called the felicity ace, is currently drifting in the atlantic ocean.

it caught fire travelling to the us from germany. 22 crew members have been evacuated. australia is reopening its international borders to tourists today, nearly two years after they were closed at the start of the pandemic. fully vaccinated tourists will be able to enter the country without quarantine, except if they are visiting the state of western australia which remains sealed off. but will tourists come rushing back or will it take time for trust to be rebuilt with the potential risk of new virus variants in future? i spoke to our sydney correspondent. i spoke to our sydney corresondent. ., , , ., correspondent. tourists from different parts _ correspondent. tourists from different parts of _ correspondent. tourists from different parts of the - correspondent. tourists from different parts of the world i different parts of the world are allowed to come in a fully jabbed without quarantine and

this is a big change, of course, because since the beginning of the pandemic the country was close to tourists, provided they test negative, provided they test negative, provided they test negative, provided they are fully vaccinated, they can come in, if??? . ,, around different celebration around different airports, at sydney airport, music, and flowers and koala toys, and travellers were greeted with tim tams, toys, and travellers were greeted with tim ta jars of famous biscuits and jars of veggie might which famous biscuits and “ars of veggie might- h famous biscuits and “ars of veggie mighifi famous biscuits and jars of veggie might you that reaction, are you seeing that across australia, are most people pleased across australia, are most peeple pl— decision? no-one is more pleased — decision? no-one is more pleased than _ decision? no-one is more pleased than the - decision? no-one is more pleased than i these - decision? no-one is more - pleased than i these lockdowns, become one of australia's

markets, muted fastest growing markets, muted $32 billion is $32 billion for 2019, that is the kind of loss the tourism sector has endured, loss the kind of loss the tourism sector has endured, when 5 the kind of loss the tourism sector has endured, when the and jobs, of course,. when the country started to open up domestically we saw domestic tourism tourism near what international tourism has the industry, near what international tourism has is the industry, near what international tourism has is some 1e industry, near what international tourism has is some cautious ry, and �* zealand �*zealand are australia's biggest to international markets still very limited to outbound travel, so that's still going to make a difference, and there is a general sense of apprehension, if you well, among international tourists. there has been two years of very strong borders, very strict covid—19 rules, the fortress australia image well take time to wear off and the tourism sector does have a lot of convincing to do, when it comes to international tourists.

margy 0smond is chief executive officer of the tourism and transport forum australia. she believes re—establishing trust with international travellers will be a key priority for international travellers, going forward. well, without a doubt, i think that confidence rebuild will be a critical part of the brand rebuilding but there are other more practical aspects of this. things like aviation reattraction, because many of the international airlines have taken the bulk of their capacity out of the australian market to other parts of the world that were, in fact, open to travel. so many of the state governments and we certainly hope the federal government as well, are putting money into aviation re—attraction funds. in new south wales, they have $120 million, in queensland, they put $200 million in the potjust to attract those airlines back. how badly has australia been hit by the border closures in regards to the tourism and travel sector? international visitation to australia amounts to something like $4 billion a month, so if you string that out over the two years,

and that is just direct benefit, that does not include the sort of ancillary circles within circles on that, everything from taxi drivers to laundries, to restaurants to venues, so it is has had a significant impact. but the other part of the exercise, like many tourist industries around the world, we lost a generation of skilled workers, the people who no longer saw a career in our sector with borders closed and that is not unique to australia but it is a significant problem. additionally, before christmas this year we asked many businesses, before 0micron was so obvious, what they thought their business would look like in the first part of 2022. something like one third of them did not think they would be here at the beginning of 2022. so the industry has structural recovery to do as well. my goodness. one third of them! that is a dramatic statistic. when you look at the fact that australia needs to attract more tourists back to the country,

with china still closed off, how do you go about doing that? our two biggest markets are china, which is still closed, and new zealand, because of visiting friends and family and business traffic across the tasman. they will not be travelling until the middle of the year. so, quite wisely, the major destination agencies and tourism australia have focused their attention elsewhere. so the uk, europe, the us, i think i really are going to be the targets for us in the short term and while we are seeing a bit of a surge in bookings out of the border reopening announcement, which, of course, is the important thing, you need that message to get out around the world that we are open again and we have missed you and please come back, most of those bookings are for the second half of this year. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: a stunning closing ceremony

marks the end of the beijing winter olympics. well have more, after the break. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malacanang — the name itself symbolizing one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world that the winner of the best film was la la land. the only trouble was it was not. the mistake was put right in the middle of gushing speeches by the makers of the musical. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have

been ten miles long. very soon, for the sake of the credibilty and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, "be hidden from the world for the rest of his life." this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: france has proposed a summit between presidents biden and putin in the latest attempt to break the military tensions in ukraine. queen elizabeth test positive for covid—19. the 95 rob mica said to have only mild symptoms. —— 95—year—old monarch is set. in the uk, the government is set to unveil a new plan to living with covid in england, including a dropping of the legal requirement for people to

—— self isolator that is positive. the premise has also indicated he was to reduce the amount of testing. everyday life with covid has involved many guidelines on how to keep safe — that won't change. but the big shift tomorrow will be the announcement that remaining laws governing public behaviour are set to be scrapped in england, including the requirement to self—isolate after testing positive. and pcr testing sites will be wound down, though the government says the ability to monitor the virus will be maintained. free lateral flow test kits are likely to be cut back, with availability only for those most at risk and that could prove controversial. we need resilience but we don't need to keep, for instance on testing, we don't need to keep spending at a rate of £2 billion a month, which is what we were doing in january. the key thing is that people have access to free testing, they know their status and they do the right thing by staying at home. scotland's health secretary said the uk government must continue to fund testing in any nation where there is health advice to keep it.

more generally, there is a plea for detailed and comprehensive guidance for the public. restrictions can end but we need that to happen with provisions for people that are clinically vulnerable. we need that for happen for those that need to take time off work to be able to do that safely, both for their health and their finances. so there needs to be an awful lot of planning around this. the latest survey by the office for national statistics suggests thatjust under three million people in the uk had the virus in the week ending february the 12th. that was lower than the peak, but still relatively high. but with daily covid hospital admissions, there has been a continuing downward trend from over 2,000 at one stage, to closer to 1,000 a day. and the nhs is trying to move forward after intense covid pressure. it is time to recover. it is time to try and get things back to normality. i'm afraid this virus is with us, you know,

we are inevitably going to see more variants emerge in the fullness of time. but we have better tools of dealing with this, both in the community and in the hospital. hospital staff will hope that responsible public behaviour will continue, as the government's plan for living with covid is implemented. hugh pym, bbc news. the beijing winter analytics has drawn to a close with a lavish fireworks display. the games contained 20 of controversy, including a doping scandal concerning a 15—year—old russian figure skater. 0ne 15—year—old russian figure skater. one of the stories of the games was double gold medal success for an athlete competing at her fifth games, team gb picked up to medals, both in curling. at the games themselves struggle to cut through the television audiences. steven mcdonnell is in beijing and looks back at

the games. and so beijing's winter olympics has come to an end. 0lympics has come to an end. for ordinary people this is as close as they came. you can see the barrier there, with police stopping them is of the public from getting any closer to the main stadium. but the fireworks are going off up in the air, and forthat are going off up in the air, and for that reason we have had people from the local community come out and try to spin the camera around, to try to get a look at them, to take photos of the fireworks, to feel like they are part of the event. you know, you haven't been able to buy tickets to go to the winter olympics, because of covid. and 0lympics, because of covid. and so by coming to see the fireworks people can really feel like they are part of these games. beijing's 0lympics these games. beijing's olympics will be remembered for the russian skater who was able to compete despite taking a banned substance. forthe

compete despite taking a banned substance. for the ethnic chinese, a skier who was born and raised in the us but represented china and went on to win two gold medals and a silver, for the snow, people were worried it would be man—made snow, instead the snow really came down in the mountains, so much snow that events had to be postponed, and especially for covid. there was a real concern that the coronavirus might hinder the games, but organisers were able to stop the spread of the virus inside the giant covid bubbles and still stage a very successful 0lympic and still stage a very successful olympic games. well, michael payne is a former director of marketing for the international olympic committee, and he gave me his thoughts about the impact of the games. i thoughts about the impact of the games-— the games. i think it was an absolute — the games. i think it was an absolute miracle _ the games. i think it was an absolute miracle that - the games. i think it was an absolute miracle that the i the games. i think it was an - absolute miracle that the games took place in the middle of a global pandemic, china was probably one of the few countries that could pull it off. i think the athletes were

relieved at the games, they had their moment in the olympic spotlight, the venues were stunning, and the games went off remarkably swiftly. but we were all locked up in the middle of the bible, you know, you are surrounded by people in hazmat suits, it was like walking to the scene of a disaster movie, you know, none of the family and friends were there, you are not able to connect with the chinese people, and that is a key part of the magic of the olympics, but the price that had to be paid. but the price that had to be aid. ., . ., ., paid. how much did the kamila valieva affair— paid. how much did the kamila valieva affair overshadows - paid. how much did the kamila valieva affair overshadows the | valieva affair overshadows the games, and when that happened, that controversy, what was the reaction among some of the people you were watching some of the games with? it is people you were watching some of the games with?— of the games with? it is a complicated _ of the games with? it is a complicated story, - of the games with? it is a complicated story, and i of the games with? it is a complicated story, and a | of the games with? it is a - complicated story, and a story thatis complicated story, and a story that is far from over. the athletes, i think they supported the ioc�*s decision to say that she shouldn't compete, but they were overruled, the

ioc was overruled by the court of arbitration for sport. i watched her compete in the team event, initial programme, and she is by far the greatest figure skater the world has ever seen. figure skater the world has everseen. but figure skater the world has ever seen. but then when she went on to compete in the long programme, the pressure had clearly got to her and she collapsed, and the reaction from her coaches was very strange, to say the least. the story will go on as to what sanctions may be imposed, but the bigger issue, frankly, is what to do with russia and the ongoing problems of doping, they had already been sanctions, and i think the ioc will have to review again what happens there.— will have to review again what happens there. yes, moving away from that controversy, _ happens there. yes, moving away from that controversy, what - from that controversy, what performances really, you know, caught your attention at the olympic games, really stuck out for you? olympic games, really stuck out foryou? i olympic games, really stuck out for ou? ., olympic games, really stuck out for ou? ,, , .,,._ for you? i think it probably depends — for you? i think it probably depends on _ for you? i think it probably depends on where - for you? i think it probably depends on where you - for you? i think it probably | depends on where you live. for you? i think it probably l depends on where you live. i mean, if you are british it would be the curling, if you are finished, the ice hockey.

—— were finnish. i think lindsay jacobus, —— were finnish. i think lindsayjacobus, competing in lindsay jacobus, competing in her fifth lindsayjacobus, competing in her fifth games, lindsayjacobus, competing in herfifth games, having her fifth games, having expected herfifth games, having expected to win medals in the previous four and she failed, she came home from beijing with two, eileen wu, the american chinese freestyle skier, another controversy over her nationality, but a remarkable achievement, support three medals in freestyle. eileen worst getting her fifth gold medal in five 0lympics, then you've got the human stories, the athletes schultz winning the athletes schultz winning the gold medal in the same event as his father in calgary in 1988, orthe event as his father in calgary in 1988, or the american, event as his father in calgary in 1988, orthe american, ryan cox, bringing home the silver medal, on the 50th anniversary of his mother winning medals. these human stories make the olympics special. fiend these human stories make the olympics special.— olympics special. and 'ust briefl , olympics special. and 'ust briefly, what i olympics special. and 'ust briefly, what does i olympics special. and 'ust briefly, what does the h olympics special. and just i briefly, what does the future hold for the winter olympics or the olympic games, giving declining television audiences?

i think the outlook is bright, notwithstanding some of the media commentary. we have got the next winter games, coming back to the alps in malan, we have got canada, america, switzerland, all talking about 2030, and we have got a great set of cities for the summer games, paris, los angeles, brisbane. the tv ratings were down, i think part of that is that —— due to the asian continent, it is never easy for europe and america. but there were massive increases in digital consumption, and that is a trend, as people change their habits as to how they are following the games. i think the outlook is a lot stronger than the media may be representing it at the moment. that was michael payne speaking to me earlier. you have been watching newsday. a reminder of our top story for you at this hour. french president emmanuel macron says presidentsjoe biden and vladimir putin have agreed in principle to hold a summit on the crisis in ukraine stop we will have much more on

that on bbc news for you, so do stay with us from thanks for watching newsday. see you soon. hello. sunday brought more squally winds, heavy flooding rain, and travel disruption, as yet another named storm approached the uk, storm franklin. and by monday morning some of its biggest impacts and disruption can be felt in northern ireland, with the met office amber warning, some gusts of wind along north coast in particular, up to around 80 mph, just squeezing the isobars around storm franklin, pushing strong and gusty winds as well across many western coastal areas overnight and into the morning. so you can expect some disruption in the morning and, indeed, through a large part of the day, although the winds are going to be slowly using. but this is where some of the gusts will be at into the morning, the strongest ones in through northern ireland, into western coastal areas, but elsewhere gusting widely 50—60 mph for a time. it's where temperatures will be first thing. now, overnight, wintry showers will give a covering of snow

in parts of scotland, northern ireland, and northern england, especially but not exclusively into the hills. and this area of mostly rain will clear its way southwards through wales and england by the end of the morning and actually we're left with increasing sunshine, the odd shower in northern scotland, along the north sea coast, but many places in afternoon will be dry with sunny spells and these are the afternoon wind gusts by about four o'clock, so notice how much they've come down. so the winds, the strongest winds are going to be easing. and by the end of the afternoon may not feel too bad out there with temperatures in double figures. again, the destruction we will have after the stormy start, it may even continue after the strongest winds have eased. a chilly start on monday night, cloud and patchy rain spreading east, some heavier rain putting on towards scotland and northern ireland as tuesday begins, with the winds picking up again and gales developing in places, but from tuesday onwards, although it will bewindy at times, the winds are not expected to be as extreme and severe as they have been.

we will see this cold front,though, moving southwards on tuesday with an area of rain, a few wintry showers following behind. and notice after initially the rain's quite heavy through parts of northern england and wales, it does weaken as it reaches eastern and south—east england later in the day. now, behind that we have the sunshine, the showers again turning wintry, particularly onto the hills of northern britain. these are tuesday's temperatures. by wednesday, there will another weather front moving into northern areas, a chilly start to the south, it will be cold across all parts on thursday, with wintry showers around. and it looks like a fine day to friday before low pressure moves back in at the weekend.

well have more, after the break. this is bbc news. headlines and all the main stories for you top of the hour, straight after this programme stop. hello. if you really want to know how much power our newspapers have, you need to go to the top. and on today's media show we're with a man who's been at the heart of fleet street for decades. john witherow is one of the longest—serving national newspaper editors — first at the sunday times, and now the times. under him, those papers have exposed cash for honors, corruption of 0xfam, abused that brought