hello from the bbc sport centre. tributes continue to pour in for the german football legend franz beckenbauer who's died at the age of 78. former england striker, gary lineker said he was a trailblazer for the sport. beckenbauer won the world cup as captain of west germany in 1974 and lifted the trophy again as manager in 1990, whilst also winning the german top flight as both a player and a manager. he also won the ballon d'or twice, too. lineker — who was part of the england squad who lost to beckenbauer�*s west germany side, in the semi finals of the 1990 world cup — felt he was a talent of a generation. well, he was a magnificent footballer first and foremost. he,

unlike most world superstars, he was a defender, really. albeit he broke into midfield, he kind of caps the sweeper role, he was the first one to do it. he made that role of making the defender breaking to midfield and going forward. a very gifted player with the ball and very intelligent footballer. a lovely quy' intelligent footballer. a lovely guy, i met him very many times he had a real grace and charm about him. former arsenal striker thierry henry says he "must have been in depression" during his playing career. speaking to the �*diary of a ceo' podcast, the former arsenal striker says felt that way through his whole career — but learnt to adapt. henry scored a club record 228 goals in 377 games for arsenal, winning two league titles and three fa cups — and also won the world cup in 1998 and euro 2000 with france. to matters on the pitch now — and manchester united manager erik ten hag says he isn't concerned by united's lack of firepower

in front of goal... insisting "it's all about winning." united had 33 attempts on goal in their fa cup 3rd match against third tier wigan athletic — but only scored twice. diogo dalot and a penalty from bruno fernandes sealing united's place in the next round — and ten hag wants to go all the way. it's football so... i think in the first half we played the performance with how we got the ball and how we made our runs. especially in the final third and we created a lot of chances and that was pleasing to see. it is a massive competition and everybody wants to win this competition it so i think that every manager is eager to win this competition so you take every game, you take it seriously. nine days into the january transfer window being open and borussia dortmund have added to their squad today. they've agreed a deal to bring in chelsea defender ian maatsen on loan until the end of the season. the deal does not include an option

for dortmund to make the deal permanent during that time. new welsh rugby union president terry cobner says the sport has lost one of its greatest players of all time — following the death ofjpr williams, who's died at age of 7a. cobner, who played alongside williams in the 1976 and 1978 grand slam campaigns, as well as the 1977 triple crown season, says he was a player who revolutionised the full back position. williams played international rugby for 12 years, winning 55 caps for wales and eight for the british & irish lions. he was so brave and so committed, he was a pleasure to play with him. there was nothing here about the ball being kicked over your head because he was there to take it. he was a totally committed player, he was a totally committed player, he was fearless on the field. total disregard for his own safety, which inspired other people. i don't think we will ever see a full back of his

calibre again. no disrespect to the people coming up now but he was just awesome. jamie george admits speculation surrounding a potential move for his saracens and england rugby union teammate 0wen farrell has come as a "shock to absolutely everyone." the england captain has been linked with a move to french league leaders racing 92 at the end of this season — something the club has denied. farrell is currently taking a break from test rugby to prioritise his mental health, and so won't be representing england at the upcoming six nations. in the nfl... the future of new england patriots coach bill belichick may be in doubt — but he still appears to have the squad of the squad. the patriots have only won 4 of their 17 matches this season — which is belichick�*s worst record in his 29—year nfl head coaching i would love to continue to play for the coach and his resume speaks for itself. in terms of his success, the players he has developed and all that stuff so it was something that whether i was always going to be grateful for.

whether i was always going to be gratefulfor. we whether i was always going to be grateful for. we will see, whether i was always going to be gratefulfor. we will see, for myself, what the future holds. to the nba, where the indiana pacers won a thrilling match against the boston celtics, coming out on top 133—131 — but their victory came at a price. that's after all—star point guard tyrese haliburton suffered a serious—looking injury. haliburton appeared to strain his left hamstring during the second quarter — and needed to be carried to the locker room by two of his team—mates. really, amazing effort from our team, a lot of emotions in that game. fora lot team, a lot of emotions in that game. for a lot of reasons. we played the best team in basketball, therese�*s injury situation is a very deflating moment. we hope that it's not serious. —— tyrese haliburton is injury. and we're just over an hour away from action at the masters snooker getting under way, with defending championjudd trump in action.

updates from alexandra palace through the afternoon but all the sport for now. you are watching bbc news. bbc analysis has found 70% of nhs maternity units in england are failing to consistently meet safety standards, in part due to a shortage of midwives. staff numbers have risen byjust 7% over the past decade, and two—and—a—half—thousand posts remain vacant. the government says it's increasing training places. 0ur health correspondent, catherine burns, reports from a labour ward, and her report shows a baby being born by caesarean section. yes, they have a baby! all right, see you. maternity units are places where miracles can happen. where new life begins.

hello. congratulations. forfamilies, emotions are at the extremes — from fear... i'm nervous and excited at the same time. ..to sheerjoy and wonderment. i've never seen a baby being born before. it'sjust amazing. for that first precious touch between dad... hello. ..and daughter. she's trying to open her eyes. did you want some more - breast—feeding support from us? for the staff, there's pride. it's such a privilege - to have been able to become a midwife and i really hope it is myjob for life. - but they face real challenges, with some leaving the profession they loved. i miss it, but i also mourn it. so i mourn it because i don't see it improving. j in november, we revealed that 67% of maternity units in england weren't meeting safety standards.

since then, a slight decline. now, 70% aren't safe enough. one reason behind this is staffing. there are just 7% more midwives now than ten years ago. what we're asking for is not to be at the back of the queue, not to be overlooked. i think the most important thing is staffing — you know, having the right numbers of workforce doing the right things to keep women and families safe. and that's the mission for croydon's director of midwifery. it's hugely important and that's why it is a big focus as to how not only do we recruit staff, but how do we retain them. it's been a hard year, but it has been a successful year because we are seeing a reduction in our vacancies. so this is the labour ward. so this is where the magic happens? magic happens, exactly. that's partly down to someone she's calling the future of midwifery. all i've ever wanted to do. it's such an amazing job and i wouldn't change it for the world. there's a shortage of 2,500

midwives in england. 91 nhs trusts have told us about their midwife staffing levels. they vary in size, but, on average, trusts are 25 midwives short. i think it's actually been really amazing. oh, that's so sweet. it means a lot. in northern ireland, the average midwife shortage is 19. for wales, it's 15. scotland doesn't record its workforce gaps in the same way. there is a plan and progress to train and hire more midwives. another worry, though, is keeping more experienced staff. i suddenly thought, i have to get out — i can't stay in this environment any more. hannah williams worked as a midwife in a different part of the country, but felt like she was failing all the time. at 35, she quit the job she used to love. the reason i left is

because i decided i couldn't be one of those providing unsafe care for people. if you do not have enough midwives to care for the number of people that are requiring your care, then the safetyjust goes. i may have just about preserved safety, butjust preserving safety shouldn't be enough in the nhs. i am optimistic for the future... as england's chief midwifery 0fficer, it's part of kate brintworth�*s job to keep midwives in the role. things already are improving. we've got 700 more midwives in post. we've seen sickness rates going down, our retention rates are improving. staff are starting to feel — and report to us through our front line conversations with leaders in services — that things are feeling better. the department of health says it's invested £165 million a year to improve maternity and neonatal care, and that will soon go up to 186 million. hello, little xenia.

baby xenia left hospital a day after she was born and now she's settling into life with mum and dad nicole and michael. when she was born, i was just so happy. the best feeling ever. catherine burns, bbc news. hello. it's another cold, wintry day out there today. we've got some icy stretches around, some fog patches that are going to linger all day, particularly across parts of northern scotland. but for most of us, thankfully, it is going to be another dry day. still plenty of flood warnings out, but they're starting to reduce in number now. so high pressure driving our weather at the moment. quite a few isobars in the south. this is where we've got the breeziest conditions. breeze coming in from the east or north—east for southern england and wales too. still some wintry showers down towards the channel islands into the afternoon. also some snow flurries for the likes of dartmoor, for instance, as well. one or two light showers could come out of this cloud across north—east england and eastern scotland, but most places dry.

plenty of sunshine for central parts of england, wales, northern ireland. temperatures only three to six degrees on the thermometer, but add on the wind chill and it's going to feel typically about minus two or minus three, especially towards southern england and the channel islands. into this evening and overnight, then, most of us looking dry again. we've got a bit more cloud filtering in across scotland and northern england as well. clearer skies further south and west. it's here that temperatures will fall lowest. so again, a widespread frost to start your wednesday morning, and i think we could well see some icy stretches and some fog patches, especially in the north. through the day tomorrow, we might see a few more showers pushing into north—east england and eastern scotland. they'll be a little bit wintry over the higher ground — the pennines, for instance, southern uplands and the north york moors. more in the way of sunshine further south, but we've still got that brisk easterly wind and temperatures will be up a notch on recent days. so we could see seven or eight degrees on wednesday. not much change into thursday, but we've got this area of high pressure still with us. quite a bit of cloud that's going to be rotating around that coming in from the atlantic

and trapped underneath the high pressure, so fairly cloudy in the north and the east, i think. southern england, perhaps parts of northern ireland seeing a little bit of sunshine at times, and it's not as cold as it has been. so seven or eight degrees our top temperature on thursday. thankfully, again, mostly dry. things are then looking largely dry, but somewhat cloudy and murky, i think, for friday. but it's going to be all change into the weekend because we'll start to see this weather front pushing its way south, not bringing too much in the way of any rainfall. but it will introduce just a few showers and some colder air. so heading into next week, a real drop in those temperatures with the northerly winds developing and a chance of snow showers.

live from london. this is bbc news. breaking news this hour — scientists in europe declare 2023 as the hottest year on record.

tough talks in tel aviv — america's top diplomat — antony blinken — is in israel to discuss the next phase of the war in gaza. we have to get through this challenging moment to make sure 0ctober seven never happens again, and work to build a much different and work to build a much different and different future. old gabriel attal as prime minister. he becomes the youngest to hold the role in modern french history. hello. welcome to bbc news. three hours of fast moving news, interviews and reaction and we start with breaking news this hour. it has been said that 2023 left it tumbling like dominoes, recounting the hottest year ever recorded and

the hottest year ever recorded and the global