this is bbc news, welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm rebecca jones. our top stories... china's plans for peace in ukraine cause ripples around the world. president zelensky says he wants to hear more, and the leader of russia's key ally belarus announces plans to fly to beijing. china wants national sovereignty respected but is not calling for russia to withdraw its troops. we'll ask how the plan might work. also ahead... tight security as voting gets under way in nigeria to choose a new president and national assembly. downing street says talks with the eu over a brexit deal covering northern ireland have been "positive", raising hopes of a new agreement.

also in northern ireland, a fifth person's been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of the off—duty police officerjohn caldwell in omagh. and, we report on the huge relief effort in turkey and syria, to try to help people who have lost everything in the catastrophic earthquakes. some of these guys have been flying around 2000 hours since the earthquake struck. they say they were medically evacuating casualties for hours, but they say they will keep going as long as they can. ukraine's president zelensky has said he plans to meet china's leader, xijinping to discuss beijing's proposals on ending the war in ukraine.

he made the comments in a question and answer session in kyiv, to mark the first anniversary of the russian invasion. 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's security. together with china we have large trade. this is not only about war. we are countries interested in keeping our economic relationships. at a meeting of the united nations security council to discuss the situation in ukraine, china's spokesperson stressed that his country was ready to help find what he described as a "political settlement". translation: the road - to peace will not be smooth. but no matter how complicated the situation is, we must not give up our efforts for peace. in terms of the ukraine crisis, china always stands firmly on the side of peace and dialogue. it's notjust ukraine

which could be looking to china. one of vladimir putin's closest allies, president lukashenko of belarus, is to visit china on tuesday. but it's worth bearing in mind that the us has said it thinks china is considering sending military aid to russia, something washington strongly opposes. and the french president, emmanuel macron, says he plans to visit china in early april. with me now is rana mitter, professor of history and politics of modern china at oxford university. really good to have you with us. thanks forjoining us. first of all, what do you make of president zelensky�*s plans to meet president xijinping. what could be zelensky�*s plans to meet president xi jinping. what could be achieved? i think it's a shrewd political move that may not actually take place. what president zelensky is doing is essentially playing on the fact that the foreign affairs council of china visited moscow recently but didn't actually come through kyiv, whether

he was invited is not entirely clear. what zelensky are saying is not protesting about the fact that russia and china are working closely together, but actually essentially calling china out on its official position. he is saying, essentially, if china is neutral, china's objective, if china wants to encourage a dialogue then that works well but then ukraine has to be part of it. i think by suggesting he would have a meeting with xi jinping he is essentially putting his own front foot forward in a positive way by saying that he wants to take part in whatever dialogue china is willing to sponsor. now, of course, it will be up to china to decide whether they respond to his message positively and invite him either in person or on screen for a direct talk with xijinping. person or on screen for a direct talk with xi jinping._ talk with xi jinping. that's interesting _ talk with xi jinping. that's interesting so _ talk with xi jinping. that's interesting so you - talk with xi jinping. that'sj interesting so you actually talk with xi jinping. that's - interesting so you actually think that if, and i appreciate it's a big if, if this meeting was to take place, it could actuallyjust be online. i place, it could actually 'ust be online. ~ . ., , online. i think that that is possible- _ online. i think that that is possible. again, - online. i think that that is possible. again, i'd - online. i think that that is possible. again, i'd have| online. i think that that is i possible. again, i'd have no online. i think that that is - possible. again, i'd have no idea of the mechanics but i'd have thought that the difficulties of getting president zelensky to fly all the way to beijing might be quite

complex. having said that, international diplomacy often depends on big gestures made by quite bold people. if there were the possibility for an in—person meeting in beijing, that would clearly be a big gesture. my own guess is that it might be more about trying to arrange an online meeting. i'm not aware of whether the two presidents have ever spoken directly to one another in the recent paso it might be, as it were, a first breaking of the ice. ~ . ., the ice. what about the announcement, - the ice. what about the announcement, the - the ice. what about the - announcement, the president of belarus, is also going to visit beijing. what will they discuss? i think it is almost certainly the case that they will discuss the question of where the russia— ukraine war is going. belarus is a country that is in a slightly ambiguous position in that it is not formally in the war but is considered to be an ally of russia. in that sense, although china is officially neutral behind the scenes, there is a sense that the mood in beijing is more pro—russian

than pro—ukrainian. they will properly discuss that, but beyond that, i think there will also be wider discussions. the general tone of most chinese language about these issuesis of most chinese language about these issues is that nato is the organisation that is at fault. is nato's problem for looking to increase its strength and expand its borders. belarus is clearly a country that is very much on board with that message since it pushes back strongly against the idea of nato expansion. so that might be a subject of common discussion for the chinese and the belarusians as well. given that viewpoint, and that stance from china that you have just discussed, realistically, what role can china play in trying to bring an end to this conflict? i can china play in trying to bring an end to this conflict?— end to this conflict? i think that unless china _ end to this conflict? i think that unless china is _ end to this conflict? i think that unless china is willing - end to this conflict? i think that unless china is willing to - end to this conflict? i think that unless china is willing to take i end to this conflict? i think that - unless china is willing to take some risks, including possibly offending its russian partners by suggesting some sort of peace solution that is going to have to involve russia backing down, in particular, of course, the question of the territory, which china says it recognises ukraine's territorial

sovereignty but has not explicitly condemned russia for taking part of that territory in the last year. if that territory in the last year. if that position doesn't change, then there probably isn't really that much that china can do to bring russia and ukraine together full stop if they are willing to make a breakthrough, then all sorts of things are possible because of course china is a country that boasts moscow and kyiv would talk to. —— that both would talk to. right now, the peace plan that has been published by the chinese is warm and its words but bland in its additions. it doesn't have any game changers, in it, as far as we can see full stop we changers, in it, as far as we can see full stop— see full stop we got to leave it there. really _ see full stop we got to leave it there. really good _ see full stop we got to leave it there. really good to - see full stop we got to leave it there. really good to talk - see full stop we got to leave it there. really good to talk to i see full stop we got to leave it. there. really good to talk to you, thank you. tens of million of people in nigeria are heading to the polls to vote for a new president. there's tight security across the country. the election is being seen as one of the most unpredictable in recent years, with three leading candidates instead of two. the incumbent, muhammadu buhari, is stepping aside after serving the maximum two terms in office. earlier i spoke to our west africa

correspondent, mayenijones, who gave me the latest from lagos. i'm here in lagos, which is nigeria's commercial hub, but it's also the place that has the highest number of eligible voters in this election. 6 million people here are allowed to come out today to the polls to cast their votes. and these elections come at a particularly tumultuous time for nigeria. there's an acute shortage of cash that's come as a result of the central bank deciding to redesign the currency at the last minute, they say, to curb vote buying. but there's also rising insecurity across the country with gangs that kidnap for ransom targeting travellers on the country's roads, and the boko haram insurgency, which is still present in the northeast but seems to be spreading across the country. so voters are showing up at the polls today hoping that the next president can tackle some of these pressing issues. polls have opened, what can we expect? so people will be voting here until 2:30 local time.

that's the cutoff time, it started at 8:30. and then after that, the vote will be sent to abuja. the process here is now electronic, they've got a little machine that looks a little bit like an ipad with a plastic green cover on it. it's used to verify the accreditation of all the voters, and at the end of the day all the results are added onto it and sent electronically to the capital, abuja. that should, in theory, mean that results should start trickling in as soon as the polls close, with a final result expected late on sunday, maybe early monday morning. progress is being made in talks between the uk and the eu over a new brexit deal for northern ireland. the british prime minister has been trying to win support for changes to the so—called protocol. the current agreement creates trade barriers between the british mainland and northern ireland. 0ur political correspondent, david wallace lockhart, reports.

the uk and the eu appear to be inching closer to a new deal on the northern ireland protocol, one of the most controversial aspects of post—brexit trading. under the protocol goods from scotland, england and wales are checked for compliance with eu rules before they enter northern ireland, effectively creating a border in the irish sea. those goods can then travel freely over an open border from northern ireland to the republic of ireland, which is part of the eu. the dup, northern ireland's main unionist party, and a number of tory mps are opposed to this level of eu oversight in part of the uk. the chancellor yesterday, on a visit to india, was confident a resolution can be found. well, what the government will do is strain every sinew to try and resolve the situation in northern ireland so that goods can be traded freely across the whole of the united kingdom internal market and we won't

stop until we get that. when we have a deal that delivers that, we will put it on the table for everyone to make theirjudgments, but we're not at that point yet. talks are going to continue this weekend, but rishi sunak does face a challenge. while the eu may be happy to make changes so that goods flow more easily between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, he may not be able to secure the sort of wholesale changes that some opponents of the protocol are looking for. the prime minister spoke with business representatives yesterday. one major retailer told the bbc they believe a deal has been done. number ten deny progress is that advanced. for some in business a good deal is better than a fast deal. well, first of all, this has taken a long time even to get to this point. it's really important for us that the detail is right. we don't want something that's

rushed, that puts us in a similar situation to what we were first time around. we've taken months and months to overcome some problems, negotiate some compromises, so it's really important that they take their time to get this right. another few days is better than rolling out something that isn't going to be right for the business community here. another few days — it may well take that. for now, at least, we're told that intensive talks are ongoing. finance ministers from the g20 leading economies have been discussing relief for indebted countries at their meeting in india. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, has welcomed germany's chancellor, 0laf scholz, to delhi for a two—day visit. he arrived with a german business delegation, seeking to increase trade, especially in the areas of military hardware and green technology. ahead of the meeting, the uk chancellor, jeremy hunt, has said he had been trying to "win

the argument" that russian aggression towards ukraine must not be allowed to succeed. he's been speaking to our correspondent, leila nathoo, about possible divisions among g20 nations. what i'm sensing is actual unanimity from everyone except russia around the idea that one country invading another simply cannot be allowed to happen in the modern world. and, yes, people's language is different, they have different historical context, but the sense that this is something terrible in the world and it must not be allowed to succeed is very widespread. a fifth man has been arrested in connection with the shooting of an off—duty police officer in county tyrone. two gunmen fired several shots at detective chief inspectorjohn caldwell at a sports complex in 0magh on wednesday. he remains in a critical but stable condition. a rally will be held in the town today condemning the shooting. 0ur ireland correspondent, chris page, reports.

john caldwell�*s friends, neighbours and colleagues have paid tribute to his bravery and selflessness. eyewitnesses say that he shouted to children to run to safety even as he was being attacked himself. this sports complex in the town of 0magh was packed on wednesday night. the police officer was off duty, loading footballs into his car with his son when two gunmen opened fire. members of a running club gave him first aid. asjohn was stumbling up, they ran to him and they administered first aid to him very lovingly and very graciously. they got ambulances and then, as more people came, some more help was brought tojohn. thank god that he's still with us and that, you know, has family have a father, that his wife has a husband. today in 0magh there will be a demonstration of goodwill for mr caldwell. trade unions have organized

a rally in the main street. people attending will send a message they want northern ireland's peace process to be preserved. police are focusing their investigation on the dissident republican group known as the new ira. it's one of the paramilitary organizations which still targets the security forces almost 25 years after the conflict in this part of the uk largely ended. also this morning, john caldwell�*s football club, beragh swifts, is holding a walk of solidarity. the community is coming together to support the detective and condemn those who tried to murder him. chris page, bbc news. more than 50,000 people are known to have died in the earthquakes which struck turkey and syria earlier this month. as international aid flows into the area, the focus now is on helping survivors — but getting help to those who need it can be challenging. 0ur correspondent, laura bicker, reports from turkey.

aid that was slow to arrive is now in full flow. helicopter after helicopter of tents, food, medicine all crammed on board. no more room, signals this loadmaster. there are more than 100 flights a day from here. international aid from the us and the uk has also ramped up. 0ur aircraft is stacked with tents around our feet. we head over the mountains towards one of the ten zones in a state of emergency to get an idea of the scale of this disaster. this is by far the biggest logistical operation turkey's forces have ever faced. they've got more than 100 kilometres along a fault line to cover. with tens of thousands in need, and most of them need these,

which need room in a helicopter. we're flying to the first drop—off, near hatay, the worst—affected region in turkey. in the city of antakya, survivors say help took more than two days to arrive. at least 20,000 people lost their lives here. further down the coast, it took more than two weeks to get basic shelter to the people of this remote city. villagers need to stay to feed their livestock. gonul�*s daughter was killed in the earthquake. she is now too frightened to live under this roof, especially after the area was hit by another tremor on monday. translation: we live in fear. we can't sleep well at night.

when the quake happened, we suddenly woke up. what can we do? we can't go outside either. it's cold. there is nothing that can be done. tents are temporary. gonul says she needs a new home. there have been major challenges to overcome to help people like gonul. airports are damaged and landing in remote areas has been difficult. some of these guys have been flying over 1,000 hours since the earthquake struck. they say they will continue to keep going as long as aid is needed. many of them off camera have told us about the harrowing moment when they had to fly into the earthquake—affected zone. they say they were medically evacuating casualties for hours but they say they will keep going as long as they can. aid is now getting to most who need it.

but the long—term plan to help the tens of thousands in crisis is still unclear. laura bicker, bbc news. it has been described as the most significant shipwreck discovery since the mary rose. the gloucester sank more than 400 years ago — and has now been found off the coast of norfolk. it was discovered by a pair of brothers after four years of searching, and now some of its treasures are due to go on display. jo black reports. 0n the seabed, a team of divers explore the site of a royal shipwreck. the gloucester ran aground off the coast of norfolk on the 6th of may 1682. this discovery has been described as the most important maritime find since the mary rose, and it was found by two brothers from norwich. oh, look at that bottle,

got a cork on the top as well. julian and lincoln barnwell run a printing business, but they're also experienced divers and have searched for shipwrecks for years. they challenged themselves to look for the gloucester and after four years, they found her. this footage shows a rope, one of the ship's cannons, a wine bottle and the tip of one of the anchors. and this computer image of the site has been generated and shows how a lot of the ship is submerged in the sand. hundreds of items from the gloucester have been brought to the surface and now they're going on public display for the first time. well, it's quite surreal, actually, you know, to sort of go from seeing them on the seabed and to sort of bring them out to the public and display them in such a lovely way, it's something to be proud of. 0nboard that fateful day was james, the duke of york and future king. he survived, but hundreds died.

and because the gloucester sank so quickly, personal possessions were left behind. now we're able to view them up close. one of the main exhibits is the ship's bell, but there are also items such as wine bottles, spoons and thimbles. also brought up from the ship are combs, pipes and this leather pouch. remarkably, some textiles discovered in chests have also been recovered. this petticoat, a collar and a hood, are all made from silk. objects which are so rare to see that normally dress historians are looking in portraits and paintings to actually look at items that people are wearing. and now we have the opportunity to actually look at them closely, examine how they're constructed, and alsojust wonder at their beauty and craftsmanship. it's a real privilege to share this story for the first - time with everybody. we're telling two stories, i

the story of the gloucester in the 17th century, _ the story of a tragedy, almost losing the heir to the throne. but we're also telling _ the 215t—century story of the second life of the gloucester, with julian and lincolnj and james little finding it in 2007 and from there, i bringing it to - everybody's attention. what we see here is just a small sample of artifacts. the seabed holds many more. what i can't stop thinking about is ornate wood, so if we were to find some ornate wood, that the ship in the day was actually covered in gold leaf on the stern. and to find something like that, gold obviously doesn't deteriorate, so to find something beautiful like that, i mean, it'sjust, you know, it's all there to be found, hopefully. so we know there's 20 cannons on the surface on the seabed. she would been having between 50 and 60 cannons. and to have the whole collection

from one site is quite unusual. so we would really build a strong case for recovering the cannons. so that would be quite a moment, wouldn't it? there are many more years of diving, discovery and research to come, but for now we already know and understand so much more about the gloucester and her last voyage. jo black, bbc news. well we heard from professor claire jowitt in that report. let's go live now to norwich castle museum and art gallery where we can speak to her. it's really good to have you with us. it must be a very exciting day for you. just to explain to me a little bit more about why this discovery is so significant. this is an unprecedented _ discovery is so significant. this is an unprecedented discovery - discovery is so significant. this is an unprecedented discovery in i discovery is so significant. this is i an unprecedented discovery in many ways because we have a luxurious, royaljourney by ways because we have a luxurious, royal journey by sea. ways because we have a luxurious, royaljourney by sea. captured in

time, in the wreckage. to be able to bring that to lie to make light, james, the duke of york, head to the throne, is travelling to scotland, gets into trouble, the ship sinks. that is such an important political story and the artefacts us associated with thatjourney are associated with that journey are 'ust associated with that journey are just stunning. associated with that “ourney are just stunningh associated with that “ourney are just stunning-h associated with that “ourney are just stunning. lets start with the tolitical just stunning. lets start with the political story- — just stunning. lets start with the political story. why _ just stunning. lets start with the political story. why was - just stunning. lets start with the political story. why was the - just stunning. lets start with the l political story. why was the future king of england and scotland on board the ship and what impact did the string board the ship and what impact did the strint , ~' ., board the ship and what impact did the strin. , ~ ., , , ., the string sinking of the ship have on his reputation? _ the string sinking of the ship have on his reputation? he _ the string sinking of the ship have on his reputation? he was - the string sinking of the ship have i on his reputation? he was travelling to scotland, — on his reputation? he was travelling to scotland. he _ on his reputation? he was travelling to scotland, he had _ on his reputation? he was travelling to scotland, he had been _ on his reputation? he was travelling to scotland, he had been briefly - to scotland, he had been briefly backin to scotland, he had been briefly back in london having in the exclusion crisis been sent first to europe and then to scotland by his brother, king charles ii, because as a catholic in a protestant nation, there was a lot of turmoil about

whether he was a fit heir to the throne. so he had been resident in scotland for a couple of years but by 1682, that political turmoil is starting to die down and he had been invited, briefly, back to the court, it had all gone very well, so now, in may 1682, he is travelling back up in may 1682, he is travelling back up to scotland to collect his pregnant wife, mary of modena, and his daughterfrom his pregnant wife, mary of modena, and his daughter from his first marriage, and, later queen anne, and bring them all back in the gloucester, it was hoped, to reside permanently in the court in london. but i'm right that the sinking of the ship sealed his unpopularity? i think post—1688, after the glorious revolution, when william and mary become monarchs, james's reputation is rewritten. in 1682, the tories,

the royal party, used what happens and his miraculous survival as a way of cementing his position, in many ways. so often, its later accounts that really focus on his inadequacy and clearly there was a avoidable delay on the morning of the 6th of may, the ship about 5:30am, everybody was in bed... ~ , about 5:30am, everybody was in bed... . , ., bed... we must leave it there. good to talk to yom _ bed... we must leave it there. good to talk to you. you're _ bed... we must leave it there. good to talk to you. you're watching - bed... we must leave it there. good to talk to you. you're watching bbc. to talk to you. you're watching bbc news. hello there. it's highly likely that we're going to close out the month of february as we began, with high pressure dominating and a good deal of quiet and largely dry weather around. but at this time of year, clear skies by night lead to frosty conditions.

so it's been a cold start in devon, but that's where we've seen some sunshine. different story in highland scotland first thing this morning, quite a lot of cloud around. and the reason being, yes, we've got high pressure withers. but as the winds come round in a clockwise direction, a cold northeasterly wind is driving in some cloud coming in off the sea. so there's always a risk of some showers here and some of those will push a little bit further inland, maybe turning wintry to the tops of the peaks and the pennines, the wind coming from the northeast, a cold source and gusts 30 to a0 miles an hour. so it will feel pretty chilly along that east coast. the best of the sunshine further west, particularly the northwest of scotland. and temperatures are likely to peak between five and eight degrees. believe it or not, that's where they should be for this time of year. now, as we go through the evening and overnight, most of the showers will tend to fade back to the far northeast of england and under clearer skies, we are likely to see a touch of frost quite widely across the country.

low single figures first thing on sunday morning, perhaps just below in more rural parts. so we are likely to start off on sunday chilly, but largely quiet once again, that high pressure really not moving very far, very fast. maybe the isobars opening up a little. that means the winds will be slightly lighter for sunday. and as a consequence, we should see a little more sunshine coming through. so not a bad second half of the weekend at all. if you have got outdoor plans, don't think you'll be disappointed with this story. still, the risk of a few showers across the north east. top temperatures of around 7 to 9 degrees. little in the way of change as well as we move through the working week. but it's just worth pointing out to you that as we go through towards tuesday, there is the risk potentially of some showers developing from the channel, which may well just move towards the south east corner and we'll need to keep an eye on those. but generally, if we look through our week ahead, as you can see, dry, settled and sunny as we head into march, just the risk of that rain into the south east first thing

on tuesday morning. whatever you're doing this weekend, have a good one.

this is bbc news, the headlines... talks are continuing between the uk and the eu over securing a new brexit deal for northern ireland. there are signs an agreement is close, with a no 10 source calling negotiations "positive." also in northern ireland... a fifth person's been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of the off—duty police officerjohn caldwell in 0magh. he remains critically ill in hospital. there's been a small earthquake in wales overnight. the tremor, measured at 3.4 by the us geological survey, was centred just to the east of crickhowell in powys. the quake, which happened atjust before midnight, was felt up to thirty miles away in cardiff. there are no reports of any injuries or major damage.