the winter olympics amid some of the world s toughest covid restrictions? welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. washington has placed more than 8,000 us based troops on a heightened state of alert as part of its readiness to respond if russia should carry out any assault on ukraine. a pentagon spokesman said that if deployed, the troops would be sent to bolster nato s presence in eastern europe. president biden has been holding talks with key european allies over a common strategy towards russia over ukraine. moscow denies planning to invade, but it has amassed more than a hundred thousand troops close to the ukrainian border. 0ur correspondent gabriel gatehouse sent this report from the ukrainian capital, kyiv. bell tolls this is a country in limbo, waiting for an invasion that looks more likely with every passing day, but may yet never come. to the east, 100,000 russian troops are massed, but the kremlin says talk of an invasion is hysteria. facing
in a stampede at the africa cup of nations in cameroon. no more covid tests for fully vaccinated people arriving in england and scotland they ll be scrapped next month. and climate change is threatening to destroy treasures buried in the uk. archaeologists warn britain s history is at risk. good morning and welcome to bbc news. borisjohnson is facing renewed anger following another revelation about gatherings in downing street during lockdown. number 10 has admitted that, injune 2020, staff met in the cabinet room, where they were served cake to celebrate the prime minister s birthday. itv news reported that up to 30 people attended thejune 2020 event, sang happy birthday and were served cake. rules at the time 19june 2020 banned most indoor gatherings involving more than two people. the bbc has learned that sue gray, the senior civil servant compiling a report into gatherings on government premises during covid restrictions, already knew about the 19 june event. her fin
u.s. supreme court could, should tell you about the direction america is heading. thanks for being here, everybody. we begin with the growing threat of war in eastern europe. heightened alert for possible deployment as there is real fear a russian invasion in ukraine could be imminent. the pentagon said the u.s. troop that would be sent would be in support of nato s response force. the pentagon spokesperson is our guest this hour. for russia s part, they re now launching new military drills and the kremlin now blaming washington for increasing tensions. the greatest threat in the region since the cold war. let s begin with cnn s barbara starr live at the pentagon for us this hour. what more do you learn about these troops on heightened alert? reporter: good morning, kate. right now, the pentagon very clear that these troops are not on dpleployment orders yet. heightened alert, more ready than you ve been in case you get deployment orders. how would they go and who would t