we will have to get other questions, we will have to get back to _ other questions, we will have to get back to you — other questions, we will have to get back to you when we know the answer, likely when _ back to you when we know the answer, likely when alex is back in the country and when officers have a chance _ country and when officers have a chance to — country and when officers have a chance to speak to him and have a full debrief — chance to speak to him and have a full debrief with the french authorities. i will come to you one by onem — a live press conference following the discovery of alex batty, a 17—year—old boy who disappeared in spain about six years ago. he was taken there by his mother and grandfather. they were not his legal guardians. his grandmother was. grandfather. they were not his legal guardians. his grandmotherwas. she was back in the uk. he was taken on a week long holiday and he disappeared for several years. it is thought his family were somewhere in either morocco, spain, or france. he was discovered in the pyrenees. he was discovered in the pyrenees. he was picked up by a lorry driver after walking for several days. he took him to the french authorities. we are following the developments as he is due to return to the uk

shortly, alongside british police. at the moment, we know that alex has spoken to the authorities and has spoken to the authorities and has spoken to the authorities and has spoken to his grandmother back in the uk. he hasn't told the authorities where his mother and grandfather are. they are believed to be somewhere in europe but we don't know exactly where. they are considered to people of interest with regards to this. like i say, alex batty, the 17—year—old found after being missing for six years. we will follow the developments closely. hungary has blocked more than 50 billion dollars in eu aid for ukraine, hours after agreement was reached on starting membership talks with kyiv. after late night negotiations, the hungarian president, victor orban, posted on social media, "summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to ukraine." he then left for the night. speaking to reporters, charles michel 7 the president he saw as a positive — the opening of membership talks with both ukraine and moldova. he added that the eu would attempt to reach a unanimous decision

on aid to ukraine next year. i don't want to go too much into the detail, because i want to work with the colleagues in the days to come, in the weeks to come, to prepare that summit that will take place early next year. but i would like to send a positive and a reassuring signal because we have tools to guarantee that we are reliable and that the ukraines can count on our support. that was the voice of charles michel. sophia is our correspondent in brussels. it feels as though it was a night of two halves, there was a political bonus but then the financial never came. morning, gareth. financial never came. morning, gareth- yes. — financial never came. morning, gareth. yes, it _ financial never came. morning, gareth. yes, it was _ financial never came. morning, gareth. yes, it was a _ financial never came. morning, gareth. yes, it was a very - financial never came. morning, gareth. yes, it was a very long | gareth. yes, it was a very long night for european leaders here in brussels. that news about eu money being blocked by viktor orban came at about 3am in brussels after eu

leaders had spent hours negotiating and hoping to find a solution. to give you a bit of context, the money we are talking about here is the next aid package that the eu was hoping to deliver to kyiv which would have unlocked 50 billion euros. president zelensky was desperate to get that money. we also heard from his wife, the first lady of ukraine, who said just a couple of ukraine, who said just a couple of days ago, that ukrainians are at mortal danger of being left to die if aid from the eu, from the us, were to stop. in terms of what happened last night, and the political drama behind the scenes, there was one big obstacle here. that was a viktor orban, the hungarian prime minister. he was very much against sending additional money to ukraine. it's fair to say he was not alone. there were other european countries that are

definitely feeling the ukraine fatigue. slovakia, for example, under a new government, has interrupted all bilateral funding to ukraine. after hours of negotiation, eu leaders came together and found an agreement. all but one. it was viktor orban alone who decided to veto the whole thing. he did a radio interview this morning, explaining why he made that decision. he said that he vetoed the money because it hurt hungry�*s own financial interest. he said hungarians would not pay the financial consequences of the war in ukraine. he also added that whenever necessary, hungary will put the handbrake for any future payments for ukraine. iwith future payments for ukraine. with re . ards, future payments for ukraine. with regards. though. _ future payments for ukraine. with regards, though, to _ future payments for ukraine. with regards, though, to ukraine, this will be taken back as a win of sorts, surely, for volodymyr zelensky, the fact that these talks will start. but the overriding

theme, though, is that he failed to secure those billions in the united states, failed to secure those billions in brussels and, regardless, the conflict continues. that's right. it was a very difficult week for president zelensky. he's very much counting on aid from the eu and from the us. as you mentioned, he was in america earlier this week, hoping to get more aid that there is a political deadlock in washington, too, about the aid package for ukraine. there is also quite a bit of good news for ukraine when it comes to eu membership. there was another big decision taken here in brussels last night. after hours of negotiations, a big breakthrough. the eu decided to start accession talks with ukraine and with moldova. what that means, essentially, is that these official talks will now begin, in the hope that ukraine will, one day,

join the european union. this is hugely significant for keys, last night, president zelensky is delighted. he said that this decision from brussels will give a lot of hope to his troops fighting against russia. —— significant for keith mack. a prospect of becoming an eu member is a big victory for ukraine and europe.— an eu member is a big victory for ukraine and europe. thank you, for the moment _ the french coastguard says that one person has died, and another is in critical condition, after a boat carrying 66 migrants began sinking in the early hours of friday morning in the english channel. earlier, our correspondent simonjones provided an update of the condition of those on board. we know the french coastguard first received a report at about midnight that a boat carrying more than 60 migrants had got into difficulty in the channel. it's thought some of those on board had actually phoned

the french coastguard themselves to ask for help. immediately after that, and emergency response was launched, and initial rescue boat was sent to the scene around eight kilometres off the coast of calais. people were in the water. two of those people were unconscious. 0ne those people were unconscious. one of those was airlifted to hospital in calais. that person is said to be in calais. that person is said to be in a critical condition. a second person, though, was pronounced dead at the scene. in terms of the others who were rescued, we know that 64 people were taken back to calais. it gives you a sense ofjust how dangerously overloaded these boats can be. it also indicates that these crossings are still continuing, even though it is december and it's very cold out at sea, conditions can be very bad for making these crossings. in fact, we haven't actually seen many crossing so far this month. we saw a few hundred make the crossing at the start of december but for the

past ten or ii at the start of december but for the past ten or 11 days, it has been very windy in the channel, there haven't been any crossings at all. today, the sea has been calmer. once again, we have seen boats being launched from the beaches in northern france, attempting to get to the uk. these are the latest deaths in the channel. last month, two people lost their lives attempting the crossing. in the summer, four people died when their boat capsized. the uk authorities are also involved in this rescue operation. they have sent a helicopter from the uk over french waters to make sure everyone is accounted for. waters to make sure everyone is accounted for-— waters to make sure everyone is accountedfor. ,, ., , ~ ., accounted for. simon jones. around the world and _ accounted for. simon jones. around the world and across _ accounted for. simon jones. around the world and across the _ accounted for. simon jones. around the world and across the uk, - accounted for. simon jones. around the world and across the uk, this i accounted for. simon jones. around the world and across the uk, this is| the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. , ' , ., , ., bbc news. different stories from across the uk. _ bbc news. different stories from across the uk. cold _ bbc news. different stories from across the uk. cold and - bbc news. different stories from across the uk. cold and alone, . bbc news. different stories from i across the uk. cold and alone, the winter months _ across the uk. cold and alone, the winter months are _ across the uk. cold and alone, the winter months are particularly - across the uk. cold and alone, the. winter months are particularly bleak for people _ winter months are particularly bleak for people experiencing _ for people experiencing homelessness. - for people experiencing homelessness. and - for people experiencing - homelessness. and figures from for people experiencing _ homelessness. and figures from the charity— homelessness. and figures from the charity shelter — homelessness. and figures from the charity shelter suggest _ homelessness. and figures from the charity shelter suggest numbers - homelessness. and figures from the charity shelter suggest numbers are| charity shelter suggest numbers are rising _ charity shelter suggest numbers are rising adam — charity shelter suggest numbers are rising adam has _ charity shelter suggest numbers are rising. adam has been _ charity shelter suggest numbers are rising. adam has been sleeping - charity shelter suggest numbers are i rising. adam has been sleeping rough for several— rising. adam has been sleeping rough for several weeks. _ rising. adam has been sleeping rough for several weeks. it’s— rising. adam has been sleeping rough for several weeks.— for several weeks. it's really down hartin: , for several weeks. it's really down

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over budget and critics say it is an environmental catastrophe. to the ancient maya, the cenotes were sacred, but was to the underworld and one of the most un—spoilt freshwater ecosystems in the americas. directly above them is this. the mexican president's pet infrastructure project, the tren maya, to bring tourism to the jungle. environment lists are horrified. the deforestation alone has destroyed habitats forjaguars and mccaws. we were taken to the labyrinth below to show another environmental cost, water pollution. once the water gets polluted, no life will be able to be sustained in this area. is life will be able to be sustained in this area. , ., . . ., ., this area. is it no exaggeration to say essentially — this area. is it no exaggeration to say essentially what _ this area. is it no exaggeration to say essentially what is _ this area. is it no exaggeration to say essentially what is going - this area. is it no exaggeration to say essentially what is going on l say essentially what is going on above the surface is killing what is

going on beneath the surface? for sure, going on beneath the surface? fr?" sure, definitely. the team takes readings to say where water quality is getting worse. thea;r readings to say where water quality is getting worse-— is getting worse. they say the stalactites. — is getting worse. they say the stalactites, which _ is getting worse. they say the stalactites, which naturally i stalactites, which naturally filtrate rain water are being clogged by cement dust. so, putting something as huge and as destructive as the tren maya, a massive man—made construction is obviously going to have a huge impact, but it is also all the other things that come with it, the arrival of millions of tourists, the movement of material and fuel, all of it will hurt this subterranean charles michel ecosystem. above ground, the tren mayvida y esperanzaa has divided communities. this one, has been bisected. benjamin had his field is dynamited and turned into a quarry. he received nothing for them as like many mayan farmers, he couldn't prove ownership is. translation: irate prove ownership is. translation: - have worked this land for 40 years. i applied for the deeds but never received them, he explains. 1&5

i applied for the deeds but never received them, he explains. as he test drove — received them, he explains. as he test drove the _ received them, he explains. as he test drove the train, _ received them, he explains. as he test drove the train, the _ received them, he explains. as he test drove the train, the presidentj test drove the train, the president because of the greatest construction in the world. but the line from cancun south changed mid—construction after pressure from luxury hotels. activists fear surveys were rushed and the elevated track could collapse.— track could collapse. "nonsense" sa s its track could collapse. "nonsense" says its director. _ track could collapse. "nonsense" says its director. tren _ track could collapse. "nonsense" says its director. tren maya i track could collapse. "nonsense" says its director. tren maya is i track could collapse. "nonsense" says its director. tren maya is a l says its director. tren maya is a great, _ says its director. tren maya is a great, great infrastructure. every mexican. — great, great infrastructure. every mexican, every tourist, international tourist, transporting themselves in our train, they will be safe — themselves in our train, they will be safe. , . ., , . be safe. these cenotes are archaeological _ be safe. these cenotes are archaeological gems, i be safe. these cenotes are | archaeological gems, burial be safe. these cenotes are i archaeological gems, burial sites be safe. these cenotes are - archaeological gems, burial sites of some of the first peoples of the americas. the tren maya will bring more tourists to the yucatan but the rush to develop could also ruin the hidden treasures upon which the region was founded. will grant, bbc news, the yucatan peninsula.

parents of children who died in circumstances linked to social media and gaming have accused the government of "watering down" online safety laws. it comes ahead of the legislation returning to parliament to be debated next week. our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman has he was a very caring, loving soul. he always put other people first. but he never understood that he was in danger himself at any point. breck was clever, helpful, looked after his triplet siblings, and he was my right—hand man. the bereaved families for online safety are parents bound together by loss linked to the online world. they were in the house of lords back injune to see this. all platforms will be required to comply with ofcom's requests for information about a deceased child's... that was a government minister promising to give bereaved parents and coroners new powers to get information out of tech companies where a child has died in a way that might have been linked to the online world. but now the families

believe the government is watering that down, with it only applying in cases where a child has taken their own life. breck bednar, murdered aged just 14 by a fellow gamer he met online who then posted photos of his crime on the internet. ollie stephens, a 13—year—old, was murdered by two boys, with social media at the heart of the case. lorin and stuart were among ten parents who wrote a fortnight ago to michelle donelan, the secretary of state for science, saying they were devastated and bewildered by the government's callous change of position. i mean, we literally even celebrated, you know, as campaigners in a big group. and we felt so proud and pleased that the work that we had done had made these changes that were so important for other families. so then to find out that that moment was all false or fake is quite hurtful. and we're angry. you know, as a group, as individuals, we're angry.

and it's not right to backtrack. it's not right to have something taken away that was already agreed on. you need to understand. you need to know what happened. no matter how traumatic or how brutal it is to hear, you need to hear it, because that was your child. you raised that child, you loved that child and you thought you'd done a good job. but somebody else, through another medium, was able to step in and take your child. in a reply to the families, michelle donelan said she took the commitments the government had made incredibly seriously, but that she thought her proposals achieved their aims. cases of murder are not covered, she said, because an inquest would usually take place after criminal proceedings. she said the police have their own extensive powers to get information from tech firms. she concluded... "i want to ensure that we work together to get this right." so now it's back to the house of lords, where the legislation

in question arrives next week. there the ministers will face baroness kidron, a film director turned campaigner on online safety. i say this more in sadness than in anger that they have slipped up so catastrophically. the government's saying that it's only relevant to children who take their own lives because the police can investigate. i mean, first of all, how do you know what has happened to a child until you get the information? and indeed, the police can only ever investigate if they think there's a crime. lorin and stuart won't be the last parents to lose children this way. this government won't be the last to face these issues. henry zeffman, bbc news, westminster. the use of coal rose to its highest level on record in 2023, with 8.5 billion tonnes of the fossilfuel

being consumed around the world. the international energy agency says increases in china, india and indonesia outweighed a sharp fall in demand in europe and the united states. the iea is forecasting that global coal consumption should start to decline next year. its assessment comes just days after the cop28 climate summit agreed to begin transitioning away from fossil fuels. a state memorial service has taken place at the sydney opera house for the entertainer barry humphries, who died in april aged 89. hundreds gathered to celebrate the life of the man behind dame edna everage, with tributes from king charles and sir elton john. our correspondent, phil mercer, has more. one of australia's brightest stars has been remembered as a comic genius. hello, possums, yes, it's me, dame edna, and aren't i looking gorgeous?! barry humphries introduced the world to many brilliant. and unforgettable characters.

the state memorial at the sydney opera brought together family, friends, and hundreds of fans. ah, well, it's in honour of edna, of course, and the extraordinary talent of barry humphries. we idolised him. well, he captured who we were, and he took us to the world and everyone got to laugh and get our humour. it's not easy, but he did it. very nice to be here. he is an icon. it is a bit like the queen. he should not have died. my great honour to read this message on behalf of his majesty the king. his majesty was a great admirer of barry humphries... there were tributes from royalty, to music and comedy. king charles said in a message that barry humphries was a cultured and erudite man who, through his creations, punctured pomposity. like so many, i have been deeply saddened by his passing. life really won't be the same without him.

may our gladioli bloom in celebration of his memory. dame edna everage! hello, possums! his most irrepressible creation was dame edna, an outrageous suburban housewife who would define his career. barry humphries was one of the funniest people in the world. but you all know that. he was also one of the kindest and most generous person to me. we always hit it off. we always got on so well. we've had so many moments together, both public and private, and many television appearances together. and i will miss him so much. he was the best. he was the master. there is nobody better than barry humphries. and i was honoured to call him a friend and i salute his talent, which wasjust... . . interstellar.

the prime minister, anthony albanese, said this comedic giant brought such joy to every part of australia... # why do i love australia? ..and showered it upon the world. phil mercer, bbc news, at the sydney opera house. # life was so sunny and informal # when my husband, norm, was normal...# phil mercer on the life of barry humphries. just time to take it to the live page on our website, on the 3pp the live page on our website, on the app or smartphone, tablet. we are following the ruling due this morning in a legal case between prince harry and three others they are bringing against the publisher of the daily mirror. these are allegations of phone hacking and other forms of unauthorised gathering of information used by the mirror newspapers over the course of several years. we are expecting the

ruling at 10:30am gmt although we will follow the developments in about ten minutes or so with our correspondence and reporters live outside the court in central london. you are watching bbc news. —— correspondents. it has been 23 years since the animated children's film chicken run was released — which to this day is the highest—grossing stop motion film. the sequel, chicken run: dawn of the nugget, has been released on netflix today. he chuckles. john maguire went to find out more. uh—oh! i haven't seen that look in a long while. you can't right all the world's wrongs, duck. meeting tonight. spread the word. here we go again. that's right. ginger, rocky, and the rest of the chicken run flock are back in a sequel that, like top gun, comes a generation after the first film. and, once again, what makes them

so unique is that blend between clay model reality and fantasy. you're aware that these are puppets, but they're alive, and i think that's where the magic is, which you don't get, in myjudgment, you don't get from computer animation because, superb as it will no doubt be, it's a great story, but what else is it? it's stuff in the computer. it's zeros and ones in the computer. whereas here you can see they're puppets and they're alive. the two things. and i think that, to me, that's like the magic of childhood. 23 years after the first movie, the basic techniques of stop frame animation remain, but much has changed. the faces are almost entirely clay, actually, but their hands, in the first movie, these were clay as well. and now it's silicone. the magical clay is actually quite a small proportion, but so important. that's because that's where all the performance is. can we go over there? where, love?

the other side of the water. chicken run 2 has taken six years to hatch. not surprising when you consider that a good day here at the aardman studios near bristol accounts for around two seconds of the final film, and there are 12 movements captured now by digital cameras for every second, a blink of an eye. and this is how they do that, by the way. so we grab just two frames there to head back off again, move the hair, and then i'm just going to push down a little a little bit more on that brow and then just simply pop on these eyelids. yeah. so i'm just going to do a slight bend down with the head, grab another couple of frames there. the object is that we're trying to make these puppets look like they're thinking for themselves, and that's where we spend all of our time. most of it is around this eye area as well, just the tiniest, subtlest of shifts of the eyes just to bring it to life.

stop frame animation is famously painstaking, but the end result must still entertain. biggest challenge is to remember that sense of spontaneity and how it will be received by a general audience while we're working so painfully slowly, you know, just to kind of remember not to get lost in unnecessary details, but to remember to focus on the very necessary details that make you feel that this is just happening before your very eyes. just one of the, quite frankly, mind—boggling aspects of the production of this movie is the different scales. just look at the size of this set here. but let me just take you over to the desk of one of the animators and get an idea of some of the fine detail. these are the mouthpieces for one of the characters, molly, beaks really, making all sorts of different phonetic sounds. so different shapes for e, o, a. the attention to detail

is quite phenomenal. holy moley! hear that? it's like a party in there. obviously, i have 3d objects here, but i could literallyjust move around and sketch out the idea first. and to create the extraordinary sets, designer darren debicki immerses himself in the poultry—verse using virtual reality. his vision for the sinister theme park in the chicken factory is transformed from his imagination to physical spaces. the two adventurous chickens, they go off when they realise this is not quite right. there's something ominous about the feel of this place, and they realise by looking at the other chickens that they're different for some reason and maybe they're being watched. ah! and, actually, we do reveal that they are being watched

via these big crazy golf chicken heads. aha! someone is watching them via this eye. there's a camera lens inside the eyeball. dawn of the nugget, as it's subtitled, is being released on netflix six years on from that kernel of an idea — although kernel is not a word they like around here. john maguire, bbc news, bristol. ok, everyone, it's go time. it's all right. i went before we left. a reminder of that film, chicken run dawn of the nugget. dry for many of us over the next couple of days but heavy rain moving into the north and west of scotland. more details on that in just a moment. forthe more details on that in just a moment. for the weekend, more details on that in just a moment. forthe weekend, it more details on that in just a moment. for the weekend, it will turn milderfor many of moment. for the weekend, it will turn milder for many of us, south—westerly wind, pretty cloudy and rain particularly in the far

north—west. the reason why for most of us it will be dry as this big area of high pressure building in from the south. today, we have this with a front affecting the far north—west of scotland bringing outbreaks of rain which could be quite heavy for a time across the north into the northern isles. one or two spots of rain and drizzle this afternoon around western coasts of england and wales but for most of us it will be dry. right and sunny spells. the wind is relatively light across the south but quite breezy across the south but quite breezy across the south but quite breezy across the far north and those winds will continue to strengthen as we go through this evening. temperature wise, the highest temperatures in the west, 11 or 12 celsius, 8 or 9 degrees further east. tonight, patches of rain moving its way in across scotland and a strengthening wind. saturday morning, it will be a mild start. frost free start to the weekend. temperatures around 4—7 but double figures in the north and west. you can see from the

temperature chart where the warm wind is coming in from the south—west. it will stay like that for the weekend. saturday, some outbreaks of rain affecting the far north—west of scotland and it will be quite heavy and persistent throughout the day. there could be one or two showers... around elsewhere but for most, a dry day on saturday. mostly cloudy. some bright spells perhaps possible. temperatures for all of us in double figures. the rain continues into sunday towards the west of yellow weather warning up to 175 millimetres, localised flooding and travel disruption in northern and western scotland possible. for most on sunday, a dry day and perhaps a bit of rain into the far north of england. once again, temperatures in double figures, 1114. next week will turn cooler as we go through the week. rain at times. temperatures by the end of the week in single figures. goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. prince harry will find out later whether he's won his hacking case against mirror group newspapers. british teenager alex batty is back in the uk, six years after he went missing. greater manchester police say there are questions that need answering. the us's national security advisor is due to visit palestinian authority leaders in the west bank, having urged israel to wind down the war. hungary's prime minister threatens to pull the handbrake on future payments to ukraine, after he blocked a $55 billion eu aid package. hello, i'm gareth barlow.

uk officials in france are preparing to fly home a british teenager