this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. eight days after it was hit by two deadly earthquakes, the syrian government agrees to open more border crossings to allow aid into the country for three months. president assad confirmed the need for urgent aid to enter all regions in syria. us military says the sensors from the suspected chinese spy balloon shot down have been recovered from the atlantic ocean and are being examined by the fbi. indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi and mumbai bureaux and are conducting a search. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. a report finds liverpool fans

were not to blame for the chaotic scenes at last year's champions league final between liverpool and real madrid in paris. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. two more border crossings will be opened up to allow aid to flow into northern syria, as it deals with the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake. the country's president, bashar al—assad, agreed to open the routes from turkey after complaints about the time taken for support to reach some regions. millions across syria and turkey are without shelter, with survivors facing a lack of water and poor sanitation living in makeshift camps.

vincent mcaviney reports. the second week of recovery in turkey and syria begins after the region's most powerful earthquake in a century. apartment blocks and homes turned to rubble and graves. today two men were rescued alive from under a collapsed building after 198 hours. yesterday, in the southern turkish city of adiyaman, rescuers chant "god is great," as they pull a four—year—old girl alive after 178 hours under the ruins. but they're likely to be some of the last miraculous survivors. as the digging continues, the un is warning the death count will likely more than double, as the rescue phase of its operations ends. now it's about supporting the survivors. millions of them injured, traumatised and homeless in freezing conditions.

providing shelter, food and health care in the wreckage of a stable country like turkey is challenging enough. across the border in syria, over a decade into a civil war, it's proving near impossible. only one of the four original border crossings in the country has been open. the us government has led calls for syria's president assad to let more aid reach people in rebel—held areas of northern syria. last night he agreed to let the un use two more crossings for three months of aid deliveries. syria supports the entry of humanitarian aid into the region through all possible cross points, whether from inside syria or across the borders. the white helmets emergency group says people in the region have felt disappointed and abandoned.

the basic aid that will now hopefully reach them will make living possible, but their lives in a country still locked in a civil war won't be easily rebuilt. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. barak akkurt and his team have been working on a rescue mission in antakya in southeast turkey following the earthquakes. bbc panorama was following their work as they received a call from a man desperate to find his parents, wife, and his three—year—old daughter. and a warning, you might find some of this clip distressing.

when we first arrived here we heard a little... little scratch after our call, and now we have made 360 degrees listening and after our calls we heard a little murmuring from a lady, and now we are focusing on the right—hand side of the building because we know that on the right—hand side of the building there is the entrance and the stairways. so we are going to concentrate on that part first. it's a nightmare, and antakya is facing one of its darkest days, i can say. it's been so long since the quake happened. do you reckon they could be still alive? yes. we have seen miracles,

and i believe in miracles. selin girit put that panorama together — and she joins us now from istanbul. a very distressing clip, i suppose i want to ask whether there is any update on the search for that family? update on the search for that famil ? ~ . ., , ., , ., family? we have heard updates about that search. — family? we have heard updates about that search, and _ family? we have heard updates about that search, and unfortunately - family? we have heard updates about that search, and unfortunately no - that search, and unfortunately no one came out alive from that particular building. i have spoken to the rescuer who featured in the bbc panorama film a few hours later and he told me everyone they were searching for was already dead. but fortunately he gave me some good news, on the 160th hour at another rescue site that they started working on after we had left them, they managed to find a ao—year—old mother and her 19—year—old son on

the 116th hour, so that was a consolation, he said. they have been working relentlessly, these rescuers, and it required so much emotional strength. rescuers, and it required so much emotionalstrength. it rescuers, and it required so much emotional strength. it was very difficult for them, day in, day out. emotionally very challenging too. i was very glad to hear they were able to rescue a mother and her son later on. , ., ., ., ., on. tell us a little more about what else ou on. tell us a little more about what else you had _ on. tell us a little more about what else you had seen _ on. tell us a little more about what else you had seen and _ on. tell us a little more about what else you had seen and heard - on. tell us a little more about what else you had seen and heard whilel else you had seen and heard while making this panorama? we else you had seen and heard while making this panorama?— else you had seen and heard while making this panorama? we have been to one of the — making this panorama? we have been to one of the most _ making this panorama? we have been to one of the most devastated - making this panorama? we have been to one of the most devastated towns, | to one of the most devastated towns, antakya. it was incredible to witness the situation of the town. i have been to antakya quite a few

times in the past, i had been to its restaurants, having kebabs and mezzes. when i walked into the town it was after midnight and there were sirens going on all around. it was chaos everywhere, aides trucks were trying to make their way in, as were the volunteers, ambulances were everywhere. —— aid trucks. there was no electricity. it felt surreal. having been to the town so many times before i was heartbroken, distressed. i don't know what i actually felt at the moment, we were trying to soldier on with ourjob as journalists, i was trying to avoid being emotional because that would impede me from doing myjob, carrying on with the work, but it was absolutely surreal. i was walking through the streets unable to recognise which street it was,

why did i eat that famous antakya to search, for instance? i could not find that spot or recognise anything, there was rubble everywhere. there were camps set up, we were there on the third day, we had been able to make our way to antakya, it was chaos and very heartbreaking. there was some good news coming from under the rubble every now and then but other than that it was total destruction within antakya. i have been to other towns too, iskenderun for example, and there i met a particularfamily which featured in the bbc panorama film too. i met this very strong

woman, dilek, she was under the rubble for eight hours. she lost her mum, her brother and rubble for eight hours. she lost her mum, her brotherand her dad rubble for eight hours. she lost her mum, her brother and her dad and she was still very strong. she told me this is total destruction, i don't know, this is the end, this was as if the world collapsed on us, i don't know what the future holds. salim garrett, we must leave it there. viewers in the uk will be able to watch panorama on bbc iplayer. we are very grateful for your time. iplayer. we are very grateful for yourtime. —— selin iplayer. we are very grateful for your time. —— selin giret, we must leave it there. earlier i spoke to david wightwick, chief executive of uk—med, a charity which deploys british nhs medics to emergencies — he's in turkey establishing a field hospital. he's joined by lieutenant colonel seb burn from the uk military, who arrived on the scene last night. the immediate trauma care following the earthquake was largely dealt with in the first few days by all of the organisations around here.

you have the secondary needs arising from that, so people who need further care, then you have a significant spike in needs because people are living out in the open, it got down to —7 the last two nights, so people who may have lost their medication as their houses collapsed, and then you have ordinary background, normal primary and secondary problems you'd see in any population of this size, so a significantly increased caseload and a significantly decreased ability to deal with that, which is why we and the army are here. seb burn, we have been reporting two more border crossings will be opened up to allow aid to flow into northern syria. is that anything the british military will be involved with? as british military we do not routinely go into syria so that won't be something we will be doing, we are focused on the aid effort in turkey. we have a number of partner organisations who are working inside syria, are present inside syria, and we have

been talking to them. the needs are unbelievable, it is catastrophic. so we will, as uk—med, be working with partners who provide supplies and equipment across the border, and we'll have to see what we can do abour providing medical expertise because this security situation inside syria is exceptionally difficult, having worked there before i can personally attest to that. i would like to delve deeper into that, you have worked in other areas which have experienced emergencies before and i wonder how this one compares? almost 30 years of doing this, this is one of the largest emergencies i have seen. it compares to the south asian tsunami or the pakistan earthquake in 2005 in terms of scale, geographical area, the numbers affected. absolutely enormous.

i would like to bring you some pictures, live pictures into us at the bbc. this is of people queueing up the bbc. this is of people queueing up for age, this is in gaziantep in turkey, southern turkey close to the border with syria —— this is our people queueing up for aid. we were hearing there from our guests about the arrival of aid as well as medical equipment too. you can see the snow on the tops of the mountains, it is very hard, many people who have lost their homes are without power and electricity and aid agencies distributing food and water of course, as well, but you

get a sense of what life is like in southern turkey for those people affected by the earthquake. both live pictures from gaziantep in southern turkey. let's talk now with ammar al—salmo. ammar is a volunteer with the white helmets, officially known as the syria civil defence. he has been cordinating the team's emergency response. really good to have you with us. can you give us a sense of what the situation is like in aleppo, where you are? hi. situation is like in aleppo, where ou are? . ~ situation is like in aleppo, where ou are? ., ~ you are? hi, thank you. the situation — you are? hi, thank you. the situation is _ you are? hi, thank you. the situation is so _ you are? hi, thank you. the situation is so devastating. | you are? hi, thank you. the i situation is so devastating. the search and rescue operation is ongoing but hope is fading to find survivors. the member of the dead is

increasing moment by moment —— the number of the dead. the question of survival is very difficult. before this earthquake the situation is dire, more than 2 million living in camps, more than 3 million in the of aid from outside the country. there was no infrastructure. right now life is disrupted. the time of recovery, more than 2000 wounded need help and there is not enough doctors. we are moving patients from hospital to hospital, we need doctors who deal with such injuries. usually before the earthquake turkish hospitals were receiving injuries from this area but right now it is blocked. ia,000 families are homeless, needing shelters and

help, they need clean water and electricity. so the white helmets are trying at the same time to continue helping the recovery, to maintain and rehabilitate the homes. i can sense your sense of desperation. i assume you welcomed the decision by president assad to open two more border crossings from turkey into syria. what impact do you think that will help in getting the kind of aid you have been describing which is so obviously needed? . , , needed? that is disappointing, because the — needed? that is disappointing, because the assad _ needed? that is disappointing, because the assad regime, - needed? that is disappointing, because the assad regime, it l needed? that is disappointing, | because the assad regime, it is needed? that is disappointing, - because the assad regime, it is not a secret that since 11 years to the area outside of his control he was

not delivering aid, he was starving the syrian people, the aid was moved. the united nations secretary—general has all the power to activate and fix this. he was waiting for the permission of the criminal assad or awaiting the permission of china and russia and the security council. so they were waiting ten days to open more borders. that was disappointing to the syrian people. this borders. that was disappointing to the syrian people.— the syrian people. this will not be short-term. _ the syrian people. this will not be short-term, either? _ the syrian people. this will not be short-term, either? you - the syrian people. this will not be short-term, either? you have - the syrian people. this will not be i short-term, either? you have talked short—term, either? you have talked about what is urgently needed now, clean water, food and shelter, but this could be years of more age required to help people? yes.

this could be years of more age required to help people? yes. it is 'ust for required to help people? yes. it is just for three _ required to help people? yes. it is just for three months. _ required to help people? yes. it is just for three months. three - required to help people? yes. it is l just for three months. three months is not enough. the border with iraq is not enough. the border with iraq is also needed to deliver the aid. we think there should be no barrier to delivering the aid to everyone in need. we to delivering the aid to everyone in need. ~ . . to delivering the aid to everyone in need. ~ , . ~ ., need. we must leave it there, ammar al-salmo speaking _ need. we must leave it there, ammar al-salmo speaking to _ need. we must leave it there, ammar al-salmo speaking to us _ need. we must leave it there, ammar al-salmo speaking to us from - need. we must leave it there, ammar al-salmo speaking to us from the - al—salmo speaking to us from the aleppo region, a volunteer with the white helmets, officially known as the syrian civil defence.— white helmets, officially known as the syrian civil defence. a bbc investigation has found that online scammers are trying to profit from the earthquake in turkey and syria. they're doing it by using emotive content on social media, like this, to channel donations into their own bank accounts. the uk's charity commission has warned donors to be alert and to search the charity

register before donating. i'm joined now by hannah gelbert, who has been looking into the disinformation floating around online. thanks for coming into the studio to talk to us. what have you found out exactly? talk to us. what have you found out exactl ? ~ ., , ., ., ., , exactly? when there was a ma'or news event are a natural* exactly? when there was a ma'or news event are a natural disaster, _ exactly? when there was a major news event are a natural disaster, the - event are a natural disaster, the scale of the devastation, people around the world really want to help in anyway they can and that is something scammers are trying capitalise on. we have found appeals that use photos, videos, emotional language on almost every platform. 0n tiktok they are playing looped footage of the earthquake or even just a still image with sound effects on a loop, asking for donations in the form of tiktok gifts, a kind of virtual currency, and on twitter scammers are tweeting

links to their own paypal accounts or their own cryptocurrency wallets and again using these photos that really make people feel like they want to help. it really make people feel like they want to help-— want to help. it is worth saying pa pal want to help. it is worth saying paypal has _ want to help. it is worth saying paypal has not _ want to help. it is worth saying paypal has not operated - want to help. it is worth saying paypal has not operated in - want to help. it is worth saying i paypal has not operated in turkey since 2016. what kind of scale are we talking about? the since 2016. what kind of scale are we talking about?— we talking about? the other way scammers _ we talking about? the other way scammers are — we talking about? the other way scammers are trying _ we talking about? the other way scammers are trying to - we talking about? the other way scammers are trying to make . we talking about? the other way - scammers are trying to make money is by sending phishing e—mails, i spoke to a cybersecurity firm who intercept these so they do not reach recipients, they had already thousand 20,000 e—mails in one day. —— they had already found. some of them are pretending to be big charities like unicef, unicef says it takes this seriously and are trying to block it. they also create completely major charities to try to get people to donate, again, into their own pockets.— get people to donate, again, into their own pockets. getting back to these appeals _ their own pockets. getting back to these appeals on _ their own pockets. getting back to these appeals on tiktok, - their own pockets. getting back to these appeals on tiktok, twitter. their own pockets. getting back to i these appeals on tiktok, twitter and other social media, what are social media platforms doing to try to stop

this? and if you end up donating by mistake on a platform like tiktoker, how much does the platform catch from that? , . from that? very interesting, i did an investigation _ from that? very interesting, i did an investigation last _ from that? very interesting, i did an investigation last year - from that? very interesting, i did an investigation last year which i an investigation last year which found tiktok takes as much as 70% of the profits of gifts given on that platform. it is extraordinary. tiktok says it takes less than that but we did an experiment three times where we donated to three different accounts, we did the maths and we found tiktok took around 69%. tiktok says it is actively working to stop people from scamming and misleading community members who want to help and have put up text which says if you want to donate, make sure it is to a registered charity. paypal also says it has teams working to scrutinise and ban accounts so donations go to the intended causes. we also wrote to twitter but have yet to hear from them.— we also wrote to twitter but have yet to hear from them. what can we do to protect _

yet to hear from them. what can we do to protect ourselves _ yet to hear from them. what can we do to protect ourselves against - do to protect ourselves against these scans?— do to protect ourselves against these scans? ~ . , ., ., these scans? what should we look out for? if ou these scans? what should we look out for? if you want _ these scans? what should we look out for? if you want to _ these scans? what should we look out for? if you want to donate, _ these scans? what should we look out for? if you want to donate, and - for? if you want to donate, and people really need that help, donate to a registered charity. go to the website of a trusted charity. you can check the national charity register in the uk, most countries have a register, you can find out if the charity is registered. if something does not feel right, don't donate. if you are getting e—mails, don't click links, if you want to donate to a charity that might have e—mailed you, go to the website and you are directly that way. hope e-mailed you, go to the website and you are directly that way.— you are directly that way. how can --eole you are directly that way. how can people find _ you are directly that way. how can people find out — you are directly that way. how can people find out more? _ you are directly that way. how can people find out more? i _ you are directly that way. how can people find out more? i doubt - you are directly that way. how can l people find out more? i doubt there is information on the government website with links to the registers website with links to the registers we have mentioned. and the bbc website too? == we have mentioned. and the bbc website too?— we have mentioned. and the bbc website too? , ., ., ., website too? -- there is information on the government _ website too? -- there is information on the government website. - website too? -- there is information on the government website. and, i website too? -- there is information i on the government website. and, yes, there is information on the bbc. the us military says it has recovered electronic parts from the suspected chinese

surveillance balloon that it shot down earlier this month. officials believe they could be helpful in determining the precise purpose of the structure. beijing said it was a platform to monitor the weather. national security spokesperson john kirby says that an earlier device, a balloon shot down off south carolina nine days ago, was part of a chinese high altitude programme for intelligence gathering. we were able to determine that china has a high altitude balloon programme for intelligence collection that is connected to the people's liberation army. it was operating during the previous administration but they did not detect it. we detected it. we tracked it. and we have been carefully studying it to learn as much as we can. 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. earlier, i spoke to cbs news correspondent jarred hill, from new york.

he gave me the latest information on the recovered object. yes, the alien question has been floating around, no pun intended, seriously. but there is something here they are looking into. but looking at the balloon that came from china, the one that was shot off the coast of south carolina, this appears to be part of a larger growing surveillance operation from china, china denies this and says they are just weather balloons. but there were three other objects shot over north america between alaska, canada and a part of the northern united states, they still say they don't know exactly what they are, in part because they have not had chance to recover whatever materials fail. one of those in alaska fell in a part of the country essentially covered in ice, incredibly cold, dark for most of the day, it has been hard getting to that location. the others they are working between the us and canada to retrieve what it is and figure

out what fell from the sky. uefa has apologised to liverpool fans after an independent review found the body governing european football was mainly to blame, for chaotic scenes in paris before last summer's champions league final with real madrid. supporters were penned in and pepper—sprayed outside the stade de france. the report into overcrowding, ticketing issues, and heavy—handed policing was commissioned by uefa, which at one stage had blamed liverpool fans for the disorder outside the stadium. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. i've bad asthma and i've been tear gassed twice. each fan trapped at the stade de france has their own story of what went wrong that night. problems with tickets, with barriers, with transport strikes, with the actions of french police. an independent panel blamed a lack of risk assessment or operational plans and said uefa was primarily responsible for the failures.

it also said that uefa, the french football federation and french authorities wrongly inflated the huge numbers of supporters without valid tickets to deflect responsibility for planning and operational failures. uefa's general secretary apologised to the supporters of liverpool fc for the experiences many of them had had and for the messages released prior to and during the game, which had the effect of unjustly blaming them. it's vindicated the idea of every single liverpool supporter who was there that day. that's the most important thing. liverpool fans were blamed by both uefa and the french interior minister as a major cause of the chaos at the turnstiles. this latest report confirms that they were not. liverpool football club has released a statement saying it had yet to receive a copy of the report and described its leaked publication as hugely disappointing.

eight months on, the long list of failures here is becoming clear. these scenes could have been prevented, could have been so much worse. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. churning us now is the labour mp for liverpool west derby, ian byrne, who was at that final in may last year. very good to have you with us. what

is your initial reaction to this report? is your initial reaction to this re oft? , ., ., is your initial reaction to this reort? , ., report? good morning. huge relief, hue relief report? good morning. huge relief, huge relief that _ report? good morning. huge relief, huge relief that it _ report? good morning. huge relief, huge relief that it vindicates - huge relief that it vindicates everything we had said and there has not been further attempts to cover up not been further attempts to cover up what happens about paris. i would like to put on record my thanks to everybody involved in the panel for actually telling exactly what happened and ensuring that supporters' voices were heard and the people who suffered at the hands of the french authorities and uefa that night, so it is really freely that night, so it is really freely that the two events... everybody around the world can read what happened and know who is to blame and what happened in paris. uefa has a oloaised, and what happened in paris. uefa has apologised. is — and what happened in paris. uefa has apologised, is that _ and what happened in paris. uefa has apologised, is that enough? - apologised, is that enough? absolutely not, nowhere near. i think we also have to remember that hill survivors —— two hillsborough survivors have committed suicide

since paris, that shows the impact it had. a pretty mealy—mouthed apology yesterday is nowhere near enough, any recommendations implemented to ensure that hopefully no other search of supporters will have to go through what we have been through in paris —— no other sets of supporters. and we want a full and unreserved apology from the hedge of uefa, and also from the french authorities, president macron. you wanted to go _ authorities, president macron. you wanted to go to — authorities, president macron. you wanted to go to the very top, how confident are you? we wanted to go to the very top, how confident are you?— confident are you? we have been t in: to confident are you? we have been trying to make — confident are you? we have been trying to make sure _ confident are you? we have been trying to make sure the _ confident are you? we have been trying to make sure the report i confident are you? we have been trying to make sure the report is| trying to make sure the report is heard in parliament, asking the government for backing too, as i said, make sure the recommendations are implemented by uefa. but also the french authorities are equally culpable and plain is with them too.

they need to apologise, butjust as importantly you have to remember french will be holding the olympics, the rugby world cup, and if the same people are in charge of security operations and ensuring supporters and fans are safe, of whatever fan they are going to see, we can't have any confidence in them. that is why it needs to go right to the top, right to president macron, he needs to ensure the people culpable for what happened in paris are no longer in theirjobs, because they don't deserve to be in those roles, and to ensure that anybody, any fans, are safe. , ensure that anybody, any fans, are safe, , ., ensure that anybody, any fans, are safe. , ., , safe. sorry to interrupt, the report makes several _ safe. sorry to interrupt, the report makes several recommendations, | safe. sorry to interrupt, the report i makes several recommendations, what needs to change? what is most important? the culture. the police actually base their security and the whole

operation around the lies and smears propagated around hillsborough. they have been debunked, it's a matter of public record that it wasn't hooliganism that caused hillsborough. and still the french police began to plan on that premise, which is disgraceful. liverpool alluded to that in their statement. the whole culture around football and sport and events. reaching the champions league final is the pinnacle of any football supporters' watching career. to have it held like it was and for us to be treated like animals, as was said in parliament, that can never be repeated. i don't want any supporter of any football club going what we went through and nor should they have to do. that's why the regulations are so important. this cannot be kicked into the long grass. the football association have been deathly silent on everything

regarding paris and now they need to step up to the plate and make sure uefa do the right thing and implement changes that will be for the good of all supporters across europe and that should be one of the legacies of paris. ian europe and that should be one of the legacies of paris.— legacies of paris. ian byrne, labour mp for liverpool _ legacies of paris. ian byrne, labour mp for liverpool west _ legacies of paris. ian byrne, labour mp for liverpool west derby, i legacies of paris. ian byrne, labour mp for liverpool west derby, thank you forjoining us. the indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi and mumbai bureaux and are conducting a search. this is delhi. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. the move comes weeks after the government blocked the sharing of clips from a bbc documentary aired in the uk that questioned the role of prime minister narendra modi during riots in 2002 in the western state of gujarat, when he was the state's chief minister. the bbc has issued a statement. it says, "the income tax authorities are currently at the bbc offices in new delhi and mumbai and we are fully cooperating. we hope to have this situation

resolved as soon as possible." our south asia regional editor sanjay dasgupta is with me now. what more can you tell us about this? . ., ., ,., what more can you tell us about this? . ., ., ., , this? the income tax department was callin: it this? the income tax department was calling it this — this? the income tax department was calling it this morning, _ this? the income tax department was calling it this morning, describing i calling it this morning, describing it as a survey action. they were saying the survey action has been undertaken in order to verify certain documents. no further statement has been forthcoming. as you rightly point out, the bbc has said it is co—operating fully. we know searches are being conducted in the bbc offices in delhi and mumbai. we know people are not being allowed to enter or leave the offices. at the moment that is where the situation stands.— the moment that is where the situation stands. and what's your view and what _ situation stands. and what's your view and what do _ situation stands. and what's your view and what do we _ situation stands. and what's your view and what do we know i situation stands. and what's your view and what do we know about | situation stands. and what's your i view and what do we know about why this is happening?—

this is happening? well, we don't know why it _ this is happening? well, we don't know why it is _ this is happening? well, we don't know why it is happening - this is happening? well, we don't know why it is happening but i this is happening? well, we don't know why it is happening but the | know why it is happening but the timing is curious. at the end of january, the bbc showed a documentary which focused on the role of the current prime minister, mr narendra modi, when he was not prime minister. he was at that point in time in 2000 to the chief minister of the western state of gujarat and fierce religious rioting broke out in the state. there have been questions ever since about narendra modi's inability to stop the violence as it spread. fiur narendra modi's inability to stop the violence as it spread. our south asia regional _ the violence as it spread. our south asia regional editor, _ the violence as it spread. our south asia regional editor, we _ the violence as it spread. our south asia regional editor, we must i the violence as it spread. our south asia regional editor, we must leave| asia regional editor, we must leave it there but thank you forjoining us. i'm going to take you straight to the preliminary hearing for the uk's covid—19 inquiry, which is beginning today. this is an independent public inquiry examining the uk's response to the pandemic. we can bring you some of that hearing now. this is the inquiry

chair, baroness hallett. the advocates — chair, baroness hallett. the advocates can _ chair, baroness hallett. the advocates can focus - chair, baroness hallett. tue advocates can focus on the chair, baroness hallett. tte advocates can focus on the main chair, baroness hallett. ttj: advocates can focus on the main part of the submissions they wish to highlight today. i am sitting here in a hearing room on my own. counsel to the inquiry are in a separate room and other participants are attending remotely. i believe everyone has been informed as to the system that has to be employed should anybody wish to speak who hasn't already given notice of their intention to do so. so with those observations, given we have so much to get through today, i call on mr hugo keith king's council, the council to the inquiry. councilto the inquiry. inaudible could ou councilto the inquiry. inaudible could you pause, _ councilto the inquiry. inaudible could you pause, mr— councilto the inquiry. inaudible could you pause, mr keith. i councilto the inquiry. inaudible could you pause, mr keith. the l could you pause, mr keith. the public and participants are having problems but your sound is not

perfect. we will sort out what might be a technical— we will sort out what might be a technical problem. i think it has been _ technical problem. i think it has been solved. the echo has disappeared. can you hear me clearly now _ disappeared. can you hear me clearly now. . .., disappeared. can you hear me clearly now. , .. ., ., now. yes, we can at the moment. i will interrupt — now. yes, we can at the moment. i will interrupt you _ now. yes, we can at the moment. i will interrupt you if _ now. yes, we can at the moment. i will interrupt you if there _ now. yes, we can at the moment. i will interrupt you if there are i will interrupt you if there are problems again.— will interrupt you if there are problems again. ok. this is the second preliminary _ problems again. ok. this is the second preliminary hearing. i problems again. ok. this is the | second preliminary hearing. the first one — second preliminary hearing. the first one was held by you on the 4th of october. — first one was held by you on the 4th of october, some four months ago. i don't _ of october, some four months ago. i don't intend — of october, some four months ago. i don't intend to reintroduce the core participants and representatives. there _ participants and representatives. there remain 28 core participants. i should _ there remain 28 core participants. i should say— there remain 28 core participants. i should say that following the first

preliminary hearing on the 4th of october— preliminary hearing on the 4th of october a — preliminary hearing on the 4th of october a number of out of time applications... i�*m october a number of out of time applications. . ._ october a number of out of time applications... i'm sorry, can you -ause applications... i'm sorry, can you pause there- _ applications... i'm sorry, can you pause there. i'm _ applications... i'm sorry, can you pause there. i'm afraid _ applications... i'm sorry, can you pause there. i'm afraid the i applications... i'm sorry, can you pause there. i'm afraid the audio | applications... i'm sorry, can you l pause there. i'm afraid the audio is not good. if people who are following online have satisfactory audio then that's ok, i am prepared to put up with it, but ijust want to put up with it, but ijust want to check. i wonder if we could find other members of the inquiry team following online to see whether they can hear what mr keith is saying clearly. i think we have a problem. there is a note from the stenographer that it is not clear enough for a verbatim record. i will rise to to see if the

problem can be sorted. i am sorry to everybody. problem can be sorted. i am sorry to eve bod . ~ ., ., everybody. 0k. whoa not a particularly _ everybody. 0k. whoa not a particularly auspicious i everybody. 0k. whoa not a particularly auspicious start everybody. 0k. whoa not a i particularly auspicious start from everybody. 0k. whoa not a - particularly auspicious start from a technical_ particularly auspicious start from a technical point of view for that preliminary hearing into the uk cover_ preliminary hearing into the uk cover 19 — preliminary hearing into the uk cover 19 inquiry, basically an inquiry— cover 19 inquiry, basically an inquiry looking at preparedness for the pandemic and resilience. at the hearing _ the pandemic and resilience. at the hearing there will be procedural matters — hearing there will be procedural matters discussed as to how the inquiry— matters discussed as to how the inquiry is — matters discussed as to how the inquiry is going to be run and what will be _ inquiry is going to be run and what will be discussed. but inquiry is going to be run and what will be discussed.— will be discussed. but as you can see there. _ will be discussed. but as you can see there, clearly _ will be discussed. but as you can see there, clearly some - will be discussed. but as you can | see there, clearly some technical issues to be ironed out. the key point is that the preliminary hearing for the uk's covid—19 inquiry has begun today. it is not open for members of the public, in case you are watching and thinking you might like to go along, it is not open to the public, but it will be watched via the inquiry�*s youtube

channel. subject to a three minute delay. anyway, that inquiry is under way, if currently adjourned because of some technical difficulties. let's head to new zealand now. new zealand has declared a national state of emergency for only the third time in its history after cyclone gabrielle ravaged the country's north island on monday night. an estimated 2,500 people have been displaced from their homes, and some areas have been cut off by road, and have lost power and telecommunications. the military has been deployed to help with evacuations. international and domestic flights have been grounded, following winds gusting up up to 140 kilometres per hour — that's just under 90 miles per hour. 20 centimetres — or eight inches — of rain fell in just 2a hours, and there were storm surges along the coastline.

bbc analysis of accident and emergency waiting times in england shows wide variations in how services have coped this winter. at some of the 107 hospital trusts that provided data, more than half of patients waited longer than four hours, but at the best performing units fewer than one in ten did. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has more. it's been the toughest winter for the nhs in a generation. across the uk, there have been record waiting times for ambulances and in a&e departments. and that's had a real impact on patients. the bbc has analysed nhs england data on average waiting times in emergency departments over december and january. among the best performing were nhs trusts in northumbria, maidstone and tunbridge wells and blackpool. but patients in hull, wye valley, and shrewsbury and telford face the longest waits. and in all the ten worst performing trusts, patients were five times more likely to face

a long wait of over four hours than in the best performing hospital. so what explains the difference between the best and the worst? one hospital boss says it's staff, teamwork and investment. we've got the greatest staff — truly dedicated, passionate about the best care possible in extremely difficult and quite challenging circumstances. equally, we've really worked hard on collaboration and working with our partners across lancashire and south cumbria. lastly, we've had fantastic investment into the local system, whereby we've been able to invest in state—of—the—art facilities, such as the same day emergency care. nhs england acknowledges the winter has been tough but says ambulance response times and a&e waits are getting better. but it also said that work continues on improving the speed with which patients can be discharged from hospital when they're well enough to leave.

dominic hughes, bbc news. hundreds of grassroots football referees in england have told the bbc that they fear for their safety on the pitch. out of almost a thousand referees who responded to a bbc radio 5 live questionnaire, just under 300 said they'd been physically abused by spectators, players, coaches or managers. some described being punched, headbutted and spat at, as jane dougall reports. you're always one decision away from a smack in the mouth. i've had people comment on my chest in the middle of a game. it could be threats i against your family, and it is getting worse and worse and worse. | at grassroots level, the abuse of officials across the country has risen to breaking point. threatening — "i'm going to smash you up at the end of the game, just you wait." ryan crabtree referees forjunior and men's leagues in pendleton and north yorkshire. he's been assaulted multiple times.

after the game, a group of men, when i were a teenager, chased me out of the changing room, out onto the field, and i've had to then run down a back street — hide, basically. do you fear for your safety? all the time. every single weekend. a bbc questionnaire, sent to 7,000 members of the referees association in england, found that of the 927 who responded, 908 had experienced verbal abuse from spectators, players or coaches. 293 said they'd been physically abused. and 440 said they thought the abuse was worse now than it was five years ago. president of the referees association, paul field, wants a life ban for those responsible before it's too late. one day in this country, a referee will lose his life or her life. if a person is banned from football for wilful abuse or assaults, why should they be allowed to attend any football matches?

he feels it starts at the top, with children copying the actions of premier league players on television. the questionnaire also found many had experienced racist, homophobic and sexist abuse. 18—year—old megan belcher has been refereeing for three years. while officiating at an under 13s match, she was attacked by a parent. he came running on the pitch with his fist raised at me. the two coaches from the team that he was a part of came onto the pitch and kind of stopped him and said, "hey, stop." he was still yelling abuse at me and saying, "this is why girls shouldn't be in football." it was probably the scariest experience i've ever had. it really had an impact on my mental health as well. megan has come to watch former premier league player chris sutton, who's been asked by radio 5 live to referee his first match. don't forget to whistle loudly. i'll do my best. it's a junior game. chris wants to find out

what it's like on the other side. what a ball. what a ball that was. he's admitted previously to confronting a young referee whilst watching his son play. i walked onto the field because i was, you know, concerned about how badly injured he was. you know, ishouldn't have done that. i realise how difficult it is. but, you know, you're also, you know, you're a parent... i was a parent as well at that particular time. after the match, megan told chris what had happened to her. you know, that's totally unacceptable, you know, any sort of abuse. and i think that that's part of the reason which, you know, i'm here today — i played — but to see the other side. many who responded to the bbc questionnaire felt referee abuse wasn't being tackled sufficiently by the fa. but the organisation has said they are continuing to do everything they can to stamp out this behaviour. this is the fa's new campaign, making it clear that action will be taken against abuse. they say stronger sanctions and a three—year refereeing strategy

are coming soon in order to tackle this issue. enough is enough. many referees feel the current deterrents won't stop verbal and physical abuse, and that eventually grassroots referees will walk away from the game they love. jane dougall, bbc news. (pres)elijah khaira — a referee — has been refereeing for 5 years and started when he was 14. yes, lam based in southampton and hampshire. i have been refereeing five years. i've had some really good refereeing experiences and also some really poor ones unfortunately. you have some games every once in a while and you don't get issues, but unfortunately the majority, you do get issues, whether it's from players, coaches, parents, it can vary according to the age group and quality and size of the game. some of the things i have heard are appalling, and to think this is from parents of 12—year—olds and they should be setting an example.

over a grassroots game where the result shouldn't matter, it's about developing players. referees also have to develop themselves to become a better referee and get more experience. we are there to do a job. we are humans and we will make mistakes. yet parents and coaches and players seem to expect referees to get everything perfect, even when they don't have var and all that at the weekend. we have to be careful about what we say on live television but can you tell us a little bit more about the sorts of issues you have faced. is it mainly verbal abuse? not just verbal. when it comes to verbal abuse, i have heard every swear there is. thankfully i don't get much sexist quotes, i am a male, but i know female referees who have had unfortunate sexist terms used against them and things like that. but when it comes to the abuse it can also be physical. thankfully i have never been assaulted as a referee

but i still have had players getting up right into my face, players giving a little shove, which doesn't amount to an assault but it is still a red card offence in the context of the game. people are storming over to me, looking like they are going to. i have been lucky but i know a few referees who have been hit, kicked and all sorts. i have had threats before, people telling me that i better watch myself for the rest of the game if i know what's best, things along those lines. and plenty of other terms that i will not be repeating on live tv, but some can be pretty cruel. an iranian chess player who removed her headscarf at an international tournament has told the bbc she has no regrets. living in exile in southern spain, sara khadem says it was the least she could do, given the sacrifices protestors in iran were making. she says she hopes she'll play for her country again. razia iqbal reports.

sara khadem is 25 now but has been playing competitively since she was eight. chess was unbanned in iranjust before ayatollah khamenei's death, and in the decades after that the country has become a chess powerhouse, and sara khadem one of its biggest and most promising stars. in december last year she decided not to wear the compulsory hijab when competing. her life has changed utterly, not least where she lives now on the spanish coast. chess is a game that requires a player to calculate their opponent's third orfourth move. 25—year—old sara khadem has made a few calculations, but to remove her headscarf was the least she could do given what was happening in iran. but it was the right thing to do. that decision, though, has led to her exile and for now a life lived in a secret location.

when i was playing in almaty there were many things going on in iran. and many young women, they were not wearing the scarf on the streets, and that was the rule in the country. so i would say i was really inspired by what they were doing back at home. but presumably you realised that you were taking a risk. yeah. the things that happened was not really something that i was hoping for. i mean, leaving the country. leaving iran completely was not what was going on in my mind, and that is something i really miss, but i wouldn't say i regret it. since september last year, iran has been shaken by girls and women protesting against the death in custody of mahsa amini... chanting. ..for an apparent hijab infraction.

many have been killed and many more arrested. there have been enormous sacrifices. for me, leaving my family was one of the most difficult things that i have ever done, and also iran, but if i want to compare what i did to what people are doing, i wouldn't say that it was difficult, because the risk that they are taking is much higher. led by the prime minister of the country, there is, though, some comfort in spain's embrace of sara khadem. it was kind of a mixed feeling to see that in a country you would be really appreciated, to be invited by the prime minister, and in your own country that you have achieved lots of success, you just get arrestment orders! the current loss of her country has not dimmed sara's commitment to chess. yeah, i consider myself as a professional chess player. that is the only thing i know.

razia iqbal, bbc news, southern spain. police in the us say a man suspected of shooting several people at michigan state university — killing three of them — has shot himself dead after officers approached him. five people are listed as critically wounded in hospital, following the incident at the university campus. police say the suspect was armed with several weapons, and his motivation is currently unknown. that suspect we now know is a 43—year—old male. that 43—year—old male is not affiliated in any way with michigan state university. he is not a student, faculty, staff. and we have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight. that is part of our angle

in the investigation. the soft drink lilt is being rebranded after nearly 50 years on supermarket shelves. this is what it'll look like. it'll become fanta pineapple and grapefruit following a makeover by its owner, coca—cola. earlier we spoke with pr expert and author mark borkowski who told us brands are looking to reach younger audiences. competition for drink brands, particularly in the soft sector now is so intense and shelf space is at a premium. we mustn't forget now that there are some powerful drinks that are binding the youth audience, pure hydration, which has been launched purely through social media by logan paul and ksi, these amazing youtubers, they are surpassing all expectations and engaging with people. lilt has a reputation and cultural connection with an older audience who are probably statistically dying

out and for a brand to remain current, you have to have a relationship with a younger audience. what's the evidence that changing the name of a brand makes a difference? i think what we... one cynical bone in my body felt that this suggests it could be a publicity stunt from a food company, they talk about delisting or ending a brand to see an outpouring of love for the brand and saying, you can't do it, giving it a surge of popularity, but i don't think this is the case in this sense. casting your mind back to the original launch of it, the totally, typically tropical taste, and millions bought into branding and advertising budgets and it connected with a generation. it had an unusual taste,

it was new on the block and we fell in love with it at the time. but these things pass. the power of its branding and name no longer connects. but we mustn't forget all the other marketing and pr that goes behind a brand to establish it in the market and we perhaps don't dig deep enough to contemplate that because there are more important issues to think about. but what this is, it's trying to look at a taste and thinking, well, that still has a market, there are still other drinks comparable to this so why don't we give it another burst and launch to see if we can reconnect under another brand. that'll be the test. but everybody at the moment is looking at the launch of pure hydration as a completely new sensation in terms of marketing spend and connection and getting

into a very young audience. that's it from us for now. goodbye. hello again. there's been some dense fog around this morning across parts of england and also east wales. some of that is still with us and won't clear till lunchtime or just afterwards. but when it does, we are looking at sunny spells for most of us, and feeling mild. now, how mild? well, parts of central and north—west wales could reach 17 degrees today. the average is eight. and the last time on st valentine's day we've had a temperature as high as this was in 1998 when it was higher, at 19.1 celsius. high pressure is firmly established across europe. we're pulling in southerly winds or south—westerly winds, so a mild direction for us. and we also have a weather front in the west, and that's producing some thicker cloud and some spots

of rain as it travels eastwards, but brightening up behind it in northern ireland. and a fair bit of sunshine for most of us today when the fog lifts. generally we're looking at temperatures 11 to 14. but in wales 16 or 17 is quite possible. now, through this evening you can see how the high pressure drifts further east, we start to pull in some saharan desert dust. so that means across especially scotland and northern ireland, you could see some spectacular sunrises tomorrow morning with a pinky hue. we've got this band of rain coming in from the west, moving slowly southwards and eastwards by the end of the night. ahead of it, some clear skies. there'll be more of a breeze tonight, so it'lljust be some pockets of mist and fog here and there, an odd pocket of frost, but that will lift tomorrow, leaving a lot of dry weather before this rain comes in and moves steadily southwards and eastwards, but weakens in doing so. so we'll hang onto a lot of dry weather in the south—east for much of the day. and behind that weather front, there'll be a lot of dry weather, but still a few showers peppering

the north and the west. and quite blustery here as well, with highs up to 14. on thursday, it's going to be a cloudy day, extensive low cloud, some mist and some fog, some patchy light rain and drizzle behind the main band of rain, which will clear early doors. and these are our temperatures, seven to 13 degrees. but as we move through thursday night and into friday, the weather does turn increasingly windy. we'll have weather fronts moving across us, bringing some rain and on friday, widespread gales. but that wind will ease during the course of saturday.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. the un says more than seven million children are affected by the turkey—syria earthquakes. the syrian government has now agreed to open more border crossings to allow aid into the country, for three months. president assad confirmed the need for urgent aid to enter all region in syria. the us military says the sensors from the suspected chinese spy balloon shot down have been recovered from the atlantic ocean and are being examined by the fbi. a report finds liverpool fans were not to blame for the chaotic scenes at last year's champions league final against real madrid in paris.

it is relief the two events are pictures so everybody rounds the world now can read what happened, and know who is to blame for what happened in paris. indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi and mumbai bureaux and are conducting a search. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the un says that over seven million children have been affected by the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria. it comes as syria agrees to open two more border crossings to allow aid

to flow into the northern part of the country. the country's president, bashar al—assad, agreed to open the routes from turkey after complaints about the time taken for support to reach some regions. millions across syria and turkey are without shelter, with survivors facing a lack of water and poor sanitation living in makeshift camps. vincent mcaviney reports. the second week of recovery in turkey and syria begins after the region's most powerful earthquake in a century. apartment blocks and homes turned to rubble and graves. today, two men were rescued alive from under a collapsed building after 198 hours. yesterday, in the southern turkish city of adiyaman, rescuers chant "god is great," as they pull a four—year—old girl alive after 178 hours under the ruins. but they're likely to be some

of the last miraculous survivors. as the digging continues, the un is warning the death count will likely more than double, as the rescue phase of its operations ends. now it's about supporting the survivors. millions of them injured, traumatised and homeless in freezing conditions. providing shelter, food and health care in the wreckage of a stable country like turkey is challenging enough. across the border in syria, over a decade into a civil war, it's proving near impossible. only one of the four original border crossings in the country has been open. the us government has led calls for syria's president assad to let more aid reach people in rebel—held areas of northern syria. last night he agreed to let the un use two more crossings for three months of aid deliveries.

syria supports the entry of humanitarian aid into the region through all possible cross points, whether from inside syria or across the borders. the white helmets emergency group says people in the region have felt disappointed and abandoned. the basic aid that will now hopefully reach them will make living possible, but their lives in a country still locked in a civil war won't be easily rebuilt. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. ammar al—salmo is a volunteer with the white helmets — officially known as the syria civil defence. he has been cordinating the team's emergency response, he told me about what it's like on the ground in aleppo. the situation is so devastating, the search and secure operation

is ongoing, but hope is fading to find survivors, just we get, we dig our people from under the rubble, so number of people increase hours by hours, moments by moments. the situation of the survivors... before the quake, the situation was a dire situation, more than two million living in camps, more than three million were in need of material aid from outside the country. there is no infrastructure, right now life is disrupted. the time of recovery, recovery to the wounded, more than 2,000 wounded need help. there is not enough doctors, we just move injured from hospital to hospital, not finding a specialist doctorfor the injury, turkey border is not allowed the injured to turkish hospitals,

usually before the earthquake, turkish hospitals were receiving injuries from this area, but right now, it is blocked, so the situation is so dire, for 14,000 families who are homeless need shelter, need help, need clean water, need electricity, everything is right now, life is... so trying at the same time, continue to also help in recovery, maintain and rehabilitate the roads, open roads and infrastructure. i can sense your sense of desperation, i assumed you welcome the decision by president assad to open two more border crossings from turkey into syria, what impact do you think that will have on getting the kind of aid that you have been describing, that is so obviously needed? that is disappointing,

because the assad regime, it is not a secret since 11 years, hindering the aid to the outside control, he was intervening in delivering the aid, he was starving people, so they move the aid to the un security council, the un security general have all the power, the wide power to activate any flexible response, any flexible response to open more than one border, he was waiting the permission of assad, or he was waiting the permission of china and russia, and the security council, so they were waiting ten days until the last one to die, to open more border. that was disappointing to the syrian people.

we hear that the world health organization is saying it is the worst natural disaster in a century. the worst natural disaster in a century. that according to the world health organization. that according to the world health organization. david wightwick is chief executive of uk—med, a charity which deploys british nhs medics to emergencies — he's in turkoglu, turkey establishing a field hospital. he's joined by lieutenant colonel seb burn from the uk military, who arrived on the scene last night. the immediate trauma care following the earthquake was largely dealt with in the first few days by all of the organisations around here. you have the secondary needs arising from that, so people who need further care, then you have a significant spike in needs because people are living out in the open, it got down to —7 the last two nights, so people who may have lost their medication

as their houses collapsed, and then you have ordinary background, normal primary and secondary problems you'd see in any population of this size, so a significantly increased caseload and a significantly decreased ability to deal with that, which is why we and the army are here. seb burn, we have been reporting two more border crossings will be opened up to allow aid to flow into northern syria. is that anything the british military will be involved with? as british military we do not routinely go into syria so that won't be something we will be doing, we are focused on the aid effort in turkey. we have a number of partner organisations who are working inside syria, are present inside syria, and we have been talking to them. the needs are unbelievable, it is catastrophic. so we will, as uk—med, be working with partners who provide

supplies and equipment across the border, and we'll have to see what we can do abour providing medical expertise because this security situation inside syria is exceptionally difficult, having worked there before i can personally attest to that. i would like to delve deeper into that, you have worked in other areas which have experienced emergencies before and i wonder how this one compares? almost 30 years of doing this, this is one of the largest emergencies i have seen. it compares to the south asian tsunami or the pakistan earthquake in 2005 in terms of scale, geographical area, the numbers affected. absolutely enormous. interesting he was saying there, about his view of the scale of the disaster in turkey and syria, as i was bringing you that news earlier,

the world health organization has said that turkey's earthquake is europe's worst natural disaster in a century. europe's worst natural disaster in a century. suhail sufi is the director of finance & operations at the charity zaimah , he's out distributing aid in antakya, one of the worst—hit areas. we are grateful you have broken off from doing that to talk to us. can you tell us a bit about the situation, what you are see tong ground there where you are? —— seeing on the ground. like ground there where you are? -- seeing on the ground.— seeing on the ground. like you mention i _ seeing on the ground. like you mention i am _ seeing on the ground. like you mention i am currently - seeing on the ground. like you mention i am currentlyjust - seeing on the ground. like you | mention i am currentlyjust east seeing on the ground. like you - mention i am currentlyjust east of antakya at some remote villages, where no aid has reached since the beginning of the earthquake. now what i am seeing here, right now, today, is complete destruction of the villages, so just further ahead, in front of me the entire village has been demolished, so, i have never seen anything like this in my entire life of charity work, so what i am seeing in the ground isjust

devastation and destruction and people's homes, and roads arejust destroyed. find people's homes, and roads are 'ust destro ed. �* , ., , people's homes, and roads are 'ust destro ed. �* , ., destroyed. and can you tell us about what ou destroyed. and can you tell us about what you and — destroyed. and can you tell us about what you and fellow _ destroyed. and can you tell us about what you and fellow workers - destroyed. and can you tell us about what you and fellow workers from i destroyed. and can you tell us about| what you and fellow workers from the charity and other workers indeed are doing and what aid you are distributing?— doing and what aid you are distributin: ? ,., . ., , distributing? ok, so, the charity came within _ distributing? ok, so, the charity came within 24 _ distributing? ok, so, the charity came within 24 hours _ distributing? ok, so, the charity came within 24 hours to - distributing? ok, so, the charity came within 24 hours to the - distributing? ok, so, the charity - came within 24 hours to the grouped so we have been here since tuesday, so we have been here since tuesday, so the needs of the victims of the earthquake have been changing, and we have been responding appropriately, so the immediate response on tuesday, wednesday, was shelter, warm clothing, blankets, now, we are seeing that they are hungry, you know, they have now, we are seeing that they are hungry. you know, they have no now, we are seeing that they are hungry, you know, they have no food, so they need hot meals, food, etc, and i am predicting that, in a week's time, maybe longer, medical aid would be needed. most of them are sleeping outside in tents, so after they have got food, within a

couple of weeks medical aid will be needed. i5 couple of weeks medical aid will be needed. , , ., ., needed. is this aid getting through, ou are needed. is this aid getting through, you are talking _ needed. is this aid getting through, you are talking about _ needed. is this aid getting through, you are talking about food - needed. is this aid getting through, you are talking about food and - you are talking about food and water, you are talking about medical aided in the future, how is it getting through? 50. aided in the future, how is it getting through?— aided in the future, how is it getting through? aided in the future, how is it caettin throuuh? i. getting through? so, when you say caettin getting through? so, when you say getting through. — getting through? so, when you say getting through. i _ getting through? so, when you say getting through, i am _ getting through? so, when you say getting through, i am currently - getting through? so, when you say getting through, i am currently in i getting through, i am currently in turkey, so all our items procured from largest cities in turkey we sent them in struck, to the affected areas which took about 12, 13 hours by road, 0 so that is how we are getting aid here in the south of turkey. getting aid here in the south of turke . ., , , ~ ., turkey. that is interesting. what im act do turkey. that is interesting. what impact do you — turkey. that is interesting. what impact do you think _ turkey. that is interesting. what impact do you think will - turkey. that is interesting. what impact do you think will the - turkey. that is interesting. what| impact do you think will the news today have that president assad has opened up two more border crossings into syria, from turkey, what impact will have that on getting aid to people who need it there? 50. will have that on getting aid to people who need it there? so, we are a humanitarian _ people who need it there? so, we are a humanitarian aid _ people who need it there? so, we are a humanitarian aid charity _ people who need it there? so, we are a humanitarian aid charity and - people who need it there? so, we are a humanitarian aid charity and we - a humanitarian aid charity and we help every human in need, there are people across the border in syria

that needs aid, so we welcome this news and any news that make it easy for the people across the border that need aid. is for the people across the border that need aid. i— for the people across the border that need aid. is have you been in contact with _ that need aid. is have you been in contact with anyone _ that need aid. is have you been in contact with anyone in _ that need aid. is have you been in contact with anyone in syria. - that need aid. is have you been in contact with anyone in syria. we l contact with anyone in syria. we don't have _ contact with anyone in syria. , don't have any partner, any contacts in syria, when we were sending aid to syria we were using our partners in turkey, right now the situation is such that the infrastructure, the contact, the resources, our turkish partners is limited, so we are unable to get aid through our turkish partners to syria. {lilia unable to get aid through our turkish partners to syria. 0k, 'ust, a final thought i turkish partners to syria. 0k, 'ust, a final thought on i turkish partners to syria. 0k, 'ust, a final thought on a i turkish partners to syria. 0k, 'ust, a final thought on a personalh turkish partners to syria. 0k, just, j a final thought on a personal level, presumably, you are working in rather challenging conditions, aren't you?— aren't you? yes, so, we are experiencing _ aren't you? yes, so, we are experiencing the _ aren't you? yes, so, we are experiencing the same - aren't you? yes, so, we are - experiencing the same conditions as the people we listening, so there is no electricity here, you know, we don't stay in collapsed buildings or collapsed hotels because it is unsafe, so we are sleeping in tent, just like the people that we are

helping, there is limited water, we experience exact same things as the people that we are helping. hand people that we are helping. and finall , people that we are helping. and finally. what _ people that we are helping. and finally, what are _ people that we are helping. and finally, what are the people that you are helping telling you, what do they say? the you are helping telling you, what do the sa ? , ., , ., ., they say? the people that we are helinu they say? the people that we are helping are _ they say? the people that we are helping are telling _ they say? the people that we are helping are telling us _ they say? the people that we are helping are telling us that - they say? the people that we are helping are telling us that there l helping are telling us that there needs to be more aware's of what has happened. if we were to overlay the region of turkey that was hit, by an earthquake and overlay on top of great britain, it is half of great britain. so that gives you the scale of the amount of people that it has affected and like the channel mention, the world health organization says, it's the worst humanitarian disaster for 100 years, it is devastation,ing so that is what people are saying here, that there needs to be more awareness and it needs to be more resource 0 more aid needs to come to this region and also, it needs to be a long—term strategy to rebuild, rebuild the areas affected. fik. strategy to rebuild, rebuild the areas affected.— strategy to rebuild, rebuild the areas affected. ~ , ., areas affected. ok. we must leave it there, areas affected. ok. we must leave it there. very — areas affected. ok. we must leave it there. very good _ areas affected. ok. we must leave it

there. very good of _ areas affected. ok. we must leave it there, very good of you _ areas affected. ok. we must leave it there, very good of you to _ areas affected. ok. we must leave it there, very good of you to talk - areas affected. ok. we must leave it there, very good of you to talk to - there, very good of you to talk to us here upon bbc news. thank you. thank you. a bbc investigation has found that online scammers are trying to profit from the earthquake in turkey and syria. they're doing it by using emotive content on social media, like this, to channel donations into their own bank accounts. the uk's charity commission has warned donors to be alert — and to search the charity register before donating. our disinformation reporter hannah gelbart has been looking into the disinformation floating around online. she told me that when there's devastation on this scale people artound the world are keen to support victims, and this is being exploited. people around the world really want to help in any way they can and that's something that scammers are trying to capitalize on. we found appeals that use photos, videos, emotional language on nearly every platform. on tiktok, for example, they're playing looped footage of the earthquake, or even just a still image with sound effects on a loop and asking for donations in the form of tiktok gifts, which is a kind

of virtual currency. on twitter, scammers are tweeting links to their own paypal accounts or their own cryptocurrency wallets and using, again, these photos that really make people feel like they want to help. it's worth saying, isn't it, that paypal hasn't actually operated in turkey since 2016? exactly. what kind of scale are we talking about here? the other way that scammers are trying to make money is by sending phishing emails. i spoke to a cybersecurity firm who intercepts these emails so that they don't reach recipients. within one day of the earthquake striking they had already found 12,000 emails. now, some of them were pretending to be big charities like unicef. we spoke to unicef. they say they take these incidences very seriously and are trying to block it.

but they also try to create fake charity websites, completely made up charities to try and get people to donate again into their own pockets. that was hannah gelbert. the us military says it has recovered electronics parts from the suspected chinese surveillance balloon that it shot down earlier this month. officials believe they could be helpful in determining the precise purpose of the structure. beijing said it was a platform to monitor the weather. national security spokesperson john kirby says that an earlier device — a balloon shot down off south carolina nine days ago — was part of a chinese high altitude programme for intelligence gathering. we were able to determine that china has a high altitude balloon programme for intelligence collection, that connect odd the people's liberation army. it was operating during the previous administration but they did not detect it. we detected it. we tracked it. and we have been

carefully studying it to learn as much as we can. we know that these pr c surveillance balloons have crossed over dozens of countries round the world, including some of our closest allies and partners. earlier, i spoke to cbs news correspondent, jarred hill, from new york — he gave me the latest information on the recovered object. yes, the alien question has been floating around, no pun intended, seriously. but there is something here they are looking into. but looking at the balloon that came from china, the one that was shot off the coast of south carolina, this appears to be part of a larger growing surveillance operation from china, china denies this and says they are just weather balloons. but there were three other objects shot over liefrk north america between alaska, canada and a part of the northern united states, they still say they don't know exactly what they are, in part because they have not had chance

to recover whatever materials fail. one of those in alaska fell in a part of the country essentially covered in ice, incredibly cold, dark for most of the day, it has been hard getting to that location. the others they are working between the us and canada to retrieve what it is and figure out what fell from the sky. european football's governing body uefa has been told by an independent review they bear "primary responsibility" for the chaotic scenes that "almost led to disaster" before last year's champions league final between liverpool and real madrid. the report into overcrowding, ticketing issues, and heavy—handed policing was commissioned by uefa, which at one stage had blamed liverpool fans for the disorder outside the stadium. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. i've had asthma and i've been tear gassed twice. each fan trapped at the stade de

france has their own story of what went wrong that night. problems with tickets, with barriers, with transport strikes, with the actions of french police. an independent panel blamed a lack of risk assessment or operational plans and said uefa was primarily responsible for the failures. it also said that uefa, the french football federation and french authorities wrongly inflated the huge numbers of supporters without valid tickets to deflect responsibility for planning and operational failures. uefa's general secretary apologised to the supporters of liverpool fc for the experiences many of them had had and for the messages released prior to and during the game, which had the effect of unjustly blaming them. it's vindicated the idea of every single liverpool supporter who was there that day. that's the most important thing. liverpool fans were blamed by both uefa and the french interior minister as a major cause of the chaos at the turnstiles.

this latest report confirms that they were not. liverpool football club has released a statement saying it had yet to receive a copy of the report and described its leaked publication as hugely disappointing. eight months on, the long list of failures here is becoming clear. these scenes could have been prevented, could have been so much worse. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. liverpool football club have put out a statement in response — it said...

the labour mp for liverpool west derby ian byren was at that final in may last year. he gave me his reaction to the report's findings. huge relief. huge relief that it's a complete vindication of everything that we said and there hasn't been further attempts to cover up what happened around paris. i would like to put on record my thanks to everybody involved in the panel for actually telling exactly what happened and ensuring that the supporters' voices were heard and that people that suffered at the hands of the french authorities and uefa that night. so it's relief really that the true events are pictured so that everybody around the world now can actually read what happened and know who's to blame for what happened to paris. uefa has apologised. is that enough? no, no, absolutely not. it's nowhere near enough. i think you've also got to remember that two hillsborough survivors have committed suicide since paris

and that shows you the severity of the impact that it had. so a pretty mealy—mouthed apology yesterday is nowhere near enough. we need them recommendations implemented which are in the report, which will ensure that, hopefully, no other sets of supporters will have to go through what we went through at paris. and then obviously a full and unreserved apology from the head of uefa, and i'll expect that from the french authorities, as well, president macron. ok, so you want this to go right to the very top, do you? how confident are you? oh, absolutely. i mean, myjob as a parliamentarian next week will be trying to raise it in parliament, making sure that the report is heard in parliament and asking the government for backing to, as i said, make sure that the recommendations are implemented by uefa. but also the french authorities are equally culpable and blame is with them, as well. so they need to apologise,

which is important. i think we've got to remember that france will be holding the olympics, the rugby world cup and it's the same people that are in charge of security operations and ensure that supporters and fans are safe of whatever sporting event they are going to see. well, we can't have any confidence in them having the ability to hold that, so that's why it needs to go right to the top. it needs to go right to president macron and he needs to be ensuring that the people who were culpable for what happened in paris are no longer in thejob because they don't deserve to be in the job and hold them roles, and to ensure that anybody going to france is safe. some breaking news just some breaking newsjust in and police are appealing for witnesses after men were stabbed in walthamstow in east london. four men

were injured, in a stabbing in walthamstow, this happened on monday, at about quarter past eight in the evening. so yesterday evening, police were called to the duke pub in walthamstow in east london and they found three men, inside the pub, with stab wounds, and a fourth man was found with stab wounds in a street nearby. the men, who are aged between 20 and 42, were taken to a hospital, in east london, and one of the men is in a life—threatening condition. officers from the local policing team in the area are clearly carrying out inquiries to establish what happened and they are appealing for the public�*s help. they would like to hear from anyone who was inside the pub, the duke pub, which is in wood

street yesterday evening, and witnessed the attack. the police have said that while news of this kind is of course concerning, they would like to reassure the public there is nothing to suggest any wider risk to anyone, but officers are going to remain in the area throughout the day and encourage anybody to speak to them if they have concerns, to reiterate they news police are appealing for witnesses after four men were injured in a stabbing in east london, in walthamstow in east london, in walthamstow in east london, yesterday evening and one of those men is in a life—threatening condition. more on that as we get tip of course. more on that as we get tip of course. households across england are facing a rise in their council tax from april, as local authorities try to balance the books. research by the county councils network suggests the majority of councils with social care duties are planning a 5% increase. council leaders say they have little choice but to raise tax to protect services.

for more on this, i'm joined now by elliot keck, the investigations campaign manager at the taxpayers' alliance — a pressure group who campaign for lower taxes. thank you forjoining us, your response to these proposed rises i think what hay demonstrate is when you give councils are an itch they will take a mile so the cap was increased from last year when previously it was at 3%, and now it 5% and unfortunately the vast majority of councils have chosen rather than looking at their own budgets they have asked for more of household budgets and that will be another damaging area of the cost oliving crisis.— oliving crisis. councils would say the are oliving crisis. councils would say they are making _ oliving crisis. councils would say they are making savings, - oliving crisis. councils would say they are making savings, we - oliving crisis. councils would say i they are making savings, we spoke oliving crisis. councils would say - they are making savings, we spoke to a councillor in cheshire east that, i have to make £25 million in save,

at a time when inflation subpoena at its highest for 40 years? weill. at a time when inflation subpoena at its highest for 40 years?— its highest for 40 years? well, yes, that is undoubtedly _ its highest for 40 years? well, yes, that is undoubtedly true, _ its highest for 40 years? well, yes, that is undoubtedly true, there - its highest for 40 years? well, yes, that is undoubtedly true, there are | that is undoubtedly true, there are councils that need to make large save, but unfortunately one of the reasons they do, is because over the years they have mismanaged their finance, and we see that with councils such as slough, crowden and thurrock where they have been making wild property speculation that have gone bad and now they need to ask local taxpayers to bail them out in some cases with council tax rises well above 5%, the thing we have to point out there are alternative, there are councils harlow most notably which are notjust there are councils harlow most notably which are not just freezing council tax, notably which are not just freezing counciltax, but notably which are not just freezing council tax, but cutting council tax, so there is an alternative path for them to take but unfortunately not many are choosing to take it. councils say this comes after the back of strange budgets, historical underfunding and part of the problem is they get year on year settlements rather than multiyear settlements by

would allow them to plan, this isn't all councils and different councils face different pressure, for example those who have to bear the brunt of the social care responsibilities. well, yes, and in cases where councils have to bear social care responsibility there's is a separate part of the council tax increase thatis part of the council tax increase that is for social care and i think, viewers will certainly think that is justifiable given the enormous pressure on social care, if without broader social care reform as long as it is on councils to fund that will have to be looked at but when you look at the broader part of council tax increase, what taxpayers and viewers and household also be concerned about is data that will come out about how many of council 0 bosses are paid, receive rather over 100,000, over £150,000 remuneration and that will climb. what i would say is go on your council website, they will publish their credit card spend each month, look at their credit card spend and see how they

are spending their money. one council, hampshire council, last month they published data they spent £500 at a wine supplier. we need to look at the large and small items. i can't verify what hampshire was spending its money on, i haven't seen the figure, what would be the alternative to council tax rises? isn't it a risk there would be cuts to front line services? {iii isn't it a risk there would be cuts to front line services?— isn't it a risk there would be cuts to front line services? of course it will will depend _ to front line services? of course it will will depend council _ to front line services? of course it will will depend council by - to front line services? of course it will will depend council by council| will will depend council by council what they do with their budget, there are some that are going to have to increase council tax by some extent, but you in other, really across the country councils need to look to see whether they can freeze it and freeze it not by cutting front line services, whether it is back room staff front line services, whether it is backroom staff budget or expenditure within the council, but it is possible. there are councils who do it. harlow as i said, but unfortunately not many local authorities are taking that op

hundred. irate authorities are taking that op hundred. ~ , ., hundred. we must leave it there. good to talk _ hundred. we must leave it there. good to talk to _ hundred. we must leave it there. good to talk to you, _ hundred. we must leave it there. good to talk to you, thank- hundred. we must leave it there. good to talk to you, thank you. i now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. with carol kirkwood. hello again. there's been some dense fog patches across parts of england and east wales this morning. most of that lifting now, some of it may linger into the afternoon, but most of us are going to have a dry afternoon with some sunshine. out towards the west there's a bit more cloud in some spots of rain from a weak weather front. generally light winds, but gusty winds across the north—west. highs potentially in parts of north—west wales and central wales getting up to 17 degrees today. through this evening and overnight, there will be some clear skies. we'll see some pockets of frost and fog, but not as widespread as last night. it's going to be breezier. we've also got this band of heavy rain moving in across northern ireland and western scotland. tomorrow this rain will continue to journey southwards and eastwards. there'll be a period of mountain snow. it won't get into the far south—east until later in the day, so here it will remain dry with some

sunshine, as it will behind it, but there will be some blustery showers, with top temperatures of 14. good morning. it's not been the best year for liverpool so far, with defeats at brentford, brighton and wolves in the premier leauge, but could this be the turning point? they beat everton comfortably in the merseyside derby 2—0 in what is their first leauge win of 2023. perhaps still not at their best, but mo salah back on the scoresheet will be a relief for the manager. and another plus, there was a first goal for their £45 million pound january signing cody gakpo. hundreds of grassroots football referees in england have told the bbc that they fear for their safety on the pitch. out of almost 1,000 referees who responded to a bbc radio 5 live questionnaire, just under 300 said they had been physically abused by spectators, players, coaches or managers. some described being punched,

headbutted and spat at, as jane dougall reports. you're always one decision away from a smack in the mouth. i've had people comment on my chest in the middle of a game. it could be threats i against your family, and it is getting worse and worse and worse. | at grassroots level, the abuse of officials across the country has risen to breaking point. threatening — "i'm going to smash you up at the end of the game, just you wait." ryan crabtree referees forjunior and men's leagues in pendleton and north yorkshire. he's been assaulted multiple times. after the game, a group of men, when i were a teenager, chased me out of the changing room, out onto the field, and i've had to then run down a back street — hide, basically. do you fear for your safety? all the time. every single weekend. a bbc questionnaire, sent to 7,000 members of the referees association

in england, found that of the 927 who responded, 908 had experienced verbal abuse from spectators, players or coaches. 293 said they'd been physically abused. and 440 said they thought the abuse was worse now than it was five years ago. president of the referees association, paul field, wants a life ban for those responsible before it's too late. one day in this country, a referee will lose his life or her life. if a person is banned from football for wilful abuse or assaults, why should they be allowed to attend any football matches? he feels it starts at the top, with children copying the actions of premier league players on television. the questionnaire also found many had experienced racist, homophobic and sexist abuse. 18—year—old megan belcher has been refereeing for three years. while officiating at an under 13s

match, she was attacked by a parent. he came running on the pitch with his fist raised at me. the two coaches from the team that he was a part of came onto the pitch and kind of stopped him and said, "hey, stop." he was still yelling abuse at me and saying, "this is why girls shouldn't be in football." it was probably the scariest experience i've ever had. it really had an impact on my mental health as well. megan has come to watch former premier league player chris sutton, who's been asked by radio 5 live to referee his first match. don't forget to whistle loudly. i'll do my best. it's a junior game. chris wants to find out what it's like on the other side. what a ball. what a ball that was. he's admitted previously to confronting a young referee whilst watching his son play. i walked onto the field because i was, you know, concerned about how badly injured he was. you know, ishouldn't have done that. i realise how difficult it is. but, you know, you're also, you know, you're a parent... i was a parent as well at that particular time. after the match, megan told chris

what had happened to her. you know, that's totally unacceptable, you know, any sort of abuse. and i think that that's part of the reason which, you know, i'm here today — i played — but to see the other side. many who responded to the bbc questionnaire felt referee abuse wasn't being tackled sufficiently by the fa. but the organisation has said they are continuing to do everything they can to stamp out this behaviour. this is the fa's new campaign, making it clear that action will be taken against abuse. they say stronger sanctions and a three—year refereeing strategy are coming soon in order to tackle this issue. enough is enough. many referees feel the current deterrents won't stop verbal and physical abuse, and that eventually grassroots referees will walk away from the game they love. jane dougall, bbc news. after making headlines

across the country with their shock win over premiership side aberdeen in the last round, darvel have been knocked out of the scottish cup. they were beaten 5—1 by falkirk. the only score for the sixth—tier club came from an own goal and after they had a player sent off, it gave their fans somethig to celebrate. falkirk capitliased, scoring three times in ten minutes. darvel boss mick kennedy says they are disappointed but proud of what they have achieved. that's all the sport for now. portray has agreed to send eight german—made leopard two tanks and other equipment to ukraine. this is the defence ministry that it made this announcement today —— norway.

norway of course shares a border with russia. it is going to send eight of these german—made tanks to ukraine. we know that president volodymyr zelensky has been appealing for tanks. they have been promised by other western allies and, of course, the ukrainian president in europe in recent days calling for more fighterjets and ammunition. a big meeting among nato allies today to agree on further aid to ukraine. norway will be sending eight of its leopard two tanks, along with other equipment to ukraine. along with other equipment to ukraine. let's return to the top story this morning. two more border crossings will be opened up to allow aid to flow into northern syria as it deals with the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake. let's speak now with laura james.

laura is senior middle east analyst at the consulting firm oxford analytica. what do you think the impact will be and how big will it be on this decision to open up to more aid crossings into syria from turkey? it is significant. given the scale of the need every little helps and this means that the un can send convoys through two additional routes. that is due end eight and various ngos that prefer to bring their aid with you and assistance. some aid has already been coming in and there are still major logistical and political blockages that will prevent a full impact, but it does help. let’s blockages that will prevent a full impact, but it does help. let's talk about those _ impact, but it does help. let's talk about those political— impact, but it does help. let's talk about those political blockages. i. about those political blockages. i think it is worth delving into that

a little bit deeper. our opponents of president assad's regime willing or unwilling to send aid to syria? the opponents are sending aid as well, so this is a really noticeable change. saudi arabia, for example, sent a plane to syrian government —controlled territory for the first time in more than ten years. it touched down in aleppo this morning. that is a wider trend. the eu is looking for ways to send help. us sanctions had been lifted on humanitarian aid, but to some extent they didn't apply anyway to humanitarian aid. but it has to come in from all areas given the scale of the crisis. ~ ., in from all areas given the scale of the crisis. ~ . ., ,., ,,. the crisis. what about saudi arabia's assistance, - the crisis. what about saudi arabia's assistance, could i the crisis. what about saudi i arabia's assistance, could that the crisis. what about saudi - arabia's assistance, could that be useful in this?— useful in this? most of these shipments — useful in this? most of these shipments from _ useful in this? most of these shipments from particular i useful in this? most of these i shipments from particular countries are marginal. they are symbolic

politics. they do help. they are very small shipments that affect a small number of people. what is needed is really a massive mobilisation of food aid, housing, rebuilding assistance for these earthquake affected areas, which are controlled and very different difficult access and a number of ways, that needs the un. you don't sound terribly _ ways, that needs the un. you don't sound terribly optimistic, _ ways, that needs the un. you don't sound terribly optimistic, may i i sound terribly optimistic, may i say. i sound terribly optimistic, may i sa . ., sound terribly optimistic, may i sa , ., ., ., ., sound terribly optimistic, may i sa. . . ., ., sound terribly optimistic, may i sa , ., ., ., ., , say. i am afraid that people looking for help will— say. i am afraid that people looking for help will still _ say. i am afraid that people looking for help will still be _ say. i am afraid that people looking for help will still be disappointed. l for help will still be disappointed. they looked for help in the first days when people were still alive under the rubble and nothing came aid. aid will now start to come in and will reach some people, but there will —— but there will be diversion, looting, and the scale just won't meet the needs because this is a civil war—torn country and there are predatory groups on the ground that will divert aids and the

people themselves don't have much hope of rebuilding a future. what people themselves don't have much hope of rebuilding a future. what do ou mean hope of rebuilding a future. what do you mean by — hope of rebuilding a future. what do you mean by predatory _ hope of rebuilding a future. what do you mean by predatory groups i hope of rebuilding a future. what do you mean by predatory groups on i hope of rebuilding a future. what do| you mean by predatory groups on the ground, what sort of things are they doing? the ground, what sort of things are they doinu ? . ., , ground, what sort of things are they doinu? , , ., doing? the country has been an economic— doing? the country has been an economic crisis _ doing? the country has been an economic crisis for _ doing? the country has been an economic crisis for months i doing? the country has been an economic crisis for months and | economic crisis for months and years. any group, whether it is a pro—government militia or an anti—government militia that controls part of the territory, and it is a very, very divided territory, any of those groups needs first of all to fund itself and its fighters, so when money comes in in whatever form, fighters, so when money comes in in whateverform, there is always fighters, so when money comes in in whatever form, there is always an incentive to divert it. just whatever form, there is always an incentive to divert it.— incentive to divert it. just before we finish. _ incentive to divert it. just before we finish. i _ incentive to divert it. just before we finish, i am _ incentive to divert it. just before we finish, i am receiving - incentive to divert it. just before we finish, i am receiving news. incentive to divert it. just before i we finish, i am receiving news from the afp news agency that the first united nations team since the earthquake has crossed into rebel held syria. an initial response to that news?— held syria. an initial response to that news? . , ., , ., that news? that is great news and it is what has —

that news? that is great news and it is what has to _ that news? that is great news and it is what has to happen _ that news? that is great news and it is what has to happen to _ that news? that is great news and it is what has to happen to provide i that news? that is great news and itj is what has to happen to provide any kind of assistance, but the scale to challenge the un is facing here is massive. . ~ challenge the un is facing here is massive. ., ,, , ., the indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi bureau and are conducting a search. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. last month, the bbc aired a controversial documentary about the prime minister, narendra modi. our south asia regional editor sanjay dasgupta gave me this update. the income tax department was describing it as "survey action". they were saying that this survey action has been undertaken in order to verify certain documents.

no further statement has been forthcoming. as you rightly point out, the bbc has said it's cooperating fully. we know that searches are being conducted in the bbc�*s offices in delhi and mumbai. we know that people are not being allowed to enter or leave the offices and, at the moment, that is where the situation stands. what is your view and what do we know about why this is happening? well, we don't know why this is happening, but the timing is curious. at the end of january, the bbc aired a documentary which focused on the role of the current prime minister, narendra modi, when he was not prime minister. he was, at that point of time in 2002, the chief minister of the western state of gujarat and fierce religious rioting broke out in the state. now, there have been questions ever since on mr modi's inability to stop the violence as it spread.

the northern ireland assembly is being recalled today after sinn fein put forward a petition to debate organ donation legislation, but the democratic unionist party is set to prevent a full sitting from taking place. the devolved government collapsed more than a year ago after the dup withdrew from power—sharing in protest against brexit trading arrangements. our ireland correspondent chris page is with us now. stroma politicians will be back in their seats in a few moments. this is the sixth time there been a special recall of the assembly since elections in may, which is when the last rail trace, if you like, of normal politics in northern ireland

disappeared. the stalemate has continued. the democratic unionist party is blocking the power—sharing institutions at stormont, the devolved government at the assembly, from operating over its opposition to the trade border with the rest of the uk, known as the northern ireland protocol. they said it is unacceptable, a barrier with great britain, so they will not allow power—sharing to resume until that trade border is scrapped. sinn fein, the biggest party in the assembly now, have led a petition to recall the assembly on this occasion and sinn fein say they, along with other parties, want to debate and discuss and then pass fully to finalise legislation on organ donation. this has become something of a touchstone issue around the absence of devolved government in northern ireland. the legislation has been named in honour of a six boy he is waiting for a heart transplant. his family have

campaigned for northern ireland to be brought into line with the rest of the uk, so the new law would mean that people would automatically be on the organ donor register unless they specifically opted out. england, scotland and wales already has that system. the legislation had partly gone through the assembly before it's collapsed. the family of the boy had been pushing for this legislation to be fully enacted. the dup has said the recall is a political stunt, that it is blackmailed to try to force the return of devolution and it will hold this position. whenever politicians come back to stormont at noon then there will be a short session, a procedure to try to elect a speaker, but for that to happen the dup has to vote in favour and they will not do that. that means they will not do that. that means the session will be entered at that point and no further discussion will be permitted, so that legislation

will not go forward. you can follow live events from stormont from midday on bbc parliament. bbc analysis of accident and emergency waiting times in england shows wide variations in how services have coped this winter. at some of the 107 hospital trusts that provided data, more than half of patients waited longer than four hours, but at the best performing units fewer than one in ten did. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. it's been the toughest winter for the nhs in a generation. across the uk, there have been record waiting times for ambulances and in a&e departments. and that's had a real impact on patients. the bbc has analysed nhs england data on average waiting times in emergency departments over december and january. among the best performing were nhs

trusts in northumbria, maidstone and tunbridge wells and blackpool. but patients in hull, wye valley and shrewsbury and telford face the longest waits. and in all the ten worst performing trusts, patients were five times more likely to face a long wait of over four hours than in the best performing hospital. so what explains the difference between the best and the worst? one hospital boss says it's staff, teamwork and investment. we've got the greatest staff — truly dedicated, passionate about the best care possible in extremely difficult and quite challenging circumstances. equally, we've really worked hard on collaboration and working with our partners across lancashire and south cumbria. lastly, we've had fantastic investment into the local system, whereby we've been able to invest in state—of—the—art facilities, such as the same day emergency care. nhs england acknowledges the winter

has been tough but says ambulance response times and a&e waits are getting better. but it also said that work continues on improving the speed with which patients can be discharged from hospital when they're well enough to leave. dominic hughes, bbc news. new zealand has declared a state of emergency forjust a new zealand has declared a state of emergency for just a third new zealand has declared a state of emergency forjust a third time in its history after a tropical storm eta head on sunday night. some areas have been cut off by road. they had lost power and telecommunications. the military has been deployed to help with evacuations. international and domestic flights have been granted following winds gusting up to 140 kilometres an hour, just under 90 miles an hour. 20 centimetres of rain fell in just 24

hours and there were storm surges along the coastline. an iranian chess player who removed her headscarf at an international tournament has told the bbc she has no regrets. living in exile in southern spain, sara khadem says it was the least she could do given the sacrifices protestors in iran were making. she says she hopes she will play for her country again. razia iqbal reports. sara khadem is 25 now but has been playing competitively since she was eight. chess was unbanned in iranjust before ayatollah khamenei's death, and in the decades after that the country has become a chess powerhouse, and sara khadem one of its biggest and most promising stars. in december last year she decided not to wear the compulsory hijab when competing. her life has changed utterly, not least where she lives now on the spanish coast.

chess is a game that requires a player to calculate their opponent's third orfourth move. 25—year—old sara khadem has made a few calculations, but to remove her headscarf was the least she could do given what was happening in iran. but it was the right thing to do. that decision, though, has led to her exile and for now a life lived in a secret location. when i was playing in almaty there were many things going on in iran. and many young women, they were not wearing the scarf on the streets, and that was the rule in the country. so i would say i was really inspired by what they were doing back at home. but presumably you realised that you were taking a risk. yeah. the things that happened was not really something that i was hoping for. i mean, leaving the country. leaving iran completely was not

what was going on in my mind, and that is something i really miss, but i wouldn't say i regret it. since september last year, iran has been shaken by girls and women protesting against the death in custody of mahsa amini... chanting. ..for an apparent hijab infraction. many have been killed and many more arrested. there have been enormous sacrifices. for me, leaving my family was one of the most difficult things that i have ever done, and also iran, but if i want to compare what i did to what people are doing, i wouldn't say that it was difficult, because the risk that they are taking is much higher. led by the prime minister of the country, there is, though, some comfort in spain's embrace of sara khadem. it was kind of a mixed feeling to see that in a country

you would be really appreciated, to be invited by the prime minister, and in your own country that you have achieved lots of success, you just get arrestment orders! the current loss of her country has not dimmed sara's commitment to chess. yeah, i consider myself as a professional chess player. that is the only thing i know. razia iqbal, bbc news, southern spain. the soft drink lilt is being rebranded after nearly 50 years on supermarket shelves. this is what it will look like. it will become fanta pineapple and grapefruit following a makeover by its owner coca cola. earlier we spoke with pr expert and author mark borkowski, who told us brands are looking to reach younger audiences. competition for drink brands, particularly in the soft sector now is so intense and shelf space is at a premium.

we mustn't forget now that there are some powerful drinks that are binding the youth audience, pure hydration, which has been launched purely through social media by logan paul and ksi, these amazing youtubers, they are surpassing all expectations and engaging with people. lilt has a reputation and cultural connection with an older audience who are probably statistically dying out and for a brand to remain current, you have to have a relationship with a younger audience. what's the evidence that changing the name of a brand makes a difference? i think what we... one cynical bone in my body felt that this suggests it could be a publicity stunt from a food

company, they talk about delisting or ending a brand to see an outpouring of love for the brand and saying, you can't do it, giving it a surge of popularity, but i don't think this is the case in this sense. casting your mind back to the original launch of it, the totally, typically tropical taste, and millions bought into branding and advertising budgets and it connected with a generation. it had an unusual taste, it was new on the block and we fell in love with it at the time. but these things pass. the power of its branding and name no longer connects. but we mustn't forget all the other marketing and pr that goes behind a brand to establish it in the market and we perhaps don't dig deep enough to contemplate that because there are more important issues to think about.

but what this is, it's trying to look at a taste and thinking, well, that still has a market, there are still other drinks comparable to this so why don't we give it another burst and launch to see if we can reconnect under another brand. that'll be the test. but everybody at the moment is looking at the launch of pure hydration as a completely new sensation in terms of marketing spend and connection and getting into a very young audience. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. there's been some dense fog patches across parts of england and east wales this morning. most of that lifting now, some of it may linger into the afternoon, but most of us are going to have a dry afternoon with some sunshine.

out towards the west there's a bit more cloud in some spots of rain from a weak weather front. generally light winds, but gusty winds across the north—west. highs potentially in parts of north—west wales and central wales getting up to 17 degrees today. through this evening and overnight, there will be some clear skies. we'll see some pockets of frost and fog, but not as widespread as last night. it's going to be breezier. we've also got this band of heavy rain moving in across northern ireland and western scotland. tomorrow this rain will continue to journey southwards and eastwards. there'll be a period of mountain snow. it won't get into the far south—east until later in the day, so here it will remain dry with some sunshine, as it will behind it, but there will be some blustery showers, with top temperatures of 14.

this is bbc news. the headlines. the un says more than seven million children are affected by the turkey—syria earthquakes. the syrian government has now agreed to open more border crossings to allow aid into the country, for three months. president assad confirmed the need for urgent aid to enter all region in syria. us military says the sensors from the suspected chinese spy balloon shot down have been recovered from the atlantic ocean and are being examined by the fbi. a report finds liverpool fans were not to blame for the chaotic scenes at last year's champions league final against real madrid in paris.

it is a relief that the two events are pictured so everybody around the world now can actually read what happened, and know who is to blame for what happened in paris. indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi and mumbai bureaux and are conducting a search. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. the un says that over seven million children have been affected by the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria. it comes as syria agrees to open two

more border crossings to allow aid to flow into the northern part of the country. the country's president, bashar al—assad, agreed to open the routes from turkey after complaints about the time taken for support to reach some regions. millions across syria and turkey are without shelter, with survivors facing a lack of water and poor sanitation living in makeshift camps. vincent mcaviney reports. the second week of recovery in turkey and syria begins after the region's most powerful earthquake in a century. apartment blocks and homes turned to rubble and graves. today, two men were rescued alive from under a collapsed building after 198 hours. yesterday, in the southern turkish city of adiyaman, rescuers chant "god is great," as they pull a four—year—old girl alive after 178 hours under the ruins. but they're likely to be some of the last miraculous survivors. as the digging continues, the un is warning the death count will likely more than double,

as the rescue phase of its operations ends. now it's about supporting the survivors. millions of them injured, traumatised and homeless in freezing conditions. providing shelter, food and health care in the wreckage of a stable country like turkey is challenging enough. across the border in syria, over a decade into a civil war, it's proving near impossible. only one of the four original border crossings in the country has been open. the us government has led calls for syria's president assad to let more aid reach people in rebel—held areas of northern syria. last night he agreed to let the un use two more crossings for three months of aid deliveries. syria supports the entry of humanitarian aid into the region

through all possible cross points, whether from inside syria or across the borders. the white helmets emergency group says people in the region have felt disappointed and abandoned. the basic aid that will now hopefully reach them will make living possible, but their lives in a country still locked in a civil war won't be easily rebuilt. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. suhail sufi is from the charity zaimah. he's out distributing aid in antakya, one of the worst—hit areas , he told me how difficult it is to get aid to those over the border in syria. i am currently in turkey, so all our items and all our aid, we procured from larger cities in turkey, like konya and istanbul and we sent them in trucks to the affected areas, which took about 12, 13 hours by road, so that is how we are getting aid here

in the south of turkey. that is is really interesting. what impact do you think the news today will have that president assad has opened up two more border crossings into syria, from turkey? what impact will have that have on getting aid to people who need it there? so, we are a humanitarian aid charity, and we help every single human that is in need, and there are people across the border in syria that needs aid, so we welcome this news and any news that makes it easy for the people across the border that needs aid. have you been in contact with anyone in syria? no, so we don't have any partner, we don't have any contacts in syria, when we were sending aid to syria we were using our partners in turkey, but right now, the situation is such that the infrastructure, the contacts, the resources with our turkish partners is limited so we are unable to get aid through our turkish

partners to syria. let's talk now with dr karabekir akkoyunlu, a lecturer in politics of the middle east at soas university of london. thanks forjoining us, the world health organization says the earthquake is europe's worst natural disaster in 100 year, i wondered first of all what are your reflections on the scale of what is happening?— reflections on the scale of what is ha enin: ? . , ., ., ~ happening? certainly, the earthquake or earthquakes. _ happening? certainly, the earthquake or earthquakes, rather, _ happening? certainly, the earthquake or earthquakes, rather, are _ or earthquakes, rather, are incredibly strong events, very close to the surface of a residential, a lived area, so the destruction or the effect is a very very high. but, i think reflection over the last few

days, and recounting the discussions over the last years, reminds us that this level of destruction and loss of life, is not reallyjust a consequence of the natural catastrophe, but it's a result of man—made mismanagement, and, and result of the politics that behind it. ~ ., result of the politics that behind it. ~ . ., result of the politics that behind it. . ., ., , ., result of the politics that behind it. ~ . ., i. ., result of the politics that behind it. . . ., , ., . , turke it. what do you mean exactly? turkey is a country — it. what do you mean exactly? turkey is a country that _ it. what do you mean exactly? turkey is a country that is _ it. what do you mean exactly? turkey is a country that is on _ it. what do you mean exactly? turkey is a country that is on multiple - is a country that is on multiple active fault line, it has experienced severe earthquake, it has a rigid building regulations that were mutt in place after the last major earthquake in 1999. but the problem is those regulations are not being adhered to, the system in place, fortunately incentivises law breaking and circumventing regulation for contractors and constructor while criminalising those who protest the state of affairs. so it is not so much that

the force of the earthquake that has caused tens of thousands of lives but it seems the system, the political economic system of growth at all costs, construction in real estate as the main engine of the economy, and also, the patronage and nepotism systems is revolving round local government, bureaucrat, decision makers at the very top and of course in capital owner, all of these have to be seriously looked into to understand why a country like turkey, major earthquake zone has once again ex —— experienced such a catastrophic event s has once again ex -- experienced such a catastrophic event s general elections in — such a catastrophic event s general elections in turkey _ such a catastrophic event s general elections in turkey are _ such a catastrophic event s general elections in turkey are due - such a catastrophic event s general elections in turkey are due in i such a catastrophic event s general elections in turkey are due in may, | elections in turkey are due in may, june at the latest, what impact do you any the earthquakes could have on the outcome? it you any the earthquakes could have on the outcome?— on the outcome? it is, at the moment. _ on the outcome? it is, at the moment. very _ on the outcome? it is, at the moment, very very _ on the outcome? it is, at the moment, very very difficult l on the outcome? it is, at the | moment, very very difficult to

on the outcome? it is, at the i moment, very very difficult to think about how this, how the election will be organised by the constitution requires for the elections to be held latest 18th june, to change that, and to postpone elections further will require a constitutional change. turkish elections have been competed with a lot of democratic intensity but over the last few years they have become less free and fair and evenin have become less free and fair and even in terms of the playing field. i think postponing or pushing ahead elections just i think postponing or pushing ahead electionsjust means i think postponing or pushing ahead elections just means accountability for what has happened will also be delayed. this, ithink for what has happened will also be delayed. this, i think the electorate will need to have a say on who they hold responsible for the current state of affairs, in turkey.

we haven't got very much time, but i did want to bring one bit of good news, both to you and indeed viewer, a glimmer of hope i think, amidst some of the depressing news you are talking about, that a man has been rescued alive from rubble, in turkey's hatay province this is 203 hours after the earthquake. it seems like something of a miracle, but, could more good come out of the earthquake? let us try and end on a positive note? i earthquake? let us try and end on a positive note?— positive note? i think in terms of savin: positive note? i think in terms of saving lives _ positive note? i think in terms of saving lives we _ positive note? i think in terms of saving lives we are _ positive note? i think in terms of saving lives we are talking i positive note? i think in terms of saving lives we are talking about| saving lives we are talking about very last minute miracles but perhaps the kind of international sympathy and collaboration that the devastation has led to, could lead toe a thaw in some of to thorny relations, in the eastern mediterranean, especially between greece and turkey, that would be a silver lining i could think of. lovely, we are grateful for your

time doctor. a bbc investigation has found that online scammers are trying to profit from the earthquake in turkey and syria. they're doing it by using emotive content on social media, like this, to channel donations into their own bank accounts. the uk's charity commission has warned donors to be alert — and to search the charity register before donating. our disinformation reporter hannah gelbart has been looking into the disinformation floating around online, she told me that when there's devastation on this scale people artound the world are keen to support victims, and this is being exploited. people around the world really want to help in any way they can and that's something that scammers are trying to capitalize on. we found appeals that use photos, videos, emotional language on nearly every platform.

on tiktok, for example, they're playing looped footage of the earthquake, or even just a still image with sound effects on a loop and asking for donations in the form of tiktok gifts, which is a kind of virtual currency. on twitter, scammers are tweeting links to their own paypal accounts or their own cryptocurrency wallets and using, again, these photos that really make people feel like they want to help. it's worth saying, isn't it, that paypal hasn't actually operated in turkey since 2016? exactly. what kind of scale are we talking about here? the other way that scammers are trying to make money is by sending phishing emails. i spoke to a cybersecurity firm who intercepts these emails so that they don't reach recipients. within one day of the earthquake striking they had already found 12,000 emails. now, some of them were pretending to be big charities like unicef. we spoke to unicef.

they say they take these incidences very seriously and are trying to block it. but they also try to create fake charity websites, completely made up charities to try and get people to donate again into their own pockets. some news from the us now and nicky hayley has announced her bid for the 2024 republican presidential nomination, she is the former south carolina governor, she announced her intention to run for president of the united states, in a twitter video that you can see there. i think she said i'm running for president, as she announced her bid, i am running for president. she is of course the second republican to announce their intention to run for the republican nomination, to be the next president of the united states. donald trump of course announcing he

was going to run back in november, but, there it is, nikki haley has announced that she will be challenging her one time boss, indeed, for the 2024 republican presidential nomination, i am nikki haley and i'm running for president. she was donald trump's former united nations ambassador, so, that is why he was herformer nations ambassador, so, that is why he was her former boss, nations ambassador, so, that is why he was herformer boss, so nations ambassador, so, that is why he was her former boss, so she and of course donald trump are both now in the running for the 2024 republican presidential nomination, in the united states. staying in the united states. the us military says it has recovered electronics parts from the suspected chinese surveillance balloon that it shot down earlier this month. officials believe they could be helpful in determining the precise purpose of the structure. beijing said it was a platform to monitor the weather. national security spokesperson john kirby says that an earlier device — a balloon shot down off

south carolina nine days ago — was part of a chinese high altitude programme for intelligence gathering. we were able to determine that china has a high altitude balloon programme for intelligence collection, that connected to the people's liberation army. it was operating during the previous administration but they did not detect it. we detected it. we tracked it. and we have been carefully studying it to learn as much as we can. we know that these prc surveillance balloons have crossed over dozens of countries round the world, including some of our closest allies and partners. earlier, i spoke to cbs news correspondent, jarred hill, from new york — he gave me the latest information on the recovered object. yes, the alien question has been floating around, no pun intended, seriously. but there is something here they are looking into. but looking at the balloon

that came from china, the one that was shot off the coast of south carolina, this appears to be part of a larger growing surveillance operation from china, china denies this and says they are just weather balloons. but there were three other objects shot over north america between alaska, canada and a part of the northern united states, they still say they don't know exactly what they are, in part because they have not had chance to recover whatever materials fail. to recover whatever materials fell. one of those in alaska fell in a part of the country essentially covered in ice, incredibly cold, dark for most of the day, it has been hard getting to that location. the others they are working between the us and canada to retrieve what it is and figure out what fell from the sky. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc

sport centre. here's delyth. good afternoon. stuart broad has been recalled to the england squad for the first test against new zealand, which starts on thursday in mount maunganui. the fast bowler missed the december test series win against pakistan because he was on paternity leave. it means broad and james anderson will get the chance to eclipse australian greats shane warne and glenn mcgrath as the most prolific bowling parterniship in test history this week. ollie robinsonjoins the pair in the pace attack for the day—night opening match of the two—test series. it's the start of the champions league knockout stages tonight and tottenham will be looking to bounce back from their premier league defeat to leicester at the weekend, when they face ac milan. spurs are missing several key players for their trip to the san siro, none more so than rodrigo bentancur, who is out for the season with a knee injury. antonio conte has called on his squad to come together in order to improve their results on the pitch. in the last seven days we had four serious injuries.

for this reason, i think, to stay together is very important and to try, in this type of situation, to create the right speed, to help each other much more than before, to overcome this difficult period. good news for paris saint—germain, with both kylian mbappe and lionel messi training ahead of their first leg match with bayern munich in the french capital. both have been carrying injuries but will be available for the match against the germans. it's not been the best year for liverpool so far, with defeats to brentford, brighton and wolves in the premier leauge, but could this be the turning point? they beat everton comfortably in the merseyside derby 2—0 in what is their first leauge win of 2023. perhaps still not at their best, but mo salah back on the scoresheet will be a relief for the manager. another plus — there was a first goal for their £45 million january signing cody gakpo. that's all the sport for now.

european football's governing body uefa has been told by an independent review they bear "primary responsibility" for the chaotic scenes that "almost led to disaster" before last year's champions league final between liverpool and real madrid. the report into overcrowding, ticketing issues, and heavy—handed policing was commissioned by uefa, which at one stage had blamed liverpool fans for the disorder outside the stadium. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. liverpool football club have put out a statement in response. it said...

joining me now is steve rotheram, metro mayor of the liverpool city region, who was at the final last may. the report says it is a miracle no—one was killed, what are your thoughts today, as it is released? that is sobering thing about all of this, after what we have been through, previously, with hillsborough and some of the unsavoury organised events, to have a report that was commissioned by uefa themselves, that says that the operational failings almost led to a disaster, and it was only narrowly avoided by the actions of the fans is really sobering reading, but you know, let us see what happens, because i can't see that uefa are going to take the actions necessary, to prevent these types of instances

happening again in the future. what happening again in the future. what actions do you _ happening again in the future. what actions do you think _ happening again in the future. what actions do you think need to be seen to be done, what needs to be done? i think the truth is, rebecca, it it's a problem with the governing body themselves, who organise these things, with really the prime responsibility of getting as much money from the event as they possibly can, and of course through is always a financial perspective on this, then shouldn't be the overriding factor, the safety of fans should be the number one for for in anything that happens round football game, we have seen to be a often ant disasters created and people losing their lives and yet, this was only eight monthsing a we are not talking about historical context of this. eight months ago, the governing body, the authorities in paris, and then, other agencies,

somehow got things so wrong, that it could have ended up with people losing their lives, it was only the good fortune liverpool fans who had been through similar experiences and who, if you like self stewarded and policed that prevented something like that happening. it is policed that prevented something like that happening.— like that happening. it is worth re -aeatin like that happening. it is worth repeating that _ like that happening. it is worth repeating that the _ like that happening. it is worth repeating that the report i like that happening. it is worth repeating that the report says| like that happening. it is worth i repeating that the report says the collective action of liverpool supporters lives, it was only the good fortune liverpool fans who had been through similar experiences and who, if you like self stewarded and policed that prevented something like that happening. it is worth repeating that the report says the collective action of liverpool supporters and i am quoting "was probably instrumental in preventing more serious injuries, and deaths outside the stadium." in this report uefa does seem to have held its hand up, it has apologised, is that enough? up, it has apologised, is that enouuh? ~ . p. up, it has apologised, is that enouuh? ~ , ., , ., up, it has apologised, is that enouuh? , ., _ enough? well it is a bit of empty hollow apology. _ enough? well it is a bit of empty hollow apology, because - hollow apology, because straightaway, before the game had kicked off, uefa and the french authorities have cobbled together a false narrative, and that false narrative was it was fans who had arrived late. you remember on the screen, i was at the stadium on the night. i didn't take my seat because

of what was unfolding, i have seen the pictures of the screen that said liverpool fans were arriving late. this is soft the hillsborough book, play book of blaming football fans and scapegoating anybody else and not taking responsibilitified always think the buck stops at the top and the president who i had an exchange of words with on the night, didn't accept what i was explaining with was happening outside. i don't think he will fall on his sword. he is up for re—election in a few months' time, it looks as if that is going to be unopposed.— time, it looks as if that is going to be unopposed. steve rotherham, metro mayor — to be unopposed. steve rotherham, metro mayor of _ to be unopposed. steve rotherham, metro mayor of liverpool. _ to be unopposed. steve rotherham, metro mayor of liverpool. good i to be unopposed. steve rotherham, metro mayor of liverpool. good to l metro mayor of liverpool. good to talk to you. thank you. households across england are facing a rise in their council tax from april, as local authorities try to balance the books. research by the county councils network suggests the majority of councils with social care duties are planning a 5% increase.

council leaders say they have little choice but to raise tax to protect services. let's get more on this with our political correspondent alex forsyth. good to talk to you, worth reminding us of the background to this yes. good to talk to you, worth reminding us of the background to this- us of the background to this yes, so this first started _ us of the background to this yes, so this first started round _ us of the background to this yes, so this first started round the - us of the background to this yes, so this first started round the autumn l this first started round the autumn statement last year when the chancellorjeremy hunt said that councils in england who are responsible for social care, so not all council, just those responsible for social care, they could put up council tax by up to 5% from this april, to help them raise funds to cover the costs of delivering those service, now the county councils network is is a body that represents some of them. it has looked at the councils in england so far that have published their budget proposals, about 114 and found most of them are going to put up council tax come april. all bar one, the majority, 84

are going to puppet council tax by that maximum, 5%, if you live in an average band d property, that means you through be paying about £100 a year more for council tax but it is worth remembering council tax rates vary and the size and value of your property. leaders say they don't want to do, but because inflation is affecting council budget, there is owing demand and we know pressure on services like social care, so they say if they don't put up council tax by this amount they will have to cut service, even though they are getting more funding from the government this year than last year. that really good context. thanks for join ying us. thanks forjoin ying us. for more on this, i am joined by councillor peter fleming — who is the conservative leader of sevenoaks district council and a spokesperson for the local government association good to have you with us, peter fleming. as alex was saying there,

most people's council tax is going up, but can you explain to us, and to the viewers why it is that some councils have been able to avoid increases? i councils have been able to avoid increases?— increases? i think context is important — increases? i think context is important p _ increases? i think context is important p as _ increases? i think context is important p as always, i increases? i think context is important p as always, the i important p as always, the government talks about core spending powerfor government talks about core spending power for councils and it says that they increased the core spending power for councils to help us deal with inflationary pressures, as was reported. but of course, inside that 0 core spending pow there is an asum sun that councils will put up council tax to the maximum and the reality is, as you were just hearing, that social care k adult social care which has been in the headlines now for a number of years, has seen costs absolutely explode. we are getting older, we are living longer, and the council part of

aduu longer, and the council part of adult social care is growing, so we don't believe this will fully fund it but it will go some way to funding those increasing costing pressures and the reason it is not the same across the country is because we are talking about local government and that means local choice, local decision, decisions about all kind of service, and decisions is about how budgets are put together, so, you know, you wouldn't expect exactly the same decisions to be made everywhere in the country. decisions to be made everywhere in the country-— the country. there is the idea thou . h, the country. there is the idea though. and _ the country. there is the idea though, and we _ the country. there is the idea though, and we were - the country. there is the idea though, and we were talking | the country. there is the idea i though, and we were talking to the taxpayers' alliance, yes yes, there is a shortage, inflation is at a historic high and pressures that the council's face, there is a spend thrift side to the councils and they could be doing more and they are making poor spending choices, what do you say to that argument? i mean,

ou do you say to that argument? i mean, you wouldn't — do you say to that argument? i mean, you wouldn't expect _ do you say to that argument? i mean, you wouldn't expect anything - do you say to that argument? i mean, you wouldn't expect anything frills i you wouldn't expect anything frills the taxpayers' alliance, i think what you have to again see is this in context, ore the last, over a decade, we have seen local government make savings, put up council tax, we have seen below inflationary charge, the reality is, the costs on local authorities are increasing, councils are making you know, very difficult decisions round where budgets go. they are reducing their costs where they can, but of course you reduce costs in one service, those services are to be the public, it is not like we may widgets that can, where we can create them in a different way, we are in the people to people business, we deliver services to the public, and the reality is, that within that context we are seeing

historic levels of inflationary increases and a democratic time bomb increases and a democratic time bomb in adult social care which is not faced by the government. i suppose listen to all— faced by the government. i suppose listen to all of— faced by the government. i suppose listen to all of this, _ faced by the government. i suppose listen to all of this, the _ listen to all of this, the difficulty is, it is always a problem, isn't it, about the longer term, there is no longer term strategic plan, it is so hand—to—mouth. ultimately who is responsible for that are? hand-to-mouth. ultimately who is responsible for that are?— hand-to-mouth. ultimately who is responsible for that are? well, one ofthe responsible for that are? well, one of the conversations _ responsible for that are? well, one of the conversations we _ responsible for that are? well, one of the conversations we have i of the conversations we have continually with government, is round longer term, so we are in the fifth year of single year settlements with the government and we have been pleading with them, that actually if we could look into a slightly long—term, that means that we can build in that financial sustainability but we can also make choices for that slightly longer term payment and make some of the savings, the changes we deliver service, that perhaps we and the taxpayers' alliance would be on the same side of. the reality is, that if you are only being told, very

late in the day, what your funding settlement and the envelope you can spend within is, on a year—by—year spend within is, on a year—by-year basis it is spend within is, on a year—by—year basis it is impossible to plan for the long—term thanks so much forjoining us on bbc news. hello this is bbc news with rebecca jones. the headlines: the un says more than seven million children are affected by the turkey—syria earthquakes. the syrian government has now agreed to open more border crossings to allow aid into the country, for three months. syria support the entry of humanitarian aid into the region, through all possible cross points. us military says the sensors from the suspected chinese spy balloon shot down have been

recovered from the atlantic ocean and are being examined by the fbi. a report finds liverpool fans were not to blame for the chaotic scenes at last year's champions league final against real madrid in paris. so it's relief really that the true events are pictured so that everybody around the world now can actually read what happened and know who's to blame for what happened to paris. indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi and mumbai bureaux and are conducting a search. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. let's return to the top story this morning, that two more border crossings will be opened up to allow aid to flow into northern syria as it deals with the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake. ammar al—salmo is a volunteer with the white helmets, officially known as the syria civil

defence. he has been cordinating the team's emergency response, he told me about what it's like on the ground in aleppo. the situation is so devastating, the search and secure operation is ongoing, but hope is fading to find survivors, just we dig our people from under the rubble, so number of people increase hours by hours, moments by moments. the situation of the survivors... before the quake, the situation was a dire situation, more than two million living in camps, more than three million were in need of material aid from outside the country. there is no infrastructure, right now life is disrupted. the time of recovery,

recovery to the wounded, more than 2,000 wounded need help. there is not enough doctors, we just move injured from hospital to hospital, not finding a specialist doctorfor the injury, turkey border is not allowed the injured to turkish hospitals, usually before the earthquake, turkish hospitals were receiving injuries from this area, but right now, it is blocked, so the situation is so dire, for the 14,000 families who are homeless need shelter, need help, need clean water, need electricity, everything is right now, life is... so trying at the same time, continue to also help in recovery, maintain and rehabilitate the roads, open roads and infrastructure. i can sense your sense of desperation, i assumed you welcome the decision

by president assad to open two more border crossings from turkey into syria, what impact do you think that will have on getting the kind of aid that you have been describing, that is so obviously needed? that is disappointing, because the assad regime, it is not a secret since 11 years, hindering the aid to the outside of his control, he was intervening in delivering the aid, he was starving people, so they move the aid to the un security council, the un security general have all the power, the wide power to activate any flexible response, any flexible response to open more than one border, he was waiting the permission

of assad, or he was waiting the permission of china and russia, and the security council, so they were waiting ten days until the last one to die, to open more border. that was disappointing to the syrian people. some news coming into us from moldova stop it has temporarily closed its airspace. that is according to the country's national airline. i'm quoting a post it is put on facebook. their passengers come at this moment the airspace at the republic of moldova is closed. we are waiting for the resumption of flights. their passengers, those who are at the airport, a board or

scheduled to fly today, please stay calm and follow the airport information panels online. we will be back with _ information panels online. we will be back with more _ information panels online. we will be back with more information. i i be back with more information. i need to stress this, we do not know why moldova has temporarily closed its airspace and it would be ill—advised to speculate about that. it is worth mentioning some context, that the announcement does come at a time of tension between moldova and russia because moldova, of course, is a former soviet republic and it comes at a time of russia waging war in ukraine, which shares a border with moldova. it is also perhaps worth mentioning, just as context and background, that a russian missile which was fired at ukraine

crossed over into moldova last friday morning and came within 22 miles of the border of romania, which is a nato member, prompting the romanians to scramble to fighter jets that were on an exercise under nato command. that we know from the romanian defence ministry. that may have no bearing on why moldova has temporarily closed its airspace, but we will of course bring you more news on that as we get it. in the last hour norway has confirmed it will send eight german made leopard 2 battle tanks to ukraine to help in the war effort. it comes as the head of nato calls on members of the military alliance to ramp up their arms production, to help fend off a renewed offensive by russian forces. jen stoltenberg says ukraine's military is consuming more ammunition than the west can provide. the plea comes ahead of a meeting of defence ministers in brussels later,

at which the conflict will be top of the agenda. we see no signs that president putin is preparing for peace. _ what we see is the opposite. he is preparing for more war, i for new offences and new attacks. so it makes it even more important that nato allies and partners - provide more support to ukraine. our defence correspondent jonathan beale is following developments in brussels. jens stoltenberg, nato's head, made clear what he wanted to come out of this meeting and that is for nato countries to ramp up their production of things like ammunition, but artillery shells in particular because, as you say, he says ukraine is using those artillery shells at a rate that they are being not produced in nato countries.

in other words, they're finding it hard to match the use in ukraine, so that production needs to ramp up. it is being ramped up in some countries already, but more needs to be done. i think it's interesting when you look at whatjens stoltenberg and what lloyd austin just said, the us defense secretary, they're both using the word 'urgency�*. there is that sense that this is a critical time because russia, the signs are are now in preparations, if not already carrying out new offensives, renewed offensives against ukraine and this is a window where ukraine needs those weapons that have been promised by the west, by nato members, including those tanks, but most importantly, those artillery shells. and remember, it's notjust artillery shells for ukraine i think nato is concerned about, it's their own stockpiles because they're clearly eating into their own stockpiles of ammunition to help ukraine. they need to be replaced too. so that is the number one message we're getting from this conference, that nato countries have got to meet

this challenge and to meet that challenge they've got to ramp up production of ammunition in particular. the indian tax authorities have entered the bbc�*s delhi bureau and are conducting a search. police are preventing people from entering or leaving the building. last month, the bbc aired a controversial documentary about the prime minister, narendra modi. our south asia regional editor sanjay dasgupta gave me this update. the income tax department was describing it as "survey action". they were saying that this survey action has been undertaken in order to verify certain documents. no further statement has been forthcoming. as you rightly point out, the bbc has said it's cooperating fully. we know that searches are being conducted in the bbc�*s offices in delhi and mumbai.

we know that people are not being allowed to enter or leave the offices and, at the moment, that is where the situation stands. what is your view and what do we know about why this is happening? well, we don't know why this is happening, but the timing is curious. at the end of january, the bbc aired a documentary which focused on the role of the current prime minister, narendra modi, when he was not prime minister. he was, at that point of time in 2002, the chief minister of the western state of gujarat and fierce religious rioting broke out in the state. now, there have been questions ever since on mr modi's inability to stop the violence as it spread. hundreds of grassroots football referees in england have told

the bbc that they fear for their safety on the pitch. out of almost 1,000 referees who responded to a bbc radio 5 live questionnaire, just under 300 said they had been physically abused by spectators, players, coaches or managers. some described being punched, headbutted and spat at, as jane dougall reports. you're always one decision away from a smack in the mouth. i've had people comment on my chest in the middle of a game. it could be threats i against your family, and it is getting worse and worse and worse. | at grassroots level, the abuse of officials across the country has risen to breaking point. threatening — "i'm going to smash you up at the end of the game, just you wait." ryan crabtree referees forjunior and men's leagues in pendleton and north yorkshire. he's been assaulted multiple times. after the game, a group of men, when i were a teenager, chased me out of the changing room,

out onto the field, and i've had to then run down a back street — hide, basically. do you fear for your safety? all the time. every single weekend. a bbc questionnaire, sent to 7,000 members of the referees association in england, found that of the 927 who responded, 908 had experienced verbal abuse from spectators, players or coaches. 293 said they'd been physically abused. and 440 said they thought the abuse was worse now than it was five years ago. president of the referees association, paul field, wants a life ban for those responsible before it's too late. one day in this country, a referee will lose his life or her life. if a person is banned from football for wilful abuse or assaults, why should they be allowed to attend any football matches? he feels it starts at the top,

with children copying the actions of premier league players on television. the questionnaire also found many had experienced racist, homophobic and sexist abuse. 18—year—old megan belcher has been refereeing for three years. while officiating at an under 13s match, she was attacked by a parent. he came running on the pitch with his fist raised at me. the two coaches from the team that he was a part of came onto the pitch and kind of stopped him and said, "hey, stop." he was still yelling abuse at me and saying, "this is why girls shouldn't be in football." it was probably the scariest experience i've ever had. it really had an impact on my mental health as well. megan has come to watch former premier league player chris sutton, who's been asked by radio 5 live to referee his first match. don't forget to whistle loudly. i'll do my best. it's a junior game. chris wants to find out what it's like on the other side. what a ball. what a ball that was. he's admitted previously to confronting a young referee

whilst watching his son play. i walked onto the field because i was, you know, concerned about how badly injured he was. you know, ishouldn't have done that. i realise how difficult it is. but, you know, you're also, you know, you're a parent... i was a parent as well at that particular time. after the match, megan told chris what had happened to her. you know, that's totally unacceptable, you know, any sort of abuse. and i think that that's part of the reason which, you know, i'm here today — i played — but to see the other side. many who responded to the bbc questionnaire felt referee abuse wasn't being tackled sufficiently by the fa. but the organisation has said they are continuing to do everything they can to stamp out this behaviour. this is the fa's new campaign, making it clear that action will be taken against abuse. they say stronger sanctions and a three—year refereeing strategy are coming soon in order to tackle this issue. enough is enough.

many referees feel the current deterrents won't stop verbal and physical abuse, and that eventually grassroots referees will walk away from the game they love. jane dougall, bbc news. 5 live programmes will be talking about referee abuse throughout the day today and will revisit the issue in the coming weeks. elijah khaira, a referee, has been refereeing for five years and started when he was 14. yes, lam based in southampton and hampshire. i have been refereeing five years. i've had some really good refereeing experiences and also some really poor ones unfortunately. you have some games every once in a while and you don't get issues, but unfortunately the majority, you do get issues, whether it's from players, coaches, parents, it can vary according to the age group and quality and size of the game. some of the things i have heard are appalling, and to think this is from parents

of 12—year—olds and they should be setting an example. over a grassroots game where the result shouldn't matter, it's about developing players. referees also have to develop themselves to become a better referee and get more experience. we are there to do a job. we are humans and we will make mistakes. yet parents and coaches and players seem to expect referees to get everything perfect, even when they don't have var and all that at the weekend. we have to be careful about what we say on live television but can you tell us a little bit more about the sorts of issues you have faced. is it mainly verbal abuse? not just verbal. when it comes to verbal abuse, i have heard every swear there is. thankfully i don't get much sexist quotes, i am a male, but i know female referees who have had unfortunate sexist terms used against them and things like that. but when it comes to the abuse it can also be physical.

thankfully i have never been assaulted as a referee but i still have had players getting up right into my face, players giving a little shove, which doesn't amount to an assault but it is still a red card offence in the context of the game. people are storming over to me, looking like they are going to. i have been lucky but i know a few referees who have been hit, kicked and all sorts. i have had threats before, people telling me that i better watch myself for the rest of the game if i know what's best, things along those lines. and plenty of other terms that i will not be repeating on live tv, but some can be pretty cruel. a national state of emergency has been declared in new zealand in the wake of cyclone gabrielle. the prime minister said the storm, which caused widespread damage and flooding, is the country's biggest weather event in a century. as phil mercer reports, nearly a third of new zealand's population ofjust over five million

live in the affected regions. about a third of new zealand's population of five million people live in storm—affected regions. for only the third time ever, a national state of emergency has been declared after cyclone gabrielle unleashed its fury. multiple severe weather warnings have been issued. the coast has been battered by gale force winds, heavy rain and wild surf. rivers have burst their banks. trees have been ripped from the ground and roads closed. civil defence authorities said they couldn't cope with the scale of the damage. this has the potential to be an unprecedented event. it is affecting many regions and many districts and it's asking a lot of a lot of people. the new zealand prime minister has warned that the storm had inflicted

widespread devastation. cyclone gabrielle is the most significant weather event new zealand has seen this century. the severity and the breadth of the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation. this morning we declared a national emergency for only the third time in our history. some communities have been cut off. thousands of new zealanders are without electricity. internet and phone networks have also been disrupted. the authorities have said it could be days, if not weeks before power supplies are restored. bbc analysis of accident and emergency waiting times in england shows wide variations in how services have coped this winter. at some of the 107 hospital trusts that provided data, more than half of patients waited longer than four hours, but at the best performing units fewer than one in ten did.

our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. it's been the toughest winter for the nhs in a generation. across the uk, there have been record waiting times for ambulances and in a&e departments. and that's had a real impact on patients. the bbc has analysed nhs england data on average waiting times in emergency departments over december and january. among the best performing were nhs trusts in northumbria, maidstone and tunbridge wells and blackpool. but patients in hull, wye valley and shrewsbury and telford face the longest waits. and in all the ten worst performing trusts, patients were five times more likely to face a long wait of over four hours than in the best performing hospital. so what explains the difference between the best and the worst? one hospital boss says it's staff, teamwork and investment. we've got the greatest staff — truly dedicated, passionate about the best care possible in extremely difficult and quite challenging circumstances.

equally, we've really worked hard on collaboration and working with our partners across lancashire and south cumbria. lastly, we've had fantastic investment into the local system, whereby we've been able to invest in state—of—the—art facilities, such as the same day emergency care. nhs england acknowledges the winter has been tough but says ambulance response times and a&e waits are getting better. but it also said that work continues on improving the speed with which patients can be discharged from hospital when they're well enough to leave. dominic hughes, bbc news. an iranian chess player who removed her headscarf at an international tournament has told the bbc she has no regrets. living in exile in southern spain, sara khadem says it was the least she could do, given the sacrifices protestors in iran were making. she says she hopes she will play for her country again. razia iqbal reports.

sara khadem is 25 now but has been playing competitively since she was eight. chess was unbanned in iranjust before ayatollah khamenei's death, and in the decades after that the country has become a chess powerhouse, and sara khadem one of its biggest and most promising stars. in december last year she decided not to wear the compulsory hijab when competing. her life has changed utterly, not least where she lives now on the spanish coast. chess is a game that requires a player to calculate their opponent's third orfourth move. 25—year—old sara khadem has made a few calculations, but to remove her headscarf was the least she could do given what was happening in iran. but it was the right thing to do. that decision, though, has led to her exile and for now

a life lived in a secret location. when i was playing in almaty there were many things going on in iran. and many young women, they were not wearing the scarf on the streets, and that was the rule in the country. so i would say i was really inspired by what they were doing back at home. but presumably you realised that you were taking a risk. yeah. the things that happened was not really something that i was hoping for. i mean, leaving the country. leaving iran completely was not what was going on in my mind, and that is something i really miss, but i wouldn't say i regret it. since september last year, iran has been shaken by girls and women protesting against the death in custody of mahsa amini... chanting. ..for an apparent hijab infraction.

many have been killed and many more arrested. there have been enormous sacrifices. for me, leaving my family was one of the most difficult things that i have ever done, and also iran, but if i want to compare what i did to what people are doing, i wouldn't say that it was difficult, because the risk that they are taking is much higher. led by the prime minister of the country, there is, though, some comfort in spain's embrace of sara khadem. it was kind of a mixed feeling to see that in a country you would be really appreciated, to be invited by the prime minister, and in your own country that you have achieved lots of success, you just get arrestment orders! the current loss of her country has not dimmed sara's commitment to chess. yeah, i consider myself

as a professional chess player. that is the only thing i know. razia iqbal, bbc news, southern spain. after nearly 50 years on our supermarket shelves, the soft drink lilt is being rebranded. this is what it'll look like. it'll become fanta pineapple and grapefruit following a makeover by its owner coca cola. buckingham palace has shown the ground that the queen consort, camilla, will wear to the coronation. hello. earlier on today it was a cold and frosty start for some of us, but this valentine's day mother

nature really is warming things up for us, possibly 17 celsius and 12 spots. the average is eight, but we are not breaking records. that is close to 19 celsius set in somerset in the late 905. here is the reason for them out there, it is coming all the way from the canaries, portugal, the way from the canaries, portugal, the bay of biscay. typical temperatures today will be closer to around 11 in scotland, more like 12-14 in around 11 in scotland, more like 12—14 in england. sojust one or two areas will get areas in the mid—teens. a lot of clearer weather through this evening, but out towards the west are not —— a weather front is approaching and that spells rain for belfast, glasgow. where it will be clear overnight, a touch of frost i5 overnight, a touch of frost is certainly possible. here is the weather map for tomorrow. that high pressure has now slipped away

towards the east and we have a weather from crossing the towards the east and we have a weatherfrom crossing the uk, but the high pressure is still close by, still very much influencing the weather across the bulk of europe and eastern areas of the country, so that means as this weather front bushes eastwards, you can see the rain mostly fizzles away. there will be a bit of rain, but not much. still mild in the south—east tomorrow, but in the north, showers, brazier and about 9 degrees expected in glasgow and stornoway. for thursday, for most of england and wales as well as northern ireland it will be an overcast day with rain. the best of the weather will be in the north of scotland. for thursday, temperatures seven or eight celsius. a change in the way for the end of the week. friday sees a nasty low pressure is sweeping across the country. that will bring gales for a time at least through the morning, early friday morning. here is the outlook them for the rest of the

weekend into the weekend. it certainly looks like things are turning. you can see the dark clouds there and there are guilds expected on friday in the north. goodbye.

today at 1:00pm, hope for more help for earthquake victims in syria. the un welcomes the opening of two more border crossings for aid from turkey. the scale of the destruction laid bare — the need for supplies remains acute and hospitals are struggling to help the injured. people to help the injured. are angry about what has happened people are angry about what has happened here, not least because of a report that was published on the health ministry's website in earthquake resistance test on this blog. the result, it says, was negative. while the official uk appeal has raised tens of millions of pounds for the victims, we report on the scammers trying to trick people into donating to fake accounts. also this lunchtime...

more people are entering or returning to work,