james landale, bbc news, munich. james landale there. tensions simmer over chinese surveillance balloons in the us, the top diplomats of both countries met on the sidelines of the conference in munich. james has more details. well, you know, they are two of the most senior diplomats, if you like, for both china and the united states, so i think it was important for both of them to have this meeting, just to try and calm some of the tensions that have been surrounding this incident in recent days. you know, the chinese foreign minister mr wang was pretty inflammatory about it when he arrived here, saying that america had behaved in a way that was absurd, shooting down these balloons. i think both sides will have restated their positions. i think both sides will want that particular attention to be dialled down. because the sense i get from both sides is, this is not necessarily a fight they want to have, there are bigger issues to worry about. certainly, ithink, they're looking for some kind of clarity on that. whether this will end the m

james landale, bbc news, munich. of ukraine, more than 100 laws have been introduced in russia to prevent people opposing the conflict or even calling it a war. anyone who does speak out risks losing their own freedom and potentially that of their families. a bbc world service investigation now tells the stories of those who've been taking extraordinary risks over the past 12 months to oppose the war here. nawal al—maghafi has that story. nina spent four years as a district councillor in a small city in western russia. she'd been speaking out online against russia's invasion of ukraine. but last march, she took the stage at a council meeting after colleagues challenged her on the statements she'd made. determined to document the moment, she dismisses their angry calls to stop filming. translation: | am against - the decision taken by the president of the russian federation and against the actions that are being carried out today on the territory of the sovereign state of ukraine. i consider what's going on to be a wa

james landale, bbc news, in munich. this is bbc news. the latest headlines...e pleaded not guilty to murdering the young black man, tyre nichols, last month. authorities in turkey are being criticised by earthquake survivors for allowing shoddy construction work. thousands of buildings that were supposed to be tremor—proof collapsed. the british prime minister rishi sunak has met leaders of northern ireland's political parties in a bid to end the deadlock over the post—brexit trade deal known as the northern ireland protocol. mr sunak said there was still work to do but sources suggest an agreement could be reached as early as next week. our ireland correpsondent emma vardy has the latest. it's divided communities, while the dup collapse the government over it. the tensions over the northern ireland protocol have had consequences for everyday lives. today, i had positive conversations with parties in northern ireland about our ongoing discussions to resolve the northern ireland protocol. now, it's clear we need to find solutions to the practical problems the pr

james landale, bbc news, munich. let's stay with that story.is a foreign policy analyst specialising in defence and told me more about the challenges around supplying equipment: it's still not going to be enough to really turn the table, and certainly not enough to drive russia out, so that's the second issue. the support has been there but then, we have to get into what's the actual objective of all of this? well, and that's a good point because the pledges and the promises are one thing but putting that into practice is is a completely different matter. i mean, case in point, we're coming up for the year anniversary of this invasion and ukraine is only now getting tanks from germany and poland. what are the practical challenges with getting military hardware to ukraine? yeah and, you know, and they're just now getting the pledges. i mean, only a handful of tanks have come across right now and like, for example, the american abrams tanks that are promised might not be there for a full year, they may not even get there until early �*24, and eve

james landale, bbc news, in munich.been diagnosed with dementia at the age of 67. his family says he has a form of the disease which affects his ability to speak and write. our medical editor fergus walsh has more. may day, terrorists have seized the nakatomi plaza. this channel is reserved for emergency calls only. do i sound like i'm ordering a pizza?! as a wisecracking action hero cop, the die hard films made bruce willis a hollywood superstar. come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs... but he gave up acting last year due to aphasia, a brain condition which made it hard for him to communicate and deliver his lines. now, his family says the condition has progressed to frontotemporal dementia. a statement from his wife, emma heming, his ex—wife, demi moore, and daughters from both marriages said it was a cruel condition which could strike anyone. frontotemporal dementia affects the lobes at the front and the side of the brain and causes problems with language, behaviour and personality. it can lead

james landale, bbc news, in munich.pects in connection with a deadly incident of human trafficking. 18 people have been found dead in an abandoned timber lorry near the bulgarian capital sofia. police say they were in hidden compartments and had suffocated. 3a others, including five children, were rescued, some in a critical condition. it's thought most of the migrants are from afghanistan. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... a former security guard at the uk embassy in berlin has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for russia. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order but the army defeated in the task it was sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect for the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the reprecussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. explosions. as the airlift got under way there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in t

james landale reports.ths now, vladimir putin has been wooing china's president so is all that diplomacy about to pay off? so far, china has neither endorsed nor condemned russia's invasion of ukraine, calling instead for a peaceful solution. but the us believes russian forces in ukraine are already getting surveillance and other information from chinese firms. and america's top diplomat now believes that china could be going further and providing weapons. we have seen them provide non—lethal support to russia for use in ukraine. the concern that we have now is based on information we have that they are considering providing lethal support and we've made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and then in our relationship. that message was delivered at a security conference in munich where mr blinken met china's foreign minister behind closed doors. he was here to brief european counterparts on china's imminent so—called peace plan for ukraine that some analysts fear could call for

our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here. w close the earthquake is to syria, but we're not seeing as much coverage of the destruction there — why? that is because syria is still at war, after more than a decade, so this region that has been hit in the north—west, part of the territory is controlled by the government, part held by the rebels, part of it are almost ungoverned space with competing militias vying for power, so it is hard to get aid in, hard to get information out, had four journalists to get in on the ground. there is only one border crossing allowing aid in, and there is already humanitarian crisis the region. i looked up the un figures this morning, almost 3 million displaced people in that part of the world, of which almost 2 million are in refugee camps, over 3 million face food insecurity — that is before this earthquake. the route in from the north is controlled by the syrians and russians, so there will be pressure growing for that to open up. the big question is, how much aid is the international communit

james landale, bbc news, in munich.o at the conference, the german chancellor olaf scholz said to allies that it would be wise to prepare for a long war. i've been speaking to michael o'hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the us thinktank, the brookings institution, about whether those comments might mean a change in nato policy. well, i'm afraid that the chancellor may be correct. i don't see a trend line that makes me think this is gonna suddenly go one way or the other. i guess the good news is i don't see any acute threat to ukraine developing from the russian mobilisation orfrom vladimir putin's of stubbornness and the ongoing willingness to throw soldier after soldier into the meat grinder this war has become. but the bad news is, you know, we're not sending that many new weapons to ukraine right now, it's taking a while for them to get there, ukraine is outnumbered in this war, they only have so capacity to conduct multiple, simultaneous offences and russia still sits on i7% of their territory. so,

james landale, bbc news, munich.e media says israel has carried out an air raid on the capital damascus. the state news agency says at least 15 people are currently known to have died, after rockets struck a residential building. it said syrian air defences were active, but gave no further details. israel frequently attacks targets in syria linked to iran and hezbollah militants but rarely acknowledges its actions. let's get some of the day's other news. the uk government has played down suggestions that a deal on post—brexit trading rules for northern ireland is close to being agreed, saying there are still challenges to work through. the row has sparked political paralysis at stormont. but representatives of the eu say they're optimistic about the discussions. north korea says it test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea of japan on saturday. state media says the test demonstrated pyongyang's efforts to build nuclear counter—attack capabilities against what it said were heightened military threa

james landale, bbc news, munich.on of ukraine, has seen more than a hundred laws being introduced to prevent people opposing the conflict, or even calling it a war. anyone who does speak out potentially puts themselves or their families in danger. a bbc investigation tells the stories of those who've been taking extraordinary risks over the past 12 months to oppose the war. nawal al—maghafi has that story. nina spent four years as a district councillor in a small city in western russia. she'd been speaking out online against russia's invasion of ukraine. but last march, she took the stage at a council meeting after colleagues challenged her on the statements she'd made. determined to document the moment, she dismisses their angry calls to stop filming. translation: i am against the decision taken by the president of the russian federation and against the actions that are being carried out today on the territory of the sovereign state of ukraine. i consider what's going on to be a war crime. "shut your mouth," shouts

james landale with report.erence also provided the backdrop for the first high—level meeting between the us and china since the us shot down what it said was a chinese spy balloon. antony blinken said he told his chinese counterpart wang yi the incident must never be repeated and warned beijing against providing weapons to russia. beijing, for its part, accused the us of a overreaction in shooting down what it says was a weather balloon. we're joined now by prof of political economy, ho—fung hung, from johns hopkins university, who studies sino—american relations. professor, thank you very much for being with us. china says this was an overreaction on america's part. was it an overreaction?— america's part. was it an overreaction? actually, after us detected _ overreaction? actually, after us detected the _ overreaction? actually, after us detected the chinese - overreaction? actually, after us detected the chinese spy| us detected the chinese spy balloon and later found out it is actually not the first time th

james landale, bbc news, munich. the british medical association, has warned that the government is "standing on the precipice of an historic mistake" by not doing more to end industrial action in the nhs. professor philip banfield was speaking a day before junior doctors in england announce the result of a strike ballot. 16,000 junior doctors have been voting on whether or not to take action in a bid to improve pay and working conditions. borisjohnson has warned rishi sunak not to water down the legislation he introduced on brexit. mr sunak is seeking a new agreement with the eu on the arrangements governing trade in northern ireland, but mrjohnson said he should keep proposed laws which would allow the uk to unilaterally override parts of the brexit deal. some of the biggest names in the film industry have gathered on london's south bank for the bafta film awards, which will be broadcast later this evening on bbc one. the netflix film all quiet on the western front, a german film about the horrors of the first worl

james landale, bbc news, in munich.manchester united. sheikh yassim bin hamad al tani will lead a consortium that wants to purchase the club outright. the qataris are the second group to put in a bid; the first was the british businessmanjim ratcliffe, a lifelong united fan. the club is currently owned by the glazer family, which says it's "exploring strategic alternatives." our sports correspondent andy swiss has more details from old trafford. sheikh jassim bin hamad al—thani. he's the chairman of a qatari bank. he's a son of a former prime minister of qatar, and he says he is a lifelong manchester united fan. in a statement, he says his bid will return the club to its former glories, both on and off the pitch. he says his bid is for 100% of the club and will be completely debt free through his foundation. remember, the current owners, the glazer family angered a lot of the fans here by plunging the club into millions of pounds of debt. and he says his vision is for manchester united to be regarded as the greatest foo

james landale, bbc news, munich.book — is launching a verified subscription service on its social media platforms, for a monthly fee. it follows a similar move by twitter. the new service will allow users to verify their accounts using a government id to get a blue badge added to their profile. meta says it will also offer extra protection against impersonation and prioritised customer support. the company's founder, mark zuckerberg, said the service would increase security and authenticity. the rollout will begin in australia and new zealand this week. borisjohnson has warned that it would be a "great mistake" for the government to abandon legislation he agreed upon northern ireland's trading arrangements when he was prime minister. rishi sunak is trying to reach a new deal with the eu following brexit that would have the support of all communities in northern ireland. here's our political correspondent, tony bonsignore. the northern ireland protocol was borisjohnson's attempt to try and solve the problem of norther

james landale, bbc news, in munich.lion to the uk economy in 2022, but there's another country punching above its weight in the sector. finland made £2.8 billion in that time, despite having a population 12 times smaller than the uk. 0ur gaming correspondent steffan powell has been to its capital find out why. when you think of the cities of the world that are hotbeds for innovative technology, you're probably imagining silicon valley or tokyo. you might not be thinking of this place. but it is these streets here in helsinki, a cityjust the size of glasgow, that has some of the most innovative, influential and successful mobile games this companies in the world. this place is home to some of the best games talent out there. it is the birthplace of world—famous games like the original snake, angry birds, and clash of cla ns. it is where netflix chose to set up its first internal games studio. so how has this happened? i think we are just generally very interested in technology. we have this ability of, and it is in the c

sanctions against moscow and quickly provide more weapons to kyiv. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale

here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale.ontrolled by the government, part of it is held by the rebels, parts of it are almost - ungoverned space with competing militias vying for power. - so that means it's hard to get aid in, to get information _ so that means it's hard to get aid in, to get information out, - forjournalists to get in on the ground. i there was one route - in for aid from the north. that's controlled by the syrians . and the russians, so i think there will be no pressure growing to say those need to open up. _ so, there's a big question with all of this — - how much aid is the international. community prepared to offer syria? at the moment, more is going to turkey. - and secondly, how much aid - will the syrian government allow in the areas they considered to be held by rebel territory? _ natasha hall from the centre for strategic and international studies told me more about the diplomatic challenges. 0ne one of the most critical issues right now is that there is an enclave in northwestern syria that's been

our diplomatic correspondent james landale is in munich and he sent us this report.eed before the russian assault. theirfate rest indeed before the russian assault. their fate top of the agenda for world leaders gathering and new neck. a chance for them to hear once again from, well, you know who. through... he wants more tanks, he wants more ammunition, and he wants more ammunition, and he wants more ammunition, and he wants them fast.— he wants them fast. there is no alternative _ he wants them fast. there is no alternative to _ he wants them fast. there is no alternative to speed, _ he wants them fast. there is no alternative to speed, because l alternative to speed, because it is the speed that life depends on. delay has always been and still is a mistake. this is part of what he is talking about. ukrainian troops being trained how to use western air defence systems to protect their skies. france's president appeared to heed president appeared to heed president zelensky�*s call, telling the conference russia must not and could not win the war. translation: ~ ., t

our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports from munich.ference like few others — a chance for western allies, yes, to put on a show of unity, but also a chance to reaffirm their support for ukraine and demonstrate their resolve to stay the course. so today the prime minister urged allies to double down on their support for ukraine, and called for a new nato charter to ensure its long—term security. but he also said this: what's at stake in this war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation. it's about the security and sovereignty of every nation, because russia's invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in. with that argument was echoed by america's vice president, who said no country would be safe if russia could violate territorial integrity. and as for the torture and rape she said: we know the standard and there is no doubt these are crimes against humanity. applause. in other words, this war is about more thanjust ukraine, a

ben wallace there talking to james landale. our political- james landale.e on tanks, encouraging other countries to do the same. if it was an easy answer, i'm sure he would have done the same with jets, but there are huge practicalities, which is why he said there will be no immediate transfer, he would not be ruling it out, but when you look at the practicalities, training pilots on differentjets, then you have whole issues around the cuts to the defence force in britain, and they are committed to things like air policing in estonia and the baltic states, they have got to police uk airspace as well, typhoon jets, they have committed a squadron to qatar, so there are commitments all over the place that the uk has at the moment, there are about 20 typhoons which are due to be retired, the first tranche from the 90s essentially, the oldest aircraft, 25 years old or so. theoretically you might be able to give those, but then you are looking at supply chains, training engineers. at the end of the day, the jet ukraine really wants is the f—16, which is like the

james landale looks back at her many achievements. house must come to order!hat was forged in dewsbury, in yorkshire, and in london�*s west end, where she was for some years a professional dancer — one of the famous tiller girls. vote labour — vote boothroyd! but it was in politics that she found her real stage. showing again, that determination behind the charm. are you going to be voting for me tomorrow? i hope so. you hope so — so do i too, yes. with a cheery smile like that i�*m sure you are. she stood five times before winning a seat in a by—election in 1973. it shows total disillusionment in ted heath and his tories and it�*s time they cleared out. as a member of the labour�*s national executive in the 1980s, she took on the party�*s hard left — dismissing them as head bangers, extremists and militants. but her popularity across all parties led to her being elected and ceremonially dragged to the speaker�*s chair. the first women — the first without a wig. i don�*t think i could work in a full bottom wig. if i turned my head one way, the wig would stay i

james landale looks back on her colourful life which began as a dancer in london's west end before she nanny. i think it is time that members of this house grew up. but there was always a smile close by. as eric morcambe would say, there is no answer to that. betty boothroyd was a formidable ringmaster, full of authority and wit. but with a steel that was forged in dewsbury and in london's west end where she was for some years a professional dancer. one of the famous teller girls. vote betty boothroyd! but it was in politics that she found her real stage. showing again, that determination behind the charm. are you going to be voting for me tomorrow? i hope so. i hope so, so do i. with a cheery smile like that i am sure you are. she stood five times before winning a seat in a byelection in 1973. it shows total disillusionment in ted heath and his tories and it is time they cleared out. as a member of the labour's national executive in the 1980s, she took on the party's hard left dismissing them as had bangers, extremists and militants. but her popularity across all parties led to her be

james landale in munich.llege of nursing has announced a 48—hour strike from the 1st of march, the biggest walkout of the dispute so far. the nhs confederation — which represents health trusts — has warned that the government must settle its pay dispute with nhs staff or risk jeopardising its pledge to cut waiting lists in england. our health correspondent jim reed reports. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! what is already a bitter dispute between nurses and the government is set to ratchet up again next month in england. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! unless there is a sudden breakthrough in talks, two further strike dates will go ahead at the start of march and they're likely to be the most disruptive yet. under the plans, nurses will walk out for 48 hours in a row, with overnight shifts now affected. 128 hospital trusts, along with mental health and community services, will take part, covering around half of england. and for the first time, thousands of nurses in

here's our world affairs correspondent james landale.e in turkey— announced that a plane will arrive in turkey this evening containing 76 search_ in turkey this evening containing 76 search and — in turkey this evening containing 76 search and rescue specialists and four dogs— search and rescue specialists and four dogs and various other... so we're _ four dogs and various other... so we're getting some of the specifics now _ we're getting some of the specifics now that's— we're getting some of the specifics now. that'sjust the initial response. people who might make a difference _ response. people who might make a difference could help in the next 48 hours _ difference could help in the next 48 hours or— difference could help in the next 48 hours or so — difference could help in the next 48 hours or so. and i think will come the broader— hours or so. and i think will come the broader humanitarian support which _ the broader humanitarian support which will— the broader humanitarian support which will be about the rebuilding, about— which

james landale, bbc news, munich.ime minister has uged his successor not to abandon a proposed law that would allow him to ditch post—brexit trading agreements with northern ireland. rishi sunak is trying to strike a deal with european leaders over alternative rules that would replace the northern ireland protocol bill, but a souce close to mrjohnson said he believes dropping the legislation would be "a great mistake." authorities in turkey have said they will wind down their efforts to find and rescue survivors of the earthquake from tonight. it comes nearly two weeks after the quake struck turkey and syria, killing at least 16,000 people, with many yet to be accounted for, and destroying more than 350,000 homes. coach passengers returning to the uk from france have endured queues of more than six hours at border checkpoints in calais. many of the coaches were carrying school children and teachers coming home from half—term trips. border force staff in calais, dunkirk and dover are currently staging a four—day strike

hope is that we will recover from this with our least loss of life. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landaleg we're ready to give a group of rescue workers to turkey. even a country at war is recognising the severity of what's happened. that's the key, isn't it? we just heard from the international rescue committee the importance of solidarity from the international community. easier to offer that to turkey for some countries than to offer it to northern syria? yeah, i don't think that... the politics will get in the way because it will be complicated, more difficult, it's likely harder to get things there. i don't think anyone will say we're not giving aid to syria just out of the sheer politics of it. but the actual reality on the ground of dealing with the officials and who is in charge of which area, that is the sort of thing the ngos and rescue organisations will find harder on the southern side of this in north—western syria. but actually, there, possibly the greater hindrance is the sheer lack of infrastructure there, the fact that in that part of syria, you have got over1 million peo