our climate editor, justin rowlatt, has the story.thiopia, as parts of east africa experience what the world food programme says is the worst drought in a0 years. 13 million people are at risk of starvation. today's un report warns that climate change is going to make the world even more prone to disasters like this. and of course it is the most vulnerable who suffer most. this report reveals our people and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change. nearly half of humanity is living in the danger zone now. many ecosystems are at the point of no return now. unchecked carbon pollution is forcing the world's most vulnerable on a frog march to destruction now. our world is changing before our eyes. half of all the species assessed in the report are already moving in response to climate change, the report says. you see that here in the uk — flowers bloom earlier, for example. and of course, we depend on natural ecosystems for much of our food, water and clean air — so protecting them will be essential for all ourfutures, says the

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.poke to steven cowley, who's director of the princeton plasma physics laboratory. steven was previously the director of the culham centre for fusion energy where this latest successful research took place and gave his reaction to the current team's incredible achievement. actually, when i was there, we were working towards this success, it was taking a bit longer than we had hoped, and thejet team had to solve a number of difficult problems to get there. i am so glad they got there. it proves that when you think through the science rigorously, you can make it happen, and i'm so pleased for them. it is wonderful to see. actually, i wish i was part of the team still, because it is so exciting. that is exactly what we wanted to hear, but it is a huge success story, congratulations to the team, and for your works as well, to lead up to this moment. we are talking about temperatures that are higher than the sun. it beggars belief how you manage that. talk us through how the machine manages

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire. fascinating story there.n touted by chinese officials as the greenest games ever. they say they prioritise protecting native species and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. but critics point out that this is the first winter games to rely entirely on artificial snow. some events are even being held in the middle of a nature river reserve. just how green are these games? i'm joined by the professor of geography at the university of roseanne in switzerland. he's been studying the said sitting ability of major events such as the olympics for more than a decade. great to have you on the programme. let's start with the claims that these are the greenest games ever, how true is that?— true is that? you should take those claims _ true is that? you should take those claims very _ true is that? you should take those claims very carefully. l true is that? you should take l those claims very carefully. we did a study last year were compared the olympic games, both winter and summer, over the last 30 years, and we found t

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.ditor at scientific american, and she explained how this ranks as a breakthrough in scientific achievements. it is still a baby step, you know. the big thing with fusion power is that we have not yet been able to extract more energy from it then we put in, and this experiment is no different, you know, but they have taken out more energy than ever before, so it is a really promising sign that we are on the right track.— the right track. clackamas surely the _ the right track. clackamas surely the goal _ the right track. clackamas surely the goal is - the right track. clackamas surely the goal is to - the right track. clackamas surely the goal is to be i the right track. clackamas i surely the goal is to be able to get more energy from the thanit to get more energy from the than it takes to produce it. —— claire,, surely. are we anywhere close to that now? we are anywhere close to that now? - are getting close, this experiment they are talking about which is coming up, eter in france, i

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.speak to saskia mordijck, who's an assistant professor in the department of physics at william & mary research university. sazski has been working with labs throughout the world to solve the complicated problem of refueling fusion reactions. in terms of what we have been hearing today, we are talking about assured space of time, a small amount of energy that has been created but put this into context, the equivalent of powering 60 cattle, just how significant his these for our futures? ., , , ., , ., futures? for us, this was a hue futures? for us, this was a huge advance. _ futures? for us, this was a huge advance. five - futures? for us, this was a | huge advance. five seconds futures? for us, this was a i huge advance. five seconds is short and, as you can tell, thatis short and, as you can tell, that is not enough to make sure your house keeps power all day long. however, the plasma itself decayed much faster than those five seconds so for us it is really a way that we can show we

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire. moskowitz, who is the senior editor at scientific american. if you can explain and lay people's terms, how significant a milestone is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? it’s is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? �* , , ., is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? �*, , ., _ is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? 2, ., , , science? it's still a baby step. the bi thin science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with _ science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion _ science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion power - science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion power is - science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion power is that| big thing with fusion power is that we have not yet been able to extract more energy from it then we put in. this experiment is no different. but they've taken out more energy than ever before, so it's a really promising sign that we're on the right track. promising sign that

justin rowlatt, bbc news, blackpool.re skating amid reports in the russian press that 15—year—old russian star kamila valieva has tested positive for a banned substance. our sports correspondent laura scott is in beijing. this is fast becoming the biggest story at the beijing winter olympics. on monday that she needs prodigy kamila valieva made olympic history when she landed two quadruplejumps helping history when she landed two quadruple jumps helping the history when she landed two quadruplejumps helping the russian olympic committee to win gold in the figure skating team event. at the medals are yet to be handed out, leading to intense media speculation about the possible causes to the delay. there are unconfirmed reports in the russian media that 15—year—old kamila valieva has tested positive for a banned substance. the ioc and other authorities are remaining tight—lipped on the subject, saying it is the subject of an active legal case and they can't be drawn into speculation. the fact that valieva is under the age

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.the crisis over ukraine. there is talk about the minsk agreement is being used to defuse tensions. the foreign secretary will fly to moscow for talks with the kremlin tomorrow. from friday, fully—vaccinated holidaymakers will no longer need to do a covid test when they arrive back in the uk. but britons travelling abroad will still need to follow the rules that apply to wherever they are going. while entry rules for some destinations are starting to ease, some british families are cancelling half—term trips to spain because teenagers over 12 have to be double jabbed to get in, and many are not. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. ben and his family have great memories of the canary islands. they were looking forward to making more last year, but restrictions forced them to postpone to this february. now, children over 12 need two jabs to enter spain, so the holiday is off. unfortunately, the 12—year—old has onlyjust turned 12, so doesn't have his second vaccination yet. so

justin rowlatt, bbc news.affect global oil prices — the average price for a litre of petrol has reached £1.50 for the first time ever. the aa said the cost of filling up an average car tank has risen by £15 in a year. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin reports. at this toddler group in surrey children are happily playing with toy cars, filling up real—life vehicles is a growing concern for their parents and carers. the cost of etrol their parents and carers. the cost of petrol has _ their parents and carers. the cost of petrol has gone _ their parents and carers. the cost of petrol has gone through i their parents and carers. the cost of petrol has gone through the i their parents and carers. the cost. of petrol has gone through the roof and i'm now having to think about where i could go and can't go because it's getting so expensive. heating has to come. i’m because it's getting so expensive. heating has to come.— because it's getting so expensive. heating has to come. i'm saving up for a house — heating

justin rowlatt, bbc news, blackpool.there's an ongoing legal issue, after russia's skaters won gold. there are now reports one of the team tested positive for a banned substance. laura scott has more from beijing. she's the teenage sensation whose taken the figure skating world by storm. now, kamila valieva appears to be at the centre of one. three days ago, the 15—year—old made olympic history, landing a quadruplejump — helping the russian olympic committee to gold in the team event. but the medal ceremony still hasn't taken place, and unconfirmed reports in the russian media say the reason is that valieva's tested positive for a banned substance. the authorities are remaining tight—lipped on the subject. there is a legal issue going on, i can't say anything more than that. at the moment, it's speculation, i can't comment. i think we have to wait, sorry, we have to wait with patience for this case to find its way to some kind of conclusion. because valieva is under 16, she wouldn't have to be named if she were charged w

and justin rowlatt, who's the bbc�*s environment correspondent, who is here in the studio.o all of you. thank you very much for being with us. pavel bandakov, can i start with you first, what is vladimir putin's conception of historic russia and to what extent do you think this has driven the actions he is contemplating and taking? hello. the concept of historic russia made by vladimir putin as a pretext to launch this demilitarisation operation is quite a new thing, apparently. because apparently it started last year from the article he published on his website, the official website of the kremlin, in which he addressed the idea that ukraine is, in fact, not a real state, basically, that it's a project that he called anti—russia and he tried to make the case that, in fact, ukraine and russia was always one nation separated by some strange and peculiar twists in history and that it's historically bound together and so on and so forth. this concept is, we tried to address it and to run it by the historians, and it has lots of flaws and twists and all in all it it's quite a m

justin rowlatt, bbc news, 0xfordshire.emperatures ever produced on earth, are there any downside to tour? this are there any downside to tour? is you had in the report, it is a very, very challenging, so it is a very difficult technology to harness, so we're not going to be able to connect fusion power to the grade any time soon, but the uk government have committed a lot of funding for their own energy production programme which hopes to demonstrate that we can get electricity from fusion by 2040, so a very ambitious target. so there are still an awful lot of challenges, but it's very different to fishing as we had before, in terms of you can't have a runaway chain reaction. the fusion process is inherently different, so instead of forcing athens parts, you have to force together. lots of energy required for that. one of the biggest challenges we have at the moment is to get more energy out is that we put in. these experiments, results that we have just seen an answer today go a significant way forward for us to actually

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.hank you forjoining us. it's all very exciting. i don't know if you heard that report byjustin that he said get it right. it is his energy produced on the sun and the stars, is it not a bit dangerous? laughter. no, no, it's a very sort of small region in which these temperatures and pressures are happening. we are in no danger of igniting the sun, so i would not worry about that at all. safety is very much not an issue inside a fusion reactor.- safety is very much not an issue inside a fusion reactor. well, how lona will inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then it _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then it was - inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then it was my i l long will it take then it was my i think everybody will want to know. when is it going to happen it becaus

justin rowlatt, bbc news, blackpool. the battle of saltley, during the 1972 miners' strike. the mass picket led to the defeat of the conservative government, and propelled mr scargill to national prominence. he's been speaking exclusively to the bbc�*s ian white. february 1972, a nationwide miners' strike was under way. at a coking works in birmingham, pickets struggled to stop lorries going in and out, so a call went out for help to the num in yorkshire — could they send miners down to help? we want assurances from the chairman of the gas board, in writing... the miner who answered the call was a little known union official called arthur scargill. when i cried out, "get yourselves down here, we need help, "i'm asking every miner to come and help us," and, boy, did they come. there were brutal scenes outside saltley where pickets battled with police. arthur knew to succeed he needed to win the support of other trade unions and convince all kinds of workers to join the strike. aring this for 12 years suddenly there was a

during this week, agnes and powell and justin rowlatt. welcome to all of you.hink you have been with us. start with you first, pawel? what is vladimir putin's conception of historic russia and to what extent do you think this has driven the actions he is contemplating and taking? hello. the concept of historic russia made by vladimir putin as a pretext to launch this demilitarisation operation is quite a new thing, apparently. because apparently it started last year from the article he published on his website, the official website of the kremlin, in which he addressed the idea that ukraine is, in fact, not a real state, basically, that it's a project that he called anti—russia and he tried to make the case that, infact, ukraine and russia was always one nation separated by some strange and peculiar twists in history and that it's historically bound together and so on and so forth. this concept is, we tried to address it and to run it by the historians, and it has lots of flaws and twists and all in all it it's quite a mixture of various historical concepts and

justin rowlatt, bbc news, blackpool. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris. the snow from northern areas pushing off the north last. high—speed light pressure and gentle and quiet around northern and eastern areas, quite windy for a time as the low pulls away in the north sea it's see when to the area and the risk of ice across the area, more widespread frost across northern areas. it is a cold, frosty but bright and sunny morning on friday and it stays dry and sunny throughout the day, few showers across northern and western areas and later in the day, the next with the front will be breezy cloud building up. temperature wise for 9 degrees and around may be just a little below the seasonal norm. so, as you move out of fred and into the start of the week, turns and settled again in a of low pressure hunting enough the atlantic and a bring wet and windy weather, some of the rain in the hills for brighter day and clouds being the buddha and after dark. single figures will start to cease the globe and monitor pushing in across southern and western areas entrance

justin rowlatt, bbc news, 0xfordshire.and and ukraine. they're the ones who made this all happen. thank you very much for being with us. you must be very pleased. hoop us. you must be very pleased. how bit a us. you must be very pleased. firm big a breakthrough is us. you must be very pleased. timer big a breakthrough is this? is really a result of which is the end of 15 preparation period. it sounds very simple to do the experiments. but we had to change the complete inside of the machine from carbon, which we had before to a metal wall. you can see behind me. it was completely done by robotics. we started planning the experiment in 2004. we did a complete upgrade in 2011. but then to operate such a machine with the metal wall is not that easy. so we need to learn again the tricks how to make the very hot plasma, that's how we cool the hot gas of 150 million degrees was up is a number of years to get back to the situation we had before rebuild. then we were ready to try with the ultimate fusion fuel, we did that last year

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.o a covid test when they arrive back in the uk. but britons travelling abroad will still need to follow the rules that apply to wherever they are going. some british families are cancelling half term trips to spain because teenagers over 12 have to be double jabbed to get in, and many are not. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. ben and his family have great memories of the canary islands. they were looking forward to making more last year, but restrictions forced them to postpone to this february. now, children over 12 need two jabs to enter spain, so the holiday is off. unfortunately, the 12—year—old has onlyjust turned 12, so doesn't have his second vaccination yet. so we cancelled, only cancelled a few days ago, we thought we'd hold out until the 1st of feb in case anything changed. but unfortunately we had to pull the plug. ben is far from alone. travel agents say lots of people want to go away at the moment, but they're having to keep their customers informed of an ev

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire. goodbye. hello.cotland was the patchy rain and drizzle clearing southern counties through the small hours but a bit of a lag in temperatures fallen way behind the weather front, i think we will avoid a frost on the whole here. elsewhere, frosty started thursday and for scotland, a very windy start because of this area of low pressure, widespread gales, gusts of wind, 50 to 60 mph in exposure and some pretty frequent snow showers. obviously the heaviest of the snow is likely for high ground but we could see wintry conditions at lower levels for a time. northern and western scotland taking the impact of that low. during the morning rush hour it starts to shift eastwards and eventually goes out to the north sea by the middle part of the day. the afternoon fine for many, a lot of sunshine, a few showers coming in off the irish sea, a blustery wind feature for all throughout the day. temperatures in the arctic air, definitely a cold day, notably cold across southern england, where it has been so mild. for

justin rowlatt, bbc news, blackpool. in florida has been criticised by the white house. people who oppose the parental rights in education bill have dubbed it the "say no to gay" bill. they warn that it will stigmatise lgbt+ people and those issues. supporters of the legislation, including governer ron desantis, say it's about preserving the rights of parents. we've seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, oh, you know, don't worry, don't pick your gender yet, do all this other stuff, they won't tell the parents about these discussions that are happening. that is entirely inappropriate. and we need... schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write, they need to teach them science, history. let me first say that every parent, as one myself too, hopes that our leaders will ensure their children's safety, protection and freedom. and today, conservative politicians in florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack the kids who need the support

justin rowlatt, bbc news, blackpool.tes past six.— minutes past six. going back a few months, minutes past six. going back a few months. you _ minutes past six. going back a few months, you will— minutes past six. going back a few months, you will remember- minutes past six. going back a few months, you will remember the i minutes past six. going back a few- months, you will remember the debate about the hgv drivers, there was a real crisis of a shortage, and there would be a plan to get more sake bring us up to date. the would be a plan to get more sake bring us up to date.— bring us up to date. the plan has worked but _ bring us up to date. the plan has worked but has _ bring us up to date. the plan has worked but has the _ bring us up to date. the plan has worked but has the crisis - bring us up to date. the plan has worked but has the crisis gone i bring us up to date. the plan has - worked but has the crisis gone away? not completely. you'll remember last summer right through to the run up to christmas we were all t

our climate editor, justin rowlatt, reports.is _ out. look at that, there is a lot coming out there. is easy - out. look at that, there is a lot. coming out there. is easy pickings for me and — coming out there. is easy pickings for me and marrying _ coming out there. is easy pickings for me and marrying here - coming out there. is easy pickings for me and marrying here in - for me and marrying here in manchester, the government estimates some 15 million uk homes could benefit from better insulation. that is to end every three. —— two in every three. is to end every three. -- two in every three-— is to end every three. -- two in every three. it's exciting. love a aood bit every three. it's exciting. love a good bit of _ every three. it's exciting. love a good bit of draft _ every three. it's exciting. love a good bit of draft hunting. - every three. it's exciting. love a good bit of draft hunting. here i every three. it's exciting. love a | good bit of draft hunting. here is the difference _ good bit of draft hunting. here is th