this is bbc news. our top stories... the bbc hears from two leaders on opposing sides of the war in ukraine. president zelensky warns neighbouring belarus against helping russia launch a new offensive. it will be big mistake, for him and for belarussia, it will be a historical mistake. but belarus' leader alexander luckoshenko tells foreignjournalists he would be prepared to allow his territory to be used again for any new invasion. translation: yes, i'm ready. you say invasion, we have different views of this. i'm ready to provide territory again. in other news... the state of ohio asks washington forfederal support after a train derailment releases toxic chemicals into the air, soil, and water. a year after retiring, the family of hollywood actor bruce willis say his health�*s deteriorated.

he's now suffering from a type of dementia. and stars gather for a fashionable farewell. a memorial�*s held in london for dame vivienne westwood who died in december aged 81. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. two leaders on opposing sides of the war in ukraine have spoken to the bbc in the run—up to the one year anniversary of russia's invasion. ukraine's president zelensky tells us he won't concede territory to russia in any future peace deal to end the war. he insists doing so would leave ukraine weaker as a state and give vladimir putin cause to want to keep coming back. meanwhile, one of the russian leader's staunchest allies, alexander lukashenko

of belarus, has told the bbc he'd be willing to allow russia to launch a fresh ground assault from his country. we'll hear from steve rosenberg in the belarusian capital minnsk in a moment. but first here's our world affairs editor john simpson in kyiv. a year on, president zelensky may be stressed and deeply tired, but there's a definite spring in his step. compared with the last time i met him, four months ago, he seemed a lot more confident, even though russia may soon unleash a new onslaught. translation: they are coming from several directions - and we understand it but we are holding defence. modern weapons, powerful weapons, when we get them, speed up liberation and peace because weapons are the only language which russia understands. the fact is, he knows that his nato friends are slowly giving him

many of the weapons he needs, and he is sure ukraine can hold out until it is able to launch a major counterattack of its own. so he is certainly not minded to make any concessions to russia. translation: any territorial compromises will only - weaken our country. why? it is not about the word compromise. why would we be afraid of it? we have a million compromises in our lives. they happen every day. the question is, with whom? a compromise with putin? no, because there is no trust. dialogue with him? no, because there is no trust. so no question now of agreeing to let russia have any part of eastern ukraine, and, he says, no peace is possible while russia holds on to crimea. and meanwhile, looking back... a year ago, would you have

thought that you would be sitting here, still president, and the war would still be going on? translation: today, - there is already confidence that we will have a positive, victorious result. there is more confidence in that. now, though, belarus is threatening to let itself be used by russian troops for an attack on neighbouring ukraine. it will be a big mistake, for him and for belarussia. it will be a historical mistake. but if belarussia does involve itself with the attack, can you survive? we will fight. we will survive. we will survive, yeah. john simpson, bbc news, kyiv.

well, you heard president zelensky there responding to the possibility that belarus could allow russian troops, to launch a new attack on ukraine from belarusian soil. a year ago, alexander lukashenko granted permission for russian forces to mass on his borderfrom where their gound invasion began. lukashenko is a close ally of vladimir putin but isn't recognised in the west as the legitimate president of belarus. steve rosenberg has more from the capital minsk. few people know vladimir putin as well as he does. alexander lu kashenko, the authoritarian leader of belarus. he has agreed to take questions about the war in ukraine, and his role in it. one year ago, i say, you let russia use your country as a staging ground for invading ukraine. are you prepared to do that again? translation: i am ready to provide territory again | but i am also ready to wage war, together with the

russians, from the territory of belarus, but only if anyone, even one soldier, comes to our land from ukraine to kill my people. a year ago, there wasn't any threat to you from ukraine. you don't understand the situation very well. the usa and western europe pushed ukraine into this war. well, they've got the war they wanted. russian troops in belarus. these were only exercises, but they make ukraine nervous. it is watching closely for any sign of belarus becoming the launch pad for another russian push. mr lukashenko enjoys making the russian troops feel at home. the other thing he does a lot of is accuse the west of fuelling this war. if you continue this escalation, you will get nuclear weapons, and russia has more than anyone. if nuclear war starts,

belarus will cease to exist. so i am saying we need to stop, we need to sit down at the negotiating table because nuclear war will wipe out the usa too. he is offering to host vladimir putin and joe biden in minsk for talks. the us leader will be in poland next week. translation: i am inviting president biden to belarus. | it's not far from warsaw — 30 minutes and he's here. i will persuade the president of russia to come too. we will sit down and reach an agreement. that is unlikely to happen. in the eyes of the west, alexander lukashenko is very much in russia's camp, doing the kremlin�*s bidding. steve rosenberg, bbc news, minsk.

it's indeed an offensive that is prepared and that is beginning to take place. it's an offensive that's taking place in many locations at the same time. but if you look back to one year ago, almost one year ago, when ukraine first faced the russian invasion, it's much better prepared. it also has a year's worth of fighting experience at this point. so it is very well prepared. the only challenge for the ukrainians is that the russians can keep sending in more and more soldiers, more or less motivated, but nevertheless more and more warm bodies that they can add to this offensive. so it's not something to dismiss, but the ukrainians are well prepared. and now, of course, they do have a steady stream of western weapons coming in as well. now, let's talk about belarus and lukashenko. just how important of a role do you think that he has in this? it is an odd symbiotic relationship that putin and lukashenko have. they don't particularly like each other.

but if you don't have many friends in the world, as is the case with russia and is the case with belarus, then you have to get along with the ones you do have and nourish those friendships. and that's why putin keeps relying on lukashenko and lukashenko keeps relying on putin. so when lukashenko says, well, i'm happy to have belarus participate in this war, it's not exactly as if he has a choice to say, no, i don't want belarus to participate, simply because he's very dependent on putin and indeed on russia. so it's less generous than it sounds. and how much do you think russia is likely to make any gains? if we compare this with a year ago and it seems almost like a different world a year ago when russia launched this invasion and said that it was going to take ukraine and to replace the regime, it was talking about regime change, de—nazification.

now, a year later, we are talking about much more modest goals that russia may achieve. a little bit of territory here, a little bit of territory there. these are very, very modest gains that russia may achieve if this offensive is successful. but i think the most important thing is will putin be able to sell whatever gains russia makes as a victory to the russian population? because he needs to sell them something in order to end this war, because otherwise they'll rightly ask, well, what was this about? why have we lost so many men for nothing? let's get some of the day's other news. president biden says three aerial objects shot down by the us in recent days appear to have nothing to do with china. he told reporters they were probably being used by private companies or for research purposes. a special grand jury in the us state of georgia has

found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. donald trump has repeatedly claimed the result was rigged. several witnesses were found to have lied under oath during the investigation. spain's parliament has given final approval to new laws that promote womens�* and lgbt rights. the measures include paid medical leave for women who have painful periods, and making it easier to change a person's legally—recognised gender. one minister described it as a "great step forward" — but it has proved controversial. the white house says the company whose cargo train derailed in ohio two weeks ago will be held to account, as anger continues to simmer in the town of east palestine. residents near the site are reporting headaches and nausea. there's also reports that thousands of fish have died. from east palestine, our north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. the toxic smoke from the rail crash hangs over this

town like a dark cloud. the train was leaving east palestine on febuary 3rd when it went off the tracks, leaving hazardous material. the smell of sulphur still lingers in the air, people say they have been suffering from headaches, they feel ill, their pets are ill, and dead fish have appeared in some of the creeks. for ben, even the sound of trains is now unnerving. he says the noise is getting louder. this morning, waking up before my alarm because there is a train going off with these umpteen horns, and ifeel they are stating they are here, they are not going anywhere, and they are bigger and more powerful than the town and the entities that are put in place to regulate them. like many of the town's nearly 5,000 residents, he is worried about drinking the water. officials say is safe. he isn't taking any chances, though, especially as he has kids. for the town, it's going to be

like a 9/11 moment, it's going to be like a pearl harbor moment where people remember where they were when it happened. the memories are going to be ingrained early on and how they felt early on, that sense of unease and chaos. i feel like there's going to be a before and after from when that happened to living post that situation. the clear—up continues. the rocks have discoloured from where the toxic chemicals spilled. as you can see, a train is once again going through the town. once the evacuation was over, the track opened again, and this is what has upset residents so much — the fact that it has not even been that long since the disaster happened and yet the trains are still going through, carrying substances which they say they don't know what they are, and it is really concerning them. people had a chance to ask questions at a town hall

meeting but norfolk southern which owns the train didn't show up, saying it was worried about security, leaving residents feeling insulted. they feel that they can take advantage of us because we are a smaller town but what rolls through on those tracks is of more value than the lives of the residents in this community. norfolk southern has set aside more than $1 million to help people but residents say it doesn't even begin to address the long—term concerns they have about the environment and their health. nomia iqbal, bbc news, east palestine, ohio. to turkey and syria now, and a 42—year—woman has been pulled alive from the rubble 11 days after those two powerful tremors struck. neslihan kilic had survived for 258 hours under the wreckage of her home near the epicentre in kahramanmaras. her husband and two children are still missing. almost 42,000 people are known to have died.

the united nations has launched a $1 billion humanitarian appeal for the turkish people. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a blast from the past — a letter lost in 1916 has been delivered to a flat in london more than 100 years later. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order but the army defeated in the task it was sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect for the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the reprecussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. explosions.

as the airlift got under way there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being. it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded the next generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they called it mir, russian for peace. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. ukraine's president zelensky warns belarus against helping russia launch a new offensive, but the belarussians say they're happy to back another russian attack. the state of ohio, asks wasington for federal support after a train derailment releases toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water.

here in the uk, there's speculation of a new deal between the uk and the eu on post—brexit trading arrangements, after prime minister rishi sunak travelled to belfast. the northern ireland protocol had allowed goods to travel over the border into the republic of ireland without checks on the northern side. that meant goods were inspected before even reaching northern ireland, creating a border here with the rest of the uk. but that's always angered unionists, who say they've been cut off from the rest of the uk, and until the protocol is changed, they've refused to return to power sharing, leaving northern ireland without a government. here's our ireland correspondent emma vardy. tensions over the northern ireland protocol feel for people here like they have dragged on for a very long time. so if there is this possibility of a deal being agreed early next week, the prime minister's is here and is going to want to try to smooth the way with the political parties. businesses are going to be very eager to hear if it is going to make their day—to—day life

easier, getting goods over from great britain over into northern ireland. but the big question politically is, will a deal pave the way for the dup to go back into power sharing? now, the party firmly believes that the protocol has weakened northern ireland's very place in the uk and there is some scepticism over whether any deal will go far enough to reassure the most staunch unionists. so there is still no guarantee that northern ireland will be getting a government back, at least quickly anyway. hollywood actor bruce willis has been diagnosed with dementia just a year after announcing his retirement because of a condition affecting his ability to speak and write. in a post on social media, ex—wife demi moore said the aphasia diagnosis had worsened and that the 67—year—old now had frontotemporal dementia and that communication was just one of the challenges of the disease. susan dickinson, the ceo of the association for frontotemporal dementia —

ftd — explained more about the condition. ftd is a form of dementia, as we heard from the family's post. most of your watchers will be familiar with alzheimer's which is the most common form of dementia, but ftd is different in three important ways. the first one is it is much less common, many doctors have not even heard of it and that really contributes to a problem getting an accurate diagnosis. the second way it is different is it tends to occur younger, earlier in life. ftd is actually the most common form of dementia in people under the age of 60. the final differences it affects a different part of the brain. so whereas alzheimer's affects the memory centre, and as a result most of the symptoms we are loss of memory, ftd, as its name implies, affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and what we see in people with this disease are changes in language, changes

in executive functioning, changes in behaviour or personality. what changes will mr willis be going through? well, i want to stress i am not familiar with his specific form of the disease or the specific symptoms he is experiencing but what we know is when a person has frontotemporal dementia, what they lose is these abilities to plan and organise their daily actions, and even more importantly, sometimes to understand how their actions are received by other people around them. so, for instance, you might get somebody losing their social filter, saying something rude, or you might get somebody who sees something in a store, a candy bar, and they want it and they will just take it because they lost the understanding of the social rules, you have to pay for something to take it from a store. the final thing i would say is some people lose self—awareness, so they themselves may not realise how much they are changing and why their loved ones around them are upset by those changes.

and just briefly, what advice do you give to any families? what symptoms might they be able to look out for? so, really, it is a confusing array of symptoms and it does happen earlier in life, which is a problem. and as i said before, a lot of doctors aren't familiar with the diagnosis. i would recommend anybody who is worried about things like this find our website, there is a lot of accurate information, it is theaftd.org. specifically, we have a diagnostic checklist people can download. one side in lay terms is the type of symptoms that could be concerning and indicate this diagnosis. and right on the other side for the physician are the diagnostic criteria that lead to the actual diagnoses. i recommend people, if they are very concerned, take that to their physician and they can get started on getting an accurate assessment. susan dickenson, speaking

to me a little earlier. a memorial service for dame vivienne westwood has been held on thursday in london, with famous faces from around the world paying their respects. the legendary fashion designer and environmental activist died in december aged 81. stephanie prentice has more. here to honour the life of a fond friend, victoria beckham in black riveted dress joined by helena bonham carter wearing a classic tartan design for a memorial to the late vivienne westwood. her loss felt strongly by the british fashion scene with models turning out to pay their respects, as well as famous faces from around the world in the fashion, music, and art scene. and while many dressed in black, others brought touches of her signature style with flashes of colour and bold patterns and prints. it was a fitting tribute for the grammar school girl from glossop, a small town in england, who brought punk fashion into the mainstream and quickly built a global brand based on doing

things her own way. the trousers all come with a little loincloth on the back. everybody wants to know what that's for, it's just a loincloth, it's just a gesture. now finally laid to rest, her legacy will continue in both fashion and in culture. with many guests at the funeral reposting vogue magazine's tribute to her, saying that honouring the great english woman properly was a near impossible task. stephanie prentice, bbc news. and now a blast from the past, or rather, the post. a letter lost in 1916 has been delivered to a flat in london more than 100 years later. our correspondent harry low has the story. when this envelope dropped through the letterbox of a south london flat, the recipient was in for a surprise. initially presumed it was from 2016 but then noticed that on the stamp it was actually a king rather than a queen. on closer inspection finley realised it had been sent over a century ago

from bath in somerset. in 1916, george v was king and world war one rationing had yet to be introduced. we were pretty shocked and slightly baffled as to how it could have conceivably happened. and then just really curious. as more than 100 years had passed, he and his girlfriend decided to see what was inside. it's written by someone called christabel to their friend katie who was mrs oswald marsh. she's apologising for what she said to her the other day, it opens with, "will you lend me your aid? i'm feeling quite ashamed of myself after saying what i did at the circle." but obviously it never got through to her. it was posted from one wealthy family to another — christabel mennell writing to herfriend katie marsh, the wife of stamp dealer oswald. for local historians, this arrival offers a welcome window on our past. it doesn't happen every day, no. you could spend days and weeks researching people and then all of a sudden you hit a goldmine and that's what has happened here.

a goldmine, is that how you think of it? i do, yes, because there's so much information just within a couple of days' research. in the statement, royal mail said... it seems a pretty incredible occurrence but i suppose it would have just got hidden somewhere in a sorting office that has been in operation for over 100 years, and someone's dug it up and just stuck it in with the day's post. but pretty amazing that it would be sat there all that time. with many deliveries disrupted during the past few months�* postal strikes, this feels like a case of letter late than never. harry low, bbc london. and that's it for us for now. you can reach me on twitter @lmmisztak.

hello there. the winds are really picking up overnight. we're expecting some travel disruption and perhaps some damage across northern parts of the uk, where the winds will be strongest — particularly over scotland, over the pennines and in the north—east of england, with the peak of the wind strength expected during friday morning. it's all due to this deepening area of low pressure currently heading to the north of scotland. that is storm otto, that will sweep its way down into scandinavia. it's the first named storm of the season, although it was actually named by the danish met service. it'll be a very windy start to friday morning, a very mild start as well. the rain in the south being replaced by showers, but it's the strength of the wind that's the story. could be touching 80 mph in the northern isles for a while, and generally across scotland, gusts of 60 or 70 mph. similar strength over the pennines and some very gusty winds to the east

of the pennines as well. now, the winds do gradually ease down through the day and we'll see this band of thicker cloud with some patchy rain heading down into southern parts of england and wales. other areas should see it brightening up and some sunshine coming through. the showers becoming fewer in scotland as the winds continue to ease during the afternoon. a mild day — temperatures 9 celsius in scotland, highs of 1a or 15 in east anglia and the south—east. northern ireland, though, will turn more cloudy in the afternoon, some rain coming in here as well, and this other area of low pressure comes in overnight. not particularly windy, but it will bring some wet weather for northern areas for a while, maybe some snow over the scottish mountains. most of that wet weather is out into continental europe by saturday morning, leaving behind this band of thicker cloud and patchy rain, southern scotland heading into the central belt. sunshine to the north of that and elsewhere in the uk, we'll see some sunshine at times, there will be some cloud as well. breezy perhaps in southern areas of england. otherwise, the winds are much lighter on saturday and it's another mild day. for the second half of the weekend,

we've got another area of low pressure approaching from the atlantic — that will strengthen the winds during sunday and bring some wetter weather for a while in northern ireland, but more particularly across scotland. and we'll see some patchy rain for northern england as well. further south, it may well be drier, a little bit brighter, perhaps some sunshine in southern parts of england. the winds, though, do pick up, always the strongest in the far north—west of the uk. second half the weekend doesn't look quite so mild, but we've still got temperatures of 10—12 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the bbc has heard from two leaders on opposing sides of the war in ukraine. president zelensky warned neighbouring belarus against helping russia launch a new offensive, but the belarussian leader said he would be prepared to allow his nation to be used for a new attack. staff from the us center for disease control are being deployed to ohio to provide support to the town of east palestine, where a train derailment caused a release of toxic chemicals. the white house says the company who own the cargo will be held to account. the british prime minister is in belfast amid speculation that a deal will be agreed on post—brexit trade rules. rishi sunak will meet political parties to discuss proposals

intended to make it easier for businesses