welcome to bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: after the blowout, the fallout. diplomatic tensions rise following america's shooting down of china's observation balloon. reports that ukraine's defence minister is to be replaced, following claims of a corruption scandal in his department. iran's supreme leader is to pardon thousands of prisoners, including many who took part in recent anti—government protests. and music's big night is getting under way. we'll bring you the latest from the grammys.

republicans have criticised president biden over the amount of time it took to shoot down a chinese observation balloon that flew across the united states. china has said shooting down the balloon was an obvious over—reaction. the diplomatic fall out is continuing, as warships try to recover the debris. secretary of state antony blinken was due to be in beijing this week, but he cancelled the trip after the balloon was discovered. barbara plett usher reports from beijing. for days, this solitary object floated serenely through us airspace, putting a diplomatic crisis onto television screens in real time. was it a harmless weather balloon, as the chinese claimed, or a spy in the sky? moments after it arrived over the atlantic, the us brought an explosive end to the drama. that trail of white vapour you see on the left of the screen is an american fighterjet heading for the balloon. the second vapour trail is from a heat—seeking missile fired from the jet, easily finding its target. whoa!

did you hear that? shortly after impact, the sound of the explosion was heard by people watching on the ground. then, what was left of the balloon came down in the sea off the coast of south carolina. suddenly we saw something take off from the jet and we knew that was a missile, and you could see the explosion. gosh, it was almost like a moving cloud coming down. it's scary. it's a different way of spying on us, let's put it that way. i the us navy is now recovering debris spread over seven miles in relatively shallow water. down to earth, the us shoots down a suspected chinese spy balloon monitoring us military sites... this was how america woke up to the news on sunday morning. late yesterday, an air force f—22 fighterjet fired a single air—to—air missile into the balloon, bringing it down. president biden was criticised by republicans for not acting sooner, but he chose his own time. i ordered the pentagon to shoot it down on wednesday as soon as possible. they decided...

without doing damage to anyone on the ground. they decided the best time to do that was over water, within a 12—mile limit. china's foreign ministry accused the us of overreacting. the statement said... the incident has blown up a chance to ease tensions between the world's two great powers, with the us secretary of state antony blinken postponing a planned trip to beijing. here in beijing, the foreign ministry in china had been expecting to welcome antony blinken today to talk about stabilising the relationship in carefully planned, carefully choreographed meetings. instead, suddenly, relations have taken a sharp turn for the worse. the visit could still very well take place later in the year. butjust getting here is now

part of the problem. barbara plett usher, news, beijing. amanda shaio is a senior analyst for china at crisis group. she studies china's conflicts and conflict development, as well as developments in foreign policy. does she think the release of the balloon was a calculated move by china or an honest mistake? given that beijing really stood to benefit from this visit by antony blinken, it is unlikely that the leadership had time, the passage of the balloon over the us with his visit. it is likely the leadership was very much of course aware of the balloon programme, which the pentagon has stated takes place around the world and passages of surveillance balloons have taken place over the us before in recent years, so the leadership likely knew that this programme was in effect and implemented, but it is unlikely

that they understood that the timing would come up on the eve of antony blinken�*s visit. some breaking news to bring you — reports are coming in of a strong earthquake that has jolted turkey near the border with syria. with the epicentre in gaziantep, the tremor has been felt accross the region. the united states geological survey said it was of 7.8 magnitude and at a depth of ten kilometres, considered to be shallow. our producer in garzo third he felt a 45 seconds of shaking, everything in the house shook and thought everything would fall. we will bring you more on that when we get it. there are reports that ukraine's defence minister, oleskii reznikov, will be dismissed and replaced with the head of military intelligence. reznikov, a loyal ally of president zelensky, is expected to be moved

to a different post, with the ministry ofjustice named as a possible appointment. in recent weeks ukraine's defence ministry has been embroiled in a corruption scandal over an army food contract, with one of the deputy ministers fired, and another resigning voluntarily. mr reznikov became defence minister several months before the russian invasion. during the war he fostered relationships with western defence officials and helped oversee the receipt of billions of dollars of military assistance. andrew d'anieri is an assistant director at the atlantic council's eurasia center. hello to you. do you think this was inevitable that he was going to have to go? he has not himself directly, there is no suggestion he was involved in the corruption but was head of the corruption but was head of the department. i was inevitable?— the department. i was inevitable? ., ., , , inevitable? not inevitable, but ministry of _ inevitable? not inevitable, but ministry of defence _ inevitable? not inevitable, but ministry of defence mr- inevitable? not inevitable, but| ministry of defence mr reznikov would have been asked to resign and it looks like he will be dismissed tomorrow or later this week. but we have seen

other big scale personnel changes in kyiv after these allegations of corruption in the ministry of defence, including a deputy minister of defence and several other officials in kyiv. there was no indication that mr reznikov was involved or had any awareness of these allegations prior to them coming out, but president zelensky has done place to live an emphasis on dealing with corruption allegations very quickly and swiftly, so that's why we have seen a few waves of dismissals when corruption allegations come up. he dismissals when corruption allegations come up.- dismissals when corruption allegations come up. he is very conscious. _ allegations come up. he is very conscious, isn't _ allegations come up. he is very conscious, isn't he, _ allegations come up. he is very conscious, isn't he, of- allegations come up. he is very conscious, isn't he, of what - conscious, isn't he, of what the west and western allies think of what's going on ukraine particularly with corruption. he has an eye on the membership of the eu is needs to be seen to be acting swiftly when there are allegations of corruption.

absolutely. this is a huge element of continuing massive western support for ukraine, which has been steadfast over the past year. the ministry and zielinski team have made a point of saying that any allegations of corruption will be looked at very seriously and are dealt with swiftly if there are dealt with swiftly if there are grounds for and we've seen exactly that so this is still a strong move in the talansky administration's policy regarding corruption in the world. mr regarding corruption in the world. ~ ., world. mr reznikov has done well in terms _ world. mr reznikov has done well in terms of _ world. mr reznikov has done well in terms of relations - world. mr reznikov has donel well in terms of relations with the allies and getting so much money, supplies and weapons they need. is there a concern that that may falter a bit now with the knee replacement? mr with the knee replacement? m reznikov was very effective, as you say, in working with western allies to get major supplies to ukraine, especially with secretary of defence austin and resnick of was a

huge player and these ramstein format that i've seen defence officials from europe and the us come together with ukrainian officials and arrange aid. reznikov was a key player in that but the ties are so strong and really deep now between kyiv and the worst that soon minister who comes in it will be able to do similar agreements.- be able to do similar agreements. be able to do similar aureements. _, ., ., i. be able to do similar aureements. ., ., ~ ., agreements. good of you talk to us. agreements. good of you talk to us- thank _ agreements. good of you talk to us. thank you. _ agreements. good of you talk to us. thank you. that's _ agreements. good of you talk to us. thank you. that's andrew i us. thank you. that's andrew d'anieri. let's get some of the day's other news. pope francis says laws criminalising lgbt people are a �*sin�* and an �*injustice' and that people who are attracted to the same sex are �*children of god'. the pope made the remarks aboard a plane while returning from an historic visit to south sudan. he said it's �*not right�* for some countries to continue to outlaw same—sex relationships. three children and a young woman have died after a boat carrying more than a0 migrants from turkey capsized. it sank off the greek island of leros, according to coast guards. search operations continue but are being hampered

by strong winds and choppy seas. 41 survivors were rescued, including six children. the presidential election in cyprus will be decided in a run—off next sunday. the centrist former foreign minister, nikos christodoulides, received most votes in the first round but failed to reach the 50% needed to win. he'll face andreas mavroyiannis, who is supported by the leftist akel party. iran's supreme leader is to pardon a large number of prisoners, including some of those arrested during the past months of protests. the move comes on the eve of the anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979 — when some prisoners are traditionally offered amnesty. azadeh moshiri is with us. tell us more. �* , ., azadeh moshiri is with us. tell us more. �*, ., , ., ., us more. it's not unusual for prisoners — us more. it's not unusual for prisoners to _ us more. it's not unusual for prisoners to be _ us more. it's not unusual for prisoners to be pardoned - us more. it's not unusual for - prisoners to be pardoned around the time of the anniversary of the time of the anniversary of the islamic revolution but

what's unusual is that there are so many political prisoners involved. and that some of the prisoners have not even had their verdicts handed down. the timing of this is important given iran has been rocked by months of protests following the death of 22—year—old mahsa amini in police custody last september. it comes to the pardons themselves, there are some big caveats. example, these prisoners would have to pledge in writing that they regret their actions, and people like dual nationals aren't eligible. the dual nationals can become important political tools for the regime later on. people who have committed serious crimes like murder or damage of state property, or even spying for foreign agents are not eligible either. that means those who face the death penalty. that's important because the political prisoners connected to the protests have been executed so far. it's a real danger that they are facing.—

far. it's a real danger that they are facing. why are they doinu they are facing. why are they doing it? _ they are facing. why are they doing it? what _ they are facing. why are they doing it? what are _ they are facing. why are they doing it? what are they - they are facing. why are they | doing it? what are they trying to achieve? _ doing it? what are they trying to achieve? the _ doing it? what are they trying to achieve? the timing - doing it? what are they trying to achieve? the timing is - to achieve? the timing is really important, and this is the biggest existential threat that the islamic republic has faced since its inception. it comes to the timing of ayatollah khamenei ausmat decision, it was after a letter was sent to him by the judiciary framing the protesters, these political prisoners, as young iranians who were led astray by foreign powers, iran's enemies, and that's important because the iranian government tries to frame the protest as riots orchestrated by foreign powers, so this goes towards strengthening about image. it's how they are justifying their brutal crackdown on the people of iran. rights groups have more than 500 people killed during the protests, so we're talking about pardons now the dangers and risks iranians are still facing the country are

very real and present. thanks very real and present. thanks very much. — very real and present. thanks very much, azadeh _ very real and present. thanks very much, azadeh moshiri. l stay with us on bbc news. still to come — bouncing back — trying to boost koala numbers, following australia's devastating bushfires. there's mr mandela, mr nelson mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, has said he has passed the death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, baby doc duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud

farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there steps down from the plane a figure in morning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news. the latest headlines — diplomatic tensions are rising, following america's shooting down of china's observation balloon. reports that ukraine's defence minister is to be replaced, following claims of a corruption scandal in his department. the music industry's biggest night — the grammy awards — is under way in los angeles. big winners are already emerging, as beyonce ties

peter bowes is in la. he has what? the — peter bowes is in la. he has what? the big _ peter bowes is in la. he has what? the big story, - peter bowes is in la. he has what? the big story, and - peter bowes is in la. he has what? the big story, and it. what? the big story, and it could be bigger by the end of the night is beyonce who has now equalled the record number of wins for a grammy of all time. it matches the number of wins by the hungarian conductor, george shotzi, that's 31. there are still categories she is limited for letter in the evening. the last one she won was best r&b song for cuff it and won some earlier that evening. by the end of the day beyonce could be quite a story in terms of the most successful grammy—winning artist of all time. she is nominated for her latest album, renaissance, widely applauded by the critics as an inventive album, a deeply researched album, a deeply researched album, and beyonce, for all her many nominations over the years, has not always been successful in the really big

categories at the grammys alike best album. but it looks like she liked this will be very much a year. if what about harry styles? he's got something as well? yes, winning in the category for best pop vocal album. this was a very tough category, because it was up against adele for a start, who has a really stellar record at the grammy awards. before tonight she had won all of her previous nominations. not to be tonight, she went into the competition with seven for her latest album, 30, but as far as harry styles is concerned, that bodes well for him as we get to those big categories like record of the year, album of the year, towards the end of the night, and it has really been a story for him, going from x factor to boy band star, 11 direction, then a grammy award—winning artist in his own right and

certainly doing extremely well, and i'm sure as we get to those big categories, better things to come. �* ., ., , , big categories, better things to come. �* ._, , , ., to come. and viola davis is now an egot, _ to come. and viola davis is now an egot. you — to come. and viola davis is now an egot, you better— to come. and viola davis is now an egot, you better exclaim . an egot, you better exclaim what that means. it an egot, you better exclaim what that means.— an egot, you better exclaim what that means. it meant she has won a _ what that means. it meant she has won a tony, _ what that means. it meant she has won a tony, a _ what that means. it meant she has won a tony, a grammy, i what that means. it meant she l has won a tony, a grammy, and ask and an emmy, all of the big award shows, egot is the entertainment industry sure hand for somebody who achieves that and it is a very select club. not many people have actually done that, and she managed to achieve it by winning a grammy for the audio recording, in other words the audiobook, of her autobiography. she certainly looked delighted. this was at the earlier ceremony, part of a show that isn't actually televised. she clearly had been chasing that status of egot, and now she's got it. this goes on for hours. _ and now she's got it. this goes on for hours, doesn't - and now she's got it. this goes on for hours, doesn't it? - and now she's got it. this goes on for hours, doesn't it? you l on for hours, doesn't it? you will be coming up on bbc news to tell us about it for the

rest of the night, but it goes on a really long time, doesn't it. do they all sit there throughout dutifully or do people sort of wonder often come back?— people sort of wonder often come back? well, here's the thin , come back? well, here's the thing. they _ come back? well, here's the thing, they should _ come back? well, here's the thing, they should be - come back? well, here's the thing, they should be sitting| thing, they should be sitting there, and i didn't mention to you just a second ago when we were talking about beyonce, what did she say in her acceptance speech? she wasn't there, and the excuse given was that she is stuck as we speak in la traffic, which of course happens to the best of us nearly every day. but you would have thought that she might have thought that she might have got to the show on time. maybe she was anticipating was going to be a very long night. lovely, keep it updated throughout the night. thank you very much, peter bowes for us there in la. in the uk, new pictures of missing woman, nicola bulley, have been released, showing her on the morning of her disappearance. she vanished while walking next to the river wyre in lancashire. police have said their assumption is that she fell into the river, and many members of the local community have joined the search to find her. a key witness, who was pushing a pram near where ms bulley disappeared, ten days ago, has come forward.

here's danny savage. this is nicola bulley leaving home on the day she vanished. in pictures first obtained by the bbc, she can be seen setting off on the school run, putting her spaniel, willow, in the boot. her family released these pictures to show exactly what she was wearing. for days, police have been searching for any trace of the mother of two young girls. today was no different. what did seem very obvious was the large number of other people out, too. this is the bench where nicky's mobile phone was found a week last friday. today is dry and sunny, and the number of people out along here is extraordinary. there are dozens and dozens of people along this stretch, along the other stretches as well, all walking the riverside paths to try and assist in the search. i mean, i know if she went missing in the same way, i would be expecting people to go looking. do you understand what i mean? i would really want there to be a search party.

if it was myself or my eldest, we both takes the dogs out on our own. if it was one of us that was in that situation, i'd hope the community would do the same thing for us as well. i just feel like everybody should be doing their part. she disappeared without trace. police believe she accidentally fell in the river wyre, but it's the not knowing for sure which is keeping people looking. danny savage, bbc news, st michael's on wyre. the head of a prestigious british public school has been found dead, along with her husband and seven—year—old daughter, in a property on school grounds. emma pattison, her husband george, and their daughter lettie, were found dead in the early hours of sunday morning. police said they were confident it was an isolated incident, "with no third—party involvement". ten people have been killed in several avalanches across the austrian and swiss alps over the weekend. tourists from new zealand, china and germany were among the dead, at several

different ski resorts. austrian authorities put in place a level 4 avalanche alert, the second highest, following intense snowfall and wind in the area. the body of former president of pakistan, pervez musharraf, will be flown back from the uae to pakistan, on a specially chartered flight, following his death on sunday. general musharraf took power in a coup in 1999, and ruled for nine years. following the events of 9/11, he supported the us in its war on terror. his loss of popularity and power saw him spend most of his remaining years in exile. our islamabad correspondent caroline davies looks back at his life. as his troops clambered over the fences of pakistani state tv, general pervez musharraf announced pakistan needed the army, not politicians to be in control. your armed forces have never and shall never let you down, inshallah.

musharraf portrayed himself as a liberal, disliking the term "military dictator". when 9/11 happened and the war on terror began, he publicly declared he was with the west, although later he said america gave him little choice. it was a high wire act, balancing us demands with increasingly anti—american, islamist sections of pakistan. musharraf ordered the siege of a mosque in islamabad, whose religious leaders and students had condemned his pro—western policy. the outrage at what happened led to the rise of the pakistani taliban. when former prime minister benazir bhutto was killed, there were questions about whether the nation was safe in his hands. he lost the 2008 election, resigned before he could be impeached and went into exile. when he returned, to try and stand again in 2013, he was arrested. allowed to go to dubai for medical treatment, he was convicted, in his

absence, of treason, which was later overturned. he stayed in dubai until his death. some today praised a man, saying he put his country first. others see the seeds of pakistan's current turmoil planted and growing under his rule. caroline davies, bbc news. they called it the "black summer" — a series of huge bushfires that swept across vast parts of australia. millions of hectares of land were destroyed, and more than 30 people died. an unknown number of animals also lost their lives. now, conservationists are trying to boost wildlife numbers, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. they are one of australia's most iconic symbols. the koala is beloved, but it is also in serious danger. here, at a wildlife centre on the slightly inappropriately named kangaroo

island, they are trying to do something about that, although finding and looking after these animals is easier said than done. it animals is easier said than done. is, , animals is easier said than done. , , done. it can be used, transfusion _ done. it can be used, transfusion sets, - done. it can be used, transfusion sets, a i done. it can be used, i transfusion sets, a long done. it can be used, - transfusion sets, a long net. we usually have two cages on here. we put that on the road. the bushfires of late 2019 and early 2020 were truly devastating. koalas were already listed as a vulnerable species before they began, but the situation was made dramatically worse. by one estimate, 5000 of them were lost, and now there may only be 50,000 of them left in the wild. this facility looks after injured koalas, providing veterinary care, bringing them back to full health. see veterinary care, bringing them back to full health.— back to full health. see how sharp these _ back to full health. see how sharp these are? _ back to full health. see how sharp these are? some - back to full health. see how sharp these are? some will| back to full health. see how - sharp these are? some will then be returned _ sharp these are? some will then be returned to _ sharp these are? some will then be returned to the _ sharp these are? some will then be returned to the mainland - sharp these are? some will then be returned to the mainland and j be returned to the mainland and moved to other parts of the country. slowly, hopefully, animal numbers will start to rise, and may be the koala will

continue to be a symbol of australia for generations to come. tim allman, bbc news. in taiwan, people have gathered to celebrate the lantern festival. locals and foreign visitors launch sky lanterns, after they've written their new year wishes on them. the event is held annually during the lunar new year celebrations. this year is the year of the rabbit, and the first lantern festival since the end of covid restrictions. just a reminder of our top story. republicans have criticised president biden over the amount of time it took to shoot down a chinese observation balloon that flew across the united states. china set shooting down the balloon was a obvious overreaction. the diplomatic fallout is continuing, as warships try to recover the debris. but as all from me for this half hour. you can get me on twitter. plenty more on the stories we are

covering on the website. hello. the weekend was a tale of two halves. we had a weather front with us, and a lot of cloud on saturday, mild atlantic air. sunday brought high pressure with us and clearer skies. now that high pressure stays with us for much of the week, but round the periphery of it, towards the north, as you can see, we'll see, well, cloudier skies at times of weather, windier weather, as well, midweek, but for the most part, that high pressure keeps the weather fronts at bay, particularly in the south, where temperatures are falling away. a little bit of mist and fog, as we head towards morning and around for the rush hour, but with a bit more cloud creeping in across the west of scotland and northern ireland, more limited our frost here. not for eastern scotland, and a much colder start

for england and wales, —3, “4 in rural areas and some ice to scrape off the car. but the fog should lift fairly readily, and it looks like we'll have less high cloud around compared with sunday. so bright blue skies, but more limited brightness and sunshine for northern ireland and western scotland. after the frosty start in the east, though, we could see some sunshine lifting till ten across parts of scotland, ten in belfast. that's a little bit above average. further south, about average. now then, as we go through monday evening and overnight, this weather front starts to take shape across scotland and northern ireland, so, again, limiting ourfrost here, but not in the south. again, a cold night, —3 out in the sticks across countryside areas. for tuesday, therefore, probably more fog in southern areas, and slower to clear, and it could stay grey and cold for much of the day in some parts. then we've got that weak weather front slipping down across northern ireland and northern england, but brightening skies follow across scotland. so i actually think more sunshine for the northwest of scotland, compared with monday. then, as we go into wednesday, those tightly packed isobars arrive, our weather front as well. we could have a spell

of severe gale force winds towards the north, later on wednesday, wednesday afternoon onwards, and it will bring with it, then, wednesday night in particular, a spell of quite significant rain, hill snow. but further south, hopefully a bit more breeze just to lift that fog, less issues around, but certainly the prospect of some more in southern areas, where the winds are a little bit lighter, and again, a frosty start. so as we move into the latter part of the week, we've got that chance of some rain in the north, but the high pressure ruling the roost further south. so i think the main point about this week is that it's going to be largely dry, away from scotland in particular, but there'll be some frost and fog in the mornings and chillierfor a time on thursday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: republicans in the united states have criticised president biden for allowing a chinese surveillance balloon to remain in us airspace for a week before fighterjets shot it down. 0ne senator described it as a "dereliction of duty". navy divers are currently working to retrieve the balloon's payload. ukraine is set to replace its defence minister, 0leksii reznikov, in the highest—profile change, after a corruption scandal in his department. there's been no comment from mr reznikov who hasn't been personally implicated in the procurement scandal involving the purchase of rations at inflated prices. iran's supreme leader is pardoning a large number of prisoners including some of those who were arrested during the past months of anti—government protests. the pardon by ayatollah ali khamenei came on the eve of the anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979.