the head of singapore airlines says he's "very sorry" after a passenger dies following severe turbulence on a flight from london to singapore. welcome to this hour. in the last hour spain, ireland and norway have announced they will formally recognise an independent palestinian state. the irish pm simon harris said that the children of palestine and israel deserved peace and that it was "the right thing to do". spain's pedro sanchez said there was "an obligation to act" while norway's prime minister said a two—state solution was in israel's best interests. reacting to the news — israel's foreign minister, israel katz, said the move endangers his country's security.

he is recalling the ambassadors to the three countries. at least 140 members of the un already formally recognise palestinian statehood — others including the us and the uk, do not. let's have a listen to what the prime minister announced. the progressive _ prime minister announced. iie: progressive government of spain next tuesday on the 28th of may will at cabinet meeting recognise the state of palestine. we are going to recognise the state of palestine for many reasons which i can summarise in three words. peace, justice and logic. peace, because it is the only solution to the conflict and by that i imply the essential question of the two states, israel and palestine, accompanied by mutual security guarantees as many other countries do.

security guarantees as many other countries de— security guarantees as many other countries do— security guarantees as many other countries do. ,, �* , ., . countries do. spain's pedro sanchez. the irish prime _ countries do. spain's pedro sanchez. the irish prime minister— countries do. spain's pedro sanchez. the irish prime minister simon - the irish prime minister simon harris explained his reasoning for his country's move. recognition is an act that has powerful, political and symbolic value. it is an expression of our view that palestine holds and should be able to vindicate the full right of state, including self—determination, self—governance, territorial integrity and security as well as recognising palestine's own obligations under international law. it is a message to those in palestine who advocate and work for a future of peace and democracy that we fully respect your aspirations to be living freely, in control of your own affairs and under your own leadership. let's go straight to danjohnson injerusalem. we have heard a little bit about what israel's foreign minister has been saying in response to this news

this morning. tell us more about what he had to say.— this morning. tell us more about what he had to say. there has been an an: what he had to say. there has been an angry reaction — what he had to say. there has been an angry reaction and _ what he had to say. there has been an angry reaction and immediate i an angry reaction and immediate action from the israelis. the foreign minister says, i have instructed the immediate recall of israel's ambassadors to ireland and norway. he said, i am sending a clear and unequivocal message, we will not remain silent in the face of those undermining our sovereignty and endangering our security. to's decision sends a message to the palestinians and to the world that terrorism he said this is a distorted step and has talked about a move which would undermine the chances for peace and question israel's right to self—defence. this was issued just before spain joined ireland and norway, so the foreign minister had said, if spain follows through on its intention to recognise a palestinian state, a similar state would be taken against them. i think we can expect there israeli ambassador to madrid to be

called back tojerusalem for israeli ambassador to madrid to be called back to jerusalem for these consultations it will be happening with the ambassadors who are being called back from oslo and from dublin. there is anger in the israeli politics. they have known this was coming, it has been widely signalled for weeks but they have a date the 28th of may they will formally recognise palestinian statehood and the israelis think this is not the right move, they say it is not the right way to guarantee peace, guarantee security but i think the difference in approach here of nations is those who feel that actually the peace process should start with the recognition of palestinian statehood rather than that being the end product, but the israelis are clear, benjamin netanyahu doesn't support a two state solution and he says this move by norway, ireland and spain is a rewarding hamas for their terror attacks are carried out on the 7th of october. attacks are carried out on the 7th of october-— attacks are carried out on the 7th of october. dan johnson with that u date of october. dan johnson with that update from _ of october. dan johnson with that update from jerusalem. _ of october. dan johnson with that update from jerusalem. thank - of october. dan johnson with that i update from jerusalem. thank you.

of october. dan johnson with that - update from jerusalem. thank you. as we were hearing from dan, spain's prime minister pedro sanchez outlined his decision to recognise palestinian statehood. let's go to spain. let's go to spain. let's speak to guy hedgecoe, our correspondent in madrid. this isn't a surprise, it had been talked about for a few weeks. yes. talked about for a few weeks. yes, it is not a surprise _ talked about for a few weeks. yes, it is not a surprise at _ talked about for a few weeks. yes, it is not a surprise at all. _ talked about for a few weeks. ieis it is not a surprise at all. pedro sanchez as socialist prime minister has been campaigning to try and gather support from his european partners for the support for a palestinian state for some time, several months. he hasn't managed to persuade the really big countries in the european union, the major economies to get on board with it, but he has persevered over recent months and it's been working in particular alongside ireland on this

out pedro sanchez has been saying this is a step that has to be taken, it reflects public opinion in spain as well as being the right thing to do. we talked about it being a move based on peace and justice in a speech to congress today. he seems to believe that it is a move that will work, given that he has some support from other countries, certainly from ireland and norway in doing this. the certainly from ireland and norway in doin: this. ., , ., ., doing this. the latest reaction from sain. doing this. the latest reaction from spain- thank— doing this. the latest reaction from spain. thank you _ doing this. the latest reaction from spain. thank you very _ doing this. the latest reaction from spain. thank you very much. - doing this. the latest reaction from spain. thank you very much. morel spain. thank you very much. more on that story on the bbc news website where we continue to run a live page with regular updates, so if you want more on that story you can find it there. let's move onto another major story here in the uk. the former chief executive of the post office, paula vennells has arrived at the post office inquiry in london. evidence that inquiry will be the

first time she spoken publicly about her role in the scandal by nearly a decade. between 1999 and 2015 hundreds of sub—postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing, due to faulty computer software. it's been described as one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in modern british history. let's speak to azadeh moshiri, who's at the inquiry for us. just remind our viewers why paula vennells's testimony is so crucial to this ongoing inquiry. this vennells's testimony is so crucial to this ongoing inquiry.— to this ongoing inquiry. this is a moment the _ to this ongoing inquiry. this is a moment the victims _ to this ongoing inquiry. this is a moment the victims had - to this ongoing inquiry. this is a moment the victims had been i to this ongoing inquiry. this is a - moment the victims had been waiting forfour moment the victims had been waiting for four years. moment the victims had been waiting forfour years. as you moment the victims had been waiting for four years. as you said, moment the victims had been waiting forfour years. as you said, it is a first time she is going to speak publicly about the scandal in nearly a decade. not only is she going to talk about it, she is going to be grilled on it over the course of three days to understand what she

knew, but crucially when, because victims are alleging a cover—up that prolonged a scandal for years. that is something the post office has consistently denied. paula vennells was chief executive from 2012 to 2019, the latter part of this kind of winter postmasters were still being prosecuted and there was growing evidence of wrongful convictions —— sub postmasters. during her tenure at the post office denied problems with the horizon system. as we listen to a testimony, these are the big question is to look out for. what did she know about remote access? the fact sub postmasters's accounts could be accessed remotely without them even knowing, something they did not know as they were being prosecuted. did he lie to parliament in 2015 when she told the business select committee she hadn't seen any evidence of miscarriages ofjustice? crucially, could she have done more

to find out about what was wrong, what was going wrong at the post office? paula vennells denies any wrongdoing, she says she is truly sorry for the devastation caused to victims and their families and says she has been assisting the inquiry but today victims are going to be hearing a lot more than that. the victims, hearing a lot more than that. the victims. their— hearing a lot more than that. the victims, their families up and down victims, theirfamilies up and down the country impacted by this inquiry, some were sent to jail even over this, we have had some reaction to the fact paula vennells is appearing today, including from lee castleton, one of the sub postmasters. he has been speaking publicly about what happened to him. tell us more about the lead amongst the victims who are there at the inquiry today. lee the victims who are there at the inquiry today-— inquiry today. lee castleton is here. a name _ inquiry today. lee castleton is here. a name that _ inquiry today. lee castleton is here. a name that is - inquiry today. lee castleton is| here. a name that is becoming increasingly familiar to the public and the more you attend these

hearings, the more you realise that they are really a community now because they are bound together for this terrible reason but only they can understand the consequences each has had to deal with and so the weight i keep hearing when i'm talking to them is, this is a really important day. and they keep stressing they don't think that one person should be scapegoated for this. they want to see full accountability. they have been through homelessness, bankruptcy, prison sentences and of course their health has been impacted and not only that, many of them say they were shunned by their communities, including their neighbours, they even say some of their children were bullied in school. so this is important for them.- bullied in school. so this is important for them. you will be at the inquiry — important for them. you will be at the inquiry followed _ important for them. you will be at the inquiry followed throughout i important for them. you will be at| the inquiry followed throughout the day but thank you very much for the moment. day but thank you very much for the moment. uk inflation has fallen to its lowest rate in almost three years. it was down 2.3% for april — from 3.2% in march. this is just above the bank of

england's target which is 2%. this is just above the bank of england's target which is 2%. the prime minister rishi sunak has hailed the inflation drop. thanks to everyone's resilience we have reached a major milestone and it is back to normal. it is important _ it is back to normal. it is important for _ it is back to normal. it is important for our - it is back to normal. it is l important for our economy it is back to normal. it 3 important for our economy and shows how plan is working. while people are onlyjust how plan is working. while people are only just starting how plan is working. while people are onlyjust starting to how plan is working. while people are only just starting to feel the benefits, there is more work to do, i hope it gives people confidence that if we stick to the plan there are brighter days ahead. let's take are brighter days ahead. let's take a closer look... so, what's behind the drop? ben king is in our newsroom for us. this is a major moment undoubtedly in the story of the cost of living crisis. forthree in the story of the cost of living crisis. for three years nearly we have had inflation far above the official target and now a's figures show that for april the inflation figure finally fell back within the normal target range that the bank of england tries to aim at us. the

reasons behind that, the major reasons behind that, the major reason but a big fall in the cost of energy, domestic energy bills, gas and electricity because ofgem cut its energy price cut by about 12% and it has been one of the big drivers behind this big fault we have seen today. we have also seen falls across the spectrum of prices, food particularly also down, so it is a big moment in the battle against inflation. it is worth saying that however this is a smaller fall than people were expecting. they were aiming, the bank of bingo's prediction an independent forecaster thought it would be more like 2.1%. one of the reasons why it is be more persistent is services inflation, the cost of everything from mobile phone and broadband bills to your car insurance. that has been much stickier than previously thought. it went down from 6% in march to just 5.9% in april. that is a much

smallerfall 5.9% in april. that is a much smaller fall than 5.9% in april. that is a much smallerfall than people 5.9% in april. that is a much smaller fall than people were 5.9% in april. that is a much smallerfall than people were hoping for and that is a sign that the embeddedness of inflation, the cost of wages passing on from year to year are being passed on by companies with higher cost of services. so one of the major consequences will be for interest rates. the bank of england will be meet next month to decide whether to cut interest _ meet next month to decide whether to cut interest rates again and one of the consequences of the number we have seen— the consequences of the number we have seen today is expectations for a cut _ have seen today is expectations for a cut in_ have seen today is expectations for a cut injune — have seen today is expectations for a cut injune are much less pronounced than they were before today's _ pronounced than they were before today's number.— today's number. investors in financial markets _ today's number. investors in financial markets were - today's number. investors in - financial markets were expecting something like a 50% cut injune. that is now receiving to somewhere more like 15%. there will be one more like 15%. there will be one more inflation number to come before the bank of england make their decision. that is a numberfor may, they will be getting injune and if that showed a fall it is pushing on the right direction but nonetheless it turned out to be a good day for people who have been struggling with

the cost of living over the past three years. the cost of living over the past three years-— three years. ben king, thank you very much _ three years. ben king, thank you very much for— three years. ben king, thank you very much for the _ three years. ben king, thank you very much for the moment. - around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

tens of thousands of people are gathering in tehran for the main funeral ceremony of the late president ebrahim raisi. and seven others who died in a helicopter crash on sunday. many of those who've taken to the streets are holding photos of mr raisi or carrying the iranian flag. the country's ruling conservatives keen to project an image of unity and continuity. the supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei, is leading the prayers. the caskets will be taken through the streets to tehran's main azadi square. among those attending is the hamas leader ismail haniyeh, who said he'd come to represent

the palestinian people. and china's president xi will attend a memorial of the iranian president. among those attending is the hamas leader ismail haniyeh, who said he'd come to represent the palestinian people. and china's president xi will attend a memorial of the iranian president. our correspondent, ghoncheh habibiazad is following the story. just take a through what we can expect today. in just take a through what we can exoect today-— just take a through what we can expect today. in two hours or less than two hours — expect today. in two hours or less than two hours there _ expect today. in two hours or less than two hours there will- expect today. in two hours or less than two hours there will be - than two hours there will be delegations. they have arrived in tehran, from different countries, we have heard reports that there are at least 15 arrived and more are joining from qatar, azerbaijan, armenia, iranian allies. we will be monitoring the situation. we know that a prime minister has visited and had a meeting with the leader of iran. me and had a meeting with the leader of iran. ~ ., ., ., iran. we are hearing that the prime minister of pakistan _ iran. we are hearing that the prime minister of pakistan is _ iran. we are hearing that the prime minister of pakistan is also - iran. we are hearing that the prime minister of pakistan is also on - iran. we are hearing that the prime minister of pakistan is also on his l minister of pakistan is also on his way to those commemorations and to the funeral. you have been

monitoring the mood in the country. how would you sum it up? i monitoring the mood in the country. how would you sum it up?— monitoring the mood in the country. how would you sum it up? i would say it is totally mixed. _ how would you sum it up? i would say it is totally mixed. we _ how would you sum it up? i would say it is totally mixed. we have _ it is totally mixed. we have antiestablishment on one side and pro—establishment on the other, as you are seeing the pro establishment on the street in tehran and many of them are gathering tomorrow for the burial of president ebrahim raisi. the mood from the antiestablishment, they are veryjubilant, happy, they are celebrating their president has died because of his role in the crackdown on protests of iranian people and also more brutalities. i have just been reading the president havejust been reading the president of tehran received phone messages urging them to, i quote, attend the funeral of the matter of service. that is true, i've seen text messages urging them to attend the funeral processions, different ones are happening in tehran. they are urged to attend all of them, they received a text messaging —— they

received a text messaging —— they received text messaging constantly. you can see those live pictures in the streets of tehran as people gather to remember the late president ebrahim raisi. let me just take you to bangkok — where we can see singapore airlines flight 321 on the ground there. it's after severe turbulence forced the pilot to make an emergency landing. one person died and many more were injured during the flight. many of the passengers and crew who had been on that flight have now been able to carry on theirjourneys. a relief flight took 143 passengers and crew to singapore — but 85 other people remained in bangkok. 73—year—old geoffrey kitchen, from gloucestershire in the uk, died. it's believed he suffered

a heart attack. 229 people were on board the flight from london to singapore when it hit turbulence over myanmar. more than 30 people were injured, seven critically. the pilot had to make an emergency diversion and landed in bangkok. this man was one of those who was injured. things were going very smoothly at first. i had just been to the loo, came back, sat down, a bit of turbulence and suddenly the plane plunged i don't know how far, but they said 6000 feet. it didn't seem like 6000 feet, but it was a long way. so sudden, there was no warning at all. and i ended up hitting my head on the ceiling, my wife did. some poor people who were walking around ended up doing somersaults. it was absolutely terrible. and then suddenly it stopped and it was calm again. and the staff did their best to attend to the injured people. there were a lot of them.

and some of the staff were injured themselves, so they did a sterling job, and eventually they told us we would divert to bangkok, which was a huge relief. but when we got there, swarms of medical teams. and they took the worst patients off first. and then eventually they let the people like me with only minor injuries off. i ended up in the hospital and obviously because of the situation it was fairly chaotic. lots of injured people. they said 30. it seemed more than 30 to me. the ceo of singapore airlines has been reacting to the incident and posted a statement on social media. on behalf of singapore airlines, i would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. we are very sorry for the traumatic experience that everyone on board sq 321 went through.

our priority is to render all possible assistance to oui’ passengers and crew members. let's speak to professor paul williams, an atmospheric scientist from the university of reading. welcome. it isa it is a real tragedy, especially their weight loss of life involved in this and think a lot of people who fly often, it is her worst fear, turbulence, even though we are often told not to worry.— told not to worry. yes, i think it is riuht. told not to worry. yes, i think it is right- like — told not to worry. yes, i think it is right. like turbulence - told not to worry. yes, i think it is right. like turbulence is - is right. like turbulence is relatively common and it is just a bit of a nuisance. nervous players don't like it but it is not strong enough to cause injuries but this really severe or extreme turbulence this week it's really rare and certainly turbulence strong enough to cause fatal injuries is something like a once in a decade event. the

last turbulence fatality i am aware of before this week happened in 2009 in the one before that in 1997. so fortunately it is not an everyday occurrence. fortunately it is not an everyday occurrence-— fortunately it is not an everyday occurrence. what would you say, havin: occurrence. what would you say, having looked — occurrence. what would you say, having looked at _ occurrence. what would you say, having looked at the _ occurrence. what would you say, having looked at the conditions l occurrence. what would you say, i having looked at the conditions and the weather, might have driven this sudden, severe turbulence? i the weather, might have driven this sudden, severe turbulence?- sudden, severe turbulence? ithink it is too early _ sudden, severe turbulence? ithink it is too early to _ sudden, severe turbulence? ithink it is too early to say _ sudden, severe turbulence? ithink it is too early to say precisely - sudden, severe turbulence? ithink it is too early to say precisely and l it is too early to say precisely and certainly we will be studying it in extreme detail. essentially there are three possibilities because there are three different kinds of turbulence. in the atmosphere at flight cruising levels, there are storms which can generate turbulence. flying over mountains can also be quite a bumpy experience. a third category, invisible, we call it a clear air turbulence and that is generated by strong winds in the jet stream. so we need to do more digging and a detailed analysis before we know

exactly the folks at this very conditions that led to turbulence for strong. conditions that led to turbulence forstrong. i’m conditions that led to turbulence for stronu. �* ., ,., for strong. i'm reading something ou wrote for strong. i'm reading something you wrote earlier, _ for strong. i'm reading something you wrote earlier, talking - for strong. i'm reading something you wrote earlier, talking about . you wrote earlier, talking about evidence that turbulence is increasing because of climate change. tell us more about your thinking on that. i’m change. tell us more about your thinking on that.— thinking on that. i'm afraid so. i've thinking on that. i'm afraid so. i've been _ thinking on that. i'm afraid so. i've been studying _ thinking on that. i'm afraid so. i've been studying turbulence l thinking on that. i'm afraid so. i i've been studying turbulence for thinking on that. i'm afraid so. - i've been studying turbulence for 20 years and trying to forecast it and for the past decade i've been looking at this link with climate change and we have plenty of evidence now that indeed all three forms of turbulence, especially this clear air turbulence, are strengthening because of climate change, the particular way that temperatures are warming in relation to the jet stream. we know since 1979 there has been a 15% to an increase in something called the wind shear in the jet stream and that has led to a 55% increase in the amount of severe turbulence over the amount of severe turbulence over the north atlantic, for example, today compared to 1979 and future

projections meeting atmospheric models indicate we could see a doubling or in some part of the world even a travelling of the amount of severe turbulence by the 20165. amount of severe turbulence by the 2016s. severe turbulence is strong enough to lift you out of your seat. 22060. it has the potential to lead to injuries. 22060. it has the potential to lead to in'uries. ., , ., ~ 22060. it has the potentialto lead to in'uries. ., , ., ,, ., to injuries. that is a kind of turbulence _ to injuries. that is a kind of turbulence for _ to injuries. that is a kind of turbulence for terrified - to injuries. that is a kind of turbulence for terrified fire | to injuries. that is a kind of. turbulence for terrified fire so much. what needs to be done to protect this better giving you were talking about weather patterns are changing and also perhaps tens of aircraft and how you define them differently? i aircraft and how you define them differently?— differently? i think one thing we can do is improve _ differently? i think one thing we can do is improve the _ differently? i think one thing we can do is improve the accuracy l differently? i think one thing we | can do is improve the accuracy of turbulence forecast, specialise forecast a bit like weather forecast but specialise forecast for the aviation sector mapping out of turbulence over the next 18 hours.

and they are pretty good, actually, like weather forecast they are not perfect. about 75% of turbulence can be predicted accurately but we need to squeeze the other 25, and it is a goal we are working towards. professor paul williams, an atmospheric scientist from the university of reading, thanks for sharing your thoughts. stay with us here on bbc news. a grim spell of weather for some of you and midday today the met office have an amber weather warning in farce, much of north wales in two parts of north—west england could take months worth of rainfall in the space of 2041 was and that could give flooding and destruction. brighter colours on an accumulated rainfall chart. rainfall widely over the next couple of days, lighter colours, northern ireland and southern areas indicating where the least of the rainfall will be. it is

tied to these weather fronts, moving from the continent and storming across the country. winds will pick up across the country. winds will pick up around the west in the south. read more persist of this afternoon, part of north wales, midlands, northern england and pushing into scotland although shetland should stay bright and the english channel, perhaps better this afternoon, east anglia and the south is compared to this morning. the wind picks up and temperatures remain suppressed where there is rainfall, 12 to 14 degrees, 18 in some brighter spots. the rain continued into the evening and overnight, becoming less widespread but it does pushing towards northern ireland, turning wetter here. still breezy, not coal, temperatures around ten to 12 celsius as we start thursday morning. extensive miss, low cloud, mid wales, outbreaks of rain coming and going, not persistent rain but heavy bursts

possible on the hills. brightest of the weather down towards the south of england and east anglia, dry and bright today, more sunshine and 18 to 20 degrees. the same low pressure is with us on friday but less potent. it does mean the area across the northern half of the country, prone to some showers brewing through the day, extensive cloud, quite misty on the hills, some brighter spells the best in the south and south—east and shetland later. the brighter spot in the south, 18 or 19 celsius possible. if you are thinking about the bank holiday weekend, those temperatures won't no job thanks to the south are south—westerly winds but it will be completely dry —— it won't be completely dry —— it won't be completely dry. the saturday the better of the two days. shai mark widespread on and monday.

this is bbc news. the headlines... spain, ireland and norway say they will recognise an independent palestinian state — leading israel to recall its ambassadors. the head of singapore airlines says he's "very sorry" after a passenger dies following severe turbulence on a flight from london to singapore. rebel fighters in myanmar tell the bbc they're confident of victory against the military government — we'll bring you a special report from the frontline.

and america says russia may have launched a satellite into orbit — which is capable of attacking other satellites. hello. let's just bring news and reaction to our main story, the news that ireland, norway and spain will recognise a palestinian state. we have had reaction to that from a spokesperson from the palestinian authority, and its rival hamas. it says that they welcome the recognition by ireland, spain and norway. so to statements there i understand, both palestinian authority and its rival hamas, welcoming the recognition. as we were reporting earlier, we have heard from israel's foreign minister, israel katz, who said the decision was "a distorted step that could endanger the country's

security". we will have more on that