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tv   Verified Live  BBC News  February 23, 2024 3:00pm-3:31pm GMT

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emergency workers are combing the lower floors of a burned—out apartment block in the spanish city of valencia where a fire has left many residents missing. of valencia where a fire has left at of valencia where a fire has left least 1a people are missing, at least 1a people are still missing, four are dead. shamima begum, whojoined the islamic missing, four are dead. shamima begum, who joined the islamic state group as a teenager, loses her appeal at the removal of her british citizenship. a british company promises the moon and delivers. the first us lunar landing in 50 years. and with a film in tomorrow, can any photographer better at this iconic shot from veal. we speak to the man who took three years to pull it off. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live,
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firefighters are continuing to search for survivors — with at least 4 people confirmed to have died — and up to 15 still reported missing, after a fire engulfed a high—rise apartment complex in the spanish city of valencia. flames were finally put out early this morning. there are fears that the highly flammable cladding on the building's facade may have helped the fire spread — as in the 2017 tragedy, at london's grenfell tower. guy hedgecoe reports from madrid. 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 14 people were still missing. some are thought to be foreign nationals, making it harder to trace them. gala kotova, who is ukrainian and lives in the building, was home
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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 inform him that there is a fire in the building which he didn't know about yet. i got into the apartment, put on what i found there, 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 the spanish governmentl 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.
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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 a possible cause of the fire. however, its rapid spread has drawn attention to the building's cladding and 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 lowen is in valencia at the scene of the fire —
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he sent us this update. well, the charred shells of these buildings are all that remains after this devastating fire that engulfed them so quickly yesterday evening. we understand on the fourth floor was where the we understand on the fourth floor was where the fire we understand on the fourth floor was where the fire began we understand on the fourth floor was where the fire began and we understand on the fourth floor was where the fire began and it spread very quickly and engulf the adjacent building. it was fanned by high winds, but also the cladding on the external of the building, the outside of the building was thought to be highly combustible and largely responsible for the fire spreading. the whole area has been closed off by police and firefighters and forensic teams preparing to go in and see what clues they can find. the hundreds of residents from both buildings have been displaced into another part of the city. there are already reports that the type of cladding being used on these buildings had been banned a number of years ago and had been phased out after 2019, of years ago and had been phased out after2019, but of years ago and had been phased out after 2019, but we understand from some reports that buildings were not being systematically expected to have the cladding removed after that
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point, given that it was thought to be highly combustible will stop unlike in the uk, where the grenville tower fire in 2017 which engulfed the apartment block in london and killed more than 70 people led to a process of other buildings having similar cladding removed —— -- rain plenty more in the study through the course of the�*s verified the court of appeal in london has thrown out an appeal by shamima begum against being stripped of her british citizenship. shamima left the uk to join the group calling itself islamic state at the age of 15. she was found in a refugee camp a few years later. her lawyers had argued that the decision was unlawful, because she was a victim of trafficking. the ruling means, she cannot return to the uk. here'sjudge sue carr outlining the decision.
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it could be argued that the decision in ms begum's 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. our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. we have concluded it was not and the appeal is dismissed. ms begum's legal team said they will look at thejudgment ms begum's legal team said they will look at the judgment and decide what to do next, but insist that their client should be allowed to come back to the uk. shamima begum is held unlawfully in arbitrary—
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shamima begum is held unlawfully in arbitrary detention which is banned by every— arbitrary detention which is banned by every international treaty. she and others — by every international treaty. she and others are the women and children— and others are the women and children rm what is not a refugee camp, _ children rm what is not a refugee camp, but— children rm what is not a refugee camp, but a prison camp. with more on this, i'm joined byjosh baker — the creator of the award—winning i'm not a monster podcast, which featured the story of shamima begum. you were there at the course of —— court of appeal, it was a decisive victory for the government, it was rejected wholly. victory for the government, it was rejected wholly-— rejected wholly. where does that leave her? _ rejected wholly. where does that leave her? surprise _ rejected wholly. where does that leave her? surprise today - rejected wholly. where does that. leave her? surprise today because people felt she may have been able to win on at least one of the five grounds they contested the judgment on, but she didn't so that leaves her now in syria in this prison camp she has been in since 2019. this tell me more. _ she has been in since 2019. this tell me more. because - she has been in since 2019. this tell me more. because i - she has been in since 2019. this tell me more. because i was mentioning in the introduction that
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you made this award—winning podcast. you talked to her so many different times over a long time period. what did she say to you aboutjoining is mac and everything that followed? shamima begum left london when she was 15 years old heading to join the so—called islamic state group in syria and was a talking to a friend of hers had already gone and was sold an idea of the islamic utopia as she called it, when she got there she realised it was something very different. the thing about shamima begum if she has consistently said she would like to come back to the uk to challenge the decision to basically have her day in court. the problem with this is in essence, she has struggled to articulate at times a sort of great understanding of the responsibility of her decision to join isis and i think a lot of people find her to be somebody who
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potentially is a threat to the uk. in those conversations, did she ever express to you regret, just saying, i am really sorry i chose this course of action?— i am really sorry i chose this course of action? she has indeed expressed _ course of action? she has indeed expressed regret, _ course of action? she has indeed expressed regret, but _ course of action? she has indeed expressed regret, but i - course of action? she has indeed expressed regret, but i think- course of action? she has indeed expressed regret, but i think she still wrestles with understanding the magnitude of what she was part of. we have to remember that this group did commit acts of genocide, this group enslaved women and children. and while shamima begum herself may not have directly been part of that, she was a member of a group that did those things. now, for her, i think she now finds herself, as we mentioned earlier, in this detention camp in syria where she says she considers, she thinks about the choices she made every single day. she hoped to come back to the uk, but as you said, today makes that very unlikely. just to the uk, but as you said, today makes that very unlikely.- makes that very unlikely. just a final thought. _ makes that very unlikely. just a final thought, because - makes that very unlikely. just a final thought, because other i final thought, because other countries have found themselves in a similar position with their citizens. what have they done in
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comparison?— comparison? well, that is an interesting — comparison? well, that is an interesting point. _ comparison? well, that is an interesting point. so - comparison? well, that is an interesting point. so there i comparison? well, that is an l interesting point. so there are potentially as many as, people from as many as 56 different nations are still in syria. there has been a real division about what we do with those people. many european countries have indeed brought people back, put them in prison, rehabilitated. america is well. increasingly, the uk is a bit of an outlier compared to some of its allies on its approach. there are potentially as many as 2a other british women and children, british families in syria in at this camp where shamima begum is, so it is also about understanding that shamima begum's kai's also has a bearing on those other cases as well. but britain is increasingly more isolated in its approach these cases —— shamima begum's case also has a bearing on those other cases as well. ., ~ has a bearing on those other cases as well. ., ,, , ., 0n the eve of the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president biden�*s administration has announced more than 500 new sanctions against russia.
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the move comes after president biden met the widow of alexei navalny, the opposition politician who died in a russian prison. joe biden said last week russia and vladimir putin was responsible for his death. the white house is also imposing new export restrictions to hamper the russian military, accusing president putin of aggression abroad, and repression at home. with more on this we can speak now to the russia editor for bbc monitoring, vitaly shevchenko. just tell me a little more about these 500 sanctions.— just tell me a little more about these 500 sanctions. what do they involve? they _ these 500 sanctions. what do they involve? they target _ these 500 sanctions. what do they involve? they target individuals i involve? they target individuals involved with russia's financial sector, the defence industry, as well as individuals and entities across the globe which washington suspects of helping russia avoid previous sanctions. now, in a related and a separate development, the eu has imposed its own package
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of sanctions and they target 200 individuals who are believed to have helped russia secure various bits of defence technology. russia is currently the world's most sanctioned country and to get in the missiles, russian missiles that end in ukraine, that russia is firing at ukraine, investigators have been finding parts from the west, the united kingdom, the united states, and the russian economy has been surprisingly buoyant, surprising to western countries who imposed the sanctions —— the russian economy so questions will be asked about the effectiveness of the sanctions regime imposed by the us and russia. we are two years into this war. are we closer to the end or further away? we closer to the end or further awa ? ~ ., ., we closer to the end or further awa? ., ., ._ we closer to the end or further awa? ., ., ., away? we are not really any closer and the mood _
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away? we are not really any closer and the mood in _ away? we are not really any closer and the mood in ukraine _ away? we are not really any closer and the mood in ukraine is - and the mood in ukraine is definitely much darker than it was a year ago. definitely much darker than it was a yearago. ukraine is definitely much darker than it was a year ago. ukraine is facing two major problems, one is that it is running out of ammunition because of the dwindling supplies from the west, and secondly, it is running out of people because of the most motivated, most skilled fighters are exhausted, many have been wounded and many have been killed, and recruiting new ones has been a struggle. so that is why ukraine is going through a pretty dark time currently. the going through a pretty dark time currentl . ., , going through a pretty dark time currentl . . , ., ~ going through a pretty dark time currentl . ., , . ~' , ., , currently. the tally, thank you very much for taking _ currently. the tally, thank you very much for taking us _ currently. the tally, thank you very much for taking us through - currently. the tally, thank you very much for taking us through both i currently. the tally, thank you very i much for taking us through both that and, of course, a look at some of those sanctions. just a point that later on the programme, we will have a special report from the front lines from andrew harding who has actually gone back and met again some of the people he met in the early stages of the war. i have seen the piece and it is fascinating, so we will play that to a little later
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in the programme. this let's turn to the war in gaza. israel has carried out more air strikes in the south of the territory. the hamas—run health ministry says dozens of people have been killed after more than a hundred deaths were reported in gaza on thursday. buildings in khan younis and in rafah are reported to have been hit. the israeli military says, there have been clashes with hamas forces on the ground, to the west of khan younis. there are also reports that an israeli delegation — led by the head of the mossad intelligence agency — is travelling to paris, for new talks about a ceasefire. and israel's public broadcaster has said it will pull out of the eurovision song contest if organisers try to censor its entry. the lyrics for israel's song, 0ctober rain, were published this week, and are said to reference the hamas attack, which preceded the current war in gaza. the ebu — which organises
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the contest — says it's scrutinising the song. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has also been outlining his vision for the palestinian territories after the fighting in gaza comes to an end. 0ur correspondent injerusalem, jenny hill, sent us this update. in benjamin netanyahu's vision of the future, a demilitarised gaza would be run by local palestinian officials, israel would retain security control over the territory indefinitely. what's interesting about this plan, which he unveiled to some of his ministers last night — it's a very short document, not a great deal of detail — is that the us, israel's closest ally, would like to see the west bank—based palestinian authority govern the territory after the end of the war. mr netanyahu's plan makes no mention at all of the pa. a spokesman for the pa's president has described his plan as doomed to fail. mr netanyahu has been under some pressure,
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almost since this war began four months ago, to come up with a proposal for how he sees gaza looking after that war finishes. and i think you can read into some of his proposals the fact that he is trying to perhaps appeal to some of the right—wing coalition partners he has, but also to right—wing voters, as well as try to restore a crumbling reputation as a leader who can keep israel safe. that was a jenny hill injerusalem. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's turn to an important story here in the uk. the energy regulator — 0fgem — has lowered the cap on household gas and electricity prices by 12.3%. it means that, from april, the average household bill will drop by around £2110 to the lowest level for two years. here's the energy secretary talking earlier. it is good news for families,
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meaning the families will be paying release they have in two years. we still have cost of living payments in place, 900 p for people who were really struggling because we know some people are having a difficult time still. 0verall, some people are having a difficult time still. overall, this is good news for people in the country today. news for people in the country toda . ' :: :: news for people in the country toda. ':::: ., ., i, , today. -- £900. some analysts predicted _ today. -- £900. some analysts predicted the — today. -- £900. some analysts predicted the cap _ today. -- £900. some analysts predicted the cap would - today. -- £900. some analysts predicted the cap would be - today. -- £900. some analysts predicted the cap would be set| today. -- £900. some analysts i predicted the cap would be set 1496 predicted the cap would be set 14% lower. you can find it much more on the story online, just head to the website or go to the bbc app. a lot of background information on this price drop. you alive with bbc news. germany's parliament has just voted to legalise cannabis possession in a move the government says it will fix a failed drug policy. the possession and control and cultivation of cannabis will become legal in april, despite fierce objections from opposition groups. under the new law, it will be possible to obtain
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the drug for personal use through either regulated associations or by having three plants at home. we will get the latest from germany on that breaking story. that vote has just happened in the german parliament. for the first time ever, a private company has landed a spacecraft on the moon. the us firm, intuitive machines, says its robot touched down — carrying scientific instruments to help study the moon's surface, looking among other things — for signs of frozen water. 0ur science editor rebecca morrelle reports. we've reached the expected time| of landing, but now is the process of waiting for comms. and we are in standby mode.
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a tense time at mission control waiting for the lunar lander to call home. we are checking our antenna reception. but finally, a faint signal. we can confirm without a doubt is our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting. congratulations to everyone involved in this great and daring quest that intuitive machines, space x and right here at nasa. what a triumph. this feat is a giant leap forward for all of humanity. after troubleshooting their communications, the flight controllers confirmed the spacecraft is upright and sending back data. on board, there are six scientific instruments that nasa has paid the company to carry. it's the first ever commercial lander to reach the lunar surface and marks a return there for america. it's landed further south than any spacecraft has ever been in an area covered in deep craters, some permanently in shadow, and scientists think frozen water could be inside. if we can actually take advantage of that ice on the surface of the moon, that's less materials we have to bring with us. we could use that ice to convert it to water, drinkable drinking water. we can extract oxygen and hydrogen
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for fuel and for breathing for the astronauts, so it really helps us in human exploration. now the spacecraft is down, the team are carefully analysing the data and waiting for the first images to arrive to see the lander rebecca morrell, bbc news. let's speak live to darren patel from the uk's national space centre. this is a huge achievement. with everything that could have gone wrong, they were successful at their first attempt. == wrong, they were successful at their first attempt-— first attempt. -- dhara patel. we have seen — first attempt. -- dhara patel. we have seen private _ first attempt. -- dhara patel. we have seen private companies - first attempt. -- dhara patel. we - have seen private companies attempt to land on the lunar surface last year and early this year as well in the fact we now have the first private company being able to successfully land on the moon is opening up the door to commercial lunar exploration.— lunar exploration. what will this robot actually _ lunar exploration. what will this robot actually do? _ lunar exploration. what will this robot actually do? what - lunar exploration. what will this robot actually do? what is - lunar exploration. what will this robot actually do? what is in - lunar exploration. what will this | robot actually do? what is in the payload? of this is a private
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mission, but nassar have kind of got payloads on board, so if you scientific experiments —— nasa. notably from nassar, it will be looking at the lunar environment, specifically where this lander has placed itself on the lunar surface, one of which is to look at things like the lunar dust. in the apollo missions, this dust would actually move around, it had static qualities that would prove a little bit of a nuisance, sojust that would prove a little bit of a nuisance, so just looking at how that dust kind of planets up and settles after a lunar landing is something that they will be looking at. ~ ., something that they will be looking at. . . ., something that they will be looking at. ~ ., ., ~' something that they will be looking at. . 4' , something that they will be looking at. what do you think this opens the door to? because _ at. what do you think this opens the door to? because of _ at. what do you think this opens the door to? because of course - at. what do you think this opens the door to? because of course the - at. what do you think this opens the | door to? because of course the nasa have much bigger plans about astronauts back on the moon, centres being built on the moon, and possibly even mars.- being built on the moon, and possibly even mars. yes, so this is a stepping — possibly even mars. yes, so this is a stepping stone — possibly even mars. yes, so this is a stepping stone in _ possibly even mars. yes, so this is a stepping stone in some - possibly even mars. yes, so this is a stepping stone in some of - possibly even mars. yes, so this is a stepping stone in some of those | a stepping stone in some of those are largeraims in a stepping stone in some of those are larger aims in terms of nasa's artemis programme. the idea of
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taking humans back to the moon in the next few years means we will have to be laying the groundwork to make that possible. and while nasa focused at their resources and finances on those bigger deep space exploration feats, having these commercial companies to actually be able to take scientific instruments and experiments to the moon to actually analyse the environment in more detail will actually help those future artemis missions with crew on board. �* ., , , board. and i mentioned it briefly there in the _ board. and i mentioned it briefly there in the introduction, - board. and i mentioned it briefly there in the introduction, frozen| there in the introduction, frozen water — if they establish that, that is an enormous help for all of these are knock—on things you're just taking us through, isn't it? yes. taking us through, isn't it? yes, absolutelv- _ taking us through, isn't it? yes, absolutely. we _ taking us through, isn't it? yes, absolutely. we have _ taking us through, isn't it? yes, absolutely. we have had - taking us through, isn't it? yes absolutely. we have had lunar orbiter is monitoring the surface from above and they have looked and found clues of evidence of that frozen water in the form of ice in those permanently shadowed regions of the creators near the south pole of the creators near the south pole of the creators near the south pole of the moon. so future spacecraft will be looking towards these specific areas trying to find if
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that resources there and of course how much of it is there that we might be able to make use of because when we are looking at long—term sustainable presence on the moon, taking everything from here on earth is not going to be or economically possible. is not going to be or economically ossible. ~ , ., ., is not going to be or economically ossible. ~ , . ., ., ., ~ possible. well, dhara patel, thank ou so possible. well, dhara patel, thank you so much _ possible. well, dhara patel, thank you so much for— possible. well, dhara patel, thank you so much for talking _ possible. well, dhara patel, thank you so much for talking to - possible. well, dhara patel, thank you so much for talking to us - possible. well, dhara patel, thank you so much for talking to us here | you so much for talking to us here on the programme. let mejust you so much for talking to us here on the programme. let me just turn to breaking news concerning alexei navalny. i am just reading here, just dropping in the last few seconds, alexei navalny�*s spokeswoman saying that not�*s mother has been given an ultimatum by investigators, either she agrees with within three hours to a secret funeral without a public farewell or he will be buried in the penal colony. we had that report yesterday with alexei navalny�*s mother getting the ability to see his body for the
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first time, but then taking us through the various demands from the authorities about what they would and would not accept about a potential funeral. and would not accept about a potentialfuneral. and and would not accept about a potential funeral. and she took that as a veiled threat in terms of some of the demands for a secret funeral. they certainly didn't want any sort of public gathering, but this is a really interesting because navalny�*s spokeswoman saying that navalny�*s mother has given an ultimatum —— been given an ultimatum by investigators, either she agrees within three hours to a secret funeral without a public farewell or he will be buried at that penal colony. that is significant and we will bring you more on that here in the next few minutes. before we take a break, let mejust return the next few minutes. before we take a break, let me just return to that story may have been watching about 25 minutes ago in plymouth in the uk because the operation has started to
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move a second world war bomb that was discovered. in 1200 properties have been cordoned off in that area, about 3000 people forced to move out, and that operation, the ministry of defence have said, it has started. they have not actually move the bomb itself. a really, really delicate operation. it goes from a residential area, a back garden, and they will move it through the streets of plymouth out there into the waters, tow it out into sea, and then actually detonated. 0f into sea, and then actually detonated. of course, at every stage, there is a risk, hence the evacuations. but that operation has started and we have our correspondent on the ground so will bring you regular updates. there is a live page on the bbc website keeping track of that operation. i'm back with more of the day's headlines here injust a moment or two. don't go away.
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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
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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. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather. 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
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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.
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this is bbc news, the headlines... emergency workers are combing the lower floors of a burned out apartment block in the spanish city of valencia where a fire has left many residents missing. saturday marks second anniversary of russian's invasion in ukraine. my my colleague has interviewed the polish president. new technology transforming the lives of people who rely prosthetic limbs. bbc click reporter paul carter has been to see a device of new generation, powered by artificial intelligence. can any photographer improve on this shot? we talk to the man who took three years to actually get the shot. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre.
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