welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories... on the first anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president zelensky hails his nation's year of invincibility and said it would do everything to win. translation: it's important for everyone to focus - and then we'll have victory because the righteous is on our side. on the eastern front... we have a special report on the battle for one strategic town. the front line is about 500 metres away. they say russian troops are trying to advance but they are holding them back. in other news, large parts of southern california are struck by record—breaking blizzards and freezing temperatures. and roald dahl�*s multi—million selling children's books are to be printed in their original

form after a backlash against editing them for modern audiences. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. president biden has ruled out sending f—16fighterjets to ukraine, saying the planes are not needed for now. it comes despite increased pressure from ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky for urgent air support to help protect its skies from russian attacks. president zelensky has marked the first anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine by hailing his nation's year of invincibility. james waterhouse, reports from kyiv on how the first anniversary was marked. the morning war rained down on ukraine.

air raid siren. a shadow with haunting consequences. the once unthinkable playing out as the world looked on. 150,000 russian troops moving in from three directions. ukraine's leader had offers to leave. but he stayed... ..and is still here. this is a bittersweet day for ukraine, a reminder of remarkable survival and extraordinary loss. i kindly ask everyone to observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the aggression. i thank you, mr president.

russia doesn't see this as a day worth marking. at the united nations, even a moment of reflection turned into an argument. "we're standing to honour all victims," said the russian ambassador. in kyiv, ukraine's leader is trying to add to his long list of supporters. if victory hasn't arrived for you by this time next year, what do you think the most likely reason for that would be? i don't want to think about it, and you forget all your words. we have to be sure together we are partners. we will win. where are our aircrafts typhoon? he means the ones britain said it might send. please ask my friend rishi. an unusually long press

conference for president zelensky, three hours with the international media. his message — that he is fighting a war for the world, and that he needs their continued support in order to win it. the first promised tanks have been delivered to ukraine from neighbouring poland. it's this kind of hardware which kyiv says it needs to seize the initiative before russia does. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. well, fierce fighting continues in the east of the country, with heavy losses of troops on both sides. at least 8,000 civilians have been killed according to the un, which says the true number is likely to be much higher. one of russia's key targets is the strategic town of vuhledar in the donbas region. the latest russian attempt to take the town — earlier this month — ended in humiliating defeat. from the town our senior international correspondent 0rla guerin, with camera operator goktay koraltan, sent this report.

deep in the forest near the town of vuhledar, we get a close—up of the war. the daily battle to hold off the russians, who aren't winning, but aren't giving up either. inside the town, ukrainian troops lobbing mortars and obscenities... bleep you, russia! ..moving fast to avoid being targeted themselves. a once prosperous coal—mining town is now a wasteland. we head towards the front line, with soldiers at the heart of the battle.

their commander, codenamed beast, has been up all night fighting. how far away are the nearest russian positions? 0ne kilometre. we move forward carefully. the russians have no line of sight here... ..but they have eyes in the sky. plane. get down, goktay! we've just been told to duck down here now and take cover at the wall. the troops have heard something, possibly a russian drone. the front line is about 500 metres away. they say russian troops are trying to advance, but they're holding them back. a few hundred souls remain in this broken place, without light or heat, without peace or safety.

solace comes in the form of 0leg tkachenko, an evangelical pastor in camouflage gear who braves the shelling to deliver aid. "it's a matter of life or death", he tells me. "we bring bread and water. "the risk is huge, but so is the reward — "saving people's lives." "hang on", he says. "it's one loaf per person." valentyna waits her turn. she's 73 and says she has nowhere else to go. "we are frightened, of course, but what can we do? "we live with it. "you can't say don't shoot.

"they have theirjob. "we have our lives." what was life like here before the invasion? how were things before? "it was good. "the town was quiet, calm and clean. "people worked. we had money. "what can i say? "it was a good town." and there was a good life for many in ukraine, like ruslan and denys, nine—year—old twins, the stars of this family video. they were side by side always until russian shelling tore them apart. their mother, anastasia, takes me to the park in central ukraine where denys was hit by shrapnel last september. "he was lying next

to my legs," she says. "why didn't it hit me? "ruslan was screaming, �*denys, get up!”' on his grave, this photo, taken two days before his death. ruslan cannot accept his best friend is gone. he sends himself messages from denys�*s phone. that piece of shrapnel will follow him through life... ..and follow her. 0ne family, one loss, one year of russia's war. 0rla guerin, bbc news, eastern ukraine. when he was addressing foreign

journalists on friday, president zelensky also said he plans to meet china's leader xi jinping. he wants to discuss beijing's proposals on ending the war in ukraine. he said the proposal signalled that china was involved in the search for peace. translation: first of all, i'm planning to meet - with xijinping, and i think it will be beneficial for our countries and for the world security. together with china, we have large trade. this is not only about war, we are countries interested in keeping our economic relationships. let's discuss this further with michael o'hanlon. he's a senior fellow at the brookings institute. thank at the brookings institute. you for being with us. not thank you for being with us. not long ago, we had the us accusing china of potentially supplying russia with weapons in its war and now we hear china is on the search for peace. is this how the war

ends? ~ ., , ,., peace. is this how the war ends? ~ .,, , , ends? well, i hope so but it is early days _ ends? well, i hope so but it is early days and _ ends? well, i hope so but it is early days and the _ ends? well, i hope so but it is early days and the peace - early days and the peace process. and i think you know, and i think everyone has their expectations pretty modest at this point but i still like to step forward, the idea that china is willing to first of all firmly recognise the two parties here so they are not buying into the russian idea that ukraine is not a real country, that zelensky is a nazi who somehow needs to be deposed. they are not saying it but they are very clearly dismissing putin's most ridiculous and egregious charges against ukraine and its president. and they are trying to say the principles of territorial sovereignty and in viability of borders and use of weapons of mass destruction are crucial, these are points where essentially china is taking the side of ukraine. china will not say that because it would be useless as a mediator but i still like the fact that this

dialogue is beginning. i have no idea where it is going and my expectations are modest but today's developers i think were a positive step.— a positive step. what is in this for china? _ a positive step. what is in this for china? china - a positive step. what is in i this for china? china doesn't want the _ this for china? china doesn't want the world _ this for china? china doesn't want the world to _ this for china? china doesn't want the world to blow - this for china? china doesn't want the world to blow up, | this for china? china doesn't want the world to blow up, i | want the world to blow up, i think it was an international economy that functions reasonably well, doesn't want its relationship with the united states in the west to completely deteriorate where the i completely deteriorate where thei billion consumers completely deteriorate where the i billion consumers that have been driving it economic growth for decades are no longer able to interact with china because we have settled into a new cold war. china wasn't —— china doesn't want this situation but it also wants putin's back. china is not switching sides, it will try to find a middle ground. i don't know the little ground exist but i think if there is one beijing would like to find it as much as anywhere else. xi jinping and vladimir putin has

stressed they have this no limits friendship, does it stretch as fine ash as far as saying to russia, the world is against you. saying to russia, the world is against vom— saying to russia, the world is against yon-— saying to russia, the world is against you. first of all, more than half _ against you. first of all, more than half the _ against you. first of all, more than half the world _ against you. first of all, more than half the world is - against you. first of all, more than half the world is sitting l than half the world is sitting this or out. most countries are trying not to get involved in this fight between the west and russia as they see it. but to your broader point i think that clearly china is trying to say we don't want an all—out fight that would lead to years of warfare and escalation beyond ukraine and an overthrow of the ukrainian government, further threats of nuclear weapons usage. china is basically saying no, no, no, to all of that and i think china's and sticks are correct. we'll see where this goes, it is often easy to start negotiations with broad principles that sound like apple pie and motherhood

and we don't want to get our hopes up too high but china has had the right thing today and i am behind what they have done. are there any particular areas that china has leveraged over russia on?— russia on? china has not provided _ russia on? china has not provided weapons - russia on? china has not provided weapons to - russia on? china has not i provided weapons to russia russia on? china has not - provided weapons to russia so far and we need to keep saying this because now all the talk in washington is about how china might be thinking of doing so after a year, and yes thatis doing so after a year, and yes that is worrisome and yet the fact that china is continuing to buy russian oil and gas is problematic but the fact that john has not had put in for mac back to the extent that we have had zelensky�*s back, that is big news, and i think we want to keep it that way, we want to keep china sort of outside of the actual direct combat involvement even in terms of weapons transfers or intelligence support so i like the idea that china is trying to look for some way to be a mediator. it is always going to lean towards russia and we shouldn't be naive about that but today's to suggest it is more interested in ending the

war. and presidents leslie's reaction i think is excellent, he is taking china at its word, he is taking china at its word, he doesn't want to be naive and he doesn't want to be naive and he knows china has been a friend of putin but he also is willing to go along with principles that if they are truly followed in his negotiation could help us on a gradual long path to peace. michael o'hanlan from the brookings institute, thank you for being with us. my brookings institute, thank you for being with us. a dispute about editing, roald dahl�*s multi—million selling childrens�* books for modern audiences. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this has had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malacanang — the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep

called dolly using a cell from another sheep. warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world that the winner of the best film was la la land. the only trouble was it wasn't. the mistake was only put right in the middle of gushing speeches by the team behind the modern musical. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope very soon for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope. benedict xvi will, in his own words, be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... on the first anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president zelensky hails his nation's year of invincibility and said it would do everything to win. two brothers from pakistan who were held in the us military

prison at guantanamo bay for nearly 20 years have been released without charge. abdul and mohammed ahmed rabbani were arrested in pakistan in 2002. the pentagon said abdul rabbani operated an al-qaeda safe house, while his brother organised travel and funds for the group's leaders. the brothers alleged that they were tortured by cia officers before being transferred to guantanamo. both have now been repatriated to pakistan. let's now speak to baher azmy. he's legal director of the center for constitutional rights, an oganistion which has represented former inmates of guantanamo bay. thank you for being with us, what more do we know that these two brothers? i what more do we know that these two brothers?— two brothers? i think the most important _ two brothers? i think the most important piece _ two brothers? i think the most important piece is _ two brothers? i think the most important piece is that - two brothers? i think the most important piece is that they i important piece is that they were swept up in post—9/ii hysteria, sold to the united

states for a bounty as so many other guantanamo detainees were, subject to secret detention where they were tortured, said to guantanamo for the purpose of endless interrogation in disregard of basic human right and only through their own resistance, including beautiful production of art and hunger striking and the work of a london based human rights organisation among others called reprieve where they finally released.- they finally released. there are potential _ they finally released. there are potential hateful - they finally released. there are potential hateful claims they finally released. there i are potential hateful claims of unlawful imprisonment. we have heard about the pay being tortured. forthis heard about the pay being tortured. for this result in a lengthy court case for the us government?— lengthy court case for the us covernment? ,, ., government? the us have denied all previous _ government? the us have denied all previous attempts _ government? the us have denied all previous attempts for - all previous attempts for compensation, for clear canes —— claims of torture authorised by us government officials, so at least for now, those claims

will be really hard to bring. we hope in the future, along with accountability for us officials who orchestrated and implemented this torture programme and this experiment in guantanamo, individuals who were subjected to torture when in fact get compensation. this is the camp — in fact get compensation. this is the camp that _ in fact get compensation. this is the camp that obama said he would close down and ever did, mr biden, his administration have said they will close it down, are you hopeful this will happen? i down, are you hopeful this will ha en? . .,, down, are you hopeful this will hauen? . ., , happen? i am hopeful. he only has two years _ happen? i am hopeful. he only has two years left _ happen? i am hopeful. he only has two years left and - happen? i am hopeful. he only has two years left and i - happen? i am hopeful. he only has two years left and i think i has two years left and i think he has taken some positive steps but ultimately... closing guantanamo is only a question of political will and i think he needs to do more, including starting with repatriation the 18 people held for 20 years without charge and who the us government themselves have

determined should be transferred.— determined should be transferred. ., ,': :: determined should be transferred. ., ;;:: ., transferred. there are 30 or so inmates in _ transferred. there are 30 or so inmates in guantanamo, - transferred. there are 30 or so inmates in guantanamo, are i transferred. there are 30 or so i inmates in guantanamo, are they likely to stay there until it is closed down or will they be moved to other facilities? 18 moved to other facilities? 13 have been cleared for release and should be repatriation. another of them —— they could be repatriation to other countries. there are a number of so—called forever detainees, this gothic authoritarian category that will be held forever because we are too scared to release them but there is not enough evidence to retry them and about the individuals for whom there is a military prosecution process thatis military prosecution process that is ongoing and has been flailing for 20 years, the whole experiment is a colossal disaster on a human, moral, and political level.—

political level. baher azmy, from the — political level. baher azmy, from the center— political level. baher azmy, from the center for - from the center for constitutional rights, thank you for being with us. parts of southern california are under their first blizzard warning since 1989. the winter storm that started rolling into the golden state on thursday will start to intensify on friday. a massive storm has already brought major blizzards and temperatures far below freezing to much of the northern us. the cold snap comes as parts of the us southeast basked in a record—breaking heat wave. eric boldt from the national weather service has been monitoring the storm. when we start issuing a blizzard warning, of the first we've issued in decades, that is the unusual nature of this event, where just a lot of precipitation in the mountains and also down here closer to the ocean where we all live. it's not going to be a record—breaking amount of rain associated with this butjust a strong storm overall for the month of february, one of our wettest months of the year. but the biggest difference is just feet of snow expected in the mountains and that's going to really help the snowpack levels and eventually the drinking water reservoir storage.

let's get some of the day's other news. the number of people killed by the catastrophic earthquakes in turkey and northern syria has risen above 50,000. civil defence workers in syria have called for more international help to save children injured in the disaster. floods and landslides in brazil are now known to have killed at least 5a people, with about 30 still missing. most of those killed were in and around sao sebastiao in sao paulo state. more than a month's worth of rain fell in 2a hours last weekend. the world health organization says it's working with officials in cambodia to tackle an outbreak of bird flu in the country. an 11—year—old girl died from the h—5—n—i variant of the virus earlier this week. here are fresh hopes that a new deal on post—brexit trade rules for northern ireland could be announced in the coming days. it follows a call between the british prime minister rishi sunak and the european commission president ursula von der leyen which was described

as positive. roald dahl is one of the uk's most popular authors of children's books, selling more than 250 million copies worlwide. but last week his publisher announced that it would amend his novels to make them more suitable for modern audiences. they say that while many of the words are, as the author would put it himself, gobblefunk, some of the language needed updating for modern readers. but that decision has sparked a fierce debate. now, the publishers say they'll continue printing his books in their original form after all. with me in the studio is our reporter sofia bettiza. what is our reporter sofia bettiza. more do we need to k about what more do we need to know about this? roald dahl wrote lots of books that are beloved by so many people, like the witches, matilda, pft, but there is a growing trend for book publishers to use sensitivity readers, so what they do is they go through books and they identify things

that could be offensive such as race, gender, and violence, thatis race, gender, and violence, that is what they did with his books. so last week, roald dahl�*s book publisher and up they had updated many of his novels to make them more suitable for a modern audience. people critical of the decision pointed at the excitement of some of the language and how that engages children in reading, what are some other changes the publishers wanted to make? , ., to make? they removed references _ to make? they removed references the _ to make? they removed l references the character's weight and appearances. in the book the twits, mrs twit is no longer called ugly. in china chocolate factory, augustus gloop is enormous rather than fat. and the bumper loopers are now gender neutral. um? fat. and the bumper loopers are now gender neutral.— now gender neutral. why this u-turn from _ now gender neutral. why this u-turn from the _ now gender neutral. why this u-turn from the publisher? l now gender neutral. why this j u-turn from the publisher? it u—turn from the publisher? it is because of all the criticism they received. lots of people said it was censorship and it is precisely the gruesome and the nasty elements of the books

that make them so fun and so popular with children. so after a week of debate, roald dahl�*s book publisher said on friday that they were going to publish both versions, so readers can have a choice, they can stick with the original, or they can buy the new reedited versions. favourite roald dahl story? it has got to be the bfg because the main character is called sofia. . ., the main character is called sofia. ., ~' , ., the main character is called sofia. ., ,, ., the main character is called sofia. ., ., sofia. thank you. more on those stories and _ sofia. thank you. more on those stories and the _ sofia. thank you. more on those stories and the bbc— sofia. thank you. more on those stories and the bbc news - stories and the bbc news website. or download our bbc news app, lots of their including on our top story this hour, the one—year anniversary of the war in ukraine and russia's invasion. lots more to read on the website there. you can reach me on twitter. please do drop me a note, i would love to hearfrom you. from all of us in the studio and in the gallery, thank you for watching, we'll see you next time. goodbye.

hello there. on friday, we had some sunny spells that worked southwards across the uk through the day. lovely end of the day in cumbria. see the blue skies and the setting sun here. wasn't like that everywhere, though. across northeast scotland, we certainly had a lot of cloud, and that cloud thick enough to bring some showers. now, i'm talking about this cloud here in aberdeenshire. that cloud is actually from this cloud sheet you can see here in the north sea. now, this cloud sheet is really very extensive, and if i put on the winds that are blowing that cloud long, those winds will take that cloud sheet in across eastern areas of the country. the big problem is the computer models really aren't doing very well with this cloud. you can see it's nowhere near extensive enough. but i think over the next few

hours, we are going to see that cloud sheets come in across northern and eastern scotland, eastern areas of england, running right up to the pennines, i think, and probably across the east midlands and into parts of east anglia as well. that will keep the frost at bay for these areas. but, further west, we are looking at clear skies and it's going to be a cold night with temperatures down to about “4. now, bear in mind, i think it will be a cloudy day across northern and eastern scotland, and for much of the day, eastern england. a cloud thick enough for an occasional shower and there'll be a cold northeasterly wind as well. the best of any sunshine will be further west, so west england, wales, northern ireland and west scotland not faring too badly. temperatures, perhaps, actually, close to average or a little bit below even, but it will feel chilly in those cold northeasterly winds. now, heading into the second half of the weekend, the area of high pressure bringing this relatively quiet weather is here to stay. the winds not quite as strong, but they'll be coming straight up the thames estuary, adding to the chill in london. and, once again, there will be extensive cloud across these eastern areas tending to work inland at times. but again, it's the western side of the british isles that will have the best

of the breaks in the cloud and the best in the day's sunshine. temperatures 7 or 8 celsius. now, into next week, this area of high pressure isn't going to move very far, very fast. the winds change direction a little bit and that will kind of tend to change where the sunny breaks are, but again, i think probably western england, western wales will have some of the best breaks on monday, perhaps a little bit more in the way of cloud filtering through the central belt of scotland. and the largely dry and quiet weather continues for most of next week, with temperatures running more or less near average for the time of year. that's the latest.

this is bbc news, the headlines: on the first anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president zelensky has praised his nation's "year of invincibility". he insisted that, despite thousands of deaths on the battlefield, and accusations of war crimes by the russian troops that have shocked the world, victory was inevitable. a series of ceremonies took place around the world to mark the anniversary, including in the uk where a minute's silence was observed. ukraine's western allies have again pledged to help kyiv repel the russian invasion, with another $2 billion worth of weaponry. in other news, large parts of southern california have been struck by record—breaking blizzards and freezing temperatures. extreme weather warnings remain in place for ventura county

and the los angeles mountains.