good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. our headlines today. cody's law — the family of a footballer murdered in a birmingham nightclub have called for body scanners and bleed kits to be installed in all venues. when smart meters are anything but. average energy bills are about to go down, because of meter mistakes. but we meet the breakfast viewers whose bills went up because of meter mistakes. we ask what you can do if your meter is faulty. if your meter is faulty. heavily armed federal agents raid the homes of rapper sean diddy combs — it's reported to be part of an investigtion into sex trafficing allegations. preparing to book their tickets —

the welsh fans are dreaming of another major tournanent with qualification to this summer's euros in germany at stake tonight as they face poland in cardiff. good morning. in the next days, we continue with heavy downpours and it will often be windy. through the easter weekend, fewer showers until the second half of easter sunday when we see a return to rain. i will have all the details later in the programme. it's tuesday, 26th of march. the family of a footballer who was stabbed in a nightclub in birmingham on boxing day in 2022 have called for body scanners and bleed kits to be installed in all venues. two men have been found guilty of the murder of 23—year—old cody fisher who was attacked two days after he had brushed past one of the men in a busy bar. our midlands correspondent phil mackie reports. # happy birthday, dear cody. this is cody fisher on his final birthday. he was killed for the most trivial of reasons.

the man who planned his murder was remy gordon, seen here in a bar on christmas eve arguing with cody because he'd brushed past him. two days later, in the crane nightclub in birmingham, he and his friends tracked cody down and launched a violent attack. the 23—year—old died on the dance floor. nothing to do with gangs. it's nothing to do with street crime. this is over absolutely nothing. and the lives ruined, you know, cody's life lost. his family, his family's lives are ruined, no matter what the outcome, no matter what sentence. these were the people responsible for cody's murder arriving at the club earlier — remy gordon and kami carpenter. security checks were cursory, even though metal detectors were available. earlier, cody had arrived with his best friend and his girlfriend and they were surprised by the lax checks. i don't know how they're not using the metal detectors in big events like this. they know it's going

to be like massive. like, you can see by the amount of tickets that have been sold and just letting people get in with a little tap down — it's not good enough. i can remember saying to code that it's dangerous because, you know, we did see people with the balloon canisters and stuff that night and ijust couldn't understand how you could get that into such a big place with so many security. and i can remember saying to him that's dangerous. and he said, "i know." and then a few hours later, he was stabbed to death. the crane club lost its license as a result of cody's death and has never reopened. the bbc approached its owners and the security firm for a comment, but hasn't received a response. his friends and family are campaigning for cody's law. they want it to be compulsory for clubs to use scanners when people come in and they also say they should all have kits which contain bandages and tourniquets so that if anyone is stabbed, they can be kept alive long enough for the paramedics to arrive. they must use body scanners.

you know, i cannot believe — i could not believe and still cannot believe, in this country, that it's not mandatory. now the people who loved him would like his legacy to be a law that could save lives in the future. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. sally has the rest of the morning's news. the general medical council has started a consultation into how physician associates, who support doctors but don't have a medical degree, are regulated. the family of a woman who died after being seen by a physician associate instead of a doctor is calling for tighter controls and clarity for patients. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. # happy birthday to you. emily chesterton was only 30 when she died in november 2022. a pulmonary embolism — a dangerous blood clot that spreads to the lungs —

was misdiagnosed by a physician associate on two occasions when she visited her gp surgery. we didn't know that she hadn't seen a fully qualified doctor and, if i'd known, i would have marched her straight back in. i would have gone straight back in. i would have taken her to a&e. but because i trusted that she'd seen a doctor, i didn't, and that's the guilt that i felt. emily's case illustrates some of the concerns around plans to greatly expand the number of physician associates — known as pas — working in the health service. pas are graduates, usually with a health or life sciences degree. they've also undertaken two years of postgraduate training. they work under the supervision of a doctor and theirjobs can include diagnosis, physical examinations and analysing test results. well, these are roles that aren't currently regulated at all. they are roles that have been around for some time. the government plans to increase the number of these roles. so we hope that by bringing

them into regulation, we will be able to improve patient safety, but also give the public the confidence that these are people that they can trust with their care. so this consultation will examine how the regulator, the general medical council, will deliver the rules, standards and guidance for pas and also the similar roles of anaesthesia associates. most pas work in gp surgeries and urgent and emergency medicine. how they will be regulated is an issue because, in england, the nhs and the government have said they will increase the pa workforce to 10,000 from around 3,300 at present. the doctors union, the bma, has called for a more restricted role for pas, a move it said was needed to improve patient safety. dominic hughes, bbc news. the israeli prime minister has reacted angrily to a decision by the us to allow the un security council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. it is the first time the council has called for a ceasefire

since the war began in october after several failed attempts. benjamin netanyahu said the us had abandoned its previous position and has cancelled meetings with us officials in washington later this week. the raf has air—dropped more than 10 tons of food into gaza for the first time, including rice, baby formula and water. it comes amid fears that more than a million people face imminentfamine. the defence secretary grant shapps has urged israel to allow more aid into gaza. veterans ministerjohnny mercer has been given until the 5th of april to disclose the names of special forces officers he says told him about civilian murders in afghanistan. mr mercer has been given ten days to provide the information to an independent inquiry or face a potential prison sentence. a convoy of more than 100 tractors caused traffic to come to a stand—still in london, as farmers staged a go—slow protest. they say that low—cost agricultural imports, misleading food labelling and increased costs are putting

british food security at risk. the government says it's putting farming at the heart of british trade. federal agents have raided properties belonging to the american rapper sean �*diddy�* combs in los angeles and miami, as part of an ongoing investigation. the hip—hop star has faced several law suits accusing him of sexual misconduct — his lawyers have denied the allegations. 0ur north america correspondent david willis has this report. aerial footage shows heavily armed federal agents storming sean combs' los angeles mansion as part of a bicoastal operation that also targeted his waterfront property in miami. several people were placed in handcuffs while agents searched the sprawling premises in la. combs' whereabouts and what officials were looking for hasn't been revealed. but a statement from the us homeland security department said the raids

were part of what it called an ongoing investigation that is thought to relate to allegations of sex trafficking. formerly known as puff daddy, sean combs is one of the most influential hip—hop producers of his generation. a three times grammy award winner, he also founded his own record label, fashion line and television network before being accused last november by his former girlfriend, the singer cassie ventura, of domestic violence. her lawsuit, which also accused combs of sex trafficking, was settled out of court, but paved the way to sexual assault allegations from several other individuals. sean combs has yet to comment on these latest developments but in a statement released in december, he accused those involved of seeking to destroy his legacy in return for what he called a quick payday.

david willis, bbc news, los angeles. the prime minister is to be grilled by mps today, ahead of the parliamentary easter recess. rishi sunak will face questions from select committee chairs on global issues, the economy and public services, and strategic planning. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffmanjoins us. that is quite some list? good morning. these sessions with what is called the liaison committee, they only happy to — three times a year and i think they are always hard for and i think they are always hard for a prime minister. the committee is made up of chairs of other committees so you have the chair of the health committee, education committee, and so on. they usually grill cabinet ministers, junior ministers and others but here they come together to hold the prime minister to account and their questioning of the prime minister will bounce around their different

subjects. it is probably like what being prime minister is like. i think for rishi sunak, who prides himself on engagement with policy detail and his grasp of policy, it is probably an opportunity for him to display how much across his brief he is. when he has done these sessions, he likes to get into the detail with mps and argue with them about minor details rather than keeping it at the overall political level. worth saying this is the last thing rishi sunak will do in parliament for a few weeks because todayis parliament for a few weeks because today is the last day of the parliamentary term. mps will go back to constituencies. what most of them will be doing is campaigning for local elections that are coming in early may. it varies depending on where you are in england and wales what you will be voting for but everyone in england and wales will have an opportunity to vote for

something. mps are aware that for many people it will be an opportunity to record what they think at the moment of the conservative party. some mps i have spoken to when doing that campaigning have been struck by how many people do not like the conservative party at the moment which is the story of the national polls and rishi sunak is trying to turnit polls and rishi sunak is trying to turn it around but a lot of his mps will experience that on the doorstep in the coming weeks and then come back to parliament and share those potential frustrations with each other. today will be hard for rishi sunak but what is to come good be harder. . ~' , ., a giant gorilla statue... which was stolen from a lanarkshire garden centre a year ago has been reunited with his owner. a statue. it is not real.

an 8ft fibreglass ornament. gary the gorilla, missing since last march. he was discovered in a lay—by in the a92 in fife. he does not look happy. how do you hide an eight foot fibreglass gorilla for year? he'd been a popular fixture at a nursery for ten years. now he is back. thank goodness. 0bviously so popular. so many questions. here's carol with the weather. good morning. the real one. nothing fibreglass here. something going on is the weather. we have further heavy downpours today and the next few days and it will often be windy with

some thunder and lightning and hail. the clocks go forward this weekend, heralding the start of british summer time. heralding the start of british summertime. it heralding the start of british summer time. it is a cloudy start. some drizzle. 0vernight, rain and sleet and snow in scotland are easing through the days. we have another front in the south that will rejuvenate through the course of the morning into the afternoon. turning heavier, the rain as it moves northwards. south—west england hanging a lot of dry weather. bright conditions. temperatures ranging from five in the north to about 13 towards the overnight, this is the weather front continuing to journey northwards, moving through northern england, northern ireland, bumping into cold air in scotland. above 150 metres north of the central belt, we will see it turning to snow. we have

showers coming in to the west by the end of the night but some clear spells in between. despite the temperatures you see, they could fall down to —3, “4 in north—east scotland. tomorrow we start with a mixture of rain, sleet and some hill snow in parts of scotland. windy here. showers moving eastwards across england and wales. also, eventually getting up to the southern uplands through northern ireland. temperatures tomorrow six in the north, 11 in the south and tomorrow will be blustering with strong winds in areas adjacent to the english channel. a lot going on and we will talk about the easter weekend in half an hour. i was going to ask about the easter weekend. any possibility it might not rain? it will be raining but into easter

weekend, fewer showers in the lead up weekend, fewer showers in the lead up to it but having said that, on sunday, it looks like the second half of sunday, rain coming up from the south and moving northwards. my the south and moving northwards. my goodness. more rain but perhaps less of it than in some places. trying to put a positive spin on it. more than 1.5 million women in the uk are believed to have endometriosis — a gynaecological condition which can cause painful periods, nausea, extreme tiredness and infertility. research from the charity endometriosis uk found it takes an average of almost nine years for women to get a diagnosis. bbc radio sheffield presenter ellie colton has shared her story. i got diagnosed with endometriosis in 2022 after eight years of going to the doctors with symptoms.

it affects one in every ten women and there's no cure. every day, i experience severe fatigue, sickness and bloating, as well as that, extreme chronic pain in my legs, abdomen and back. i'm one of 1.5 million women in the uk living with endometriosis. it's a condition that takes, on average, nine years to get diagnosed, according to experts, and i'm here in sheffield to meet one of those waiting. a lot of the time they think, "0h, womenjust don't have a tolerance to pain." and i promise you, it's not that. maddy from sheffield has experienced debilitating endometriosis symptoms for ten years, and she's still waiting for her diagnosis. i started having symptoms when i was 13, which was actually having a period for an entire year. that really affected me growing up. and, from there, i've had really severe abdomen pains, back pain, pain during sex and feeling

extremely fatigued when i'm supposed to be on my period, as well. people don't believe you. people dismiss your pain and they blame it on things like your weight. i've had this problem when i was underweight. when i was normal weight and i've had this problem now, and, overtime, itjust gets worse and worse. maddy is now being referred back to gynaecology and is doing everything she can to eliminate the risk of being dismissed due to her weight — and this situation isn't uncommon, according to maria, who researches health and gender inequalities. women have experiences where their pain is just dismissed. so they say to the doctor, "i'm having a lot of pain," and they get suggested like maybe diet or exercise, but that's not necessarily going to help. and what do you think needs to change when it comes to endometriosis? i mean, reducing the waiting times would be incredible and that will need investment. and, as well, just making sure that people are aware of what the condition is and when they need to seek help. the charity endometriosis uk is calling on the government

to commit to a diagnosis waiting time of a year or less by 2030. in a statement, the government say endometriosis can be a debilitating condition and that they have set an ambition for better care with reduced wait times for a diagnosis. this year, they say they will introduce women's health hubs to provide care and information for menstrual problems and conditions like endometriosis. a step in the right direction, maybe, but for people like maddy, with ten years on the waiting list already, she feels like she's getting no further forward. ellie colton, bbc news. let's take a look at today's papers. the daily mail headlines that there is �*fury�* over the uk's �*feeble rebuke to china' after the scale of cyber—attacks was revealed. the paper says prime minister rishi sunak is under mounting pressure to �*finally get tough with china'.

they say the government response yesterday did not go far enough. the guardian leads with the ongoing conflict in the middle east. the paper says israel has become isolated from its allies after the un security council called for an immediate ceasefire in gaza for the first time since war began in october. it has also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by hamas. and the mirror highlights an increase in the number of online searches for cancer symptoms, after the princess of wales revealed she was undergoing treatment. the paper says she's been praised for raising awareness and charities, who say it could save lives. that story in a lot of papers but we can look inside. in the daily mail they suggest that, we talked about a

shortage of tea, fears now of a shortage of tea, fears now of a shortage of tea, fears now of a shortage of coffee beans and they say farmers in colombia say that warming temperatures there force them to plant crops on higher ground with different rainfall cycles and that affects growth and they are not growing as many as they used to. does that fill you with fear? i am stockpiling. maybe since i started doing this job the world started running out of coffee. it is not a good weekend to buy a bunny rabbit. as a pet? some of the pet store chains are not going to sell them over the weekend because they worry about people buying them just for easter. it is for life. and they say you get a lot of pets then being abandoned and taken to rescue centres so they are banning between thursday and easter monday to get through the weekend. people who buy on a whim.

i bet you had a rabbit? i had a bunny. hazel. was hazel for life? clearly not just for hazel. was hazel for life? clearly notjust for easter. not this morning. it is to raw. why hazel? i think it was watership down and that didn't end terribly well, either. shall we finish on a high? i am not sure it is a high. arnold schwarzenegger, he said he is becoming a real cyborg because he has had a pacemakerfitted becoming a real cyborg because he has had a pacemaker fitted which means he will be super healthy. he had some heart issues. he has had an irregular heartbeat and he has had that procedure and talked about it saying it was the right thing to do for his health. he says he is a real cyborg. across the uk, we have some of the most beautiful beaches and coastline, but unfortunately all too often they are covered in rubbish.

pat smith, also known as action nan, is part of the great british spring clean and has made it her mission to pick up as much beach litter as possible. 0ur reporterjohn danks has been to give her a helping hand. what you're looking for — and sometimes it can be quite tricky on the beach — is to look for things that are obviously manmade. i've joined a beach clean with pat smith, a litter ambassador for keep britain tidy, who explains what the great british spring clean is all about. i've been doing it for years, since it first started, and it's encouraging people to look after where they live, clean up the litter, keep it clean and tidy and encourage others. today, she's with fellow litter picker kath, who's down on holiday from liverpool. even when you're on holiday, though,

you see litter everywhere and once you start picking it up, you can't really stop. and for an hour, you know, you can do an awful lot. so, yeah, nice to be nice, isn't it? yeah, i mean, you're actually leaving the place cleaner than when you found it. yeah. and it's not long before i encounter an increasingly common sight — the dog poo bag. this is a really gross. that's horrible. - why? - all the time. you can smell it now. yeah _ loads and loads of dog poo bags, which are not very nice. that's becoming more and more of a thing now — people bagging their dog poo and throwing it on the floor. can you understand the mentality of people that do that? i just can't. why would you put it in plastic to then go and leave it? if you didn't pick it up at all —

and, of course, there are fines for not picking it up, so, basically, i dare say the mentality is i've picked it up and put it in a bag, i can't be accused of not picking it up. but, equally, you put it in plastic, for the environment, it's ten times worse. pat runs three different litter—picking groups and has even picked up the nickname action nan. so what drives her on? it's overwhelming inasmuch as sometimes you just think that what i'm doing is such small scale — you know, how can i be making much of a difference for all the hours that i do it? but i do have, in my head, legacy for my children and grandchildren. a superhero in the fight against litter bugs. john danks, bbc news, cornwall. well done. amazing. those teams of people, notjust in cornwall but

although the country who go out of the way to pick up other people's rubbish. they do an amazing job. if that is something you do, let us know. let us know what you do to fix the problem of litter. and people who leave dog to bags. people don't want to carry it with them so they leave it to pick it up on the way back to the car or forget? i don't know. i think you are being kind. well done. let us know your local heroes cleaning up your area. still to come on breakfast. chemistry teacher turned tiktok star shabaz ali will be here just before eight. he's become known for his series i'm rich you're poor, which mocks wealthy influencers who flaunt their lavish lifestyles online. he's racked up millions of views for videos like this one, which demos

an expensive coffee machine. he does lots of those things. time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning you're watching bbc london with me, frankie mccamley. roadworkers have been telling this programme about the violent threats some of them are facing as they call for a crackdown on abusive drivers. campaigners say some highways workers have even been threatened with knives, machetes and guns. but industry experts say it's still under reported and are urging workers to come forward. i've even known of incidences where shotguns have been pulled out, objects being thrown, we get urine, dirty nappies, bottles, verbal abuse, it's a constant battle that we fight. residents living

close to the new hs2 station at old 0ak common in north west london say they're "shattered" their main road is due to be shut for four years. 0ld 0ak common lane links local residents to shops, schools and hospitals in east acton. hs2 ltd says the work is needed to lower the road for double decker buses and says it's talking to residents about options for the road closure. all of our amenities are through there and we have at the moment a bus that takes us down there. i have to go round, it's probably a two and a half mile diversion, so it could take you, i would think it could take you an hour, an hour and a half with bad traffic to get all the way round to our local shops. today the science museum in london is opening a new, free exhibition which explores how the world can generate and use energy more sustainably. those financing the display say it's one of the world's best curated galleries on energy transition.

the museum says it hopes to inspire future generations to think about innovative solutions. let's take a look at the tubes now. there's minor delays on the dlr and metropolitan lines and severe now onto the weather with sara. morning to you. not too chilly a start this morning. a lot of cloud out there at the moment and although it's not reflected on the map here, there are some outbreaks of light and patchy drizzly rain out towards the east. as we go through the day today, there is a lot of dry weather and cloudy until this afternoon, then we do have some further significant rain pushing in from the south. by the end of the day, most of us have got that weather. temperatures low double figures but not feeling quite as mild as the last couple of days. as we go through the night tonight, all of that rain is clearing away and at the moment, looks like we're going to start dry

tomorrow morning with some clear skies and a colder feel than this morning. but there are many, many bands of rain circulating around areas of low pressure for the next few days. the timing and the placement of rain may well change and it could be particularly gusty as we go through the week as well. so that's the story over the next couple of days and also there is a slightly colder feel for tomorrow and into thursday as well. but as we move towards the bank holiday weekend, it will turn quite a bit milder. we will still have some showers, though. that's it from me for now. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. the price we pay for energy is going to hit a two—year low next week, as a new price cap comes into effect. but there might be some billing problems to sort out first, as almost four million smart meters across england, scotland, wales still aren't working properly.

nina's been taking a look at this. good morning. energy price cap coming down, great, some relief but do you have a smart meter? , ., , ., �* some relief but do you have a smart meter? , . , ., �* some relief but do you have a smart meter? , ., , ., �* , meter? yes, and i shouldn't say this but i have got _ meter? yes, and i shouldn't say this but i have got one _ meter? yes, and i shouldn't say this but i have got one that _ meter? yes, and i shouldn't say this but i have got one that doesn't - but i have got one that doesn't work, i am one of the people. same! there we 90- — work, i am one of the people. same! there we 90- we _ work, i am one of the people. same! there we go. we thought _ work, i am one of the people. same! there we go. we thought hours - work, i am one of the people. same! l there we go. we thought hours worked and we went with the reading to be double sure and it didn't come three out of three. double sure and it didn't come three out of three-— a record number of people are running into problems with smart meters both at home and in businesses. in some cases giving estimated bills insread of tracking usage, orjust not working accurately, meaning too much or too little is being paid. at the moment, there are around 35 million smart meters across england, scotland and wales. that translates to around 61% of all gas and electricity meters. by the end of next year, the government hopes to have smart meters in just under three quarters of homes, which they say will help

people manage energy use and stay on top of their bills. but the most recent statistics show almost four million smart meters are working in traditional mode. that means instead of sending accurate readings, they're working on estimates. thise bills can be corrected with manual updates, but that can be tricky to fix. you might have been there, stressed and confused by high bills and overpaying. 0r possibly worse, learning you've been underpaying and being lumped with an expensive shock. so many of you have been in touch with breakfast to share your experiences. we went to meet leon and dianne, who've both had smart meter issues. more and more people have these in their homes, smart meter displays showing how much energy they are using. the smart meters themselves are increasingly faulty. when those don't work, it can have a huge

impact on your pocket. 75—year—old dianne has been having problems with hers since she changed supplier and she was unable to give manual readings because of physical disabilities. that's when her bills started to creep up. i was getting estimated bills all the time, which were about double, at least double what the monitor was suggesting that i was using. and we've been fighting this on and off now for two years. it's always on your mind. you're always... i mean, i know electricity is expensive at the moment and everybody�*s got a problem with it, but it's not knowing what they're going to charge you because they can charge you anything. british gas has apologised to dianne and an engineer has been out to resolve the issue. but it's notjust people at home having problems. leon runs a sports bar in southampton, but since it opened two years ago, his meter has been overreporting his energy use racking up

£250,000 for electricity that the venue didn't use. we were threatened with being cut off. we were told that, you know, we definitely owed this bill. and we were saying, look, we want to pay the bill, but we're not doing that until you sort out this meter. but we shouldn't have had to sit there and fight and sit there and, you know, and take all the...the pressure. it wasjust, we'd just opened up the bar and we're just trying to get, you know, get this going. so it was a massive added pressure we didn't need to have. imserv, who handled leon's meter, said when it was set up in 2020, it was for a much more energy intensive business. and when the settings were adjusted, the bill was recalculated to the correct amount. the department for energy said the vast majority of smart meters are working correctly, but said reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have shown more meters aren't working in smart mode than

previously thought. both the energy regulator 0fgem and the trade association uk energy say it's now on energy companies to look into these issues quickly and put billing errors right as soon as possible. that's the interesting thing, the more this is talk about and reported, the more we hearfrom people saying that their smart meter is not as accurate as they hoped. the advice is to contact your supplier, it doesn't feel right, it's possible that it isn't. check in regularly with those readings to be sure. thank you to both dianne and leon for sharing their stories with us and we know they're not the only viewers who've been affected by smart meters not working as they should. get in touch with us if you've also been having problems. use the qr code and the usual twitter and e—mail addresses. we'll be speaking to an expert on how to deal

with those issues later on. thank you. i think we desperately need that expert. come and fix our smart meters. it’s need that expert. come and fix our smart metere— smart meters. it's all about confidence, _ smart meters. it's all about confidence, do _ smart meters. it's all about confidence, do you - smart meters. it's all about confidence, do you trust - smart meters. it's all about confidence, do you trust it | smart meters. it's all about. confidence, do you trust it to smart meters. it's all about - confidence, do you trust it to give you the right bill, if you then recommend it to your family? if we don't believe the smart meter... i just needed to work. do you read your metre?— just needed to work. do you read your metre?_ doi just needed to work. do you read - your metre?_ do you? your metre? instead of, yes. do you? no, your metre? instead of, yes. do you? no. because — your metre? instead of, yes. do you? no. because i — your metre? instead of, yes. do you? no, because i trusted _ your metre? instead of, yes. do you? no, because i trusted my _ your metre? instead of, yes. do you? no, because i trusted my smart - no, because i trusted my smart meter. , ., , ., ., no, because i trusted my smart meter. , ., ., ., meter. john is here, and on a momentous _ meter. john is here, and on a momentous day. _ meter. john is here, and on a momentous day. it's - meter. john is here, and on a momentous day. it's about i meter. john is here, and on a - momentous day. it's about turning the temperature _ momentous day. it's about turning the temperature down. _ momentous day. it's about turning the temperature down. it - momentous day. it's about turning the temperature down. it will - momentous day. it's about turning the temperature down. it will be i momentous day. it's about turning i the temperature down. it will be hot in cardiff tonight.— in cardiff tonight. carol says it will be raining _ in cardiff tonight. carol says it will be raining as _ in cardiff tonight. carol says it will be raining as well. - in cardiff tonight. carol says it will be raining as well. it - in cardiff tonight. carol says it| will be raining as well. it could be, but a _ will be raining as well. it could be, but a nervous _ will be raining as well. it could be, but a nervous night - will be raining as well. it could be, but a nervous night for - will be raining as well. it could i be, but a nervous night for those welsh bands. they have made a habit of this, qualifying for a tournament. it of this, qualifying for a tournament.— of this, qualifying for a

tournament. , ., ., of this, qualifying for a tournament. ., ., tournament. it is so familiar. they want to make _ tournament. it is so familiar. they want to make it _ tournament. it is so familiar. they want to make it to _ tournament. it is so familiar. they want to make it to their _ tournament. it is so familiar. they want to make it to their third - want to make it to their third european championship in a row, they made it to the world cup in qatar, they did not qualify for a long time and they want to make it a habit now. it is a doing die match for them. it now. it is a doing die match for them. , . , , , them. it is incredible, they bring such an incredible _ them. it is incredible, they bring such an incredible atmosphere i them. it is incredible, they bring such an incredible atmosphere. l such an incredible atmosphere. that's what i say, it will be hot. you can guarantee the welsh support will be bringing the fire and energy. tonight is the night. the welsh fans who've become accustomed to following their side around the globe, hoping that journey will continue with a spot at euro 2024 in germany up for grabs tonight, in their play off final with poland. as hywel griffith reports. pressure? what pressure? as they prepare to take on poland, wales seem relaxed about the game, which will decide whether or not they're going to germany injune. the stakes are high, but the manager says they're relishing it. the players know the importance of the game. they know what's at stake.

they'll be fired up, ready to go, trust me. so it's about, if anything, keeping them calm. and, you know, we need 11 players on the pitch to get the job done. and we'll have a game plan, like i said, we'll be ready for the challenge and give it our best shot. so wales are just a game away from qualifying for what would be their third euros in a row. remarkable really when you consider the decades that passed before without going to any major tournaments. many in the team also had a taste of world cup football. memories of qatar may be bittersweet after they left without a win, but wales qualified for that tournament through a playoff, an experience they can draw on this evening. we've been in these games before, we've been in other big games as well, and all of our success stems from us playing as a team, all 11 of us working together when there's no egos out there, we run for each other, we work for each other, and we know we've got that backing

of the red wall in the stands, so we work for them. a 4—1win against finland last week will have given this team confidence, but wales haven't beaten poland since 1973. this evening then offers a good chance to make history. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. and that's not the only game tonight. england fresh from defeat to brazil, back in action in another friendly against belgium with declan rice set to captain his country on what will be his 50th appearance for his country. i was probably a bit of a nervous player when i first came into the england squad, but as time has gone on, you know, and i've played more premier league games, more games at higher levels, big major tournaments, i think i have grown into that during this side and i have enjoyed every single moment of it. 50 caps, you know, it's a pinch me moment. and it's not often scotland and northern ireland face each other. they both meet in a friendly at hampden park after

scotland were well beaten by the netherlands on friday, a result their manager's taken longer to get over than his players. i think they've had to pick me up. i tend to sulk a little bit longer than they do. they move on a little bit quicker than i do, because i've probably got a little bit more to think about than they have. within 2a, 36 hours, you're ready for the next game, you're looking for the next game. the real madrid forward vinciusjunior was moved to tears as he spoke about racism he's experienced in foootball. ahead of his country brazil's match with spain, he had his head in hands in a press conference, speaking about the abuse he's suffered. he said he's thought about quiiting the sport after countless incidents playing and living in spain. nottingham forest have confirmed they'll appeal the four point deduction they were given after breaching the premier league's profit and sustainability rules. an independent commission found the club's losses last season breached the threshold

of £61 million by more than £34 million. the point deduction given as punishment saw forest drop into the relegation zone. rugby union player and england scrum half danny care has called time on his international career. he won 101 caps playing for england. played in all five of england's six nations matches earlier this year. and was also part of the england squad that won six nations titles in 2011, 2016 and 2017. now, we know andy murray doesn't want any talk about the r word, retirement, but his latest injury has people wondering this morning, can he or will he return from it, in a year he has said is likely to be his last. he sustained this ankle injury at the miami 0pen late in the third set on sunday and has said he will be out for "an extended period". wimbledon gets under way in just under three months so murray's recovery will need to be swift. he's going to see a specialist

to determine his next steps. but good to see he hasn't lost his sense of humour. he said "i'll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right." perhaps he feels he will be back despite that worrying injury. katie boulter�*s impressive run at the miami 0pen came to an abrupt end in the fourth round. she was beaten in straight sets by the former world number one victoria azarenkia. boulter lost 7—5, 6—1 as azarenka booked her place in the quarter finals of the tournament for the first time since 2018. there we go, we are going to be on the murrie watch.— the murrie watch. again. i suppose at least we — the murrie watch. again. i suppose at least we know _ the murrie watch. again. i suppose at least we know that _ the murrie watch. again. i suppose at least we know that he _ the murrie watch. again. i suppose at least we know that he is - the murrie watch. again. i suppose at least we know that he is not - at least we know that he is not going to play very much longer. we do know that. but _ going to play very much longer. we do know that. but how _ going to play very much longer. we do know that. but how much - going to play very much longer. we i do know that. but how much longer? exactl , do know that. but how much longer? exactly. how — do know that. but how much longer? exactly, how much? _ do know that. but how much longer? exactly, how much? i— do know that. but how much longer? exactly, how much? i guess, - do know that. but how much longer? exactly, how much? i guess, looks,| exactly, how much? i guess, looks, hejust wants to exactly, how much? i guess, looks, he just wants to dampen things down a little bit, he knows the people will be looking at that injury, thinking is it it? it

will be looking at that in'ury, thinking is it mi thinking is it it? it is about wimbledon, _ thinking is it it? it is about wimbledon, that - thinking is it it? it is about| wimbledon, that moment. thinking is it it? it is about i wimbledon, that moment. it thinking is it it? it is about - wimbledon, that moment. it is still on the horizon, _ wimbledon, that moment. it is still on the horizon, he _ wimbledon, that moment. it is still on the horizon, he knows— wimbledon, that moment. it is still on the horizon, he knows that's - on the horizon, he knows that's where he wants to play and probably wants to bow out there. i where he wants to play and probably wants to bow out there.— wants to bow out there. i imagine so, thank wants to bow out there. i imagine so. thank you- — tens of thousands of people have already taken part in a new nhs england scheme, offering lung scans to current and past smokers. as well as a more general check—up, it's also been successful in identifying cancer in the early stages. anna varle sent this report from dorset. that's great. so you've come for a scan to look at your chest as part of the targeted lung health check programme. we're just going to move you in and out of the scan a few times while we take the pictures. in the last 1a months, the team here have carried out lung health checks on 1,500 patients, targeting people on portland and now weymouth and bournemouth. i'm just going to check your blood pressure, if that's ok. lovely job. norbert smoked for ten years when he was younger and has worked in the building trade when he came for his checkup. he was considered high risk

and sent for a ct scan. i used to smoke when i was younger. yeah, so i used to smoke. and we've got a history of cancer in the family. and sadly, last year my brother died. he was only 62, so i thought it was sensible to come for a test. thankfully, he has had the all—clear but will continue to be monitored. if the patient is low risk, we keep them under our programme until they reach the average age of 75 and we keep seeing them and doing the physical lung health check every two years. and if we see that they are high risk, we offer them a ct of their lungs at their county hospital, and that's a low dose ct and that's the physical check to see if there's any lung cancer. in areas where patients are more deprived, they have a higher rate of cancer, and it tends to present at a later stage. so by going into those areas and developing lung health checks on their doorstep, it allows us to reach out to sometimes these harder to reach groups and then pick up the cancers early.

to say this programme is saving lives is an understatement. the team here have found nine people in the early stages of cancer and a host of other conditions. there are still 100,000 people to check in dorset, but this programme will be rolled out everywhere in the coming years. anna varle, bbc news. now, it might be a little early to be thinking about a trip to be pub but scientists in kent are working with brewers to secure the future of the great british pint. do you think? no, let's go! we have already talked _ do you think? no, let's go! we have already talked about _ do you think? no, let's go! we have already talked about coffee - do you think? no, let's go! we have already talked about coffee beans i already talked about coffee beans this morning, not enough coffee beans because of climate change. scientists are trying to identify genes in hop plants that are more resilient to climate change, while also producing new

varieties and flavours of bitter. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh can tell us more. it's a great british tradition, but one that's now under threat. that distinctive flavour is down to the hops that are used in the brewing process. but there's a problem. the hop plant doesn't like the hotter, drier conditions we've had in recent decades, and production has plummeted. it's also affected that lovely bitter flavour. and with climate change, the problem is only going to get worse. dr helen cockerton is identifying genes in hundreds of different hop plants that will make them more resistant to climate change. but the new varieties also have to be acceptable to the brewing industry. brewers want good tasting beer, so they need their hops to produce the flavour profile that is particularly desirable for the beer that they hope to produce. whereas growers are more interested in having plants that are able to survive within the field,

in the presence of diseases and in the presence of droughts, but also providing a good yield in order to give them a large crop. can you have both? yes, and that's exactly what we're hoping to do. so we have some new hop varieties here in these beakers. they are all different new varieties. these new varieties are created by hop breeders such as dr clara using the rub and sniff method. this one is an american variety. smells of beer. experts can tell from the aroma what the beer will taste like and they're cross—bred with english hops that grow well in the current climate. nowadays, arguably the most important is to have competing varieties with the import hops and they have to be very fruity and punchy. clara then asks a brewer to make beer out of her new hops for a taste test. but this entire process can take up to ten years to develop a commercial beer.

but identifying the key genes can dramatically shorten the development time. if we can speed up this breeding process because we know what traits to look for in the dna, it will be much easier to select those plants that we want to breed again with. and the research will also speed up the selection of genes to produce the stronger flavours that beer drinkers want these days. the great news on this, from my perspective, is that sort of ten to 15 years ago when new varieties were being given to me to have a little rub and a sniff of, i was skeptical that we could grow intense varieties in this climate. and what we've, what the breeders have definitely shown in the last couple of years is that absolutely we can. britain's oldest brewing company in faversham in kent says that the research is vital for the future of the british pint. i mean, i think without it, it's going to die off.

i mean, those hops are vital to the british pint. whether it's a new british pint or an old school british pint. but without that, we're just going to be importing beer. we won't have that culture here any more. it's a race against time, with british summers becoming hotter and drier. but the scientists are optimistic that their research will give brewers a fighting chance of saving the pint. pallab ghosh, bbc news. jealous, aren't you? i am a bit, that looked good.— jealous, aren't you? i am a bit, that looked good. jealous, aren't you? i am a bit, that looked aood. ., . , , that looked good. how many he sample comedy think— that looked good. how many he sample comedy think that _ that looked good. how many he sample comedy think that i _ that looked good. how many he sample comedy think that i could _ that looked good. how many he sample comedy think that i could anyone - comedy think that i could anyone seen him afterwards? == comedy think that i could anyone seen him afterwards?— comedy think that i could anyone seen him afterwards? -- how many did he sample. _ seen him afterwards? -- how many did he sample. do — seen him afterwards? -- how many did he sample. do you _ seen him afterwards? -- how many did he sample, do you think? _ seen him afterwards? -- how many did he sample, do you think? has - seen him afterwards? -- how many did he sample, do you think? has anyone i he sample, do you think? has anyone seen him since?— seen him since? let's get the weather now _ seen him since? let's get the weather now with _ seen him since? let's get the weather now with carol. -

it will be unsettled over the next few days, heavy with downpours and some heavy hail and thunder and lightning. don't forget that the clocks go forward heralding the start of british summer time this weekend, who would think so looking at the forecast? some hill snow, across wales and parts of the cells we have another weather front, fragmented but it will rejuvenate through the day, so the rain will turn heavier northwards and eastwards. the second weather front will enhance showers. a cloudy start, some of us have a bright start, some of us have a bright start, brightness across parts of the midlands and east anglia, but drizzly conditions coming out of the cloud. the weather front has fragmented overnight but it is rejuvenating through the day and pushing north. southern england, the midlands and parts of wales, getting into northern ireland. five in the

north to 13 in norwich. this evening and overnight, the same weather front continues to journey north. it is wrapped around an area of low pressure, and if you follow it around you can see showers coming in behind it, through wales and the south—west and northern ireland. as that weather front bums into the cold air in scotland, above 150 metres we will see some snow. some snow falling here as well. we start off with rain, sleet and snow tomorrow in the north, and we have showers pushing east and north through the day. dry conditions in between, a blustery day, strongest winds in the north and south, particularly through the english channel. 0vernight from wednesday into thursday, low pressure still with us and still driving the

weather. showers rotating around it, and thursday is looking like quite a showery and windy day. gales is through the english channel, and you can see these showers pushing north and east, heavy downpours, some of them have some hail and thunder and lightning in them. temperatures to 12 degrees. good friday, fewer showers, still some around, dry weather in between. the shower is well scattered, but some of them could be heavy, they could be thundery and these are the temperatures, eight to 13 degrees. as we head to the easter weekend, fewer showers on saturday, a bit more sunshine, and later on sunday we see rain coming up from the south overnight into easter monday, pushing into scotland. on easter monday at more rain across wales and south—west england. not a complete wash—out this easter weekend but

there is still some rain around. hat there is still some rain around. not brilliant there is still some rain around. iirrt brilliant either, is it? thank you, carol. the photographer brian aris has trained his lens on some of the biggest music stars over the years from david bowie to kate bush, george michael and sting. he also worked closely with the rolling stones taking enough pictures to fill a whole exhibition, which is now opening near hastings. 0ur reporter piers hopkirk was given a sneak preview. 1981 and ahead of a giant us tour that was to gross more than $50 million, the rolling stones gathered in massachusetts to rehearse. we'd had a call saying, "do you want to go and do some work with the stones? they're rehearsing near boston and it's all secret. but we could get you out there for a few days." so brian aris was afforded a glimpse, offered only

to a trusted few — behind the scenes with the stones. but suddenly, at dinner at eight, nine, ten o'clock at night, they would arrive, have something to eat and then become the rolling stones. and i think to see that was, you know, it was a privilege, really. i thought, this is crazy. i'm sitting on the floor in front of one of the biggest rock and roll bands in the world and there's no one else here. brian built up a rapport with the whole band over the years, entrusted with some of their most intimate portraits, though mick's was the face that launched a thousand clicks. when he grinned, he had this... i had no idea what was what was happening. i suddenly saw this glint, and he had a diamond in his teeth. of course, the problem is when people have asked to use that picture ever since, to this day we get the phone call or we get an email saying, "you haven't retouched it. he's got something in his tooth."

no, no, no, no, no, it's a diamond, it's a diamond! # it doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there. name a major music event and brian was there, like the prince's trust concert in �*86 whenjagger teamed up with bowie. # they'll be dancing, dancing in the street. when you walked in the room with david bowie, the room took notice. a bit like the princess of wales. and so when you combine him with jagger? yeah, you put the two of them together, its just absolute magic, isn't it? # i can't get no satisfaction... thanks to him, we have this glimpse behind the curtain, preserving part of a cultural history that would have been lost if he hadn't been there. a rare insight into the world's most enduring rock and roll band. piers hopkirk, bbc news.

brilliant pictures. i didn't know about the diamond. find brilliant pictures. i didn't know about the diamond.— brilliant pictures. i didn't know about the diamond. and you were sa in: , about the diamond. and you were saying. how _ about the diamond. and you were saying, how alike _ about the diamond. and you were saying, how alike mick _ about the diamond. and you were saying, how alike mick jagger - about the diamond. and you were saying, how alike mick jagger and j saying, how alike mickjagger and harry styles are. saying, how alike mick jagger and harry styles are-— saying, how alike mick jagger and harry styles are. yeah, as he gets older. earlier on the programme we looked at the work of pat smith, also known as action nan, who is helping to keep the uk's coastline clean by litter—picking. we asked you to send in any photos of people you know doing their best to keep britain clean and free of rubbish. tracy sent us an email to let us know that her 7—year—old daughterjessica loves to litter—pick after school, as she thinks that it is destroying the environment. well done, jessica! cathy sent us a message and told us about the work of �*the new brighteners' — a voluntary community group who clean up the beautiful beaches of new brighton in merseyside. lots of bags to fill there.

and finally, here's six—year—old alex who was litter picking on barmston beach east yorkshire. 0bviously working very hard, well done, alex. we obviously working very hard, well done. alem— obviously working very hard, well done, alex. we would love to see some more _ done, alex. we would love to see some more pictures _ done, alex. we would love to see some more pictures from - done, alex. we would love to see some more pictures from you - done, alex. we would love to see some more pictures from you this morning, your litter picking heroes, especially as we try to get that national big spring clean under way for the easter weekend, feels like the right time to be doing it. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning, you're watching bbc london with me frankie mccamley roadworkers have been telling this program about the violent threats some of them are facing as they call for a crackdown on abusive drivers. campaigners say some highways workers have even been threatened with knives, machetes and guns. but industry experts say its still under reported and are urging workers to come forward. 0ne one time someone pulled a gun on me.

we put the lane closure on, traffic was still running fine and he was like, what do you do? and with that unzipped his jacket and pulled a gun and held it over my face. four people are in hospital — two of them with critical injuries — after a head—on crash between two cars in walthamstow. scotland yard says the driver of one of them ran away from the scene in hoe street on sunday evening and hasn't yet been traced. but a woman who was also in that car has been arrested. a man's art exhibition is telling the story of recovery after his wife was hit by a lorry whilst cycling along the embankment two years ago. dr nedah darabi had to have her right foot amputated as a result, and now walks with an artificial leg. her husband tom berry has opened the exhibition at lewisham arthouse featuring art he made after she was injured. working through things, emotions and feelings and experiences from the last two years, and putting it

into paint and colour, and having that time alone and creating something that i hope is beautiful. that's very therapeutic. let's take a look at the tubes. things seem to have cleared on the metropolitan line but we have severe delays on the district and minor delays on the district and minor delays on the dlr. now onto the weather with sara. morning to you. not too chilly a start this morning. a lot of cloud out there at the moment and although it's not reflected on the map here, there are some outbreaks of light and patchy drizzly rain out towards the east. as we go through the day today, there is a lot of dry weather and cloudy until this afternoon, then we do have some further significant rain pushing in from the south. by the end of the day, most of us have got that wet weather. temperatures low double figures but not feeling quite as mild as the last couple of days.

as we go through the night tonight, all of that rain is clearing away and, at the moment, looks like we're going to start dry tomorrow morning with some clear skies and a colder feel than this morning. but there are many, many bands of rain circulating around areas of low pressure for the next few days. the timing and the placement of rain may well change and it could be particularly gusty as we go through the week as well. so that's the story over the next couple of days and also there is a slightly colder feel for tomorrow and into thursday as well. but as we move towards the bank holiday weekend, it will turn quite a bit milder. we will still have some showers, though. head to our website to see more on london zoo's new amphibian display of unusual species. good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. 0ur headlines. cody's law — the family of a footballer murdered in a birmingham nightclub have

called for body scanners and bleed kits to be installed in all venues. when smart meters are anything but. average energy bills are about to go down, but we hear your stories of bills going up because smart meters are faulty. we ask what you can do if your meter is faulty. heavily armed federal agents raid the homes of rapper sean "diddy" combs — it's reported to be part of an investigtion into sex trafficing allegations. in sport. the welsh fans are dreaming of another major tournament. can they get there tonight, with qualification to this summer's euros in germany at stake, as they face poland in cardiff. we are looking at heavy downpours and it will often be windy but from good friday into the easter weekend, fewer showers, good friday into the easter weekend, fewershowers, more good friday into the easter weekend, fewer showers, more sunshine, good friday into the easter weekend, fewershowers, more sunshine, until easter sunday, when rain comes up from the south. all the details later.

it's tuesday, 26th of march. the family of a footballer who was stabbed to death in a nightclub in birmingham on boxing day in 2022 have called for body scanners and bleed kits to be installed in all venues. two men have been found guilty of the murder of 23—year—old cody fisher who was attacked two days after he had brushed past one of the men in a busy bar. 0ur midlands correspondent phil mackie reports. # happy birthday, dear cody. this is cody fisher on his final birthday. he was killed for the most trivial of reasons. the man who planned his murder was remy gordon, seen here in a bar on christmas eve arguing with cody because he'd brushed past him. two days later, in the crane nightclub in birmingham, he and his friends tracked cody down and launched a violent attack. the 23—year—old died on the dance floor. nothing to do with gangs. it's nothing to do with street crime. this is over absolutely nothing.

and the lives ruined — you know, cody's life lost. his family, his family's lives are ruined, no matter what the outcome, no matter what sentence. these were the people responsible for cody's murder arriving at the club earlier — remy gordon and kami carpenter. security checks were cursory, even though metal detectors were available. earlier, cody had arrived with his best friend and his girlfriend and they were surprised by the lax checks. i don't know how they're not using the metal detectors in big events like this. they know it's going to be like massive. like, you can see by the amount of tickets that have been sold and just letting people get in with a little tap down — it's not good enough. i can remember saying to code that it's dangerous because, you know, we did see people with the balloon canisters and stuff that night and ijust couldn't understand how you could get that into such a big place with so many security. and i can remember saying to him that's dangerous. and he said, "i know." and then a few hours later,

he was stabbed to death. the crane club lost its licence as a result of cody's death and has never reopened. the bbc approached its owners and the security firm for a comment, but hasn't received a response. his friends and family are campaigning for cody's law. they want it to be compulsory for clubs to use scanners when people come in and they also say they should all have kits that contain bandages and tourniquets so that if anyone is stabbed, they can be kept alive long enough for the paramedics to arrive. they must use body scanners. you know, i cannot believe — i could not believe and still cannot believe, in this country, that it's not mandatory. now the people who loved him would like his legacy to be a law that could save lives in the future. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. inafew in a few minutes we will talk about

another aspect of the justice system in relation to the nottingham attacks which you remember happened last summer and asking what happens after a review, the first of a number of reviews, was published yesterday. but now sally has more news and a big health story. the general medical council has started a consultation into how physician associates, who support doctors but don't have a medical degree, are regulated. the family of a woman who died after being seen by a physician associate instead of a doctor is calling for tighter controls and clarity for patients. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has more. # happy birthday to you. emily chesterton was only 30 when she died in november 2022. a pulmonary embolism — a dangerous blood clot that spreads to the lungs — was misdiagnosed by a physician associate on two occasions when she visited her gp surgery. we didn't know that she hadn't seen a fully qualified doctor and,

if i'd known, i would have marched her straight back in. i would have gone straight back in. i would have taken her to a&e. but because i trusted that she'd seen a doctor, i didn't, and that's the guilt that i felt. emily's case illustrates some of the concerns around plans to greatly expand the number of physician associates — known as pas — working in the health service. pas are graduates, usually with a health or life sciences degree. they've also undertaken two years of postgraduate training. they work under the supervision of a doctor and theirjobs can include diagnosis, physical examinations and analysing test results. well, these are roles that aren't currently regulated at all. they are roles that have been around for some time. the government plans to increase the number of these roles. so we hope that by bringing them into regulation, we will be able to improve patient safety, but also give the public the confidence that these are people that they can trust with their care.

so this consultation will examine how the regulator, the general medical council, will deliver the rules, standards and guidance for pas and also the similar roles of anaesthesia associates. most pas work in gp surgeries and urgent and emergency medicine. how they will be regulated is an issue because, in england, the nhs and the government have said they will increase the pa workforce to 10,000 from around 3,300 at present. the doctors union, the bma, has called for a more restricted role for pas, a move it said was needed to improve patient safety. dominic hughes, bbc news. israel's prime minister has cancelled meetings with american officials after the us did not veto calls by the un security council for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knelljoins us now. can you explain how strained relations are between israel and the

us? i relations are between israel and the us? 4' . ., relations are between israel and the us? ~ ., us? i think we can say relations between president _ us? i think we can say relations between president joe - us? i think we can say relations between president joe biden . us? i think we can say relations| between president joe biden and between presidentjoe biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has always been difficult but this has pushed them to an all—time low and we had strong rebukes from the israeli prime minister after the us abstention at the un security council where it has previously shielded israel after demands for a ceasefire. the israelis say the abstention by the americans meant hamas felt it could get a ceasefire without it being linked to the release of remaining israeli hostages in gaza. it was denied that was the case, they say there should be no impact on israel's ability to go after hamas and that they are not going to start leveraging us assistance, particularly military assistance, to the israelis and this continues as

usual. 0n the ground, you can see this has made little difference in terms of the reaction by israel or hamas. you have fighting going on. and hours after the resolution, we had a major setback it seems in the ongoing truce talks taking place in qatar through mediators and with hamas saying it is going back to original demands of wanting a full withdrawal of israeli troops and the israeli prime minister's office saying this was unrealistic and vowed to press on with its offensive. veterans ministerjohnny mercer has been given until the 5th of april to disclose the names of special forces officers he says told him about civilian murders in afghanistan. mr mercer has been given ten days to provide the information to an independent inquiry or face a potential prison sentence. a convoy of more than 100 tractors caused traffic to come to a stand—still in london, as farmers staged a go—slow protest.

they say that low—cost agricultural imports, misleading food labelling and increased costs are putting british food security at risk. the government says it's putting farming at the heart of british trade. federal agents have raided properties belonging to the american rapper sean �*diddy�* combs in los angeles and miami, as part of an ongoing investigation. the hip—hop star has faced several lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct — his lawyers have denied the allegations. 0ur north america correspondent david willis has this report. aerial footage shows heavily armed federal agents storming sean combs' los angeles mansion as part of a bicoastal operation that also targeted his waterfront property in miami. several people were placed in handcuffs while agents searched the sprawling premises in la. combs' whereabouts and what officials were looking for hasn't been revealed. but a statement from the us homeland security department said the raids

were part of what it called an ongoing investigation that is thought to relate to allegations of sex trafficking. formerly known as puff daddy, sean combs is one of the most influential hip—hop producers of his generation. a three times grammy award winner, he also founded his own record label, fashion line and television network before being accused last november by his former girlfriend, the singer cassie ventura, of domestic violence. her lawsuit, which also accused combs of sex trafficking, was settled out of court, but paved the way to sexual assault allegations from several other individuals. sean combs has yet to comment on these latest developments, but in a statement released in december, he accused those involved of seeking to destroy his legacy in return for what he called a quick payday. david willis, bbc news, los angeles.

the prime minister is to be grilled by mps today, ahead of the parliamentary easter recess. rishi sunak will face questions from select committee chairs on global issues, the economy and public services, and strategic planning. chief political correspondent henry zeffmanjoins us. the prime minister is normally very well prepared in these situations? i think you have to be. this is the kind of mega boss of select committees made up of chairs of other select committees, the mps from different parties who usually scrutinise departments. here they will scrutinise the prime minister. it is a hard session for prime minister and happens to— three times a year because at one moment you might answer questions about health policy and the next question, an

important matter of foreign policy. for rishi sunak, who prides himself on his mastery of detail, it is an opportunity to show mps and the country that he is across the wide brief the prime minister covers. worth noting it is the last thing he will do in parliament for a few weeks because today is the last day of this parliamentary term and mps are going off for easter. a lot of mps will be in their constituencies and a lot of them, conservatives in particular, campaigning for local elections taking place in early may. it varies in england and wales what is up for it varies in england and wales what is upfor grabs, it varies in england and wales what is up for grabs, whether it is a council, police and crime no, but everyone will have an opportunity in england and wales to record a verdict in some sort on the conservative party. what the mps here on the doorstep could get two important questions on rishi sunak�*s leadership when they get back to

parliament. so what comes next could be hard. here's carol with the weather. a spectacular picture. it is lovely. this picture is from a weather watcher taken today. it is from perth. you can see snow. we have seen snow moving northwards across scotland on higher ground and heavy rain. we also have another weather front fragmented through the course of the night across parts of wales and southern england. a lot of cloud to start, some of it producing drizzle. 0vernight rain and hill snow easing with bright skies developing. further south, snow easing with bright skies developing. furthersouth, cloudy, we have a weather front across northern ireland, wales, the isle of wight. the south—west is brighter. brighter in parts of the midlands and east anglia but what will happen

is the weather front in the south will reinvigorate through the course of the day and continue to push slowly northwards and eastwards. it will cloud overhead of it. temperatures range from five in the north, 12—13 in the south. 0vernight, the same weather front journeys steadily northwards. engaging with cold air in the highlands and we will see again hill snow. we will have showers across northern ireland, wales and south—west england. some clear skies. looking at temperatures falling as low as possibly —3, “4. the next couple of days we have heavy downpours but with the easter weekend, fewer showers until sunday, when we see rain in the latter stages of easter sunday.

today we will see the first part of a major review into the nhs trust where valdo calocane was being treated for mental illness, before he went on to stab three people to death in nottingham. you'll remember that injune last year, calocane killed university students barnaby webber and grace 0'malley—kumar, as well as school caretaker ian coates. their families have questioned the care that he received in the years leading up to the attacks. valdo calocane was originally charged with murder. but injanuary he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. he was given a hospital order. this is also something the families have criticised — as well as calling for homicide laws to be changed following a separate review which was published yesterday, into how the crown prosecution service handled the case. we've never disputed calocane's mental—health problem, but what i would say, at the moment, in this country, if you commit murder and you have mental health issues,

then it's very unlikely that you are actually going to be tried for murder. and it is abhorrent that it could be downgraded to manslaughterjust because it's how the law is stated. and although inspectors concluded in their report that prosecutors were right to accept manslaughter pleas under the current laws, they have also called on the government to consider a new offence of second—degree murder. what the law commission said is there should be first—degree murder, second—degree murder, manslaughter. and, on that basis, in this case, if the recommendations had been accepted, calocane would have been charged and tried against second—degree murder, he would be a murderer and that's what the families, when we engage with them, really have said. so, going forward, the government really need to think about whether,

for public confidence' sake, they need to consider the homicide laws in this country. we're joined by nazir afzal, former chief crown prosecutor for north west england. good morning. your reaction, with your experience, to the findings yesterday. your experience, to the findings esterda . ,., ., your experience, to the findings esterda . ., your experience, to the findings yesterday-— your experience, to the findings esterda . ., ., yesterday. good morning. i was not surrised. yesterday. good morning. i was not surprised. unfortunately, _ yesterday. good morning. i was not surprised. unfortunately, the - yesterday. good morning. i was not surprised. unfortunately, the law. yesterday. good morning. i was not surprised. unfortunately, the law is the law and it has been outlined by the law and it has been outlined by the chief inspector of the cps. the cps had no option. the law stipulates that if a murderer suffers from mental impairment and it leads to diminished responsibility, the only charge that can be preferred is manslaughter and i also agree with what mr rogers said. 18 years ago, the law commission said our laws on murder

are out of date and they recommended first degree murder, second—degree, third—degree murder. it is symbolic. the word murder is symbolic to all of the families i have had the privilege to meet who have lost a loved one to a killing. they have said that had the perpetrator being convicted of murder, somehow that would give them more closure then being convicted of manslaughter. it is years as you says is that was recommended, we change the way classifications happen. do you think it is now something that might happen? i it is now something that might ha en? ., , it is now something that might ha en? .,, it is now something that might hauen? ., it is now something that might hauen? happen? i hope so. it was a labour government— happen? i hope so. it was a labour government who _ happen? i hope so. it was a labour government who ordered _ happen? i hope so. it was a labour government who ordered the - happen? i hope so. it was a labour government who ordered the law. government who ordered the law commission to look at this. the labour government ran out of time in 2010 to continue the legislative change. undoubtedly there will be

pressure to revisit what was something everyone was in support of 18 years ago. lawyers do not like change which is one reason why things have stayed the same almost 200 years. but we are out of kilter with the rest of the world who has addressed this issue and that would give some closure to families. there is nothing we can say that will reduce their pain but i have learned from experience that when a conviction for murder follows what happened, somehow that means more to them than a conviction for manslaughter.— them than a conviction for manslaughter. them than a conviction for manslau . hter. ,., manslaughter. one thing the report did hiuuhliht manslaughter. one thing the report did highlight was _ manslaughter. one thing the report did highlight was communication i manslaughter. one thing the reportl did highlight was communication and perhaps mistakes in communication between the authorities and families. what more needs to be done and what would have made a difference here?— and what would have made a difference here? ,, , , , , difference here? quite simply, it is a misunderstanding. _ difference here? quite simply, it is a misunderstanding. expectations. a misunderstanding. expectations were raised. people think a

consultation, the prosecutor required to consult with the victims' families. but it does not mean negotiation, it means you inform them, hear what they have to say. like a doctor giving you a diagnosis of cancer, you do not argue about whether it is cancer, you look at what follows from there. i think what happened here was the prosecutors as i understand from the report did meet with some or all of the families during this time but perhaps that correspondence, communication was not what they thought it was. there is no substitute for relentless communication. constantly being in touch with each other to explain what is going on and provide a level of reassurance, even if you cannot do what they want you to do, what you are able to do is say you have heard them. i you are able to do is say you have heard them-—

heard them. i have sat in a room with their — heard them. i have sat in a room with their families _ heard them. i have sat in a room with their families and _ heard them. i have sat in a room with their families and they - heard them. i have sat in a room with their families and they said | with their families and they said that. it was a last—minute revelation to them plea would change and they thought they were heading down one route and before it came to court it was different and they said evenif court it was different and they said even if they had known there were other possibilities, that would help them. we are talking about a family focused justice system but it is not happening. focused justice system but it is not ha eninu. ., focused justice system but it is not ha eninu. . ,., focused justice system but it is not haueninu. ., ,. ., focused justice system but it is not haueninu. ., ., ., happening. that is a whole other argument- _ happening. that is a whole other argument. the _ happening. that is a whole other argument. the mantra _ happening. that is a whole other argument. the mantra that - happening. that is a whole other. argument. the mantra that victims are the centre of the justice system is false. it is for the convenience of lawyers and others. you are an afterthought. what you said is clear. it is notjust about one off discussion, may be a last—minute, they should be at the front of your mind as a prosecutor, court

official, police officer, the people you engage with all the time to provide them with that level... everyone would have known when he was charged with murder, if a psychiatrist comes back, in this case four, came back and said you are mentally impaired, they could have prepared the families rather than having a one—off meeting at some point when it is dropped on them like a stone. regular communication, proper engagement, listening to what they have to say is the way forward and only way forward. ., ~ , ., fox hunting has been banned for almost 20 years in england and wales, and trail hunting is now a legal alternative — which sees a scent laid for hounds and riders to chase instead. campaign groups often watch and record the hunts to ensure no animals are hurt. but in east yorkshire, those on both sides say tensions are at an all—time high. linsey smith reports.

hunting needs to be preserved. some people say it's stronger than the church in the countryside. many, manyjobs depend on it. trail hunting is generallyj a smoke screen for them to continue to illegally hunt. they've got a fox! and when they don't get what they want, they become aggressive. i genuinely thought - i was going to be trampled and i was scared for my life. please, can you stop, please? i'm a man, you don't want to say you're scared, but you never know who's behind that mask. it's the last meeting of the season for the holderness hunt, a group for whom hunting is more than sport. it's a load of like—minded people, and it's just a social cohesion, it's a community spirit. some people say it's stronger than the church in the countryside.

as riders gather, so do the hull wildlife protectors group. we just try and monitor the hunt and monitor for any wildlife crimes. and if they're committed, then we evidence them and report them to the humberside task force. both groups say they're experiencing more tension and aggression than ever before. don't put that in my face! hunting with dogs is illegal. what's perfectly legal is for the holderness hunt to set a scent trail and to chase that with their pack of hounds. i've got a scent on a rag and i'm running a mile and a half pulling this behind me for the hounds to follow. the tension comes when an animal is killed in that process. like this incident last year. they've got a fox. call them off, do the right thing. got a fox, south of

the plantation now. leave it, leave it! bleep. this incident was investigated by humberside police. no further action was taken because of insufficient evidence that the fox kill was intentional. hull wildlife protectors say they've reported three incidents of wildlife crime this year. is it alljust a smoke screen? it couldn't be a smoke screen. with trail hunting, you can't do ifs, buts and maybes. it's absolutes and definites when you're laying trails. foxes do get killed at times. well, you know, you're going in the countryside, you've got how many animals living in the countryside, accidents will happen. anybody got eyes on hounds? is the tension getting worse here? 100%. you know, whether it's threats of them telling me they know who i am, my name, where i live, i had somebody

repeatedly run their horse at me. please stop it. people like you... please, please, please, please, can you stop, please? i genuinely thought i was going to be trampled and i was scared for my life, to be honest. but the tension is felt on both sides. tom is the huntsman whose full time job is to care for the hounds. there were points where the antis would turn up at the kennels at 3:30 in the morning, sit in three or four cars. why are you sat outside my house? where i am, where my kids are? it can make you quite anxious. you never know who is behind that mask. are you scared at all? i'm a man, you don't want to say you're scared, but when there's people sitting outside your house at 3.30 in the morning, what do you think? tom said he's reported harassment to humberside police. we approached humberside police for comment on the tensions. both the holderness hunt and hull wildlife protectors say none of their members have been charged with crimes relating

to the hunt this year. during ourfilming, no animals were killed. we witnessed trail hunting, trespass and tension in this idyllic corner of east yorkshire. lindsey smith, bbc news. we've been talking about smart meters this morning — millions of them aren't working properly and a new energy price cap is about to be introduced. we discovered ours aren't working properly. a lot of you sharing experiences in homes of your own. nina went through the e—mails. 35 million smart meters in the uk and we know there is an estimate about 4 million, just over one in ten, are not working properly. we have had dozens of e—mails. vicki in pontefract said she had a faulty smart meter and companies are not

proactive enough. some people distress. john said my smart meters stopped sending readings last november. my wife and i are over 80 and unable to read our meter. gillian said we have always said no and we give our readings to the supply and that works well. the thing is, you are encouraged to use smart meters. the government encourage that. you can get better deals sometimes. it is a tricky decision. it is possible, that people are watching and thinking the bill did not seem right and maybe i need to send in a reading and i am pretty sure many of them will have surprises. with the price cap about to change it is important people get on top of this? we will talk about this next week. average bills will come down with the average price cap and important.

and get the meter reading in quick. a bridge has partially collapsed in baltimore, maryland after a cargo ship collided with it. these are the pictures. look at this. baltimore city police said workers are possibly in the water following the collapse of key bridge. it isi.6 it is1.6 miles it is 1.6 miles long. the authority posted on social media that all lanes are closed in both directions due to an incident. this is the image again. an incident it says on the bridge. it looks to me maybe thatis the bridge. it looks to me maybe that is the ship on the left. it might have collided with it. traffic being redirected. maryland is on the

eastern seaboard of the us. not far from washington. quite extraordinary pictures. as we mentioned, authorities there confirming there is a possibility workers are in the water. that has happened during the night in america and we will bring the latest as the programme goes on. time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning, you're watching bbc london with me, frankie mccamley. roadworkers have been telling this programme about the violent threats some of them are facing as they call for a crackdown on abusive drivers. campaigners say some highways workers have even been threatened with knives, machetes and guns. but industry experts say it's still under reported and are urging workers to come forward. i've even known of incidences where shotguns have been pulled out, objects being thrown,

we get urine, dirty nappies, bottles, verbal abuse, its a constant battle that we fight. residents living close to the new hs2 station at 0ld 0ak common in north west london say they're "shattered" their main road is due to be shut forfour years. 0ld 0ak common lane links local residents to shops, schools and hospitals in east acton. hs2 says the work is needed to lower the road for double decker buses and says it's talking to residents about options for the road closure. all of our amenities are through there and we have at the moment a bus that takes us down there. i have to go round, it's probably a two and a half mile diversion, so it could take you, i would think it could take you an hour, an hour and a half with bad traffic to get all the way round to our local shops.

a man's art exhibition is telling the story of recovery after his wife was hit by a lorry whilst cycling along the embankment two years ago. dr nedah darabi had to have her right foot amputated as a result, and now walks with an artificial leg. her husband tom berry has opened the exhibition at lewisham arthouse featuring art he made after she was injured. let's take a look at the tubes now. severe delays on the district line, minor delays on the dlr. now onto the weather with sara. morning to you. not too chilly a start this morning. a lot of cloud out there at the moment and although it's not reflected on the map here, there are some outbreaks of light and patchy drizzly rain out towards the east. as we go through the day today, there is a lot of dry weather and cloudy until this afternoon, then we do have some further significant rain pushing in from the south. by the end of the day, most of us have got that wet weather. temperatures low double figures

but not feeling quite as mild as the last couple of days. as we go through the night tonight, all of that rain is clearing away and at the moment, looks like we're going to start dry tomorrow morning with some clear skies and a colder feel than this morning. but there are many, many bands of rain circulating around areas of low pressure for the next few days. the timing and the placement of rain may well change and it could be particularly gusty as we go through the week as well. so that's the story over the next couple of days and also there is a slightly colder feel for tomorrow and into thursday as well. but as we move towards the bank holiday weekend, it will turn quite a bit milder. we will still have some showers, though. head to our website to find out how canary wharf has been tranformed into canary whoof this week. i'll be back in half an hour, see you then. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. £850 million of funding for special educational needs and disabilities the government has announced details of how it's going to spend £850 million of funding for special

educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision in schools in england. figures released last week showed that around two—thirds of special schools in england were at or over capacity. but the government says the money will provide 60,000 additional places. we're nowjoined by the education secretary gillian keegan. good morning, thank you forjoining us. good morning, thank you for “oining us. ~ ., . ., good morning, thank you for “oining us. a, g ., can good morning, thank you for “oining us.— can we h good morning, thank you for “oining ue— can we be h good morning, thank you forjoining us._ can we be clear, l us. morning, jon. can we be clear, is this genuinely _ us. morning, jon. can we be clear, is this genuinely new _ us. morning, jon. can we be clear, is this genuinely new money - us. morning, jon. can we be clear, is this genuinely new money we i us. morning, jon. can we be clear, i is this genuinely new money we have not heard about before or is this money you have told us about before and you are now telling us how it will be spent? 26c} and you are now telling us how it will be spent?— will be spent? 260 in total but 850 million we are _ will be spent? 260 in total but 850 million we are announcing - will be spent? 260 in total but 850 million we are announcing today i will be spent? 260 in total but 850 million we are announcing today is| million we are announcing today is the last tranche which is going to be on free schools because we are trying to build more places. 60,000 more places which is a massive

increase and it should meet most of the demand we are aware of. that is in stark contrast, under the last government, last labour government, we decrease special educational needs basis. this should make a big difference. it will take us some time to build, some of them have already been built, and some will be built from today, it's a huge investment and we want to make sure we have the right provision for kids with special educational needs. going back to my question, this money is coming out of funds we have already had about? 2.6 money is coming out of funds we have already had about?— already had about? 2.6 billion is the total, this _ already had about? 2.6 billion is the total, this 850 _ already had about? 2.6 billion is the total, this 850 million - already had about? 2.6 billion is the total, this 850 million is - already had about? 2.6 billion is the total, this 850 million is the | the total, this 850 million is the last tranche, to build a lot of new free schools across and add capacity all across the country. so it free schools across and add capacity all across the country.— all across the country. so it isn't new money- _ all across the country. so it isn't new money. but _ all across the country. so it isn't new money. but you _ all across the country. so it isn't new money. but you clearly - all across the country. so it isn't new money. but you clearly say| all across the country. so it isn't. new money. but you clearly say it all across the country. so it isn't - new money. but you clearly say it is going to make a difference. i wonder when it will make a difference to the families who are getting ready

for school this morning who are watching and desperately need special needs provision for their kids and their grandkids, surely it is going to be years before these schools are built and the places are created. ,, ., schools are built and the places are created. ., ., ., ., , created. some of them we are already doinu , so created. some of them we are already doing. so there _ created. some of them we are already doing, so there are _ created. some of them we are already doing, so there are a _ created. some of them we are already doing, so there are a lot, _ created. some of them we are already doing, so there are a lot, we - created. some of them we are already doing, so there are a lot, we have - doing, so there are a lot, we have been doing this is steadily for the last few years. so we have built more mainstream provision, special educational support in mainstream but these are specialist schools. 0ne but these are specialist schools. one of the things we are trying to do is increase these overall places by 60,000 which is a big increase. 0ne by 60,000 which is a big increase. one of the things that people do not know, about 38% of youth the provision in special educational needs are small private schools, the same ones that will be getting whacked with a 20% education tax so we will be saying this is very damaging to reduce the number of places if they took that fallacy all the way through. —— that policy all the way through. —— that policy all the way through. —— that policy all the way through. -- that policy all

the way through.— the way through. -- that policy all the way through. government figures last week said _ the way through. government figures last week said that _ the way through. government figures last week said that two _ the way through. government figures last week said that two thirds - the way through. government figures last week said that two thirds in - last week said that two thirds in special schools in england, existing special schools in england, existing special schools in england, existing special schools are already at capacity or overcapacity, a shortage of places. these 60,000 new places, just reassure parents, when will those 60,000 new places come into effect? we those 60,000 new places come into effect? ~ ., ., ., effect? we are doing them all the time, effect? we are doing them all the time. there _ effect? we are doing them all the time, there are _ effect? we are doing them all the time, there are new— effect? we are doing them all the time, there are new schools - effect? we are doing them all the l time, there are new schools coming on all the time. to build a new school, complete new school takes two to three years. so some of these will already have sites, some of them will not have sites, some of them will not have sites, some of them will not have sites, some of them will have trusts, most have trusts allocated and we will be building them out. we have already built 90 odd that we have already been building as well. so you will find some of them, in my own area, i have already got special educational needs school which has been announced which is being built but is not yet available. they are coming on stream all the time. 60,000 new places, we have done more

than any other government to build special educational needs provision, we are training more educational psychologists, and also making sure that the nhs and others are working with schools to help train teachers how to spot special educational needs and support children. so we don't have to go through such a tough system for parents to get the support that they need. there is a lot of work going on to improve this. we really do care to get the right provision for these children. at the same time, only last week, 30 mps from all parties including your own wrote a letter to the chancellor saying an awful lot more is required. 4.6 billion extra support for special needs required every year and what you are announcing today doesn't come close to that. in addition we have increased the high needs budget so it has gone up to 10.5 billion which is a 60% increase over the last five years. that is to

recognise the increased pressure on budgets. we also have some special schemes to work with councils delivering better value and the safety valve scheme which can help councils with special educational needs pressure, some of which is caused because they don't have enough places so this will help to have places closer to whether provision is needed, there will be capacity increases all across the country and it will massively help councils to offer the right services. all of us want to do the right thing and offer the right services to these children. the association — services to these children. the association of _ services to these children. the association of school and college leaders say this is great, any money is welcome but they say there is still a huge crisis in the special educational needs system. is this injection of money and acknowledgement that there is a crisis? brute acknowledgement that there is a crisis? ~ . , crisis? we have definitely acknowledged _ crisis? we have definitely acknowledged it, - crisis? we have definitely acknowledged it, we - crisis? we have definitely| acknowledged it, we have crisis? we have definitely l acknowledged it, we have a crisis? we have definitely - acknowledged it, we have a plan in place. the base reason is there has

been a massive increase in special educational needs, we know now how to diagnose more, we care more, we know more about how to overcome special educational needs so that's definitely something which has changed over the last ten years. we have been really trying to make sure we do the right thing, which is why we do the right thing, which is why we are training more educational psychologist and training more specialist sencos and speech and language therapists. there is a change programme as well to look at how we can improve how we do e hcps so there is a lot to do. this is a big part of it, having the places and having it close to where the need is is where we aim to do it, and 60,000 places will make a massive difference.— and 60,000 places will make a massive difference. thank you for “oininu massive difference. thank you for joining us- _ massive difference. thank you for joining us- we — massive difference. thank you for joining us. we are _ massive difference. thank you for joining us. we are just _ massive difference. thank you for joining us. we are just going - massive difference. thank you for joining us. we are just going to i joining us. we arejust going to bring you some images that have come in this morning. a bridge has

collapsed in maryland in the united states. we understand a cargo ship, i think you can see the silhouette of the cargo ship on the left hand side there, where bridge collapsed, it collided with this bridge in the middle of the night in maryland. we understand from the baltimore city police, they are saying that there are possibly workers in the water. this is the moment again, you can see the ship hitting the stanchion on the left—hand side of your screen and then pretty much immediately, that collapse. we have had confirmation from the maryland transportation authority, all roads around there have been closed, they are calling this an incident. traffic is being redirected to

various different places. let's go there right now live. the suggestion from the authorities, there could be workers in the water right now. i have just seen an update, the head of communications at the city fire department at baltimore calling this an ongoing multi—agency rescue operation, saying that they think there could be up to seven people and several vehicles that have gone into the river as the bridge collapsed. it is a long bridge, a mile and a half long, spanning the baltimore river. there are more emergency services on the route. brute emergency services on the route. we have emergency services on the route. - have had confirmation from an officer in the area saying that the cargo ship was singapore flagged, that hit the bridge on the interstate 695. the ship itself is 948 feet long, that is a

containership which they have confirmed according to marine traffic has stopped directly under the bridge. the ship left baltimore at 1am local time, bound for sri lanka. it at 1am local time, bound for sri lanka. . . . at 1am local time, bound for sri lanka. . , , ., ., ., lanka. it happened about an hour aeo, lanka. it happened about an hour ago. which _ lanka. it happened about an hour ago. which was — lanka. it happened about an hour ago, which was about _ lanka. it happened about an hour ago, which was about 1:30am - lanka. it happened about an hour ago, which was about 1:30am on| lanka. it happened about an hour. ago, which was about 1:30am on the eastern coast in the united states. you can only hope that that means that this happened when the bridge was quieter and it might have been if it had been rush—hour and for vehicles. clearly there were still a number of vehicles and people working on it. they are now being searched for in the water. it is the key bridge. _ searched for in the water. it is the key bridge, opened _ searched for in the water. it is the key bridge, opened in _ searched for in the water. it is the key bridge, opened in 1977. - searched for in the water. it is the key bridge, opened in 1977. this l searched for in the water. it is the | key bridge, opened in 1977. this is an ongoing incident, developing story, which is continuing. and concern for people who might be in the water, suggestions of people and possibly vehicles at the water in the last hour. we possibly vehicles at the water in the last hour.—

possibly vehicles at the water in the last hour. ~ , , ., the last hour. we will bring you the latest on the _ the last hour. we will bring you the latest on the collapse _ the last hour. we will bring you the latest on the collapse of _ the last hour. we will bring you the latest on the collapse of that - latest on the collapse of that bridge in baltimore as the programme goes on. bridge in baltimore as the programme noes on. . . . bridge in baltimore as the programme eoeson. . . . _, , bridge in baltimore as the programme eoeson. . . . . ., , ., goes on. once again, wales the lead late. the goes on. once again, wales the lead late- the most _ goes on. once again, wales the lead late. the most exciting _ goes on. once again, wales the lead late. the most exciting moment. - goes on. once again, wales the lead l late. the most exciting moment. yes, a one-off game. _ late. the most exciting moment. yes, a one-off game. a _ late. the most exciting moment. yes, a one—off game, a stand—alone match, the chance to qualify for another major tournament, there wales, that didn't happen for a long time. they have had a good run of qualifying for big tournaments, the world cup and this will be their third european championships, but it all hinges on the game at cardiff tonight, you can only imagine the noise that that will be made tonight, will that act as the 12th man? i need to beat poland. —— they need to beat poland. tonight is the night. the welsh fans who've become accustomed to following their side around the globe, hoping that journey will continue with a spot at euro 2024 in germany up for grabs tonight, in their play off final with poland.

as hywel griffith reports. pressure? what pressure? as they prepare to take on poland, wales seem relaxed about the game, which will decide whether or not they're going to germany injune. the stakes are high, but the manager says they're relishing it. the players know the importance of the game. they know what's at stake. they'll be fired up, ready to go, trust me. so it's about, if anything, keeping them calm. and, you know, we need 11 players on the pitch to get the job done. and we'll have a game plan, like i said, we'll go into it, we'll be ready for the challenge and give it our best shot. so wales are just a game away from qualifying for what would be their third euros in a row. remarkable really when you consider the decades that passed before without going to any major tournaments. many in the team also had a taste of world cup football. memories of qatar may be bittersweet after they left without a win, but wales qualified for that tournament through a playoff, an experience they can draw on this evening. we've been in these games before, we've been in other big games

as well, and all of our success stems from us playing as a team, all 11 of us working together when there's no egos out there, we run for each other, we work for each other, and we know we've got that backing of the red wall in the stands, so we work for them. a 4—1win against finland last week will have given this team confidence, but wales haven't beaten poland since 1973. this evening then offers a good chance to make history. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. all smiles now, it wasn't when england lost to brazil last time out. but against belgium later declan rice, seen here with england manager gareth southgate, will not only win his 50h cap but will also captain his country for the first time. i was probably a bit of a nervous

player when i first came into the england squad, but as time has gone on, you know, and i've played more premier league games, more games at higher levels, big major tournaments, i think i have grown into that during this side and i have enjoyed every single moment of it. 50 caps, you know, it's a pinch me moment. scotland manager steve clarke, standing in the rain, will hope his side can bring a bit of fire and fury after their defeat as well last time out, to the netherlands, a result he says took longer to get over than his teammates. i think they've had to pick me up. i tend to sulk a little bit longer than they do. they move on a little bit quicker than i do, because i've probably got a little bit more to think about than they have. within 24, 36 hours, you're ready for the next game, you're looking for the next game. it always takes a little bit longer for some people to get over a bad result than others.

and an update on andy murray, you might remember he injured himself on sunday. damaged his ankle and it has people wondering if he can recover from it, will he recoverfrom it. there was the grimace. he's said he's set to be out for an extended period. but perhaps the biggest indication we haven't seen the last of him, he said "i'll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right." a little smiley face on social media. he knows a lot of people are watching and want to know what condition he is in. ii watching and want to know what condition he is in.— condition he is in. if he says is auoin to condition he is in. if he says is going to be — condition he is in. if he says is going to be back, _ condition he is in. if he says is going to be back, he - condition he is in. if he says is going to be back, he will- condition he is in. if he says is going to be back, he will be i condition he is in. if he says is i going to be back, he will be stop condition he is in. if he says is - going to be back, he will be stop he is a man of his word. but going to be back, he will be stop he is a man of his word.— is a man of his word. but will it be in time for — is a man of his word. but will it be in time for wimbledon? _ here's carol with the weather. i'm starting with a bright picture taken in shetland a bit earlier this morning, you can see the blue skies but we are in for some wintry

showers on and off through the day. we have had some heavy rain and snow through the night in scotland, another weather front in the south has fragmented and we have got some drizzly bits and pieces across some parts of eastern england, starting on a cloudy note. the rain will continue, heavy downpours in the next few days. if you look at the rain full accumulation, you can see the dark blue around, and even some green, key shows that that is 70 millimetres of rainfall in the next five days across south—west wales and south—west england. this morning it is cloudy, some brightness, south west midlands, parts of east anglia, that will fit into the afternoon because the week front will reinvigorate —— weak weather front will reinvigorate and bring some more rain and cloud with it as it pushes and east. the weather front weakens in scotland and pushes into

the north sea and here the wintriness will ease off. five to 13 degrees. 0vernight, here is the same weather front pushing steadily north, getting through northern ireland, wales, northern england into central and southern scotland. it will produce some snow on the hills in the southern plains. we will have some clearer skies, a colder night, could get down to —4 where we had some snow. we start on a cold note scotland tomorrow, a chilly start wherever you are. all of the show is coming in from the west, pushing east and north. windy in the north, windy and the south especially to the channel, temperatures six to 12 degrees. 0vernight wednesday into thursday, low pressure still driving the weather. various weather fronts

wrapped around it so say thursday itself, we are looking at bands of rain and showers pushing north and east. some will be heavy, wintry on the hills, gales through the english channel, temperatures eight to 12 degrees. good friday, fewer showers, but a lot more drier weather and a lot more sunshine. still quite a breezy day in prospect, still some of the showers will be wintry on the hills and temperatures eight to 13 degrees. forthe hills and temperatures eight to 13 degrees. for the easter weekend, fewer showers but at the moment, later in the day on easter sunday we will see some rain sweeping in to the south of the country that will move north, and easter monday we will see that in scotland with more rain coming in from the west. that forecast keeps changing so keep watching. that's what we think at the moment.

watching. that's what we think at the moment-— watching. that's what we think at the moment. ., ., , ., ., , the moment. you tease, carol! keep watchina! the moment. you tease, carol! keep watching! we — the moment. you tease, carol! keep watching! we will, _ the moment. you tease, carol! keep watching! we will, we _ the moment. you tease, carol! keep watching! we will, we will! _ the moment. you tease, carol! keep watching! we will, we will! we - the moment. you tease, carol! keep watching! we will, we will! we have | watching! we will, we will! we have to, we are here. _ let's ta ke let's take you back to baltimore, the incident which hasjust happened in the last hour or so, this is an image of a bridge collapse, as you can see in baltimore, maryland, in the united states, after an extraordinary incident while we have been on air. we can show you pictures of that right now. the footaae pictures of that right now. the footage you — pictures of that right now. the footage you are _ pictures of that right now. he footage you are about pictures of that right now. tie: footage you are about to pictures of that right now. iie: footage you are about to see pictures of that right now. i““ie: footage you are about to see shows a cargo ship colliding with the bridge, the ship on the left—hand side, and look at that. a giant section of this bridge, 1.6 miles long, hasjust collapsed instantly into the baltimore harbour. it

happened at about half past five this morning uk time, details are still emerging but one very important factor has emerged which is that the coastguard is reporting that there are very likely people in the water, people and vehicles. at last count they suggested there could be seven people in the water, the search for them ongoing right now. it the search for them ongoing right now. ,., , the search for them ongoing right now. , ~ now. it sounds like there were workers on — now. it sounds like there were workers on the _ now. it sounds like there were workers on the bridge - now. it sounds like there were workers on the bridge at - now. it sounds like there were workers on the bridge at the i now. it sounds like there were - workers on the bridge at the time, construction or repair workers, which explains why they are talking about members of staff they are looking for. we understand the cargo ship was a registered flag from singapore, and that is a main road, this is not a footbridge, this is a main interstate highway bridge, interstate 695 which goes across the

river. brute interstate 695 which goes across the river. ~ . interstate 695 which goes across the river. ~ , , ., ., , river. we will bring you the latest from baltimore _ river. we will bring you the latest from baltimore through - river. we will bring you the latest from baltimore through the - river. we will bring you the latest - from baltimore through the morning. shabaz ali is a teacher but he's also making his name on social media with millions of people following his account shabaz says. he's gained fans all over the world for ridiculing the extravagent lifestyles of the rich and famous. let's take a look at some of his most popular reels. i've got so much money that i buy things that i probably don't need. but i'm rich so i can. you worry about your gas and electric and feeding your children when i can go out there and buy things like this. what does it do? well, it prints a design on ice. never have you seen anything like this. because you're poor. next up, i'm going to warm up my milk, you know, while you put your milk on the stove, i've got a machine that warms it for me because i'm not poor. then i've got syrup. look at all these syrups and sauces. and i put the syrup in my milk

to make my milk peppermint milk and then i stir it with the machine. you know, you use a spoon and your hands. but i'm not poor. my christmas hot chocolate station i'm probably never going to use. 0k, first up, we got cookies and cream flavoured hot chocolate in a little glass jar. next, we've got cherry chocolate, hot chocolate in glass jar. you can't even afford the cadbury�*s hot chocolate from b&m, let alone the flavoured ones. why? because you're a povvo. shabaz joins us now. morning. they are properly sunny. 0ur morning. they are properly sunny. our digital start? morning. they are properly sunny. 0ur digitalstart? —— how did it all start? i our digital start? -- how did it all start? . . . start? i am a teacher, the children was my perception _ start? i am a teacher, the children was my perception of _ start? i am a teacher, the children was my perception of social- start? i am a teacher, the children was my perception of social media j start? i am a teacher, the children i was my perception of social media is so warped, they think what they see online is the truth. in relationships, parenting, any sort of situation on social media, that

is what they think it is like. i started watching them and i realised, there's a lot going on. so ou realised, there's a lot going on. so you are taking the mickey out of those influencers that we see, and you have become one yourself? i like to think i you have become one yourself? i like to think i am — you have become one yourself? i like to think i am not! _ you have become one yourself? i like to think! am not! i— you have become one yourself? i like to think i am not! i think _ you have become one yourself? i i. age: to think i am not! i think there is a negative connotation of influencing, i think you can be a good influence on social media. people think i am against social media but i love it. it is about how you are presenting yourself more than anything. that is where the book came from, watch what you say online and remember how you are coming across. online and remember how you are coming across-— coming across. what will we learn from the book? _ coming across. what will we learn from the book? it's _ coming across. what will we learn from the book? it'sjust _ coming across. what will we learn from the book? it'sjust realising l from the book? it's just realising that social media can be a force for good. that social media can be a force for aood. �* :, : i. that social media can be a force for aood. �* :, : ~ :, that social media can be a force for nood.�* :,: ~' :, ,, good. but once you know it exists and how bad _ good. but once you know it exists and how bad it _ good. but once you know it exists and how bad it can _ good. but once you know it exists and how bad it can be, _ good. but once you know it exists and how bad it can be, it - good. but once you know it exists and how bad it can be, it takes i good. but once you know it exists| and how bad it can be, it takes the power away from it.— and how bad it can be, it takes the power away from it. because you are lau~ahin at power away from it. because you are laughing at it- _ power away from it. because you are laughing at it. you are poking - power away from it. because you are laughing at it. you are poking fun. i laughing at it. you are poking fun. you know that _ laughing at it. you are poking fun. you know that these _ laughing at it. you are poking fun. you know that these people - laughing at it. you are poking fun. you know that these people are i laughing at it. you are poking fun. | you know that these people are not real, they are just people that are

performing as well, making a living for themselves. 0nce performing as well, making a living for themselves. once you know that exists, it has less of an impact on you. exists, it has less of an impact on ou. " , exists, it has less of an impact on ou, 4' , ., exists, it has less of an impact on ou. ~ , :, i. exists, it has less of an impact on ou. ~ , :, :, :, you. so the kids that you taught who ou first you. so the kids that you taught who you first saw — you. so the kids that you taught who you first saw watching _ you. so the kids that you taught who you first saw watching the _ you. so the kids that you taught who you first saw watching the genuine i you first saw watching the genuine thing is, how have they reacted? they encouraged me to do it. sir, you need to watch them, they are brilliant. they love these videos. when i started watching them, and i thought, they are really not. what thought, they are really not. what the think thought, they are really not. what they think of _ thought, they are really not. what they think of your _ thought, they are really not. what they think of your videos? - thought, they are really not. what they think of your videos? they i thought, they are really not. what i they think of your videos? they have not over they think of your videos? they have got over it. — they think of your videos? they have got over it, there _ they think of your videos? they have got over it, there are _ they think of your videos? they have got over it, there are a _ they think of your videos? they have got over it, there are a novelty - they think of your videos? they have got over it, there are a novelty has i got over it, there are a novelty has worn off, i'm still going to give them detention! they have gone, we are not watching the videos, but they keep me humble! essen are not watching the videos, but they keep me humble! even though they keep me humble! even though the are they keep me humble! even though they are funny. _ they keep me humble! even though they are funny, there _ they keep me humble! even though they are funny, there is _ they keep me humble! even though they are funny, there is a _ they keep me humble! even though they are funny, there is a really - they are funny, there is a really serious message underneath this. absolutely. the main core of the message was all about how it's making people feel, how isolated people are feeling, how big social media is any amount of information we have at their —— thrown at us, i

wanted to be social media, find a community and enjoy it. but we are not there, we are in place where we constantly compare ourselves to everything. now it is parenting, holidays, even working, are you working well enough, are you cleaning well enough? comparing ourself cleaning well enough? comparing yourself with _ cleaning well enough? comparing yourself with everything. - yourself with everything. constantly, and there is more out there, it never used to be as bad. you would watch a couple of videos and enjoy it but now there are so many people online and so much more comparison. many people online and so much more comparison-— comparison. shabaz, thank you so much for coming _ comparison. shabaz, thank you so much for coming and _ comparison. shabaz, thank you so much for coming and chatting - comparison. shabaz, thank you so much for coming and chatting to i comparison. shabaz, thank you so | much for coming and chatting to us for real. in real life. sitting up not lying down!— for real. in real life. sitting up not lying down! yeah, i had to put my clothes — not lying down! yeah, i had to put my clothes on! — not lying down! yeah, i had to put my clothes on! we _ not lying down! yeah, i had to put my clothes on! we appreciate - not lying down! yeah, i had to put| my clothes on! we appreciate that. shabaz�*s book is called i'm rich, you're poor: how to give social media a reality check. the headlines and the latest from that bridge collapse in a moment. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning,

you're watching bbc london with me frankie mccamley. roadworkers are calling for a crackdown on abusive drivers after recieving violent threats and verbal abuse. campaigners say some highways workers have been threatened with knives, machetes and even guns. but industry experts say its still under reported and are urging workers to come forward. someone pulled a gun out on me. traffic was running fine. it was what are you doing? unzipped his jacket and pulled a gun out and held it over my face. residents living close to the new hs2 station at old 0ak common in west london say they're shattered their main road is due to be shut for four years. 0ld 0ak common lane links local residents to shops, schools and hospitals in east acton. hs2 says the work is needed to lower the road for double decker buses and says it's talking to residents about options for the road closure.

let's take a look at the tubes. minor delays on the dlr. severe delays on the district line. now the eeather. take your brolly with you today as its going to be a wet one. lots of showers about this afternoon with huighs of 12 degress head to our website to find out how canary wharf has been tranformed into canary woof this week. i'll be back in half an hour. see you then. good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. 0ur headlines today. a bridge in baltimore has collapsed after a cargo ship collided with it — a rescue operation is under way. we will get the latest. cody's law — the family of a footballer murdered

in a birmingham nightclub have called for body scanners and bleed kits to be installed in all venues. when smart meters are anything but. average energy bills are about to go down, but we hear your stories of bills going up because smart meters are faulty. going up because smart we going up because smart have your questions answs we going up because smart are looking at heavy down it we are looking at heavy downpours, it will be windy. good friday and saturday, fewer showers. it looks later on sunday we will have rain coming up from the south. all the details later. it's tuesday, 26th of march. a breaking story to bring you. a major bridge in the us city of baltimore has collapsed into a river after being hit by a container ship.

video footage posted on social media appears to show the 1.6 mile—long francis scott key bridge crashing into the water early this morning. we are trying to establish what exactly has gone on. there is a major rescue operation. the city's fire department says at least seven people and several vehicles are thought to have fallen into the river. you can see how suddenly it happened. we think the ship is on the left—hand side. it hits the bridge and just crumbles. so quickly. as we have mentioned, there is a rescue operation ongoing. we can take you there. this is the scene.

the stanchion hit the left—hand side of the bridge and the bridge immediately collapsing, and a rescue operation ongoing as we are on air. you can see the blue and red lights flashing on the water, the rescue vessels dispatched. it is a multi—agency response. fire crews, police and ambulance in attendance because they expect mass casualties as they carry out this search. the ship is a container ship which is flagged to singapore and we understand it was on its way from the united states on the eastern side, maryland, and was on its way to colombo in sri lanka. we can show you the image again. of the cargo ship as it hits the left—hand side of the bridge. just in the early hours of this morning in the early hours of this morning in baltimore in the united states.

it is a major traffic routes, a motorway, interstate highway, that bridge. it normally carries a lot of traffic. it is a dreadful situation. it is horrendous for anyone involved but imagine how much worse it could have been if it were rush—hour and the bridge full of traffic. as it happens, it happened in the middle of the night but it is a desperate search. it is winter, they have to act quickly, it is cold in that water. we will bring you the latest. the family of a footballer who was stabbed to death in a nightclub in birmingham on boxing day in 2022 have called for body scanners and bleed kits to be installed in all venues. two men have been found guilty of the murder of 23—year—old cody fisher. 0ur midlands correspondent phil mackie reports # happy birthday, dear cody. this is cody fisher

on his final birthday. he was killed for the most trivial of reasons. the man who planned his murder was remy gordon, seen here in a bar on christmas eve arguing with cody because he'd brushed past him. two days later, in the crane nightclub in birmingham, he and his friends tracked cody down and launched a violent attack. the 23—year—old died it's nothing to do with street crime. this is over absolutely nothing. and the lives ruined — you know, cody's life lost. his family, his family's lives are ruined, no matter what the outcome, no matter what sentence. these were the people responsible for cody's murder arriving at the club earlier — remy gordon and kami carpenter. security checks were cursory, even though metal detectors were available. earlier, cody had arrived with his best friend and his girlfriend and they were surprised by the lax checks.

i don't know how they're not using the metal detectors in big events like this. they know it's going to be like massive. like, you can see by the amount of tickets that have been sold and just letting people get in with a little tap down — it's not good enough. i can remember saying to code that it's dangerous because, you know, we did see people with the balloon canisters and stuff that night and ijust couldn't understand how you could get that into such a big place with so many security. and i can remember saying to him that's dangerous. and he said, "i know." and then a few hours later, he was stabbed to death. the crane club lost its licence as a result of cody's death and has never reopened. the bbc approached its owners and the security firm for a comment, but hasn't received a response. his friends and family are campaigning for cody's law. they want it to be compulsory for clubs to use scanners when people come in and they also say they should all have kits that contain bandages and tourniquets so that if anyone is stabbed, they can be kept alive long enough for the paramedics to arrive.

they must use body scanners. you know, i cannot believe — i could not believe and still cannot believe, in this country, that it's not mandatory. now the people who loved him would like his legacy to be a law that could save lives in the future. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. israel's prime minister has cancelled meetings with american officials, after the us did not veto calls by the un security council for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell says relations between the us and israel are strained. i think we can say relations between presidentjoe biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu have always been difficult but this has pushed them to an all—time low and we had strong rebukes from the israeli prime minister after the us abstention at the un security council, where it has previously

shielded israel from demands for a ceasefire. the israelis say the abstention by the americans meant hamas felt it could get a ceasefire without it being linked to the release of the remaining israeli hostages in gaza. washington has denied that was the case, they say there should be no impact on israel's ability to go after hamas and that they are not going to start leveraging us assistance, particularly military assistance, to the israelis and this just continues as usual. 0n the ground, you can see this has made little difference in terms of the reaction by israel or hamas. we have fierce fighting going on. and a few hours after the resolution, we had a major setback it seems in the ongoing truce talks taking place in qatar through mediators and with

hamas saying it is going back to original demands of wanting a full withdrawal of israeli troops and the israeli prime minister's office came out saying this was unrealistic and vowed to press on with its offensive. the general medical council has started a consultation into how physician associates, who support doctors but don't have a medical degree, are regulated. the family of a woman who died after being seen by a physician associate instead of a doctor, is calling for tighter controls and clarity for patients. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has more. # happy birthday to you. emily chesterton was only 30 when she died in november 2022. a pulmonary embolism — a dangerous blood clot that spreads to the lungs — was misdiagnosed by a physician associate on two occasions when she visited her gp surgery. we didn't know that she hadn't seen a fully qualified doctor and, if i'd known, i would have marched her straight back in. i would have gone straight back in.

i would have taken her to a&e. but because i trusted that she'd seen a doctor, i didn't, and that's the guilt that i felt. emily's case illustrates some of the concerns around plans to greatly expand the number of physician associates — known as pas — working in the health service. pas are graduates, usually with a health or life sciences degree. they've also undertaken two years of postgraduate training. they work under the supervision of a doctor and theirjobs can include diagnosis, physical examinations and analysing test results. well, these are roles that aren't currently regulated at all. they are roles that have been around for some time. the government plans to increase the number of these roles. so we hope that by bringing them into regulation, we will be able to improve patient safety, but also give the public the confidence that these are people that they can trust with their care. so this consultation will examine how the regulator, the general medical council,

will deliver the rules, standards and guidance for pas and also the similar roles of anaesthesia associates. most pas work in gp surgeries and urgent and emergency medicine. how they will be regulated is an issue because, in england, the nhs and the government have said they will increase the pa workforce to 10,000 from around 3,300 at present. the doctors union, the bma, has called for a more restricted role for pas, a move it said was needed to improve patient safety. dominic hughes, bbc news. the prime minister is to be grilled by mps today, ahead of the parliamentary easter recess. rishi sunak will face questions from select committee chairs on global issues, the economy and public services, and strategic planning. chief political correspondent henry zeffmanjoins us. that is a lot of ground to cover. it is all the ground, everything in a

prime minister's in tray which is why these sessions with the liaison committee are tough for prime ministers. they happen to — three times a year where they spend a couple of hours grilled by the chairs of all select committees that are focused on particular areas such as the health committee, foreign affairs committee and so on. when it comes to rishi sunak, i think he relishes it because it is an opportunity to show he is across the detail and into the policy substance as well as the overarching politics but that is not to say it will be straightforward. prime ministers have been tripped up before. it is worth noting it is the last thing he will do in parliament for a few weeks because mps are for their easter break and for conservative mps that means getting out on the doorstep in advance of local elections in early may and getting a sense of what the public thinks of their party and rishi sunak. some

conservatives i spoke to have been stepping up the local elections campaigning and they have been struck by what the public thinks of them and they are worried about what it says four electoral prospects so today could be hard for rishi sunak but what might come could even harder. you can sleep well tonight. a giant gorilla statue which was stolen from a lanarkshire garden centre a year ago has been reunited with his owner. thank goodness. it has been worrying me. the 8 foot fibreglass ornament, named gary the gorilla, was reported missing last march. how do you miss that for a year? how do you discovering in a lay—by in fife? look at his face. he is not

pleased. but he has been found. he'd been a popular fixture at a nursery in carluke for 10 years. we can only assume he is heading back there with his smile. yes! terrifying everyone who passes. gary is back, everyone. you could not hide him. somebody managed to. not well enough. here's carol with the weather. good morning. good morning. the forecast is one of heavy downpours with thunder, hail, and often windy. british summer time starts in the early hours of this coming sunday when the clocks go forward by an hour. this morning, we have a weak weather front across parts of the channel islands and through wales, heading to northern ireland, that will rejuvenate. we have drizzle in

the east. 0vernight rain and snow on the east. 0vernight rain and snow on the hills in scotland tending to ease as we go through the morning. but a lot of cloud. the week where the front which will move into northern ireland, wales and the south of england, it will reinvigorate and produce heavy rain with showers in the ares of scilly and some in the south—west. the rain pushing across wales. cloudy in northern england and northern ireland, southern scotland. as we go further north across scotland, we are looking at sunshine and wintry showers on the hills. temperatures 5-13. showers on the hills. temperatures 5—13. through the evening and overnight, the weather front journeys northwards through northern england, northern ireland, southern and central scotland, depositing hill snow in the southern uplands and more snow above 150 metres in

the highlands and grampians. and the showers comes in from the west and they will push eastwards and northwards tomorrow. good friday and saturday, fewer showers, but it looks like an easter sunday, later in the day, with rain in the south. and perfect on easter monday? no. i had a feeling you might say that! the rain looks like it will move up overnight into scotland but it looks like we could have more rain in wales and the south—west on easter monday but it could change. it could be slower, faster. something we are keeping a close eye on. thank you. a major bridge in the us city of baltimore has collapsed into a river after being hit by a container ship.

baltimore fire department are treating it as a mass casualty incident. they are searching the water for at least seven people and a number of vehicles that are thought to have gone into the water. video footage posted on social media appears to show the 1.6 mile—long francis scott key bridge crashing into the water early this morning. as you can see, the bridge collapsed instantly. it is an interstate highway that goes across the water. you can see how quickly it collapse. 0n the left—hand side, that is the ship, the cargo ship we are talking about. a huge vessel. 300 metres long and loaded with crates. you can see the containers.

it was going to sri lanka. for some reason, in the dead of night on the eastern seaboard of the us, the ship hit the bridge. we can show you the live image. we have news confirmed the search and rescue operation is ongoing. confirmed that seven people are believed to be in the water. that is why the search and rescue operation continues. seven people and several vehicles thought to have fallen in when that bridge collapsed. 0ur colleagues on the bbc website have a life page up and running so you can get constant updates about what happened. they say they worked out that the ship, it is called the dali, a singapore flagged ship. this is what happened a couple of hours

ago. it had left maryland. that was about 5am ourtime ago. it had left maryland. that was about 5am our time and 45 minutes after it left, it hit the bridge. francis scott key bridge. air traffic radar shows that as well as rescue boats and vessels on the water searching for any survivors, there are police helicopters circling above. you can see occasionally the lights of the helicopters. we will bring you up—to—date as that search and rescue operation is ongoing. the price we pay for energy is going to hit a two—year low next week, as a new price cap comes into effect. at last, you say. but there might be some billing problems, as almost four million smart meters

across england, scotland, wales still aren't working properly. nina's been taking a look at this. good morning. we are looking forward to the price cap coming down. that should be a big moment for household bills but not if you're smart meter is not working in a smart way which happens. a record number of people are running into problems with smart meters both at home and in businesses. in some cases, giving estimated bills instead of tracking usage, orjust not working accurately, meaning too much or too little is being paid. at the moment, there are around 35 million smart meters across england, scotland and wales. that translates to around 61 per cent of all gas and electricity meters. by the end of next year, the government hopes to have smart meters in just under three quarters of homes, which they say will help people manage energy use and stay on top of their bills. but the most recent statistics show almost four million smart meters are working

in traditional mode. that means instead of sending accurate readings, they're working on estimates. those bills can be corrected with manual updates, but that can be tricky to fix. you might have been there — stressed and confused by high bills and overpaying, or, possibly worse, learning you've been underpaying and being lumped with an expensive shock. so many of you have been in touch with breakfast to share your experiences. we went to meet leon and dianne, who've both had smart meter issues. more and more people have these in their homes, smart meter displays showing how much energy they are using. but the smart meters themselves are increasingly faulty. when those don't work, it can have a huge impact on your pocket. 75—year—old dianne has been having problems with hers since she changed supplier and she was unable to give manual readings because of physical disabilities. that's when her bills

started to creep up. i was getting estimated bills all the time, which were about double, at least double what the monitor was suggesting that i was using. and we've been fighting this on and off now for two years. it's always on your mind. you're always... i mean, i know electricity is expensive at the moment and everybody�*s got a problem with it, but it's not knowing what they're going to charge you because they can charge you anything. british gas has apologised to dianne and an engineer has been out to resolve the issue. but it's notjust people at home having problems. leon runs a sports bar in southampton, but since it opened two years ago, his meter has been overreporting his energy use, racking up £250,000 for electricity that the venue didn't use. we were threatened with being cut off.

we were told that, you know, we definitely owed this bill. and we were saying, look, we want to pay the bill, but we're not doing that until you sort out this meter. but we shouldn't have had to sit there and fight and sit there and, you know, and take all the...the pressure. it wasjust, we'd just opened up the bar and we're just trying to get, you know, get this going. so it was a massive added pressure we didn't need to have. imserv, who handled leon's meter, said when it was set up in 2020, it was for a much more energy intensive business. and when the settings were adjusted, the bill was recalculated to the correct amount. the department for energy said the vast majority of smart meters are working correctly, but said reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have shown more meters aren't working in smart mode than previously thought. both the energy regulator 0fgem and the trade association uk energy say it's now on energy companies to look into these issues quickly and put billing errors right

as soon as possible. thank you to dianne and leon for sharing their stories with us. i distressing —— a distressing time for both of them. let's speak now to lisa webb, consumer law expert. how is this and why is this happening?— how is this and why is this happening? how is this and why is this ha - ntenin ? ., ., ., ,., , happening? there are a few reasons. sometimes what _ happening? there are a few reasons. sometimes what you _ happening? there are a few reasons. sometimes what you find _ happening? there are a few reasons. sometimes what you find is - happening? there are a few reasons. sometimes what you find is people i sometimes what you find is people who are early adopters of smart meters, they might have change supplier. when that happened when we first had them, if you switched supplier, the supplier did not let you take your smart meter with you. they turned it off at the system and it did not get turned back on but most are being turned back on. it can be done remotely. you can have it switched on again. you might find

some people chose to have them switched off, some do not trust them, so you can have a smart meter but have it not being smart. that will not be a lot of people but some. the reason we see a higher increase in the latest amount of smart meters reported is the data is more accurate now, it is not that there are more of the system but now we are seeing how many are. it there are more of the system but now we are seeing how many are.- we are seeing how many are. it feels like the onus — we are seeing how many are. it feels like the onus is _ we are seeing how many are. it feels like the onus is on _ we are seeing how many are. it feels like the onus is on the _ we are seeing how many are. it feels like the onus is on the consumer- we are seeing how many are. it feels like the onus is on the consumer to i like the onus is on the consumer to take control of the situation. johnny in kendal saying a woman thought she was £3000 in energy debt but when it came to sending in the reading she was distressed, she was owed £2000. hose reading she was distressed, she was owed 9000-— reading she was distressed, she was owed £2000. :, ::, :, :, owed £2000. how can it come to that? it is terrible and _ owed £2000. how can it come to that? it is terrible and that _ owed £2000. how can it come to that? it is terrible and that will _ owed £2000. how can it come to that? it is terrible and that will cause - it is terrible and that will cause anxiety, they are going to be stressed out. a £5,000 difference. it is wild someone should be in that position. energy companies have some

of the worst customer service and people struggle to get the right answers from them. you find people tried to contact their company and find out what is happening and are passed from department to department and end up being passed around until they cannot get to the right person. it is frustrating. stay on top of checking your readings. do not assume everything is hunky—dory. look at the meter reading and submit meter readings if you think there is a problem. check the smart meter is sending the readings. check on your bills. every time there is a reading it should say next to it smart. if it should say next to it smart. if it says smart, happy days, your readings are going in. it is on the bill itself? if it says estimate, they are estimating the readings and something has gone wrong. basically read the meter yourself? i would

always do that because i would say every so often look to make sure it is doing the right thing. the problem with smart meters, they are meant to be brilliantly convenient. that is the bite. they tell you how much energy is coming in and out but the point is it tells the energy company so that you do not have to but every so often it is worth double checking.— but every so often it is worth double checking. but every so often it is worth double checkinu. : , a double checking. and sticking with it. peole double checking. and sticking with it- people say _ double checking. and sticking with it. people say they _ double checking. and sticking with it. people say they want _ double checking. and sticking with it. people say they want to - double checking. and sticking with it. people say they want to switch | it. people say they want to switch back but you cannot at this point. it is the future and a case of getting it right. hopefully raising awareness means we will get more on it because it was three out of three. none of us. maybe we are not smart! pam has been in touch to say she has an old house with two foot thick stone walls and the smart meter cannot read the wi—fi. some

properties do not lend themselves. more coming up including the latest on the bridge collapse in baltimore. time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning, you're watching bbc london with me, frankie mccamley. roadworkers are calling for a crackdown on abusive drivers after receiving violent threats and verbal abuse campaigners say some highways workers have been threatened with knives, machetes and even guns. but industry experts say it's still under reported and are urging workers to come forward. one time someone actually pulled a gun out on me. we'd put our lane closure on, just shut one lane of traffic, traffic was still running fine and he was like, "what do you do," like at me. and with that he unzipped his jacket and pulled a gun out at us and held it at my face. residents living close

to the new hs2 station at old 0ak common in west london say they're "shattered" their main road is due to be shut for four years. 0ld 0ak common lane links local residents to shops, schools and hospitals in east acton. hs2 says the work is needed to lower the road for double decker buses and says it's talking to residents about options for the road closure. all of our amenities are through there and we have at the moment a bus that takes us down there. i have to go round, it's probably a two and a half mile diversion, so it could take you, i would think it could take you an hour, an hour and a half with bad traffic to get all the way round to our local shops.

the bridge is gone. well, we can now speak— the bridge is gone. well, we can now speak to _ the bridge is gone. well, we can now speak to ian— the bridge is gone. well, we can now speak to ian firth, who is a structural— speak to ian firth, who is a structural engineer and bridge design — structural engineer and bridge design. he is also a former president of the institute of structural engineers. thank you for joining _ structural engineers. thank you for joining us— structural engineers. thank you for joining us on the bbc. i am sure you have _ joining us on the bbc. i am sure you have seen— joining us on the bbc. i am sure you have seen these pictures coming in from _ have seen these pictures coming in from baltimore. when you see a scene like that, _ from baltimore. when you see a scene like that, what goes through your

mind? _ like that, what goes through your mind? :, :, , :, ,, :,~ mind? unfortunately, we cannot speak to the professor _ mind? unfortunately, we cannot speak to the professorjust _ mind? unfortunately, we cannot speak to the professorjust now. _ mind? unfortunately, we cannot speak to the professorjust now. we - mind? unfortunately, we cannot speak to the professorjust now. we are - to the professorjust now. we are just waiting for his sound to come. as we wait for that to happen we will continue to show you live pictures from baltimore, maryland, where a multi—agency operation is under way to rescue and recover some of the people who fell into the water. we can go back to the professor. what goes through your mind when you see these pictures coming from baltimore?— mind when you see these pictures coming from baltimore? thank you. when a bridge _ coming from baltimore? thank you. when a bridge is _ coming from baltimore? thank you. when a bridge is struck— coming from baltimore? thank you. when a bridge is struck by _ coming from baltimore? thank you. when a bridge is struck by a - coming from baltimore? thank you. when a bridge is struck by a large i when a bridge is struck by a large vessel, _ when a bridge is struck by a large vessel, it — when a bridge is struck by a large vessel, it is — when a bridge is struck by a large vessel, it is not surprising it has problems — vessel, it is not surprising it has problems. the heavy ship like that will impart — problems. the heavy ship like that will impart a load of thousands of tonnes _ will impart a load of thousands of tonnes it — will impart a load of thousands of tonnes. it is something solid. it struck— tonnes. it is something solid. it struck the — tonnes. it is something solid. it struck the support of the bridge. not surprisingly the bridge collapses because the support is a

relatively— collapses because the support is a relatively flimsy structure. when you look — relatively flimsy structure. when you look at it it is a structure with— you look at it it is a structure with individual legs and it collapsed as a result of the large impact _ collapsed as a result of the large impact force. the vessel should have been going _ impact force. the vessel should have been going down the centre of the tunnet _ been going down the centre of the tunnet for— been going down the centre of the tunnel. forwhatever been going down the centre of the tunnel. for whatever reason it must have strayed off and hit the support _ have strayed off and hit the support. there is plenty of room for the ship _ support. there is plenty of room for the ship but — support. there is plenty of room for the ship but for whatever reason it has hit _ the ship but for whatever reason it has hit the — the ship but for whatever reason it has hit the support. find the ship but for whatever reason it has hit the support.— has hit the support. and the thou~hts has hit the support. and the thoughts of _ has hit the support. and the thoughts of viewers - has hit the support. and the thoughts of viewers are - has hit the support. and thej thoughts of viewers are with has hit the support. and the - thoughts of viewers are with the emergency operation now ongoing. how easyis emergency operation now ongoing. how easy is it to move around these large pieces of metal i imagine have now fallen into the water? hater? now fallen into the water? very difficult is _ now fallen into the water? very difficult is the _ now fallen into the water? very difficult is the answer. - now fallen into the water? very difficult is the answer. clearly, it is tragic — difficult is the answer. clearly, it is tragic. people caught up in this. i is tragic. people caught up in this. i cannot— is tragic. people caught up in this. i cannot comment on the specifics,

but getting — i cannot comment on the specifics, but getting in amongst the material, particularly submerged material is difficult _ particularly submerged material is difficult at the best of times. i can sympathise with the challenge and all— can sympathise with the challenge and all those worried about people who may _ and all those worried about people who may be on the bridge. i and all those worried about people who may be on the bridge.- and all those worried about people who may be on the bridge. i want to let viewers — who may be on the bridge. i want to let viewers know _ who may be on the bridge. i want to let viewers know we _ who may be on the bridge. i want to let viewers know we have _ who may be on the bridge. i want to let viewers know we have this - who may be on the bridge. i want to let viewers know we have this news| let viewers know we have this news coming in from baltimore city fire department that as many as 20 workers are believed to have fallen into the river following the collapse of the bridge. i want to ask about the structure of bridges like this. how easy is it for it to come down after being hit by ship? this bridge was built in the early 19705 and there was a very big event in 1980. this bridge was built in the early 19705 and there was a very big event in 1980. it was 19705 and there was a very it was struck by a 19705 and there was a very big event in 1980. it was struck by a large ship 19705 and there was a very it was in 1980. it was struck by a large ship and collapsed. struck by a large ship and collapsed. in in 1980. it was struck by a large ship and collapsed. in that time, the world has become struck by a large ship and collapsed. in that time, ship and collapsed. in that time,

the world has become much more aware of the problem. struck by a large ship and collapsed. in that time, the aware we we design our bridges these days to resist, collapsed. in that time, the aware we design our, we design our bridges these days to resist, there is collapsed. in that time, the aware we design our, there is a limit we design our bridges these days to resist, there is a limit of collapsed. in that time, the aware we design our, there is a limit of we design our bridges these days to we design our, there is a limit of what you resist, there is a limit of what you can realistically design for. this we design our, there is a limit of what you can realistically can realistically design for. this has we design our, there is a limit of what you can realistically this can realistically design for. this has not been revisited, shall we say? revisited, vessel

vessel impact revisited, vessel impact is vessel impact is revisited, vessel impact is certainly vessel impact is certainly one of the scenarios we design against. certainly one of the scenarios vessels are the scenarios we design against. vessels are most likely to go down the centre certainly one of the scenarios vessels are most likely to go down the centre of certainly one of the scenarios vessels are most likely to go down the centre of the channel vessels are most likely to channel vessels are most likely to go down the centre of the channel but vessels are most likely to channel vessels are most likely to go down the centre of the channel but there vessels are most likely to channel but there is the centre of the channel but there is vessels are most likely to channel but there is always a the centre of the channel but there is always a risk we will not. risk whether risk whether you whether you protect risk whether you protect the support whether you protect the support by some other device like dolphins, if the risk whether you protect the support by some other device like some other device like dolphins, if the vessel strays from the centre of the vessel strays from the centre of the path it does not... by some other device like strays from the stay the vessel strays from the centre of the path it does not. . ._ by some other device like strays from the stay with us, i want the path it does not... stay with us, i want to read _ from the stay with us, i want to the path it does not... stay with us, i want to read out a - from the stay with us, i want to read out a statement us, i want to read out a statement that has come in from the synergy marine read out a statement that has come marine group that has come in from the synergy marine group which is read out a statement that has come marine group which is the owner of this shape. read out a statement that has come marine group which is the owner of this shape. it says that singapore flagged container this shape. it says that singapore marine group which is the owner it says collided with a pillar of the flagged container ship collided with a pillar of the says collided with a pillar of the bridge in baltimore, flagged container ship collided with a pillar of the bridge in baltimore, says collided with a pillar of the bridge in baltimore, maryland. a pillar of the bridge in baltimore, maryland. while the exact cause is

yet to be determined, the jolly has dealt is yet yet to be determined, the jolly has dealt with its response, synergy is yet response, dealt with its response, synergy marine group is the owner of the jolly is yet response, synergy marine group is the owner of the jolly container marine group is the owner of the is yet response, synergy container ship marine group is the owner of the is yet response, synergy container ship which marine group is the owner of the jolly container ship which viewers is yet response, synergy container ship which viewers can jolly container ship which viewers can is yet response, synergy container ship which viewers can see jolly container ship which viewers can see on screen, which collided with the bridge. ship which viewers can see on can see on screen, which collided with the bridge. you were ship which viewers can see on screen, which you were telling us about with the bridge. you were telling us about screen, which you were telling us about how with the bridge. you were telling us about how the screen, which you were telling us about how the designing of bridges has changed and you are a structural engineer and a bridge designer, has changed and you are a structural engineer and a bridge designer, explain how has changed and you are a structural engineer and a how you have made changes engineer and a bridge designer, explain how you have made changes to bridge design to avoid incidents like this happening?— changes to bridge design to avoid incidents human like this happening? human progress is all about learning _ like this happening? human progress is all about learning from _ incidents human progress is all about learning from is all about learning from mistakes, so incidents human progress is all about learning from mistakes, is all about learning from mistakes, so when things have happened in the past we about learning from mistakes, so when we so when things have happened in the past we looked very carefully about learning from mistakes, so when we looked past we looked very carefully to work and design around them. about learning from mistakes, so when we looked to work i work and design around them. i mentioned when we looked to work i mentioned one event work and design around them. i mentioned one event which when we looked to work i mentioned work and design around them. i mentioned one event which was a when we looked to work i mentioned one event which was a work and design around them. i mentioned one event which was a very when we looked to work i mentioned one event which was a very key mentioned one event which was a very key moment in our design learning one event which was a very key moment in and key moment in our design learning history and so now we understand the significance and one event which was a very key history and so now we understand the significance and importance one event which was a very key moment in and so now we of designing significance and importance of designing for moment in and so now we of designing for this kind of incident. we also

designing for this kind of incident. we also know how to do it in a way that previously we didn't. for this kind of incident. we also know how to that so we also know how to do it in a way that previously we didn't. so we do indeed designed to protect against impact, know how to that so we do indeed designed to protect impact. the consequences of impact, vessel impact. the consequences of impact are not a serious apps we have seen here. i cannot comment on whether this particular bridge has had any consequences of impact are not a serious apps we have seen here. i or increased retrofitting or increased resistance in the 19705 when it was built, but it is possible it increased resistance in the 19705 when it was built, but it is in the 19705 when it was built, but it is possible it hasn't and when it was built, but it is and it was therefore it is possible it hasn't and it was therefore still vulnerable from being when it was built, but it is and it was therefore still vulnerable therefore still vulnerable from being designed to earlier standards. i want to remind viewers we are covering breaking news out of the united states which is that the key bridge in baltimore, maryland has collapsed after being hit by a ship and the bridge has collapsed in the water. professor, your thoughts again on this moment when this bridge collapsed and you could see those images. i'm just thinking

about the people who were still on the bridge. the authorities say about 20 workers the bridge when this happened. about 20 workers the bridge when this happened-— this happened. obviously it is tra . ic. this happened. obviously it is traaic. i this happened. obviously it is tragic. i can't _ this happened. obviously it is tragic. i can't comment, - this happened. obviously it is tragic. i can't comment, i- this happened. obviously it is. tragic. i can't comment, i can't this happened. obviously it is - tragic. i can't comment, i can't see from what i have been able to see so far what their situation is likely to be. i don't know if they were working on top of the bridge, anywhere near the point of impact, none of this is known, but clearly it is a serious situation and i'm sure the rescue services have got their hands full trying to find them and rescue them.— their hands full trying to find them and rescue them. yes. mr firth, stay with us, i and rescue them. yes. mr firth, stay with us. iwant— and rescue them. yes. mr firth, stay with us, i want to _ and rescue them. yes. mr firth, stay with us, i want to bring _ and rescue them. yes. mr firth, stay with us, i want to bring some - with us, i want to bring some reports coming in from bbc verify here which is that it is monitoring the situation in the baltimore harbour following the collapse of the key bridge early on tuesday. data from marine traffic, a ship tracking platform, shows a lot of congestion in the area around the bridge with increased traffic of

anchored vessel is further south between the city of annapolis and kent island. an incident like this is going to create a lot of backlog around the bridge for other ships and other traffic in the area. absolutely. there will be a long period of time while all sorts of people have to get involved to remove the debris. 0nce people have to get involved to remove the debris. once they have dealt with any people caught up in it they have to deal with the debris. this is a busy area of shipping, not to say anything about the traffic on the roads. the highway network will be severely influenced, impacted by this for months, probably. and a question again for viewers perhaps who are justjoining us and hearing about this news and seeing the pictures, how common or rare are incidents like this. very rare. if you think

about the number of times ships pass under bridges and vehicles go over bridges, these incidents have an incredibly rare occurrence thankfully and that's why we are here. designers like myself, probably do not properly qualified experience people design things to the right standards and all the rest of it with experience and expertise. and that's precisely to prevent things like this happening. but sadly things do still happen. and this is a very rare event. it is not something which you read about very often at all. ~ :. .. something which you read about very often at all. ~ :, ~ :, often at all. what kind of challenges _ often at all. what kind of challenges would - often at all. what kind of challenges would face i often at all. what kind of i challenges would face rescuers often at all. what kind of _ challenges would face rescuers who are now operating in the water around the collapsed bridge? that's around the collapsed bridge? that's a very good — around the collapsed bridge? that's a very good point — around the collapsed bridge? that's a very good point because - around the collapsed bridge? that's a very good point because we i around the collapsed bridge? “i“isgt�*s a very good point because we now have a tangle of metal work, steel work which is partly in the water, some of which might move because it is no longer supported in the way in which it was designed. it may be moving, certainly if anything has to be moved it might then cause a risk

for the rescue workers themselves. so everybody has to work very cautiously. but quickly, of course. and i guess obviously we know the cause, it seems, from the owner of the container ship that this ship did collide with the bridge. i guess there will also be further questions about how this could happen, perhaps how well—maintained the bridge was? i don't think that's got much to do with it, i'm afraid. the bridge has been struck by a very, very large, heavy object travelling obviously not fast but fast enough to cause this damage. the bridge would have come down even if it was the most perfectly maintained structure, i am sure. in that circumstance. the issueis sure. in that circumstance. the issue is preventing such an impact from occurring. and unfortunately, whether it be the vessel impact protection, ie, devices to deflect a vessel away from the bridge support,

or actually designing the support itself to withstand such an impact, if they had done that the support would have been very much more massive than you seen the photographs. the structure is actually quite flexible, it is quite flimsy in some respects, certainly not able to carry the kind of forces that a vessel of that sort would impart. that a vessel of that sort would im art. ~ :. .. that a vessel of that sort would im art. ~ :, ~ i. :, impart. mr firth, thank you for “oininu impart. mr firth, thank you for joining us _ impart. mr firth, thank you for joining us on — impart. mr firth, thank you for joining us on bbc— impart. mr firth, thank you for joining us on bbc news - impart. mr firth, thank you for joining us on bbc news and i impart. mr firth, thank you for- joining us on bbc news and sharing your expertise. that's ian firth, structural engineer and bridge design. a witness who briefly describe the scene for us now. there was a big bang. _ describe the scene for us now. there was a big bang, the _ describe the scene for us now. there was a big bang, the ship _ describe the scene for us now. there was a big bang, the ship hit - describe the scene for us now. iiee was a big bang, the ship hit the key bridge, bridge is gone. that was a witness describing the

scene when the bridge collapsed. it was around 1:30am local time, or 5:30am gmt. we can get the latest on the story with simonjones who is in the story with simonjones who is in the bbc newsroom. simon, what are we hearing from authorities in baltimore?— hearing from authorities in baltimore? , :, :, ~ hearing from authorities in baltimore? , :, :, baltimore? first of all, i think you aet a baltimore? first of all, i think you get a sense _ baltimore? first of all, i think you get a sense of— baltimore? first of all, i think you get a sense of the _ baltimore? first of all, i think you get a sense of the shock - baltimore? first of all, i think you get a sense of the shock from i baltimore? first of all, i think you j get a sense of the shock from that witness you just heard from, having seen the moment that the bridge collapsed and heard the moment of impact. this has been declared a mass casualty event. initially the fire service who are leading the rescue and recovery operation told us they thought seven people had gone into the water and the number of vehicles and they have now upped that number and they believe there are potentially up to 20 people in the water and they say it is a developing situation so that number may increase again. this is a huge bridge. around three kilometres long, and it has been brought down into the river below completely.

people are being told to avoid the area. this is a major incident. as well as the fire service who are leading on this, the coastguard are involved as well, given that this is a recovery and rescue operation involving water. we know from witnesses that they say it is being hampered at the moment because it is still dark. although this did occur a few hours ago, it is very much an ongoing situation. the mayor of the area says he is on his way so you can see first hand what has happened and offer any support necessary to the emergency services and the county chief, once again, to give you a sense of how serious this is, is asking people to pray for those who have been involved, who have been caught up in this bridge collapse. and obviously with a huge piece of infrastructure coming down like this it is going to be a very challenging rescue operation for the

emergency services who have to make sure of their own safety as well as racing against the clock to get people out of the water. so a very complex operation, a very big operation, but those extraordinary pictures of the bridge coming down, the moment captured on camera, really gives you a sense ofjust the scale we are talking about in terms of this collapse and in terms of the following rescue operation. simon, we have also _ following rescue operation. simon, we have also been _ following rescue operation. simon, we have also been hearing - following rescue operation. simon, we have also been hearing from i we have also been hearing from synergy marine group, this is the company that owns the ship that collided with the bridge. yes company that owns the ship that collided with the bridge. yes and i think there _ collided with the bridge. yes and i think there are _ collided with the bridge. yes and i think there are going _ collided with the bridge. yes and i think there are going to _ collided with the bridge. yes and i think there are going to be - collided with the bridge. yes and i think there are going to be big i think there are going to be big questions for this group about how this happened at about 1:30am in the morning local time. we are told that this was a large container ship actually heading in the direction of sri lanka. this bridge is a major part of the infrastructure, it is actually a four lane bridge three miles long but you have a lot of

shipping containers, a lot of shipping containers, a lot of shipping in the area that passes under the bridge each day. so there will be an investigation into how this happened and how it was able to bring the bridge down. but i think at the moment the priority has to be the rescue operation with potentially around 20 people in the water. we are waiting for an update from the fire authorities who are leading this rescue operation. but at the moment it is a developing situation and inevitably a confusing situation and inevitably a confusing situation because this bridge came down in the middle of the night in the very early hours of the morning. so it is really trying to ascertain just how many vehicles were caught up just how many vehicles were caught up in it, how many people may have ended up in the water, and the best way to try to get them out of the water. that's why there is such a large emergency response and this is being described as a mass casualty incident. ,, :, , :, , being described as a mass casualty incident. ,, :, , :, , incident. simon, people are being warned not _ incident. simon, people are being warned not to _ incident. simon, people are being warned not to go _ incident. simon, people are being warned not to go to _ incident. simon, people are being warned not to go to this _ incident. simon, people are being warned not to go to this area, i incident. simon, people are beingj warned not to go to this area, and at the same time the bbc seeing ship

tracking data showing there is a build—up of traffic around that bridge. build-up of traffic around that bride. . .. build-up of traffic around that bride. . ~ , bridge. yes, i think inevitably it is auoin bridge. yes, i think inevitably it is going to _ bridge. yes, i think inevitably it is going to cause _ bridge. yes, i think inevitably it is going to cause a _ bridge. yes, i think inevitably it is going to cause a huge - bridge. yes, i think inevitably it| is going to cause a huge amount bridge. yes, i think inevitably it i is going to cause a huge amount of issues when it comes to transportation. in terms of staying away from the area, it's partly because of the whole bridge is gone, therefore a whole route across the water has been cut off. the approach roads inevitably have been shot to this bridge. so traffic is being told avoid the area because it is going to be very difficult. but also for shipping as well that passes under this bridge, it's also going to be a very challenging time. we are told around 11 mui wui and vehicles pass over this bridge each year so it gives you a sense of how busyit year so it gives you a sense of how busy it is —— 11 million vehicles. just how important it is in terms of local infrastructure. but i think the authorities will also be wanting to keep people away because inevitably if people are in the area

there will be a sense of disbelief, if they have seen these pictures of the bridge completely collapsing, they may be tempted to head to the area to see the aftermath of this. that isn't going to help the emergency services, it isn't going to help the traffic situation, so that's why people are being asked to stay away and just monitor the situation from afar and leave it to the emergency services, and also the county chief has said people should pray for those who have been caught up pray for those who have been caught up in it but avoid any temptation to head to the area itself.— up in it but avoid any temptation to head to the area itself. viewers can still see these _ head to the area itself. viewers can still see these life _ head to the area itself. viewers can still see these life pictures - head to the area itself. viewers can still see these life pictures coming l still see these life pictures coming in from baltimore. the emergency operation is under way. what do we know about what officers are having to do to try and get the 20 people who are believed to have fallen into the water? —— live pictures. what who are believed to have fallen into the water? -- live pictures. what we are hearing — the water? -- live pictures. what we are hearing is _ the water? -- live pictures. what we are hearing is this _ the water? -- live pictures. what we are hearing is this is _ the water? -- live pictures. what we are hearing is this is a _ the water? -- live pictures. what we are hearing is this is a major- are hearing is this is a major operation but it is being hampered by the fact that, as you can see from the pictures, that it is still darkin from the pictures, that it is still dark in baltimore at the moment. so

that will add to the challenge of dealing with all of this. we are hearing from the shipping company synergy marine group, they are confirming it was their ship involved. they are saying the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, but they say that all crew members on the ship including the two pilots who were aboard have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries as far as that container ship is concerned. but in terms of the emergency operation, a huge operation under way, being led by the fire authorities, by the fire service, but also involving the coastguard, given that we are talking about potentially 20 or so people in the water. we are not hearing at the moment any details particularly of any rescue because this is very much any rescue because this is very much an ongoing situation. potentially with 20 or so people in the water thatis with 20 or so people in the water that is going to be a very worrying and difficult time for the emergency services dealing with this incident under the cover of darkness and

working alongside the coastguard who will have the expertise of trying to rescue people from water.- will have the expertise of trying to rescue people from water. thank you very much. — rescue people from water. thank you very much. the _ rescue people from water. thank you very much, the bbc's _ rescue people from water. thank you very much, the bbc's simon - rescue people from water. thank you very much, the bbc's simon jones i very much, the bbc's simonjones with the latest on that story from our newsroom. for viewers just joining us, we are following this breaking news from baltimore, maryland, that the key bridge has collapsed into the patapsco river. local authorities believe about 20 people fell into the water when the bridge collapsed. there is an emergency operation now under way to rescue those individuals. we can now speak once again to ian firth who is a structural engineer and bridge designer and also former president of the institute of structural engineers at. thank you forjoining us again. i want to start by asking you, what do you know about the bridge and what kind of bridge was it? , :, , , , : , bridge and what kind of bridge was it? ,:, : , it? obviously since this happened i've been looking _ it? obviously since this happened i've been looking online - it? obviously since this happened i've been looking online to i it? obviously since this happened i've been looking online to see i i've been looking online to see about it. i didn't know the bridge

particularly well, i knew of it. it is what we call a steel truss bridge with an arched profile. it is a three span structure which means that there are two main supports either side of the navigation channel command one of those has been struck by this vessel. so it is the major support for this very large, long structure which is many hundreds of metres long. fiend large, long structure which is many hundreds of metres long. and what it be ossible hundreds of metres long. and what it be possible for— hundreds of metres long. and what it be possible for any _ hundreds of metres long. and what it be possible for any bridge _ hundreds of metres long. and what it be possible for any bridge in - hundreds of metres long. and what it be possible for any bridge in the i be possible for any bridge in the world to withstand such a collision with a large ship? ii world to withstand such a collision with a large ship?— with a large ship? if designed for it, es, with a large ship? if designed for it, yes. but _ with a large ship? if designed for it, yes. but it— with a large ship? if designed for it, yes, but it is— with a large ship? if designed for it, yes, but it is impractical i with a large ship? if designed for it, yes, but it is impracticalveryl it, yes, but it is impractical very often to design the bridge structure itself to withstand such a vessel impact, which is why we tend to design vessel impact protection measures, which is something around the bridge structure. you imagine around the base of the support you could put other structures in the

water, heavy structures which are sacrificial, if they get struck they will be just damaged or destroyed but they will stop the vessel in its tracks so that the vessel then doesn't hit the bridge itself. that is what we tend to do. and that's what i would have expected to have seenin what i would have expected to have seen in this situation given that the shipping channel is clearly a very busy one with many very heavy vessels travelling through it daily. and how common or rare are incidents like this around the world? artery. like this around the world? very, very rare. _ like this around the world? very, very rare, thankfully. _ like this around the world? very, very rare, thankfully. very- like this around the world? very, very rare, thankfully. very rare. l like this around the world? very, i very rare, thankfully. very rare. we do design against all sorts of scenarios and impact by vessels is one of them. so thankfully these things happen very rarely because most of the time we do ourjob right. engineers are well—trained, well experienced, well expert in dealing with such issues. every now and again something happens and we have to very closely at the circumstances of those incidents and learn from them. and no doubt there will be some more lessons learned from this one. i mentioned earlier

in our earlier piece the sunshine skyway bridge in florida which was a collapse in 1980 which caused all sorts of ramifications and an improvement in the way we deal with vessel impact protection. sadly this bridge predated that, this bridge was built in the 19705, and so maybe it didn't benefit from the lesson that was learned in 1980. find it didn't benefit from the lesson that was learned in 1980. and 'ust a thou . ht that was learned in 1980. and 'ust a theughtebeutfi that was learned in 1980. and 'ust a thought about the i that was learned in 1980. and 'ust a thought about the emergency i thought about the emergency operation now under way. what kind of challenges would they be facing as they try to rescue the people who have fallen into the water? inevitably it is really hard. you are in the water, there is a tangle of wreckage all around you, somewhere in there there may be somebody trying to find the people who are on the bridge who ended up in the water, hopefully not under the water because clearly under what is not a good place to be. but

getting to people will be difficult in these circumstances, getting a small boat in there, finding a way through the tangled wreckage, getting to somebody who may have a broken arm or worse or something is very difficult. so i have to say i don't envy them their challenge but i'm sure they are doing a very good job. i'm sure they are doing a very good 'ob. , . . , i'm sure they are doing a very good 'ob. . , , , :, i'm sure they are doing a very good 'ob. i , , , :, ~' i'm sure they are doing a very good 'ob.i , , , :, ~ :, job. just briefly, what kind of investigations _ job. just briefly, what kind of investigations do _ job. just briefly, what kind of investigations do you - job. just briefly, what kind of investigations do you think. job. just briefly, what kind of i investigations do you think would happen as authorities try to figure out what happened here?- happen as authorities try to figure out what happened here? clearly one has to ask the _ out what happened here? clearly one has to ask the question _ out what happened here? clearly one has to ask the question why - out what happened here? clearly one has to ask the question why was i out what happened here? clearly one has to ask the question why was the l has to ask the question why was the vessel not going down the middle of the channel? the vessel has a job to do, the pilot has a job to do which is to steer the ship in the direction it should go. clearly there is a possibility they had engine failure or some kind of failure, steering failure, that prevented them from being able to do that, that is a question simply has to ask. mr that, that is a question simply has to ask. ~ �* ,:, , that, that is a question simply has toask. ~ �* , :, to ask. mr firth, i'm sorry to interrupt _ to ask. mr firth, i'm sorry to interrupt you _ to ask. mr firth, i'm sorry to interrupt you as _ to ask. mr firth, i'm sorry to interrupt you as you - to ask. mr firth, i'm sorry to interrupt you as you answerl to ask. mr firth, i'm sorry to i interrupt you as you answer that question. that ian firth, a structural engineer on the bbc. stay with us, we will have more on this developing story and the collapse of

the key bridge in baltimore, maryland. you're watching bbc news. hello again. in the next couple of days, take your brolly with you, we expect some heavy downpours, some of which will be thundery with hail mixed in there and it's often going to be windy. something quieter comes our way on good friday and good saturday. but this afternoon what we are looking at is a fair bit of cloud around. we have this line of rain here. it is really reinvigorating through the afternoon bringing heavy downpours in and across parts of south—east england, the midlands, wales and eventually some of that getting into northern ireland. a lot of cloud ahead of it. the scattered showers easing across the highlands through the course of the highlands through the course of the afternoon. some of those wintry on the hills. through the evening and overnight this band of rain continues pushing northwards, getting into northern england, northern ireland, scotland, again depositing more snow on the hills.

then we have this line of showers in northern ireland, wales and south—west england extending into the channel islands. clear skies, cold, —3 or —4 where we have some snow. tomorrow then, this line of showers pushes from the west towards the east and heads northwards. still some wintry showers on the hills across the far north of scotland where it will be windy. windy, to come across the south of england especially through the english channel, temperature 6—12 c. 0vernight wednesday into thursday, low pressure still very much driving our weather and we have various weather fronts wrapped around it. so on thursday what we are looking at basically bands of rain pushing northwards and eastwards. some of those wintry on the hills. some of them heavy and thundery with some drier interludes. windy across the northeast, gales possible through the english channel. temperatures eight in the north, 11 or 12 celsius at best. then as we move into good

friday, not as many showers around. there will be more dry weather, a bit more sunshine. there will still be some showers and again on the hills they are likely to be wintry in nature. a breezy day but light winds. temperatures 8—13 c north to south. that leads us into the easter weekend. fewershowers south. that leads us into the easter weekend. fewer showers around on saturday. 0n weekend. fewer showers around on saturday. on sunday at the moment it looks like we could see some rain later in the day coming into southern england, pushing northwards overnight, getting into scotland on easter monday.

live from london, this is bbc news. i'm lauren taylor. we begin with breaking news out of the united states. a bridge in the city of baltimore has entirely collapsed after being hit by a container ship. this is the moment it happens — you can see the ship hitting a column of the francis scott key bridge on the left of screen. the bridge quickly collapses. the baltimore city fire department is currently at the scene — its head says as many as 20 works are believed to have fallen into the river. officers have confirmed the incident is being treated as a mass casualty event, after it happened at about 1:30am local time. there is now a large multi—agency rescue and recovery operation under way. the baltimore mayor brandon scott says he is aware of the incident, and is in contact with local authorities. this is where the incident has happened.

as you can see, in the eastern state of maryland,