hello, i'm anjana gadgil, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we'll have the latest on the strikes affecting tens of thousands of rail passengers in the uk. affecting tens of thousands of rail but our top story hour hour: north korea has acknowledged that it has tried — and failed — to send its first military spy satellite into space — with a missile launch which triggered emergency responses in both south korea and japan. the rocket fell harmlessly into the sea — but not before millions of japanese and south koreans were warned to prepare to take shelter. sirens wail. this was the moment that the sirens sounded in the south korean capital. there was confusion and some panic in seoul as an early morning phone alert was sent out, telling people to prepare for an evacuation.

that message was retracted 20 minutes later. according to the south korean military — which released these images of what it says was wreckage of the missile — the projectile disappeared from radar and might have crashed or exploded. north korea was unusually quick to comment on what had happened, confirming on its website that the rocket crashed into the sea after problems with a new engine system and fuel. but it does crucially say it'll be continuing such launches. the us hasjoined south korea and japan in condemning the launch, saying it involved ballistic missile technology in breach of un sanctions. sirens also sounded injapan. sirens wail. this was southern okinawa, where a few people were about early in the morning. an official warning message was also sent out, though that was withdrawn around 30 minutes later. this is what the japanese prime minister fumio kishida had to say. translation: today, an object that i appears to be a ballistic missile i

was launched by north korea. at this stage, there have been reports of damage. we are currently analysing the details. our correspondentjean mackenzie is in seoul — and heard the sirens go off on wednesday morning. she sent us this update. what we know so far about this failed satellite launch is that north korea fired a missile this morning that was containing their spy satellite. now it's supposed to go into space, to go into orbit, but the missile exploded and the satellite and the debris fell into the sea. at the moment, the south korean military is retrieving parts of the satellite and debris because it will want to analyse how advanced this piece of technology is. north korea has been working to develop a spy satellite for a very long time and working towards this launch. and that is because this would give it a strategic advantage. at the moment, north korea doesn't have a spy satellite in comparison to countries like the us, japan, china and russia who all have these satellites pointed down here monitoring the korean peninsula.

so this will be a big disappointment for kim jong—un today. but what has been really the story here that everybody is talking about is the confusion and the panic that was caused this morning when millions were woken from their sleep by this air raid siren. this is very unusual here in seoul. people here are not used to hearing air raid sirens. and this was then followed by this warning that people had to prepare for an evacuation. but 20 minutes later, we were all told that it had been a mistake. so the concern now is with this warning system that we've had fail really here this morning is what does that mean when there is a genuine emergency that happens? people here had already been desensitized to the threat posed by north korea because they've lived with it for so long. so when this air raid sirens went off, people were confused and they didn't really know what to do or where to seek shelter. the fear is that when there is a genuine emergency now, people will be even less likely to take action.

live now to central london to speak tojohn everard, former uk ambassador to north korea. thank you forjoining us. north korea acknowledged the launch was a failure. what do you read into that? i think they are horribly embarrassed, it's very unusual for the north koreans to release statements so quickly with such detail that admitted that the launch system failed on two counts, firstly the centre stage didn't ignite properly and that the fuel mix was wrong. this would be bad at any time, but as it happened, the launch took place just before a full clean of the central committee of the korean workers party where all the great and the good was supposed to be gathering in the next few days to discuss the future north korea. i suspect they will have other things

on their mind right now and that those responsible for this launch are in deep trouble. {iii those responsible for this launch are in deep trouble.— those responsible for this launch are in deep trouble. of course the resident are in deep trouble. of course the president was _ are in deep trouble. of course the president was deeply _ are in deep trouble. of course the president was deeply involved - are in deep trouble. of course the president was deeply involved in l president was deeply involved in this satellites development, what will be repercussions be like inside north korea? it is will be repercussions be like inside north korea?— north korea? it is important to remember— north korea? it is important to remember that _ north korea? it is important to remember that although - north korea? it is important to remember that although it - north korea? it is important to| remember that although it tries north korea? it is important to i remember that although it tries to present itself as a unitary dictatorship, north korea has politics just like anywhere else, that not everyone will be happy with the senior decisions to allocate quite so much money to developing weapons like spy satellites, as opposed to other priorities in north korea. by any coincidence, the launch follows hard on the heels of the united nations's report that the food situations north korea remains terrible, a lot of people will have a very low food consumption, and the situation requires monitoring. people are getting cross, the food situation is bad, the economy is bad

and here you have the regime is spending huge amounts of money on a spy spending huge amounts of money on a spy satellite that fails. this really doesn't look good. so how ublicl really doesn't look good. so how publicly would — really doesn't look good. so how publicly would this _ really doesn't look good. so how publicly would this failure - really doesn't look good. so how publicly would this failure have l publicly would this failure have been made within north korea? figs publicly would this failure have been made within north korea? $5 for been made within north korea? as far as we know. — been made within north korea? as far as we know. the _ been made within north korea? as far as we know, the north _ been made within north korea? as far as we know, the north korean - been made within north korea? sis t: as we know, the north korean people have not yet been told officially about the failed launch. the news has only gone out on north korea's international channels. i suspect they will be told, probably fairly soon, but that it will be very carefully phrased, it will be pitched in such a way as to distance the failure from general secretary kimjohn own the failure from general secretary kim john own himself and at the same time if you scapegoats might be named. if you people, probably quite high up the hierarchy, who are looking rather bleakly at a future of excel to the north korean countryside for quite some time. thank you very much for your time. a day after moscow suffered

its biggest drone attack since the war against ukraine began, officials in southern russia say a drone has hit an oil refinery. these are images — confirmed by bbc verifty — to be of the afipski refinery in the southern krasnodar region, deep inside russia. the region's governor says the strike caused a fire — but no one was injured. president putin has promised to improve air defences around moscow after monday's drone strikes — which have been described as the most dangerous attack on russia's capital since the second world war. mr putin accused ukraine of provoking moscow into responding in kind. translation: the kyiv regime chose a different path - of frightening russia, frightening the citizens of russia and hitting residential buildings. of course, this is a clear sign of terrorist activity. our diplomatic correspondent in kyiv, james landale has more on what ukrainians make of this. the attacks in moscow

are qualitatively different to other attacks in russian territory, in the neighbourhood of ukraine. those are relatively common — shelling, drone strikes, things like that. that is part of this war and that has been happening for some time. so it's not unusual to have a report that a ukrainian drone, allegedly, has landed on an oil refinery pretty close to the ukrainian border. and that is different, i think, to yesterday's incident in moscow. as to what people think about the attacks in moscow, the impression has been a sort of quiet satisfaction. with some less quiet satisfaction that people in moscow are getting a sense of what it is like to live in a city like kyiv as people have here for the last month, under relentless onslaught. yesterday, there were eight drones in moscow, at the same time, there were 32 in the skies over kyiv and that wasn't considered an unusual event here in kyiv. i think that is the scale

of the comparison that most people here make when they hear those reports about the attack on moscow. now, every day, the uk's ministry of defence tweets its analysis of the war in ukraine — and today, it's delivered a rather scathing appraisal of russia's military effectiveness. the tweet claims that since the start of may, russia has increasingly ceded the initiative in the conflict and is reacting to ukrainian action rather than actively progressing towards its own war aims. it continues — russia has had little success in its likely aims of neutralising ukraine's improved air defences and destroying ukrainian counterattack forces. and it notes that moscow has had to start acting defensively — saying that on the ground, it has redeployed security forces to react to partisan attacks inside western russia. russia has been accused of multiple war crimes since it invaded ukraine —

but it was allegations of the illegal deportation of children, that led to an international arrest warrant being issued for vladimir putin. ukraine claims that around 19,000 children have been taken to russia. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford has been investigating this and joins us live from warsaw. sarah, you've met families whose children have been taken away by russian forces? some of the children who have been taken away and who have been returned after their mothers had to make extremely long and really gruelling journeys, right into enemy territory to get the children back. the stories we have been hearing are very varied, there are many people involved, ukraine is talking about 19,000 children, it says have been abducted and taken to russian. that list is not public, so we cannot confirm those numbers but we have found several families affected. and

we have been hearing their stories. there are many things that you hear time and time again. you hear about these children being taken from occupied areas of ukraine, particularly in the south and east of the country, removed into russia or deeper into occupied territory without their parents are being told anything about it. in many cases these are some of the most vulnerable children in the country, they are children from care homes, people who are being cared for by the state, they are also in many cases children from special schools, so children with special educational needs. extremely vulnerable and extreme distressed, particularly distressed by what has happened to them. we have heard many stories, but this is just one of them, this is such a's story. tetya na makes the most of every minute with sasha, now her son is safe with her in germany. because last year, he was taken from his school in ukraine by russian soldiers. his mother had to travel deep

into enemy territory to rescue him. forced separation would be upsetting for any child, but sasha has special needs — and for someone so vulnerable, it was deeply unsettling. he tells me how armed russian soldiers in balaclavas came to his school that day, loaded him and 12 other children onto buses, and drove off with them. translation: to be honest, it was pretty scary. _ i didn't know where they were taking us. sasha then had no contact at all with his mum for six weeks. i ask how hard that was. translation: yes. to be honest, it's too distressing to even remember. ukraine believes more than 19,000 children have been moved to russia since this war began.

russia claims it's just protecting the children. but russia's president is now a wanted man. the international criminal court has accused him of the illegal deportation of ukrainian children. i asked tetyana what she made of that charge. translation: it's not only putin who should be put on trial. i it's all the main people — the commanders, all of them — for what they did to the children. what right did they have? they knew it was impossible for us to get them back, and they didn't care. and tetyana showed me new evidence of how those children are treated. tetyana just showed me this photograph, and these kids here are classmates of sasha, of her son. and look at them here in this russian—run school.

they've got military uniforms and they've got these zs on their sleeves. these are the symbols of russia's war on their country. line rings so i called the woman in charge of that school. i wanted to know about the z mark. "the ukrainian children dressed as russian soldiers." "so what if they were?" the school director shot back at me. "what kind of question is that?" moments later, the line cut out. line beeps sasha has told me five children taken with him still haven't been returned to their families. because russia doesn't make it easy even when vladimir putin has been indicted for their removal as a suspected war criminal.

i think the photograph we found a series of photographs, cuts to the hard work that is all about. russia talks about its humanitarian mission, talks about removing children to safety, but the ideology that is driving what's happening is absolutely clear from photographs. russia essentially treats all and anything that is within occupied territory as russian, even the children. ., ~ territory as russian, even the children. ., ,, , ., , territory as russian, even the children. ., ,, ,, , . around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. some other stories now developing in the uk. parents on universal credit in england, scotland and wales will be able to claim hundreds of pounds more, to cover childcare costs from the end ofjune. the government says anyone receiving the benefit will be able to claim back £951 for one child and £1,630 for two or more children — that's a 47% increase. households with prepayment metres are being urged to use the voucher they were given to help with bills,

before it expires at the end ofjune. most vouchers have been cashed in, but the government says £130mln has still gone unclaimed. every household was given £400 to help cope with higher fuel costs. a british man has died after lightning reportedly struck while he was paddleboarding in the sea off greece. scott seddon, from liverpool, was taking part in water sports off agia agathi on rhodes when a strike hit on tuesday, according to local reports. the foreign office said it was supporting his family and was in contact with local authorities. you're live with bbc news. rail workers are staging another day of walk—outs in the uk in their long—running dispute over pay and conditions. members of the train drivers' union aslef have walked out today and plan to do so again on saturdayjune 3rd, the day of the fa cup football final, while members of the rmt union will strike on friday. the uk government has accused the unions of co—ordinating the strike action to

disrupt major events. our transport correspondent katy austin has more from paddington station in central london. there are some passengers here today, but very few when you compare it to a normal weekday. and there are very few trains running here. some operators affected by the strike are running absolutely nothing at all. others of those 15 operators, which are affected, others have a very limited service, including great western railway, which runs trains in and out of paddington here. and this is a strike involving train drivers in the aslef union. they are in a long—running dispute now over pay and conditions and they have another strike coming up on saturday. what this whole dispute comes down to really is the rail industry and the government saying that the railway is financially unsustainable and changes have

to happen, changes to the way train drivers and other rail workers work in order for there to be a pay rise. but the union says the pay rise that has been put forward, as you say, that 4% one year and 4% the next, is far below inflation. they've rejected that in pretty scathing terms. they also object to some of the changes being proposed, which include things like a commitments to sunday working and given the employers control over rotas. but in general this is a really entrenched dispute. there has been little progress recently, especially since aslef rejected that latest offer. the government and the industry says it's fair and reasonable, but at the moment there is no signs of this coming to an end anytime soon and the general secretary has repeatedly warned that actually his members want the industrial action to be stepped up. so very possible there could be more strikes. we can speak to mick whelan, general secretary of aslef, who's on a picket line in newcastle.

these drugs have been going on for almost a year. but they haven't achieved anything?— achieved anything? they have, otherwise you _ achieved anything? they have, otherwise you wouldn't - achieved anything? they have, otherwise you wouldn't be i achieved anything? they have, i otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me today. every time we have taken some sort of action to highlight train drivers that haven't had a pay rise for mag years, we do get media interest and it does have an effect and impact, naturally. the interest and it does have an effect and impact, naturally.— interest and it does have an effect and impact, naturally. the time of the second — and impact, naturally. the time of the second strike _ and impact, naturally. the time of the second strike this _ and impact, naturally. the time of the second strike this week - and impact, naturally. the time of the second strike this week is i the second strike this week is probably the most controversial come on saturday, the time of day of the fa cup and epsom derby. why have your members chosen such an impactful day to stage the strike? it's an agreed hypocrisy in what the minister has said because the railway shed on the west coast last year on fa cup final day and no one said a word. actually the chronology of this is around our members. when we had the deceitful act of the other week of the red line offer that has been refused come out, we had 1a days under the legislation to take action, we then gave at 1a days notice and the subsequent actions based on us not hitting the same

people consecutively, economically on the associated strike days. that's what it is. there is no day when you take action when we don't impact on somebody that you are going to work, going to school or a concert or something going on. horse concert or something going on. how much sympathy _ concert or something going on. how much sympathy do you expect people to have? the office for national statistics says median pay for train drivers is £59,000 a year. that is beyond the wages of most normal people in the uk. how much sympathy do you expect the public to have? if we're to get into an argument like that, i believe most permit sector workers should be on high salaries and they are now. i see some of the opposite government are making to them, nurses eight using food banks, they are still going to have use for banks, that cannot be right. we have another pay rise for mages and anything we have got we have owned and we paid for by productivity and visibility in the last 23 years. if somebody now wants to get all the back for a 20% pay cut. unfortunately my members don't want that, and repeatedly say they don't want that. ., _

that, and repeatedly say they don't want that. ., , ., that, and repeatedly say they don't want that. ., i. ., �* that, and repeatedly say they don't want that. ., . �* ., ., want that. you say you haven't had a -a rise, want that. you say you haven't had a pay rise. but — want that. you say you haven't had a pay rise. but you _ want that. you say you haven't had a pay rise, but you have _ want that. you say you haven't had a pay rise, but you have been - want that. you say you haven't had a pay rise, but you have been offered. pay rise, but you have been offered a pay rise of 4% backdated last year and then 4% this year, but you rejected it, you called it reasonable. how much more you asking for? it reasonable. how much more you asking for? , , u, for? it depends -- called it risible. we _ for? it depends -- called it risible. we wanted - for? it depends -- called it risible. we wanted them i for? it depends -- called it risible. we wanted them to for? it depends -- called it i risible. we wanted them to come for? it depends -- called it _ risible. we wanted them to come back to the table, with a mutually agreed terms of reference for those talks in the me look for a solution to the pay dispute and anything else we would take the red lines out of rice, scope amount, go into normal company machineries and track those various ways in those machineries and ifjust like that is not what they did, what they then did was lump all of those things, including red lines into the second year. they set it up to fail, this was a written deliberate act by them. how many times can we be reasonable and go back to the table when we are deceived by these people. these deceitful people.— deceived by these people. these deceitful people. problem is that

rail users are _ deceitful people. problem is that rail users are increasingly - deceitful people. problem is that rail users are increasingly not i rail users are increasingly not willing to use the rail network because of strikes by aslef and the rmt union, they find services unreliable. that in effect the profits by the rail companies, that affect their ability to give you more money?— affect their ability to give you more money? affect their ability to give you more mone ? h ., ., ., more money? let's have a look at that. more money? let's have a look at that- everyone — more money? let's have a look at that. everyone we _ more money? let's have a look at that. everyone we work— more money? let's have a look at that. everyone we work for- more money? let's have a look at that. everyone we work for has i that. everyone we work for has guaranteed profits, they are paying themselves millions in bonuses, paying their shareholders million out of the profits they are making, the people who work for them cannot have a pay rise. we don't work for the government of the treasury, we work a16 private rail operators. we don't have this in scotland, with do haveitin don't have this in scotland, with do have it in wales, we don't have it in freight and we don't have it in cfl, this is a government led strike which they have started and are unwilling to resolve. so which they have started and are unwilling to resolve.— unwilling to resolve. so what solutions _ unwilling to resolve. so what solutions are _ unwilling to resolve. so what solutions are on _ unwilling to resolve. so what solutions are on the - unwilling to resolve. so what solutions are on the horizonl unwilling to resolve. so what i solutions are on the horizon is? unwilling to resolve. so what - solutions are on the horizon is? are you in talks, are talks going to happen soon?— you in talks, are talks going to happen soon? you in talks, are talks going to hauen soon? , , ., you in talks, are talks going to hauensoon? , , ., , happen soon? nobody has been near us four weeks, haven't _ happen soon? nobody has been near us four weeks, haven't seen _ happen soon? nobody has been near us four weeks, haven't seen the _ happen soon? nobody has been near us four weeks, haven't seen the rail- four weeks, haven't seen the rail minister since january the 6th and

haven't had anything from the companies in the last three or four weeks and we remain open to talks. thank you very much forjoining us from bradford. nato will send more soldiers to kosovo after peacekeeping soldiers there were hurt in clashes with protesters. the conflict began when ethnic—albanian mayors took over in several towns where ethnic serbs are in the majority after serbs boycotted local elections. dozens of kosovan serb protesters gathered in front of zvecan's municipal building this morning to demand the removal of the elected mayor, an ethnic albanian, from office. nato's secretary generaljens stoltenberg condemned the violence. let's take you to nigeria now. there have been massive queues outside of petrol stations in the country's capital, lagos, a as newly inaugurated president bola tinubu announced the end of fuel subsidies.

nigeria is one of the world's most oil—rich countries and swaps crude worth billions of dollars for gasoline that it then subsidises for its domestic market, causing a huge drain on revenue and contributing to the country's debt. after the president's announcement, some petrol stations have more than doubled their prices while others have suspended sales altogether. the state oil company insists there's enough fuel to go round, but in lagos and abuja people have been stranded as bus drivers are unable to fill their vehicles. for four days a year, the sunset in new york city does something a little special. these pictures show the sun aligning perfectly through spaces between buildings in manhattan to cast a stunning sunset over the city which locals call manhattanhenge. it happened at around eight 15 pm local time last night forjust a few minutes before the sun was hidden again behind one of new york's massive skyscrapers. if you're in the area and missed it though, don't worry,

there'll be another chance to catch it in july. just for my days a year you get to see images like that. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. as we go through the next few days the weather is very much stuck on repeat. what we have had is pretty much what we are going to get for the rest of the week, so a largely dry, warmest and sunniest conditions will be in the west, a bit cooler and cloudier with some spots of light rain or drizzle at times in the east. the reason for that is high pressure is firmly in charge of our weather, notjust today but right the way through the weekend. it weak weather front dangling across the far north of scotland, just introducing a bit more in the way of cloud.

and cloud remaining on the east coast, we could see some stubborn areas of cloud through the midlands down towards the south—east of england. but we're also seeing some holes developing in that. we will have a keen breeze from the north across the south—east and southern areas and in the channel. that will take the edge of those temperatures. push further west and we see sunshine, temperatures responding accordingly, you can see 11 degrees in lerwick under the cloud. but in glasgow we could hit 2a, possibly 26. 21 in london. again it will feel cooler along the north sea coastline. especially with the onshore flow. as we head through the evening and overnight, if anything, cloud will come from the north sea, pushing west, in western areas please skies, some pockets of mist or form. not a particularly cold night for most under the cloud, looking up the 7—10c as our overnight lows. start of tomorrow, cloud round, keen breeze coming in from the north sea across the south—east and southern areas, lots of dry weather as the cloud pushes back

towards the east coast where it will be cooler. tomorrow, temperatures down a touch, we will still see 22—23c. on friday, a slight difference in the distribution of the cloud, perhaps right across eastern areas and across the midlands, we will have a bit more cloud across the far north of scotland and looking at highs of 11—15c, top temperature 20, maybe 21. the weekend is looking largely dry and also sunny. at times we still will have some cloud around, particularly in some eastern areas, but for many of us it will be a lot of warm sunshine around. temperatures not as high as the middle of this week, but still looking up to 22, which is 72 fahrenheit.

this is bbc news. the headlines. north korea admits it tried and failed to send its first satellite into space, causing alarm in south korea and japan. the deal to raise the us debt ceiling faces its next hurdle, a vote in the house of representatives. and a bleak warning from scientists and experts — artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of humanity.