rohingya refugee crisis in bangladesh. hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes in myanmar, where they'd faced a military offensive after claims that militants were guilty of attacking police checkpoints. president donald trump is at the centre of a controversy involving his comments to a widow of a us soldier killed in action in niger. mr trump has denied telling myeshia johnson that her husband "knew what he was signing up for". there are fears of food shortages in zimbabwe after it banned fruit and vegetable imports to help preserve its dwindling money reserves. the new orderfollows one injune that banned maize imports. most of the supply of groceries in the capital harare come from neighbouring south africa. 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. that's where they 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 yea rs 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 injapan, you are never more than six feet away from a robot. 0k, 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 ourfinal goal. our purpose is not just 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 7 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, 0k. 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.

hello, and welcome to the week in tech. it was the week that mark zuckerberg apologised for using hurricane 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 0culus 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 walkway has been built at the berlin festival of light. the 26 square metres of path converts footsteps 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 0lympic 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'll let you judge. but it's hard to not appreciate the ambition. it's here to put the youth female volleyball team through their paces and solve a problem the women players face. translation: after winning bronze in the london olympics, we aimed for gold in rio. we came third in the world, yet were the smallest in height. we wanted to give them the chances to practise against taller players. that's the reason for the machine. with not enough tall women to practise against, the university of takuma designed the robot and the interface which lets you simulate the speed, height, and typical formations of different international teams. it's proved invaluable. 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's still one of the best video games i've played for a while. oh, yes, it's 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 isn't so sure

when it comes to the paralympics. and that's worrying, because he's one of the organisers. so he's 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'm moving to the right—hand side of the course. it's 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's able—bodied people that they want to get interested in the sport that's been a highlight of paralympics in the past. he's 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 jack and balls in a game similar to bowls. 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's been in a wheelchair for 20 years, so i asked him if tokyo was ready to welcome other wheelchair—users.

downstairs, i'm being scanned in 3d, as tech specialist, michael, shows me the new toy of the company. he wants to find out what makes a winning performance. 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've given me a few new moves. i'm not sure if it's 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's sunday morning, and at this high school in the small town of tendo, dozens of pupils have gathered for a sumo match. that's robot sumo, of course. yep, today, i've 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 bot 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. though, if a bot flips over or stops working, the match is over, or maybe they'll give them extra time if it's really fun. you'll get the idea. they can't even push across the floor. how's 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 harderfor your opponents‘ sensors to see. the operator can also select a preprogrammed strategy for each bout. 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'm no expert, but that didn't smell good. but in the second round, amani's expertise starts to show. as the day goes on, she conquers all before her... ..untiljust before the final.. ..she crashes out. translation: there's a strategy called "feint" when you back off

before you attacking, but the timing was off and the bot went too early. of course, win or lose, 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'll find loads of extra photos from ourjourney on twitter @bbcclick. we also live on facebook. thanks very much for watching and we'll see you soon. hello. if you want to see what the weather

has in store for the british isles in the coming days, you basically just have to take a look towards the atlantic, because low pressures are queueing up. here's one out close to the west at the moment. that's going to come into play thursday evening and into friday. and this slightly more innocuous looking area of cloud will explosively deepen into an area of low pressure to bring stormy conditions on the weekend. more on that in just a moment. first thing, a lot of cloud across the british isles. low cloud at that, misty and murky conditions for the majority to get thursday under way. so grey skies, but it will be a relatively mild start. some rain to go along with that cloud for central, southern england, the midlands and the of england for a time through thursday morning. to the east, with a bit of brightness, it could turn out to be a warmish afternoon actually. highs of up to 18 or 19. towards the west, some early sunshine but replaced by cloud, rain and strengthening winds in the south—west of england and wales. northern ireland, getting quite a lot of rain really throughout the course of the day. it's through thursday evening and into the small hours of friday that that area of low pressure

starts to whip up the winds, particularly for the cornish coast, but really anywhere along the channel coast for the small hours of friday. a mild enough night thanks to the cloud and the wind and the rain. definitely not the prettiest of starts to friday. most areas getting off to a grey and wet start. northern ireland seeing the best improvement through the morning. elsewhere, though, give it a few hours, and most of the rain does clear, as you can see by lunchtime, and the winds fall light. might still be overcast but a great improvement on the start of the day and for the afternoon, 15 or 16 will be the top temperatures, about right for this time of year. towards the west, though, the first signs of what awaits. that explosively deepening area of low pressure set to bring gales and some heavy rain to almost all parts of the uk at some stage this weekend. here you go, look at all those isobars. the winds particularly strong as the storm gets near to us. the worst should stay out in the atlantic, starting to weaken somewhat that low as it does push onshore on saturday. nonetheless, the risk of gales again, particularly for exposed

coasts in the west. but inland gales too. more heavy rain for northern ireland where we've already seen plenty, that could cause some problems. rain in the south—west of england, wales, parts of scotland too. eastern areas perhaps not getting too bad a day on saturday but rain moving its way in on sunday. most areas picking up showers at some stage. still some strong and gusty winds around as well, and quite sorry temperatures of just 12 to 1a degrees. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: you'll be held accountable — the us warns myanmar‘s army over the deepening rohingya refugee crisis in bangladesh. donald trump denies a congresswoman‘s claims that he was insensitive during a phone call to the widow of a soldier killed in action. fears of food shortages in cash—strapped zimbabwe after it bans fruit and vegetable imports. and the dark arts under the spotlight at a museum in milan.