The UK and its western allies are threatening historically harsh sanctions to try to deter Russia from invading Ukraine. BFBS Sitrep examines what sanctions might be taken, what history tells us about whether they work, and how we might feel the effects of those sanctions too.

We also look at the part played by sanctions in Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis where people are selling their children, and even vital organs, as they struggle to survive.

And on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics will the games boost the communist nation’s international influence further, or does a western diplomatic boycott turn sport into a political football?