the omicron variant. # likea # like a bat out of hell i will be gone in the morning don... #. and the pop music world mourns the death of meat loaf, the rock legend whose bat out of hell album is one of the best—selling of all time the us and russia have held what they called "frank talks" in an effort to reduce the risk of a conflict in ukraine. us secretary of state, antony blinken, and russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, spoke for ninety minutes at a meeting in switzerland, afterwards both said further talks are possible. us president biden has travelled to the presidential retreat at camp david where he will be joined by secretary blinken and his national security team to discuss tensions with russia over ukraine. the us wants russia to pull its forces back from the ukrainian border, which western countries fear are preparing to invade. the us has promised to provide a written response to russia's security demands, which include a ban on ukrainejoining nato. our diplomatic correspondent james landale has more. more russian forces on the move. surface—to—air missiles in the country's far east due to join what moscow says are military exercises near ukraine — part of the growing build—up of troops and equipment revealed by images of strategic locations close to the border — what western powers fear may be preparation for war. but for now, the diplomacy continues, too. america's and russia's top diplomats met in geneva and at first couldn't even agree how to greet one another, with one question on everyone�*s lips. reporter: is - an invasion likely, as president biden suggested? n0 audio translation available. mr lavrov seemed to suggest it was up to the united states and later dismissed talk of invasion as "hysterical rhetoric designed to provoke ukraine". what does russia want most — an unstable, dependent ukraine or a new sphere of influence in eastern europe? translation: we are not trying to get a sphere of influence, - but what nato is doing shows it considers ukraine to be a part of its sphere of influence. to the west, ukraine is an independent, sovereign nation. that means it has a right to self—determination, free from russian control. and if it wants to join nato or any other international alliance, well, that's for it to decide. russia's view is different. it sees the former soviet country as historically within its sphere of influence and also strategically important. crimea was annexed, in part, to protect russia's access to the black sea. and as for nato membership, that would be seen as a threat to russia's core security. that's why president putin wants nato to rule out ukraine ever becoming a member and withdraw its forces from eastern europe. america's secretary of state rejected these as non—starters and once again sought to deter any military action. we've been clear. if any russian military forces move across ukraine's border, that's a renewed invasion. it will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the united states and our partners and allies. there was no breakthrough at the talks here today, no deal to reduce the threat of war, but there was agreement for diplomacy to continue. the us will put forward ideas for more security co—operation 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. to find out more on the outcome of the meeting, i've been speaking to angela stent, a former officer for russia and eurasia at the national intelligence council who now heads up georgetown university's center for eurasian, russian and east european studies. well, it looked like a rather civilised showdown. they came out, they said that they'd had frank and substantive talks and they agreed to continue talking, so i think we're sort of where we were, really, last week. we had one set of — three talks last week, we've had these talks today. the russians are now going to await, i think, written answers from the united states on their two treaties that they've proposed with demands which the us and the nato countries won't accept, but they've agreed to meet again, so we can just hope that diplomacy continues. i mean, it's difficult to know what might in the head of president putin, but what do you think his ultimate goal is? so i think his ultimate goal, it's more than ukraine and ukraine nato membership, it's really to revise the post—cold war settlement, which he thinks — in which russia really doesn't have a stake, where russia's interests haven't been fully taken into account, and he really would like the nato countries to accept that russia has a right to a sphere of influence in the post—soviet space and apparently, also in what used to be eastern and central europe in the old days of the warsaw pact, so those are rather wide—ranging demands but he really does want to move beyond the system that we now have in europe. but then, it's a difficult spot for the united states to be in, deciding how much to move forward or negotiate with russia, while also maintaining, of course, their ties with ukraine. yes, and i think the us and its nato allies have offered to negotiate on things like missiles. i mean, the russians have said the us should never install missiles in ukraine — well, it doesn't have any intention to do that anyway — we can talk about troop movements, we can talk about intermediate—range weapons and restoring that kind of treaty, so there are a number of areas where we could negotiate with the russians if they were willing to take that, instead of this blanket demand, essentially, for nato to retreat to where it was in 1997. well, talking about retreats, we are hearing that they have gone —joe biden and also secretary blinken expected tojoin him at camp david, i suppose to really think about these next steps. how important is this forjoe biden, do you think, and can he be successful? oh, i think it's very important for him. i mean, domestically, he's under a lot of pressure. his legislation isn't doing very well. he wanted to focus on china as the main opponent and to have a relationship with russia that was stable and predictable, as he said. that really hasn't worked out well, so i think it's very important, you know, and there is shadow of war — the russians haven't de—escalated at all, there's a military build—up now with belarus, as we heard in your report, so i think it's very important for him to try and resolve this in such in a way that avoids a war, but where the us and the nato countries don't have to give in too much. angela stent. the united states has called for a de—escalation of the conflict in yemen after at least seventy people were killed in an air strike by the saudi—led coalition that supports the government. here's our international correspondent, orla guerin — and a warning, some viewers may find her report upsetting. another dawn in yemen. more destruction revealed in the cold light of day. prisoners were held here by houthi rebels, including african migrants just trying to transit through yemen. some were among the dead. in sa'dah province, the houthi heartland, they dug for survivors with their bare hands. but this was a massive air strike — the death toll is still climbing. the saudi—led coalition, which is backed by britain, says it will investigate fully. after a night of devastating strikes, the un secretary general criticised both the houthis, who carried out an attack on monday, and the coalition. any bombardment that targets civilians, or that is not careful enough to protect civilians, is of course also unacceptable. what we need is to stop this vicious circle in which things keep escalating, one after the other. but on the ground, war has the momentum. this was the port city of hudaydah. the houthis say the coalition hit a telecommunications centre, knocking out the internet across yemen. incredibly, this man was brought out alive. at the hospital, a desperate attempt to revive a child. wails. and a heart—rending loss. aid agencies say three children were killed playing football as the air strikes rained down. the houthis sparked the latest escalation with this deadly cross—border attack on the united arab emirates — a partner in the coalition. in the yemeni capital sanaa today, they staged a show of strength. here's the reality that confronts the coalition. after seven years of air strikes, it has failed to dislodge the houthis from these streets. but now, once again, it is bringing nights of terror and death to yemeni civilians. orla guerin, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: the saudi official news agency have been reporting in the last two minutes that the saudi—led coalition fighting said they were targeting a detention centre were untrue. that they were citing a coalition spokesperson. anti—abortion activists gathered in washington earlier today for the annual march for life. this year they are optimistic that the supreme court will overturn the roe v. wade decision that legalised abortion nationwide in the 70s. chanting: hey hey, ho ho! roe v wade has got to go! every single year the march for life is important, and each year builds upon the next, but hopefully this will be the last year for the march for life, and hopefully we see the court case overturned. i have hopes that it will be dissolved, i have hopes that we are hoping that there will become a day in - the united states that i the unborn are protected in the womb - of their own mothers. the value of the human life is not there anymore. we want to give a witness that actually it is, you know, every life is a gift, is a gift from the lord. earlier i spoke with mary ziegler, a law professor at florida state university and author of abortion and the law in america: roe v wade to the present" about whether public opnion had changed since that landmark case no, the polling data really haven't changed. this is really a story about the transformation of the us supreme court and i mean that notjust in the sense of, there are now six conservatives on the court, although that is obviously true. there are different kinds of conservative judge in the united states. historically, even though the supreme court is supposed to be insulated from political pressure, it really hasn't acted that way. the court has rarely strayed too far from political popular opinion, but that doesn't appear to be where this court is heading. this court does not seem to be concerned about the political backlash we may see from the reversal of roe, and that tells you the court may do much more than reverse roe, that may be just the beginning. so you believe that the supreme court could reverse roe v wade? i believe the supreme court will reverse roe v wade. i think it is quite likely the court will do this in 2022, and if not, a year or two down the road. there is almost no chance that this supreme court would do anything but reverse roe v wade. for people who have been not followed roe v wade, that case from the 1970s, i gave a synopsis there about when it legalised abortions nationwide, but if this were reversed, would that affect every state within the united states? it wouldn't have the effect of banning abortion nationwide, it would have the effect of allowing states to issue their own policies so they could ban abortion or not, depending on what they liked. we know roughly half the states would ban abortion immediately, and we expect that ultimately that number would be more than half the states, because many republican—controlled states would ultimately ban abortion. significantly the states that would ban abortion are all concentrated geographically, so they would either be in the south or midwest of the united states, which would make it exponentially harder for people in those states to actually access the procedure. and i should say with "banning abortion", it is a very broad term, but i think it can mean very different things to different people. it could mean...at different stages of pregnancy for example, or it could mean different cases, i just want to make that clear to our viewers as we talk about it in those terms. absolutely, and can include what we might view as contraceptives too, there was a debate in the us in recent years about what many viewed as "abortion inducing drugs", which includes what others view as common contraceptives such as emergency contraception or iuds. this is bbc news, the headlines... the us and russian foreign ministers have held talks in geneva to try to ease tension over the build—up of russian troops on the border with ukraine. the united states have called for a de—escalation in the conflict in yemen after dozens are killed in an air strike on a prison by the saudi—led coalition. the brazilian cities of rio de janeiro and sao paulo have delayed their carnival parades untill the end of april, in the face of record covid cases in the country. both cities had already canceled their carnival street parties, but were still considering having their samba parades at the end of february. on wednesday the country recorded 204,854 new daily cases, the most reported in a 24—hour period since the pandemic began. brazil has also stepped up its vaccination program for young children. earlier the brazilian ministry of health approved the use of the chinese made sinovacjab for 6— to i7—year—olds. the vaccine was the first to be used in brazil, but has since largely been replaced by other vaccines for adult use. dr pedro hallal is a professor of epidemiology at the federal university of pelotas, and was the lead investigator into the country's first nationwide investigation into the spread of covid—i9. great to have you with us, dr pedro. those numbers you are citing, they are incredibly high. is this all due to the omicron variant?- high. is this all due to the omicron variant? yes. brazil has been _ omicron variant? yes. brazil has been devastated - omicron variant? yes. brazil has been devastated by - omicron variant? yes. brazil has been devastated by the l has been devastated by the omicron variant, similarly to what has happened in other parts of the world. fortunately, we are not seeing such an increase in hospital admissions and deaths, at least for now, we hope it will continue like that, and in part it is because the proportion of the population vaccinated is high. so omicron is increasing the cases, i believe the numbers are much higher than the official statistics, but we are not seeing the same problem in terms of hospital admissions and deaths, at least yes. find and deaths, at least yes. and how is the — and deaths, at least yes. and how is the vaccination - how is the vaccination programme going in brazil? i know it was quite slow to start with the many reasons. what does it look like now? it looks aood does it look like now? it looks good nova _ does it look like now? it looks good now. still— does it look like now? it looks good now. still has _ does it look like now? it looks good now. still has a - does it look like now? it looks good now. still has a traditionj good now. still has a tradition of being successful in vaccination —— brazil. it didn't happen exactly like that, it's started very slow, the president himself was advocating against it, but as soon as it it went smoothly, and the same will start to happen with the kids. so the ministry of health delayed at as long as they could, but now it has started and i can predict that it will be another success, because you know, brazilians are used to vaccines and they trust vaccines a lot. what about this measure, though, to push back the samba parades to april, do you think that will make a significant difference?— that will make a significant difference? . ,, , ., difference? yeah, it is best to dela it difference? yeah, it is best to delay it than _ difference? yeah, it is best to delay it than to _ difference? yeah, it is best to delay it than to have - difference? yeah, it is best to delay it than to have it - difference? yeah, it is best to delay it than to have it right i delay it than to have it right now. we are not sure whether it will be able to happen at the time they are planning, but at this stage, it would not be safe to have the parades. you know, all of us brazilians, we love carnival, it is a big thing for us, but for now it is a wise decision to postpone it. i was looking at well —— as well, i was looking at kiribati, the tiny nation that had two covid cases before this, it now has 36, they came in on its first flight, and now they are in lockdown. i guess they are in lockdown. i guess they were going for a zero covid policy. do you think any country, big or small, covid policy. do you think any country, big orsmall, can really have zero covid? i country, big or small, can really have zero covid? i think with the omicron _ really have zero covid? i think with the omicron variant, - with the omicron variant, realistically it will be very difficult to keep cases that low. but you know, as soon as you see the cases, you need to do something. and that is what i think many countries are failing. at least at brazil now, we're not anything to stop the omicron curve, it is pretty much trusting that the vaccine will solve the problem. we know it helps but it will not solve the problem itself. we need other measures, but the other members are pretty much not happening unfortunately. —— measures. 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 4 million people in the uk to take up the offer of a vaccine. bbc analysis shows that younger people continue to be the most vaccine—hesita nt. here's our health editor hugh pym. a vaccination campaign with a difference. and you could end 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're 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—i9 jab. there's 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 times, people don't have access to accurate information, and knowing how to tell the difference between what's nonsense and what's misinformation 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, and 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 into 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, you know, he was keen for me not to and to wait, because he was worried about kind of the impact on the baby. he wasn't sure and, you know, 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. people have been returning to their homes in the spanish canary islands of la palma after being forced to flee due to organic corruption. everything was covered in a deep layer of ash, burying houses and cars. the residents who were lucky enough not to have a house among the thousands destroyed during the eruption are still returning to a mammoth cleanup operation. people have been warned to wear masks while clearing bash. tributes have been pouring in for the us rock star meat loaf, who has died at the age of 7a. in a career spanning six decades, he was known for his operatic voice and theatrical stage presence. he became a household name in 1977 with bat out of hell, which remains one of the best—selling albums of all time. our arts correspondent david sillito takes a look back at his music and life. # 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. # i would do anything for love. # i'd never lie to you, and that's a fact. 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. # no no, no way... 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. # i would do anything for love, # but i won't do that. 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. # praying for the end of time. # it's all that i can do... this famous performance on the old grey whistle test was where it all took off. but its huge success and the pressures it brought almost killed him. that was then followed by lawsuits and bankruptcy. he claimed years went by without him making a dime out of it, 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's died at the age of 7a. and thank you for watching bbc news. stay with us. hello. it looks like the weather is taking part in dryjanuary — no significant rain on the way this weekend, nor indeed until at least the start of next week. there isn't going to be a huge amount of this either — blue sky and sunshine this weekend. cloud increased in the west on friday, looks like it is cloud that is going to win out across most places as the weekend goes on. temperatures edge a little bit higher. you'll notice that most in northern ireland and scotland, especially in northern scotland. so what's going on? high pressure close by, that is why we are having a lot of dry weather. around it, bringing in a lot of cloud from the atlantic. it does limit the extent and severity of frost as saturday starts. a touch of it in north—east scotland, patchy in wales and england, where we had any clear spells overnight. and a chance for some early mist and fog patches. you can see the extent of the cloud across the uk for saturday. just a few brighter breaks here and there. they are most likely across eastern parts of scotland and england, whereas towards north—west scotland, we are going to see some outbreaks of rain. and it is breezier here, compared with elsewhere, but it is also milder — 11 degrees in stornoway, 10 in belfast and glasgow. temperatures elsewhere a little higher than they were on friday. overnight and into sunday, quite a bit of cloud around, a few breaks in that cloud here and there, where they occur, the chance of seeing a touch of frost. parts of wales and england in particular. there will be some mist and fog patches developing towards southern areas, where the winds are light, and they could well be slow to clear in a few spots as sunday begins. the high very much here on sunday. there is a weather front edging closer towards north—west scotland as the day goes on. it doesn't look as if we will see much in the rain until sunday night. ahead of it, still some patchy rain in north—west scotland. the winds going to pick up here. gales developing in the western isles. a breezier day in northern ireland. light winds elsewhere. again, a lot of cloud around, just a few sunny spells. if anything on sunday, temperatures just come down a little bit. the high—pressure still with us into the start of next week. by mid week, we are going to see a developing weather system heading our way. here it is, and mainly through wednesday night, we will see an area of rain moving its way southwards, weakening as it does so. and behind that, high pressure building back in again but for a time later in the week, there will be some brighter skies around. that's your weather. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us and russia have held what they called "frank" talks on tension over ukraine. with more russian troops gathering on the ukrainian border, washington has warned any invasion will be met with a swift, severe and united response. the united states has called for a de—escalation of the conflict in yemen after at least 70 people were killed in an air strike by the saudi—led coalition. a detention centre was hit in saada, a stronghold of the rebel houthi movement. thousands of people protested in the capital, sanaa, against the attacks. stars including cher, boy george and bonnie tyler have led tributes to the singer meat loaf. the rock legend died at the age of 7a. his album, bat out of hell, is one of the best selling of all time. he also starred in more than 50 films. they are your headlines. coming up in around 10 minutes' time, we'll have newswatch.