this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. our top stories... the us secretary of state says china is considering supplying weapons and ammunition to russia for its war against ukraine. we have seen them provide non—lethal support to russia for use in ukraine. the concern that we have now is based on information we have that they are considering providing lethal support. borisjohnson urges rishi sunak not to drop the northern ireland protocol bill — as speculation mounts of a compromise over post—brexit arrangements. 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. the 76th annual british academy awards take place in london later — with the german—language film all quiet on the western front leading the field with m nominations. hello and welcome to bbc news. it is good to have your company wherever you are watching us from today. the us secretary of state antony blinken has alleged that china is considering supplying weapons and ammunition to russia for its war against ukraine. he was speaking to cbs news after meeting china's top diplomat wang yi on the sidelines of the international security conference in munich. he said he'd warned mr wang of consequences if material support was provided to moscow. mr blinken told cbs that

chinese firms were already providing non—lethal aid for russia's invasion. he was asked if support given to the mercenary group, wagner, amounted to military support for moscow. there is open source reporting that chinese companies are providing. surveillance equipment to that mercenary group, the wagnerl group, fighting in ukraine. does the us consider this to be providing military. support to russia? we've been concerned from day one about that possibility. in fact, if you go back to the very first conversations that president biden and president xi had about russia's war of aggression against ukraine just a couple of weeks into the war, president biden shared with president xi our deep concern about the possibility china would provide lethal support to russia in this effort, as well as engage in the systematic evasion of sanctions. and the reason for that concern was just weeks before the aggression, you'll remember that president xi

and president putin had a meeting in which they talked about a partnership with no limits. and we were concerned that among the lack of limits would be chinese support for russia in the war. we've been watching this very closely. to date, we have seen chinese companies and of course, in china, there's really no distinction between private companies and the state, we have seen them provide non—lethal support to russia for use in ukraine. the concern that we have now is based on information we have, that they're considering providing lethal support. and we've made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship. lethal support. what would that entail? what are you thinking? weapons. that's ammunition. primarily weapons. primarily... there's a whole gamut of things that that fit in that category. everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves. that was antony blinken speaking to

cbs news in munich. our correspondentjenny hill is live for us in munich. there was quite a lot of talk about china and its involvement closer to home, as it were in taiwan but how much is the fact that china is represented at this conference which is not always the case influencing the debate and the discussions happening on the margins? {hind the debate and the discussions happening on the margins? china has been a huge — happening on the margins? china has been a huge focus _ happening on the margins? china has been a huge focus here. _ happening on the margins? china has been a huge focus here. that - happening on the margins? china has been a huge focus here. that is - been a huge focus here. that is because for the duration of this year long war now many of these particularly western leaders gathered here have considered chinese positioning within this conflict is crucial. let's not forget china has refused to condemn the russian full—scale invasion of ukraine and during the last year, ties between moscow and beijing have deepened economically, even politically, you could argue. there are those here who hoped china might

be persuaded to use its not inconsiderable influence with vladimir putin to end this war. many actually think china has been a bit of a restraining hand when it comes to the threats from moscow about the use of nuclear weapons for example. china actually during this conference has announced it has got a plan for peace which it intends to give us details about later in the coming week. but then we hear this morning from washington and thus will really send a shiver down the spine of many senior diplomats who have worried this might be the case for some time, that china might be considering sending weapons to russia for use in ukraine. that of course shift things in a very different direction. china has also been a focus because as many of the world leader said or intimated in their speeches, world leader said or intimated in theirspeeches, if vladimir world leader said or intimated in their speeches, if vladimir putin wins this war that might well embolden other countries and they

are talking about china is one example, to do something similar so there is a sense of nervousness around what china might do with taiwan with vladimir putin to win this war and that again is one of the reasons we had seen such unequivocal message in coming out from western leaders speeches over the past couple of days. they want to support ukraine because they believe it is the right thing to do but they are concerned about the consequences on wider ramifications of a victory in ukraine for vladimir putin. ~ , ., ., , ., putin. the prime minister of namibia soke on putin. the prime minister of namibia spoke on saturday _ putin. the prime minister of namibia spoke on saturday and _ putin. the prime minister of namibia spoke on saturday and she _ putin. the prime minister of namibia spoke on saturday and she was - spoke on saturday and she was speaking from a nonaligned perspective, the majority of countries outside europe, this war in ukraine looks like a kind of self—fulfilling wound by the west and by russia. the consequences are felt much more widely and she was talking about the impact of recession in africa, the disrupted food supplies that kind of millions of people have suffered outside of

europe for a boy they simply do not understand and they do not understand and they do not understand why russia and western countries like the united states and britain and germany are persisting in supporting and funding the war which is causing so much hardship elsewhere?— which is causing so much hardship elsewhere? . ., , elsewhere? yes, and you certainly for a good — elsewhere? yes, and you certainly for a good part _ elsewhere? yes, and you certainly for a good part of— elsewhere? yes, and you certainly for a good part of the _ elsewhere? yes, and you certainly for a good part of the last - elsewhere? yes, and you certainly for a good part of the last year, i l for a good part of the last year, i think we're in the west have fallen into the trap of assuming that the world has condemned the full—scale invasion of ukraine but that is not the case. i spoke with the man in charge of the munich security conference a week or two before it began and he said one of the aims of the conference was to try and bring on side, if you like, what is often referred to as the global south, some of the countries you are referring to, for example africa and parts of asia who do not subscribe to the viewer in the west of what is happening in ukraine and to take a rather dim view example of the us

and its foreign policy. that is something which has concerned a lot of senior diplomats here for some time and no wonder. they know if powerful countries and we see there is now potentially with china, weigh in on the side of vladimir putin, that could change the outcome of this conflict considerably. they want to try and get the other countries like numidia for example, whose leader you mentioned, to understand their perspective but they are under some pressure here because they know those countries are suffering dire consequences as a result of a war they do not really understand. and once brought to an end very quickly. that is of course an aim which everybody here would subscribe to. but i think there is amongst western leaders a sense of resignation that this war will go on for some time. we heard them say that out loud in the last couple of days but that oakley bentley it must be a war that is won by ukraine. ——

but that ultimately. be a war that is won by ukraine. -- but that ultimately.— nearly two weeks on from turkey's devastating earthquake, officials have said most rescue efforts to find survivors will end today. search operations have been winding down for days, as the chances of finding people fade. on saturday, three people were pulled from the rubble alive — although one later died in hospital. the turkish city of antakya is one of the most severly damaged, with residential areas and some significant historic momuments destroyed. our correspondent, caroline davies, is in southern turkey. think i am actually in a diner, 200 kilometres away from the epicentre and rescue efforts have been winding down. here, 12 buildings collapsed and rescue efforts finished earlier this week and in worst hit areas efforts have continued. we know on friday in one province there were

200 buildings still being searched, that has reduced to 98 by saturday and expected to reduce further. in the epicentre of this earthquake there were 19 buildings still being searched. this is not to say or searched. this is not to say or search and rescue efforts stopped entirely but early morning tomorrow will be two weeks from when this earthquake hit. many are starting to lose any hope that there will be more survivors found alive, the last we heard of was yesterday afternoon, no further reports of survivors overnight. having been across this region in the course of the last week, i have seen many families who have waited patiently and hoping desperately for some form of news for their loved ones. and they were hoping they might be able to hear that their loved ones had survived but also as the week went on, many spoke to us and said they expected there might be a body and at least that would give them something to

bury. that would give them something to bu . ., ., . ., that would give them something to bury. caroline, can i ask you one brief point. _ bury. caroline, can i ask you one brief point. i _ bury. caroline, can i ask you one brief point, i think— bury. caroline, can i ask you one brief point, i think a _ bury. caroline, can i ask you one brief point, i think a lot - bury. caroline, can i ask you one brief point, i think a lot of - bury. caroline, can i ask you one| brief point, i think a lot of people have reported, i think we may have lost you, not to worry. i will ask you on another occasion! bereaved syrian families in turkey are desperately trying to return their loved ones to syria so they can be buried on home soil. many crossed the border to escape the syrian civil war but clung to the hope of returning home one day. the bbc�*s nafiseh kohnavard is at a border crossing in southern turkey with families where repatriation efforts are under way. a warning her report contains distressing images from the start. a mother's painful farewell to her loved ones. "take good care of each other", she tells them. the bodies of aisha's three children and two grandchildren are in these bags. they died when their building collapsed in the turkish

city of antakya. her and her husband, along with their four—year—old granddaughter, are the only survivors. they are now sending them across the border to syria to be buried on homeland. the family left idlib to take refuge in turkey, hoping for a fresh start. already broken by years of civil war, they are now completely shattered. wailing. we fled the war but died in the earthquake. we have been here since early morning and in just a few hours we have seen six trucks taking bodies across this border into syria. the police tell us this is a massive operation for them. they are working day and night to help this crossing. in antakya, about a0 kilometres from the border

this is all that's left of aisha's front room. ali was just recently engaged to one of aisha's daughters. he was on a video call with her when the earth started shaking. translation: i didn't know it would be the last time i would see her. when the earthquake happened, she looked at me with fear. i saw her running. she got up while still holding the phone. but then the network went down and electricity was cut off. like many here, ali has had to put his grief on hold. he's part of a team of syrians helping other syrians find their loved ones. but a big part of their homeland has also been devastated by the earthquake, and they are left fending for themselves. translation: we should think about syria. they don't have electricity or clean water. their houses have been devastated

by the bombs and now the earthquake. of course we accept what comes from god, but i should tell the world enough. for aisha, there is one more heartbreak to come as the family finally recovered. the last person they were looking for, the body of their son in law. ten days after the earthquake. south korea's military has held a joint exercise drill involving fighterjets and us strategic bombers in response to north korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. pyongyang said saturday's test of the long—range missile — capable of striking the us mainland — was a warning to both washington and seoul. the us and south korea have already confirmed plans to hold their annual military exercises next month. kim yojong, the powerful sister of north korea's leader, has warned of what she describes as a "strong and overwhelming" response to any "hostile" acts. a uk—based iranian broadcaster, iran international, says it's had to suspend its operations in the uk after threats against its iranian journalists.

the network says it's faced a significant escalation in state—backed threats from iran. the 24—hour channel will continue its output from its washington dc offices instead. one of the channel's editors described the nature of the threats against his london colleagues. 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 formed which probably they were aimed at iran

international. to scotland now — where the first two candidates to replace nicola sturgeon as leader of the snp — and the country's first minister — have put their names forward. here they are — the current scottish health secretary humza yousaf, and former minister ash regan. let's tell you a little about them. ash regan is a8, and resigned from the government in october in protest against a law which would make it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender identity. that is currently caught up in a legal conflict and will be decided in a uk court of law. speaking to the sunday mail newspaper, she said: scottish health secretary humza yousaf, who supports the gender recognition bill, also declared his intention

to stand saying he had the experience needed to govern. he said: i'm joined now by our scotland correspondent catriona renton. that question of independence is really what got us here in the first place. and it is a challenge because there was nicola sturgeon in office for eight years and towards the end of her time, it looked as if the course of independence had not moved much further forward than it was at the start of her eight years? it much further forward than it was at the start of her eight years?- the start of her eight years? it was shot news on _ the start of her eight years? it was shot news on wednesday - the start of her eight years? it was shot news on wednesday when - the start of her eight years? it flu; shot news on wednesday when nicola sturgeon said she was going to resign as first minister and now we

are starting to see the runners and riders coming forward for that position of leader of the scottish national party and that is what the snp is, it coalesces around the issue of independence. the opinion polls as we look at them over a period of time have not particularly changed, that is correct. as a leader, nicola sturgeon, during the pandemic she pulled very high in the opinion polls with people here in scotland. this is a challenge, of course. one of the criticisms i think that has been put out by the reign of nicola sturgeon is that she has not left much of a succession plan, who will take over from her. has not left much of a succession plan, who will take overfrom her. i guess a lot of people were caught unawares about being ready and prepare for a contest but we have seen two of the names widely speculated would put themselves forward have put themselves forward,

the health secretary humza yousaf, beenin the health secretary humza yousaf, been in government for many years. he was thejustice secretary before, now the health secretary and has had to work through the period after the pandemic, of course. trying to stabilise the health service there. he has had a lot of criticism from opposition parties with the state of the health service at the moment, we have heard from ash regan, as you say she resigned as a justice minister in the government of nicola sturgeon because of the gender recognition reform bill. there are other names, keith brown thejustice secretary, expected to come forward, kate forbes, the finance secretary, her name is being discussed is well under the names in the frame, deputy first ministerjohn swinney has ruled himself out as hasjoanna cherry and nominations close on friday with a new leader in place by the 27th of march.—

the former british prime minister — borisjohnson — has intervened in the effort to reform post—brexit trading arrangements in northern ireland. rishi sunak is trying to agree a new settlement with the eu, amid unrest among members of his parliamentary party. mrjohnson has warned mr sunak not to abandon legislation he introduced that would give the government powers to unilaterally scrap parts of the deal. our political correspondent, tony bonsignore, is with me. we talked about this at the start of the weekend, the discussions going on between the uk government and the european commission. we talked about the visit on friday that rishi sunak made to break the northern ireland parties but this intervention will probably not help those discussions? no. although there are already attempts to try and paint it rather differently which we will come to in a moment. we are still at the delicate stage we were yesterday. still so many moving parts to this. there are already very complicated

issues here like the european court ofjustice, the amount of checks that you should have on the so—called green lanes on goods that it is envisaged will come from great britain into northern ireland and stay in northern ireland but beyond all of this as we have talked about, he needs to sell this to not only his own mps but also to convince the people, the businesses and the politicians of northern ireland. this morning we heard from penny mordaunt, the leader in the commons, speaking to my colleague laura kuenssberg who said forget the commons vote, that is not important, what is important is that this gets buy in from all the northern ireland parties which is easier said than done. and i do not think she can completely, the government cannot completely, the government cannot completely ignore a common smoke because it may be coming in a matter of days and as you say, already jostling already noises being made for example from boris johnson.

jostling already noises being made for example from borisjohnson. his intervention, we have not got that from the horse's mouth, the initial thing in the papers, sources close to and friends of, that kind of thing. borisjohnson has many friends and doubtless many sources close to him but in the end it is appearing in the newspaper which are used to work for? yes appearing in the newspaper which are used to work for?— used to work for? yes and it was over the newspapers. _ used to work for? yes and it was over the newspapers. when - used to work for? yes and it was over the newspapers. when you | used to work for? yes and it was - over the newspapers. when you hear a source close to, saw one newspaper and the quote came from a friend who recently spoke to borisjohnson recently spoke to boris johnson which is stretching it slightly! we know what this is coming from, this intervention and it is significant because wedding is potentially doing is mobilising on behalf of a number of mps. we have this, there's been a piece of legislation called the northern ireland protocol bill, very controversial, still working its way through parliament and this is essentially a threat by the uk to rip up the deal that borisjohnson signed in 2019 and what he said today, what his team on sources, whatever you want to call it, what

they say is do not do it, you still need that in your back pocket so this was put to the commons leader penny mordaunt, the suggestion this is not particularly helpful and this is not particularly helpful and this is what she said. i do is not particularly helpful and this is what she said.— is what she said. i do not think this is an _ is what she said. i do not think this is an entirely _ is what she said. i do not think this is an entirely unhelpful - this is an entirely unhelpful intervention. i mean, ithink the prime _ intervention. i mean, ithink the prime minister would give credit to his predecessors for enabling us to -et his predecessors for enabling us to get this_ his predecessors for enabling us to get this far, we have the bill and the command paper that was produced at the _ the command paper that was produced at the time _ the command paper that was produced at the time. and in part it is because _ at the time. and in part it is because of that that we are now able to have _ because of that that we are now able to have these negotiations on the eu is talking _ to have these negotiations on the eu is talking about things that previously it said it would not talk about _ previously it said it would not talk about. �* , ., , previously it said it would not talk about. �*, ., , ., , about. it's not unhelpful for boris johnson to _ about. it's not unhelpful for boris johnson to satan _ about. it's not unhelpful for boris johnson to satan rishi _ about. it's not unhelpful for boris johnson to satan rishi sunak- about. it's not unhelpful for boris i johnson to satan rishi sunak better not water— johnson to satan rishi sunak better not water down _ johnson to satan rishi sunak better not water down my— johnson to satan rishi sunak better not water down my brexit _ johnson to satan rishi sunak better not water down my brexit deal - johnson to satan rishi sunak better not water down my brexit deal and i not water down my brexit deal and water _ not water down my brexit deal and water down — not water down my brexit deal and water down my— not water down my brexit deal and water down my bill— not water down my brexit deal and water down my billjust _ not water down my brexit deal and water down my billjust add - not water down my brexit deal and water down my billjust add a - not water down my brexit deal and i water down my billjust add a sense at a time _ water down my billjust add a sense at a time when _ water down my billjust add a sense at a time when he _ water down my billjust add a sense at a time when he is _ water down my billjust add a sense at a time when he is trying - water down my billjust add a sense at a time when he is trying to- water down my billjust add a sense at a time when he is trying to get. at a time when he is trying to get something — at a time when he is trying to get something over— at a time when he is trying to get something over the _ at a time when he is trying to get something over the line? - at a time when he is trying to get something over the line? it- at a time when he is trying to get something over the line? it is. at a time when he is trying to get something over the line?- something over the line? it is a reminder to _ something over the line? it is a reminder to the _ something over the line? it is a reminder to the eu _ something over the line? it is a reminder to the eu the - something over the line? it is a reminder to the eu the boy - something over the line? it is a| reminder to the eu the boy that something over the line? it is a - reminder to the eu the boy that they have to _ reminder to the eu the boy that they have to get _ reminder to the eu the boy that they have to get over but ultimately it

is not _ have to get over but ultimately it is not about what boris johnson or any members of the house of commons think about _ any members of the house of commons think about a _ any members of the house of commons think about a deal. it is what the people _ think about a deal. it is what the people of— think about a deal. it is what the people of northern ireland think. | people of northern ireland think. i think people of northern ireland think. think the people of northern ireland think. i think the second part of that is definitely true but i am not sure about the first and i am not sure she will say that in a few days if we had to vote in the commons! particularly winning over those recalcitrant backbenchers especially those who feel strongly about this issue of the european court of justice having final say on the cases that are in dispute between europe and the uk over these inspections under rest of it. presumably the latent fear is that this is, you could say there is a chance for boris johnson this is, you could say there is a chance for borisjohnson to put up or shut up. if the government persists and tries to scrap this and he finds a way through the commons to mobilise supporters we had the potential to see a rebellion? yes and potentially _ potential to see a rebellion? yes and potentially a significant rebellion but we do not know by how much. if we get the vote this week

it will be another one of the set pieces that political hacks like me love but the last ones we saw really were in 2019 when there was the threat of jeopardy were in 2019 when there was the threat ofjeopardy but things are so different and so this will be a test of how powerful or what's called the european research group, a hardline brexit supporting mps, it may be that rishi sunak decides this is the time to test them. and maybe, just maybe this is the time we discover they are not quite as powerful as they are not quite as powerful as they used to be.— they used to be. one last brief note, they used to be. one last brief note. the _ they used to be. one last brief note, the pressure _ they used to be. one last brief note, the pressure on - they used to be. one last brief note, the pressure on this - they used to be. one last brief note, the pressure on this is i they used to be. one last brief- note, the pressure on this is coming from washington and there had been told thatjoe biden would want to mark the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement? that deadline looms, the good friday agreement? that deadline looms. the 25th _ good friday agreement? that deadline looms, the 25th anniversary _ good friday agreement? that deadline looms, the 25th anniversary of - good friday agreement? that deadline looms, the 25th anniversary of the - looms, the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement and the government wants to see that the set from the us and the support for its policies and so i think they are desperate to get this wrapped up in the next few weeks before the

anniversary. the next few weeks before the anniversary-— anniversary. tony, fascinating stuff, anniversary. tony, fascinating stuff. thank — anniversary. tony, fascinating stuff, thank you. _ anniversary. tony, fascinating stuff, thank you. we - anniversary. tony, fascinating stuff, thank you. we will - anniversary. tony, fascinating stuff, thank you. we will have anniversary. tony, fascinating - stuff, thank you. we will have more on that throughout the day here on bbc news. we will be back shortly. hello. it was worth getting up early this morning for the beautiful sunrise many of you enjoyed. this was one of our weather watcher pictures sent in from brighton and another one from the north—east of england, from northumberland. thank

you. today i think for most parts of the country it will be brighter compared to yesterday, somewhat sunny spells going around but we have thick cloud heading into scotland. weather fronts have thick cloud heading into scotland. weatherfronts bringing scotland. weather fronts bringing heavy scotland. weatherfronts bringing heavy and persistent rain and it will get quite windy through the afternoon, gusts reaching 50 miles an hour. in the south there is cloud across england and wales, bigger gaps in the cloud so more sunshine to go round and it will be a mild day, temperatures 11—13 . overnight it will be windy again, in northern scotland gusts reaching as much as 70 miles an hour, strong enough to bring localised disruption and a band of rain edging into scotland associated with the strong winds. in the south the wind picks up ringing some cloudy weather into western portions of england and wales with some patches of drizzle and a very mild night and temperatures will stay into double figures for some of us. looking into tomorrow we have

these weather fronts stretched across scotland bringing outbreaks of rain. cooler air across the north of rain. cooler air across the north of scotland and you see some bright orsunny of scotland and you see some bright or sunny spells in orkney and shetland and parts of the north highlands. in the south of mild flow of south—westerly winds, patches of drizzle to start the day in the west but through the day a lot of dry weather and some bright and sunny spells coming through. miles across eastern england, 16 in norwich, 8 degrees above average for the time of year. the mine south—westerly winds back on tuesday, extending north across scotland so northern scotland temperatures will rise, 13 degrees in aberdeen, often the weather will be cloudy on tuesday and with some bright sunny spells breaking through from time to time. a change in the weather pattern in the middle of the week, we lose the south—westerly winds and swap for north—westerly winds, bringing cooler conditions, temperatures on wednesday closer to average for the

time of year and the weather turning brighter later in the week.

now time for political thinking with nick robinson. hello and welcome to political thinking. it's not every week that a political party declares that the man who led it in the last election, the man the party proposed to be our next prime minister is now considered unfit to be a member of parliament. that is what happened this week when keir starmer declared that his predecessor, jeremy corbyn, would not be representing the labour party at the next election. my guest on political thinking this week is one of those who is urging keir starmer on. steve reed, labour's shadowjustice secretary was part of a group

that tried to keep people in the labour party when many