a damning report by mps on the underpayment of the state pension to over 100,000 people, mostly women. i'm gutted, it is so last—minute. a tearful adele postpones her entire series of concerts in las vegas, saying half her team has covid. and tributes are paid to the us rock star meat loaf, who's died at the age of 7a. and coming up on the bbc news channel. the defending champion naomi osaka is out of the australian open — beaten in three sets by america's amanda anisimova, who goes on to face ash barty next. good evening. "we have no plans to invade" — that was the message from russia's foreign minister after talks with the us about russian intentions in ukraine. his american counterpart said their discussions in geneva had been "frank and substantive" — but also warned of "massive consequences" if moscow were to attack ukraine. russia has amassed 100,000 troops near its borders with ukraine, leading to grave international concern, and to several european countries bolstering nato�*s military deployment in eastern europe. president vladimir putin has demanded that ukraine be stopped from everjoining nato. russia used to control much of the region but the military alliance of european and north american countries has expanded to its borders since the collapse of the soviet union. from geneva, here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. more russian forces on the move, surface—to—air missiles in the country's far east, due to join what russia cesar military exercises. part of the growing build—up of equipment shown by images close to the border. what western powers fear maybe russian preparation for war. the diplomacy continues too. america and russia's top diplomats met in geneva and at first couldn't agree how to greet one another. with one question on everyone�*s lips. it is question on everyone's lips. it is an invasion _ question on everyone's lips. it is an invasion likely? _ question on everyone's lips. it is an invasion likely? sergei - question on everyone's lips. it is an invasion likely? sergei lavrov seem to suggest _ an invasion likely? sergei lavrov seem to suggest it _ an invasion likely? sergei lavrov seem to suggest it was - an invasion likely? sergei lavrov seem to suggest it was up - an invasion likely? sergei lavrov seem to suggest it was up to - an invasion likely? sergei lavrov| seem to suggest it was up to the united states and later dismissed talk of invasion as hysterical rhetoric designed to provoke ukraine. ~ ., ., , . rhetoric designed to provoke ukraine. ~ . ., , . ., rhetoric designed to provoke ukraine. ~ ., ., , . ., ukraine. what does wasser want most, and unstable — ukraine. what does wasser want most, and unstable dependent _ ukraine. what does wasser want most, and unstable dependent ukraine - ukraine. what does wasser want most, and unstable dependent ukraine or- ukraine. what does wasser want most, and unstable dependent ukraine or a i and unstable dependent ukraine or a new sphere — and unstable dependent ukraine or a new sphere of— and unstable dependent ukraine or a new sphere of influence _ and unstable dependent ukraine or a new sphere of influence in _ and unstable dependent ukraine or a new sphere of influence in eastern. new sphere of influence in eastern europe? _ new sphere of influence in eastern euroe? �* ,, �* new sphere of influence in eastern eur0pe?_ we - new sphere of influence in eastern eur0pe?_ we are i new sphere of influence in eastern | europe?_ we are not europe? translation: we are not t in: to europe? translation: we are not trying to get— europe? translation: we are not trying to get a — europe? translation: we are not trying to get a sphere _ europe? translation: we are not trying to get a sphere of _ europe? translation: we are not trying to get a sphere of influence l trying to get a sphere of influence but what nato is doing shows it considers ukraine to be part of its sphere of influence. that considers ukraine to be part of its sphere of influence.— sphere of influence. that is at the heart of moscow's _ sphere of influence. that is at the heart of moscow's fears, that - heart of moscow's fears, that ukraine, despite its historical and cultural links to russia, could become yet another former soviet country to join nato, become yet another former soviet country tojoin nato, as become yet another former soviet country to join nato, as the western alliance spreads east. and such is ukraine's strategic importance to moscow that when a pro—russian leader was driven from ensuring its navy still had access to the black sea. russia also sparked an internal war in eastern ukraine, what has since become a frozen conflict between pro—russian separatists and government forces, fighting that cost more than 13,000 lives. and now president putin is demanding nato did not ukraine membership for ever. and withdraw forces from eastern europe. america's secretary of state rejected these as nonstarters and again sought to deter any military action. ~ �* , . ., ., , action. we've been clear, if any russian military _ action. we've been clear, if any russian military forces - action. we've been clear, if any russian military forces move i action. we've been clear, if any - russian military forces move across ukraine's border, that's a renewed invasion, and will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the united states and our partners and allies.— from the united states and our partners and allies. there was no breakthrough _ partners and allies. there was no breakthrough in _ partners and allies. there was no breakthrough in talks _ partners and allies. there was no breakthrough in talks here - partners and allies. there was no| breakthrough in talks here today, partners and allies. there was no . breakthrough in talks here today, no deal to reduce the threat of a war. but there was agreement for diplomacy to continue. the us will put forward ideas for more security cooperation next week. both sides will meet again after that. these are turbulent times. but for now, russia appears willing to continue talking, and western diplomats hope that might mean not fighting. james landale, bbc news, geneva. we're joined now by our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg, who is outside the kremlin. are we any clearer about what president putin wants and what he is planning?( not really, no. but that is the key question right now. the man in the grand building behind me, what is he thinking, what is he planning, what is vladimir putin's endgame? is this sabre rattling simply a negotiating tactic to squeeze as many security guarantees from the americans as possible or is it a precursor to military action? we simply don't know. president putin is keeping everyone guessing. some here believe that he sees himself as a leader on an historic mission to try to bring ukraine back into russia's orbit, and not only to do that, but to re—establish for moscow a sphere of influence in this part of the world, to push the west and basically to rewrite the results of the cold war. and if that's the case, there is one other question, will the threat from the west of colossal sanctions against russia give vladimir putin pause for thought?— against russia give vladimir putin pause for thought? and don't forget you can get all the latest on the situation in ukraine, plus background and explainers on the bbc news website. levels of coronavirus are falling in england, scotland and wales, according to official figures. but the government is still facing the challenge of how to persuade more than four million people in the uk to take up the offer of a vaccine. bbc analysis shows that younger people continue to be the most reluctant to be fully vaccinated, with almost a third of 18—29 year olds not having had the first two jabs. our health editor hugh pym reports. a vaccination campaign with a difference. and you could and up with long covid, which is no fun. team halo videos have had more than 250 million views. please don't play this russian roulette with your life. they're focused on debunking vaccine misinformation. let's talk about long covid. dr bnar talabani is one expert working on the project, from her home in cardiff. she aims to reassure people that the vaccine is safe. evelyn, whose identity we are protecting, is in her 30s and lives in southern scotland. she has a family history of rheumatoid arthritis and although she wants the jab, she is worried. we always talk about medicines and i try to work out what hopefully won't trigger off an autoimmune response in myself. and that's what makes me nervous about the covid—19 jab. there is no evidence to say that you will get rheumatoid arthritis or any autoimmune disease if you have the vaccine. i think a lot of the time, people don't have access to accurate information, and knowing how to deal the difference between what's nonsense and what's information and what's accurate is very difficult. elite sports players have been under the spotlight over their vaccination status. at worcester warriors rugby club, they're well ahead of an 85% target set for leading english clubs. guidance was offered to those players who had early doubts. i think with anything there's always reluctance until you give them the facts. and that's what we do with anything, whether it's rugby—related or medical—related. and i think that's all we did. players are always curious. among the over 60s, more than 90% have had their first two doses but as you go down the age groups, that falls away quite noticeably. that's why younger people are seen as a key target group for the continued vaccination programme. it was really confusing. some wanting to start a family have questions. these new mums at the bundle baby class said it wasn't a straightforward decision, but they did get vaccinated while they were pregnant. lots of friends were saying that i shouldn't have the vaccine because i was pregnant and that it might harm the baby. a lot of the research and the data that was out there, even when you're speaking to a gp, it didn't seem like there was a lot of robust information. when i turned 13 weeks, so got to the second trimester, i immediately went to get the vaccine and i'd been waiting to get the vaccine, actually. i was actually having arguments with my husband about it because he was keen for me not, to wait, because he was worried about the impact on the baby. he wasn't sure and i was upset with him because i'd been doing a lot of research. some countries are making vaccination compulsory. for now, the approach in the uk is dialogue, but there's clearly more work to be done to convince those who still don't want the jab. hugh pym, bbc news. the latest figures show the number of people testing positive for coronavirus continues to fall, with almost 95,800 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on average, just over 92,400 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the number of people in hospital with covid has fallen again to just under 18,000. there were 288 deaths reported in the latest 24—hour period — that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, though there will be some amongst this number who won't have died from covid. on average in the past week, 268 deaths were announced every day. on vaccinations, just under 36,750,000 people have now had a boosterjab, which means nearly 64% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. wales' first minister, mark drakeford, has said he believes wales has passed the peak of the omicron wave. it comes as there are more easing of covid restrictions in wales as well as northern ireland from today. in a moment we'll hear from emma vardy in belfast, but first, here's tomos morgan in cardiff. yes, the easing today was around outdoor activities. the first being that the limit on sporting activities outdoors, spectators, essentially, has been scrapped meaning the principality stadium behind me can welcome a maximum capacity crowd for the six nations next month. secondly, the rule of six and outdoor social distancing on hospitality has now come to an end. similar restrictions on indoor hospitality and nightclubs are closed, they maybe scrapped next friday, all being well, according to the first minister. mark drakeford said today that the number of people who have covid as declined faster in wales than any other part of the uk. at the moment covid passes and facemasks will be needed on public transport. the next review here is due on the 10th of february. political leaders here in northern ireland _ political leaders here in northern ireland say that the relaxations today— ireland say that the relaxations today are — ireland say that the relaxations today are a reflection too of the fact that — today are a reflection too of the fact that they believe here that the peak has _ fact that they believe here that the peak has now passed in terms of the number— peak has now passed in terms of the number of— peak has now passed in terms of the number of cases and hospitalisations. from today, just in time _ hospitalisations. from today, just in time for— hospitalisations. from today, just in time for friday night drinks, the mandatory table service rule in pubs and restaurants has been dropped. the limit _ and restaurants has been dropped. the limit of six people to a table has now— the limit of six people to a table has now ended. in terms of households being able to meet up in private _ households being able to meet up in private homes indoors, the limit of three. _ private homes indoors, the limit of three. that — private homes indoors, the limit of three, that rule has ended today too. three, that rule has ended today too there — three, that rule has ended today too. there is another significant change — too. there is another significant change coming in northern ireland next week— change coming in northern ireland next week because from wednesday you will no _ next week because from wednesday you will no longer need vaccine passports to get into pubs and reference and cinemas. as you can imagine _ reference and cinemas. as you can imagine that's been very much welcomed by the hospitality industry but ministers say their message to the public— but ministers say their message to the public is that yes, there are relaxations but they want people to take their— relaxations but they want people to take their own precautions. thank ou both. a "shameful shambles" — that's the verdict of mps on the under—payment of the state pension to 134,000 pensioners, and they've warned that the mistakes could be repeated. the errors, which mainly affect women, date back as far as 1985, with some owed as much as £128,000. the department for work and pensions says it's resolving cases as quickly as possible, but its efforts have been described as ineffective. sarah corker reports. for four decades, thousands of women across the uk have been underpaid their state pensions. some are owed life—changing amounts of money. the bbc has heard from those who have had to fight to get errors corrected. you expect that the pension department won't make errors, really. itjust doesn't seem right when so much time has been lost, and so much money has been lost in the interim. if we hadn't have been persistent, we wouldn't have got anywhere. l the public accounts committee found errors dating back to 1985. more than 130,000 pensioners, mainly women, were under paid a total of £1 billion. outdated computer systems, manual processing, and complacency in monitoring errors have all been blamed. around 40,000 women have already died without receiving the money they are owed — there's no plan to trace theirfamilies. the dwp needs to sort out the air and get cracking with making sure that people in their estates, when they've died, have the payments that they are owed. but they also need to make sure they are sorting out their it systems for the future — and crucially, we want to see proper compensation. some women will now be fully repaid. but others, like jan in fife, can only backdate claims for 12 months — that's because of when her husband retired. she believes she's due £17,000. i first spoke to her last year. six months on, she's no furtherforward. i was always used to paper work, i mean, that was myjob. but it tires you, it wearies you... i mean, it makes you feel old. and i think that's what the government are hoping. the dwp says it's resolving cases as quickly as possible, and a team of up to 500 civil servants will be working to trace those affected. but it's a process that could take until the end of 2023 to complete. and all of this has a knock—on effect — experienced staff have been moved to fix these issues, and that's already causing a backlog in processing new applications. sarah corker, bbc news. aid agencies say saudi—led air strikes in northern yemen have killed at least 70 people, with many more wounded. the medical organisation medecins sans frontieres has warned that a nearby hospital has been overwhelmed by the number of casualties. thousands of people on the streets of the capital, sanaa, have protested against the attacks. saudi—led coalition forces have been fighting houthi rebels in yemen since 2015. a former metropolitan police counter—terrorism detective has been jailed for three years for secretly filming models during fake photoshoots. neil corbel committed his crimes in hotel rooms and rented accommodation across the uk. he used cameras in tissue boxes, phone chargers and in glasses to film women. corbel pleaded guilty to 19 counts of voyeurism. anna adams reports. they thought they'd been booked for a modelling assignment but, instead, dozens of women were secretly filmed by an off—duty police officer while they were undressing. he called himself harrison and said he was a pilot but, in fact, he was detective inspector neil corbel from the met. he covertly recorded 31 women between 2017—2020, and stored the images on his police laptop. corbel, who has now resigned from the met, admitted to 19 counts of voyeurism. he was sentenced to three years in jail. thejudge said his actions had seriously undermined public trust in the police. he was tracked down by fellow officers after an 18—month investigation. there is still disbelief when i hear of officers doing things such as this, because it's a betrayal, it damages trust and confidence. it really hurts. one of the women who we're calling jessica was booked by corbel after he found her photos on a modelling website. he introduced himself and said how he did photography as a hobby and how he'd seen my portfolio. there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about it. corbel had spy cameras hidden in an alarm clock and a phone charger to secretly record her naked. jessica was eventually called into a police station. it raises further questions for the met, just months after another officer, wayne cousins, was given a whole life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of sarah everard. jessica says both cases have changed the way she now views police officers. it makes you not trust the police. people call the police when they're in vulnerable positions and they want someone they can trust. anna adams, bbc news. the time is 18:18. our top story this evening: russia and the us hold �*frank�* talks about the threat to ukraine as moscow sends more troops to the area. coming up... calls for better access for disabled people to explore the uk's countryside. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel: where did it all go wrong? we assess the changes needed to revise the fortunes of test team, after the men's 4—nil series defeat to australia in the ashes. the us rock star meat loaf has died at the age of 74. he sold more than 100 million albums, in a career that spanned six decades. bat out of hell, which was released in 1977, remains one of the best—selling albums of all time. our arts correspondent david sillito reports. # like a bat out of hell # i'll be gone when the morning comes...# meat loaf, bat out of hell. a sweat—drenched rock—and—roll epic that turned the man born marvin lee aday into one of the biggest—selling rock stars in the world. there have been many tributes. among them, cher, who sang with him on dead ringer for love, bonnie tyler, and from i'd do anything for love, lorraine crosby. we just gelled. we gelled perfectly. and obviously, that's why the song went the way it did. so, every time i think of meat loaf, i think about being in the studio with him. # i would do anything for love # i'd never lie to you, and that's a fact...# tearfully: you just knew. you knew it was going to be great, you know. i'm sorry, i'm getting... you knew, you just knew instinctively that the album was going to be huge. #..noway # and i would do anything for love...# born in dallas, his mother was a teacher and singer, his father a policeman, and his childhood was tough. he was an alcoholic and he'd always beat me up as a kid. threw me through a plate—glass window, threw me through a door. his escape was acting and musicals. he got a part in hair, and then the rocky horror picture show. bat out of hell was a project he'd been working on for years with the writerjim steinman. the rock establishment was scornful, but the fans — especially in britain — loved it. # like a bat out of hell # oh, like a bat out of hell...# but its huge success, and the pressures it brought, almost killed him. then followed years of lawsuits. he claimed he never made a dime out of it. but he did go on to make some great records, but nothing would ever top bat out of hell. a glorious, over—the—top, emotional battering ram. a rock—and—roll masterpiece. # ..hell...#. meat loaf, who has died at the age of 74. for more on the singer, you can see meat loaf: in and out of hell at 9pm tonight on bbc four. a plant producing electric car batteries has been given government funding for its factory in northumberland. britishvolt says it will create 3,000 jobs in the region. the government says the factory in cambois will help secure the future of the car industry in the uk. our north of england correspondent, danny savage, has been to the town of blyth to find out more. this part of northumberland already has some green credentials, but there's now an ambitious plan to develop them. it's been called "the re—industrialisation of the north". this old power station site is going to be transformed into a huge factory, making batteries for electric cars. it's the future. this particular part of northumberland, around the cambois and blyth area, has suffered so much from sort of post the industrialisation. this is going to produce good—quality, high—qualityjobs, here for the long term. it's going to be transformational. a huge amount of investment is needed to set it up, though. £100 million of taxpayers' money is being poured into this business, alongside 1.7 billion from private investors. people look back to the industrial revolution, and the north—east had an enormous role in that, 150, 200 years ago. we de—industrialised but, now, we're re—industrialising. in years to come, huge numbers of us will be hooking our vehicles up to one of these — an electric vehicle charging point. and one of the thoughts behind this new factory in northumberland is that if you make the batteries here, then manufacturers will follow to the uk, creating even morejobs. as we were filming, fiona gibson pulled up to charge her car. she works with families in the area. it's giving young people - a reason to live and want to live here that's got good outcomes. they want to raise a family here. it's just about raising - education and aspirations. and this is the look of modern engineering locally. the prospect of high—tech, skilled jobs is being welcomed by apprentices and young workers in this area. it's actually great to come into engineering. sit�*s not this filthy, dirty occupation that it's not this filthy, dirty occupation that it's portrayed to be. i mean, we work with high—end robotics, with some really big companies. it's just a really interesting field to work in. obviously, it's been a great place to live beforehand, it can be again. not that it's that bad now, like, but you know what i mean?! if it works out, the government will point to this part of north—east england when they're asked about levelling up the country. the new factory could be up and running in a few years' time. danny savage, bbc news, blyth. adele has postponed her entire las vegas residency — just 24 hours before the opening night. she posted a tearful message on social media to say that half the crew had covid and she simply wasn't ready. the singer apologised to fans who'd travelled to the states for what would have been herfirst live concerts for five years. our music correspondent mark savage has more. adele, how we are used to seeing her, poised and stylish. butjust hours before her las vegas residency began, she was in tears, as she announced the shows were off. half my crew, half my team were down with covid, they still are, and it's been impossible to finish the show. and i can't give you what i have right now. and i'm gutted. fans who had tickets for this weekend's opening show say they are heartbroken. upsetting, frustrating, disheartening that they cancelled so close to the show. i mean, there was a show today and i was going tomorrow. how much money do you think you might have lost? i think it's upward of $1,500 or $2,000 between ticket, hotel, childcare and everything else we spent money on, and that's per person. but adele received comforting words from the lead singer of the 19805 band bros, who spent the last decade playing in las vegas himself. she's really fighting - against all the odds and you see she's pained by it. i really respect that - she went out and made that announcement. she didn't get a press l statement, she did that herself, and that takes a lot of courage. - # go easy on me, baby...# adele's not the only artist to be affected by covid. steps, bryan adams, and bonjovi have all had to cancel shows after testing positive. but other concerts have gone ahead without a hitch, including katy perry's own residency on the strip, which launched last month. experts say this sort of disruption will continue. this is not a predictable thing. any member of your crew or your team going down can actually throw your show out and, obviously, that's not something we can control all the time. people have to live their lives. adele says she will announce rescheduled dates for her 12—week las vegas run as soon as possible. until then, she hoped fans will remember her mantra, "go easy on me". mark savage, bbc news. people with mobility problems need to be given access to the countryside — so says the charity disabled ramblers, which wants to see more of the uk's national parks install well—surfaced routes which don't have stiles, or steep gradients. it's thought that around a fifth of england's population cannot currently use public rights of way due to mobility issues. andrew plant reports now from dartmoor. they call themselves the wags, dartmoor�*s wheelchair access group — twice a week, test—driving the terrain here, recommending small changes that can make a big difference. if i do go out and i'm not going to an area that i know, i've got to be prepared to be disappointed, because i can't get through because there's a man—made barrier. since the dartmoor national park guides have been helping us, they actually treat us like normal human beings, not like a group of disabled people. it's almost 400 square miles of stunning scenery. dartmoor national park is already a home from home for hikers. now, though, it's becoming much more accessible for those on four wheels too. this stone is what we put down on the paths... old gates and stiles like this one can close off the countryside, but are easily swapped for ones that anyone can open. not very easy to open from a mobility scooter or a wheelchair. they're generally not big or complicated jobs. a simple gate replacement, with a gate that hangs on a more sensible side and that has an easier handle to open. easy access routes are really important. a recent review looked at national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, and said more needed to be done to make protected landscapes more accessible to everyone and make sure having mobility issues doesn't mean being stuck at home. before we got the mobility scooters, my wife and i were doing less - and less walking and the world . was getting smaller and smaller, and having these scooters hasjust opened our world back up again. l navigating the natural obstacles is all part of the appeal. it is the man—made ones that these dedicated off—roaders are determined to change. andrew plant, bbc news, dartmoor national park. time for a look at the weather. here's nick miller. i may not be making too many rambler friends with this fog is for the weekend because any sunshine you may have seen today will be losing —— we will be losing as we go from blue to grey skies. however, it is high pressure close to the uk which brings a lot of dry weather this weekend if you are heading out and about. around this area of high pressure and it has started already into western areas today, it has brought in a lot of cloud that will spread further east and overnight into areas with the east that have had a largely clear day. but the increasing cloud does limit the extent and severity of frost. a touch of it in north—east scotland overnight, parts of finland and wales, the temperatures nowhere near as low as they have been over the past couple of nights. where winds are light in the south, mist and fog patches may be politically in the morning and as you can see, a lot of cloud around. most are dry, but as we have seen today across parts of western scotland, some outbreaks of rain most persistent into the western highlands, it is south east scotland, north—east england most likely to see occasional sunshine with brighter breaks elsewhere. a milder feel in scotland and northern ireland and elsewhere, temperatures a touch higher. a lot of cloud around again on saturday night, so patchy frost here and there in parts of finland and wales, but 9 degrees in stornoway as sunday begins, but getting windier here. we still have high pressure, but front