this is bbc news. the headlines: ukrainian forces launch counter attacks in the east, forcing russian troops out of villages near the country's second biggest city kharkiv. the city is just a0 kilometres from the russian border, and the russians�* retreat could pose a wider threat to moscow's stated aim of capturing significant territory in the east. us republican senators have blocked a democrat bill which aimed to preserve women's right to abortion nationwide. democrats had attempted to introduce the measure ahead of a supreme court decision that is expected to overturn a ruling that established the right to abortion in the 1970s. sri lanka's president, gotabaya rajapaksa, has promised to appoint a new cabinet within a week but stopped short of stepping down himself. he made the pledge in his first address to the country

since anti—government protests erupted last month. his brother, the prime minister, resigned on monday. now on bbc news, click. coming up this week... if there's something strange in your neighbourhood. who you gonna call? drone busters! also, spot the builder. is it the robot dog, by any chance? 0k spencer, here is a question. can tech make you a better rapper? sounds like it can, yes. and what's this? lara at a rave. yes, i'm at a rave.

don't say a word. i've got bass in a backpack, this is amazing. welcome back. first up this week, we're going to be talking about drones, which gives us a perfect example to show off our shiny new base here in glasgow. which is rather picturesque. not that drones are always welcome. true. james clayton has been checking out some of the latest tech designed to take drones out of the sky. commercial drones have the potential to revolutionise a load of industries from helping with search and rescues, mapping cities, giving information to fire crews after traffic accidents, the possibilities are endless. flying a drone can be seriously fun. there are loads of applications in the world where drones can be used for public good. however, in the wrong hands a drone can cause absolute havoc.

in december 2018, a suspected rogue drone at gatwick airport grounded flights for days. chaos ensued. flights in and out of gatwick, britain's second busiest airport, have been suspended... flights were grounded after drones were spotted close to the runway. arrests eventually led to nothing. tens of thousands of people's christmases were ruined. and get this. it's still not totally clear there even was a drone. drones have even been used to try to assassinate world leaders. they thought it was fireworks first, but it was a drone bomb. president maduro of venezuela was targeted in 2018, and a similar attempt was made to kill the iraqi prime minister last year. it is notoriously difficult to neutralise the threat of a dangerous drone. but one company in washington,

dc, says it has an answer. dedrone works with the department of defense in the us, as well as airports in the united kingdom, to spot and take down drones. if you have ever flown a drone, you'll know they are incredibly easy to lose in the air. they are hard to see until they are pretty close to you. dedrone says it has a solution for that. what we have behind me is the dedrone tracker software interface. what we see is the drone localised with this yellow diamond on the map. most drones use radio frequencies to fly the drone and we can use that to localise that and tell you where it is at. additionally, we implement some radar technology to help verify that. my camera woman, maxine, and i thought we would try to put it to the test with our own drone. our plan was to try to fly it low to see if we could go literally under the radar.

the problem was we turned the drone on too quickly, which emitted a radio frequency. busted. that is us turning on the drone there? so before we even get the drone airborne, we are detecting it on the ground. we know where it's at. camera's looking for it, trying to find you guys. how big a scale could you do this? the beauty of the dedrone system is you can scale this. if you want to cover an entire city or state, we can lay out sensors to do so. it is one thing trying to spot a drone, but how do you actually take it down? this is dedrone�*s solution. it looks like a gun, but it's actually a device that scrambles the signal of anything that uses radio frequencies to operate, including drones. it is so powerful that ben here, by law, isn't allowed to press the trigger. what does it actually do? this is the final part of the kill chain. you simply press the trigger, we are currently in off mode,

but if i turn that one step down, it willjam any radio frequency or rf signals in the air. after that, we can do the full gps jamming which will eliminate almost any drone from the sky. drones have been used to try and assassinate world leaders. how would this be used in that kind of context? if, by the time you see the drone, you are probably too late. so anytime you are in a situation where you may think that drones might be a threat to somebody, it is important to have the detection technology, assuming you have detected a drone, or you know there is a threat, pull this out of the case, hit a button, and you can start mitigating a drone within seconds. such is the importance of drones on the battlefield that there are currently more than 600 of these anti—drone devices used in the us military. but like all technology on the battlefield, this too could get into the wrong hands.

drone footage has been used in ukraine to document potential war crimes and atrocities. if russia had this kind of technology, perhaps it would have been harder to work out what was happening on the ground. drones primarily are used for good. in orderfor us to maximise the potential of these good drones, we feel that drone technology, airspace security, what we provide is a necessary step to ensure that good traffic can behave. almost any conflict over the last half dozen years has involved drones and it is a great equaliser in the battlefield from an offensive perspective. but it is also important that drones be able to fly and provide people with the ability to go out there and help people, people that are injured and do some scouting, all that stuff that goes along with drones for good, even in the battlefield. drones can be used for good and bad. but perhaps the days where you can just whack up a drone are becoming numbered. as tech catches up with them,

it might be more and more difficult to get views like this. all right, clayton, you show off. we have a cool aerial shot too, you know? are we even allowed to film here? no idea. let's be quickjust in case/ 0k, question. which industry is more dangerous than mining, farming or manufacturing? don't know. go on. construction. you are more likely to have an accident on a building site than in a mine or onafarm. so shiona mccallum has been taking a look at how robotics and 56 could help improve site safety. i am notjust on any construction site. i am on one in a remote and barren part of the world. shetland. where an internet connection is a luxury. situated at the top of scotland in the middle of the north sea, shetland is exposed to some of the most extreme weather conditions in the uk. there is rain, hail, snow and sometimes there is sunshine. but, crucially, there is also wind.

a lot of wind. only one quarter of the renewable wind energy produced on shetland is used to power the island. so here at kergord, the teams are building an electricity converter station and substation. it will connect shetland to the national grid and allow wind farms to export energy south. it is notjust manpower, but new technologies that are making it happen. it is a big project! bosses at bam nuttall thought a private 56 network would be a good idea. faster internet speeds and better connectivity. we've got a fibre—optic connection that runs in the road just down the valley, we have a microwave link that takes that internet connection into the site and then there is a fibre—optic connection to each of the sg masts. what the 56 network does is provide high—speed wireless internet connection, low latency and very high speed, essentially as fast as the incoming fibre—optic connection.

and with those 56 masts up, they welcomed a new site inspector. the aim of the engineers is that spot can connect to the 56 network and much of his work can be done remotely. how useful has it been to have spot on the site? it is excellent. it makes our life as engineers a bit easier. gets into places we can't, or maybe it is unsafe us to go. spot has a scanner attached that makes sure the floor is exactly level after the engineers have poured the concrete. we just performed a scan in there. _ and i will show you the scan we did there. so, green means ideal for our models, blue is a bit low, and red, only a few reds, but that is a wee bit high. high is five millimetres. what will you do with this data now? make a report and hand it back to the engineers and we will work out a plan to try and solve these issues. but spot isn't running off

the 5g network just yet because there has been a few stumbling blocks with getting it up and running to full capacity. at the moment, it is on a narrow bandwidth, 77 and 78, so we have only had a few specialised sim cards that can connect to it, but we are working on getting some modems in which will convert the 56 into broadband, which will allow more devices to connect to it. but the concept of what might be possible on the 5g network has spurred further innovation. including getting drones to transmit site footage and augmented reality to bring the site to life. you can really get a feel of how this site is going to shape up in the future. exactly, good for demonstration purposes then. the augmented reality means anyone can see the progress of the site in real—time, and understand what is going to be built next. before, especially on a site . like this, we would either have to print off drawings - or download things from

the office, but now if we have to look up a drawing, - we can do it - on the fly, on site. it is easy to see construction as hard hats and the pouring of concrete, but it is clearly no longerjust an industry of manual labour. this is all about future proofing our economy, and making sure that the uk is as good as any other country in the world when it comes to 5g connectivity. and all the applications that flow from it, but actually also to try and get a competitive advantage on other countries in this space. everyone i have spoken to about the 5g and the new tech that they get to work with is really excited about it, and from spot the dog to augmented reality, it is not hard to see why, it is all really cool stuff. there is a serious side to it as well — it makes the work faster and more safe, and it means less people need to come here to the site and deal with these ever—changing shetland weather conditions. it is a win—win, really.

this is this week's tech news. it's now possible to ask google to remove websites containing personal information, like your phone number or e—mail address from search results. google says it will help protect against identity theft and fraud, but warns that that information will still exist online. apple is being forced to explain why other providers can't make use of the contactless payment technology on iphones. it's after the eu accused it of being anti—competitive by limiting the feature to just applepay. by excluding others from the game, apple has unfairly shielded its applepay wallet from competition. if proven, this behaviour would amount to abuse of a dominant position, which is illegal under our rules. now, we're used to facebook�*s owners telling us that the future of shopping will be in the metaverse, but this week it is opening its first physical shop anyway.

the metastore in california will sell products like the quest 2 headset and portal. and fancy hanging out with your favourite artists on roblox? well, these are the possibilities touted by the game's new spotify island where fans and possibly music stars, we'll see, can mingle, make music at virtual beat maker stations and of course, purchase merch. i'm just off to see if ed sheeran fancies a brick battle. i'm prepped for battle. wrote this while training for a boxing match, but it ain't a hassle. this is battle rapping. it's a complex art. the aim is spontaneity, emotional impact, and most of the time, humour. hashtag date night. old el paso dinner kit. for years, i've wanted to rap. but i've never got past the rhyming perfectly stage, or even being able

to do it off the cuff. doing it off the phone doesn't look that cool. 0ur planet earth fits a million times into the sun. six months to get to mars if you take the shortest run. but going from reading rhymes to spitting bars on the stage takes a lot of work. seats on a spaceship, they don't come for free. i'm off the beat already... silly me! i'm going to see if there might be some technology which could help me be half as good as that lot. so, i've come to abbey road to meet micah, who is part of a team who created brainrap. conventionally, as an artist, what you do is you spend a proverbial 10,000 hours, or sometimes its 100,000 hours, sometimes it's ten years. the idea is we take that 10,000 hours and cut it down to ten. you know that i really want to learn how to rap and i hear that by wearing this and looking at this screen, i'm going to get better at it. that is true. i want to do a disclaimer that it isn't like dorothy's

magic shoes. you don't put it on and fly off into the sky. the headset uses something called electroencephalogram, and that is electrical signals from your brain interpreted by machine—learning algorithms into data. yes, the headband literally reads your mind. it pairs with a laptop to combine your brain's output with what you say into the microphone. i want to embrace the place where we interface. the company claims the data from your brain waves helps the system choose the best words based on your mood and also helps it understand when it's time to move on. close your eyes for us, breath in with your nose, put your hand down. breathe, open your eyes. left to right. testing, resting, digesting, divesting and ingesting. i'm questioning and suggesting, investing, protesting, contesting and requesting, manifesting, clandestine betting, petting, belting... it's gone very strange. wow, 0k. what was happening was you were in a flow state, listening to the beat, you were inside it and then

you open your eyes and you just went into flow state. the machine recognised that so it kept it on screen. an accomplished rapper would be able to put quite a few more words in, instead ofjust rhyming words. i will use it and show you. evil is seen in the part of the switch with the truth... for an experienced rapper like micah, the system allows him to be creative because he can focus on building a story instead of worrying about finding the right words. caveat of what's going on, that never be seen... it's clear using the headset takes practice, and like most new music tech, there's a chance it could freak out the old school which, let's face it, always happens. when the synthesiser came out, the music industry was terrified. i think one of the organisations, the musicians union, tried to ban it because they thought it would replace musicians but itjust bred a new format of music. the machine made us breed completely new formats and new genres that we haven't even thought up yet. hold on, i'm not at

the genre—busting stage yet. i need to practice with the machine first. luckily, improvising is actually quite natural to us humans. for example, we don't script most conversations in advance but to start performing well, we need to stop thinking as much. there is part of a brain upfront which is involved in conscious self—monitoring and self—censoring and self—reflection. these parts of the brain are shutting down during a lot of creative behaviours, and so it's almost as if the brain is trying to turn off its monitor. i don't think this is the kind of thing that amateur musicians or amateur rappers can do right away. in fact, i think that's the difference, that they are so self—conscious, they are getting in their way and thinking about so many things that they can't turn off in the brain. speaking to a real—time rhyming dictionary does feel more fluid. so am i really being creative, orjust a mouthpiece for a machine? so many musicians struggle with this question when using tech.

technology can be a helpful support, but i don't necessarily think it can replace the human spirit and the soul. when i play with technology i try to make sure that it is a support to what i'm doing versus a replacement to the art or the organicness. with the headset planned for release injuly for between $3,000—$5,000, it's not exactly an impulse purchase. the software, however, will sell separately for a much more palatable $10, which is arguably the most fun part of the system. six weeks later, i'm back at abbey road. # time is fleeting, goes by quickly. # so i record it. i think they were all surprised by my improvement. whether this is due to skill or software, i'm not sure. # like kirk, i want to go bolder. # i thought by now i would be wiser but i'm just older.# musicians embracing new technology has always resulted in amazing creative leaps. this concept feels like one of those leaps. plus, anything that makes creativity accessible to people

who don't think they can do something is a good thing. next time i get a chance to go on stage at the don't flop battle rap, i mightjust take it. she's good, isn't she? brilliant. that's not the only outrageous musical behaviour going on this week. is it, lara lewington? no. are you a raver? i don't know why i've actually asked that question. do i look like a raver? i've been sent to coventry to the uk city of culture festival for a trip into the past with a bit of a futuristic twist. i'm taking a trip back in time to 1989. only this time i'm not ten years old. i'm heading to an illegal rave. i've just got to find it. hello? welcome to the rave. first, it's time to get on a vr headset, some headphones for spatial audio, and a vibrating vest

to feel the beat. i don't know whether i'm expected to try and re—tune the radio? yes? i am slightly ahead of the game. i can change the frequency by walking up and down. the meeting point will be revealed later. - we mix motion capture, volumetric data, animation. some of it is 360 video on blue screen and 3—d environments, and we try and seamlessly sort of take you through movement within the scene to different parts of the experience. i'm on top of the record! that happens from the very start, when you imagine that you are inside the record player, and then you gradually get taken along this journey, even to the point where you are walking along the floor trying to tune a radio. what we were looking for in terms of interaction,

the key for interaction is to find something that feels intuitive, something that maybe it uses your whole body and you get it straight away. everyone is searching for the rave at once, including the police. this is what is going on in the station. something over here. this is tim, a policeman in the acid house squad. the responsibility of the squad was to gather intelligence was to disrupt activity, and try to gather evidence to prosecute individuals involved. were are you worried about glamorising something that was illegal? not really, no. i don't think we glamorise it. and it's not really about the illegality of the event. back in 1989, these events were unlicensed. that wasn't because they were illegal, it's because the licensing laws at the time were not around to stop people doing it. meanwhile, i've been looking for clues at my friend's house and out and about. remember phone boxes? i'm naturally feeling i need to walk towards this phone.

hello, this is amnesia house. tonight's massive party will be taking place as scheduled. the rose and crown pubfor10:30pm. that's the first meeting point. there is the music. i've got bass in a backpack. this is amazing. the backpack is called a sub pack and you wear it and basically certain frequencies in the soundtrack respond to that, so it gives you a deep sort of bass vibration. it is really good to build up tension. when you're outside the warehouse and you're trying to find the entrance, as you get closer you can hear like a doom, doom, doom, and you can feel that. that was really important to me because i remember that feeling of coming up to a club and feeling that sense of trepidation, like, i feel nervous as i'm going on but also excited. the police have found us. i can't believe i'm now wanting to run away from the police. is that how i'm meant to feel? we didn't focus

on drugs at all. we didn't really feel the need to sort of, look at all those, sort of, basically what was going on behind—the—scenes. ultimately, it's about finding the rave and thenjust letting the rave seep through you and enjoying the rave and being with people. wow! i was totally and utterly immersed in another world there. it was fascinating to see what an emotive and important time this was for people who are part of it. it really was a scene that meant so much to people and ifeel like i've learned something today. now with this piece we are sort of at the most advanced we've ever been. we have the ability to walk around. that's six degrees of freedom. we have interactions, we have haptics, so we have wind blowing in your face. you don't know it's happening, you just feel it. you know what to do. - you are at a warehouse party. this is going to be

the big one! - did you just feel it? absolutely! not that it was exactly my scene. i did feel like i was living somebody else�*s life. that's true. let's be honest, that is the closest either of us have ever been to a rave. i think that's fair. 1989, it was all about kylie minogue for me. and jason. let's leave it there, shall we? thanks for watching. we will see you soon. bye! hello. rain reached some of the driest southern areas of the uk on wednesday. it wasn't very much, but it was more than has fallen for quite some time. that system now out of the way, and southern areas are having

a mainly dry thursday to come, whereas across northern areas close to a weather front, there'll be some more rain, particularly across parts of scotland, and especially in the west. there will be a lot of dry weather to begin the day and a cooler start, with temperatures quite widely into single figures. a little bit lower than this in some rural spots. there will be lots of sunshine first thing. all parts will see cloud increasing. not everywhere will get rain from that cloud. there will be a few showers popping up in northern ireland during the morning, lasting into the afternoon. northwest scotland turning wetter, more widely across western parts of scotland — later in the day, you'll see some rain. some of that pushing a bit further east during the afternoon. the odd shower for wales and southwest england. across wales and england, more cloud in the afternoon, compared with the morning. and a warmer day across the east and southeast of england, where it stays dry, with some sunny spells, compared with wednesday's rain. it is scotland, northern ireland, northern england with some patchy rain on into thursday night, and then, really by friday morning, it's just the northern half of scotland really seeing some rain on what will be a milder

start to the day. so on friday, then, it's really across northern scotland, we will see some further outbreaks of rain for a time. some cloud elsewhere in scotland, northern england, and northern ireland. it's wales and the southern half of england that will see the lion's share of friday's sunshine, on what will be a windy day across scotland, northern ireland and northern england, in particular — really quite gusty winds here. and temperatures are edging just a touch higher. now, it is a sign of things to come into the weekend — it will be pleasantly warm, especially when you get to see some sunshine. high pressure is close by. but that's not the whole story — later saturday, saturday night, first thing sunday, there are some showers, even some thunderstorms pushing up from the south, into parts of england and wales. some of those come back sunday night and into monday morning. so, whilst many places this weekend will stay dry, there will be a chance of seeing a shower or maybe a thunderstorm, especially the further south you are. so, a selection of locations — you can find more places, of course, online and through the app — showing a lot of fine, pleasantly warm weather

when the sun is out, but again, a chance of showers and thunderstorms later on saturday, particularly into england and wales.

this is bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: explosion. we're on the frontline of war in ukraine, near kharkiv, where despite ukrainian advances, the threat of russian fire is constant. every inch of ground they gain here, every other mile gives their city respite from the russian guns that you can hear. in the us, republican senators block a democrat bill which aimed to preserve women's right to abortion nationwide. it was put to a vote ahead of a key supreme court ruling. broadcaster al—jazeera accuses the israeli military of deliberately targeting journalists after one of its best known correspondents, shireen abu aklay, was shot dead in the occupied west bank.