plus: the groundbreaking bionic eye operation — and the 88 year—old woman who's now able to see her grandchildren again. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the us has delivered its first shipment of military aid to ukraine — made up of what it says are 90 tonnes of �*lethal aid' — two words which seldom go together. the details of what is included haven't been made public — but this is what it looks like. this plane load arrived in ukraine in the early hours of saturday morning. you can see crates being unloaded. they're clearly too small to contain anything like a tank or armoured vehicle — but what the boxes contain remains unknown. it comes after high level talks between the us and russia on friday, over the tensions in ukraine — with tens of thousands of russian troops currently camped near the ukrainian borders. with the latest — here's mark lobel: the threat of conflict persists. as president putin continues his apparent drive for a new post—cold war settlement. ukraine is proving the biggest foreign policy test for president biden since us troops left afghanistan. he's left the white house for camp david this weekend to meet his national security team and secretary of state antony blinken, who himself is returning from three days of crisis diplomacy. those ended in talks with his russian counterpart in geneva, which frankly didn't get very far. what i think is possible is a negotiation with russia on some new security architecture, for your model eras, the inf agreement of the 80s, under which intermediate and short—range missiles were banned. if the russian issue is the risk in the future of nato missiles on the russian border sitting in ukraine, that would take that away. but of course, it would mean the russians, too, had to withdraw weapons. in the meantime, ukraine hasjust received from the us 90 tonnes of what america calls lethal aid, including ammunition for ukraine's front line forces. washington says it's helping ukraine bolster its defences in the face of growing russian aggression. russia denies an invasion is on the cards, but has 100,000 russian troops near ukraine's border in potential threatening positions, as this map shows, as putin asks that ukraine be stopped from joining nato, that nato remove its troops or weapons from countries who joined the alliance after 1997, and that nato abandon military exercises in eastern europe. as russia sticks to its guns, how could the west respond? i would apply sanctions now, and offer to lift them if russia does not invade. i would be sending much greater amounts of armaments and trainers to ukraine so they can best defend themselves. i would put us and other allied nato forces further forward into the baltic states and poland as a deterrent, and as a statement of resolve. and also, ships into the black sea. for now, though, things remain relatively quiet on the western front as both sides seek a diplomatic way forward. 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. russia sparked this diplomatic conflict. this week, the us showed it's keen to resolve it peacefully. but it remains unclear how far both sides are prepared to go to placate the other. let's take a closer look now at the arms build up — in and around ukraine — as its allies try to offer not just diplomatic but also military support. as we reported, the us has sent 90 tonnes of what it calls �*lethal aid' to ukraine. we don't know many details about what the shippment includes, apart from ammunition for ukrainian front line forces. the uk has provided short range anti—tank missiles. a small team of british troops is also being sent to ukraine — to provide training. three baltic nato members — estonia, latvia and lithuania — are also sending missiles: the us madejavelin anti—armour missiles and anti—aircraft stingers. and, close by, on the other side of ukraine's borders, russia — has deployed more than a hundred thousand troops — with some also in belarus. as part of those forces — what are thought to be tens of thousands of armoured vehicles, tanks and artillery units. professor of russian and european politics at the university of kent and author of frontline ukraine — richard sakwa — explains the roots of this crisis. not a decade, i would say it goes back at least until 1990, and the discussions about nato enlargement at the time of german unification. and basically, moscow considered that it was betrayed. endless promises at that time that nato would not move one edge to the east, seem to have been forgotten, not only that, the fact that these statements were made, which are in black and white at the national security archives, is denied in the west. so moscow feels a grievance. now, why it's come to a head, is that putin basically says, enough is enough, that georgia and ukrainejoining nato would simply be a security threat of the highest order, and they've got nowhere else to retreat, he actually said that. so that's why it's particularly come to a head. he said, basically, let's sort this out once and for all now. he says it, but the ukrainians, he is saying it was a gun held to their head. if you mobilise 100,000 troops that close to the border, you're sending a message, aren't you? absolutely. you may criticise the message. just one contextualisation of that, the ukrainians have 100,000 troops, as well, along the border with the so—called donbass republic, so a... but that used to be part ukraine until not that long ago. absolutely, certainly part of ukraine, but if you recall, the minsk agreement of 2015, ukraine and sat in the west six years to sort it out, basically, absolutely, they should return, that was the idea, to ukrainian sovereignty but with a certain amount of devolution. a conservative backbencher who accused downing street of trying to "blackmail" mps seeking to drive out borisjohnson is to meet police to discuss his allegations. william wragg — who wants the prime minister to quit — said he will be speaking to a met police detective in the house of commons early next week, after requesting a meeting with the force. number 10 said it had not seen any proof of the behaviour he alleges. conservative mp and chair of the foreign affairs select committee, tom tugendhat, says he doesn't recognise claims of blackmail in parliament. i have voted against the government on occasions i've thought it right and i have to say, i have always had and i have to say, i have always had a close relationship with the chief whip and a productive relationship with the whip and i am waiting to hear more about this because it is not something i have seen or been told about. i've been speaking to our political correspondent helen catt. what we understand is that he has asked for this meeting with the met police that someone from scotland yard will be meeting with him in the commons this week. i'm not sure we are quite at this stage that you suggested now. white mac not under oath anything. yellow marketers an extraordinary move for him to have put this allegation out there in public in the first place, actually. earlier this week, he made a statement to the parliamentary committee saying that some of his colleagues had been intimidated by the whips, mps who are appointed in this case by the government, to try and get their colleagues to vote the right way, the way that they want rather than the right way. and what he is saying is that they have been using intimidate re—tactics on them, particularly over the last week, though suspected of not backing borisjohnson. some of the methods would seem to constitute blackmail and the specific allegations he talked about were encouraging embarrassing stories about mps to appear in the press. white mac and it was said a story had appeared in the times on monday which he said was not true and which he found and ordered to coincidence just after he said he was not backing the prime minister. that was one of the allegations but potentially, more seriously, is this suggestion that some mps have been told that if they did not vote a certain way then they would have funding withdrawn from their constituencies and the former conservative mp who defected to labour this week also said that he had been told back when they were voting for free school meals that he would not get the money for a new high school in his constituency, so there's a pretty serious allegations that have been made.— that have been made. there was a re ort that have been made. there was a report about _ that have been made. there was a report about four _ that have been made. there was a report about four years _ that have been made. there was a report about four years ago - that have been made. there was a report about four years ago when l that have been made. there was a l report about four years ago when we looked at intimidation and what downing street said is that we have seen no evidence of it. have they given any indication of whether they are actually looking to see any evidence?— are actually looking to see any evidence? , , ., ., evidence? the spokesman for downing street declined _ evidence? the spokesman for downing street declined to _ evidence? the spokesman for downing street declined to say _ evidence? the spokesman for downing street declined to say they _ evidence? the spokesman for downing street declined to say they were - street declined to say they were going looking on the implication is that they are not but what they have said as if they are presented with evidence that backs up these statements then they will look at that very closely. you statements then they will look at that very closely.— statements then they will look at that very closely. you will be aware that very closely. you will be aware that when governments _ that very closely. you will be aware that when governments don't - that very closely. you will be aware that when governments don't have | that very closely. you will be aware l that when governments don't have a big majority they have a kind of, you know, they use a lot of tactics, some of which might make your grandmother blush but actually, in a sense, there is almost an understanding that, in the end, they can't tie you up in a ball and lock you in a room. you're free to vote. your grown—ups, your politicians, you are elected. don'tjump to withstand this kind of pressure and say, this is politics?— say, this is politics? there is alwa s say, this is politics? there is always going _ say, this is politics? there is always going to _ say, this is politics? there is always going to be _ say, this is politics? there is always going to be a - say, this is politics? there is always going to be a very - say, this is politics? there is i always going to be a very large attempts to persuade someone to vote with the government if it looks like they are not and of course various tactics deployed to do that, some of them less gentle than others have been and you are right, it was ever thus but, i suppose, the other thing is that you may now be another of those examples of the way that westminster has always worked now rubbing up against the expectations of how a normal 21st century workplace work so should work and we have seen this time and again in recent years. how it perhaps how others think it should work clashing. tonga's clean—up continues with the help of foreign aid — one week after the volcanic eruption and tsunami devastated the pacific island. the united nations says tonga will depend on emergency food supplies for some time to come because of the impact of last weekend's undersea volcanic eruption. aid has been arriving by sea and air from australia, new zealand and britain. we have the latest on the international humanitarian aid deliveries. , international humanitarian aid deliveries.— international humanitarian aid deliveries. ., ., ., deliveries. this cable was damaged a week a . o deliveries. this cable was damaged a week ago during _ deliveries. this cable was damaged a week ago during that _ deliveries. this cable was damaged a week ago during that undersea - week ago during that undersea volcanic eruption and the tsunami waves it's triggered. it is among a raft of catastrophic damage to property and infrastructure and, as you say, aid coming in from many, many countries led by australia and new zealand. water is a significant issue. many water supplies on the archipelago were contaminated by that blanket of ash that rained down on this pacific nation of about 105,000 people and this would be an international aid effort like no other. authorities are introducing very strict disease control measures because tonga have just recorded one known coronavirus case since the pandemic began so, clearly, it does not want to recover from one disaster by inviting another in so what they are doing is foreign aid workers, in order to go into the country, will have to adhere to three weeks of isolation. if you look at other parts of the pacific in recent days, somewhere with that population the same as tonga is population the same as tonga is population do it back going into lockdown. the authorities have been careful as that international aid continues to roll in. white mac the pacific programme manager for the international federation of red cross told me about the ongoing relief operation. we had 1200 households switching crude shelter items and household kits which include brackets, you know, washing, tarpaulin, blankets. so we had this on the island and, following the disaster, we were aware of what was on the island from the pacific, from the fiji office, we were coordinating with the australian red cross and the new zealand red cross and getting more supplies to replenish what our counterparts were going to be distributing. the replenish what our counterparts were going to be distributing.— going to be distributing. the next staaes going to be distributing. the next sta . es aid going to be distributing. the next stages aid being _ going to be distributing. the next stages aid being brought - going to be distributing. the next stages aid being brought into - going to be distributing. the next stages aid being brought into the| stages aid being brought into the island. 0ne stages aid being brought into the island. one of the complications is that tonga has remained covid free and the government is saying, look, people cannot come in unless they have isolated for a period. we are in an emergency. people might be surprised that even aid supplies are having to be kept 72 hours before they are actually distributed. that is riuht. they are actually distributed. that is right- you _ they are actually distributed. that is right. you will _ they are actually distributed. t�*isgt is right. you will have heard today of a plane that had to return to australia with someone who had covid. now mobilising resources and relief items, we are aware of the strict regulations around quarantine so, at the moment, we are actually just coordinating the shipment of relief items. we have not really gone into replanning but we are now mobilising human resources which is literallyjust mobilising human resources which is literally just sending replenishment. five of the uk's leading business groups have called on the government to act now to support both businesses and consumers, who they say face spiralling energy bills. they've written to the chancellor, rishi sunak, demanding urgent action to tackle the ongoing crisis. here's our business correspondent, ramzan karmali. these five prominent business groups have warned the chancellor that energy price rises on the horizon could push millions of people into fuel poverty. in a letter sent to rishi sunak, they say that if the issue is: the reason our energy is getting more expensive is down to the massive rise in wholesale prices, as economies around the world began easing covid restrictions. the energy regulator, 0fgem, is due to announce a new energy price cap from april, and it is expected to rise dramatically, to £2000 for the average household. i think it is really vital that the government thinks, how can we, not protect everybody from global energy prices, that feels really hard to do, but to smooth the cliff edge for most households, for whom an £800 rise in their bills will really be too much, as well as supporting the most disadvantaged in our society to be able to cope with really significant increases. and when it comes to businesses, 2022 is already proving to be a massive hit to cash flow for a whole range of reasons. put a secondary glazing on this side... the energy bill for this hotelier in scarboroughjumped up from £2000 a month to £10,000 in november. she has no choice but to pass on some of these rising costs. 0ur big challenge in that it is coming towards the end of the pandemic now, foreign markets are opening back up for travel, so we are now in a position where our hotel is competing with very cheap foreign hotels, foreign travel. we're in a position now that if the costs keep rising and we have to keep putting those prices onto our customers, we are not going to be able to compete with that market. rising energy costs are putting pressure on notjust families but businesses, too, and the calls on the government to act now are growing ever louder. for their part, the treasury said it's helping families with £12 billion worth of support, targeting the lowest—paid over the next two years. ramzan karmali, bbc news. it may sound like something out of a science fiction movie — la police same the crash left one person with injuries that are thought to be non—life—threatening. arnold schwarzenegger was uninjured and the police have ruled out the involvement of drugs and alcohol. the crash is currently under investigation but you cannot blame, the terminator, by the sounds of it. there been bombing raids in the united arab emirates. 0ur correspondent has the latest. another dawn in yemen. more destruction revealed in the cold light of day. prisoners were held here by rebels. including african migrantsjust here by rebels. including african migrants just trying to transit through yemen. among the dead. in this province, 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 ijy saudi led coalition which is backed by britain says it will investigate fully after night of devastating strikes, the un secretary general criticised both those who carried out an attack on monday, and the coalition. �* , , ., coalition. any bombardments that tar: et coalition. any bombardments that target civilians _ coalition. any bombardments that target civilians or _ coalition. any bombardments that target civilians or that _ coalition. any bombardments that target civilians or that is - coalition. any bombardments that target civilians or that is not - target 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 come war has the momentum. this was the port city. some say the communication centre was hit, knocking out the internet across yemen. incredibly, this man was brought out alive. aid agencies say three children were killed playing football. as the air strikes rained down. they spot the latest escalation with this deadly cross—border attack on the united arab emirates, a partner in the coalition. in the yemeni capital, they staged a show of strength. here is the reality that confronts the coalition. after seven years of air strikes, it has failed to dislodge them from the streets. now, once again, it is bringing nights of terror and death to yemeni civilians. the fbi says the boyfriend of the blogger gabby petito, who was murdered in september, admitted responsibility for killing her in his diary. brian laundrie shot himself after gabby was found in a camping ground in wyoming. she had been strangled. the couple had been on a cross—country road trip. brian's body was later found near his parent's home in florida. the fbi says he had earlier tried to fool the authorities into thinking gabby was still alive — and that the case is now closed. it may sound like something out of a science fiction movie — but in a uk first, a woman from london has been granted the gift of better sight — thanks to a bionic eye. the ground—breaking operation involved inserting a microchip into the patient�*s retina. victoria hollins has been finding out more. here comes the glasses. making the final adjustments for a patient who is virtually blind in her left eye. these glasses contain a camera, linked to a small computer which connects with a microchip recently inserted under her retina. the chip is placed in the centre of the retina, which is the seeing part of the eye, and we can stimulate the chip for her to start to see different types of signals. so that shows that we will hopefully be able to now train her to see things within the centre of her eye, which she never saw before. i'd be able to see my grandchildren and when i look in the mirror, i'm going to get a shock! chuckles. this is part of a clinical trial five years in the making, which is why we are not using the patient�*s name. she had the chip inserted a month ago. this is her first set of eye tests. keep looking a bit up! once the lights are out, the experts can begin to work out what she can see. so, what is the colour? green. i will be able to go out more, because i have not been going out all that much — ijust go out to just a church on saturday and i don't go out now during the week, so maybe it will be better now if i can see better, yeah. age—related macular degeneration causes loss of vision in the centre of the eye. it is the most common cause of significant sight loss in the developed world. when i first heard about this particular technology and seeing the results from stanford, i thought this has potential to really be a game changer, and we're now seeing in a clinical trial so from a personal note, i am just so happy now that i can talk to patients about a new technology that potentially could benefit them, and all of these years, there has been nothing. his grandmother will have to undergo many training sessions to encourage improvements in her vision but moorfields eye hospital hopes to recruit more people into the study and help the millions affected by a life—changing disease. animal rescuers dangled a sausage from a drone to try and help bring a lost pet back to safety. millie is a three—year—old jack russell, and she'd been missing for two days before being spotted in a dangerous area of mudflats. so, the rescuers sent in the snacks. it worked for a while, but millie eventually caught on and ate the sausage, and then ran away again. but two days later, she found her own way out — and is now safe with her owner. i hope the sausages are delivered for free — i hope the sausages are delivered for free. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. a quote where the story tell at the moment. yes, we did see some clear skies and it was a frosty start across much of england. more cloud out to the west and, as we go through the day, the cloud will continue to develop. high pressure controlling the story at the moment. still a bit of a breeze across the far north—western with that westerly flow driving in a little bit more moisture here is where we will see the mildest weather but may be thick enough for a spot or two of drizzle. up enough for a spot or two of drizzle. up to the west and that will push its way steadily eastward through the through the afternoon. the sunshine is turning somewhat hazy, a few have already seen some this morning, may be masking over the cloudy skies to the day. temperatures to england and wales are likely to peak between seven and nine celsius but double figures to scotland. through the evening, we will see some breaks in the cloud from time to time and when that happens, temperatures wilful away. still, the emphasis on cloudy skies, not quite as cold as the nights just passed but where we do get some breaks we will see temperatures just been close to freezing. we start off on sunday. again, quiet theme of weather. a real cold area across eastern europe at the moment with high—pressure dominating and when spiralling in a clockwise direction, we have still got that south—westerly feeder driving and more cloud from the atlantic but keeping bing's largely fine and quiet. it is a great story on sunday. a lot of cloud around but a dry, quiet theme of weather and still those temperatures peaking at perhaps five across much of the country. the wince was strengthened in the far north—west by the end of the day and we could see a little bit of patchy rain arriving and that will be sitting across the western isles and northern isles and into the far north of scotland through the far north of scotland through the day. again, quite a lot of cloud around. there will be some breaks particularly to the east of the pennines and here damages may struggle over five pennines and here damages may struggle overfive or 6 pennines and here damages may struggle over five or 6 degrees but highest values out to the west of eight or nine celsius. as we move through the middle part of the week we are likely to see a weather front pushing in across the top of the high as itjust thinks that little bit further south so there will be some rain around but it will weaken as it bumped into the high pressure and pushes further south. so this is the story as we go through the week ahead. some showers in the north, quieter elsewhere. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the first shipment of us military aid to ukraine has arrived in kyiv. it follows talks between russia and the us secretary of state in geneva on friday. moscow has denied it plans to invade. a conservative backbencher who accused downing street of trying to "blackmail" mps seeking to drive out borisjohnson is to meet police to discuss his allegations. william wragg said he will be speaking to a met police detective early next week. the government has denied the allegations. humanitarian aid is begining to reach the tens of thousands of people affected by the volcano and tsunami in tonga. the new zealand navy is providing 250,000 litres of water. five of the uk's leading business groups have called on the government to act now to support consumers facing spiralling energy bills. arnold schwarzenegger has escaped unscathed from a multi—vehicle pile—up on friday afternoon. 0ne pile—up on friday afternoon. one person is in hospital but it is not thought that their injuries are life—threatening. now on bbc news it's time for dateline london. hello, and welcome to the programme which brings together some of the uk's leading columnists, bbc specialists, and the foreign