welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... the us defends its decision to shoot down unidentified flying objects. washington and beijing accuse each other of aerial espionage. we were able to determine that china has a high altitude ballon programme for intelligence collection that is connected to peoples' liberation army. one week on — and the death toll from the earthquakes in turkey and syria reaches 37,000 — and that number's expected to double. everything we had was here. even my children are crying now, they are saying, "mum, everything is gone." "0ur childhood is gone." we'll also be reporting from a hospital in southern turkey —— where staff are overwhelmed by the scale of the tragedy.

and — new zealand declares a national state of emergency for the third time in it's history — after cyclone gabrielle ravages the country's north island. it's eight in the morning in singapore, and 7 pm in washington where the white house has been explaining why the us military has shot a series of objects out of the sky over american territory in recent weeks including a suspected spy balloon from china. officials say the objects posed a threat to commercial flights and were brought down in the interest of safety. following a wave of speculation on social media and elsewhere, the white house said there was no evidence of alien or extra—terrestrial life being involved.

here is the national security spokespersonjohn kirby. we were able to determine that china has a high altitude programme for intelligence collection that is connected to the people's liberation army. it was operating during the previous administration but they did not detected. we detected it. we tracked it. and we have been carefully studying it to learn as much again. we know that these prc surveillance balloons have crossed for dozens of countries on multiple continents around the world. including some of our closest allies and partners. turning to the situation in turkey and syria now, and seven days after the huge earthquake hit, turkish rescue workers say some survivors are still being pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings. but the number of confirmed deaths has now risen above 37,000 and it's feared the final total could be much higher.

0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is close to the epicentre of the earthquake in southern turkey and sent this report. 0nce just an ordinary street, until last monday. 4:17am, everything shook, the strongest earthquake in a century. smashing life as they knew it into pieces, almost nothing left. almost. here, waiting on garden chairs in front row seats, a street turned into a cemetery. their loved ones buried

somewhere in this rubble. the scenes are absolutely breathtaking, but it's also what we can't convey. it's the dust and the stench, the stench of death, so many bodies buried under the rubble. translation: right now, | they are pulling a body out. it might be my brother, or it might be someone else. they are pulling the body out and they will identify it. fouad waits for the bodies of everyone in his family who lived here, a0 people in all. did you ever fear that you'd see a day like this? one week on, the body bags keep coming out, each time killing a family's prayer their loved

one was still alive. the un's top aid official praised this rescue effort. more than 100 countries sent to help. but there is concern over what's yet to come. the greatest fear now is when that awful day comes when we learn how many people really died. the speculation, as you know, is frightening. and just to think that under those mountains of rubble there could be these many, many people who are now dead. so many are asking, "did so many have to die?" turkey's president erdogan says they couldn't prepare for a calamity like this. but this woman insists her sister could have been saved. translation: only one politician came here - and showed his face. where are the rest? i've been here

since the first day. i dug people out with my bare hands. builders are being blamed too. some structures collapsed and others didn't. translation: our faith says this life is a test. _ we believe there are lessons here for everyone. god willing, we will be stronger after this. one week on, the hope of finding anyone alive here has all but faded. and yet so many we meet not just hope, they believe their loved ones are still alive somewhere under this rubble. present erdogan is promising everyone a new home within a year. that's optimistic. it is the memory of everyone and everything that was here that will live on in those who survived. now is a time to grieve. but as this rescue turns

to relief, there will also be a reckoning for this wrecking of so many lives. lyse doucet, bbc news, kahramanmaras. meanwhile over the border from turkey in syria, the country's president, bashar al—assad, has agreed to two new corridors to allow aid from the united nations into his country from turkey. 0ur correspondent laura bicker reports from antakya close to the syrian border. there is a moment of disbelief at seeing light. and then comes the smile. the joy of knowing he is free after 50 hours in crushing concrete. god is great, the crowd chants as they celebrate saving three—year—old karam in idlib last week. his father shielded him from the rubble but there are so few rescuers on the ground in syria and both felt helpless as his

mother and sister fell silent. and died next to them. translation: after a while my wife stopped talking. i was kneeling over my son and the rubble was up to my legs. it was all taking too long. the focus is now on keeping the living alive. survivors have little choice but to find whatever shelter they can within the fallen buildings. translation: we now live on the streets. we stayed there and when we feel we are falling asleep we get in a car that we covered. that is where we sleep. aid is being promised, but not fully delivered. after leaving turkey, the united nations aid chief, martin griffiths toured aleppo in syria and said help is coming. but the un has defined new routes over the border if it is to meet the mounting needs of millions.

this hospital in northern syria, filmed by bbc arabic has had to carry out multiple amputations on children with very little equipment. more than 3.5 million syrians came to turkey to escape the horrors of war and they hoped this would be a safe home. and although this camp is getting some help from the uk charity, refugees, key supplies are still short. after a decade of trying to lift themselves out of grinding poverty, these families are having to start again. it is a daily struggle, she tells me. if i am working, we are eating. if not, we are dependent on the charity of random people. life has become expensive and the dignity of those who have had to leave their homes have become affected and our people have been decimated. as dusk brings freezing

temperatures, these families can only hope that dawn will bring them the strength to build them their lives again. laura bicker, bbc news on the turkey syria border. new zealand has declared a state of emergency after cyclone gabrielle ravaged the country's north island. one firefighter is missing and another is in a critical conditon after a landslide near auckland. several beach—side communities have been evacuated and dozens of relief centres have been set up across the region as tens of thousands of people have been left without power. it just weeks after the auckland area experienced record rainfall and flooding which left four people dead and damaged thousands of properties. prime minister, chris hipkins, has announced relief package of over $7 million. more heavy rainfall is expected throughout tuesday. let's go to auckland now. i am joined now by labour

councillor, josephine bartley. programme especially at a time where i imagine you in teams must be so busy dealing with the situation on the ground. give us a sense right now on the urgent needs and priorities for people there.— the urgent needs and priorities for people there. thank you for havin: for people there. thank you for having on _ for people there. thank you for having on the _ for people there. thank you for having on the show. _ for people there. thank you for having on the show. i - for people there. thank you for having on the show. i would . for people there. thank you for| having on the show. i would say the most urgent needs right now our shelter, safety for those homes were damaged, flooded, those affected by the landslides. that would be the most pressing need would be shelter. followed by food. i shelter. followed by food. i don't know how many of our viewers or member but we spoke tojust a few viewers or member but we spoke to just a few weeks ago at a time for you and your communities were battling pretty heavy rains and flooding then too. how much harder does this make the rescue and relief

effort now given what you are pleased with? we effort now given what you are pleased with?— effort now given what you are pleased with? we were only 'ust caettin to pleased with? we were only 'ust getting to the i pleased with? we were only 'ust getting to the family's �* pleased with? we were only 'ust getting to the family's that h getting to the family's that did not come to the evacuation centres which is getting to them. a lot of people especially families here it is hard to ask for help so we were getting a lot of those families that had been flooded and they were turning up to our evacuation sites really for food parcels, but when they were presented they were covered in brushes from waterborne bacteria from still living in the homes that were flooded. so we were just trying to kind of immobilized towards the house response and now this has happened. and so it is a good thing that we still have our state of emergency, because we are prepared this time around. so we have these

evacuation centres pretty much, 25 of them. so people had warning, they are preparing now but it is last thing we needed, really. but it is last thing we needed, reall . a, but it is last thing we needed, reall . ., ., really. more rain on the way as i understand _ really. more rain on the way as i understand it. _ really. more rain on the way as i understand it. some - really. more rain on the way as i i understand it. some suggested that the worst is to get to come. ., �* , that the worst is to get to come. . h , that the worst is to get to come. . �*, , . come. that's exactly right. we are telling _ come. that's exactly right. we are telling our— come. that's exactly right. we are telling our people - come. that's exactly right. we are telling our people not - come. that's exactly right. we are telling our people not to i are telling our people not to be complacent. and that the storm is actually hitting us now, but building up tonight. some will preparation, more information to people in our diverse communities that there is, our evacuation sites for them to go to rather than just staying in their homes. i them to go to rather than 'ust staying in their homesfi staying in their homes. i wish the very best. _ staying in their homes. i wish the very best, josephine - staying in their homes. i wish the very best, josephine and | the very best, josephine and you and your team are doing an amazing job on the ground stay safe and thank you forjoining

us. safe and thank you for “oining us. ., ~' safe and thank you for “oining us. ., ~ , ., y safe and thank you for “oining us. ., ~' , ., , . you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... we hearfrom campaigners fighting to protect londonderry�*s water supply — threatened by a huge illegal waste site nearby. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order but the army defeated in the task it was sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect for the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the reprecussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under

way there was no let—up in the erruption itself. lava streams from a vent in the sea to the east of the island away from the time being that could start flowing again at anytime. the russians heralded the next generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they called it mir — russian for peace. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our top story: the us defends its decision to shoot down unidentified flying objects. washington and beijing each accuse the other of aerial espionage. staying with that now — emily harding is deputy director and senior fellow of the international security programme at the centre for strategic and international studies. she told me we have to keep an open mind about the flying objects. will have more from her later

in the programme but before that i want to tell you about how the skill of the disaster in turkey has placed unprecedented pressure on the countries health care system for assistance from the international community is making a difference. our correspondent nick beake reports from the south east of the country close to the epicentre where hospital staff are under huge strain. in the heart of a devastated city... ..we meet little arras. he is five. he was pulled from the rubble with hypothermia, after 105 hours. his older brother, older sister and his dad were all killed in the earthquake. his grandfather, mehmet, says he will now treat arras like his own son. translation: he is an honest boy. he has a strong personality. he is not spoilt, he is sincere. the rescuers and the doctors did so well to save him and,

by god's grace, they gave him back to us alive. arras's mum survived and is being treated in another hospital but this is one of so many families torn apart. translation: we are burning inside, just. like everyone else. i don't need to tell you about the pain of losing three of my family. for the medics at the heart of all of this it has been an exhausting and traumatic week. it is very bad. and too much of the childs have lost their parents. so i don't know, it's very hard. yeah. it's too hard for me.

arras was saved in this intensive care unit, set up by doctors from israel, one of so many countries who sent teams to help the tens of thousands of injured. some of the patients we have seen today are now starting on the really long road to recovery, but for all of them, there are also the mental scars. there is the personal trauma but also the collective, national trauma, too. and an international effort to support turkey is gaining momentum. doctors and nurses from the uk are now setting up a field hospital here, where the town's hospital is no longer safe for patients. briony is a gp from chichester who has come to help. we are working with the turkish doctors and nurses that are here, set up their own tent and they are seeing patients but they are quite overwhelmed because after all the trauma you then have all the people who have their usual chronic illnesses, they are falling off their bikes still or they are doing things, they are still becoming unwell. and it is both young and old in desperate need.

now and in the days and weeks to come. nick beake, bbc news, in southern turkey. lots more on this situation on turkey and syria on the bbc news website of course. returning to some other news now. several people have been hit and injured after a truck mounted a pavement in new york city. police have said that at least 4 people were hurt with one person being taken to hospital with critical injuries after the u haul delivery truck collided with pedestrians in the bay ridge area of brooklyn. the driver was detained by police who say that he was attempting to avoid a car stop. the incident is not being treated as an accident and emergency responders remain on the scene. it's being described as one of the worst environmental crimes in uk history — for years, an estimated million tonnes of household waste was secretly put into landfill at a site near londonderry,

despite councils sending it to be recycled. now campaigners are fighting to protect the city's water supply from being damaged by toxic chemicals. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. in the 19905 and 20005, criminal gangs, in the guise of a reputable waste disposal company, were bringing household recycling here. but instead of being recycled, it was put into landfill. what we have got is one of the biggest illegal landfills in europe. it covers the scale of about 46 football pitches. in 2013, the mobuoy site near derry was shut down. now, a decade on, two men are due to be sentenced for illegal dumping. i've lived here about 40 years. i was horrified that this had been allowed to happen because i believed that my public services were looking after my environment and looking after my water and looking after me and that is why i was paying my taxes.

now a radio 4 podcast has featured the tape of a lorry driver who, on his deathbed, tried to blow the whistle. that was going on for month| after month, year after year. and it claims that belfast�*s officials knew of a possible crime taking place here more than a decade before it was shut down. we have to look at the serious, systemic failures of both our planning and environmental regulators because for years now our regulatory authorities turned a blind eye. the waste on this site is currently being contained to stop it polluting the local river but it is not a permanent solution and people who live nearby are still waiting to hear what is actually going to be done about this long—term. particularly as the city's water supply is extracted just downstream. the environment agency says it has stopped 561 illegal waste sites in the uk last year and the perpetrators are often involved in other crimes, like drug dealing. the former minister who helped deal with the aftermath at mobuoy says it is still too

easy for the crime to be repeated. it is an extremely lucrative industry and wherever there is huge money to be made, you will find crime. the waste industry was, in my opinion, infiltrated by organised crime here in the north of ireland had been elsewhere across the world. it is difficult to believe that that tap could just be turned off overnight. the department of infrastructure in northern ireland says they have strengthened their environmental checks and train more officers to deal with this type of problem, and that if they detect an effect on tap waterfor people in derry, they will stop using the water supply near the dump. emma vardy, bbc news, derry. well as we've been reporting...the white house has been explaining why the us military has shot a series of objects out of the sky over us territory in recent weeks, including a suspected spy balloon from china.

emily harding is deputy director and senior fellow of the international security programme at the centre for strategic and international studies. she told me we have to keep an open mind about the flying objects. it's important to separate what we know and will know a little bit about. but we know definitively about the south carolina that it was large, high altitude and was carrying a payload and had significant intelligence correction capabilities but for the other objects we know about the bill. they were operating at a lower altitude and that they were different shapes and sizes and were operating much further north. but we do not know yet is created them. launch them. all kinds of payloads they may have been carrying. shallot —— know a lot more was they have been researched. it know a lot more was they have been researched.— been researched. it has been

unprecedented _ been researched. it has been unprecedented the _ been researched. it has been unprecedented the number l been researched. it has been| unprecedented the number of unidentified flying objects that have been through american skies recently, but is this a possibility of a case of finding more stuff because people are looking for or have always been there, detected? most likely that is the case. we started looking once you what to look for and that is like unchecking some folders on an internet search suddenly you start getting things that may have been there in these hard times but that you just did not see. with some of these objects that were flying at an altitude that were flying at an altitude that was pulling —— pretty normal to see more stability in aircraft and they were flying slowly which is not usually what some of our surveillance cupolas look for. with a you what to look for the aperture and have seen a lot more. the big question now is what the decisions should be ones who see these objects.— see these ob'ects. china now sin as see these ob'ects. china now sing as wett_ see these objects. china now sing as well that _ see these objects. china now sing as well that there - see these objects. china now sing as well that there have l sing as well that there have been cases of us balloons and its space illegally but the

tension in this relationship already where do you see us—china ties going from your? the us administration has projected that claim that there are no us pollutants doing similar things. are no us pollutants doing similarthings. —— balloons. it could be a moment to take a deep breath and allow the relation ship to go back to normal. in these spy versus spy game spine is expected and when one is scott is usually a victory for the intelligent service but it does not escalate things too much. i think in this case china is embarrassed but that does not mean in a victory for the intelligence service but it does not escalate things too much. i think in this case china's embarrassment that is not asleep in spite of. and before we go, a small asteroid has exploded after entering the earth's atmosphere above the english channel. the three—foot meteoroid, which was visible in south england, wales and northern france shortly before 3am local time, created this stunning �*shooting star�* effect. known as an �*airburst�*, it's just the seventh time in history that an asteroid's impact has been predicted in advance.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. a valentine's day of wardrobe dilemmas on the way for some of you. frosty, in places is foggy start. but by the afternoon spring like warmth 60 to 70 degrees possible in northwest wales well above the eight degree average for this stage in the month, but not quite as warm as our warmest valentine's day recorded in 1998. so why the warmth? well, we're on the western side of this massive area of high pressure, keeping things dry across much of europe, because we're on the western side, we've got a southerly wind developing. but before that really gets going, most notably in western areas where temperatures above freezing. elsewhere, a frosty start to the day, minus four, minus five in one or two spots, and some dense patches of fog, particularly across central, eastern and southern parts of england and south east wales. that fog could actually develop

a bit through the morning rush hourfor some lingering until we get to lunchtime. but a lot of sunshine to come for many a bit more cloud. western wales, north—west england. the odd splash of rain always cloudier though. western scotland. northern ireland with more of a breeze. here again, some rain, a drizzle at times. so a lot of dry weather, bright weather. but look at the temperatures, 13 degrees, moray firth, 15,16, north devon, maybe ten, 16 and 17 northwest wales, but across western areas, particularly northern ireland. watch for the sun set in the evening. southerly winds ahead of this weather front will bring some saharan dust to the skies. as i said, northern ireland and western scotland could be treated to the best of the sunset, but it will be replaced by rain as we go through the night. rain spreading its way and dropping some of that dust onto the cars for the morning. it's not going to reach eastern areas. so we'll stay clear here. still a chance of frost, but not as cold as the night we have at the moment. and that's because there'll be more of a breeze, not as much fog around, but a bright start, sunny start in eastern areas, western areas starts cloudy, outbreaks of rain, outbreaks of rain fizzle as it pushes eastwards across england into the midlands, central southern england. by the end of the afternoon, east anglia and the southeast

will stay dry and clear into the evening. mild here, 13, 1a degrees, a little bit fresh elsewhere. but then as we go into thursday, a murky and actually wet start for many across england and wales, not seeing that for a while. that rain, though, will clear through still lots of cloud around the odd bit of brightness, driest, brightest the further north you are. and again, temperatures still above where we should be for this stage in february. but there's more rain gathering to northern ireland later on and that's this area of low pressure which will bring rain across the north, but increasingly strong winds. so through thursday night into friday, one thing to watch out for is potentially strong to gale force winds for many. see you soon.

you're watching bbc news. the latest headlines coming up, after hardtalk.