1a people are still missing after an apartment block fire in valencia kills four. may charge shells of these buildings are all that remains after this devastating fire that engulfed them so quickly yesterday evening —— charred shells. the us announces more than 500 new sanctions against russia over the death of alexei navalny and the invasion of ukraine. uk households can expect lower power prices — the energy regulator says it's lowering the cap on gas and electricity. shamima begum — who joined the islamic state group as a teenager — loses her appeal against the removal of her british citizenship. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones, welcome to bbc news now.

we will head state to spain, valencia, and we have these pictures which show the aftermath of the apartment building fire. you can see the scale of the damage after the fire ripped through their overnight. around 1a people still unaccounted for and at least four people dead. you'll understand that of course they stage the numbers are subject to change from local authorities in the area. the building, we think, was wrapped in a flammable colliding. all those details are yet to be investigated fully. —— flammable cladding. guy hedger co has the latest. —— guy hedgecoe. with the blaze now under control, firefighters are appraising the state of the building and searching for those who are unaccounted for. with temperatures inside still extremely high, the task is not easy. the spanish government said that m people were still missing. some are thought to be foreign

nationals, making it harder to trace them. a ukrainian woman who lives in the building was home with her nine—year—old son when the fire started. i was on the terrace and i noticed the smoke and it was getting more and more intense, so i called the concierge to tell him there is a fire in the building which he didn't know about yet, so i got into the apartment, into the apartment, i went and phoned and grabbed the kids and passports and we went out on the street. the residential block, situated in a neighbourhood of valencia, contains 138 flats. it has around a50 residents. translation: on behalf. of the spanish government and spanish society as a whole, we would like to express our solidarity, love and empathy to the families of the victims of this terrible fire.

the fire began at around 5:30pm on one of the building's lower floors. it quickly spread, with eyewitnesses saying it engulfed the iii—storey building within minutes. strong winds fanned the flames and the fire also spread to an adjoining building, as firefighters made some dramatic rescues. the authorities have not mentioned the possible cause of the fire. however, its rapid spread has drawn attention to the building's cladding whether it played a key role in the tragedy. this promotional video by the company that built the apartment block describes its cladding is a type that is made of polyurethane. experts have said the ventilated cladding used encourages air to rush through it, potentially causing a fire to spread. as the search for missing residents continues, it's just one of many uncertainties surrounding this tragedy.

guy hedgecoe, bbc news, spain. our correspondent mark lohan is there. well, you can see behind me, lewis, that these charred shells of these buildings are all that remains after this devastating fire that engulfed them so quickly yesterday evening. now, the whole area has been closed off and cordoned off by police and firefighters and forensic teams who are preparing to go inside. we've seen some firefighters begin to enter the building, but it is, of course, still very unstable inside and they'll be looking for clues as to what happened and why. now, pedro sanchez, the spanish prime minister, was here a little bit earlier promising solidarity and the love of the spanish state and the full resources to try to find out what is going on. what went on here, with three days of mourning declared in valencia. there is already speculation that about the cladding that was on the outside of these buildings and which was thought to be highly flammable.

now, that type of cladding, there are reports that it was banned in 2019. these buildings date from about 2008, and we understand from some media reports that there was no concerted programme on or no national programme to go around and strip that cladding off the buildings once the ban came into place, which is what has happened in the aftermath of the 2017 grenfell towerfire in london that some of our viewers might remember, engulfed the apartment block in london in 2017, led to the death of more than 70 people there. and the cladding was also blamed there for the rapid spread of that fire, and that led to a national programme to strip that cladding off of other similar buildings. so, of course, there will now be an investigation and potentially, you know, a renewed pressure to try to make sure that same cladding is not not present in other buildings nationwide. and, mark, more immediately, there are those who are unaccounted for. what is happening now with the emergency services? what's the process that they're going through?

yeah, i mean, the official numbers that we still have are four people killed and up to 15 people still missing, with a few people also still injured, although the injuries are not very bad injuries. now, there is an area that has been set up in another part of the city for the residents of these buildings to seek shelter because there were 138 apartments in the larger of the buildings, the 14—storey building, which is the first one to catch fire, and more than 400 residents of that building so, you know, a large number of displaced now who are going to have to seek shelter and seek medical care from any inhalation of fumes, etc. but, you know, it is a huge undertaking for the city to try to secure the building, find out what went on inside, and care for the families and loved ones of those missing and who were sadly caught up in this tragedy. thanks to mark for that. here in the uk...

energy bills are set to fall to their lowest level for two years from april — under a new price cap set by the regulator. it means the average household bill will be around 1600 and 90p per year, the lowest level for two yea rs. year, the lowest level for two years. some analysts predicted a drop by more, 15%, and often�*s executive told is where that wasn't the case. often's executive told is where that wasn't the case.— often's executive told is where that wasn't the case. some assumptions that came in — wasn't the case. some assumptions that came in two — wasn't the case. some assumptions that came in two ofgem _ wasn't the case. some assumptions that came in two ofgem are - wasn't the case. some assumptions that came in two ofgem are not - that came in two 0fgem are not reflected in that analysis and there is one area where we have had to increase the allowance which is to cover some of the bad debt emerging in the industry. i cover some of the bad debt emerging in the industry-— in the industry. i think that needs a little explanation, _ in the industry. i think that needs a little explanation, if _ in the industry. i think that needs a little explanation, if i _ in the industry. i think that needs a little explanation, if i may? - in the industry. i think that needsj a little explanation, ifi may? bad a little explanation, if i may? bad debt within the industry? instinctively, i think people may be thinking about the profits that energy companies have made. they might be thinking, for example, about the salaries of the bosses of those energy companies, and you may well be aware that we had chris 0'shea, who very kindly came and sat with us on the sofa here, the boss

of centrica, british gas, who said he cannotjustify his £45 million salary. and if i hear what you're saying correctly, you're saying that customers are paying more to cover bad debt within the industry? 50. bad debt within the industry? so, first of all. _ bad debt within the industry? srr, first of all, just bad debt within the industry? s57, first of all, just focusing bad debt within the industry? s513, first of all, just focusing on bad debt within the industry? sr3, first of all, just focusing on the profits the industry is making, it is true this year we allow companies to recover some of the losses, not all of them, but some of the losses they made last year. when i look across the two years as a whole, energy retailers, these are the people that buy and sell energy, are making about a penny on the pound. when i look at other sectors like banking, wider retail sectors and other utilities, that is a fair balance between what customers pay andindeed balance between what customers pay and indeed the returns companies need if they are going to do the things we want them to do. president biden�*s administration has announced more than 500 new sanctions against russia. they are in response to the invasion

of ukraine and the death in custody of the opposition politician alexei navalny. the white house said it was also imposing new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for providing backdoor support to russia's war machine. it said the measures — on the eve of the second anniversary of moscow's full—scale invasion — would ensure that president putin paid an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home. we can speak to vitaly shevchenko, the bbc russian monitoring editor. any statement, president biden said that the newly imposed sanctions targeted russian individuals are linked to russia's financial sector, the defence industry as well as individuals across the globe who washington believes are helping russia evade previously imposed

sanctions, and the new package targets of about 100 entities providing back door support for the russian defence industry. any separate development, the eu imposed its own package of sanctions on russia targeting about 200 individuals and entities helping russia to continue obtaining defence technologies as well as it. now, even before these packages were imposed, russia was the most sanctioned country in the world because of its invasion of ukraine, and distill its economy has proved buoyant, perhaps surprisingly for western countries who impose these sanctions, and various bits of western technology are still being discovered in russian missiles that target ukraine, so there is a

certain degree of scepticism in places like ukraine about the effectiveness of these sanctions and people in ukraine will be looking to see whether these new packages will work. ,, , ,, ~ see whether these new packages will work. ,, , . ~' , ., see whether these new packages will work. . , ., ~ , ., ., ., work. the tally, thank you for that. saturday martin _ work. the tally, thank you for that. saturday martin two _ work. the tally, thank you for that. saturday martin two years - work. the tally, thank you for that. saturday martin two years since - saturday martin two years since russia launched its full—scale war in ukraine. the total number of casualties from russia and ukraine combined is nearing half a million, according to us officials. in the last 24 hours, at least three ukrainians reported to be killed in 0desa city in russian shelling and reported attacks in denny pro, kherson, and separation. let's speak will focus on the situation in

ukraine any moment, but we want to talk about these sanctions. they understand the scepticism among some about the impact they will have? have a strong impact on russia's economy, its ability to procure and build weapons. we economy, its ability to procure and build weapons.— build weapons. we still see... but their economy _ build weapons. we still see... but their economy is _ build weapons. we still see... but their economy is still _ build weapons. we still see... but their economy is still so _ build weapons. we still see... but their economy is still so strong . build weapons. we still see... but| their economy is still so strong and their economy is still so strong and their weapons are still outnumbering ukraine's. i their weapons are still outnumbering ukraine's. ., ., _ ukraine's. i would not say their economy is _ ukraine's. i would not say their economy is strong. _ ukraine's. i would not say their economy is strong. it - ukraine's. i would not say their economy is strong. it is - ukraine's. i would not say their. economy is strong. it is adapting. and by our analysis, the economy was projected to have been growing much stronger than it is currently. we see these sanctions are biting into them. we will continue we can do to cut off financing and material to russia and harm its ability to run its war machine against ukraine. let's get on to the fact we are on the eve of two years in. the amount of military aid, supplies, non—military aid needed is still

substantial. there have been critics that those delays in the us are harming the impact on the ground there in ukraine. [30 harming the impact on the ground there in ukraine.— harming the impact on the ground there in ukraine. do you share that? i think the president _ there in ukraine. do you share that? i think the president has _ there in ukraine. do you share that? i think the president has been - there in ukraine. do you share that? i think the president has been very l i think the president has been very clear that indeed the ukrainians do need our financial assistance as quickly as possible and we have seen the example in one area where the lack of artillery hampers their ability to fight back. the eu has gone ahead with a 50 billion euros package and we are looking forward to our congress doing the same. we are heartened by the fact that the measure passed with a significant margin on the senate side and were confident when it comes up if you're the house side, it will likely pass before with a large margin. nvidia of dela is before with a large margin. nvidia of delay is an _ before with a large margin. nvidia of delay is an issue _ before with a large margin. nvidia of delay is an issue in _ before with a large margin. nvidia of delay is an issue in the - before with a large margin. nvidia of delay is an issue in the battle i of delay is an issue in the battle —— every day of delay. absolutely

right. let's focus on the scale of what has happened, difficult to picture debt two years ago. and where we are now, many experts and analysts thinking it is basically frozen for the whole of 2024, ukraine does not have enough momentum to change... i5 ukraine does not have enough momentum to change... is that your assessment — momentum to change... is that your assessment tomackay _ momentum to change... is that your assessment tomackay would - momentum to change... is that your assessment tomackay would be - assessment tomackay would be cautious with these doom and gloom predictions. at the very beginning of the war, the prediction was cave would fall within days and zelensky would fall within days and zelensky would flee —— care would fall within days. the ukrainian people have persevered and neita is enlarging and we have built a coalition of more than 50 countries around the world who understand that what happened in ukraine affects our security and prosperity as well around the world —— nato is enlarging. around the world -- nato is enlarging-— around the world -- nato is enlariiin. ,, ~' ., ., enlarging. thank you for coming on the programme- —

enlarging. thank you for coming on the programme. around _ enlarging. thank you for coming on the programme. around the - enlarging. thank you for coming on the programme. around the world | enlarging. thank you for coming on i the programme. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. an extended card and has been put in place in plymouth and people have been urged to not leave their homes as a unexploded bubble to bomb being moved out of see —— to see to be exploded. it will be moved through a rolling 300 metre exclusion zone and schools in the area have closed. britain has signed an agreement with the european union s borderagency, frontex, to co—operate more closely on tackling irregular migration. it'll boost the exchange of information, including this on human smuggling patterns and document fraud. but it will not see joint patrols and does not provide for the return of migrants from britain. a court date has been set for a hearing to determine

whether child serial killer lucy letby can appeal against her convictions for the murder and attempted murder of babies. the nurse's case will be considered by a panel ofjudges at a public hearing in april. your life with bbc news. —— do ourlive —— do our live with bbc news. we are now heading to israel. the plans would have these really military operating cost gas for an indefinite period and the palestinian authority called at these blueprints disastrous —— operating across gaza. 0ur correspondentjenny hill gave us this update from jerusalem. well, they are rather short on detail — the document runs to just over a single page. this is benjamin netanyahu's vision for a post—war gaza. he has been under pressure to publish such a plan almost ever since he began his military operation there following the hamas

attacks of october 7th. he envisages that the territory would be governed by local palestinian officials who have no links to any organisation or country hostile to israel. he talks about southern closure on gaza's border with egypt to combat suspected smuggling both over and underground. crucially, he says that israel would retain security control indefinitely over the territory. he says it would be demilitarised territory. he also talks about having deradicalisation programmes promoted in religious and educational facilities, possibly deradicalisation programmes. although he doesn't go into any detail as to which countries he sees having some involvement. what's really important here is that the us, israel's closest ally, would like to see the west

bank—based palestinian authority governing gaza after the war ends. this document makes absolutely no mention of the palestinian authority at all. as i say, mr netanyahu has been under pressure both from people here in israel, but also internationally to come up with some sort of post—war plan. and i think when you look at it, you can see that he's keen to appeal to right—wing coalition partners upon whose support he's dependent, and voters, too. but also, you see here, i think, an attempt to restore his crumbling reputation as a leader who can keep israel safe. thanks to jenny hill for that. let's speak to guillemette thomas who is the cedical coordinator for palestine for medecins sans frontieres — also known as doctors without borders. thank you for coming on the programme. as there are talks in

goshen is and is ongoing, give us up—to—date with the latest situation with getting the medical care and supplies in. with getting the medical care and suoplies im— supplies in. they're working with lots of difficulties _ supplies in. they're working with lots of difficulties and _ supplies in. they're working with | lots of difficulties and shortages. the others workers totally exhausted dashing all these workers are totally exhausted. they face a lot of difficulties on a daily basis, so the situation is really worrying. and what do you want to see happen now. ~ ,, and what do you want to see happen now. ~ . ,, , ,, and what do you want to see happen now. ~ . . ,,,, now. what we want is a ceasefire, which is the _ now. what we want is a ceasefire, which is the only _ now. what we want is a ceasefire, which is the only solution - now. what we want is a ceasefire, which is the only solution to - now. what we want is a ceasefire, which is the only solution to be i which is the only solution to be able to do something for gaza. and talking about a ceasefire, it will be the only way to have humanitarian aid being deployed everywhere in gaza in rafah, in the middle and north of gaza, where people are facing starvation, have no care, nothing. so we need a ceasefire to be able to provide the basic needs

that the people of gaza need today. is there a functioning health system in gaza? how is it actually working? is that pockets of individuals or is there a system that is just about holding together? the there a system that is 'ust about holding together?— there a system that is 'ust about holding together? the health system is totally not — holding together? the health system is totally not functioning _ holding together? the health system is totally not functioning today. - is totally not functioning today. because it has been systematically destroyed, targeted since the beginning of the conflict, very few hospitals are still functioning now. they offer limited services to the population for the injured people, but for also for all the other people who need basic care, and the situation is getting worse and worse. you know that illness has been raided by the israeli army, the second largest hospital of gaza.

nasser. and they're working with huge difficulties, lack water, lack of supplies will stop so the health system today is not functioning at all. leaving 1.25 million people without any way to get adequate care. , ., ,, , without any way to get adequate care. , ., ,,, ,, ~ ,, care. guillemette thomas, thank you for comini care. guillemette thomas, thank you for coming on — care. guillemette thomas, thank you for coming on the _ care. guillemette thomas, thank you for coming on the programme. - care. guillemette thomas, thank you for coming on the programme. i - care. guillemette thomas, thank you for coming on the programme. ijust| for coming on the programme. ijust want to bring a bit of breaking news coming from the afp news agency. they are reporting that a migrant boat has capsized off malta, five people dead. they are hearing that from the armed forces, from the afp news agency, reporting that a migrant but has capsized off malta, five people dead. they are reporting and it seems that their sources there are the armed forces. those are the only details we have right now. as we get any more, we will bring them to you. shamima begum has lost

an appeal against the removal of her british citizenship. in 2015, when she was aged 15, she left east london to travel to syria to join the islamic state group. her citizenship was revoked on the grounds of national security shortly after she was found in a refugee camp in 2019. she had argued the decision was unlawful because she was a victim of trafficking. it means she will now remain in syria, with no chance of returning to the uk. let's ta ke let's take a look at the moment that ruling was delivered in the court of appeal. in ruling was delivered in the court of a- eal. 3, . ,., ruling was delivered in the court of a- eal. . ,., ., ruling was delivered in the court of aueal. . ,., ., , appeal. in conclusion, for these reasons, were _ appeal. in conclusion, for these reasons, were unanimous- appeal. in conclusion, for these l reasons, were unanimous dismiss appeal. in conclusion, for these - reasons, were unanimous dismiss this appeal. it could be argued that the decision in ms begum has my case was harsh,. it could also be argued that ms begum is the author of her own misfortune. but it is not for this court to agree or disagree with

either point of view. 0ur court to agree or disagree with either point of view. our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. we have concluded it was not and the appeal is dismissed. earlier i spoke to her correspondent dominic akashi any. those words there from baroness carr, the lady chiefjustice of england and wales, really sums up what this case is about. it wasn't about what people feel about what shamima begum had done and what has happened to her over the last nine years, it fundamentally comes down to a question of law and the home secretary, the home secretary's powers here. now, in essence, the government has the power to deprive a british citizen of their nationality if they have a chance of getting a nationality from another country or already have it. and in this case, the government concluded that shamima begum was bangladeshi by descent

because her parents are bangladeshi nationals, that she could ask bangladesh to take her in and therefore they could deprive her of her british citizenship. now, that's all been argued over and found to basically be lawful. and the critical question in this was the national security question about what kind of threat that shamima begum posed to the uk. and the judges today said whatever that threat was that the home secretary had assessed as being sufficient to effectively banish her from the country, it could not be overruled by other concerns that she may have been the victim of trafficking at the age of 15, effectively lured into sexual slavery and exploitation at the hands of the self—styled islamic state group in syria, forced to marry a fighter, to have three babies, who all subsequently died. while there may be a credible suspicion that that was part of this story, it didn't trump the home secretary's duties towards keeping the country safe. and on that basis, this is a pretty emphatic win for the government

here in london and a pretty major defeat for shamima begum. and i think, on the faces of her lawyers today, i think they were pretty taken aback about actually how direct and actually how emphatic that defeat had been for her. so for the moment, and perhaps forever, she is stuck in a syria camp. her one chance to get out of the detention camp in many respects is whether she can persuade the supreme court here in london to take on the case, but that really requires her to prove that there's some fundamental legal problem with how her case has been dealt with yet. and given that all three judges here at the court of appeal ruled in the government's favour, it's very difficult to see how she will be able to do that. thank you to dominic there. do stay with us, plenty more coming up, the business headlines in a few minutes' time. i met lewis vaughanjones, this is bbc news.

hello there. we haven't got the persistent rain today, but there are still quite a few showers around for western areas and some developing inland and further east, as well, as the cloud has tended to increase. we've also got some chillier air today, so temperatures come the early evening probably sitting at six or seven degrees. it will get cold quite quickly. we still have some showers around, but most of those inland will fade away. we'll keep some going around these western coasts and some heavier showers come into the south—west of england. there could even be a bit of winteriness over dartmoor, as well. it will be a colder night more widely. we had a frost last night in scotland. it will be very cold in the north—east of scotland and temperatures close to freezing elsewhere, as well. some mist and fog patches in the midlands in particular in the morning. 0therwise, some sunshine around. as the cloud builds up, we'll see a scattering of showers developing here and there. most of the showers running away

from south—west england heading into the south—east of england by the afternoon. temperature—wise, still nine, maybe even ten degrees, so on a par with what we had today. the winds are going to be very light. there's going to be hardly a breath of wind for the six nations rugby, the game in dublin and then at murrayfield, where there could be one or two showers around here. the sun setting on another chilly evening and some frost is likely again on saturday night. but not towards the south—west because here we've got this area of low pressure coming in, bringing some wetter, windier weather. the position is still subject to change. it looks like the rain may be a bit further north, into more of southern england, especially later on in the day, by which time it will be turning quite windy, as well. there may well be a lot of cloud around as well. most of the sunshine in the east, one or two showers in the far north—west of scotland. again, those temperatures typically eight or nine degrees. let's look at that area of low pressure for the start of next week. it's going to track its way into continental europe. still hanging around towards the south—east. a lot more isobars, the winds will be stronger for many of us, but there will be a lot of dry weather. some cloud coming into northern scotland. most of the cloud will be across

east anglia and the south—east, where we've still got the chance of some rain hanging on through the day. it's across these areas that it will be particularly windy. strong to gale force winds are quite likely, which will, of course, make it feel that bit colder. we're still in the same sort of air mass. temperatures around average for the time of year at eight or nine celsius.

positive energ — uk households to see their bills fall sharply fom april. turning the screw — washington imposes more sanctions on moscow. welcome to world business report, i'm egon cossou. we start in the uk with some hopeful news for hard pressed households. a new price cap set by the regulator means that from april, the typical annual energy bill will fall to its lowest level for two years — around £1,690. the cut comes after a fall in wholesale prices paid by suppliers. but campaigners say bills are still too high. kevin peachy has more.