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 is 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. hello and welcome to the progamme. we begin 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 over dozens of countries on multiple continents around the world. including some of our closest allies and partners. emily harding is deputy director and senior fellow of the international security programme at the center for strategic and international studies. she told me we have to keep an open mind about the flying objects. it's very important to separate what we know from what we suspect or only know a little bit about. what we definitively know is quite a bit about the chinese balloon

that was downed off the coast of south carolina. we know that it was large. we know that it was high altitude. carrying a payload that probably included some pretty significant intelligence collection capabilities. for the other three objects, though, we know relatively little. we know that they were operating at a lower altitude than that first balloon. we know that they were different shapes, different sizes, and they were operating much further north. what we don't know yet is who created them, who launched them, what kinds of payloads they may have been carrying. we should know a lot more once the debris fields are reached. emily, you know, it strikes me that it's been unprecedented in a way, hasn't it, the number of unidentified flying objects that have been through american skies recently? but is this a possibility that it's a case ofjust finding more stuff because people are looking for it, or have theyjust always been there and gone undetected? most likely that's exactly the case. we started looking once we knew what to look for, and that's kind of like unchecking some

of the filters on an internet search. suddenly you start getting objects that may have been there the entire time that you just didn't see. with some of these objects, they were flying at an altitude that was pretty normal to see civilian aircraft. also, they were flying slowly, which is not usually what some of our surveillance capabilities look for. once they knew what signatures to look for, they opened the apertures and they've seen a lot more. i think the big question now is what the rules of engagement should be once we see these objects. emily, china is now saying as well that there have been cases of us balloons entering its airspace illegally. lots of tension, of course, in this relationship already. where do you see us—china ties going from here? right, well, the us administration has rejected that claim and said that there are no us balloons that are doing similar things. i think this could be a moment to just sort of take a deep breath and let the relationship return to normal. generally speaking, in the spy versus spy game, you know, spying is expected. and when the adversary gets

caught, it's a victory for the intelligence service, but it usually doesn't escalate tensions that much. i think in this case, china is probably embarrassed, but that doesn't mean that it needs to escalate further. 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 stay 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. cylcone gabrielle has battered new zealand, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

a state of emergency has now been declared in five regions on the country's �*north�* island. richard galpin reports. the authorities say tens of thousands of people have lost power. thousands of people have lost ower. . ., , ., , power. fearing the worst, many have been _ power. fearing the worst, many have been going _ power. fearing the worst, many have been going to _ power. fearing the worst, many have been going to the - power. fearing the worst, many have been going to the shops i power. fearing the worst, many have been going to the shops to stock up on food and water leaving the shelves empty. we are seeing _ leaving the shelves empty. - are seeing the impact of the cyclone across the top of the north island. at 1:30pm today, £46,000 -- 46,000 north island. at 1:30pm today, £46,000 —— 46,000 customers have lost their power. figs £46,000 -- 46,000 customers have lost their power.— have lost their power. as a result, major— have lost their power. as a result, major operation - have lost their power. as a result, major operation is. result, major operation is under way, to ensure people are safe. civil defence centres have been set up across the top of the north island and are ready to use in case people

have to evacuate. i ready to use in case people have to evacuate.— have to evacuate. i can't stress enough _ have to evacuate. i can't stress enough that - have to evacuate. i can't. stress enough that please have to evacuate. i can't - stress enough that please have a plan to leave your home. if you see water levels rising around you or if you are worried about man stability around your property, don't wait to be told to leave. this cyclone. _ wait to be told to leave. this cyclone, which _ wait to be told to leave. this cyclone, which is _ wait to be told to leave. this cyclone, which is now- wait to be told to leave. this cyclone, which is now expected to get more powerful, comes just a couple of weeks after very heavy rainfall also hit the island. the weather pattern in this region is becoming increasingly worrying for one of those affected. richard galpin, bbc news. auckland coouncillor, josephine bartleyjoined me earlier to tell us the most pressing needs for her constituents. the most pressing need is safety for those whose homes were affected. shelter would be

the most pressing need, followed by food. i the most pressing need, followed by food.- the most pressing need, followed by food. i don't know how many _ followed by food. i don't know how many of _ followed by food. i don't know how many of our— followed by food. i don't know how many of our viewers - how many of our viewers remember that i certainly do, we spoke tojust remember that i certainly do, we spoke to just a few weeks ago at a time when you and your communities were battling pretty heavy rains and flooding then, too. just how much harder does this make the rescue and relief effort, given what you are faced with now?- relief effort, given what you are faced with now? yes, we were only — are faced with now? yes, we were onlyjust _ are faced with now? yes, we were onlyjust getting - are faced with now? yes, we were onlyjust getting to - are faced with now? yes, we | were onlyjust getting to their families that didn't come to the evacuation centres, so we were just getting to them. a lot of people, especially for pacific islanders families, it is very hard to ask for help, so we were getting to a lot of those families that had been flooded and they were turning up flooded and they were turning up to our evacuation sites really for food parcels but when they were presenting, they were covered in rashes from waterborne bacteria from still

living in the homes that were flooded, so we were just, you know, trying to kind of mobilised towards the health 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 got these evacuation centres pretty much 25 of them, so, yeah, people had warning, they are prepared now, but it is the last thing we needed, really. is the last thing we needed, reall . .. , is the last thing we needed, reall . , ., , really. exactly, and there is more rain — really. exactly, and there is more rain on _ really. exactly, and there is more rain on the _ really. exactly, and there is more rain on the way - really. exactly, and there is more rain on the way as - really. exactly, and there is more rain on the way as i i more rain on the way as i understand it and some suggestion that the worse is still yet to come?— still yet to come? that is exactly right. _ still yet to come? that is exactly right. we - still yet to come? that is exactly right. we are - still yet to come? that is i exactly right. we are telling our people not to be complacent and that, you know, the storm is actually hitting us now but building up tonight so more preparation, more information

to people in our diverse communities that there are these evacuation sites for them to go to, rather than just staying in their homes. that was auckland _ staying in their homes. that was auckland councillor - was auckland councillor josephine bartley there talking to us little early on tuesday. you're watching newsday on the bbc. we hearfrom campaigners fighting to protect london—derry�*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. explosions. as the airlift got under

way there was no let—up in the erruption itself. explosions. 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 for the time being. that could start flowing again at any time. 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 headlines... the us defends its decision to shoot down unidentified flying objects. washington and beijing each accuse the other of aerial espionage. one week on after the

devastating earthquake hit turkey and syria, 37,000 people are known to have been killed. the un warns the number is expected to double. the scale of the disaster in turkey has placed unprecedented pressure on the country's healthcare system but 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. 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. let's turn to new york city now where several people have been hit and injured after a truck mounted a pavement. police have said that at least four 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. and before we go, a small asteroid has exploded after entering the earth's atmosphere above the english channel. the three—foot meteoroid 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 and the place 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 on the western side, we've got a suddenly 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, 5016, north devon, they've turned 16 and 17 north wales, but it's across western areas, particularly northern ireland. scott 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, 14 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 dry, 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 season.

this is bbc news. the latest news headlines will follow this feature programme. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go take a look at what's on the show. the cities that went to sleep for the pandemic are waking up, but how much are the world's great metropolises bouncing back, and can they ever get back to where they were? with hybrid and remote working still in place in much of the world, what is the impact on our great cities, their restaurants, economies and property prices? i'm going to be discussing all of that with these two. dr megan walters, global head of research at allianz real

estate, and julian metcalfe, the big boss of the asian food chain itsu.