this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm jane hill. the top stories. nato's head calls for the swift deployment of more advanced weapons to ukraine, saying the war is at a pivotal moment. a special report from afghanistan where the taliban continue to crack down on the rights of women. and calls for the british ex—chancellor nadhim zahawi to stand aside as conservative party chairman during an inquiry into his taxes.

nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg has met germany's new defence minister boris pistorius in berlin, as germany remains under pressure over the supply of tanks to ukraine. after the meeting they told journalists that they'd discussed the issue of battle tanks, but a decision still hasn't been made. according to export rules the german government has to grant permission for any german—made tanks to be exported, even if they are owned by other countries. poland has now sent an official request, and germany has acknowledged its receipt. this is what the nato secretary general had to say. consultations amongst our allies will continue and i'm confident we will continue and i'm confident we will have a solution soon. germany -la s a will have a solution soon. germany plays a key — will have a solution soon. germany plays a key role — will have a solution soon. germany plays a key role in _ will have a solution soon. germany plays a key role in our— will have a solution soon. germany plays a key role in our alliance. - plays a key role in our alliance. the assistance announced by olaf scholz is historic with a special

100 billion euros defence for 4/5—generation aircraft, new helicopters, ships, tanks and ammunition. our correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness, sent us this update. poland's moved to officially request berlin to allow warsaw to send their own german—made battle tanks will further increase the pressure on the german chancellor, olaf scholz, and that's because the german government has to agree to any german—made tanks being re—exported to ukraine according to the export guidelines and rules. the problem is until now, the chancellor and the german government could say we have not received a request so we don't have to make a decision. that request has coming now from poland, so the pressure will be even bigger on olaf scholz to say what he wants to do. the criticism of the german chancellor ec has been unclear, and transparent and not very communicative. a lot of german

voters are asking that they don't understand why the german tanks, these leopard ii tanks are so important and why they should be sent to ukraine or shouldn't be sent to ukraine. all olaf scholz has said so far to voters is he should act with allies together and not do anything on its own which could endanger germany. i think a lot of people in germany, that's not quite enough. i think people want more information and critics would say they want more leadership. on the other hand, there are many voters in germany who say this is an important issue, a dangerous issue and they do not want an escalation and they like the way that the chancellor is weighing up the pros and cons. they view that has a considered and responsible approach. either way, view that has a considered and responsible approach. eitherway, it is a huge issue in germany, a massive controversy and once the issue of whether the german—made trunks owned by other countries are resolved, the next controversy will be whether germany will send its own

tanks to ukraine. so don't expect this issue to die down any time soon. the time and continue to face international condemnation for the treatment of women and girls. it has been a month since they stopped female students attending university and it's unclear whether they will be able to return. we have been speaking to those fighting for change. a basement in kabul, now a place of learning. this 21—year—old used to be a jeweller. she started this secret school seven months ago, running classes for girls of all ages every day. "despite all the risk, i don't want students to forget what going to school means," she tells me. "i want them to still feel they can learn and they should learn." if the taliban authorities find out this secret school is operating, they will be in trouble.

usually, more than 30 teenage girls come here. today, only ten. schools closed for girls over the age of 12 when the taliban first swept to power. in march last year, they were told they could come back to their classes, only to be sent back. translation: when i travel here, i am really frightened. _ the situation is really bad under taliban rule, and we are banned from school, but i want to keep coming here for as long as our schools are closed. the taliban government says the ban is temporary. but a 15—year—old student says she doesn't understand why afghan girls are being denied this basic right. translation: i find it so painful that they are not allowing - us into our schools. this decision is against islam. it is illegal.

why can boys learn and girls can't? winter in afghanistan poses all sorts of challenges. some days, it gets as cold as —21 in kabul. but still, the students and their teacher come. "seeing their passion gives me energy," the teacher tells me. "they are full of hope so i have no choice but to take this risk." it is unclear when these girls will return to their schools. until then, women like their teacher are the only hope they have. yalda hakim, bbc news, kabul. in the uk, opposition parties have called for the conservative party chair, nadhim zahawi, to be sacked now — rather than wait for the outcome of an investigation. the government's independent ethics advisor has been asked to look into mr zahawi's financial affairs, after it emerged he paid a penalty to hmrc over previously unpaid tax while he was chancellor.

he maintains he acted properly. earlier i spoke to our chief political correspondent nick eardley about the situation about the continuing issues around mr zahawi's party chairmanship. those questions have continued to government ministers this morning who have said we need to let the investigation from the ethics adviser play out before we get the feel of the answers, but i get the impression speaking to some conservative mps that they are uncomfortable about the situation, about the cloud hanging over the party chairman, about the impact it has on the government, and a fear it might undermine some of rishi sunak�*s attempts to move on from some of the scandals of the past few years. you will remember you would have heard us talk about the promise for integrity, professionalism and accountability, and this morning on bbc breakfast one conservative mp, caroline nokes, said nadhim zahawi should stand aside during the probe. i think nadhim should stand aside until this matter is all cleared up.

i think the longer it all drags on, the worse it gets for him, so i hope the investigation is swift. actually, i think for his own sake, he should allow there to be some space between him being a government minister and this sort of investigation. i've just been over in parliament chatting to some mps and there is a feeling amongst some conservative mps that if this continues to drag on then things might have to change and the prime minister could be forced to act but nadhim zahawi's view is he did nothing wrong and he always behaved properly and wants to make the case to the ethics adviser during that investigation. the one government minister we have heard from on the airwaves this morning is chris philp and he argued nadhim zahawi should stay in post while the investigation plays out. i think it's reasonable that where there's an investigation that the person concerned is allowed to continue serving while that investigation continues.

we do have a principle, don't we, in this country innocent until proven guilty? that applies in a whole range of different circumstances. the investigation has been launched by the prime minister, that's the right thing to do. there is one thing that is quite uncomfortable for 10 downing street, that i would not be completely surprised if it comes up again over the course of this week, is what rishi sunak knew about nadhim zahawi's tax affairs and when, because the account we have heard from downing street is that at prime minister's questions last week when rishi sunak stood up and said that the questions had been answered in full and he had nothing further to add, that he did not know, the prime minister didn't know at that point that the conservative chairman had paid a penalty as part of his tax bill. the account we had heard from number 10 is that those details started to emerge at the weekend and it was at that point that rishi sunak thought there were more questions to be answered and it was at that point that he ordered a review from the ethics adviser.

it's pretty embarrassing, actually, for the prime minister to not know the extent of what had gone on with his conservative party chairman, so as i say, it wouldn't surprise me if that comes up at some point again, perhaps at prime minister's questions tomorrow. in the meantime, opposition parties say nadhim zahawi should be sacked and rishi sunak needs to take action immediately, but no sign of that happening imminently. the bbc chairman says he is confident he has done nothing wrong and has no plans to stand aside or resign over the borisjohnson loans row. claims have emerged that before his appointment as bbc chairman, richard sharp was involved in securing a loan for the then—prime minister. he's been speaking to our culture editor katie razzall. having had a discussion with the cabinet secretary about avoiding conflict on the perception of conflict, ifelt conflict on the perception of conflict, i felt comfortable and still feel there was no conflict, because at that stage, what i was

seeking to do, was ensure the process was followed exactly by the book and that the process hadn't started, of any kind, in terms of any support that sam was going to provide to the prime minister. d0 provide to the prime minister. do ou provide to the prime minister. do you think you misled the select committee and advisory panel? ida. you think you misled the select committee and advisory panel? ha. i committee and advisory panel? no, i don't. wh committee and advisory panel? no, i don't- why not? _ committee and advisory panel? no, i don't. why not? because _ committee and advisory panel? no, i don't. why not? because i— committee and advisory panel? no, i don't. why not? because i had - don't. why not? because i had clarified and _ don't. why not? because i had clarified and agreed _ don't. why not? because i had clarified and agreed with - don't. why not? because i had clarified and agreed with the i clarified and agreed with the cabinet secretary, both of us had the judgment cabinet secretary, both of us had thejudgment i had avoided conflict or a perception of conflict. but the judgment i had avoided conflict or a perception of conflict.- or a perception of conflict. but do ou or a perception of conflict. but do you understand _ or a perception of conflict. but do you understand that _ or a perception of conflict. but do you understand that at _ or a perception of conflict. but do you understand that at a - or a perception of conflict. but do you understand that at a time - or a perception of conflict. but do l you understand that at a time when the bbc is making great efforts to be impartial, to highlight transparency, that this looks the opposite. i transparency, that this looks the o- osite. , transparency, that this looks the ouosite. , . ., “ opposite. i see attacks on the bbc all the time _ opposite. i see attacks on the bbc all the time from _ opposite. i see attacks on the bbc all the time from the _ opposite. i see attacks on the bbc all the time from the media, - opposite. i see attacks on the bbc all the time from the media, and i opposite. i see attacks on the bbc l all the time from the media, and for example, from social media, and they attack our impartiality and i think the governance we have put in place is extremely strong on impartiality and i'll be talking about that later today. but precisely because we should bejudged by our output. i think the governance is world—class at the bbc, so i feel comfortable

that the bbc brand is strong and i supported that. stay with us. in a few minutes all of the oscar nominations from los angeles. it was another start of the day with big temperature contrasts across the uk and the day panned out to be somewhat cooler than average for england and wales and milder than average across scotland and northern ireland. in the days ahead we will start to rectify the imbalance and we will see this very cold, arctic air pushing in from the south of the uk and the unseasonably mild atlantic air being replaced by something fresher. behind this weather front coming in from the north—west. it will bring some rain into scotland and northern ireland overnight, another mild night to come, somewhat milderfor overnight, another mild night to come, somewhat milder for northern england and wales as well but cold further south with a frost across the midlands, east anglia and the west country and the risk of some

dense patches of freezing fog first thing on wednesday. a little milder in the far south and a bit more cloud around here. as the front slide south across the uk becomes fresher for scotland and northern ireland but actually will bring milder air ireland but actually will bring milderair into ireland but actually will bring milder air into england and wales through wednesday.

hello and welcome. it's awards season, and in the next few minutes we'll find out which actors and film—makers are nominated for the starriest of them all — the oscars. i'mjane hill, and with me for this bbc news special is the film critic, jason solomons. we'll be live in los angeles shortly. first, let's remind ourselves

of some of the top contenders.