taken stripped from her. she has taken that move proactively and decided to have that back today in the last hour or so. you also learned that paula vennells was shortlisted to be bishop of london in 2017. as well as being the head of the post office, paula vennells was an ordained priest in the church of england. in 2017 what she was still head at the post office she was shortlisted and interviewed to be the next bishop of london. this really shows what a well—respected figure she was in some circles. she didn't hold any senior position in the church which he was fast tracked through. we understand the archbishop of canterbury was keen to see her on the shortlist. she didn't ultimately get the post. it shows how well—respected she was at least in the church of england. many people in the church are outraged

that she was fast tracked so quickly through the process when already we knew about significant concerns about the horizon system at that point. on the wider issue of the scandal, the government is under pressure to act and justice secretary alex chalk says a law to quash hundreds of post office fraud convictions is receiving "active consideration". politicians really since this scandal reignited over the christmas period with a tv drama, they want to be seen to be doing something. alex jock said this morning in the house of commons that the government was actively considering a new law that would quash all the hundreds of convictions, the criminal convictions, the criminal convictions that sub postmasters still have. only 93 have been overturned of the more than 700 in total. he sent the government is actively considering a new law that

would quash all of them. that would be an unusual move for politicians to so actively overturn and get involved in the cases of the criminal courts. alexjock involved in the cases of the criminal courts. alex jock said the criminal courts. alexjock said the government is considering that. he is having conversations with senior members of thejudiciary is having conversations with senior members of the judiciary and he will report back to the house of commons in coming days. report back to the house of commons in coming dam-— in coming days. unless the convictions _ in coming days. unless the convictions were _ in coming days. unless the convictions were quashed, | in coming days. unless the i convictions were quashed, the in coming days. unless the - convictions were quashed, the posts of masters can get any compensation from the system.— from the system. yes, that's the rocess. from the system. yes, that's the process. there _ from the system. yes, that's the process. there are _ from the system. yes, that's the process. there are a _ from the system. yes, that's the process. there are a number - from the system. yes, that's the process. there are a number of i process. there are a number of options that the government is considering. if you consider a royal pardon, which wouldn't overturned the conviction but would pardon them. because it wouldn't overturned those convictions is not considered satisfactory by many of the victims. the other option is to allow a mass appeal, which david davis called for, so rather than individual sub postmasters bringing their appeals to the criminal courts, they would

be allowed to bring a mass appeal. that is another option that the government is said to be considering. alexjock said today that the government is actively considering a new bill that would notjust a lie a mass appeal but would overturn all the remaining criminal convictions. this is all about the horizon it software, the faulty software that made it look as though money was missing from individual post office branches. that was not the case, the system was faulty, but hundreds of sub postmasters were wrongly convicted because of that.— because of that. harry, thank you very much — because of that. harry, thank you very much indeed. _ because of that. harry, thank you very much indeed. you _ because of that. harry, thank you very much indeed. you can - because of that. harry, thank you very much indeed. you can get i because of that. harry, thank you i very much indeed. you can get more on this subject on the bbc news website or app. there is a special live page up and running at the moment. more now on that new gadget that's being offered to help diagnose cases of obstructive sleep apnoea. a trial sees a pebble—sized detector being sent to people

across coventry and warwickshire. the device is worn over the throats of potential sufferers and connects to a smartphone which collects the data. it's hoped the device will cut appointment waiting lists. we can speak now to professor michelle miller, the university of warwick's sleep expert, who is running trials for the gadget. can you just explain how it exactly works? can you “ust explain how it exactly works? ~ ., �* ~ ., , works? well, we don't know exactly how it works — works? well, we don't know exactly how it works because _ works? well, we don't know exactly how it works because that _ works? well, we don't know exactly how it works because that is - works? well, we don't know exactly how it works because that is the - how it works because that is the patent technology from the company, but it is the first automated device for the protection of sleep apnoea. it will be worn by the patient on their throat overnight. it is a small gadget that gets posted to them and then the data is analysed by computer and it has shown to be as reliable as the normal standard test that would normally be done by sleep clinic. you would get your

result immediately the night after your tests, whereas at the moment a patient would have to go back to the hospital after their data has been analysed and it takes a couple of hours to analyse a normal standard sleep trace and there is a waiting list for people to get the tests and then to get the results. this we hope would speed up the procedure so much quicker because it could be posted to the patient from their gp. will speed be the biggest benefit? the biggest benefit we will see is improving the time it takes to get a diagnosis. at the moment there is a massive waiting list for people to get to sleep test. some people are waiting three or four months just to get a sleep test and then they might wait three orfour get a sleep test and then they might wait three or four weeks to get the results. this backlog was made worse by the pandemic because lots of the consultants that do sleep testing or

respiratory consultants and they were also counted in the pandemic to do covid related work. what we are hoping for is that instead of having to go to hospital to pick up the sleep testing kit, instead you will get it posted to you by your gp and you would then do your overnight test and immediately get your result sent straight to the consultant, who can interpret the results and see whether or not you would need to be treated for sleep apnoea. it is a lot faster. treated for sleep apnoea. it is a lot faster-— lot faster. how big a problem is sleep apnoea — lot faster. how big a problem is sleep apnoea and _ lot faster. how big a problem is sleep apnoea and he _ lot faster. how big a problem is sleep apnoea and he is - lot faster. how big a problem is sleep apnoea and he is most i sleep apnoea and he is most vulnerable, is it people who snore? snoring is a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnoea, as is being overweight or having things like diabetes. we know there are 1.5 million people in the uk who have this condition, who are being treated. the british long foundation

survey that was conducted in 2014 suggested 85% of the patient that had the condition are undiagnosed at present. that means we could have millions more patients who are undiagnosed and that is why we need to do this case finding to see if we can find people who have higher risk factors and see if we can find new cases. that is what we will be doing with this device. we are doing a randomised controlled trial were some of the patients will get the device on the other half of people willjust device on the other half of people will just get device on the other half of people willjust get normal standard care where they will go through their gp. after six months, we will have a look to see who has be diagnosed with sleep apnoea and who was diagnosed with the device and who was diagnosed just in usual general practice care. was diagnosed 'ust in usual general practice care.— was diagnosed “ust in usual general practice care.— practice care. professor miller, thank you _ practice care. professor miller, thank you with _ practice care. professor miller, thank you with your _ practice care. professor miller, thank you with your study, i practice care. professor miller, thank you with your study, and | practice care. professor miller, i thank you with your study, and thank you forjoining us here on bbc news.

we've all heard about the kindness of strangers, but one teenager says when she hit rock bottom, the intervention of a passer—by was nothing short of life—saving. maddie had gone for a walk intending to take her own life, but david spotted her in distress and struck up a conversation. they've stayed in touch since, but never seen each other in person since then until now. our reporter kathryn stanczyszyn went to meet them. maddie is nearly 18, enjoying college and looking forward to the rest of her life. but a few years ago, things were very different. i was going through a lot. i was struggling with myself, with everything in my head — my mental health. and then it got to august

time, and that's when i basically hit rock bottom. i woke up and everything felt different. i didn't feel like myself. i felt severely depressed. i said to my mum — i said, "mum, i'm going out." i said, "i'm going on a walk." i said, "i'll be back soon, don't worry about me and i'll be back." i didn't expect to come back. and then it got to a location of me ending up on the opposite side of a bridge. i noticed that there was a young girl in distress. and at that point, my heartjust stood still, and it stopped, and ijust looked at her... ..and i felt sad. in all of the chaos that was going on, i said, "i feel really sad." and i told her my name and i told her where i worked and i said, "can i have a hug?" and i thought...give it a chance. i don't know what it was, but something in my head said just give it a chance. he kept telling me, "i've got you, i'm not going anywhere." she didn't know who i was. but yet in that split second when i says to her, "i've got you," and right then i knew that i'm saving somebody's life here, and we —

this is meant to be. for the last three years, david has kept in touch with maddie's family via message. but now maddie and her mum have decided it's the right time for them to meet in person. we haven't met since that day, and i replay that day overand overand over in my head, knowing that... i don't know if it was five minutes, ten minutes, 15 minutes — i don't know how long that interaction was — but... something so quick and so short changed my life. and for maddie, it's simply a chance to say thank you. he's an angel in my eyes. he's basically my guardian angel. if anyone ever feels like that's their way out, don't do it. three years later, i'm... i'm grateful to be here. i'm grateful to be alive and breathing and to be able to live my life the way i want. they've arranged to meet at a local

park with maddie's mum, who doesn't want to be on camera. it's a big moment. looking forward to seeing him after all this time, i really am, and i can't wait to just give him a hug that he deserves. she sobs. hi. sobbing. if you have been affected by any of the issues raised, help is available from bbc action line — just visit bbc.co.uk/actionline now it's time for a look at the weather. hello there. well, it was a lovely start to the day across north—west wales, with the early sunrise illuminating these altocumulus lenticularis clouds. a lovely start here. most of us will have more sunshine today. however, the issues that we had last week with heavy rain are still causing problems. there are still over 100 flood

warnings currently in force. it's been another day where we've seen some snowfall across parts of the uk. here in the channel islands, injersey, seeing a few flurries over bodmin moor in south—west england and a few coming from this cloud across the moray coastline in northern scotland, as well. most of us, though, having a dry day with brighter skies. there is more sunshine to go around, but we've still got those very cold winds, particularly gusty winds feeding in across lincolnshire and yorkshire — gusts into the 30s of miles an hour. those temperatures are still well below average for the time of year — three to five degrees celsius at best. overnight tonight, this cloud across eastern areas of scotland and north—east england is going to tend to thicken up, so we'll start to see some drizzle arriving. a few mist and fog patches around, as well. otherwise, it's cold with a widespread frost and a risk of some icy stretches, particularly where we see water still seeping in off fields after last week's heavy rain. tomorrow, this cloud a lot thicker, so a dull and damp kind of day for eastern scotland, north—east england, with drizzle around here,

maybe a few spots getting into north—west england, north wales, eastern counties of northern ireland. it continues to be cold. the best of the sunshine in the south of wales and southern counties of england. on into thursday's forecast, the cloud probably gets a bit thinner and so not as much drizzle to go around for these north sea coasts, but the cloud sheets will extend further southwards. still hanging on to a bit of sunshine across the far south of england. otherwise, probably the best of the brighter weather for northern ireland, western scotland and parts of north—west england. we keep this fairly quiet run of weather into friday and the weekend, as well, with some sharp morning frost, largely dry and bright as we go through the day. then, into next week, we could have some trouble on the way. it's going to get a lot colder. northerly winds push in. definitely we'll get some snow showers moving into scotland that could cause some issues, but maybe the weather system moving up from the south bumping into the cold air and so next week there is the potential of seeing some disruption. weather from the snow showers across northern scotland that will definitely be there, or maybe this area of more widespread snow elsewhere.

live from london. this is bbc news... in breaking news — former post office ceo paula vennells has said she will hand back her cbe with immediate effect. european scientists confirm that 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded.

these are live pictures of paris, because the country's youngest ever and openly gay prime minister. with the top us diplomat antony blinken in israel for talks, dozens of people are reported killed in gaza. and also, we are expecting former president donald trump to appear in court. it's a landmark legal case over whether he should be immune from criminal prosecution. you're watching bbc news. in one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the in one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice the uk has ever seen, more than 700 postmasters received

criminal convictions over