this is bbc news at 12:30pm. the organisation that runs the oscars votes overwhelmingly to expel disgraced hollywood producer harvey weinstein. the board said it wanted to send a message that there was no place in the industry for "sexually predatory behaviour". motorists who cause death by speeding, street racing or while on a mobile phone are among those who may be handed life sentences under government proposals. the irish met office holds an emergency meeting as category 3 hurricane ophelia approaches the british isles. the national hurricane centre warns "preparations to protect lives and property should completed by this afternoon".

austrians head to the polls for a snap general election where the conservative people's party is expected to win the most seats. during the campaign, its leader sebastian kurz, adopted a hard line against refugees — pledging to shut down major migrant routes. now on bbc news it's time for click. this week, japan's love of robots laid bare. they are training, battling, dancing and diving into danger. i have worn plenty of protective suits in my time but they have always been to protect the environment from my body. this time, it's different. i've come to one of the most

infamous locations on earth. until 2011, few people had heard of the of the fukushima daiichi power plant in north—eastern japan. then the largest earthquake in japanese history changed everything. the resulting tsunami killed more than 20,000 people. and the iii—metre wave overwhelmed fukushima's flood defences. ironically, it was the power station's cooling system that was flooded and when it shut down, the radioactive fuel rods began to overheat and melt down. they reacted with the steam around them, filling units one, two, three and four with hydrogen gas which then exploded. 6.5 years on, the melted radioactive fuel remains somewhere inside these buildings.

humans can't go anywhere near that fuel so robots are being used, first to try and find it and then eventually to remove it. and today, we've been given rare access to the site to help us understand just how hard thatjob is. translation: in order to work out how to decommission the reactor and remove the fuel we have to survey and understand the state of the interior. only then will we know what kind of tools or machines we need to develop. probably the most important thing i can carry. it tells me how much radiation i'm exposed to. the tokyo electric power company, tepco, is keen to show us, and, i guess, the world, how much of the radioactive debris has now been removed and how it's now possible to walk around most of the site without too much protective clothing. but to really understand

the challenge the robots face in finding and removing the melted radioactive fuel, we do need to suit up. we are going inside unit five, which is identical to the units which were wrecked by the explosions. as you can imagine, it is really hot inside. it's a confusing jumble of walkways and machinery and it's difficult to appreciate that somewhere in here is a 7—storey—high tank of water called the primary containment vessel, the pcv. and now it's time to go right underneath the reactor. oh, wow. they think what happens after the meltdowns is that the molten fueljust burns through the bottom of the pcv and came down here onto what's known as the pedestal. that's where they think the pedestal. think

the fuel is now. it's difficult enough getting around this place on foot. now imagine trying to remote—control a robot through this after the whole place has been mangled by an explosion. oh, yes. and do it in the dark. each of the reactors suffered different damage. some are still full of water, some are dry, and so toshiba has built a special robot for each one. as important as how they move about is how they ge in in the first place. translation: we need something that could fit through an existing service hatch. that's the reason we made small robots. this is scorpion. its mission was to hunt for fuel in unit two. now time is of the essence for any fukushima robot. the radiation will eventually damage and disable its cameras, rendering it useless.

but the entire mission can also be upset by something far more basic. this is service hatch x6 but in unit two, we were hoping to send the scorpion robot down this ramp to film the molten fuel at the bottom but it got caught halfway down and never made it so they did not get any footage evidence of where the fuel was. in unit three, the water is much higher so they had to think of another way to get a robot in to film what was going on and that is where the mini sunfish came in. built to fit through this is—centimetre pipe, mini sunfish is a tiny underwater robot with five propellers, two cameras and four human operators. 300km away from fukushima in toshiba's yokohama r&d centre, i came face to face with the star of the investigation. after two months of practice in a duplicate of the flooded pedestal, injuly this year,

mini sunfish was successful in finding melted clumps of material that could be fuell debris on the pedestal in unit three. one of the reasons there is so much water in the reactor buildings is because groundwater is leaking in and it needs to be pumped out. the problem is it can't be pumped out into the sea. there's still about 150 tons of groundwater leaking into the site every day and although they can use some of that to cool the fuel rods, it all gets contaminated so they need to store the excess in these tanks. each one holds 1,200 tons of water and there are currently 900 of these tanks here. it's obviously impossible to keep building these tanks at the rate of one every eight days. i don't know what they are going to do with them ever. so how do you stop groundwater

from leaking in in the first place? well, you build an ice wall. pipes of coolant have been inserted 30m into the ground and they're gradually freezing the soil and stopping anything from seeping through. it sounds completely nuts, but how else would you do it? that is an ice wall underground. having been criticised in the early stages, it now seems that tepco is working hard to make fukushima state. it's rebuilt and reinforced working areas, sealed the soil in concrete and reduced radiation levels. in our 11—hour visit, we received the radiation dose equivalent to four dental x—rays. but there is such a long way to go. decommissioning the site could take a0 years and it may cost 8 trillion yen. the human cost is more difficult to quantify. the exclusion zone has left

many people homeless, unable to stop nature from reclaiming their post—apocalyptic ghost towns. they can't go back until the radioactive fuel is recovered. those little robots have a lot riding on their tiny backs. they say in japan, you are never more than six feet away from a robot. ok, actually, they don't say that but it does feel like it. and behind many ofjapan‘s most iconic creations are two robot visionaries. hello, everybody. this is professor hiroshi ishiguro. and this... hello, everybody. i am a geminoid. i am a copy of professor hiroshi ishiguro. geminoid hill is a robot created by professor ishiguro in his own likeness and has even been used to fill in for him during lectures that he couldn't attend.

we are looking for the definition of humans by creating a very human—like robot, so that is our final goal. our purpose is notjust to develop a robot but to understand the human itself. the lab has developed a number of humanlike robots, from receptionists to schoolteachers, and is looking at how to create empathy between humans and robots. hiroshi believes that soon we may see far closer relationships between us and our electronic counterparts. of course, we want to give human right to the robot. then the robots is going to be our partners and therefore, if people want to have a marriage with a robot, we should allow it. we might find humanities in the robot. we believe this is our futures. thank you so much.

but not everyone is trying to build robots in our own image. this is professor tomotaka takahashi and this is his lab at tokyo university. he's been designing robots for decades. if technology was no object, where would you like to see robotics head? robots for communication can be interfaced between human beings and other devices, so internet or services. so we all have our own tiny robot likejiminy cricket in pinocchio. it's so stupid to put everything together. we don't do toaster and toilet and car together. that sounds like an inspired combination. a toilet and a toaster and a car. i'm going to the patents office. so tiny might be the aim but that does not mean these

robots are all looks. this is one of his latest projects, robohon, released last year. it's a tiny robot that is also a phone. hello! and a projector. so it's a projector? and you keep it in your pocket. there is a clip. there's a clip! oh, i did mention it also dances, didn't i? this is a very practical... yes, and sophisticated. sophisticated and easy to carry around. not so easy to carry around. twice as expensive as iphone. right, ok. so how do you think people will be persuaded to switch a black rectangle for a robot? actually, smartphone is so sophisticated and it's almost perfect but there is only one shortcoming, which is siri. siri is so smart but people don't use that in daily life but we can talk to a pet fishy or turtle or even teddy bear, but the problem is, it has square shaped like this.

if it has an animal shape, a human shape, we are willing to talk to them. if we are going to talk to our devices as if they're humans, then it would certainly help if they look a bit more humanoid and if we want to do that any time soon, then it may be that little guys like these are the answer. damage in puerto rico as a backdrop for showing off facebook‘s new vr function. this is in the same week that he announced his hopes to take vr mainstream to a billion people with the launch of oculus go, a $200 stand—alone vice. a new generation of tamagotchi has been announced.

20 years on from the original battery—operated pet craze, a smaller, simpler version bringing nostalgia and pointlessness to 2017. and microsoft say windows 10 phones are no longer their focus, with no more hardware will feature is being developed. having only claimed 0.3% of the phone market, it's probably is not much of a surprise. what is being claimed to be the largest ever energy—generating into off—grid electrical energy. and finally, mit's computer science and ai lab has developed a way to see around corners using a smartphone. it'll detect an object or person through the light reflection that they produce. the aim is that it could help self—driving cars or even search and rescue teams. also handy for playing hide and seek.

atjapan‘s olympic training h0, a top—secret project is finally unveiled. any guesses? yes! ladies and gentlemen, i give you "block machine," the volleyball playing robot. over—engineered? i will let you judge. but it is hard to not appreciate the ambition. it is here to put the youth female volleyball team through their paces and solve a problem they face. translation: after winning bronze in the london olympics, we aimed for gold in rio. we came third in the world games, yet were the smallest in height. we wanted to give them the ability

to practise against taller players. that is the use of the machine. with not enough tall women to practise against, the university designed the robot and the interface which lets you simulate the speed, height, and typical formations of different international teams. translation: without the block machine, our players would not have had much practice against taller players. it contributed to the bronze medal in the championship. there are plans ultimately to use computer vision to have the team respond automatically to play, but right now, well, it is still one of the best video games i have played for a while. oh, yes, it is a remote—controlled robot, i get to choose where the hands go, left, right, middle, and how many hands. bad timing.

oh, what! of course, volleyball is not the only thing getting a technological boost in the run—up to the tokyo 2020 games, as dan simmons has been finding out. tokyo 2020. while the city will no doubt put on a brilliant olympic games, yoshiaki sawabe is not so sure when it comes to the paralympics. and that is worrying, because he is one of the organisers. so, he has built this. and it really is a workout for the upper body. well, i guess it depends on how much you put into it.

i am moving to the right—hand side of the course. it is an exhilarating ride. and 3,000 people have already tried it out since the spring. outside the office, we caught up with the team at the ceatec expo. this is another paralympic event that can be played by competitors with varying degrees of disability. but again, it is able—bodied people that they want to get interested in the sport. it has been a highlight of paralympics in the past. he has got three years to raise its profile to the japanese public.

this is a half—sized automated version of the game space. sensors keep track of the balls. the flashing lights and automated scoring helps to draw players in. and the company is in talks with arcades, shopping centres, and even bars, to open the sport up to the public. he has been in a wheelchairfor 20 years, so i asked him if tokyo welcomed other wheelchair—users. downstairs, i am being scanned in 3d, as tech specialist, michael, is showing me the new toy of the company. this new kit can capture all athletes at their best

and dissect exactly the movements they used to win. but remember, entertainment is as important to these guys as learning, so they have given me a few new moves. i'm not sure if it is good enough for the gold, though. for the last leg of ourjapan trip, we wanted to show you something of a japanese tradition happening deep in the countryside, far away from the blade runner streets of tokyo. it is sunday morning, and at this high school in the small town of tendo, dozens of pupils have gathered for a sumo match. of course, that's robot sumo. yep, today, i have come to watch

a regional heat of a national competition which is now in its 25th year. and with several spots up for grabs in the final, nothing is being left for chance. the winner is the first robot to get the other one out of the ring twice. if that hasn't happened in three minutes, the winner is the first to get one point. they can't even push across the floor. how is this going to work? the rings are made of steel. and the sumo bots have really strong magnets to simulate the mass of real sumo wrestlers to give them the best chance of not being flipped. but the fact the umpires need to wear shin guards probably tells you that this doesn't always work. here we go! yeah.

it's quick. and the reason is that once the bots are left alone, these matches are taking place entirely autonomously. these machines are attempting to outthink and outsense each other in the blink of an eye. someone who knows how best to gain those little advantages is this 17—year—old, amani mori. her dad came second in the very first robot sumo competition. last year, she came third. translation: i am trying hard to beat my father's record. that is what i am aiming to do. he had a big influence on me. tactics include having a black bot which is harder for your opponents' sensors to see. you could also have a preprogrammed strategy. translation: the programming needs to be superior to win. but i think having the best blade

is the most important feature. here she goes. i am no expert, but that doesn't look good. but in the second round, her expertise starts to show. as the day goes on, she conquers all before her... ..untiljust before the final.. ..she crashes out. translation: there is a strategy called "feint" when you back off before you go in, but the timing was off and the bot went too early. win or lose, of course, over the years, this competition has given thousands of students invaluable experience in robotics and programming. and of course, when you do get knocked out, you can still enjoy everyone else's smash—ups! wow, what an exhilarating way to end this trip to japan.

now, you will find loads of extra photos from ourjourney on twitter, @bbcclick. we are also on facebook. thank you so much for watching, and we will see you soon. hello. some bright and warm weather today. that's ahead of ophelia, hurricane ophelia. that will attract northwards, weakening, it's no longer a hurricane. ahead of that warm air comes towards our shores. south of that band of cloud we see

some rain and drizzle. further south into northern ireland, england and wales still dry. a misty start with patchy fog, sky brightened through the day. not much sunshine for scotla nd the day. not much sunshine for scotland or northern ireland, light and patchy rain as we move southwards. england and wales stay dry. areas of cloud around, especially across western parts of england. the further east you are cloud will be thinner with more sunshine at times. temperatures, like yesterday, around 22 degrees. a fine evening here. a little rain as we head into the weekend, bad rain gets a boost overnight as the winds picked up. drawing up some warm air. a mild night for many of us. by monday, ophelia, all is what left of ophelia will be heading to southern ireland. this deep area of low

pressure here starts to see winds picking up on monday. through the west and south—west and into the irish league, gusts of up to 80 mph. northern ireland gets very windy. rain in scotland and as you head further east across england and wales you get lighter and the last of the warm air keeping it warm. it is the wind strength that will cause issues, into monday and tuesday. damage and destruction to travel is expected. we will keep you updated on local radio. warnings are online. the centre of this deep below is heading through northern ireland into scotland, pushing gusty winds across northern ireland into southern scotland and northern england. in rush hour those winds only slowly easing. some rain expected. good afternoon.

the government has insisted that it is confident of reaching a brexit deal with the european union, and that britain will succeed whatever happens. however, the transport secretary chris grayling said ministers were fully preparing for the possibility of leaving without agreement. labour has said it would work with mps in other parties to stop a ‘no deal‘ brexit happening. —— said it is working with. it comes as the chairman of sainsburys warned that food prices would rise sharply if britain left without a trade deal. our political corresondent susannah mendonca reports. no