with a lot of cloud at times. that's because as the high pressure drifts its way further eastwards, we are going to tap into some cold air coming from scandinavia. and there's that wind pushes across the cool north sea. well, that means on exposed east coast, there will be a little more in the way of cloud and it will be noticeably cooler. not looking too bad on saturday, but we'll start off with some sunshine and clouding over as the day goes on. again, highest values perhaps in the west with m degrees, perhaps struggling, 9 to 11 degrees across the east coast. and on sunday, it'll be a similar story, a dull, gray, cool feel, particularly out on those exposed coasts. but further west with a little more shelter, we should see highs of 17 celsius quite possible in northern ireland.

this is bbc news, the headlines. ukraine's prime minister warns the west of the threat of a third world war, if they don't help to arm his country. police take down an international cyber—crime gang based in the uk, accused of industrial—scale fraud. and an end to fa cup replays from the first round onwards as of next season. we'll get reaction from former footballer pat nevin.

sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. we start with european football and the quarter—final second legs of the europa league, which kick off in just over four hours. last week's matches produced first leg leads for roma, benfica, bayer leverkusen and atalanta. liverpool are in bergamo looking to overturn a 3—0 deficit. the odds are stacked against them, butjurgen klopp hasn't ruled out his liverpool side. everybody thinks it is already decided but, you know, we are here. and we can be good. obviously we can be not so good as well, so let's see what we can do on the pitch tomorrow. when you are 3—0 up,

that is not easy for them as well, so we'll see who deals better with the situation and all these kinds of things. bayer leverkusen are in london to face west ham for their first match since being crowned bundesliga champions, looking to seal progress to the last four. alonso�*s side are unbeaten in 43 matches in all competitions this season and boast a 2—0 lead from the first leg. the german champions are heavy favourites to progress to the last four, but the spaniard isn't taking anything for granted against david moyes�* side. so sure we are going to be ready. if we don't go through, it is because football happens but i have all the confidence, we had the express last year of reaching the semifinal and we want to go even further this year. the semifinal line—up of the europa conference league will also be determined.

in the early matches, aston villa travel to lille with a 2—1 lead, while florentina host viktoria plzen after a 0—0 draw in the first leg. greek side paok host club brugge 1—0 down, while olympiakos take a 3—2 first leg lead to turkey to face fenebahce. in england, fa cup replays will be scrapped from the first round onwards from next season. all rounds of the competition will also be played on weekends, including the fifth round which has been played in midweek for the last five seasons. the changes come as part of a new six—year agreement between the football association and the premier league. but fair game say the changes deprive "lower league clubs of a much—needed source of revenue" and call it a "short—sighted move that does nothing to strengthen the game." the first women's golf major of the season — the chevron championship — is under way in texas. american nelly korda has won four straight events in the lead up to this week and another win in texas would see her emulate nancy lopez who won five in a row in 1978. the world number one tees off

in a few hours�* time in texas. this is how the early play is going so far. stephanie meadow also doing well. tennis and the round of 16 at the barcelona open. monte carlo masters champion stefanos tsitsipas is in action later. earlier on thursday, british number one advanced to the last eight with a comfortable victory over spain's roberto bautista agut. it took norrie less than 90 minutes to reach the quarterfinals where he will face argentine tomas etcheverry. the chicago bulls will face the miami heat for the eighth and final playoff place in the eastern conference after the bulls saw off the atlanta hawks. the heat have one more opportunity after they were defeated by the philadelphia 76ers led byjoel embiid. the reigning mvp, who was named in the dream team

for the paris olympics, came to life in the final quarter as the 76ers rallied from 14 points down. embiid, who missed 43 games of the regular season, finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds. he also made this key assist late in the fourth quarter to secure a best of seven playoff series against the second seeded new york knicks. and that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. let's return to one of those headline stories. the scottish government is ditching its flagship climate change target of reducing greenhouse gas emission by 75% by 2030. however, the final goal of reaching net—zero by 2045 will remain. ministers have blamed uk government cuts, and backtracking on climate measures for the move. friends of the earth scotland has branded it "the worst environmental decision in the history of the scottish parliament". let's speak to graeme maxton,

an author and economist, and an advisory board member of the un's pathways project. thank you for being here on the programme. your reaction to what we have seen a payout today? i programme. your reaction to what we have seen a payout today?— have seen a payout today? i think we have seen a payout today? i think we have not have seen a payout today? i think we have got to — have seen a payout today? i think we have got to remember _ have seen a payout today? i think we have got to remember that _ have seen a payout today? i think we have got to remember that scotland | have got to remember that scotland is a leader in trying to reduce emissions and they have set a target that was much more ambitious than most countries and the fact that it has had to scale back this target is not much of a surprise. it is unable to go beyond small measures that it has been able to take so far because to reduce emissions further, you structural change and what we are seeing something which will affect many other countries in the next few years, that they will also realise that we can only get so far with the measures they have in place. and if they really want to cut emissions, they really want to cut emissions, they have to be more ambitious and what they do. 50 they have to be more ambitious and what they tie-—

they have to be more ambitious and what they de— what they do. so whether target is unrealistic. _ what they do. so whether target is unrealistic, do _ what they do. so whether target is unrealistic, do you _ what they do. so whether target is unrealistic, do you think? - what they do. so whether target is unrealistic, do you think? the - unrealistic, do you think? the taruets unrealistic, do you think? the targets are — unrealistic, do you think? the targets are correct _ unrealistic, do you think? tie: targets are correct scientifically and if we want to slow the rate of climate change then we need to cut emissions more ambitiously than a scottish government were aiming, we need to cut them by 80% within the next decade. they were certainly ambitious targets but that's not the problem. the problem is that they can't achieve those targets unless they change the energy system, the housing system, the transportation system, the agricultural system, all of those parts of the economic system need to be changed radically and that can't happen unless they make some big policy decisions. but presumably they always knew that, that these are joined up decisions, you can'tjust have something like that as a target, ring fenced without doing all of those other things. they must have known that, surely? i things. they must have known that, surel ? ., �* ~' , surely? i don't think they were alone in not — surely? i don't think they were alone in not knowing _ surely? i don't think they were alone in not knowing that. - surely? i don't think they were alone in not knowing that. i i surely? i don't think they were i alone in not knowing that. i think surely? i don't think they were - alone in not knowing that. i think a lot of people said that this goal

net zero 2050, and they said to themselves, we will leave a lot of themselves, we will leave a lot of the decisions until later down the line and they didn't look at it enough to realise that if you are going to cut emissions to loot their degree you are talking about, he can't do it by changing to a few electric vehicles and buildings and windmills, you have to dismantle some big part of the economic system. i don't think scotland is particular that it might particularly guilty here, but they set goals they couldn't possibly meet. ~ ., , , set goals they couldn't possibly meet. ~ . , , ,, .~ . meet. we have seen rishi sunak also ad'ust meet. we have seen rishi sunak also adjust strategies _ meet. we have seen rishi sunak also adjust strategies so _ meet. we have seen rishi sunak also adjust strategies so it _ meet. we have seen rishi sunak also adjust strategies so it comes - meet. we have seen rishi sunak also adjust strategies so it comes back - adjust strategies so it comes back to the really obvious question which is can you miss targets by 2030 —— like 2030 but remain on track to the long—term targets? or do you have to hit all of these junctions? the long-term targets? or do you have to hit all of these junctions?— hit all of these “unctions? the real roblem hit all of these “unctions? the real problem is — hit all of these junctions? the real problem is that _ hit all of these junctions? the real problem is that the _ hit all of these junctions? the real problem is that the long-term - problem is that the long—term targets are meaningless. this idea of net zero by 2050 is basically, where this came out of his really

from the business community after the paris accord. it is actually a very bad target because first of all, it is not possible to offset emissions in the way the hope and secondly, the level of emissions has grown so quickly that we will be in a very dangerous situation long before 2050. we are looking at the deadline for hitting the 2 degrees threshold for global warming in the early 20 30s. that doesn't mean we will have a 2 degrees increase by then but we will have that level of emissions in the atmosphere which will make it inevitable. serra; emissions in the atmosphere which will make it inevitable.— will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across _ will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across you _ will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across you but _ will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across you but if _ will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across you but if that - will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across you but if that is - will make it inevitable. sorry to cut across you but if that is the | cut across you but if that is the wrong approach then, taken by many countries, what would be the right approach? it countries, what would be the right a- roach? , . , ., approach? it is really late in the da . approach? it is really late in the day- what _ approach? it is really late in the day- what you _ approach? it is really late in the day. what you need _ approach? it is really late in the day. what you need to - approach? it is really late in the day. what you need to do - approach? it is really late in the day. what you need to do is - day. what you need to do is close—down that industry and stop a lot of the agricultural emissions and transport emissions. all of that would be hugely destructive economically and appears willing to do that. and so we are in a situation where we are going to see

a lot at the impact of climate change hotels and people going to have to react, governments will have to react the best they can. it is actually too late to do what you need to do now. they should have started this process 20 years ago. we had to leave it there. thank you so much forjoining us live here on the programme. thank you for your time. police have broken up an alleged international cyber—crime gang that had been offering a service to criminals, allowing them to steal from people using fraudulent text messages. 37 people have been arrested worldwide, including 24 in the uk, and police believe there were as many as 70,000 british victims. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. it's 5am in south london — the end of a two—year investigation. police! this was one of a series of co—ordinated raids targeting

cybercrime in 17 countries, masterminded from the uk. one man was arrested here and 23 others around the country. and this all began about two years ago when security experts for the banking industry spotted on the dark web criminals offering other criminals a service, a way to make money using phishing, with a "ph". labhost, freely available on the internet, provided technology and training to other criminals so they could carry out phishing attacks sending fraudulent text messages to trick 70,000 people into handing over personal information. technology is enabling crime to be delivered at scale in an almost industrial fashion. and these crimes—as—a—service, or fraud—as—a—service, are allowing people into this criminal marketplace who don't have necessarily technical skills but they can get these crime—as—a—service capabilities off the shelf — they can buy it online.

as the arrests were taking place, including at luton and manchester airports, police were also contacting 25,000 victims they've identified, giving details of how they had been scammed and giving them advice. the victims in this case have been aged between about 25 and 45, predominantly. pretty young, then. yeah. digital natives. well, it's people who live their lives online, that perhaps do their banking online, that shop online, they're more likely to fall victim to this. people like alex, an accountant for tech firms who works online, scammed in february by criminals who targeted her business account. they sent you a text message? yes. they then called you? yes. they then got you to install an app? yes. and then they scammed you? correct. they made me believe i was protecting the funds in my bank from fraudsters. and how much did you lose? 53,000. £53,000? yes. they gloated. they said, how does it feel

to have your money taken from you? how does it feel to have your money spent in louis vuitton dubai? welcome to your labhost wrapped — your recap of all the data we have about you... as for labhost — police seized so much data that they could send each criminal user a tailored video making clear how much they know about what's been going on, the strategy — to make the users think again about trusting these services. and yesterday, they shut the site down leaving this message for the fraudsters. tom symonds, bbc news, south london. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the jury at an inquest into a fire at a nightclub in dublin in 1981 which killed 48 people has delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in all the deaths. the fire broke out in the early hours of valentine's day in 1981. a further 200 people were injured in the blaze.

it has been the longest running inquest in the history of the irish state. let's speak to our correspondent jennifer o'leary, who's been following this. tell us more about the background of this? , . , . , . ., this? the stardust was the name of the nightclub _ this? the stardust was the name of the nightclub in _ this? the stardust was the name of the nightclub in dublin _ this? the stardust was the name of the nightclub in dublin and - this? the stardust was the name of the nightclub in dublin and as - this? the stardust was the name of the nightclub in dublin and as you | the nightclub in dublin and as you outline, and valentines night 1981, over 800 young people when there for a night of dancing and fun but in the early hours of the morning, an unimaginable horror unfolded. what started as a small fire quickly spread through the ballroom, black smoke, the lights went out, black smoke, the lights went out, black smoke surrounded and impeded those who are trying to escape, the ceiling collapsed and today's inquest find eggs are very crucial

inquest find eggs are very crucial in terms of establishing the facts of the fire —— findings. the inquest opened last year. the reason it has taken decades is because the victims families and survivors have long campaigned for the second inquest to establish the facts of how their loved ones died. the inquest today, the jury concluded that the unlawful killing in the case of each of the 48 young people who died, the average age was 19, and crucially, it also found that the inferno that resulted inside the stardust nightclub on that night in 1981, was spurred on by the fact that there was tiling, carpet tiles on the walls, the height of the ceiling, the type of material that was in the seats in the nightclub, or contributed to its spread. and also

crucially today, the inquest returned that the fire, the cause of the fire was an electrical fault. there were over 800 young people in that fire and they were all trying to get out when the fire broke out. —— in the nightclub. at the time of the fire, it was concluded that exits in the second map ballroom are either locked, chained or obstructed —— in the stardust nightclub. so they were impeded or obstructed to escape through the emergency exits. what have the families been saying? the families applauded the jury after the jury the families applauded the jury after thejury foreman the families applauded the jury after the jury foreman returned the verdict earlier this afternoon. this has been a long and very emotional journey to this point. many of the

people in the dublin coroner's court today were survivors of that fire. there were people there who lost their sisters, brothers, who themselves were at the nightclub on that fateful night. we are awaiting further reaction from the families but the irish prime minister simon harris has released a statement and he is talking about the family. he said, you never gave up onjustice for them, you never let ireland forget about them.— for them, you never let ireland forget about them. thank you very much. forget about them. thank you very much- more _ forget about them. thank you very much. more on _ forget about them. thank you very much. more on all— forget about them. thank you very much. more on all of— forget about them. thank you very much. more on all of our - forget about them. thank you very much. more on all of our headline | much. more on all of our headline stories coming up in a moment or two. let's pause to look at a completely different story. now — which is the best fa cup replay you remember? ricky villa's goal for spurs — or perhaps peter osgood — for chelsea against leeds. well, news today — that the fa is going to scrap replays from the first round for next season.

so what does it mean for the minnows of the game. no more money—spinning second fixtures with some of the game's big boys. live now to pat nevin, former chelsea and everton winger turned football pundit. always great to speak to you. i hate this idea! what you think? it this idea! what you think? it depends when you are standing on this idea. if you are one of the smaller clubs, it is slightly disastrous because if you get a good draw and he managed to get every play, then you can make enough money to keep yourself going for another two, three, four years. this is the biggest day of their calendar year, almost everything all year so for them, even though there is a sop because the fa are going to give the odd million to football, that is just to keep them quiet. in reality, the other point of view, the bigger clubs know that their players are

being asked to pay far too many games. they are all pushing it far more than they used to say for the clubs, they need to get the players some rest so it depends where you are looking it from. but some rest so it depends where you are looking it from.— some rest so it depends where you are looking it from. but some of the createst are looking it from. but some of the greatest moments, _ are looking it from. but some of the greatest moments, the _ are looking it from. but some of the greatest moments, the greater- greatest moments, the greater stories, the history of the fa cup, come from replays, don't they? is this a decision made by the head rather than heart?— this a decision made by the head rather than heart? absolutely. you can make the _ rather than heart? absolutely. you can make the good _ rather than heart? absolutely. you can make the good argument - rather than heart? absolutely. you can make the good argument thatl rather than heart? absolutely. you| can make the good argument that a lot of the top players, the ones that make your video get injured, they don't get overtired, they are playing and, if you think about it, the ropey uefa conference league, the ropey uefa conference league, the champions league, the world cup has been extended hugely. when i played in the euros, there were eight teams in the quarterfinals, now there are 24. a lot of the players have come from other

countries and other continents, they will be playing and ask on, they will be playing and ask on, they will be playing in south america as well. there is a huge amount of travelling and huge amount of games of the very top players and they must think to themselves, what is the most important? so from their point of view, they are probably relieved by it. however, it is always the case that the uefa and fifa particularly, they make sure that they increase their income from play more games and bigger tournaments and complain to the clubs if you like, but the actual fact it has been done because the fa cannot cannot stand up to it. taste cannot cannot stand up to it. we have had the downgrading of the fa cup with a series of decision over the years. we were looking at some of the games top players playing on what looks like snooker pictures, the pictures are so great. you will remember, you have played on some of those pictures in some of those lower league clubs, they were like

mud bath. but in a sense, that levelled the playing field and lead to some of those extraordinary results that we remember over the years? results that we remember over the ears? . ., results that we remember over the ears? ,, ., ., results that we remember over the ears? ., ., , results that we remember over the ears? ,, ., ., ., , ., results that we remember over the ears? ., ., , ., years? some of the games that you see now that _ years? some of the games that you see now that a _ years? some of the games that you see now that a council— years? some of the games that you see now that a council because - years? some of the games that you | see now that a council because there is a bit of mud in the ground, you think, that was us every week. there are some phenomenal memories. are going up to a game i play for chelsea and it was a replay, it was very bumpy pitch, covered in ice and that what makes it a leveller most of the time, that's what gives the minnows the chance. given that the big clubs have everything in the favour, wasn't it good that there was a bit of chance for the smaller teams? but this cuts their opportunities even more. we are lookin: at opportunities even more. we are looking at some _ opportunities even more. we are looking at some of _ opportunities even more. we are looking at some of the _ opportunities even more. we are looking at some of the archive i looking at some of the archive pictures. we looked at the wrexham, arsenal, that extraordinary result there but he played in if you

replace yourself over the years, didn't you?— replace yourself over the years, didn't you? replace yourself over the years, didn't ou? , . ., . didn't you? yes, that wigan won and i didn't you? yes, that wigan won and i remember — didn't you? yes, that wigan won and i remember going — didn't you? yes, that wigan won and i remember going down _ didn't you? yes, that wigan won and i remember going down to _ didn't you? yes, that wigan won and i i remember going down to shrewsbury when i was at everton. you knew you were in for a battle, the pictures from that game, that day, we were covered in snow! we had to keep playing the game. there are some great memories but that money mention now with wrexham against arsenal, a good friend of mine, mickey thomas, scoring a goal, that is one we will never forget. it is a shame that we may never see that again. shame that we may never see that aaain. ., ~ shame that we may never see that aaain. . ~' ,, shame that we may never see that aaain. . ,, i. . ., shame that we may never see that aaain. . ,, . ., again. thank you so much for your time. again. thank you so much for your time- i'm — again. thank you so much for your time. i'm back— again. thank you so much for your time. i'm back with _ again. thank you so much for your time. i'm back with the _ again. thank you so much for your time. i'm back with the headlinesl time. i'm back with the headlines here arejust a time. i'm back with the headlines here are just a moment. hello there. a cold, crisp start to our morning for some of us. in fact, temperatures got down to as low as —4 in the lake district. so, yes, there was some frost. however, the cloud arrived and we've got some rain pushing in to scotland. this high pressure will

gradually influence the story into the weekend, but toppling across that high as well. into the weekend, but toppling across that high as weather fronts that's bringing some rain, showery outbreaks of rain as it moves its way across scotland. it's going to push its way into northern england and north wales this afternoon. a lot more in the way of cloud, but we cling onto some sunshine in the southeast corner and a degree or so warmer than yesterday with lighter winds here, 15 degrees. that cloud and rain sinks its way steadily south overnight. and then clear skies and a brisk northwesterly wind picks up. that's going to drive in a few scattered showers, some of them wintry with elevation in scotland. here, a chillier night to come, but across england and wales, we keep quite a lot of clouds. so temperatures holding up. so it's going to be a dull, drab, damp start to friday morning as that weak frontal system eases away. the cloud will gradually break up, brighter conditions into the afternoon, few scattered showers, but again, still quite a blustery wind, particularly in the far north east of scotland. and here that will have an impact,

only eight degrees, the high. elsewhere, a little bit more shelter, perhaps down into the southwest, we could see 14 or 15. into the weekend, the location is going to be the important key because the further west, if we get some sunshine coming through, we could see 17 degrees with that high pressure building in. but along that east coast, cool and disappointing with a lot of cloud at times. that's because as the high pressure drifts its way further eastwards, we are going to tap into some cold air coming from scandinavia. and as that wind pushes across the cool north sea, well, that means on exposed east coasts, there will be a little more in the way of cloud and it will be noticeably cooler. not looking too bad on saturday, but we'll start off with some sunshine and clouding over as the day goes on. again, highest values perhaps in the west with 14 degrees, perhaps struggling, 9 to 11 degrees across the east coast. and on sunday, it'll be a similar story — a dull, grey, cool feel, particularly out on those exposed coasts. but further west with a little more

shelter, we should see highs of 17 celsius quite possible in northern ireland.

live from london, this is bbc news. ukraine's prime minister warns the west of the threat of a third world war if they don't help to arm his country. at a meeting of g7 foreign ministers in capri, assitance for ukraine is high on the agenda. there are frozen russian assets in the uk and elsewhere and we should be thinking of ways of using those assets to help ukraine in its defence of this appalling, illegal russian invasion. thousands of passengers

are still waiting for flights at dubai international airport after delays caused by the heaviest rain in more than 70 years. prince william is given get—well—soon cards for the princess of wales as he makes his first appearance since her cancer diagnosis. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live. the german foreign ministry has summoned the russian ambassador after arresting two men suspected of spying and planning sabotage attacks on military sites. german prosecutors say one of them had been photographing potential military targets in germany, including us military facilities which assist ukraine. the arrests came as ukraine's prime minister warned the bbc there will be a third world war if ukraine

loses its conflict with russia. g7 foreign ministers are meeting now on the italian island of capri