israeli forces advance further into khan younis — as it closes in on hamas members in the heart of the city. i used to think nurses were women, i used to think police were men. i used to think poets were boring, until i became one of them. and — writer and poet benjamin zephaniah dies at the age of 65. he's being remembered as �*a true pioneer and innovator�*. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc here's marc edwards. the midweek premier league fixture bonanza comes to a close tonight, two matches

left from matchday 1a. tottenham hotspur will be looking to keep pace with the champions league spots they're three points off manchester city in fourth but will be looking to build on the performance that saw them draw 3—3 with pep guardiolas side at the weekend. and while it's still four games without a win and crippled with injuries. manager ange postecoglou is hoping their style will start to deliver some more substance against west ham later. the biggest obstacle is ourselves in terms of we need to hit certain levels irrespective of what the opposition might bring to it, because the kind of game start we have, we are very reliant on how, you know, we roll out the kind of football we want to play because it's not so much about stopping our position, it's whether we can place ourselves on oppositions and all of them have got threats. we got to be wary of them, so the challengers are saying the challenges are us. if spurs do slip up newcastle could overtake them and move into fifth with a win at everton. omens aren't great for eddie howe�*s side just the one away win

all season so far. however recent wins over manchester united and chelsea has the manager emphatically backing his squad we've got characters who are prepared to give everything they have physically and mentally in order to achieve success, i don't think you can do what we've done in last week without that. we've got some really good leaders as well who are pushing an ad helping everybody to perform at a very good level. and we've got a very talented squad, which i think you've seen with players out injured, new players have come in and really stepped up to the plate and performed ever so well. some good news for emma raducanu who will make her comeback to the tennis tour in auckland in the first week of january. she's been awarded a wildcard into the asb classic in new zealand. the 2021 us open champion has been out of action

since april and has fallen to 296 in the world rankings following the australian open — the first grand slam of the season — begins onjanuary 14. world cup winner mike tindall has criticised the treatmen of owen farrell at the tournament in france calling it completely unjustified. the england captain has decided to step away from international rugby for the moment to prioritis his family and mental wellbeing. farrell was criticised both before and during the world cup... but tindall. told bbc breakfast that crossed a line. he isa he is a competitor that pushes the boundaries and sometimes ends up on the wrong side of it, that doesn't make him a good human being —— bad human being, you can make it a bad decision in a very short period of time, every time he steps on the field he wants to make an impact for his team. but off the back of it, then what his family get, what he got, and i sort of take my hat off to him to have the ability to go, actually i don't need this. and to have your england captain who has just come out of a world cup

semifinal, placed 28 impeccable level and puts his body on hit the line for his team, always the first on the team sheet to go, actually, i'm just going to step away and focus on my family. itjust says that you know, a game that is built on worth ethic —— work ethic and respecting the referee, he has lived on eight social media platform without those... shaun murphy has made the first ever maximum 147 break in the history of the snooker shoot out. this event is different from traditional snooker events, with a shot clock in operation throughout and frames lasting a maximum of ten minutes. murphy achieved the feat of 15 reds, 15 blacks, and all the colours in his first round match in swansea. the previous highest break made in this competition, was a 142 by mark allen. that's all the support for now, back

to you, matthew. now lets look back at one of our top stories today, prime minister rishi sunak has been defending his plans to stop illegal immigration — after the dramatic resignation last night of immigration minister robertjenrick, who claimed the proposals don't go far enough. mr sunak called reporters to downing street and insisted his draught immigration law will prevent most legal challenges that have been used to stop asylum seekers being put on flights to rwanda. our home and legal correspondent dominic casciani has been explaning just why the the safety of the rwanda bill has one aim, to lift the ban on sending migrants to the african nation. blocking step—by—step anything they could do to prevent a plane taking off, this is the first and most important measure in the bill. it says that every decision—maker must

conclusively treat rwanda as a safe country. it meansjudges must ignore evidence that rwanda isn't safe. but why do judges think there are other... legal challenges regarding the human rights act domestic law and any international law, too. in exceptional circumstances a migrant could go to court if they specifically face a real imminent and perceivable risk of serious and irreversible harm. now the former home secretary suellen braverman suspect it so weak it would let the european court of human rights get involved. the pm thinks he can avoid that, a minister of the ground can decide whether or not someone in the united kingdom can interfere with a measure. the package is unworkable, they think, or it doesn't go far enough. and they're not alone, the

governments own lawyers insisted on the state and saying the legislation may not be compatible with the european convention on human rights, those words are a warning from them that the make or break plan could end up in legal tatters. earlier, i asked lord sumption, formerjustice at the uk supreme court, if this bill, if passed, could block virtually every route to the courts for asylum seekers. it will block almost every route. what i think suella braverman is concerned about is the exemption included in the bill for people who complain that deporting them to rwanda would be unsafe for them even if it was safe. gender generality of people. there's an exception from some of the provisions of the bill, which provides that if that somebody has a personal characteristic specific to them, which makes it dangerous to send them to rwanda,

although it might be perfectly safe for the generality of migrants, they may be entitled to appeal to the courts. this is actually a very narrow exception, and it would apply, for example, to somebody who said that he was gay, but for hypothetically might say, rwanda persecutes gays. but the act actually incorporates provisions which rule out most of the grounds which had been relied on in the past. most of the personal grounds, for example, the argument that health provisions are not as good in rwanda as in the uk and a number of other familiar arguments which have been frequently deployed by migrants resisting deportation. there are other restrictions as well. the initial decision is made by the home secretary. whether to accept such a claim is entitled to refuse and certify that the case is hopeless, in which case very stringent leave conditions would be required.

in the case of illegal immigrants, there's a very tight timetable for the decision. 30 days from the notice of removal and with no further right of appeal allowed. yes. what's more, even if these conditions are satisfied, the courts cannot grant an interim injunction delaying deportation to rwanda unless there is compelling evidence that the applicant will suffer serious and irreversible harm. and you have to remember that last year the supreme court ruled that if it was clear that the british government would repatriate to the uk people whose appeals succeeded, there was unlikely to be irreversible harm. six former metropolitan police officers have been given

suspended sentences after bbc newsnight revealed they had sent racist, sexist and homophobic whatsapp messages. deputy chief magistrate tan ikran said they had harmed public our correspondent tom symonds has been following the story, tom, tell us more. well, apologies, the audio there on that line to tom, is problematic. so hopefully we can restore that line and return to tom symonds who is following that case in the next little while. the uk has accused russia of running a cyber—hacking campaign targeting politicians and public figures, including an mp who had his emails stolen. the government says a group working for the russian security service, the fsb, has been stealing data for years, and making some of it public. russia has always denied such activity. our securtity correspondent gordon corera has been explaining what's been going on.

it's a pretty serious allegation, they have been trying to interfere in british life by trying to hack into the e—mails of public figures. in mpi i spoke to earlier this year he wrote believed russian intelligence had hacked his e—mail account and still knows the most common in that case they had been made public. in other cases e—mails have been made public to embarrass groups or, was hacked from a private e—mail account leaked and used in the 2019 election campaign. russia had been accused of that in the past but for the first time the british government has brought together a series of claims about russia, and said the russian government and this particular group of the fsb, russian officials were summoned by the foreign office and the hope is by being public about this they can try and disrupt that groups work, although russia of course denies it, and try to get people to be more

aware of this kind of activity. that's significant, there could be a lot of elections happening this year, particularly in the uk but in the us and europe around the world. let's try again, that line to tom symonds. about the met police officers given suspended sentences. let's go to the court, tom, apologies we lost the line to a little earlier, but tell us a little bit more about what's happening today. six. bit more about what's happening toda. ,, ,m , bit more about what's happening toda. ,, . ,, bit more about what's happening toda. ,, , bit more about what's happening toda. ,, today. six officers set up a whatsapp _ today. six officers set up a whatsapp group, - today. six officers set up a whatsapp group, to - today. six officers set up a whatsapp group, to stay l today. six officers set up a | whatsapp group, to stay in today. six officers set up a - whatsapp group, to stay in touch after retirement, several of them were living in wales and during the year 2020, the covert year, 21—22, they began sending each other what we have to be described as highly offensive, racist, misogynistic, messages to each other. videos, pictures, comments about pictures and they were discovered when one of

their number decided to go to the bbc newsnight programme and tell what had been happening. he sent them some of the messages to journalists and the journalists renting one of the officers at one point and we heard today that's when he got a wake—up call that the group had been found out. well today, the court sentenced these officers, they received suspended sentences of... inaudible the magistrate said he was narrowly persuaded that in worst case they should get a suspended sentence, the one who set up the group was a borderforce officer, he received one who set up the group was a border force officer, he received a great sentence, the judge said they ought to have known what they were doing was a breach of the law, the messages they were sending were offensive, he said it was difficult

for him to... that they did not know that these were racist posts and they might become public at some point. they'd undermined the police, undermined the metropolitan police in particular and they may have thought they were sending silly jokes but they were not. tom, thanks very much, it really difficult line there to tom symonds, buddy and important story, thanks for being with us and hearing key details. a coroner says an ofsted inspection is likely to have contributed to the death of ruth perry, the primary school headteacher who took her own life. this report from our education editor, branwenjeffreys. ruth perry was the head teacher of caversham primary school for 13 years. she took her life in january this year.

ofsted was going to take the school from outstanding to inadequate, leaving ruth perry distressed from the first morning of the inspection. ruth said that that first meeting, she said she felt... ..it was just absolutely relentless. she said it felt like her head wasn't working properly, that he'd sort of fire a question at her, not give her time to think, and then another question and she didn't have time to answer and then she'd try to answer and he'd contradict what she'd say or come back. she was just in a complete state. she kept repeating, "i'm devastated. i'm broken. i'm traumatised." in evidence, other staff at the school described the lead inspector's behaviour as mocking and unpleasant. he told the court he paused their first conversation after mrs perry became tearful. ofsted has previously

described the inspection as professional and sensitive. the inquest heard that ruth perry was distressed, barely able to speak after meeting the lead inspector on the first morning. inspectors were raising concerns about the record—keeping for keeping children safe at the school. as an experienced head teacher, ruth perry knew that if they were judged ineffective on safeguarding, they would be judged inadequate overall. the inquest also heard that no child came to harm. caversham was where ruth perry had grown up — she went to the primary school as a child. her family says that she dwelt on what would happen when ofsted published the report, fearing shame, humiliation and the loss of herjob. this was going to be the end of her career and she didn't know what else she could do. i don't think she could hold her head up high. i think she was so distraught by it.

she felt like she had let everybody down, so she let down the governors, she let down the pupils, she let down the parents, she let down her family. ruth perry died on the 8th ofjanuary, just under two months after the inspection. her gp said it had contributed to her deteriorating mental health and death. ofsted published the report grading the school as inadequate in march. it had ruth perry's name on it, a note at the end saying she had died. this is when the family decided to speak out. ifind it callous, heartless, insensitive, tone deaf, and these aren'tjust the terms that i've been using, tojust pretend that things are ok. in april, a month after the family first said the inspection had contributed to ruth's death, ofsted responded. the findings were secure and i think the inspection team worked with the professionalism and sensitivity that i would expect

from our inspectors. more changes were promised injune. schools graded inadequate would be swiftly re—inspected, giving them a chance to change. ofsted went back to caversham primary school in the summer. this time it was graded good, as a result of the changes made. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. the bbc licence fee will be less than the expected rise of £15. the reduced increase is because of cost—of—living pressers, this is our entertainment correspondent lisa ms. above. ~ . . . above. when the current licence fee deal was done. _ above. when the current licence fee deal was done, it _ above. when the current licence fee deal was done, it was _ above. when the current licence fee deal was done, it was agreed - above. when the current licence fee deal was done, it was agreed the . deal was done, it was agreed the licence fee would rise in line with inflation from 202a. previously that

rate of inflation have been calculated across a whole year, september to september. that would result in an increase ofjust under £15, but the government said that was too much and decided just to take the rate of inflation for one month, september2023, take the rate of inflation for one month, september 2023, when it was quite below the annual average. speaking of parliament making the announcement, they did say that bbc had to take into account the current cost—of—living situation. the cost-of-living situation. the government _ cost-of-living situation. the government is _ cost—of—living situation. the government is committed to supporting families as much as possible — supporting families as much as possible during these difficult times — possible during these difficult times. we recognise bill rises are never_ times. we recognise bill rises are never welcome. and family budgets remain_ never welcome. and family budgets remain under pressure. today, i am announcing — remain under pressure. today, i am announcing that we will use the annual— announcing that we will use the annual rate of cpi in september to calculate _ annual rate of cpi in september to calculate the increase of the bbc licence _ calculate the increase of the bbc licence fee in april 2024. this, madam deputy speaker, is the same way the _ madam deputy speaker, is the same way the government calculates inflation — way the government calculates inflation linked increases to state pensions — inflation linked increases to state pensions and benefits. this decision

means— pensions and benefits. this decision means next— pensions and benefits. this decision means next year licence fee increase will be _ means next year licence fee increase will be kept — means next year licence fee increase will be kept as low as possible. one more story — will be kept as low as possible. one more story to _ will be kept as low as possible. que: more story to give you, will be kept as low as possible. isz more story to give you, the poet, actor and righty writer benjamin zephaniah has died at the age of 65, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago. his family described him as a true pioneer and innovator. rememberthis? i described him as a true pioneer and innovator. remember this?- described him as a true pioneer and innovator. remember this? i used to think nurses — innovator. remember this? i used to think nurses were _ innovator. remember this? i used to think nurses were women, _ innovator. remember this? i used to think nurses were women, i - innovator. remember this? i used to think nurses were women, i used - innovator. remember this? i used to think nurses were women, i used to l think nurses were women, i used to think— think nurses were women, i used to think police — think nurses were women, i used to think police were men. i used to think— think police were men. i used to think poets— think police were men. i used to think poets were boring, until i became — think poets were boring, until i became one of them. the tributes have been pouring _ became one of them. the tributes have been pouring in, _ became one of them. the tributes have been pouring in, i've - became one of them. the tributes have been pouring in, i've been i have been pouring in, i've been talking to richie brave from bbc radio1 talking to richie brave from bbc radio 1 extra, he said benjamin zephaniah broke barriers and was like a member of his family. benjamin zephaniah was an uncle to so many of us and i had the pleasure of meeting him what i was a small child so this speaks to his activism work and community focus, did performances for us in south london as children, i also met him in several events as an adult, and he

always had time to stop and speak to people, he was such a ball of love. it's so interesting watching you and listening to you, because as you were starting that you are smiling because you are remembering him and i heard lindsay say, the great poet, he was on radio for earlier, exactly the same thing with him. he was saying, describing how contrary he was, an activist, loving, how angry, do you think those were some the reasons he cut through, made such an impact? reasons he cut through, made such an im act? ~ , ,., , reasons he cut through, made such an impact? absolutely. what's so important _ impact? absolutely. what's so important to — impact? absolutely. what's so important to remember, - impact? absolutely. what's so important to remember, like l impact? absolutely. what's so i important to remember, like you said, he wasn'tjust a poet. he was a proud roster man he was a symbol of black resistance for a lot of black british people across the country, he was also an animal rights activist, he was dyslexic, left school at 13 years of age unable to read or write, and he became one of our most seasoned and

celebrated poets. one of the reasons he cut through with just his authenticity and tenacity. benjamin zephaniah was someone who critiques the legal system, he was vocal about racist, following his visit to palestine, he refused and nb, he is someone who stood in his integrity and authenticity in every opportunity he could. i and authenticity in every opportunity he could. i will come back to the _ opportunity he could. i will come back to the subject _ opportunity he could. i will come back to the subject matter - opportunity he could. i will come back to the subject matter of - opportunity he could. i will come back to the subject matter of his| back to the subject matter of his writings in a moment, but you told our producer, when people become famous they can put up barriers between them and their communities, benjamin worked to make sure that those barriers never existed in the first place. i those barriers never existed in the first lace. ., �* ., first place. i mean ben'amin went into writing * first place. i mean ben'amin went into writing because _ first place. i mean benjamin went into writing because he _ first place. i mean benjamin went into writing because he wanted i first place. i mean benjamin went into writing because he wanted to take away the dead image of poetry, and i don't think we realise, or we've always realise how big benjamin was, when you met him it felt like meeting a family member. he treated a bit earlier on around herfirst he treated a bit earlier on around her first meeting with him, he treated a bit earlier on around herfirst meeting with him, and him taking her off to lunch and making her feel so at taking her off to lunch and making herfeel so at home, taking her off to lunch and making her feel so at home, i taking her off to lunch and making herfeel so at home, i mean benjamin

was a people person. he was a community person. that doesn't take away from just how amazing he was and is added to his legacy. tell away from just how amazing he was and is added to his legacy.- and is added to his legacy. tell me more about — and is added to his legacy. tell me more about his _ and is added to his legacy. tell me more about his subject _ and is added to his legacy. tell me more about his subject matter. - and is added to his legacy. tell me more about his subject matter. i i more about his subject matter. i was just looking at some of his interviews in the past. i was amused by it when he gave to channel for where he said, i'm an anarchist, i'd like to have a revolution, but everyone is too busy shopping. that was absolutely classic him, but in terms of broader subject matter, there were some pretty tough stuff. he quite often returned, didn't he, to being black and british and life was like in the 60s, 70s, 80s. absolutely, you can't remove your black identity from your british identity and also he was a descendent of an asian parent and a jamaican parent, also a proud person from birmingham as well. if you look at him historically, benjamin had a very hard time and he was very honest about the hard time he had. he spoke so much about racism, not

just because of his own experiences, butjust his desire and love for his community and want for them not to have to go through the very same things he went through earlier on in his life. ., , ., ,., things he went through earlier on in his life. .,, ., ,., ,., his life. there was also so much fun, his life. there was also so much fun. wasn't _ his life. there was also so much fun, wasn't there _ his life. there was also so much fun, wasn't there in _ his life. there was also so much fun, wasn't there in his - his life. there was also so much fun, wasn't there in his writing? one remembers talking turkeys and the connection he had with so many young people and children. you mention turning down an ob, it was notjust the empire word in the ob that sort of was behind that, he talked about them making the point it was his contribution to literature, but he said what about my come to animal rights, what about writing to prisoners, all the things he was really so desperate to be involved with.— he was really so desperate to be involved with. ., ., ., , �* ., involved with. yeah, and he wasn't a one-dimensional _ involved with. yeah, and he wasn't a one-dimensional person, _ involved with. yeah, and he wasn't a one-dimensional person, and - involved with. yeah, and he wasn't a one-dimensional person, and again, one—dimensional person, and again, i think it comes back to what i said a little bit earlier on, his authenticity and his tenacity. he wasn't somebody to be boxed and for him to be able to speak about his activism and vice versa, they both informed each other. so for benjamin

he spoke directly about, i've spent my whole life fighting empire or critiquing the empire, why would he want to be branded with it? i think for a lot of us in black britain it was something we looked to end it was something we looked to end it was something we looked to end it was something we looked to and could identify with. d0 was something we looked to and could identi with. , ., ~ was something we looked to and could identify with-— identify with. do you think he gets the literary recognition _ identify with. do you think he gets the literary recognition he - the literary recognition he deserves?— the literary recognition he deserves? ., ., , deserves? no. i never do. i 'ust think, for— deserves? no. i never do. i 'ust think. for i deserves? no. i never do. i 'ust think, for us, iffi deserves? no. i never do. i 'ust think, for us, if you i deserves? no. i never do. i 'ust think, for us, if you look i deserves? no. i never do. i 'ust think, for us, if you look at h deserves? no. i never do. i just think, for us, if you look at the | think, for us, if you look at the black community, black british community, specifically but caribbean communities, when it comes to poetry it isn'tjust the way we write and recite words, is embedded in our culture, and arts, in our music. in the sound system culture, which he was very much part of. i think for somebody like him, it isn'tjust recognition think for somebody like him, it isn't just recognition for think for somebody like him, it isn'tjust recognition for his poetry but it's recognition for legacy and impact he's had on wider communities, notjust a black british community which has been immeasurable, butjust the wider world community and animals, he was an animal rights activist and i don't think many people know about about him. . , ., , about him. richie brave with his wonderful tribute _ about him. richie brave with his wonderful tribute there. - about him. richie brave with his wonderful tribute there. that i about him. richie brave with his - wonderful tribute there. that brings us to the end of the programme, thank you so much for watching,

hopefully i'll see you at the same time tomorrow. goodbye. spells are wet and windy weather around, but noticed that he be mild. saturated ground we've already seen localised flooding, it's going to exasperate existing funding problems —— flooding problems. lots of isobars on the charts, blustery. spreading northwards and eastward, and we are introducing milder air pretty much across the country

elsewhere, it's a little bit quieter, some clear spells, but showers or longer spells of rain pushing into northern and western areas as low pressure sticks close by. and it will be blustery, but a largely frost free night to come. so for friday, we start off with a bit of sunshine across southern and eastern areas. showers from the word go in the north and the west. they merge together to produce longer spells of rain at times into the afternoon. but i think east and southeast england may escape. most of the showers stay largely dry with some sunshine, and it will be a milder day. double figure values for england, wales, northern ireland, eight or nine degrees across scotland for friday night. it stays quite blustery. see further showers or longer spells of rain pushing northwards across scotland, northern england. then the next batch of weather fronts and low pressure move into the south west to bring wet and windy weather here. and again, a fairly mild at night to come than what we've had of late. this area of low pressure moves through during saturday and then for sunday we've got another low pressure system bringing another spell of wet and rather windy weather to our shores. so it'll start quite wet saturday. england, wales. northern ireland. looks like the rain will become confined to scotland through the afternoon.

it brightens up for northern ireland, certainly for england and wales through the afternoon with sunny spells, a few scattered showers and feeling very mild, 11 to 13 or 14 degrees that feel pleasant in the sunshine. nine degrees across scotland sunday starts off dry with some sunshine this stage, but then it looks like it'll turn wetter and windier as we move through the day and turn very windy in the northwest corner of the country with gales developing here. but once again, it's going to be pretty mild for the time of year. many central and southern areas seeing temperatures in double figures. it remains unsettled into the new week as well. the signs of high pressure starting to build in for the second half of the week, which will bring some quieter, cooler, sunnier weather.

at 6:00 — the prime minister defends his plans to send some asylum seekers to rwanda calling it the right approach. i'm absolutely committed to seeing this through, because i share the british people's frustration. borisjohnson tells the covid inquiry that accounts of downing

street parties during lockdown were a million miles from the truth. the dramatic representations that we're now having of this are absolutely absurd. i used to think nurses were women. i used to think police were men. the poet, professor and performer benjamin zephaniah has died at the age of 65 — weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. and is cash coming back? we find out why the number of people using coins and banknotes is on the up. on bbc london... coming up on bbc news, chasing down the champions, can tottenham move level with manchester city? good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the prime minister has been defending his plan to send asylum

seekers to rwanda, saying he will finish the job.