this is bbc news. our top stories: the biggest air disruption in america since 9/11. officials say a damaged database file caused a technical fault that forced flights to be grounded across the us. 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. fighting intensifies in eastern ukraine, as the battle for the town of soledar proves one of the bloodiest of the war so far. 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 7am, 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. yeah, 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 9am. 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 o'donoghue, bbc news.

well, earlier i spoke to associated press airline reporter david koenig and asked what he felt had gone wrong. hejoins a smell from he joins a smell from dallas. thank you forjoining us. the faa says the system failure was due to a system failure but there are questions as to why backup systems didn't actually prevent the failure, so where did it all go wrong? that prevent the failure, so where did it all go wrong?— did it all go wrong? that is exactly right. _ did it all go wrong? that is exactly right. that - did it all go wrong? that is exactly right. that is - did it all go wrong? that is exactly right. that is what | did it all go wrong? that is i exactly right. that is what the investigation is hopefully going to answer because it is just an ironclad ruling on aviation that you are supposed to have redundancy, you are not supposed to have what is cold a single window failure wedge is one thing goes wrong and the whole system collapses. the faa is 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, so they have a lot of questions to answer. the faa says there is no evidence of a cyber attack, and a thorough review will take place, what happens now and how long will a investigation like this take? it's hard to say, it will drag on for a while. i think you'll see 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 for weeks, stretching over a period of weeks, there won't be hearings every day, it's going to take some time. it has obviously caused a lot of disruption for passengers, chaos in the airports, what's been the knock on effect from all of this? yeah, it did take a while.

even after the faa had lifted its ground stop at 9am eastern time in the us, they acknowledged it was going to take some time because of the backlog, so there was this 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, we are over 1,300 cancellations, nearly 10,000 delayed flights, just today. hopefully, tomorrow will be more normal. fingers crossed, thank you for your time on bbc news. the family of a british national, 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 a so they are supporting his family. the man suspected of stabbing six people at a paris rain station on wednesday is reported to be a liberal national who was due to be deported. he is currently in hospital after being shot as police tried to stop as attack. police are still investigating the motive although it is not ought to be terror related. demar 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 with the buffalo bills and the cincinnati bengals. doctors said they were confident he could now be safely discharged. to the conflict in ukraine now. russia's defence ministry say fighting continues in soledar in eastern ukraine, despite earlier claims by the head of the russian mersenary 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. beck, who played with the yard birds in the 1960s,

he won eight grammys. his fingers and thumbs were famously insured for more than $8 million. well, earlier i spoke with another rock legend, gene simmons from kiss, who has been leading tributes to jeff beck. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. no doubt it is a really sad day for the music industry. jeff known as one of the greatest musicians of all time, you knew him well, what would you like as a person and musician? it's difficult. i learned aboutjeff�*s passing not too long ago, just a few hours ago, if you can hear it in my voice, it is a little much. first, more importantly

than the bbc and all the accolades and all that is my heart goes out to his family, to his fans, to everybody. he... voice waivers 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 were, 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, " dad, it'sjeff beck." "yes, that'sjeff beck." "oh, my god." i go, "do you want to say hello to him." "do i want to?" "yeah, yeah!"

my son was so overtaken, the words that came out of him, he was a blithering idiot, he couldn't even form the words. will tell you that — the classics, the greats, talents — onlyjeff beck had the ability, the god—given blessing to be able to easily be an icon injazz, in fusion, in rock, blues, he could do it all. you want to hear something classic? listen tojeff beck's version of nessun dorma with a symphony orchestra, it, if nobody�*s around, you will cry. it's beyond anything.

it was just so lovely to hear that fond memory betweenjeff beck and your son, and you mentioned an icon indeed and to this day he has influenced so many musicians. what impact did he have on you and also your music? i will tell you that above and beyond the words, every day when we do shows, we put a little music on in the background. unfailing, every single pre—show because it takes me two hours to do the make up and all that nonsense, every day that we're about to go do a show what fires me up is the same thing that fired uinmmy page and led zeppelin, before there was the zeppelin, you put on the first jeff beck record, truth, and then beck—ola, the second one, it'sjust undeniable, nothing like it has been done before, during or since, it's fair to say thejeff beck group begat led zeppelin, i listen to it all the time. when it plays i'm like other guitar players, i hum along with the solos, that's

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 do you think his music meant to the world? it changes lives. grammys and schammmys and awards, that doesn't mean as much as somebody being touched in their heart, personally by something. it doesn't matter if— there are all kinds of awards given out to people, i have never heard about and emotionally don't care about. emotion is what it's all about. jeff may not have had the best voice in the world but i will tell you 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. and he 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 off the tv before you go sleep — put on somejeff beck, whether it's fusion, jazz, rock... my personal first two favourites are the first two jeff beck group albums, after all the talking is done he will never go away, his music will live on. listen to his music, his music will be right there. indeed, his music will always live on. gene simmons, thank you for your time here on bbc news. good to speak to. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: tributes —— former tennis number one naomi osaka announces her pregnant see but already has her i 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 simply 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 world news. the latest headlines: aviation officials say a damaged database file caused the technical fault that forced flights to be grounded across the us. and fighting intensifies in eastern ukraine as the battle for the town of soledar proved one of the bloodiest of the russian invasion so far. torrential rain continues to fall in california as the latest storms sweeps in the pacific. at least 17 people have died in the american state after a month of heavy rain and flooding. us president has declared a state of emergency. 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 alljust 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 osaka, 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 ultrasound scan confirming that she is expecting her first child. our news reporter azadeh moshiri joins us now. there's lots of lovely messages, aren't there, pouring in over social media. what more do we know about the news that she has shared? that's right, coco gauff, one of her peers, for example, congratulated her on twitter, so did tennis legend billiejean king. and it is worth pulling up the message she posted alongside that ultrasound scan, which announced her pregnancy. in it she said, "i know that

i have so much to look forward "to in the future..." now, as you mentioned, on sunday, we found out that she was not going to participate in the australian open, but she has not actually played in tournament since september, since the pan pacific open in tokyo. and this is someone who has prioritized her wellbeing, her mental health in the past. you might remember that in the french open, in 2021, she pulled out of press conferences, pulled out of the tournament, and went on to explain that she had been going through bouts of depression in the last few years. this time, of course, it is for happier news. she is prioritising her personal life, she is having a child, and why not take a break, she's 25 years old and she's won four grand slam titles. of course, why not. and she is also aiming to return to the australian open, isn't she, next year and she not the only female tennis player who has taken a break recently after announcing their pregnancy? that's right. angelique kerber announced that she was taking a break, last august and she had a great

message along with it, she said she didn't think two against one is not fair. there are also female tennis players who have taken a break for pregnancy and then came back to win grand slam titles. evonne goolagong cawley is one of them, kim clijsters is another. and of course, tennis great serena williams took a break had her child in 2017, came back to reach finals and then retired last year. and the women's tennis association has also been changing some of its rules in 2019 to make it easier for new mothers to come back. so, don't count naomi out, don't count female tennis players out when they have children because, as you said, naomi is going to be back early next year. what has been some of the reaction to this announcement? there was coco gauff and there was billiejean king, as i mentioned earlier, you of course have magazine spreads, like g0 and vogue, who have gone big about it on twitter and that's

because someone like naomi osaka has become a bit of a legend, you know, the japanese player who won four grand slam titles at such a young age and came onto the scene in 2018 when she beat serena williams — i mean, one of the all—time greats, so, it is a big announcement and it is getting a lot of attention. good on her, and as you were saying, only 25 years old. thank you very much, 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, according to a source from the manhattan based agency, the model co—op. 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 tatjana is the foundation set up by the late photographer peter linbergh, who worked closely with many supermodels. the tweet, �*we are deeply saddened by the passing of tatjana patitz, a long—time friend of peter's. we would like to salute tatjana's kindness, inner beauty and outstanding intelligence.�* the broadcaster kris krosach has quoted tatjana, �*i am proud of my wrinkles. i worked for each one and they belong to me. growing older is beautiful. you become wiser and more mature.�* a reminder of our top story. oh, iwill a reminder of our top story. oh, i willjust remind you of the story that had just read, we were speaking about a minute ago and that is tatjana patitz has died at the age of 56. you are watching bbc news with me

monika plaha. 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 it 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 aomph,

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, perhapsjust 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.

now i'm 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 forests are facing devastating losses.