this is bbc news. the headlines: russian president vladimir putin has told his chinese counterpart, xijinping, that he's studied in detail his proposals for ending the war in ukraine. mr putin was speaking at the beginning of president xi's first visit to moscow since the invasion began last year. but the us has warned the proposals could be a delaying tactic. the united nations has released a major new report on climate change — dubbed a "survival guide for humanity". climate experts say there's a "closing window of opportunity" to build a sustainable future — involving cuts to fossil fuels and maximising the use of clean energy and technology. police in france have fired tear gas at protesters marching against the government's planned pension reform, as demonstrations grow

across the country. earlier, emmanuel macron�*s government narrowly survived a vote of no—confidence over the plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. now on bbc news, click. this week, we're going flat out with a formula 1 team that's hoping to stay ahead of the pack. spencer's on a building site to put up a house, although it looks like he has got away without doing any actual work. there has to be some banging at some point? is there some banging at some point? there's got to be some banging doesn't there? didn't even get my hands dirty.

we also look into a crypto investment scam that seems to be evading the authorities. and paul visits a factory, but where are all the drivers? completely happy with the fact that there is a very large, very heavy piece of equipment driving around autonomously. the cars can go from 0 to 100 in four seconds. they are made of 80,000 parts. the brakes can hit 1000 degrees. this is formula 1. this year's season is getting under way and it is jam packed full of tech, and it's not just the cars. yeah, it's all about the data these days. they collect as much of it as they can from on and off the track to help make decisions which could change the results, and alistair keane has been given exclusive access to the alpine f1 team to find out how they race.

being behind the wheel of a formula 1 car is a privilege. driving the fastest car in the world, the adrenaline rush is so high. it's a privilege because there are more than 1000 people working on our team. i'm the guy that is at the axis. the feeling of speed and the g—force you feel at the corners, due to the speed you are carrying, it is so satisfying. what do you make of the car that has been unveiled behind us? i think it looks beautiful. in terms of evolution, i am more interested in the changes and tweaks which have been done on that car compared to last year's. the front wing, the back of the car, which the engineers have changed to improve the performance, so we need

to get it to the track. every single team though is doing the same thing, and they all try to push their cars and technology and everything. does it reallyjust level the playing field, or can you get a competitive edge? you can get a competitive edge as long as you always question yourself. technology evolves very quickly, it's a very fast moving world, and in formula 1, if you look at the cars from twenty years ago, ten years ago, five years ago, it's continuous progress. hi, how is it going? good morning. thanks for having us here. here we are in what we call the design office, this is where all the engineers are working together to achieve maximum performance of these beautiful objects, these formula 1 cars. lots of what is on people's screens here is top—secret, but a lot of it is about data. yeah, absolutely.

we are a highly data driven kind of business because of regulation. those rules of f1 guide everything the teams are doing in their factories, from limiting how much testing the cars are put through to capping the money they can spend. that's why the team here are working with microsoft to gather analytics and make sure every penny is spent wisely. every time the driver is behind the wheel we collect millions and millions of data points, and the engineers take that information, and improve that information and translate it into the best car the next race. obviously that then comes to the factory where we plan all of that, we order it, manufacture it, build it and test it. gathering all this information is also about speed. the team can respond to what is happening on the track by making adjustments, manufacturing new parts and getting them shipped around the world in time for the next race, which sometimes is as soon

as the next weekend. a few years ago we had to wait until a certain time to access the data after a session or after the competition to transform the data into information. now it is almost real—time, the computation happens at the same time that we ingest the data, and that means that the results are immediately available. we are always, constantly trying to improve, and obviously the differences are getting smaller and smaller every time, and i think that actually makes it more difficult because we have to be more creative in improvements in the ways we are going to be better. but it's notjust data from races being looked at. we have been given rare access to the simulator where esteban 0con is doing laps in anticipation of his next race. this is a closely guarded secret, with each team designing their own

versions with this tech. how important it is, all the background stuff that happens away from the track? it's basically the same work we would do if we were testing on the track, so we have a replica of the model we have on the track itself, and we are working to prepare ourselves the best to arrive on site and be completely ready. trusting the data is a big issue. how much do you trust what you are getting? i don't trust generally very easily, so i do need some sort of proof. i will say in my sport, i do trust the team 100% in the tools they are using and what they bring to the track. whenever they bring something new to the car, my car is going faster, gaining a tenth, two tenths, and that's when you can be confident you will always see that progress. do you ever worry the data and the technology is taking away from the driving and the sport of formula 1? not at all. no, because we are completely involved, we use data as well.

time moves forward, the cars are getting more and more technology. this is formula 1, the peak of what you can do, the fastest machines on the planet. astronauts in space would have thousands of data as well, and for us it's the same thing but on the ground. hey, come on in. welcome to my new home. it's around 2100 square feet and it's packed full of curves and contortions. this place has such an unusual, futuristic feel about it. i mean, there's not a straight wall in the place. you may find yourself wondering how do you make such curvy walls? well, if you look at them a bit closer, you might be able work out the answer.

this is so printing at scale. it's a largely automated method of manufacturing houses and it's thanks to a fleet of giant 3d printers. they squirt out a layer of material and then they squirt out another, and another, and another. icon has partnered up with one of the biggest housebuilders in america to deliver 100 homes here in georgetown, texas. you're connor? i'm connor. spencer, right? nice to meet you. welcome to the job site of the future. one thing i notice is i guess that's the only building noise there is? correct. there's got to be some banging at some point. is there some banging at some point? there has to be banging, hasn't there? no banging. this is it, man. we're not hiding anything. now, the walls aren'tjust thin lines of concrete. there are multiple layers forming concrete columns

to add rigidity. reinforced by steel, they are printed using a proprietary material, a cement—like substance that is air—tight while also providing increased insulation. i love the theme they have going on with their naming system. so it's not concrete, it's... lavacrete. the name of the system that mixes it is called...? magma. and the name of the machine that prints it is...? the printer is vulcan. 0k. because? because we are liquefying rock, right? we've got to mix it, liquefy it and harden it. but how easy is it to both be creative and cost efficient? the reason we exist is to be faster, cheaper, more resilient. the very awesome thing about 3d printing is it allows for you to do that at scale, so we're talking about delivering tens to hundreds of homes that can all be different in design and delivered simultaneously because the faster you can produce houses, the less you have to staff those worksites and job sites,

and then you also have all the design freedom and flexibility that you can possibly imagine, plus you get a more resilient build material. it's early days at the moment so the actual speed at which houses materialise will vary, but at the wharfranch site, some of the earlier houses are ready to be roofed. you have your primary bedroom here. master bedroom. right. being british, can i show you the most exciting thing about the american home? i'm guessing this is the walk—in wardrobe, the walk—in closet, right? this is the walk—in closet! i have never owned a walk—in closet. no? no, no, no. i'd be in here all day. welcome to america, not only america, but texas, right? everything is bigger. what's really different about 3d printing is all the permanent fixtures can be laid down at the same time. this includes things like the kitchen island and the holes for plumbing and electrics.

and here's another strange thing. although some of the walls will be covered with tiles and the like, most of them will retain this rather unusual beaded texture. we are really proud of our beads. we are going to let them stand out and speak loudly, but we want to accentuate them with some accents. just to be clear, you are not going to render this or cover this pattern? this will be part of what the residents see? correct. the show home we started in is called house zero, and that was designed by a different architecture firm. it's more of a show home of what could be possible in the future. it's not for sale, which is a crying shame, because it's definitely my kind of place. and icon actually has ambitions that transcend these earthly bonds. nasa has awarded the company $57 million to develop 3d printers for the moon. the next giant leaps for humankind will probably be

taken from some kind of moon base which will most likely be not built from materials which we send up from earth. after all, the moon is not made of cheese, you know. the technology that will be required to rebuild the moon base with 3d printing is actually going to be a completely different form factor. it has to be, because the challenges of building there. so, you are probably looking at something that is a robotic arm that gathers local materials and then effectively melts them into place so you can continue to build on top of them. homes of the future have been ten to the dollar through the years, but actually, this is a completely new type of building technique which really could make a difference to the look and feel of our living spaces. actually, my new favourite thing about how we're going to be living in the future is how we will fill our baths.

there is no tap in that tub. instead, you fill it from the ceiling. actually, i have been reassured that in the future they will still have taps. time for a look at this week's tech news. first up, 0pen ai has released gpt�*i — the latest version of its hugely popular artificial intelligence engine which powers chat bot, chat gpt. the new model is being used to supercharge microsoft's bing search engine as well as language learning app duolingo. meta, which owns facebook, instagram and whatsapp, has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs. it will be the second wave of mass redundancies from the techgiant which laid off 11,000 employees last november. 128,000 jobs in the tech sector have gone, so that really highlightsjust how big and how

deep these cuts are. now, remember last week when we went behind the scenes of the graphics team at avatar: the way of water? james cameron's much anticipated sequel has just won the academy award for best visual effects at the 2023 0scars. itv studios has teamed up with reality+ to launch a series of quests and mini games, taking fans of the iconic thunderbirds tv show into the metaverse. the special event will run for two weeks and give players the opportunity to join forces with their favourite thunderbird characters. it will let them interact in and around international rescue hq, tracy island. crypto trading is becoming increasingly popular, often promising high rewards in short periods of time but recently the crypto market has been shaken by a flurry of bad news

and a growing number of scams. i invested in iearn bot for1 month. you could see every day how much dollars your app was creating, so it looked quite professional until at some point they were announcing maintenance. roxana, not her real name, is from romania. she lost hundreds of euros when she invested in the crypto trading app iearn bot. she asked me not to reveal her identity as she feels her professional reputation may be harmed. some other people started to say i cannot withdraw and what was happening. i made the request and the moneyjust disappeared. so the portfolio became zero but i was never credited in my wallet with any money. in romania, dozens of high—profile figuresjoined

the app as it was sponsored by a well—known it expert who invested his own money in it. the fact that in between us and the company there was a reputable teacher made it we did not check too much, we didn't doubt too much. iearn bot presents itself as a us—based company with excellent credentials, but when we checked some basic information on their website, a few red flags come up. the man they claim is the company's founder told us he had never heard of them. iearn bot claims they are strategic partners with mit and companies like huawei and qualcomm but they, too, told us they do not know them. what makes iearn bot so interesting is the scale of the operation. the number of investors is quite high. for example, in indonesia, they mention that only in this country

there are more than 800,000 investors. silvia tabusca is an organised crime expert in romania and has investigated iearn bot and collected victims complaints. the information she gathered was handed over to the fbi. when they have enough investors and enough money, invested in a specific country, they close that country. they do not allow that country to withdraw money and they open in other countries at a global level. the way this group of persons acted, it is closer to a ponzi scheme and not to a real business. in a ponzi scheme, investors are pushed to recruit more people to join investment plan. the new recruits�* money pays for the dividends of the people at the top but went to many investors want to take their profits out, the scheme collapses. we have reached out for a comment to iearn bot

but they have not engaged with us. in some countries, people still trust the app. translation: they had - the registration in the us that showed they are legit and they still think they are. they were paying. andreas is a colombian investor and local organiser for iearn bot. he and his fellow mentors have held many events, like this one, to recruit more people. now, with withdrawals being stopped since december, he says some have received threats. translation: people took loans to invest and used money - from other sources and many were affected. as the leaders did not have answers, people started to get angry. with the help of an analyst unless we managed to identify one crypto wallet that received payments from around 13,000 potential victims for a profit of almost $1.3 million in less than a year. but we could not identify the people behind this account.

iearn bot seems to be well organised and quite professional. the question is in cases like this, how can those responsible be identified and held to account? one of their challenges is to identify and attribute to who the illicit actor is, where the value is going on being able to take investigative steps and law enforcement action. what advice would you give to people looking into this sort of investment? knowledge, doing due diligence before the investment process is critical. it is like anything else, if it sounds too good to be true it often times is. the fbi has told us they cannot confirm or deny they have opened an investigation into iearn bot. they set up a specialist unit to investigate among other things this sort of scheme but they insist the best way to defeat scammers

is prevention. despite all the talk, self—driving cars still are not quite here yet. i mean, for good reason, they are the hardest autonomous vehicles to get right because they have to navigate the case of the open road which has drivers like me on it! you said it! but there are many that can drive themselves in more controlled situations and they are often used in the logistics industry so back in austin, texas, paul carter has been to meet a company bringing the humble fork lift up to date. yes, the humble forklift has been the backbone of global industry for over 100 years. now, they are getting a 21st—century makeover. here at fox robotics in austin, texas, they have created what they call the world s

first intelligent forklift. beyond being just self—driving, it can unload and receive packages, completely autonomously. so we start with a standard counterbalance stand—up forklift. we add sensors for both perception, being able to understand the world around the forklift, as well as safety, so our primary sensors are we have one camera right here between the forks and it is both a depth camera as well as a regular camera that helps with the pallet detector so it can determine — is that a pallet? what type of pallet? what direction is it? we have three micro scanners lidar, so there are two forward and one, if the walk all the way around, one back. that is steerward, and that pretty much gives a 360 degrees view on a plane about that far off the floor. so this is a safety raided

programable controller and safety rated output. that is making decisions and working out where to go and what to do? yes. the robot can unload 25 pallets in an hour but there are limitations. it is really easy to build a robot that works once but to build one that works every single time, day in day out, that is something that matters a lot to us. figuring out how to both meet the workflow needs that customers have and maintain a perfect safety record and be compliant with all required standards is a real challenge for introducing any kind of new autonomous system into a workplace. being around them when they work is slightly unnerving at first. it is quite strange how quickly

you get used to the fact that this is just driving around by itself. i'm already completely happy with the fact there is a very large, very heavy piece of equipment, driving around autonomously. what about the impact on jobs? 0ne complaint from our customers is that finding labour for warehouses is just so hard these days. they need to hire more and more people and most of these warehouses are outside of major population centres, so by augmenting the people that work in the warehouses with autonomous forklifts,

you can get more done with less to stay competitive. and get the job done. as the world changes and automation becomes more common, it is clear that innovation and industry face some conflicting times ahead. but in the brave new world, your next parcel delivery may have been on part of its journey, thanks to one of these. and we will have more from texas in the coming weeks. that is it for now. thank you for watching. see you soon. bye— bye. hello. well, it's been a pretty grey and damp start to the new working week. many of us have already seen

some outbreaks of rain. these are the rather moody skies that we had during the day in argyll and bute. now, so far this month, we've already seen more rainfall than average in a number of places. aldergrove is west of belfast and here we've had about one and a half times as much rain as we see in an average march, but there is more rain on the cards as well. you see, the satellite picture shows the band of rain that we had on monday. but out in the atlantic, we've got several more areas of rain bearing cloud set to move in. and so this week we are going to see rainfall totals really pile up, particularly across western areas. you can see the largest totals over our western hills, whereas in the east you get something of a shelter effect. so the rain won't be quite as heavy for those eastern areas. now, over the next few hours, we do have some fairly heavy bursts of rain to come through and there'll be some

low cloud around a bit of mist and fog around our western coast and hills. but it's a mild start to the day tuesday, temperatures nine or ten degrees, rain start the day across eastern england, probably north—east scotland. that clears away what will follow is a day of bright spells, a bit of sunshine and some heavy showers and thunderstorms. we then see another area of rain move into northern ireland as we go through the course of the afternoon. now it's going to be another mild day, temperatures 1a, 15 degrees celsius. as we go from tuesday into wednesday, actually the isobars pinch together. and so it's going to be a windier day on wednesday. again, overnight rain tending to clear through a day of sunshine and heavy thundery showers. this time, some of the showers could even have some hail mixed in. some of the showers in the west may merge together to give some longer spells of rain. it's going to be blustery gusts of wind, 40, even 50—odd miles an hour in places. but it is still, however, pretty mild with temperatures again reaching around 1a degrees in the mildest spots. for thursday we're looking at more rain as well. still quite a blustery day, the potentialfor some heavier rain to work in perhaps to parts of south—east england during the day. but away from that, the showers

could merge together again to give some longer spells of rain at times. temperatures still up to about 1k degrees. and really through friday and the weekend, there's no change in the weather pattern. it stays unsettled with more rain at times. that's the latest.

this is bbc news. i'm lisa—marie misztak. our top stories: china's president extends a hand and a peace plan to russia's vladimir putin in the pair's first meeting since the invasion of ukraine. recent events have accelerated russia's dependency on china. putin and xi might speak about mutually beneficial cooperation, but beijing looks increasingly like the senior partner. the united nations releases a major new report on climate change — dubbed a "survival guide for humanity". the key message says the un cheapis the key message says the un cheap is that all is not quite yet lost. police in france

fire tear gas at protesters marching against the government's planned pension