a volcano erupts in iceland after weeks of intense seismic activity. more than 100 people are killed in china's deadliest earthquake in 13 years. rescue efforts are being hampered by sub zero temperatures. the government publishes its guidance on how schools in england can support pupils questioning their gender. dane esther rantzen joins the dignitas swiss clinic saying she is considering an assisted dying if her lung cancer doesn't take to treatment. dame esther rantzen has said she's considering the option of assisted dying. said she's considering the 83—year—old broadcaster — who has lung cancer — said she's currently receiving a "miracle" treatment but that she has joined the zurich—based assisted dying clinic, dignitas, in case her condition gets worse. talking to bbc radio 4's the today podcast, dame esther said british laws need to be updated. i have joined dignitas.

i have, in my brain, thought, "well, if the next scan "says nothing's working, i might buzz off to zurich." but, you know, it puts my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me and that means that the police might prosecute them. so we've got to do something. at the moment, it's not really working, is it? the scottish government's tax and spending plans will be announced later today. economists are warning that ministers are grappling with a black hole in the budget amounting to £1.5 billion. 0ur scotland editorjames cook has the report. in nearly a quarter of a century of devolution, the scottish state has expanded. university tuition, prescriptions, personal care for the elderly and much more are all free here at the point of use.

but every year comes the question, how to pay the bills and balance the books. the scottish government has a limited ability to borrow money. it can cut spending and has already warned of public sectorjob losses and it can set the levels of various taxes, including income tax. so that's the kind of pricing model that we've got. and a tax rise for higher earners does seem to be on the menu for the finance secretary. we are... we need to land as a country at recognising the needs of household budgets. absolutely. and we don't take any decisions lightly around tax. of course we don't. but also the needs of public services and our values are around making sure we have sustainable public services. but why are the public finances so tight? one reason is inflation. rising prices and rising wages do mean the government takes more in tax, they also make governing costlier. not much she can do about that. but a lot of pressure on the budget

is a result of decisions taken by the scottish government. for example, increasing welfare payments to tackle poverty and putting up pay for public sector workers to avoid strikes. the snp's decision to freeze council tax is also costly because it means finding more money to fund local authorities. maintaining the more generous public service provision in scotland and these new, more generous benefits will become increasingly difficult without substantial tax rises. more than half of the scottish government's budget comes from here — london. is now the right time for tax cuts, chancellor? it would be larger if the conservatives were spending more on public services and less on tax cuts. but the prime minister still insists it's a great deal. the uk government has provided a record amount of funding to the scottish government through the barnett formula, a record amount offunding. so they are ultimately responsible for the finances in scot... here in scotland. but i can tell you what we're doing in the uk is controlling spending and cutting people's taxes. soon we'll find out if the gap between scotland and other parts of the uk will widen. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh.

live to glasgow. how do you think the scottish government is going to sell this to people, the plans it is outlining later? it sell this to people, the plans it is outlining later?— outlining later? it will highlight what they see _ outlining later? it will highlight what they see the _ outlining later? it will highlight what they see the difference i outlining later? it will highlight what they see the difference in i what they see the difference in values and choices between the westminster government and the scottish government. the scottish government would certainly argue it is facing one of the most difficult budgets since devolution back in 1999 and possibly the hardest ever. the scottish finance secretary, shona robertson has to set out how she would intend to close the one and a half billion pound gap in books. it could be tax rises for the highest earners, public sector cuts and perhaps even public sectorjob losses. up until now, the scottish government has been very proud there

has been no compulsory redundancies in parts of the public sector it controls. the scottish government has limited control over taxation, over the bands and rates of income tax but its political opponents have been increasingly highlighting the difference between tax rates in scotland and tax rates south of the border, arguing scotland is already the highest taxed part of the uk. 0ne the highest taxed part of the uk. one of the crucial bits of news we are waiting for today concerns just how that freeze in the council tax will be funded. scottish councils were caught by surprise by the announcement by the first minister, humza yousaf, at the snp conference a couple of months ago. we are still waiting to hearjust how much money they will be offered to freeze the council tax and some of them are worried it won't be enough, which could lead to some very tough choices on local services too. thank ou ve choices on local services too. thank you very much- _ there are warnings of potential cuts to public services in wales, as the welsh government sets out its spending plans for the next year. the draft budget will be

published later today. 0ur correspondent, tomos morgan, is in cardiff for us this morning. what are you expecting? the minister has been saying _ what are you expecting? the minister has been saying for— what are you expecting? the minister has been saying for a _ what are you expecting? the minister has been saying for a while _ what are you expecting? the minister has been saying for a while this - has been saying for a while this will be one of those difficult budgets the welsh government has had to deal with since devolution in wales. they say that since 2021, their budget is now at a deficit of 1.3 billion, due to inflation. they are putting a lot of the blame on the uk, and because 80% of the welsh government's money comes as a form of uk government to block grants from westminster. because of the inflation figure, their money has gone down. there is more money they can generate from income tax, 20% less, but realistically the welsh government have said they probably won't be doing that. they have to raise it quite substantially to plug that shortfall. where is the money spent so far? 80% of their budget

goes on the nhs and councils. they have said they will try and prioritise as much as they can those front—line services in the health service and in councils, places like schools. let's be realistic, they won't be able to give as much money as they are losing for inflation. inevitably, the health service and councils will also have to have some of that shortfall from inflation. they will suffer in some capacity. we don't know where some of the other cuts may be but the finance minister, rebecca evans, has said almost all areas will have to cut somewhere due to these difficult times. all of this comes on the backdrop that the first minister announced that he will be standing down by easter and the two candidates for his place are also battling as things go on. whatever happens today, they will have to inherit this budget and they will have to own it when they come into power over easter. yesterday, we had

thatjunior doctors in wales will go on strike injanuary because they haven't been able to settle the pay negotiations with the welsh government. the welsh government blaming westminster, again, for not allowing them to have enough money to payjunior doctors. the finance minister, rebecca evans, will be scrutinising the budget tomorrow. thanks very much. we will bring you more details later on today. a leading health think tank says the traditional model of nhs dentistry is now gone for good — and can't be restored without an unrealistically large amount of money. the nuffield trust report says radical change is needed. here's our health correspondent nick triggle. 0pen wide, thank you. finding an nhs dentist is difficult. last year, a bbc investigation found nine in ten practices were not accepting new adult patients. and now a report by the nuffield trust think—tank has shed more light on the scale of the challenge. it found there were 6 million fewer treatments done last year in england,

compared to before the pandemic. and funding had been cut by £525 million over the past seven years once inflation was taken into account. the think—tank believes services in england, and the rest of the uk for that matter, are now so stretched that restoring the traditional model of nhs care was likely to be unrealistic because of the costs involved. it said difficult decisions may be needed, suggesting scaling back access for most adults, so that they pay the full cost of treatment beyond basic checkups and emergency work was one option. one of the things we think this government and any government needs to think about is really what the long—term solutions are and whether or not anybody is prepared to bring back universal dental access for the whole population at the level that it once was. we think that maybe there is more in which we need to be looking at — means testing dental care to ensure at the very least we bring

back gold standard, absolutely excellent care for the most disadvantaged and particularly for children. but both labour and the government said they had a plan to improve access. labour said it would create hundreds of thousands of extra appointments by abolishing the non—dom tax status, which allows people living in the uk to avoid paying uk tax on money they made outside the uk. meanwhile, the government said it would be publishing a recovery plan soon but was already investing in services, including increasing the number of dentist training places. nick triggle, bbc news. earlier this year she became the first person to swim the english

channel with a stoma. she is working with her channel charity helping people in kenya adapt to life after a colostomy. live now to gill castle, founder of the chameleon buddies charity. i don't know if you could see that but that was you lying down in the sand with sheerjoy!— but that was you lying down in the sand with sheerjoy! relief. thanks sand with sheer 'oy! relief. thanks for talkinu sand with sheer 'oy! relief. thanks fortauang us— sand with sheerjoy! relief. thanks for talking us today. _ sand with sheerjoy! relief. thanks for talking us today. let's - sand with sheerjoy! relief. thanks for talking us today. let's go - sand with sheerjoy! relief. thanks for talking us today. let's go backl for talking us today. let's go back to the summing of the channel and i want to talk about your charity in a second. why on earth did you decide to do that particularly?— to do that particularly? that's a aood to do that particularly? that's a good question _ to do that particularly? that's a good question and _ to do that particularly? that's a good question and one - to do that particularly? that's a good question and one i - to do that particularly? that's a good question and one i have i to do that particularly? that's a - good question and one i have asked myself many times in the last three years! it was quite spontaneous, to be honest. someone said have you ever thought about swimming the channel and i said no and then i thought actually this is going to be a really good way of raising awareness. really in your face way, more people have climbed everest and perhaps won the channel. when you have a stoma, swimming is one of the

main thing people worry about doing because of the bag, they think the bag will leak or it will come off. it was only after i decided that i was going to swim that i found that nobody with a stoma had done it before. there was an element of risk to it, shall we say. just before. there was an element of risk to it, shall we say.— to it, shall we say. just explain what the concerns _ to it, shall we say. just explain what the concerns are - to it, shall we say. just explain what the concerns are about i to it, shall we say. just explainl what the concerns are about the to it, shall we say. just explain - what the concerns are about the bag being in the water and what people worry about?— worry about? yeah, when you are sendin: worry about? yeah, when you are spending a _ worry about? yeah, when you are spending a prolonged _ worry about? yeah, when you are spending a prolonged amount - worry about? yeah, when you are spending a prolonged amount of. worry about? yeah, when you are - spending a prolonged amount of time in some water, you get what is called salt tongue, the top layer of your tongue comes off and that happened to me when i was doing my swim. the worry was that my stoma bag would come off, and my bowel, which is the stoma, was that the top layer of that vowel would come off, would disintegrate with the salt. nobody has done this before, so we weren't sure —— top layer of that bowel. it is the type of bag that i wear and it stayed on for 1h hours.

it was fine and you didn't have to do anything in particular in preparation beforehand? i do anything in particular in preparation beforehand? i had it on a train, preparation beforehand? i had it on a train. which _ preparation beforehand? i had it on a train, which means _ preparation beforehand? i had it on a train, which means it _ preparation beforehand? i had it on a train, which means it was - preparation beforehand? i had it on a train, which means it was open, l preparation beforehand? i had it on. a train, which means it was open, so the waste could just drain out freely all the time because you can't stop, once you have started swimming —— i had it on a drain. we put extra extenders on the side of the bag to make sure it was really on securely but other than that, i got in and swam!— on securely but other than that, i got in and swam! people saw you doin: it, got in and swam! people saw you doing it. didn't— got in and swam! people saw you doing it, didn't they, _ got in and swam! people saw you doing it, didn't they, in _ got in and swam! people saw you doing it, didn't they, in kenya, i doing it, didn't they, in kenya, didn't they? is that what happened? no. i did a bikini challenge in 2020 where i wore nothing but a bikini. that was seen by an american charity that works in kenya. then that was seen by an american charity that works in kenya.— that works in kenya. then you got involved? yes, _ that works in kenya. then you got involved? yes, they _ that works in kenya. then you got involved? yes, they got _ that works in kenya. then you got involved? yes, they got in - that works in kenya. then you got involved? yes, they got in touch l involved? yes, they got in touch with me and _ involved? yes, they got in touch with me and said _ involved? yes, they got in touch with me and said lots _ involved? yes, they got in touch with me and said lots of- involved? yes, they got in touch with me and said lots of our- involved? yes, they got in touch i with me and said lots of our women have stomas as a result of a fistula, as i did. they think their life was over and i realise i didn't have access to stoma supplies and we have access to stoma supplies and we have lots of surplus in the uk. i

fund raised to send them out and set “p fund raised to send them out and set up my charity and swam the channel for them and have gone back with a stoma last month. tell! for them and have gone back with a stoma last month.— for them and have gone back with a stoma last month. tell us about some ofthe stoma last month. tell us about some of the people — stoma last month. tell us about some of the people in _ stoma last month. tell us about some of the people in kenya _ stoma last month. tell us about some of the people in kenya and _ stoma last month. tell us about some of the people in kenya and the - of the people in kenya and the situation they are in in terms of what they are using when they don't have access to the right equipment. it's really quite dire, isn't it? they are incredibly inventive. they use things like crisp packets, bread packets are bits of cloth. 0ne lady, who had eight year ostomy, which is the same stoma that tracey emin has got, she gives back to us and we give them. she had run out of stoma bags and she was using a plastic bag on a seal with a dirty bit of string just around her waist. that is the reality of what they are using. they just don't work, of course. ida. they just don't work, of course. no. they have their bodily waste coming out everywhere, all over the abdomen. in everywhere, all overthe abdomen. in terms of them being rejected by

local people... terms of them being re'ected by local people...h terms of them being re'ected by local people... yeah. it really has a massive — local people... yeah. it really has a massive impact. _ local people... yeah. it really has a massive impact. the _ local people... yeah. it really has a massive impact. the worst - local people... yeah. it really has| a massive impact. the worst story local people... yeah. it really has i a massive impact. the worst story i heard was a lady who came to 2022 when we first went over in a support group. she was visibly upset, more so than other people. her story was that she had cancer, she had a fistula, she had a stoma fitted and her husband was so disgusted that he left her, took her young children with him, and she died of cancer before she was actually able to see her children ever again just because she had a stoma with a fistula. that's a very extreme example but thatis that's a very extreme example but that is the sort of thing we are dealing with.— that is the sort of thing we are dealing with. that is the sort of thing we are dealin: with. , ., ,., ., dealing with. these are the sort of -eo . le dealing with. these are the sort of people that _ dealing with. these are the sort of people that you — dealing with. these are the sort of people that you are _ dealing with. these are the sort of people that you are helping - dealing with. these are the sort of people that you are helping for - dealing with. these are the sort of. people that you are helping for your charity. people that you are helping for your chari . ~ . people that you are helping for your chari . . , . ,, charity. we were setting them back on a more positive _ charity. we were setting them back on a more positive path. _ charity. we were setting them back on a more positive path. we - charity. we were setting them back| on a more positive path. we bought some of them sewing machines and they are going to be doing courses foreseen stress is so they are financially dependent and the girls have been able to go back to school now they have stoma bags and they

have the support of each other, which is really important. prior to meeting me and each other in the support group and they had never met anybody with a stoma, they were completely isolated. friendship is very important, which you will see in the documentary, if you watch. lovely to talk to you, thank you so much. founder of the charity chameleon buddies, gill castle. the garment has published the long—awaited advice about children their gender identity. bronwen jeffrey is here. talk us through this guidance.— jeffrey is here. talk us through thisouidance. . :: ., . this guidance. this 20 page guidance lives this guidance. this 20 page guidance gives schools — this guidance. this 20 page guidance gives schools in _ this guidance. this 20 page guidance gives schools in england _ this guidance. this 20 page guidance gives schools in england a _ this guidance. this 20 page guidance gives schools in england a much - gives schools in england a much clearer road map than they've had before about how to navigate these very complicated and sensitive issues. it makes a very clear distinction between legal obligations, the things schools must do, and the things that they should

do, and the things that they should do, around the delicate and controversial and complex areas of gender identity. schools must record the biological sex of a child, that is their sex as it is recorded on their birth certificate. and make sure that every member of staff is aware of that information. they have to provide single sex toilets from the age of eight, single sex changing rooms from the age of 11. those are the legal obligations, which are the background to this. this guidance goes on to consider all the questions around gender identity. firstly, it says that in terms of socially transitioning, schools are not obliged to actively support that. what do we mean by that? socially transitioning would be where a child who, for example, if their birth certificate said that they were male, decided that they wanted to gender identify as a girl, use a girls name, where girls

clothes and be considered as a girl, this makes it very clear that under those circumstances, requests should be extremely carefully considered by schools. and it should not be the default to support them. it goes on to say that parents should not be excluded from those decisions, exceptin excluded from those decisions, except in exceptionally rare circumstances where there might be a risk of harm to a child from involving them. the default would be that parents would be involved in any discussion around gender identity. they clarify that age is a very important factor. for a primary child, a request to socially transition will be addressed by different pronouns would be treated very differently from an older child. it is quite comprehensively giving schools clearer guidance than they have had before. in giving schools clearer guidance than they have had before.— they have had before. in terms of they have had before. in terms of the reaction _ they have had before. in terms of the reaction to _ they have had before. in terms of the reaction to it, _ they have had before. in terms of the reaction to it, and _

they have had before. in terms of the reaction to it, and they - they have had before. in terms of the reaction to it, and they had i the reaction to it, and they had been concerns in the lead up to it, in terms of opposition, i see that the association of school and couege the association of school and college leaders say they will take time to see whether this is deliverable. i suppose also it is adding to the workload that they are concerned about, isn't it?— concerned about, isn't it? schools are, in concerned about, isn't it? schools are. in reality. — concerned about, isn't it? schools are, in reality, already— concerned about, isn't it? schools are, in reality, already dealing - are, in reality, already dealing with these complex and sensitive issues on a case—by—case basis. and they have been calling for these guidelines, first expected four or five years ago. they've now been a long time in the making. to that extent, schools will welcome the fact that they have some guidelines and that they make the distinction between the legal duties and how to navigate these other issues, which are not legal duties, but which require great sensitivity and care for the children involved. in terms of broader reaction, it would almost be impossible to draw up guidelines that would satisfy everyone in what

remains a very contested area, with a lot of discussion still to be heard and a lot of consideration to be taken into account, how this is going to play out with this generation of children over many years to come. generation of children over many years to come-— generation of children over many years to come. thanks very much, thank you- — the homeless charity — crisis — is urging police to take reports of abuse towards rough sleepers more seriously. a survey it conducted in england indicated that they're regularly abused by members of the public. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan reports. that's where i first started sleeping when i was homeless, in there. you started sleeping in there? in the tunnel bit, i used climb up. was it safe in there? sometimes. but then i would get loads of other homeless people climbing in, pinching me stuff, taking me stuff. john campbell has seen it all during a decade of rough sleeping. it would get that cold that you couldn't sleep. it gets into your bones, doesn't it? aye, you get that cold

and you can't sleep whatsoever. that's why you end up smoking, taking drugs, to warm yourself up. i've been urinated on. like, in a doorway. ijumped up and ended up fighting with the lad who done it. what, deliberately? deliberately. he'd seen you on the floor? he'd seen us lying there in the sleeping bag, come over and started ripping his bits out and weeing all over. i said, "what are you doing, man? what are you doing?" he was like, "well, what does it look like?" i ended up fighting with him. iwent, "mate, you're disgusting, like." one of my tents caught fire along here. down here, one of your tents got set on fire? there, like. all me stuff was burnt out. everything. there was not one thing left in the tent. it was just all charcoal. in byker, one of my tents got set on fire. there was nothing left whatsoever. i've had two tents set on fire. but i was in one of them, the one in byker. i was fast asleep in it

when the lad set the fire. i have the rip the back of the tent open, the back bit, to get out. how did you realise there was a fire? did the flames start coming in? i was asleep and i felt something hot at the bottom of my foot. i woke up and it was fully on blaze, the full tent. i went to hospital and that. rough sleeping is on the rise and the more that sleep outside, the more people there are to abuse. in recent weeks, this man had his belongings soaked by a security guard, these tents were binned in a police operation, and in this birmingham underpass a man was set alight. a survey from crisis suggests 90% of rough sleepers have faced some form of abuse. there seriously is a problem with a small section of society that feels like people who are sleeping rough are somehow kind of easy prey for the most horrific crimes. what's happening? how are you doing? for years, john's life spiralled downwards. kicked out by his mother for taking drugs, being attacked.

right out the side the cashpoint, i got myjaw broke. just here. sitting right here. i got booted straight in the face. booted in the face and knocked cleaned out. i was knocked out. woke up in the hospital. you woke up in the hospital? in the hospital. i ended up having to get my jaw plated and wired. so your tent was burnt down twice? burnt down twice. you were urinated on... urinated on. and i got myjaw broken. myjaw was broken in clayton street. all done by members of the public? all done by members of the public. sometimes i would self—harm and stuff, as well. ijumped in the tyne not so long ago. back then i couldn't care. if i went to sleep tomorrow and didn't wake up, i couldn't care. are you all right, josie? what's happening? what's happening, bro? the 30—year—old has now been living in a flat for two years and has some contact with his seven—year—old daughter. this is why i came out and done this today,

to help other homeless people. tell them, "look, ithought i would never come off "everything and i did". i've come off it completely. how long have you been clean? clean now nearly two year. two and a bit year. that's fantastic. two year, two month or something. how's life looking now? now, i couldn't wish nothing better. michael buchanan, bbc news, newcastle. the actorjonathan majors has been dropped by marvel studios. after he was found guilty, by a court in new york, of assaulting his ex girlfriend. the 3a year old was know for playing the villain kang. jericka duncan, from cbs our us partner broadcaster, reports. he was due to lead to the next avengers film entitled the kang dynasty. it is not clear if he will be written out of the films. the prosecution painted the assault as

the latest escalation in majors' attempt to exert control over his girlfriend. let me show you more pictures of the volcano erupting in iceland, this is the moment it started to erupt, you can see the lava spewing out in the skyline. the pictures get even more amazing, the jets skyline. the pictures get even more amazing, thejets of molten lava flowing from a crack which we will see in a moment. the crack is now about 2.5 miles long and the lava at some points was flowing at a speed of around 100 metres per second. about 4000 people had already been evacuated from a nearby fishing village. apparently, there were a series of earthquakes which caused the rock to fracture just before the eruption. this is the live picture. you can see it is still burning and you can see the plumes of lava

squirting up into the air. really amazing. 2.5 miles long happening not farfrom the amazing. 2.5 miles long happening not far from the capital, recchi vic. plenty more pictures of what's going on on our website. —— recchi vic iceland. go to the bbc news website. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello, again. the weather is going to remain fairly changeable all the way through the rest of this week and even into christmas day. we're looking at rain at times. it's also going to become very windy, especially so on thursday. and there's the chance of snow for some. a lot of that will be on the hills in the north. now, you can see the cooler blues today, but then we've got the milder yellows and ambers during the course of wednesday and thursday. but on thursday and friday, some colder air tries to push in from the north, but the milder air wins out from the south for many of us as we head in towards the weekend. but into this afternoon, we've got the dregs of this morning's rain continuing to pull away from the south and the east. a lot of dry weather behind, a fair bit of sunshine, but all these showers coming in on the brisk winds across the north and the west.

strongest winds will be in the north and west, but it will be picking up across the south western approaches and also the english channel. now, temperatures will go down following on behind that band of rain. and as we head on through the evening and overnight, there will be some clear skies for a time. we hang on to all these showers in the west, the winds are going to strengthen and then a weather front, a warm front, arrives. temperatures three in lerwick to about nine in plymouth. now that warm front is quite salient because this means the temperature is going to change through the course of tomorrow. so there is a front moving from the west to the east, taking the rain with it. behind it, there's a lot of cloud, low cloud mist, murk, dank conditions, especially in western areas and the hills and the coasts. 0ut towards the south, something a bit drier. but the cloud building through the course of the day. and these are our temperatures widely11s and 12s. so, milderairfollowing on behind the warm front. but then it changes on thursday. this potent area of low pressure is crossing us. look at all those isobars.

it's going to be windy wherever you are. the strongest winds likely to be in the north of scotland, particularly shetland. here we could have gusts 70 or 80 miles an hour, but widely 50 to 60 miles an hour. so, a windy day. we've also got a plethora of showers. most of them will be of rain. in the highlands, it will be of sleet and snow in the hills. but that will come down to lower levels for a time. and you can see the colder air trying to filter further south, but the south itself hanging on to the milder conditions. looks like it's still going to be pretty windy, but not as on friday. and temperatures going down in the north. and the jury's still out for christmas day. there could be some snow, though, in the hills in the north.

live from london. this is bbc news.

more than a hundred people are killed in china's deadliest earthquake in 13 years. rescue efforts are being hampered by sub zero temperatures. calls grow for a ceasefire in the israel — gaza war. intense negotiations continue at the un to agree a new resolution. the government publishes its guidance for schools in the uk it says parents should be told if their child wants to change gender. hello i'm lucy grey and we could begin in iceland wherever pain has erupted after weeks of intense activity. here is the moment the eruption was captured on a webcam by

the