welcome to bbc news. i'm monika plaha. our top stories. the biggest air disruption in america since 9/11. officials say a damaged data base file caused a technical fault that forced flights to be grounded across the us. my my top priority now the system is working this morning is to understand the root cause. understand it could have led to this level of disruption and make sure it does not happen again. explosion fighting intensifies in eastern ukraine as the battle for the town of soledar proves one of the bloodiest of the war so far. music plays jeff beck, one of the guitar

masters of the rock era, dies suddenly at the age of 78. little relief from the rain in california as the chaos caused by deadly downpours becomes clear, there's warnings of worse weather to come. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. an investigation into the failure of the safety messaging system which led to all departing flights in the united states being grounded early on wednesday was caused by a damaged file in a database and not by a cyber attack. that's according to an investigation by the federal aviation authority. flights have been getting back to normal, but the us transport secretary said the faa must find out why backup systems did not prevent the failure.

our north america correspondent, gary o'donahew reports. it was in the early hours that the problems began to emerge with the notam system, which warns pilots of any dangers before they take off. byjust after 7:00am, the federal aviation authority was ordering all carriers across the us to ground their planes until further notice, causing chaos for early morning travellers. i'm a little annoyed. a little nervous. we're going on a cruise. we have a cruise to catch at 6pm. i feel bad for the people who are actually sitting i on planes right now. i mean, we're at least lucky| that we're still in the airport and if i truly wanted - to i could go back home. you would not think that this could happen in this day and age, you know, with all the money that's pumped into transportation, but here we are again. in a tweet, the white house said the president had been informed and that there was no evidence that a cyber attack was responsible at that point.

thousands of flights were delayed, affecting all airlines from coast to coast. the all clear was given around 9:00am. by that time, huge backlogs had occurred. the transportation secretary said the problems had resulted from irregularities in the safety messages being transferred to pilots, and it was important to find out why the usual redundancies in the system hadn't prevented the failure. when there's a problem with a government system, we're going to own it, we're going to find it and we're going to fix it. my top priority right now, now that the system is working again as of about 9:00 this morning, is to understand the root cause, understand how it could have led to this level of disruption and understand how to make sure that it does not happen again. the transportation department has begun an inquiry and a senate committee has said it will do the same. given the disruption that's been caused and the fact that the faa doesn't currently have a permanent administrator in post, answers will be

demanded as soon as possible. gary 0'donoghue, bbc news. we can now speak to associated press airline reporter, david koenig whojoins us from dallas. the faa say the system failure was due to a damaged file, lots of questions as to why backup systems didn't prevent the failure, where did it all go wrong? that's exactly right that's what the investigation will hopefully answer, because there is an ironclad rule in aviation you are supposed to have redundancy, you aren't supposed to have a single point of failure we just one thing goes wrong and the whole system collapses. the faa under a lot of pressure, to describe why they didn't have a backup system or if they do why it didn't work. they tried to

restart the main system this morning after it went out last night and that didn't work either, a lot of questions to answer. �* �* either, a lot of questions to answer. ~ ~ , , ., answer. faa says there is no evidence _ answer. faa says there is no evidence of— answer. faa says there is no evidence of a _ answer. faa says there is no evidence of a cyber - answer. faa says there is no evidence of a cyber attack, l answer. faa says there is no i evidence of a cyber attack, and a review will take place, what happens now and how long will and castigation like this take? it's hard to say, it will drag on for a while, the faa and the department of transportation and biden administration come out with answers pretty quickly, congress is now getting involved, committees have indicated they want to look into this as part of their re— authorising the faa for later this year, so we can expect hearings to go on, probably four weeks, stretching over a period of weeks, there will be hearings every day, it's going to take some time. it has obviously caused a lot of disruption for passengers,

chaos and the airports, what's been the knock on effect from all of this? it been the knock on effect from all of this?— all of this? it did take a while. even _ all of this? it did take a while. even after- all of this? it did take a while. even after the i all of this? it did take a l while. even after the faa all of this? it did take a - while. even after the faa the its ground stop at 9am eastern time in the us, they acknowledge it was going to take some time because of the backlog, so there was cascading chaos of delays and some cancellations, lasting all through the day and we are now at the point i checked a little bit ago, 1,300 cancellations, nearly 10,000 delayed flights, just two days. hopefully, tomorrow will be more normal. fingers crossed. david koenig, thank you for your time on bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the family of a british iranian dual national sentenced to death in iran have told the bbc that authorities are preparing to execute him. alireza akbari was arrested more than two years ago and accused of spying for the uk, which he denied.

the foreign office has urged iran to release him and say they are supporting his family. the man suspected of stabbing six people at a paris train station on wednesday is reported to be a libyan national who was due to be deported he's currently in hospital after being shot as police tried to stop his attacks. police are still investigating the motive although it's not thought to be terror related. damar hamlin has been discharged from hospital nine days after suffering a cardiac arrest during an nfl game. he collapsed during a match between his team the buffalo bills and the cincinnati bengals. doctors said they were confident that he could now be safely discharged. to the conflict in ukraine now, and russia's defence ministry say fighting continues in soledar in eastern ukraine, despite earlier claims by the head of the russian mercenary group, wagner, that his forces had taken

the town. the town is seen as strategically significant as it could be used by russian forces as a place from which to launch a fresh assault on the city of bakhmut, which has been the scene of fierce fighting for weeks. james waterhouse has this report. distant artillery fire. the situation in soledar depends on who you ask. it's under control as of this morning, according to this ukrainian commander. "they will never break us", says his injured comrade. "we are winning". but if you ask these two, "wagner are clearing the city," they say. russian, yes, but not from the regular army. they're from a private military group called wagner, a network of mercenaries who do a lot of russia's fighting. its boss, yevgeny prigozhin,

has recently recruited convicts from russianjails, and they've been spearheading the attack on soledar, claiming to now be in full control. we chat to one ukrainian soldier on the front to see if that's the case. don't believe russian propaganda. it's not true. bakhmut and soledar have ukrainian control. kyiv has described the battle for soledar and bakhmut as the bloodiest scenario yet. and that's all we can say with real certainty. small amounts of territory are being fiercely fought over, and the human cost is huge. but the kremlin is less keen to acknowledge that, instead accusing ukraine of exaggerating the situation to secure more military support, which is continuing to arrive. on a visit to western ukraine, poland's president duda

is the latest to announce the supply of tanks. volodymyr zelensky wants more to follow suit. in russia, there seems to be division. the kremlin claims there is still fighting in soledar, at odds with wagner's take. translation: i understand that the situation in - the new entities is difficult and hostilities continue in some territories. peaceful life has not been restored everywhere, and the safety of people has not been ensured. moscow is continuing to claim everything is going to plan in its quest to occupy the eastern donbas region. you wonder what will be left, whether it succeeds or not. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. the rock musicianjeff beck, known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, has died at the age of 78.

music plays beck, who played with the yardbirds in the 1960s and led thejeff beck group, died suddenly after contracting bacterial meningitis on tuesday. he won eight grammys. his fingers and thumbs were famously insured for more than $8 million. we can now speak to another rock legend, gene simmons from kiss, one of many paying tribute to jeff beck. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. no doubt a really sad day for the music industry, geoff beck known as one of the greatest musicians of all time, you knew him well but was he like as a person and musician and person. like as a person and musician and person-— and person. it's difficult i learned _ and person. it's difficult i learned about _ and person. it's difficult i learned about his - and person. it's difficult i | learned about his passing and person. it's difficult i - learned about his passing not too long ago, just a few hours ago, if you can hear it in my

voice, it is a little mark. first, more importantly than the bbc and all the accolades and all that was my heart goes out to his family, to his fans, to everybody. i'll tell you a good story above and beyond his god—given, the miracle that was jeff beck as a musician. i was proud to be able to host the classic rock awards, and in the room i was going on and on about all the guitarists and the drummers, the room was filled with all these giant figures, and my son nick was with me sitting at the table with me sitting at the table with me sitting at the table with me and goes dad, it is jeff beck. yes, that'sjeff beck. 0h, jeff beck. yes, that'sjeff beck. oh, my god. do you want to say hello to him. do i want to? yes, yes,. isaid geoff, my

son is a big fan of yours. he goes all right, nick, how are you. nice to see you. my son was overtaken, the words that came out to him he was a blithering idiot, he couldn't form the words. i will tell you that in all the guitar players will tell you that, the classics, the greats, jimmy clapton, jimmy page, amazing talents, onlyjeff beck had the ability, the god—given blessing to be able to easily be an icon injazz, infusion, and rock, blues, he could do it all, you want to hear something classic? listen to a version of this and dormer with a sum in august and jeff beck, if nobody is around you will cry. it jeff beck, if nobody is around you will cry-— you will cry. it is 'ust so lovely to t

you will cry. it is 'ust so lovely to hear h you will cry. it isjust so lovely to hear that - you will cry. it isjust so lovely to hear that fond | you will cry. it isjust so - lovely to hear that fond memory between jeff beck and your son, and you betweenjeff beck and your son, and you mention an icon and to this day he has influenced so many musicians. what impact did he have on you and also your music? i he have on you and also your music? , ., ., ,., music? i will tell you above and beyond _ music? i will tell you above and beyond the _ music? i will tell you above and beyond the words - music? i will tell you above | and beyond the words every music? i will tell you above - and beyond the words every day when we do shows we put music on in the background, unfailing, every single preshow because it takes me two hours to do the make up and all that nonsense, every day, that we are about to go do a show what fires me up is the same thing that fired up the page and led zeppelin, before you played that firstjeff beck record, and they called the second one, it's undeniable, nothing like it's undeniable, nothing like it has been done for during or since, it's fair to say the jeff beck group began led zeppelin, i listen to it all the time. when it plays i'm like other guitar players, and i hum along to the solos, that

is the sound of greatness. to this day he has made an incredible contribution to music, hasn't he? eight time grammy winner alongside many other achievements and awards, what you think is music meant to the world?— to the world? the changes lives, grammys _ to the world? the changes lives, grammys and - to the world? the changes| lives, grammys and awards to the world? the changes - lives, grammys and awards that doesn't mean as much as somebody being touched on their heart, personally by something, doesn't matter if there are all kinds of awards given out to people i have never heard about and emotionally care about. emotion is what it's all about, he may not have had the best voice in the world but his guitar sang like no human being on the face of the planet. you can learn how to play guitar, you can't learn how to bejeff beck, it's god—given. bud you can't learn how to be jeff beck, it's god-given.- beck, it's god-given. and he did touch _ beck, it's god-given. and he did touch the _ beck, it's god-given. and he did touch the lives _ beck, it's god-given. and he did touch the lives of - beck, it's god-given. and he did touch the lives of many l did touch the lives of many people and from the tributes on social media, looking now, jeff

beck and his music will be greatly missed, but no doubt his legacy will always live on? you can do yourself a favour after you turn of the tv and go to sleep, put on somejeff beck, whether it's fusion, jazz, rock my first two favourites are the first to jeff beck group albums, after all the talk is done he will never go away, his music will live on. listen to his music, his music will be right there. jean simmons thank you for your time here on bbc news. good to speak to. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: former tennis number one naomi 0saka announces her pregnancy but already has her eye on a return to the court. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war.

tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest. but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. l huge parts of kobe were simplyl demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no advice i by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. j tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: aviation officials say a damaged database file caused the technical fault that forced flights to be grounded across the us. fighting intensifies in eastern ukraine as the battle for the town of soledar proves one of the bloodiest of the russian invasion so far. torrential rain continues to fall in californina, as the latest storm sweeps in from the pacific. mudslides have cut off roads and communities. at least 17 people have died in the american state, after a month of heavy rain and flooding. the us president has declared a state of emergency. here's james clayton. santa cruz is famous for surf, but not quite like this. its historic pier has been smashed, beachside houses destroyed. this is supposed to be a picturesque beach, but it's absolutely covered in detritus, wood, even entire trees that have been swept into the sea

by swollen rivers. the president has declared a state of emergency across the state, and here in los angeles, two vehicles plunged into this huge sinkhole that opened up on the road as a result of flooding. local media reported that two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. the small town of felton near santa cruz has been under water as the local river burst its banks. karen hendrick realised the water was coming up to her house too late. she couldn't get out, stuck above the water as it rose around her home. is it scary when you're surrounded by floodwater like that? this was the first time that i was scared, yeah. in the past, i always thought, you know, "oh, we'll get three, "four, even five feet of floodwater come through". this one didn't seem like it was going to stop. and i was imagining, you know, 10—12 feet of water, so that was pretty scary.

2a hours ago, the floodwater was about up here to my chest. it's now receded, but what it's left is this thick, glutinous mud, which has covered what is, in fact, a paved road. and of course, the mud hasn't just stuck to the streets. it's covered the inside of people's homes, too. audrey baxter is a student who lives in the town. she lost childhood memories. it'sjust something i used to read as a child, and it's all just soaked all the way through. many other areas across california are being deluged — floods, landslides and blackouts, the governor of california scrambling for resources and worried about what's to come. have you ever seen anything like it? not at this scale. i mean, i've seen isolated incidents. these experiences are unique in that respect. they're novel, but they're also predictable because this is our reality with this weather whiplash and the extremes.

and it's likely we'll see more of this in our future. and with more storms forecast to hit the coast, california is braced for yet more rain and more damage to come. james clayton, bbc news, santa cruz. now the former world number one tennis player naomi 0hsaka withdrew from the australian open that starts next week. and now we know why. the 25—year—old posted what she called a little life update for 2023 on social media, including a picture of an ultra sound scan confirming that she is expecting her first child. 0ur news reporter azedeh moshiri joins us 110w. lots of lovely messages pouring in on social media. so what more do we know about the news that she has shared?— that she has shared? that's riaht, that she has shared? that's right. coco _ that she has shared? that's right, coco gauff_ that she has shared? that's right, coco gauff for - that she has shared? that's i right, coco gauff for example congratulated her on twitter, so did tennis legend billie jean king, and it was worth pulling up the message that she posted alongside the ultrasound

scan, which announced her pregnancy. in it she said, "i know i have so much... as you mentioned, on sunday we found out she wasn't going to participate in the australian open but she hasn't actually 0pen but she hasn't actually played since september in tokyo, and this is someone who has prioritised her well being, her mental health in the past. you might remember that in the french open in a 2021 she pulled out a press conferences, pulled out a press conferences, pulled out a press conferences, pulled out of the tournament and went on to explain she had been going through bouts of depression in the last few years. this time of course it is happier news, she is prioritising her personal life, she is having a child and why not take a break? she has won four grand slam titles. find not take a break? she has won four grand slam titles. and she is planning _ four grand slam titles. and she is planning to — four grand slam titles. and she is planning to return _ four grand slam titles. and she is planning to return to - four grand slam titles. and she is planning to return to the - is planning to return to the australian open next year, and she is not the only female tennis player who has taken a

break recently after announcing pregnancy? al macbeth right, angelique kerber and she was taking a break last august and she had a great message saying that she didn't think two against one is fair, and there are almost —— also female tennis players who have taken a break and come back to win titles, if gongolgon quality, kim clijsters, and of course some tennis grades, serena williams took a break. —— evonne goolagong. the women's tennis association has also been changing some of its rules in 2019 to make it easier for new mothers do come back so don't count naomi 0saka, don't count female tennis players at when they have gotten because as you say she will be back earlier next year. and what has been some of the reaction to the announcement? so coco gauff and billiejean king as i mentioned earlier. of course you have magazine spreads like gq course you have magazine spreads like g0 and broke that have gone back about it on

twitter and that is because someone like naomi 0saka has become a bit of a legend, you know, the japanese player who won the grantham titles at such a young age and came into the scene in 2018 when she bit serena williams, one of the all—time greats, so it is a big announcement and getting a lot of attention. announcement and getting a lot of attention-— of attention. exactly, and good on her, of attention. exactly, and good on her. and — of attention. exactly, and good on her, and only— of attention. exactly, and good on her, and only 25 _ of attention. exactly, and good on her, and only 25 years - of attention. exactly, and good on her, and only 25 years old. | on her, and only 25 years old. thank you very much. we appreciate it. tatjana patitz, one of the original supermodels who dominated fashion in the 1980s and �*90s has died aged 56. she reportedly died on wednesday morning. that's according to a source from the manhattan based agency, the model co—0p. the germany born model was among a handful of women of the era whose looks and style catapulted them to a global fame that transcended modelling.

among those paying tribute to her is the foundation set up by the lead photographer, peter, who worked closely with many supermodels. the tweet, we are deeply saddened by the passing of tatjana pa, we'd like to salute her kindness, inner beauty and outstanding intelligence. and the broadcaster has said, i am proud of my wrinkles, i work for each one and they belong to me, quoting her. she said, growing old is beautiful, you become wiser and more mature. now, a reminder of our top story. i willjust remind you of the story i just story. i willjust remind you of the story ijust read, we were speaking about a minute ago, and that is tatjana patitz, one of the original supermodels who dominated fashion in the 1980s and 1990s has died, and that is at the age of 56. you are watching bbc news with me.

hello there. we are stuck in repeat mode, i'm afraid, which means yet more wet and windy weather to come. in actual fact, to close out this week, it's going to be a case of showers, longer spells of rain at times and the winds will always be a feature. now, for the time being, we've got some wet weather pushing its way across england and wales, with the heaviest pulses of rain across south wales and parts of south—west england. it could lead to some localised flooding here, accompanied by gale force gusts of winds as well. so that weather front will linger first thing thursday morning. another area of low pressure nudging into the far north—west of scotland as we go through the morning will gradually bring wetter and increasingly windy weather here as well. sandwiched in between the two,

there will be some drier, brighter interludes, and eventually that rain in the south will start to pull away. wind gusts, though, quite a feature, in excess of 40, close to 50 mph on exposed coasts at times, so a blustery afternoon. a south—westerly wind direction, so on your thermometer, temperatures will peak at about 12—13 degrees, but it may well feel a bit cooler if you're caught in the cloud, the wind and the rain. as we go through the night, we could see strengthening winds for a time as that low pressure drifts its way eastwards, so severe gales not out of the question along the southern flank of that low. with the cloud and the rain around, temperatures will hold up above freezing, but that low pressure will start to pull away on friday, over to scandinavia. and we start to see the isobars open up. this little bump, this ridge of high pressure will quieten things down for friday, although the wind direction's swinging back around to more of a northerly or north—westerly, so a slightly cooler source. but there will be some sunshine around on friday. it will be a drier day, just a few scattered showers

driven along the coast by the strength of those winds. top temperatures in scotland between 5 and 8 degrees. highest values further south, perhaps just scraping into double figures once again. more wet and windy weather arrives, though, in time for the weekend. once again, a low centred to the far north will introduce some cooler weather as well, some wintry showers to higher ground, but there is a chance that we are going to see some pretty wet weather on saturday. fingers crossed, something just that little bit drier as we move into sunday.

0n on bbc 0n bbc news, it is extreme conservation, turkey. i am michaela strachan, a wildlife presenter who is passionate about conservation. my work has taken me all over the world. and in that time, i have seen huge changes, many due to climate change. in extreme conservation, we meet inspirational people who've dedicated their lives to protecting the natural world. this time, i'm in turkey. this country's stunning forest are facing devastating losses.