this is bbc world 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 eve one translation: it's important for everyone to _ translation: it's important for everyone to focus, _ translation: it's important for everyone to focus, and - translation: it's important for everyone to focus, and then - everyone to focus, and then will have victory, because the righteous is on our side. explosion. 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. 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. and roald dahl�*s multi—million selling childrens�* books are to be printed in their original form, after a backlash against editing them for modern audiences. hello there, and a very warm welcome to the programme. 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 wails. 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 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. i'll ask. 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. explosion. the daily battle to hold off the russians, who aren't winning, but aren't giving up either. gunfire. 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. dog barks. 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�* 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 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 ”lannin translation: first of all, i am planning to _ translation: first of all, i am planning to meet _ translation: first of all, i am planning to meet with - translation: first of all, i am planning to meet with xi - planning to meet with xi jinping, and i think it will be beneficial for our countries, and for the world's security. together with china, we have large trade. this is not only about war. we are countries

interested in keeping our economic relationships. 50 interested in keeping our economic relationships. so what role can china _ economic relationships. so what role can china play _ economic relationships. so what role can china play in _ economic relationships. so what role can china play in securing i role can china play in securing a potential peace deal between russia and ukraine? michael 0'hanlon is a senior fellow at the brookings institute and has been giving me his take on the situation. well, i hope so, but it's early days on the peace process, as i think you know, and certainly everyone that has their expectations pretty modest at this point, but i still like this point, but i still like this step forward. i think the idea that china is willing to, first of all, thermally recognised the two parties here, so they are not buying into the russian narrative that ukraine is not really a real country, that zelenskyy is a nazi who somehow needs to be deposed, they are not saying it but they are very clearly dismiss including's most ridiculous and egregious charges against ukraine and against its president, and they are trying to say the principles of territorial sovereignty, and the validity 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's 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. they have no idea where it's going and my expectations are modest, but today's developments i think were a positive step. what's in this for china? china doesnt what's in this for china? china doesn't want _ what's in this for china? china doesn't want the _ what's in this for china? china doesn't want the world - what's in this for china? china doesn't want the world to - what's in this for china? china | doesn't want the world to blow up, you know? 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 i completely deteriorate to a point where the 1 billion wealthy consumers that have been driving its economic growth for generations, now or decades now, are no longer able to interact with china, because we've settled into 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 anyone else. xi to find it as much as anyone else. , , ., ., else. xi jinping and vladimir putin have _ else. xi jinping and vladimir putin have made _ else. xi jinping and vladimir putin have made this - else. xi jinping and vladimir. putin have made this promise, there no limits friendship, does that no limit stretch as far as china being honest with russia, and saying, listen, half the world is against you here, more than half the world is against you here?— is against you here? well, there are _ is against you here? well, there are a _ is against you here? well, there are a lot _ is against you here? well, there are a lot of- is against you here? well, there are a lot of things i is 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 poor outcome if you count india, africa, latin america, most countries are actually try not to get involved in this fight between the rest and russia, as they see it. but to your broader point —— the west and russia. to a 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 over three 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 instincts are correct, so we will see where this can go. it is often easy to start a negotiation with broad principles that sound like apple pie and motherhood, and we don't want to get our hopes up we don't want to get our hopes up too high, but china has at the right things today, and i'm behind what they have done. pare behind what they have done. are there any particular areas that china has leveraged over russia on? ~ ., ., , china has leveraged over russia on? . ., ., , ., on? well, china has not provided _ on? well, china has not provided weapons - on? well, china has not provided weapons to . on? well, china has not- provided weapons to russia so far, and we need to keep saying this, because now all the talk in washington is how china might be thinking of doing so after a year, and yes, that is worrisome, and yes, the fact that china is continuing to buy russian oil and gas is problematic, but the fact that russia has not had putin's back to the extent that we have had zelensky�*s backs, that's big news, and i think we want to keep it that way. we want to keep it that way. we want to keep china outside of the direct combat involvement, even in terms of weapon transfers or intelligence support. so i like

the idea that china is now looking to look for somebody to be a mediator. it is always going to lean towards russia and we should be naive about that, but today's development suggests it is more interested in ending the war, and president zelensky�*s reaction i think is excellent. he is taking china at its word. 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 this negotiation, could help us on a gradual long path to peace. this is bbc news, the headlines: 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. oh, my god, look, it is beautiful. look, it is all over the roof. almost unimaginable for some but picturesque nonetheless, this was what some on america's west coast awoke to. but the heavy snowfall was to bring with it freezing rain which pushed into the state 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. just a strong storm overall for the month of february, one of our wettest months of the year but the biggest difference is just the feet of snow expected in the mountains. flood and evacuation warnings

are in place in some coastal areas were officials are expecting around three inches of rain. local residents are being 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 winter and 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 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.

a lot of heavy rain, a lot of intense downpours, even some lightning at times with small hail and then a lot of that is going to convert to snow as you get up an elevation above 4000 feet or so. in the saint gabriel mountains, to the north of los angeles county, they are expecting up to seven feet of snow in places, coupled with winds of around 60 miles an hour. experts say powerful winter storms such as these, interspersed with 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, los angeles. earlier i wasjoined byjon baird who's a reporter in los angeles. i asked him about his experience of the storm.

i was iwas up i was up in the mountains for ten hours today and while the rain was not heavy at times they had closed the main route from southern california to central northern california, it was snowing and dangerous to drive so they shut that down completely which leaves many people stock without having to make a long drive all the real round. truck drivers are stuck up round. truck drivers are stuck up there, people cannot get through back and forth from the southern part of the state of the northern but let me tell you something, when i was leaving there about two o'clock this afternoon our time and driving back towards southern california, towards the beach, basically the rain was really coming down and there were spots on the freeways where you could easily slide out. water was being sprayed up and i think you went into a flood watch for southern california and the conditions were really

bad and they were very concerned that throughout the night tonight that we were going to have flooding situation, the situations here and we were going to have heavy up and we were going to have heavy up in the mountains. and what have local officials and the emergency services been telling people? are people told to stay at home? ., , people? are people told to stay at home? . , , at home? that is exactly. i must tell— at home? that is exactly. i must tell you _ at home? that is exactly. i must tell you that - at home? that is exactly. i must tell you that when i l at home? that is exactly. i i must tell you that when i was up must tell you that when i was up there this morning interviewing people in the mountains basically we spoke about that because i had been up about that because i had been up there in that area during stowe's norms before and it was chaotic and there were a lot fewer people there, people who are not stranded because they had been telling everyone all week long do not travel, this storm is going to be intense and there is a blizzard warning and there is a blizzard warning and we do not have blizzard warnings in southern california. i grew up here. i never remember one. iwas california. i grew up here. i never remember one. i was told we had one in 1989 but i do not remember that. wejust do not have them full i wanted to ask

you about that. $5 have them full i wanted to ask you about that.— you about that. as you said, the first blizzard _ you about that. as you said, the first blizzard since - you about that. as you said, the first blizzard since 1989. j the first blizzard since 1989. how unusual is this for you? we have snow on the mountain, we have snow on the mountain, we have ski resorts in southern california, we do get snow but not like they were talking about. a blizzard warning? when i read that the other day as a reporter getting ready to do the story i did a double take. what are you talking about, a blizzard warning? i had never heard of it. and i was not in the snow today because the highway patrol said that you can go up there because you are media but you do not have chains and it would be dangerous and we cannot can't take you up or to rescue you. so i did not go up there. the conditions were so bad they close the road and now we have this rain that, it was not torrential but it was steady and everything was flooded and when cars were going up and down the freeway and they were crowded today, people spring up water like they were in a boat.

that is strong bed speaking to me earlier from that is strong bed speaking to me earlierfrom la. ——john baird. 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. two brothers from pakistan who were held in the us military prison at guantanamo bay for nearly 20 years have been released and repatriated. abdul and mohammed rabbani were accused of helping al-qaeda. 32 people are still being detained at guantanamo. president biden says he hopes to close the facility. 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 h5n1 variant of the virus earlier this week. there 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. 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 words like gobblefunk or whether it is really descriptive language that just engages children, so what were some of the words that the publishers 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 word 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. and that of course was based on roald dahl�*s own daughter, sophie. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @richpreston that is it from us for now. 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, 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. 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, freezing temperatures and heavy rain.

a series of major roads have been closed, as ice and snow