welcome to bbc news, i'm lisa—marie misztak. our top stories. as the number of dead exceeds 40,000 in turkey and syria, more aid's promised for the survivors of last week's earthquakes. and so that un aid can be delivered to syria, two more border crossings have now been approved for use. will this be enough to help the millions who are now thought to be homeless? and second, if this had happened earlier, could more lives have been saved? nato members meet to discuss more weapons for ukraine, with concerns kyiv is using them faster than they can be supplied. republican nikki haley enters next yea r�*s presidential race, in a challenge to donald trump. and scientists in america say they may have developed a drug

for use as a contraceptive pill for men. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we begin with the race to get more aid into southern turkey and northern syria, where the death toll from last week's earthquakes has now surpassed 41,000. millions are still left without shelter, in freezing conditions, with little food and poor sanitation. the challenge in northern syria is particularly difficult — the political situation is unstable after years of war, and control of the border is split between the syrian government and rebel groups. until now, aid has been routed through a single crossing point, at bab al—hawa.

0ur correspondent laura bicker has been there and sent this report. every day in antakya, relatives huddle around piles of rubble that were once family homes, waiting for news. but rescue efforts have slowly become recovery missions, and now, as workers comb through bricks and dust, the hope is of finding a body to say a final farewell. 30 people are entombed in what is left of this building. layers of concrete are pulled apart to reveal the remains of someone�*s living room. five of this woman's family lived here. translation: all of those | people died while screaming, "save us, save us." there was no one. human life has no value in turkey. there are some who are still defying the odds. after more than 200 hours,

two women were pulled from deep within the ruins. at least three others were rescued in other parts of turkey, but there are fewer miracle moments each day. and for survivors, living in fractured cities where damaged buildings are still collapsing, coping with freezing temperatures with no heating, little water and food, is becoming more difficult by the day. translation: they're asking . for wet wipes, soaps, shampoos. there's water, but there's nowhere to take a shower. people are struggling. president erdogan has denied accusations that his administration's response to this disaster was slow. translation: obviously our country has faced issues that i would have been seen in any part of the world, but our people should have no doubt that our state went all out to reach the earthquake zone.

the wait for aid has been longer in syria, but more is now on its way. until today, this was the only route available for aid to get through to syria, but the united nations has now organised two other border crossings. but it leaves key questions. first, will this be enough to help the millions who are now thought to be homeless? and second, if this had happened earlier, could more lives have been saved? the search for survivors in idlib is over. the living are now focused on staying warm and alive. this has been one of the world's deadliest earthquakes, but without urgent help, this disaster could claim even more lives. laura bicker, bbc news, in antakya. to the war in ukraine now, and at a meeting of defence ministers, nato's secretary—general says allies are talking

about how to increase support for ukraine. jens stoltenberg says kyiv is using up ammunition faster than it's being provided, and has called on member countries to increase production. the kremlin says nato demonstrated its hostility towards russia every day, and was becoming more and more involved in the conflict in ukraine. here'sjens stoltenberg's opening remarks at the meeting. nato allies are provided unprecedented support to ukraine to help uphold its right of self—defence. and from the start, we have been working very closely with the european union, determined to support ukraine for as long as it takes. today, we will discuss our continued support, which is essential to help ukraine prevail as an independent sovereign state. to the us now, and the white house has said preliminary evidence suggests the three aerial objects shot down by us jets were not involved in a wider

chinese espionage programme. the objects were detected after the us made its radar more sensitive following the shooting down of a suspected chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month, which the us says was being used to spy on sensitive military sites. china denies that, and has accused the us of flying at least ten balloons over its own airspace. my colleague karishma vaswani spoke to victor gao, a former chinese diplomat and vice president of the centerfor china and globalization, a think tank with links to the chinese communist party. she asked him if china's spying on the us using balloons. first of all, let's be honest. all major countries spy on each other, and i would not be surprised if every inch of land and water in china and in the united states has been fully mapped and checked by the other side. talking about balloons...

that sounds like an admission, mr gao. it sounds like you are admitting and acknowledging that the balloon of chinese origin was being used to spy on the us. absolutely not. a balloon is, for everyone to see, it is not very much used in espionage. a balloon is mostly used in weather observation, as the united states acknowledged that the shooting of the three objects after the first shooting were not chinese origin but were balloons for weather observation. i think this whole incident... yes, in the interests of fairness mr gao, washington never said those three objects were of chinese origin, they said they were investigating what they were. i take your point that the investigations are continuing. but i wonder, if indeed what china says is true, that this was a weather balloon

then why not tell the us or latin america, where another balloon was also found, in the interest of partnership and communication, that we have these balloons that are travelling through the sky to collect weather and meteorological information. why not do that ahead of time? first of all, let's focus on the balloon china acknowledged its ownership of, shot down by the united states. china told the united states it was a chinese balloon. it got out of control due to force majeure and deviated from its course and entered the united states by error. this is the track record. and i think the united states needs to disclose what happened between china and the united states about the specific nature of this balloon. now, for the united states to go to such a length to shoot down not only the chinese

balloon but also shoot down with the most sophisticated fighter plane and missiles three of its own balloons, for example, for weather observation, it is a farce. let's call a spade a spade. a balloon is a balloon and is not used in sophisticated espionage. nikki hayley, the former south carolina governor and united nations ambassador, has announced she will run for the republican 2024 nomination. her former boss donald trump is the only other canadidate to formally announce, but more are coming, and they are expected to include florida governor ron desantis and former vice president mike pence. nikki haley made her announcement by launching a campaign video calling for "generational change." let's have a listen.

china and russia are on the march. they think we can be bullied and kicked around. you should know this about me, i don't put up with bullies. and when you kick back, it hurts them all if you are wearing heels. i'm nikki haley and i'm running for president. we can now speak tojennifer kerns, a republican strategist and host on the all american radio network. she joins us from new york. thank you forjoining us. nikki haley has officially thrown her hat into the ring. how strong a candidate is she is likely to be? i candidate is she is likely to be? ~ , candidate is she is likely to be?

in the 2024 race. i can imagine donald trump is not happy about this. it certainly opens the floodgates for other former trump appointees to throw their hats into the ring, former secretary of state mike pompeo interested in running, the former vice president mike pence interested in running. so i think nikki haley being the first to throw her hat into the ring and to declare will change the game significantly. figs ring and to declare will change the game significantly.- the game significantly. as you said, the game significantly. as you said. mike _ the game significantly. as you said, mike pompeo _ the game significantly. as you said, mike pompeo and - the game significantly. as you | said, mike pompeo and former vice president mike pence have hinted they may run, but how are republicans likely to line up are republicans likely to line up between all of these candidates?— up between all of these candidates? ., ~' candidates? right now, ithink it's a bit early. _ candidates? right now, ithink it's a bit early. you _ candidates? right now, ithink it's a bit early. you have - candidates? right now, ithink it's a bit early. you have to - it's a bit early. you have to have five, maybe six candidates in there to start to understand how these candidates are going to coalesce in the polling ranking. but what we do know is donald trump is already being polled against ron desantis who

is not even a candidate. it will be interesting as the weeks, how nikki haley might stack up against donald trump in of polling. i tell you how it does complicate things, it complicates because she is a female, a woman of colour. already the left is starting to lose their mind over nikki haley entering, including whoopi goldberg saying, how dare she run? guess what, the republican party and we do have female leaders in our party, women of colour in our party, and they are going to be part of the conversation in 2024 and they are going to have a seat at the table. that table, by the way, is going to fill up very quickly now. remember, the first gop primary presidential debate isjust six months first gop primary presidential debate is just six months from now, the third week of august. these candidates, if they want to be on that debate stage, they are going to have to throw their hat into the ring just like nikki haley. figs their hat into the ring 'ust like nikki haley.�* their hat into the ring 'ust like nikki haley. as you said, she is a woman _

like nikki haley. as you said, she is a woman of _ like nikki haley. as you said, she is a woman of colour, - like nikki haley. as you said, | she is a woman of colour, the fifth woman ever to run for the republican presidential nomination. do you think republicans are ready for a female candidate? i republicans are ready for a female candidate?- republicans are ready for a female candidate? i think they should be- _ female candidate? i think they should be. i— female candidate? i think they should be. ijust_ female candidate? i think they should be. ijust wrote - female candidate? i think they should be. ijust wrote a - female candidate? i think theyj should be. ijust wrote a book, the real war on women, i think republican policies are much more favourable to american women. i think democrat policies, as we have seen, the defunding of please, the government locked down clues back, all of those things have been very negative to women. —— the government locked downs. the usa today talked about views on gender within the republican parties. in a poll, 50% said they would prefer a male presidential candidate, and only 2% of the party would prefer a female candidate, so we have a lot of work to do within our own party to get support a female presidential candidate. support a female presidential candidate-— support a female presidential candidate. ., ~ . candidate. thank you so much

for our candidate. thank you so much for your time. _ stay with us on bbc news, still to come: love during wartime — the ukrainian soldiers tying the knot on valentine's day. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order but the army defeated in the task it was sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect on the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the reprecussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. explosions. as the airlift got under way, there was no let—up in the erruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow down to the sea to the east

of the island, away from the town for the time being. it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their next generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they called it mir, the russian for peace. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: as the number of dead exceeds 40,000 in turkey and syria, more aid is promised for the surviors of last week's earthquakes. nato members meet to discuss more weapons for ukraine, with concerns kyiv is using them faster than they can be supplied. let's turn to india, where tax authorities have searched the bbc bureaus in delhi and mumbai. this comes just weeks after the bbc aired an inflammatory documentary in the uk, which is critical of indian prime

minister narendra modi. we'll come back to that bbc programme in a moment. but first, this was the scene outside the bbc office in delhi on tuesday. police there were preventing people from entering or leaving the building. the ruling bjp party has defended the search. no individual, no agency could be above the law. why is it that there is a hurry by the opposition party, especially the congress party, to give a clean chip to the agency concerned? the government spokesman referred there to the opposition congress party, who have predictably been highly critical. and here's what a senior congress party leader had to say. translation: the government is after the bbc. _ when you are nearing

your doom, your wisdom starts working against you. the situation comes after the bbc, last month, aired a documentary critical of prime minister modi, which the government denounced as "anti—india garbage" with a "colonial mindset". the film focuses on his role during communal violence in gujarat in 2002, when he was chief minister of the state. mr modi has long rejected accusations linked with this, and in 2013, a supreme court panel also said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. there are still a lot of unknowns about tuesday's searches, but the situation has raised questions about both press freedoms in india and the impartiality of the bbc, with a bjp spokesman describing the bbc as "the most corrupt organisation in the world". here are reporters without borders. it very much points to this climate of intimidation that

journalists in india who speak of this government and speak critically of this government, and the prime minister and the government ministers, face. scientists in america say they may have developed a drug for use as a contraceptive pill for men. they say it works by temporarily stopping sperm from propelling itself. the drug switches off an enzyme that sperm needs to be able to swim to reach a females egg. tests done on mice show that the effect is short—lived, with normal function restored within 24 hours. well, let's speak to the main scientist behind this latest model of the contraceptive pill, dr melanie balbach. she is a reproduction biologist at while cornell medicine in new york. doctor, thank you so much for joining us. you are part of this research that have been ongoing, but what have you been able to find so far? figs ongoing, but what have you been able to find so far?— able to find so far? as you said, able to find so far? as you said. we — able to find so far? as you

said, we are _ able to find so far? as you said, we are working - able to find so far? as you said, we are working on i able to find so far? as you said, we are working on a| able to find so far? as you - said, we are working on a male contraceptive. but we showed with mice, when we give the inhibitor, they are infertile within 30 minutes, and that infertility lasts for about two and a half hours. 24 hours later, the spurn start swimming again and the mice regain their fertility. 50 again and the mice regain their fertili . ., , fertility. so what exactly happens _ fertility. so what exactly happens to _ fertility. so what exactly happens to the - fertility. so what exactly happens to the spurn? l fertility. so what exactly | happens to the spurn? it fertility. so what exactly i happens to the spurn? it is immobilised, but for how long? if this were to be something that humans started using, what would be the likelihood of it being a viable form of contraception?- being a viable form of contraception? being a viable form of contrace tion? ., contraception? the great thing is the enzyme _ contraception? the great thing is the enzyme we _ contraception? the great thing is the enzyme we are - contraception? the great thingj is the enzyme we are targeting has the same function in mice and in humans. as soon as the spurn are evacuated, they have to start swimming. and we are blocking that with our inhibitor. as soon as the men

take the inhibitor, they stop swimming and they can't make it. ~ ., ,., ~ it. when would something like this potentially _ it. when would something like this potentially be _ it. when would something like this potentially be available i this potentially be available to use on the market? we are ho-iin to use on the market? we are heping we _ to use on the market? we are heping we will _ to use on the market? we are hoping we will start _ to use on the market? we are hoping we will start clinical. hoping we will start clinical trials in about two years, so we have to test on a second animal and further improve our inhibitor. and then in about 6-8 inhibitor. and then in about 6—8 years, if everything goes well, we should be able to have it on the market.— it on the market. female contraception _ it on the market. female contraception has - it on the market. female contraception has been l it on the market. female - contraception has been around for 50 years, so why has it taken so long for a male option to even be in research stages? there are a plethora of reasons. fora there are a plethora of reasons. for a female, you have to only block one oocyte. people thought that blocking hundreds of millions of spermatozoa was too hard, but

it looks like it could be working. there is a societal component to it, because so far the burden of contraception has been all on females, so there needs to be a shift that the men also take responsibility and we really want the burden of contraception to be equally distributed ideally over both sexes. ., ., ~ distributed ideally over both sexes. ., ., sexes. doctor, thank you so much for — sexes. doctor, thank you so much for your _ sexes. doctor, thank you so much for your time. - sexes. doctor, thank you so much for your time. you - sexes. doctor, thank you soj much for your time. you are welcome- — in the uk, buckingham palace has said the controversial koh—i—noor diamond will not be used in the coronation of king charles. instead camilla, the queen consort, will be crowned with queen mary's crown, which has been taken out of the tower of london to be resized for the coronation on may 6th, at westminster abbey. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports. it may not be the largest diamond in the world but it's

certainly the most controversial. the koh—i—noor is said to carry a curse. buckingham palace has decided to keep it out of the coronation. so when camillo the queen consort is crowned alongside king charles in may, it will be with this one, queen mary's crown worn by the consort of king george v in 1911. in a statement, buckingham palace said: but for many, this does not resolve the dispute around who owns the diamond. iii resolve the dispute around who owns the diamond.— owns the diamond. if it's in a treasury _ owns the diamond. if it's in a treasury box. _ owns the diamond. if it's in a treasury box, does _ owns the diamond. if it's in a treasury box, does it - owns the diamond. if it's in a treasury box, does it shine l owns the diamond. if it's in a l treasury box, does it shine any less brightly or burn any less brightly in the psyche of people they have been —— to feel they have been wronged? there are many theories about the stone's origins. historians

generally agree it was taken from india by an iranian ruler in 1739. that is him on the right next to the google emperor muhammad shah. india argues it eventually made its way back home, but one of its 19th—century rulers was then tricked into handing it to the brits during colonial rule. pakistan made an official plea to have it back because it was a jewel of the treasury of lahore, which is now in pakistan. it wasn't at the time but it is now. the sikhs want it sent back to the golden temple because they say it was part of their kingdom. even further back, iran and afghanistan have claims on it. buckingham palace says the coronation on may the sixth will be shorter, smaller and more diverse than before. now the world have made clear that they will not let the koh—i—noor�*s sharp edges outshine their big day, proving not all diamonds are a girl's best friend. it's almost a year now

since russia began its invasion of ukraine. in that time, an unknown number of people have 0n valentine's day, some of them took a moment to remember what they're fighting for. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. when your country is at war, it certainly concentrates the mind. and the heart. here, in the ukrainian city of kharkiv, 0lek, a soldier on leave from the front, takes the opportunity to marry his sweetheart yulia. it turns out this is a conflict that both separates and unites. translation: the war introduced us, since . he is from the donetsk region and i am from the kharkiv region. if it wasn't for the war, we wouldn't have met. we care about each other. every moment is special. furtherwest, in the city of cherkasy,

the weddings are taking place on an almost industrial scale. 50 couples have been walking down the aisle, almost every groom a soldier. and there were plenty of guests to offer moral support. translation: this kind of event shows that life goes on, - a little bit ofjoy for my comrades, for my friend. for those who just want to go on a date, rather than a more permanent commitment, why not try this train of love? setting off from kyiv, there are candles, decorations, and a romantic meal. but once again, the shadow of war looms large. translation: travelling on this train are soldiers | and their wives. these guys defend our land, defend our country, and today it is our honour to give them moments of personal happiness. and to sweeten the deal, those soldiers get to travel for free. tim allman, bbc news.

congratulations to the newlyweds. thanks for watching. hello. after a dry but misty night for some there is actually some rain in the forecast over the next few days which may come as a bit of a shock to places such as benson, 0xfordshire, pershore in worcestershire and bramham in yorkshire, because these areas over the last four weeks have barely seen over a millimetre of rain. now the rain clouds are gathering out there in the atlantic at the moment. this one will come in through thursday. but we need to shift this one first. it's been held at bay in an area of high pressure, but that high pressure is going to weaken a little bit, allowing that weather front to trundle in by the end of the night. start of wednesday, that rain will be across western scotland. northern ireland would be a mild enough start to the day, but east of scotland, england and wales,

temperatures still low enough for some frost around. and the eastern counties of england, some dense patches of fog that won't last as long as the fog did on tuesday. we'll also see the rain in northern ireland quickly clear to brighter skies before more cloud later. rain through the morning in scotland, sunshine and showers later. but then from late morning through into the afternoon, the rain spreads across wales, northern western parts of england into the midlands, east anglia, the south east, the channel islands staying dry all day long, the breeze picking up relative to the past few days and the mildest conditions in the southeast corner, 14 or 15 celsius, even though for some in the west a bit of a drop. compared with tuesday, temperatures still above average for this stage in february. now we finish wednesday with some patchy rain of drizzle, east anglia and the southeast. but after a brief clearer spell, more widespread rain and drizzle spreading across england, wales, southern scotland through wednesday night and into thursday morning, it's going to leave a lot of low cloud around, quite a misty, murky, damp sort of day on thursday, especially around hills and coasts. there could be a little bit of brightness here and there, best of which will be in the north of scotland.

and another mild day, even with that cloud, nine to around 13 celsius. rain's gathering up behind me. that's a deepening area of low pressure, which will spell to the north of the country as we go through into friday, bringing some rain southwards, but a lot in the way of stronger winds. the winds will be rattling across the country. the cloud and patchy rain pushing its way southwards. sunshine, blustery showers later in the day across northern half of scotland. and temperatures still on the milder side, especially in the south. but the winds will be a key feature and it's one we'll certainly have to watch. we could see winds top 80 miles an hour across some parts of scotland, gusty winds to the east of high ground in northeast england and eastern scotland, too. we'll keep you updated.

this is bbc news. the headlines... nine more quake survivors have been rescued in turkey but the number confirmed killed in both there and syria is now more than 41,000. the who says 26 million people require humanitarian aid and the needs are only increasing, as are health risks with millions homeless in near—freezing temperatures. nato's secretary—general says the allies are talking about how to increase support for ukraine. jens stoltenberg says kyiv is using up ammunition faster than it's being provided and has called on member countries to increase production. the kremlin says nato demonstrated its hostility towards russia every day. scientists in america say they may have developed a drug for use in a contraceptive pill for men.