96 mph on the ether 96 mph on the other side of the even 96 mph on the other side of the channel, ferries battling winds gusting up to 82 mph. things will get a bit calmer overnight at the moment, still some winds gusting into the 50s for wales and south—west england, and there will be plenty of showers around, particularly for the northern half of the uk the dip overnight temperatures similar to recent nights. tomorrow, what's left of that storm is working out into the north sea and giving us a day of showers. the showers in scotland and north—west england will probably merge together to make longer spells of rain, some heavy with heel and thunder, but elsewhere, i think xiao is a bit more hit and miss in nature it up a bit on the cool side but not too badly no consumption. for friday, low pressure come off the atlantic, bringing more wet to parts of wales and england. further north, again, a showery type of day and some of those showers quite

prolonged and heavy and thundery. temperatures still below average for april but it shouldn't feel bad in the sunshine. a big change this weekend and next week, as south—westerly winds start to move in and high pressure moves in, bring a long spell of settled weather and next week, for the first time this year, we should see temperatures hit the low 20s. thanks, chris. that's it. there's more analysis of the day's main stories on newsnight with kirsty wark, just getting under way over on bbc two. but the news continues here on bbc one, as wejoin our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are. have a very good night.

on northern ireland, celebrating 25 years of the good friday agreeent, and promising $6 billion of us investment if the dup gets back to power—sharing. but is a return to stormont any closer following the visit? the president has had his say and

left time bit without any return to power sharing how long can the status go on for? nick's at stormont. decision time is looming for the democratic unionists with signs of division in the ranks. we'll bejoined by the dup and the alliance parties. also tonight... president zelensky has called on world leaders to respond to a horrific, as yet unverified, video of a russian soldier beheading a ukrainian counterpart. we'll be getting reaction from a nobel peace prize winning war crimes investigator. and a suspected billion dollar scam. must have got at least half a dozen calls from half a dozen individuals in the space of about two hours, my phone kept on blowing up. begging me basically to put in more money. a year—long bbc investigation has unmasked the men believed to be behind a vast international scam network. good evening.

in the 25 years since the good friday agreement, a roll call of us presidents has visited northern ireland, and todayjoe biden — no stranger to the island — visited forjust a few hours before heading south for three days. he tried to tempt the dup, who have boycotted the assembly and the executive for more than a year, to return to power sharing, with the promise of tripling of us investment in northern ireland to $6 billion. if not a promise, then a prediction. the dup say they will not return to stormont until rishi sunak takes steps to remove the remaining brexit trade barriers between northern ireland and great britain, and today, in typically blunt fashion, sammy wilson, the dup whip, said, "we will not be bought". nick is in belfast. welcome to a rainy and windy stormont. today of course was all about restoring power—sharing here and that means, as you said,

persuading the democratic unionist to go back into power. there were some concerns even among some nationalists that we could have witnessed a joe biden gaffe, he is of course famously proud of his irish american roots but no gas and even some unionists are saying they rather liked his balanced speech. today potentially could be quite significant. a city transformed after a generation of relative peace. new businesses, new attractions, luring tourists to belfast. but identities still holding firm. and the legacy of conflict ever present. a complex mix for a proudly irish american president who reached out to unionists by paying tribute

to the ulster scots ancestors in the us. and then, a plea... as a friend, i hope it's not too presumptuous of me to say that i believe democratic institutions established in the good friday agreement remain critical to the future of northern ireland. it's a decision for you to make, not for me to make. and signs that the president had struck a chord with unionists. i think that what we heard today in his speech was more balanced. he recognised and acknowledged the contribution that the ulster scots had made to the foundation and building of the united states of america. he referenced his own british ancestry. so i think today he was seeking to rebalance some of the comments that had been made previously. i am sure we will hear a lot about his irish ancestry when he goes south of the border but i think he recognised that in northern ireland there are many who feel that perhaps some of his remarks in the past have not

been as fair and balanced as they could have been. public warmth for sinn fein, who endorsed the president's political message. the people here want locally elected politicians making decisions that - impact on their lives and fighting back against tory austerity, - tory ministers in london i who care less for the needs of the people here. that's what i'm focused on. this is the only show in town. stormont power—sharing _ is where all the parties need to be. i am committed to that and even today, on this special moment, i this special occasion, - i think everybody rightly calls on the dup to join the rest of us and actually get - down to making it work. some political movement, on a bit of a low—key day. in contrast to the razzmatazz of the first presidential visit by bill clinton in 1995, who stopped his motorcade on the falls road to greet gerry adams. that dramatic encounter here in republican west belfast electrified the start of that

historic visit and it showed the great lengths the white house went to to tailor each of bill clinton's's meetings with the party leaders to their own political needs. i remember talking to the late david trimble, an initial clinton sceptic, who told me of his great excitement after being given a lift in the presidential limo. all a rather different feel to today, asjoe biden treads carefully at a sensitive political time. the editor of northern ireland's main unionist paper thought biden�*s approach had been positive but ben lowry sees a potential split in the dup. i think that there are senior people in the dup who have always been keen to go back. not because they love stormont but because i think they realise the options are poor for unionists and i think that there are others who are not so keen to go back and i think there is quite a big battle going and i really wonder whether one way out of this

in the medium term is some sort of realignment within in other words, there are two responses. pragmatism to the things that are going against unionism and standing up and saying we can't agree to this, and that is maybe where the divide is at the moment, you see that divide within the dup. an academic has a clear view. for the dup, devolution is the only show in town. there is no option. the dup will go back to the devolved institutions. it's not a matter of if, it is when. but for the population here, we are exasperated. when we are treading water, we are going backwards so what we're saying to the dup is we know you are going back, could you please go back as soon as possible? an imposing reminder of a divided past. a new era now and decision time for unionists on whether to re—establish inclusive government within these ancient walls.

it was interesting what they were saying, but is power—sharing going to happen? saying, but is power-sharing going to ha en? ., saying, but is power-sharing going to hauen? . , , saying, but is power-sharing going to ha en? . , , ., saying, but is power-sharing going to hauen? . , , ., ,, to happen? there are signs that sir jeffrey donaldson _ to happen? there are signs that sir jeffrey donaldson is _ to happen? there are signs that sir jeffrey donaldson is prepared - to happen? there are signs that sir jeffrey donaldson is prepared to . jeffrey donaldson is prepared to resume power—sharing but not at any price. you heard his measured tone today and his fundamental view really is that the best way to secure northern ireland's place within the union is to govern northern ireland in a stable weight and that means sharing power with sinn fein even if it means a sinn fein first minister —— stable way. but he has to get movement from the uk government. he said today he needs legislation at westminster to guarantee a northern ireland's place within the uk's internal market and crucially not talking about renegotiating the windsor framework with the eu put out the government thatis with the eu put out the government that is doable, although they are not expecting anything any time soon. it potentially meansjeffrey donaldson has a very big decision to make. is he willing to face down those in his party who are saying

no, and as you said, what ben lowry is talking about, significant voices in unionism and a realignment over unionism and jeffrey donaldson knows all about that because he started his career in the rival ulster unionist party and walked out over the good friday agreement. thank ou. i'm joined now by eoin tennyson for the alliance party and emma little—pengelly from the dup. good evening to you both. firstly, eoin tennyson, there is ostensibly a nothing you can do to get stormont back up and running if the dup will not play ball. back up and running if the dup will not play ball-— not play ball. therein lies the fundamental _ not play ball. therein lies the fundamental problem. - not play ball. therein lies the fundamental problem. we . not play ball. therein lies the l fundamental problem. we have not play ball. therein lies the - fundamental problem. we have seen over the lifetime of the assembly and executive that the institutions have been down and held around some 40% of the time and that is because people are abusing the structures of the new friday agreement four but of little purposes. that's precisely why we have been calling on the uk

government and the irish government and the other parties to convene a review of the institutions to ensure that we end this cycle of politics and ensure no singer parties and all the people of northern ireland to ransom. the dup will no doubt claim they are exercising leverage over negotiation between the eu and uk and that is clearly not true. what they are doing is punishing the most vulnerable people in northern ireland ponder we have already seen services being cut but we have seen rural community transport and the threat and receipts holiday hunger payments being scrapped. that's not placing pressure on the prime minister or the european commission, it's hurting people in northern ireland i think it's time we all accept that the negotiations are over and got back to work. emma little-pengelly. _ over and got back to work. emma little-pengelly, some _ over and got back to work. emma little-pengelly, some people - over and got back to work. emma little-pengelly, some people will little—pengelly, some people will say this is more to do with the dup having to play second fiddle as deputy prime minister to michelle o'neill rather than fighting tooth and nail over windsor agreement. absolutely not. at the very core of

the belfast agreement, the good friday— the belfast agreement, the good friday agreement, is cross community consensus _ friday agreement, is cross community consensus and that means that both nationalists and unionists must buy into an _ nationalists and unionists must buy into an consent to be part of the government of northern ireland. what has happened in the last number of years— has happened in the last number of years is— has happened in the last number of years is contempt have been shown to the concerns _ years is contempt have been shown to the concerns of unionism, particularly when the protocol which is fractured the internal market of the uk _ is fractured the internal market of the uk despite the belfast good friday— the uk despite the belfast good friday agreement promising absolutely, in paragraph one of anne>

needing to revisit the mechanisms on the cross committee consensus and in fact bertie ahern, one of the key architects of the good friday agreement, also said 25 years on that it was time to look again perhaps because people like the alliance party get carved out about. look again at what? the core party of the _ look again at what? the core party of the good — look again at what? the core party of the good friday agreement? which is communities come together on a cross— is communities come together on a cross community basis. the only way the institutions can work in northern— the institutions can work in northern ireland is in unionism and nationalism — northern ireland is in unionism and nationalism consent to go into government together and that must mean _ government together and that must mean the _ government together and that must mean the consent of both and each must _ mean the consent of both and each must he _ mean the consent of both and each must be taken into account. that has not happened, it is what has fractured _ not happened, it is what has fractured and damaged the institutions. we now have an opportunity to address those of course — opportunity to address those of course we want to get the institutions back quite frankly, the alliance _ institutions back quite frankly, the alliance party are absolutely wrong here but— alliance party are absolutely wrong here but ignoring and trying to get around _ here but ignoring and trying to get around that consensus, by excluding unionists— around that consensus, by excluding unionists from that process, ignoring _ unionists from that process, ignoring them, trying to move on without— ignoring them, trying to move on without unionism is not the way... let me _ without unionism is not the way... let me put— without unionism is not the way... let me put that... they talk over each other

sorry to interrupt, i want to pick up sorry to interrupt, i want to pick up eoin tennyson on that, are you trying to ignore unionism? absolutely not. that is completely ludicrous assertion and i take exception to it. or not be lectured by emma little—pengelly or anyone in the dup equality or consensus when emma's vote in the assembly comes more than mine on key issues and that a fundamental inequality at the core of the institutions. when the good friday agreement was signed 25 years ago we had a majority minority situation and very few people is designated as other, that as utterly changed and just as society evolves and changes so should the structures of the agreement. let and changes so should the structures of the agreement.— of the agreement. let me put that to emma little-pengelly, _ of the agreement. let me put that to emma little-pengelly, the _ of the agreement. let me put that to| emma little-pengelly, the structures emma little—pengelly, the structures need to change, it is 25 years, you have a whole new generation. eoin tennyson was not even born when the agreement was signed and sealed. there is a new generation, with new preoccupations and alliances. let’s

preoccupations and alliances. let's listen to those _ preoccupations and alliances. let's listen to those voices, _ preoccupations and alliances. let's listen to those voices, of _ preoccupations and alliances. let's listen to those voices, of course we must, _ listen to those voices, of course we nrust, but _ listen to those voices, of course we must, but you don't do that by excluding _ must, but you don't do that by excluding unionism. that is exactly what _ excluding unionism. that is exactly what the _ excluding unionism. that is exactly what the alliance party is suggesting. we have to find a way through— suggesting. we have to find a way through this, we have to find by talking — through this, we have to find by talking together, finding a way through— talking together, finding a way through by consensus. the prime minister— through by consensus. the prime minister knows what needs to be done, _ minister knows what needs to be done, we — minister knows what needs to be done, we want the institutions to work, _ done, we want the institutions to work. of— done, we want the institutions to work, of course we do put that we want _ work, of course we do put that we want northern ireland to work, we want _ want northern ireland to work, we want to— want northern ireland to work, we want to build a brighter future for all our— want to build a brighter future for all our young people and can only do so with— all our young people and can only do so with strong foundations and that can only— so with strong foundations and that can only he — so with strong foundations and that can only be the case if there is full inclusion. that includes understanding and addressing the deep concerns of unionism, not a single _ deep concerns of unionism, not a single elected unionist representative support of the protocol. this was forced upon us a pond _ protocol. this was forced upon us a pond that— protocol. this was forced upon us a pond that caused the fractures within— pond that caused the fractures within northern ireland and it caused — within northern ireland and it caused the collapse of the institutions. there is a road map, a way back, _ institutions. there is a road map, a way back, the — institutions. there is a road map, a way back, the prime is the knows what _ way back, the prime is the knows what he _ way back, the prime is the knows what he needs to do to restore a northern— what he needs to do to restore a northern ireland public place as part of— northern ireland public place as part of our united kingdom. the promise — part of our united kingdom. the promise of— part of our united kingdom. the promise of the good friday agreement. and likewise, the alliance — agreement. and likewise, the alliance by the cannot ignore the

core principle of that agreement which _ core principle of that agreement which is — core principle of that agreement which is cross community consensus. they_ which is cross community consensus. they talk_ which is cross community consensus. they talk over each other let me stick with you for a minute. you will have heard what nick said, and also what the editor of the belfast newsletter was saying. is it possible that a way forward in this is a realignment in unionists? i believe every unionist has the same _ i believe every unionist has the same objective at heart, to ensure the foundations are on the firmest foundation. that means northern iretand's— foundation. that means northern ireland's place must be restored fully in— ireland's place must be restored fully in the united kingdom. that is a promise, — fully in the united kingdom. that is a promise, in paragraph one of annex a promise, in paragraph one of annex a in the _ a promise, in paragraph one of annex a in the belfast agreement, it must move _ a in the belfast agreement, it must move forward with cross community consensus, — move forward with cross community consensus, the absolute core of the agreement — consensus, the absolute core of the agreement. that people like eoin and the alliance party are celebrating this weekend. let's stick to those core principles. you cannot ignore the deep — core principles. you cannot ignore the deep and genuine concerns of significant — the deep and genuine concerns of significant community of northern tretand _ significant community of northern ireland. we know from our history

that does— ireland. we know from our history that does not work. we are not being unreasonable, we are asking for that to he _ unreasonable, we are asking for that to be taken— unreasonable, we are asking for that to be taken into account and the promises — to be taken into account and the promises made to be fulfilled. the prime _ promises made to be fulfilled. the prime minister knows what you need to do _ prime minister knows what you need to do this— prime minister knows what you need to do this is— prime minister knows what you need to do. this is the internal manner for the _ to do. this is the internal manner for the united kingdom. to do. this is the internal manner forthe united kingdom. if we restore — forthe united kingdom. if we restore the institutions, of course which _ restore the institutions, of course which is _ restore the institutions, of course which is what we want to do. thank you very much. the brutalities and inhumanities of the war in ukraine seem almost commonplace now, so numerous are they. so far, an arrest warrant has been issued against vladimir putin for overseeing the unlawful deportation of ukrainian children. daily videos purporting to show horrors of war are posted online — some of them unverifiable. today a particularly shocking one emerged, first on the telegram app, then on twitter, which appears to have been filmed on a mobile phone, possibly during the summer months. it apparently shows a ukrainian soldier being beheaded with a knife by a russian serviceman. the kremlin said the video was awful, but its authenticity had to be checked.

ukraine's sbu security service said it was investigating a war crime. president zelensky called on world leaders to respond. our correspondent in kviv is hugo bachega. well, kirsty, it's an extremely graphic video. it shows what appears to be a russian soldier — we believe this man is russian because of a white armband that he's wearing that's associated with the russian army — beheading a man with the knife. and we believe that this man being beheaded is a ukrainian soldier because of a yellow armband that he's wearing that's associated with the ukrainian army. now, there is another man — also believed to be russian — carrying a flakjacket that's believed to be from this man who was beheaded. very, very strong footage. now, we haven't been able to verify this video. we believe that this video was filmed in the summer because of what we can see in the footage. and obviously, there's been a lot of reaction here in ukraine. president zelensky compared russian

soldiers with beasts. he said that no—one should ignore this video, he urged international leaders to react to this footage, and he also said this wouldn't be forgotten orforgiven. and the authorities here have launched an investigation into a possible war crime. and i think there was also strong reaction from the ukrainian foreign minister, dmytro kuleba, who compared russia to the islamic state group, which obviously was the group that released videos of hostages being beheaded in iraq and syria. now, this video was posted recently on social media, and it seems that days ago, another footage was also posted on social media showing mutilated bodies of troops, apparently ukrainian troops. so i think, again, the suspicion here is that russian soldiers could have been behind it. so, again, a reminder

of the violence and of the horrors of this conflict here. any statement, uk foreign office spokesperson said we are appalled by a video circulating online which appears to show russian forces beheading a ukrainian prisoner of war. prisoners of war are protected under the geneva convention. those responsible for this brutality must be held to account. i'm joined now by oleksandra romantsova, executive director of center for civil liberties and nobel peace prize laureate. thank you very much forjoining us. we are going to come onto the investigation, but what do you need from the international community over particularly this video? we exactl over particularly this video? - exactly understood that it is an act of fear. they are trying to... i

think... that— of fear. they are trying to... i think... that means - of fear. they are trying to... i - think... that means someone put it there. somebody _ think... that means someone put it there. somebody put _ think... that means someone put it there. somebody put it _ think... that means someone put it there. somebody put it there. - think... that means someone put itj there. somebody put it there. what there. somebody put it there. what the need there. somebody put it there. what they need to _ there. somebody put it there. what they need to do _ there. somebody put it there. what they need to do first _ there. somebody put it there. what they need to do first of— there. somebody put it there. what they need to do first of all- there. somebody put it there. what they need to do first of all is - they need to do first of all is establish the chain that brought it to the attention of the world. you won the peace prize for documenting war crimes, won the peace prize for documenting warcrimes, human won the peace prize for documenting war crimes, human rights abuses. what is the process of investigating this right now? i know it is with the security service, but how will this unfold? for the security service, but how will this unfold?— this unfold? for a human right defenders _ this unfold? for a human right defenders organisation, - this unfold? for a human right defenders organisation, that l this unfold? for a human right- defenders organisation, that means we need to find first search who put this video first time. after this we are trying to... see who is missing in that moment from ukrainian soldiers and from national guard. one of the versions shows a uniform

of a potential ukrainian soldier. all of this will be put together with systematic knowledge about war crimes around this area at this time. ~ . . crimes around this area at this time. . . . . , ,, time. we have a few clues, the kilos ofthe time. we have a few clues, the kilos of the uniform, _ time. we have a few clues, the kilos of the uniform, the _ time. we have a few clues, the kilos of the uniform, the clues _ time. we have a few clues, the kilos of the uniform, the clues in - time. we have a few clues, the kilos of the uniform, the clues in the - of the uniform, the clues in the foliage that they reckon it was last summer, someone else shooting it and so forth. the kremlin said it is awful but it needs to be verified. how many different episodes like this are you seeing that are faked? you obviously are an expert is now at working out the whole process. is it possible that it is faked? i don't believe such a good thick could be produced. but if we will speak about other examples, we have such. for example, in kyiv region

eight territorial defence warriors were killed. their hands were tied, put in the basement. it is usual for the russian army. not only in ukraine, before that happened in georgia, in caucasian countries like chechnya, moldova. all the places where russian soldiers made war crimes, they do the same such crimes. ~ . , ., �* crimes, they do the same such crimes. ~ ., �* , , , crimes. what you're suggesting is, in terms of — crimes. what you're suggesting is, in terms of treatment _ crimes. what you're suggesting is, in terms of treatment of _ crimes. what you're suggesting is, in terms of treatment of prisoners | in terms of treatment of prisoners of war, the russians are breaking the third geneva convention because of the treatment of prisoners of war. apparently you have got a particular concern about how prisoners were treated in azov. mi prisoners were treated in azov. all of prisoners were treated in azov. rii of them were starving. all of them have anorexia, long periods without normal feeding, have anorexia, long periods without normalfeeding, without have anorexia, long periods without normal feeding, without any medicine. a lot of them have pain, but nobody care about their health.

we look at that and think that maybe the russian side chain them and release them, that is why they are in such bad conditions. all other exchanged ukrainians, which were taken from russian territory, give us an understanding of what happened with people who are kept by russian soldiers. they are tortured, starving, they are humiliated. it is the whole system that had broken the rules of the third geneva convention.— rules of the third geneva convention. ., ,, , ., , . ., convention. thank you very much for 'oinin: us. convention. thank you very much for joining us- we _ convention. thank you very much for joining us. we are _ convention. thank you very much for joining us. we are very _ convention. thank you very much for joining us. we are very sorry - joining us. we are very sorry that the line was at times poorer there. more than £4 billion was stolen by fraudsters and cyber criminals in the uk last year. the police say it's the crime people are most likely to experience. a year—long bbc world service investigation has been probing a $1.2 billion scam, centred on the milton group, and tracking down the businessmen thought to be behind it.

the group is an international network of companies, recently raided by europol on suspicion of defrauding investors across the continent. simona wineglass and joe inwood report. one of the biggest names in spanish football, sevilla fc, a historic club with a huge fan base. between 2019 and 2021, one of their main sponsors was an online trading platform called everfx. glossy promo videos. even endorsements from star players. so, thank you, everfx. everfx, main global sponsor of sevilla football club. it gave the company an air of respectability. the problem is, everfx was part of an international scam network. journalist simona weinglass has spent years investigating the network, tracking down their victims, who were often pressured to put more money in when their initial trades went wrong.

put some more money in and double up. if you put £25,000 in, then you can wipe out your losses and make a profit. and i said, no, i'm not doing that. absolutely not. i just want to just bring my losses down to a manageable amount and i want to get out. and i must have got at least half a dozen calls from half a dozen individuals in the space of about two hours. my phone just kept on blowing up, begging me basically to put some more money in. this is the moment barry learned he had been scammed. i am horrified. i'm numb. i can't believe this because i was never really going to get that back. the investigation worked with a former employee of the network, now in hiding, trying to track down the people behind it. they found multiple companies, all with the same websites, sign—up pages and underlying code. they were all part of one secretive organisation — the milton group.

ok, let's look at how many brands are there, total? 152. but the bbc were not the only ones trying to track down the scammers. german prosecutors were also on their trail. they are operating like professional, legal companies, and that's what we say this is organised crime. and how much money are some of these larger organised crime groups bringing in? probably hundreds of millions per year. what has never been understood is who is at the centre of this huge scam. until now. the investigation started by deliberately getting scammed by a milton group company called coinevo for $500, paid in bitcoin. because bitcoin is on a public ledger, you can follow where it goes. it was traced through thousands of online crypto wallets, as was the money deposited with everfx, the brand that scammed barry.

it all ended up in just a few dozen, suspected to be owned by the people behind the scams. but how to prove who those people are? it is a difficult task, deliberately so. if you are coming at it as an investigative journalist, or more likely as a law enforcement agent, you have to go to every one of thosejurisdictions, write them a letter, formal process, and then receive information about the ownership of that company. that may take you six months. it may take you a year. it may not be possible at all. so the point of the complexity is to make things incomprehensible and essentially to try and force other people just to give up. but the team believed they'd cracked it. the whistle—blower was at the milton 2020 new year's eve party. there, a man called david was named as the father of milton. he was identified as david todua, a gun—loving georgian businessman.

this was the start of a long and painstaking process of building a picture of the milton network. by piecing together property deals, shared directorships, social media profiles, and working with other investigators, they built a picture of the organisation. then, another piece of the jigsaw. this time from going back in time, to 2016. as the world wakes up to the enormity of the revelations and the panama papers... the panama papers were a huge cache of offshore business records, supposed to be confidential, but revealed to the world. they not only showed the group we believe to be senior associates had close business dealings together, before the emergence of milton, but also revealed the involvement of someone even more interesting. david kezerashvili was georgia's defence minister when russia invaded in 2008. after his country's defeat, he left office and started a business career. he gained the nickname mr

offshore. he was found guilty of corruption charges but fled to the uk, where he successfully resisted deportation, claiming it was all politically motivated. leaked company data show that he sat at the centre of this network of offshore companies, not connected to milton, but to the men who we have identified. if it weren't for the panama papers, this may have stayed hidden forever. late last year there was a new development. europol invited the bbc team on a raid of milton offices, which was being carried out across five countries. you had the names of people that they were calling to get money from them. and here you have four british names here. so you can see that this is just a call centre that was allegedly scamming people all over the world. on a notebook found in a milton office, it says of a man, no liabilities, wants to buy

a property, not discussing numbers. very pussy, should scam soon. we know from the panama papers that in 2016, kezerashvili had connections to the men now behind the milton group. but what about today? well, he's not really on the paperwork that we can see, but he has connections to the company that built some milton trading platforms, shares email servers and owns the building that one of their call centres was run from. and here he is, at a wedding with many of the people identified in the investigation. on top of that, he has countless social media links to many parts of the network. he now lives in an £18 million london town house but didn't want to speak to the bbc about ourfindings. he's not available? ok, thank you very much. bye bye. in correspondence, his lawyers said he strongly denies any involvement

with milton or that he gained financially from scams. he says that everfx was, to his knowledge, a legitimate business and that the connections we have found to the people and it behind it proved nothing. david todua, the gun—loving georgian, did not to our questions. everfx denied our allegations, saying that they are a legitimate and regulated platform where the risks are fully explained. the other seniorfigures we identified all strongly denied any connection with the milton group or trading scams. those involved in running everfx say it never accepted deposits in bitcoin or had a crypto wallet. they maintain that its brand and source code have been misappropriated, which explains the similarities with other fraudulent platforms. as for barry, they say his case was investigated and he was found to be responsible for his losses. the whistle—blower is still living in a secret location from where he tracks the milton

group. the europol raids made a significant dent in their business, but he says they have already started to recover. and you can watch the full version of the billion dollar scam on bbc iplayer. it is just possible that today's news on climate will spur people to redouble their efforts to save the planet, rather than allowing complacency to creep in, because the good news is a tangible result of the increasing use of renewable energy. around the world, the rise of solar and wind, together with nuclear and hydropower, meant that low carbon sources produced almost 40% of global electricity in 2022 — a record share. the research indicates that significant progress is now being made in reducing the role of fossilfuels in power production. the researchers describe this as "a turning point" for planet friendly energy. here's ben.

good news in the global effort to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050? we're not used to hearing that message. so perhaps all the more reason to seize on it when it arrives. the independent think—tank ember today estimates that clean energy accounted for almost 40% of globally generated electricity in 2022 — a record share. clean energy here is defined as things like wind, solar, hydro and nuclear — basically energy sources that don't create planet warming carbon emissions in the way that burning coal, oil and natural gas does. and wind and solar alone made up a record 12% of global electric power last year. and let's put that in context. this shows total electricity generation by source since the turn of the millennium. the dark area is production from fossil fuels — the rest is clean energy. look at wind power in pink, and solar in yellow. you can see here how their share has been growing pretty

fast in recent years. by the way, in the uk, we generated just under a third of our electricity from solar and wind in 2022. so more than double the global average. but let's take a closer look at china. we sometimes hear that because the world's biggest territorial source of emissions is not pulling its weight on decarbonisation, there's little point in the rest of the world — particularly those in smaller countries like the uk — acting. but look at this showing annual offshore wind installation. china is in red, the rest of the world is in blue. what this is showing is that in 2021, china installed more offshore wind power than the rest of the world managed in the previous five years put together. china has a huge task in getting to next zero, but the idea that it is not doing anything is belied by the kind of figures. —— net zero. and on another encouraging note, ember are projecting that the absolute amount of global electricity produced by fossil fuels peaked in 2022 — at around 17,000 terawatt hours —

and will start to decline from this year, 2023. what all this data confirms is that the much feared global headlong rush back to coal as a result of the current energy crisis and putin's weaponisation of russia's gas exports did not materialise last year. and it's pretty unlikely to happen going forward. why? because of the basic fact that clean energy is now cheaper. let's explain. here's what's happened to the price of electricity generated by coal between 2009 and 2019 in dollars per megawatt hour — it's stayed roughly the same. here's what's happened to gas. it's fallen a fair bit. but look at the steeper fall in the price of a unit of electricity from onshore wind. and look at the truly stunning fall in the price of solar power. and note that both wind and solar are now cheaper than fossil fuels. now, there remain technical and political challenges in rolling out these clean technologies.

domestic heating decarbonisation is a particularly hard nut to crack and under current uk policy, we do not seem to be on course to hit the government's own targets for installing electric heat pumps in tens of millions of homes in the coming decades. and all these figures relate to only electricity generation, which only accounts for third of global carbon emissions. transport and agriculture are other big sources. there's a long way to go. yet the key takeaway from today's report is that technological advances and appropriately focused policy action can and do make genuine progress possible. joining me now in the studio is mikaela loach, author of it's not that radical, climate action to transform our world. what is your reaction to the figures in the report? it’s what is your reaction to the figures in the report?— in the report? it's very exciting and great _ in the report? it's very exciting and great to — in the report? it's very exciting and great to have _ in the report? it's very exciting and great to have good - in the report? it's very excitingj and great to have good climate in the report? it's very exciting - and great to have good climate news, you can seem a bit few and far

between but that and it is showing that this better future we are talking about is possible, and already being built here. we are already being built here. we are already moving away from the fossil fuel industry and the report showed the end is nigh forfossilfuels fuel industry and the report showed the end is nigh for fossil fuels and actually a better future is possible and that's exciting. but actually a better future is possible and that's exciting.— and that's exciting. but we're only about electricity. _ and that's exciting. but we're only about electricity. yes but - and that's exciting. but we're only about electricity. yes but a - and that's exciting. but we're only about electricity. yes but a third l about electricity. yes but a third is a hue about electricity. yes but a third is a huge amount. _ about electricity. yes but a third is a huge amount. think- about electricity. yes but a third is a huge amount. think it - about electricity. yes but a third is a huge amount. think it is - is a huge amount. think it is important we realise it's a win but only won because a public pressure and a lot of people taking action to make it. but and a lot of people taking action to make it. �* ., ,., , ., make it. but also is it not about the whole _ make it. but also is it not about the whole process _ make it. but also is it not about the whole process of _ make it. but also is it not about the whole process of education | make it. but also is it not about l the whole process of education as well? and that has work, that people are looking at bills and they understand that things need to change and when people can see things need to change, it becomes easier. i things need to change, it becomes easier. ~ .. ., , things need to change, it becomes easier. ~ ., , ., easier. i think education is part of it but i also _ easier. i think education is part of it but i also think _ easier. i think education is part of it but i also think to some - it but i also think to some extent we focus too much on trying to tell people the climate crisis is happening to. a lot of people know

it but the people don't know what we can do about it or if you can have a better future and if we can tackle it and what this report is showing is that we can have a future away from fossil fuels but it's being built today so it's important we keep the pressure on a keep moving away from them.— keep the pressure on a keep moving away from them. what's the next big chan . e that away from them. what's the next big change that needs _ away from them. what's the next big change that needs to happen? - away from them. what's the next big change that needs to happen? i - away from them. what's the next big j change that needs to happen? i think no new fossil — change that needs to happen? i think no new fossil fuel _ change that needs to happen? i think no new fossil fuel projects, _ change that needs to happen? i think no new fossil fuel projects, that - no new fossil fuel projects, that has to be a big thing but of the international energy agency, which is a very conservative agency, and the intergovernmental panel on climate change, they have said we cannot have any investment in new oil and gas yet the uk government in particular pushing through over 30 new projects. but particular pushing through over 30 new projects-— new pro'ects. but actually if you look at new projects. but actually if you look at that _ new projects. but actually if you look at that in _ new projects. but actually if you look at that in comparison - new projects. but actually if you look at that in comparison to . new projects. but actually if you l look at that in comparison to what china is doing, that leaders in solar, way ahead on solar, but also building the equivalent of two new coal—fired power stations each week so how do you work out where they are in the spectrum of helping the planet? irate are in the spectrum of helping the lanet? ~ ., ., are in the spectrum of helping the lanet? . ., ., ., ., “ are in the spectrum of helping the lanet? ~ ., ., ., planet? we have to look at the historical emissions, _ planet? we have to look at the historical emissions, so - planet? we have to look at the historical emissions, so what l historical emissions, so what countries have historically emitted

more, and the uk and us in particular have been building