is to extend its cuts in daily oil production in a move to stop the further fall of the international price of oil — which will lead to higher prices at the pump. now six women have set off today on an epic challenge — to row around the entire coast of great britain. if they complete it — the team will smash a couple of world records — while also carrying out scientific research. 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher has the story — and a warning his report contains some rapid flashing images. tower bridge in central london. both the start and — if all goes well — the finish line for a journey of 2,000 miles around great britain. this is known as the world's toughest rowing race. for a reason. amy is the youngest crew member, but is the only one to have rowed across the atlantic ocean. this is so much tougher than the atlantic. navigating busy coastal waters can be more dangerous than following a course through the open sea. the land, the ships, you've got rocks, you've got islands... it's just so much more complicated. last year, all three boats that attempted to go round britain had to be rescued in the irish sea. the waves were huge — you know, like three stories high. 0h, here we go... emma somehow kept on filming as her boat capsized. this year, she's the skipper, and if the six women make it back to tower bridge in under 51 days, they'll be record—breakers. this is a nonstop challenge which means the crew are going to be taking it in turns — rowing for two hours, then having a breakfor two hours. let's just take a quick look at the living quarters down here. emma, talk me through what we've got here. this is where we are. this is our sleeping bags. we've got food that we keep under here. we get freeze—dried food, so it's nice and light. add boiling hot water there — that's our cooker. dare i ask you, emma, what about showers? what about toilets? the shower is a wet wipe and the toilet is a bucket. that's the loo?! there is also a scientific component to the trip. as they row, the boat will be sampling the sea water, recording aquatic sounds and looking for the presence of tiny plastic particles called microplastics. when they leave the thames, the crew will head west along the south coast, before starting the long and potentially treacherous row north towards scotland. jonah fisher, bbc news. now on bbc news — tecthlore: morocco. in tecthlore, i go in search of the most exciting innovations the world has to offer. and i get to combine my two passions — tech and travel. this time, i'm in morocco, visiting often unseen parts of the country and world—leading projects, tackling global problems. a lot of small boxes! it can move freely, up and down. 0oh! i'll be visiting the largest concentrated solar power plant on earth... i've never seen anything quite like it. samir, hello. salem alaykum. ..discovering how morocco�*s world—famous cuisine is being grown against the odds... that was not a bit of dust, that was a lot of dust! ..and meeting the start—ups building the worlds of tomorrow. can you actually make me look better than i do there? yeah, promise. this is tecthlore morocco. with stunning surf, arid plains and bustling cities, this north african country is one of contrast. this is spectacular! my innovation journey starts inland, south of morocco's major cities and mighty atlas mountains, just north of the sahara desert, near the quiet outpost of 0uarzazate. this part of saharan morocco is known as the door of the desert. the landscape out here, it's almost like it's from another world. feels like we could be on mars. these plains receive three times the sun as parts of northern europe... ..and are home to a world—leading project of staggering scale. this is noor, a solar power station, putting morocco at the forefront of pioneering renewable technology. i'm used to feeling small, but this makes me feel even smaller. hello, abed, salam. hello, my friend, salam. nice to meet you. nice to meet you, too. this is incredible! and lots of sun. lots of sun, yeah. which is what we want for something like this. yeah. this is not an ordinary solar field. panels with over 7,000 mirrors follow the sun. and i can hear lots of sounds at the moment. it's quite eerie. is that the panels moving? yes, the movement, just with a small speed. all of these reflect the sun back at this dazzling monument. so, look at this. this is where the magic happens. yeah. you can see that's the tower. it's extraordinary! it's so bright at the top, i can barely even look at it. i probably shouldn't look at it without my sunglasses on. 215 metres up, this white—hot beacon can hit 1,000 degrees celsius. a liquid salt absorbs and transports this heat, using it to produce steam and generate electricity on the ground. all of these mirrors just point up at it, it's like they're worshipping the tower. it's incredible. while solar is used across the globe, what's special here is the molten salt, which retains energy eight hours after dark. so it's almost like a giant battery. yes. you're able to store all of that electricity, to be used at night when there's no sun. yes. this sprawling arena is the latest of several solar plants built here since 2016. similar plants do exist in other countries, but with an output of 582 megawatts, this is the largest in the world. so, we scaled noor�*s viewing platform to take it all in. look at this! these panels go on as far as i can see. it's 2.5km. it's like a sea of solar. while morocco has always relied heavily on fossil fuel imports, noor�*s green energy has been transformative. not only it helps to produce renewable energy, but it's also succeeded in supplying nearly 2—millions of moroccans with green electricity, and it also helps preventing up to i—million of greenhouse gas emission each year, so it's quite an achievement for morocco. electricity generated here goes to morocco's national grid. from there, some is already cabled to spain. it can be a big and reliable partner for either europe or other countries, however it has to maintain this trade off between meeting or answering the domestic demand and international level, so there is this fine lines that morocco needs to assess. and, as the sun moves west, these panels have already completely changed direction. you can really see the evidence of them following the sun. if these seem rather sandy, dusk brings one last surprise... ..as ijoin the night team for operation mirror clean. ha—ha! wow! i've never seen anything quite like this! wow! 0h, cool! it's a bit like a giant carwash. and i'm about to get very wet, if i don't move out of the way. this is a lot of water, but left unwashed, reflectivity could drop by more than 20%, so a fleet of these beasts do nightly rounds, scrubbing into the early hours. so, as loud and as exciting as this is, it is actually doing very important work, keeping these solar panels sparkling clean, so they can generate as much electricity as possible. as the sun rises over the atlas mountains, this 3,000 hectare site is ready to power up once again. i'm back in marrakech, visiting its famous markets. it's clear that morocco's plentiful sun isn'tjust a major power source, it's vital for the huge variety of crops grown here. he chatters. but morocco must fight for its food security. it's a country that's looking to technology to ensure that future generations can continue to grow and enjoy produce like this. i'm travelling an hour north of marrakech to morocco's farming lands. almost half of the population here works in this industry. samir, hello. salam alaykum. so, this is your olives? ah, it's beautiful. samir, like many other farmers around the world, has been hit hard by extreme drought. he's now working with a local start—up called agriedge to try and weather some of the worst impacts of climate change. sensors dotted around the farm are measuring moisture and salinity of the soil and combining this with real—time weather data and satellite images. so, it helps you collect data and different depths. once the data is collected, we have our own a! models that we have developed and thanks to these models and our agronomic knowledge, we send recommendations to farmers. this information is mapped, showing samir which trees are in greatest need of water in real—time. so, you use this phone to help show you everything. and i would imagine, in places like morocco that are having drought issues at the moment, saving water is important. of course. it helps them save water, but not only that, it also helps them to optimise their use and get good quality. data also helps farmers to decide where to put fertilisers and how much. machine beeps. 0oh! oh, wow, here we go. that was quite something! that was not a bit of dust. that was a lot of dust! the big farming machinery has been replaced by this super—sized drone... ..something samir can use on demand, rather than investing in expensive equipment. i've got a mouth full of dust! lucky for me, it's time for tea. it's really great to have seen these go from out there in the field to here on the table and with the help of technology as well. they taste amazing! technology is giving these farmers a fighting chance to survive and helping cut down the amount of harmful fertilisers used in the fields. climate change affects us all and it's clear that solar and irrigation technology made here could have huge impacts across the world. my deep dive into moroccan tech has already revealed projects worthy of the world's attention. but as more people choose to swap deskjobs for digital ones, cities like marrakech are also attracting remote workers, known as digital nomads. hey! lovely to meet you. how are you doing? yeah, good, thank you. shall we go and have a seat? julie is a digital nomad from belgium who runs an online marketing startup. it's her second stint here, though she's also worked from the ivory coast, france, panama, mexico and more. so i guess my first question to you is what brings you to morocco? the kindness of people is the most memorable thing. i've been invited to eat couscous and tagine at, like, a taxi man's house. sounds good. it was so nice, yeah. it doesn't happen in my country. i don't know if it does in yours, but... not very often. facebook groups meetup and instagram help digital nomads connect. and there's a growing sense of community here, too. the tech sector has been booming in morocco. there's actually co—working, just of startups. you can even feel that they're proud of it. just around the corner, julie's favourite co—working space caters to digital nomads from many countries. the ability to go surfing on the weekend or the ability to go hiking on the weekend definitely makes it even better. when i arrived at marrakech airport, they asked me, what am _ i going to be doing? and i said, i'm going. to be working remotely. and they weren't worried about that. i love just being able to find cheap food in the souks and, you know, i not having to cook in my airbnb all the time _ another part ofjulie�*s co—working space has an exhibition all about the country's rich cinematic history — a reminder of how morocco's film industry has attracted many visitors throughout the years. ah, so this is casablanca. here's looking at you, kid. and that's my next stop. casablanca is the country's largest metropolis where moroccan tradition and international influence culminate in new fashion, food, art and film. truly modern, this is a city that has long inspired hollywood, even though the classic movie casablanca wasn't actually shot here. in recent years, action—packed scenes for the point break, john wick and mission impossible franchises have all been filmed here, and i'm making my own on—screen debut as a digital avatar. it's through cutting—edge virtual worlds like this that creatives are developing the new media morocco of tomorrow. hey, hamza. hey, paul. hi. how are you doing? great to meet you! yeah, great to meet you as well. i'm really excited to see what you've been working on! my avatar is just a bit of fun knocked up pretty swiftly. its creator's specialism is in designing digital worlds. he's brought me to casablanca's commons co—working space to showcase his studio skills. i mean, i look pretty cool. you've even got my watch on there. models like this are crafted using the game design platform unreal engine. can't believe how realistic that looks. this calls on different specialists across modelling, texturing, lighting and character design. so everything on here is an individual texture. how do you then go about — which i imagine is the difficult thing — how do you go about making it move? we make like the rigging. it's like creating virtual bones. i've actually got a virtual skeleton inside me. can you actually make me look better than i do now? yeah, i promise that. well, don't promise too hard! but, yeah, 0k! yeah, that'll be easy! i can make you look better! all right. hamza's professional game assets are astonishingly intricate — a sign of morocco's ambition to become the video game hub of africa. 0h, there's trains. i love trains. yeah. and you can really see, when it's like this, the individual elements and all of the little textures that go into making something like this. one of these objects can take weeks to craft and whole game worlds like this one take years. 6—million views? yeah. crazy numbers. let me see if it's worth it. i'll be thejudge. yeah. made for a south korean studio, this strategy game is certainly impressive. it looks so real. yeah. thank you. my goodness! i can't wait to play this. it looks awesome. yeah. beyond games, the team even develops 3d simulations for autonomous car—makers. because we can, like, train these cars, like, safely. thank you so much for showing me your amazing work. as a gamer myself, it's been so great to see myself in a virtual world like this. yeah. thank you. i'm convinced these immersive worlds will transform the future of media — in gaming, the metaverse and beyond. from virtual trains to real ones, i'm excited to be taking africa's first high—speed rail, which can hit 199mph. i'm hurtling north on the 200 mile al boraq line to the port city, tangier. located on the strait of gibraltar, a stone's throw from spain, this is a hub of maritime industry. the water looks quite calm, which is very good because i'm about to get much, much closer. tangermed is the biggest port in africa and one of the largest in the world. and being this close to all of these containers and these huge ships, you really get a sense of that scale. i'm meeting another sustainable energy startup, rather aptly named wave beat. taha, lovely to meet you. hello, paul. here, the harbour wall itself is being put to work. well, hopefully, i won't fall in, but you never know. we're sailing along the 3km breakwater to see how these waves can generate power. located where mediterranean and atlantic waters meet, the rising sea floor creates powerful internal swells, even beneath a calm surface. does it usually get rougher or is it more choppy than this? yeah, today, unfortunately for us, eh, not a lot of energy! it's a good day for me and my seasickness! but even today's small surf activates the mechanics. 0ur wave beat technology is based on a free float... 0k. ..that is following the level of the water. ok, so, like, we're moving up and down here, that's moving up and down, as well? exactly. the conversion of energy from the vertical movement to the electricity don't take a lot of steps. 0k. yeah. so the efficiency is better. so this feels like a very simple and elegant, yet effective solution to generate electricity because all of this energy in the water is already here. in wilder weather, this float rises and falls by up to four metres. descending 20 metres deep, this is easier to access and maintain than a device out at sea, and it's 50 times more efficient than solar in terms of the space it takes up versus its energy output. it's like we are using some space no—one can... could use it. no impact... no impact on the wildlife. ..0n the environment. what do you see is the future for technology like this? if we use all the whole that you have in tangermed port, we could ensure the autonomy of a city of1 million person. 1 million people?! wow. that's a lot! this would require 145 devices, including newer, larger versions, and is based on personal energy consumption in africa, which is the lowest in the world. 0perating round the clock, ports like this are massive energy consumers and would benefit from sustainable solutions. in one year, we've handled over than 7—million containers. 7—million?! yes! that's a lot of containers. yes. a lot of small boxes! paul chuckles. what is the benefit, then, of working with small startups like wave beats? when you're big, it's not always easy to install and promote innovation, because innovation needs agility. it needs to be... to go fast. progressively, the port has launched its own coding school. the mission of such a school is, of course, to enrich our reservoir of digital skills and also digital entrepreneurship. in the wave beat workshop, taha explains how computer modelling lets the team prototype different scenarios. and, as night draws in, sparkling lights shine into life. a small demo, yes, but entirely electrified by the sea. the technology i've seen here may be at an early stage, but it's really not hard to imagine how, one day, all these beautiful lights could be powered by the waves. it's clear to me that morocco is not only a country blessed with natural assets, it's beginning to nurture an exciting, home—grown tech scene. from pioneering new startups, to ambitious, globally—focused projects. and it's been a realjoy on myjourney to see a small glimpse of what the future holds for this beguiling place. hello there. good evening. more blue sky and sunshine for the vast majority of us across the uk again today. always cooler and breezier towards the south coast. here's hastings in east sussex. the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures, again, in the west. county down in northern ireland seeing plenty of blue sky, and some lenticular clouds, as spotted by one of our weather watchers in the north—west of england over the higher ground of the lake district. now, next week, not a lot is set to change. it's dry and it's settled. there will be a lot more sunshine to come in the forecast. again, always best out in the west. there will be some more low cloud moving in from the north sea. plenty of moisture there overnight tonight. the cloud a little more extensive. it's got a head start, of course — it didn't clear for some spots all day, moving into parts of eastern wales and across the south of england, also the central belt, but it's mild underneath that cloud. temperatures in high single figures, clear skies further west, perhaps a bit of mist forming into tomorrow morning, but it won't take too long to lift and clear. and of course, that low cloud is set to burn its way back towards the coast, maybe a few spots of drizzle, but otherwise dry underneath that cloud. and the cloud could lingerfor some time, perhaps across the wash, perhaps parts of lincolnshire as well, where temperatures will be lower with that onshore breeze. high values out towards the west, south west of scotland, maybe parts of northern ireland, 23 or 2a degrees celsius. don't forget, the sun is strong at this time of year, and the uv levels will be high, will remain high. the grass pollen levels are also high. now, as we head through tuesday, we see the same thing all over again. perhaps that low cloud more extensive, though, through the morning. again, we are expecting it to burn back towards the coast, perhaps producing a few spots of drizzle here and there. some of that cloud lingering again, cooler on the coast, warmer further west, which is where we'll see the best of the day's sunshine yet again — 22 to 2a degrees celsius, maybe for some spots. but things do start to change as the week wears on. now we'll start to see our area of high pressure just gradually migrate its way further eastwards. this is storm 0scar, as named by the spanish met service. it's moving its way northwards. it could produce one or two showers and probably throw some high cloud towards the south—west of england in particular. maybe a few showers across the south. we join a southeasterly wind across south—eastern areas of england, just bringing some much warmer air our way. so across london, for example, through the weekend, we could see highs of 28 degrees.