we are the party in second place and today, therefore, i'm setting out that ambition for the snp, to not only when the general election, but let's wipe the tories from scotland's electoral map by winning every single tory seat in the country. live now to our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. thank you so much forjoining. the snp had quite a rough year in 2023, can they expect anything different in this election year? you can they expect anything different in this election year?— can they expect anything different in this election year? you heard in that speech _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there are _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some - in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some of- in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some of thei that speech there are some of the themes that are likely to emerge in any general election campaign ahead. in effect, he was setting out his stall as to why people here in scotland should vote snp. the snp has been a dominant party here in scotland for more than a decades.

their reason, independence, is the fault line in scottish politics than polling would suggest that opinion on that issue is more or less evenly divided. however, recent polling has also pointed to the fact that perhaps support for the snp doesn't track that support for independence. humza yousaf knows he has a fight on his hands. he set out their that he thinks the tories are finished. he said sir keir starmer will be the next prime minister of the united kingdom in his opinion. he said he does not think this will be a marginal general election campaign, and that in his view keir starmer doesn't need scotland to win, because polling would suggest there are a lot of seats now in scotland that are in play and could be in the sights of labour to win. the snp at

the last general election won 48 out of 59 seats here in scotland, labour only won one of those states, they doubled it by winning a recent by—election here, but labour will have a lot of those seats now as target seats, but humza yousaf was saying that in his opinion he doesn't believe that sir keir starmer need scotland to win, but scotland needs the snp to stand up for scottish needs and requests and interests at westminster. he says that it interests at westminster. he says thatitis interests at westminster. he says that it is only the snp that stands up that it is only the snp that stands up for scottish values, that the snp has the ambition and the ability to fight what he calls a cosy westminster consensus between labour and the conservatives down in london. he is setting out his stall as to why people should continue to go to the snp, but he will have a

fight on his hands going ahead. when it comes to that _ fight on his hands going ahead. when it comes to that fight, _ fight on his hands going ahead. when it comes to that fight, part of that has to be because of the difficult year, the controversies that the snp have had to deal with. does it seem like that is having any impact on the public?— like that is having any impact on the ublic? , ., , ., ., the public? opinion? everyone would sa that the public? opinion? everyone would say that humza _ the public? opinion? everyone would say that humza yousaf _ the public? opinion? everyone would say that humza yousaf has _ the public? opinion? everyone would say that humza yousaf has not - the public? opinion? everyone would say that humza yousaf has not had . the public? opinion? everyone would say that humza yousaf has not had a | say that humza yousaf has not had a good honeymoon period, when leaders settle into their new role they usually have a relatively easy ride, but it has not been particularly smooth sailing in the first few months of his leadership. there is this ongoing investigation into snp party finances, other issues knocking at the door, but i think they will hope, each time they do these big speeches, that they are setting the reset button, they will see that today, it was a reset moment, this is why humza yousaf thanks why voters who have been

loyal to the snp should continue being loyal. instead they are being ambitious going forward, they hope that more states will come to them in any general election campaign ahead. the inquiry into the horizon it scandal has turned its attention today to the failure by the post office to hand over documents on time. while the inquiry began in february 2021, the post office scandal is back in the spotlight after an itv drama raised its profile. hundreds of sub—postmasters were convicted after the faulty software made it look as if money had gone missing. 0ur correspondent zoe conway has been at the inquiry. today's hearing, so far, has been very technical, very dry, but it's also been incredibly important because it's been about the late disclosure of documents by the post office. the post office has been accused

of obstructing this inquiry by producing evidence very late in the day. to give you an example, lastjuly, on the eve of an important evidence session, it announced that it had discovered 4,000 documents that it hadn't shared with the inquiry. as a result, the evidence session had to be delayed. the lead counsel to the inquiry, jason beer kc, today said that has happened several times. in fact, the chair of this inquiry, sir wyn williams, has become so concerned by this that he's threatened criminal sanctions against the post office if it doesn't produce evidence in a timely manner. this morning giving evidence was chris jackson. he's a lawyer with burgess salmon and he's been brought in by the post office to help them to speed up the delivery of evidence. he started his evidence session

by apologising for the delays. really, what this session has been about has been about trying to work out what the post office intends to do to make sure that these delays stop happening because, as i say, this is a serious criminal issue. this is a statutory inquiry. there's nothing voluntary about the giving of evidence here. that threat of criminal action remains if the post office doesn't get its house in order. in the last few minutes, it's been announced that the broadcaster annie nightingale has died. among her accomplishments, being radio 1's first female dj, and gaining a reputation as a dedicated promoter of new music. david sillito looks back at her life. annie nightingale. annie nightingale on bbc radio i.

there was kind of a lot of expectation about it, i guess. you know, i was the first female on their first show. i hadn't ever done a live show before! you know, it was a very steep learning curve. when radio i launched, there were no women presenters. it's two o'clock in the morning in a club in bristol. the group's finished for the night, they've packed up and they're ready to go home. a young musicjournalist called annie nightingale was furious. i think they thought, "we'll have to have one — who do we know?" annie nightingale. and so i became the token women. and she stayed for more than 40 years. and what made her really stand out was that, even in her 70s, her taste in music hadn't aged. it's fatboy slim, live! for some reason, for me, i've gone on on that interest in the new music, the undiscovered, the underground, and seeing it — nurturing it, really. she was 17 when she decided to become a journalist.

she got a job in brighton, she got to interview the beatles, and she became one of the first musicjournalists on fleet street. you don't mind mind the lack of money at the moment? in the largely all—male world of rock, she was something of a pioneer. joey, johnny, dee dee and mark, the ramones... and in the late �*70s, helped drag the old grey whistle test into a new era. ladies and gentlemen, the damned! annie nightingale. more than 30 years later, she was still at the turntables — her passion for the new, the undiscovered, as young as ever. live now to our entertainment correspondent liz mzimba. she had such an impact, didn't she? and such a wide range of taste in music. surely that means she had a big impact on a lot of careers, as

well? ~ , ,., , big impact on a lot of careers, as well? ~ , , ,, .,, big impact on a lot of careers, as well? ~ , ,, ,. ., well? absolutely. she was such an influential figure _ well? absolutely. she was such an influential figure in _ well? absolutely. she was such an influential figure in the _ well? absolutely. she was such an influential figure in the world - well? absolutely. she was such an influential figure in the world of. influential figure in the world of music because of her passion for all sorts of different genres. she didn'tjust stick with sorts of different genres. she didn't just stick with pop sorts of different genres. she didn'tjust stick with pop and it developed, she got interested in everything that came along from punk to grime. she had an authenticity about her that people both listeners and artists, really could relate to. that is why she did that role for so long, more than 50 years at the bbc, because she never lost the passion for music, she never lost the interest, she was fascinated by how it could develop in all sorts of different areas, and a trailblazer for so many female djs that followed. she was one of those people who it is very hard to overstate how big a deal she was two people who have been interested in music over the past half—century. it

was that passion that really endured and gave her a credibility, an authenticity with the listening public who knew that she was doing a job that she loved so much, embracing all kinds of different music. a very sad day for the industry and powerlessness across the uk. he industry and powerlessness across the uk. .. ., industry and powerlessness across the uk. ., , ., the uk. he called her a trace plate -- a trailblazer. _ the uk. he called her a trace plate -- a trailblazer. what _ the uk. he called her a trace plate| -- a trailblazer. what environment —— a trailblazer. what environment was it that she became the first female host in that position? flit female host in that position? of course, this was the very early 19705, notjust a world of music broadcasting, but the world of music itself was so male dominated. she became a musicjournalist very early in her career, when she was 17, and just blasted through all these obstacles that were there before her, because people respected her, people respected her views, her writing as a journalist, her expertise as a dj and made a lot of

people who were quite frankly dinosaurs at that stage realised that women can be so passionate about music and it shouldn't be this all—male club which did exist at that particular point. she was the first person to show, not listeners, listeners knew that woman to be fantastic experts in music, but rather to structure a broadcasting, the industry itself that they needed to be pushing more women front and centre. ., ~' , ., to be pushing more women front and centre. ., ~ i. . ., to be pushing more women front and centre. ., ~ . ., ., now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah. good afternoon. it's pretty chilly out there and it has been for much of the week, but colder air is on the way by the end of the weekend. behind this weather front, we've got a blast of arctic air to contend with and stronger winds. for the meantime, the winds are, for the most part, relatively light, but they've just dragged a lot of cloud under this area of high

pressure, some drizzle near the east coast and a weather front is starting to make its way into the northern and western isles and that will bring about that change. the best of the sunshine the rest of the day is likely still to be across parts of scotland, northern ireland, western fringes of england and wales, but we're seeing a few breaks near the east coast. temperatures aren't quite as low as they have been because it wasn't quite as cold last night. again, the frost will be with us in some parts, but our weather front slinking southwards through scotland and northern ireland will bring a smattering of rain behind it. temperatures won't be as low as they were this nightjust gone. furthersouth, patchy frost and patchy fog, but still quite a bit of cloud for england and wales to start our saturday. clearing away, though, from northern ireland and any patchy rain here and for scotland. just a scattering of showers following. in the south, as we're seeing today, there will be quite a bit of cloud with some sunshine coming and going. as we move into the latter part of the weekend, sunday into next week, it will turn a lot colder. that blast of arctic air will bring, we think, the coldest snap of the winter so far because there will be the wind chill to add to it

and the increasing risk of snow. as you can see on sunday, still a lot of cloud in southern and western areas, but further north we're starting to get colder with those snow showers. there are already warnings out for snow in the north for sunday. into monday, as well, when the risk extends further south. these are the most likely areas to see snow. we're not saying those will be the only areas, but where it's likely to cause disruption. still a question mark about this low pressure system running east across perhaps northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england as we go towards the middle of the week — tuesday, wednesday. we have and we'll have to keep putting the detail on this. we could see a system running close to the south later in the week, wednesday into thursday, so that will increase the risk of some disruptive snow across the southern half of the uk, but still that risk with us further north. so the devil's in the detail in terms of where we're going to see the snow next week, but it does look set to be colder, as well, with some severe night frosts.

live from london. this is bbc news. explosions across yemen as us and uk forces launch air strikes against houthi targets, in retaliation for attacks on ships in the red sea. our aim is very clear. it's to descalate tensions and restore stability to the region. but a senior houthi leader warns that the us and uk would "pay a heavy price" and says the attacks on ships are set to continue.

tens of thousands pour into the streets of yemen's capital sanaa to support the houthi movement after air strikes. the other main story today — international court ofjustice hears israel's defence against accusations of genocide brought by south africa. hello, i'm maryam moshiri. welcome to bbc news now. the houthis have vowed that us and uk strikes on their positions in yemen will not go without punishment or retaliation. the group says five of its fighters were killed. the military action was in response to repeated houthi attacks on shipping in the red sea. the group also say they won't stop targeting ships in the red sea in support of palestinians and in protest against israel's operations in gaza. iran — which has long

backed the houthis — said the strikes were a clear violation of yemen's