of christmas for both of them. i just taken aback by what you just said, not proper ill, don't worry! it isa said, not proper ill, don't worry! it is a cold. so yes, it is the kind of thing which will be big news, considering he is 95 and the queen herself is in her 90s. considering he is 95 and the queen herself is in her 905. it considering he is 95 and the queen herself is in her 90s. it is true, and it's interesting, because royal family worked like clockwork, it is such a tradition for them to go to sandringham at this time of year. it reminds me how much they are part of the routine at christmas. we are so used to the royal family, especially the queen, doing the same thing, that it feels a real disruption of the norm. that is a good point, you get the turkey and open the presents and the queen is at sandringham. now the sun have a headline on this, and i pooh—poohed this at the beginning, i have to say, but looking at it on reflection, it is not that bad. what do you think, throne a sickie? reflection, it is not that bad. what do you think, throne a sickie7m reflection, it is not that bad. what do you think, throne a sickie? it is not too bad. we don't want to be

flip with the queen and prince philip having a cold but as someone who never throws a sticky... are you suggesting, the implication from this headline, from the sun, the most widely read paper in the country is that they are bonking off somehow? they just country is that they are bonking off somehow? theyjust can't be bothered going to sandringham this year?“ they were genuinely concerned for they were genuinely concerned for the health of the royal couple, they would not be as flip is that. and the nation is reassured. it has been great having you in to look at the stories behind the headlines. many thanks. that's it for the papers this hour. don't forget you can see us online in all our glory. now it is time for sportsday. hi, everyone.

george north should not have been allowed to play on against leicester earlier this month after he appeared to briefly lose consciousness. that is the conclusion of the concussion management review group, but they have been criticised for failing to sanction northampton, north's club. they say that the saint‘ medical tea m they say that the saint‘ medical team had not intentionally ignored the player‘s best interests, but they have made nine recommendations to improve current protocols. the by to improve current protocols. the rugby players association have given their response, that george was permitted to return to the field of play in the circumstances was a significant failing, they said. our reporter, james burrage, has

spent time with the saint‘ medical team, and was at franklin ‘s gardens tonight when it was announced that they would not be punished. a year oi’ they would not be punished. a year or $0 they would not be punished. a year or so ago we spent some time behind the scenes here with the club‘s medical team, and just like all the other top—flight rugby teams around the world, it is all about player welfare, and concussion is fit hot topic. —— in the hot topic. for a moment, i can not believe they would put george north‘s welfare in question. i think the big question is how the system works. these clubs are supposed to have tablet technology pitch side, so they can review these incidents and look back at them. looking at this incident, i still think, why they didn‘t see the immediate replays that came through from this, because for everybody else watching, it looked, it appeared, that george north was concussed. these are the nine

recommendations that will be put forward , recommendations that will be put forward, iam recommendations that will be put forward, i am sure they will be looking at this, they cannot afford another incident like this, especially linked to concussion, and there are many experts calling for widespread changes. a little bit earlier i wasjoined by widespread changes. a little bit earlier i was joined by one of those experts, doctor barry o‘driscoll, the former medical adviser at world rugby. he thinks that much more needs to be done to protect players‘ welfare when it comes to head injuries. this is by no means an isolated case. poor rolls george north has been through the same process several times before. —— poor old. a big problem is that the protocols these players go through when they go off the field is not worth the paper it is written on. experimenting on players‘ brains, five minutes, ten minutes, then 30 minutes, no other sport in the world uses this process. rugby does not uses this process. rugby does not use it in the rest of the sport, in the community game, in the schools game come in the ladies‘ game. no way. if you have to take a player

off to have a concussion assessment, you must suspect concussion, and he has to stay. aaron red hill eight and say they must stay. they are experimenting in that part of the game which is the most brutal. when the player goes back the impact will be huge, and this is what is wrong. yet at the beginning of the season, you said they kept experimenting. this new protocol was launched with much song and dance, but that saints medical team did not have that video replay, in which it seems pretty clear that george north was knocked out momentarily. absolutely. they didn‘t have that, quite right. they didn‘t have that, quite right. they didn‘t see it. that is something which can probably be put right, but there will be lots of things happening in rucks and mauls where you will not see it. we need to see the impact on the video, we need to consider the history of the player, and we need to look at what you find

on the field. if the referee calls fred doctor because the player is prone on the ground, or not able to get up, or confused, all this imbalance, that is the end of it. that is the end of it everywhere in the world except elite rugby. they have had enough examples of how it has gone wrong to now say enough is enough. doctor barry o'driscoll. now, double wimbledon champion patrick kvitova will be unable to even practice again for at least six months. kvitova needed a four—hour operation on her hand after a knife attack in the czech republic. a statement from her management team said the surgery went well, and outlined a potential timeline for her recovery, but said it is too soon her recovery, but said it is too soon to see when she could actually return to competition. it is thought the intruder was a burglar, and kvitova was not specifically targeted. league two leaders plymouth argyle have set up a third round tie against liverpool in the fa cup. delete‘s at club, newport county, almost pushed night‘s replay to

penalties, but the match was decided bya penalties, but the match was decided by a penalty in extra time. leicester title enjoy an occasion like this, at the prospect of a trip to liverpool and a half million pound payday will always be a bit of a distraction. plymouth argyle‘s leading goalscorer, green carey, had his mind on thejob. but both sides struggled on a sticky pitch. the best plan was to move the ball quickly and see what happened. the home side was close, but not exactly vintage fair was served up. as full—time approached and the fog descended, the football league‘s what team saw their opportunity. —— bottom team. it had not been much to savour. joe davis‘ saved from kerry ensured the match was still goalless after 180 minutes of fa cup or all. extra time, and a rushed handball gave paul arnold morita the opportunity to take argyle ‘s and feel. so often in matches like this, you feel. so often in matches like this, y°u pay feel. so often in matches like this, you pay for not taking your chances, but derek aaron‘s side will get a

second bite of the cherry, after newport‘s garethjones... this time, carey took charge of the proceedings. he ended 203 minutes of scoreless football to send his team ona scoreless football to send his team on a third round pilgrimage to merseyside. farfrom a classic game of football, but certainly a night to rememberfor the of football, but certainly a night to remember for the green army. the chelsea assistant coach, steve holland, is going tojoin england to work alongside gareth southgate in the same role. holland has been ever present in the chelsea dugout for the past seven years. he has worked with southgate for the england under 21 ‘s and also with the senior tinkering southgate‘s for much period as interim manager. he will joining the full—time at the end of the season. new line west ham are preparing to fend off transfer enquiries next month. they have won their last two games in the league but it has been a difficult season. captain mark noble admits he is concerned that they could lose some key players like dimitri payet once the january window opens. yes, if

i‘m being honest. at there is a general concern that we could lose anybody in this window. that is the way football is. there are always surprises being chucked up. somebody who has played as well as him is a lwa ys who has played as well as him is always going to be linked with the big clubs. i think it is always going to take a big bid, something that the club cannot sort of refuse, to get him away from the football club. around this time of year, like mark noble, you will see footballers doing their bit in the community. he was at a children‘s hospital, ropes crossing or, not too far from tottenham‘s white hart lane. we have bought you some presence. that is for you, for christmas. there is no safer pair of hands to entrust the precious delivery of christmas presents to than those of totte n ha m christmas presents to than those of tottenham goalkeeper hugo loris. though maybe he would not have been every london‘s fan first choice number one. who do you support? i support arsenal. the first corner of

the game. brilliant save, hugo loris! hugo lloris led france to the runners—up spot at euro 2016, and totte n ha m to runners—up spot at euro 2016, and tottenham to third place last season, there high as league finish for more than a quarter of a century. does he look at on the year as one of success, or missed opportunities? unfortunately, we did not get the trophies this season. but we had some good runs, and i think the tottenham fans, even the french national team fans, they were proud for what we did this season. and looking ahead to 2017, you look at the premier league table, chelsea ten points clear of tottenham, who are fifth. do you think realistically the title is not possible for tottenham this season? the title is not the main expectation for tottenham. i think in premier league, it is very competitive. but we are nearly there. the gap is reducing every year. we have seen a lot of your

teammates year. we have seen a lot of your tea m mates recently year. we have seen a lot of your teammates recently signing new contracts. tottenham teammates recently signing new contracts. tottenha m fa ns teammates recently signing new contracts. tottenham fans would love to see you do that. do you feel close to extending your stay at totte n ha m ? close to extending your stay at tottenham? let's see. let's see what will happen. i tried to do my best, tried to help the team to achieve some great things, and that is my motivation every day, and that is my ambition for this season and for the next few seasons. tottenham fans hope hugo loris will be spreading festive cheer in north london for many years yet. that wakes you up, doesn‘t it? but it is time for bed. that is it for sports day. coming up next on bbc news, the papers. it‘s looking pretty unsettled for the run—up to christmas, as we‘ve been forecasting.

christmas day itself will be exceptionally mild. we have some pretty wild weather across the north of the uk tonight. gale force winds, frequent showers, snow on the high ground and some ice to watch out for by the end of the night. that rain has been clearing away. we are already seeing mist and fog developing around bristol. that will continue to develop in the south—east as temperatures in rural places dip close to freezing. a really cold start to thursday here. across the north it is going to be pretty wild. watch out for those showers, frequent and heavy. some ice around as well. snow may be down to lower levels in the heaviest of the showers. frequent showers for northern island, moving across the irish sea into north—west england, much of wales and into was the south—west of england. central and southern and eastern areas starting off dry and witty cold. watch out for the mist and fog, it could prove problematic through the morning. some dense patches around. that

should clear because the breeze will pick up. then we are looking at sunshine across the south—east. those showers will rattle is with those well, but tend to ease down in the afternoon. the focus of them will be across northern ireland and scotla nd will be across northern ireland and scotland where there will be heavy hail, thunder and lightning mixed m, hail, thunder and lightning mixed in, and some pretty significant snow over the high ground. a cold, raw feeling to the day up here. things are set to get worse as we head towards friday. the net office has issued a be prepared wind warning for storm barbara, the second named storm of the season. it is likely to pack a punch across the north and east of the uk. this weather front will eventually bring rain to the whole of the uk but it is the northern half of the country which will be battered by the strongest of the winds. trans pennine routes will see the strongest of the winds. high vehicles must watch out for that. in north of scotland, 90 and 80 mile an hour gusts. 70 potentially from northern ireland, 64 northern wales and the north of england. these are potentially disruptive gusts.

christmas eve remains windy and cold across the country, across northern areas. plenty of showers here, snow on the high ground. sunshine tour the south and temperatures just into lower figures the south and temperatures just into lowerfigures —— the south and temperatures just into lower figures —— double the south and temperatures just into lowerfigures —— double figures. 0n christmas day itself the next area of low pressure moves in to bring us all windy weather. a spell of rain, too. exceptionally mild across the south of the south—east but across scotla nd south of the south—east but across scotland it will turn colder in the day and we could see some snow showers moving in on christmas day, so showers moving in on christmas day, so keep tuned to the weather forecast. welcome to newsday. the headlines: a man—hunt for the berlin market attack. anis amri has been linked to an extremist network. as germany mourns the victims, questions mount about security failures in the country. relief in sight for chinese cities. forecasters say that choking smog is set to clear. and he has still got it. the 102—year—old

professor who has won a battle to keep on working.