this is bbc news, welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm martine croxall. our top stories: aid agencies call for better access to the earthquake disaster zones from turkey to syria as the number of people killed in both countries rises to more than 2a,000. over on that side of the border, there is the constant sound of sirens, of heavy machinery, of people working. there is none of that here. down there there are small children removing the rubble. the united nations estimates the earthquakes may have left nearly 5.5 million people homeless in syria. the government there says it will allow aid to be delivered to rebel—held parts of the country. despite the odds, people are still being pulled out alive from under the rubble in turkey, more than 120 hours

after the first earthquake struck. surviving the earthquake, that's the first hurdle. what will their lives be like in the coming months and years, as a result of the destruction we see here today? in other news, us fighterjets shoot down an unidentified aircraft over alaska after president biden gave the order to "seek and destroy". troops are trying to salvage the wreckage. celebrating uk music — indie band wet leg and singer harry styles lead the way with four nominations each for tonight's brit awards. # on the chaise longue...#

hello and welcome. rescuers in turkey and syria are increasingly focusing efforts on the survivors of monday's earthquakes who are enduring the aftermath in the cold of winter. the united nations says about 900,000 people urgently need hot meals on both sides of the border, and more than 1 million are homeless. these are live pictures from southern turkey. the number of deaths has now passed 24,000, but small numbers of victims continue to be pulled alive from the rubble as thousands of rescue workers continue their search for survivors. speaking on a visit to the turkish city of kahramanmaras, the united nations humanitarian chief, martin griffiths, said the earthquakes were the "worst event in 100 years in this region". he praised turkey's response to the disaster as "extraordinary", and expressed hope that aid to syria would reach both government and opposition—held areas, but he warned that was "not clear yet". the world health organization has appealed to international donors

to help them scale up their response to the earthquakes. officials appealed for more than $40 million, and said that syria in particular had been grossly neglected for many years, and the resilience of its healthcare system was now exhausted. in the last hour, the who chief, tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, has arrived in the syrian city of aleppo to see the devastation for himself. our correspondent, quentin sommerville, is in harem in the north—west idlib province of syria, where rebels are in control. he found little sign of a relief effort, with local people, including children, left scouring through rubble for possible survivors. this is the town of harem in north—west syria. there is a bit of activity here, but nothing like you see there in terms of activity on the other side, on the turkish side of the border. the border is literally just across that hill. the people here have lost about 700 buildings. another 4,000 or so are unsafe.

so they are living in tents and if we just swing around here you can perhaps see the internally displaced people's camp that has been set up over there. they are also telling us that in terms of foreign aid, they have received next to nothing. some spanish doctors made it to some of their hospitals, but nothing else. the contrast here with what is going on in turkey is astonishing. over on that side of the border there is the constant sound of sirens, of heavy machinery, of people working. there is none of that here. down there are small children removing the rubble. while the international community isn't here, it is being left to small boys to remove the rubble from these broken buildings and to try and find bodies. and it is bodies they are trying to find now because they say that the time for looking for survivors has passed here, that that passed 24 hours ago. this is mainly a recovery mission, they are no longer rescuing people and

the reason they are no longer rescuing people is because the aid just didn't come quick enough. quentin sommerville. late on friday night, in the turkish city of kahramanmaras, british and german rescuers found and pulled to safety a 15—year—old girl. and here we have footage of another rescue — earlier in the day — of a woman pulled from the rubble in antakya. rescue crews in turkey and syria are refusing to give up hope of finding people alive, but say their survival chances plummet after the first 72 hours because of the effects of dehydration and cold. in the city of gaziantep in southern turkey, rescue teams haven't given up hope of finding survivors. the city in south—eastern turkey is located about 33 kilometres — or 20 miles — from the epicentre of the earthquake. nick beake sent us this update from there. this time last weekend, this community would have been bustling. families out having a coffee, kids running around. look at it now. the heavy machinery has been

working for hours now, sifting huge amounts of debris, rubble, because this used to be a residential block. we don't know how many people died here when the earthquake struck, but still, people who live nearby and relatives have been coming here, staring in disbelief at what has happened. yet, as we hear more debris rain down, yet in another part of this city, overnight a pregnant woman was brought to safety. we don't know her condition, we don't know the condition of her unborn child. we are told the woman had a six—year—old daughter who did survive and these sorts of miracles are still happening five days after the earthquake. in another city, about two hours from here, there was a joint german and uk rescue attempt and they managed to bring a 15—year—old girl to safety, but these sorts of stories are few and far between now and the focus is shifting onto how the many people who survived the initial quakes survive in the coming days and weeks ahead.

the united nations is warning that across the border in syria, for example, more than 5 million people are now homeless, some 800,000 people are in urgent need of a hot meal if they are to survive, and across this region there are grave concerns about food and water and shelter for people. in this particular part of turkey there is also anger, as well as the grief. we have been meeting people who are saying buildings such as this shouldn't have come down. yes, they were very big earthquakes, but they should have been built to withstand this sort of tremor. and a woman we spoke to yesterday told us that earthquakes don't kill people, buildings do, and that's a reference to the fact that here in turkey, construction companies can sometimes pay for an exemption so they don't have to follow all the normal rules and regulations. so there is this fusion of anger and grief, and of course so many people who survived this dreadful disaster now face a very perilous fight to continue living in the days

and weeks and months ahead. nick beake in gaziantep. tom bateman is in adana in southern turkey for us and sent this report. this is one of the tower blocks that we have revisited several times now that came down in the initial quake and... i mean, you get a sense of how much work is involved in that they have been working day and night in this pile of rubble... still quite a lot to clear. and this building housed, we think, at least 100 people. we are told they think there are still at least 20 bodies under the rubble there and what has happened in a city like adana is that it is not just people that had to be evacuated when the quake initially struck, but afterwards

because many buildings around are now unsafe and this has become something of a city of the displaced. and all people find they can do is wait and watch in vigil. we have just been chatting to some of the family and friends here. these people were their neighbours, one man here lived in this building, happened not to be here at the time, but these are their family and their friends and they sit and wait day and night for news. we are told that one man who was a good friend of the people here, who was a carpenter, who lived in this building, tragically his body was removed last night. these are the moments of grief that people are experiencing, notjust by the day, but by the hour and by the minute here, and still they wait for more news. and at the same time, many of them don't have homes to live in. there are some camps here in adana, but the facilities still are very basic and it is freezing at night, so this remains a very severe

humanitarian crisis, notjust in adana, but across this region. tom but across this region. bateman reporting. i'm joined now by dr hossam elsharkawi, regional director of the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies. dr hossam elsharkawi, thank you very much forjoining us. tell us how your organisations are helping in this part of the world. £311" your organisations are helping in this part of the world.— this part of the world. our focus will be part _ this part of the world. our focus will be part of— this part of the world. our focus will be part of the _ this part of the world. our focus will be part of the iaf _ this part of the world. our focus will be part of the iaf oa, - this part of the world. our focus will be part of the iaf 00, is - this part of the world. our focus will be part of the iaf oci, is onj will be part of the iaf oci, is on syria. we have other teams covering turkey and europe. reports clearly spoke to the needs of crossbow. this is much bigger than anybody ever imagined and therefore the needs and associated response is massive. as the recovery or the search and rescue ends, now we are escalating or providing more medical attention.

a lot of the food and shelter items onto the blankets and the warm clothing that are required, including safe drinking water. that is critical to protect the population for at least the next 3—6 months. ourtimeline population for at least the next 3—6 months. our timeline is actually two years now. this is big. we face challenges. assistance received to date is insufficient to cover the needs that we now have. we have parts of syria that are inaccessible because of insecurity and the 12 year long conflict. however, we are hopeful that people will put countries, politicians will put that aside, their differences aside and help us, as humanitarians, focus on the humanitarian imperative and reaching the mothers and the children that need us now. we have convoys trying to also head to some

of those sensitive areas with insecurity from inside syria to reach all those that need to be assisted. and we are calling on the international community to be more generous with their donations and contributions, both in cash and in—kind, and the public at large to contribute to the local red cross and red crescent organisations or partners of hours in its operation. i understand that you have just returned from damascus to discuss access for getting age through? what are the major obstacles? you mentioned a lack of security. there is also in the past only been one border crossing and there has been a refusal in the past for the syrian locos government to allow aid into rebel held areas. i locos government to allow aid into rebel held areas.— locos government to allow aid into rebel held areas. i spent three days in damascus _ rebel held areas. i spent three days in damascus last _ rebel held areas. i spent three days in damascus last week, _ rebel held areas. i spent three days in damascus last week, supporting | in damascus last week, supporting the red crescent to seal up their operations and they're doing a job,

working around the clock, as the aid comes in it is being shipped immediately into the affected areas in many cities and in many villages in many cities and in many villages in northern syria, mostly along the coast. some of the parts that are not accessible, there are sensitive negotiations to get that aid into those parts. this predated the earthquake and it continues more intensely now. we are optimistic that some of those convoys will get through and it will not be a one—time delivery, it will be a belt of teams and convoys going through. we are very encouraged as well yesterday with the us treasury announcement suspending the sanctions for 180 days on the transfer of money to syria. this will make a huge difference to help us ramp up and scale up this operation because in these operations we also do a lot of local purchasing, but things that are available on the local market like

blankets and warm clothing, instead of shipping them from across the world. so we are working, we continue to work on these multiple, multiple fronts. medical care, safe water, food, shelter and access. you mentioned that _ water, food, shelter and access. you mentioned that there isn't enough assistance coming from the international community. in terms of donations of any kind. but you also talk about the sheer scale of this and the length of time that aid agencies are going to need to be in this region. what warning would you give or what appeal would you give to the international community to make them realise that this is a long—term commitment? make them realise that this is a long-term commitment?- long-term commitment? once this earthuuake long-term commitment? once this earthquake is _ long-term commitment? once this earthquake is off _ long-term commitment? once this earthquake is off the _ long-term commitment? once this earthquake is off the headlines - long-term commitment? once this earthquake is off the headlines and the news, and that will happen in a few weeks, it doesn't mean that it is not there, that people are still not suffering and homeless. so we

hope that this continues to get the attention of officials across the world, aid agencies across the world and to allow us to scale up. and we also urge the diplomats and the politicians to engage in the type of conversations that are needed to bring peace to this region because 12—year—old conflict is what is hindering the age at this stage. humanitarians cannot resolve this. politicians and diplomats need to resolve this. we will certainly do our part in delivering the aid in the neutral part, in an neutral and impartial manner, and we hope that the diplomats and politicians do their part as well to compliment what we do. the pictures are tragic. the children and mothers that we see on tv deserves better from all of us. and that is what we are leading with. ~ . , us. and that is what we are leading with. ~ ., , , ., us. and that is what we are leading with. ., ., , with. what gives you any optimism? and we are — with. what gives you any optimism? and we are still _ with. what gives you any optimism? and we are still seeing _ with. what gives you any optimism? and we are still seeing people - and we are still seeing people brought out alive, for now, even

though these earthquakes took, happened on monday. yes. though these earthquakes took, happened on monday.— though these earthquakes took, happened on monday. yes, and that will continue. _ happened on monday. yes, and that will continue. i— happened on monday. yes, and that will continue. i have _ happened on monday. yes, and that will continue. i have responded - happened on monday. yes, and that will continue. i have responded to i will continue. i have responded to earthquakes for the last 20—30 years all over the world. families will stay by their collapsed homes for months at a time, looking for loved ones, grieving, looking for belongings. that is where their memories are. they want to rebuild exactly where their home collapsed. that is human nature. that is what people do. and we need to be sensitive to that. the psychological trauma from these events lasts a lifetime. this isn'tjust for the relief also from the earthquake. we know that because we have seen across the globe. so it is dr hossam elsharkawi this is no easy task. and if you have seen earthquakes and i'm sure the public, your audience have seen earthquakes from around the world, in places like japan, china and others, who do you usually see

leading the response? it is the armed forces, mostly, of these countries. they have a heavy lift machinery, the logistics, the capacities, the numbers. and other support in those countries. while in syria, that does not exist. so at the forefront is this the average person, it is the red crescent, it is other humanitarians. what i saw in maskless and around damascus is a huge local community mobilisation, women's groups, schools, mosques, churches, collecting food and warm clothing and blankets and shipping it. what i saw, many families are hosting those who are homeless, who have made it from the north to the south. that often goes unreported, but that is a significant form of community solidarity and support that we see also in these types of disasters. idr that we see also in these types of disasters. , .,, , ., disasters. dr hossam elsharkawi, from the international _

disasters. dr hossam elsharkawi, from the international federation j disasters. dr hossam elsharkawi, i from the international federation of the red cross and the red crescent societies, we really appreciate you setting this all into context and scale for us and the very best of luck with the work you're doing, thank you. luck with the work you're doing, thank vom— luck with the work you're doing, thank you._ here - luck with the work you're doing, thank you._ here is i luck with the work you're doing, i thank you._ here is the thank you. thank you. here is the humanitarian _ thank you. thank you. here is the humanitarian un _ thank you. thank you. here is the humanitarian un chief— thank you. thank you. here is the humanitarian un chief martin - humanitarian un chief martin griffiths speaking of a visit to the turkish city of kahramanmaras a short time ago. what happened here on monday, the epicentre of the earthquake, was the worst event in 100 years in this region. the response, as you have seen here, as your viewers have seen, is also unique. there has never been an international response, a turkish response to a national disaster as we see here in these terrible days. we have a clear plan, tomorrow or the next day, to give an appealfor a plan, tomorrow or the next day, to give an appeal for a three—month operation to help the people of turkey out with humanitarian assistance. and we will do a similar

one for the people of syria. liiiiii assistance. and we will do a similar one for the people of syria.- one for the people of syria. un aid chief martin _ one for the people of syria. un aid chief martin griffiths _ one for the people of syria. un aid chief martin griffiths there. - millions of people are taking part in pro—government rallies in tehran and other iranian cities to mark the 44th anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979. the annual commemoration of the event that turned iran into a theocracy is opportunity for the regime to put on a show of strength. tens of thousands of iranians are taking part across the country, chanting slogans and waving banners that condemn the us and israel. events in the capital began on saturday morning. the us military says it has shot down an unidentified object flying at high altitude over alaska. the craft appeared nearly a week after a chinese surveillance balloon was shot down as it travelled through american airspace. here'sjohn kirby, spokesman for the white house national security council. we are calling this an object because that is the best description we have right now. we do not know who owns it, whether it is state owned or corporate owned or privately owned. we just don't know.

we've also heard from our north america correspondent, nomia iqbal. the details so far on this are vague, but the white house spokesman, john kirby, said that this unidentified object was flying at an altitude that was lower than the chinese spy balloon and therefore it posed a risk to commercial aircraft, which is what they were worried about. it was spotted about 24—hours ago, but they shot it down at around about 1.30 eastern time on friday. mr kirby emphasised that it was the president, president biden, who ordered for it to be shot down. this was after a fighterjet approached the object and assessed that it was unmanned. they will now assess the debris to find out exactly what this object was. mr kirby said that the president ordered for the shootdown out of an abundance of caution, but there is a lot of political pressure on him, following the chinese spy balloon. republicans have criticised him for not acting more quickly, saying he is weak on china. he was also heckled at his state of the union address about it.

mr kirby said that the president has no regrets about how he handled the chinese spy balloon. let's get some of the day's other news. russia launched over 50 missiles into ukraine on friday, with at least 17 hitting the city of zaporizhzhia. local officials say it was the heaviest attack since the start of the invasion. several regions have issued alerts about incoming russian drones. the fbi has recovered one additional document with classified markings — from the home of the former us vice president mike pence — several regions have issued incoming russian drones. the fbi has recovered one additional document with classified markings — from the home of the former us vice president mike pence — in the state of indiana. the search was described as "consensual." sports ministers from 35 countries have been holding an online meeting to discuss whether athletes from russia and belarus should participate in next year's olympic games. the international olympic committee wants them to be allowed to compete in paris as neutrals. ukraine has threatened to lead a boycott. the brit awards —

celebrating uk music — are taking place on saturday for the first time since they began in 1977. harry styles and the indie band wet leg lead the way with four nominations each. but there has been controversy about the all—male shortlist for british artist of the year. our music correspondent, mark savage, has been speaking to some of the nominees. and the winner is... the winner is... the brit awards, the biggest night of the year for uk music. adele! i want to thank everybody, everyone over there, i love you all. sam fender. by now, we are used to seeing pop stars lifting trophies, but for a brand new act... shut up! you're joking! ..finding out you've been nominated can be life—changing. # keep on running through these red flags...# this year's nominees include lizzo, the 1975, beyonce and mimi webb, who's up for best new artist. oh, i couldn't believe it.

i was so inspired when, like, dupa lipa won best new artist and i remember watching it and saying to my mum, "i'm gonna do that. "i'm gonna get that nomination and i'm going to go one day," so just to kind of have that full—circle moment and, yeah, it's just — it's quite emotional, you know? and you broke the news quite sneakily to your mum? i've got something to tell you. you all right? i've just — i've just been nominated as the best new artist at the brit awards. sorry? say that again. the best new artist at the brit awards — i've been nominated. oh, my god! oh, my god — i've got goose bumps! oh, come here! she didn't expect it and she was just shocked and, like, even now, every day, i get phone calls about it. like, she's like, "oh," like, she's just so excited and i think she just can't believe it as well. hey, how are you guys doing? you all right? comedian mo gilligan is hosting the awards for a second time. he says it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement. the thing is, the brits, you never know what's gonna happen, but you're also seeing people win the biggest award of their life in real—time as well, and i get

to feel like i was a part of that. cheering and applause. i'm also seeing my friends like little simz win and pick up an award and, you know, take her mum onstage. is that a problem, though? if you've got a favourite, like little simz... oh, man! ..and adele beats her, how do you paper over that? yeah. i guess i am impartial, but at the same time, you want your friends to win, innit? chuckles. # as it was...# harry styles is the big favourite this year. he's up for four prizes and is widely expected to win album of the year. # on the chaise longue, on the chaise longue # on the chaise longue, all day long # on the chaise longue...# indie band wet leg are also up forfour awards, including best group... # when we pull up you know it's a shutdown...# ..and blackpink have made history as the first ever korean girl band to receive a brit nomination for best international group. but there's concern over the lack of female nominees elsewhere. a year after the awards combined the best male and female awards, not a single woman is up for best artist. the rock band nova twins, who are nominated for best group, say the industry makes it harder for women to succeed. you dream big when you're

young because anything... anything's possible. but the reality is when you get into it, it's not as easy. we had to navigate slightly differently, you know, being women, being people of colour, doing rock music. and it was like, "you need to be in hip—hop". so that's what we got confronted with a lot at the beginning, so we had to navigate very differently. i think the message isjust follow your gut. follow your gut. don't listen to the noise of everything. quote, georgia. clears throat. if you take the short road, it will draw blood, but if you take the long road, it will draw sweat. you can see the results of that blood and sweat, and maybe a few tears, too, when the brit awards kick off at 8:30pm tonight. mark savage, bbc news.

stay with us here on bbc news in the hours _ stay with us here on bbc news in the hours ahead, — stay with us here on bbc news in the hours ahead, as _ stay with us here on bbc news in the hours ahead, as we _ stay with us here on bbc news in the hours ahead, as we continue - stay with us here on bbc news in the hours ahead, as we continue to - stay with us here on bbc news in the hours ahead, as we continue- hours ahead, as we continue to cover those efforts — hours ahead, as we continue to cover those efforts to _ hours ahead, as we continue to cover those efforts to find _ hours ahead, as we continue to cover those efforts to find survivors - hours ahead, as we continue to cover those efforts to find survivors of- those efforts to find survivors of the earthquakes in southern turkey and north—western syria. thankfully for the weather forecast. plenty of cloud around and not much sun this weekend, but it will be a mild theme. quite a contrast to just a couple of mornings ago in didcot in oxfordshire, where temperatures fell as low as —7 celsius and there was a hard frost. take a look at oxfordshire this morning, what a difference! beautiful start, despite the cloudy skies, quite quiet out there. still under this influence of high pressure at the moment, but the subtle change in wind direction has brought this marked change to the feel of the weather. they have this milder air source driving in quite a lot of cloud off the atlantic, so a grey and cloudy start and the cloud thick enough in one or two spots perhaps for a touch of drizzle, but some

breaks in the cloud, maybe across east scotland, parts of wales and south—east england through the latter stages of the afternoon and temperatures not bad for this time of year, peaking at 13 or 14 degrees in the sunshine in parts of aberdeenshire. overnight here may well keep the clear skies, temperatures falling away, but elsewhere a blanket of cloud keeps things frost—free again, but that does mean another grey start to our sunday morning. there will be some differences on sunday, maybe the winds just starting to pick up a little, a blustery afternoon, so that means for scotland, northern ireland, west facing coasts of wales and south of england a greater chance of seeing more sunshine. central and eastern england, may be cloudy grey skies once again, but in double figures widely across the country. as we move on to monday, not much change, drifting a bit further east, more of a southerly

wind and potential as we move on to monday, not much change, high pressure drifting a bit further east, more of a southerly wind and potential with that breezy story to see the cloud breaking up just a touch, maybe central and eastern england, again sunshine amounts fairly limited. but it will be highs of around 9—12 , so again a mild story continues. if you are starting to get desperate for rain, gardeners and growers out there, there is a weather front starting to push in, but it is going to move somewhat erratically in from the west, so potential tuesday to wednesday of seeing some outbreaks of rain and then from wednesday onwards a bit more unsettled and the rain turns showery, but it will be mild for all. take care.

this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall, and these are the headlines... aid agencies call for better access to the earthquake disaster zones from turkey to syria as the number of people killed in both countries rises to nearly 25,000. the united nations estimates the earthquakes may have left nearly 5.5 million people homeless in syria. the government there says it will allow aid to be delivered to rebel—held parts of the country. despite the odds, people are still being pulled out alive from under the rubble in both countries, more than 120 hours after the first earthquake struck. us fighterjets shoot down an unidentified aircraft over alaska

after president biden gave the order to seek and destroy. troops are trying to salvage the wreckage.