discovery as to it no longer have to wear for discovery the aftermath of the tsunami that hit tonga — aid planes finally arrive in the south pacific bringing much needed supplies. and how blisters put paid to the hopes of britain's emma radacanu at the australian open. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel... we'll tell you who's through to the league cup final after arsenal and liverpool go head to head at the emirates. president biden has offered his full backing to ukraine, saying any incursion by russian forces massed on it's border would constitute an unacceptable invasion. he says there would be a "severe and coordinated economic response" from the west, and that retaliation has been "laid out very clearly for president putin". the comments come on the eve of new talks in geneva between the us and russia to reduce tensions. meanwhile, the first members of a 30 strong british military team have arrived in ukraine to help train local members in the use of anti—tank measures. borisjohnson says any russian incursion into ukraine would be a disaster for both countries and the world. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, has the very latest from geneva. it is not just it is notjust the russians who are conducting military exercises. these are pictures released by ukraine's defence ministry, showing their forces training close to crimea. it was annexed by russia in 2014 and the kind of incursion that ukraine and its allies are trying to deter once again. i and its allies are trying to deter once again-— and its allies are trying to deter once aain. . , ., , , once again. i have been absolutely clear with president _ once again. i have been absolutely clear with president putin, - once again. i have been absolutely clear with president putin, there i once again. i have been absolutelyi clear with president putin, there is no misunderstanding, if any assembled russian units move across the ukrainian border, that is an invasion. it will be met with severe and coordinated economic response. in some of the most intensive american diplomacy for years, the us secretary of state has been touring western capitals. he was in berlin today, rallying support for ukraine and he appealed directly to the people of russia. you and he appealed directly to the people of russia.— and he appealed directly to the people of russia. you deserve to live with security _ people of russia. you deserve to live with security and _ people of russia. you deserve to live with security and dignity - people of russia. you deserve to live with security and dignity but| live with security and dignity but what really risks your security is a pointless war with your neighbours in ukraine. ~ , ., , pointless war with your neighbours in ukraine. ~ , . , ., in ukraine. western allies are threatening — in ukraine. western allies are threatening russia _ in ukraine. western allies are threatening russia with - in ukraine. western allies are i threatening russia with massive economic sanctions if there is any invasion. behind—the—scenes there are differences over what those penalties shall be, but the public message is united. translation: we are in absolutely _ message is united. translation: we are in absolutely close _ message is united. translation: we are in absolutely close coordination i are in absolutely close coordination with regard to joint sanctions because we have an absolutelyjoint assessment of the situation, but also of the reactions with the regard to the security of ukraine. this also applies to sanctions. fresh satellite images appear to show how russia has mastered not just troops near ukraine, but also military equipment. from the north to ukraine's eastern border and to the south in the crimea. the diplomacy now move to geneva. mr blank and arrived for talks with his russian counterpart on friday. but the discussions at his hotel tomorrow may be difficult because the gap between both sides is so large. the americans want to talk about avoiding war in ukraine but the russians want to talk about their demands for nato to step back and allow moscow to establish a new sphere of influence across eastern europe. in eastern ukraine know what that might mean. pro—russian separatists have been fighting government forces here since 2014 and the scars are all to see. this lake is 72 _ and the scars are all to see. this lake is 72 years _ and the scars are all to see. this lake is 72 years old _ and the scars are all to see. ti 3 lake is 72 years old and lives and the scars are all to see. to 3 lake is 72 years old and lives close to the front. it lake is 72 years old and lives close to the front-— to the front. it is a mere could have died _ to the front. it is a mere could have died many _ to the front. it is a mere could have died many times - to the front. it is a mere could have died many times that - to the front. it is a mere could have died many times that is l to the front. it is a mere could l have died many times that is its intention but it's a training hard close to ukraine. but the question now is whether all these exercises might soon become the real thing. what hopes of a breakthrough in tomorrow's night talks between russia and america where you are? i don't think there is any great hope for some grand breakthrough tomorrow, the gap between both sides remains large, no new proposals have been flagged up in advance and there seems little movement on the fundamentals. but there are some positive nodes out there. just i think the simple fact that the western alliance is just about managing to maintain its united front and the threat of sanctions to try to deter russian action, that is being held together by an awful lot of diplomacy on all sides. boris johnson spoke to his german counterpart this evening just as a small group of british forces were arriving in ukraine to help train with some new anti—tank missiles that the uk has delivered. also this point, the fact these talks are taking place tomorrow has raised some eyebrows and is being seen by some eyebrows and is being seen by some as a good sign. they have been thrown together at the last minute, only agreed a couple of days ago. last week many people were saying the diplomatic route is over, well, not quite. the hope is that tomorrow anthony blinken and his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov, have not met for some time. they have got a lot to talk about. the hope is that while the talking continues at least the prospect is, the hope is, that may be the fighting is a little bit more distant.— may be the fighting is a little bit more distant. , . , ., ., more distant. james landale live in geneva. james landale live in geneva. borisjohnson says he hasn't seen any evidence, to back up claims from a senior conservative mp, that the government has attempted to "blackmail" colleagues who are opposing him. william wragg, who's one of those calling for the prime minister to resign over lockdown parties at downing street, says rebels had faced "pressures and intimidation." all eyes will soon be on the report into lockdown parties, by the senior civil servant, sue gray. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. if it's not one thing, it turns out to be another. how will it turn out? for weeks, the prime minister has been having to explain himself. what's this... 7 and what happened in number ten during the pandemic made some of the public and his own mps mad, but there are claims now too his team have been intimidating tory backbenchers who want to speak out. i've seen no evidence, heard no evidence to support any of those allegations. what i'm focused on is what we are doing to deal with the number one priority of the british people, which is coming through covid, and we have made enormous progress thanks to the vaccine roll—out. back at westminster, there's nothing unusual about mps being subject to some pretty strong persuasion. in dark corners, around the corridors of power, party bosses work to keep backbenchers in line. but in front of the cameras this morning, a tory critic of borisjohnson's said it's gone far too far. a number of members of parliament have faced pressures and intimidation from members of the government because of their declared or assumed desire for a vote of confidence in the party leadership of the prime minister. the reports of which i'm aware would seem to constitute blackmail. the claims have raised eyebrows. william wragg's warning is probably timely, and i would very much hope that it would be heeded. in both ways. it's complete nonsense. it's attention—seeking behaviour, and it's disappointing. this brand—new labour mp, a defector... the labour mp for barry south, christian wakeford. ..says when he was still a tory, he was warned his constituency would lose out if he didn't vote a certain way. i was threatened that i would not get the school for radcliffe if i didn't vote in a particular way. how do you feel when holding back the education of the town for a vote, it didn't sit comfortably, and that was really that kind of starting to question my place where i was. politics is not for the faint hearted. conversations behind closed doors can be brutal, but what today's argument shows is the boiling tension inside the conservative party, fighting while everyone awaits the official verdict into what really happened in number ten during lockdown. but one conclusion is perhaps already being drawn, a member of the cabinet publicly admitting today that this saga is damaging our democracy. and the doubts about borisjohnson's leadership run deep. if this particular episode passes, there are still big changes that need to happen. downing street is not being run in the way that most of us would like to see. i think there needs to be a change in both the culture and the structure of downing street. much may stand between borisjohnson and any exit, yet, with a bright light shone on his government's conduct and character, the omens do not look good. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. some of england's plan b measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus have now been scrapped. the work from home advisory has ended, and secondary school pupils are no longer required to wear face coverings in class. and from next thursday, face masks will no longer be compulsory in most settings and covid passes for large venues will be dropped. but there is concern that the move could lead to increased pressure on the nhs, which is already under strain due to long waiting lists. with more, here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. how many discharges have we got to do? i'm thinking four on this list. at the royal bolton hospital, clinicalstaff, nurses and therapists are working with the local council to try and get patients back home. any issues? no. 0k. one reason hospitals are so busy is that some patients face significant delays in getting home, even if they are well enough to leave. and it's a complicated process. there are so many services involved in one patient. there's equipment, there's package of care, there's access issues, there's family, there's transport, we need to make sure medicines are ready for home, so we need to make sure everybody is on the same page when we are aiming for that discharge. nhs england says 93% of all hospital beds are currently occupied. the impact of covid on staff and patients makes things more complex. we've been hit by workforce shortages for the last few months now, the omicron wave has obviously affected that as well. we've also had to work really closely with our care homes, so our care homes have been managing outbreaks with their staff, unfortunately, some of their residents as well, and that has affected their ability to take people directly from hospital. even though the number of covid infections is falling across the uk, hospitals remain under significant pressure, and those pressures can be seen right across the system, from accident and emergency departments to the amount of time people are having to wait for a cancer referral. today wales has seen a record backlog of patients waiting for routine hospital treatment. more than 680,000 people. nhs leaders say the months to come could be tough, but at the same time, as covid restriction in england are eased, the health secretary declared victory over the 0micron variant. today really is a new chapter in our fight against covid—19, as we return to plan a. we said when we learned about 0micron, we needed to build our defences and buy time to do that. that was the purpose of plan b, and if you look at the data now it is in retreat. tens of thousands of office staff in england have already been encouraged to return to work. next week will see the end of mandatory face coverings and covid passes, as well as the return of night clubs and large indoor events in scotland, the relaxing of rules for hospitality in northern ireland and a gradual easing of restrictions in wales. but in some parts of the uk, particularly in the north of england, infections are still very high. health officials are concerned that relaxing the rules has come to soon. enabling full mixing without any mitigation, such as wearing masks or social distancing, will mean that there will be, sort of, preventable transmission. it would've been slightly better had we got our case rates lower before we started to relax completely. the health service remains under pressure, but the immediate threat of 0micron seems to be receding. ministers have made a judgment call. the costs of restrictions now outweigh the benefits. dominic hughes, bbc news, bolton. the government's latest figures show the number of people testing positive for coronavirus, is continuing to fall, with just over 107,300 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means, on average, just under 93,000 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the number of people in hospital with covid has fallen again tojust under 18,500. there were 330 deaths reported in the latest 24 hour period, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, though some may have died for reasons other than covid. on average in the past week, 266 deaths were announced every day. 0n vaccinations, just under 36,700,000 people have now had a boosterjab, which means nearly 64% of those aged 12 and over have now had three doses. children in england no longer have to wear face coverings during lessons, and from next thursday they won't have to wear them at all in any enclosed space. but some secondary school head teachers have criticised the move. they say they'll continue to tell students to keep masks on until it's certain covid infection rates are falling. here's our education correspondent elaine dunkley. at chesterfield high in crosby, there is a change in the school rules. across england, pupils no longer have to wear masks in class. it steams up your glasses. i keep on having to take my glasses off if i'm wearing my mask. - every time you look down and writing, your maskjust falls down and then you have to think, oh, i've got to put it back on my nose, and itjust distracts you. good morning, everybody. this head says it is another announcement from the government at short notice. personally, i would have carried on wearing masks in classrooms until the half term and then actually retested everyone after half term and then, at that point, you could have actually started moving into spring not wearing masks. face coverings are still needed in communal areas. from next week, they will no longer be required in schools in england. for this maths teacher... i have five classes of 30, they have all different contacts, all different households. ..the risks haven't gone away. they know how useful it can be to have any mitigation that we can to allow pupils to stay in classrooms as much as possible and to allow teachers to be in classrooms. the government says the decision to remove masks in class is in response to a fall in the number of covid cases. second week back in, somebody tested positive, so our year went off. these sixth formers are about to sit their a—levels and don't want to take any chances. when we were supposed to be sitting our gcses, obviously, they got cancelled. how am i going to do in these exams because i've never done them before? i haven't had a proper exam. especially because they are a—levels, you really need to do well because you have got uni offers to get. in my family, we've - recentlyjust had covid. i i don't want to miss any more schooll with exams coming up so my facemask is going to stay on. in scotland, wales and northern ireland, the guidance is still to wear masks at all times. removing masks in classes in england may feel like a milestone but for those in education, it doesn't take away the disruption many schools are still facing. elaine dunkley, bbc news, in crosby. the first plane loads of aid have arrived at tonga's main airport, after last saturday's volcanic eruption and tsunami, cut the pacific island nation off from the outside world. more flights and several ships are on their way, bringing urgently—needed drinking water, food and medicines. the queen says her thoughts and prayers are with the people of tonga, which is part of the commonwealth. here's rupert wingfield hayes. for the first time since last saturday's huge eruption, we're finally getting to see what has happened to tonga's main island. along the coast, the damage from the tsunami looks extensive, with many buildings destroyed. in tonga's capital, nuku'alofa, there's a lot of volcanic ash, but the buildings are intact and the clean—up has begun. telephone services are also back, and that means for tongans living abroad, the agonising wait for news is finally over. it's a relief to finally hear their voices and to finally know how they are back home. my dad had told me that they're fine, no major damages to our homes. so, at the moment, i've got family over in the outer islands of ha'apai. i have heard from them, and they're doing 0k. who i haven't heard from is my father. i'm sure he's out there working hard, doing what he does. we've also learned of a remarkable survival story. this man says he was swept off a small island by the tsunami and was in the water for more than 24 hours before making it to land. help is now arriving. this is an australian c17 transport plane on final approach to tonga this afternoon. the crew quickly unloaded water and emergency supplies, but, because of covid, they were not allowed any contact with locals. tonga's government has decided that until the covid pandemic is over, the islanders will have to deal with the clean up of this disaster by themselves. meanwhile, on the other side of the pacific in peru, another clean—up is under way. the crude oil on these beaches was spilled from a tanker that was unloading when a tsunami hit the coast here, triggered by the eruption in tonga, more than 10,000 kilometres away. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. the government has refused permission for a new electricity link beneath the channel, bringing energy from france. the company involved, aquind, is part—owned by two men who've made large donations to the conservative party. the proposal involved laying cables from portsmouth to normandy at a cost of over £1 billion. but the business secretary, kwasi kwarteng, said he wasn't satisfied that "more appropriate alternatives" had been fully considered. there are still more than 1,000 high rise tower blocks across britain, with flammable cladding. new government figures show that 40% of the buildings that have exactly the same type as that found on grenfell tower, have still to be made safe. and there many hundreds more with other types of dangerous cladding that also need to be fixed. the communities secretary, michael gove, has been holding talks with some of britain's biggest developers, urging them to pay billions to help leaseholders. sarah corker has been speaking to some of those caught up in the cladding crisis. hi, i'm allie. my name is stephen. i'm tamaya. my name's will, i'm a leaseholder of a flat in sheffield. no work has started and no funding has been confirmed. due to ongoing delays - with the building safety fund. we don't know when the remediation is going to start. four years on, these problems are still not fixed. the building is still unsafe. flat owners from across the country have shared their stories with the bbc. those trapped in unsafe, unsellable homes say it's taking too long to remove dangerous cladding. the government has set aside billions to remove cladding. figures analysed by the bbc show that 60% of tower blocks with grenfell—style acm cladding have had work fully completed. it's lower for private—sector blocks — less than half have been finished and signed off as safe. for other types of dangerous materials — known as non—acm cladding — progress has been slower. nearly 1,000 blocks have been approved for funding, but so far, just 18 have been completed. that's less than 2%. the government says a series of measures have been taken to make sure that the work is carried out quickly and safely. the housing secretary met with developers today to urge them to come up with more money to pay for the work to get done. in salford, these nine blocks weren't eligible for government funding. the management company removed the cladding, but problems continue. they took it off and left us. and how long has it been like this? it's been like this three or four years. inside, residents say their homes are freezing cold, and energy bills are soaring. so, as soon as it gets cold, and you've got no cladding on to keep the warmth in, you might as will get your money and flush it down the loo. it's warmer in the lobbies outside, the landings, than it is in here. you can see your breath. a floor up, i met this family. they've been told it will be 2024 before the work's finished. we've got a four—year—old. none of this is fair on her. she don't understand, she just wants it to be warm. we average about, what, about £120 a week wages? yeah. and we're putting in 40 or £50 a week of that in the electric. we're all sat here with jumpers and coats and tracksuits. the company managing these flats for the council has apologised for delays and says residents are receiving financial help with energy bills. industry experts, though, warn remediation works are complex. there aren't enough people and there aren't enough materials to do all of this remediation work. and even if there were, the hardening of the insurance market means it's extremely difficult for companies to get insurance to do the work. the longer it takes to fix these buildings, the more money drains away from those who can least afford it. sarah corker, bbc news, in salford. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories. the catholic church says the former pope, benedict xvi, failed to act over four cases of child sex abuse when he was the archbishop of munich. it's claimed the then josef ratzinger allowed priests who were criminally convicted of abuse to continue working for him. he denies the claims. a 33—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 86—year—old—freda walker who was found dead at her home in langworthjunction in derbyshire on saturday. the attack left her 88—year—old husband kenneth walker with life—threatening injuries. he remains in hospital in a critical condition. bt says it's raising its prices by more than 9% because of a "dramatic increase" in data usage over the past few years. the rise means that, on average, its customers will pay an extra £3.50 per month from the end of march. bt says data usage on broadband services has gone up by 90% since 2018, and on mobile phones by almost 80% since 2019. a giant coral reef in pristine condition has been discovered off the coast of tahiti. coral reefs are among the ocean's most threatened ecosystems, but scientists say this one appears to have avoided damage from pollution and rising sea temperatures because, unusually, it sits in deep water around 30 metres down. it's one of the largest discovered at that depth, which is known as the ocean's "twilight zone" and the united nations scientists who found it say there may be others waiting to be discovered. both britain's tennis grand slam winners, andy murray and emma raducanu, have been knocked out of the australian open in the second round. natalie pirks has all the details. a morning treat, two british grand slam champions on court at the same time. but both were about to put fans through the wringer. the us open champion got off to a flyer, breaking opponent danka kovinic early, but soon emma raducanu was in trouble with blisters on her racket hand. a set down and raducanu's only real weapon now was her backhand. she was smiling but winning the second set meant playing through the pain. commentator: ouch. and in the final set, as her right hand rallied, her backhand faulted and kovinic inflicted the final blow. commentator: and she's done it. there are some people in my team that maybe didn't want me to play but i wanted to go out there and fight through it. it's quite hard to learn or teach someone that fight and grittiness, to hang in there when things are pretty much all against you, so i'm quite proud of that. just two days after playing five sets with his metal hip, andy murray was slow out of the gate againstjapan's taro daniel, ranked 120th in the world. 16 unforced errors from the scot saw daniel take the first set with a flourish. murray had never lost a grand slam match to a player ranked as low as daniel. he had plenty of chances, but the japanese played the match of his life to win in straight sets. i want to perform well in the big events and for me, tonight, it is not good enough. making the second round of slams is not something ifind particularly motivating. a day to forget, then, for british tennis. natalie pirks, bbc news. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello. under clearskies, quite a hard frost setting in in many areas tonight, so we're going to lose that chilly wind and the showers that have been hitting parts of the north sea coasts of england, northern ireland and western scotland, with some cloud increasing actually here. so, limiting the frost, whereas elsewhere, where you can see the clear skies, rural parts of central and southern england could be down to —6 in some spots. not far from —5 in the cardiff area as friday begins. cold, frosty, yes, but some sunshine continuing across southern and eastern england, eastern scotland. cloudy for western scotland and northern ireland, and cloud increasing to north west england, wales and later into the west midlands, especially through the afternoon. it is going to be chilly after that cold start. not as chilly a day, though, along this north sea coast without that brisk wind. actually a brighter day in eastern england compared with today. cloud becoming more widespread overnight and into saturday, limiting the extent and severity of frost. cloudier skies over the weekend. most dry, some rain at times in northern scotland. this is bbc news. the headlines: joe biden has warned any russian troops entering ukraine will be treated as an invasion and be met with severe economic sanctions. new satellite images show russian troops are closer to ukraine's border. many people are feared dead following a huge explosion in the west of ghana. police said the blast — near a mining town — happened when a truck carrying explosives collided with a motorcycle. a senior british mp from borisjohnson's conservative party has accused the government of trying to blackmail colleagues who have called for a vote of confidence in the prime minister's leadership. mrjohnson rejected the claims. the first plane—loads of aid have landed in tonga following saturday's volcanic eruption and tsunami. they touched down at the pacific nation's main airport, which had to be cleared of volcanic ash to make it safe. those are the headlines. you're watching bbc news.