this is bbc news, the headlines: america's top diplomat visits the middle east for talks — after the latest round of us strikes on iran—linked targets in the region. the british and irish prime ministers meet northern ireland's political leaders in stormont — as power—sharing returns after a two year stalemate. a deadly combination of war and drought leaves ethiopia's tigray region facing famine — we have a special report. and we hear about efforts to build the world's biggest atom smasher — to unlock some of the secrets of the universe. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. hello from the bbc sport centre. england captain ben stokes has said he was happy with the way england went about their run chase, despite losing the second test by 106 runs. the series against india

is now levelled at 1—1. despite a commendable batting performance from england, they were bowled out for 292, zak crawley top scoring with 73. india were impressive in their bowling, particularlyjasprit bumrah who took nine wickets. ravi ashwin also took 3—72 and is now on 499 test wickets. the series is poised at 1—1. stokes says he was encouraged by england's performance. i'm happy with the way we went after that chase. that is exactly how we play cricket. when an opportunity presents itself and it's a pressure situation, i think that generally brings the best out of people. it doesn't always work, but there were a lot of times when we were on top of india and then india were able to produce something that then put them back on top. well, england won the opening test,

before india took the second to level the series. it's well known that it's difficult to get a win in india, so india head coach rahul dravid has been complimentary of england's bazball approach. it is not wild slogging. they are showing a lot of good skills — a lot of their shots require skill and ability and you cannot just go there and execute those things and say you want to attack but do not have the skills to execute it. so there is more to it than just exciting cricket and you can see that they know when to pull back and they know know when to attack. they are playing slightly differently, no doubt about it, but they have been successful. in the last hour, it's been revealed that red bull's formula one team principal christian horner is under investigation after a complaint was made against him. red bull has started an investigation, saying it takes the allegations "extremely seriously". horner has been red bull team

principal since they first started on the fi grid in 2005 and has gone on to win seven drivers�* championships and six constructors�* championships with the team. he says he "completely denies" the allegations. manchester city could overtake arsenal to go into second place in the premier league if they beat brentford later. brentford are just three points above the bottom three, but striker ivan toney is back after serving an eight—month ban for breaking gambling rules. he's scored in both of their last games, as well as having scored twice when brentford won at manchester city last season, so pep guardiola's well aware of the threat he poses. he's an exceptional player, notjust with long balls, but with free kicks and penalties. he is an extraordinary player. i am happy he is back and hopefully that period is forgotten. for him and his family.

an exceptional player. they are always more than welcome in the premier league. chelsea manager emma hayes says the lack of female coaches in english football is a massive issue and she's urging the game to come up with more creative ways to tackle it. this is hayes�* final season at the club, before she takes up the role as head coach of the usa women�*s national team. she�*s one of only four female managers in the wsl and has been speaking about the issue to the bbc�*s sports editor dan roan. we have to recognise that the opportunities are few and far between but we need to upskill more and more women into coaching and to do that, i think we have to think differently about it. getting clubs to be in positions so that they have minimum standards in place to hire women into the game, albeit assistant coach or head coaching levels. but doing that is a challenge. and that�*s all the sport for now.

the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has arrived in saudi arabia at the start of his fifth visit to the middle east since the conflict erupted between israel and hamas. he will also travel to israel, egypt, qatar and the occupied west bank. mr blinken�*s trip follows days of air strikes by the united states against iranian—linked targets in iraq, syria and yemen. ahead of his arrival, a drone attack killed six us—backed kurdish fighters at an american base in eastern syria. mr blinken is also expected to discuss boosting aid to gaza, as well as a possible ceasefire and hostage deal between israel and hamas. with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. just to talk about what is most important to antony blinken, it feels like america is getting increasingly involved in this at the moment, but what are his priorities and the chance of any success? he is

sinnin: a and the chance of any success? he is spinning a lot — and the chance of any success? he is spinning a lot of— and the chance of any success? he is spinning a lot of plates _ and the chance of any success? he is spinning a lot of plates in _ and the chance of any success? he: 3 spinning a lot of plates in the air at the same time and his priorities are numerous, securing more aid, getting into gaza, where the humanitarian situation becomes a catastrophic and it seems to get worse daily, so he is trying to ameliorate that, and there are israelis, hardliners, who are pushing at the opposite direction, saying it should be limited, and israeli settlers have even blocked aid getting into gaza. he wants the release of the israeli hostages, still over a hundred held by hamas, and he will try to advance the deal to get them out but that will not be easy because part of the deal would involve the release of quite large numbers of palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails which is very unpopular with the israeli cabinet, especially hardliners, and that could even be political suicide for netanyahu, that is difficult to swing that one, but it is almost certainly part of the deal. he is

currently in saudi arabia where he has been meeting the crown prince who is pretty much the de facto ruler, although the king is still around, his father, but it is the crown prince who does the day—to—day running of the country. he has been trying to show that they are on the same page as the saudis, and the saudis will be appalled by what is happening, the israeli assault on gaza, and just before the 7th of october saudi arabia was on the verge of recognising a full diplomatic relations ship with israel but suddenly the raid happened by hamas, the sadistic raid in southern israel, that killed over 1200 people, and that completely derailed it. the americans are trying to keep the idea on course but obviously it needs an end to the fighting in gaza first.— fighting in gaza first. israel does not seem to _ fighting in gaza first. israel does not seem to be _ fighting in gaza first. israel does not seem to be so _ fighting in gaza first. israel does not seem to be so concerned - fighting in gaza first. israel does not seem to be so concerned by| fighting in gaza first. israel does - not seem to be so concerned by that relationship. in terms of the relationship. in terms of the relationship with the us, publicly

showing it is not listening to the us. it showing it is not listening to the us. ., , showing it is not listening to the us. . , ., , showing it is not listening to the us. ., , ., , us. it has had very little tangible effect and remembered - us. it has had very little tangible effect and remembered that - us. it has had very little tangible effect and remembered that the | us. it has had very little tangible i effect and remembered that the us provides the bulk of the military aid to israel and i�*m not at advocating this, but if the us wanted to really turn off the taps and put the pressure, they would cut off the military aid, and no one is talking about that at the moment but critics of america have said that is what would have a huge influence. the diplomatic pressure is not really yielding anything. the air strikes and artillery strikes continue and is low has a legitimate right to defend itself, after what it suffered on the 7th of october, it suffered on the 7th of october, it was beyond barbaric about the response, killing over 27,000 palestinians, most of whom are women and children, is indefensible —— but the responsible top military experts

say there is no military or strategic logic to the way they are going about this. if they are after hamas, it in a more pinpoint and focused way, —— do it. i�*m not going to go into this because i�*m not going to advocate one idea over another but these are the criticisms which have been levelled by people who have more experience than i do at the way israel has embarked on this because the collateral damage as they go after military targets, the people who attacked them, the collateral damage suffered by the women and children of gaza has appalled the whole world. it is riskin: appalled the whole world. it is risking losing _ appalled the whole world. it is risking losing its _ appalled the whole world. it is risking losing its allies? it - appalled the whole world. it is risking losing its allies? it is. l risking losing its allies? it is. let's talk _ risking losing its allies? it is. let's talk about _ risking losing its allies? it is. let's talk about the - risking losing its allies? it is. let's talk about the us - risking losing its allies? it is. let's talk about the us and i risking losing its allies? it is. i let's talk about the us and iran, let�*s talk about the us and iran, and antony blinken arrives hours after launching these attacks in iraq and syria and yemen. the question is where it goes and the stated aim is de—escalation about

what is your assessment in terms of where it is going? the what is your assessment in terms of where it is going?— where it is going? the us is trying to do a counle _ where it is going? the us is trying to do a couple of— where it is going? the us is trying to do a couple of things, - where it is going? the us is trying to do a couple of things, so - where it is going? the us is trying to do a couple of things, so it - where it is going? the us is trying to do a couple of things, so it is i to do a couple of things, so it is trying to secure an end to israel�*s assault on gaza and when that happens, as my colleague paul adam said, it would put out one of the brush fires that is really firing up the whole region. at the same time, the whole region. at the same time, the us has got this problem that it has interests around the region that are coming under constant daily attack from iranian backed militias, primarily in syria and iraq, but then you have got the houthis in yemen who are backed by iran and they are the illegitimate rulers of yemen, seizing power in 2014, and they are continuing to launch drones and missiles at international shipping. they say that is in support of the palestinians in gaza, thatis support of the palestinians in gaza, that is what they houthis say, but they have targeted plenty of ships who are nothing to do with israel or

us or the uk. who are nothing to do with israel or us or the uk-_ who are nothing to do with israel or us or the uk.- partly - who are nothing to do with israel or us or the uk. trailing? partly because us or the uk. why? partly because the 're us or the uk. why? partly because they're targeting — us or the uk. why? partly because they're targeting is _ us or the uk. why? partly because they're targeting is not _ us or the uk. why? partly because they're targeting is not that they�*re targeting is not that accurate and the intelligence is provided by the iranians, —— they�*re targeting. they hit one ship which was carrying russian oil which was counter—productive. they are not deterring the houthis, what the us is doing, so the either way that stops is because the houthis run out of things to fly at or the gaza war ends, and that was then robbed them of a pretext for doing this. —— that will then robbed them. of a pretext for doing this. -- that will then robbed them.— of a pretext for doing this. -- that will then robbed them. frank, thanks for 'oinin: will then robbed them. frank, thanks forjoining us- — around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. people who live near this land have

had the prospect of a massive solar farm here hanging over them for more than two years. a thousand responses. 1,000 responses from this tiny rural population... an inquiry has been held, opinions heard. they�*ll know the outcome by the summer. a petition is being gathered by a local mp right up to the last possible moment to put pressure on the energy security secretary, who will decide. myjob is to be a voice for our communities, so i'm going to take every opportunity i can to do just that. it can't hurt, can it? but hopefully it will make a difference. plentiful energy for the national grid — enough to power 92,000 homes, say the developers. a terrible loss of agricultural land by the side of the east coast mainline, say opponents. rutland has lost a huge swathe of farmland before to a national infrastructure project when rutland water was built. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you�*re live with bbc news.

there is "every danger" ethiopia will be engulfed with famine unless action is taken to prevent it. that�*s the warning today from the uk government�*s africa minister. andrew mitchell�*s concerns are echoed by regional leaders and international charities who say the world is ignoring a humanitarian crisis triggered by war and drought. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, travelled with mr mitchell to ethiopia and sent this exclusive report. once again, hunger is stalking ethiopia. and, once again, women and children are suffering most. the babies in this hospital in the northern tigray region are all acutely malnourished. their mothers little better. sega is 23. herfour—month—old son has been malnourished since birth. her family�*s crops failed and there was no food to be had.

"even when i was pregnant, i was not eating a balanced diet," she said. "i was not producing enough breastmilk. that�*s why the baby has developed malnutrition. ijust didn�*t have enough to eat at home." we travelled north across the parched ethiopian highlands that have suffered from successive droughts that many attribute to climate change. this is not where the malnutrition is... there, with the african minister, andrew mitchell, we visited a clinic where anxious mothers queue to get their children assessed for malnutrition. so that�*s after nine weeks. that�*s still seriously malnourished. the nurses said the numbers were getting worse by the week. this is a largely forgotten crisis. it�*s hard for the media to get here — fighting makes some areas inaccessible for charities, and the world�*s attention is elsewhere. but, once again, women are queuing up with their children who are hungry, some are starving, desperately in need of help.

mr mitchell promised £100 million more in uk aid to help millions of mothers like these get better access to health care. but he said the international community had to do more. there is clearly a risk of famine if we don�*t now take action. and there are serious indicators of the danger of famine. but, if you ask me, "is there a famine taking place now in ethiopia?" i say, "no," and we have the power to stop it. but if we don�*t take the necessary action now, then there is every danger that a famine will engulf this war—torn country, which has suffered so much already. but is it a famine? aid workers are cautious. regional leaders have no doubts. the one thing i know is that thousands of people, who would otherwise have been able to feed themselves are not in a position to feed themselves, and they are succumbing to death because of starvation. whether you call it famine or a risk of famine ora potentialfamine — for me, it's purely academic.

what transpired in 1985, for example, would pale in comparison if we fail to address the kind of unfolding famine that's staring us in the eye. michael buerk: dawn, and as the sun breaks . through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korum, it lights up a biblicalfamine. this is what he�*s talking about. the famines of the mid—1980s reported so powerfully by michael buerk for the bbc. but the government in ethiopia disputes such comparisons, saying the country is a victim of climate change. there is a drought, no famine. the government is responding very seriously, but at times we call on all the stakeholders to do their share. these people at least have something. they come here to get food aid from the united nations, each clutching a qr code with all their details. enough to get some oil and a scoop

of wheat and lentils. there�*s food enough for now, but aid workers say stores are emptying fast. the problem is that about a million people in tigray are internal refugees, living in camps like these, with little hope of returning to homes still occupied by armies. in ethiopia, you have several overlapping crises at a time, so we have drought, people recovering from a two—year conflict, rising inflation, an upsurge in the cases of disease. and all of this togetherjust pushes people further into hunger and malnutrition. so if we don�*t get food assistance to people right now, the situation will worsen. without more support, the future for these children could be bleak. james landale, bbc news in northern ethiopia. let�*s speak now to james in addis ababa.

tell us more about the international response to this at the moment? at response to this at the moment? git the moment of the international community is distracted by events in the middle east and war in ukraine and many other crises around the world and so the eyes of the world are not on addis ababa and if you hope and that is worrying the international agencies —— ethiopia. they have enough food in their warehouses to keep things ticking over but they say they are underfunded for the coming months and that means at some point the amount of food aid they can provide and the amount of medical aid they can provide will slow down and ultimately stop, but the problem is now is the moment when this is a crisis that can be handled and dealt with but if it is not then potentially it could become a famine technically, the bar is quite high but they say it has the potential

for that and if it does become a famine it becomes much more costly down the road so what the international charities and agencies are saying, now is the time to deal with this before it gets worse, but the problem is, there is competition for aid and support and focus and attention elsewhere, and so on is that changes the situation could get worse —— unless that changes. the government is trying to do something about the week the few economy is weak at the moment —— the economy is weak at the moment —— the economy is weak at the moment —— the economy is weak at the moment and so potentially this could get worse unless action is taken, that is what everything the —— that is what everyone agrees on. everything the -- that is what everyone agrees on.— everything the -- that is what everyone agrees on. thanks for 'oinin: everyone agrees on. thanks for joining us- _ remember the large hadron collider — the world�*s biggest atom smasher built to find the answers of the universe?

well, it turns out it�*s not big enough. the european centre for particle research is unveiling plans for a new particle accelerator today — something three times larger and twice as deep. and at an inital cost of about £12 billion or $15 billion. welljoining me now from amsterdam is dr clara nellist, a particle physicist at the university of amsterdam who is also working on the atlas experiment at cern. why is it not big enough? about ten ears auo why is it not big enough? about ten years ago we _ why is it not big enough? about ten years ago we discovered _ why is it not big enough? about ten years ago we discovered a _ why is it not big enough? about ten years ago we discovered a missing l years ago we discovered a missing piece in our understanding of how the universe works on the smaller scales, but it was not enough just to discover it, we had to understand it in very precise details so we need a machine that can produce many things in order to be able to study it but also everything that we understand about our universe is only 5%, there is 95% of the universe that we call dark matter and dark energy and we don�*t know

what it is made of and what it is so we need to go bigger in order to understand these big questions. just to explain what the large hadron collider does, it is a giant machine that moves tiny particles? explain what it is doing. it is that moves tiny particles? explain what it is doing.— what it is doing. it is a 27 kilometre _ what it is doing. it is a 27 kilometre long _ what it is doing. it is a 27 kilometre long particle i what it is doing. it is a 27 - kilometre long particle accelerator and we accelerate protons and sometimes other particles very close to the speed of light and we collide them together in the centre of our detectors in order to create these particles that exist in the universe but that do not hang around for very long and so we want to be able to study them in very controlled conditions. to study them in very controlled conditions.— conditions. to 'ustify the £12 billion cost — conditions. to 'ustify the £12 billion cost it — conditions. to justify the £12 billion cost it would - conditions. to justify the £12 billion cost it would cost - conditions. to justify the £12 billion cost it would cost to l conditions. to justify the £12. billion cost it would cost to do conditions. to justify the £12 - billion cost it would cost to do the new bigger and better option, you would have to show something definite and concrete would be achieved by it and the pursuit of knowledge is noble but in terms of proving it is worth the money, how

do you go about that? t proving it is worth the money, how do you go about that?— do you go about that? i should say that these plans _ do you go about that? i should say that these plans are _ do you go about that? i should say that these plans are not _ do you go about that? i should say that these plans are not finalised l that these plans are not finalised and what we�*re doing right now is feasibility study, looking ahead to the next 50, 70 years, with the kind of machines we would need to be able to answer these big questions, and as a physicist my goal is to be able to understand the universe but there is a lot of benefits that also come from this kind of research and it cannot be done by one country alone so this is an international collection of countries that are doing these huge physics experiments together, so scientists diplomacy is an important part of our goal. but in terms of the economy, the money it would cost for a potential future collider comes back into uk businesses, and being able to produce parts and new technologies for the machine, which are then available to use for other purposes,

so medical technology and data infrastructure and that kind of thing. and also the training we do it�*s also really important with the students who come and work at cern. thanks forjoining us. we appreciate your time. thanks for 'oining us. we appreciate our time. . g thanks for 'oining us. we appreciate our time. ., ~ i. taylor swift has made history at the grammys, as she became the first artist to win album of the year for the fourth time. it was also a big night for other female performers, with miley cyrus and billie eilish both taking home top prizes. our correspondent emma vardy was in los angeles on the red carpet and sent this report. it's the 66th annual grammy awards. and tonight, we're coming to you live from the city. of los angeles, where the local population has just survived - the unthinkable — rain. as a storm battered la, there was shelter for the stars on the red carpet. while, inside the arena, the awards rained down for female artists.

i just won my first grammy! miley cyrus picked up two grammys, giving the crowd a little more than they bargained for. thank you all so much. i don�*t think i forgot anyone, but i might have forgotten underwear. bye. billie eilish. and the barbie movie took home a win tonight with billie eilish given song of the year for her hit from the film�*s soundtrack. # i used to float # now ijust fall down # i used to know...# taylor swift for midnights. but it�*s taylor swift who keeps on breaking records. and, as she made history by becoming the only artist to win best album four times, fans were in for a much—anticipated announcement. my brand—new album... cheering ..comes out april 19th. cue swiftie hysteria! a strong showing for women in the big categories is a significant moment

for the grammys, which has faced criticism for overlooking some female artists in the past. and this year is a memorable one forfemale artists across several generations. # moons and junes and ferris wheels...# this was a moment many fans never thought they�*d see. joni mitchell performing for the first time at the grammys at 80 years old. # ..way that you feel. ..# a remarkable comeback after almost losing her life to a brain aneurysm. # when i'm vulnerable # he's straight talking to my soul..# with major wins and powerful performances, this was a grammys in which women were well and truly centre stage. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. and for viewers in the uk — we have a special half hour long programme about the grammys on the iplayer — with much more from the awards. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there. whilst we saw a bit of sunshine here and there, on the whole it�*s been a cloudy start to the new week and particularly gray and gloomy across northern parts of scotland, with persistent thick, low cloud bringing a lot of rain, actually — there�*s been over 100 millimetres of rain in highland scotland on that slow moving weather front bringing that band of thicker cloud. the weather front will take rain southwards over the next few days, followed by colder air from the north. at the moment, that colder air is in the far north of scotland. away from here, we�*re still in very mild air and those temperatures won�*t change a great deal, actually, overnight. we�*ve still got a brisk south—westerly wind bringing in all the cloud, a little drizzle. the main band of rain pushes a bit further south across scotland, allowing northern areas to see a few wintry showers, some clear spells, icy conditions as we see a touch of frost. quite a contrast here with those

temperatures that we start tuesday with across england and wales. the main rain band sitting across southern scotland and northern ireland in the morning pushes southwards, takes some rain into northern england and wales, heavy over the hills. sunshine follows to the north and we�*ve got a few wintry showers coming in to northern parts of scotland. it will feel chillier across scotland and northern ireland and northernmost parts of england. but ahead of the rain in southern england, where it�*s still dry, cloudy and very mild, temperatures are 13 or 14 degrees. but even here we�*ll get some rain overnight as that weather front pushes its way southwards. it allows that colder air to move down across more of the country and there will be a frost in many places early on wednesday morning, but hopefully some sunshine, as well. the far south of england, through the english channel, still cloudy, a bit of rain at times. across northern scotland we�*re looking at some snow showers even to low levels. it�*s going to feel cold here. typical temperatures on wednesday will be six or seven degrees. there�*s a weather frontjust hanging around in the english channel by the end of wednesday. as we head into thursday, it�*s going to move northwards again as this big area of low pressure

comes in from the atlantic. that wet weather moving northwards is moving into cold air, so we may well see rain across the far south of england and south wales, but a mixture of sleet and snow as you move further north. there is a warning out for thursday and thursday night, we�*re widely looking at two to five centimetres of snow in this area. it is a yellow warning from the met office. it�*s still a long way ahead and the details could change, as well.

live from london. this is bbc news. america�*s top diplomat arrives in the middle east for talks, amid a growing push for a pause in the fighting in gaza. his visit comes after the latest round of us strikes on iran—linked targets in the region. the british and irish prime ministers meet northern ireland�*s political leaders in stormont as power—sharing returns after a two year stalemate. after a grandmother is killed in a dog attack near essex, her family say they�*re angry at the conditions the dogs were kept in. telecom companies in yemen warn of a growing risk to underwater internet cables — as tensions grow in the red sea hello, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them.

the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is on another