�*and those things that draws together and make us_ those things that draws together and make us who we are. that is the wales_ make us who we are. that is the wales i— make us who we are. that is the wales i want to lead. i wales full of hope _ wales i want to lead. i wales full of hope ambition and unity. applause studio: there we have vaughan gething being nominated officially as the new first minister of wales. that will be formally approved by the king in his speech to the senedd there he paid tribute to his predecessor mark drakeford, thanking predecessor mark dra keford, thanking him predecessor mark drakeford, thanking him for everything he had done for wales. he talked about what he called the striking number of people in wales who do not know what time since devolution. he also used his speech to attack the uk government for undermining and frustrating the

welsh government. he said he looked forward to, as first minister, standing upfor forward to, as first minister, standing up for wales and devolution. he talked about listening and preventing division and heat and towards the end of the speech talked about being the first black person to lead a european government. he said it was something he did not take lightly but also talked about how today he would see hatred on social media. listening to that was our wales correspondent who is in cardiff. could ifirst ask your take on what you made of what he said in his speech? i your take on what you made of what he said in his speech?— he said in his speech? i think the first art he said in his speech? i think the first part when — he said in his speech? i think the first part when he _ he said in his speech? i think the first part when he was _ he said in his speech? i think the first part when he was paying - first part when he was paying tribute to mark drakeford, you have to rememberfor the tribute to mark drakeford, you have to remember for the first half of covid, they could not have been any closer, mark drakeford making the big decisions but through the year and a half by his side was vaughan gething. they made the decisions for

wales during that period so it was apt he gave that speech. he mentioned his discussion on devolution and how it has frustrated welsh labour as they have been in power. i think also he did speak of hope and i think he was hinting towards the potential uk election happening sometime this year and the fact based on opinion polls uk labour, interesting thoughts also about his own identity and how it had been questioned over the years and he was looking forward to this challenge as first black leader of any european country really. he got any european country really. he got a lot in that one must remember the role of the first minister is essentially the same as the prime minister of the uk. the main aspects are devolved to wales when it comes to education, the nhs amongst many things, agriculture and went public sector funds are so tight at the moment it will be interesting to see

how vaughan gething tackles those issues going forward. i was how vaughan gething tackles those issues going forward.— how vaughan gething tackles those issues going forward. i was taken by the fact he wanted _ issues going forward. i was taken by the fact he wanted to _ issues going forward. i was taken by the fact he wanted to prevent - the fact he wanted to prevent division and heat and not to be nasty. is that a reference to things that have gone on in wales before? can it get quite nasty there? it that have gone on in wales before? can it get quite nasty there?- can it get quite nasty there? it was mentioned in _ can it get quite nasty there? it was mentioned in mark _ can it get quite nasty there? it was mentioned in mark drakeford's - mentioned in mark drakeford's resignation speech and last first ministers questions on the whole in the senedd when there has been debate it is more of a polite tone possibly than westminster but also a keen stress that it has got out of hand and they don't want that to continue as mentioned by andrew rt davies yesterday that actually on the whole when things have got heated it has always been done with the interest of wales at heart. that was something mark drakeford who also commended as well really. i think that was something to look forward to from vaughan gething but what we have seen happening in some of the by—elections over recent

times, some of the messaging he was getting at but also the fact the expectation was if there is a new government in the uk parliament in the nearfuture that government in the uk parliament in the near future that cooperation would be closer than possibly it has been over recent times with the tory government in westminster. more? been over recent times with the tory government in westminster.- government in westminster. now he has the practicalities _ government in westminster. now he has the practicalities have _ government in westminster. now he has the practicalities have having - has the practicalities have having his cabinet and doing that and looking at who he has by his side. what does he do for the rival, where does he place him in the cabinet? the big posts in education, the nhs and agriculture being such a big thing in wales at the moment, we have spoken about how there has been a number of protests in wales, on the holder feeling from welsh farmers has been far more kind of angry to the proposed new subsidy that the welsh government had which was to have every farm in wales bill 10% of their land trees. we will see

what happens that will be a key post, junior consultant strike on the horizon, another thing that prompted a big backlash, the changing of school holidays, how will he tackle that issue and who does he put in position to look over at? , ., .. ., does he put in position to look over at? , ., ., ., at? there will be more reaction to the formal — at? there will be more reaction to the formal nomination _ at? there will be more reaction to the formal nomination of- at? there will be more reaction to the formal nomination of vaughan gething as wales's first minister on the bbc news website or the app. the other big political story has come out of ireland. leo varadkar is going to step down as the irish prime minister. and party leader before the next general election in the republic of ireland. varadkar became ireland's youngest taoiseach in 2017 when he became leader of fine gael. i know this will come as a surprise to many people and a disappointment to some. and i hope at least you'll

understand my decision. i know that others will, how should i put it? cope with the news just fine. that is the great thing about living in a democracy. there's never a right time to resign high office. however, this is as good a time as any. budget 2024 is done. negotiations have not yet commenced on the next one. the institutions of the good friday agreement are working again and our trading relationship with the uk in the post—brexit era is settled and stable. leo varadkar who has announced he is standing down as irish prime minister. tim davie, the director genral of the bbc, has appeared before the culture, media and sport committee to answer questions about the corporations impartiatlity. during the hearing, he was asked about social media posts by staff that appeared to suggest support for hamas. some of those tweets that we've seen are unacceptable and we have taken action and we will continue

to take action. now, whether i can commit to you it will never happen again, of course not. but we are robust and i think we're doing the fair thing. we're acting fairly and judiciously. and it's not easy. i mean, you're seeing it around the world. every news organisation, every cultural institution, as you know, is under enormous pressure. political institutions. this is enormously fraught. but the bbc, i think, is steering the course. and the answer to your question is, we don't want to see that. and when we see it, we will take action and look at the appropriate sanction, that will not always be leaving the bbc. it might be the various ways in which you can take action. we have had people leave the bbc, but that's where we are. director of editorial policy and standards david jordan and director—general tim davie have defended the bbc�*s reporting of israel. they were asked how many complaints they have had in relation to the coverage of the israel—gaza war.

we had just under 4,000 people - complaining that our system was that our complaints process, or our output, rather, . our coverage was biased - against israel and over 4,000 that it was biased in. favour, about 4,200. so those were the complaints as of this morning, _ roughly those numbers. so they're not, they'rej actually pretty similar, i which i think reflects the division. of opinion in the country as a whole on that issue. those are rolling totals - from october 7th onwards. i would also say that we judge, i think it's a fair pushback when people say and i think this is important in terms of pressure is, the just number of complaints is, i mean, there's different sizes of communities, different views, all those things. so it's not the bbc sitting

there going, "oh, look, we've got the same number of complaints, "therefore, in the right place," i think we have to listen and to the earlier comments. there's some things we reflect on and go, 0k, we could have done better there on every side of this very difficult situation and traumatic situation. so the complaints are useful context. i don't think they are any more than that. director general of the bbc. finally, i want to bring you one of the most read stories in the bbc news website. hundreds of aesthetics. this is the embarrassed shop owner who only wanted atx but mistakenly ordered 80 cases. a total of 720 chocolate

eggs. he is now raffling off 100 of them to a lucky winner in eight of them to a lucky winner in eight of the rnli. it said it was extremely grateful for that. the rnli. it said it was extremely gratefulfor that. at the rnli. it said it was extremely grateful for that. at make the rnli. it said it was extremely gratefulfor that. at make me the rnli. it said it was extremely grateful for that. at make me feel a chocolate egg. time for some. the weather system disappearing stripe on the horizon. that's why it's cloudy with some drizzle. we've also got some damp conditions loitering in eastern scotland, the north and west of scotland and northern ireland, though the weather system is disappearing off into the horizon with sunshine following. indeed, that stripe of cloud on the horizon in orkney

is the weather system disappearing over the horizon so through the rest of today. damp and drizzly conditions for wales, the midlands, a swathe of northern england, eastern scotland drizzle reluctant to clear away. given some sunshine though for south east england, we could see temperatures push as high as 17 or 18 degrees, but otherwise the north of the uk, the weather is going to feel quite chilly, particularly for the east coast of scotland where temperatures will be seven degrees for quite a lot of the afternoon. overnight tonight it could be one or two. mist and fog, patches and then later in the night we'll see some rain move into scotland and northern ireland as well. that rain is associated with the next weather system moving in off the atlantic. this warm front will be bringing some milder air back into northern areas of the uk, so temperatures will be climbing by a few degrees. however, it is going to be a wet day, particularly for scotland on thursday with some strong winds across the far north where we'll see gusts running into the fifties of miles an hour, some down weather for northern ireland and the far north of england through the afternoon, further southwards you might see the cloud thin and break. and again, we could see some pretty high temperatures for the time of year. on into friday, a cold front will push southwards across england and wales with that cloud and rain

followed by sunshine and showers. now the showers across scotland, northern ireland, the north west of both england and wales could be heavy with some hail mixed in and temperatures near average for the time of year, 10 to 12 degrees, but feeling quite a bit cooler than it has done on into the weekend. low pressure stays in charge. it's a day of sunny spells and showers on saturday. the showers having some hail mixed in with them. and we could see a bit of sleet over the hills in the north of the uk. there will be a chilly wind certainly knocking the edge off. these temperatures will feel on the cool side where the showers are in the forecast on sunday, but probably with bigger gaps between them. there will be some places that stay dry and then for monday, with colder air moving in across the north of the uk, well we may actually see a spell of hill snow in parts of scotland.

live from london. this is bbc news. the irish prime minister leo varadkar announces he is to stand down before the country's next general election. vaughan gething becomes the first black leader of a european country. millions of people in sudan are at risk of dying from disease and starvation after 11 months of civil war. we'll have a special report.

the uk data watchdog says it is assessing a report that staff at the clinic in london which treated the princess of wales tried to access her private medical records. the bafta tv award nominations have been announced for 2024 with the final season of netflix drama the crown the most nominations. hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we start in irland where the prime minister leo vardkar hasjust resigned. the prime minister leo vardkar in an unexpected announcement, mr varadkar described his period leading his country as "the most fulfilling time of his life". he will step down before the next general election in the republic of ireland. mr varadkar became ireland's youngest taoiseach in 2017 when he became leader of fine gael. let's listen to him announcing his resignation from the steps of government buildings a short while ago.