environmental groups criticise the approval for new oil and gas fields off the coast of scotland. at least 115 people are killed in a fire at an iraqi wedding party. early reports suggest it was caused by fireworks. a new yorkjudge finds donald trump "repeatedly" exaggerated his wealth to banks and insurers, sometimes by hundreds of millions of dollars. a quarter of nagorno—karabakh�*s population has left the disputed territory. armenia says more than 40,000 people have crossed its border. approval is given for the uk's first illegal drug consumption room.

the british government has given energy companies the green light to develop one of the largest untapped oil and gas fields in uk waters. rosebank lies in the north sea, about 80 miles west of shetland. experts say it contains up to 350 million barrels of oil. production could start in 2026, with extraction continuing until at least 2030. it's thought that around 69,000 barrels of oil could be produced every day. that would equate to about 8% of the uk's total output. and there would also be natural gas, with about 44 million cubic feet produced per day during the project's lifetime. the energy secretary clare coutinho said... but there has already

been criticism. the environmental group greenpeace says... and it described the decision to give the go—ahead to the rosebank oil field as "reckless". our business correspondent peter ruddick explained how the decision was reached. well, it would have been a controversial decision given the cost and environmental impacts at any time but i think at the moment given the questions surrounding the uk government's commitment to its own net zero targets, then of course this decision becomes even more controversial. important to say although the government has backed this new oil field, that today's decision has come from the north sea transition authority, essentially oil and gas regulators. now, they say they have taken into account net zero considerations throughout the project's life cycle, not stopping, as you say, the environmental reaction from this, greenpeace uk essentially saying rishi sunak,

the uk prime minister, putting the profits of oil companies above everyday people. as you say, rosebank located about 80 miles off shetland. ithaca energy and equinor, the companies behind the project, have previously said that if production started in 2026, rosebank could account for about 8% of the uk's total oil production between then and 2030. and that stat is crucial. the government's energy secretary today backing the decision said, look, this oilfield has been subject to extensive scrutiny and environmental impact. but of course this is going to be crucial if the uk government is going to be able to be energy independent and that is where this decision is so important. who stands to profit from this? which companies are set to go in, and which portion of the uk government is set to derive the tax proceeds from this? will any profits be going to scotland specifically? or will they be located

to westminster? so, ithaca energy and equinor are the companies behind the project, they are the ones making the significant investment and they would obviously be gaining the profits from this. important to say obviously there are windfall taxes in place at the moment on north sea oil and gas production, and there has been a reaction from the local chamber of commerce. they say, look, rosebank will make an important contribution to the uk economy, to energy security, as well as creating hundreds of jobs. so there's lots of these considerations that are being taken into account when a decision like this is being made obviously. live now to jess ralston, head of energy at energy and climate intelligence unit, which is a nonprofit analysis group. what do you make of the government decision to grant the licenses the rosebank to develop? i decision to grant the licenses the rosebank to develop?— decision to grant the licenses the rosebank to develop? i think on a few different _ rosebank to develop? i think on a few different grounds _ rosebank to develop? i think on a few different grounds this - rosebank to develop? i think on a | few different grounds this decision

does not make any sense and the key one is around our energy security. the oil and gas that we get out of rosebank, it will be mostly oil, because that is mostly what is left in the north sea, that will not be owned by the british public or the government, it will be owned by the company that gets it out the ground and they will simply sell it on international markets to the highest bidder. so there is no guarantee that oil and gas will end up in the uk and therefore there is no guarantee it will help to lower our bills and therefore there are going to be a lot of people colder and poorer this winter wondering why we are handing tax rates on subsidies up are handing tax rates on subsidies up to oil and gas companies when they cannot lower their bills. mb? they cannot lower their bills. why would the uk _ they cannot lower their bills. why would the uk government go ahead with the decision when it presumably will face political and legal opposition? will face political and legal opposition?— will face political and legal opposition? will face political and legal ouosition? , ., ., , opposition? exactly, it goes against all the experts' _ opposition? exactly, it goes against all the experts' advice _ opposition? exactly, it goes against all the experts' advice on _ opposition? exactly, it goes against all the experts' advice on this - all the experts' advice on this matter, so the international energy agency, the uk's own climate change committee and the un have all said

there should be no renewal oil and gas fields approved if we are going to reach net to zero and stop the most harmful effects of climate change. it does not make any sense on an international expert grant either and when the uk is going to cop in november, december, it cannot have the same credibility approving these oil and gas fields. lanthem have the same credibility approving these oil and gas fields.— these oil and gas fields. when it has already _ these oil and gas fields. when it has already changed _ these oil and gas fields. when it has already changed some - these oil and gas fields. when it has already changed some of. these oil and gas fields. when it has already changed some of itsj has already changed some of its green pledges, how will it affect the uk's standing on the global stage? the uk's standing on the global stale? , , . ., , the uk's standing on the global stale? ,, . ~ stage? the speech last week where the prime minister _ stage? the speech last week where the prime minister rolled _ stage? the speech last week where the prime minister rolled back - stage? the speech last week where the prime minister rolled back on . stage? the speech last week where the prime minister rolled back on a | the prime minister rolled back on a series of net zero policies, plus there approval of rosebank, plus at there approval of rosebank, plus at the weekend the news he will be scrapping the energy efficiency task force which was trying to help the government improve its energy efficiency across the whole economy, all of these things point to the prime minister not really having a

handle on green commitments and are certainly not being that sort of ambitious nation that we said we wanted to be. what he is saying and doing are not really adding up at the moment and that does not help with green investment which we are trying to secure in the uk, competition with the us and the eu, it does not help to reduce our carbon emissions in line with net zero and it does not help with the cost of living which is plaguing so many people. cost of living which is plaguing so many peeple-_ cost of living which is plaguing so many people. cost of living which is plaguing so man ”eole_ . ., ., ., many people. what would you say to those in the — many people. what would you say to those in the government _ many people. what would you say to those in the government who - many people. what would you say to those in the government who say - many people. what would you say to | those in the government who say this will reduce our energy reliance from hostile states, it will improve the uk's energy independence, isn't that important, particularly in the wake of the russian invasion of ukraine? saying that rosebank will improve our energy independence is incorrect because there is no security it will end up in the uk, they will sell it to who will pay the most, so no

guarantee it will help us here. the north sea is in terminal decline, the oil and gas in the north sea is running out, that is a simple fax no matter what your policy is on it, so unless we start to introduce measures to reduce our reliance on gas, things like heat pumps, moving away from gas boilers, producing more energy from renewables to get away from gas generation, unless we do those things we willjust end up importing more oil and gas from abroad because we do not have it left in the north sea. {lilia abroad because we do not have it left in the north sea.— left in the north sea. 0k, thank ou. one other news line to bring you about the uk energy industry, and taxes paid to the government have risen substantially — in part due to the windfall tax. in the year to march 2023, the taxes rose by £7.6 billion, to stand at £9 billion. that compares to a total of eu; billion in the year to march 2022. a third of the rise, £2.6 billion,

is down to the energy profits levy, also known as the windfall tax. the rest was down to the normal taxes paid by companies as their revenues went up. it's the highest overall figure for oil and gas tax revenues for a decade. but it's worth bearing in mind that the windfall tax was forecast to raise £5 billion in the first year, so the eventual figure was only just over half of that, with analysts saying that falls in energy prices across the summer kept the figure lower. investigators in northern iraq are trying to establish the exact cause of a fire at a wedding party that, according to a security source, has killed at least 115 people and injured another 200. people were celebrating in al—hamdaniya when fire tore through the venue late on tuesday evening. pictures from the scene show emergency crews picking through the charred remains of the building. civil defence officials said initial findings suggested fireworks

were lit during the celebration inside a hall attended by up to 1,000 people. 0ur correspondent lina sinjab has been following the story from beirut. well, it was a night of celebration that turned into a catastrophe, into a nightmare. the numbers are changing by the hour. now the red cross is saying that there are casualties of almost a50 people, while officials confirmed at least 100 dead. we're not sure about the fate of the bride and groom yet. we have heard from people including officials and civil defence report that fireworks were used inside the hall that caused the start of the blaze and also there were some flammable, physically flammable panels, the help of the spread of the fire and caused the damage of part of the ceilings. people rushed throughout

for their lives but were suffocated because of lack of oxygen and many were burnt alive. this is not a rare incident in iraq, that is known for corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability and efficiency. there were reports of violation of construction rules and safety measures in the past that caused in many cases a loss of life. lina, it seems shocking to hear that fireworks were used inside a hall. and also that this isn't a rare occurrence. can you tell us more about that situation? this is exactly shocking. you can't even tolerate to think about how people thought about using it inside a wedding hall. but there are, you know, some traditions that they do without thinking or taking into consideration the safety measures. and apparently the construction, the style that was used inside the wedding hall helped

the spread of the fire, u nfortu nately. but to start with there was terribly irresponsible action of using fireworks. the uk's first consumption room for illegal drugs has been approved by officials in glasgow. the facility is backed by the scottish government as a way to tackle the country's drugs deaths crisis. the pilot scheme will be based at a health centre in the east end of glasgow. it will see users take their own drugs under the supervision of trained health professionals. a new york court has ruled that donald trump committed fraud by repeatedly overstating the value of his business assets. the judge said the former president exaggerated his wealth, sometimes by billions of dollars, to get cheaper loans and insurance. he cancelled some of the licences that allow mr trump's businesses to operate in new york. in a statement, mr trump denounced thejudge

as deranged and the state's attorney general as corrupt. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. another legal blow for the former president. in a civil lawsuit, he and his two sons, along with the trump organisation, have been accused of staggering levels of fraud. 0ne claim is that mr trump inflated the value of his properties — hotels, golf clubs and apartment buildings — and exaggerated the size of his luxury flat in trump tower. the case is due to go to trial next week, but the judge has already ruled on part of it, and determined that the former president repeatedly lied about his financial affairs. in a post on his social media platform truth social, donald trump called the judge deranged and said the claim he committed fraud was both ridiculous and untrue. it was, he said, another attempt by his opponents to try to prevent him from winning the next presidential election. the new york ruling means some of the trump organisation's licences to operate will be cancelled.

the civil case is in addition to the four major criminal trials donald trump is facing. while some opinion polls now show him edging in front ofjoe biden in the race to regain the white house. more than 40,000 ethnic armenians have fled nagorno—karabakh — that is about a quarter of the population of the enclave seized by azerbaijan last week. azerbaijan says people in the area will be safe, but armenia's prime minister says that "ethnic cleansing" is taking place. sarah rainsford is in goris in armenia and sent this update. well, the flow of refugees from nagorno—karabakh is not only continuing, it's increasing and intensifying. you can see behind me here, just one car, but there's streets full of cars like this piled up with people's possessions, roof racks piled high, boots jammed full, and the cars themselves full of families. we've seen seven or eight people

squeezed into some cars. we even saw a dumper truck yesterday with children on board, a couple of dozen children peering over the top of that truck, because people are using any transport and any means they can to leave nagorno—karabakh and come here to armenia. because what they're telling me, when they get here, is that they don't feel safe to stay in that enclave, now. they have been told by the azerbaijani authorities that they would be protected, that their human rights are guaranteed. but nobody i've spoken to believes that information. they can't trust that there have been so many wars between armenia and azerbaijan and in nagorno—karabakh specifically, that the people who have lived there for decades, now say they have to leave. and there have been a lot of tears — it's a really depressed mood as people flood over into armenia. these are people who don't believe they're ever going back to nagorno—karabakh. and a lot of them have said it's kind of like it's an exodus. you know, it's not a temporary evacuation — they don't believe they'll see their homes again. and that means a huge amount, people have left their graves behind

of their loved ones, they've left some of them, the graves of people who died fighting for nagorno—karabakh. this is a piece of land that means a huge amount to armenians. of course, it means a lot to azerbaijanis to around about a million azerbaijanis who were actually forcibly displaced from that same territory back in the early 1990s. it is a hotly disputed piece of land, but it is now the armenians who are being forced to leave. and this area where we are now is struggling to cope with the exodus. there are refugees staying in all of the hotels here, in some of the other facilities too, and even people sleeping in their cars overnight. and there's now another town that's opened up for refugees, a couple of hours from here, because the intensity of that flow now is so huge. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. five labour regional mayors have urged the government not to scrap the hs2 rail line between birmingham and manchester, saying such a move would be an international embarrassment. there's speculation

the prime minister is considering cancelling the northern leg because of soaring costs. the government has said no decision has been made. the first named storm of the season is expected to hit the uk today. named by the met office, storm agnes is likely to bring disruption from strong winds of up to 80 miles per hour — and heavy rain. severe weather warnings are in force from wednesday afternoon until thursday morning. the actor and television host laurence fox has been suspended by gb news over comments he made about a female journalist. he'd been speaking about ava evans, the political correspondent for thejoe website. gb news said his remarks were completely unacceptable. in a statement, they said, "we have formally suspended laurence fox, while we continue our investigation". you're live with bbc news. spain's opposition leader alberto nunez feijoo faces a crucial

vote in parliament today which could see him become prime minister. his popular party won the most seats injuly�*s election but not enough to form a majority government. the acting prime minister pedro sanchez says he will seek another term in office if mr feijoo fails in his attempt to win over parliament. live now to madrid and speak to our correspondent, guy hedgecoe. this is a bit of a political tangle, can you take us through what is expected to happen today? later toda we expected to happen today? later today we are _ expected to happen today? later today we are expecting _ expected to happen today? l—te: today we are expecting this boat expected to happen today? l—t2 today we are expecting this boat to take place. mr feijoo has been invited to try and form a government ljy invited to try and form a government by the king and he will face this parliamentary vote. he needs an absolute majority from congress and we believe that he will not get that majority, that he will lose this vote and not be able to form a

government. certainly today. in today's time he will then face another vote in which he only needs another vote in which he only needs a simple but again, it looks very unlikely he will gain that majority and be able to form a government, so this is very much parliamentary protocol he is going through with quite a long debate leading up to the vote but it is a vote we expect mr nunez feijoo to lose. help? the vote but it is a vote we expect mr nunez feijoo to lose.— the vote but it is a vote we expect mr nunez feijoo to lose. mr nunez fei'oo to lose. how is the sanish mr nunez feijoo to lose. how is the spanish public _ mr nunez feijoo to lose. how is the spanish public responding - mr nunez feijoo to lose. how is the spanish public responding to - mr nunez feijoo to lose. how is the spanish public responding to this? | spanish public responding to this? at the election was held injuly, how are they dealing with this uncertainty? we how are they dealing with this uncertainty?— how are they dealing with this uncertain ? ~ ., ., , , uncertainty? we have had episodes like this before. _ uncertainty? we have had episodes like this before. in _ uncertainty? we have had episodes like this before. in 2015 _ uncertainty? we have had episodes like this before. in 2015 and - uncertainty? we have had episodes like this before. in 2015 and 2019 | like this before. in 2015 and 2019 we had this political limbo whereby no party had a clear majority after elections and those elections had to be repeated, so i think spaniards are used to this, but there are the frustrations because we had an election in the middle of the

summer, then a couple of months later there is this first investiture later there is this first investitu re vote later there is this first investiture vote which looks like it will not be conclusive and result in a new prime minister, so following that we could have another investiture that we could have another investitu re vote that we could have another investiture vote which would be for pedro sanchez, the socialist leader, the caretaker prime minister. it looks like he has a slightly better chance of forming a government but it is certainly not definite, so i think there is a lot of frustration amongst spaniards and amongst economists and so on who worry about the impact that all this political limbo could have on the economy. and they feel this is something that keeps happening over and over again. parties failed to get majorities and we have this political limbo which leaves everyone waiting for a majority to be formed and it doesn't. . ., majority to be formed and it doesn't. . ~' , ., majority to be formed and it doesn't. ., ~ , ., ., majority to be formed and it doesn't. ., ~' , ., ., ., ~' majority to be formed and it doesn't. ., ~ , ., ., ., ~ , doesn't. thank you for taking us throu~h doesn't. thank you for taking us through that _ doesn't. thank you for taking us through that and _ doesn't. thank you for taking us through that and we _ doesn't. thank you for taking us through that and we will - doesn't. thank you for taking us through that and we will be - doesn't. thank you for taking us - through that and we will be watching that vote taking place later today. we are going to bring you some

breaking news that is coming to us us from north korea's state news agency. they have confirmed the north korean authorities are going to expel the us soldier travis king. he crossed over the borderfrom south korea where he had been stationed into north korea. he crossed on july the 18th and stationed into north korea. he crossed onjuly the 18th and his whereabouts were not confirmed by the north koreans until august the 3rd. has fate had been uncertain until now. there had been pressure calling for the release of travis king. he was on his way back to the united states, he was due to face disciplinary measures by the us military when he left the custody of us officials, went on a tour of the

demilitarised zone and then crossed into north korea. again, breaking news this hour from the north into north korea. again, breaking news this hourfrom the north korean state news agency that the us soldier travis king will be expelled from north korea. we will bring you more information on that when it comes. a 15—year—old girl has been stabbed to death in croydon, in london's south. police say the incident happened this morning, and a teenager was arrested in connection with the incident about an hour later. the european court of human rights is due to hear a case brought by six portuguese young people against 33 countries. it could change the way nations are held accountable for climate harms. aged between 11 and 2a, the six people argue that greenhouse gas emissions from portugal, and 32 other european states, are causing changes to the global

climate, resulting in heatwaves and other phenomena that affect their living conditions and health. 0ur correspondent alison roberts is in lisbon and told me more about the case. these youngsters, four of them, live in an area of portugal called leiria, and that was ravaged by forest fires in 2017. and that was really the germ of the idea for these youngsters, four of them, and then two more from almada, just south of lisbon, to get together and to take this case to the european court of human rights, to try to show essentially that their rights to life, their rights to family and private life and protection from torture and also from discrimination in this case on the basis of age, are being violated by states for failing to act to slow and indeed mitigate climate change. so the case was formally submitted in 2020. three years on, the children, as they were, and the young people

are now a little bit older, as you say. still quite young, though. and finally, they are going to get their day in court. so let's look ahead into the future — if this case succeeds, these youngsters win their argument. what impact could a possible court decision in their favour have? well, these young people are being helped by global legal action network, which is a uk—based nonprofit organisation, which is providing the legal backing. so they have put together what they believe is a very solid case and they think that and the organisation believes that if the court rules in the young people's favour, that this will have the effect of a binding treaty on the states concerned. we're talking about all the european union member states plus russia, turkey, the uk and switzerland. ukraine was initially also included, but is now not part of the joint defence since the invasion last year. so the campaigners do believe that this would prove binding on the states involved.

this is the first time that a case this broad has been brought with so many countries, it's been brought to the european court. there were another couple of climate cases brought, heard in the court in march. it may be that all of the decisions come out at the same time. these decisions can take up to a year, though, or even more. just time to bring news of a big birthday for you. tech giant google is celebrating 25 years with a new doodle, thanking users for their years of curiosity. two students at stanford university, sergey brin and larry page, brainstormed in their dormitory and came up with an idea — to create an internet search engine that would organise web pages and rank them. initially called backrub, the startup grew into one of the world's most valuable and influential companies. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again.

some of us are already feeling the effects of storm agnes, which has been coming in from the southwest. and it's going to continue to push north eastwards through the rest of the day. it's bringing rain, but also very strong winds, gales, even severe gales for some of us now, the strongest winds as we go through the rest of the morning, into the afternoon, will be in areas adjacent to the irish sea. and as the storm pushes north eastwards later, the winds will strengthen across eastern scotland and also northeast england. so potential for some disruption to travel and also the potential for some damage. a lot of rain coming out of this storm as well as it moves steadily north eastwards. northern ireland could well have as much as 50 millimetres of rain falling on already saturated ground. there's the risk of localised flooding, but the south eastern parts of the midlands having a dry day with some sunshine and also north of scotland not seeing that rain till this evening when storm agnes continues to push northwards, continues to weaken.

but it will still be a windy night. but it's going to be a very mild night for the time of year, with overnight lows between 13 and 15 degrees. now, as we head on into tomorrow, here's the remnants of storm agnes pushing into the norwegian sea. the ice of ice tell their own story. —— the isoba rs —— the isobars tolerant story. it's going to be windy, particularly in the northern half of the country. this cold front coming into northern ireland later will introduce some rain. so a lot of dry weather to start with as the remnants of storm agnes pushes away. and we've got the weather front coming in with some rain to northern ireland. the winds could be squally around this through the course of the afternoon as well. temperatures down a touch on today, 1a to about 20 degrees north to south. then as we head on into friday, we've got the remnants of an overnight front taking its patchy rain with it away into the new continent. some heavy showers in the north and the west, heaviest in northern scotland, but a lot of dry weather,

a fair bit of sunshine during the course of friday and temperatures 13 to about 21 degrees. it'll still be windy, though, across the north of scotland. then as we head on into the weekend, it's a bit of a mixture. there'll be showers at times, will be some longer spells of rain, particularly in the north, in the west. but it's going to be mild and especially so on sunday for the 1st of october.

rosebank — the controversial offshore oilfield — gets the green light. but critics say it will cost the taxpayer millions and cause huge environmental damage. and, amazon's in hot water, with us regulators accusing it of having a monopoly which prevents rivals from lowering prices. welcome to world business report. i'm marc ashdown. let's start here in the uk, where the controversial rosebank offshore development near shetland has been granted consent by regulators. development and production approval has been given to owners equinor and ithaca energy, following reassurances over environmental concerns. the rosebank field is located 80 miles west of shetland,

and is thought to contain 500 million barrels of oil,