this is bbc news. i'm monika plaha. our top stories: western defence chiefs fail to agree on the provision of advanced tanks to ukraine. the americans say it's still under discussion. a top un official tells the bbc she believes progress is being made towards reversing bans on women taking part in public life in afghanistan. we're going to use this to push the door wider and not allow to it close. and not allow it to close, because it would close on the women of afghanistan. and forget life on mars — how about life onjupiter? we report from the space mission heading for the largest planet in our solar system.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president zelensky says he will continue to push allies to send tanks to ukraine after a meeting of 50 countries ended earlier with no agreement on the issue. ukraine says the tanks are needed to break the deadlock in the war. germany — which hosted the meeting — is under pressure to allow its leopard 2 tanks to be exported to ukraine. the new german defence minister says no decision has been made, but he added that berlin would not stand in the way of exports if its allies decided to act together. the uk has commited to sending 1a challenger ii tanks to the frontline. russia has warned that such a move — would mark an "extremely dangerous" esculation.

—— escalation. here's our europe correspondentjessica parker. this is what kyiv wants, but can't yet have. german—made leopard tanks, to help defend and reclaim its territory from russia. britain has gone first in sending western main battle tanks, but it is a fraction of what is being asked for. hundreds of thank yous are not hundreds of tanks. all of us can use thousands of words in discussions. but i cannot put words instead of guns that are needed against russian artillery. defence chiefs have pledged fresh support. but berlin is still resisting pressure to release its leopard 2s. it gets to decide where german—made tanks can go, even those bought by other countries. minister, why is berlin so hesitant on this issue? we are not really hesitating, we are just very carefully balancing the pros and cons. we are not talking just about delivering anything to anybody. this is a new kind of measure.

these crowds in berlin want germany to do more, but the government has its eye on broader public opinion. the country's world war ii history still casts a long shadow, while there are fears of escalation. they've not made a decision on the provision of leopard tanks. what we're really focused on is making sure that ukraine has the capability that it needs to be successful right now. the nato military alliance is pressing a sense of urgency. there is a need for support to ukraine, to enable them not only to survive but actually to retake territory to win this war. but there is a lot of talk about a russian spring offensive. do you think ukraine can take back territory this year? absolutely. that's the reason why

nato allies and partners are providing significantly more support to ukraine. a soviet era tank in a war of today. front line ukrainian units are hungry for more modern weapons to help unfreeze this conflict. jessica parker, bbc news, in ramstein. michael o'hanlon is a senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the brookings institution— where he specializes in us defense strategy. thank you forjoining us. hesitation from the united states, isn't there? why doesn't america descend their tanks? i doesn't america descend their tanks? ~ , ., tanks? i think we should. i think we're _ tanks? i think we should. i think we're getting - tanks? i think we should. i think we're getting caught| tanks? i think we should. i. think we're getting caught up in technicalities of what the tank can do, it is hard to maintain and it basically runs ofjet fuel and requires of jet fuel and requires different logistic infrastructure but i think

we're getting too many eye shades on and thinking about this in a kind of technical logistical term when the reliance, let's face it, requires american leadership at times and big decisions and it is important to form consensus was that many times america and —— european countries and canada have good ideas but when you get to this kind of a threshold, the us cannot step back and be a good multi lateral list. we represent two—thirds of the alliance overall military spending at some point you need to accept the responsibility that goes with that. even if we do not have tanks that are easy to maintain or to fuel on the front lines i think we have to send a signal that this is the correct next step and it is not escalatory because they will not march on moscow, they will be used locally and regionally. different from the long—range missiles which i think the biden administration has rightly decided not to provide because they could hit interior russia. these tanks give ukraine at least a decent

chance at seeing how much of its territory it may win bad. we should help them try. on that point, michael, what do you think about the fear under threat from that the delivery of these tanks will further escalate the situation? at one level it is laughable that a country that invaded a sovereign nation to its immediate south and west wants to talk about escalation because they are trying to help the country defend itself and retake territory. but another level we have to take russian threats of escalation seriously and that is why i do not want to provide ukraine things like long—range bombers or long—range bombers or long—range ballistic missiles. but tanks, tanks are harder to use over many hundreds of miles when they are provided in relatively modest numbers. if we provide ukraine with a couple of hundred tanks, i think that is about the right number, it is enough to give

them a decent chance to take back its territory, it will not constitute a threat to the interior of russia itself. so i believe that at this point the russian threat are, frankly, the only thing russia has left in its arsenal to oppose what is an otherwise overdue and smart military decision. find smart military decision. and what do you _ smart military decision. and what do you think _ smart military decision. and what do you think of - smart military decision. and what do you think of the knock—on effect here from all of this? countries poland and finland are unable to supply leopard tanks until berlin gives them the —— all clear. i want the us to take the first step here because you are right, all these internal european debates and all these history that this debate rings back make it complicated for one european country to act in disagreement with another. but when we have a consensus forming it is time for the united states to take the lead and not put the burden on germany to make this call with a brand—new defence minister and relatively new chancellor.

vineyard states needs to set the parameters and even if our abrams tanks are not that great at operating in a faraway difficult logistical environment, we need to break theice environment, we need to break the ice by sending 50 abrams tanks and then i think germany, poland, finland, those disagreements get easier to address. . ~ disagreements get easier to address. ., ~ , ., ., disagreements get easier to address. ., ., address. thank you for your time here — address. thank you for your time here on _ address. thank you for your time here on bbc— address. thank you for your time here on bbc news. - anti—abortion activists in washington have called for more restrictions on the termination of pregnancies at the country's annual "march for life". it's the first such event since the supreme court overturned federal abortion rights. nomia iqbal reports. there are thousands of people here from different backgrounds and a mix of religious schools, churches and organisations, people from all different ages. usually they bypass congress and go straight

to the supreme court but it is symbolic that they have come to congress. showing that it is not so much a legal argument now as it is a legislative argument. there are 13 republican—led states that have a near total ban on abortion and there are still legal challenges going on elsewhere. so marchers here say their work is still yet to be done, there is still more that they want to achieve. president biden issued a proclamation today and to read you what he said, he said that never before has the supreme court taken away a right so fundamental to americans and he said his administration will continue through executive actions to do everything it can to protect access to contraception and abortion services in america. chris hipkins is set to become new zealand's next prime minister, after being the only candidate nominated by the governing labour party to replace jacinda ardern. mr hipkins is expected to be confirmed as the new leader on sunday. he is currently leading the education department, after coming to prominence as the minister directing the country's covid response.

google's parent company, alphabet, says it's cutting 12,000 jobs — which affects 6% of its workforce worldwide, in teams including recruitment and engineering. the news comes just days after another tech giant, microsoft, announced it was shedding 10,000 jobs. well, joining me now is our news reporter azadeh moshiri. what more do we know about these cut at google and how did they break the news to staff? the ceo thing to his staff are working so hard and their contributions had been invaluable but that is little comfort to those who actually are losing theirjobs because they are also being told their contributions are no longer needed. he tried to couch the blue, he said that google and alphabet would help them as they look for their next opportunities and he said that they would be getting severance packages and we know that they

will be getting six months of health insurance. it is also worth bringing up his quote in the message he sent to his employees where he said that until then, take care good of yourselves as you absorb this difficult news and as part of that if you are just starting your workday please feel free to from home today. and for those who are still at google and alphabet he did say that they would be making investments in things like artificial intelligence and that they still believe they will be able to have a healthy ability to do the impossible. but this is shocking news for employees who are losing their jobs but not for other tech employees across the industry because this is happening in other countries as well —— companies as well. other countries as well -- companies as well.- other countries as well -- companies as well. and what is the cause _ companies as well. and what is the cause of— companies as well. and what is the cause of all— companies as well. and what is the cause of all of— companies as well. and what is the cause of all of this? - companies as well. and what is the cause of all of this? as - the cause of all of this? as you say they are not the only ones making big cuts. microsoft said they would _ ones making big cuts. microsoft said they would cut _ ones making big cuts. microsoft said they would cut 10,000 - ones making big cuts. microsoft| said they would cut 10,000 jobs a few days ago and earlier amazon said they are cutting 18,000. it is happening at many companies and part of it is

because they are noticing what a lot of us are noticing, the times right now, economically, are tough and they want to prepare themselves should there be any kind of recession ahead. also the advertising revenue that they usually depend on his slow right now and there is also the fact that they want to correct a bit of a mistake during the pandemic they were really trigger—happy when it came to hiring because they thought, like many of us did that perhaps we are going to be living our lives online a little more. they did not quite happen. even mark zuckerberg in november announcing major cuts said that i decided to significantly increase our investments and things did not play out the way we thought they would. play out the way we thought they would-— play out the way we thought the would. �* ., ., ., they would. and how would all these layoffs _ they would. and how would all these layoffs impact _ they would. and how would all these layoffs impact the - these layoffs impact the economy?— these layoffs impact the econom ? . ~ , ., economy? the markets have responded — economy? the markets have responded positively. - economy? the markets have responded positively. wall . responded positively. wall street welcomed the cuts and their shares rose 5% in electronic trading before the stock market opened. that is a

complicated way of saying that the markets liked it and the analyst thought that tech companies had been overspending on over hiring for some time. a silver lining to this, some analysts say that this means a lot of very talented tech employees will be on the market right now and in fact we may see a boom in some creative start—ups in the future. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: lost at sea — the man who survived alone for nearly a month with only the help of rain water and condiments. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first.

demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him 'the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. this millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot — - a tide of humanity- that's believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news. our main headline: western defence chiefs fail to agree on the provision of advanced tanks to ukraine. the americans say it's

still under discussion. let's stay with ukraine, and the united states' treasury is imposing extra sanctions on the russian mercenary group, vagner, which has been fighting alongside moscow's forces. vagner has faced american sanctions since 2017. the new measures treat it as an organised crime group. the us says wagner employs 50,000 fighters in ukraine, most of them convicts. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, joins us now. what exactly is the work in a group? what exactly is the work in a arou - ? , , what exactly is the work in a i rou . ? , , ., what exactly is the work in a u-rou? , ., ,., group? this is a huge group of mercenaries _ group? this is a huge group of mercenaries and _ group? this is a huge group of mercenaries and as _ group? this is a huge group of mercenaries and as you - group? this is a huge group of mercenaries and as you say, l mercenaries and as you say, made up mostly of convex, people taken from russian prisoners believed to be in the region of 50,000 currently in ukraine, and it is a group that has been around for some time,

most significantly in 2014, believed to be involved in the annexation of crimea. and then just before the invasion of ukraine by russia last year, in the months before they were involved in the so—called false flag attacks, these are the fate provocative attacks that took place within ukraine, supposedly to give moscow some justification for its attack, and since the invasion they've been involved, according to the united states, and many atrocities in ukraine. so this measure, the latest measure to impose sanctions on the group, is another attempt by the united states to stem their activities by making it more difficult for countries and other organisations around the world to do business with this private organisation.- world to do business with this private organisation. yes, and the us already _ private organisation. yes, and the us already had _ private organisation. yes, and the us already had sanctions. the us already had sanctions against them, but now how does needed at a transnational

criminal organisation. what difference _ criminal organisation. what difference does _ criminal organisation. what difference does this - criminal organisation. what difference does this make? j difference does this make? well, this gives the united states power to essentially put restrictions on other entities, so whether it be countries or organisations that do business with the wagner group. part of the wagner group's strength is the wagner group's strength is the fact that it is a sprawling global entity, it is involved in other conflicts and global hotspots but it's now giving the united states an opportunity to curb the business opportunities and activities of this organisation. the other thing that united states has highlighted is that there appears to be some differences emerging between the leadership of the wagner group and the russian military, the regular army. and the us is highlighting and potentially playing up those differences in an effort to overall quell the activities of the russians in ukraine. �* ., ,

activities of the russians in ukraine. , ., ,, ukraine. peter bowes, thank ou. let's turn to afghanistan now, where a top un official believes progress is being made towards reversing bans on women taking part in public life. amina mohammed, the un deputy secretary general, has been in afghanistan for talks with the taliban. she's been travelling with our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. a space to call their own. their own shops, run by afghan women for afghan women. but a new taliban edict shut down a training programme here. all of us cried. this, their response. all night we cry. these four women, all university—educated, lost theirjobs, the life they knew and loved. our future is very dark. it's not bright. do you see any light? no. we're here because we really

want to hear your voices. that's why the un's second in command is here — amina mohammed, its most senior woman. trying to change taliban government edicts barring women from most work places and education. that's why she headed to the southern province of kandahar to meet some of the most conservative taliban leaders. we're going to use this to push the door wider and not allow to it close. and not allow it to close because it would close on the women of afghanistan, and that's just not an option that we will leave on the table. the council of islamic scholars, explaining their strict interpretation of women's rights within islam. so strict, it's been criticised by many islamic countries. ms mohammed, a muslim herself, made her case too, in a man's court.

amina mohammed, how did it go? tough. tough? tough. as in, no meeting of minds? i think that there is a distance to be covered. we've come little closer to understanding better why they took the decisions. and there is some hope, but it's tough. so when we sat down, i asked — what gives you hope? i think there are many voices we heard which are progressive in the way that we would like to go, but there are others that really are not. and i think that it is a struggle within them to bring those that are not forward too. there are many who believe, many afghan women, some even in the united nations, who believe that when the taliban say "until further notice" it means never. they say the taliban haven't and won't change. what do you say to that?

well, i always have hope, because by agreeing to that is that i've just written off 23 million people in this country. that's not acceptable to me, and i will fight until we make sure they're included. because if we give up on the women of afghanistan, how many other women are we going to give up on when it gets too hard? the taliban — still not recognised by any government, under sanctions — say they should be brought into the international community. the message from envoys like ms mohammed is: first, demonstrate your commitment to international norms, including women's rights. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. scientists from the european space agency are putting the final touches to a pioneering mission tojupiter�*s icy moons in the hope that they may find primitive signs of life. here's rebecca morelle. bleak yet beautiful. the giant moons ofjupiter, covered in a thick crust of ice. but hidden beneath,

hints of vast oceans where life could thrive. now a mission is getting ready to make an epic journey to study them. at airbus in toulouse in france, engineers are putting the finishing touches to the spacecraft. it is called thejupiter icy moons explorer, orjuice. this is a number of scientific instruments that we have onjuice. they range from a radar that will see beneath the ice to lasers creating 3—d models of the surface and high—resolution cameras. these oceans could sustain the necessary conditions necessary to support the emergence of primitive forms of life in these oceans, and it is this environment that we want to further investigate. juice will travel more than four billion miles before it arrives at its destination in eight years' time. the spacecraft will visit three ofjupiter�*s moons. it will fly around ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. its ocean could contain more water than all of the earth's

oceans put together. it will also study callisto, whose ancient surface is covered in craters. this moon could harbour life, but that is not as likely as on europa, where the spacecraft will be trying to spot plumes of water vapour erupting from beneath its icy crust. i don't think we are expecting to go there and find schools of fish in the ocean — but to be honest with you, we really don't know, and i think that is it. we are at the very beginning of our understanding and ourjourney towards understanding the habitability of these environments. the next step now is to pack the spacecraft up, ready for its launch in april. scientists hope we will finally discover what lies beneath the surface of these mysterious moons, and whether it is possible for life to exist elsewhere in our solar system. rebecca morelle, bbc news, toulouse. it is an extraordinary story of survival against the odds —

one man's struggle to overcome the elements. elvis francois spent 24 days alone at sea with next to no food. miraculously, he was eventually rescued by the colombian navy, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. just imagine it. day after day after day, alone at sea. a pinprick in a vast expanse of endless water. sometimes you had to content with the merciless heat of the sun, and other times you are confronted with the raging storms and crashing waves. that's the ordeal elvis francois had to endure. theory is being given the once over by a navy doctor. the key to his survival, rainwater and condiments. i had no food. rainwater and condiments. i had no food- it _ rainwater and condiments. i had no food. it was _ rainwater and condiments. i had no food. it was just _ rainwater and condiments. i had no food. it wasjust a _ rainwater and condiments. i had no food. it wasjust a bottle - no food. it was just a bottle of ketchup that was in the

boot, garlic powder and maggie. i mixed it with water to survive being on the sea. his maritime _ survive being on the sea. his maritime odyssey began when he was repairing a sailboat at a port in saint martin. bad weather slipped him into the caribbean sea but he tried to use his mobile phone to call for help, but he couldn't get a signal. eventually traffic it had a passing plane using a mirror and was picked up near the colombian port of watto bolivar. ., ., , ., bolivar. three or four days, no land, bolivar. three or four days, no land. nobody _ bolivar. three or four days, no land, nobody to _ bolivar. three or four days, no land, nobody to talk— bolivar. three or four days, no land, nobody to talk to, - bolivar. three or four days, no land, nobody to talk to, don'tl land, nobody to talk to, don't know what to do, don't know where you are. it was rough. sometimes i lose hope. i think about my family.— about my family. quite the ordeal, quite _ about my family. quite the ordeal, quite a _ about my family. quite the ordeal, quite a survivor. i about my family. quite the . ordeal, quite a survivor. being alone at sea must have been tough, but it was preferable to

the alternative. tim allman, bbc news. incredible survival story. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @monikaplaha. hello. well, overall, the weekend for most of us will remain pretty cold. we've also had some snow recently. here's a beautiful picture from wales, from gwynedd — a wonderful wintry scene. now across the north—west of the country, it'll actually be a little bit milder through the course of the night, particularly around the western isles of scotland and northern ireland. a southerly breeze here, cloudy with spits and spots of rain — so seven in stornoway by 6am on saturday, six in belfast. elsewhere across the country, that blue colour indicating the frost. now the reason for this temperature difference is actually this tongue of milder air that's streaming in from the southern climes — and you can see it's in place across ireland, scotland, the north—west of england, and wales. elsewhere towards the east, it's going to be colder.

so let's summarise the weekend, then, with this tongue of milderair coming in from the south. south and eastern parts of the country will stay in the cold air, it'll be sunny — but north—western areas will be often cloudy, spits and spots of rain, and quite a bit milder. so here's the picture first thing on saturday — that weather front hugging north—western areas of the uk, that southerly breeze. elsewhere across the country, we've got sunny, crisp, and cold weather. there could be some mist and fog lingering into the afternoon across parts of the midlands and northern england. so typical temperatures here around four degrees, but up to around nine or so in the western isles of scotland. let's have a look at the weather on sunday — high pressure in charge of the weather in the south—east of the country, but in the north—west there, you can see a weather front affecting scotland, which actually will also affect the irish sea coasts, western fringes of wales, and also the far south—west of england. so here, in that southerly wind, temperatures could actually make

double figures at least in 1—2 spots. the further east or south—east you are, the temperatures will be quite a bit lower. so look at that — struggling in london, norwich and hull, only around 2—3 degrees above freezing. so really, quite a raw day for some of us on sunday. here's monday's weather map — high pressure in charge of the weather, in fact, all the way from western europe through central europe, into russia, too. so lots of fine weather, and there is an indication that here in the uk, the temperatures will recover a little bit as we go through the course of the week, perhaps making double figures in some spots. that's it from me. have a good weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a major meeting of ukraine's allies has ended without agreement on whether to send more tanks to kyiv. representatives of around 50 countries gathered at the us airbase in ramstine in germany to discuss co—ordinating military support. new zealand's minister for police and education, chris hipkins, is expected to become the country's next prime minister. he's the only candidate nominated by the labour party to replace jacinda ardern. he faces fighting a general election in october, which polls indicate labour could struggle to win. the european space agency is preparing to send a spacecraft to study three ofjupiter�*s moons. the craft will use scientific instruments to give us our best

ever view of the moons and to assess whether they