welcome to bbc news. i'm lisa—marie misztak. our top stories: one month on from the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria — thousands are still living without proper shelter. translation: having no | electricity is a big problem. the fear is too big. all night long there are after—shocks, it is so hard to sleep. howitzers fire. ukraine's president says his troops will continue defending bakhmut as russian mercenaries complain they don't have enough ammunition. lucky to be alive. almost 350 people rescued from a truck in mexico. the driver's whereabouts are unknown. chanting fury from the parents of hundreds of iranian schoolgirls who've been victims

of suspected poisonings. the legacy of japanese boy band moguljohnny kitagawa is examined in a new bbc documentary, including multiple allegations of sexual abuse. welcome to a place that is astonishing. and the wonders of the natural world. for the first time ever, sir david attenborough looks at britain's wildlife. it's a month since the devastating earthquakes which killed more than 50,000 people across turkey and syria and which left vast numbers without proper shelter. the un estimates that in turkey alone — at least 1.5 million

people who are still within the disaster zone are homeless. the true figure could be even higher. 0ur correspondent anna foster, who's been covering the tragedy from the start, sent this report from hatay province in southern turkey. surviving in the ruins. turkey's south is unrecognisable, ripped apart by the power of the quakes. this new landscape brings new challenges. those with nowhere to live, now sleep where they can. some try to stay close to their damaged houses. songol tells me it's all they have left. the earthquake killed 17 members of herfamily. home is now a tent, but she isn't leaving. translation: having no | electricity is a big problem. the fear, it's too big. all night long there are nonstop aftershocks, it is so hard to sleep.

anger at the slow response has only grown louder. shokrut complained about this building four years ago. eight people died here. translation: “help us, - save us," they were shouting. arms and legs were dangling out but there was nothing we could do. negligence greatly exaggerated this. so what has happened is more and more people havejoined this conversation at the building and they are telling us that some of them who lived here, they knew it was dangerous, they said they had filed a complaint, so what we are doing now is finding out why, finding out what they saw, what they said, and try to pull together some evidence of the conversations they had with the person who owned this building. firstm shokrut showed us proof of his official complaint on the government website. "the columns have cracked, no—one has shown any interest,

"i request your attention before any loss of lives." over the next seven days we try to get the building's owner to tell us why it wasn't made safe. there we go, camera is on. he didn't reply. this part of the country isn't the only place with dangerous buildings. istanbul, turkey's biggest city. a studyjust three months ago said a quake here could kill up to 90,000 people. massoud's apartment block was condemned when it failed its earthquake safety test. he lost family members four weeks ago, now he is losing his home too. translation: a relative called and we all woke up screaming. | he sobs. it's a horrible situation.

from north to south, this is a country in shock. rebuilding will take time, healing will take even longer. people here in turkey will feel the impact for years. anna foster, bbc news, hatay. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, says the country's military commanders want to continue defending the embattled eastern city of bakhmut. it follows reports from a us—based think tank suggesting ukrainian forces there were probably withdrawing. russia is continuing its all—out assault to capture bakhmut while the city's deputy mayor has told the bbc that "not a single building" had remained untouched. and that the city is "almost destroyed". 0ur correspondentjames landale sent this report from kyiv. after more than six months of fighting, much of bakhmut

now lies in ruins, and yet the fighting remains hard. street by street, house by house. for those few civilians who remain in the city and in villages nearby, conditions are terrible, with little access to water, heat or power. translation: i want peace, silence, calmness, _ and just to be at home in our own land. the ukrainian army still holds the centre of bakhmut. they can get in and out from the west, but... this ukrainian soldier says the situation is tense, tanks are shelling the road and bridges are broken. defending this city is coming at a high price in ukrainian lives. translation: | would l like to pay special tribute to the bravery, strength and invincibility of the warriors fighting in donbas. it is one of the toughest battles — painful and challenging.

russian forces continue to bombard the city and their troops continue to make small advances from the north and south, but at great cost. british military officials say some russian soldiers are even being forced to attack with little more than their spades. and while russia's defence ministry shows images of paratroopers supposedly making an assault, russian mercenaries at the heart of the fighting complain they are not getting enough ammunition. translation: what if| they want to set us up, calling us scoundrels, and that's why they don't give us ammunition? they don't give us weapons and they don't let us recruit more people from amongst prisoners? if wagner retreats from bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse. there is not much left to win or lose in this city but ukrainian forces are defending these streets hard and many russian soldiers are dying trying to take them. james landale, bbc news, kyiv.

mexican officials have found over 340 people in an abandoned truck in the state of veracruz. 103 of them were children. the migrants were from guatemala, honduras, el salvador and ecuador. there was no sign of the driver. officials said the trailer was fitted with ventilation fans and air vents. the migrants will be cared for by mexican social services until their status is decided. earlier, i spoke to andrew rudman, the director of the mexico institute at us think tank, the wilson center. i asked him if the migrants had been heading to the united states. i think it is certainly safe to assume that they were coming north to the united states, that's the normal pattern to be coming from central and even south america and heading through mexico into the united states. just how dangerous is that specific journey that they were on, as we understand it, a route that's usually taken?

it's incredibly dangerous and you have to remember these are people who are often are walking on foot or travelling in really crowded conditions, they have often paid smugglers large sums of money, to move, sometimes alone, sometimes with theirfamilies, and then in pretty difficult conditions, in fact, a lot of times stories you hear are not that they weren't found alive but they were deceased when the truck was found, that happened outside san antonio here in the states a few months ago. just how successful are migrants at getting into the united states if indeed that is the destination they were heading for? it's a little bit difficult to answer that question because you know how many people did get in but you don't know how many didn't, but i can say in the last fiscal year, which in the us runs octoberi through september 30, customs and border protection had

about 2.3 million encounters with people attempting to enter the united states. some maybe as many as 40% were people who tried multiple times — it could easily be 2 million people attempting to come in and many of them are surrendering to border patrol because they are trying to claim asylum and get into the united states, so they are not necessarily sneaking in, if you will, but trying to come in legitimately to find a better life here in the states. andrew rudman. let's get some of the day's other news. turkey's president, recep tayyip erdogan, will face a single opponent in may's presidential election after opposition parties agreed on a joint candidate. kemal kilicdaroglu leads the secular republican people's party.

polls are suggesting a tight race. a court in belarus has sentenced an exiled opposition leader, sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, to 15 years injail in her absence. ms tsikhanouskaya fled belarus in 2020, having stood against the country's authoritarian leader, alexander lukashenko, in presidential elections that she's widely thought to have won. france is preparing for widespread strikes on tuesday as workers unions step up their fight against president macron's plans to move the age of retirement to 64. most trains will be brought to a halt and schools will close. air traffic and power generation will also be affected. it's the sixth day of nationwide industrial action since mid—january. a former beauty queen and her partner who fled spain after stealing 45 bottles of fine wine have both been jailed

for four years. the wine was valued at $1.7 million. after a nine—month police hunt across europe, they were arrested at the croatian border, and returned to spain. iran's supreme leader has called a wave of suspected poisonings of schoolgirls in recent months an "unforgivable crime" in a rare departure from blaming the west orforeign influences. more than a thousand girls at dozens of schools across the country have been subjected to apparent gas attacks since november. there's widespread suspicion that the girls are being targeted forjoining the protests for women's rights which have swept iran. bbc persian's parham ghobadi reports. the shocking images of iranian schoolgirls gasping for breath after possible gas attacks. the poisoned students are bussed away in ambulances to packed hospitals. concerned parents run to save their children.

some are barred from entering the school. protests have been held in front of the education ministry, but they were beaten and arrested. many students say they were not allowed to leave school despite the smell of gas. translation: they closed the school doors, saying i it was a sweet smell and nothing to worry about. i fainted in the corridor. school poisonings have been going on for more than three months. here at bbc persian, we've been monitoring school poisonings and verifying videos posted on social media. here are ourfindings. on november 30, schoolgirls in the religious city of qom said they felt sick after inhaling odorous gas. in december, cities in two more provinces reported the same incidents. injanuary, students in two other provinces were poisoned

while schools in qom and other cities were repeatedly attacked in the meantime. in february, two more, including the capital tehran. in march, it expanded exponentially, and now almost the entire country is affected. after months, iran's supreme leaderfinally broke his silence on the issue. translation: they must be condemned to severe i punishments. it's a serious and unforgivable crime. there will be no amnesty for them. many iranians suspect these are revenge attacks on schoolgirls who joined the protests that swept the country for months since september. iranian girls were at the forefront of fighting forfreedom. now they are facing a frightening and invisible adversary. parham ghobadi, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: an early start for one community as hindus around the world gather to celebrate the holi

festival of colours. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym _ then he came outj through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged a1, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change

your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — _ i've never been married before. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: one month on from the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria — thousands are still living without proper shelter. ukraine's president says his troops will continue defending bakhmut — as russian mercenaries complain they don't have enough ammunition. a new bbc documentary examines the legacy of the japanese music executivejohnny kitagawa. kitagawa founded a male—only talent agency which has produced many of japan's biggest boybands. however, multiple allegations of sexual abuse have been made by boys and men who once worked with kitagawa and aspired to make it in the japanese pop market. mobeen azhar reports.

japan has the biggest music market in the world after the us and one company, johnny & associates, has dominated thej—pop orjapanese pop market since being established in the 1960s. its founder, johnny kitagawa, has had rumours surrounding him for decades that he sexually abused boys in his male—only talent agency throughout his 50—year career. few photos of him are known to exist, so we've drawn a picture of him to show you instead. claims of abuse were upheld in a 2003 libel case, but despite this, he continued to work until his death in 2019, and he's still revered injapan. i spoke to a fan on the streets of tokyo. he is god, is god, he is god. why is he god? such a big statement. some of the abuse happened while boys were staying at kitagawa's home.

i spoke to a victim for the bbc�*s this world programme who shared his story for the first time. translation: johnny told me, "go and have a bath." - johnny filled up the bath. i thought, "isn't he kind?" but then he reached for my trousers. i said, "i'll take them off myself." but he replied with silence, and that terrified me. later, several boys told me, "you have to put up with it or you won't succeed." we tried several times to get answers from johnny and associates about the allegations, and struggled to speak to anyone. eventually, i went to their offices, and i was met by one of the marketing team. we already replied to them. please let any further communications be handled through the person who responded to you. i hear what you're saying, but that's not happening. i'm not getting a response at the moment. they've replied to you already.

they've replied to say that they don't want to respond to the allegations. that's all they've said. i'm very sorry. any further conversation should go through them. so i want to speak to someone senior. i want to work out how we can make that happen. to be frank, i don't think, given the seriousness of the allegations, the fact that this relates to dozens of cases of young men... we were asked to stop filming. the company's ceo, keiko fujishima, who is also kitagawa's niece, later replied and said they are working to establish highly transparent organisational structures adapting to the times in compliance with laws, regulations, and strengthen governments with impartial experts. in reporting the story, we contacted the police, entertainment reporters, newspapers, tv networks, and even the public broadcaster. none of them would speak to us. an iron curtain is drawn when you mention the name johnny kitagawa,

and so to this day he is protected injapan, even after his death. mobeen azhar, bbc news. the legendary bbc wildlife presenter — the japanese space agency says japan's first new medium—lift rocket for decades has failed, which was touted as a competitor to us firm spacex. it blasted off from the tanigashima space port, but they then issued a command to destroy the vehicle. the legendary bbc wildlife presenter sir david attenborough is returning to the screens — and for the first time his focus is on the british isles. filmed over a three—year period, it's the first time we've seen sir david on location

in several years. it promises to reveal a previously unseen side of british wildlife. here's our climate editor, justin rowlatt. welcome to a place that is astonishing. nature in these islands can be extraordinary. it rivals anything i've seen elsewhere. it's not far. it's home. at 96 years old, sir david attenborough is back on location, to bring you the british isles as you have never seen them before. scenes like this. orca killer whales hunting a baby seal off the coast of scotland. their strategy is one of surprise. these programmes cost the same as a major international wildlife series, and the sequences they capture are as spectacular as anything you could see anywhere on earth. the orca takes its catch out into open water, and there shows younger members

of the pod how to drown it. i think very few people realise that we are actually globally important for wildlife. you know, we have more ancient oak trees in england than the whole of europe. we've got 50% of the world's common bluebells, a quarter of europe's badges, most of the world's chalk strings. the series shows animal behaviours that have never been filmed before, like our biggest bird of prey, white—tailed eagles, hunting barnacle geese in flight. the goose is so heavy, the young eagle has to struggle to hold on. but our wildlife is at risk. 60% of our flying insects have vanished in the last 20 years. 97% of our wildflower meadows since the second world war. wild salmon could be extinct in the british isles within two decades, the series warns. it prompts an urgent call to action from sir david.

britain as a whole is one of the most nature—depleted countries in the world. never has there been a more important time to invest in our own wildlife, to try and set an example for the rest of the world and restore our once wild isles forfuture generations. so what can be done? we can make choices ourselves about what we buy, how we travel, what we eat. we can also put pressure on our politicians at local and national level, and force them to really show the leadership that's required to see big—scale visionary changes in how we manage the environment. the message is clear — it's up to us all to save the fragile and beautiful ecosystems of our island nation. justin rowlatt, bbc news. the much—anticipated hindu

celebration of holi kicks off around the world on wednesday, with communities gathering to celebrate colours, love and the start of spring over two days of events. but over in the indian subcontinent where it originated, people are already getting going, as stephanie prentice reports. an early start to the holi festival of colours, heralding the spring into spring in india and nepal and, with it, the triumph of good over evil. the rituals of throwing powdered paints as well as flower petals are replicated at events in major cities worldwide, but also sometimes the tourists head to the source, and nepal is a favourite. this morning, we have been walking around, enjoying the colours, enjoying the pictures, enjoying all the people. i'm feeling absolutely blessed to be here. it'sjust wonderful. the children,

the people, everything. in the holy town of vrindavan in northern india, widows broke with traditions which banned them from joining celebrations and wearing bright colours, joining in with tourists to dance, sing and celebrate. translation: i am feeling great today. j there are no powdered colours here today but we are playing with flower petals. this place is jampacked, and everyone has come here to experience happiness. happiness that's about to be seen around the world — along with a whole lot of paint. stephanie prentice, bbc news. more than 100,000 candles have been lit at a temple in central thailand to mark one of the holiest days on the buddhist calendar. it was the first time in two years the event to commemorate makha bucha day has fully opened for thousands of visitors. the ceremony has been performed for more than 2,500 years but, because of the pandemic, was held online for the past two years.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lmmisztak. hello there. the weather on thursday into friday could be very interesting. more on that later on. but we're going to find a bit more snow across more of the country in the next few days. so far, most of it has been falling across northern scotland and the snow is continuing to pile up here. cold start to tuesday, icy conditions as well. temperatures not quite so low for the south where we've got more cloud. we are continuing to see mostly rain but there could be a little bit of sleet and snow in there as well. it does tend to peter out a little bit more through the day. there will be a few wintry showers though developing further north as you continue northwards. we are seeing some sunshine, that snow continuing to push into northern scotland on a chilly wind all the way from the arctic. wherever you are, whether you've got the sunshine in the north or the cloud in the south, it's going to be a cold day, temperatures about

4, 5 degrees. we are seeing this weather front sliding slowly in from the atlantic and those fronts really mark this battleground between the milder atlantic air that stays just to the south of the uk, and the colder arctic air that's really going to be more dominant. and overnight tuesday night, those temperatures will fall away very quickly, where we have the clearer skies and over the snowfields in scotland it could be —10. widespread frost to start the day on wednesday. and maybe some more snow falling across southern parts of england and south wales, a couple of centimetres in places. again, it may die out, but we will see some wetter, windy weather in the southwest later. more snow over the moors. northern scotland, northern ireland seeing fewer showers, probably more sunshine on wednesday. but it's going to be another cold day after that frosty start. then things get very interesting through thursday and perhaps into friday as well. the risk of this disruptive snow is moving further north. there could be some quite heavy falls of snow in places as well. the reason for all that is this

area of low pressure. that's going to be deepening and it's going to push these weather fronts further north into that colder air. any snow that does fall across some southern parts of england and wales should turn back to rain as it gets milder here, a bit windier too, but we've got that wedge of colder air further north so we're going to find a longer spell of snow, particularly falling across northern ireland and northern parts of england. and we will see that snow moving its way northwards eventually into parts of scotland. it's over the hills of scotland and the northern pennines, we could get some heavy falls of snow, widely in that area though, 5—10cm.

this is bbc news. the headlines. one month on from the devastating earthquakes in turkey and syria, which killed more than 50,000 people across the region, aid agencies say at least 1.5 million people within the disaster zone are still homeless or living without power. ukraine's president zelensky has said he has instructed his military commanders to find the forces to boost the defence of the eastern city of bakhmut. russian troops, backed by mercenaries from the wagner group, have so far failed to drive out the ukrainian forces. mexican officials say they've found over 340 people in an abandoned truck trailer in the state of veracruz. police says the potential migrants from guatemala, honduras, el salvador and ecuador are lucky

to be alive. the driver's whereabouts are unknown.