this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has blocked the release of a democratic memo rebutting claims of alleged anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. the white house says the memo contains numerous and especially sensitive passages and for this reason the president is unable to declassify it. us officials say they're considering what action to take after two british jihadis were captured in syria. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh were part of a team of four british is members who the americans say killed 27 hostages. the families of their victims say the fighters should face trial. north and south korean competitors have marched together at the opening ceremony of the winter olympics in pyeongchang. seoul is hoping the sporting collaboration will improve relations with the north. the solidarity wasn't matched in the stands as the us vice president snubbed the north's delegation. now on bbc news, it's time for click.

this week, uber the top. old art meets the new. and smile, we're in dubai. this is how a self driving cars seized the world. lidar sensors feed the car with a continuous 360 degree view of its surrounding, a

depth information. it is the crucial depth information. it is the key technology for a successful autonomous drive. and this week in the us, a mighty court case has begun which may take this key away from uber, stalling its progress towards the self driving revolution. it all revolves around this man, antony lewandowski, who left google‘s autonomous spin—off and joined uber a couple of years ago. weimo alleges he took 1a,000 secret files with him and that these were used to develop uber‘s technology. we expect the courts to take about three weeks to decide on the case and what impact that may have on uber‘s plans to taxi as a round without a driver. but undeterred, uber continues to look to the future of transportation, which injust uber continues to look to the future of transportation, which in just a few years may look very different to the way it looks now. dan simmons

has been looking up. even self driving cabs will get stuck in jams, so driving cabs will get stuck in jams, so this is uber‘s vision. when you're type full time, go buy a. it is ambitious and so is the timescale. —— go by air. is ambitious and so is the timescale. -- go by air. algol lives by launch our first demonstrator flights in dallas and la to show that as a concept this can work and then work to scale by 2023 and 3025, so we are then work to scale by 2023 and 3025, so we are providing commercial flights to a lot of providers, giving them a new way to travel. one of uber‘s partners has showed off its design for a four seater cabin which could include a pilot. here is that 360 view with the alternative setup, four seats, four passengers. it is electric with a range of about

60 miles, they say. we've seen other designs for air taxis of late, including this chinese firm's one which risibly shuttled actual people in this autopilot had grown. —— drone. and this air cab by a german firm uses 18 brokers and nine separate battery packs, just in case. while nasa and the faa are working on new traffic control systems for these types of craft in the us, the faa will have to be convinced self piloting electric air ca bs convinced self piloting electric air cabs are safe. we will ask the ad can to come forward with the engineering proposals and what test they will propose to do so that we can ensure that if there's a fire or a short or that something goes wrong on the flight that they can safely land and get away from that aircraft before it does damage to the people

onboard, or on the ground for that matter. so will it work? here is uber‘s case study. we've landed in la, traffic is a nightmare and a taxi would take us 80 minutes, whereas the air trip to the sky port, plus a small transport, is less tha n port, plus a small transport, is less than half an hour and uber said it could end up costing about the same amount. 0k, there are many reasons why self flying electric taxis sounds like a good idea, but when you are saving less than one hour were uber‘s dream will need to run smoothly to deliver. apologies, dan simmons, very busy airspace right now. its blade to blade up there. unfortunately the weather is causing it. we are not

quite sure we will be able to get you in the night. —— tonight. really sorry. we are just bringing out the cabin. you are two kilos over, i'm afraid. we arejust cabin. you are two kilos over, i'm afraid. we are just recharging your taxi at the moment. it will be a while. at least that last one shouldn't be too much of a problem. uber have teamed up with a specialist and are predicting a four—minutejuice specialist and are predicting a four—minute juice up time. specialist and are predicting a four—minutejuice up time. that would be special! sorry, you are running 17.5 seconds later. please do book again via the alp. perhaps the most challenging part of this project is to get us, the public, co mforta ble project is to get us, the public, comfortable with the idea of taking an airtaxi. comfortable with the idea of taking an air taxi. when we think about consumer option and new technologies, this is not a problem

that's unique to travel. we saw this with elevator is when they first came out and actually in order to get consumers comfortable with it and lof get consumers comfortable with it and l of —— and elevator operator would remain in the elevator, even when it was made electronic, just to give consumers confidence. we are going to be doing the same with autonomous vehicles now, as we have safety drivers staying in the car, explaining the technology, two writers, and the same will be true with our pilots. we will be launching pilots who will serve not only as the operators of the flight but as an ambassador to get ride is co mforta ble but as an ambassador to get ride is comfortable with this new mode of transport, so soon enough they'll forget about its novelty and be back to taxing and making other use of their time while in transit —— texting. just like the waymo court case over who owns the specialist tech, the creation of the flying cab will no doubt have its own

dogfighting court. taps that's another reason why kuta is keen to get early. —— perhaps. the first place we are expecting these flying cab to take to the air is of course the city of dubai, which always promises to foster and allow trials of new technologies. although when we visited last month it soon became clear that flying taxis there are still a few years off. but one big change that is being unveiled is not to do with aircraft but with its airports. kate russell has been looking at what's new in arrivals. dubai on ten at an all is the world's busiest airport for international passengers. nearly 90 million people went through it in the last year in the next couple it plans to expand annual capacity by one third again. this airport has two runways, it has three terminal buildings and for major concourses, but we have room for no more. so

whatever growth takes place, it has to do within the existing infrastructure. so it has decided if you can't get bigger you have the get smarter. i was invited for a peek inside its brand—new airport command and control centre, just before it becomes fully operational. this airport has been kitted out with the latest camera equipment to help staff predict the flow of passenger traffic. the technology is cool passenger traffic. the technology is cool. it uses 3d cameras on the ceiling and looks for the outline of humans on the floor, moving around, and track them through the whole process. airport staff can get this information on smartphones and ta blets, information on smartphones and tablets, which helps them to direct the crowd, open new gates and even tell passengers where there that it is. while all this data helps keep the airport moving, the amount being collect it is also causing some issues. already there are 7 billion datapoints and we've yet to connect

it up to everything, so we've got baggage and passenger data but we've yet to put in things like energy consumption and water consumption. as we bring back together we can really optimise the airport and make it more efficient and drive for even more passengers. so, what do you do when you need a data centre in a hurry? well, ill thing one inside shipping containers is definitely one solution. —— ill thing. as dubai prepares to play host to a massive world expo in 2020, the airport had to do some thinking to be able to handle the extra 10 million passengers a month. dissolution could just over 12 months to build. a traditional date centre would normally take about 2—3 years. a traditional date centre would normally take about 2-3 years. next on the list of high—tech upgrade is face recognition, to clear immigration quickly, ai immigration quickly, al to project seasonal fluctuation and demand and assistant to tell passengers when their baggage will hit the carousel. all great news if you are passing

through the airport, there is a solid if this case for these upgrades too. the more passengers we can put through this site, the more profitable this airport will become, so it's better for the city and the economy. we are working hard to make sure we maximise the use of the divide international site. —— dubai. with aviation set to contribute nearly 40% of the wealth in dubai in the next few years, this airport will continue to be a vital part of the economy. flying high isn't fun for everyone. agoraphobia of the of heights is one of the most common phobias, but these virtual reality system hopes to help. this man can confidently fly a plane, but when it comes to heights in general it's a different story. i've got to move! grbac, are

back. i can't do it. comeback. i can't move while i'm up there. i couldn't go up a ladder. just couldn't go up a ladder. just couldn't go up a ladder. just couldn't go up a lot. i couldn't go behind bridges. ifi couldn't go up a lot. i couldn't go behind bridges. if i went to wales i would go the long way. but i can jump would go the long way. but i can jump on an aeroplane fine. that's a com pletely jump on an aeroplane fine. that's a completely different environment, in my head. welcome back. god! stack. how are you feeling? anxious, sweetie. nervous. even though you've been through the process before? you feel the same level of anxiety? or has it reduced ? feel the same level of anxiety? or has it reduced? i've got way more

confidence than i did the first time. on holiday with friends they we re time. on holiday with friends they were going on the rollercoasters and i talked about this vr thing we were doing and they said i should be able to go on the road. so i watched my family and friends go round a couple more times and then thought, i can do this. if you look to your left you will see a basket of lightbulbs. what i need you to do is throw them down. i think vr can treat pretty much any type of view of 0br. it might be a fear of a cat or spider or dogs. what vr can do is relearn that you are actually safe in those situations. the beauty of it isn't the disconnect, when you are there you know you really in that environment and that enables you to do things you wouldn't normally do in the real world. but all the science shows that learning you make in vr transfers to the real world. in this programme you are going to

try a series of tasks. earlier this month it was announced the uk's national health service has invested this idea of using virtual reality therapy to battle severe mental health issues are by putting sufferers in a virtual environment they would struggle within the real world. this innovative approach, plus the availability of virtual therapists, could more readily provide more therapy to more people ata provide more therapy to more people at a lower cost. at the heart of a lot of health problems are difficulties with interactive with the world and with vr we can put people back in situations that troubled them and coach them. we've got to test it and make sure things work. the potential is enormous. hello and welcome to the week in tech. it was the week police in china donned special glasses to catch criminals using facial

recognition tech. facebook, google and twitter went to washington to talk tech. and customers were banned from buying a bitcoin with their credit cards. the currency had another fall this week, falling to as low as $1000 before recovering. it was also the week that a spacex rocket blasted into space. elon musk sold it off with his —— sent it off with his old cherry red sports club, at ease the roadster, and the david bowie soundtrack on repeat. —— a tesla roadster. it says it is addressing production issues with its model t car and finally, a 14—year—old has created an app to help people with alzheimer's disease. it uses facial recognition technology to help people remember. they can scroll through photos of friends and family and the app lets them know who the person is and how

they are related to them. you can also take a picture of someone you don't recognise and the apple try to identify them. now, if you are a film fan, you know that it is awards season and over the next few weeks, will be chatting to some of the real heroes behind the movies nominated for the best visual effects 0scar. first up, they'd run at 2049 and spoiler alert, if you have not seen the film, you might want to go and make a the film, you might want to go and makea cup the film, you might want to go and make a cup of tea for the next four minutes or so. —— make a cup of tea for the next four minutes orso. —— blade make a cup of tea for the next four minutes or so. —— blade runner. still here? well, good. if you have seen it, you will know that the character from the original movie makes a surprise appearance, looking exactly like she did in 1982. we found out how. i had yourjob once. i was good at it. things were simpler than. a lot

of the works we do in visual effects is kind of very broad and very strong, think about the monsters screaming towards camera. this was the complete opposite, it was very su btle stuff. the complete opposite, it was very subtle stuff. it is all in like the micro details of the face. so the biggest challenge is the emotional performance and in this case, she was talking, so she was delivering lines. we did three shots from the original movie, that was kind of like a proof of concept that we did. we thought it was good enough and we showed it to the director and the studio, and they could not really tell the difference, and then, or you know, they had to struggle to see if one was digital. that is kind when we knew we had it in the bad and that it was good enough to go up on the big screen. we had her onset

in budapest, we did scan her and get a photographic reference of her as well. what that allowed us to do was to fit a digital skull inside the digital model we had of her. when you age, obviously your soft tissue drops down with gravity and you get wrinkles and so on, be as skull as not change, so your skull is pretty much the same. and what that allowed us to do was that we had a digital skull and we can build our 23—year—old character from 1982 around that skull, so the chip runs, the forehead, the chin and nose, so on, we could kind of fitted around the digital skull, which was a valuable reference for us. in that kind of ensured that we had a physically correct model to her real skull. we also captured the performance, so it is her body that

is used in shops. —— a body double. we waited around a computer, from all angles. when it could not do an actual performance, it was all hand animated because basically, the director, he wanted to basically director, he wanted to basically direct a normal performance, like you would do onset with a regular actor. —— he would do. we can make a still image look very, very photo real but getting that believable animation, that is still the biggest challenge. i know you are here. a great film and next week, we'll be talking to the oscar—nominated visual effects supervisor of marvel‘s space epic, guardians of the galaxy volume two. all i can say is, iam the galaxy volume two. all i can say is, i am gripped. backin

back in jabbar, i'm back injabbar, i'm really starting to see how determined this young country is to lead the world in everything smart. i have already seen it a high—tech police force in action, met the robocop is, and join unit that will watch over everything from the sky. now, i am meeting the world's first minister for artificial intelligence, and his ambitious about what comes next. 0ne of my favourite sayings from the tech industry is larry page of google said almost every time we do something crazy, we make progress. do you find the same thing? many of the ideas, many of the top tech companies from around the world, whether it is from the uk or china, the common denominator is that they do not fear something that is

seemingly impossible. they come up with an idea that might seem crazy at first. so with that mentality and with that idea, the brightest ideas from around the world come. how do you make sure that you bring all of the people of the uae along on that journey for digital change and innovation? uae is very unique. we have very young population, that population can be retrained and repurposed in positions that are being created in the future. we understand the opportunity for us to lead the future. we are teaching 1 million people how to code. it is the language of the future. we think making these people coding experts is going to be difficult challenge, but training someone who does not have any understanding when it comes to that language. so think about what apple has done for the iphone and what google has done for search,

thatis and what google has done for search, that is what the uae is going to do for horrid. the buyer is a place not scared to adopt new ideas or fail trying, so it is throwing all of its might behind leading edge innovations, concepts that may look outlandish elsewhere are all welcome here. and the dubai future accelerators programme is what the government hopes will take these ideas from page to stage. the government can drive the vision of where dubai goes next, i guess more like a company than a country. after all, monarchy needs little in the way democratic input. a majority this can fail, the moment —— the moment you create one success story, as long as you have that kind of mindset, a ton of this will be a write—off, but once you have that success , write—off, but once you have that success, the whole world will talk

about it and we will become a platform. we believe regulation or amending regulations in favour of innovation is a must. 0r amending regulations in favour of innovation is a must. or they will struggle a lot to show their new technologies and whatever they work on, and to have those decision—making individuals and the government working with them to disrupt makes life and the growth process much, much faster. so dubai may just have process much, much faster. so dubai mayjust have the recipe to pull it off, and accommodating leadership and a lot of cash. this may be the perfect place to fail and come back smiling, especially as the government is committing to make dubai the happiest city in the world, alongside the smartest. visiting the dubai smart office, i was suitably welcomed by farah. your host is waiting for you. they took me to meet one of the leading

technology champions in the country and despite the reputation the country has on the outside, it may be very happy to discover she is a woman. technology is not the end of our journey, woman. technology is not the end of ourjourney, it is only means will ta ke ourjourney, it is only means will take us to improve people's lives and make them more happier. by having artificial intelligence agents embedded in our government services, by having robots like owl receptionist, this is the future, but yet we keep challenging ourselves. what is next? whether all this works or not, you can see dubai is dreaming big, this is a dynamic, modern city, built from the desert up. maybe its motto should be if you don't try it, you don't succeed. that was kate in dubai and that is it from us for this week. don't

forget we live on twitter and we are also on facebook too. thank you so much for watching and we will see you soon. hello again. most of us saw some sunshine yesterday, but also some wintry showers out and about. the highlands looked splendid, didn't they? after the recent snowfall here and clear blue skies as well. but looking ahead to the weekend's forecast, not so much sunshine to go around on saturday. sunday sees the sunshine return, along with some snow showers. it'll become windy for a time this weekend. here's the satellite picture. it shows an area of low pressure, a curl of cloud racing towards the british isles, and this cloud is going to be moving in, bringing a band of rain with it. of eastern scotland.

i think we will see things turning rather wintry. the other thing you'll notice if you're out and about first thing is how cold it feels. yes, we're looking at a widespread frost and a risk of some icy stretches first thing. now, looking at the weather in a little bit more detail through saturday morning. the snow across scotland, well, five to ten centimetres possible over the higher ground. it will tend to transition back to rain as milder air works in from the west as we go on through the early morning. further southwards, for wales and south—west england, it's just rain that will fall really. and after that cold and frosty start across east anglia and south—east england, bright with some sunshine, but then the cloud moves over that cold air. it's probably one of those mornings where temperatures will be very slow to rise across parts of eastern england. not really rising significantly until we get into the afternoon, when the winds pick up and we will start to see the threat of some light rain working into east anglia and the south—east. quite a range of temperatures, turning mild in the south—west. highs up to 11 degrees.

we still have the cold air hanging on across northern scotland, where we'll also have some bright weather with some sunshine. now, it's six nations again this weekend and both at dublin and also at twickenham, the threat of rain. probably the rain heavier at twickenham as the evening progresses. now, looking at saturday night, a windy spell of weather looks on the cards thanks to this area of low pressure. i've just drawn the fronts in, and it's around the southern flank of this low pressure that we could see the winds being particularly strong. gales seem likely. gusts of wind 50 to 60 miles an hour. it could be a bit stronger than that across parts of the east, it just depends how quickly this area of low pressure develops. either way, as we get into the first part of sunday, that area of low pressure will be working across to cause problems in the continent. we are left with brisk north—westerly winds, that will drag in plenty of wintry showers, most of them snow inland. towards the coast, there could be a bit more of a mix of rain and sleet. there will be sunshine. it will feel chilly, highs generally around three to five degrees.

it looks quite likely that we will see another spell of heavy snow for the hills of england and northern ireland. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america on pbs and around the globe. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: president trump has blocked the release of a document which rebuts claims of anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. us officials consider what action to take after two british jihadis are captured in syria. families of the victims say the fighters should face trial. uber agrees to pay waymo $245 million in shares to settle allegations it stole trade secrets. funding cuts threaten to take the shine off the world's biggest street party as 1.5 million tourists take to the streets for rio's annual carnival.