welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories — western leaders put forward a unified front, as they call for military support for ukraine in its fight against russia, just days before the first anniversary of the invasion. ukraine needs more artillery, armoured vehicles and air defence, so now is the moment to double down on our military support. a uk—based iranian broadcaster, which has covered anti—government protests in iran extensively, says it's had to suspend its operations in the uk, following threats against its journalists. we visit the turkish city of antakya, where some of the country's significant historic monuments lie in ruins, after the earthquakes that have killed more than 16,000 people.

translation: this was - a beautiful area we took our groups to, all down turkey houses, all down turkey streets. all destroyed, unfortunately. hello there. welcome to the programme. welcome to the programme. just days before the first anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine, western leaders have appealed for countries around the world to unite in providing long—term military support for kyiv. speaking at a security conference in munich, rishi sunak said russia was betting the west would lose its nerve, and now was the time to "double down" and provide more weapons. a separate meeting of g7 foreign ministers in the city agreed to tighten sanctions against moscow, and quickly provide more weapons to kyiv. our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports from munich.

this is a conference like few others — a chance for western allies, yes, to put on a show of unity, but also a chance to reaffirm their support for ukraine and demonstrate their resolve to stay the course. so today the prime minister urged allies to double down on their support for ukraine, and called for a new nato charter to ensure its long—term security. but he also said this. ~ ., v ., security. but he also said this. ~ . �*, . , , this. what's at stake in this war is even _ this. what's at stake in this war is even greater - this. what's at stake in this war is even greater than i this. what's at stake in this| war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation. it's about the security and sovereignty of every nation, because russia's invasion, its apparent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in. with that argument was echoed

by america's vice president, said in country would be safe if russia could violate territorial integrity. and as for the ~ ., territorial integrity. and as forthe ~ ., , ., ., for the we know the standard and there _ for the we know the standard and there is _ for the we know the standard and there is no _ for the we know the standard and there is no doubt - for the we know the standard and there is no doubt these l for the we know the standard i and there is no doubt these are crimes against humanity. applause in other words, this war is about more thanjust in other words, this war is about more than just ukraine, an argument yet to be accepted by some leaders in africa and asia, who say it is damaging their economies, and they want peace fast. we their economies, and they want peace fast-— peace fast. we suffer disruption _ peace fast. we suffer disruption of - peace fast. we suffer disruption of supply l peace fast. we suffer - disruption of supply chains, increasing prices, recession of the economy. this money by russia and the west that is used to buy weapons, to enable russia and ukraine to kill one another, could be better utilised to promote development. it utilised to promote development.- utilised to promote develoment. , ., , development. it is opinions like that that _ development. it is opinions like that that is _ development. it is opinions l like that that is concentrating minds here, with western

policymakers realising that, even after almost a year of war, they have still yet to convince some countries that it's right to arm and defend ukraine. so this war is being fought on the snowy plains of eastern ukraine, but there is a diplomatic battle too, and the west is realising it has work to do. james landale with report. the munich conference also provided the backdrop for the first high—level meeting between the us and china since the us shot down what it said was a chinese spy balloon. antony blinken said he told his chinese counterpart wang yi the incident must never be repeated and warned beijing against providing weapons to russia. beijing, for its part, accused the us of a overreaction in shooting down what it says was a weather balloon. we're joined now by prof of political economy, ho—fung hung, from johns hopkins university, who studies sino—american relations. professor, thank you very much for being with us. china says this was an overreaction on

america's part. was it an overreaction?— america's part. was it an overreaction? actually, after us detected _ overreaction? actually, after us detected the _ overreaction? actually, after us detected the chinese - overreaction? actually, after us detected the chinese spy| us detected the chinese spy balloon and later found out it is actually not the first time that a chinese spy balloon has shown up in us skies, and also in other countries. then shooting it down over the ocean, and now they retrieve it, is a kind of action of caution, and definitely, and some people speculate that china might take action to sue the us for compensation of the downed balloon, buti the us for compensation of the downed balloon, but i don't believe that china would pursue this course, and i hope that after these heated exchanges and mutual condemnation on the incident, that they could forget, people can forget about it and we want a more important issues. fits it and we want a more important issues. �* , , ., it and we want a more important issues. ~ , , ., ., , issues. as you mentioned, this issues. as you mentioned, this is not the _ issues. as you mentioned, this is not the first _ issues. as you mentioned, this is not the first time _ issues. as you mentioned, this is not the first time one - issues. as you mentioned, this is not the first time one of - is not the first time one of these balloons has appeared in american skies. i think ten or so over the last year. strong

words from mr lincoln, warning china against incursions into us airspace, but is this likely to deter beijing? i us airspace, but is this likely to deter beijing?— to deter bei'ing? i think it is kind of a — to deter beijing? i think it is kind of a pattern, _ to deter beijing? i think it is kind of a pattern, that - to deter beijing? i think it is i kind of a pattern, that besides balloon we see that china has been dispersing for example fishing boats in the south china sea, with regard to its territorial dispute with its labour in the contested territory, so it has kind of been a pattern that china used this kind of apparently less threatening kind of vessels or means or equipment to expand its actions and influence and freedom of movement, so this kind of balloon programme, as the us has now found out that china has kind of an elaborate balloon programme for surveillance and spying, and i don't think china will cancel it. maybe it will be more cautious in sending a balloon into the us skies, but i would

believe that china will continue to do it over the territorial space, air space of other countries, if they have been doing it for a while. it is important to zoom out here and look at the bigger picture, because of course the us aligned with europe and its nato allies, in particular when it comes to what we mentioned in the introduction, russia and its invasion of ukraine. china more likely to side with russia on that front, and the us doesn't want china supplying weapons to moscow. how does this affect both the dynamics there? it this affect both the dynamics there? , , . . ., this affect both the dynamics there? , ,~ u, ,, there? it is very crucial issue because right _ there? it is very crucial issue because right now, - there? it is very crucial issue because right now, of- there? it is very crucial issue | because right now, of course, russia is suffering a lot of losses, in terms of the wounding and also the death of its soldiers, but also there is an affirmation that russia is also seeing its ammunition and weapons supply being depleted very fast, and it will definitely affect russia's

capability to continue in the war and the invasion of ukraine. if china really supplied russia with for example missiles or chips that can be used in missiles and all these ammunitions and weapons, and it would definitely prolong russia's capability in engaging in the invasion, and it will be kind of quite a big factor. so why —— it is why the us and international community should concerned about it.— concerned about it. thank you, professor- _ concerned about it. thank you, professor. thank _ concerned about it. thank you, professor. thank you. - a uk—based iranian broadcaster, iran international, says it's had to suspend its operations in the uk, after mounting threats against its iranian journalists. it comes after what the network calls a significant escalation in state—backed threats from iran. the 24—hour channel will continue its output from its washington dc offices, instead. a little earlier, i spoke to our reporter sofia bettiza, who's been following the story.

this was a difficult decision for iran international. the tv network said that it was acting on advice from the metropolitan police. and just to give you a bit of context, rich, in november, two british—iranian journalists were told by police that there was a possible threat to their lives. so, after that, armed police were stationed near their offices in west london. but on saturday, the network said that the threats had grown to such an extent that it felt it was no longer possible to protect its staff. in a statement, they said, "this is notjust a threat "to our tv station, but to freedom of speech "and to the british public at large." now, a senior editor for iran international spoke to the bbc a little earlier. let's have a listen. what we heard from the police was that the amount of the threats was so much that, actually, the security

concerns mounted and it was not possible to maintain the security of the personnel. we know that this has not been a single issue, this has been a continuous effort against iran international. the metropolitan police said that there have been 15 kidnapping and assassination attempts which were foiled, which probably they were aimed at iran international. sofia, this can be traced back to september, when a young woman, mahsa amini, 22 years old, died at the hands of iran's morality police for not wearing her hijab properly. pressure really has been mounting on the regime there ever since. that's right. the timing of this is significant. as you just mentioned, iran has seen anti—government protests over the last five months, which have posed one of the biggest threats to the islamic republic since the revolution in 1979. now, the network is already

banned in iran but it's become one of the main sources of news in a country where internationaljournalists find it very, very... i mean, independentjournalists find it very, very hard to operate, and that is why in october, iran's government imposed sanctions against iran international, accusing them of inciting riots and supporting terrorism over their coverage of the government protests. now, iran international said they will continue to operate in their offices in washington, dc, and that their staff will not be silenced by these threats. turkish rescue teams have located more survivors of earthquakes that struck almost two weeks ago. a total of more than 16,000 people are now known to have been killed in turkey and syria, with millions left homeless.

the turkish city of antakya is one of the most severely damaged, with residential areas and some significant historic monuments destroyed. caroline davies reports. the devastation only gets closer. until you weave in the gaps between the slipped slabs of concrete, deep into the old city of antakya. for 20 years, mehmet led tourists around these ancient streets. now, even he can't find his bearings. "everything has changed," he says. stones and debris of collapsed homes block our path at almost every turn. translation: this was - a beautiful area where we took our groups to. old antakya houses, old anta kya streets, all destroyed, unfortunately.

known as antioch, in roman and medieval times, this city has been significant forjudaism, islam, and was one of the earliest centres of christianity. now, the gaping arches are all that remains of the orthodox church here. bell towers and minarets crumbled. outside a restaurant, mehmet makes a call to the owner. i'm afraid to call people, because i don't know if they are dead or alive, so i'm scared. i am relieved to hear your voice. the owner is alive, but his business partner and their entire family have been killed. this was how these streets used to look. full of life and noise. now drained and empty. outside a butcher's shop, this man weeps for his nephew who used to work there.

"my dear one has gone, the world has ended for me," he says. across antakya, the devastation is still raw. but mehmet is taking comfort in the city's history and its record of resilience. so many cultures and civilisations have been and gone here. it has been destroyed and rebuilt, and this time it will be reborn again. caroline davies, bbc news, antakya. you can follow that story on the bbc news website. this is bbc news. the headlines: western leaders put forward a unified front as they call for military support for ukraine in its fight against the russian invasion — but britain's prime minister says the country needs more support. we will stay with that story now. daniel davis is a foreign

policy analyst specialising in defence and told me more about the challenges around supplying equipment: it still won't be enough to drive rush out, second issue. then we have get to the objective of all of this. well, and that's a good point because the pledges and the promises are one thing but putting that into practice is is a completely different matter. i mean, case in point, we're coming up for the year anniversary of this invasion and ukraine is only now getting tanks from germany and poland. what are the practical challenges with getting military hardware to ukraine? yeah and, you know, and they're just now getting the pledges. i mean, only a handful of tanks have come across right now and like, for example, the american abrams tanks that are promised might not be there for a full year, they may not even get there until early �*24, and even the german tanks, they're now — they're talking about the leopard 2s, the more modern ones, being fewer of them than they thought, so now they're going to give a lot of the older ones,

which is not that much of an upgrade over the t—72s that they already have, so the issue with using these things is the bigger issue because you have to be trained notjust how to use the tank, notjust how to pull the trigger and drive the vehicle but you've got to learn how to operate it in combined arms warfare. as someone who's done it and as someone who's trained others to do it over many years, i can tell you that it's much, much more difficult than people seem to understand and to ask ukraine to go on the offensive may be, you know, the spring or summer when they haven't even gotten all of the equipment yet while they're still fighting for their life on the current line of contact is a very big ask. more recently, when volodymyr zelensky visited europe, he said what we really need from the west is fighterjets. do you think he'll get them? you know, i mean, iwould've thought some of these other things they wouldn't have gotten and everything else on the list is fallen and i understand the british prime minister earlier today said that long—range rockets and missiles were now going to be on the list in things they could give,

so i can't imagine that fighter jets would not be but, man, people need to understand that's the most sophisticated piece of equipment that there is. the training for that, just how to operate those things, is usually measured in years for pilots and i don't think people need to have a — or they need to have an expectation that this is not going to change the war because it's probably going to be a long time before that actually hits the ground. sticking sticking with the munich conference. a conversation between rishi sunak and ursula bond aligned. rishi sunak said a deal on post—brexit trading arrangements between the eu and uk was by no means done. he met the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, on the sidelines of the munich security conference. they said there had been very good progress towards finding a solution but intensive work was still needed. our political correspondent, ben wright reports. after a dash to belfast on friday, today, a meeting in

munich. while this summit in germany is focused on ukraine, rishi sunak and eu leaders seem to be edging closer to a deal on an issue which has soured relations for ages — the rules governing trade between great britain and northern ireland. we're working through them hard and intensely with the eu but we are by no means done and there is no deal that is done. there's work to do and that is what we will set about doing. the northern ireland protocol is a product of brexit, the decision, approved by the uk and eu, to effectively put a trade border down the irish sea. it means goods can travel freely between northern ireland and the republic. but many unionist politicians hate the way it has disrupted trade and treats northern ireland differently from the rest of the uk. after rishi sunak�*s talks today with the head of the european commission, downing street said there had been very good progress to find solutions, so what might those be? a big sore for the uk has been the role of the european court ofjustice in settling disputes — compromise on that will be tough. more straight forward, a so—called green lane for goods staying in northern ireland and a red lane

with more checks on goods heading south. that should mean lighter regulation for firms trading within the uk. politically, this is a very tricky needle for the prime minister to thread. first, he wants a deal that meets the concerns of unionist politicians in belfast and persuades them back into government at stormont. second, he needs to think about his own tory mps here. will it be sellable to the brexit purists who want much of the current protocol ripped up? labour has said it would support a new deal but rishi sunak might be very wary of trying to get a plan through parliament on the back of labour votes. third, of course, he needs the eu to agree that it's time to do a deal. there is a willingness on both sides to find a compromise, to find a way out, and it's important for the eu but also important for the uk. applause. there has been a clear shift in tone as both sides look to finalise a deal that could mark a reset in uk—eu relations for the first

time since brexit. but for rishi sunak there are still big political hurdles to clear. ben wright, bbc news. in new zealand, the death toll from cyclone gabrielle has risen to ii, but the prime minister, chris hipkins, says that figure is bound to rise. the cyclone hit new zealand's north island last sunday, causing widespread devastation. a slow recovery process is ongoing in the affected areas. in some areas, new zealanders are taking things in to their own hands — including blocking roads to stop looters. earlier, i spoke to jasen syms, a british expat living in hawkes bay, new zealand. i asked him what it's like where he is. well, where i am at the moment is pretty much like paradise, because i have walked a mile over the hills, got picked up by a friend and then brought down into this part of the city where there is actually reception where we are, and the vast majority of hawke's bay is just devastation. the numbers you just mentioned about loss of life,

that is absolutely so far from what we will be. it has been absolutely devastating for hawke's bay. the morale of the people is low, but incredibly nicked together. i mean, communities arejust helping each other. we do have the horrific side that you just mentioned, where we have got, you know, the pack wolves of society which are just literally feeding off people's sadness and misery. one of the reasons why it has been so hard to inaudible to you guys, i presume, is that the cell towers, as soon as vodafone or 02 or whoever it is putting generators to give help for people to actually contact loved ones or such things, they are stealing the generators. holding up people at gunpoint. it is just absolutely unbelievable. anyway, that's something that

needs addressing in new zealand as soon as this catastrophe can be somewhat put back on the right axle, which is going to be a lot of years — i mean, hawke's bay is the fruit bowl of new zealand. it is not going to be for a lot of years, a lot of years — decades, maybe. you mentioned the problem with the cell towers there and just the other day, chris hipkins said it,500 people still couldn't be contacted. is that what you're still hearing? well, 4,000 — what we're hearing here is 4,000 people unaccountable for, that's why — i mean, the government's downplaying, same as what i've been listening to the horrific — the first time i've heard anything about turkey and syria for probably five or six days, you know, the last time i heard the death toll was probably at about 15,000. and what's it up now to? nearly 50. it will be not them numbers here but it's certainly

going to be vastly more elevated than what they're actually reporting in the media down here, or what they're told to report in the media. very, very sad times. you're talking about the community working together and the problems you're having with looters. are you getting enough support from the government, from law enforcement, or are therejust not the resources to deal with it? well, to be fair, i don't think there's the resources to deal with it, not something on this scale in such as a small populated country. i mean, we've only got barely — well, just over 5 million people and for a landmass which is larger than the whole of the great — you know, great britain or the british isles. so, i mean, trying tojust do a sprinkling of, you know, emergency service over such a large area as well is just, i mean — hawke's bay is larger than yorkshire, which is where i come from. but, i mean, look my story is insignificant. i mean, we've got it bad — we've lost everything — but, i mean, my situation is — pales into insignificance to what audio cuts outjust slightly further up the valley | where we are.

where there's houses, scores of houses just disappeared and, you know, people who have — they're still probably still finding people in loft spaces and, you know, the odd people who got onto roof spaces, perhaps onto roofs were pretty much marooned there for hours and hours and hours on end before — i mean, the amount of helicopters, it's just like watching — it's like watching a vietnamese movie, you know? it's just unbelievable. jason sims speaking to us earlier on. 12 south african cheetahs have arrived in india as part of a project to reintroduce the animals to the country. it's the second batch of big cats to be transferred to asia after south africa agreed to relocate a hundred of them over the next decade. stephanie prentice reports: an arrival normally reserved for visiting world leaders or film stars but this helicopter carrying even more precious cargo for the park rangers waiting here — the first of a new batch

of cheetahs shipped over as part of a deal with south africa. crowds gather to see it enter a gated holding enclosure, emerging excitedly and maybe slightly dazed by the flight. applause. this animal held here briefly to adapt to hunting and regain full fitness before being released into a national park. translation: i'm veryl happy to inform you that all the cheetahs are completely healthy and very active. they're being released in kuno national park today and they are very alert, active and perfectly normal. cheetahs were declared extinct in india in 1952 after being used for hunting and shot for sport. now, they'll be protected by officials here as part of what they're calling the �*cheetah action plan'. stephanie prentice, bbc news. incredible. that's it for us,

for now. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @richpreston. do get in touch. hello. we've a fair amount of cloud out there, a little bit of drizzle here and there, too. how about sunday overall? well, actually, for many of us, it's not looking too bad. a fairly bright day, not necessarily all that sunny but it will be generally dry — at least across england, wales and northern ireland. now, from the motion of the cloud, you can see the weather's coming in generally from the south—west. that's a mild direction, so it is mild out there. and notice this large area of low pressure just sweeping to the north of us. now, it's not mild everywhere — in fact, in eastern scotland through the early hours, temperatures will be pretty low and after the damp weather, there is a chance of one or two icy patches but in contrast, the rest of the country really

will be very mild indeed sunday morning — around eight degrees in many major towns and cities. so, in the north—west, rain and gales — in fact, the gales may strengthen as we go through the course of the day. really windy around the north coast of northern ireland, too, but elsewhere, yes, a breezy day but that bright day and some sunny spells possible, too. temperatures will be typically around 12 degrees or so. now, let's have a look at sunday evening and the gales continue to strengthen across the north of scotland, turning severe as we head into monday, and it's all because of this low pressure. you can see a lot of isobars there. tight pressure gradient — that means strong winds. but to the south of the low pressure, we have a mild south—westerly spreading — at least, across the bulk of the uk. so, here's the forecast for monday, then, and you can see these mild south—westerlies, yes, dragging in a fair amount of cloud, but a few breaks in the cloud as well, and temperatures could actually get up to around 1a or 15 degrees. different story to the north with gale force winds. it's cold — only seven degrees in lerwick.

the forecast for tuesday continues to show these milder south—westerlies across the bulk of the uk so it stays, of course, mild, but this weather front is approaching and that heralds a change for later on in the week. in fact, behind that weather front, we'll see slightly colder air arriving from around wednesday and into thursday. it's not going to turn particularly cold but those temperatures will be widely into single figures. you can see by the time we get to wednesday and thursday, the temperatures are closer to around nine degrees but, you know, overall, it's still on the mild side.

this is bbc news, the headlines: western leaders have put forward a unified front as they called for military support for ukraine in its fight against russia just days before the first anniversary of the invasion. britain's prime minister rishi sunak said the sovereignty and security of every nation was at stake. a uk—based iranian broadcaster which has covered anti—government protests in iran extensively says it's had to suspend its operations in the uk following threats against its journalists. it comes after what iran international called a significant escalation in state—backed threats from iran. the number of people confirmed to have died in the earthquakes in syria and turkey has risen above 16,000. millions are also left homeless. the turkish city of antakya is one of the most severly