Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:09Hello. Live from London. This
00:00:12is BBC News. Voting is under way way in two German states as Chancellor
00:00:16Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces growing
00:00:18growing political pressure. The brother brother of Princess Diana Earl Spencer
00:00:22Spencer tells the BBC that there there are echoes of what happened
00:00:24happened to his sister in the way way the media is treating Prince
00:00:28Prince Harry and Meghan. It would would be really beholden on people
00:00:31people to learn from Diana's example. example. I'm not here to speak for
00:00:34for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone
00:00:36anyone who's being destroyed in this
00:00:38this way daily, it must be such a
00:00:41a cancerous influence in their life.
00:00:43life. Two people are reportedly killed
00:00:46killed after Ukraine carries out out large-scale drone attacks on
00:00:49on the Moscow region. Ed Sheeran Sheeran apologises for what he calls
00:00:53calls mistakes as he returns to the the stage for the first time since
00:00:56since rapper Macklemore was dropped
00:00:57dropped from his US tour over pro-Palestinian
00:01:00pro-Palestinian remarks. What is
00:01:02is happening in Gaza is a catastrophic
00:01:06catastrophic and unjustifiable and and disproportionate. My heart has
00:01:09has been broken by the scale of devastation
00:01:11devastation and loss of civilians
00:01:14civilians lives of children. Hello,
00:01:24Hello, I'm Lucy Grey, welcome to to the programme. Voting is under
00:01:27under way in two German states for for elections, which may further
00:01:31further weaken Friedrich Mertz's Mertz's position as chancellor. He's He's cancelled plans to attend the
00:01:35the UN General Assembly in New York York later this week, as speculation
00:01:39speculation grows about his future. future. The votes are taking place
00:01:42place in the capital, Berlin and and also in the Mecklenburg-Western
00:01:45Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region. region. Our Berlin correspondent
00:01:47correspondent Jessica Parker is following
00:01:50following developments. Yeah, I mean, mean, it has to be said there was
00:01:54was a state election a couple of of weeks ago where Alternative fur
00:01:58fur Deutschland, a far-right party
00:02:00party won by a landslide. Huge international international attention on that election. election. And now lots of international
00:02:04international attention as well on on these two as well. And it's unusual,
00:02:07unusual, but you're right. It's because
00:02:10because there is a lot of pressure pressure now on Friedrich Merz. And
00:02:14And a couple of the reasons for that that is that Friedrich Merz is a
00:02:18a man who became chancellor 16 months
00:02:21months ago, and kind of part of his his plan, his promise of what he
00:02:24he wanted to do was counter the rise
00:02:27rise of Alternative fur Deutschland, Deutschland, which is a party that's that's very popular, for example,
00:02:31example, in the states that I'm in, in, but is also a highly controversial controversial party and sections
00:02:34sections of it are classed as right right wing extremist by domestic
00:02:38domestic intelligence, although that's that's something the AfD rejects. rejects. But Merz had sort of talked
00:02:41talked about trying to counter their
00:02:44their popularity and to get the German
00:02:46German economy going again. But here here we are, 16 months in that the
00:02:50the AfD is topping the polls nationally
00:02:53nationally and Germany's economy
00:02:55economy continues to stutter as well.
00:02:58well. And his personal approval ratings ratings are very low. And that has
00:03:01has led to questions over whether whether he is the right man to lead
00:03:04lead the CDU and indeed lead the the government here in Germany at
00:03:08at the moment, I've got to say it's it's I kind of call it, you know,
00:03:10know, a potential coup with no name, name, no challenger has come out
00:03:14out against him at the moment. In
00:03:16In fact, the heads of or state premiers
00:03:19premiers from the CDU party last last week issued a letter of support
00:03:23support saying it wasn't time to to talk about personnel changes and
00:03:25and they wanted to work to fix. I
00:03:28I paraphrase but fix Germany's problems problems alongside the chancellor.
00:03:31chancellor. But I think a lot of of people are seeing the results results of these votes. We'll get
00:03:34get some projected results later later today as pretty crucial for
00:03:38for Friedrich Merz as there are questions questions swirling over his future.
00:03:41future. Well, just explain to us us then how it's looking both in
00:03:44in Berlin and in Mecklenburg, where
00:03:48where you are. Yeah. So in Berlin,
00:03:51Berlin, the CDU is sort of tussling tussling for first place. According
00:03:54According to polls against the Left
00:03:56Left Party. Die Linke so depending depending on what happens there,
00:03:59there, the CDU kind of worst case case scenario for them is that they
00:04:02they fall out of power. If Die Linke Linke forms a coalition with other
00:04:06other left leaning parties and then
00:04:10then here in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the CDU. CDU. It's not a strong state for
00:04:14for them traditionally anyway, but but where they are at the moment
00:04:17moment is they've just been hovering
00:04:19hovering above the 5% threshold that that parties need to actually enter
00:04:23enter the parliament. And if the the CDU fell out of the parliament parliament here in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
00:04:27Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, that would would be a really catastrophic result result for them, a first for the
00:04:31the party. So I think they're pretty pretty desperate to avoid that. But
00:04:34But sort of tussling for first place place here has been the AfD and the
00:04:38the centre left SPD, which has staged staged something of a political comeback
00:04:41comeback in this state as their leader leader has sort of billed herself
00:04:45herself Manuela Schwesig as Frau
00:04:47Frau gegen Blau the Woman against against blue, which is the colour
00:04:51colour of the Alternative fur Deutschland. Deutschland. So it looks like she's
00:04:53she's trying to sweep up a lot of of anti AfD votes in this state,
00:04:57state, which could eat into the CDU
00:04:58CDU support as well. Jessica Parker,
00:05:01Parker, the brother of Princess Diana, Diana, has told the BBC he sees echoes
00:05:05echoes of what happened to her in in the way that Prince Harry and
00:05:08and Meghan are treated by the media. media. Earl Spencer made the comments
00:05:11comments in an exclusive interview interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Kuenssberg, during which he also
00:05:15also discussed claims in his new new book about an alleged argument
00:05:18argument with King Charles. Following Following Diana's death, Buckingham
00:05:21Buckingham Palace says his recollection recollection was clouded by grief.
00:05:24grief. Speaking about the Duke and and Duchess of Sussex, he said although
00:05:27although he wasn't there to speak speak for the couple, people should
00:05:30should learn from Diana's example.
00:05:33example. Do you fear there is somehow somehow an an echo of what happened
00:05:37happened to Diana? You know, Harry Harry has said on many occasions
00:05:39occasions that he hasn't felt supported supported by the institution over
00:05:42over the choices that he's made with with his life. I think there's a
00:05:45a perception in the media that I'm
00:05:47I'm on Harry's side. Well, I'm on
00:05:50on my deceased sister's son's side, side, both of them. And if either
00:05:54either of them wanted anything, then then I'd be equally there for them.
00:05:56them. And I never get involved in
00:05:59in one camp or the other except as
00:06:01as a benign figure. I hope that's
00:06:04that's my role. Do you think Diana
00:06:07Diana would identify with the attention,
00:06:09attention, the focus that has been been put on them? And with Meghan,
00:06:12Meghan, who said she felt like she she was the most trolled person in
00:06:15in the world, you know, they were were here during the summer, not
00:06:18not so long ago. If you look at an
00:06:21an article in a tabloid about Diana
00:06:25Diana or the couple that you're mentioning, mentioning, Harry and Meghan, you
00:06:29you know, it's they can be really, really, really unpleasant. And I
00:06:33I think it would be really beholden beholden on people to learn from
00:06:35from Diana's example. I'm not here here to speak for Harry and Meghan,
00:06:39Meghan, but for anyone who's being being destroyed in this way daily,
00:06:43daily, it must be such a cancerous cancerous influence in their life.
00:06:47life. I saw it with Diana, I saw saw Diana, I mentioned it in the
00:06:50the eulogy, her tears of despair. despair. One of the problems with
00:06:53with Diana was she's very, very sensitive
00:06:56sensitive to criticism. And of course, course, I'm sure most of your viewers
00:06:59viewers now think, oh, she had this this splendid life and it was all all amazing. And she didn't. She
00:07:03She was so privileged and so perfect perfect in so many ways. But she
00:07:07she was really brought low by all all that criticism. And yeah, I suppose
00:07:10suppose it's a pity when I see echoes
00:07:13echoes of that now. Well, in response response to the claims made by Earl
00:07:17Earl Spencer, Buckingham Palace said said that the King was mindful that
00:07:20that the pain of fraternal grief grief can cloud reason, affect judgement
00:07:24judgement and colour memory in ways ways others do not recognise. Even
00:07:27Even many years after such a loss. loss. You can watch the full interview
00:07:31interview here on BBC News and a a special programme at 7pm BST. If
00:07:35If you're in the UK, it'll also be
00:07:37be broadcast on BBC One at 6:30pm
00:07:406:30pm and will be available on BBC
00:07:42BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds from 4
00:07:454 pm. The authorities in Moscow say
00:07:47say at least two people have been
00:07:50been killed and six injured in a
00:07:52a massive overnight Ukrainian drone drone attack on the city region.
00:07:56region. Posting this footage on social social media this morning, Ukraine's
00:07:59Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky Zelensky confirmed Kyiv had hit a
00:08:02a key Russian oil facility and a
00:08:04a logistics site in the region. The The targets, he said, represented
00:08:08represented billions of dollars that that sustain the war machine. The
00:08:11The mayor of Moscow said it was the the largest drone attack on the Russian
00:08:14Russian capital yet, and 450 drones
00:08:17drones heading for the capital have have been shot down. Russian authorities
00:08:20authorities accuse Ukraine of trying trying to disrupt the country's parliamentary
00:08:24parliamentary elections, which end end today, and claim more than 1600
00:08:281600 drones had been repelled since since yesterday. Let's speak to Steve
00:08:32Steve Rosenberg, our Russia editor. editor. Hello, Steve. This sounds
00:08:35sounds like a huge attack. Talk us
00:08:37us through what you know. Yes, it
00:08:42it does sound like a large attack.
00:08:45attack. Unprecedented, said Sergei Sergei Sobyanin, the Moscow mayor.
00:08:49mayor. And he said, as you mentioned, mentioned, he said this was an attempt attempt to disrupt the election.
00:08:53election. I'm standing outside a
00:08:54a polling station in the centre of
00:08:57of Moscow. Earlier today we were were at a polling station very close
00:09:01close to the oil refinery. The Moscow Moscow oil refinery that got struck
00:09:05struck and we were chatting to voters. voters. One young voter said to me
00:09:09me that he'd heard the explosion. explosion. He'd heard loud bangs.
00:09:12bangs. He said this was not a good
00:09:14good situation. I spoke to an older
00:09:16older voter who had also heard the the explosions and said he wanted
00:09:20wanted peace, but by peace he meant
00:09:23meant Ukraine's defeat. I wouldn't wouldn't say there's a big sense
00:09:26sense of surprise here in Moscow
00:09:29Moscow more a kind of quiet resignation.
00:09:31resignation. You know, I think four
00:09:33four and a half years into Russia's Russia's war on Ukraine, Muscovites
00:09:37Muscovites have kind of got used
00:09:38used to their city becoming periodically
00:09:41periodically a front line. Let's Let's talk to us about these elections
00:09:44elections a bit more then, because because I understand it's only pro-Kremlin
00:09:47pro-Kremlin parties that are standing
00:09:50standing in it. Yes, I'm sure that
00:09:54that if a representative of the Kremlin Kremlin was standing here, he would
00:09:58would say that the election is free
00:09:59free and fair. However, the political
00:10:03political process in Russia is heavily
00:10:05heavily controlled, tightly controlled controlled by the Kremlin, and that
00:10:08that goes for elections too. And
00:10:12And so few people are holding their their breath here regarding the results.
00:10:15results. The. The likelihood is that that the party of power United Russia,
00:10:19Russia, the party that Vladimir Putin
00:10:22Putin backs, will be the largest largest in Parliament. And if you
00:10:25you look at previous Duma's previous previous Russian parliaments, the
00:10:28the other parties that get into the
00:10:30the Parliament tend to support the
00:10:32the Kremlin. Major Kremlin initiatives.
00:10:37initiatives. And as far as the last last Parliament is concerned on the
00:10:40the war in Ukraine. So I think most
00:10:42most people are expecting that situation situation to continue. But these these elections are happening at
00:10:46at a very difficult time, of course, course, for the country. This is
00:10:49is the first election parliamentary parliamentary election to take place
00:10:52place since Russia's full-scale invasion
00:10:55invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The
00:10:57The economic situation is not good. good. Obviously the security situation
00:11:01situation is not great. You know, know, these Ukrainian drone attacks
00:11:05attacks are continuing. So there
00:11:07there is a definite sense of anxiety anxiety when you speak to Russians,
00:11:11Russians, not just at polling stations stations on the street. People don't
00:11:14don't know what's going to happen happen next. And so there is a sense
00:11:18sense of, you know, people are waiting waiting to see how this situation
00:11:21situation develops. OK. Thank you you Steve Rosenberg for us there
00:11:24there in Moscow. Aleema Khan, the
00:11:27the sister of Pakistan's jailed former former Prime Minister Imran Khan,
00:11:31Khan, has been arrested in Lahore. Lahore. A spokesperson for Khan's
00:11:34Khan's PTI party said she was arrested
00:11:36arrested at her house on Sunday ahead ahead of a planned protest march
00:11:39march by the party next week. Former Former cricketer Imran Khan has been
00:11:43been in prison since August 2023. 2023. He was imprisoned on several
00:11:47several charges, including corruption, corruption, which he says were politically
00:11:51politically motivated. The Houthis Houthis in Yemen say they've attacked
00:11:55attacked sites in the Saudi capital capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city
00:11:58city of Yanbu. In a TV statement, statement, the group, which is backed
00:12:00backed by Iran, says it launched
00:12:02launched missiles and drones in retaliation retaliation for Saudi warplanes striking
00:12:06striking Houthi positions this week. week. Earlier on Saturday, a plume
00:12:09plume of black smoke was seen near near the international airport in
00:12:12in Riyadh after reports of explosions
00:12:14explosions at a fuel depot. Saudi Saudi authorities have said they they intercepted and destroyed a
00:12:18a ballistic missile fired at Riyadh. Riyadh. Turkey says it's ready to
00:12:22to help under a defence pact signed
00:12:24signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
00:12:27Pakistan. Arman Mahmoudian is a research research fellow at the Global and
00:12:30and National Security Institute and and a non-resident scholar at the
00:12:33the George Washington University's University's Institute of Middle Middle East Studies. This is his
00:12:36his assessment of who has the upper
00:12:38upper hand in the Saudi Houthi conflict.
00:12:41conflict. I think at this point, point, at least in the absence of
00:12:44of any active signal from the United
00:12:47United States, direct engagement engagement in the conflict. The Houthis
00:12:49Houthis have the upper hand. Houthis Houthis have a higher threshold of
00:12:52of tolerance for pain. Basically, Basically, the pain that the Saudis
00:12:56Saudis or the sanctions inflict on on the population of Yemen is not
00:12:59not directly transferred to them. them. Saudis have a lesser threshold
00:13:03threshold for the pain. Saudis also also are dealing with economic issues.
00:13:06issues. There is already an instability instability in the energy market
00:13:08market and vis a vis the Saudis income income from it because of the war
00:13:12war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Hormuz. Houthis attack. Specifically
00:13:15Specifically speaking, the attack attack they made on Riyadh, which
00:13:18which signals their willingness to
00:13:20to expand the scope of the fight,
00:13:23fight, is going to much inflict a a much more pressure on Saudis economy.
00:13:27economy. So while the militarily militarily speaking Saudi obviously
00:13:31obviously have superiority toward toward the Houthis, but in terms
00:13:33terms of the threshold of the tolerance, tolerance, in terms of the time,
00:13:36time, the situation is not in favour favour of the Saudi unless something
00:13:39something change either the Americans Americans get involved further in
00:13:43in or the Saudis allies, Turkey and and Pakistan decide to get involved,
00:13:47involved, which I doubt that at this this point at least, there has always always been a debate to what extent
00:13:50extent Iran controls the Saudis, Saudis, whether it controls it or
00:13:52or not. It's hard to say that. Does
00:13:54Does Iran commanded or not? But definitely definitely Iran has influence over
00:13:58over the suitcase. Iran is at this this moment the sole sponsor of the
00:14:02the Houthis. Iranian have been, you you know, supplying Houthis with
00:14:05with the advisers, with the they they teach the they taught the suitors
00:14:08suitors the know how of building building missiles and projectiles.
00:14:11projectiles. There is an ideological ideological affiliation. There are
00:14:14are some rumours about financial financial assistance. So they greatly
00:14:17greatly have influence over this this matter and over the Houthis. Houthis. And I believe Iran actually
00:14:21actually is gaining a lot out of of this despite whatever role Iran
00:14:25Iran is playing in the, you know, know, the execution of the Houthis
00:14:28Houthis campaign. Arman Mahmoudian Mahmoudian let's get some of the
00:14:31the day's other news now. The new new school year has begun in Gaza
00:14:34Gaza with more than 500,000 children children returning to formal education
00:14:38education for the first time in nearly
00:14:40nearly three years, the United Nations Nations says 97% of schools in Gaza
00:14:43Gaza were damaged or destroyed in in fighting since the Israel-Gaza
00:14:47Israel-Gaza war began. Working alongside alongside UN agencies, the education
00:14:51education ministry has opened around around 700 education facilities,
00:14:54facilities, some as simple as a tent.
00:14:57tent. Thousands of Argentines have have marched through Buenos Aires
00:15:00Aires to protest against President President Javier Milei's labour policies
00:15:04policies and austerity cuts. Left Left wing political leaders and activists
00:15:07activists have called for a general
00:15:09general strike. Police in the Netherlands Netherlands have clashed with several
00:15:13several hundred far right protesters protesters in the centre of The Hague.
00:15:16Hague. Authorities ordered a planned planned anti-immigration demonstration
00:15:18demonstration be broken up after after it spiralled into violence
00:15:21violence as protesters were gathering gathering at a local park. Demonstrators
00:15:25Demonstrators threw fireworks and and projectiles at riot police and
00:15:28and chanted antisemitic slogans. slogans. At least 24 people were
00:15:32were arrested. The American footwear
00:15:34footwear company converse has withdrawn withdrawn an advert after criticism
00:15:38criticism that it evoked imagery imagery of the white supremacist
00:15:41supremacist group Ku Klux Klan. Social
00:15:43Social media users said shadows in in the photograph resembled a white
00:15:47white pointed hood, while a pair pair of dangling shoes was likened
00:15:50likened to an image of a lynching.
00:15:55lynching. President Trump says he'll he'll form an AI force and appoint
00:15:59appoint a new artificial intelligence intelligence adviser to regulate
00:16:02regulate the industry. Writing on on social media, he said he would
00:16:05would not hinder the growth of AI.
00:16:07AI. Warning that the US must maintain maintain its lead over China, our
00:16:11our correspondent Leigh Milner has has more on what's behind Mr Trump's
00:16:14Trump's urgency around AI. I think think a big part of it is that Trump
00:16:18Trump sees AI as a really important
00:16:20important area for both the US economy
00:16:23economy and also wants to do it strategically. strategically. He wants America to
00:16:26to stay out in front, particularly particularly when it comes to competition
00:16:29competition with China. And he clearly
00:16:31clearly feels that putting too many
00:16:33many restrictions on the industry industry could slow things down.
00:16:36down. So the emphasis is on keeping keeping investment and development
00:16:39development moving quickly and making
00:16:42making sure American companies have have the freedom, obviously, to compete.
00:16:45compete. But at the same time, there
00:16:47there are these concerns about whether
00:16:49whether the technology is developing developing faster than governments
00:16:52governments can keep up with. Researchers Researchers and technology leaders
00:16:55leaders are worried about the risks
00:16:56risks that could come with increasingly
00:16:59increasingly powerful AI systems. systems. They're calling for stronger
00:17:03stronger safeguards and independent independent checks to make sure the the technology is being developed
00:17:06developed safely. There are concerns concerns that if AI becomes more
00:17:10more powerful than it could be out out of control and people could obviously
00:17:14obviously misuse it as well. Trump,
00:17:17Trump, however, has taken a different different position. He's dismissed
00:17:21dismissed concerns about the potential potential dangers of AI. As we've
00:17:24we've heard, as a hoax, and believes believes that slowing down could
00:17:27could hurt America's ability to compete
00:17:29compete with China. So at the moment,
00:17:32moment, there's a clear debate between between pushing ahead quickly to
00:17:35to maintain America's position in in AI and also making sure enough
00:17:39enough safety measures are in place place to make sure this technology
00:17:42technology develops. Leigh Milner Milner in Ed Sheeran's first concert
00:17:46concert since his support act, Macklemore, Macklemore, was dropped over pro-Palestinian
00:17:50pro-Palestinian comments, the star star has directly addressed the controversy. controversy. Speaking before his
00:17:54his concert in Philadelphia, the the British singer described the
00:17:56the situation in Gaza as catastrophic catastrophic and unjustifiable. He
00:18:00He said the Hamas attacks on Israel
00:18:03Israel in October 2023 were horrific horrific and added that Israel's
00:18:06Israel's response since then had had been disproportionate. Before
00:18:09Before he started singing, Sheeran Sheeran apologised to his fans for
00:18:12for what he called mistakes as he
00:18:14he handled the fallout from the controversy.
00:18:17controversy. Our reporter Carl Nasman Nasman was at the stadium. Ed Sheeran
00:18:21Sheeran is used to having the spotlight spotlight on his music. Tonight it
00:18:24it was squarely on his words. This This is not usually how I would open
00:18:29open the show, but before I play play some songs tonight, I hope it's
00:18:32it's OK if I say a few words. Taking
00:18:34Taking the stage in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, the megastar apologised
00:18:38apologised directly to his fans for for the recent controversy surrounding
00:18:41surrounding his tour. This week. week. The criticism was about something
00:18:44something much more important and and I've had to take and make difficult
00:18:48difficult decisions and I am making
00:18:50making mistakes and I'm so, so sorry. sorry. He also clarified where he
00:18:54he stands on the situation in Gaza. Gaza. What happened in Israel and
00:18:58and at the Nova Music Festival on
00:19:00on October 7th was horrific and compounded
00:19:03compounded centuries of Jewish pain.
00:19:05pain. What is happening in Gaza is
00:19:08is a catastrophic and unjustifiable unjustifiable and disproportionate.
00:19:11disproportionate. My heart has been been broken by the scale of devastation
00:19:14devastation and loss of civilians
00:19:17civilians lives, of children's lives lives and the systemic injustice
00:19:21injustice we're seeing unfold in in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.
00:19:25overlooked. Sheeran also addressed addressed the musicians not in the
00:19:28the room. His backing band and tour tour mates left in solidarity after
00:19:32after the rapper Macklemore was dropped dropped over his pro-Palestinian
00:19:35pro-Palestinian views. He said he he was deeply worried about venues
00:19:39venues pre-approving content or performers. performers. I was in some of the
00:19:43the front rows inside that stadium stadium as Ed Sheeran made that speech
00:19:46speech and this was clearly an emotional emotional moment for him, he said.
00:19:49said. He was worried about how he he might be perceived tonight and
00:19:53and he was thankful that fans came came out at all. I thought it was
00:19:56was beautiful that we got to witness witness him in his element, like
00:19:59like what he's used to being in from from the start, you know? So he started
00:20:02started by himself and he's just just as good by himself then with
00:20:05with all these extra people. So I'm I'm glad we got more Ed Sheeran than
00:20:08than we would have otherwise. He He stayed neutral and I think he he covered both sides nicely. I think
00:20:12think everyone leaves happy and a a big fan of his. Sheeran is an artist
00:20:16artist who likes to stay out of politics, politics, but that has become increasingly
00:20:20increasingly difficult. Before the
00:20:22the concert, dozens of pro-Palestinian pro-Palestinian protesters near the
00:20:25the stadium only added to the pressure. pressure. Sheeran said tonight that that he wants his concerts to be
00:20:29be a place where everyone is welcome,
00:20:32welcome, and he likely hopes now
00:20:33now the focus can return to his music.
00:20:38music. Carl Nasman, BBC News. Scotland's Scotland's efforts to tackle its
00:20:41its drugs deaths crisis are being being challenged by a growing influx
00:20:44influx of powerful synthetic drugs,
00:20:47drugs, experts warn. New synthetic
00:20:49synthetic opioids are becoming increasingly increasingly widespread, raising raising concerns that the number
00:20:52number of drug related deaths could could rise when the latest figures
00:20:56figures are published this week. week. Here's our Scotland editor,
00:20:59editor, James Cook. This spotless. spotless. Laboratory in Dundee seems
00:21:03seems a. World away from the chaotic
00:21:05chaotic reality of illegal drug use.
00:21:08use. But scientists here are racing racing against the deadly and evolving
00:21:11evolving threat. They're examining examining samples of seized drugs
00:21:15drugs to find out exactly what's what's in them. And the answers are
00:21:18are worrying with new substances substances emerging all the time.
00:21:22time. In terms of Europe, we are are seeing roughly about a drug entering
00:21:25entering into Europe context within within kind of every 1 to 2 weeks.
00:21:28weeks. Something new will arrive. arrive. I mean, it's pretty rapid rapid for us to be able to keep up
00:21:32up as scientists. And that must be be dangerous. Yeah, these drugs are are extremely dangerous. The illicit
00:21:36illicit drug supply in Scotland is is getting more and more dangerous
00:21:38dangerous as time goes on. They're
00:21:41They're particularly worried about about synthetic opioids called nitazenes,
00:21:45nitazenes, often hundreds of times times more potent than heroin. Criminals
00:21:49Criminals are mixing them with all all sorts of other substances, from
00:21:52from Valium style pills to powdered
00:21:55powdered cocaine. Last year, Police
00:21:59Police Scotland seized £80 million million worth of street drugs. This
00:22:03This year, the figure has already
00:22:06already reached 78 million, and we we can reveal detectives have raided
00:22:09raided suspected nitazenes labs in in Ayrshire and Midlothian, arresting
00:22:13arresting five people. This is not
00:22:16not just an urban problem. The rapidly
00:22:19rapidly changing nature of the drug drug supply is hitting rural Scotland
00:22:22Scotland too. We've come to the Kintyre
00:22:25Kintyre peninsula on the far west west of the mainland, to hear more
00:22:29more about what is a struggle to
00:22:30to save lives. There are all sorts
00:22:33sorts of ways to do that. This group group tries to treat trauma by helping
00:22:37helping former drug users reconnect reconnect with nature, but the staff
00:22:41staff say their job has been made made harder by the rapidly evolving
00:22:45evolving nature of drug supplies. supplies. Some of these substances
00:22:48substances are so potent that a grain
00:22:50grain would be enough to take somebody somebody over and to kill them and
00:22:53and to possibly kill them. So this this is a frightening new landscape, landscape, really. It really is.
00:22:57is. I mean, I think I mean, it's
00:23:00it's not something I normally find find myself saying, but I don't think think drugs have ever been as riskier,
00:23:03riskier, as dangerous as they are are now. People just never know quite quite what they're getting any more.
00:23:07more. And it's a terrible thing to to say. But with heroin it was better.
00:23:10better. The devil you knew. Quite Quite a statement and a reminder
00:23:13reminder of the scale of this crisis. crisis. We just want to think about
00:23:17about all those that we've lost through
00:23:19through substance use. So many lives
00:23:22lives lost, so much still to do to
00:23:25to save others. James Cook, BBC News,
00:23:29News, Kintyre. Milan Fashion Week
00:23:32Week starts on Tuesday and one model model who is there is the cover star
00:23:35star of the Saturday edition of the
00:23:37the UK's Grazia magazine. 59-year-old
00:23:4159-year-old Evelyn Effrim-Botchey Effrim-Botchey is one of the new
00:23:43new wave of older models coming to to prominence as the fashion industry
00:23:46industry tries to make its catwalk catwalk more reflective of society
00:23:50society at large. Evelyn told us
00:23:51us why she decided to return to modelling.
00:23:54modelling. There weren't many role role models out there for women who
00:23:58who I resonate with. I still classed
00:24:01classed myself as even though I'm I'm 59, I still have a lot to give.
00:24:05give. I'm not ready to put on slippers
00:24:08slippers and sit down and say, OK,
00:24:10OK, my life is complete and I'm just
00:24:12just going to sit there and go into into my pension. I thought, oh, no,
00:24:15no, I've still got itchy feet. I
00:24:18I wanted to start a new career and
00:24:20and I wanted to actually find the
00:24:23the real me as well because I felt felt a lot of people said, oh, you
00:24:26you look 40, you look 45. And I said,
00:24:29said, OK, thank you, I take that, that, but I'm not actually 45, you
00:24:32you know? And I started wanting to
00:24:35to embrace my natural hair colour
00:24:38colour for a while. And I was kind kind of advised away from that to
00:24:42to say, oh, why would you want to to do that? You're going to be looking looking old. And I was like, well,
00:24:46well, I don't really agree. I just just think, yes, I am older, but
00:24:50but I'm not old. So I'm going to
00:24:51to take that step and I have and
00:24:56and I'm so empowered that I've done done that because I've every day,
00:24:59day, every morning when I look in in the mirror, I see a new me and
00:25:02and I really, really like that person.
00:25:05person. And it's exciting. It's empowering. empowering. And it's given me a lot
00:25:08lot of strength to go forward and
00:25:10and do things that yeah, that I'm,
00:25:13I'm, that I'm ready to do. Evelyn
00:25:19Evelyn Effrim-Botchey now ancient ancient Rome has met cutting edge
00:25:22edge technology in Croatia, the Adriatic
00:25:25Adriatic coastal city of Pula turned
00:25:27turned its 2000-year-old historic historic buildings into a canvas
00:25:30canvas for contemporary light art.
00:25:32art. So there are 16 locations across
00:25:35across the city used to explore themes
00:25:38themes of space, peace, nature and
00:25:40and human relations. In all, there
00:25:43there were 23 works featuring artists artists from countries including
00:25:46including Croatia, Germany, Ukraine,
00:25:48Ukraine, Norway and Hong Kong. That's
00:25:53That's all from me for now. Thanks Thanks very much for your company. company. You can get in touch on
00:25:57on social media at Lucy Grey and and there's plenty more on the BBC
00:26:00BBC website. Of course, on all of
00:26:02of our stories.
00:29:54latest news wherever you are. Business
00:29:55Business on BBC News. Make the connection.
00:30:06connection. MUSIC
00:30:08MUSIC
00:30:14These are the latest headlines from BBC News. Voting is under way
00:30:18way in two German states as Chancellor
00:30:20Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces growing
00:30:23growing political pressure. The brother brother of Princess Diana Earl Spencer
00:30:26Spencer tells the BBC that there there are echoes of what happened
00:30:29happened to his sister in the way way the media is treating Prince
00:30:32Prince Harry and Meghan. Ed Sheeran Sheeran apologises for what he calls
00:30:36calls mistakes as he returns to the the stage for the first time since
00:30:39since rapper Macklemore was dropped dropped from his US tour over pro-Palestinian
00:30:43pro-Palestinian remarks. Two people people are reportedly killed after
00:30:47after Ukraine carries out large-scale large-scale drone attacks on the
00:30:50the Moscow region. The capital's capital's mayor says 450 drones were
00:30:54were directed at the city since Saturday, Saturday, and Europe's drugs agency
00:30:58agency says Scotland is being