it's a lovely pub, but it's absolutely slammed full! and why this former pub landlord is having half a pint in 40,000 pubs across the uk. and coming up on sporstday later in the hour on bbc news. the stage is set for celtic, they have to beat bayern munich tonight to reach the last 16 of the champions league. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the us and russia have agreed to press ahead with negotiations aimed at ending russia's war against ukraine. russian and american

diplomats held four hours of talks in saudi arabia, their first high—level meeting since russia launched its full—scale invasion three years ago. the talks are part of a flurry of diplomacy focused on ukraine this week. crucially, neither ukraine nor europe were invited to have a seat at this table with us and russian officials in riyadh this morning. instead, us envoy keith kellogg is being dispatched to meet separately with ukrainian officials in kyiv. and while russia and the us were talking, ukraine's president zelensky was in turkey with president erdogan. yesterday european leaders held an emergency summit in paris to discuss ukraine and european security, underlining the urgency being felt about president trump's plans to resolve the war. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has all the latest on the day's events. a moment of history — americans on the left, russians on the right.

senior officials face to face for the first time in years. both sides silent and grim—faced for the media. but, russia back at the top table without making a single concession and clearly glad to come in from the cold. america's top diplomat marco rubio said they had agreed to improve diplomatic relations and appoint negotiators to find what he called "a fair and enduring solution" to the war in ukraine. i came away today convinced they are willing to begin to engage in a serious process to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can an end be brought to this war. whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this conflict�*s willingness to agree to certain things. so today russia moved from being international pariah to america's partner. the us insisted no one was being sidelined,

but just look around that table — no europeans and certainly no ukrainians. russia's veteran foreign minister said both sides had listened and heard each other, but gave no sign of conceding anything. he said not only could ukraine never join nato, but russia would also not tolerate any western deterrence force within its borders. translation: we explained today the appearance of armed forces - from nato countries under a foreign fla-, under the flag of the european union, or under national flags does not change anything in this regard. this is of course unacceptable to us. but britain and other european allies believe western troops should deploy to ukraine after any peace deal — not for any training like this, but to deter future russian aggression. president zelensky was today in turkey, he wasn't invited to the talks and has cancelled his own planned trip to saudi arabia later this week.

translation: i am convinced that for ukraine and for - our region, for europe, that it is critical- that any negotiations to end the war are not- happening behind the backs of key parties affected by the russian aggression. the talks in saudi arabia went on for more than four hours — long enough for both sides to take a break. images unthinkable in recent years. remember, russia's foreign minister is still subject to us sanctions. and remember too, after almost three years of war, russia is still attacking ukraine — launching yet another drone attack on kyiv and elsewhere overnight. for all the diplomacy, the fighting continues. our state department

correspondent, tom bateman, is travelling with the american delegation and was in the room at the start of the meeting in riyadh. we were brought in for a short amount of time at the very start of the meeting. so, the doors opened, the press brought in, and then we saw that extraordinary scene. the us delegation sitting face—to—face opposite their russian counterparts — the first time any such face—to—face meeting has taken place at that level in three years. 0n the left, as we came in, was marco rubio, the us secretary of state. there was steve witkoff, president trump's envoy to the region, but also now taking the russia and ukraine file. and the national security adviser at the white house, mike waltz. and sitting across the table from them, sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister, and yuri ushakov, a key foreign policy adviser to president putin.

now, what was notablejust as much for who was there was, of course, who was not. the ukrainians have not been invited. that was a question that i shouted to mr rubio while we were still in the room. is the us sidelining ukraine, mr secretary? what concessions will there be asked of russia, mr secretary? now he didn't answer those. it was clear at that point i think the meeting was going to last some hours and take up the best part of the day before both sides were going to give their own accounts, their own narratives of the way the meeting had gone. tom bateman in riyadh there. in a moment we'll speak to our our russia editor steve rosenberg, but first let's go to ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse in kyiv. james,

m- seein an earl moscow seein an earl -osition cow we are seeing an early position there and ukraine will see it as vital in its future security. president erdogan, who has been a big ally for ukraine said ukraine should be present in any future talks. so we wait to see if he will

be invited down the line.- be invited down the line. steve rosenburg _ in moscow, be invited down the line. steve rosenburg in — be invited down the line. steve rosenburg in moscow, - be invited down the line. steve rosenburg in moscow, how - be invited down the line. steve rosenburg in moscow, how pleased president vioscow, bleaseé president vioscn be bleaseé will president putin be and the president vioscn be and bleaseé of this significance of this moment for russia? i significance of this moment for russia? . , . . , . , russia? i was watching the pictures cominu in russia.?-.-, ,. russia? i was watching the pictures coming in from _ russia? i was watching the pictures coming in from saudi _ russia? i was watching the pictures coming in from saudi arabia, - russia? i was watching the pictures coming in from saudi arabia, on - coming in from saudi arabia, on the face of— * saudi coming in from saudi arabia, on the face of it_ coming in from saudi arabia, on the face of it not special, five coming in from saudi arabia, on the face of the it special, five yet coming in from saudi arabia, on the face of the table, ial, five coming in from saudi arabia, on the face of the table, yet five coming in from saudi arabia, on the men face of the table, yet that image of around the table, yet that image of five men _ around the table, yet that image of five men around the table that is victory already— five men around the table that is already a — five men around the table that is already a diplomatic victory for moscow — already a diplomatic victory for moscow. the fact that senior us officials — moscow. the fact that senior us officials were sitting down with senior— officials were sitting down with senior russian officials, while russia — senior russian officials, while russia was waging war against ukraine, — russia was waging war against ukraine, that is a sign i think that western— ukraine, that is a sign i think that western efforts to isolate russia over the — western efforts to isolate russia over the war have failed and russia is ilack— have glee; eff—222777 have gai sta -e. fizz: :——7——— over the war have failed and russia is back on_ over the war have failed and russia is back on now, is back on the global stage. now, a single _ is back on the global stage. now, a single meeting was not going to have gai sta-e. e to é?:——f—r— is back on the global stage. now, a single rall ting was not going to is back on the global stage. now, a single rall the was not going to is back on the global stage. now, a single rall the issues>t going to is back on the global stage. now, a single rall the issues ingoing to is back on the global stage. now, a single rall the issues in us/russia resolve all the issues in us/russia relations— resolve all the issues in us/russia relations or — resolve all the issues in us/russia relations or end the fighting in one day. relations or end the fighting in one day but_ relations or end the fighting in one day. but after these talks the talks the question— day. but after these talks the tali is:he question remains, houp is the

ukraine — question remains, houp is the ukraine war going to end? moscow moscow continues— ukraine war going to end? moscow continues to push for end to the continues to push for an end to the war on_ continues to push for an end to the war on russia's terms, terms that basically— war on russia's terms, terms that basically amount to ukraine's capitulation and today, the day of talks, russia hardened its the talks, russia hardened its demands— the talks, russia hardened its demands and now not only saying that ukraine _ demands and now not only saying that ukraine must not but ukraine must notjoin nato, but asking nato disavow the promise that it made _ asking nato disavow the promise that it made to _ asking nato disavow the promise that it made to ukraine that it could one dayioirr _ it made to ukraine that it could one dayioirr the — it made to ukraine that it could one dayjoin the alliance. it made to ukraine that it could one day join the alliance.— sir keir starmer told eu leaders in paris that he would consider deploying uk troops to ukraine in the event of a lasting peace agreement. 0ur analysis editor, ros atkins, has been looking at what that would mean if british troops were to help maintain a peace deal, what would it involve. volodymyr zelensky says he

has map showing 110,000 foreigners. 0ne expert estimates a force of between 50 and 100,000. and it is not clear which countries would send troops. poland said it wouldn't. germany said the question is premature. france has said we do not discard any option and while the uk is willing, the numbers look difficult. britain has 75,000 full—time army personnel and 211,000 reserves. that includes many noncombat roles. across the uk's military personnel are already involved in supporting 60 operations involved in supporting 60 operations in 44 countries. a deployment in ukraine could dwarf these. taste ukraine could dwarf these. we haven't got — ukraine could dwarf these. we haven't got the numbers or the equipment to put a large force on the ground for an expended period. in the ground for an expended period. in the _ the ground for an expended period. in the nineties british troops were

part of a un mission in bosnia. in the 2000s they supported a force in sierra leone, but what is being considered in ukraine is different. it would be big and it wouldn't be a nato mission. the us defence secretary is clear any force won't be protected. and russia said the appearance of troops from european countries is unacceptable. put all of this together and in practice the prime minister's proposal would mean significantly expanding the uk's military and a willingness if need be to engage russia or its proxies. it is an acknowledgement of how much has changed. it's an extraordinary sight — this plane upside down on the runway in canada. some of the passengers who survived this plane crash yesterday evening have been describing the moment their plane flipped over, leaving them dangling upside down.

80 people were on board the flight from minneapolis in the united states to toronto. incredibly, all of them survived, but three people, including a child, were critically injured. jessica murphy reports. a touchdown in toronto that flicked a plane on its head. no, no, no! drop everything! drop it! inside, terrified passengers scrambled out. moments earlier, they had been dangling upside down by their seat belts and had to lower themselves onto the cabin ceiling to get out. oh, my bleep! as we made our descent and may touchdown, it was and made touchdown, it was just a very forceful event, where all of a sudden everything just kind of went sideways. one minute, you are landing and you waiting to see your friends and your people, the next minute, you are physically upside down and just really turned around, but it sounded... i mean, it wasjust cement and metal.

80 people were on board, 21 taken to hospital. 19 have been released. miraculously, everyone survived. audio from air traffic control shows a measured response as emergency services rushed to help. there is an air plane just crashed, 2—3. you can just stay there. i've got no traffic here, so just tell me what you'd like to do. we've got a crash on runway 2—3, here. they were travelling from the us city of minneapolis. the tail and right wing of the plane were ripped off by the impact of the landing. but how exactly the plane ended up like this, with wheels in the air, still isn't clear. this is an active investigation. it's very early on, it's really important that we do not speculate. what we can say is, the runway was dry and there were no cross wind conditions. it is cold here in toronto and, as you can see, we've had a lot of snow, which experts say may have been a factor in causing the plane to flip. there have been two big storms recently, bringing with them up to 50 centimetres of snow. this marks the fourth major aircraft in north america in less than a month.

the other incidents remain under investigation. for now, though, people are still trying to comprehend what caused this terrifying touchdown. jessica murphy, bbc news, toronto. a british couple who were on a motorbike trip across the world are reported to have been charged with espionage in iran after they were arrested last month. the iranians claim craig and lindsay foreman, who are in their 50s, were collecting information in different locations in the country. the couple had been posting footage online before they were arrested last month — here's some of it. 0oh! so we're in tabriz, eating the local delicacy which — who knew — is potato and egg mixed together. feeling great at this caravanserai. it's lovely. beautiful.

look how beautiful iran is! we are here! that's craig and lindsay foreman. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley, is here. they're now charged with spying? that's right. you can hearfrom that video how happy they were to be in iran. they were only going to spend five days in the country, and they were gabbing on to pakistan and ultimately australia. they were speaking to people on their travels about what it means, in their words, to lead a good life. she was going to lead a good life. she was going to present at a confidence on —— a conference on positive psychology. they were aware of foreign office advice that british nationals should not travel to iran. the foreign office says even having a british office says even having a british passport can be enough to get you detain, but they clearly thought they had these is, a tour guide, they had these is, a tour guide, they didn't think they were doing anything controversial, and that they would be ok. it now seems they were being followed because a spokesman for the iranianjudiciary spokesman for the iranian judiciary has spokesman for the iranianjudiciary has said that they were under surveillance when they were picked

up, and he went on to accuse them of posing as torres, of gathering information in several provinces, of being in touch with institutions with connections to western intelligence services? —— posing as tourists. the foreign office says it is deeply concerned with the reports they have been charged with espionage and says they are in touch with the iranian authorities. in gaza, hamas says the bodies of four israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, will be handed over on thursday as part of the ceasefire agreement. yarden bibas was freed on 1st february, not knowing his wife shiri and two children ariel and kfir, aged four and nine months, had died. hamas say they were killed in an air strike. the bbc has learnt that a man accused of shooting his wife outside a pub on valentine's day phoned a friend after lisa smith died and told him, "she's dead. "i'll see you on the other side'.

edvard stockings, also known by the surname smith, called his friend on friday night. it's thought he then fell into the thames estuary.

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a london university. the tennis star novak djokovic has criticised the three—month doping ban for the world number—one, jannik sinner, saying most players see it as favouritism . the ban will end at the beginning of may, meaning sinner will be able to compete in the french open later that month. but the world anti—doping agency has defended the timing of the ban, and the way it came about, saying the italian s case was "a million miles from doping". 0ur sports correspondent laura scott reports.

that it's fair. —— , a player to lawyers. him.

ask anybody what it's like. it's stinking. you're locked up 23 hours a day. you get nothing but abuse off of them. so, what do you think of these early releases? ach, it is what it is, isn't it? good on them, because there's boys getting out earlier. are you out early? are you out early? three days. and what do you think about that? brilliant. it's only three days. three days is three days. idon't mind. idon't mind. prisoners convicted of domestic abuse or sexual offences are excluded from the early releases. but the inclusion of an unknown number of violent criminals has brought renewed trauma for some victims of crime. sam johnston was 22 when he was stabbed to death at a house party in ayrshire in 2013. when one of his killers was released afterjust 17 months, his mum only months, his mum only found out after the man found out after the man was back in their hometown. it was completely traumatising. it was because i thought, crikey, right, where's my granddaughter? where is my grand daughter's mum? where's's sam's brother?

where's sam's dad?

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