the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has spoken of his determination to get a brexit agreement over the line. he's stressed a meeting with his british counterpart theresa may, taking place in dublin, was not for negotiations, as those must only be conducted with the european union. the king of thailand has denounced his sister's candidacy for prime minister, saying that such a move is inappropriate and unconstitutional. he said his elder sister would not be allowed to run for office because it was against tradition, even if she'd given up her official royal title. now on bbc news, click. this week, extreme weather predictions. on the mend with vr. and... uh... the last four years have been the

hottest on record. the climate is changing. average global cabbages are rising. as we continue to release more co2 into the atmosphere, scientists are repeating their warning that humanity faces six in -- their warning that humanity faces six in —— increasingly difficult decisions about our future. nonna it will require reducing our carbon dioxide emissions over the coming decades. the implications to that a fundamental changes to society about how we generate our electricity, how we travel around, what died we have. those are the difficult choices that the global community needs to take. professor ed hawkins have summarised the average global tablature is in this simple graphic with 1850 on the left and the present day on the

right. what you see from 1850 up to 2018 is that global temperatures over that time have risen by about one degree with lots of variations from year these rising temperatures will lead to more and more extreme weather. it certainly has been extreme recently. australia hasjust suffered its hottest month on record with wildfires in the south, floods in the north and temperatures of nearly 50 celsius. at the same time, the us is being gripped by a vortex of polar air. here temperatures have dropped to nearly —50. injapan, severe and unpredictable weather events happen yearly, making precise weather information critical for disaster preparedness. typhoons can bring transportation to a standstill with highways being closed and aeroplanes and trains halted. 2018

saw particularly violent weather. lastjuly, the saw particularly violent weather. last july, the city saw particularly violent weather. lastjuly, the city of, dyer hit record to riches of a1.1dc and in the same summer, heavy downpours led to mudslides which left 225 dead. over 8 million people were urged to evacuate. monitoring rainfall is ha rd evacuate. monitoring rainfall is hard and relies heady —— heavily on whether systems which don't have a certain range. at weather news here injapan, a new system is training artificial intelligence to work out rainfall from satellite images instead allowing for proclamations gci’oss instead allowing for proclamations across the globe. this is the world's largest weather provider. it has 3000 weather monitoring sense was and satellites. it broadcasts wohling weather reports from its office in ciba city. the company

also gets its information from its customers. everyday users of the weather app chatted about the weather app chatted about the weather and at upload 20,000 voters of their current weather conditions. using a combination of human moderators and a eye, these photos and texts are turned into real—time weather data. a kind of cloud sourcing, if you will —— macro three. ——ai. it is also to do with airlines to do with turbulence on the flight path and the best ways to avoid those when you go over or under them and also, interestingly, the best times during the flight to serve the airline meal, when it's not so bumpy that you end up with all the food on your lap. however, the biggest business is collecting readings from ships and then advising them on the best trans— ocean routes to avoid the worst of the weather. revenues told us that they could save a large cargo vessel

up they could save a large cargo vessel up to they could save a large cargo vessel upto5 they could save a large cargo vessel up to 5 million yen in fuel per trip —— microbiome. but this place doesn't just —— microbiome. but this place doesn'tjust deal —— microbiome. but this place doesn't just deal with —— microbiome. but this place doesn'tjust deal with weather prediction. —— weathernews. they now provide a potentially lifesaving service for another type of extreme event. the 2011 tsunami claimed more than 18,000 lives in japan. event. the 2011 tsunami claimed more than 18,000 lives injapan. but it was found that the collision detection radar on a japanese coastguard vessel just off the detection radar on a japanese coastguard vesseljust off the coast of fukushima had actually detected the oncoming wave. believe it or not, radar systems had never before been used to detect tsunamis. we have installed 28 radars along the coast, all overjapan. these radars can detect a sea level different of between three and ten metres at a distance of 20 kilometres. if we can detect a tsunami so we have a space to evacuate for ten or 15 minutes. that is valuable time for the people

to evacuate. and as well as warnings about what was go to happen in the immediate future, weathernews is also looking to take advantage of longer term predictions, too. as the climate changes, some are spotting new shipping opportunities. as the arctic ice recedes, a new route is becoming more accessible. it is becoming more accessible. it is becoming possible to transport goods by ship from japan to europe through the street in the arctic ocean rather than going all the way around africa. —— strait. in order to make it safer, weathernews has released one of the only satellites that can provide more accurate sea ice information. then there is the special service that they provide for convenience stores where they will advise what to order ring based on tomorrow's weather. for example, if it's going to be hot, more ice cream. it is going to be really hot, more sorbet. and the extreme heat is

more sorbet. and the extreme heat is more a worry for next you's tokyo olympics. discussions are under way to start the race at to try and prevent deaths from the intense heat. here at weathernews, they are working on a system that will predict the best places for spectators to find a shade and freeze. the amounts of data must —— needed to predict even tomorrow's weather is enormous but for a commercial operation like weathernews, finding new ways to use that data means new services and ultimately new income for a very expensive business. hello and welcome to the week in tech. it was the week that uber launched a boat service in dubai to beat the city's notoriously bad traffic. sportswear brand puma found people to test its new self lacing shoes and emoji ‘s word released

with dozens or accessibility icons including wheelchair users, prosthetic limbs and service dogs. there are also new food and animal in motjuste and a drop of blood to represent menstruation. it was also the week that reddit, the so—called front page of the website —— internet, released funding. it could see reddit valued at almost $3 billion. protect —— police trial using facial recognition in the uk has seen one man charged and sent to prison. they were using the technology over two days in east london. another person was fined £90 for verbally abusing the officers we re for verbally abusing the officers were trying to avoid the cameras. apec ‘s legends is being called the first battle royale for fortnight after being plagued by nearly1 million people in the first few days of its release. the game was also the mosh —— most watched game on twitch. and also the humanoid robot

sofia now has a little baby sister you can take home things to kickstart campaign. the robotics company hopes it will encourage girls to explore careers in robotics and coding. worried about bots sending e—mails from your account? use this easy method to be notified quickly if they get in. add a fake e—mail address to your contacts. if a mass mail goes out, you will get an undelivered message for the fake address. and then we recommend changing your password. last year, tick tock was the world's

fourth most downloaded app, topping instagram and snapchat. the company is now valued at 75 early in dollars, that's more than uber. ——75 early in dollars. if you still haven't heard about it, don't worry, i will fill you in. haven't heard about it, don't worry, iwill fill you in. —— ileum. the bulk of the users are in china and most are bulk of the users are in china and mostare in bulk of the users are in china and most are in their tens or 20s and they seem to be doing something like this. --75 they seem to be doing something like this. ——75 billion dollars. now i need to use a filter to make my head ginger. ohmae, red doesn't seem to be an option. ——oh. should i be green? # shake it to the left. you can lip sync to your heart's content although it is better if you know the words. use stickers, filters, or a spot of augmented reality. or you can simply post what you wish. if

you are struggling to see the point in all this, well, millions would disagree. we have seen this at growth since chinese tech firm bought its predecessor and now, according to research by the south china morning post, it now has 500 million active users. with1 million fans, british comedian laura uses it to post sketches and has become involved with hosting events for the company as her followers have flourished. what i like best about it is it short, concise, easy but you can react, react on people's videos and i think the big appeal is you can copy other people's soundbites so i can do a sound sketch using another comedian‘s sketch using another comedian‘s sketch and they could the same with mine. i, what can i get for you today? they have some famous voices. —— lots of different soundbites to choose bass. ——. platforms are

thriving but on the flipside, this is another compelling app taking our eyes away from well, the real world. and that is a distraction that the uk government this week highlighted to parents. they released new guidelines on screen time including banning devices at that time and mealtimes. meanwhile, the appetite for these apps seems to be growing. you just have to hope they will be used sensibly. lucky i only have one fan. that was sustainable spice and i don't feel the need to say anything more about that piece. now, we have been banging on about virtual reality for an age and wallets failed to ignite the imagination of consumers. i mean, how many br sets to you are in, for goodness sake? it hasn't started to catch on in areas lakes simulation, training and healthca re.

catch on in areas lakes simulation, training and healthcare. ——vr. we have been along to investigate. keep your group keep yourgroup in keep your group in your right hand. yes, gothic! what i see, there are different types of games and the game that i was playing was a bow and arrow one. —— got it! unity ticket up and get the arrow behind you and then let it go and it shoots and pops. —— you need to pick it up. here at sheffield's children's hospital, they are testing some surprising therapeutic technology. with certain types of injuries, exercise can be a vital part of rehabilitation, ultimately leading to the patient getting better sooner. to the patient getting better sooner. the problem is getting children to perform these exercises isn't always easy. most of our kids

have conditions that mean they need to carry on doing their exercises for sometimes several years. keep the great. they are doing the same things day in, day out, it gets boring, no—one wants to do it, sometimes it's painful, it is not really fu n. sometimes it's painful, it is not really fun. they want to be outside doing things with their friends. making use of virtual reality, research is at hallen university have developed a system that they think will make children more likely to perform rehabilitation exercises by disguising their treatment as play. this version of the project is for upper arm injuries, primarily. injuries that are normally from burns oran injuries that are normally from burns or an accident that they had from a fall. that's it. remember to look up as well. how did you set yourself? i burned myself with a

cooker lighter and i scarred my arm and my belly. we made the decision to make the gains a scenario as climbing. it is based on the kind of movement they needed the patient‘s to do. one of the movements they needed to do was reaching behind your back and allowing the upper arm movements. there is a quiver behind your back. you do the same motion of reaching behind to grab your arrow and then you get the added bonus of pulling back the bowstring and then we looked at things like climbing and what that was a natural fit as well because there was a lot of overhead motion so you are reaching. declining. it feels realistic. while harry is being treated for burns, emily has an entirely different issue. she has a hereditary disease she has picked up from my husband,

my husband's side of the family. she has extra bone growth. it is really fun, because you are not seeing, like, stuff that you usually see every day, like you are seeing a whole new kind of world in it. if you have a big imagination, then it definitely makes it bigger. it's kind of a bit more playing than exercising, even though you are still doing your exercises, like, it's fun as well. you need a break. is your arm tied? it's fine. she did not find it easy. before she would have given things up easily. she wanted to keep going. she wanted to reach that next thing. she has been an absolute ripper. she has a smile on her face everyday. it encourages me to be positive —— trip. on her face everyday. it encourages me to be positive -- trip. we have had kids come in who can only get their arms had kids come in who can only get theirarms up to had kids come in who can only get their arms up to here and they are coming in straightaway at picking the arrows up and getting full range

of movement and not even noticing. and when we interviewed them after they said they did not notice any pain. it is a shock to me how well actually it has worked to do what we needed it to do. i don't have an injury, but i'm going to give this vr setup they go and see what's it like when i could the hat sites on and what it feels and plays like. we go. and what it feels and plays like. we 90- -- and what it feels and plays like. we go. —— headset. —— here we go. as a vr experience, it is really quite fun. after playing for a little bit as well you can understand how, when the children are playing this, they get so wrapped up in the experience that they forget that this is actually helping them recover. this project was born out of work— and his team had already created which used vr to help distract burns victims as a form of pain management. it's early days for this

technology, but they hope it could have a wide variety of healthcare applications. looking at other aspects such as pain reduction for burns, we are doing some work with amputees, learning how to use a prosthetic arm. it is a matter of experience —based training. we have a couple of other projects we are currently just looking a couple of other projects we are currentlyjust looking at. a couple of other projects we are currently just looking at. around kind of stroke and chronic pain as well. but the final word goes to emily. she might be a fan of the vr, but i do wonder if she will be pleased to get the external fixate on her arm removed. will you be pleased to get that off? yes. it's quite annoying. brilliant. that was marked cieslak sheffield. now, this weekend is one of the biggest date in the british movie calendar, the ba fta in the british movie calendar, the bafta film awards are taking place at london's royal albert hall. and what better way to celebrate ben bates chatting to one of those nominated in the best effects

category pot those work on fantastic piece, the crimes of grindelwald. category pot those work on fantastic piece, the crimes of grindelwaldlj can't move against him. it has to be you. —— fantastic beasts the crimes of grindelwald. more of ourjob, at what we have to do is that baby and david yates is to creatively push the envelope and use the technology to aid them. we had some very specific things that had been written in the script, we had a hospital where there were more background creatures were we could go on some of the journeys. one of the key creatures was fairly specifically written as like a chinese tiger like creature. one of the animation artists built it and animated it and got it moving. and then, really, it was a voyage of discovering of working out how it would move, what its tail would be made of, et cetera, et cetera. in

the script, it described it as it i’ufis the script, it described it as it runs 1000 miles a day. tim and i we re runs 1000 miles a day. tim and i were like, 0k, how are we going to describe that, how are we going to show that? we came up with the idea that it could magically leap and then time, —— distort space time. it could cover a large distance very quickly. you know, it is a vile one—year's work for for that one moment in terms of concept and working out how on earth to do it. the moment has come to take our rightful place. appearing when we read the script, she is a woman in this film and not a snake. we had to come up with an authentic way to turn a woman into a long too. how would we do that to make it feel real. we came up with the idea that she is almost consumed by the snake, rather than physically extending out. you recall her being wrapped in

her own quails are disappearing and coming out as a snake. so we had a contortionist. claudia kim who played nagini, we showed her what we we re played nagini, we showed her what we were planning and what she acted, the first portion of the shot, then we had another contortionist in there was, you know, dressed in a matching costume and she did the first portion of the shot, so it is a real, she bent over backwards and put her head through her own legs. got shot elements of claudia kim kind of pushing herself along the ground and turning her head up, matching kind of what we had done, which was then glued together with a full cg version of the human character and a full cg snake. all in all it was about 14 months worth of work for that one moment on film. i don't think you have seen a woman turn into a snake before. it is trying to get those moments over,

feeling is crowded and real as possible. we wanted it to feel as if how it would feel if you are physically they are, rather than feeling like an effect. i think that is what the technology gives us, the ability to do that. do we sitting and norm with tim wells have been a peaceful over a century. —— the wizard in. and non—wizards in wells. fantastic wizard in. and non—wizards in wells. fa ntastic stuff. wizard in. and non—wizards in wells. fantastic stuff. and we wish all of the bafta nominees or the best of luck for the big night. next week we will have more awards contenders for you as we continue our deep dive into the world of visual updates. and before we go, for this week, this. it may not be as graceful as a figure skater or as fast as a speed skater, but unlike many people, this robot taught itself how to skate on ice. at the confidential robotics lab in zurich, the professor and his tea m lab in zurich, the professor and his team developed a modular robot with

3-d team developed a modular robot with 3—d printed parts. each leg can be built for any type of locomotion from walking to roll into a skating and each robot can have any number of legs. they then wrote algorithms described the physics for each type of movement and to rain. the only thing we tell it is how one i skate deghayes a nice. in particular, the fa ct deghayes a nice. in particular, the fact that it is free to move in the direction of the blade and has high friction forces in that direction. after this, the robot figures as entirely on its own how to move on ice. using this machine learning approach, different robots can learn to autonomously navigate any to rain. researchers hope this will lead to affordable, easy to design robots that can be used for search and rescue operations, inspect dangerous sites, and even for deliveries too difficult to reach areas. i envisioned a moment in not too distant future where it will be as easy to create a robot as it is to currently make structures out of

lego blocks, for example. this is a really exciting motor skill that we would like robots to learn, not necessarily because it is useful, but rather because it combines are many different challenges into one beautiful performance. very, very cool. and that's it for this week. don't forget that we live 01’ this week. don't forget that we live or local social media. so wherever you are you'll find us, instagram, twitter, facebook, youtube, we will be there waiting for you. thanks for watching. and we will see you soon. hello there. storm erik's still not done with us yet. there's more wind to come. in fact, it looks like we could see some very gusty conditions during the early part of this morning. storm erik passes to the north

of the uk with a swathe of 60—70 mile an hour gusts for northern ireland, southern scotland, and northern england first thing on saturday. gradually those winds will turn a bit lighter into this afternoon. so this swathe of potentially damaging and disruptive winds will affect the northern half of the country for a while this morning. some heavy rain, some snow on the tops of the pennines and the scottish hills. further south, some blustery showers. we start the day with temperatures of about 6—8 degrees. so a very windy start this morning, further heavy pulses of rain. eventually the rain becomes confined to the north—east of scotland and the northern isles, as storm erik continues to pull away into the north sea. further south, there'll be plenty of sunshine around. a few showers — mainly across western areas. but a good deal of dry weather across eastern areas. and it will be a gusty day, but those winds, like i mentioned, gradually easing down into the afternoon. temperature wise, england and wales seeing double—figure values again. 10 or 11 celsius, closer to 7—9

across scotland and northern ireland. so something a little bit fresher there. so there could be disruption from the winds early today. keep tuned to the latest weather forecast and bbc local radio for the latest updates. storm erik pushes off in towards scandinavia. we look to the south. this next feature could bring a spell a very wet weather through saturday night, early sunday, may be strong winds. the strongest of the winds will be across the channel into the new continent. could see a little bit of snow on the high ground of wales for a while. so this rain will ease away through sunday, could hang back for east anglia and the south—east. cold air will be pouring south—east was behind it. so the showers across northern areas will be turning increasingly wintry and temperatures back into single figures for all of us. we will have some showery bursts of rain through saturday. through sunday night. then we see a ridge of high pressure building.

that will settle things down but it will feel colder. we start monday off on a fairly cold note with some frost around. on the plus side, because of this ridge of high pressure, we should see a good deal of dry and bright weather, crisp winter sunshine. those winds much lighter than we have had for the past few days. temperatures 5—8 or 9 degrees. it will feel distantly chilly to how it has felt the start of the weekend. into next week, high pressure building in. things will calm down considerably. dry weather, but a return chilly nights. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: president maduro refuses to allow aid into venezuela. he says the country doesn't need foreign handouts. not everyone agrees. translation: i want this aid to get in because people are dying. mr president, we are dying. families are dying. at least ten people, including teenage players, are killed after a fire sweeps through a building at one of brazil's biggest football clubs.

thailand's king denounces his sister's unprecedented bid to try and become prime minister, calling it "inappropriate". and, apple's bug bounty: we'll tell you about the teenage boy who got paid for finding a facetime flaw.