i mean, the area itself, hamdaniya, it was reconstructed slightly.during the war against the islamic state. but there's been a lot of ad hoc reconstruction there, particularly it's south of mosul. it also borders very much on the krg region. so the actual distribution of funds and the reconstruction and the rebuilding there has been very much by locals, which hasn't really followed any sort of regular standard. it's not near any particular — i mean, it does have a historic church, but a lot of the oversight of it is not there by the government to sort of really enforce any sort of any sort of standards in terms of building regulation, types of fire regulations. that being said, in general in iraq, to be honest, you know, the fire regulations and the fire security is very lax. you may have remembered during the covid pandemic there was a horrific fire in baghdad that ripped through a hospital, killing, you know, over 80 people. this fire seems much more extensive and much more worse. you know, it seems that it's been in a very much enclosed in place.

that echoed among the people here in al—hamdaniya.ible for what happened. —— responsible for what happened. they were ten bodies who were charred beyond recognition and they need to be identified. these scenes are _ they need to be identified. these scenes are upsetting, _ they need to be identified. these scenes are upsetting, upsetting i scenes are upsetting, upsetting scenes are upsetting, upsetting scenes after this fire. you talked about the reaction in the local community. how are people feeling there? this is a huge loss of life. a celebration ceremony... there? this is a huge loss of life. a celebration ceremony. . .- there? this is a huge loss of life. a celebration ceremony... well, the mass in the — a celebration ceremony... well, the mass in the main _ a celebration ceremony... well, the mass in the main church _ a celebration ceremony... well, the mass in the main church today - a celebration ceremony... well, the mass in the main church today in . mass in the main church today in al—hamdaniya it was very sad. people were

the blaze started when fireworks were set off in the hall in al—hamdaniya. 1a people have been arrestede out in a few days, but what they know so far is safety precautions were not fulfilled. a warning, you may find some of laura trant�*s report distressing. the clean—up, where, for many in the qaraqosh community, hope has died out. translation: we buried 16 i persons today from our family. 16 persons, adults and children. hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for some of the victims, their faces seen on images carried by their loved ones. translation: we have no more feelings, we no longer feel- anything because we all know each other here in hamdaniya. each one of us has a relative or a neighbour or a family member. we were all one family here in qaraqosh. this is the moment when tragedy sparked. hundreds of friends, family and neighbours gathered together to celebrate this christian wedding. in the banqueting area, as the bride and groom danced, the fire spread fast and trapped many. witnesses and officials said it was sparked by fireworks fuelled by flammable panels covering the h

the blaze started when fireworks were set off in the hall in al—hamdaniya. 14 people have been arrested a wedding venue. the iraqi government says the findings of the investigation will come out in a few days, but what they know so far is safety precautions were not fulfilled. a warning you may find some of laura trant�*s report distressing. the clean—up where, for many in the qaraqosh community, hope has died out. translation: we buried 16 i persons today from our family. 16 persons, adults and children. hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for some of the victims, their faces seen on images carried by their loved ones. translation: we have no more feelings, we no longer feel- anything because we all know each other here in hamdaniya. each one of us has a relative or a neighbour or a family member. we were all one family here in qaraqosh. this is the moment when tragedy sparked. hundreds of friends, family and neighbours gathered together to celebrate this christian wedding. in the banqueting area, as the bride and groom danced, the fire spread fast and trapped many. witnesses and o

the area itself, al—hamdaniya, it was reconstructed slightly.state, but there's been a lot of ad hoc reconstruction there, particularly it's south of mosul. it also borders very much on the krg region. so the actual distribution of funds and the reconstruction and the rebuilding there has been very much by locals, which hasn't really followed any sort of regulator standard. i mean, it does have a historic church, but a lot of the oversight of it is not there by the government to sort of really enforce any sort of standards in terms of building regulation, in terms of fire regulations. that being said, in general in iraq, to be honest, you know, the fire regulations and the fire security, you know, it's very lax. you may have remembered during the covid pandemic there was a horrific fire in baghdad that ripped through a hospital, killing, you know, over 80 people. this fire seems much more extensive and much more worse. you know, it seems that it's been in a very much enclosed place and also it looks like there has been some logistical issues of

the blaze started when fireworks were set off in the hall in al—hamdaniya. 14 people have been arrestede. the iraqi government says the findings of the investigation will come out in a few days, but what they know so far is safety precautions were not fulfilled. a warning — you may find some of laura trant�*s report distressing. the clean—up for many in the community. hope has died out. translation: we buried i6 hope has died out. translation: we buried 16 persons today from our family. we buried 16 persons today from ourfamily. adults we buried 16 persons today from our family. adults and children.— our family. adults and children. , ., ., , children. hundreds of mourners attended a _ children. hundreds of mourners attended a funeral— children. hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for— children. hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for some - children. hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for some ofl attended a funeral for some of the victims. theirfaces attended a funeral for some of the victims. their faces seen on images carried by their loved ones. translation: we have no

people were celebrating in al—hamdaniya when fire tore through the venue late on tuesday evening.how 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.

people were celebrating in al—hamdaniya when fire tore through the venue late on tuesday evening.officials said initial findings suggested fireworks were lit during the celebration inside a hall attended by up to 1,000 people. more information on both of those stories, the fire in northern iraq and the investigation into what caused the fire. and of course, the decision about the gas and oil extraction at rosebank. stay with us on bbc world. 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 north—east england. so potential for some disruption to travel and also the potential for some damage. a lot of rain coming out of

the blaze is thought to have started when fireworks were set off in the hall in al—hamdaniya.. the bride and groom are said to be among the dead. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab has been following developments. it should have been the start of a new life together. the newlyweds took to the dance floor. hundreds of their relatives into the wedding hall to celebrate. but fireworks changed everything. the fire spread in minutes. the power went out. in the chaos, more than 100 died. the bride and groom's fate is still unknown. the bulldozer smashed a hole in the side of the building to allow people to escape. this man made it out alive but believes his parents, wife and two children died. arrest warrants have been issued for the owners of the building, according to state media, with officials saying flammable material we used inside. 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 w

in the iraqi city of hamdaniya, mourners gathered to bury the people killed in a fire at a wedding.started when flares ignited a ceiling decoration. the red crescent says hundreds were injured. gb news has suspended two of its presenters, dan wootton and laurence fox, after sexist comments fox made on wootton's programme tuesday night about a female political journalist which the channel said were completely unacceptable. wootton apologised for what he called "a very unfortunate lapse injudgement." the reporter ava evans said she feared for her safety. the channel has opened an investigation. storm elias flooded parts of central greece wednesday. heavy rain in the city of volos flooded several roads near the port there. video shows vehicles trying to manoeuvre through the floods, as emergency crews patrol the area rescuing people trapped. landslides and power outages have also been reported. it comes just weeks after deadly flooding from storm daniel, in the region. you're live with bbc news. in washington, there's been no clear progress in efforts in the house to avoid a partial go

people were celebrating in al—hamdaniya when fire tore through the venue late on tuesday evening.g that fireworks were lit during the celebration inside a hall. the venue is said to have been built with highly flammable materials. it is also thought to have had only one exit, and no fire extinguishers. with more on this, here's our correspondent, nick beake, from bbc verify. yes, one survivor has described what happened as a humanitarian crisis. so many people killed or badly injured. we at bbc verify have been taking a closer look at the possible layout of the wedding venue, possible escape routes and trying to work out why so many people lost their lives. this video shows people sitting at their seats, and you can see there are large sparklers at one point, which are reaching up towards the ceiling. they actually set alight some of the material up there at the top. you can see that in the screen. in this next video, taken from a different angle, the bride and groom, and if wejust play the video, a short video, you see the debris, which is now alight, falling down. people at this

in the iraqi city of hamdaniya, mourners gathered to bury the people killed in a fire at a wedding.g decoration. the red crescent says hundreds more were injured. storm elias flooded parts of central greece wednesday. heavy rain in the city of volos flooded several roads near the port there. video shows vehicles trying to manoeuvre through the floods, as emergency crews patrol the area rescuing people trapped. landslides and poweroutages have also been reported. it comes just weeks after deadly flooding from storm daniel in the region. you�*re live with bbc news. as we were discussing earlier, former president donald trump is skipping the gop debate in california. instead he�*s been addressing workers at a plant in michigan, after touring a manufacturing facility. he�*s been talking about protecting us workers from foreign competition. i want iwanta i want a future that protects american labourer, not foreign labour. a future that puts american dream over foreign profits and a feature that raises american wages that strengthens american industry that builds national pride and defend

during a ceremony in the city of hamdaniya.s and fabric chandelier in a matter of seconds, the wedding tent instantly turned into a blazing fire, and a stampede began inside. considering that about a thousand people were invited to the celebration, it turned out to be very difficult to get out of the room. due to the large number of casualties in northern iraq, three days of mourning have been declared, vladimir putin sent condolences to the president of the country and the relatives of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the victims. russian security secretary nikolai patrushev discussed interaction between moscow and cairo in the field of security and economics today at a meeting with egyptian president abdel fattah a-sisi. our country will provide assistance to our partners in the issue of integration into brix, patrushev noted, emphasizing that this will help form a world order with a leading position in which the world majority will occupy. an exhibition dedicated to the famous soviet poet rasul gamzatov has opened a