hello and welcome to bbc world news. the world health organization says that almost 26 million people have been affected by the earthquakes that struck turkey and syria. the number confirmed dead has passed 25,000. on a visit to southern turkey, the un aid chief, martin griffiths, said there was an urgent need for medical assistance, as well as food and shelter for survivors. 0ur correspondent, quentin sommerville, is in harem in the northwest idlib province

of syria, which is rebel—controlled. he found no sign of a relief effort, with local people, including children, left scouring through rubble for survivors. this is the town of haram in north—west syria. there is a bit of activity here, but nothing like you see 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. if i swing around here, you can perhaps see the internally displaced people's camp that has been set up over there. they're 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 a 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. while the international community isn't here. it's been 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 passed 2a hours ago. this is mainly a recovery mission. they're no longer rescuing people, and the reason they are no longer rescuing people is because the aid just didn't come quick enough. an operation is underway off the coast of alaska to recover debris from an unmanned object that the us airforce shot down on friday. it comes a week after the shooting down of a chinese observation balloon. jon donnison reports. it's almost a week since the us

military shot down what it said was a chinese spy balloon off the coast of south carolina. now, the pentagon says fighterjets like these have intercepted another unidentified object, this time in the skies above alaska. we have no further details about the object at this time, including any description of its capabilities, purpose, or origin. the object was about the size of a small car, so not similar in size or shape to the high altitude surveillance balloon that was taken down off the coast of south carolina on february 4th. defence officials say this latest object had been flying at around 40,000 feet close to an area called prudhoe bay, much lower than last week's balloon. a military transporter plane, as well as helicopters, have now been sent to try and recover the debris. the biden administration came under a great deal of political criticism, particularly from republicans in congress and elsewhere, for not dealing with that last balloon more quickly.

and i think it's no surprise that when they found an opportunity to take a shot at whatever this was over alaskan waters, they did so, presumably one consideration being that this was to avoid the potential circus of yet another foreign object transiting the continental united states for days or weeks. wreckage of last week's balloon has now been recovered, and is being analysed by us intelligence. they want to do the same with whatever they find in alaska. meanwhile, chinese officials have accused the us of political manipulation and hype. jon donnison, bbc news. hundreds of thousands of people have been demonstrating across france against plans to raise the retirement age. president macron insists the reforms, which include raising retirement age by two years, are vital to ensuring the viability of the pension system. this year has seen three days

of nationwide strikes. today's organisers are hoping to match the scale of mass rallies three weeks ago. you are watching bbc news. more now on our top story now. the un's aid chief, martin griffiths, has described the earthquakes that hit southern turkey and north—western syria as the worst natural disaster in the region for 100 years. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has been speaking to mr griffiths on a visit to the turkish city of kahramanmaras. martin griffiths, you have seen so many disasters in so many parts of the world. how does this compare? i think it's the worst natural disaster that i've ever seen. and it's also the most extraordinary international response, as you know.

we have more than 100 countries who have sent people here, so there's been an incredible response. but there's a need for it, as we see behind us. and what is so amazing is that people are still, as you know, lyse, coming out of the rubble alive six days in. so, it is shocking. it's also, in a perverse sense, quite heartening. heartening in what way? well, the response. the response. the fact that the people with great expertise who got here very quickly, committed, working day and night to do what is needed. that's remarkable and i hope that when we launch our appeals for both turkey and syria in the next day or so that we'll get the generous donor response, as well. what do they need the most now? what they need the most now is to come to a conclusion as to when they call off the rescue efforts, which is a really difficult question because of who is left behind.

then, i think, as tedros of who has said, really worried about medical next, particularly in north—west syria, where we have cholera already. but medical facilities here are obviously overwhelmed, as you know, so there's a huge need for urgent medical care, mobile clinics, field hospitals. i think the united kingdom is sending in a field hospital, for example. and then the period of humanitarian aid, the next three months, for which we are appealing, which will cover shelter, livelihoods, food, nutrition, and health care. and so, to give people a sense, those people who have had to leave their homes, that there is a stable future, awaiting them, even in this awful time. do you think there is a stable future awaiting them? you know how hard it is to raise money in a world with one disaster after another. i think it's going to be very difficult. it's going to be very difficult. it's going to be very difficult because there's a lot of

needs on both sides. and i think it's president al daguin who said it will take a year to rebuild.- will take a year to rebuild. that's optimistic _ will take a year to rebuild. that's optimistic i— will take a year to rebuild. that's optimistic. i think _ will take a year to rebuild. that's optimistic. i think that's - optimistic. i think that's optimistic. _ optimistic. i think that's optimistic. it's - optimistic. i think that's optimistic. it's going . optimistic. i think that's optimistic. it's going to| optimistic. i think that's i optimistic. it's going to be optimistic. it's going to be optimistic. the trouble with syria, it is bad enough in the north—west, as you know. it is bad enough in the north-west, as you know— as you know. rebel held in syria. before all this _ as you know. rebel held in syria. before all this and _ as you know. rebel held in syria. before all this and this _ as you know. rebel held in syria. before all this and this came. - as you know. rebel held in syria. before all this and this came. i i before all this and this came. i think we can raise consciousness and moneyjust think we can raise consciousness and money just as think we can raise consciousness and moneyjust as we have seen the response here. we will see, we will see how those appeals go but at least the agencies we are working with, the international agencies, we all know each other well, we've been working together a lot, for many years in this region, that's an advantage. years in this region, that's an advantage-— years in this region, that's an advantage. years in this region, that's an advantaae. �*, , ., ., ., advantage. there's been a lot of criticism of _ advantage. there's been a lot of criticism of the _ advantage. there's been a lot of criticism of the united _ advantage. there's been a lot of criticism of the united nations i criticism of the united nations across the border in syria, particularly in italy, they are saying you are letting politics get in the wake of humanitarian relief —— particularly in idlib. because you are not there on the ground —— get in the way. we you are not there on the ground -- get in the way-— you are not there on the ground -- get in the way. we are not there on the ground. — get in the way. we are not there on the ground. as _ get in the way. we are not there on the ground, as you _ get in the way. we are not there on the ground, as you know, -

get in the way. we are not there on the ground, as you know, becausel get in the way. we are not there on i the ground, as you know, because the security council has only allowed cross—border resolution this many years, which provides for un aid to go through a single crossing. and to be delivered to professional organisations there. this is not new, this is eight years old. this is not about... new, this is eight years old. this is not about. . ._ new, this is eight years old. this is not about... why does that have to be... people _ is not about... why does that have to be... people asking _ is not about... why does that have to be... people asking why - is not about... why does that have to be... people asking why do - is not about... why does that have to be... people asking why do you | to be... people asking why do you have to go to the un security council? why should the humanitarian needs to be hostage to the gridlock on the security council were russia and china veto the un... on the security council were russia and china veto the un. . ._ and china veto the un... well, that's a long — and china veto the un... well, that's a long story _ and china veto the un... well, that's a long story and - and china veto the un... well, that's a long story and it's - and china veto the un... well, that's a long story and it's to l and china veto the un... well, | that's a long story and it's to do with the syrian government's claims for sovereignty. with the syrian government's claims forsovereignty. but with the syrian government's claims for sovereignty. but i want to say this on that issue — i don't think it's right to give up hope that we will get access. we are looking very, very actively and firmly and hard for opening two more crossing points. hard for opening two more crossing oints. ., ~' , ., hard for opening two more crossingj points-_ yes. points. through turkey into... yes, throu~h points. through turkey into... yes, through turkey _ points. through turkey into... yes, through turkey into _ points. through turkey into... yes, through turkey into the _ points. through turkey into... yes, through turkey into the north - points. through turkey into... yes, | through turkey into the north west. in the coming days, we will put a resolution and it will go through the security council. if anyone wants to veto it, let them do so.

the case for those two additional crossing points is a black and white humanitarian case. this is not politics, lyse and people who say we are playing with politics, that's not fair. that was the un humanitarian chief, martin griffiths speaking earlier. we are just going to show you some pictures that we have been watching very closely from southern turkey. this is just part of the rescue teams that are obviously working at a particular point of the rubble. you can see the gentleman to the left listening very carefully. a lot of this going on at the moment before a decision can be made as to what they are hearing and what the possible next action is going to be. getting somebody out from under the rubble is not done in a matter of minutes. i've been hearing stories of accounting up to 56 hours to get

a survivor out, once they have been located. so, a reminder that 25,000 people so far have been confirmed dead. and, sadly, now, that window to find survivors is closing fast or in some areas it has been decided it has closed completely. and many of the teams are now moving into the retrieval of bodies, sadly. a large crowd has stormed a police station in pakistan, lynching a man being held there on an allegation of committing blasphemy. social media pictures said to be from the scene showed people scaling the gates of the station in nankana sahib, in punjab province. bbc�*s umer draz nangiana in lahore gave us more details. this person, he was captured by some

people early in the morning today, and they informed the police, accusing him of committing blasphemy. the police got to the site and they arrested the person, and brought him to the police station. he was locked up there. but then, a large number of people gathered outside the police station, and they continuously demanded the police to hand over the suspect to them. the police officials locked the gates of the police station, and they tried to negotiate with this charged crowd from inside the police station, but certainly the crowd became violent. some of them scaled the gates, they got inside the police station, opened the gates, and then theyjust barged in. then they snatched the suspect from the police custody and they tortured him to death outside the police station. and police could not protect the suspect from the charged crowd. now, the police are saying that they are trying to analyse the videos, and then identify people who were involved in the killing

of the person, of the man, and they will arrest the suspects very soon. we have seen in the recent past there have been incidents of allegations of blasphemy, and the laws of blasphemy being misused. in most cases, what we have seen is that when the matter gets to the court, the police investigation shows that the facts are very different to what the allegations exactly were. in most cases, the laws are misused, but whenever somebody is accused of blasphemy in pakistan it is a very sensitive matter, and that person faces an immediate threat to his life, his or her life, and they normally seek protection from the police. this is one of the rare cases where the police could not protect the suspect. president biden has been meeting brazil's president, luiz inacio lula da silva at the white house. they discussed protecting democracy as well as ways of saving the amazon rainforest.

the two leaders found common ground, but they disagreed on how to handle russia's invasion of ukraine. sofia bettiza reports. the first trip to the us for president lula da silva since he returned to power injanuary. mr president, i'm honoured to welcome back to the white house. welcome you back. the priority — the climate crisis. brazil has a crucial role as it's home to most of the amazon, the world's largest rainforest. when lula's predecessor, jair bolsonaro, was in power, deforestation increased by a staggering 75%. so now lula has promised to aim for zero deforestation, and he says he needs president biden�*s help. translation: | talked - about the need for rich countries to take responsibility and to finance countries like brazil, which have forests.

in south america beyond brazil, you have ecuador, colombia, peru, venezuela — a number of countries that have to look after the amazon. but if the leaders couldn't agree more on how to fight climate change, on ukraine, they have strong differences. biden has rallied behind ukraine. he provided aid, weapons, military training. but brazil has remained on the sidelines, pushing for peace talks instead. but ultimately, the two leaders have quite a lot in common. we're the two largest democracies in the hemisphere. brazil, the united states stand together. we reject political violence. and we put great value in our democratic institutions. those democratic institutions, they say, came under threat in a very similar way in both countries. when biden defeated donald trump in the 2020 presidential election.

and recently in brazil, when lula won against right—wing jair bolsonaro. and so the main message that they wanted to convey from the oval office is this — the two biggest countries in the americas have successfully seen off attacks on their democracies and will now work together to fight the climate crisis. sofia bettiza, bbc news. adhd is a condition that affects behaviour and the ability to concentrate — but getting a diagnosis isn't always straightforward and can take years. now, charities are warning of a steep rise in the numbers of people using social media to self—diagnose — with the hashtag adhd being viewed more than 20 billion times on tiktok alone. 0ur reporter ben moore — who has adhd himself — has been looking into the issue.

this is one place a small fragment of social media content about neurodiversity is made. i always put, like, a disclaimer that this post is not showing every possible sign of adhd. molly has more than 100,000 followers on instagram alone, so she's careful about her content. although we have adhd, that doesn't make us experts and we aren't doctors. i have a huge responsibility to make sure all my facts are correct because i know that if i don't, it can be very misleading. signs you might be neurodivergent... despite molly's approach, there are worries some of this content simplifies complex conditions and can encourage people to self—diagnose. it was definitely social- media that really kicked off my understanding of difference beyond quirkiness. _ these are signs you could be autistic... 23—year—old bethan is officially diagnosed as autistic, but social media once filled that gap

and didn't quite fit. yeah, i self diagnosed. i wasn't entirely comfortable doing that. there was part of me that didn't want to take things from other people who, in my mind, were more worthy. the problem is, in 90 seconds or so, influencers can only skim the surface of the issue and many things can be taken out of context. it's only ever half the story and people sometimes self diagnose because they don't go into the hardcore complexities. so, why are people self diagnosing? there are worries this type of content is a substitute, as waiting times for treatment are so long. i talked to someone where they were told their wait list was seven years and for a system to say, "yeah, no, i totally agree, "you do need help, you should get an assessment, "see you in two, three, four or five years." what kind of system is that? and there are huge advantages to an official diagnosis. it means access to

medication or therapy. there are some things in life that we may be able - to cut corners with and autism assessment, . adhd assessment is not one of those things. - tara says only a professional should be trying to unpick these complex conditions. there's no doubt social media can be a realforce for good for neurodivergent people. if you take comfort from a self diagnosis, i think that is absolutely fine. but if you suspect you are, the advice is put down your phone. if you're kind to yourself and you're willing to give yourself breaks, then i think you'll have an easier time of the journey of diagnosis. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's 0lle foster. here's 0llie foster. good evening. scotland and ireland have maintained their unbeaten start to the six nations championship.

scotland thrashed wales 35—7 at murrayfield. the scots beat england at twickenham last saturday and ran in five tries with blair kinghorn claiming the bonus point with the fourth score. the winner of this fixture gets to claim the the doddie weir cup, named in honour of the former scotland international, it's the first time it's been contested since his death in novemberfrom motor neurone disease. ireland also claimed a bonus point beating last year's grand slam champions france 32—19 in dublin. ireland are the the number one ranked side in the world and are favourites for the title. that ended a run of three defeats in a row to the french. premier league leaders arsenal have slipped up again. they were held to a 1—1 draw at home by brentford. the gunners took he lead through leandro trossard 20 minutes into the second half but brentford equalised through ivan toney, they are now unbeaten in 10 in the league. the aresenal amanger mikel arteta

thought that toney�*s goal was offside and remonstarted with the officials at full time. arsenal are now six points clear of their nearest rivals manchester city who are at home to aston villa tomorrow. disappointed because we wanted the three points and we made the most difficult thing in the game, playing against a team with a super low block and we scored a goal and then it was about controlling the direct play on the restart and set pieces. we didn't control one of them. but we did control it, but, obviously, we did control it, but, obviously, we applied certain principles and defended because of the rules. surely they didn't apply those rules. newcastle missed the chance to move four points clear of fifth placed spurs. eddie howe's side could only draw at his old club bournemouth. they actually went behind when marcos senesi scored the opener for the cherries. but miguel almiron equalised in first half injury time. it means newcastle extended their unbeaten run to a club record—equalling 17 league games but they've drawn five of their last six.

elsewhere fulham beat nottingham forest, leicester thrashed spurs, while ten man wolves came from behind to win at southampton. crystal palace drew 1—1 with brighton and that was also the score in the day's early kick off between west ham united and chelsea. celtic are into the quarter—finals of the scottish cup after comfortably beating 10 man st mirren 5—1. four of the goals came in the last 15 minutes, though. matt 0'riley hit their fourth with this cracker. elsewhere there were wins for ayr united, kilmarnock, iverness caledonian thistle and raith rovers. manchester city gained revenge for their league cup semi—final defeat to arsenal earlier this week by winning their women's super league match 2—1 this afternoon. city's england internationals put them two up in the first half. the first from lauren hemp...

then chloe kellyjust before half time. rafaelle souza got one back in the second half from a free kick. but city's win takes them above arsenal into third in the table. england have beaten west indies by seven wickets in their opening match of the women's t20 world cup. sophie ecclestone took three wickets as the west indies' only managed 135—7. from their 20 overs. nat sciver brunt scored an unbeaten a0 as england knocked off the runs with over five overs to spare. in the day's other match, defending champions australia thrashed new zealand by 97 runs. that's all the sport for now. much more on the bbc sport website. thank you very much. thank you. the brit awards get under way at london's o2 arena very shortly. the awards are taking place on a 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. fabulous jacket on the gentleman behind me. 0ur entertainment correspondent mark savage has been on the red carpet ahead of tonight's show and he spoke to cat burns — one of tonight's nominees. song of the year, you're up for go. this last year didn't even come out but it exploded. how has that experience been for you? amazing. it's ever since sort of tiktok took it and blew it up. it was it's kind of changed the speed of my career and the trajectory of it in such a short space of time, which has just been amazing. i couldn't have expected or wanted anything better. and tiktok has been such a launching pad for a lot of artists recently. what are the benefits to it for you? it's just the ability

to share your music instantly, get that instant feedback. i always say it's kind of like having like a marketing group straightaway, like a research group. i think it's really amazing to just be able to just release your music straight away and get that instant feedback. one of the things that started happening on tiktok recently, it's happened to your songs as well, is that they get famous in speeded up versions. yeah. as an artist, what do you make of that? i think it's just an example of how we consume music. it's very fast paced at the moment, and i think people... i think it's amazing because i think it's just another way for people to consume stuff. and usually even though there is a sped—up version, people still like the original. i think it's just when we're within the app, things move at such a fast pace, it's easier to have a sped—up version on the app. and then when you leave it and you actually want to listen to the song, you can listen to it in normal speed. so i don't actually think it affects the general listener's like experience. they're not in competition with each other? no. and since go, you've also had free and you've had people pleaser.

is there an album on the way? i hope so. so hopefully this year. no, i mean, i'm writing all the time. so hopefully next year. hopefully this year. well, listen, good luck tonight. i hope it goes well. sunshine was in short supply. but there were exceptions to that rule, particularly in the north east of england and the east of scotland. a decent amount of blue sky overhead for this weather watcher in aberdeenshire. that's because there was a bit of shelter from the westerly flow that brought all of this cloud in across the uk and we'll keep some large areas of cloud as we head through the night. that cloud in place is thick enough to produce the odd spot of drizzle, perhaps most especially in the north west of scotland. north east scotland, though, should see some clear spells that could allow for a touch of frost. and if the cloud breaks elsewhere, maybe east wales into the west country again there could be a touch of frost, but for most temperatures will stay

several degrees above freezing. so into tomorrow, this area of high pressure still with us, but it tends to slip eastwards and that would allow the winds to strengthen a little around some of these western and northern parts of the uk. and that should help to break up the cloud a little more effectively and give rise to more in the way of sunshine. that said, there could be the odd spot of drizzle in the north west of scotland first thing. central and eastern parts of england, i think, will struggle to break up the cloud because the winds here are set to stay light. but with more of a breeze around some of these western and northern parts, we will see a bit more in the way of sunshine. and it's going to be another mild day with temperatures north to south between nine and 12 degrees. now, as you move out of sunday into monday, we've got the high pressure to the east of us, this frontal system trying to push in from the west, but it is going to take its time to do so. so things are going to change very slowly as we head through the first couple of days of the week. monday, though, should bring a bit more in the way of sunshine. this southerly breeze should break up a bit more of the clouds. so, a slightly brighter day. although parts of eastern england may stay quite grey throughout,

temperatures between nine and 12 degrees. so, still mild for the time of year. now, as we head towards the middle of the week, this weather front should eventually make some progress eastwards. it'll be moving quite erratically. there are waves along this weather front, so a bit of uncertainty aboutjust how quickly that rain will arrive. but the increasing chance of some wet weather through the middle part of the week. further rain at times for the end of the week, but throughout it is set to stay mild.

a lwa ys always put this is bbc news. the headlines — more than 25,000 people are now known to have died after monday's earthquakes in turkey and syria. the united nations estimates the earthquakes may have left nearly five and a half million people homeless in syria. visiting the region, the un's aid chief has described the massive earthquakes as the worst natural disaster to hit the middle east in a century. in other news, us fighterjets have shot down an unidentified aircraft over alaska after president biden gave the order to "seek and destroy". 15 people have been arrested following clashes with police outside a hotel providing refuge for asylum seekers

on merseyside in northwest england.