in the uae, some of the worst flaring is hidden away from the public — on rigs out at sea. across the gulf — from iran and iraq to kuwait — we will reveal how the health of millions is being put at risk by the toxic flares. coughing samira is one of the 20 million people walking as part of the annual shia pilgrimage of arba'in, which starts in basra, southern iraq. this part of the 700km route is highly polluted, as it crosses through areas just metres from gas flares, including the town where samira lives. in 2022, our bbc arabic investigation exposed how oil giants�* toxic air pollution puts children living next to the flares at risk of cancer. now we're investigating how this almost entirely avoidable pollution spreads across the region, and how it impacts people's health hundreds of kilometres away. volunteer nurses on the arba'in route say that many pilgrims are reporting health issues. the biggest source of flaring here is from a giant oil field called rumaila, managed by bp and petrochina. the bbc has found that it has the highest levels of flaring in the world. these oilfields run by bp, petrochina, russian company lukoil and italian eni flare around the clock every day. instead of burning the gas, it could be captured and used to power people's homes. the iraqi government and shell set up the basrah gas company to do just that in 2013. but since then, overall levels of flaring have stayed roughly the same. and this is what it looks like at the company headquarters now. samira has come to see dr tariq, a respiratory specialist, as her asthma has worsened. after carrying out tests, the doctor prescribed samira a new inhaler to help manage her condition. iraq's national oil company operates the field close to samira's house. it's just hundreds of metres away. oil companies and governments do not share how toxic the pollution from theirflaring is. but you can see these flares from space. we wanted to investigate the impact of these flares on air quality — notjust for those like samira, who live nearby, but also people living hundreds of kilometres away. so we worked with european environmental scientists arianet to build a model across two months in 2022. they gathered public data on flaring volumes provided by the world bank, as well as regional weather conditions, including wind patterns, and used peer—reviewed studies to estimate the concentration of pollutants in the flares. these maps are based exactly on the scientists�* findings so that we can reveal the hidden impact of the pollution on millions of people's health. dr ziad tariq speaks at health conferences around the world about respiratory disease. he was not alone in telling the bbc that southern iraq is experiencing a health crisis. the pollution here in basra can be damaging even to those just passing through as pilgrims. one of the most dangerous types of air pollution is pm2.5. our model shows that from flares alone, levels of pm2.5 were more than double the daily limit set by the world health organization. this type of pollution is made up of thousands of particles that are harmful to human health. so, you're thinking of something that is less than 2.5 micrometres, but the human hair is 70 micrometres, so that is how tiny these particles are. because they're tiny and small, they travel all the way from your nose and mouth. so, when this happens, what happens to the lungs? the particles go straight in there into the very, very thin lining and to your bloodstream. and once it hits your bloodstream, it's all over your organs. your heart is going to pump this blood. guess where these particles will land? everywhere. your kidneys, your brain, your heart — everywhere. this can lead to an acute asthmatic attack. at some point, it could be very life—threatening. many of the pilgrims in basra have come from ahvaz in iran, where gas—flaring levels are also extremely high. iranians have spoken out about the pollution using hashtags such as: speaking out about environmental issues in iran can get you arrested. but locals agreed to speak to us anonymously. 15% of premature deaths in this region are caused by air pollution, according to peer—reviewed studies. global health data shows that deaths from cancer have increased — by 21% in asaluyeh and 36% in ahvaz — over the past decade. our new research estimates that a cancer—causing pollutant known as benzo(a)pyrene is spreading from these flares at levels that exceed international standards by at least ten times. a quarter of all the world's gas flaring happens in iran and iraq. the model shows that pollution from these flares travels across borders, reaching as far as kuwait, 140km south of basra. the country has some of the worst air quality in the world. this is often blamed on dust storms. our investigation reveals the wind carries something more dangerous than the dust. five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. good job. if you're coughing, you use it. coughs hackingly those coughs. the bad ones. deep breath make you calm down. this one is for kids. that one is for dad. because i have asthma, like you. this one is funny. it's like a gun, like... laughs it's like a laser gun — tchoo! i know! it's laser gun. from his base at harvard university, dr barrak alahmad studies the impact of air pollution on people's health in the gulf region. dr alahmad and his team spent two years analysing kuwait's air and dust to find out where the pollution was coming from. if you say that the air pollution in kuwait is all from dust, then you can throw your hands in the air and say, "there's nothing i can do about it." but, in fact, that is not the case. actually, what we found out — that only 40% comes from the desert. 42% comes from sources that involve power plants and involve the oil industry and involves all the industry that is in kuwait and outside of kuwait. this is man—made air pollution that we can regulate, we can reduce — we can, in fact, eliminate. kuwait's oil and gas industry is a major contributor to its own pollution. but our model indicates that flaring from iraq is having a significant impact, too — spreading not only pm2.5 but other pollutants — producing ozone, which adds to the toxic smog in kuwait city and releasing nitrogen dioxide, or n02. n02, itjust directly irritates the lining of the lungs, and that could induce some sort of inflammation. it can have heart disease risk. now, ozone also does the same thing. when you breathe this gas — this is a gas, this is not a particle — so, ozone comes and causes this kind of inflammation and damage to the cells. the model shows these chemicals being carried from the flares in iraq as far as abdulrahman�*s house. you look like me. the uae claims that the environment is one of its main priorities... the world needs maximum energy, minimum emissions. ..and this year is hosting the world climate summit, c0 p28. as part of this push, the country's energy giant, abu dhabi national oil company, claims to be a leader in reducing flaring. i am very pleased to say that over 20 oil and gas companies have positively answered the call to step up and eliminate routine flaring by 2030. but our analysis of satellite data shows the uae hasn't reduced its flaring over the past decade. and we found that, despite the company's policy of zero routine flaring, adnoc has actually increased flaring in these three offshore oil and gas sites. satellite images from the past five years show black smoke billowing from this offshore site run by the company. cop28 president dr sultan al jaber is responsible for these flares as chief executive of adnoc. i've never seen a cough and asthma as much as i've seen in the uae. a respiratory doctor spoke to us anonymously — because here, any criticism can result in imprisonment. she worked in top hospitals around the world before moving to the uae. it's a country that is doing amazing on all fronts but there is a growing economy and it's booming like crazy. and, with respect to everybody, that doesn't come without a price. i was shocked that, all through the year, the pollution is very, very high. early on, i was like, "why is everybody coughing here?" like, you have the flu, you cough for a few days and then, the cough is gone. in the uae, it takes a week, two weeks and sometimes, we even have to give the patients inhalers to remove a simple cough. our model indicates that the uae�*s own offshore flaring contributes to high levels of air pollution in dubai and abu dhabi — even though these flares are hundreds of kilometres away — producing damaging pollutants, including pm2.5, ozone and n02. we spoke to a patient with severe asthma who lives in abu dhabi. coughs high levels of pm2.5 are not only linked to lung disease, but can also cause heart problems. yet, the uae has not set a legal limit for this dangerous pollutant. for the first time, this year's cop28 climate conference will have a special day focusing on health. it is time for every nation to sign cop28�*s declaration on food systems and health. but our investigation has shown that air pollution from the uae�*s oil and gas industry may be putting its own population at heightened risk, despite its claims to be a global climate leader. what's inside your bag? pencils. yeah. these. that's what? my water bottle. jasem's parents have decided it's time for a big change in his life. are you happy? yeah, lam. have a good day. yeah! cheese. hello again. the weekend started off on quite a wet and a windy footing, thanks to storm elin. it did bring some heavy rain. we have still a number of flood warnings in force. a bit of localised flooding here on this picture in lancashire. now, the strongest winds from elin came through during saturday evening, just to the south of the centre of the low pressure. the strongest winds recorded at capel curig in north—west wales — 80mph gusts here. not far behind that, western cumbria's coastline got hit with a gust of 74mph at st bees head. now, the low pressure is now working out into the north sea and pretty quickly, we are seeing those winds die back down. still a bit of patchy rain to come through northern england and scotland. otherwise, the weather will become dry with some clear spells for most and not that cold a night — temperatures typically around 5—7 but down to about two degrees celsius in the colder spots in northern ireland. now, for northern ireland, england and wales, it should be a fine and sunny start to the day but quickly, cloud and rain will spread into northern ireland and this band of rain will then extend across england and wales. "rain at times" probably best summing up the weather in scotland. the rain bands are all associated with an area of low pressure that's over the republic of ireland, and that has been named as a new storm — storm fergus. it will be a mild day. temperatures for most 10—14 degrees but a bit cooler in scotland with temperatures stuck at around 7 or 8 here. we get some strong winds, then, working across wales during sunday night. gusts could reach around 60—odd mph around western coasts. and the remains of that area of low pressure still with us on monday, bringing cloud and patchy rain to start off the day, although the weather should improve as we head into the afternoon with most of us having drier weather with some breaks in the cloud, a bit of sunshine coming through. it continues to be on the mild side — for most, temperatures around 9—13 degrees but again in scotland, still looking a little bit colder — looking at around 6—8 degrees celsius here. through tuesday and wednesday, another area of low pressure crosses the country. 0nce that's out of the way, we'll start to see pressure build from the southwest and that will really herald something of a more significant change in our weather patterns. so, still a bit more rain to come through during tuesday and wednesday. still relatively mild. then, we get a dip in temperatures later in the week. high pressure then takes over with the weather there settling down, becoming drier and sunnier. live from washington, this is bbc news. warnings that half the population of gaza is now starving. the un says conditions on the ground make it almost impossible to deliver aid. if they are not dying from the bombs and the bullets, eventually they will be dying through lack of food and deadly diseases. the us state department approves the potential sale of tank shells to israel, bypassing the usual congressional review. and as washington debates further aid to ukraine, we speak exclusively to ukraine's first lady about her fears over future western assistance. i'm helena humphrey. good to be with you. the un says half of gaza's population is starving, as israel's bombardment continues. the world food programme's deputy director says 9 out of 10 people cannot eat every day. israel says it's doing everything it can to get more aid in, but conditions on the ground are making it almost impossible for aid groups to reach gaza. unicef�*s spokeswoman alexandra murdoch has more on the situation. by all the measures that you can think of, the situation for people in gaza is beyond crisis point. food is running out as you have reported, there is a severe lack of safe water, safe drinking water and this poses a particularly lethal threat to children.