this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8pm. feeling the pinch — but the prime minister says the budget puts britain on the right path — despite an economic warning from a leading think tank. the chancellor did a very good job yesterday. what the chancellor was doing was setting out how we can ensure we can have an economy fit for the future. the institute of fiscal studies warns that the uk is facing an unprecedented squeeze on living standards. it looks like we've got at least another five years to go before we get anywhere near to having earnings back where they were in 2008. that is wholly unprecedented, certainly the worst since the mid—19th century. more than 70 people have been rescued after heavy rain caused flooding in parts of northern england and wales. an underwater explosion is detected near the area where an argentine submarine disappeared in the south atlantic with 44 crew on board. a 96—year—old d—day veteran has been left with life—threatening injuries after being attacked with a claw hammer at his home in taunton.

in the next hour: held under five star hotel arrest — we get exclusive access to riyadh‘s ritz carlton — holding 200 of saudi arabia's most powerful people. as far as detention centres go, this is beyond compare. luxury swimming pool is beyond compare. luxury swimming pool, restaurants, a gym, everything is glittering. and a bitter blow to britain — after brussels ruled it can't now host the 2023 european capital of culture. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the uk is in danger of losing almost 20 years of growth in earnings — that's the stark warning from the institute of fiscal studies after yesterday's budget.

the independent think tank says the squeeze on living standards in the past ten years is unprecedented and warns that the economic outlook is "grim". it says there's no imminent end to austerity and government borrowing is now expected to rise for decades. the chancellor, philip hammond, said he hoped to prove the forecasts wrong and insisted his budget was a package for families feeling the pressure. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed reports. it can all seem a little distant — the treasury, the government department that publishes the budget, but what this grand office of state says matters for all of us and today it became clear why. the budget‘s major growth downgrade revealed the amount we earn has not increased for a decade, however hard we work and however far we travel, and those stagnant wages could be with this well into the next decade. 0ut shopping in basildon, essex, adele and her daughter emily. it is a struggle making ends meet.

i have been working years and i have not had a pay rise and i now have a child. everything else is gone up, rent had gone up, food has gone up. everything else has gone up, rent had gone up, food has gone up. all the other prices — gas and electric. we are constantly getting told this is going up, this is going up, but nothing else is going up with it. i asked the head of the institute for fiscal studies why the growth downgrade mattered so much. economic forecasts may not sound important, but when they mean your earnings and living standards will be much lower than expected, it is time to listen. earnings in the early 2020s will still be below where they were in 2008, making this easily the worst decade for living standards, notjust in living memory, but a long time before that. the prime minister visiting a college for trainee builders in leeds. she knows she has to convince people like adele she is on her side. the chancellor and i agree that the budget was about jobs for people up and down the country, about ensuring people are in work

with that income for their family and it is about building the homes they need and it is about ensuring we seize opportunities for the future. the effort to seize the opportunities of the future has to overcome a major hurdle — the living standards squeeze. at the time of the financial crisis, average earnings were £24,500 and they fell sharply as the financial crisis bit. look how slow the recovery has been. even by 2022, people will still earn less on average than they were ten years ago. that is the key question, why aren't real incomes rising? there are a number of answers to that. first the governments over many decades, of whichever party, have failed to invest in the things that really matter, like other skills. like our skills.

the financial crisis that sucked so much money out of the financial system. and the businesses themselves, some of which seem to prefer to rely on cheap labour, rather than investing in the machinery that would make them more efficient and their employees wealthier. for the government's opponents, there are those deep—seated economic problems. and it is those delivering our key services — the nurses, midwives, firefighters, teachers, who are worse off than they were a decade ago. there is nothing here that can be considered remotely strong. people have been helped, the tories say, with record employment levels, a higher living wage. tonight the government was putting the finishing touches to the next effort at boosting the economy — the industrial strategy. stand by for that next week.

kamal ahmed, bbc news. the chancellor insists his budget will address britain's problems with productivity despite the gloomy forecasts. but low productivity is one of the biggest factors behind the poor outlook for growth. our business editor simon jack considers what's been going wrong. it is the word of the week, maybe the decade. it means the value of work done per worker per hour. if it goes up, the economy grows and so do pay and living standards. when it doesn't, they don't. right now, it isn't. when people hear our productivity is low, some wonder if workers are being accused of being lazy, but it is not really that at all. i could be the best typist in the world and the hardest working person, but there would be a limit to how letters, for example, i could write. to how many letters, for example, i could write. to really get things done and be more productive, i need one of these. it is a problem britain's biggest companies recognise. all the data suggests we have

a productivity problem and it has flatlined largely the last few years. i think everybody recognises that. i think both companies and government and indeed education in general, we all have a stake in making that and fixing that and making that better. the government's answer has been to get big companies like bt to pay half a per cent of their wage bill into an apprenticeship kitty that smaller companies can also use. but the latest figures show it is not working. this time last year, 117,000 people started an apprenticeship. at the same time this year the number was only 68,000 — a fall of a whopping 59%. what is going wrong? the implementation of the policy has been diabolical. the inflexible approach to training, the 10% charge to employers when they used to have it for free and the procurement process for providers, all three have caused problems which is why the numbers have fallen.

the problem does not seem to be demand from apprentices themselves. my mum always wanted me to go to university, but i always had to tell going to university does not give her going to university does not give you the best thing ever, so going to university gives you a degree which is good, but doing an apprenticeship, you are paid, get a better opportunity, learn skills and meet new people. if we are to tackle the productivity puzzle, we need a massive increase in training which means getting people doing apprenticeships in the right areas and industries. it is one of the top three issues our members tell us they want solved. the government said today it remains committed to providing 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. to hit the target, the plan may need a rewrite. simon jack, bbc news. later we are speaking to professor of economics, from the letter

university management school. and there is more on the website. where you can see how the chancellor's plans affect you, using the bbc budget calculator. enter your details to see if you will be better or worse off following the plans laid out by the chancellor. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are jason beattie, head of politics at the daily mirrorand iain martin, columnist for the times. dozens of people had to be rescued from their homes in parts of cumbria and lancashire last night after heavy rainfall caused flooding. more than 70 people were helped to safety after the emergency services received hundreds of calls. a number of flood warnings are still in place. 0ur correspondent danny savage reports from lancashire. what do you think? this isn't the sound a mixing desk is supposed to make. this recording studio at the back of a house in galgate in lancaster has been ruined by the flooding, its owners caught out

by the rapid rise of the water. my husband has a studio at the back of the house where he does his music. the warning was the people on the street going we need some help. the conditions around here last night were dreadful. there came a point when we were bucketing it out, bailing it out we had pumps going. there came a point where it was bucket versus river and the river won and it is now like this. so i have lifted as much as i can from the ground floor, but there are bikes down there, my cooker has gone, my boiler, my washing machine, my dishwasher, everything. further north in cumbria, the heavy rain closed roads and sent floodwater creeping towards homes. the worst of it was kept out by the fire service. travellers on the west coast mainline faced long delays as the tracks north of preston disappeared under water. passengers were put on buses. north wales was hit, too, with anglesey the worst affected. it is just unbelievable. i have never seen anything like it in my life.

and i've been brought up here and it wasjust, well, shocking. back in galgate, the fire brigade were pumping out the cellar of the new inn. i'm totally distraught. i don't think that i can actually continue with this now. with your business? yes. the landlord believes he has lost his livelihood. the cellar is flooded, the kitchen is gone. all my food stock has gone. all the fridges and freezers are turned upside down. what it highlights is there are lots of communities in this part of britain that of honourable to flooding when you get those periods of heavy rain in a short space of time. of britain that are vulnerable to flooding when you get those periods of heavy rain in a short space of time. the water has receded,

but people will be staring anxiously at the skies for some time yet. the argentine navy says it believes there was an explosion in the ocean close to the last known location of a submarine which went missing off the coast of patagonia. a huge air and sea hunt is under way for the vessel and its 44 crew. the blast was detected around the time the submarine sent its last signal. rylee carlson reports. more than a week after the sanjuan went missing, a sound detected as abnormal, detected the same time that the submarine disappeared. translation: we received information it was an abnormal, singular, short, violent and nonnuclear event, consistent with an explosion. the concern now is the crew could be using up the last of its seven day oxygen supply. the argentine navy calls this is critical phase. so far, no sign of the missing vessel,

the reuters news agency says a us plane detected an object near the area where the subsent its last signal but it could not be identified. more than a dozen vessels are looking for the submarine. this commander says it is difficult to understand what it is like on the submarine. we think that they could have reduced the crew's worm rhythm to increase autonomy it is impossible to confirm if their oxygen has run out. he says that the focus is on re—establishing communication, something an international fleet has been trying to do for a week. if the support vessels locate the sub, getting the crew to safety will be a delicate operation. the search boat to send and underwater robot, they use sonar to create images of the sea floor. 0nce

use sonar to create images of the sea floor. once the subis found a submarine rescue chamber will be deployed from the search vessel. the rescue chamber is attached to the top of the submarine, allowing the crew members to evacuate safely. that is the best—case scenario. it is the ones that the people here, gathering at the naval base will continue to pray for. jeremy corbyn is talking about the budget, let's listen in. there was so much else in the budget. the 145 million cut to the employers across the west midlands. is it surprising there are fewer police walking around the streets? is it striping there is a rise in violent crime? is it surprising

there are problems within our society? you cannot have it on the cheap. you can't lay off the police officers, cut the numbers, and the budget and expect it to keep getting better it doesn't and it won't. investment in public services, investment in the police is a common good for all of us. and there are so many other areas of our lives that must be looked at in this. i mentioned yesterday, i mentioned yesterday, the question of children's services. the figure that johnjust gave a children's services. the figure that john just gave a few moments ago, 70,000 children taken into care... think of that figure again, 70,000 children... that's almost wembley stadium this year, all of those children taken into care. there are many, children taken into care. there are any children taken into care. there are many, many reasons and all of them are individual and it's not for any of us to comment on the individual reasons, what i do say is, there's got to be something that we need to

look at here and properly fund our children's services in all our local authorities so that all children can be given the support they need, all families can be given the support they need and those children can be helped. helped and supported. helped if they are taken into care, to go through those years, helped were they become adults to get the care and the support that other children automatically get, because they still have their parents nearby to help them but take it as our responsibility as a whole, not underfund children's responsibility as a whole, not underfund child ren's services responsibility as a whole, not underfund children's services in so many places, leaving so many children vulnerable and in a bad way. they are, after all, young people, who we want to be a part of our society and part of our community in the future. so those cuts and the cuts of £49 million to education, all across the west midlands are just so awful and so appalling. john

explained a teacher in theresa may's constituency, collecting money and there are many more that do that. 5,000 head teachers wrote to us to say that they could not manage on the budgets that they have in their schools. 0ur alternative is a very, very different one. we believe education is a right, no the a privilege. that education is something that should be available for all. the post—war labour governments, a great contribution, the 1945 to 51 labour government, great contribution, it was housing, it was the welfare state and the principle that we in the community cared for all. i want the next labour government's great contribution, to our society, to be a national education service, where? children from the age of two get the

preschool facilities they all need. the preschool years of social learning and learning to live with each other, to understand each other and the brilliant minds and creativity amongst very small children that is so important the and sport for primary schools and secondary schools... jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, speaking to an audience in west brom itch in the west midlands. talking about the budget. the fewer police on the streets, the rise in violent crimes, the talk of the need for greater investment in public services and the welfare state. no doubt more reaction from various quarters to the budget throughout the evening. but first the head lines. the prime minister says that the budget puts britain on the right

path, despite a policy group saying that the country's economic prospects make for grim reading. more than 70 people have been rescued after heavy rain caused flooding in parts of northern england and wales. an underwater explosion was detected near the area where the argentine submarine disappeared in the south atlantic with 44 crew on board. a bitter blow to britain — brussels ruled it cannot host the european 2023 capital of culture. sport now. day two of the first ashes moeen ali was promoted to six in the batting line—up, in the absence of ben stokes, so he and dawid malan will resume their innings at half past eleven this evening — half an hour earlier to make up for some time lost

to rain this morning. are ina are in a england fairly decent position. we would like to get reasons early. the conditions are not as we expected. a huge amount of pace at the start of the day. came on to the bat as the day wore on. they bowled pretty well. the morning is crucial. if we can get through the first hour and edge towards a big score. its with a pick up and throw. disappointing, no matter what score a batter gets, they always want more. it would have been nice to have been there at the end of the day but, yeah, stuff like that happens in cricket. i think it is evenly poised. it depends what happens on the next morning. they batted the whole day but didn't get away from us. i

thought they batted well. 4—down at the end of the day is an even result. i don't think, i don't think we will blast them out, it is about staying disciplined. there is enough in there. there is a nip to the new ball. hopefully a little swing and some early ones. and there will be test match commentary from the bbc. arsenal have won the europa league group, despite losing 1—0 at fc cologne. the penalty was the only goal of an uninspiring game. the gunners will finish top. and everton, who cannot qualify for the knockout stage are playing ata la nta the knockout stage are playing atalanta at goodison park. they are

a goal down in the last few minutes. 16 minutes on the clock at goodison park. roux beano has been sentenced to nine years in prison for taking part in the rape of a woman. he is back in his home country playing for athlet co maniero. the whereabouts of five other men is not known. he has two appeals. england's rugby union captain dylan hartley has been left out of the starting line—up for the first time under head coach eddie jones, for saturday's autumn international against samoa. hartley drops to the bench as hooker jamie george gets his first start. chris robshaw and george ford are named co—captains. exeter number eight sam simmonds makes a starting debut for the match at twickenham. hartley says he doesn't mind being on the bench. the last 22 games i've asked the

squad to contribute and whatever role you have within that, you give that to the team. the guys that train ona that to the team. the guys that train on a monday, tuesday, going home, having disappointment in not being involved and then supporting the starting team. so it is my turn to support the team. and the football, everton are still a goal down to atalanta. they can't make it through to the last 32. much more for you in sportsday at 10.30pm. the chancellor says he will address his problems with productivity. but low productivity is behind the biggest factor on the lookout for growth. joining me now is geraintjohnes, research director at

the work foundation and professor of economics at lancaster university management school. this has been coming for a long time. since the great financial crash we have had a problem with productivity. it comes in at 2% per year but it has stag narted in the period since 2008 and 2010. this is something that the office for budget responsibility has decided it really ought to put into his forecasts. it has shaved 0.7% points off the assumption as to productivity growth for each of the next few years. this is driving the dismal growth forecasts over the gdp in the five—year period and it is what's shaved off an amount for our earnings, so you can't pay what you

don't earn, you have to produce. productivity is the driver for earnings, so we see in the forecasts for the next couple of years, in march of this year, the office for budget responsibility was expecting earnings of 2.7%. it has shaved that down to 2.3%. it does not sound a lot but year after year, the accumulative effect means that the real earnings will be dismal for some time to come. how much does the uncertainty over what the uk will be like after brexit come into play here? if brexit is a promising prospect for britain, surely the forecasts, we could write them off? well, we have to get a perfect storm here. investment in capital equipment and machinery has been low in britain relative to many of our cometors for quite some time. even if you go back before the crash, as

a proportion of the gdp in the uk, investment was about 16% compared with france and germany, over 20% in both of those countries, that have higher productivity than we do already. so that is one of the things that's been going on for a long time that contributed to low pocketivity growth. you mention brexit, it make it is harder. if investment is key to achieving productivity growth, then the uncertain environment that we have is putting firms off investing. putting them off making a commitment in britain. the sooner we get some certainty around that, the better. to what extent can the government, with its spending make up for the lack of external investment or private investment at a time when they are also trying to carry on with austerity? indeed. in the short run it is limited. 0ne with austerity? indeed. in the short run it is limited. one of the virtues of the budget we saw yesterday is that philip hammond is

targeting the long—term. he is looking for fixes that work in the long run. so he is pouring money into infrastructure, investment, thatis into infrastructure, investment, that is something that should pay off in the long—term. we have got changes in terms of skills, the investment in apprenticeships and the changes in the funding of maths education in upper secondary schools. those should help us to become more productive but it take as long time. to with what extent are previous budgets under previous chancellors to what we have now? it is a problem shared. with private and the public sector. we know that when the public sector. we know that when the public sector involves itself, then the power of the public sector is enhanced by that collaboration, so you hear of companies like apple, who benefitted from the public

sector in the early years. in terms of inflation, if it is going up, the idea is to raise interest rates but then you squeeze people's spending power further, so how then you squeeze people's spending powerfurther, so how do then you squeeze people's spending power further, so how do you square that circle? indeed, inflation is having a blip. we have seen a decrease in the value of sterling. that is very much a one—shot increase in praises, rather than a sustained inflation. with sustained inflation we expect the increase in prices to lead to wage pressure. we are not seeing that at this stage there. is no evidence this will be a sustained inflation. indeed, ithink that the increase in the interest rates from the bank of england may prove to have been premature. professor geraintjones from the university of letter management school. thank you very much for your time this evening. you're very welcome. the jury at the trial of an army sergeant accused of trying

to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute — has been discharged, after failing to reach verdicts. emile cilliers — seen here with his wife victoria — had denied all charges. the court had been sitting for seven weeks. the crown prosecution service says it will seek a retrial. one of the killers of the toddler, james bulger, is back in prison while police investigate the discovery of suspected child abuse images on a computer. jon venables — who was ten when he killed the little boy — along with robert thompson in 1993 was freed on licence in 2001. the former labour minister ivan lewis has been suspended by the party while allegations of inappropriate behaviour are investigated. ivan lewis denies wrongdoing. he says he is sorry if he made women who work with him feel awkward. he says he is sorry if he made women who work with him feel awkward. for the past three weeks 200 of the most powerful and wealthy people in saudi arabia have been held under arrest at the five star ritz carlton hotel in riyadh.

it follows an unprecedented anti—corru ption drive by saudi arabia's crown prince, mohammed bin salman. little information has been emerging from inside the hotel but the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse doucet has gained exclusive access and has sent this report. we drive in under police escort, just past mired night. no—one enters here without official permission. the world's most talked about hotel. riyadh most alashal, most prestigious, now a gilded prison. i'm taken in by saudi officials, told, don't film faces or record conversations. here in the early hours of the morning, there are still people in the lobby drinking coffee as you find in any of five star hotels in the capital. most of the people now forced to stay here are keeping to themselves. they are trying to limit any further damage to their reputation. they're mobile phones have been taken away from them. but there is a hotline that is available to them. they can call

lawyer, family members, even leading members of the companies that they are still trying to keep running. the world's most pampered prisoners have every comfort, other than freedom, the state is picking up this bill. as far as detention centres go, this one is beyond compare. luxury swimming pools, a restau ra nts, compare. luxury swimming pools, a restaurants, a gym, everything is glittering. there's eve an bowling ali. but most prisoners just stay in their rooms. i'm taken to meet one suspect, he doesn't give me his name. says he spends time with his lawyer, focussing on his case, i'm told not to ask about it. but i get a briefing. senior officials conducting the crackdown say it is not a formal investigation, yet, calling it a friendly process but it is clearly fraught. we are told when people were brought here at midnight on november 4th they were angry.

some thought this was a show and would not last. when they realised that they were here to stay, they we re that they were here to stay, they were furious. almost everyone here, 95%, i was told, are willing to make a deal, to give back what are said to be substantial sums of money in order to get out of here. the crown prince, 32 years old is taking on fellow princes, senior ministers, and some of the biggest billionaires, tackling corruption and concentrating power. weeks on, many are asking questions about why this purge happened here and now. 0utside this purge happened here and now. outside of this gilded prison, it certainly has gone down well. many welcome an end to the rampant corruption in the kingdom. but there are risks too, the ambitious crown prince risks creating enemies and uncertainty which could endanger the stability and the reforms that his kingdom so badly needs.

the crown prince hopes everyone is checking out by the end 69 year. the longer the ordeal drags on, the more questions will be asked here and abroad about what is going on inside. lyse doucet, bbc news, at the ritz carlton, riyadh. most m ost pla ces most places are dry, cloudy outbreak. sliding eastwards across southern england, perhaps wales for a while. keeping temperatures from falling too low. then again likely wintry in the north. a touch of frost in rural areas across the northern half of the uk. icy patches close to the showers. still going on north west of scotland. again, some sleet and snow. especially over the hills. 12—macro showers for england and wales, but on the whole a dry

day. not as windy as today, but still cold. 2—9dc. cold over the weekend. it will feel cold, the winds will strengthen. sunshine around, if you wintry showers, most of those on saturday. most of those in the west. hello. this is bbc news. the prime minister says the budget puts britain on the right path, despite a leading policy group saying the country's economic prospects, make for ‘grim reading'. more than 70 people have been rescued after flooding in more than 70 people have been rescued afterflooding in north wales. an underwater explosion is detected near the area where an argentine submarine disappeared in the south atlantic, with 44 crew on board. an army sergeant is to face a retrial —— on charges of attempting to murder his wife, by tampering by tampering with her parachute, after the jury failed to reach verdicts.

a 96—year—old d—day veteran has been left with life—threatening injuries after being attacked with a claw hammer at his home in taunton. the physical and mental health around 1500 former footballers will be examined by a study the links between dementia and heading of football. the fa and the pfa have commissioned a study about concerns over the long—term effects it can have brain. heading the ball has been a part of football since the game was invented, but in recent years there's been mounting concern over the danger it could pose to players‘ long—term health, and today the fa announced it'd finally commissioned a landmark study into links between football and dementia. the expert leading the research telling mejust how significant it is. we're going to be as thorough as we can possibly be. we're looking at in excess of 15,000

former footballers an matching them to somewhere around 45,000 population control. so we get a good sense of what their numbers look like against what we would expect from the population. commentator: nodding it on. 15 years ago, a coroner ruled that former england striker, jeff astle, died aged 59 as a result of industrial disease, dementia caused by repeated heading had contributed to the cause of death. one of hundreds of players diagnosed with degenerative brain conditions after retirement, astle's family have been at the heart of the campaign demanding the sports authorities honour their duty of care to former professionals. the fa have a responsibility across the game in its entirety. the pfa are there for player welfare. but, yes, they are doing it, but i still believe they've been cornered into this. they've been cornered into doing the research. it's something that's not going to go away. former england captain alan shearer, still the premier league's leading goal scorer and a player renowned

for his heading, highlighted the issue in a recent bbc documentary undergoing a series of medical tests on his own brain. i'm pleased that eventually the authorities have listened and are now going to do the research that should have been done years ago. we can't look back unfortunately, we can only look forward now and support willie and his team and, hopefully, they will be able to start and get some answers now. today, the fa said it felt compelled to conduct what it vowed would be one of the most comprehensive studies ever into this issue. further proof that it must now address one of the greatest challenges facing its future, both in the professional ranks and at the grass—roots. despite the obvious health benefits for children who play sport there are calls for heading to be banned for under 11s until the health risks are better understood. football's not alone. rugby has had to change its rules over the assessment

of head injuries. american football's concussion crisis meanwhile has resulted in £1 billion settle m e nt after former players sewed the nfl over brain disease. a 96—year—old d day veteran has been attacked with a claw hammer during a burglary at his home in somerset. he's now being treated in hospital for what are described as ‘life threatening' injuries. lee maddan reports from taunton. police say a man knocked the brough‘s door yesterday afternoon between four and five o'clock, asking whether he wanted any work done to the house. when he refused the man attacked him with what is thought to be a claw hammer. the man attacked him with what is thought to be a claw hammerlj the man attacked him with what is thought to be a claw hammer. i saw him yesterday, he came down last night, he has a fractured skull. he was with the doctor for a while. he

had a problem with his hand. he had at the bash on his hand. he is one of the last living heroes of world war ii, serving as lieutenant commander, playing a crucial role in the d—day landings. commander, playing a crucial role in the d-day landings. his latest battle have seen him take on the man police are still trying to find. around 30, 35 years of police are still trying to find. around 30,35 years of age. clean—shaven. darkish hair. described as a classic. stocky build. no real accent was noted. no real fright was given. he was wearing jeans and dark clothing. mr booth has been well known to the bbc. he featured on points west two yea rs bbc. he featured on points west two years ago when he danced with the duchess of cornwall, saying he was delighted to have stolen a dance with her. tonight forensic teams are working at his house, or looking for clues about his attacker. emmerson mnangagwa, who is due to be sworn

in as zimbabwe's president tomorrow, has warned people not to engage in acts of vengeful retribution. in a statement, he said he was working on transitional arrangements. zimbabwe's main industrial index has slumped by forty percent since last week's military intervention. ben brown is in harare. people in zimbabwe are preparing for the inauguration of the next president. replacing a ruler who has been there for 37 years, a reminder how long mr mcgarvey ruled miss rule this country. he will be sworn in at the big stadium in harare. thousands of people there to watch it. what is going to be his programme as president? already promised economic reform. saying it would be at the heart of what he does. he promised jobs, jobs, jobs. this is a country where there is nine in ten people

are out of work. people are looking for economic improvement, economic turnaround. also they are looking for political reform. they want him to guarantee there will be free and fair elections next year. also there will be an end to political repression and human rights abuses. he was a henchman mr mugabe, not eve ryo ne he was a henchman mr mugabe, not everyone trusts him. people will be keeping a wary and bdi on this new president. there's been a big fall in the number of workers starting apprenticeships. 59 per cent fewer people started apprenticeships compared with the same last year. the drop—off follows the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. the levy means that firms of 50 or more people must fund 10% of the training costs. they must also allow one day a week for off—site training. the aim was to fund three million new apprenticeships. but is now being blamed forfewer apprentices. sonali parekh is the head of policy at the federation of small businesses and joins me now. thank you for coming in. how much of

an issue is this 10% of firms. the idea of a levy being paid in, so you can draw on that funding for later? we are deeply concerned by the data. small businesses are very supportive of apprenticeships. 0ur small businesses are very supportive of apprenticeships. our 2016 research shows a quarter of our members have taken on at least one apprentice. a further quarter would look to take on an apprentice in the future. important to find ways of capitalising on that. today's data is worrying in that context. what is important is the critical part of 98 businesses that do not pay the levy

at all. what we would like to see if the government putting the same care and attention and focus on those non—levy paying businesses. as they are on the levy paying large culprits. what would they care, attention and focus look like? there aren't members thinking about taking an apprentice, they would not know where to go, where to start. the apprenticeship system is complex. there is a new funding structure put in place. small businesses do not have hr departments, access to the same wherewithal as large culprits. they need a one—stop shop, one place to go to get holistic advice about how to take on an apprentice. that is missing? at the moment we would say that is missing. much more work needs to be done for non—levy paying businesses. which is the majority. how much of the problem is the need for training one day a week to be

off—site? how practical unnecessary as that in some instances? we would say we want to ensure high quality apprenticeships. make sure training standards are the highest level possible. 0therwise both the apprentice and the business loses out. we want to work with the government to make sure the new training is being designed in the wa ke training is being designed in the wake that achieves that standard of quality. what is the average wage an apprentice is paid by your members? some young people who look at the idea have said i can't live on that money could put them off? we are supportive of the announcements made in the budget yesterday. around the level of minimum wage. we are not so much focused on pay levels. we're much focused on pay levels. we're much more focused on making sure that information and advice and support is available. on the demand

side, where the real demand exists among businesses, to capitalise on opportunities to take on apprenticeships. if not through apprenticeships, where do small businesses draw their new raw talent from? these are really challenging times. the labour market is tight now. albeit very flexible. we're brexit on the horizon, there is real concern, particularly in the area technical skills. the recent brexit research has shown the predominant skill from eu workers they rely on is the mid—level skills, construction workers, care workers, office managers, mechanics. really important apprenticeships are supported. they are a key part of the technical skills. alongside other interventions. downing street

says disagrees with the european commission decision for british it is not to compete for the european city of culture in 2020. liverpool we re city of culture in 2020. liverpool were the last european city of culture back in 2008. when we were european capital of culture in 2008, it is not being part of the eu, it is part of showcasing your city to europe in the world. gain. there's been a complete transformation. we had a hinteregger pounds of economic benefit coming from visitors. more,

it really exhilarated the whole regeneration. the city is completely transformed. it is carried on the growth after capital of culture. not about the year where you get to tell your story in the world stage. about what happens after that as well.|j have spoken to raising the large, deputy chief executive of the creative industries federation. member of thejudging creative industries federation. member of the judging panel creative industries federation. member of thejudging panel meant creative industries federation. member of the judging panel meant to assess the bids. i asked what she thought? it seems that the eu for throwing its toys out of a rather large european shaped pram. frankly. saying, if you do not want to be pa rt of saying, if you do not want to be part of us, you cannot have one of out part of us, you cannot have one of our playthings. the capital of culture. claire is right, these things are absolute game change for a city. they completely change the outcomes for people living in the

cities, and the cities themselves. glasgow was capital of culture, it changed the whole way the city look. the wait was represented. bringing in millions of pounds of tourists and investment to the city, the same with liverpool. remarkable. cities won this prize. how can we really say in this country we want to part of that, but we think witty part of the european union, isn't that cherry picking? the fact is, the european capital of culture set out, it is an enormousjuggernaut going around europe. it lands on one, sometimes to megacities. in the millennium there was a capital of culture. the host cities, and the host countries are chosen years and years before. we always knew we were going to have 1990, 2008, and 20 23. comes every 15 years. they decided in 2014. it is one of these many

things unfolding, as we near the time to exit the eu, one of the many things which will fall apart in our hands looking at them. a lot of work will have gone into putting these bits together. how much money? millions. i was lucky enough to be chosen to be on the panel, because i am chairof hull chosen to be on the panel, because i am chair of hull city of culture. a smaller uk thing for more modest sized cities. i have seen the documents, the books, videos. the whole thing. one thing that can be rescued, the actual putting together the bid is intensely communal activity. it is a hull city coming together. very often you see when cities fail in their capital of culture or city of culture, the actual body that brought the bid together stays in place, something rather good comes out of it. for

example, newcastle, which bid for 2008 capital of culture which went to liverpool, did not win. now newcastle is hosting the great exhibition of the north with constituent part of the bid. something can be rescued out of the rubble of this cultural disaster. the headlines on bbc news: the prime minister says the budget puts britain on the right path, despite a leading policy group saying the country's prospects, make for ‘grim reading' more than 70 people have been rescued, after heavy rain caused flooding in parts of northern england and wales. an underwater explosion is detected near the area where an argentine submarine disappeared in the south atlantic, with 44 crew on board. satellite images of the earth at night have revealed that artificial light is getting brighter and brighter every year.

light pollution is expanding across the planet by more than to per cent a year, thanks to more and more lights going on in south america, africa and asia. scientists say the increase in light pollution will have negative consequences for human health and the environment, as our science reporter victoria gill explains. as the sun goes down on towns and cities, the lights go on. and those lights are getting brighter all the time. these images, gathered by a sensor on a nasa satellite, show that more and more of our planet is now artificially lit. i can remember back to the time when i was a grad student and first saw the pictures of earth at night. i was really astounded by how beautiful they were. but, of course, you have to think that this is a very dramatic physical change to the biosphere and it actually costs a massive amount of money, so it's really kind of a problem. in developing nations, including india, the increase was dramatic, from this in 2012... to this in 2016. the researchers expected that most developed nations would actually darken as they changed the type of street lighting they used, from older orange glaring lamps to more efficient led bulbs. but that hasn't happened. urban bright spots in the uk and other nations in europe continue to glow even more intensely

intensely, as towns and cities increased their outdoor lighting. that orangey glow in the sky above the city, it's all too familiar to so many of us. it stops most of us from seeing a natural night sky but it also has an impact on our health. night—time lighting, especially the blue light from leds, can reset our internal body clocks, depriving us of valuable sleep. and in the environment, it can disrupt cues that nocturnal animals like bats rely on. it has even been found to shift some fundamental seasonal clockwork, influencing the timing of plant flowering and bird migration. scientists say that images like these are evidence that we're losing our natural night—time. victoria gill, bbc news. there's some good news for coffee drinkers.

a review published in the british medicaljournal suggests drinking three or four cups a day may lower the risk of liver disease, some cancers and the likelihood of developing heart problems. however, public health experts say there is still uncertainty about the impact of drinking more than that. sima kotecha reports from birmingham. an espresso, a cappuccino or just instant. more than 50 million cups of coffee are drunk every day here in the uk and today there's another debate about whether it's good or bad for you. it's after a review has suggested drinking moderate amounts of coffee is more likely to benefit health than cause it harm. i think i enjoy the smell of it mostly, which makes me sort of feel — especially when you're in a country like italy or something, waking up in the morning smelling coffee, itjust makes me, i don't know, i really love it. i think it's probably a placebo effect. you feel sort of energised by having drunk it. it gives me a bit of a kick is the main thing and, from different blends, you can slightly taste

different things. sometimes they're chocolatey, sometimes they're fruity. the university of southampton went through 200 studies looking at how coffee affects the body and concluded three or four cups of it a day could lead to a lower risk of developing health problems. however, it also said too much of it while pregnant can be dangerous. in some cases, a small amount of coffee can cause anxiety, and there are studies that suggest children, adolescents and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of caffeine. it gives me kind of... it brings my anxiety levels up a bit. my gears are always grinding and i think sometimes i can have a caffeine overload, so i try to stay away from it as much as when i was younger when i worked in construction. i was drinking it, you know, nonstop all the time. critics say the finding of this particular review could be skewed because those evaluated may have been healthy before starting to drink coffee.

i tend to ignore this kind of advice because from one day to the next it tends to differ, so i wouldn't be surprised if in a week or two we got some other report saying that coffee is bad for you after all. but i guess everything in moderation. researchers are now calling for rigorous clinical trials to explore the drinks effects. and a last bit of advice from them — opt for milk with your coffee rather than cream. sima kotecha, bbc news, birmingham. it's one of the fastest growing trends in the music industry today. beatboxing is the art of making sounds with the mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. it began in the 1980s as an underground culture but beatboxers are fast becoming the new rockstars of music. hundreds of fans are expected to attend the uk beatbox championships in london this weekend. earlier, rupert 0ldridge and jack hobbs from the beatbox collective joined simon mccoy in the studio and gave us a taste of their beatboxing skills as a play—out to afternoon live. let's hear from jack and rupert

giving us a beatbox out. beatboxing.

the thriller the weather forecast. is here. incredible, not sure simon mccoy's reaction. however changing at the moment. less emphasis on the rain, we have had their heavy rain. more emphasis on the cold. the cold est more emphasis on the cold. the coldest weather today was in scotland, northern scotland. aviemore in highland scotland. a good covering of snow early on in the day. the rain easing off in the flood hit areas. very wet roads and fields. the river is pretty high as well. the weather overnight in the

english channel. south—east of england, if you show was following. showers further north, scotland and northern ireland. a wintry flavour. very much colder. we need to find some frost overnight. across the northern half of the uk. icy patches, showers continuing into the cold are rare. showers in the morning across the north of scotland. but italy across the west of scotland, some sleet and snow, sam hale. few showers across northern ireland. few lighter ones coming over the irish sea into north—west england. elsewhere generally dry. a bit misty after the overnight rain. showers through the english channel, coming to the south—west, approaching their way further inland. many parts of england and wales, dry on friday. good spells of sunshine developing. sunshine outside the showers which will run into a good part of scotla nd will run into a good part of scotland and much of northern ireland by the afternoon. here, it'll be really cold. you mayjust get double figures in the south—east

if you are lucky. it won't be as windy on friday. it will turn windy after a frosty on saturday. we have more showers getting pushed down across the uk. particularly across northern and western areas, further south and east. we may well have a dry day. quite cold, stronger winds as well. we still have some fairly brisk winds during the second half of the weekend. slightly different wind direction, maybe not as cold. a bump of high pressure but the head of the weather system there. tending to kill off the show was. most places drivers of sunshine hanging on across the eastern side of the uk. cloud increasing, just adding to the cold appeal. staying cold, not just through this weekend, probably well into next week. continuing to have night frost. also some showers, too. ne

this is bbc news. five—star holding centre for rich saudis, part of a massive corruption investigation into its third week. the ambitious crown prince risks creating enemies and uncertainty which could endanger the stability and the reforms that his kingdom so badly needs. the international search for argentina's missing submarine continues. an explosion was detected on the day it went missing. myanmar signs a deal with bangladesh to re—patriate rohingya muslims but will the refugees feel it is safe to go home? and we look at a study