this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: president zelensky says he'll keep asking western allies to send modern tanks to ukraine after a meeting of more than 50 countries ended without agreement. in the uk, labour calls for the conservative party chairman nadhim zahawi to be sacked after reports he paid a tax penalty as part of a multi—million—pound settlement with authorities. chris hipkins is set to become new zealand's next prime minister, replacing jacinda ardern, who announced her resignation on thursday. there are urgent calls to nhs mental health helplines in england going unanswered, because services are overwhelmed. and millions around the world prepare for lunar new year and the year of the rabbit.

hello and welcome. ukraine says it will keep pushing to be supplied with modern tanks, after a meeting of allied nations in germany ended without an agreement to provide them. protests have taken place in berlin to demand the approval of german—made tanks to be sent to kyiv. aruna iyengar has this report. this is what kyiv wants but can't yet have. german—made leopard 2 tanks as part of hopes for hundreds of western battle tanks to help defend their country and take back their land. ukraine says modern tanks are key to holding back russia's expansion plans. translation: the partners are firm in their attitude. i they will support ukraine as much

as necessary for our victory. yes, we will still have to fight for the supply of modern tanks, but every day we make it more obvious there is no alternative to making the decision on tanks. president zelensky has made his appeal to this meeting of defence chiefs at ramstein airbase. poland has agreed to train ukrainian soldiers in using the leopard 2s, but berlin gets to decide where the leopard tanks are deployed. the us is also under pressure to make its abrams tanks available to ukrainian forces. it has not said yes yet, but is offering other support. until putin ends this war, his war of choice, the nations of this contact group will continue to support the defence of ukraine in order to uphold the rules—based international order. domestic politics, its past, and a fear of escalating the conflict all play into germany's caution. but this meeting was about more thanjust tanks, with much

wider pledges of military aid and an air of urgency. frontline ukrainian units are using soviet—era tanks. they need modern equipment. they expect a spring offensive from russia and bigger battles to come. aruna iyengar, bbc news. well, speaking to us earlier, an advisor to ukraine's defnce an advisor to ukraine's defence minister, yuriy sak, called on western allies to unite behind the drive to equip kyiv�*s forces with tanks and weapons. the united kingdom has shown leadership and was the first country to actually overcome this mental hurdle and start providing ukraine with tanks, so we are very grateful to the united kingdom for the challenger two tanks that will hopefully arrive in our battlefield soon. now, at the same time, of course, we know that there are more than 2000, for example, leopard

tanks in europe, and we have said it before, there is no rational explanation why ukraine, which is now fighting for the freedom of europe, where we are not getting a fraction of that, because you know that our military commander said in the past, we need 300 tanks. this is a fraction of what the nato allies in european countries are actually in european countries are actually in a position to provide ukraine, so as our president zelensky said, ukraine will continue to push for this political decision, and we are very hopeful this will be taken in time for our next stages of the military counter offensive. joining me now is professor timothy garton ash from the university of oxford and author of homelands: a personal history of europe. so good to talk to you professor. let me ask you first of all, why do you think germany are so hesitant over sending these tanks, or agreeing to send these tanks to ukraine? its a cocktail of reasons. i think 0laf scholz is of a generation of

social democrats who were really obsessed by the danger of nuclear war that recurs again and again in his remarks on this subject. his own party, the social democrats, are divided, whereas his coalition partners, the free democrats and the greens are in favour of sending tanks. germany has a long—standing special relationship with russia, and i think in the current administration, there is a lot of thinking about how do we preserve the administration with russia after the administration with russia after the war, as well, by the way, as a historic blind spot for ukraine. and finally, i'm afraid, i think there is some thinking, and i have had this myself from some senior german officials, that actually, a so—called peace settlement in which russia retains some of the territory it has occupied might not be the worst outcome, and i think it is a cocktail of those motives. by the way, i am absolutely persuaded that

germany will in the end agreed to send the leopards. and that is what is so perplexing about this for many people. criticism within germany itself has even been, look, why is the government not leading the way when it has a chance to? because this is an inevitability.— an inevitability. there is a machiavellian _ an inevitability. there is a machiavellian theory - an inevitability. there is a machiavellian theory that | an inevitability. there is a - machiavellian theory that olaf machiavellian theory that 0laf scholz wants to show that he is being dragged into this. i don't quite believe that. for the last year, the story of german support for ukraine militarily, and it has done a lot, has been, we are not going to do that, we are not going to do that. oh, yes, we are. we're not going to send heavy weapons, oh, yes, we are. we're not going to send armoured vehicles. 0h, yes, we are. we're not going to send armoured vehicles. oh, yes, we are. we're not going to send armoured aircraft. 0h, we're not going to send armoured aircraft. oh, yes, we are. and i suspect it will be the same this time. and it is very hard to understand, because whereas germany has sent a very large of financial,

military and humanitarian aid to ukraine, this has been enormously damaging, just enormously damaging, to the reputation notjust of chancellor scholz, but to the reputation of germany internationally. that's what i was going to ask you next. why does this leave germany's standing within europe? in particular, the central and east european countries are profoundly disillusioned with germany. germany has had over the last decade is very good relations with those countries. and think about it. poland wants to send the german—made leopard two tanks to ukraine. all they need this permission from germany, which it is not yet giving. so germany is refusing one of the first and biggest victims of nazi german aggression, poland, giving refusal to send tanks to defend one of the other biggest victims of nazi german

aggression, namely ukraine. if one thinks of it in a historical perspective, that does seem massively problematic, morally as well as being short—sighted politically. well as being short-sighted politically-— well as being short-sighted oliticall. , ., politically. absolutely fascinating. well, professor _ politically. absolutely fascinating. well, professor timothy - politically. absolutely fascinating. well, professor timothy garton i politically. absolutely fascinating. i well, professor timothy garton ash, i could speak to you all day, but we have run out of time. thank you very much forjoining us. in the uk, the opposition labour party is calling for the prime minister rishi sunak to sack nadhim zahawi as conservative party chairman, after reports he paid a penalty to hmrc as part of a multi—million pound tax settlement. the former chancellor has been under pressure over claims he tried to avoid paying tax and has now had to pay it back. the bbc has approached mr zahawi for comment on the allegation and is yet to receive a response. he has previously said that his taxes are properly declared, and paid in the uk. david wallace—lockhart reports. nadhim zahawi is the chairman of the conservative party and sits around the cabinet table.

he was the chancellor for a few months in the final days of borisjohnson�*s government — he's now facing questions about his tax affairs. before politics he co—founded the polling company yougov. questions have been asked about whether he tried to avoid paying tax by using a offshore company to hold shares in the firm. but the conservative party chairman has denied benefiting from or having any involvement with the offshore company. it has previously been reported that he agreed to make a payment to the taxman to settle a dispute. yesterday the guardian reported this included a 30% penalty as part of a bill thought to amount to around £5 million. the bbc has not been able to verify these claims — a spokesman has previously said mr zahawi's taxes are properly declared and paid in the uk. labour say he has to step down from government. so, these are very serious allegations, and it is untenable for him to continue in hisjob if he has misled the public and millions of tax, which is importantly which goes

into our public services. but tax, which is importantly which goes into our public services.— into our public services. but one tax expert _ into our public services. but one tax expert told _ into our public services. but one tax expert told newsnight - into our public services. but one tax expert told newsnight a - into our public services. but one| tax expert told newsnight a 3096 tax expert told newsnight a 30% penalty is at the lower end of the scale. the first level of penalty is for carelessness, so it is no penalty if you make — carelessness, so it is no penalty if you make a — carelessness, so it is no penalty if you make a genuine mistake and you took reasonable care over your tax affairs _ took reasonable care over your tax affairs no — took reasonable care over your tax affairs. no penalty. if you were careless. — affairs. no penalty. if you were careless, then the first level of penalty— careless, then the first level of penalty applies. in the uk, for uk tax, penalty applies. in the uk, for uk tax. that's— penalty applies. in the uk, for uk tax, that's 30%. a_ tax, that's 30%. a spokesman for nadhim zahawi previously told the bbc that he has never previously had to instruct lawyers to deal with hmrc on his behalf, but questions are likely to persist over the coming days. david wallace—lockhart, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake explained what implications there might be now for mr zahawi. he isa he is a prominent figure in the conservative party and has a seat at the cabinet table. he is currently chair of the conservative party as well, but was briefly chancellor of the exchequer for a well, but was briefly chancellor of the exchequerfor a couple of well, but was briefly chancellor of the exchequer for a couple of months on the borisjohnson as prime

minister. and that is why, perhaps, these questions are particularly awkward for him. at the centre of this is a claim, first reported by the sun last weekend, that mr zahawi paid millions of pounds in tax to revenue and customs, the tax office, to settle a dispute. and the main question is whether mr zahawi tried to avoid paying capital gains tax on shares that he owned in a polling company called yougov, which he co—founded and set up in the year 2000, by putting those shares into an offshore company to hold them. now, in the latest claims that have emerged around all this, there has been no denial of this by zahawi or indeed his spokesperson. we've been told in a statement that his taxes are properly declared and paid in the uk. further to that, the guardian reported yesterday that mr zahawi paid a penalty on top of the tax that he owed, 30% of the amount, taking it to the guardian— claimed £4.8 million.

again, no denial that a penalty was paid by him or his team, but they did say they didn't recognise that figure, just saying again as previously stated that his taxes are properly declared and paid in the uk. so an effort from nadhim zahawi to contain this continued scrutiny of his tax affairs and say really as little as possible about the details of it and not come forward and answer any questions himself, which labour are saying that he needs to do to be more transparent and if he does not do that, than the prime minister, rishi sunak, should move to sack him. and we have heard, haven't we, from dominic raab as well today? yes, the deputy prime minister has been defending his colleague in government, talking about him having paid all of the tax that he has owed, there is nothing outstanding and as far as dominic raab was concerned, that was the central claim. he was very careful to say that he did not

know the details of zahawi's private tax affairs and that was something which he and only he was qualified to talk about. i don't know about his personal tax affairs. i wouldn't know his personal private affairs. but he has been very clear that he has paid all his tax due in the uk, that his tax accounts are up—to—date and of course he engaged with hmrc, so that is the position and i think he has been very transparent about this and if he needs to answer any further questions, i am sure he will do so. the essential point is that the tax has been paid. there is nothing outstanding due. but, look if there are further material questions, i'm sure that he will address them. a senior labour mp has accused the prime minister of failing to deliver the integrity and professionalism he promised after he was fined for not wearing a seat—belt. sir chris bryant, who chairs the commons standards committtee, said rishi sunak had shown a "pattern of misjudgement". lancashire police issued a fixed penalty notice after mr sunak posted a video shot in the backseat of a car. he was not wearing a seat belt. the head of the nhs in england has told the bbc that it's becoming increasingly difficult to manage services while health unions continue their strikes.

in an interview for bbc radio 4's today programme, amanda pritchard said that as industrial action was extended over longer periods of time, and with strike dates closer together, the task became more challenging. she also suggested that all sides are "looking to try to reach a resolution". matthew taylor is the chief executive of the nhs confederation, a group which represents health service organisations and bosses. we saw about a week ago some signs from the department of health of a willingness to talk about pay and it felt then that it was progress. that seems to have gone now. i don't know whether this is the treasury or downing street or whatever, but i understand the pressure it is under, but it needs to show leadership and it needs to be pragmatic. it is only by discussing paying with staff that we are going to find

a way of avoiding this further industrial action. and it is really important to understand that even if there were no trade unions, no industrial action, we would still have 130,000 vacancies, we would still have an issue about how we recruit, how we retain and how we motivate staff. so this would not be backing down to trade union pressure. this would be recognising the reality of the startling situation in the nhs right now. so i think it really does, you know, both sides need to be pragmatic, both sides need to be willing to compromise. but it probably does now fall to the government to say explicitly that they will talk about pay, encourage the trade unions to come back to the negotiation and ask the trade unions to stop industrial action while the negotiations are taking place. meanwhile, a bbc investigation has found that hundreds of thousands of calls made to nhs mental health helplines in england are going unanswered. the crisis phone lines which are supposed to be available 2a hours a day are designed to provide support for those who are suicidal, or in emotional distress. 0ur reporter adam eley spoke to hannah, who says it took her two days to get through. for me to call, it is because i am

at my absolute lowest and i am about to do something. for years, hannah has struggled with her mental health, at times wanting to take her own life. in these moments, she called her nhs trust's 24—hour helpline for urgent mental health support. but too often, she says, no—one picked up. i have literally been crying my eyes out and left a message on the answerphone and no—one has ever got back to me. it makes it ten times worse. i know for me, i start to spiral. when she has been able to get through, hannah says support can be limited. on one occasion she told a staff member she no longer wanted to live. she actually said to me, "think happy thoughts and read a book." when i said that is not going to help, that is when she hung up and said "you don't want to help yourself." i ended up going to a&e. south london and maudsley nhs trust has since apologised, adding that improvements has been made. nhs crisis lines in england receive more than 200,000 calls a month, aiming to signpost people to services and provide urgent phone support. but figures obtained by the bbc show at least a18,000 calls went unanswered in 2021—22.

two recent coroner's reports have highlighted issues with crisis lines that preceded deaths, noting the demands on staff. it was a very exhausting job emotionally, it was impossible to answer all the calls. 0ne former staff member says she felt overwhelmed and was not properly trained. i didn't feel prepared. you are expected to learn on the job, which is disappointing when the risk is so high and you are dealing with people's lives. experts say crisis lines can play a vital role, if they are able to meet demand. the point of them is to make the system really accessible, to make it easy not to go to a&e. and if that's not what is happening, then that's obviously a major problem. nhs england said it had made £7 million available to local areas to improve their crisis lines. for hannah, if crisis lines are to improve,

staff must have the time to speak to patients with compassion. you shouldn't have to be at absolute rock bottom to get decent care and to be spoken to like an actual human being. adam eley, bbc news. joining me now is sonia johnson, who you saw in that report. she's professor of social and community psychiatry at university college london. thanks forjoining us. itjust seems, doesn't it, that crisis lines are not working? certainly that they are working on a very variable way. it seems that across the country they are very different, but certainly, it sounds from this report as if they are not universally working as they ought to be in giving people really good access to urgent mental health support. how urgent is that urgent mental health support for people who call up health support for people who call up these lines and needed?

0bviously, up these lines and needed? obviously, it's very important. we know that people obviously overcome quite a lot of psychological barriers when they seek help in a crisis. it is quite a difficult thing to do, and the feeling that they can't be helped effectively is often something that puts people off seeking help. and obviously, if they are feeling that no one will be able to offer them anything useful if confirmed, that's going to put people off further helped seeking. and i suppose in one way, you could see the fact that more people are using and calling these lines as a good thing, because reaching out during a mental health crisis is important. but then, reaching out and not getting the help you need can sometimes be devastating. well, that's right, and obviously, they might have gone elsewhere for help, there we also know that if people go to a&e departments getting

mental health help there can also be very problematic, and gps are not always very much able to respond either, so actually getting these lines right as a source of help is actually very important. but the problems they are having are probably notjust problems they are having are probably not just about the crisis lines, but about the wider mental health care system. in what sense? well, they are very much reflecting the pressure on the whole system, in that increasing numbers of people turn to the mental health care system, as you say, but there are not increasing numbers of staff there to meet that demand. recruitment is very difficult, turnover is high, sickness absence is high, and that impacts both and being able to staff these lines, and on them having places to refer on to , which they very much need to have

in place, and it's also very much likely to lead to more crises if people are waiting a long time for mental health care and not getting good ongoing support in the community. so i think it's important that we see this problem as a reflection of the state of the mental health care system as a whole currently. 0k. professor sonia johnson, so good to talk to you. thank you very much. thank you. 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 minister for education and policing and came to prominence as one of the primary architects of the country's much—lauded covid response. i'm a politician. i love myjob, and i'm really passionate about it. it is incredibly, it is a massive honour to have this opportunity. professor anne marie brady is from the department of political science

and international relations at the university of canterbury in christchurch. she's been telling us more on new zealand's leader—in—waitng. chris hipkins, "chippy" is his nickname, is widely regarded as a very hard—working, capable minister, and it is going to be very interesting to see him step up as prime minister. when you are a minister, yourjob is to be loyal to the leader. now we need to see him shine and really inhabit the space of prime minister. he has a very big shoes to fill. jacinda ardern has done an outstanding job dealing with an extraordinary level of crisis in new zealand and internationally in her term, as well as a major programme of social reform and administrative reform. that is on things like health, the

media and education. so he is inheriting a role where, you know, he has been part of that change, but now he has got to set his own mark and that is going to be a challenge, i think, coming up to the election. brazil's defence minister says there's no evidence that the military had a direct role in the riots by supporters of the former president jair bolsonaro against the left—wing leader luiz inacio lula da silva. two weeks ago, thousands of people invaded and vandalised government buildings in the capital, brasilia. hundreds of people remain in police custody. the co—founder of the bus and coach group stagecoach has been charged with human trafficking offences. dame ann gloag, her husband david mccleary and two other members of their family have also been charged. all four deny the accusations. millions of people around the world are preparing to celebrate the lunar new year on the 22nd of january. for many families travelling across asia,

the year of the rabbit and its festivities are especially significant. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports. it's one of the biggest events for many around the world, and this lunar new year is the year of the rabbit. also known as the spring festival, it is celebrated by china, japan and many other east asian countries. and there's a lot of excitement this year. in china, this will be the first time millions of people can travel without restrictions. these families are making their way from beijing to wuhan, where the covid—i9 virus was first detected. translation: we haven't been back i there for more than three years. i we are afraid of doing this trip. we brought medicines. they are not the only ones taking the risk. train stations in china are seeing a big boost in numbers. but for those flying abroad, there are still checks in place. retailers across asia are pulling out all the stops. rabbit—themed cakes,

rabbit—themed dolls, rabbit—themed relics — you name it, there's a rabbit for it. celebrating the spring festival, president xi jinping acknowledged that 2022 was a hard year for china. there were clashes on the world stage and economic troubles at home, but he said he believed they had bounced back, like a rabbit. translation: the traditional chinese culture sees - the rabbit as auspicious. it is considered smart and agile, pure and kind, as well as peaceful and happy. the auspicious rabbit brings prosperity. not everyone embraces the rabbit, though. vietnam refuses to hop on that bandwagon. translation: | think - the cat is more deserving, because the rabbit is too soft. it does not have the power of a cat. year of the cat or

year of the rabbit, happy lunar new year from the bbc. stay with us on the bbc. hello. milder air is trying to push on from the atlantic at the moment, but it will be a real struggle to get everywhere over the coming days. it is all linked into this zone of cloud which pushes off the atlantic across the overnight period into the atlantic. further light rain or drizzle around into the afternoon, especially across western scotland. a bit of hill snow too into the grampians. increased cloud later across the north and west of england and wales, turning sunshine hazy. for much of england and wales, sunny skies overhead, where fog lingers, a cold day. if you fog patches so far,

one or two if they don't shift, compared to 8—9 in milder conditions in scotland. another batch of rain pushes and later in the night, cloud increases to wales and some western parts of england, so not as cold as last night, but a very cold nights are of central and eastern england. a sharp frost, temperatures down to -7 a sharp frost, temperatures down to —7 for some rural areas compared to plus nine in scotland in rural ireland. that pressure is running around that top area of the atlantic, extending all the way into russia, and under that, it keeps things dry to the south and east. lingering fog patches across parts of east anglia and the saudis. reasonably sunny from the middle midlands eastwards, but a lot more cloud for northern england and wales, temperatures struggling to lift the pier, but a fairly mild day for scotland and northern ireland kabore should brighten up relative to the morning, but further outbreaks of rain in scotland and also edging into irish sea coast. we do it all again on monday. a similar pattern, milderairaround do it all again on monday. a similar pattern, milder air around this area

of high pressure. wetter conditions at times on monday in the north of scotland with that breeze. still potential around these irish sea coast for patchy rain and drizzle. at some sunny spells to the south and east of england, where the fog clears, and some of that fog will lingerjust to or three degrees for parts of east anglia, io—ii again to the north and west of the country. and again, the patent doesn't shift into tuesday. there could be slight changes into the middle of the week of tuesday at least, have parts of northern scotland, we could get as high as 14 degrees. temperatures across some southern areas, you can across some southern areas, you can see across some southern areas, you can see from the london forecast, only lifting to the average for the time of year, but a bit milder across scotland and northern ireland.

this is bbc news. the headlines... president zelensky says he'll keep asking western allies to send modern tanks to ukraine, after a meeting of more than 50 countries ended without agreement. in the uk, labour calls for the conservative party chairman nadhim zahawi to be sacked, after reports he paid a tax penalty, as part of a multi—million pound settlement with authorities. chris hipkins is set to become new zealand's next prime minister, replacing jacinda ardern who announced her resignation on thursday. there are urgent calls to nhs mental health helplines in england going unanswered, because services are overwhelmed. and millions around the world prepare for lunar new year and the year of the rabbit.