Discovery of rare superpuff exoplanets

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But with Home Sents, you can overpack stylish bedding, storage and decor without overspending HomeSems, the homeome of No compompromise, part of the Home Goods family I'm Jane Steeel, and on Thursday, the twenty fifth of June, these are the main news stories from Radio four Venezuelans describe the shocking moment a double earthquake rocks the capital. We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. but from that building I only saw that one family got out. Scores of people are known to have been killed, but the strength and depth of the two Tremors have led to fears the number of fatalities will rise quickly London Ambulance Service records its most ever life threatening emergencies in the extreme heat Six NHS trusts declare critical incidents, and there are warnings of further disruption. We just can't function without the right kit. So I think for the teams on the ground, they're feeling pretty daunted and really feeling like they're going into the unknown Records tumble again as thirty six point seven degrees is provisionally recorded in Somerset And Cardiff has the UK's warmest ever overnight temperature for June And O if you put like a big blob of shaving foam on your hand, that would be the kind of density that we're talking about as well A thousand light years away, the puff ball planets exciting scientists on Earth More than one hundred and sixty people areff so far known to have died after powerful back to back earthquakes hit Venezuela last night The seven point two and seven point five magnitude quigs came within a minute of each other The latter is the most powerful to hit the country in one hundred and twenty six years It's feared the number of dead could rise sharply, with thousands trapped beneath the rubble of the worst affected areas Our South America correspondent Will Grant is at Bogotar Airport in Colombia, trying to get to Venezuela from where he sent this report a night of destruction across Venezuela on a scale not seen for decades. United Nations say more than a hundred buildings have collapsed in the worst affected region Lag Guaida a small state to the north of the capital Caracas. R rescue efforts are continuing, but thousands are feared trapped beneath the rubble Eric Martinez Santos was pulled out this morning I was in my building for four hours until I was rescued by someone from civil defense. They didn't have many tools. They couldn't find the chisel, the drill, the grinder. They went at it with their nails. The BBC understands that the Venezuelan government has loosened restrictions on the social media site X in the hope that people still trap contact their loved ones. The platform has been censored since august twenty twenty four This woman's eight year old son is missing H I'm desperate. I just want to know where my son is, whether he's trapped or at a shelter. I'm desperate The governor said they were going to send heavy machinery, but look what time it is, they still haven't arrived. It's only the neighbours here helping. Helena Carpillo is a journalist in the capital Caracas and says she's never experienced anything like the earthquakes last night but it feels like the Eth is about to swallow you as everything around you shakes and you realize just how fragile we all are Um, But it lasted what felt like an eternity because there were two consecutive earthquakes very close to each other So as you felt the first one, you know slow down, the second one hit and it was even more intense This footage shows extensive damage at the country's main airport, Simon Volivard International making the distribution of global aid supplies difficult gettingetting into the country immediately near impossible The damage to infrastructure across Venezuela is a testament to the power of the two earthquakes Our science correspondent Palab Gosh explains why they caused such destruction The earthquake was right on the boundary of where the Caribbean and South American plates slide alongside each other It was a sudden rupture just west of Caracas that unleashed the shocks The first measured seven point two on the magnitude scale, quuickly followed by another at seven point five, That looks like a small increase, but it's actually nearly three times more powerful. These are both big shocks quuake in Myanmar in March last year was seven point seven to the death of more than five thousand four hundred people. There have been several smaller aftershocks in Venezuela, and there are likely to be many more in the coming days and weeks us quake was relatively shallow at around ten kilometers below the surface This can cause more damage than a deeper one, because there's less distance between the energy release and the buildings on the surface. After a deadly quake hit Caracas in nineteen sixty seven The government introduced new building codes sharply in recent decades Cal's newer tower blocks are engineered to withstand the stress of an earthquake Two thirds of people living in Caracas live in buildings not built to those standards and with areas nearer the epicenter yet to report, Its likely there'll be substantial damage The United Nations has said it is fully mobilized to provide help to Venezuela and it stressed that the global response would require massive collective efforts. The United States has also pledged support after the two countries restored relations earlier this year. Here's our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams Like Myanmar last year and Haiti in twenty ten, Venezuela is not well equipped to cope with a disaster of this magnitude decades of corruption and economic mismanagement have degraded the state's ability to take care of the most basic functions, let alone something like this. It's a hugeest for the country's interim president, Delsie Rodriguez. Her populist former boss, Nicolas Maduro, will be watching events from a prison cell in Brooklyn, where he faces American charges of drug trafficking Mr. Rodriguez has already addressed the nation, declaring a state of emergency and offering her sympathies This is an event with serious consequences that has particularly affected several states. At this moment of great sensitivity for our population and for those who unfortunately have suffered the loss of a family member, we extend our immediate condolences. Offers of assistance have been coming in from all over the world Here, the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Britain was working with partners to help with the global response All eyes will be on the Trump administration. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said disaster response teams would soon be on the way, but that there were challenges. That's their most immediate need right now is search and rescue efforts. They have a muchunch of collapsed buildings, and so they'll need a lot of help in terms of digging through that. The airport there is badly damaged, so we'll have to rely on the Department of W to deploy assets there. and then we're also helping them with some overhead imagery, especially in coastal areas where they don't have full visibility over what the damage has been or what the impact has been Since America's military intervention in January, Venezuela has become a kind of vassal state, with Washington exerting enormous control over the country's vital oil industry Members of the US. Congress have complained about a lack of transparency over how Venezuela's oil revenues are being managed, as well as the absence of moves towards a democratic transition. this disaster isn't just a test for Delsie Rodriguez It's a test for Washington too part of the world where Donald Trump says America is in charge The BBC has been told that at least six NHS trusts in England have declared critical incidents, as large swathes of the UK grapple with a heat wave, wreaking havoc on public services and essential infrastructure Reports suggest the extreme temperatures have caused problems with IT systems, lab testing and scanners. There are warnings about awful conditions in some hospitals, with sleep deprived doctors trying to use broken machines for cancer treatment in stifling wards. Our health correspondent Sopie Hutchinson reports The extreme heat has caused severe disruption to patients in some parts of the NHS. In Portsmouth, the Queen Alexandra Hospital declared a critical incident when chiller units, which provide vital cooling for surgical theatres, MRI scanners and IT systems failed Engineers have now repaired them, but the heat means the chillers are taking longer than normal to take effect Critical incidents happen when a service is under extreme pressure, threatening a hospital's ability to deliver care and enabling them to cancel appointments and get support Another was declared at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, where there were similar problems with all the MRI scanners put out of action because of the heat It's hard to know exactly how many trusts are struggling to cope, but BBC sources suggest it is at least six To put it into context a bad winter might see twenty declared NHS testing labs and cancer treatment have also been affected, according to doctors Meanwhile, London Ambulance Service said that yesterday, it responded to the highest number of life threatening emergencies in its history. It had an extra four hundred ambulances on the road Doctors from the Royal College of Physicians have described a surge in demand with awful conditions due to overcrowding in hospitals and older patients on geriatric wards facing temperatures of up to thirty five degrees doctor Hillary Williams is the Coege's clinical vice presresident. It's just frightening to being in a hospital where the systems are going down. you know, particularly the digital, ITU will be protected, but we know MRI scanners are going down, dialysis. And everything's so interependent, isn't it? Because I think with modern medicine, we just can't function without the right kit. So I think for the teams on the ground they're feeling re pretty daunted and really feeling like they're going into the unknown. College has accused the NHS of being dangerously underprepared for this week's extreme heat and insisted infrastructure and buildings must be upgraded to keep patients and staff safe NHS England hasn't yet responded to a request for comment For the second day in a row, the UK has exceeded its record temperature for June. A provisional high of thirty six point seven Celsius was recorded in Somerset The Met Office has warned that higher temperatures will maintain their grip on the UK for a little longer, with a rare red warning for extreme heat extended for London and parts of Southeast England More details from Duncan Kennedy The sweltering temperatures are encroaching on millions of lives For summitits fun. Rothers, it's an early summer test Somerset has seen some of the highest temperatures today, with Merryfield reaching thirty six point seven degrees But other areas are also suffering Becky Hills and her four children Living on the thirteenth floor of a block of flats in Southampton pressures are proving incredibly difficult When we were there, the temperature inside her airless flat was around thirty degrees How would you summarize this heat wave for you and your family here? Unbearable Yeah, very unbearable I mean, I like the heat but but this is this is too extreme. At least one thousand six hundred schools have faced closure or disruption in England this week And eight hundred fifty thousand customers of Southeast Water are being subject to a hose pipe ban price from the company, which has faced a number of supply issues in recent years says it just can't keep up with demand. It's the right thing to ensure that we've got enough water for customers as well as the long term planning and investment that is necessary so that in future we're not having to implement a ban on a regular basis. The sun has drawn thousands to leisure facilities like beaches and parks The Met offffice says the red extreme heat warning for London and parts of the Southeast has now been extended until tomorrow evening Wales has seen its hottest day of the year so far after the UK's warmest overnight temperature for June was recorded in Cardiff Welles, correspondent Thomas Morgan is that People in Cardiff, including this correspondent were hoping for a good night's rest after days of sweltering heat. But they and I were mostly disappointed As the city broke the record for the hottest June evening at twenty three point five degrees Celsius And today, Butte Park in the city center was the location of the hottest June day ever in Wales with a peak of thirty five point six Across whales services have struggled More than eight hundred schools have shut, hospitals and care homes struggled as their dated buildings were not made to protect against the extremes we're witnessing. Abt Aav on Beach near Put Talbot, a fifty year old man died yesterday after entering the sea. Despite their best efforts, the emergency services pronounced him dead at the scene This dramatic spike in temperatures has seen Welsh water take the unusual steps of moving water via tankers to the areas of high demand As Mark Davis, the director of W Services, explains. We usually supply about eight hundred fifty million liters a day Over the last couple of days, that's gone up to over one billion liters Thatasts enough to fill sixty Olympic size swimming pools every day that us a significant increase in demand Trains run by transport for Wales have continued to impose restrictions on some lines. The advoice for passengers remains to plan ahead travel only if absolutely necessary This evening, the public may be in for another restless, uncomfortable and potentially record breaking night in Wales with a met office predicting thunderstorms could also be on the way In the early hours After days of blistering conditions in Spain and France, temperatures are forecast to fall across Western Europe But as the heat wave moves eastwards, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic are now set to bear the brunt of the extreme weather. Our Berlin correspondent Jessica Parker sent this report Two Belgian regions, Limberurg and Lieerge in the east are set to come under red alerts as this record breaking heat wave continues to grip large swathes of Europe Paris has endured another sweltering day. and French police say that a three year old boy died in a northern suburb of the city suffocation after he got stuck in a family car on Wednesday In Spain, authorities say that more than two hundred deaths earlier this week could be linked to the heat wave that after dozens of drownings in France were already reported. The French capital may finally begin to see temperatures ease over the course of the weekend, but the opposite is true for the German capital, Berlin It's heading for forty degree temperatures on Saturday and Sunday as the heat wave shifts eastwards You're listening to the six o'clock newews on BBC Radio four The main news so far Scores of people are killed in a double earthquake in Venezuela There are fears the number could rise deeeply The heat wave across much of the UK has led to six NHS trusts declaring critical incidents. Records for temperatures in June continue to tumble stillill to come. You made me so very happy. One of the stars of the Woodstock Festival dies, David Clayton Thomas was eighty four. The Chancellor has defended her handling of the economy, urging an Andy Burnham led government to stick to what she's doing because her approach is beginning to bear fruit Rachel Reeves is backing Mr Berham to be the next Prime Minister, despite reports he could demote her to a more junior cabinet position if he becomes the Labour Party leader Business editor Simon Jack was at a conference of the British Chambers of Commerce, where Rachel Reeves was speaking Two years ago, Rachel Reeves addressed the annual confonference of the British Chambers of Commerce as a Chancellor in Waiting today felt like a swan song for her to defend her record, and yet she acknowledged change was coming. The reason that we have managed to return some semblance of stability to the economy, notwithstanding the shocks from around the world is because of the fiscal and economic discipline that I have brought back to policy making And I think that Andy Burnham, who will be the next prrime Minister, has been really clear that he is committed to those fiscal rules, and that is a good thing. And Was this a pitch to keep her job proud of my record. Yes, I've got more to do in the budget this year. But many business leaders think increases in employment taxes, minimum wage levels and a slew of new workers' rights have dented Rachel Reef's claims to have been pro business Business leaders's thoughts have now turned to what a new prrime Minister and a new Chancellor might herald. The devolution of powers to cities and regions was a big theme among delegates, curious to see whether Andy Burnnham can replicate the growth scene in Manchester at a UK wide level. Labour's ruling body, the National Eecutive Committee, has set out the timetable for electing a new party leader. The schedule means Andy Burnham could take over from Sekure Stammer on the seventeenth of july if he continues to be the only MP to enter the race. Nominations open on the ninth of July and close on the sixteenth. If there's more than one candidate, members would vote over the summer with the result declared on the twenty ninth of August. The price of oil has fallen to levels not seen since before the war in Iran, as the Strait of Hormuz gradually reopens. A barrel of Brent crude fell below seventy three dollars. att one stage it cost more than one hundred and ten dollars But the motoring organization, the AA has warned drivers there is some way to go before fuel prices drop back Petrol remains around twenty pence more expensive than before the war broke out, while the cost of diesel is twenty eight pence higher Consultants and specialist doctors in Northern Ireland are staging a twenty four hour strike over pay. The walkout by members of the British Medical Association will last until seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Our island correspondent Chris Page reports This is the first time that senior hospital doctors in Northern Ireland have taken industrial action at this level over pay The main impact is the postponement of many planned outpatient clinics and procedures Emerergency and critical care haven't been affected The British Medical Association balloted its members after an independent body recommended a pay rise of three point five percent this year. The union said the offer didn't sufficiently deal with a decrease in wages in real terms since two thousand eight The chair of the BMA's Northern Ireland Consultants Committee, David Faron, said doctors were leaving this part of the UK for places where salaries were better This strike action, whilst it is about pay It is effectively about recruiting and retaining staff that we need Doctors in Northern Ireland are the lowest paid in these islands. We expect an above inflationary pay award for the last financial year And for the next financial year going forward, with a credible pathway to pay restoration. But the Northern Ireland health Minister, Mike Nesbet said he didn't have the authority to increase the pay offer He said a bigger rise would have to be considered by all ministers in the power sharing exxecutive at Dormments. If I do that That's repercussive for nurses and other healthcare workers. It's repercussive for teachers, police officers, for prison officers. So I would need to take that to the executive I have sent this week, the executive of Paper. And I hope that at some point the executive will discuss these issues. On Monday, resident doctors in Northern Ireland are also set to go on strike for twenty four hours. Ryan Air has changed its family seating policy to allow parents to sit next to their young children without being charged. Earlier this month, a watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, said it had opened an investigation to determine whether the airline's policy at the time was in line with consumer law Ryanair previously required parents traveling with children aged between two and eleven to pay around eight pounds each way to reserve what it referred to as a mandatory family seat Bedford Borough Council has apologized to drivers parked next to Bedford Station who were given parking tickets after last week's fatal train crash. Two trains collided near Bedford on Friday, killing a sixty year old train driver and injuring a hundred people Many passengers said they'd been told by police not to go to the station and found penalty charge notices on their windscreens when they returned to their cars. cououncil said it had taken corrective action New figures from the Ministry of Justice show the backlog of crown court cases in England and Wales has fallen for the first time in three years, but ministers warn it could still take nearly three hundred years to clear the caseload without major reforms, including reducing the number of jury trials. Our UK correspondent Ndina Campbell has this report The overall backlog of crown courourt cases in England and Wales now stands at more than eighty thousand. The government says there's no room for complacency and says it's taking action to tackle what it calls an absolutely dire court system. More than twenty thousand cases in the backlog have been waiting to be dealt with for a year or more accccording to the latest Ministry of Justice figures, which cover the three months to March this year Seual offensces, including rape, make up a growing proportion of this number, with some not listed to be heard until twenty thirty The government has already announced a number of measures to tackle the backlog including controversial plans to scale back jury trials and lifting a cap on the number of days courts can sit. The conservatives say the government should be focused on court efficiency instead of scrapping jury trials. The Criminal Bar Association, which represents barristers, opposes changes to jury trials and is calling on the government to focus on investments and reforms The number of children and young people with education health and care plans in England has reached a record high. New government figures show more than seven hundred thousand now have a plan up twelve and a half percent on last year families of children who need more support can apply for the legally binding documents The Department of Education says the system is under strain and it's investing more than four billion pounds People who offer so called conversion therapy could face up to five years in prison under new draft legislation government says the bill will criminalize abusive attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity Some groups have raised concerns that such laws could criminalize exploratory conversations around gender. Here's our LGBT and identity reporter, Josh Par. The Draft Conversion Practices Bill seeks to criminalize what it calls abusive acts aimed at changing someone's sexual orientation or transgender identity The law would introduce two new criminal offences in England and Wales carrying out abusive conversion practices and arranging or encouraging them to take place abroad The government says the plans would close legal loopholes, arguing existing domestic abuse and coercive control laws do not address the unique nature of so called conversion practices or therapy. Critics of a ban say that the most abusive practices are already illegal, and that any legislation risks criminalizing exploratory conversations around gender identity. Andrea Minicllo Williams is the chief executive of the Christian Legal Center and plans to bring legal action against the government if the proposals become law. Places where people are having private conversations will become places that are highly monitored or potentially subject to real trouble. Those who advocate for a ban say it's long overdue. Justin Kennedy is a Baptist minister who says it's important that the law reflects the harm of religious abuse. Somebody that you respect and believe holds knowledge of God and this issue is actually trying to rewire what is completely natural and good and wholesome about you. when that happens The knock on effects are absolutely drastic. A law was first promised in twenty eighteen And while today's publication of a draft bill is a step closer than any previous attempts to ban, complex and at times divisive piece of legislation It remains to be seen whether a government in search of new leadership will be able to pass it into law. The government has confirmed that prisoners jailed for crimes including sexual assaults and other violent offences in England and Wales will be among those released early from September Reforms aimed at reducing the prison population come into effect in the autumn. Eigibility for release will be conditional on an offender's behaviour A human rights group has said a British TikTok influencer charged with the murder of her boyfriend in Dubai faces execution under UAE laws if she's convicted Detained in Dubai said it was assisting twenty three year old Brooke George from Gravesnd in Kent, who maintains she acted in self defense during a violent attack by her twenty six year old British partner The foreign offffice said it was supporting a British woman detained in the UAE and her family One person has been killed after their car was hit by a train at a level crossing in Lancashire A child also suffered life threatening injuries in the crash in Horton this morning trarain passengers were injured Fort now and in cricket, New Zealand are on top after deciding to bat first on day one of the third and deciding test against England at Trent Bridge. A few months ago, the tourists were at three hundred fifty eight for two New Zealand capaptain Tom Latham and fellow opener Devon Conway have both sced centuries. In football, Scotland will have to wait until Sunday to find out if they'll qualify for the knockout stages of the men's World Cup after their three knil loss to Brazil. This evening, Germany face Ecuador and Curacau meet Iivory Coast in the final games of Group E. The British born lead singer of blood, sweat and tears David Clayton Thomas has died at the age of eighty four. Discovered by the folk singer Judy Collins, his powerful and soulful voice helped the rock jazz group to huge success, twice topping the US album charts and headlining the Woodstock Festival in nineteen sixty nine Our entertainment correspondent Colin Patterson looks back at his life What goes up must come Add the nineteen seventy Grammys Blood sweat and tears beat the Beatles Abbey Road to Album of the Year. And the lead singer of the rock jazz group from New York was the British born David Clayton Thomas. Emmigrating to Toronto and Canada, he spent his teenage years in and out of jail, learning to play guitar after he was left one by a cellmate. The blues musician John Lee Hooker persuaded him to head to New York, where he was invited to join Blood Sweat and Tears when Al Cooper quit after their debut album. You mean I so very happy. Their Eponymous' second album would sell more than four million copies in the US. But's constant touring led to him quitting the band in nineteen seventy two. There were reunions, solo albums, and in nineteen ninety six David Clayton Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame Astronomers have discovered two exoplanets each about the size of Jupiter, which are lighter than candy floss. Researchers say the two sugar puff planets orbit a star more than a thousand light years away. With more details, here's our science correspondent Helen Briggs The planlets are roughly the size of Jupiter, but with just a fraction of its mass. Only a few dozen of these so called superpuffed planets are known, and it's even rarer to find two form from the same disk of dust and gas locked in a gravitational dance What makes them most remarkable is that they are constituted of material that is very spread out, making them very light and puffy for their size. Astrophysicist doctor George Dransfield at the University of Oxford, who led the research says the planets resemble shaving foam in their density. So the density is so low, they're so puffy and diffuse We compare the density to candy flos, or if you put like a big blob of shaving foam on your hand, that would be the kind of density that we're talking about as well Beyond the eight planets in our solar system, more than six thousand planets orbiting distant stars have now been discovered, including a bunch of weird and wonderful worlds