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What's next for Boris Johnson? Here's what you need to know - CNN

London (CNN) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has survived a vote of confidence triggered by discontented lawmakers in his own Conservative Party, but his troubles are far from over.

Johnson won the ballot on Monday with a significantly smaller margin than he and his allies had hoped for, suggesting that his leadership of the party -- and by extension the country -- has been shaken

Here's what that means, and what's next for him:

What happened on Monday?

The vote of confidence was triggered after at least 54 of Johnson's own MPs -- or 15% of Conservative lawmakers in the House of Commons -- submitted a confidential letter of no confidence to the chair of the 1922 Committee, a group of backbench lawmakers who do not hold government posts.

As a result, a secret ballot was held on Monday evening, where 211 Conservative MPs voted to keep Johnson as the party leader, while 148 voted for his removal.

Why is he facing so much pressure?

Johnson's premiership has been shaken by the so-called "Partygate" scandal , with months of allegations of alcohol-fueled parties and gatherings at the heart of his government during pandemic lockdown restrictions eroding support in his leadership.

But the scandal is just one reason for the rebellion.

Johnson has also been criticized for his response to a cost-of-living crisis , his inability to deliver on promises to boost the economy in northern England by creating new transport links, as well as his attitude toward the Northern Ireland protocol and the ongoing effects of Brexit.

Was the result a surprise?

Yes and no. Johnson was expected to win the vote, especially given that around 180 MPs are thought to be on the government payroll and thus directly connected to the Prime Minister -- among them ministers, parliamentary private secretaries and party vice chairs.

But while Johnson and his allies tried to spin the vote's result as a "convincing" and "decisive" number, the final count of lawmakers who rebelled against him was far higher than his supporters expected.

Before the ballot, some analysts said that if the number of MPs voting against him exceeded 100, he'd be in serious trouble.

Does it mean he is safe?

Technically and for now, yes.

Under current Conservative Party rules, a leader who survives a confidence vote is safe from another such challenge for 12 months. These rules, however, can change at any time -- as many pointed out on Monday and Tuesday.

Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson British Prime Minister Boris Johnson waves from the steps of No. 10 Downing Street after giving a statement in London in July 2019. He had just become prime minister. Hide Caption 1 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson A 21-year-old Johnson speaks with Greek Minister for Culture Melina Mercouri in June 1986. Johnson at the time was president of the Oxford Union, a prestigious student society. Hide Caption 2 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson started his career as a journalist. He was fired from an early job at The Times for fabricating a quote. He later became a Brussels correspondent and then an assistant editor for The Daily Telegraph. From 1994 to 2005, he was editor of the weekly magazine The Spectator. Hide Caption 3 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson In 2001, Johnson was elected as a member of Parliament. He won the seat in Henley for the Conservative Party. Hide Caption 4 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson looks apologetic after fouling Germany's Maurizio Gaudino during a charity soccer match in Reading, England, in May 2006. Hide Caption 5 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson is congratulated by Conservative Party leader David Cameron, right, after being elected mayor of London in May 2008. Cameron later became prime minister. Hide Caption 6 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson, left, poses with a wax figure of himself at Madame Tussauds in London in May 2009. Hide Caption 7 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson poses for a photo in London in April 2011. He was re-elected as the city's mayor in 2012. Hide Caption 8 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson and his wife, Marina, enjoy the atmosphere in London ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony in July 2012. The couple separated in 2018 after 25 years of marriage. Hide Caption 9 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson gets stuck on a zip line during an event in London's Victoria Park in August 2012. Hide Caption 10 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson poses with his father, Stanley, and his siblings, Rachel and Jo, at the launch of his new book in October 2014. Stanley Johnson was once a member of the European Parliament. Hide Caption 11 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson takes part in a charity tug-of-war with British military personnel in October 2015. Hide Caption 12 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson kisses a wild salmon while visiting a fish market in London in June 2016. A month earlier, he stepped down as mayor but remained a member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Hide Caption 13 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson arrives at a news conference in London in June 2016. During the Brexit referendum that year, he was under immense pressure from Prime Minister Cameron to back the Remain campaign. But he broke ranks and backed Brexit at the last minute. Hide Caption 14 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson sits next to Prime Minister Theresa May during a Cabinet meeting in November 2016. Johnson was May's foreign secretary for two years before resigning over her handling of Brexit. Hide Caption 15 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson As foreign secretary. Johnson meets with US House Speaker Paul Ryan in April 2017. Johnson was born in New York City to British parents and once held dual citizenship. But he renounced his US citizenship in 2016. Hide Caption 16 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson launches his Conservative Party leadership campaign in June 2019. Hide Caption 17 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt take part in the Conservative Leadership debate in June 2019. Hide Caption 18 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson speaks in July 2019 after he won the party leadership vote to become Britain's next prime minister. Hide Caption 19 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Britain's Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Johnson at Buckingham Palace, where she invited him to become Prime Minister and form a new government. Hide Caption 20 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson poses with his dog Dilyn as he leaves a polling station in London in December 2019. Hide Caption 21 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson appears on stage alongside Bobby Smith during the count declaration in London in December 2019. Johnson's Conservative Party won a majority in the UK's general election, securing his position as Prime Minister. Hide Caption 22 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, react to election results from his study at No. 10 Downing Street. Hide Caption 23 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson speaks on the phone with Queen Elizabeth II in March 2020. Hide Caption 24 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson In March 2020, Johnson announced in a video posted to Twitter that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "Over the last 24 hours, I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus. I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government's response via video conference as we fight this virus. Together we will beat this," Johnson said. He was later hospitalized after his symptoms had "worsened," according to his office. Hide Caption 25 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson After recovering from the coronavirus, Johnson returned to work in late April 2020. Hide Caption 26 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson and staff members are pictured together with wine at a Downing Street garden in May 2020. In January 2022, Johnson apologized for attending the event, which took place when Britons were prohibited from gathering due to strict coronavirus restrictions. Hide Caption 27 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson wears a face mask as he visits the headquarters of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust in July 2020. Hide Caption 28 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sits across from Johnson in the garden of No. 10 Downing Street in July 2020. Hide Caption 29 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson holds a crab in Stromness Harbour during a visit to Scotland in July 2020. Hide Caption 30 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson is seen with his wife, Carrie, after their wedding at London's Westminster Cathedral in May 2021. The ceremony, described by PA Media as a "secret wedding," was reportedly held in front of close friends and family, according to several British newspaper accounts. Hide Caption 31 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson and US President Joe Biden speak at Carbis Bay in Cornwall, England, after their bilateral meeting in June 2021. Biden and Johnson were participating in the G7 summit that weekend. Hide Caption 32 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Queen Elizabeth II greets Johnson at Buckingham Palace in June 2021. It was the Queen's first in-person weekly audience with the Prime Minister since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Hide Caption 33 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson delivers his keynote speech on the final day of the annual Conservative Party Conference in October 2021. Hide Caption 34 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson speaks in the House of Commons in January 2022. He apologized for attending a May 2020 garden party that took place while the UK was in a hard lockdown to combat the spread of Covid-19. Johnson told lawmakers he believed the gathering to be a work event but that, with hindsight, he should have sent attendees back inside. Hide Caption 35 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson attends the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral in London on Friday, June 3, as part of Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. Hide Caption 36 of 37 Photos: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

The vote, triggered by disgruntled Conservative MPs, is the latest blow against Johnson's premiership, derailed by the "Partygate" scandal, criticism over his response to a cost of living crisis and a series of local election defeats. "I think it's an extremely good, positive, conclusive, decisive result which enables us to move on to unite," Johnson said on Monday, June 6, in an interview shortly after a confidence vote where 148 of Johnson's own lawmakers turned against him on Monday, and 211 voted in support of him.The vote, triggered by disgruntled Conservative MPs, is the latest blow against Johnson's premiership, derailed by the "Partygate" scandal, criticism over his response to a cost of living crisis and a series of local election defeats. Hide Caption 37 of 37

What are the next big challenges?

The large rebellion by his lawmakers will leave Johnson's reputation diminished. It could also damage his ability to push through legislation.

"The number of rebels who voted to oust Johnson far exceeds the Conservative Party's working majority of 75 seats in the House of Commons. If the rebels are determined, they could threaten to stall the government's legislative agenda which would further weaken the Conservatives' standing in the polls and heap further pressure on Johnson," Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg bank, wrote in a note to clients.

The Conservatives are also facing two difficult parliamentary by-elections in late June after two of their backbenchers were forced to resign amid their own scandals. Losses in those polls could heap more pressure on Johnson ahead of a national general election expected in 2024.

What are Johnson's options now?

Judging by his comments so far, the Prime Minister will aim to continue to cling on. In a statement Tuesday morning, Downing Street said Johnson will gather his Cabinet on Tuesday and "pledge to continue delivering on what matters to the British people."

Johnson won on Monday, but the fate of his predecessor Theresa May will still be fresh in his memory.

May also faced a no-confidence vote -- again, triggered by Conservative lawmakers. She survived that vote -- with a larger margin than Johnson -- but ultimately resigned a few months later. If it turns out Johnson's standing has been damaged beyond repair, he might opt for a voluntary exit rather than face the humiliating demise that she endured, which ultimately led to Johnson becoming Prime Minister.

A nuclear option, which Johnson on Monday said he had no interest in, would be to call a snap election. Johnson was keen to remind his lawmakers on Monday that it was he who led the party to its biggest electoral win in 40 years in 2019.

What are the options for the opposition?

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer predicted to LBC radio that Monday's ballot would mark "the beginning of the end" of the Prime Minister's political career -- no matter which way it went.

Following the vote, Starmer said Johnson was "utterly unfit for the great office that he holds" and accused Conservative lawmakers of ignoring the British public. "The Conservative government now believes that breaking the law is no impediment to making the law," he added.

Johnson became the first UK premier in history to be found to have broken the law in office when he attended a gathering to celebrate his birthday in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.

Starmer's deputy, Angela Rayner, told the BBC on Tuesday that the opposition would "consider all options" when asked if the Labour Party was thinking about triggering another vote of confidence in Johnson, this time across the whole of Parliament.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called Johnson an "utterly lame duck" following the vote.

"That result is surely the worst of all worlds for the Tories. But much more importantly: at a time of huge challenge, it saddles the UK with an utterly lame duck PM," Sturgeon said in a tweet on Monday night.

Sue Gray: Boris Johnson condemned over 'failures of leadership' in ...

London (CNN) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fighting to save his flailing premiership on Monday after a damning investigation uncovered multiple parties, a culture of excessive drinking and a "failure of leadership" in his government while the rest of the country was living under strict Covid-19 lockdown rules.

The long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray condemned "a serious failure" to observe the standards of government, and said a string of mass gatherings were "difficult to justify" while millions were unable to meet their friends and relatives.

It also revealed that the police are investigating at least 12 events -- including at least two Johnson attended, and a third held in his flat that he previously told lawmakers did not happen.

Gray's report was heavily neutered due to a simultaneous police investigation, but its general findings were strong enough to leave Johnson's leadership on the precipice. He insisted in Parliament that he "will fix it" and pledged a number of relatively modest reforms of his operation, but faced calls from all quarters that he should resign and publicly lost the support of more of his own backbenchers.

"There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times," the report said. "Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did."

"At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time," she wrote.

Johnson initially denied a party had taken place in Downing Street, but commissioned the report after a string of media stories revealed several gatherings had. A separate police investigation was launched last week, which prevented Gray from including details in her findings.

Facing furious MPs on Monday after the stripped-down report was published, Johnson said: "I'm sorry for the things we simply didn't get right." He then attempted to draw a line under the scandal, saying he is "getting on with the job."

But in a bruising appearance in the House of Commons that lasted almost two hours he was skewered by lawmakers from all sides. Labour leader Keir Starmer called Johnson "a man without shame," urged him to resign, and told MPs: "There can be no doubt that the Prime Minister himself is now subject to criminal investigation."

In a dramatic intervention, Johnson's predecessor as Prime Minister and fellow Conservative Theresa May addressed him and said: "Either (he) had not read the rules, or didn't understand what they meant, or they didn't think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?" And the leader of the Scottish National Party was removed from Parliament for saying the Prime Minister had lied to the chamber.

Johnson appeared defensive and off point; at one stage he attacked Starmer -- a former chief prosecutor in England -- for failing to prosecute a notorious pedophile, a critique that was dismissed by leading lawyers . He repeatedly ducked questions about which events he had attended and when, saying lawmakers should wait for the police inquiry to conclude.

It remains to be seen whether he will last until then; if enough Conservative MPs trigger a vote of no-confidence, they will have the chance to oust him from office.

And there was yet more bad news for Johnson on Monday, when the Metropolitan Police revealed that officers investigating "Partygate" have been handed more than 300 photographs and 500 pages of information to review.

"I'm deeply concerned by these events," Conservative backbencher Andrew Mitchell said in Parliament. "He no longer enjoys my support."

A report more damaging than thought

Gray's report has had Westminster on tenterhooks for weeks, given its implications for Johnson's political fortunes. But by the time it was handed to Downing Street in its stripped-back format on Monday morning, some had expected its impact to be dimmed.

Instead, Gray's 12-page document listed a series of damning shortcomings. "Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify," it said.

A total of 16 events on 12 different days were probed, and all but four are also the subject of the police investigation.

Gray hinted at a drinking culture in Downing Street during the pandemic and added that "the excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace."

In introducing her findings, Gray wrote: "Every citizen has been impacted by the pandemic. Everyone has made personal sacrifices, some the most profound, having been unable to see loved ones in their last moments or care for vulnerable family and friends."

She finished her report by writing that the police probe "unfortunately" meant she was "extremely limited in what I can say about those events."

In Parliament, Johnson repeatedly declined to say that the full Gray report would be published when the police investigation was complete, even when pressed by lawmakers from his own side. But Downing Street later backtracked and said Gray would be asked to provide an update to her report once the legal process is over. That update would be published, a spokesman said.

Even following the shortened findings, Johnson struggled to bat back angry interventions in Parliament on Monday afternoon.

He told lawmakers that "yes, we can be trusted," and listed perceived achievements on Brexit and the vaccine rollout. He also said he was "making changes" to Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, creating an Office of the Prime Minister with a permanent secretary, a senior civil servant, to lead Number 10. But he failed to provide answers to dozens of questions about the string of parties he once declined to acknowledge ever happened.

"Whatever your politics, whichever party you vote for, honesty and decency matter," Starmer said. He added that many of Johnson's colleagues "knew in their hearts that we would inevitably come to this one day. And they know that as night follows day, continuing his leadership will mean further misconduct, cover-up, and deceit."

Johnson is scheduled to visit Ukraine on Tuesday to respond to fears that Russia is mounting an invasion. But he will first scrap to maintain the support of his backbenchers, who now hold his fate in their hands.

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Train strike: unions plan to 'shut down the rail system' | The Week UK

Unions have been branded selfish by Downing Street after rail workers were told to “shut down the rail system” with strikes in late June after talks over pay and redundancies fell through.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has told members to prepare for strikes on 21, 23 and 25 June, after a ballot of members resulted in staff voting overwhelmingly for full-scale industrial action.

If industrial action goes ahead, more than 40,000 staff from Network Rail and 13 train operators are expected to join what is dubbed the “biggest rail strike in modern history,” said the BBC.

The dates of the planned strikes include some of the busiest days for rail travel since pandemic rules eased, coinciding with large cultural events, including the Glastonbury festival, the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester, and a Rolling Stones concert in London’s Hyde Park.

Downing Street said the plans would inflict pain on passengers and cause disruption but RMT hit back, saying the government itself was being selfish. The union said rail staff who worked through the pandemic were facing pay freezes and hundreds of job cuts, noted ITV News.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the union “is open to meaningful negotiations with rail bosses and ministers, but they will need to come up with new proposals to prevent months of disruption on our railways”.

The Tory MP Huw Merriman, the chair of parliament’s transport select committee, said the government should put through legislation that requires a minimum rail service to run even during strikes, as proposed in the party’s 2019 election manifesto.

“That legislation has not been put in place, so without that it will be difficult to negotiate with the unions if the trains grind to a halt,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Rail passengers whose journeys are affected by the planned strikes will receive refunds for tickets they have bought, said The Guardian.

“If we cannot provide a service to our customers due to strike action then we will refund customers,” said Steve Montgomery, the chair of the Rail Delivery Group.

Ukraine-Russia crisis: As tensions rise on the border, here's what ...

Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) Tensions between Ukraine and Russia are at their highest in years, with a Russian troop build-up near the two nations' borders spurring fears that Moscow could launch an invasion.

Ukraine has warned that Russia is trying to destabilize the country ahead of any planned military invasion. Western powers have repeatedly warned Russia against further aggressive moves against Ukraine.

The Kremlin denies it is planning to attack and argues that NATO support for Ukraine -- including increased weapons supplies and military training -- constitutes a growing threat on Russia's western flank.

The picture is complicated -- but here's a breakdown of what we know.

What's the situation on the border?

The United States and NATO have described the movements and concentrations of troops in and around Ukraine as "unusual."

As many as 100,000 Russian troops have remained amassed at the Ukrainian border, despite warnings from US President Joe Biden and European leaders of serious consequences should Putin move ahead with an invasion. And US intelligence findings in December estimated that Russia could begin a military offensive in Ukraine "as soon as early 2022."

Speaking alongside his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv on January 19, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia had "ratcheted up its threats and amassed nearly 100,000 forces on Ukraine's border, which it could double on relatively short order."

In late 2021, satellite photos revealed Russian hardware -- including self-propelled guns, battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles -- on the move at a training ground roughly 186 miles (300 km) from the border.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's latest intelligence assessment says Russia has now deployed more than 127,000 troops near Ukraine, including some 21,000 air and sea personnel, transferred more Iskander operational-tactical missiles to the border, and increased its intelligence activity against the country.

The assessment came after three rounds of diplomatic talks between Russia and the West aimed at de-escalating the crisis failed to produce a resolution.

US officials have said a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any point in the next month or two.

Many of Russia's military bases are to the west of the vast country -- the direction from which history suggests any threats are most likely to come. Russia's Defense Ministry has said it is conducting "regular" winter military drills in its southern region, parts of which border Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions bordering Russia, an area known as Donbas, have been under the control of Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Russian forces are also present in the area, referred to by Ukraine as "temporarily occupied territories," although Russia denies it.

The front lines of the conflict have barely moved in five years, but there are frequent small-scale clashes and sniper attacks. Russia was angered when Ukrainian forces deployed a Turkish-made combat drone for the first time in October to strike a position held by the pro-Russian separatists.

Russia also has forces numbering in the tens of thousands at its massive naval base in Crimea, the Ukrainian territory it annexed in 2014. The Crimean peninsula, which lies to the south of the rest of Ukraine, is now connected by a road bridge to mainland Russia.

Russian tanks take part in a military drills at Molkino training ground in the Krasnodar region, Russia, on December 14, 2021.

What's the history of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia?

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia, both former Soviet states, escalated in late 2013 over a landmark political and trade deal with the European Union. After the pro-Russian then-President, Viktor Yanukovych, suspended the talks -- reportedly under pressure from Moscow -- weeks of protests in Kyiv erupted into violence.

Then, in March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea , an autonomous peninsula in southern Ukraine with strong Russian loyalties, on the pretext that it was defending its interests and those of Russian-speaking citizens. First, thousands of Russian-speaking troops, dubbed "little green men" and later acknowledged by Moscow to be Russian soldiers, poured into the Crimean peninsula. Within days, Russia completed its annexation in a referendum that was slammed by Ukraine and most of the world as illegitimate.

Russian soldiers patrol the area surrounding the Ukrainian military unit in Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, Crimea, on March 20, 2014.

Shortly afterwards, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared their independence from Kyiv, prompting months of heavy fighting. Despite Kyiv and Moscow signing a peace deal in Minsk in 2015, brokered by France and Germany, there have been repeated ceasefire violations.

According to UN figures , there have been more than 3,000 conflict-related civilian deaths in eastern Ukraine since March 2014.

The European Union and US have imposed a series of measures in response to Russia's actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, including economic sanctions targeting individuals, entities and specific sectors of the Russian economy.

The Kremlin accuses Ukraine of stirring up tensions in the country's east and of violating the Minsk ceasefire agreement.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare to support the withdrawal of troops on February 19, 2015 in Artemivsk, Ukraine.

What's Russia's view?

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that Russia plans on invading Ukraine, insisting Russia does not pose a threat to anyone and that the country moving troops across its own territory should not be cause for alarm.

Moscow sees the growing support for Ukraine from NATO -- in terms of weaponry, training and personnel -- as a threat to its own security. It has also accused Ukraine of boosting its own troop numbers in preparation for an attempt to retake the Donbas region, an allegation Ukraine has denied.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for specific legal agreements that would rule out any further NATO expansion eastwards towards Russia's borders, saying the West has not lived up to its previous verbal assurances.

Putin has also said that NATO deploying sophisticated weapons in Ukraine, such as missile systems, would be crossing a "red line" for Russia, amid concern in Moscow that Ukraine is being increasingly armed by NATO powers.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in November that weapons and military advisers were already being supplied to Ukraine by the US and other NATO member states. "And all this, of course, leads to a further aggravation of the situation on the border line," he said.

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If the US and its NATO allies do not change course in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Moscow has the "right to choose ways to ensure its legitimate security interests."

What is Ukraine's view?

Ukraine's government insists that Moscow cannot prevent Kyiv from building closer ties with NATO if it chooses.

"Russia cannot stop Ukraine from getting closer with NATO and has no right to have any say in relevant discussions," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to CNN, in response to Russian calls for NATO to halt its eastward expansion.

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"Any Russian proposals to discuss with NATO or the US any so-called guarantees that the Alliance would not expand to the East are illegitimate," it added.

Ukraine insists Russia is seeking to destabilize the country with the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, recently saying a coup plot , involving Ukrainians and Russians, had been uncovered.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned that a planned coup could be part of Russia's plan ahead of a military invasion. "External military pressure goes hand in hand with domestic destabilization of the country," he said.

Tensions between the two countries have been exacerbated by a deepening Ukrainian energy crisis that Kyiv believes Moscow has purposefully provoked.

At the same time, Zelensky's government faces challenges on many fronts. The government's popularity has stagnated amid multiple domestic political challenges, including a recent third wave of Covid-19 infections and a struggling economy.

Many people are also unhappy that the government hasn't yet delivered on benefits it promised and ended the conflict in the country's east. Anti-government protests have taken place in Kyiv.

In a January 19 video address, Zelensky urged the Ukrainian people to "calm down" amid mounting unease over a possible Russian invasion. "We are aware of everything, we are ready for everything," he said, before adding that he "sincerely believes" this year "will pass without a war" with Russia.

Kuleba also sought to reassure Ukrainians who fear the US, its NATO allies and Russia could leave Kyiv out of discussions. "No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine is a principle that we adhere to," he said.

Pro-Russian fighters arrive on February 20, 2015 in Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine.

What does NATO say?

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said "there will be a high price to pay for Russia" if it once again invades Ukraine, a NATO partner.

"We have a wide range of options: economic sanctions, financial sanctions, political restrictions," said Stoltenberg, in a December 1 interview with CNN.

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After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, NATO increased its defenses "with combat-ready battlegroups in the eastern part of the alliance, in the Baltic countries, in Latvia ... but also in the Black Sea region," Stoltenberg said.

Ukraine is not a NATO member, and therefore doesn't have the same security guarantees as NATO members.

But Stoltenberg left the possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member on the table, saying that Russia does not have the right to tell Ukraine that it cannot pursue NATO membership.

High-stakes talks between Russia and NATO in Brussels in mid-January were "not an easy discussion," according to Stoltenberg, who added that "differences will not be easy to bridge." However, NATO allies and Russia "expressed the need to resume dialogue," he said.

What does the United States say?

President Joe Biden told Zelensky earlier this month in a phone call that the US and its allies "will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine."

But Biden appeared to undermine that message when he subsequently suggested during a White House news conference that a "minor incursion" by Russia would elicit a lesser response than a full-scale invasion of the country.

While Biden vowed harsh economic consequences on Russia should Putin send his troops over the border, including restricting its financial transitions in US dollars, he suggested Western nations were not in sync on what to do should a lesser violation occur. "There are differences in NATO as to what countries are willing to do, depending on what happens," he said.

His remarks prompted a swift White House clarification. "President Biden has been clear with the Russian President: If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that's a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our Allies," press secretary Jen Psaki wrote in a statement.

One Ukrainian official told CNN he was "shocked that the US President Biden would distinguish between incursion and invasion" and suggest that a minor incursion would not trigger sanctions. "This gives the green light to Putin to enter Ukraine at his pleasure," the official added.

The diplomatic kerfuffle came as Blinken prepared for further talks with European allies on the Ukraine-Russia crisis and to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Blinken has previously warned Russia that "any renewed aggression can trigger serious consequences."

Two defense officials told CNN on January 3 that the Defense Department has developed military options for Biden if he decides to increase capabilities in eastern Europe to further deter potential Russian aggression against Ukraine. Both officials emphasized that this part of routine planning the military does and that for now, the focus remains on diplomacy and potential economic sanctions.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov held meetings in Geneva on January 10, as the US sought to de-escalate the threat of a Russian advance.

The Obama administration was taken by surprise when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and backed an insurgency in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. US officials say they are determined not to be caught out by another Russian military operation.

"Our concern is that Russia may make a serious mistake of attempting to rehash what it undertook back in 2014, when it amassed forces along the border, crossed into sovereign Ukrainian territory and did so claiming falsely that it was provoked," Blinken said late last year.

What other factors are at play?

Unrest in the former Soviet state of Kazakhstan was unwelcome news for Putin at the beginning of 2022.

Deadly protests in early January saw the Kazakh government resign, a state of emergency be declared and troops from a Russia-led military alliance deployed to help contain the unrest.

But experts have warned that Russia's intervention is unlikely to be the end of the story . Blinken said that "once Russians are in your house, sometimes it is very difficult to get them to leave."

Another issue revolves around energy supply. Ukraine views the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline -- connecting Russian gas supplies directly to Germany -- as a threat to its own security.

Nord Stream 2 is one of two pipelines that Russia has laid underwater in the Baltic Sea in addition to its traditional land-based pipeline network that runs through eastern Europe, including Ukraine.

Kyiv views the pipelines across Ukraine as an element of protection against an invasion by Russia, since any military action could potentially disrupt the vital flow of gas to Europe.

Analysts and US lawmakers have raised concerns that Nord Stream 2 will increase European dependence on Russian gas and could allow Moscow to selectively target countries such as Ukraine with energy cut-offs, without broader disruption to European supplies. Bypassing eastern European countries also means those nations would be deprived of lucrative transit fees Russia would otherwise pay.

In May 2021, the Biden administration waived sanctions on the company behind Nord Stream 2, effectively giving it the green light. US officials say the move was in the interest of US national security as it sought to rebuild frayed relations with Germany.

In November, the US imposed new sanctions on a Russian-linked entity and a vessel linked to Nord Stream 2. Some US senators have called for further sanctions to be imposed to prevent Russia using the pipeline as a weapon; Ukraine too has called for tougher measures.

Why May 9 is a big day for Russia, and what a declaration of war ...

(CNN) Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, and since then President Vladimir Putin has insisted that his troops are carrying out a "special military operation" instead of a war .

But speculation is growing that this could change in the coming days. Western officials believe Putin could formally declare war on Ukraine as soon as May 9, a symbolic day for Russia, paving the way for him to step his campaign.

What is May 9?

May 9, known as "Victory Day" inside Russia, commemorates the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II.

Victory Day is marked by a military parade in Moscow, and Russian leaders traditionally stand on the tomb of Vladimir Lenin in Red Square to observe it.

"May 9 is designed to show off to the home crowd, to intimidate the opposition and to please the dictator of the time," said James Nixey, director of the Russia-Eurasia Programme at Chatham House told CNN.

Western officials have long believed that Putin would leverage the symbolic significance and propaganda value of the day to announce either a military achievement in Ukraine, a major escalation of hostilities -- or both.

The Russian president has a keen eye for symbolism, having launched the invasion of Ukraine the day after Defender of the Fatherland Day, another crucial military day in Russia.

Russian military vehicles at a parade rehearsal on April 28.

Preparing for mobilization?

Putin has many options on the table, according to Oleg Ignatov, senior analyst for Russia at Crisis Group. "Declaring war is the toughest scenario," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- who has not formally declared war on Russia -- imposed martial law in Ukraine when the Russian invasion began in late February.

Another option for Putin is to enact Russia's mobilization law, which can be used to start a general or partial military mobilization "in cases of aggression against the Russian Federation or a direct threat of aggression, the outbreak of armed conflicts directed against the Russian Federation."

That would allow the government not just to assemble troops but also to put the country's economy on a war footing.

Russian servicemen at a parade rehearsal on April 28.

Russian forces have lost at least 15,000 soldiers since the beginning of the war, according to Nixey, and reinforcements will be needed if Moscow is to achieve its goals in Ukraine.

Mobilization could mean extending conscription for soldiers currently in the armed forces, calling on reservists or bringing in men of fighting age who have had military training, said Ignatov.

But it would also represent a big risk for Putin.

"It would change the whole Kremlin narrative," said Ignatov, noting that the move would force Putin to admit that the invasion of Ukraine has not gone to plan. Full-scale mobilization could also damage the struggling Russian economy, he said.

In addition, it could diminish support for Putin at home, as some Russians support the invasion of Ukraine without wanting to personally go and fight, the analyst said.

"If they declare full-scale mobilization, some people wouldn't like it," said Ignatov.

It could still be possible for Putin to enact the mobilization law without officially declaring war on Ukraine, he said.

Putin could also impose martial law in Russia, suspending elections and further concentrating power in his hands, Ignatov said.

This would impose rules such as restrictions on men of fighting age leaving the country, which could also prove unpopular, he added.

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was "no chance" Putin would declare war on May 9.

What else could happen?

If Putin doesn't declare war, he may look elsewhere to make a statement to mark Victory Day.

Other options include annexing the breakaway territories of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, making a major push for Odesa in the south, or declaring full control over the southern port city of Mariupol.

There are also indications that Russia could be planning to declare and annex a "people's republic" in the southeastern city of Kherson.

"He (Putin) will be able to declare that the Russian army had some victories in Ukraine," said Ignatov. "He can try to use this date to solidify his support."

However it is hard to predict what Russia and its president will do, the analyst added.

"All the decisions are made by one man and a couple of his advisers," said Ignatov.

Yet US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday there is "good reason to believe that the Russians will do everything they can to use" May 9 for propaganda purposes.

"We've seen the Russians really double down on their propaganda efforts, probably, almost certainly, as a means to distract from their tactical and strategic failures on the battlefield in Ukraine," Price said at a State Department briefing on Monday.

Sajid Javid has refused to rule out a “circuit breaker” banning household mixing to prevent the Omicron variant’s rapid spread.

Speaking on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show yesterday, the health secretary acknowledged that data on the new Covid strain was incomplete but said: “If we wait until the data is perfect, it may be too late.”

Boris Johnson, at the “most vulnerable point of his premiership”, is once again facing a momentous decision “that will shape the lives of many and potentially dictate the future smooth running of the NHS”, said Rob Powell at Sky News.

The Sage argument

Nearly 920 people were admitted to hospital with Covid on 14 December, the latest date recorded on the government's Coronavirus Dashboard. Scientific advisers have warned that this could reach 3,000 a day without further restrictions. Leaked minutes from a meeting on Thursday of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), seen by the BBC, said: “If the aim is to reduce the levels of infection in the population and prevent hospitalisations reaching these levels, more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon.”

The resistance

According to The Times, ten ministers – comprising a third of the cabinet – are resisting stricter measures and “have cast doubt on the accuracy of the modelling, given the limited information available”. This is said to include Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, while Javid and Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove are said to back further restrictions.

“Hobbled by a thumping loss in the North Shropshire by-election and dogged by scandals that seem unwilling to shift, the prime minister is hardly in a position to drive through politically unpalatable changes,” said Powell at Sky News. Johnson is facing a “depressingly familiar” decision: act early without a full picture of data or risk taking action too late.

The options

The PM has been presented with three options by civil servants ranging in levels of intervention, the lowest of which would see families asked to limit indoor contacts, reported The Telegraph. Option two would “mandate curbs on household mixing, the return of social distancing and an 8pm curfew on pubs and restaurants”, said the paper. “Option three is the return to full lockdown.”

What does Putin want in Ukraine? The conflict explained - CNN

(CNN) Russia's multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine has thrust the country into a conflict that many on the European continent had thought was one for the history books. Now the country is in the throes of war, with a humanitarian disaster unfolding.

After months of military buildup and brinkmanship on Russia's side of the border, Ukraine's 44 million residents woke up to an all-out conflict on Thursday. Fighting has erupted in several cities across the country, including in the capital, Kyiv, and nearly a half a million people have fled to neighboring countries, according to the United Nations.

Russia had been tightening its military grip around Ukraine since last year, amassing tens of thousands of soldiers, as well as equipment and artillery, on the country's doorstep.

Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, on Thursday.

Frenzied diplomatic efforts early this year failed to avert the worst-case scenario. Now those troops are engaged in combat with Ukrainians for control of the country.

The escalation in a years-long conflict between the nations has now triggered the greatest security crisis in Europe since the Cold War. Russia's attack on the country has also sparked an intense showdown between Western powers and Moscow.

So how did we get here? The picture on the ground is shifting rapidly, but here's a breakdown of what we know.

How did Russia invade Ukraine?

Several areas across Ukraine came under attack on Thursday morning after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the start of a "special military operation" and warned of bloodshed unless Ukrainian forces lay down their arms.

The move came after months of speculation about what Moscow's intentions were with the troops it had massed on the Ukrainian border. At least 150,000 Russian troops encircled the country on three sides, like a sickle, according to estimates from US and Ukrainian intelligence officials.

In late 2021 and early 2022, fears heightened as satellite images revealed new Russian deployments of troops, tanks, artillery and other equipment cropping up in multiple locations, including near eastern Ukraine, Crimea and Belarus, where its forces were participating in joint drills with Moscow's closest international ally.

Some of those forces began pouring across the border, crossing into Ukraine from the north in Belarus and to the south from Crimea, according to the Ukrainian State Border Service. Elsewhere, explosions rang out in multiple cities, including the capital Kyiv.

Missile strikes and street fighting have raged in the days since. Military aged men have been ordered to stay in Ukraine, while countless others have fled westwards towards Poland or Romania.

Russia's larger and far better-equipped military has, faced determined resistance across the country, as ordinary Ukrainians and reservists have joined efforts to defend their families and homes, frustrating Moscow's attempts.

That resistance has been "stiffer than expected" and Russia has had unexpected difficulties supplying its forces, two senior US officials with direct knowledge told CNN. On the battlefield, Russia is suffering heavier losses in personnel and armor and aircraft than expected. This is due in part to the fact that Ukrainian air defenses have performed better than pre-invasion US intelligence assessments had anticipated.

But US intelligence and defense officials closely tracking the Russian campaign say that Putin still holds a number of moves in reserve that could devastate the Ukrainian resistance.

The US and its allies have said they have no intention of sending troops into Ukraine, which is not a NATO member. But Ukraine has received assistance in other forms from Europe, the US and beyond, as the West united in condemnation of Putin's move. NATO's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg condemned the Russian attack as a "grave breach of international law, and a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security."

And a raft of heavy sanctions have threatened to cripple Russia's economy; Moscow has been virtually cut off from the Western financial apparatus and the value of its currency, the ruble, has tanked.

The coordinated assault came days after Putin announced that Moscow would officially recognize the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR), in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, ordering the deployment of Russian troops there in what was widely believed to be the opening salvo to a broader military confrontation.

The territory recognized by Putin extended beyond the areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists, raising red flags about Russia's intended creep into Ukraine.

What set the stage for the conflict?

Ukraine was a cornerstone of the Soviet Union until it voted overwhelmingly for independence in a democratic referendum in 1991, a milestone that turned out to be a death knell for the failing superpower.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO pushed eastward, bringing into the fold most of the Eastern European nations that had been in the Communist orbit. In 2004, NATO added the former Soviet Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Four years later, it declared its intention to offer membership to Ukraine some day in the distant future -- crossing a red line for Russia.

Putin has seen NATO's expansion as an existential threat, and the prospect of Ukraine joining the Western military alliance a "hostile act" -- a view he invoked in a televised speech on Thursday, saying that Ukraine's aspiration to join the military alliance was a dire threat to Russia.

In interviews and speeches, Putin has previously emphasized his view that Ukraine is part of Russia, culturally, linguistically and politically. While some of the mostly Russian-speaking population in Ukraine's east feel the same, a more nationalist, Ukrainian-speaking population in the west has historically supported greater integration with Europe.

In early 2014, mass protests in the capital Kyiv known as Euromaidan forced out a Russia-friendly president after he refused to sign an EU association agreement. Russia responded by annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and fomenting a separatist rebellion in Ukraine's east, which seized control of part of the Donbas region. Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2015 , the two sides have not seen a stable peace, and the front line has barely moved since. Nearly 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and there are 1.5 million people internally displaced in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government.

In the eight years since, Moscow has been accused of engaging in hybrid warfare against Ukraine, using cyberattacks, economic pressure and propaganda to whip up discord. Those tactics have escalated in recent months, and in early February the State Department claimed Putin was preparing a false-flag operation to create "a pretext for an invasion."

What does Putin want?

In a lengthy essay penned in July 2021, Putin referred to Russians and Ukrainians as "one people," and suggested the West had corrupted Ukraine and yanked it out of Russia's orbit through a "forced change of identity."

That type of historical revisionism was on full display in Putin's emotional and grievance-packed address to the nation last Monday announcing his decision to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, while casting doubt on Ukraine's own sovereignty.

But Ukrainians, who in the last three decades have sought to align more closely with Western institutions like the European Union and NATO, have pushed back against the notion that they are little more than the West's "puppet."

In fact, Putin's efforts to bring Ukraine back into Russia's sphere have been met with a backlash, with several recent polls showing that a majority of Ukrainians now favor membership of the US-led transatlantic military alliance.

In December, Putin presented the US and NATO with a list of security demands. Chief among them was a guarantee that Ukraine will never enter NATO and that the alliance rolls back its military footprint in Eastern and Central Europe -- proposals that the US and its allies have repeatedly said are non-starters.

Putin indicated he was not interested in lengthy negotiations on the topic. "It is you who must give us guarantees, and you must do it immediately, right now," he said at his annual news conference late last year. "Are we deploying missiles near the US border? No, we are not. It is the United States that has come to our home with its missiles and is already standing at our doorstep."

High-level talks between the West and Russia wrapped in January without any breakthroughs. The standoff left Europe's leaders to engage in a frenzy of shuttle diplomacy, exploring whether a negotiating channel established between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine to resolve the conflict in Ukraine's east -- known as the Normandy Format talks -- could provide an avenue for calming the current crisis.

In a news conference with the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on February 16, Putin repeated unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine is carrying out a "genocide" against Russian speakers in the Donbas region and called for the conflict to be resolved through the Minsk peace progress -- echoing similar rhetoric that was used as a pretext for annexing Crimea.

But less than a week later, after Russia's upper house of parliament approved the deployment of military forces outside the country on February 22, Putin told reporters that the Minsk agreements "no longer exist," adding: "What is there to implement if we have recognized these two entities?"

The agreements, known as Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 -- which were hammered out in the Belarusian capital in a bid to end a bloody in eastern Ukraine -- have never been fully implemented, with key issues remaining unresolved.

Moscow and Kyiv have long been at odds over key elements of the peace deal, the second of which was inked in 2015 and lays out a plan for reintegrating the two breakaway republics into Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated that he did not like a single point of the Minsk accords , which require dialogue on local elections in the Russian-backed separatist regions and -- although unclear in what sequence -- would also restore the Ukrainian government's control over its eastern borders. Critics say the agreement could give Moscow undue sway over Ukrainian politics.

Putin previously responded in blunt terms by saying that regardless of whether Zelensky likes the plan, it must be implemented. "Like it or don't like it, it's your duty, my beauty," Putin said in a news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. Zelensky, a former comedian and TV star, won a 2019 election in a landslide on promises to end the war in Donbas, but little has changed. Responding to a question about Putin's stark, undiplomatic language, Zelensky responded in Russian, saying bluntly: "We are not his."

How has Ukraine responded?

President Zelensky previously downplayed the danger of all-out war with Russia, noting that the threat has existed for years and that Ukraine is prepared for military aggression. But on Thursday, as Russia launched an assault on his country, Zelensky made an emotional address directly to the Ukrainian people, declaring martial law in the country.

"Russia began an attack on Ukraine today. Putin began war against Ukraine, against the entire democratic world. He wants to destroy my country, our country, everything we've been building, everything we are living for," Zelensky said in a video message posted on his official Facebook page.

Across the country, residents have been preparing for the worst -- packing emergency evacuation kits and taking time out of their weekends to train as reservists

Ukraine's government insists that Moscow cannot prevent Kyiv from building closer ties with NATO, or otherwise interfere in its domestic or foreign politics. "Russia cannot stop Ukraine from getting closer with NATO and has no right to have any say in relevant discussions," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to CNN.

Zelensky has since requested Ukraine be admitted "urgently" to the European Union, and has implored Western leaders to help boost Ukrainian forces on the ground.

Delegates from Ukraine and Russia held talks on Monday near the border of Belarus, a country which has assisted Putin's invasion, and which Ukrainian officials fear could soon put its own boots on the ground in support of Russia.

Ukraine demanded a full Russian withdrawal in advance of those talks, but it is unclear whether the meetings will result in a Russian retreat. Zelensky downplayed the significance of the talks, which he did not attend in person. "I do not really believe in the result of this meeting, but let them try, so that no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, as president, did not try to stop the war when there was even a small chance," he said Sunday,

Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine People in Quezon City, Philippines, light candles in the shape of a peace sign February 28 as they protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Hide Caption 1 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A woman from Ukraine takes part in an anti-war protest in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 28. Hide Caption 2 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine An anti-war protest takes place outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City on February 28. Hide Caption 3 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A boy holds a Ukrainian flag with a heart drawn on it as he attends a protest with his mother in Sydney on February 28. Hide Caption 4 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Thousands of protesters gather in Berlin's Tiergarten park on February 27. Hide Caption 5 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Lidiya Zhuravlyova, a Ukrainian performance artist, takes part in an anti-war protest in Bangkok on February 27. Hide Caption 6 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A "Football Stands Together" message is displayed in Ukrainian colors ahead of the League Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool on February 27 The match was played at Wembley Stadium in London. Hide Caption 7 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Silhouettes are seen through a Ukrainian flag during a demonstration in Madrid on February 27. Hide Caption 8 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine People gather for a demonstration in Prague, Czech Republic, on February 27. The event in Prague was particularly poignant given that many of its attendees experienced a Russian invasion firsthand. In 1968, Soviet-led armies of the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia, crushing the so-called Prague Spring democratic reform movement and restoring the totalitarian communist regime. The troops stayed in Czechoslovakia for over two decades, with the last leaving in 1991. Hide Caption 9 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Thousands of people show solidarity with Ukraine at Dam Square in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on February 27. Hide Caption 10 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa meets with demonstrators outside Belem Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, to show his support on February 26. Hide Caption 11 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A protester holds a sign that says "help before it's too late" during a rally in Brussels, Belgium, on February 26. Hide Caption 12 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine New York's Empire State Building is illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on February 25. Hide Caption 13 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine People gather to protest outside the Russian Consulate in Istanbul on February 25. Hide Caption 14 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine People photograph Paris' Eiffel Tower as it is lit with Ukraine's colors on February 25. Hide Caption 15 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A child holds smoke bombs at a protest in Buenos Aires on February 25. Hide Caption 16 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A demonstrator against the invasion is led away by police in Moscow on February 24. Hundreds of protesters in Russia have been detained in anti-war protests, independent protest monitoring site OVD-Info said. Russia's Investigative Committee warned that participation in any anti-war protest was illegal. It also said that offenses could be entered on participants' criminal records which would "leave a mark on the person's future." Hide Caption 17 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Ukraine supporters march through the streets of New York with flags and signs on February 24. Hide Caption 18 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Members of the Ukrainian community demonstrate outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles on February 24. Hide Caption 19 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine People protest in Rome on February 24. Hide Caption 20 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Flinders Street Station in Melbourne is lit in yellow and blue on February 24 as public buildings were lit up in the national colors of Ukraine. Hide Caption 21 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A demonstrator in Barcelona, Spain, cries during a protest on February 24. Hide Caption 22 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine People protest in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on February 24. Hide Caption 23 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Protesters gather outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston on February 24. Hide Caption 24 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Demonstrators rally at Times Square in New York on February 24. Hide Caption 25 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A Ukraine supporter in Minneapolis attends a prayer service inside the St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church on February 24. Hide Caption 26 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine Protesters chant and gather in front of the Texas State Capitol in downtown Austin on February 24. Hide Caption 27 of 28 Photos: The world rallies in support of Ukraine A vigil for Ukraine takes place in Montclair, New Jersey, on February 24. Hide Caption 28 of 28

Tensions between the two countries had been exacerbated by a deepening Ukrainian energy crisis that Kyiv believes Moscow has purposefully provoked. Ukraine views the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline -- connecting Russian gas supplies directly to Germany -- as a threat to its own security.

Nord Stream 2 is one of two pipelines that Russia has laid underwater in the Baltic Sea -- in addition to its traditional land-based pipeline network that runs through eastern Europe, including Ukraine. Kyiv views the pipelines across Ukraine as an element of protection against invasion by Russia, since any military action could potentially disrupt the vital flow of gas to Europe.

After requests from Zelensky and the US administration, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that he would halt the certification of the pipeline following Putin's decision to order troops into parts of eastern Ukraine.

Nord Stream 2 was just one of myriad challenges facing Zelensky's government; the former actor, who played a president on Ukrainian television, had experienced a brutal baptism of fire into real-world politics since assuming office in 2019, thanks in part to the pandemic and ongoing tensions with Russia.

But in the days since the invasion, admiration for him has soared both inside and outside Ukraine; Zelensky refused to leave the country and has instead posted frequent videos from the streets of Kyiv, where he has been encouraging his fellow countrymen to resist Russian forces.

What could happen if China invaded Taiwan? | The Week UK

When will the Elizabeth line open and what is the route map? | The ...

London’s long-awaited Elizabeth line is finally due to open this month, four years late and billions over budget.

In the year that the Queen marks her Platinum Jubilee, passengers are also set to celebrate the opening of the new railway line that takes her name. But the £18.9bn Crossrail project, now known as the Elizabeth line, has suffered major delays and was originally scheduled for completion in December 2018.

Now the new line – or at least part of it – is set to begin operating in a matter of days, with the monarch herself making a surprise visit to Paddington Station to officially open it.

The Elizabeth line has been billed as the capital’s “biggest and most important transport upgrade since the expansion of the Tube network over 100 years ago”, the Evening Standard said. And it promises to “change the lives of millions of Londoners and commuters”.

Royal visit

Just two weeks shy of her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen joined her youngest son Prince Edward to mark the completion of the new line after “episodic mobility problems” prevented her from attending last week’s State Opening of Parliament.

But in recent days the monarch has “rallied”, managing a trip to the Royal Windsor Horse Show over the weekend, before making an official visit yesterday to the new station at Paddington, which is set to open in time for her jubilee weekend. It was her first engagement “outside of the Windsor area since she attended the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in Westminster Abbey” last month, reported the BBC.

Dressed in “sunshine yellow” and holding a walking stick, she was welcomed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and TfL commissioner Andy Byford, said the broadcaster.

The monarch was also “given an Oyster card and shown how to use it on a ticket machine” before she unveiled a plaque commemorating the official opening.

When will the Elizabeth line open?

The Elizabeth line is set to open to passengers on 24 May, but will initially operate as “three separate railways”, reported the Evening Standard. A “central section” between Paddington and Abbey Wood will run, with the first trains departing from Paddington and Abbey Wood at 6.30am next Tuesday.

BBC funding row: the alternatives to a licence fee | The Week UK

Calls to scrap the BBC licence fee have been gathering pace in recent years amid the rapid rise of streaming services and complaints from across the political spectrum over alleged bias.

Under the current funding model, the majority of the BBC’s income comes from the mandatory fee, although a “significant amount” is generated by its commercial operations, according to Full Fact.

In 2020, the BBC’s income was £4.943bn, of which £3.5bn came from the licence fee. More than £1.3bn came from BBC Studios, a commercial operation that “generates money by selling BBC content to international distributors”.

The latest

Cabinet divisions have broken out after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries was forced to backtrack on a January announcement that the licence fee would be frozen for the next two years.

In an interview with The Spectator this week, Dorries reiterated that ministers are “looking very seriously about how we fund the BBC”, pledging that the government would “very soon announce” a “new way of funding” the national broadcaster.

Her comments coincided with the release of a government white paper that outlined the government’s “intention to explore alternatives to the licence fee”, The Telegraph reported.

“An increasing number of households are choosing not to hold a TV licence, as fewer people choose to watch live TV or other activities that require a licence,” the white paper said. “Should this trend continue as expected there are clear challenges on the horizon to the sustainability of the licence fee.”

But the culture secretary’s plans for the broadcaster could face pushback from her cabinet colleagues. Pensions minister Teresa Coffey, who is a former BBC journalist, has previously “led the charge” against her plans, the Daily Express said.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have also previously voiced concerns over a “lack of consultation” ahead of Dorries public statements, according to the i news site.

Voluntary subscription fee

The BBC could take its lead from the likes of streaming giant Netflix and transform itself into a voluntary subscription service, with users paying a monthly or annual fee to view BBC programming.

A subscription fee could end up being more costly for users than the current £159 TV licence, however, as “fewer people may opt in to pay the sum”, said Sky News. And the broadcaster could face major losses “if a significant proportion of households who currently have a BBC licence do not sign up to the subscription service”.

What is Donald Trump doing now? | The Week UK

Donald Trump hit out at the House of Representatives committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol following its first public hearing yesterday evening, repeating falsehoods about the 2020 election and declaring committee members “political hacks”. In a statement posted on his social media network Truth Social – the social network he created after he was banned from Twitter in the wake of the January 6 riot – the former president said “Our Country is in such trouble!” “So the Unselect Committee of political HACKS refuses to play any of the many positive witnesses and statements, refuses to talk of the Election Fraud and Irregularities that took place on a massive scale, and decided to use a documentary maker from Fake News ABC to spin only negative footage” he wrote. Trump was making reference to former ABC News television executive James Goldston, whom the panel brought in to produce the televised hearings which are being broadcast live across all the major news networks in the US except Fox News. Before the hearing began, Trump “attacked the House Committee,” Newsweek reported, while “repeating his long dismissed claims of voter fraud” in a series of Truth Social posts, one of which declared the hearings to be run by an “Unselect Committee of political Thugs.” Trump has also used the platform to defend the deadly riot at the US Capitol, which saw thousands of his supporters storm the building in an attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. “January 6th was not simply a protest, it represented the greatest movement in the history of our Country to Make America Great Again,” he said, also on his Truth Social platform. Challenging Joe Biden’s success Following the announcement of Joe Biden’s electoral victory on 7 November 2020, Trump set out on a tireless campaign to overturn the election results and challenge the new Democratic administration The former president has “made clear he is still irked at his inability to hang on to the White House”, said The Telegraph. Skip advert A phone call leaked to The Wall Street Journal in March revealed Trump had told an election investigator that “she would be praised if she came up with the ‘right answer’ after insisting that he was the true winner” of Georgia’s count.

By the time Biden was marking two months in office, Trump and others had gone to court in six states with allegations of voting fraud, misallocation of votes and manipulation of signature-verification machinery among other claims, “and lost more than 60 cases, including at the Supreme Court”, The Washington Post reported. It is these activities that Carter said were “more likely than not” to have broken the law. His “ruling has no influence on whether Trump will face criminal charges stemming from January 6”, The Times said, “but it is the first time a judge has stated that the former president probably broke the law to try to stay in power”. Taking on the tech giants The suspension of Trump’s social media accounts in January has not deterred the former president from taking on the digital world. Launching the TRUTH Social platform in October, Trump said it would “stand up to the tyranny of big tech”, accusing them of silencing opposing voices in the US. “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American president has been silenced,” he added. BBC North America technology reporter James Clayton said Trump “clearly wants his megaphone back” and “thinks this might be his ticket”. But the new site “simply won’t” rival the big technology giants, he added. Trump also experienced problems when he launched 45Office.com in March, a website commemorating his time in the White House. The site features what The Guardian’s Martin Belam considered to be “a very selective retelling of the history of his time in office”. Visitors can submit event invitations to the former president and his wife Melania Trump, as well as requesting special-occasion greetings from the pair. In May, the former US president launched a communications platform - or “glorified blog”, as The Guardian described donaldjtrump.com. A short video on the web page described it as “a space to speak freely and safely” which would publish content “straight from the desk of Donald J. Trump”. Skip advert The blog proved “so unpopular Trump shuttered it in less than a month”, said Politico’s Jack Shafer. Its simplistic design hadn’t impressed critics: “I was like ‘2002 is calling and it wants its blog back’”, The New York Times technology columnist Kara Swisher told the BBC’s Today programme. Stirring up a literary storm The first volume of Barack Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land, quickly ranked in bestseller lists following its publication last year, and now it seems his successor is readying for a shot at the literary world too.

What is likely to change on 21 June? | The Week UK

Lockdown restrictions are set to be eased yet further on 21 June as ministers aim to keep to the government roadmap on emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fourth step in the plan should go ahead next month, provided hospitalisations, deaths and infection rates remain low, although local lockdowns have not yet been ruled out to combat the Indian variant.

Despite fears over the spread of the variant, a spokesperson for Boris Johnson has said that ministers wanted to “stick to the approach” set out in the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, reports The Telegraph.

And thankfully there are signs that the growth in the Indian variant may be “levelling off”, reports The Times. Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said she was “increasingly confident” existing vaccines work well against the mutation.

Johnson is likely to give a press conference on 14 June confirming the plans will go ahead, although some reports suggest this may be delayed. All being well, however, here are the changes to lockdown restrictions you can expect in England.

Working from home

Johnson has told the House of Commons it was his “intention” to end the work from home guidance from 21 June, says Sky News.

With workers returning to the office, the government hopes to give towns and city centres a much-needed boost, with Johnson adding the “dynamism” of London and “our great cities” depends on people having the “confidence to go to work”.

Those keen to continue working remotely, however, won’t be put under pressure to return to the office, with Johnson telling The Telegraph that people can “exercise their own judgement” on whether to return to the office.

“At the moment, I’m feeling very positive about it, but we’ve got to be guided by the data,” he said.

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has also reportedly warned Johnson not to encourage people back to the office too quickly and suggested working from home could continue until the winter.

Face coverings

It’s less certain that the use of facemasks will be dropped entirely and their use is likely to remain in place in some limited public settings.