good morning. first, our main story. emergency services are expecting this weekend to be one of the busiest of the year as towns and city centres are packed with christmas revellers. extra ambulance crews were brought in ahead of last night amid concerns good morning. it's saturday the 16th december. also this morning: a country at a crossroads. the ruling party in south africa prepares to pick a new leader amid allegations of bribery, infighting and corruption. more than 400 square miles of california has now been burned by wildfires. at least 8,000 firefighters are still fighting the blaze. in sport, the ashes are slipping away from england. captain steve smith hits a double century to raise australia's hopes of a third straight win in the series. music: "delilah". a new sporting

field and giving it a go myself. and we have the weather. we will be starting the weekend on a cold, frosty node with plenty of sunshine and tomorrow looks cloudier, breezy, but a little bit milder. i will have all the details in 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. emergency services are expecting this weekend to be one of the busiest of the year as towns and city centres are packed with christmas revellers. extra ambulance crews were brought in ahead of last night amid concerns that so—called mad friday, the most popular day for works christmas parties, would see a surge of alcohol—fuelled incidents. it is one of the busiest nights of the year for our emergency services, so much so that london's ambulance service are bringing in an extra 30 crews. we're going to be incredibly busy this weekend, and we will take lots of 999 calls to patients that have suffered the effects of alcohol. that puts a massive

strain on our system. it means that we will divert ambulance resources away from patients, perhaps an elderly patient on the floor with a broken hip or a baby with a broken arm, in order to attend those patients that present as immediately life—threatened. the pubs are packed and the pints are poured, but with many of us drinking to excess over the festive period, ambulance services across the country have to bring in scores of extra staff, and that puts huge pressure on oui’ emergency services. in bath, locals have banded together on volunteer boat patrols along the river avon to support the stretched emergency services. and they are saving lives. we asked him, how did you get in there? not sure. i have been drinking. we whisked him away to hospital. after that we are not sure what happened in terms of, did he need further treatment. and if you had not been here? probably dead. in scotland's party capital of glasgow, pastors have been patrolling the streets.

it is the volume of people coming into town, it is the fact that some people, this is their annual night out in glasgow, they're not used to the city centre, drinking, the temperature. and with tonight set to be busy again, emergency services are asking people to drink responsibly as they deal with one of the most difficult periods of the year. the political future of south africa will be decided this weekend as the country's ruling party chooses a new leader to replace jacob zuma, who faced numerous allegations of corruption during his decade in charge. the tense leadership battle has raised fears the anc could split before the general election in 2019. virginia langeberg reports. with jacob zuma stepping down as leader of the anc, south africa is left at a virtual crossroad. ever since 1994, the first election where people of every race were allowed to vote,

the anc has won overwhelmingly. but now, for the first time in more than two decades, there is the possibility south africans could turn their back on the party that led their country towards liberation. jacob zuma's presidency has been plagued with allegations of corruption, since he took office in 2009. public protests have been held over his handling of the economy, and he has survived eight no—confidence votes in parliament. the incoming anc leader will not only need to regain the trust of voters, but also unite the party. we have called on all our members and delegates to ensure that unity prevails ahead of the conference. the anc and the country must emerge as the winners. whoever comes out on top of the anc leadership battle in the coming days will be well—placed to become the country's president in 2019. it is at a time when south africa

has faced two economic recessions in less than a decade, unemployment stands at more than 27%, and gross national debt at $150 billion. wildfires in southern california are continuing to burn out of control, scorching an area larger than new york city and paris combined. firefighters are now preparing to defend towns along the pacific coast as fierce winds are forecast to whip up the flames, which have so far burned 400 square miles in 12 days. 0ur correspondent james cook sent this report from the town of fillmore. 12 days on and still it burns. more than 8,000 men and women are now battling this blaze, saving homes one by one. not far from here, the fire claimed the life of 32—year—old cory iverson, a firefighter, a father and a husband.

he is survived by his wife, ashley, his two— year—old daughter, evie. cory and ashley are expecting a second daughter this spring. the fire has destroyed homes, too. more than 700 of them and another 18,000 buildings remain at risk. this is one of five homes in this tiny neighbourhood which was destroyed when the flames swept through here so fast that firefighters had to abandon the area. which ones survived and which were destroyed was a matter of pure luck. aaron lawson and his family were among the lucky ones. their home was scorched, but it survived, thanks in part to neighbours who lost everything but stayed to fight the fire. the most rewarding thing is seeing them, some of the guys who lost their houses, working with us, side by her side, to keep our houses safe those first few days. all week, they have been racing to contain the fire,

and with fierce winds forecast again tonight, that battle is about to intensify. all of the billionaire founder of a pharmaceuticals company and his wife have been found dead at their home in canada. barry sherman set up his company, apotex, in the 1970s, and was a prominent philanthropist. police have described the couple's deaths as suspicious but say they're not searching for anyone in connection to the incident. austria is set to become the only country in western europe to have a far—right party in government. you are the conservative people's party, which won the parliamentary election two months ago but failed to secure a majority, has struck a coalition deal with an anti—immigration group. the result means sebastian kurz, who's 31, will be the youngest national leader in the world. former prime minister david cameron is taking on a new government linked role as the uk and china step up cooperation on investment.

the statement from the chancellor, phillip hammond, who is in beijing for a second day of talks, says mr cameron will be involved in a new $1 billion fund which will invest in the uk, china and other countries. 0ur china correspondent, robin brant, has been at the talks and joins us from beijing now. aaaaaastalk a a a a a a stalk china's import and financially, in terms of economic scum but why david cameron? —— explain a couple of things for us. people will understand why china is important financially. he was here with george osborne all the time when he was prime minister. this period is described by both countries as a golden period. we have a newjob for david cameron, it is private money, private funds. it is private money, private funds. it is supported by philip hammond, but thatis is supported by philip hammond, but that is as far as it goes in terms of associations with the government.

david cameron warhead this investment fund that has about £700 million to spend. they will focus on infrastructure projects in the uk and china, things like pipelines and railways. it is linked to this very significant china initiative, massively important for the president, xijinping. not without controversy, because people think it is not just about controversy, because people think it is notjust about economic controversy, because people think it is not just about economic spot about trying to increase china's presence and influence in these countries. thank you very much. a letter which alleges taxi firm uber set up a secret unit to steal trade secrets from other companies has been made public by a judge in california. the letter is evidence in a legal battle where a company's accusing uber of stealing its technology. uber says it hasn't substantiated all the claims that have been made, but its new leadership wants to "compete honestly and fairly, on the strength of our ideas and technology."

i will do the time checked to take us i will do the time checked to take us from the serious stuff to this. comedy wildlife photography competitions. this is what the winner looks like. this photo of an owl losing its footing on a branch won the overall prize. do you think they get embarrassed, like cats? probably. the winner in the land category was this laughing dormouse. a photobombing sea turtle won the award for the under the sea category. two cheeky monkeys were runners up, a p pa re ntly two cheeky monkeys were runners up, apparently riding a motorcycle and loving it. this is one of my favourites of the morning. this is how you cling onto your mum, grab hold and do not let go. we have all felt like this at some

point. and in some cases look like this. my and in some cases look like this. my favourite is the dormouse. i am not saying you look like a shark seal, but it is the expression of when someone is shocked. it reminds me of you. it needs a caption. all the weather and sport coming up a little later on. as we've been hearing, last night was a particularly busy one for the emergency services due to a combination of christmas parties, alcohol and cold weather. while police, paramedics and fire—fighters were working flat out, a small army of volunteers was trying to take some of the strain. among them wasjules tipler, who was patrolling the riverbanks of bath last night to stop people from falling in. he joins us now from bristol. thank you very much forjoining us. it is quite amazing that you need to volunteer to do this. how has that come about? i myself was not out,

but the team was. we were asked to come on board by the bath water safety partnership and we have been working with fire and rescue to put on patrols in the bath area, south of the wear. we have been partnered up of the wear. we have been partnered up with another community resilience tea m up with another community resilience team to put people out there between ten o'clock in the evening and three o'clock in the morning, to speak to stu d e nts o'clock in the morning, to speak to students and people out on the water, and just explain about the hazards of our inland waterways, what the dangers or when it is really cold water. just to make sure that people get home safely. you we re that people get home safely. you were out yesterday evening patrolling the river avon, i understand. what happened? last night was quite a quiet night. there we re night was quite a quiet night. there were not any rescues but last week was particularly busy. 0ur colleagues, you can see them in the picture in the vessel, they found a 22—year—old student in the water,

getting very cold. they managed to rescue him and extract him back to an ambulance. we also find a homeless man who was having a heart attack. he was a 999 called to an ambulance as well. it is obviously very important what you're doing. i wonder how you feel. we had a paramedic on this morning who had been working all night, and he said that when incidents like this that are fuelled by alcohol add to those who genuinely need help that they have not cause themselves, i am thinking of this homeless person who was having a heart attack, yet the man in the river, i am under the understanding that he was influenced by alcohol? alcohol often seems to play a part in this. that is part of what happens at this time of year. people tend to party too hard, and do not always think about how to get home. the key messages look after your friends and have a plan of how

you're going to get home. often these incidents happen after work parties. i suspect that is one of the reasons this is a very busy weekend. perhaps you not with people who know you well enough or live close to you so is that duty of care thatis close to you so is that duty of care that is not being taken as it would with friends? quite possibly. that is why it is key that we work in partnership with lots of volunteers so partnership with lots of volunteers so that people are up there and able to give good advice are unable to get you home and out of trouble. how do people react to you when they see you patrolling the river or offering help? do they well commit? absolutely. 0ur trained volunteers are very good at engaging with and talking to people. they welcome the advice and say thank you very much. we have had no trouble at all. it has been welcomed by people living on the river, in vessels, and people finding their way home. everyone has

been very pleased to see us. we have also been working closely with the blue light services. i think they have appreciated the help. will you be patrolling through the festive season? we were out patrolling in september. we tend to do the hotspots when we are requested to. we did freshers‘ week last september when we rescued two people and we have done six nights through december. last night was our last night for this season. december. last night was our last night for this seasonlj december. last night was our last night for this season. i am sure many people will be very grateful for all of your efforts and volunteering work. and for saving lives. thank you forjoining us and enjoy the festive season. quite a few mentions of the weather. a lot of people are out and about going out for evenings out as well. how‘s it looking? things are looking milder. we still have lying snow across parts of the country. this is

from macclesfield. that‘s with some elevation here, white fields around. but i think in the next few days, a lot of the snow that is lying around, and it‘s been lying around for a while, will melt. we‘re looking at milder air moving in from the south—west. through sunday, that milderair the south—west. through sunday, that milder air will be across western areas, into next week, it could be very mild in places in the run up to christmas. as we head through the course of this morning, more cloud pouring down from the north west. some of that pushing into wales and the west midlands. rather cloudy hire. 0utbreaks the west midlands. rather cloudy hire. outbreaks of rain, maybe sleet down to lower levels. certainly snow to higher ground. watch out for ice too. elsewhere it‘s a bright morning, but cold. showers into northern ireland, northern and western scotland as well. again an ice risk here. this will be for another hour or so after this, around 11 o‘clock it should lift. just take care if you‘re heading out. it looks like it stays cloudy across wales into the west midlands. it's

across wales into the west midlands. it‘s pushing into the south—west. maybe central, southern england as well more cloud around. for northern ireland, much of scotland, away from the north, which have wintry showers, and the eastern side of england — sunny, dry and very cold. then overnight we see that change. this weather front pushes in across northern ireland, then scotland, then into parts of wales and the south—west introducing cloud, outbreaks of rain and strengthening winds. temperatures starting to come up winds. temperatures starting to come up across winds. temperatures starting to come up across the west. another cold one in the east under clear skies. we could have mist and fog around too. particularly in the south—east. this weather system is going to bring fairly strong winds to the northern half of the uk for sunday morning. maybe some gales in places. some pretty heavy rain, particularly western scotland and potentially into the north west of england, especially for. the rain —— for cumbria. the rain will eventually reach the south—east. after a dry start turning wetter here. chilly in the east, milder in the west with double—figure values. that‘s how it looks through the rest of the week. very mild bit middle of next week.

mostly dry, could see a little bit of sunshine in some sheltered eastern areas, but generally speaking, it‘s going to stay pretty cloudy. thanks very much. 9. 18. they roamed the earth more than 10,000 years ago. now a rare skeleton is going to go on auction. it's skeleton is going to go on auction. it‘s expected to fetch, £500,000. david gelthorpe is the curator of earth science collections at manchester museum. would you pay that much for a mammoth skeleton? manchester museum. would you pay that much for a mammoth skeleton7m seems crazy money. i don‘t know of a museum in the uk certainly who has that kind of money. who would buy that kind of money. who would buy that then? it‘s got to be a museum hasn‘t it, because it‘s huge? that then? it‘s got to be a museum hasn't it, because it's huge? well, so hasn't it, because it's huge? well, so potentially there might be museums in the auction hall maybe. even then it‘s an awful lot of money. i guess people who are private individuals, pop star type people might have that much money.

but you have to have a really big space to put it in. sorry, i was going to say, there are other skelto ns going to say, there are other skeltons around. why is this so special? lots of museums have really big mammoth skeltons. i guess most of them are xozity. they‘re bits of different individuals that have been put together like a big jigsaw to make the big specimen. i think the reason this one is particularly valuable and sought after is supposedly it‘s one that is entire com plete supposedly it‘s one that is entire co m plete of supposedly it‘s one that is entire complete of one individual and that‘s a really rare thing. complete of one individual and that's a really rare thing. you used the word "supposedly" provenance is ha rd the word "supposedly" provenance is hard to prove. sure that's the slightly sad thing about this specimen, it has been brought from siberia, presumably without much context u don‘t know what —— context. you don‘t know much about the specimens found with it without giving fantastic clues. we are

seeing artist‘s impressions. some of them come out more in tact than we have ever seen before. that's right. the permafrost in siberia is melting ata the permafrost in siberia is melting at a very rapid rate. not only do we get incredible skeltons but pretty much as they died as well. we have fur, the skin, the muscles, the organs, even the last meal and things like that. incredible possess men‘s. things like that. incredible possess men's. first question -- specimens. how quickly does the fur and muscle deteriorate once it comes out of permafrost? quite quickly. they've had literally refreeze these incredible mammoth that‘s are coming out, particularly things like baby mammoths, there are a few famous specimens now. how big is a baby mammoth? 1. 5 to 2 metres. fairly big but not enormous. these are the ones that are often collective because they‘re transportable. the last meal, typically, what would

that be? all of this provides evidence. it adds to the picture: absolutely. they found evidence of buttercu ps absolutely. they found evidence of buttercups in absolutely. they found evidence of buttercu ps in its absolutely. they found evidence of buttercups in its stomach and called it baby buttercup, which is very sweet. brilliant clues about what the climate is doing. given the size a woolly mammoth it would have to eat a lot of buttercups presumably to sustain, would that be right? absolutely. i'm just trying to think it through. the buttercups have a high nutrient quality. so very few are needed. i don't think exclusively buttercups. you just made that up. you lived on wide grassy plains and ate for most of the day i guess and ate things through the snow. so you're a museum. you have woolly mammoth a rtefa cts ? museum. you have woolly mammoth artefacts? yes, i work at manchester museum and we have amazing mammoth things. in the uk we tend to get

teeth, bits of tusk and really enormous leg bones. size of a woolly mammoth tooth? we have a beautiful one from near nottingham, derby, it‘s about that kind of size. one from near nottingham, derby, it's about that kind of size. you we re it's about that kind of size. you were saying that the diameter or the length? the length is that size. slightly smaller in diameter. this was probably a baby mammoth that was either dragged into one of the caves there or perhaps might have stumbled in and got trapped and it eventually died. we get the remains. that's sad. how long do mammoths or did mammoths live? laughter they‘re not around any more! laughter they're not around any more! oh, charlie! the conversation we're going to have. they're extinct! similarto going to have. they're extinct! similar to elephants today i guess. which is? i don't know off the top of my head. i'm sorry. the one found was about 50 years old was it? yeah, it‘s hard to say. i guess when

they‘re adults you can look at teeth wear and things like that. lovely to see you. thank you so much. is how long do elephants live? between 60 and 70 years. thank you. now for a look at the newspapers. writer and broadcaster paul vallely is here to tell us what‘s caught his eye. were you fascinated by the conversation? yes because one of my stories is about a diplodocus. in the natural history museum called dippy as it was called by generations of school children. it‘s coming back. it has been discovered that it didn‘t actually stand like, that it didn‘t actually stand like, that the way that we saw it. the illustration underneath saw it stands on its back legs. itjust uses its front feet, paws, whatever they are, to kind of steady itself

as it climbs up things or to trace its way. they‘ve now discovered from the foot prints of these beasts that all the weight is on the back feet. doesn‘t it make sense, when you saw dippy in the natural history museum with its really long neck, if it was there, it would have been tipping over all the time. it kind of makes sense. we had plastic models for the kids and they did tip over all the time. they weren‘t stable at all. now we know they walked a bit more like tyrannosaurus rex on their back legs. it‘s not clear, because they don‘t know. legs. it‘s not clear, because they don't know. tippy dippy. we know that someone‘s going to be, well might spend nearly £500,000 on a mammoth for a christmas present. those of us who don‘t have those funds, there are other presents we‘re considering. but apparently robots are stealing christmas they are. i don‘t know if you‘ve ever had that experience where you‘ve gone to

get a ticket for a concert or buy something that‘s come online and it opens at 9am and 9. 02 it‘s all sold out. that‘s because, not because people type faster than you do, it‘s because the automated robots have been designed which can fill in these forms in milly seconds. what‘s -- mili these forms in milly seconds. what‘s —— mili seconds. what‘s happening is the top presents for kids this year, fingerling monkeys, lol surprise dolls and nintendo classic condoles -do dolls and nintendo classic condoles - do you know what dolls and nintendo classic condoles — do you know what those, other than the console are are? yeah, because i looked them up. a fingerling you put on yourfinger and looked them up. a fingerling you put on your finger and it twirlz round. you can‘t buy them. they‘re 1a. you can‘t buy them. they‘re 14. £14.99, but you can buy them on eway for £200. somebody's got them. somebody‘s got them and selling them

for vastly inflated prices. there's a game which is in great demand and it‘s the toilet trouble game. it has the slogan, which flush will cause the slogan, which flush will cause the gush. that‘s sold out as well. yes, i think we better draw a veil over that. i don't know anything about the game. it caught my eye. the serious point is that these bots are illegal in the states. it‘s never happened here. there‘s clearly a case for the government to take action on this. 0rdinary people are being diddled out of their christmas presents by touts basically. on a more festive note, can you do this quickly? this is about the christmas spirit alive and well. these people are amazing. heather lister and richard drake, an old couple who have had a flat, they‘ve had more than 100 homeless people come and stay in their spare bed over the past ten years, even when they moved

toa past ten years, even when they moved to a retirement flat two years ago, a two—bedroom flat, they used a bed for a homeless person from a charity called night stop, and basically, it ta kes called night stop, and basically, it takes people who are just about to be thrown out or have run out of sofas to surf or whatever, white night stop finds a permanent place people like heather and richard take them into their home for two or three nights and just provide a bed and a room with a telly and some books. it‘s just an extraordinary act of generosity. heather was the lady involved, just saying that in amongst the good they‘re doing, she just said it helps keep them young. it keeps them alive. they get loads out of it as well she says that you get stuck in your ways as you get older, having young people in the house, homeless people from different backgrounds is good for them. i think it‘s good for the rest of us to see this kind of generosity of us to see this kind of generosity of spirit. are you prepped for

christmas, for the dinner? i'm going to my brother‘s. i don‘t have to cook. we‘re going to the nine listons and carols on christmas eve. very special christmas. are you singing? i might be in the background. are you one of those, very quietly? it's terrible when you go to these places and somebody singing very loudly next to you, and you think, i‘m trying to listen to the performer. lovely to see you. hgppy the performer. lovely to see you. happy christmas to you too. we on brea kfast a re happy christmas to you too. we on breakfast are with you until 10am this morning. we‘re on bbc one until 10am, when matt tebbutt takes over in the saturday kitchen. good morning how are you guys. very well. have you done all your shopping, all ready for christmas? i‘m not at home actually this christmas. i‘m going to a hotel and somebody else is going to cook for me. but i get to enjoy it much more that way. good for you. thank you very much. what about you? what are

you doing, all the cooking i'm doing the cooking at home. turkey or goose? husband likes turkey so he wins that one day of the year. you‘re all giving, aren‘t you? wins that one day of the year. you're all giving, aren't you?m only you knew. right, listen, special guest today is a musician and writer. it‘s tom fletcher. good to have you here. thank you very much. now here to face either food heaven or hell. yes. what's your idea of heaven? heaven is festive, turkey. i love christmas dinner. you do. even your shirt. even my shirt! what about hell? bananas. i absolutely hate bananas. interesting. which is difficult because they're in everything. you think? yeah, theyjust find their way into every dish. it's because they‘re tasty and cheap. we have two brilliant chefs. hugh, lovely to have you here. great to be here what are you cooking? i'm cooking a cockle warming hot pot of

vegetables, parsnips,uousel sprouts, cider in there, guaranteed banana free that one. a warm welcome back to francesco. what‘s on the menu? today i‘m doing pasta with crab, chilli and lemon and banana free as well. very nice. and we have wine. you guys are in charge of whether tom you guys are in charge of whether to m fa ces you guys are in charge of whether tom faces heaven or hell at the end of the show. just go to our website for details. see you at #10am. —— 10am. can you see what we‘re holding up now? go on. they get everywhere. it's coming through. what is it? a banana. they are everywhere. thanks for putting our gas that is. it was yummy. they get everywhere. have a good show and enjoy christmas as well. he was cut off rather abruptly. we had had enough of him. headlines coming up. hello, this is breakfast with

naga munchetty and charlie stayt. coming up before ten, stav will have the weather. mike bushell will have the sport. but first, a summary of this morning‘s main news. emergency services are expecting this weekend to be one of the busiest of the year as towns and city centres are packed with christmas revellers. extra ambulance crews were brought in ahead of last night amid concerns that so—called mad friday, the most popular day for works christmas parties, would see a surge of alcohol—fuelled incidents. paramedics say there can be serious consequences. sometimes these are people perhaps doing daft things that they would never dream of doing, standing on top of bins, trying to jump off things, running around, getting on people's shoulders, things you normally would not do. this is a busy time of year for us, so any extra pressure on the ambulance service or the police, or the nhs as a whole is an extra pressure we could well do without. south africa‘s political future will be decided this weekend

as the governing party will choose a new leader to succeed president jacob zuma. he‘s faced numerous allegations of corruption during his decade in charge and now a tense leadership battle has raised fears the anc could split before the general election in 2019. president zuma has urged the party to unite behind the winner. forecasters are warning strong winds could make the wildfires in southern california even worse. it‘s already scorched more than 400 square miles, destroying hundreds of homes. more than 8,000 firefighters are now tackling the flames. austria is set to become the only country in western europe to have a far—right party in government. the conservative people‘s party, which won the parliamentary election two months ago but failed to secure a majority, has struck a coalition deal with an anti—immigration group. the result means sebastian kurz, who‘s 31, will be the youngest national leader in the world. the billionaire founder of a pharmaceuticals company and his wife have been found dead at their home in canada. barry sherman set up his company,

apotex, in the 1970s, and was a prominent philanthropist. police have described the couple‘s deaths as suspicious but say they‘re not searching for anyone in connection to the incident. a letter which alleges taxi firm uber set up a secret unit to steal trade secrets from other companies has been made public by a judge in california. the letter is evidence in a legal battle where a company is accusing uber of stealing its technology. uber says it hasn‘t substantiated all the claims that have been made, but its new leadership wants to "compete honestly and fairly, on the strength of our ideas and technology." these are uber. mike bushell is here. if you were to see you look like a here. if you were to see you look likea quirky here. if you were to see you look like a quirky animal... ? ok, a quirky animal. a bonkers baboon. i would go monkey. for me, not for

you. charlie? we do not have to go alert —— down the line. we could just stop. they all speak at once .at they all speak at once . at college, i used to scurry around a lot. charlie, a friendly, cuddly beer. really? the reason we are talking about this,... well we are doing this thing, you can come up well we are doing this thing, you can come up with one for nagger. —— for naga. the winner of the comedy wildlife photography competition has been announced, and we just had to show you the pictures this morning. this photo of an owl losing its footing on a branch won the overall prize. the winner in the land category was this laughing dormouse. you think i am a dormouse? a photobombing sea turtle won the award for the under the sea category. it is taking over completely. two

mike bushells on a motorcycle as the next one coming up. and the baby polar bear clinging onto its mother‘s bottom. and i promise you, this is what charlie is light in the morning when he is told to do something he is not happy with. which one is the? there are two people. it is not be me. that might be you. it is the morning programme meeting. you want me to do what? so, you‘re going to take us to the ashes. it is quite frankly getting embarrassing. those funny animals can take our thoughts away from it. we have two players potentially scoring 200 each. no? it has got that bad. you have to say that it seems now it is pretty much inevitable that the ashes could

be back in the hands of australia. they look to be batting themselves into a winning position in the third test and that would enough to win the series. this has been the story of the day. lots of boundaries. smith hitting england‘s bowlers to the boundary, and another century for the captain, and it sapped the energy from england who have just taken one wicket all day and it was claimed by moeen ali to send shaun marsh back to the pavilion. the trouble is he has a brother, mitchell marsh, and he was the next to score a century as australia eased past england‘s total into a lead. and that lead is becoming a dominant one, with steve smith now past 200, a double ton and psychologically that will weigh so heavily on england‘s sagging shoulders. and in the last few minutes, marsh has moved also edged towards his double ton. he has got so close. with two days to go, after this, the hosts are 539—4 and lead by 136. they are not quite finished today.

there are a few overs to go. the big game in the premier league is the late kick—off. manchester city, 11 points clear at the top, on a winning run of 15 matches, take on tottenham. spurs area spurs are a bit of a bogey team for city. the championship leaders wolves are also going well. they haven‘t lost since the end of october and they took another step closer to promotion with victory over sheffield wednesday last night. the division‘s record signing, ruben neves, with the goal that put them seven points clear at the top of the table. wolverhampton almost as dominant as manchester city are in the premier league. and in the scottish premiership, the early kick—off pits third against fourth as aberdeen host hibernian. celtic ahead at the top. they are not playing today. now in rugby union, ulster put 50 points past harlequins to improve their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the european champions cup. six different players scored tries for them as they won by 52 points to 24, in belfast.

they‘re second in their group. ronnie 0‘sullivan was caught napping at the scottish 0pen snooker. not one of his power naps, but he might as well have been asleep because he was beaten 5—0 byjohn higgins in the quarterfinals. it‘s the first time in 23 years higgins has whitewashed 0‘sullivan, who said he had no excuses and if you were to build the perfect snooker player, you‘d build john higgins. phil taylor is playing his last pdc world darts championship before retiring. he got off to a winning start at london‘s alexandra palace last night. he is a legend in the sport thanks to a brilliant career spanning three decades. he is going for a seventh world title. —— 17th world title. he beat his opponent 3-0. now all week on breakfast we are looking at the power

of singing, and this morning, we‘re considering its impact in sport. it‘s been the welsh leading the tune as they harmonise sport and music. i‘ve been out with one of the choirs chosen to motivate the wales team in their recent match against new zealand. # you fill up my senses like a night in the forest... this is where it all begins, a lone voice on match day. byron young has been singing on his country since 1972. his one voice soon becomes part of many on the bus to the stadium, and then has the power of 150, when several hours before kick—off, his choirjoins the others chosen from around wales in the tunnel for a dress rehearsal. everybody in sync, everybody‘s got a voice, and that‘s the way they do it. it happens in football. you see it at liverpool, in the kop, the national anthems, you see people crying because of the opportunity to sing out what you‘re feeling inside. singing in sport has come such

a long way since it was originally given a voice in the modern era by welshman called tom williams back in 1905. now, it is such an official part of match day that, for the first time, the teams as they come off their buses are being greeted by a couple of hymns. and again on the pitch, ahead of kick—off, and for one night only they are allowed another voice. # why, why, why, delilah? thankfully lost in the crowd. with the welsh team training just a few yards away, this choir can bring together this whole stadium of 76,000 people with music. and you can feel the power of the mass, the power of the gathering, helping to inspire those 15 individuals. there are many historians, musical historians, who will tell

you that the welsh were renowned for their ability tojust sing spontaneously. i think it goes way back to the chapels. the chapels, really, in wales, were the first to sing spontaneously in harmony. and i think that led into the stadiums singing in harmony as well. and it can help the harmony in a team. this man was hired by the british and irish lions to bond the team on their visit to new zealand. the choirs lead the singing at the matches as well. a sense of belonging, people from all walks of life helping wales to a second try. it was the singing that did it! when we were five metres out, you could hear the crowd singing, and stuff, and that lifts you that extra 10%.

when the going gets tough, and they start the song and it goes around the stadium, it just lifts you up. in the end, wales lost the match, but that didn‘t stop the singing. you can see the singing continues well into the night, in this land of the song. we lost the game, but we won a lot. this typifies it. this is the spirit, wales together. really fantastic. evidence that it can give the players maybe 10%, another player was in egypt could be worth a point to match. —— was saying it could be worth eight points in a match. let‘s get more on this now with professor in sociologyjohn williams from the university of leicester. asa as a liverpool fan, you were there in istanbul several years ago when singing had a massive impact on the

result of that european cup final. yes, i think it did, at half—time we we re yes, i think it did, at half—time we were 3—0 down, playing probably the best tea m were 3—0 down, playing probably the best team in europe at the time. it looked like we were facing humiliation and we have a song, you will never walk alone, of course. supporters began singing it is a kind of lament, melancholy, and then some resolve, together, we will see this through, and finally it became a song of defiance, we believe, we can lift this team. some of the players said that they heard the song and it did let them. momentum isa song and it did let them. momentum is a great thing in sport and as soon as is a great thing in sport and as soon as liverpool scored the first goal and the fans continue to get behind them, i think it did lift the tea m behind them, i think it did lift the team and everyone knows what happened next, liverpool won the european cup. with that fantastic comeback. do you think it is in the human dna, this need, to come together from all walks of life, and be united by singing the same

song, this feeling of togetherness, to celebrate on the page what is a very individual skill? football is one of the last remaining places where people can do this kind of thing. in society we are quite individualistic, consumer driven, and being together at a football match and singing together as an organic sense of solidarity and identity, i connection with the local, with other fans, identity, i connection with the local, with otherfans, and it feels good to be expressive and do things that you cannot do in other kinds of public places. it is a powerful, emotional event to be collectively singing ata emotional event to be collectively singing at a football match today. that is part of the reasons why many fa ns that is part of the reasons why many fans go. can you sing, i am wondering? can you give us a few notes ? wondering? can you give us a few notes? i do not think so, but i will do the next time i go to see my team play. i need a collective, other people alongside me. in football, if

somebody begins a song inappropriately, fans will often say, on your own, or neuron, on your own, and! say, on your own, or neuron, on your own, and i that here, make a full of myself. thanks forjoining us. the amazing thing is it all starts with one voice in the crowd, crowd, and it spreads. it is like when you‘re out for a night out and no one is on the dance floor, and then one person gets up and everyonejoins floor, and then one person gets up and everyone joins in. for me, it works personally, in the car, you get in the car and start singing your club‘s song, and the day improves. stav danaos not mind making a fool of himself. why not have a little sing before the weather. stav, going to sing? he needs one of us stav, going to sing? he needs one of us to start it. i would sing a leeds song. i was joking! what's happening with the weather? it‘s a cold start

to the weekend. we have lying snow around in places still, particularly over the hills like in macclesfield here. all this snow will melt as we head through sunday and certainly into next week as it‘s set to turn much milder. frosty start for many. quite a hard frost in places. across central and eastern parts there should be lots of sunshine. here‘s the cold air today. tomorrow that milderair the cold air today. tomorrow that milder air moves in. it will be with us as we milder air moves in. it will be with us as we head into next week too. so let‘s look at things in a bit more detail. we‘ve got sunshine to start with across the south and south—west. it is cold, temperatures one to two degrees, even at 10am. watch out for ice as well across northern areas, particularly in towards the west midlands, parts of wales, where we‘re seeing some flashes of rain pushing in from the irish sea. it‘s falling on cold surfaces. thgs where we will see the ice form. ice across northern scotland, where we continue to see wintry showers through the night. largely dry here with some sunshine.

that area of rain into wales, the west midlands, into the south—west too. generally cloudy with spots of rain. for northern ireland and much of scotland, northern and eastern england, it should be dry and lots of sunshine but cold. temperatures six to eight under the cloud further south—west. then temperatures plummet away again across the north and the east under the clear skies. will rock you could see a frost. there‘s a change out west. temperatures beginning to lift. not a cold night across any western parts. this area of low pressure brings fairly strong winds. it makes inroads particularly across the northern half of the country. the south—east starts dry with clear skies. cold, frosty, mist and fog around to watch out for. that should slowly lift as the winds pick up. that weather front will sink south eastwa rds that weather front will sink south eastwards through the course of the day. heavy bursts for a while. it sta rts day. heavy bursts for a while. it starts to peter out. behind it brightens up. scotland and northern ireland, some sunshine. temperatures double figures for glasgow, belfast,

cardiff and into plumth as well. next week, with the mild air pretty much every day. it will be very mild in places midweek. mainly dry, but there will be just a few spots of light rain across western hills, where that cloud will be thickest. enjoy the rest of your weekend. you too. take care. (i enjoy the rest of your weekend. you too. take care. ( i think stav has been breathing a sigh of relief. for not singing? got away with it. i don‘t blame him. tonight‘s the night millions of viewers have been waiting for — the strictly come dancing final. no! of course i did. everyone knows that. expecting record viewers tonight. for 12 weeks, fans have watched the dancers twirl and tango their way to the final — but who will be the winner? let‘s take a look at who‘s in the running. everything that we‘ve put ourselves through the last 12

weeks, this is worth it. this makes it all worthwhile. just being here and being with these amazing women is — it feels like job done in a way. it'sjust a massive achievement because i didn't think we'd get this far. not that i didn't have belief in us, but you don't ever think that far ahead. it means everything and we can‘t believe that everyone‘s voted for us, can we? absolutely. really happy to be here. we‘re building up to the big night. joining us now is former strictly professional dancer, kristina rihanoff.

good morning. how are you? good morning everybody. how are you? very well thank you. thanks for talking to us this morning. yes, absolutely. so i‘m assuming you‘ll be watching tonight? i will be watching. so i‘m assuming you‘ll be watching tonight? iwill be watching. have you got any tips, i suppose notjust for the competitors, but also, you know what it‘s like, to be a professional and guide someone through to this moment. professional and guide someone through to this momentlj professional and guide someone through to this moment. i know exactly how they‘re feeling. they‘re very exhausted for sure. it‘s a long run up to the final. you give your all run up to the final. you give your a ll every run up to the final. you give your all every single saturday night and throughout the weeks, you come up with all the choreography, the hours going into it, absolutely insane. i think we have such a strong final tonight. it‘s really anybody‘s game. i know that the public vote is shifting towards joe i know that the public vote is shifting towardsjoe and katya. but there is always surprises in the final. i‘m supporting debbie mcgeement i think this —— debbie mcgee. i think this woman is

incredible. it would be really great to see someone like her lifting the glitterball. i‘m pretty sure we‘re going to see incredible choreography tonight. guys push the envelope week after week this year, with inventive choreography with something new which is so exciting to watch. one of the things you mention debbie there and we‘re seeing some of her dancing — people have a journey. the audience like to see someone from a starting point and where they get to in the end. of course, i think every celebrity joins in the end. of course, i think every celebrityjoins strictly don‘t really understand how difficult it can be. but also how rewarding. they learn a lot about themselves. they just develop so much in every sense of the word. it‘s definitely a journey. tonight i think will be really great entertainment programme. everybody is going to be at their best. i‘m so excited to watch. and excited to see my friends, my professionalfriends, who i‘ve been working with for so many years on the show and see them do what they do the best, you know,

beautiful routines, incredible choreography. everyone did incredible stuff this year. that's often underplayed, just how much work the professionals put in, in terms of choreography, emotional support, mental support, physically getting their partners through this. because a lot of the people, whether they have danced or not, when you‘re intensively training the body, you feel the effects and the exhaustion kicks in. absolutely. i always was saying it‘s not just kicks in. absolutely. i always was saying it‘s notjust difficult physically. i think it‘s more draining emotionally and mentally. because nobody can quite prepare you for such a long run and be always, all the time at the best, giving your best, 100% day in and day out. that‘s the only way you get to that final. you know there is so much goes into that production and professionals we have a job notjust as choreographer, dancers, performers, we have to be there holding their hands and kind of getting them through, maybe horrible

judges‘ comments sometimes! sometimes those good comments, they can lift you up. but they can lift you down if they‘re so negative. you start your mondays with basically a p9p start your mondays with basically a pep talk every time. "you can do it. we can go forward." if you have that strong, good communication, relationship, you can go to the final. the final four relationship, you can go to the final. the finalfour are relationship, you can go to the final. the final four are very worthy finalists this year. they‘re all incredible. 0bviously i‘m very, very proud of my professional fellow dancers who did such greatjob. very proud of my professional fellow dancers who did such great job. we should award the two chaps in the background there, we should give them some kind of award for staying so still during that interview! they haven‘t moved at all. so still during that interview! they haven't moved at all. very well behaved. thank you very much. thank you very much. i'm giving out awards this morning. that‘s the award for staying still longest on screen. we shouldn‘t do that, though. they‘re pleased to receive it i‘m sure. for music fans, the singles chart is normally a place to hear the latest tracks which strike a chord, but there are currently

17 classic christmas songs in the top 40, ranging from the pogues to mariah carey. so what is it about sleigh bells, choirs and a rousing brass section that keeps us coming back for more every year? chris hawkins is a dj on bbc radio 6 music. very good morning to you. morning, guys. do you remember that time, when you were younger, yes. we all sound so old! you got excited about christmas and who was going to be number one. is it still the same now? , number one. is it still the same number one. is it still the same number one. is it still the same now? , no i don't think it is. it was a very now? , no i don't think it is. it was a very special time of year listening to the count down and you‘d been out and bought the record the one you wanted to be number one. you went to woolworth‘s and bought the single and you listened to the count down at the end of the year. i don‘t think it is the same. streaming‘s had a massive effect on the charts. curiously it's a lot of the charts. curiously it's a lot of the old, if you like, classic christmas songs that do best. yeah

and understandably. they‘re great and understandably. they‘re great and it‘s really hard to write a brilliant christmas song. it‘s the holy grail. if you can write one, then you‘re made for life. holy grail. if you can write one, then you're made for life. if we look through that list. we‘ve got all i want for christmas is you. mariah carey. great song. is it? it is. the problem with a lot of these songs, i like a christmas song. sorry for interrupting you. you hear them overand overagain. sorry for interrupting you. you hear them over and over again. you end up hating them. yeah, especially when they start in october in shopping centres. they do start to drive you slightly insane. that's one of those songs. possibly so. it was a great songs. possibly so. it was a great song when it first came out. it demonstrates how hard it is to get the formula right. what does it ta ke to get the formula right. what does it take to make a great christmas song — sleigh bells, a catchy chorus, lots of mentions of christmas, a choir, ideally a kids choir, maybe a chorister, and beyond that, how do you put that mix together and make it perfect? this song, can we listen infora second... #do

infora second... # do you ride down the hillside # do you ride down the hillside # will you land upon your head... i wa nted # will you land upon your head... i wanted the chorus. that song, noddy holder such a character as well. that, i think, holder such a character as well. that, ithink, is holder such a character as well. that, i think, is a quality christmas song. that is the ultimate. it's a sing along. what's interesting is slade was a great band. they are only really known for that one song. it overshadowed they‘re whole career. that one song. it overshadowed they're whole career. call me grumpy or whatever. it's fairy—tale of new york. yes, me too. the pogues. one big row. it is a huge, nasty argument over music. but it's funny and it screams christmas to me. yeah, it only really references christmas, but otherwise it‘sjust that massive argument between the two of them. can anyone do better now? 0r two of them. can anyone do better now? or has it been done. you're

across this now, what's in there that could contend? it looks like it‘s going to be that boy again. it looks like it will be an ed sheeran christmas. oh, really? it really does look like his current single with beyonce is almost certainly going to be number one. it's not christmassy. no. there are newer artists who have done christmas songs i did a show on radio 2 this morning and played a couple of good ones. gwen stefani has done a couple of good ones. sia has a new christmas song out. there are a few being added to the christmas pallet, but not many. not many that are great. i quite like the fact that the old ones still do well. they bring back great memories of when you were a kid and happy times, magical times at christmas. exactly. thank you very much. thank you. merry christmas. and you. ben and rachel are with you tomorrow. from us, have a very lovely weekend. from everyone here, bye— bye. this is bbc news.

i‘m shaun ley. the headlines at 10: a leading brexit supporting mp says he‘s unhappy about the idea of britain staying in the single market and customs union during any transition period. we cannot be a colony of the european union for two years from 2019 to 2021, accepting new laws that are made without any say—so of the british people, parliament or government. police in canada say they‘re treating the deaths of the billionaire businessman barry sherman and his wifea ‘ wildfires in southern california continue to burn out of control, scorching an area larger than new york city and paris combined. so things from you.