hello, this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. it is now known that at least 9000 people have been killed in turkey and syria by massive earthquakes as the search for survivors continues. these are the latest live pictures of the recovery operation on the turkish side of the border. president biden uses his annual state of the union speech to call on the united states to be more united. my speech to call on the united states to be more united.— to be more united. my republican friends, if to be more united. my republican friends. if we _ to be more united. my republican friends, if we could _ to be more united. my republican friends, if we could work- to be more united. my republican friends, if we could work togetheri friends, if we could work together in the last congress, there is no reason we can't work together and find consensus on important things in this congress as well.— in this congress as well. president volod m r in this congress as well. president volodymyr zelensky _ in this congress as well. president volodymyr zelensky is _ in this congress as well. president volodymyr zelensky is expected . in this congress as well. presidenti volodymyr zelensky is expected in

the uk today for the first time since the russian invasion of ukraine. the first stamps featuring king charles the third had been unveiled by the royal mail. and lebronjames has become the nba's all—time leading scorer, passing the 39—year—old record. hello and welcome. more than 9500 people are now known to have died following two devastating earthquakes which hit turkey and syria. the death toll is likely to rise significantly as rescue workers and civilians continue to search the rubble and survivors trapped beneath

it succumb to their injuries and the bitterly cold weather. the earthquakes were the biggest in the region since 1939, and they have triggered dozens of after—shocks along the east anatolian fault line. it is one of the world's most active areas for seismic activity. we can show you the scene live now at one attempted search and rescue operation. this scene, replicated throughout turkey and, indeed, northern syria. rescuers still hope to find survivors beneath the rubble, but they are acutely aware that the time to find anyone still surviving is running out. and the bitterly cold weather conditions are clearly a huge factor in that.

the desperate search for survivors continued overnight, often in bitterly cold conditions. with each hour that passes, the chance of finding more people alive diminishes. in the worst hit area of turkey, a grim scene, brightened by the smiles of rescuers. a woman has just been pulled alive from a collapsed building. elsewhere, relatives call out to loved ones, assuring the track that help is on its way. the first quake struck near gaziantep in the early hours of monday. whole streets reduced to rubble in less than a minute. syrian authorities have reported deaths as far south as hama, more than 150 miles from the epicentre. in this war torn country, there are limited emergency services, so relatives are digging with their hands to try to save the buried. translation: we need excavators.

we need equipment. we don't have anything. some, overwhelmed by heartbreak, like this man, desperately searching for his wife. translation: fatima, where are you? where have you gone? rescuers in the country say there's still hope more people can be found. for sure, there are people still alive right now and waiting for us, waiting for help, waiting for our efforts to reach them. three britons are among the thousands missing, according to the foreign office. three britons are among the thousands missing, according to the foreign office.

a team of 77 uk search and rescue specialists, equipped with concrete breaking tools and four sniffer dogs, arrived in turkey yesterday. in the uk, community centres continue to gather donations to send to those in need. king charles has sent his special prayers to victims of the earthquake, and the rescue teams working tirelessly to help them. howard johnson, bbc news. and we are returning to this rescue effort in the city of gaziantep, in turkey, we have been watching this one for a while now. a deadlock earlier as the rescuers thought they may have found someone, or at least were pausing to listen as they do from time to time. picking their way really delicately through the devastating scenes of destruction.

international aid coming all the way into turkey, and also getting into northern syria, although the situation is more complicated there, perhaps we don't know the full extent of the devastation in northern syria in the way that we do in turkey. this is !. —— gaziantep. you can see how the flaws of this building have been flattened. and on top, again, the brave search and rescue efforts continue. there are still hope that people may be pulled out of this devastation alive. we

will keep a close eye on those search and rescue operations. that is diyarbak r, not gaziantep, as it says on your screen. 0ur correspondence tom bateman is in adana and send this update. this ci is the adana and send this update. this city is the west _ adana and send this update. ti 3 city is the west end of what was that elongated earthquakes own. it suffered significant damage to several buildings. much of the city, when you compare it to the rest of the region... i think i might have to be quiet now. do we need to stop? we can carry on talking.

as i said, that zone, gaziantep being the epicentre, obviously it was the worst affected. here, things are functioning, there is power in that city. they have the heavy lifting machinery, and the ability with these teams to start trying to clear the rubble. that is what they have been doing, they have been here since the earthquake took place. in this building, this wreckage, they have only been pulling bodies. around day and night, the relatives of people who are in the building, other people evacuated from other buildings here, who have just been waiting for news. what has been happening every 30 minutes or so is that the team on top ask everybody to stop talking for complete silence, just in case they think they might have heard a voice or they can feel or hear something moving. tragically, so far, none of that has led to any good news for the people waiting here. but, you know, it is a sign

that there is still hope. but as that window of time continues after the earthquake itself, obviously things become much more difficult. what can you tell us about aid that is coming into adana? i am just talking to somebody from the charity human appeal, in gaziantep a moment ago. they are bringing in hygiene kits, food and so forth. the scale of the task awaiting those charities, and humanitarian organisations, is clearly enormous? yes, there is aid coming in. there are certain rescue workers coming on as well. that is something we saw on our way into the airport itself. it is not a huge airport. it's one of the only ones that is functioning in the region. that is why this has become a hub for operations. the problem is, even when they get into this city,

it is getting further afield. just on what should have been quite a simple drive yesterday, to a town that is about an hour and a half drive from here, it took at least twice that to get there. and there were big queues for fuel, for petrol, on the way. once we got there, the town is in a state of devastation. people are finding it very, very hard to travel, to evacuate and sleep outside. for the humanitarian effort, first it is getting to these places, then it is prioritising. yesterday, we were saying that they had had a couple of blankets and some bread, but nothing more. and the longer that goes on, we have minus five celsius overnight last night. you know, that is another threat to people, and a life—threatening situation, especially as lots of people escaped from their homes in the middle of the night, even in some cases not wearing shoes, just wearing pyjamas. so, these are brutal conditions for people. and it is the scale of what has happened over such a vast area that

makes it so difficult for rescue workers. tom, thank you very much, tom bateman in adana. less return to some of the live images we have been looking at throughout the last couple of hours, backin throughout the last couple of hours, back in gaziantep, in south—eastern turkey. the historic castle, damaged by the earthquake as well. focusing on the many, many buildings which have been brought down by the magnitude of these quakes, 7.8, it has been followed by a 7.5 magnitude quake. at the worst possible time, early in the morning, when the majority of people were in their beds, sleep, little chance to escape the destruction. absolutely

superhuman efforts by the rescue efforts here, both professionals and civilians, trying desperately to claw their way through the rubble, pausing from time to time to listen, to find out if there is anyone still surviving underneath these chaotic scenes. we can also show you diyarbak r, another turkish city. i think we can bring those pictures to you. there we are. 0ften often it is simply too dangerous and too unstable to bring any big equipment into these operations. and it involves just picking through the

rubble, very, very delicately. the cold weather, extremely cold weather there, a huge challenge for the search and rescue effort. and, of course, diminishing the chances, sadly, of survivalfor course, diminishing the chances, sadly, of survival for anyone who is still alive under the rubble. and you can see turkey's president, president at a gun, scheduled to visit some of the worst hit areas later on today. —— president erdogan. earlier i spoke to someone from the uk charity human appeal. she told me about the agency and other rescue workers are providing. i am in the coordination centre right now in gaziantep. the city of gaziantep is fine, actually, but nearby towns are not in a good situation. because there are problems with the roads and transportation is bad, badly affected.

so, we are safe and sound here, but the scene in some areas, inside, still people are trying to get safe. and we are hearing bad news, unfortunately. aftershocks, clearly the difficulties of picking through the rubble, the weather, so many challenges for those trying to provide help to try to rescue people? we are actually experiencing the coldest day today and tomorrow, in this area. even though it is sunny, the weather is so cold, and so many people are outside. and what will the primary goal is to be for your organisation, your charity, human appeal, today and in the coming days? well, actually, we are doing our best to deliver hygiene kits, food kits, to those that

are in need, who are outside. the primary goal is to deliver to all of the people in need, with coordination, people in gaziantep. but we need more help regarding shelter, regarding clothing, baby diapers, baby products, so much stuff. we are going to be hearing in a few minutes about the aid effort in the uk. you have been arriving with hygiene kits and food kits, is more aid coming from the uk now you have established a base there? so that you and your team of workers can distribute that?

exactly, but notjust our help, because the more people we reach, the more people we save, we just heard that in the morning there were 6000 dead reported and now it is over 7000 they have reported inside turkey. it is a huge operation, a huge task that faces all of the search and rescue teams, all of the aid organisations. from what you have found since you arrived in gaziantep, do the search and rescue teams still hope that they can find survivors? well, actually, here in gaziantep, as i said, the situation is that those that we can reach, the ones i have heard, is bad news.

but around the city, especially the towns, they have been badly affected. any transportation are so bad, even the road has collapsed. so, those that wanted to evacuate the city are having problems. ukrainian the city are having problems. president volodymyr zele ns ky ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky will arrive in the uk today in his first visit to since russia's invasion of his country last year. downing street says he will hold meetings with prime minister rishi sunak and make a speech in parliament. let's go to downing street, our political correspondent is there. 0bviously street, our political correspondent is there. obviously no advance notice of this for obvious reasons. tell us more about what we can

expect from this visit. 0bviously cementing the ties between ukraine and the uk? , cementing the ties between ukraine and the uk?— and the uk? yes, you can expect security to _ and the uk? yes, you can expect security to be — and the uk? yes, you can expect security to be incredibly - and the uk? yes, you can expect security to be incredibly tight - security to be incredibly tight around this visit by president zelensky to the uk, his first visit to the uk. only his second visit out of ukraine since the war there. he is expecting to meet rishi sunak and address mps and peers in parliament. he has addressed them remotely before, but obviously this will be the first time and the uk is announcing it will train pilots and marines, so boosting the support of the uk are sending to ukraine. there has been some discussion about sending jets to ukraine. that is something that so far the uk is ruling out, despite calls from president zelensky. i think this is a hugely significant moment for president zelensky to be in the uk. rishi sunak has visited ukraine himself. this is opposite the first

time president zelensky is going to be on uk soil. i think it is a chance for rishi sunak to really bind in his association with support for ukraine. 0bviously bind in his association with support for ukraine. obviously it is something that one of his predecessors, borisjohnson, has been closely associated with. liz truss, as well, as foreign secretary, also had a very close link to support for ukraine. i think this is a chance for rishi sunak to really tie in his personal support for ukraine at the idea that the uk is going to stand shoulder to shoulderfor ukraine is going to stand shoulder to shoulder for ukraine against russia. as we speak, this is the plane carrying president zelensky which is about to arrive, about to land in the uk. how significant is it that president zelensky is coming here first, ratherthan, president zelensky is coming here first, rather than, say, president zelensky is coming here first, ratherthan, say, brussels? there has been a rumoured trip to the eu. clearly, the uk visit, it has confirmed it is happening today.

that is a sign of how important ukraine views the uk, as an ally. and i think that is significant, that it and i think that is significant, thatitis and i think that is significant, that it is only president zelensky�*s second trip outside ukraine, and it is clear that he values british support. there was no sign from the british government that they intend to weaken the level of support provided for ukraine. in fact, rishi sunak is going to be clear that he intends to step up the support in terms of training provided to the armed forces. there has been some discussion about the sending of actual fighterjets, discussion about the sending of actualfighterjets, rather discussion about the sending of actual fighterjets, rather than actual fighter jets, rather than just the actual fighterjets, rather than just the training of pilots, which the uk is promising today. that is something the uk is not prepared to commit to at this stage, and neither is the us. it is something that, interestingly, borisjohnson has called for, and has become increasingly vocal about. he has also visited ukraine recently. there is clearly some internal pressure, if you like, from within the tory party, in terms of support for ukraine. certainly, there is no sign

that the uk government will grow back at all in its level of support for the ukrainian armed forces. thank you very much. as the plane carrying president zelensky prepares to land in the uk. his first visit here since the russian invasion of ukraine, and only his second trip abroad since that invasion. almost a year since russia invaded ukraine. we will keep you updated on all of the details of president zelensky�*s visit to the uk, throughout the day. and president zelensky�*s other visit outside ukraine was to the united states, that is where we had now. is

thatjoe biden delivered his state of the union address in washington last night. president biden demanded that police officers be more accountable to the people, and he urged republicans, who now hold a majority in the house of representatives, to work with democrats to help bring the country together. mr speaker, the president of the united states. this mr speaker, the president of the united states.— mr speaker, the president of the united states. this was president biden's united states. this was president itiden's first _ united states. this was president biden's first address _ united states. this was president biden's first address to _ united states. this was president biden's first address to a - united states. this was president biden's first address to a joint - biden�*s first address to a joint session of congress since republicans took control of the house of representatives, and his first chance to make the case for his real action, which he is expected to announce in the coming months. ~ . ., , expected to announce in the coming months._ seated - months. kevin mccarthy. seated behind him _ months. kevin mccarthy. seated behind him was _ months. kevin mccarthy. seated behind him was the _ months. kevin mccarthy. seated behind him was the new- months. kevin mccarthy. seated behind him was the new house | behind him was the new house speaker, kevin mccarthy of california. who leads a fractured republican majority with the power to foil the president's agenda. i don't want to ruin your reputation, but i look forward to working with you. laughter. looking ahead to the next two years,

mr biden appealed for unity, hoping that bipartisan agreement could be reached on areas of mutual concern, as it had in the past on ukraine and infrastructure. mr; as it had in the past on ukraine and infrastructure.— infrastructure. my republican friends, infrastructure. my republican friends. if _ infrastructure. my republican friends, if we _ infrastructure. my republican friends, if we can _ infrastructure. my republican friends, if we can work- infrastructure. my republican i friends, if we can work together infrastructure. my republican - friends, if we can work together in last congress, we can work together in this congress as well. applause i think the people sent a clear message. fighting for the sake of fighting, powerforthe message. fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere. despite the olive branch, _ conflict, gets us nowhere. despite the olive branch, the _ conflict, gets us nowhere. despite the olive branch, the president - the olive branch, the president refused to give an inch on his key policy proposals. and he didn't back down from direct confrontation, such as this exchange on protecting social safety nets for seniors. instead of making the wealthy pay their fair instead of making the wealthy pay theirfair share, some republicans

their fair share, some republicans want theirfair share, some republicans want medicare and social security sunset. i'm not saying it's a majority of them. anybody who doubts it, contact my office, i will give you a copy of the proposal. aha, it, contact my office, i will give you a copy of the proposal. a key theme throughout _ you a copy of the proposal. a key theme throughout the _ you a copy of the proposal. a key theme throughout the speech - you a copy of the proposal. a key theme throughout the speech was finishing the job he started, theme throughout the speech was finishing thejob he started, what he called a blue—collar blueprint to rebuild america. he struck a balance between touting his accomplishments with vigour and acknowledging that many feel the economy is not working. to them he said i get it. are economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. some of you listening to me tonight. i know you feel it. so many of you felt like you have simply been forgotten. amid the economic upheaval of the past form decades, too many people have been left behind. treated like they are

invisible. maybe that is you, watching from home. this invisible. maybe that is you, watching from home.- invisible. maybe that is you, watching from home. this is one of the biggest — watching from home. this is one of the biggest audience _ watching from home. this is one of the biggest audience is _ watching from home. this is one of the biggest audience is a _ watching from home. this is one of the biggest audience is a presidentj the biggest audience is a president commands, so it was a key opportunity for president biden to convince voters that his policies are working. there with the nation so divided and with less than half of americans approving of his job performance, it looks like he will have his work cut out for him these next two years. talking about the state of the union address. more injust a moment. first, back to these pictures of the plane carrying president zelensky of ukraine, which hasjust arrived into stansted airport in the uk. his first visit to the uk since the russian invasion of ukraine almost a year ago. just his second trip outside ukraine, in fact, since the invasion. he was in the us recently. now to the uk. the uk, the first

country to confirm even ahead of the ramstein conference that it would be sending challenger tanks to the ukrainian military ahead of any spring offensive. so, we are expecting president zelensky to talk to the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, today. also to make a speech to parliament. this comes alongside the news that ukrainian pilots are to be trained by the uk in the latest very visible indication of the uk's support for president zelensky, for ukraine. we also understand that the uk is going to be offering training for ukrainian marines and has promised a surge, an immediate search, of military equipment, including longer range weapons.

clearly, this is going to be a really significant visit, a show of unity between the uk and ukraine. for obvious reasons, given that the security situation, we just learned of this visit a short while ago. and it's being described as significant that president zelensky is arriving in the uk, rather than in brussels for this visit. although there has been some room, some suggestion, that he may also be visiting brussels. we arejust learning as well that king charles will hold an audience with president

rodri zelensky as well. we are starting to piece together the agenda now for president zelensky today. those discussions with prime minister rishi sunak, a speech to parliament, and an audience with king charles, we arejust hearing. so, if you'rejustjoining us, just to recap what we are seeing on our screens, this is the plane carrying ukrainian president rodney zelensky, which hasjust landed in the ukrainian president rodney zelensky, which has just landed in the last few minutes at stansted airport for a visit to the uk. —— volodymyr zelensky. 0nly a visit to the uk. —— volodymyr zelensky. only the second visit outside of ukraine since the russian invasion almost a year ago. we have seen throughout the last 12

months strong political support from the uk, with visits by boris johnson, liz truss, rishi sunak and that the political support, that very visible political support that was followed up by logistical support and, most significantly, just in the last few weeks, confirmation from the united kingdom that it would be sending challenger tanks to ukraine ahead of a expected spring offensive. president zelensky has repeated over and over that tanks are what ukraine needs, not only to hold the ground it has got to potentially retake ground from russian forces and to try to push russian forces and to try to push russian forces and to try to push russian forces out of ukraine, so the uk announced recently that it would be sending challenger tanks,

and that was followed by the ramstein conference in germany. we saw the us defence secretary there, and that led to pledges of further support in the form of tanks being sent by a number of countries, including, significantly, germany and, indeed, the united states. the us was the first place outside ukraine that president zelensky visited since the russian invasion and today his second trip outside the country since that invasion. so we are waiting to see if we will get some pictures of president zelensky emerging from the aircraft, not sure if we are going to see those or not. but through out the day, we will see him arriving in downing street, we were told also in the last few minutes that king charles will hold an audience with ms zelensky, and we are also

expecting the ukrainian president to make a speech to parliament. of course, for any trip beyond ukraine, within ukraine but certainly beyond as well, huge security around these trips until the last moment. so we just became aware within the last couple of hours that president zelensky was on his way here. and i think we can return now to our political correspondent leila nathoo, who is in downing street. leila, as we look at these images of the aircraft, hearing that king charles will hold an audience with mr zelensky, charles will hold an audience with mrzelensky, president zelensky, but clearly the political significance of this visit is immense, just his

second one outside ukraine since the invasion by russia. i second one outside ukraine since the invasion by russia.— invasion by russia. i think that is absolutely _ invasion by russia. i think that is absolutely a _ invasion by russia. i think that is absolutely a reflection _ invasion by russia. i think that is absolutely a reflection of - invasion by russia. i think that is absolutely a reflection of how - absolutely a reflection of how important president zelensky sees the uk as an ally. i mean, you know, meeting the king, meeting rishi sunak, and an address to parliament, i think a reflection ofjust how significant the visit is, as you say, only his second foreign visit during the conflict, his first to the us, making the uk his second destination will be very well received here by mps and peers. certainly, there is no sign from rishi sunak that there is any weakening or lessening of support from the uk, we heard rishi sunak announcing a stepping up of support provided to ukraine, an immediate boost to military equipment and a commitment to start training pilots and marines of the ukrainian army. he has stopped short of committing to sending fighterjets, as

requested by president zelensky. the us too is not doing that as yet. there are calls, including from former prime minister borisjohnson, former prime minister borisjohnson, for the west to be more willing to provide aircraft to help ukraine in its defences against russia, but so far that is not something the uk is willing to do, they say it is not practical to provide those jets. willing to do, they say it is not practical to provide thosejets. but there is going to be training support given to ukrainian pilots. but i think, you know, there is no underestimating how significant this visit is going to be today, a chance for rishi sunak to really associate himself with the support provided to ukraine. he has visited ukraine, of course, it is a conflict and an alliance that is most closely associated with his predecessor, borisjohnson, and to some extent his immediate predecessor, liz truss, who was of course foreign secretary before she became prime minister. so i think today would be a chance for rishi sunak to connect again personally with president

zelensky, and a huge moment for him to be addressing parliament too. we don't know exactly yet how long the visit has been in the planning, but the fact that it is happening, do you think it is an indication of president zelensky�*s acknowledgement that perhaps the uk decision to send challenger tanks to ukraine may have been a tipping point, if you like, in prompting other countries to decide to follow suit?— in prompting other countries to decide to follow suit? well, i think the uk has — decide to follow suit? well, i think the uk has always _ decide to follow suit? well, i think the uk has always seen _ decide to follow suit? well, i think the uk has always seen itself- decide to follow suit? well, i think the uk has always seen itself as i the uk has always seen itself as leading the way in the international response to the conflict between ukraine and russia, and i think the uk would like to think that it is providing leadership on the international stage, and i think that president zelensky, his visit today, does reflect that, and i think it is an acknowledgement of the alliance between the uk and ukraine. he has been repeatedly on the phone to rishi sunak as prime minister, and before that his

predecessors, there has been regular communication between the uk and ukraine on this, and i think, yes, there is a sense that the uk is providing leadership, and of course what uk to do subsequently about the jets that president zelensky has requested will be significant, but for the moment, that is not something the uk is doing, but stepping up training for fighter pilots and four marines, as well as an immediate boost to military supplies. this an immediate boost to military su lies. �* , an immediate boost to military su--lies. a ,, an immediate boost to military su--lies. �* , ,, .,~ . an immediate boost to military su lies. . , ,, .~' . , supplies. as we speak, we have 'ust been seeing — supplies. as we speak, we have 'ust been seeing the fi supplies. as we speak, we have 'ust been seeing the motorcade �* supplies. as we speak, we have just been seeing the motorcade carrying | been seeing the motorcade carrying president zelensky and his entourage leaving the aircraft, making its way towards central london, and also, politically, of course, these images, just as when we saw president zelensky in the united states as well, we'll have an impact in russia. ., states as well, we'll have an impact

in russia. . ., ., , in russia. yeah, again, binding the uk to russia. _ in russia. yeah, again, binding the uk to russia, and _ in russia. yeah, again, binding the uk to russia, and binding - in russia. yeah, again, binding the| uk to russia, and binding president zelensky to the british government, very much a visual manifestation of those words that we have heard, that the uk stands shoulder to shoulder with ukraine, so a very symbolic image, i think, for president zelensky to physically be here in the uk, physically standing in the uk, physically standing in parliament, in downing street to, as we expect, later. i think that this is going to resonate in russia, it will, as i say, buying to the uk to ukraine, and i think this will be a —— will be processed in moscow. bend -- will be processed in moscow. and when we see — —— will be processed in moscow. and when we see president zelensky addressing parliament, a place of such political drama, that will be quite a moment for mps to listen to someone who has come onto the world

stage in such a widely, highly regarded way. i stage in such a widely, highly regarded way-— regarded way. i think that is absolutely _ regarded way. i think that is absolutely right, _ regarded way. i think that is absolutely right, he - regarded way. i think that is absolutely right, he has - regarded way. i think that is - absolutely right, he has addressed parliament remotely, so via video link last year, and of course it is something that brings together mps from all political parties, and i can imagine it would be quite a solemn occasion, in a way, to hear a message from president zelensky. but i think, you message from president zelensky. but ithink, you know, he is message from president zelensky. but i think, you know, he is held in very high regard here in westminster, and a chance for parliament to really sit and contemplate exactly what he has been dealing with for this last year, since the russian invasion, just how he has managed, and an achievement that he will be here, these many months on, having made this visit, shrouded in intensely tight security, to actually get here, that will be recognised as well as an achievement, that he has managed to keep ukraine going this far in order to be able to keep that message of

hope and positivity and the challenge to russia, and i think receiving that in person in parliament will be hugely significant.— parliament will be hugely siunificant. , , significant. just stay with me while i reca for significant. just stay with me while i recap for anyone _ significant. just stay with me while i recap for anyone joining - significant. just stay with me while i recap for anyone joining us - significant. just stay with me while i recap for anyone joining us on - significant. just stay with me while | i recap for anyone joining us on the i recap for anyonejoining us on the bbc news channel and bbc world that we are watching, although it is a little difficult to see that motorcade right now, the progress of president zelensky, who has arrived at stansted airport and is now making his way towards central london on a visit that will include discussions with the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, also he will address parliament, and he will have an audience with king charles too. leila, observers thought he might have visited brussels before london, what is the significance that this is happening first.—

what is the significance that this is happening first. there have been rumours of — is happening first. there have been rumours of a _ is happening first. there have been rumours of a trip _ is happening first. there have been rumours of a trip to _ is happening first. there have been rumours of a trip to brussels, - is happening first. there have been rumours of a trip to brussels, but l rumours of a trip to brussels, but nothing confirmed, obviously no visits confirmed in advance because of tight security, and we only heard about this visit officially today, and we don't yet know his movements, we know he has landed and is making his way into central london here in westminster, but i think that is a reflection of the pecking order, if you like, the significance of visiting the us first in his first foreign trip, and then the uk, a significant reflection of how important the uk is to ukraine, and again perhapsa important the uk is to ukraine, and again perhaps a sense of the uk providing a leadership role on the international stage, and i think perhaps also an acknowledgement of some gratitude for the support that the uk has provided over these months, both physically and diplomatically, to ukraine, and i think that will be recognised here among mps, who will be hearing from

president zelensky, that this is, i'm sure, there will be a lot of addressing the point when he makes that speech to mps and peers, that there will be a lot of gratitude expressed for the uk's support this far. �* , , ., , far. and there is something hugely s mbolic far. and there is something hugely symbolic and _ far. and there is something hugely symbolic and significant _ far. and there is something hugely symbolic and significant that - far. and there is something hugely symbolic and significant that this i symbolic and significant that this sort of visit can even take place, it would have been unthinkable, impossible probably, in the very early days, and if you think back to the very beginning of the invasion, president zelensky saying, you know, i don't need a ride, i need help to fight against this invasion — he didn't want to leave the country, he wasn't contemplating it at that stage, so the symbolism of being in a position now where he can come on an official visit, albeit a brief one, that is quite something, isn't it? ~ , one, that is quite something, isn't it? ~ y ., one, that is quite something, isn't it? ~ _, one, that is quite something, isn't it? absolutely, and if you cast your mind back to _ it? absolutely, and if you cast your mind back to the _ it? absolutely, and if you cast your mind back to the start _ it? absolutely, and if you cast your mind back to the start of _ it? absolutely, and if you cast your mind back to the start of the - mind back to the start of the conflict, his location within ukraine was always shrouded in

secrecy as well, and there was talk of threats to his life, of him being a target, and as i said, the significance of the fact that he has made it this far, that he is still keeping up the dialogue with western nations, the dialogue with the uk, to discuss the support that he thinks he needs, and he has been able to lead that conversation on the international stage, as well as leading the response at home, and i think that is a reflection of his achievements, president zelensky, to have made it this far, in order to feel confident enough to travel outside ukraine, first to the us, now to the uk, and will have to see whether a trip to brussels does materialise later. but i think that will be taken as a mark of his success in leading his country's response to the russian invasion. 0k, response to the russian invasion. ok, for the moment, thank you very much, i know you are keeping a watchful eye in downing street for the comings and goings, but the

entourage, they motorcade bringing president zelensky to central london has left sta nsted president zelensky to central london has left stansted airport. we do not have those pictures at the moment, but he is on his way to central london for what is going to be a very significant visit, and we will have much more coverage of that through out the day. right now to other news, and it has now been 12 days since nicola bulley was last seen walking her dog by the river in st michael's on wyre in lancashire. a friend said that nothing about her disappearance was making sense, and police say they are fully open to any new information about the disappearance of the mother of two. earlier, our correspondent gave us the latest on the police investigation. police are very much concentrating their attention on the river wye, because they feel everything points

towards her having fallen into the river accidentally or not been able to get out. herfamily are clinging to the hope that perhaps there is another explanation. the police saying they are keeping their minds open, they are investigating various possibilities. to give you some idea of the scale of the investigation, you have a0 detectives, following up about 500 lines of inquiry at the moment. they are tracing 700 drivers who were across this area on the day that she disappeared. they are interrogating things like data from her smartwatch to see if that gives any clues. even though they are concentrating on the river, they say they are not discounting anything. they are saying that armchair amateur sleuths trying to get involved in this are not helpful. a lot of people have joined the search officially and have been very helpful. other people have been speculating online, which can be hurtful to the family, and yesterday police said, amazingly, some investigators have been breaking into empty buildings along the river bank, in case they have found some clues. they are saying, don't do that, it is illegal under buildings need to be searched, we will do it properly.

meanwhile, nicola's partner, and her two daughters, aged six and nine, are waiting desperately for some sort of firm information about what has happened to her, clinging to the hope that perhaps she didn't fall into the river, maybe there is another explanation as to what has happened to her. at the moment, nobody can answer that question, where did nicola bulley go on the friday morning, january the 27th? the investigation goes on today. a 53—year—old man has been charged in connection with the disappearance of an 11—year—old girl from galashiels who was reported missing on sunday, prompting a major search of the area. the girl was found that a property in the town the following evening. the man is expected to appear in court tomorrow. uk government owned company building the controversial hs2 ray line is said to have underestimated its impact on habitats and wildlife,

according to a coalition of wildlife charities. wildlife trusts accused the company of using a fundamentally flawed accounting tool to assess its impact on nature and found hs2 had missed trees, ponds and hedgerows off maps. the chief executive of the wildlife trusts joined me earlier, he began by giving us his thoughts on the impact of the project. anyone who has seen this - constructior- place will have seen the devastation taking place as it cuts a great swathes through our countryside. we were promised hs2 would deliver no net loss of biodiversity, of nature in our countryside, and what we have found in our report, published today, is when you look in detail at what is happening on the ground, and you look at the habitat mapping that hs2 has done and what they are claiming to produce, new areas of tree planting and so on to replace

woodland that has been lost, we have found that on phase one of the route, from london to the west midlands, the loss of nature is eight times worse than hs2 are claiming, and on phase 2a, it is already three and a half times worse than hs2 are claiming, so we are saying that parliament should not accept these bland assurances from hs2. they need to scrutinise and look at the evidence on the ground themselves and not trust these spreadsheets they are producing. so you are not talking about small margins, eight times worse, the loss of nature and habitat on phase one, so not small margins. this is what hs2 are saying in response, they say, we don't recognise the figures, nor do we believe them to be reliable. the wildlife trusts have undertaken limited desk research and have not accessed huge areas of land for ecological survey, in contrast to the ecologists

who have compiled the hs2 data. what do you make of that reply? i think it's absurd. we have got staff and expert teams who live and work right along the route, and we have done detailed work, fantastic detailed work on looking at this loss of nature along the route. let's bear in mind hs2 is a company that has routinely got it wrong when it has been talking about budgeting, and the cost of line has soared over the lifetime of the construction, so i don't think we can really trust any spreadsheets that come from hs2. what we have done in our work is we have seen basic mapping errors by hs2, we have seen that they failed to understand the difference between rivers and streams in how they calculate the loss of nature. they are also counting wrongly when they look at new areas for tree planting, seeing those as the same as existing woodland, species rich, they are treating new grasslands

the same as existing species—rich grassland. i could go on and on. and for the record, the research undertaken by the wildlife trusts and the charities that make up the wildlife trusts, has that been limited to desk research, or have you actually been out on the ground? we are out on the ground all the time, we always back this up with real evidence on the ground. of course, we have undertaken desk research, and there is no shame in that at all, and we have tried to do it with as much data as is available from hs2, but hs2 is not being fully transparent about the data that they are collecting. we were promised that they would be no net loss of biodiversity from this construction, that is clearly not happening. we were promised it would be publicly available, that is not happening either.

it is time for government and parliament to step in and scrutinise, form their own opinion by looking the work we have done, looking at what hs2 has done, we need government to take accountability for their own company and find out the truth, in their own words. let's have a look at what is going on on the ground here. sorry to interrupt. you are saying one thing, hs2 are saying another, you have explained in your last answer what you would like to see happen, but what more can be done to actually... the wildlife trusts are saying some habitats have been lost for good, but what can be done to replace, if "replace" is the right word, those habitats and ensure that nature has an opportunity to thrive, albeit in different areas? well, obviously, some of the habitats will never be replaced, you cannot replace ancient woodland, so trying to sort of that would be the same as knocking down warwick castle and replacing it

with a fibreglass alternative, it cannot be done. but we were promised that, for some habitats, hs2 would be looking to create new habitats, doing the same job for nature, they promised no net loss, and they are not even delivering that. most big construction projects in this country have to deliver at least a 10% increase in nature, and that is the bare minimum, but we think wildlife trusts should be held accountable to deliver that, and what we need now is a real pause and rethink about how hs2 is going around its data, collecting data, and calculating how it is going to create new nature. we need government to step in to hold them to account for the promises made, and make sure it delivers on existing promises but also ask more from hs2, because we are seeing it is a catastrophic loss of nature

along the route of the railway line, and hs2 is clearly off track on the promises it has made to parliament and the public. called bennett from the wildlife trusts. ijust want i just want to show you these pictures from turkey, where president erdogan is making a speech, he has arrived, in the last short while, in the part of the country hit by these massive earthquakes on monday, 7.8, 7.5 magnitude, in excess of 9500 people now confirmed to have died as a result of these earthquakes in turkey and indeed into northern syria. but, sadly, as the search and rescue effort goes on, of course there is still hope that people may be found alive, but sadly it is inevitable that huge death toll is going to grow, so these pictures just coming into us of president

erdogan visiting the earthquake hit region. in fact, erdogan visiting the earthquake hit region. infact, president erdogan visiting the earthquake hit region. in fact, president erdogan saying that the death toll in turkey has risen to 8574, those are the latest figures that president erdogan has just mentioned, latest figures that president erdogan hasjust mentioned, and then when you add in the death toll in northern syria as well, sadly, those numbers are growing all the time, the rescue efforts being made incredibly difficult by the very, very cold weather. the latest death toll in syria is around 2500. so those numbers, as i say, sadly growing all the time. that brings the total to more than 11,000 people

killed. now, the us basketball star lebron james killed. now, the us basketball star lebronjames has become the nba's all—time leading scorer, passing kareem abdul—jabbar�*s 39—year—old record. the la lakers player broke the record at the end of the third quarter in a defeat by 0klahoma thunder. kareem abdul—jabbar broke the school record in 1984, eight months before lebronjames was even born. now, it is time to take our first look at something that most of us here in the uk will be seeing many, many more times, the new postage stamp showing king charles iii. you cannot yet buy them, they will be on sale from april to fourth, but the royal mail is displaying the stamps at an exhibition in london. our royal correspondence daniela relph went along to see more. every monarch

since queen victoria, every reign, whatever its length, has had a stamp. symbols of a sovereign in our everyday lives. and there is about to be a new one. on display at the postal museum in london, a first look at the stamp of king charles iii. this will be what's known as his definitive stamp. it is a simple, stark image with little adornment. unlike his mother, he has chosen not to wear a crown. as with all stamps, of course, the monarch approved them. and so we hope that he's happy with this design. and i think if i can say that the guidance we were given was not to try to be too clever, or to try to veer off into some different direction, but very much to keep that traditional image that we're all very much used to. the king charles iii stamp is part of a new exhibition at the postal museum — from queen victoria's penny black in 1840, through to more recent and more familiar images. the definitive stamp of queen elizabeth ii was unchanged for

the last 55 years of her reign. it is believed to be the most reproduced work of art in history. a new stamp can take two to three years to be planned, designed, printed and put on sale. the new king charles iii stamp has been prepared in a fraction of that time, so that it will be in circulation in time for the coronation. and the production of those stamps is now well under way. each one showing an image that will become synonymous with this reign. the stamp of king charles iii goes on sale on the 4th of april. daniela relph, bbc news, the postal museum. we arejust going we are just going to include this hour by showing you the pictures we have of the motorcade, as the

helicopter moves away, down on the roads we have president zelensky�*s motorcade making its way to central london. this isjust the motorcade making its way to central london. this is just the second time the ukrainian president has been able to leave the country since the russian invasion almost a year ago. he is due to have talks with the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, and he will also be addressing parliament, and as well as that, he will have an audience with king charles iii. we will have more details of that through the day on bbc news. hello again. we have got some very windy conditions at the moment across the north—west of scotland, gusts up to 70 mph plus, and accompanying the gusts of wind is this where the front which is going to bring in some heavy rain, but high pressure still firmly in charge

in southern areas, so here things more settled, when we lose this morning's mist and fog. some of it will be slow to clear, but it will eventually leave a dry day with more clout coming in at times across parts of south—west england and wales. these are the temperatures, 7-10 . that wales. these are the temperatures, 7—10 . that band of cloud and rain coming into the north—west spreads further south during the rest of today, and overnight, and behind it a return to some cold conditions would, wintry showers piling in above about 200 metres across the north of scotland, and still very windy here. not quite as cold in the south as it was last night. so tomorrow, the dregs of our weather front across southern england, the blues representing all the cold air following on behind, but it is going to be short lived. so we start with the cloud across the south, you mightjust get the odd spot of rain from it, not much more than that. a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of

sunshine, gales easing through the day, and the snow level will tend to rise through the day as well, but in between a lot of dry weather. friday sees two weather fronts tracing us, so change once again in temperatures. here is the first whether front, temperatures. here is the first whetherfront, producing some temperatures. here is the first whether front, producing some cloud and some rain. the second one brings heavier rain in across northern scotland, and once again the winds will pick up here. or western areas, more cloud, more dampness in that, and for the south and east we are looking at more sunshine, highs up to 12 degrees in aberdeen. 0n to 12 degrees in aberdeen. on saturday, still a fair bit of cloud around, some brighter skies, especially in eastern areas, but the cloud they can have in western parts for some drizzly bits and pieces, and somewhere along the east coast we could easily see 13 degrees. but generally most of us are going to be in double figures. high—pressure claims on through the course of the weekend, so although we will start mornings with mist and fog patches,

there will be a lot of dry weather, any dampness is likely in the north—west.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11... president volodymyr zelensky arrives in uk for the first time since the russian invasion of ukraine. he will address parliament later today. it's now known at least 11,000 people were killed in turkey and syria by massive earthquakes — as the search for survivors continues. these are the latest live pictures of the recovery operation on the turkish side of the border. police say they remain open to new information about missing woman nicola bulley as the search in lancashire enters its 12th day.

fastfood outlet mcdonald's signs an agreement with the uk equality watchdog following concerns over how it handled sexual harassment complaints. the first stamps featuring king charles iii have been unveiled by the royal mail. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has arrived in the uk today — in his first visit since russia's invasion of his country last year. downing street says he'll hold meetings with prime minister rishi sunak and make a speech in parliament. he'll also meet the king.

we can get more from our political correspondent leila nathoo. that is a start with this question of the timing of the visit. i that is a start with this question of the timing of the visit.- of the timing of the visit. i think it is hugely _ of the timing of the visit. i think it is hugely significant _ of the timing of the visit. i think it is hugely significant that - it is hugely significant that president zelensky has chosen to make his second everforeign president zelensky has chosen to make his second ever foreign visit to the uk. he has managed to visit the us so far, it is only his second time out of the uk, out of ukraine, andi time out of the uk, out of ukraine, and i think it is significant that he has chosen to come here to try to lobby for more support. there is no indication that rishi sunak is anywhere near weakening the uk's ties to ukraine. we have heard rishi sunak described the relationship with the uk and ukraine as an unbreakable friendship, talking about this phrase, standing shoulder

to shoulder with ukraine. i think there is some discussion about a level of support between the uk and ukraine in terms of military equipment. there has been some discussion about the provision of fighter planes. the uk has already promised to send tanks and is offering an immediate boost to military supplies but not yet committed to providing fighterjets although there has been some announcement of training to ukrainian military pilots and marines. it is significant that president zelensky has chosen now to come to the uk. it shows a position of strength that he is able to travel out of the country and it shows that he is continuing almost a year on to lead his country in that effort to fight the russian invasion. i think it shows his gratitude to the uk as a key ally in this conflict.

vitaly shevchenko is our russia editor at bbc monitoring and a presenter on ukrainecast — he's here with me. could you with us, what is the significance of the visit? it is rife with symbolism. - significance of the visit? it 3 rife with symbolism. first of all, president zelensky will be keen to show that at this dark hour in ukraine's history, his country is supported, welcomed, embraced by the world community. for ukrainians, is extremely important to know that they are not alone in facing this huge army, deployed by their northern neighbour. also, president zelensky will also be asking for more weapons deliveries to ukraine. he will thank for what they have got so far but he clearly needs more, especially in anticipation of this

spring offensive that people have been talking about but as far as perceptions in ukraine ago, britain, together with the united states, they have a special place in ukrainians hearts. they are seen as the two top friends, best friends of ukraine and it is notjust the weapons and the money that they have received from those countries, it is things like visits by borisjohnson when he was the british prime minister. that is something ukrainians still remember and appreciate on that question of the contrast between the us and uk, there is unease in some republican party in the united states. in there is unease in some republican party in the united states.- party in the united states. in this country so _ party in the united states. in this country so far— party in the united states. in this country so far this _ party in the united states. in this country so far this seems - party in the united states. in this country so far this seems to - party in the united states. in this country so far this seems to be i country so far this seems to be putting much unanimity between the conservatives and the official opposition over the support that ukraine needs but this is going to be a long—term project?

ukraine needs but this is going to be a long-term project? be a long-term pro'ect? absolutely and this is another— be a long-term project? absolutely and this is another objective - be a long-term project? absolutely and this is another objective of - be a long-term project? absolutely and this is another objective of a i and this is another objective of a president zelensky�*s visit to the uk, to show that the west still stands by ukraine, that the west is not tired of the ukraine is the russian media often claim. that is something that will help his popularity at home as well. he is really keen to be seen as the man the west likes to deal with in ukraine and that is why president zelensky visited the united states earlier and that is why he is visiting britain now. it has both domestic particle purposes, practical purposes and very symbolic reasons as well. i practical purposes and very symbolic reasons as well.— reasons as well. i was going to ask ou on reasons as well. i was going to ask you on the — reasons as well. i was going to ask you on the help — reasons as well. i was going to ask you on the help that _ reasons as well. i was going to ask you on the help that britain - reasons as well. i was going to ask you on the help that britain has - you on the help that britain has given, the prime ministers talking about a 2—stage process and an immediate surge of support ahead of the spring offensive which he mentioned and as expected, but also longer term commitments. we have this big number of ukrainian people,

troops who have been trained in this country, 10,000 at another 20,000 promised this year. we have the tanks but there is still this debate over air cover, tanks but there is still this debate overair cover, isn't tanks but there is still this debate over air cover, isn't there, and the possible to other fighterjets and thatis possible to other fighterjets and that is one the british still seem to be sidestepping?— that is one the british still seem to be sidestepping? yes, and what western politicians _ to be sidestepping? yes, and what western politicians say _ to be sidestepping? yes, and what western politicians say is - to be sidestepping? yes, and what western politicians say is that - to be sidestepping? yes, and what western politicians say is that they are keen to avoid another major escalation in the war. there is commentators who are saying that nobody wants a nuclear war to break out, nobly once world war iii to break out and that is the kind of policy that doesn't really go down very well in ukraine because ukrainians, politicians, including president zelensky, they have said on numerous occasions that, look, while the west implements this gradual approach, trying not to antagonise the latter may put in, it is the ukrainians who are paying the price. why didn't the west to

provide all these sophisticated missile systems before? such as those provided by the united states. the argument put forward by ukrainians is that it was not so difficult to predict the level of escalation that resident put in is prepared to go for and we need now, and gradual approach willjust cost the lives of many more ukrainians. thank you much for that. a reminder that rishi sunak was asked last week about sending fighter jets that rishi sunak was asked last week about sending fighterjets to kyiv and he said it would require months, if not years of training and he was looking for the most effective way of helping kyiv securing a victory, which sounds to me like he is sidestepping the issue. the defence secretary added that supplying fighter jets would secretary added that supplying fighterjets would not be a magic one in the war and that again,

although he refused to rule this out, the mood me sick from the british government is that this will not happen. shashankjoshi is defence editor at the economist. do you want to pick up on that point first of all because months ago, virtually after the war started, president zelensky asked for her support and he asked in particular for the capacity to be able to effectively fight russia in the air if necessary. this is becoming almost stuck in the ground, almost a war in which a fight over territory but nobody seems to have gotten an advantage at this stage. is that why he is still pushing this question of fighterjets and air cover? i he is still pushing this question of fighterjets and air cover?- fighter 'ets and air cover? i would sa fighterjets and air cover? i would sa there fighterjets and air cover? i would say there are _ fighterjets and air cover? i would say there are a — fighterjets and air cover? i would say there are a few— fighterjets and air cover? i would say there are a few things - fighterjets and air cover? i would say there are a few things going l fighterjets and air cover? i would l say there are a few things going on here. one of them is increasing concern over the use of russian cruise missiles so missiles that are

effectively cruising within the atmosphere, not ballistic missiles that are arcing up very high and coming down. fighter aircraft can shoot some of these down so it is russia's aerial campaign against ukraine's electricity grid has escalated, and there is concern over the sustainability of ukrainian service chair missile systems particularly their soviet era systems. there's a sense of concern over what other capabilities do we have that could should down some of these missiles but i think the biggest concern is not so much using these aircraft for offensive purposes, for things like close air support and dropping bombs on russian ground positions. the biggest concern is that if ukraine runs out of tea missile, anti—aircraft and munition, things like the s 300 system for which it doesn't have any easy needs of replenishing, then this would open

up replenishing, then this would open up the skies in ukraine to russian aircraft. it would give russianjets free rein over ukraine but they have not had that at any stage of this conflict other than in very small pockets of territory and that would completely change the situation that you describe which is effectively contested airspace for both sides. so this is a long—term step, not a step for the spring offensive, not a step for the spring offensive, not a step that will yield any results by the summer or publicly even at the autumn, but later on, ensuring that if ukraine's air defence situation becomes precarious, that russian aircraft cannot return to ukraine skies in force.— skies in force. that is a very helful skies in force. that is a very helpful summary _ skies in force. that is a very helpful summary of - skies in force. that is a very helpful summary of helping | skies in force. that is a very i helpful summary of helping us understand what rishi sunak is talking about, the 2—stage approach of british support but we have some commitments that were made only this week by denmark, germany and the netherlands, at least 100 tanks. the

british have sent 14 challenge tanks. would you be surprised if it rishi sunak didn't make any further pledge on additional equipment of that kind? ida. pledge on additional equipment of that kind? ., ., , pledge on additional equipment of thatkind? ., ., , , , , that kind? no, i would be surprised if he didn't make _ that kind? no, i would be surprised if he didn't make further _ if he didn't make further announcements on military aid of some kind but i would say first of all, don't expect more tanks because the uk over of tanks was, anyway, while it does have military significance, it was primarily a political step, intended to break the logjam over the leopard, the german leopard tanks.— the logjam over the leopard, the german leopard tanks. pushing the germans to — german leopard tanks. pushing the germans to do _ german leopard tanks. pushing the germans to do something? - german leopard tanks. pushing the germans to do something? and - german leopard tanks. pushing the germans to do something? and it l germans to do something? and it succeeded. _ germans to do something? and it succeeded, along _ germans to do something? and it succeeded, along with _ germans to do something? and it succeeded, along with the - germans to do something? fine it succeeded, along with the american steps. first of all, don't obsess over tanks. the supporting equipment that you need to transport them, for engineering units to build bridges that they can travel over, maintenance, logistics, those are as important as the tanks and this is particularly significant because the western tanks ukraine is getting much bigger and heavier than that

soviet designed tanks it has now so for example, the bridges the engineering units have will not be sufficient so i would be looking out for announcements on any of those areas, engineering, logistics, support, maintenance. it is notjust tanks, is about things like infantry fighting vehicles, armoured fighting vehicles and in all of these excitement and enthusiasm around the tanks, we have lost one of the most important announcements of the last several months which is the bradley fighting vehicles going to ukraine which i think personally or as important as the tanks because they are more numerous in number, more versatile and they can be provided in greater quantity, they can't repaired more easily so i would say that less sexy kit is just as significant. that less sexy kit is 'ust as significant.�* that less sexy kit is 'ust as siunificant. �* ., , ., significant. always a pleasure to seak significant. always a pleasure to s - eak to significant. always a pleasure to speak to you. — significant. always a pleasure to speak to you, thank _ significant. always a pleasure to speak to you, thank you - significant. always a pleasure to speak to you, thank you for - significant. always a pleasure to i speak to you, thank you for talking to us.

this is a quick picture of president zelensky meeting rishi sunak. they will meet at downing street a little later. we will bring you more on bbc news of the visit by president volodymyr zelensky. first to downing street and then the house of commons and then to buckingham palace to meet kinkel. more than 11,000 people are now known to have died following two devastating earthquakes which hit turkey and syria. that death toll is likely to rise significantly as rescue workers and civilians continue to search the rubble — and survivors trapped beneath it succumb to their injuries

and the bitterly cold weather. the earthquakes were the biggest in the region since 1939 — and they triggered dozens of aftershocks along the east anatolian fault line, which is one of the world's most active areas for seismic activity. this is the scene live. these are from one of the affected cities. we hope to hearfrom a little later in the course of this hour from the various international rescue efforts that are taking place. we will be speaking to some of those who have arrived from the uk in the last few hours in an attempt to try to find help and provide help and see exactly what is needed. one of the biggest problems of course is that it occurred in the early hours of the morning which means most people were indoors, mostly asleep, which has contributed

to the large number of casualties and fatalities. the other problem now is, increasing anger being expressed on social media, concerns about what happened to an earthquake tax introduced after the 1999 earthquake. that had raised about £3.8 billion and was supposed to be spent on improving disaster prevention and emergency services. in these areas, many are saying they have seen no help, they have seen no emergency services, new food distribution and they have seen no attempt to protect them from the terrible conditions, including of course lack of basic water supplies and being able to keep warm. that tax was introduced after 17,000 people were killed in 1999 and many people were killed in 1999 and many people will be concerned that there will be much more. the president who

is facing election injust will be much more. the president who is facing election in just three months�* time from now said it will be his last, it could be his last either way because his poll ratings have not been good. he is on the way to the region, he may already be there and we will bring you more on that. the first of our reports comes from howard johnson. the desperate search for survivors continued overnight, often in bitterly cold conditions. but with each hour that passes, the chance of finding more people alive diminishes. in worst hit hatay, turkey, a grim scene brightened by the smiles of rescuers. a woman has just been pulled alive from a collapsed building. elsewhere, relatives call out to their loved ones, assuring the trapped that help is on its way. the first 7.8 magnitude quake struck near gaziantep in the early hours of monday, followed by a 7.5 magnitude tremor hours later.

whole streets reduced to rubble in less than a minute. syrian authorities have reported deaths as far south as hama, more than 150 miles from the epicentre. in this war torn country, there are limited emergency services, so relatives are digging with their hands to try to save the buried. translation: we need excavators. we need equipment. we don�*t have anything. some, overwhelmed by heartbreak, like this man, desperately searching for his wife. translation: fatima, where are you? where have you gone? rescuers in the country say there�*s still hope more people can be found. for sure, there are people

still alive right now and waiting for us, waiting for help, waiting for our efforts to reach them. three britons are among the thousands missing, according to the foreign office. a team of 77 uk search and rescue specialists, equipped with concrete breaking tools and four sniffer dogs, arrived in turkey yesterday. in the uk, community centres continue to gather donations to send to those in need. king charles has sent his special prayers to victims of the earthquake, and the rescue teams working tirelessly to help them. howard johnson, bbc news.

earlier we were looking at pictures but now we can talk to paul taylor who is part of a team from react, disaster response team, which has arrived in the last few hours. yes. arrived in the last few hours. yes, we are just _ arrived in the last few hours. yes, we are just here, _ arrived in the last few hours. yes, we are just here, we _ arrived in the last few hours. yes, we are just here, we arrived - arrived in the last few hours. yes we are just here, we arrived at the airport this morning and we have been making our way across and to make ourjourney most useful, we have done an assessment any place where 1,000 have done an assessment any place where1,000 people sadly lost their lives. we ascertained how we may support their and we are nowjust on the outskirts of that place. we support their and we are now 'ust on the outskirts of that place._ the outskirts of that place. we can see behind — the outskirts of that place. we can see behind you, _ the outskirts of that place. we can see behind you, it _ the outskirts of that place. we can see behind you, it looks _ the outskirts of that place. we can see behind you, it looks beautiful| see behind you, it looks beautiful this time of day but it has been a bitterly cold night, the second cold night. that must mean the prospects of people who survived the initial earthquake may be trapped, much more perilous cosmic yes, and speaking to

the locals here this morning, that has been the challenge and that has hampered the local and regional response efforts so people were saying to me, even in a 4x4 we could not get here but the good news is, it is about 10 degrees now and my bbc weather team tells me it is not going to get much colder so hopefully that is the end of the bad weather and it is going to get warmer, which will significantly improve the chances of people surviving. nonetheless, the scale of this, people are comparing this to the 1999 quake. people are comparing this to the 1999 quake-— people are comparing this to the 1999 ruake. , , , ., , . 1999 quake. presumably it is of such a bi scale 1999 quake. presumably it is of such a big scale that _ 1999 quake. presumably it is of such a big scale that this _ 1999 quake. presumably it is of such a big scale that this is _ 1999 quake. presumably it is of such a big scale that this is only, - 1999 quake. presumably it is of such a big scale that this is only, even - a big scale that this is only, even for a sophisticated country, never mind one in the grips of war like syria, this going to be in operation of herculean scale? it syria, this going to be in operation of herculean scale?— of herculean scale? it absolutely is. the aftermath _ of herculean scale? it absolutely is. the aftermath of _ of herculean scale? it absolutely is. the aftermath of any - of herculean scale? it absolutely is. the aftermath of any event i of herculean scale? it absolutely is. the aftermath of any event of this magnitude in my experience is always chaos but things will improve

and what we are seeing at the moment is a localised response so government officials, local government, police, military, local ngos and spontaneous volunteers, just local people doing what they can. the international committee is arriving, we are testament to that. i spoke to one of the leading lights in the world food programme at the airport this morning so the un will come in, their experience will be vital in coordination and eventually, things will get better. it raises again is that people always ask about these things, about our resilience, particularly in areas like this that are vulnerable to earthquakes. 20 years ago, the debate was over the terrible quality of building standards and buildings have a full on it like packs of cards. that is not obviously something you can judge from what you are seeing now but to what extent do we make the problem is worse for ourselves because of the way we plan, the way we prepare?

there has got to be a more long—sighted view of resilience generally across the world in terms of disaster risk management but for us here now, wejust confront of disaster risk management but for us here now, we just confront the needs we are faced with and do our best to support the local people what immediately can be done? what immediately can be done, you mentioned search and rescue, which is mainly local. if we can get international search and rescue assets in as quick as possible, maybe with enhanced technology, to support them and from there, it is basic humanitarian needs, medical support, water, shelter and further down the line, people will need food. ., . . down the line, people will need food. ., ., ., ., food. you and a colleague have come from our food. you and a colleague have come from your organisation, _ food. you and a colleague have come from your organisation, a _ food. you and a colleague have come from your organisation, a relatively l from your organisation, a relatively small presence, but what role do you hope to play?— hope to play? what we are hoping to do is, this is— hope to play? what we are hoping to do is. this is a _ hope to play? what we are hoping to do is, this is a light-footed - do is, this is a light—footed assessment, we are here to ascertain

exactly how best we can support and when that is clear, we have teams on standby who can fly in from the uk and the things we do our situational awareness, understand what is going on essentially, so incident management to support people there if required and logistics so if we have people out in the hills who have people out in the hills who have not been reached yet, we can get a teams to get humanitarian aid out to them. get a teams to get humanitarian aid out to them-— get a teams to get humanitarian aid out to them. thank you for breaking off to speak— out to them. thank you for breaking off to speak to _ out to them. thank you for breaking off to speak to us. _ out to them. thank you for breaking off to speak to us. in _ out to them. thank you for breaking off to speak to us. in saying - out to them. thank you for breaking off to speak to us. in saying there i off to speak to us. in saying there are two of you, i am in no way diminishing what you are doing. it is fantastic and i know more will be arriving from your organisation and many others in the course of the next few hours. thank you for talking to bbc news. our correspondent tom bateman is in adana and sent us this update. the city is at the west end of what was that elongated earthquake zone. it's was that elongated earthquake zone. it�*s a pretty sick of it and damage

to several buildings, very high rise buildings, although much of the city, when you compare it to the rest of the region, i think i might have to be quiet now, we willjust check, because every now and then, they�*re asking people to stop talking. 0k, we can carry an talking. 0k, we can carry an talking. that zone, this being the epicentre, was obviously the worst affected. here, things are functioning, there is power in the city, they have the heavy lifting machinery and the ability with these teams to start trying to clear the rubble. that is exacting what they are doing here, they have been here pretty much since the earthquake took place, but in this wreckage, they have only been pulling bodies and we have around, day and night, the relatives of people who are in the relatives of people who are in the building, other people evacuated from other buildings who have just

been waiting for news. what has been happening every half an hour or so is that the teams on top as everyone to be quiet, complete silence, just in case they think they have heard a voice or if the feel something moving. tragically so far, none of that has led to any good news for the people waiting here but it is a sign that there is still hope but as that window of time continues after the earthquake itself, obviously, things become much, much more difficult. what can you tell us about aid coming into the area? talking to a charity moment ago, they are bringing in hygiene kits, food and so forth. the scale of the task awaiting those charities and humanitarian organisations is clearly enormous?— humanitarian organisations is clearly enormous? yes, there is aid cominu clearly enormous? yes, there is aid coming in- — clearly enormous? yes, there is aid coming in. there _ clearly enormous? yes, there is aid coming in. there are _ clearly enormous? yes, there is aid coming in. there are search - clearly enormous? yes, there is aid coming in. there are search and - coming in. there are search and rescue workers coming in, we saw

that coming into the airport itself, but it is not a huge airport and one of the only ones that is functioning in the region so it is why this has become a help for operations. the problem is, once they get it to the city, it is getting it further afield. on what should have been a simple drive yesterday, to a town normally about an hour drive from here, it took us at least twice that to get there. there were big queues forfuel, perpetual on to get there. there were big queues for fuel, perpetual on the way and once we got there, the town is in a state of devastation. people are finding it very, very hard to travel to evacuate and having to stay and sleep outside. for the humanitarian effort, the public is getting to these places and then it is prioritising and the people we spoke to yesterday were saying, look, they had had a couple of blankets and some bread but nothing more in the longer that goes on, we had minus

five celsius overnight last night and that is another thread to people and that is another thread to people and i life—threatening situation, especially as of people just escaped from their homes in the middle the night, even in some cases, not wearing shoes, just pyjamas, so these are brutal conditions for people and it is the scale of what has happened over such a vast area that makes it so difficult for rescue workers. tom mentioned the weather in turkey. let�*s look at the weather in the uk. it has been another foggy start in parts of finland and wales and that will slowly lift as we go through the rest of the day. most of it should be gone by lunchtime, just the odd stubborn belt and then we are looking at a lot of dry weather and a fair bit of sunshine. cloud coming in across scotland. this will bring in some heavy rain, notjoseph scotland but northern ireland and it

will be complete by scholey winds, gusts of up to 75 miles an hour in the outer hebrides. as we head overnight, the weather fronts things south, behind it cold air sets in and increasingly we will see wintry showers still very windy with gales in the north. tomorrow, the band of cloud left from the remnants of that weather front push away and then a lot of dry weather once again. still those wintry showers above the snow level rising in the winds are very slowly is in across the far north and a little bit colder than today.

it is approaching 11:30am on bbc news. the headlines: president volodymyr zelensky arrives in uk for the first time since the russian invasion of ukraine. he will address parliament later and is to have an audience with the king. it�*s now known at least 11 thousand people were killed in turkey and syria by massive earthquakes — as the search for survivors continues. police say they remain open to new information about missing woman nicola bulley as the search in lancashire enters its twelfth day.

fastfood chain mcdonald�*s signs an agreement with the uk equality watchdog following concerns over how it handled sexual harassment complaints. the first stamps featuring king charles iii have been unveiled by the royal mail. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. we have some news from the states this morning, lebronjames has become a basketball because �*s all—time record point scorer in the nba, he reached 38,388 points, which he did notching points for the la lakers. the game stopped the celebrations and messages coming

from celebrities like rhianna to mark the breaking of that 39 year record. it�*s fair to say everyone is in awe of the king. millions across america and the rest of the world watched the moment, as it happened, and the courtside seats were exchanging hands for thousands of dollars, but plenty were watching at home. we caught up with some of those at a sports bar in the states, where they were paying tribute. this iu , where they were paying tribute. this au , he where they were paying tribute. this guy. he was — where they were paying tribute. this guy. he was a _ where they were paying tribute. try 3 guy, he was a big part of my inspiration, my hunger, my desire, to be great. weight inspiration, my hunger, my desire, to be great. weigh— to be great. weight sorry to interrupt. — to be great. weight sorry to interrupt, but _ to be great. weight sorry to interrupt, but we _ to be great. weight sorry to interrupt, but we are - to be great. weight sorry to interrupt, but we are in - to be great. weight sorry to - interrupt, but we are in downing street, live as president zelensky emerges from the vehicle, he will be posing for pictures with rishi sunak on the doorsteps of downing street, looks like they did travel together,

although for safety reasons possibly in different vehicles, a good opportunity for a chat nonetheless. i�*m sure he made sure president zelensky had his seat belt on. here we are come outside for the handshake, outside number 10 downing street, we don�*t get much sound here unfortunately, otherwise i would stop rattling, but i need to keep looking view because there will be short and sharp, first visit. i should say he is actually doctor he has visited three countries, on do trips, on his way back from washington, when he saw president biden and made his address to congress, that was back in december, he stopped off in poland to speak to the president there and he would also be speaking to our head of state, king charles. people have an audience with the king at some point after lunch. his immediate priority is the visit to downing street, as long with his entourage, his

security detail, his political advisers, i wouldn�*t be surprised if there are military representatives, or some form, in the party, because it will be an opportunity for face—to—face discussions with their opposite numbers in the uk, of course the defence secretary, ben wallace, will be a criticalfigure in that. there is an ongoing debate about the support that britain can provide, as well as training troops, 10,000 ukrainian troops have been trained already to what the british government have called battle readiness over the past six months and a further 20,000 will be trained this year, there is the promise to send 14 challenger tanks, we heard from a journalist at the economist, that what isn�*t really much more than a symbolic gesture, in order to put pressure on the germans to do so, which of course they have now announced, although the details have yet to be unveiled of when and how. it is a critical moment in the

course of this, because there will be a spring offensive, almost certainly as the weather improves. let�*s talk to a security expert at the university of bath. good to speak to you. it me ask you about that, in terms of the practicalities of this visit, all kinds of symbolism, not nearly... of but a lot of things i need to nail down? this statement that there will be a statement from the uk pledging fighterjets training, so those details will probably fold out of the coming days, but it doesn�*t necessarily have to be on the jets themselves, the uk, raf in particular, has stimulators which they can use and it doesn�*t necessarily also mean that this means f—16s, or any other airframes that the west has run the way, because it can actuallyjust improve

the capability of the pilots themselves. so there is a good few question marks, as you can imagine, in terms of actually what is going to come out. it�*s also interesting just to see the uk saying they are increasing their capacity, so the amount of actual ukrainian recruits and also marines, that they will be training over the coming months and yet. training over the coming months and et. ., training over the coming months and et. . ,., , ., ., yet. the training, it sounds good, is nood, yet. the training, it sounds good, is good. but. _ yet. the training, it sounds good, is good, but, without _ yet. the training, it sounds good, is good, but, without the - yet. the training, it sounds good, is good, but, without the planes, | is good, but, without the planes, it�*s presumably not in immediate... it's it�*s presumably not in immediate... it�*s not going to have an immediate effect? it's not going to have an immediate effect? ., ., , , , effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it — effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it about, _ effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it about, about _ effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it about, about getting - of what is it about, about getting pilots judge of what is it about, about getting pilotsjudge mightjust increasing... if they are not actually in battle, i presume, given what has happened with the ukrainian air force, they have surplus pilots because they have lost if you are a graph, so i presume they are able to send some surplus but also experienced pilots oval to start training. it will be about the

weapons, tactics, the maintenance, how to go through your procedures, on more advanced jets than what they have been using which is basically the mig 29. starting to build that capacity up, rather than saying you are definitely going into in f—16. it's are definitely going into in f—16. it�*s about building the relationship and starting the process, rather than, this is it, it�*s happening imminently. in my view anyway. just to talk, if you _ imminently. in my view anyway. just to talk, if you could, about the situation at the moment, we have this fairly intense fighting in the donetsk region around cities there. in terms of the progress, either side has made, i�*ll be at a stalemate? i side has made, i'll be at a stalemate?— side has made, i'll be at a stalemate? ., �* �*, ., stalemate? i wouldn't say it's a stalemate _ stalemate? i wouldn't say it's a stalemate in _ stalemate? i wouldn't say it's a stalemate in particular, - stalemate? i wouldn't say it's a stalemate in particular, may. stalemate? i wouldn't say it's a stalemate in particular, may be stalemate? i wouldn't say it's a i stalemate in particular, may be to your viewers it seems like that because of a winter things have closed down or slowed down, but we would expect that to happen over winter, because fighting isjust more difficult, because the conditions are worse, it can still go on. i think what you are starting

to see, the russians are starting to eke out, slow, steady progress, some cities are present. the question is can the ukrainians keep the supply lines open to give the troops there resupplied what might otherwise come at some point, if it keeps going the way it is, they may have to withdraw. but we will see. they have been very determined so far, hopefully they can keep that supply corridor open. if you zoom out a little bit on the map, a strategic focal point focused on that area, but it is important strategically, the ukrainians could withdraw and trade space for a time, it wouldn�*t massively change the outcome of the war, it may give the russians the much vaunted winner that they are looking for, but i don�*t think it completely as strategically as

potentially other places where we may see events coming.— potentially other places where we may see events coming. thank you very much. — may see events coming. thank you very much. let's — may see events coming. thank you very much, let's talk _ may see events coming. thank you very much, let's talk again - may see events coming. thank you very much, let's talk again to - may see events coming. thank you very much, let's talk again to our l very much, let�*s talk again to our critical correspondent who is at downing street, you sure this will of activity and we broadview viewers the pictures, the red carpets out what is the agenda for today? rishi sunak and president _ what is the agenda for today? i si sunak and president zelensky will be holding what will be quite a short bilateral, because it is wednesday and there is a regular occasion at 12 o�*clock for the primitive�*s questions. expect rishi sunak to make his way out of downing street and the house of commons to get that o�*clock. there was a huge team of officials who accompanied president zelensky and rishi sunak into downing street and there was a rapturous welcome from downing street staff when president zelensky arrives. there will be to all intents and purposes quite a short meeting between rishi sunak and president zelensky inside downing

street. then, later this afternoon, there will be that address to parliament, that address to both houses of parliament, mps and peers and then there are going to be some meetings with defence officials before president zelensky has that audience with the king. so a lot to get in on this flying visit to the uk. but, clearly, there are constant conversations going on between rishi sunak and president zelensky, we are regularly told of phone calls. so this is a chance for really that similar significant visual moments to happen, that way that you saw between president zelensky and rishi sunak on the steps with the red carpet rolled out here stop so i think, in terms of actual substance of the conversation, i think that�*ll be quite brief. a lot to get through, but clearly a hugely significant moment for president zelensky to be walking up downing street. he was treated at the

airport by rishi sunak, they arrived together in the same car. i think it�*s a huge moment to have president is a lens inside a building before he makes his way to house of commons. what make it interesting, so far seems to be complete political agreement on ukraine. different to the united states. how important you think it is that the government apparently managed to give the opposition in lockstep on this? ~ ,., , give the opposition in lockstep on this? ~ , ., . ., ., this? also in terms of the change of rime this? also in terms of the change of prime ministers. _ this? also in terms of the change of prime ministers. we _ this? also in terms of the change of prime ministers. we have _ this? also in terms of the change of prime ministers. we have seen - this? also in terms of the change of prime ministers. we have seen a i this? also in terms of the change of i prime ministers. we have seen a free prime ministers since the war in ukraine, borisjohnson leading the way, liz truss taking over and then now rishi sunak, this is a chance for him to bind himself together with that support for ukraine, he has described it as an unbreakable

friendship, there is no doubt now that rishi sunak wants to keep up that rishi sunak wants to keep up that support, in fact the way he is framing it is in terms of increasing the level of support offered to ukraine in terms of training for military pilots and four marines that he is announcing today, further sanctions on russia. and i think he will one to be clear that he is not intending to be clear... he is wanting to stand shoulder to shoulder with ukraine for years to come, no indication that they will pull back in terms of support for ukraine, the leadership role in the uk has assumed on the international stage too. of course there will be pressure in more support, president leslie has already asked for fighter jets, that is something the uk says is not practical to provide at the moment, the us too has resisted those calls are so far, but it�*s clear that president lenski wants to keep up that conversation about further support to combat further russian efforts in ukraine. there

will be definitely be more discussions to come. we will be definitely be more discussions to come. we are 'ust seeinr discussions to come. we are 'ust seeing some pictures from discussions to come. we are just| seeing some pictures from inside discussions to come. we are just i seeing some pictures from inside of the two men in number ten, posing for photographers again as they talk, let�*s face it, for both men, particularly for president zelensky, the visual record of every stage of this visit is really important, isn�*t it? its propaganda, both for domestic audience back home in ukraine but also a very pointed message sent to russia? absolutely. i don't ou message sent to russia? absolutely. i don't you you _ message sent to russia? absolutely. i don't you you can — message sent to russia? absolutely. i don't you you can underestimate i i don�*t you you can underestimate the pictures of zelensky crossing the pictures of zelensky crossing the threshold into downing street, as a representation of the achievement of his, as well, that he has made it this far, it�*s only his second foreign visit outside of ukraine since the war started. yes, it does reinforce the message that the uk is one of ukraine�*s key allies, only the second time president zelensky has made it abroad is to the uk. i think that

will be received in that way, in russia too. i think, also a chance for president zelensky to express his gratitude for the support of the uk. . , , ., ., his gratitude for the support of the uk. ., , his gratitude for the support of the uk. just in terms of what happens at afternoon, presumably, _ uk. just in terms of what happens at afternoon, presumably, although i uk. just in terms of what happens at afternoon, presumably, although we don�*t know this for certain, he will be in the commons to watch prime minister�*s questions and then he makes that speech, he was greeted with great warmth when he addressed the house of commons remotely last year, it was only about 12 or 13 days after the war had begun, 8th of march, his message was very strong, please make sure you do what needs to be done. in a sense, nothing has changed? to be done. in a sense, nothing has chanced? , ., ., , ., ., changed? yes, the almost one year on from that moment _ changed? yes, the almost one year on from that moment and _ changed? yes, the almost one year on from that moment and i _ changed? yes, the almost one year on from that moment and i think- changed? yes, the almost one year on from that moment and i think he i changed? yes, the almost one year on from that moment and i think he will. from that moment and i think he will be keen to stress the same message. i think it will be an about turn, if you like, between going from the

right of prime minister�*s questions and the confrontational combative atmosphere that we are so used to at midday on wednesday in the commons to what will be a combination of a solemn occasion to remember this war is still continuing, joyous occasion it to have resident zelensky in at the commons in a person, something that will really bring both houses of parliament together. i think there will probably be some reflection on what has happened to ukraine in these months, as well as some vision of what the uk can do to ensure that the future pans out in a way that ukraine once. i think there will be a lot of reflection in the house of commons, but i think president zelensky is a somebody inspirational to member is a parliament from all parties. i know we will talk — parliament from all parties. i know we will talk to _ parliament from all parties. i know we will talk to you _ parliament from all parties. i know we will talk to you again _ parliament from all parties. i know we will talk to you again later, i parliament from all parties. i know we will talk to you again later, for| we will talk to you again later, for now, thank you very much. we will bring you more on that trip and my thanks to our correspondent and our guest for talking to us about the

invocations of this visit. in other news. mcdonald�*s has signed a legal agreement with the uk equality watchdog after concerns about how it handled sexual harassment complaints. the number of complaints made by mcdonald�*s workers in the uk is unclear, but four years ago the union representing the company�*s employees, the bakers, food and allied workers union, said it had received 1,000 of them. mcdonald�*s says the safety of its teams and customers is its priority. our employment correspondent zoe conway spoke to a former mcdonalds employee who say she was sexually harassed by a manager in 2018. christine waived her right to anonymity and wants to speak up about harassment in the fast food chain. well, i went into work. it was just an average day. everything was nice and calm and i just started feeling really unwell, you know, just coughing and sneezing. and ijust wanted to go home. ifelt like i couldn�*t do myjob. and i tried looking for the manager

and he was in the stockroom doing a stock check. so i had no choice but to go in there and say, look, "i�*m not well, i want to go home." and as i�*ve gone in there, there�*s no cameras or nothing like that. and he started making really inappropriate sexual suggestions that i was uncomfortable with, and he pulled his pants down thinking that that was ok and probably assuming that i would do something and that was just bang out of order, i had absolutely enough and walked out and joined the union and that�*s when i decided to speak up and say, "you know what, enough is enough. "you�*ve gone too far. "something has to get done." it feels like you�*re being bullied. it feels like you don�*t have a voice. you can�*t shout out and say what you�*re thinking or saying what you believe is right. you have to stand there, shut up, watch what goes on and just accept it. and it�*s horrible.

i�*m nowjoined by kaajal nathwani, partner and head of employment at curwens solicitors. thank you very much for being with us to talk about this. what do you make of mcdonald�*s was my decision to sign the agreement is? does this in practical terms give employees any more protection? in in practical terms give employees any more protection?— in practical terms give employees any more protection? in my view, no it really doesn't. _ any more protection? in my view, no it really doesn't. the _ any more protection? in my view, no it really doesn't. the agreement i it really doesn�*t. the agreement they have entered into as a section 23 agreement and it is a voluntary agreement that they have agreed to enter into with the eh rc. it sets out a framework that they are willing to commit to to try and deal with sexual harassment in the workplace and actually prevent it taking place, there are things that they have agreed to, such as communicating a zero tolerance of sexual harassment in the workplace, committing to training relating to sexual harassment. but really these are things that an organisation of mcdonnell standing but expected that

they have already been doing. already. irrespective of revising policies and procedures, i think it�*s really about what is done on the ground and really, others policies and procedures and frameworks they put into place accessible to employees? is there a safeguard for employees to go to a safeguard for employees to go to a safe place and make these complaints? to eradicate what is a fair representation and victimisation as a result. —— mike watt is a fear of retribution. what make the union the union involved claimed it had received more than 1000 complaints of sexual harassment from its members working in branches of mcdonald�*s in the uk. that was in 2019, we are now in the beginning of 2033. -- in 2019, we are now in the beginning of 2033. —— in the beginning of 2023. given there is interaction happening with the equalities watchdog, what you think of the time it took a? i think what has led to this big lag

time is probably the influx of claims or influx of further complaints by individuals via unions and by other means, perhaps initiating the early conciliation process with acas being involved. and so that is what led to the intervention by the watchdog here to actually say we�*re going to help you and put up framework in place to avoid the number complaints increasing. i think the situation here is that it takes a few people to speak up, the timings are such that with the right of the need to movement there has been a little bit more confidence in employees being able to talk about their experience and bring them to the fore and a complaint will stop —— with the mee too movement. i complaint will stop -- with the mee too movement.— too movement. i wonder if there is difference between _ too movement. i wonder if there is difference between companies i too movement. i wonder if there is l difference between companies about how this work, presumably many businesses in the fast food environment, they may be big names, but effectively they operate almost like a franchise, so in a sense there is a local management and you

really are... it�*s the relationship with the local management, it must feel like you sometimes don�*t have anyone really to complain to. do you see like what i mean? in a big organisation, you have others to go to. �* , , ., , organisation, you have others to go to. absolutely. that is the issue, ou will to. absolutely. that is the issue, you will find _ to. absolutely. that is the issue, you will find that _ to. absolutely. that is the issue, you will find that many _ to. absolutely. that is the issue, you will find that many of - to. absolutely. that is the issue, you will find that many of the i you will find that many of the perpetrators are individuals in a position of management or authority and those who are the victims of the harassment of those who are managed by the perpetrators. they don�*t know who to go to to complain, so i think what the watchdog has done it now as part of this agreement is set the parameters don�*t have franchises will deal with this, the internal training that will be delegated to management levels and had to deal with this and putting structures in place that create a clear pathway for workers to bring this complaints.— for workers to bring this comlaints. . ~' ,, , . for workers to bring this comlaints. ., ,, , . ., complaints. thank you very much for talkin: to complaints. thank you very much for

talking to us — complaints. thank you very much for talking to us about _ complaints. thank you very much for talking to us about that _ complaints. thank you very much for talking to us about that and - complaints. thank you very much for talking to us about that and i - talking to us about that and i should say that mcdonald�*s say the safety of employees and customers is its priority. presidentjoe biden delivered his state of the union address in washington last night. president biden demanded that police officers be more accountable to the people. and he urged republicans, who now hold a majority in the house of representatives, to work with democrats to help bring the country together. nada tawfik reports. many have seen this as the president as a starting gun for his second run. mr speaker, the president of the united states. this was president biden�*s first address to a joint session of congress since republicans took control of the house of representatives and his first chance to make the case for his re—election, which he is expected to announce in the coming months. kevin mccarthy. seated behind him was the new house speaker, kevin mccarthy of california, who leads a fractured republican

majority with the power to foil the president�*s agenda. speaker i don�*t want to ruin your reputation, but i look forward to working with you. looking ahead to the next two years, mr biden appealed for unity, hoping bipartisan agreement could be reached on areas of mutual concern, as it had in the past, on ukraine and on infrastructure. in my republican friends, we could work together the last congress, there�*s no reason we can�*t work together and find consensus on important things in this congress as well. applause new orleans is formed as i am. but i think the people sent us a clear message. fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict gets us nowhere. despite the olive branch, though,

the president refused to give an inch on his key policy proposals, and he didn�*t back down from direct confrontation such as this exchange on protecting social safety nets for seniors. instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some republicans, some republicans want medicare and social security to sunset. let me give you... anybody who doubts it, contact my office. i�*ll give you a copy... i�*ll give you a copy of the proposal. a key theme throughout his speech was finishing thejob. what he called a blue collar blueprint to rebuild america. he struck a balance between touting his accomplishments with vigour and acknowledging that many feel the economy is not working. to them, he said, i get it. my economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten.

so many of you listening tonight. i know you feel it. so many of you felt like you�*ve just simply been forgotten. manyy of the economic upheaval of the past four decades. too many people have been left behind and treat it like they�*re invisible. maybe that�*s you watching from home. this is one of the biggest audiences a president commands. so it was a key opportunity for president biden to convince voters that his policies are working. though, with the nation so divided and with less than half of americans approving of hisjob performance, it looks like he�*ll have his work cut out for him these next two years. lets talk again to our political correspondent. resident zelensky has left downing street? we correspondent. resident zelensky has left downing street?— left downing street? we 'ust saw resident left downing street? we 'ust saw president valenti i left downing street? we 'ust saw president valenti and i left downing street? we just saw president valenti and his - left downing street? we just saw president valenti and his team i left downing street? we just saw. president valenti and his team come out of number ten behind me and get into the car —— like president zelensky. presumably to go and watch

prime minister�*s questions. he will address both houses of parliament in person later this afternoon, so that is something that he will be getting ready for, rishi sunak, no sign of him leaving out of the front door of downing street yet but he obviously will be in with the commons preparing for prime minister�*s questions injust a preparing for prime minister�*s questions in just a few minutes�*s time. but a hugely significant moments to have seen president zelensky and rishi sunak are standing side by side at the door of downing street, almost one year ago since the war in ukraine began, impossible to foresee how it would pan out, and i think hugely significant visual moment and a visual representation of a relationship between the uk and ukraine, that close alliance which rishi sunak has that damage this morning described as an unbreakable friendship and mps and peers are going to hearfrom president zelensky in an address to both

houses of parliament and he will go for an audience with the king. so hugely significant moment and a significant welcome for president zelensky here in the uk for only his second foreign visit outside of ukraine since the conflict began. the schedule for this afternoon is pm queues and then some speech from the president. —— prime ministers question. he is there in person, presumably he will inspect a very enthusiastic welcome.— enthusiastic welcome. yes, he addressed _ enthusiastic welcome. yes, he addressed the _ enthusiastic welcome. yes, he addressed the houses - enthusiastic welcome. yes, he addressed the houses of i enthusiastic welcome. yes, he i addressed the houses of parliament remotely last year, so via video link, this is the first time he will be here in person and i think, obviously, that has any completely different and back. i think he is someone who has united all parties in the house of commons, it will be quite a handbrake turn between that confrontational atmosphere we are used to add four ministers questions and then to receive a statement. —— mike at prime minister�*s questions. he is someone held in high esteem,

there is no sign rishi sunak wants to change the relationship in any way, he is very clear that he intends to shoulder with ukraine like its predecessors. i don�*t think we are going to see anything on that front. but i think president zelensky and for his part is clear that he also wants to keep up the momentum, if you like, behind the support britain is providing, that leadership of britain sees itself playing on the international stage in terms of rallying support for ukraine, both diplomatically and in terms of practical help, you heard britain announcing today further training for ukraine in terms of training for ukraine in terms of training military pilots and straining marines, but we know president zelensky is after fighter jets, that is something that the uk has ruled out so far, something the us is not willing to go to at this stage, but we know it something that

he wants, that there have been supportive culture and borisjohnson on that area too, so there are still issues up for discussion and it�*s clear that president zelensky, as well as possibly using this occasion to express his gratitude for britain and its support, will also use it to call for giving up the momentum as the conflict continues and intensifies in ukraine and perhaps turn the conversation towards a high level of support that he thinks is armed forces require.— level of support that he thinks is armed forces require. pictures from inside downing _ armed forces require. pictures from inside downing street, _ armed forces require. pictures from inside downing street, the - armed forces require. pictures from inside downing street, the prime i inside downing street, the prime minister has gone into the house chamber, he has now arrived on the front bench, questions to the prime minister about to begin. let�*s hear from the speaker. as clerk of the house... to allow

him _ as clerk of the house... to allow him to— as clerk of the house... to allow him to take _ as clerk of the house... to allow him to take up the role of master of saim— him to take up the role of master of saint catharines college cambridge. there _ saint catharines college cambridge. there will— saint catharines college cambridge. there will be an opportunity for honourable members. the there will be an opportunity for honourable members. the speaker is talkin: honourable members. the speaker is talking about — honourable members. the speaker is talking about it _ honourable members. the speaker is talking about it budget _ honourable members. the speaker is talking about it budget in _ honourable members. the speaker is talking about it budget in the - honourable members. the speaker is talking about it budget in the house | talking about it budget in the house of commons a star, we are about to go to the beginning oprah ministers questions, one of the unregarded parts of the speaker�*s roles, former labour mp, is to act as a ringmaster, to set the tone between different stages and it will be important when the house is suspended to hear from important when the house is suspended to hearfrom president zelensky, he comes in the mood and increases at that tempo. he has introduced a miss. iam i am delighted that president zelensky is here in the i am delighted that president zelensky is here in the uk i am delighted that president zelensky is here in the uk today. i am delighted that president zelensky is here in the uk today. it is the testament to the unbridgeable friendship between our two countries and i am proud that we are expanding the training for ukrainian forces to

includejet pilots and the training for ukrainian forces to include jet pilots and marines and ensure that ukraine has the military able to defend its interests today and in the future. this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others in addition to my duties in this house i shall have further retails later today. president zelensky, we salute you. this year, the start will be made to kettering general hospital, northamptonshire police will reach 1,500 police officers, the highest number ever its history and catering are set to become one of the best connected towns for ultrafast broadband in the whole country, thanks to city fibre investment. together with the prime minister�*s pledged to half inflation and tackle nhs backlogs, isn�*t it time to tackle head on the doom and gloom peddled by those who want this country to fail and to be far more optimistic about the many good things happening in kettering and across the country?

my across the country? my honourable friend is absolutely right and i am glad to hear of all the successes in his constituency. especially the redevelopment of kettering general hospital, something i know my honourable friend has been campaigning on tirelessly for years but he is right, this government will continue to focus on delivering the country�*s priorities. to focus on delivering the country's riorities. " :: :: :: to focus on delivering the country's riorities. " i: :: :: , ., , ., priorities. over11,000 people have died as a result _ priorities. over11,000 people have died as a result of _ priorities. over11,000 people have died as a result of the _ priorities. over11,000 people have died as a result of the devastating l died as a result of the devastating earthquake in turkey and syria, and that number is sadly rising. i know many families here in the uk will be anxiously awaiting news. i am sure i speakfor anxiously awaiting news. i am sure i speak for the whole house in saying our hearts go out to each and every victim and their families our hearts go out to each and every victim and theirfamilies but our hearts go out to each and every victim and their families but we must do all we can to support the rescue and recovery efforts. mr speaker, this house is honoured to

be addressed today by president zelensky. from the outset of the war, he has symbolised the heroism, the resolve and the bravery of his people. the prime minister and i joined this house together in 2015, we have lived through important moments in our domestic and international politics. but none of those experiences compares to the pain and suffering of the people of ukraine. does the prime minister agreed with me that right across this house, it is vital that we all continue to stand together in full support of ukraine? can continue to stand together in full support of ukraine?— support of ukraine? can i first 'oined support of ukraine? can i first joined with — support of ukraine? can i first joined with the _ support of ukraine? can i first joined with the honorourable l support of ukraine? can i first - joined with the honorourable member for paying our respects and thoughts to the people of turkey and syria, particularly those affected by the earthquake in the first responders who are doing such a valiantjob. the house will be reassured to know that we are in touch with the

turkish and syrian authorities and providing all assistance that is required, including 77 search and rescue responders arrived yesterday and have already begun work. we are in close occasion. can i find the honour gentleman for his comments on ukraine come into something that notably the whole country can be proud of, but the entire house can be proud that we came together to stand by ukraine when the moment mattered and that we will continue to stand with them, united as one parliament and one in united kingdom. i parliament and one in united kinudom. ., ~ , kingdom. i think the prime minister for that answer _ kingdom. i think the prime minister for that answer because _ kingdom. i think the prime minister for that answer because every i kingdom. i think the prime minister for that answer because every time | for that answer because every time president putin has been appeased, he has been back for more and so, does the prime minister agree with me that across this house, we must speak with one voice and say that this terrible conflict must end with the defeat of president putin in ukraine? mr

the defeat of president putin in ukraine? ~ ,,, ., ,, the defeat of president putin in ukraine? ~ .,~ ., the defeat of president putin in ukraine? ~ ., . ukraine? mr speaker, our ob'ective remains to ensure i ukraine? mr speaker, our ob'ective remains to ensure a i ukraine? mr speaker, our objective remains to ensure a ukrainian i remains to ensure a ukrainian victory in this conflict. vladimir putin�*s aggression cannot be seen in anyway to have been successful and thatis anyway to have been successful and that is why we have accelerated and increased our support, militarily, for ukraine this year, a decision i took as prime minister. today we are going even further, butjust having provided tanks and being one of the first countries to do so, which capitalised the tanks from other nations as well, but also today, to move to start training ukrainian marines in the advanced capabilities they will need to mount further offensives but also, to train their pilots on advanced combat aircraft. the house can be reassured we will continue to support ukraine to ensure decisive military victory on the battlefield this year. can i welcome the _ the battlefield this year. can i welcome the additional i the battlefield this year. can i welcome the additional support to the prime minister has outlined today. i had the privilege of seeing first hand the brilliant work our

military is doing in salisbury to train ukrainians in defending themselves. we all support this work and the uk�*s role in the international drive to ensure that ukraine has the weapons and technology required to defend herself. does the prime minister agree that continuing this international effort is the only way to ensure president putin�*s defeat? mr speaker, the house may not all be aware that actually, we have continued to train ukrainian soldiers because it is something we have done for years before the conflict started and something we should be very proud of but obviously we have intensified those efforts. last year we trained 10,000 ukrainian soldiers and this year the defence secretary announced that we will be training 20,000 ukrainian soldiers in addition to the marines and air force pilot that i mentioned earlier. he is right to highlight this has been an international effort, one think that is the mark of uk leadership in this particular

area is that around doesn�*t other countries have all come here to the ukraine, to the uk, to take part in ourtraining programmes ukraine, to the uk, to take part in our training programmes to support ukrainian soldiers, many members from around the towns will have visited that effort and it is something that is making an incredible difference on the ground and i know something that president zelensky is incredibly grateful for. i think the whole house would like to thank those involved in the incredible training that is going on. before i entered this house, i had responsibility forfighting on. before i entered this house, i had responsibility for fighting for justice in the hague for victims of serbian aggression. does the prime minister agree with me that when the war in ukraine is over, president putin and all his cronies must stand at the hague and face justice? mr at the hague and face justice? i speaker, the at the hague and face justice? ii speaker, the honour gentleman is absolutely right that we must hold those to account for the horrific crimes that they have committed i am proud of the uk has played a

leadership role in this regard, being one of the first countries to provide financial and technical support, putting investigators on the ground. we are shortly to be hosting a conference together with the dutch and also one of the things i discussed with the president zelensky this morning is our support for the work of the icc where, thanks to the efforts of uk members, i am hopeful we will see the first indictments very shortly.- indictments very shortly. across this house. _ indictments very shortly. across this house, we _ indictments very shortly. across this house, we don't _ indictments very shortly. across this house, we don'tjust - indictments very shortly. across this house, we don'tjust hope i indictments very shortly. across l this house, we don'tjust hope for ukraine's victory. we believe in it. part of that victory must be ukraine's reconstruction. does the primus to agree with me that russia should pay for the destruction it has caused through the wealth lying dormant in a blocked russian government assets? mr dormant in a blocked russian government assets? mr speaker, we are the third _ government assets? mr speaker, we are the third largest _ government assets? mr speaker, we are the third largest humanitarian . are the third largest humanitarian and economic donor to ukraine, £1.1i billion of support that we have

provided through direct grant assistance and guarantees that multilateral lending organisations and again, the house will remember we took a lead in imposing canonic functions on russian entities including individuals and state sanction assets, we have proved the provision of funds here will be put on a foundation for reconstruction in ukraine and we are currently working with international partners through the legal process to use those assets to fund ukrainian reconstruction. that is something we all want to see and we're working with our partners to achieve that. this is a country, we have always been at our best when we stand up to to run the aggressors, threatening their neighbours and peace on our continent. that is why the labour party helped found nato and why our nato is as unshakeable today as it was back them. does the prime minister agree with me that whatever differences we may have, no matter

what difficulties we face as a country, we in this house have a duty to stand on the shoulders of giants who came before us and support ukraine's fight for freedom, liberty and victory mr speaker, we remain the leading european ally in nato, as we always have done. we continue nato, as we always have done. - continue to increase funding in our armed forces by £24 billion at the last spending review to ensure we maintain notjust our nato obligations to spend 2% of our gdp on defence but also we participate in every nato operation and remain the leading asian when it comes to contributions to nato's rapid response force and the nato readiness initiative but ijoin with the right honourable gentleman in saying that this house in this country will stand united with ukraine until we ensure the defeat of that you put in's unprovoked, unsanctioned aggression and that we

will make sure ukraine is not only victorious that we bring peace to its people. the victorious that we bring peace to its maple-— victorious that we bring peace to its --eole. i, its people. the global combat air programme _ its people. the global combat air programme including _ its people. the global combat air programme including team - its people. the global combat air i programme including team tempest its people. the global combat air - programme including team tempest is vitalfor uk national programme including team tempest is vital for uk national security and for the world—class aerospace cluster we have in lancashire with many businesses in burnley. these aircraft will protect you kayak skies, give the raf tools it needs for the future and deepen our relationship with allies like japan and italy. can i ask the prime minister with a refresh of the integrated review taking place to commit notjust to the design and develop to this aircraft but its production in lancashire, two, providing skilled jobs for generations to come, for my constituents and residents all across the county of lancashire? i was delighted to announce this landmark international project with japan and italy. they already employ 2005 people in the uk with over 1,200 in the north—west and as we

are making more progress, we will continue to invest skills and technology at the bae systems factory in the future in ligature. 0n factory in the future in ligature. on behalf of my party, i would like to send our condolences to all of those impacted by the devastating earthquake in turkey and syria, and also to welcome the exchange between leader of the opposition and the prime minister and we all in this house are united in our condemnation of latimer put in and our hope for a better future of latimer put in and our hope for a betterfuture for of latimer put in and our hope for a better future for ukraine. it will better future for ukraine. it will be an honourfor all of better future for ukraine. it will be an honour for all of us to listen to president zelensky this afternoon. mr speaker, in recent days, the former prime minister said that she did not reject —— regret her time in office. does the prime minister regret her time in office cosmic? mr

minister regret her time in office cosmic? ~ ,, , i, ,, minister regret her time in office cosmic? i ,, , i, «i i, i, i, cosmic? mr speaker, i am grateful to all my predecessors _ cosmic? mr speaker, i am grateful to all my predecessors for _ cosmic? mr speaker, i am grateful to all my predecessors for the _ all my predecessors for the contribution that they made to public life and can ijoin with the right honourable gentleman in saying that i know the whole house will be looking forward to hearing from president zelensky at the conclusion of this time. president zelensky at the conclusion of this time-— of this time. hold on a minute, let us reflect on _ of this time. hold on a minute, let us reflect on the _ of this time. hold on a minute, let us reflect on the damage - of this time. hold on a minute, let us reflect on the damage that - of this time. hold on a minute, let us reflect on the damage that was| us reflect on the damage that was caused. 30 billion wiped of the uk economy, pension funds brought to the brink of collapse, the parity with the dollar and interest rates for mortgage holders right across these aisles, soaring. the former prime minister will not apologise for the damage that she has caused so on behalf of the tory party, will he apologise for her? fin so on behalf of the tory party, will he apologise for her?— he apologise for her? on the first da that i he apologise for her? on the first day that i took — he apologise for her? on the first day that i took office, _ he apologise for her? on the first day that i took office, i _ he apologise for her? on the first day that i took office, i said - he apologise for her? on the first day that i took office, i said that l day that i took office, i said that mistakes had been made but what we

have done is to ensure that right now, he mentioned the pound, the pound at a huntly high, borrowing costs restored to where they should be and an economy stabilised and a clear plan to half inflation and grow the economy —— that is what the conservatives are delivering an government and we continue to deliver it as well for the people of scotland. in deliver it as well for the people of scotland. , _, , i, deliver it as well for the people of scotland. , ii, , , i, scotland. in my constituency, a house is bidding _ scotland. in my constituency, a house is bidding to _ scotland. in my constituency, a house is bidding to host - scotland. in my constituency, a house is bidding to host the - scotland. in my constituency, a i house is bidding to host the world eventing championships in 2026. this eventing championships in 2026. this event is one of the pinnacles of the sport and if we were successful in our bid, it would provide a massive boost to the local economy as well as massive coverage for the uk on the global scene. burnley has a formidable track record of success, having previously hosted to world

championships and six european championships. would he agree with me that early which make a fantastic venue and would he lend us his support... venue and would he lend us his suoport- - -_ venue and would he lend us his su--ort... i , m i, support... prime minister? we are committed — support... prime minister? we are committed to _ support... prime minister? we are committed to building _ support... prime minister? we are committed to building our - support... prime minister? we are| committed to building our fantastic committed to building ourfantastic track record of hosting events like commonwealth games and the rugby league world cup. i understand the uk sporting authorities are looking at the location and diameter they will be considering early in his constituency in the near future. can i associate constituency in the near future. can i associate my _ constituency in the near future. can i associate my party with the comments made about the unfolding human tragedy in turkey and syria? and with warm words, chi welcome president zelensky? he will know that this country and this house has total support for ukraine's resistance to latimer put in's illegal invasion and it is a source of great pride that the british people have stood firm, united and unwavering in support of the brave

heroes of ukraine. mr speaker, went president zelensky address this house last year, he asked that we treat russia as a terrorist state. since then, liberal democrats have been urging the government to fulfil that request by prescribing the wagner's mercenary group who are doing president putin's bidding carrying out atrocities on a daily basis are one this day, when the prime ministerfinally basis are one this day, when the prime minister finally commit to prescribing the wagner's group, a crucial part of treating russia as the rogue state that it is? mr speaker. _ the rogue state that it is? ii speaker, we have taken a lead from the beginning of this conflict in its functioning and taking action against those entities connected with the war effort in russia and beyond. with regard to the wider group, we have already sanctioned them in its entirety as well as

taking civic action against particular leaders with regard to prescriptions, we don't comment in public but we keep all the perceptions we have under review. 22 years ago this month, a good friday of mine died from aids. had he been tested for hiv, i am confident with the advances we have made, he would still be alive today. as my right honourable friend will know, this week is hiv testing and i welcome the government's intentions to end new infections by 2030., ask him to thank the terrence higgins trust for their incredible work and will he look to extend opt out hiv testing to more areas of high prevalence so that we can help discover more undiagnosed cases? can that we can help discover more undiagnosed cases?— that we can help discover more undiagnosed cases? that we can help discover more undianosed cases? . . ., , ., undiagnosed cases? can i thank my on a bo riend undiagnosed cases? can i thank my on a boyfriend for — undiagnosed cases? can i thank my on a boyfriend for his _ undiagnosed cases? can i thank my on

a boyfriend for his incredibly _ a boyfriend for his incredibly thoughtful question and express my thumps sympathies to him on the loss of his friend and join him in paying tribute to the terence higgins trust, as i will note the whole house does and i look forward to talking to him about what more we can do to spread hiv testing and prevent more people from needlessly suffering. the prevent more people from needlessly sufferin. ,., �* , suffering. the uk government's fiscally illiterate _ suffering. the uk government's fiscally illiterate electricity - fiscally illiterate electricity generator levy will choke off billions from future investments and renewable energy projects, the kind of project my constituency excels at delivering. this investment will find its way to more favourable jurisdictions, putting thousands of green jobs in scotland and jurisdictions, putting thousands of greenjobs in scotland and our energy transition at risk. when the prime minister commit to scrapping this environmentally and economically damaging tax work will he instead confirmed that he and this latest chancellor know the price of everything and the value of nothing? mr price of everything and the value of nothin ? i ,,, ., «i ., �* «i

nothing? mr speaker, i don't think it is riht nothing? mr speaker, i don't think it is right that _ nothing? mr speaker, i don't think it is right that because _ nothing? mr speaker, i don't think it is right that because of - nothing? mr speaker, i don't think it is right that because of a - nothing? mr speaker, i don't think it is right that because of a war- it is right that because of a war when energy companies are making windfall profits, that those profits should go untaxed. that is what our levy does. it is right that we recover those excess profits from energy companies as a result of the war and give that money back to those countries in the form of support. what is economically damaging for scotland is the snp's refusal to acknowledge the existence and need for a transition in that is to support the north sea oil and gas industry which we are proud to do. human trafficking is when you move people illegally from one place to another, often with the promise of a job, and then force that person into prostitution or labour exploitation. it has nothing to do with people coming legally here in small boats, thatis coming legally here in small boats, that is a smuggling. a third of all human trafficking to the united kingdom occurs wholly within the borders of the united kingdom. when

i was chairman of the all—party group against human trafficking, we campaign for group against human trafficking, we campaignforan group against human trafficking, we campaign for an independent commissioner. one was appointed in 2014, however, since april last year, we have not had one. this is unacceptable but with the prime minister use his good offices to get one appointed urgently? can i thank my honourable _ one appointed urgently? can i thank my honourable friend _ one appointed urgently? can i thank my honourable friend for _ one appointed urgently? can i thank my honourable friend for all - one appointed urgently? can i thank my honourable friend for all his - my honourable friend for all his work in this important area and i am happy to look into the particular position that he mentions and i know that he is a proud, as i am, of our world leading modern slavery legislation, thanks to the former premised on these benches. is a world leading piece of vegetation and showing a example of how to tackle this and i will make sure we have someone in place to do the job. there are now more than 50% more social care staff vacancies than last year. people are stuck in hospital beds with nowhere to go and in my constituency, we are trying

new innovative solutions to tackle the backlog but the prime minister knows that this is a workforce crisis. we must recruit and retrain social care staff so i ask him, will he support the liberal democrat proposal to pay a higher wage to social care workers to tackle the social care workers to tackle the social care workers to tackle the social care shortages that underpin the nhs crisis? irate social care shortages that underpin the nhs crisis?— the nhs crisis? we recently announced _ the nhs crisis? we recently announced a _ the nhs crisis? we recently announced a £14 _ the nhs crisis? we recently announced a £14 billion - the nhs crisis? we recently. announced a £14 billion more the nhs crisis? we recently - announced a £14 billion more for health and social care board and in particular, that money, part of that will go to a new discharge fund to speed the discharge of people from hospitals back into their homes and communities. that money is already making a difference on the ground, we can see the numbers of people are already reducing, easing the burdens in our a&e departments and that comes on top of the money we have invested to improve training, recruitment and development of our valued social care staff and that will make sure we can reduce vacancy rates, increase retention and get

the workforce we know we need. mr speaker, last month, together with fellow mps, speaker, last month, together with fellow mp5, i hosted an event, at party, to welcome ukrainian refugees living in north staffordshire. with the prime minsterjoin me in thanking alton towers who hosted the event, the host families and all the people of north staffordshire who have made our ukrainian friends so very welcome? i have made our ukrainian friends so very welcome?— have made our ukrainian friends so ve welcome? ., i, ., ., ., , very welcome? i 'oined my honourable ffiend very welcome? i 'oined my honourable friend in very welcome? ijoined my honourable friend in thanking _ very welcome? ijoined my honourable friend in thanking all— very welcome? ijoined my honourable friend in thanking all the _ very welcome? ijoined my honourable friend in thanking all the sponsors - friend in thanking all the sponsors and families involved in putting on 80 party and i know many members would have done something similar. is a wonderful way to show our support for the families that have come here and again, something that the president this morning mentioned to me, how grateful he is to the uk, that we have opened up our hearts and homes are to help those in his country that need our security and sanctuary. ibig country that need our security and sanctua . �* �* ., ., . sanctuary. big brother watch recently released _ sanctuary. big brother watch recently released a - sanctuary. big brother watch recently released a report i sanctuary. big brother watch | recently released a report into

unaccountable government bodies such as the counter disinformation unit, the rapid response unit and the british army's 77 brigade. we have seen what's of public money spent, recording descent on social media, politicians and the leader of the opposition, academics and journalists and even members of the public have been subjected to monitoring by whitehall officials. this at the same time as we are waiting for the results of the inquiry into state surveillance on campaigns such as the stephen lawrence campaign. how much public money is spent on this and whether he speaks it is a justifiable thing to do to spend public money in this manner and could also update the house on the progress of the inquiry? i house on the progress of the inui ? ., ., ., inquiry? i have to get back to her on the inquiry — inquiry? i have to get back to her on the inquiry and _ inquiry? i have to get back to her on the inquiry and indeed - inquiry? i have to get back to her on the inquiry and indeed give i inquiry? i have to get back to her| on the inquiry and indeed give her an exact figure but in general, i believe very strongly in free speech and will make sure we continue to protect it wherever we can.- protect it wherever we can. friday the 24th of _

protect it wherever we can. friday the 24th of february _ protect it wherever we can. friday the 24th of february will- protect it wherever we can. friday the 24th of february will mark i protect it wherever we can. friday| the 24th of february will mark one year of russia's barbaric war in ukraine. thousands of people have been killed, over 1,000 children have been killed or injured, so will my right honourable friend, the prime minister, call for a national minute of silence on that day so that all across the uk, the people here can't show their unending support for the people of ukraine? can i find my honourable friend for all the work she has done in her previous role to ensure we provide appropriate support to those in ukraine. i think are very much for her suggestion and it is something we are considering as we speak and there will be many otherwise we can mark that moment, not least as an international community, continuing to show knighted condemnation and isolation of russia. this to show knighted condemnation and isolation of russia.— isolation of russia. this week, mr seaker, isolation of russia. this week, mr speaker. is _ isolation of russia. this week, mr speaker, is children's _ isolation of russia. this week, mr speaker, is children's mental- isolation of russia. this week, mr. speaker, is children's mental health week. we know that adverse childhood

experiences, whether that be growing up experiences, whether that be growing up in poverty in the uk or indeed living through the horrors of war in ukraine, could have a lifelong impact on mental health. with the number of children in mental health crisis increasing year—on—year in the uk, does the prime minister believe he is doing enough to address the causes of childhood trauma? ., ., «i ., , trauma? can i thank the other member for her question? _ trauma? can i thank the other member for her question? we _ trauma? can i thank the other member for her question? we are _ trauma? can i thank the other member for her question? we are doing - trauma? can i thank the other member for her question? we are doing more . for her question? we are doing more to make sure the extra money we are putting into tackle mental health is but a click focused on young people where we have seen a very startling increase in the number of young people presenting with mental health conditions that we would all like to reduce and that is why we are putting more support into schools and colleges across the country. that is being rolled out as we speak, and also we have recently announced more money for crisis centres and urgent treatment centres and 100 different committees around the country, which will make a difference. the country, which will make a difference-—

the country, which will make a difference. , ., , difference. this country's military and diplomatic _ difference. this country's military and diplomatic support _ difference. this country's military and diplomatic support for - difference. this country's militaryl and diplomatic support for ukraine is strong and has strong support across the country. this well—known is a programme that has gone on for a decade, led by the westminster foundation democracy to support the ukrainian parliament so does my right honourable friend agree that should this country host a reconstruction conference with the ukrainians to discuss how ukraine can win the peace, that the foreign office and westminster foundation and other bodies can come together and other bodies can come together and see how we can help president zelensky in the next stage of his country's development? mr; zelensky in the next stage of his country's development? my honourable ffiend country's development? my honourable friend mix and — country's development? my honourable friend mix and excellent _ country's development? my honourable friend mix and excellent point - country's development? my honourable friend mix and excellent point and i friend mix and excellent point and as we look forward to hosting the reconstruction conference for ukraine it at this year, i will make you to take up his suggestion and involve all those organisations that will provide support to us and ultimately make sure we can rebuild ukraine in the way that it deserves. the government will want to help maintain popular backing in the uk for our support to ukraine encoding by helping people with their energy

bills. more than 40,000 people across devon live in homes that are off the gas grid, they are on the rural equivalent of three payment metres. they need the money upfront in order to pay for their heating or alternative fuels. the government announced an alternative fuel payment last september but people in devon are still waiting. what is the prime ministers say to people who are off the gas grid and are waiting for their alternative fuel payment five months later? we specifically considered people _ five months later? we specifically considered people who _ five months later? we specifically considered people who are - five months later? we specifically considered people who are off i five months later? we specificallyj considered people who are off the gas grid when designing the energy support schemes we put in place which is why the bulk of the support was delivered to those who had a literacy metres to ensure it reached people like a mentioned including many of my own real constituents as well. that money should be getting to them and i will make sure it moves as quickly as possible but we also put in place the local household support fund to provide discretionary funding that local councils can give to those households most in need. there is no doubt that the — households most in need. there is no doubt that the nhs _ households most in need. there is no doubt that the nhs is _ households most in need. there is no doubt that the nhs is under - households most in need. there is no|

doubt that the nhs is under enormous pressure on despite record numbers of doctors, and i welcome the workforce plan but we have to think long—term on buildings, to so can he look closely at proposals to rebuild a hospital which has the support of thousands of residents in south cheshire? mr thousands of residents in south cheshire? i ., «i thousands of residents in south cheshire? i «i ., ., cheshire? mr speaker, i know that leihton cheshire? mr speaker, i know that leighton hospital— cheshire? mr speaker, i know that leighton hospital has _ cheshire? mr speaker, i know that leighton hospital has been - cheshire? mr speaker, i know that l leighton hospital has been allocated over 40 formalin pounds to address some of the immediate issues at that site but i also know that the honour but friend is keen to make sure continued investment in his local hospital and i know the department for help are looking at more hospitals tojoin the for help are looking at more hospitals to join the new hospital programme and i am sure they will have heard what he said in the voices of his constituents, too. bus services are — voices of his constituents, too. bus services are vital _ voices of his constituents, too. bus services are vital to our communities for work, services are vital to our communities forwork, health, services are vital to our communities for work, health, school and for socialising. in a matter of days, the buses that millions depend on will face another crisis with the ending of the bus recovery grant and

predicted cuts of 15 to 20% in my village will be devastating for people across my constituency and others. when the prime minister committed to extending the bus recovery grant so the communities in my constituency and many others are not left isolated and will he ask the transport secretary to meet with me to discuss this issue? we recognise _ me to discuss this issue? we recognise the _ me to discuss this issue? - recognise the vital importance of busesin recognise the vital importance of buses in our local committees and thatis buses in our local committees and that is why we are well on the way to fulfilling our commitment to invest £3 billion over this parliament and that includes funding for local councils and recent money to help cap operator affairs at £2 through the spring and of course, we always continue to see how we can support bus services in the long term. ~ ., , ., ., term. would my right honourable ffiend term. would my right honourable friend agree _ term. would my right honourable friend agree that _ term. would my right honourable friend agree that apprenticeshipsl friend agree that apprenticeships such as those offered by the excellent south essex college which i visited on monday or a great

pathway into work? i completely a i ree pathway into work? i completely a u ree with pathway into work? i completely agree with my — pathway into work? i completely agree with my honourable i pathway into work? i completely| agree with my honourable friend pathway into work? i completely i agree with my honourable friend and pay tribute to her local college, particularly in national apprenticeship week. i know that something we discussed just in cabinet yesterday, we also have the country's first education secretary who herself was an apprentice and thatis who herself was an apprentice and that is something we are very proud of. cani can ijoin the prime minister and leader of the opposition in the condolences of the victims of the desks for stating earthquake in turkey and syria, can i reiterate my thanks to the foreign secretary for the speed of initial uk response. mr speaker, as we enter the third day of the earthquake, the bitter, cold, unforgiving weather means the likely of putting more survivors from the rubble becomes less likely. —— mike pulling. immediate humanitarian

impact is devastating. can i ask the prime minister when we can announce an announcement on what further aid his government will commit to with relief efforts and what discussions he is having with his international counterparts to ensure our response meets the scale of this crisis. thank you for the question, and i join her in paying tribute to the foreign secretary. i spoke to the turkish president yesterday. right now we are supplying search and rescue, we are in that vital window in the beginning of a situation like this which is why our search and rescue teams are on the ground, providing that assistance. the foreign secretary is also speaking to his counterpart at the united nations to ensure humanitarian support that we can provide is well targeted, also in syria where we supply the white helmets, we continue to be in touch with everyone we need to and i can assure the honourable lady we will continue to supply and provide support that

is asked of us. i’m to supply and provide support that is asked of us.— is asked of us. i'm pleased to announced — is asked of us. i'm pleased to announced that _ is asked of us. i'm pleased to announced that president i is asked of us. i'm pleased to i announced that president zelensky will be _ announced that president zelensky will be addressing both houses in westminster imminently. that will require _ westminster imminently. that will require me to suspend the house's business — require me to suspend the house's business. members attending the address_ business. members attending the address will go directly to the halt — address will go directly to the halt the _ address will go directly to the hall. the house is expected to resume — hall. the house is expected to resume sitting at a approximately 2pm _ resume sitting at a approximately 2pm the — resume sitting at a approximately 2pm. the division bells will be sounded — 2pm. the division bells will be sounded five minutes before. the house _ sounded five minutes before. the house is — sounded five minutes before. the house is now suspended. order. the seaker house is now suspended. order. tue: speaker suspends the house is now suspended. order. ti9 speaker suspends the setting of the house of commons to allow mps to make a short walk, only about five or six minutes into central hall at westminster, the scene of so many famous events including major addresses by international figures, it's the space that not only gives you enough room to get so many people in, 650 member is of the house of commons plus the members of house of commons plus the members of house of commons plus the members of house of lords, journalist, etc. but

also, it is hugely symbolic part of the westminster stage, the site of the westminster stage, the site of the trial of king charles the first, it's an important symbol, if you like, of the history of party democracy and of democracy in its various forms i should say. during the course of several hundred years in this country. what was once part of a royal palace, which is why it still called the palace of westminster. we heard during house of commons under the rules broadcasters can only show the clock at this point, so that is why that is all you will see, the camera... it's an automatic view and is part of the deal with parliamentary brokers. we have no powers over these pictures, they are controlled by the commons authorities. let me bring you some other developing stories, we had the prime minister there in the exchanges with the leader of the labour party talking

about the support that britain is providing to ukraine, including that critical question of support to prevent... to protect it from any attack from the sky. by coincidence, in the hague during the course of this lunchtime and investigation team has been examining an incident that dates back to the very early stages of this conflict, not last year, but nine years ago. which is when the actual contest over the contestation over the land began, you will remember the breakaway region of donetsk, it was from there that a missile was launched which brought down a civilian aircraft, killing all 298 people on board, that was mh 17, killing all 298 people on board, that was mh17, the investigation announced it believes there is evidence that president putin was directly involved in the decision to deploy anti—aircraft missiles, to ukraine, it does however say there is not enough evidence to lead to

further prosecutions and it reminds people that under international law a serving head of state enjoys immunity from prosecution. the question will be if president putin would leave office, whether he might potentially be charged over this, if there were to be further evidence found or indeed those claiming war crimes in the current conflict in ukraine. president zelensky has arrived in the uk, his first visit since russia's invasion of his country last year, only the third country last year, only the third country he has visited since the war began, he was in the us in december and visited poland on the way back on. he is expected to address mps in westminster hall and he will also meet the current king charles. i defence editor of the economist told us earlier what concerns has about it defences. $5

us earlier what concerns has about it defences-— it defences. as russia's campaign a u ainst it defences. as russia's campaign against ukraine _ it defences. as russia's campaign against ukraine electricity - it defences. as russia's campaign against ukraine electricity grid i against ukraine electricity grid intensifies, there is concern about the sustainability of ukraine's service at missile systems. particularly the soviet—era systems. there is a sense of concern about what other capabilities we have that because you don't some of these missiles but i think the biggest concern is not so much using these aircraft for offensive purposes, for things like lows as a boat and dropping bombs on russian grand positions, the biggest concern is that if ukraine runs out of anti missile, anti—aircraft ammunition, things like the s 300 soviet—era system for which it doesn't have any easy means of replenishing the missiles that go up and shoot down these russian planes and russian missiles, this would open up the skies in ukraine to russian aircraft, it would give russianjets free reign over ukraine, that they haven't had at any stage of this

conflict other than in very small pockets of territory and that would completely change the situation that you describe, which is effectively contested airspace for both sides. so this is a long—term step, not to step for the spring offensive, not a step for the spring offensive, not a step that will yield any results by the summer or probably even autumn, but later on, ensuring that, if ukraine are's ed events a defence situation becomes precarious that russian aircraft cannot return to ukraine's skies in force. that russian aircraft cannot return to ukraine's skies in force.- russian aircraft cannot return to ukraine's skies in force. that is a very helpful _ ukraine's skies in force. that is a very helpful in — ukraine's skies in force. that is a very helpful in helping _ ukraine's skies in force. that is a very helpful in helping us - very helpful in helping us understand what rishi sunak is talking about the two stage approach of british support. but we had commitments made by denmark, germany and the netherlands this week, at least 100 tanks, the british have sent 14 challenger tanks, would you be surprised if british and i didn't make a further specific pledge on additional equipment of that kind? no, i would

additional equipment of that kind? no, iwould be additional equipment of that kind? no, i would be surprised if he didn't make further announcements on military aid of some kind. but, i would say, first of all, don't expect more tanks because the uk offer of tanks was in a way, you know, while it does have military significance, it was primarily a political step intended to break the logjam over the leopard german tank. pushing the germans to do something? and it's exceeding along with the american step. but don't obsess over tanks, the supporting equipment you need to to transport them, the engineering units to build bridges you can travel over, maintenance, logistics, those are as important as the tanks and this is particularly significant because the western tanks ukraine is getting a much bigger and heavier than the soviet designed tanks it has now. so, for example, the bridges that its engineering units have will not be sufficient. i would engineering units have will not be sufficient. iwould be engineering units have will not be sufficient. i would be looking out for announcements in any of those

areas, engineering, logistics, support, maintenance. the other thing i would say is that it's not just tanks, it's about things like infantry fighting vehicles, armoured fighting vehicles, i think in all of the excitement and enthusiasm around tanks, we have lost one of the most important announcement of the last several months which is the bradley fighting vehicles, going to ukraine. i think these presently are as important as the danes because they are more numerous in number and in some way more versatile they can be provided in greater quantity, they can be repaired more easily. i would say that, less sexy kits, in some ways is just as significant. another guest from the university of bath told me about the significance about the relationship between this country and ukraine. that about the relationship between this country and ukraine.— country and ukraine. that you carry will be pledging _ country and ukraine. that you carry will be pledging a _ country and ukraine. that you carry will be pledging a fighter _ country and ukraine. that you carry will be pledging a fighterjet - country and ukraine. that you carry will be pledging a fighterjet pilot i will be pledging a fighterjet pilot training and so the details of that

will obviously be a bit more will probably fold out of the coming days. but it doesn't necessarily have to be on actualjets themselves, the uk, the raf in particular, has obviously simulate as which they can use and it doesn't necessarily also mean that this means f—16s or any other airframe that the west has are on their way, because it can actuallyjust improve the capabilities of the pilots themselves. said that there is a good few question marks there, in terms of actually what is going to come out. it's also interesting just to see the uk saying they are increasing their capacity, the amount of actual ukrainian recruits at this time and also marines, there is a new addition that they will be training over the coming months and years. training over the coming months and ears. , :, ., , years. fighter pilot training is obviously... _ years. fighter pilot training is obviously... it _ years. fighter pilot training is obviously... it sounds - years. fighter pilot training is obviously... it sounds good, l years. fighter pilot training is | obviously... it sounds good, is good, but, without the planes, it's presumably not an immediate... it's not going to have an immediate effect? :, :, , , ,

effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it — effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it about, _ effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it about, it's _ effect? no, it does depend, in terms of what is it about, it's about - of what is it about, it's about getting pilots more... some of these pilots, if they are not actually in battle at the moment, i presume, given what has happened with the ukrainian air force, they do have surplus pilots, they have lost if few aircraft, so i presume they're able to send some surplus but also experienced pilots over to start training. it will be about the weapons, tactics, maintenance, how to go through the procedure on more advanced jets than what they have been using which is basically as far as i'm aware the mig 29. it's about starting to build that capacity up, rather than a saying you are definitely going into an f—16. it's more about building the relationship and starting the process rather than this is it and happening imminently. just talk about the situation about the situation at the moment, we have this intense fighting in the donetsk region about cities like bakhmut, in

terms of the progress either side, are we at a stalemate at the moment? i wouldn't say it's a stalemate. maybe to your viewers it seems like that's because over the winter things have slowed down, but we'd expect that to happen over the winter because fighting is just more difficult. the conditions are worse, it can still go on. i think what you are starting to see, i've noticed looking at it fairly closely as the russians are starting to eke out slow, steady progress around bakhmut. other places are threatened. the thing about bakhmut is that it ukrainians keep the supply lines open? otherwise if it keeps going the way it is, they may have to withdraw. but we will see, they have been a very determined so far and hopefully they can keep that supply and are open. if you zoom out a little bit on the map bakhmut it's become a focal point and quite

strategically focused on that area, but it's actually important strategically, the ukrainians could withdraw and trade space for time, it wouldn't massively change the outcome of the war, it may give the russians the very much vaunted and needed win that they are looking for, but i don't think it's completely strategically important as potentially other places where we may see offensives coming. let me bring you some headlines. president volodymyr zelensky has arrived in downing street to meet prime minister rishi sunak. he will address parliament later and is to have an audience with the king. more than 11,000 people were killed in turkey and syria by earthquakes, the search for survivors is

continuing. fastfood chain mcdonald's signs an agreement with the uk equality watchdog following concerns over how it handled sexual harassment complaints. let me take you to the house of commons, we are inside of the security zone but outside the building itself in one of the yards, this gives access to westminster hall which is where the presidential address will take place in the parliament itself. the oldest part of the houses of parliament. this is the entrance which provides access for a lot of mps who are coming in to westminster. it's part of the part of the parliamentary estate, the prime minister goes into this building in an armoured vehicle and president zelensky will doubtless

have done the same. there are commons officials, both the flags of the countries, this country and ukraine, all set up, so presumably for the entrance that the prime minister will be using the two prime ministers will be using an commons officials, because of the house of commons have been suspended will be there to welcome him. he is obviously going to be accompanied by the speaker of the house of commons. it's a bit of logistical operation to get 650 mp5 through there although it is a relatively short walk, more than numbers that will be trying to get in and get seated all at once. they won't want to keep president zelensky hanging around. his security detail won't want that, so the question about making sure everyone is sat down, in their places, before the start of the show is introduced. it's one of those

occasions, one of those rare occasions, one of those rare occasions where it isn't all about the british prime minister. it's about the guest, whoever that is, prominent international figures who address the houses of parliament over the years, the dramatic site, having seen it so many times in person, i can assure you that hearing your footsteps echo along the stone flags, watching the sunlight burst through that glass window, stained glass window, and then of course the steps, you can see the crowd of mps, the parliamentarians, guests, journalists, all the rest of it, on the floor, waiting in anticipation for this address. think of the contrast, as well, when europe was last at war, back in the late 1930s and through the first—half of the 19405, and through the first—half of the 1940s, you can see grant shapps, we can see the transport secretary as

well, mark harper, you can see keir starmer, talking to the new snp leader, edward davey, and jeffrey donaldson. there goes the entourage of vehicles, coming from somewhere, i don't think it was downing street, he left some time ago, so we may have think you went back to a hotel to freshen up close to westminster, plenty of them in that immediate area between house of commons and the river. there is also, as he arrives, coming in to the palace of westerns. he will be formally greeted on behalf of the parliamentary authorities. this is the area known as new palace yard, north—west of the palace of westminster. it's basically old

palace yard was on the road, because of the change in the buildings since the fire in the 1830s. it banned and much of the pantry estate and westminster great hall is the last bit of the palace that still survives, meeting the speaker of the house of lords and speaker of the house of lords and speaker of the house of lords and speaker of the house of commons. posing with the representatives of both of the elected and appointed members of the british parliament, still relatively unusual to have an unelected second chamber, it may even be unique, not necessarily always directly elected but sometimes to indirectly elected by the german parliament for example. some countries manage with just one voluntary chamber. ——

parliamentary chamber. new zealand for example. going into wetness are grateful for this most anticipated speech by president zelensky, doubtless giving people an update on the procedure and the history of this. it's packed, you wouldn't expect it to be any other, volodymyr zelensky is a man with a great presence, not least because of his career before he entered politics as a stand—up comedian, and then a tv star, he is now become an international star, star, he is now become an internationalstar, no star, he is now become an international star, no question about it, his personality has had quite an impact on how ukraine was my battle is regarded internationally, he has been quite a voice and face for his nation from those early hours of the attack, when he posted messages on social media, the other thing is that this... contrast wit with international events like the second world war, yes there were governments, but there were

governments, but there were governments in exile, many of them, many of them in excel in london. this is a government, notwithstanding the fact of an invasion by its neighbour, russia, that still very much is present in the country and says it's running affairs in the country and the fact that president zelensky can leave ukraine, confident he can get back in again, because he wouldn't be leaving unless he knew he could get back in, or believed he could get back in, or believed he could get backin back in, or believed he could get back in and security have told them he can get back in. then that in itself is symbolic of the fact that ukraine is still in the fight. and that its elected government remains in place. the government that has been described by the kremlin as a government full of nazis, which is the claim that was originally made by russia back in march last year for its intervention, its military intervention, still doesn't call it a war, it's actually an criminal

offence for a russian stock in those terms. the rest of the world calls it innovation, because if you put your troops inside the borders of another country, with an act of aggression, then that is regarded as an invasion under international law, the boundaries of ukraine are settled, crimea was once not in ukraine, but it was added to ukraine by stalin and as a result is treated as part of ukraine, of course it was effectively annexed by russia, now says, is part of russia, that is still one of the issues that divides russia and ukraine, even if the troops withdraw tomorrow, that wouldn't mean the end of the conflict because the argument about what part of ukraine they are allowed to take from there. so we are staying on the houses of parliament, we are waiting for president zelensky, i should just say for viewers on the bbc news

channel, it's important to make this point, because i don't want to suddenly find you can't see president zelensky halfway through his speech, we are hoping he is starting in the next few minutes, normally at this time we would be joining meaning the news on bbc but because of this speech we are going to stay with it on bbc news, so don't worry, you will not miss any of the speech, though if you want to watch the one o'clock news, you are going to need retune your set... i don't mean region, we are in a digital age now, you can select another channel, bbc one on your set and you can watch the national and international news and the best of the speech. but if you want to watch the speech. but if you want to watch the speech, live from westminster and soak up some of that asp sphere and soak up some of that asp sphere and the reaction and more importantly what he says, how plenty is with his parliamentary audience,

his best lobbyists against the british government and any reluctance from the british government there, the former prime minister borisjohnson, a passionate advocate for the cause of ukraine from the start of the war, i think you canjust see from the start of the war, i think you can just see to his left as we look at it lord frost, the former negotiator, the man that helped bring us northern ireland protocol in the dispute over the european union in all of its different dynamism. you can seejohn healey, shadow spokesman of the left just disappearing on the left talking to theresa may, the former british prime minister, all of the prime ministers and former prime ministers have offered their support. a phalanx of that. also the plight of course we will have the full speech and reaction to that speech he on the bbc news channel over the

next few minutes. it is a striking sight, it's the history of the westminster hall, with the trial and execution of king charles the first, his hugely symbolic. it's by far the most important part of the westminster parliament, in terms of the history and those big events, those big international addresses that have been made to the houses of commons and lords. the last speech president zelensky made in march last year, 13 days after his country was invaded, was a remote speech from kyiv, the ukrainian capital. mps watched it on the monitors in at the house of commons and they applauded enthusiastically when he made his speech, delivered his speech, a speech in which he quoted shakespeare, in which he quoted winston churchill, and also where he

urged mps to provide the support thatis urged mps to provide the support that is needed, that is going to be as message again according to our political correspondent, because the pressure on ukraine hasn't eased, so the pressure of ukraine were put on the pressure of ukraine were put on the british government as it has on its other allies, will not diminish either. they really want fighter jets, real resistance to giving them fighterjets, because of anxiety is innate so that it will accelerate the conflict, not based on its end. the argument from the ukrainian side is that it gives the tools and we can finally bring this invasion to an end. if you don't give us the tools, because they use air attacks tools, because they use air attacks to destroy our infrastructure, they are going to make it increasingly impossible for the civilian population to survive in what is a permanent war zone at the moment. the big next test, of course, ukraine's strategy will be the spring offensive that russia is expected to launch once the weather conditions increase. improve i should say. we are coming out of the

winter and that the expectation is that we will get to the stage where there is a major military operation taking place which will provide us with an opportunity to judge what stage of the conflict has reached. as such was saying earlier, it's not a stalemate, but out on the outside to see where the advantage lies between russia's forces and ukraine's forces, ukraine is a big country geographically but is a relatively small country in military terms. that, of course, is why it is so much support from the western countries, particularly from members of the european union, from the uk and from the united states. three countries that president zelensky has visited in person in the last month or so and they include poland, us and uk. more from westminster and just a few months, let's hear the

weather. we have some windy conditions at the moment across the north—west of scotland, gusts up to 70 miles an hour plus and accompanying the gusts of wind is this where the front which will bring a heavy wane. high pressure still in charge in southern areas, more settled there. when we lose this morning's mist and fog. some of it will be slow to clear, but it should eventually clear, leaving a dry day with a bit more cloud coming in at times across part of south—west england and wales. temperatures here, 7—10 . that band of cloud and rain coming into the north—west spread further south during the rest of the day and overnight, behind it we see a return it to some cold conditions, wintry showers, piling in above about 200 metres across the north of scotland and are still very windy here. not quite cold in the south as it was last night. tomorrow, here is the

dregs of the weather front across southern england, blues and representing the cold air following on behind but it is going to be short lived. we start with the cloud across the south, you mightjust get the odd spot of rain, not much more than that, a lot of dry weather, fair bit of sunshine, still gales across the north of scotland, slowly easing through the day and wintry showers with the snow level tending to rise through the day as well. but in between a lot of dry weather. friday sees two weather fronts crossing us and the mild air coming in from the atlantic. a change once again in temperatures. there is our first weather front producing some cloud and some rain. second one brings heavier rain in across northern scotland. winds he will pick up. the western areas, more cloud, a little bit of dampness in that, for the south and east we are looking at sunshine after a cold start and highs up to about 12 degrees in aberdeen. on saturday, still a fair bit of cloud around, some brightest of skies, especially

in eastern areas, but cloud thicken up in eastern areas, but cloud thicken up in some western parts for some drizzly bits and pieces. somewhere along this east coast willie could easily see a 13 degrees high. most of us are going to be in double figures. high pressure clings on, through the weekend, we will see some mornings with some mist, some fog patches, there will be a lot of dry weather, any dampness is likely in the north—west.

hello, this is impact. i'm yalda hakim. president zelensky of ukraine is visiting britain today in only his second trip abroad since the russian invasion. this is the scene live in westminster. also on the programme... aid agencies warn that time is running out to find earthquake survivors in turkey and syria. as rescue operations continue in turkey and syria, the death toll has now reached more than 11,000 people. turkey's president erdogan is seeing the devastation for himself, meeting residents at the epicenter of the quake.

that's all coming up