this is bbc news. 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. anti—abortion activists have marched through washington, calling for further restrictions on the termination of pregnancies. 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 are going to use this to push the door wider and not allow it to 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. and fright night on sea: how southend is becoming something of a global capital for amateur horror movies. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. first, 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 committed to sending 1a challenger 2 tanks to the front line. russia has warned that such a move would mark an "extremely dangerous" escalation. here's our europe correspondent jessica 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 thankyou 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 of course about a russian spring offensive. but do you think ukraine can take back territory this year? absolutely, and 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. frontline ukrainian units are hungry for more modern weapons to help unfreeze this conflict. jessica parker, bbc news, in ramstein. constance stelzenmuller is the director of the center on the us and europe of the brookings institution. i asked her what the advantages are for ukraine in receiving tanks

from germany. well, it's really about two things — getting tanks from germany and germany lifting its veto against other countries in europe, a dozen of them, who own the german tanks and bought them, passing them on to ukraine. why are they necessary right now? the ukrainians are doing — the russians are doing two things to ukraine — a campaign of terror with drones and missiles that is against civilian infrastructure and is designed to paralyse the ukrainians just as much as the west. at the same time, they're waging a war of attrition, a land war in the eastern provinces. which they have illegally annexed. and for that war of attrition not to wear out the ukrainian forces and wear out western consensus, it is important to give ukrainians tanks so as to reduce their reliance on artillery and to allow them manoeuvrability so as to get some movement.

that is something that the leopard 2, is supposed to be one of the best in the world for because it has firepower, manoeuvrability and is very agile. poland's foreign minister has criticised germany's reluctance to send the tanks. what is the knock—on effect here and why is germany appearing to be cautious? that is anybody�*s guess and you should really ask the chancellor about that because i can tell you that from what i am seeing from german media, german public opinion, the german twittersphere, for whatever that is worth, there appears to be unanimous befuddlement verging on outright condemnation in fact, and i'm, frankly, among that latter group. i believe the chancellor feels that he owes it to the german electorate to be prudent. there was a poll yesterday that had, for the first time,

a majority of respondents, 46% saying they were for the delivery of tanks and 43 saying they were against. that is a very, very slim margin and i suppose the chancellor does not feel empowered. my response to that will be — that is the kind of situation in which you lead, and the very least you can do is not stop other allies from passing on their tanks to ukraine. it is obviously not the result that ukraine was actually hoping for. so, where does this leave ukraine now? i think we shouldn't forget that ukraine has gotten a huge amount of heavy weaponry already before the ramstein conference and in the ramstein conference. the americans alone promised another... i forget the the billions, it is just so much, but there are dozens of fighting vehicles and the germans and the americans together have promised patriots and the germans are sending

armoured personnel carriers and the americans are sending striker vehicles as well, all of which is very useful for the land warfare in the east. that said, i have a sneaking suspicion that this is not germany's last word. we have a glorious tradition of saying we won't do something until about five past 12, at which point we do do it. having shed a fair amount of reputation along the way. but that is the way we very often operate and i sense that the new defence minister of germany, boris postirus, who has just been in office now for two days, he has dropped some hints that he thinks there is room for manoeuvre. and it was a little bit earlier. 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 — there's a mix of religious schools, churches and organisations, people from all different ages. and usually, they bypass congress and go straight to the supreme court, but in a symbolic switch, to show that the fight over abortion 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 that their work is still yet to be done, there is still more that they want to achieve. now, president biden issued a proclamation today, and just to read to you what he said — he said 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 that 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. the social media influencer andrew tate and his brother tristan are to stay in custody until february 27 after a romanian court extended their police detention. the pair are being held while police investigate allegations of trafficking and rape, which they both deny. meanwhile, teenage girls have told the bbc how the brothers contacted them online, apparently using a standard formula. our correspondent lucy williamson sent this report from bucharest. andrew tate

and his brother tristan still draw the spotlight, even behind the walls of a romanian detention centre. today, bucharest�*s main court extended their detention for another month, until february 27. the tates' lawyers said prosecutors had not presented any new evidence. any evidence prosecutors may have against andrew tate or his brother is still a well—guarded secret. neither man has yet been charged. but their public image has been complicated by criticism over the things they say, and the way they behave online. daria was 16 when she says she received a private message on instagram two years ago from andrew tate�*s account. it read simply, "romanian girl," followed by a strawberry emoji. it was very obvious we were high school girls. we had our high schools in our bio and everything. i feel like he was just trying to find girls that seemed

as innocent or naive as possible, in my opinion. daria, who's now at university in the uk, says it's important she speak out, because so many young men idolise andrew tate. this is a big problem, because we can't wake up in 20 years with, like, two million andrew tates. in a video, andrew tate outlined his method for approaching women online. sometimes, cos, like i said, intrigue, i'll put a completely pointless emoji on the end. some cherries or an orange or a strawberry. because it doesn't mean anything. he also recommends asking a woman, "why do i never see you? where are you hiding?" 99% of them say, "i'm not hiding," he explains. this woman had an exchange that seems to follow this script. she showed me messages, apparently from andrew's brother, tristan, sent when she was 17 years old. "you're beautiful," he says.

"i feel i've seen you around town before. "where have you been hiding?" as andrew tate predicts, she replies, "i didn't hide." translation: | knew - he was writing the same thing to a lot of girls, including a friend of mine. he used the same approach, always starting the conversation with exactly the same line — "you're beautiful." in publicity for his online courses in manipulating and exploiting women, andrew tate has said his job was to "meet a girl, sleep with her, "get her to fall in love with me to the point "where she'd do anything i say, and then "get her working on webcam "so we could become rich together." with the tates now starved of the spotlight themselves, police have until the end of february to sift their potential crimes from their public image. lucy williamson, bbc news, bucharest. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, fright night on sea: how one english resort is becoming something

of a global capital for amateur horror movies. 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. 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 world news. the latest headlines: western defence chiefs fail to agree on the provision of advanced tanks to ukraine. the americans say it is still under discussion. anti—abortion activists in washington have called for more restrictions on the termination of pregnancies at the country's annual march for life. 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. last month the taliban banned all women from working for aid agencies, the latest in a series of restrictions on the rights of women and girls.

amina mohammed, the un deputy secretary general, has been in afghanistan for talks with the taliban. our chief international correspondent lyse doucent has been travelling with her. 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. full 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 is 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 workplaces 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 has 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. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, has welcomed proposals by the church of england to bless same—sex married couples, but said he wouldn't personally carry out the prayers. the archbishop said he had a responsibility for the whole of the anglican communion. this week the church restated its position not to allow gay marriage, but said it wanted to offer blessings to gay couples. because of my pastoral care and

responsibility, being a focus of unity for the whole communion, i will while being extremely joyfully celebratory of these new resources, i will not personally use them. that is a self—denying ordinance. but it comes out of the global responsibility. it has been confirmed that the prime minster, rishi sunak, has been fined by lancashire police for not wearing a seatbelt. mr sunak removed his belt to film a social media video while travelling in the back of a car. scientists from the european space agency are putting the final touches to a pioneering mission tojupiter�*s icy moons in the hope of finding primitive signs of life. here is our science editor 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 epicjourney 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 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 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're 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's it. we're 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. an international film festival might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of southend—on—sea, but home—made horror films are booming there at the horror—on—sea festival. it began ten years ago as a way of bringing some much—needed business to the seaside in the middle of winter. david sillito has been to see it in action. welcome to southend injanuary. day after day, it's nonstop blood, gore and a few laughs. welcome to horror—on—sea. among the dozens of films being shown, eric, the story of a malevolent pomeranian. # we're leaving all that

setup stuff behind... and powertool cheerleaders, all part of an explosion in independent horror film—making. and this has been, for many, the first chance to terrify a packed cinema. there's this massive explosion where technology has made these things possible, and you hear either the scream orjust the intake of breath, the collective intake of breath across 200 people sitting in the dark, where they all go, "ah!", and you can hear it over the sound mix. oh, man, no better feeling in the world. 20 years ago the uk was producing, at most, half a dozen or so horror movies a year. these days it's more than 100. i want to introduce you to the crew. for horror actress dani thompson, this has been a very busy year. this year at horror—on—sea, i have six films screening. there's malicious, demons at dawn, video shop tales of terror. i've died in southend - here twice on the beach.

i've been strangled - by santa a couple of times. i've had many- interesting deaths. to restore her well being and put an end to her... i a movie that will have its premiere here tomorrow night at the cannes of micro—budget horror. to have a film here and to have it sold out, to see the audience reaction to our little film that we spent the weekends making, itjust — it literally did move me to tears. conceived as way of bringing a bit of grisly cheer to the midwinter seaside, it has grown over the last ten years, with some film—makers who began showing zero—budget movies going on to make feature films. but not all choose southend for their premieres. in fact, we've got a feature film this weekend that was... i've been showing the director's short films for a few years, and i think he's already been to about ten festivals. so there it is — britain's capital of home—made horror. david sillito, bbc news, southend. horror on the beach, who would

have thought it? you are watching bbc news, and you can reach me on twitter. hello. well, overall, the weekend for most of us is going to 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's actually going to 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 6:00am 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 one or two 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.

to have broken all records.

is all you 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 ramstein in germany to discuss co—ordinating military support. 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. the deputy head of the united nations has told the bbc there is some hope that women in afghanistan will be allowed to resume working for aid agencies after holding high

level talks with the country's taliban rulers. women and girls have suffered some restrictions