this is 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 is important for everyone to focus and then we will have victory, because it is on our side. in other news: large parts of southern california are struck by record—breaking blizzards and freezing temperatures. you can see the hollywood sign, which i can assure you is behind me, from miles around, but today, it is blanketed by a wall of fog and dense and very

heavy rain. two brothers from pakistan who were held in the us military prison at guantanamo bay for nearly 20 years are released without charge. and roald dahl�*s multimillion 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, wore rained down on ukraine. —— war. air raid siren wails a shadow with haunting consequences. the once unthinkable playing out as the world 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 to 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. laughter 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. when he was addressing foreign journalists on friday, president zelensky also said he plans to meet china's leader, xijinping. 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 am 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. what role ka njana what role kanjana play in securing evidential peace deal between russia and ukraine? —— can china play. earlier today, i spoke to michael 0'hanlon, who is a senior fellow at the brookings institute. i asked him if this is an indication of an ending conflict. it's early days on the peace process, as i think you know. and certainly everyone has their expectations. pretty modest at this point. but i still like this step forward. i think that the idea that china is willing to, first of all, firmly recognise the two parties here so they're not buying into the russian narrative that ukraine is not really a real country, that zelensky is a nazi who somehow needs to be deposed.

they're not...they�*re not saying it, but they're very clearly dismissing putin's most ridiculous and egregious charges against ukraine and against its president. and they're trying to say the principles of territorial sovereignty, inviolability of borders and non use of weapons of mass destruction are crucial. these are all points that are, essentially, china taking the side of ukraine. and china is not going to say that because if it did, it would be useless as a mediator. but i still like the fact that this dialogue is beginning. i have no idea where it's going, and my expectations are modest. but today's developments, i think, were a positive step. but what's in this for china? china doesn't want the world to blow up. you know, i mean, ithink china wants an international economy that functions reasonably well. it doesn't want its relationship with the united states and the west to completely deteriorate to a point where the one billion wealthy consumers that have been driving its economic growth for generations

now or decades now no longer are able to interact with china because we've settled in to a new cold war. china doesn't want this whole situation to fall apart entirely, but it also wants to have putin's back. and so we better be realistic in our expectations. china's not switching sides. china is going to try to find a middle ground. i don't know if a middle ground really exists, but if there is one, i think beijing would like to find it as much as anybody else. xijinping and vladimir putin have made this promise that they have this �*no limits�* friendship. does that no limits stretch as far as china being honest with russia and saying, listen, half the world against you here, more than half the world's against you here? well, there are a lot of things to say about that. first of all, more than half the world is actually sitting this war out. if you count india, africa, latin america, most countries are actually trying not to get involved in this fight between the west and russia, as they see it. but, yes, 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, an escalation beyond ukraine, an overthrow of the ukrainian government, further threats of nuclear weapons usage. china's basically saying, "no, no, no" to all of that. and i think china's instincts are correct. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen has reported on the conflict from the very beginning. he's kept in touch with many of the ukrainians he's spoken to along the way, and he's been back to meet some of them to get their reflections on 12 months of war. the russians expected a quick victory, taking back what president putin believes is theirs. a year later, the war is not close to over. ukrainians are fighting back in a war nato believes is vital to global security. this volunteer sniper

kept the video of his first firefight. i was crying because i was thinking that i did things which i've never done before. i was thinking about these dead guys, like, hey, they have families, some of them maybe have children. any sympathy you had at the beginning forjust poor russian soldiers has gone? they should suffer. they should not, like, just be killed, they should suffer about things which they've done. their families should never see them, even dead bodies. millions of ukrainian civilians have been forced from their homes. these were escaping from the suburb of irpin into kyiv last winter. it looked like a throwback to europe's dark 20th century. in fact, the war has initiated a new and dangerous era. the threat for people a long way from the battlefield is that the war might spread beyond ukraine.

a year on, a new irpin bridge and the old challenge — avoiding direct confrontation between russia and nato. the way that the ukrainians stopped the russians just back there changed every calculation about the war. nato saw it had an ally worth supporting and they moved very fast to do that. now, that has carried some heavy costs — economic, a massive military commitment and even a risk of nuclear war. now, the ukrainians are conscious that future nato governments might not want to carry that heavy a burden, which is why they're calling 2023 their year of victory. ukraine's fighting spirit is intact, but neither side has the edge it would need to win. these were ukrainian volunteers signing up a year ago, from 60—somethings

to young men just out of school. the war started here for maxim, then 19, and his friend dmytro, 18. what are you studying? i am studying economy. and i'm studying biology. good luck, guys. yeah, thank you. good luck. they didn't feel as brave as they tried to look. there was a lot of fear, i'm not going to lie, because i haven't experienced anything like that before. we had some stupid brave...braveness, bravery, and it helped us to overcome our fear. after a few days on checkpoints and some basic training, both dmytro and maxim were plunged into the fighting. when the war switched to the east, dmytro stayed in kyiv. maxim has fought and was wounded in some of the

toughest battles in donbas. this video is from his body cam. by the summer, in the ruins of eastern ukraine, as the battle for control of bakhmut was starting, maxim was an experienced fighting soldier. we were defending the... explosion ..the chemicalfactory. he's still only 20. explosion both maxim and dmytro share their president's view, no trading ukrainian land for peace with putin's russia. we have a joke — putin will be awarded as a hero of ukraine for his job that he did to unite ukraine, to build our economy, to build our army and to make ukrainian nation great.

and that unity was strengthened when ukrainian troops fought their way into bucha, outside kyiv, and found evidence of russian war crimes. a few miles from bucha, irina, on her own, buried her son in her garden after russians shot him on march 10 last year as he went to work. this was 0leksei as a boy. he was 27 when he was killed. a year later, irina walks to the cemetery every day where he was reburied. she dressed her boy in new clothes with a flower in his buttonhole, as he was engaged. she is tormented by what happened. sobbing the russians wrecked her house after they killed her son. translation: we were hungry and cold. - you shudder all the time,

can't get any sleep. how long do you think the war might last? translation: until putin dies. that's how long we have to suffer. until that animal dies. the cemeteries are expanding and more offensives are coming. ukraine will get more support from nato. russia could get more from china. one big challenge for the war�*s second year — controlling the pace of escalation, keeping the killing in ukraine. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. you can read much more of the war on ukraine on our website. including how the one—year anniversary has been marked in both and russia.

—— ukraine. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a dispute about editing roald dahl�*s multimillion selling children's 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 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 i of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have i produced a sheep called dolly using a cell- from another sheep. warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world that the winner of 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, ifor 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. i this is bbc world news. our main story: 0n 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. heavy snow has fallen in southern california, pounding the hills around los angeles with heavy rains and threatening flooding in other places. major roads have been closed as ice and snow made them impassable, including the main north—south highway that connects mexico, california, the pacific northwest and canada. 0ur north america correspondent

david willis has sent this report. i. i, my god, look, it is beautiful. look, it is all over the roof. beautiful. look, it is allover the roof-— beautiful. look, it is allover the roof. �* ., the roof. almost unimaginable for some but _ the roof. almost unimaginable for some but picturesque - for some but picturesque nonetheless, this was some in america�*s west coast like to. but the heavy snowfall was to bring with it freezing rain which pushed into the estate from the north, prompting the first blizzard warning in some parts of california since 1989. a massive low pressure system, driven from the arctic, the culprit according to forecasters.- culprit according to forecasters. , ., forecasters. just a strong storm overalls _ forecasters. just a strong storm overalls for - forecasters. just a strong storm overalls for the - forecasters. just a strong - storm overalls for the month of fabry, one of our wettest months of the year but the biggest difference is the amount of snow expected in the mountains. amount of snow expected in the mountains— amount of snow expected in the mountains. flood and evacuation warninus mountains. flood and evacuation warnings are _ mountains. flood and evacuation warnings are in _ mountains. flood and evacuation warnings are in place _ mountains. flood and evacuation warnings are in place in - mountains. flood and evacuation warnings are in place in some - warnings are in place in some coastal areas were officials

are expecting around three inches of rain. local residents are urged to limit all non—essential travel until the storm has blown over. and as temperatures fall well below normal, snow has even been spotted above the iconic hollywood sign. normally by this time of year, los angeles is done with mentor and you can see the hollywood sign, which i can assure you is behind me, for miles around but today it is blanketed by a wall of fog and dense and very heavy rain thatis and dense and very heavy rain that is expected to continue over the weekend. all this follows a similar spell of cold weather which hit the midwest and the great lakes earlier in the weeks, from wisconsin to nebraska, to south dakota and colorado — all have been battling blizzard conditions which have left three quarters of a million homes without power and are now bearing down

on the west coast. fix, power and are now bearing down on the west coast.— on the west coast. a lot of heavy rain. _ on the west coast. a lot of heavy rain, intense - on the west coast. a lot of - heavy rain, intense downpours, even some lightning at times with a small hail and then a lot of that is going to convert to snow as you get up and elevation above 4000 feet or so. in elevation above 4000 feet or so. . elevation above 4000 feet or so, ., ,,., elevation above 4000 feet or so. ., �*, so. in that saint gabriel's mountains, _ so. in that saint gabriel's mountains, they - so. in that saint gabriel's mountains, they are - so. in that saint gabriel's - mountains, they are expecting up mountains, they are expecting up to seven feet of snow in places, coupled with winds of 60 miles an hour. experts say powerful winter storms like this, interspersed with a dry spells and periods of extreme heat, are classic symptoms of climate change and that they are growing more frequent and intense. david willis, bbc news. 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. i�*ve been speaking to baher azmy, the legal director for the centre for constitutional rights, about the case. i think the most important piece is that they were swept up piece is that they were swept up in the post—9/11 hysteria and sold to the united states for a bounty, as so many of the guantanamo detainees were, subject to secret cia detention, where they were tortured, like many in ci detention. they were sent to guantanamo for the purposes of endless interrogation and disregard of basic human rights and only through their own resistance, including beautiful production of art and the hunger striking and the hunger striking and the hunger striking and the work of a london based human rights organisation, among others,

called reprieve, were they finally release. there is potential here for claims of unlawful imprisonment, on top of these claims you have already heard about the pair being tortured. is this going to result in a lengthy court case against the us government? regrettably, the us courts have denied all previous attempts for compensation, for clear 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�*ve orchestrated and implemented this torture programme and this anomalous authoritarian experiment guantanamo, individuals who are subject to unlawful detention torture will in fact get compensation. and if this of course is the camp gitmo which 0bama said he would close down and never did. mr biden, his administration

has said they will now close it down. are you hopeful this will actually happen now? i am hopeful. he only has two years left and i think it has taken some positive steps but ultimately it has not assumed — the closing of guantanamo is only a question of political will and i think he needs to do more, including starting with repatriating 18 people being held 20 years without charge and who the us government themselves have determined should be transferred. 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 54 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 24 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 h5n1 variant of the virus earlier this week. 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. i�*ve been speaking to our reporter sofia bettiza for more. roald dahl wrote lots of books that are beloved by so many

people, such as matilda, the bfg, the witches. 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 elements that could be offensive, such as violence, race, gender, and that is what they did with his books. so about a week ago, roald dahl book publishers said that they had updated a bunch of his novels so they would be more suitable for a modern audience. some of the people who were critical about this move say that one of the attractions about roald dahl as an author is his exciting use of language, whether it is made up of language, whether it is made up words like gobblefunk or whether it is really descriptive language thatjust is really descriptive language that just engages is really descriptive language thatjust engages children, so what were some of the words that the publishers wanted to change? 0ne wanted to change? one of the main things they did was they removed the references to the characters�*s appearance and weight, so for example, if you take the book the twits one of the female characters is no longer called ugly. and take charlie and

the chocolate factory, we have got augustus gloop, he is no longer called fat but he is now enormous. and the world 0ompa loompas is now gender neutral. and so why this big u—turn then? it is because of all the criticism that they received. some people welcomed the changes but many people did not and if they felt very strongly about it. they called the censorship and they said it is precisely the gruesome and the nasty elements of the books that make them so fun and so popular with children so after about a week of fierce debate, the publisher made a u—turn and said they were going to publish both versions and give readers the choice. they could stick with the original or buy the new re—edited books. and i have to ask you, while you are here, what is your favourite roald dahl�*s book? that would have to be the bfg because the main character is called sofia.

you can reach me on twitter — i�*m @richpreston. hello there. on friday, we had some sunny spells that worked southwards across the uk through the day. it was a lovely end to the day in cumbria — see the blue skies and the setting sun here. wasn�*t like that everywhere, though. across northeast scotland, 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 along, 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. the 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 — 0n 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 carried out by russian troops that have shocked the world, victory was inevitable. large parts of southern california have been struck by record—breaking blizzards, freezing temperatures and heavy rain. a series of major roads have been closed, as ice and snow made them impassable. extreme weather warnings remain in place in ventura county and greater los angeles. and two brothers from pakistan, who were held in the us military prison at guantanamo bay for nearly 20 years, have been released without charge. the pentagon said abdul ahmed rabban operated an al-qaeda