election goes to a runoff after the closest vote, in two decades. hello and welcome to bbc news. we start in the uk where ukraine s president has made a surprise visit to secure fresh promises of military aid to fight russia s invasion. prime minister rishi sunak promised to send hundreds of air defence missiles and long range attack drones but stopped short of sending jets. rishi sunak tweeted this picture welcoming president zelensky when he arrived at chequers the prime minister s country residence the pair in a bear hug, with the caption reading: welcome back . volodymir zelensky had earlier described rishi sunak as his friend . there were then handshakes on the doorstep before the pair held bilateral talks, lasting around two hours. uktraine s president says the pair discussed western nations providing kyiv with fighter jets, with the aim of creating what he called a jets coalition . rishi sunak pledged long term support for ukraine to ensure that it s abl
hello and welcome to bbc news. the german chancellor, olaf scholz, has said his country will continue to support ukraine in its war against russia for as long as needed. he was speaking after meeting the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky in berlin. mr zelensky, has described germany as a true friend and reliable translation: this awful war has severe geopolitical - consequences for everyone. but mostly for the men and women of ukraine. more than 1 million of them, women, children and older people have found protection here in germany. our citizens here stand in full solidarity to the people who have fled from the brutal attacks. mr zelensky called olaf scholtz a true friend and thanked germany for its solidarity. germany announced they would donate supplies worth $3 billion to keep. the trip comes after a visit to italy where he met the italian prime minister, the president and the pope. let s cross to our correspondentjenny hill in berlin. this seems like a setting
of a large number of explosions. air raid sirens have sounded across the country. video footage on circulating on social media which have not been verified by the bbc show air defence systems shooting down missiles. government messages have warned people to keep away from windows as debris from intercepted missiles is falling from the sky. the mayor of kyiv, vitali klitschko, says some of the debris has fallen on the city s zoo. that comes as on monday, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky made made a surprise visit to the united kingdom to secure fresh promises of military aid to fight russia s invasion. uk prime minister rishi sunak welcomed the ukrainian leader at chequers, the prime minister s country house. they held bilateral talks lasting around two hours. president zelensky said they discussed western nations providing kyiv with fighter jets, with the aim of creating what he called a jets coalition . prime minister sunak promised to send hundreds of air defence mis
almost 100 people evacuated in less than an hour. we have new details about the mission to get u.s. diplomats out of sudan. now, the white house must decide how to help thousands of other americans still trapped in a war zone. well, the aviators are hitting the trail again. president biden expected to launch his re-election bid tomorrow. that means he ll have about 19 months to tell voters about his accomplishments from term one, as well as his ability to keep going well into his 80s. ron desantis hasn t thrown his hat into the ring yet, but his travel itinerary indicates otherwise. the florida governor discussing trade with the japanese prime minister. this is just his first stop. we are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. the u.s. says it is actively helping americans get out of sudan as violence in that country continues to intensify. it comes after u.s. special forces pulled off a daring rescue oper
happening now, mass destruction in more than 3,400 people dead after a powerful earthquake, and dozens of after o armageddon. stand by for new reporting on the catastrophes in turkey and syria as rescuers search for survivors and the death toll keeps rising and rising. also tonight, u.s. officials reveal new information on the size, cape abilities and the vae of the downed balloon. amid rising u.s./china tensions, and as president biden faces new international emergencies, he s also engaged in last-minute preparations for his state of the union address. we ll tell you what the president just said about his prime time speech to congress and the nation a little over 24 hours from now. welcome to our viewers here in the united states, and around the world, i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. let s get right to the unfolding earthquake disasters in turkey and syria and its truly devastating toll. cnn s jomana karadsheh is in istanbul. one of the most powerful quakes t