welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: three days after the earthquakes in turkey and syria, more than 12,000 are dead. it's feared thousands more are still trapped as rescuers work through the night to try to recover more people. turkey's president erdogan acknowledges mistakes were made in the initial response as the extent of the devastation becomes ever clearer. the rescuers say that they will come back tomorrow and the next day. they will return to sites like this for as long as it takes to return loved ones to their relatives. cheering ukraine's president zelensky on his first visit to the uk

since the russian invasion thanks british politicians for their support, but urges the uk to give them fighterjets. writing on the helmet reads we have freedom, give us wings to protect it. have freedom, give us wings to protect it— drama at disney as 7,000 jobs are set to go. the entertainment giant says it must cuts costs as streaming customers fall for the first time. and praise continues to pour in for nba superstar lebronjames after he becomes the competition's all—time leading points scorer.

hello. welcome to the programme. we begin in turkey and syria, where more than 12,000 people are now known to have died in the earthquakes, which hit the region early on monday morning. in turkey, there's growing anger at the speed of the rescue effort with many complaining they've had no help trying to pull people from the rubble. while in syria, state—controlled media is reporting that some 300,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. more from syria shortly. but first, let's hear from our middle east correspondent anna foster, who was among the first journalists to reach the epicentre in turkey, and reports now from karaman—marash. the devastating power of the earth, seen from the air. swathes of this city lie in ruins. buildings, homes, lives have been destroyed. in many cities, the search now isn't for survivors, it's only for the dead.

when the rubble shows a sign, the digging stops. behind this blanket, an arm reveals a body. slowly, carefully, it's uncovered. and then, the moment of realisation. screaming a father lost. screaming the goodbye is painful and public. screaming and here in maras,

ambulances are now hearses. siren wails they have spent the whole day here searching for bodies, and the light is starting to fade now, but the rescuers say that they will come back tomorrow and the next day. they will return to sites like this for as long as it takes to return loved ones to their relatives. they are rare now, but there are still moments of hope. a little girl healthy and alive after three days buried. the rescuers celebrate. she says her siblings are down there as well. today, president erdogan came to visit those who have lost everything. but there is growing anger that help is coming too slowly and there isn't enough of it. he says it is impossible to prepare for disasters on this scale.

translation: we had some problems - in some places like airports in the beginning. we had problems on the roads, but it's better today and it will be even better tomorrow. bodies now fill this sports hall. more are arriving all the time. among them, yunus's fiancee. they were just weeks away from getting married. translation: i was planning to dress her with her weddingi dress, but now i will dress her in a funeral shroud. i am like the walking dead, i am a living dead. i lost my feelings. each of these bundles marks a future cut short, a family separated. every hour, the death toll rises, and even now, it is impossible to know how many lives this quake has claimed. anna foster, bbc news, marash.

well, the situation in northern syria was desperate even before earthquake struck. the region is home to millions of refugees displaced by more than a decade of civil war. some emergency aid has been flown in from iran and the gulf states, but the syrian government has also asked the european union for help. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen reports. something to celebrate at last in a place without much good news. a family of six was rescued alive from the rubble in idlib, the last part of syria still controlled by rebels. the rescuers, a group called the white helmets that the uk helps to fund, are experts. they've been digging out survivors of the assad regime's air strikes for much of syria's long war. the geological faults that brought down these buildings cut right across the front lines and zones of influence that have devastated syria since 2011. this is aleppo, syria's biggest

city, back in regime hands since the rebels here were defeated in 2016. now, syria has a huge natural disaster on the back of the man—made catastrophe that broke the country. in aleppo hospital, every bed has its own tragedy. only three members of this man's family survived when their home collapsed. 13 of them were killed. "they were," he says, "my father, my mother, my brother, "his wife, and their four children." and the wife and two kids of the brother who was rescued with me also died. faced with such disaster, the un, which already helps care for millions of syrians, appealed for some national solidarity. we are hoping that everybody puts the interest of the people first. we keep the politics aside, all authorities move away from the issue,

from the politics, and put the interest of the people first. in damascus, the capital, citizens are rallying around giving blood. so far, grassroots relief efforts seem to be the best hope. but it's not clear whether aid collected or delivered in damascus will make it across the front line into rebel—held idlib province. back in aleppo, russian troops, whose intervention salvaged the rule of the assad family, are helping the syrian red crescent alongside algerian rescue workers. the damascus regime says its allies, also including iran, are flying in aid. allies and who controls what won't matter much to families who are homeless or nervous about sleeping in damaged buildings. an earthquake tests any nation's resilience. war has taught a generation of syrians that they have to fend for themselves.

in idlib province, the white helmets rescued another child, a boy. people do their best. broader aid efforts, let alone rebuilding, will need a miracle to overcome the blight, hatred, and distrust of a generation of war. jeremy bowen, bbc news. david lillie is executive director of the syrian american medical society. it is a medical relief organisation that does a lot of work in syria and it also has teams affected by the quake in turkey. hejoins me now from washington. thank you forjoining us. tell us what your teams are doing on the ground. us what your teams are doing on the ground-— us what your teams are doing on the ground. thank you. my teams have been — the ground. thank you. my teams have been working _ the ground. thank you. my teams have been working now— the ground. thank you. my teams have been working now for- have been working now for nearly 72 hours since the quake struck at four o'clock in the morning on monday. italy truly around—the—clock trying to save those who are injured and still coming into ourfacilities. we treated over 2000 and injured

people at our new facility than we have already confirmed 200 dead. of the seven hospitals that we run in northern syria, four have been damaged, to so badly damaged that they had to close, one was a maternity facility and so literally we had to carry babies out of the facility to a nearby hospital to care for them.— facility to a nearby hospital to care for them. how many other aid — to care for them. how many other aid organisations - to care for them. how many other aid organisations are l to care for them. how many i other aid organisations are you working with on the ground is too much it is not easy to get into the area at the moment. we work into the area at the moment. - work directly with hospitals, with the communities and we certainly collaborate with all other relief organisations, un organisations who are contributing in northern syria. it is really a collective effort and especially now when we have to collaborate to be as effective as possible and streamline our assistance. it is cross the border into turkey, we have heard a lot there. what are you doing? it is absolutely heartbreaking. we

have nearly 100 staff there, they were all affected and these are the ones who help support our effort in syria. monday night the temperatures got down to freezing and all of them, just like others with there, were out in the street and in their cars because of the after—shocks, and these are the after—shocks, and these are the ones who would get up at sunrise and get back to work with theirfamilies, sunrise and get back to work with their families, trying to do all that they can provide the support needed in syria to keep people alive, keep help going and hope going. logistically, roads have been ripped up, airports destroy, train tracks don't exist anymore. how are you physically getting your people into place? very good question. we are actually procuring, had a large procurement in syria in the last few days where we found medication supplies, consumables to get into a hospital to keep things going. we learned this morning that the border between turkey and

syria reopened, the roads are getting better and we are already sending medication supplies, consumables, equipment into turkey that we will use for the relief effort in turkey, as well as in syria. 0k, david airlie, thank you very much forjoining us. mr; very much for “oining us. my pleasure. — very much forjoining us. ij�*i pleasure. thank very much forjoining us. m: pleasure. thank you. we will try to keep in touch with that organisation as i try to enter syria later in the day. in other news, ukraine's president zelensky has been visiting european allies for the first time since his country was invaded by russia last year. he's been asking them to send more military help. in the past few hours, he's been in paris, where he met president macron and the german chancellor, 0laf scholz. he urged them to deliver the equipment ukraine needed "as soon as possible." earlier, president zelensky was in the uk where he addressed both houses of parliament at westminster.

he again appealed for more military help, including fighterjets. london has stood with us since day one. from the first seconds and minutes of the full—scale war, great britain, you extended your helping hand. around the world have not yet come to understand how to react. the world needs your leadership, britain, just as it needs ukrainian bravery. applause stay with us on bbc news. still to come, king of the court: lebronjames becomes the nba's all—time leading points scorer. there's mr mandela,

mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti. have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president - ba by doc duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning, elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith.

hello there. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines. the earthquakes in turkey and syria have killed more than 12 thousand people — it's feared thousands more are still trapped. president zelensky of ukraine addresses the uk parliament, and appeals for fighterjets to use against the russians. let's go to south america, now. it's now nearly two months since peru's former left—wing leader pedro castillo was removed from office. he was replaced by his former deputy, dina boluarte, triggering protests which have left nearly 50 civilians dead and disrupted economic life in parts of the country, including the shut—down of macchu pichu. one recent opinion poll suggested three quarters of peruvians want president boluarte to resign and for new elections to be called this year,

but congress is digging in its heels. so how is this likely to play out? i'm joined now by ben norton, a political analyst based in latin america. good to see you, ben. the protests have been going on for two months, congress refusing to grant early elections. 0ther protesters going to get their way eventually?— way eventually? that is the question — way eventually? that is the question everyone - way eventually? that is the question everyone is - way eventually? that is the l question everyone is asking. way eventually? that is the i question everyone is asking. it is a difficult situation. we should keep in mind that peru has gone through a series of crises for years. there have been seven presidents in six years. and the protesters are demanding fundamental change not only do they want an end to the current government of boluarte, with 76% disapproval, not only do they want to free pedro castillo, the former president imprisoned for 18 without trial. but they want a constituent assembly to create a new constitution. any problem

with peru, the fundamental problem behind all this instability, is that the government is still using the constitution that was written by a dictatorship in 1983. the constitution is very unpopular. 0ne constitution is very unpopular. one of the main demands from the protesters is the creation of a new constitution. unfortunately the reality is there are a lot of institutional impediments to that happening. it looks like the violence will continue in the violence will continue in the short—term. the violence will continue in the short-term.— the violence will continue in the short-term. ben, iwanted to move onto _ the short-term. ben, iwanted to move onto that, _ the short-term. ben, iwanted to move onto that, because i the short-term. ben, i wanted| to move onto that, because the protests have unfortunately not been peaceful. 50 civilians dead and violently crackdown by security forces.— security forces. many peruvians i have spoken _ security forces. many peruvians i have spoken to, _ security forces. many peruvians i have spoken to, i've _ i have spoken to, i've interviewed many underground, they say this is reminiscent of they say this is reminiscent of the dictatorship in the 1990s. and not only the police but police forces have been sent to

the streets. the human rights group of the peruvian government has said that the military has used helicopters should shoot at protesters and dropped to gus on protesters. that is further fuelling the protests. the government is deeply unpopular and continues to report more and more fuel on the fire, but the congress is very obstinate. they only have 7% approval, less than the president. they've effectively prevented dina boluarte's attempt to hold elections. [30 attempt to hold elections. do ou see attempt to hold elections. do you see the protests anytime soon? ., , . ., soon? no, they will continue very soon- — soon? no, they will continue very soon. that _ soon? no, they will continue very soon. that makes i soon? no, they will continue l very soon. that makes ending anytime. many say they think this is the moment where finally they will be able to write a new constitution. it is a problem, can they have been kicking down the road since 1993 and it seems that many people in the social movements

in peru, they are not willing to stop protesting until there is a fundamental change. they have already had seven presidents in six years, and don't want eight or nine. they want fundamental change today. ben norton, latin american political analyst. thank you for sharing your expertise. mr; for sharing your expertise. my pleasure- _ the entertainment giant disney has announced it'll be laying off 7,000 employees, in ceo bob iger�*s first major decision since he was asked back to lead the company late last year. the layoffs follow similar moves by other us tech giants which have laid off thousands of workers as the economy sours and companies dial back a hiring spurt that began during the height of the pandemic. earlier on, i spoke to our north america correspondent david willis. he explained why these cuts are taking place. this has everything to do with the so—called streaming wars. disney's disney+ subscription service has faced competition from rivals such

as netflix, amazon and so on. as a result of which it's had to spend a lot of money on content in order to attract subscribers. and that has weighed heavily on the bottom line. indeed, since disney plus was launched back in 2019, country's streaming services have lost around about $10 billion, it's been assessed. so it takes a lot of visits to the magic kingdom to make up that sort of shortfall, and as a result, even though the theme parks are doing extremely well, the company has announced the plan to try and save $5.5 billion — in part by cutting these 7000 jobs. i understand that most of these job losses will be in the division that makes films and tv series. so in other words, disney will cut back on content, and concentrate instead on the franchises that have proved so lucrative in the past —

such as star wars, the marvel superheroes and, of course, pixar animation. this does come after disney's old boss is returning to the company. that's right, we're talking about bob iger. he led disney for 15 years and one of the things he did in the ceo position was champion the development of streaming services at disney. the same services that are under pressure right now. he resigned as ceo in 2020 and then the company's share price fell dramatically, and that led to the ousting of mr iger�*s hand—picked successor, a man called bob chapek, and the return last november, and his men could put on contract to run the company now the next two years but he is under pressure, not only

from shareholders but from the billionaire investor, an activist investor by the name of nelson peltz, who was been highly critical of the way disney has been run in recent years. he was looking to gain a seat on the board. all this puts pressure on bob iger to act. so just two months back as ceo, he is cutting the 7000 jobs — on top of the more than 30,000 jobs that were cut by disney a couple of years ago, most of them in its theme park division. david willis, in washington for us, there. the praises continue to pour in for the nba superstar lebron james. the 38—year—old became the competition's all—time scoring leader. he eclipsed kareem abdul—jabbarfor the nba points record by reaching 38,388 career points, just one more than karim abdul—jabbar�*s total. abdul—jabbar initially broke the scoring record in april 1984, eight months before lebronjames was even

born. let's go to los angeles where that record was broken, and speak to sabreena merchant, staff writer for the athletic.com. good to have you with us. this greatest player of all time relates to statistics, really. is he the greatest player of all—time? i is he the greatest player of all-time?— is he the greatest player of all-time? ~ , ., , ., all-time? i think people who thou . ht all-time? i think people who thought michael _ all-time? i think people who thought michaeljordan i all-time? i think people who thought michaeljordan was l all-time? i think people who i thought michaeljordan was the best player of all time having change their opinion much, even after lebron's feat of becoming the all—time leading goalscorer in nba history. people who point to joy in nba history. people who point tojoy drennan in nba history. people who point to joy drennan another player .2 the championships. —— jordan. he is still to total short of michaeljordan. i think the debate is still alive and well. , ., think the debate is still alive and well. ,., ., �* think the debate is still alive and well. ,., ., ~ ., think the debate is still alive and well. ., ~ ., ., and well. -- point to. a lot of --eole and well. -- point to. a lot of people look— and well. -- point to. a lot of people look back _ and well. -- point to. a lot of people look back at _ and well. -- point to. a lot of people look back at the i and well. -- point to. a lot of. people look back at the players they remember. i am one who grew up watching michaeljordan and there is more to this than just points, isn't there? it is

about personality and how they play on the pitch and how they interact with her teammates as well. �* , ,., , �* interact with her teammates as well. �* , , �* ~' well. absolutely. and i think what a lot — well. absolutely. and i think what a lot of _ well. absolutely. and i think what a lot of people - well. absolutely. and i think| what a lot of people admired about michaeljordan was his ruthlessness and his ability to execute down oestrogen games. there images of him winning game ending shots are iconic. lebronjames was identified lebron james was identified more lebronjames was identified more as a pass another scorer, and even though he often contributed to the main play that help the team when, michaeljordan was a pure scorer. �* , ., michaeljordan was a pure scorer. ~ , ., ., scorer. aside from how well we lovin al scorer. aside from how well we lovingly remember _ scorer. aside from how well we lovingly remember our - scorer. aside from how well we | lovingly remember our favourite players, lebronjames gives the points in his favour. what is it about him that enables him to play at this level of game? lebron james to play at this level of game? lebronjames is simply good at everything you can do on a basketball court. he is one of the best passes, one of the best scorers. is ability to

stay healthy, he has never faced a career threatening injury. —— passers. he has missed at most 30% of the season. the fact that he is able to keep his body in good shape and maintain the longevity for 20 years, he has essentially been one of the top five players in the sport for every season. all of that contributes to his ability to have this record. it contributes him having one of if not the all—time great square in nba history. what will he do next? interesting. the transport _ will he do next? interesting. the transport lakers - will he do next? interesting. | the transport lakers increase their chances for this season. i don't lebronjames would like to contribute, but for him at the moment, the most important thing is playing with his son. sabreen merchant from athletic.com, thank you forjoining us. that is it from us for now.

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @richpreston. thank you for your company. goodbye. hello there. there was a hard frost across england and wales but plenty of sunshine on wednesday here but we had gale—force gusts of winds and rain further north. this is how we closed out the afternoon in highland. and that weather front responsible for this continues to sink its way steadily south and east. no significant rain by the time it pushes south—east as it comes into this area of high pressure, a band of cloud, light drizzle from east anglia down to cornwall, slowly clearing towards the channel. behind it, some sunshine coming through, a brisk north—westerly wind will continue to feed in showers, particularly the north—west of the great glen and winds still gusting 40—50mph at times so a noticeable strong westerly wind.

temperatures around 7—9 degrees, one or two places if we are luckyjust seeing 10 celsius as a high, 50 fahrenheit. as we close out thursday into the early hours of friday, we start to see a contrast, more cloud pushing into the far north, some showery outbreaks of rain here but milder, temperatures holding up above freezing. with clearer skies, temperatures falling just below freezing once again across england and wales so we can't rule out frost and fog again or friday. but high pressure dominates for england and wales, still a bit more of a breeze up into the far north—west and this westerly feed of air will continue to be a story so it will be a slightly milder feel generally across the country, we're likely to see temperatures into double digits. the weather front toppling across the high will bring outbreaks of showery rain into scotland. more cloud, high cloud across northern england and wales as well, highs generally of 9—13 degrees. as we move into the weekend, that milder air will continue to be the story. the high pressure reallyjust sitting across europe and clinging onto central and southern england,

with weather fronts toppling across that high. so that means we always run the risk of more cloud and outbreaks of rain, with a stronger wind across the far north and west. there'll be quite a lot of cloud generally on saturday, largely fine and dry for england and wales, and a little bit milder. 9—13 degrees, the high. similar story as well as we go to sunday, watch out for that early morning mist and fog once again.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: rescue workers are still searching for survivors in southern turkey and northern syria following monday's earthquakes. more than 12,000 people have been killed and it's feared thousands more are still trapped. the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan, has defended his government's response to the quakes. president zelensky of ukraine has addressed the uk parliament in a brief trip to england. he appealed for fighterjets to use against the russians. mr zelensky has moved on to france where he held talks with president macron, and the german chancellor, 0laf scholz. the walt disney company has announced that it's cutting 7,000 jobs in a restructuring plan. the entertainment group said the cuts were aimed

at helping its struggling streaming division, disney+.