hello and welcome. the us state department has told american citizens in ukraine they should consider getting out of the country, and has ordered family members of embassy staff in the capital, kyiv, to leave. that statement warned that moscow is planning for significant military action in ukraine. the state department also tweeted that it "continues to advise us citizens to not travel "to russia due to ongoing tension along the border "with ukraine." adding that it has "limited ability to assist "us citizens in russia." the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has promised a significant response if moscow does invades its neighbour. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. in california, fresh supplies of american weapons destined for ukraine. hardly enough to defeat an invading russian army, but the message to moscow is clear — if you do this, it'll come at a price. but now the foreign office says it's seen signs of a russian plan to install a puppet government in kyiv after an invasion, pro—russian politicians, in contact with russian intelligence officers involved in planning the attack. it says this former ukrainian mp, yevhen murayev, is being considered as a future leader by the kremlin. he denies it. ukrainian officials seem unfazed. that's what i would expect as a logical next step in a russian invasion. they will invade and they will have to establish some sort of government, so i'm not actually surprised. we've been in war with them for seven years, and don't forget that our previous government actually fled to russia, nowhere else. it's highly unusual for intelligence of this kind to be put into the public domain in such a brief, abrupt manner. it's a reflection of the extreme anxiety across government about what vladimir putin might be planning. it's a way of saying to the kremlin, "we see what you're doing." but after friday's talks in geneva, there is more diplomacy to come, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, promising a written reply to his russian counterpart sergei lavrov, addressing russia's sweeping demands, some experts worried that russia is being allowed to set the agenda. it's asking for a demilitarised eastern europe and a denuclearised continent so that the only forces threatening europe are russian ones and the only nuclear missiles that can threaten european capitals are russian ones. that ought not to be a situation that is acceptable to anybody in the west of europe. russia's build—up along ukraine's northern and eastern borders continues, moscow still insisting it has no plans to invade, it's alljust drills. but it's now been ten months since russia started massing troops here, a gun held to ukraine's head for almost a year. what's really being planned behind the kremlin walls? as the troops assemble and the political plots swirl, the west is still left guessing. paul adams, bbc news. evelyn farkas is a former us deputy assistant defense secretary and is in washington now. thank you very much indeed for joining us. let's start with the state department statement advising people to get out of ukraine and to leave the embassy as well. is that to be taken at face value or is that part of the diplomatic chess game? it part of the diplomatic chess came? , , ., , game? it is quite serious, the fact that the _ game? it is quite serious, the fact that the estate _ game? it is quite serious, the | fact that the estate apartment is advising their personnel to leave because usually, as you know or you might know, from following the crisis in the past, the state department does not want to alarm the country where the us personnel is our station. it would not want to give the ukrainian government and a sense it has lack of confidence that they may be able to manage that situation. it does reflect as you said earlier, the absolute sense of anxiety that the west has, that vladimir putin is not deterred at the moment. nothing that we have done thus far has made him the escalade, indeed he has continued to escalate by placing troops in colour is, by conducting this political operation to remove the badly elected democratic government in kyiv. ——in belarus. elected democratic government in kyiv. --in belarus.— in kyiv. --in belarus. some member— in kyiv. --in belarus. some member states _ in kyiv. --in belarus. some member states of - in kyiv. --in belarus. some member states of the - in kyiv. --in belarus. some - member states of the european union compared to what the americans might have to put forward and some nato states? are us said that the sanctions alone were not sufficient and i think we almost should not pay too much attention to the sanctions and look at the military balance of power and that i am afraid that vladimir putin thinks he can achieve his objectives without much pain. that somehow he is betting the payment will not come another day if we support an insurgency or something like that. the problem is, he could be right. if he comes in with massive and power and that is why in the west we need to think more creatively and up our game, provide maritime and air defences to the ukrainians and look at other things we can do to distract vladimir putin. we should release information publicly about his finances, his corruption and think about, certainly in the new york times there is an article indicating that the us is thinking about employing forces in response to what is happening in belarus. whatever you might make of vladimir putin perse, whatever you might make of vladimir putin per se, as an individual perhaps, the head of the german navy made this contentious remarks, vladimir putin deserves respect, he is a leader of a very big country, russia, which has a sense it needs to have a sphere of influence and is pressurised from the west. does he have a point? i from the west. does he have a oint? ., ., ., ., ,. ,, all point? i do not want to discuss all of the _ point? i do not want to discuss all of the things _ point? i do not want to discuss all of the things that _ point? i do not want to discuss all of the things that vladimir l all of the things that vladimir putin has authorised, including the killing ofjournalists, killing people in your country, likely in my country. he has of course invaded his neighbours georgia and ukraine, annexed the territory of crimea, a long list of things that vladimir putin has done are not deserving of any respect whatsoever. of course he's ahead of his state and we have to deal with him but the reality is what he's doing right now deserves no respect and he is pointing finger at nato but does change the fact that he and his cronies created the crisis. that he and his cronies created the wish-— the crisis. evelyn, thank you very much — the crisis. evelyn, thank you very much indeed _ the crisis. evelyn, thank you very much indeed for- the crisis. evelyn, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. if you want to follow developments on this story, just go to our website, where there is more analysis and answers to the main questions about what's going on in ukraine. shots continue to be heard in the capital of burkino faso despite a curfew being imposed by the government. a night—time curfew was imposed after protestors came out to support soldiers who were attempting a mutiny. they've burned down the headquarters of the ruling mpp party. the soldiers are demanding the replacement of military chiefs and more help in their campaign against an intensifying islamist insurgency. parts of the capital, ouagadougou, have been sealed off. president roch kabore is coming under growing pressure from those who say his government is incapable of dealing with the islamists. our reporter lalla see has been monitoring the situation from neigbouring ivory coast. there is a curfew from 8:00pm to 5:30 in the morning and that is until further notice. the population has been asked not to move around in the city and we have had a statement from the french ambassador that has asked the same to the french community, and also schools are going to be closed tomorrow. the cause of this unrest is the overall insecurity with increasing attacks against civilians and soldiers in the north and the east of the country. and that is also probably why the mutineers reportedly demanded more troops to fight the islamic insurgency. they demanded also more food in the front, the change of the military hierarchy and more assistance for the families of those injured or killed in the violence attributed to armed troops, so they are clearly overwhelmed by these armed groups which also threaten neighbouring niger and mali, mali where similar events lead to a coup last year and a takeover by the army, while historical partner and former colonial power, france, decided to reduce the number of french troops that were in the country to fight this islamic insurgency so this instability right now in the sahel is becoming a bigger challenge and many fear that the armed groups will take advantage of the situation to harm more people. the spread of the omicron variant may have moved the covid—i9 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in europe, according to experts at the world health organisation. they predict that 60% of the region could be infected by march. stephanie prentice reports. a return to normality in europe may not be here yet but it could be on the horizon, according to experts, as infections level in the region, due to omicron, are moving it into what has been called a pandemic endgame. but what does endgame actually mean? pandemic endgame is not an endgame of the covid—i9 but a pandemic endgame means that the omicron will subside, there will be for quite some weeks and months a global immunity, either thanks to the vaccine or because people have immunity due to the infection, and also lowering seasonalities. the prediction, a respite from case numbers and subsequent deaths, though with the risk of the winter insurgency in the past two years. the who saying the priority now is to stabilise the situation in europe, where vaccination levels range from 25% to 95% across countries. but as many of those countries have seen, not everyone agrees to being vaccinated or to control measures. something the who has also been addressing. i think what is the challenge as we move into this next phase of this pandemic, is how do we get the balance right with the measures that are needed to reduce the spread? we are asking people to be very cautious, we will not be in this cycle forever. the pandemic has killed an estimated 5.6 million people worldwide so far, 1.7 million of them in europe. the next stage of the cycle, covid—i9 becoming endemic, constantly present but manageable without large—scale threats to health systems. time goes by and more and more people are exposed to the virus or get vaccinated against the virus than the ability of the virus to cause that kind of problem on that kind of scale gradually goes down so that we see further waves but each wave tends to be less severe. what we can't be absolutely sure about is that we have got to the end of the pandemic until it ends. the who's advice, stay open—minded about the future but stay cautious. stephanie prentice, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we meet the pair of armadillos now having to watch their weight after an over indulgent festive season. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after liftoff. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word 'revolution'. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is firmly in control of the entirely republic of uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp - have been commemorating the 40th anniversary - of their liberation. they toured the huts, - gas chambers and crematoria and relived their- horrifying experiences. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the united states has ordered the families of its diplomats in the ukrainian capital kyiv to leave the country. shots have been heard near the presidential palace in the capital of burkina faso amid a mutiny by soldiers at an army base. the government of tonga says it's facing a long programme of rebuilding just a week after it was devastated by a volcanic eruption and a tsunami. entire villages were destroyed in the tsunami that hit the group of islands that make up tonga, in the south pacific. some communities are still without basic necessities. foreign aid is arriving, but strict coronavirus—prevention rules are hampering humanitarian efforts as the local authorities try to keep the virus out. a un official there says the nation will be heavily reliant on food aid for some time. lord fakafanua is tonga's speaker of parliament. he joins us from auckland, in neighbouring new zealand. lord fa kafanua, thank lord fakafanua, thank you indeed for your time. i understand you are in new zealand because you were flying outjust zealand because you were flying out just as this zealand because you were flying outjust as this broke, leaving family behind. i'm hoping, i guess you've heard from them. i trust allow ok? guess you've heard from them. i trust allow 0k?— trust allow 0k? yes, my family is ok. trust allow 0k? yes, my family is 0k- when — trust allow 0k? yes, my family is ok. when | _ trust allow ok? yes, my family is ok. when i flew— trust allow 0k? yes, my family is ok. when i flew out - trust allow 0k? yes, my family is ok. when i flew out i - is ok. when i flew out i came to see my mother who was in auckland and we didn't anticipate any of this would happen so it came as a great surprise to everyone. the shock of the volcanic eruption and tsunami. of the volcanic eruption and tsunami-— of the volcanic eruption and tsunami. ~ ,,., , ~ ., tsunami. absolutely. and i want to ask you _ tsunami. absolutely. and i want to ask you if _ tsunami. absolutely. and i want to ask you if you've _ tsunami. absolutely. and i want to ask you if you've got - to ask you if you've got updates for us but i know how difficult communication is there. but do you feel you are building up a clear idea now of the communities that have been worst affected?— worst affected? yes, we, it's been a week _ worst affected? yes, we, it's been a week now _ worst affected? yes, we, it's been a week now from - worst affected? yes, we, it's been a week now from last i been a week now from last saturday and even though comms are intermittent at this stage, we're getting a clearer picture once the surveys have come the government. once the surveys have come the government-— once the surveys have come the covernment. ,, ,, �* government. right... crosstalk. sor to government. right... crosstalk. sorry to interrupt _ government. right... crosstalk. sorry to interrupt you, _ sorry to interrupt you, obviously, it's one hell of a job you have on your hands now to rebuild. job you have on your hands now to rebuild-— to rebuild. yes, rebuilding will be something - to rebuild. yes, rebuilding will be something that - to rebuild. yes, rebuilding will be something that we | to rebuild. yes, rebuilding - will be something that we will have to do after this. but the immediate relief right now is to get food and water to those who need it right now in tonga. how do you do that? we've all been made aware of this covid issue that you've had and you have to try to keep a very tight lid on problems like that as well. i mean, it feels like you are being hit from two different sides.— you are being hit from two different sides. that's true. covid-19 — different sides. that's true. covid-19 and _ different sides. that's true. covid-19 and the _ different sides. that's true. | covid-19 and the restrictions covid—i9 and the restrictions in tonga, being a covid — country, are somewhat slowing down the humanitarian aid arriving. but we have protocols in place to ensure that the necessary food items and technology and getting it on the ground without covid—i9 —— covid—free. we the ground without covid-19 -- covid-free— the ground without covid-19 -- covid-free. we often hear, lord fakafanua. _ covid-free. we often hear, lord fakafanua, of— covid-free. we often hear, lord fakafanua, of particularly - covid-free. we often hear, lord fakafanua, of particularly with l fakafanua, of particularly with pacific islands, that you are very resilient. you have to deal with some pretty awful weather conditions, now you have a volcanic eruption followed by a tsunami. i mean, you feel the heat of what is going on in the world and you are in this ring of fire, how has that been managed perhaps by the generation of — your generation who is in power now but how do the youngsters deal with it? do they get it? the? with it? do they get it? they do understand. _ with it? do they get it? they do understand. climate - with it? do they get it? tue: do understand. climate change is very real and the effects of being seen. this volcanic eruption, i've been told, is a once in 1000 occasion. and you know, the people of tonga are very resilient. they were immediately out there on the streets helping to clean up their neighbourhoods, the roofs and to clear a lot of the ash fall that has clogged up a lot of the machinery, including water collection the homes, so i'm just hearing messages of people sticking together. tongans being united in helping each other. and we are very fortunate that the global community has reacted and are sending supplies.— sending supplies. those are all very good _ sending supplies. those are all very good messages _ sending supplies. those are all very good messages to - sending supplies. those are all very good messages to be - very good messages to be receiving, especially at a time but must have brought huge stress as well as pain and damage, of course. lord fakafanua, thank you indeed for joining us. tic? fakafanua, thank you indeed for 'oinin: us. ,, ., fakafanua, thank you indeed for joining ne— joining us. nq for having me. -- thank _ joining us. nq for having me. -- thank you- _ here, two senior members of borisjohnson's cabinet say they want a full investigation into claims by a former minister that she'd been the victim of islamophobia. nus ghani claims she was told her muslim faith was in part a reason why she lost her ministerial post in a government reshuffle. downing street says the british prime minister invited her to make a formal complaint at the time, but she chose not to. here's our political correspondent damian grammaticas. this is a critical week. his leadership already in question, borisjohnson's actions are now under even more scrutiny. reporter: what are you hoping to hear today? i nus ghani is a senior backbencher. she's spoken out against the taliban, led a campaign to have china's repression of uighur muslims recognised as genocide, and is proud of this moment... i congratulate my honourable friend on her appointment... ..when she became the first muslim woman minister to speak at the despatch box in the commons, to a cheer. minister nusrat ghani. cheering. mr speaker, this government is committed to improving... she lost her ministerial post in a reshuffle in 2020. she told the sunday times that when she asked for an explanation from party whips, she was told her "muslimness was raised as an issue" in reshuffle discussions. her "muslim woman minister status was making colleagues uncomfortable" and if she "persisted in raising the issues, she would be ostracised by colleagues and her career and reputation would be destroyed". the chief whip mark spencer last night took the unusual step of outing himself as the person who talked to herand said: somebody is trying to — or was trying to bully her, if what she is saying is true. you have two scenarios. parliamentarian a is saying something. parliamentarian b is saying something. and we need to get to the bottom, we need to establish the truth. the allegations have caused shock. the education secretary nadhim zahawi said ms ghani was a brilliant mp. there was no place for any form of racism in the conservative party. and the health secretary sajid javid today said: last year, a wider inquiry found anti—muslim sentiment in the tory party was a problem, but islamophobia was not institutional. it didn't refer to ms ghani's claims. today, thejustice secretary said it was up to her to step forward. i believe actions — a claim like this, as serious as this, should, but it can only happen if the person making the complaint makes a formal — makes it formally. that's when the procedures kick in and — just to be clear about this — that advice was given to nus back in 2020. now, downing street has stepped in to say borisjohnson met ms ghani at the time. he invited her to begin a formal complaint process, but she did not. ms ghani has fired back, saying she made clear an internal party investigation was not appropriate, this was government business and all she wants is for the government to investigate properly. so, as borisjohnson waits for the results of one investigation — that into downing street parties, which could decide his fate — his leadership on this issue, too, is also in the spotlight. damian grammaticas, bbc news. the french fashion designer, thierry mugler, has died at the age of 73. he opened his first boutique in paris in the 1970s and became widely known for designs with broad shoulders and sharp tailoring, which drew on 1940s and '50s glamour. one of his best—known creations was the black dress worn by demi moore in the 1993 film indecent proposal. these two would not have to —— these two would not have been able to squeeze into that dress, that is for sure! if you're trying to lose some weight after eating too much over the holidays, then you're not alone. armadillo twins patsy and eddie have been put on a strict diet by the zookeepers at their home in south east england. the sisters, named after the characters from the british sitcom absolutely fabulous, had an over—indulgent festive period and now need an improved diet and exercise regime. they are born to hunt for food, that's the problem. i want to remind you there is quite a football match taking place, in the africa cup of nations and this is cameroon verses, tourists, the quarterfinals of the cup of nations, —— comoros. somehow comoros has made its way into the cup, they have not got a goalkeeper though. their first choice is injured and the other two have gone down with covid. and they are about to have the biggest match in the history of the country so best of luck to them. they are facing up to the prospect of playing one of the african giants, cameroon, they have 26 million people to choose from in the common. worth a watch. — afcom. hello there. high pressure has kept most parts of the uk dry through the weekend, if rather cloudy. and high pressure has meant a dry start to january 2022, only seeing around about 50% — half the rainfall we'd normally see by this stage, and there's not a great deal of rain in the offing this week — certainly not for england and wales. we might see a little bit more midweek across scotland in particular with a low pressure approaching but for the meantime, the high pressure is still hanging on towards the south. there's a weather front to the north and that's given a few millimetres of rain during the day on sunday. it's sinking a little further southwards on monday but coming into that high pressure, it's a weak affair. but there's still quite a bit of cloud around but where we had the cloud breaks through the night, there's patchy frost and some patchy fog as well to watch out for, some poor visibilities, but again, not widespread, but it will take its time to clear at this time of year. and then, there'll be some brightness and sunshine, notably, we think, eastern scotland, perhaps parts of north—east england, but some thinner cloud elsewhere. perhaps quite gloomy, though, in some areas and cold as we had on sunday — four or five degrees at best. our weather front towards the north as well weakens as it heads towards the moray firth. some sunshine then developing to the north of it. but it's a fairly weak affair for the most part, it then starts to push northwards again through monday night and into tuesday, so through the coming night as well, it's going to be pretty chilly where we get the cloud breaks but on the whole, there'll be a lot of cloud. some pockets of fog again on tuesday, slow to clear away but where they do, then we'll see some sunshine coming through but again, it's fairly limited — there will be a lot of cloud around and it will feel cold under that cloud, even without much breeze. that breeze still bringing in some cloudier skies and some patchy rain to the north and west. the high pressure, as you can see, is still close by for tuesday, as i mentioned, but by mid week, we've got this area of low pressure rolling in and that's when we see some rainfall coming in to scotland, in particular, but parts of northern ireland as well as that weather front starts to trail southwards. but again, ahead of it, perhaps a little bit of brightness but it's the south—westerly wind, the atlantic breeze, that starts to pick the temperatures up and perhaps turn some of that cloud over and allow some sunshine to come through. so perhaps a little bit brighter midweek but then, the pressure builds towards the south once again. there's more online. this is bbc news. i'm david eades. the headlines: the us state department has told american citizens in ukraine they should consider leaving, and has ordered family members of embassy staff in the capital, kyiv, to return home. it's warning that moscow is planning an invasion in ukraine, and americans have also been advised not to travel to russia. shots continue to be heard in the capital of burkina faso despite a curfew, imposed after protestors came out to support soldiers who were attempting a mutiny. the soldiers are demanding the replacement of military chiefs and more help in their campaign against an intensifying islamist insurgency. two senior members of borisjohnson's cabinet say they want an investigation after a former minister claimed she'd been the victim of islamophobia. nus ghani says she was told her muslim faith was — in part — a reason why she lost her ministerial post in a government reshuffle. now on bbc news, it's time for some