this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm: police in canada say they're treating the deaths of the billionaire businessman barry sherman and his wife honey, as "suspicious". south africa's president jacob zuma, warns the anc that its very survival is under threat — as it meets to choose a new leader. 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. the renowned scientist and television presenter heinz wolff has died at the age of 89. his son says describes him as having a natural sense of fun. the ashes are slipping away from england. the person people saw when they met him was the person we knew at home. his sense of humour, his curiosities, his and easy oven. that was our father. ——

curiosities, his and easy oven. that was ourfather. —— his and easy curiosities, his and easy oven. that was our father. —— his and easy as. australia captain steve smith hits a double century, as his side takes complete control of the third test in perth. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. police investigating the deaths of a 75—year—old canadian billionaire and his wife say the circumstances appear suspicious. barry sherman — who founded a major pharmaceutical company — was found dead with his wife honey at their mansion in toronto. reports say there was no sign of forced entry. angus crawford reports. one of toronto's richest suburbs, a house for sale. in the basement, a discovery, two bodies, a man and a woman. barry sherman and his wife, honey,

one of the richest couples in the country. police cannot yet say what happened. the circumstances of their death lead us to believe that there may be suspicious circumstances. it is an investigative tool. until we know exactly how they died, we treat it as suspicious, barry sherman, who was 75, is thought to be worth more than £2 billion. he made his money in pharmaceuticals, setting up apotex in the 1970s, and building it into one of the biggest drugs companies in the world. stepping down as chief executive in 2012, he dedicated himself to charity work. today, canadian premier justin trudeau said that he and his wife sent their condolences to the sherman's family and friends and everyone touched by their vision and spirit. local people came to the couple's home to lay flowers and pay their

this woman still could not believe the news. people looked up to him. people are in shock, crying. they are genuinely heartbroken. flag for now, the investigation continues into two deaths which leave the community in shock and a family in mourning. the south african president, jacob zuma, has warned the anc that its very survival is under threat. he told a special conference that the party's losses in local elections last year were due to the perception that it had become arrogant and soft on corruption. the conference is due to choose a new party leader, who's expected to become president in 2019. 0ur correspondent pumza fihlani reports. a call for change by members of the embattled

african national congress. these are some of the delegates who'll be voting for the anc leader. the party has never been more divided but it's time to present a united front. these people waiting patiently have the future of the anc in their hands and possibly south africa's. underjacob zuma's leadership, the party has been plagued by allegations of corruption and cronyism and the row over his governments has split the party down the middle. there is a desire that the vote should bring africa's oldest liberation movement back together. i hope that on the conference floor people will find one another. this has not been easy, for the last five years. it's a hope against hope, but i hope that, you know, the life of the anc will somehow surge today. the anc has been losing support and the two candidates

have very different ideas on how to arrest that decline. it's been such a bitter fight that whoever wins will have the difficult task of bringing the opposing faction on board. but with a national election in just two years, many say unless the party cleans up house, it could find itself out of power for the first time since the end of apartheid. president zuma has been addressing the anc conference injohannesburg. he told delegates that the party must respect whoever becomes leader. i believe we all love our movement. that is why we are given a choice to choose whom anc, but, when we make those choices, it's not like we make one choice.

we make different choices because we are a big delegation but it leads to what has taken place since 1912. we know, therefore, what to do. no matter how strong we think the candidate, once the branches of the anc have made a choice, you have to respect that, and agree to be led at that point. applause that was south africa's president's bidding at a conference. austria is poised to become the only western european country with 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 the anti—immigration freedom party. the leaders of the two parties have met with the austrian president, who has given his approval for the deal. the head of the people's party, sebastian kurz — who's 31 — will be the youngest national leader in the world. a leading supporter of brexit has warned the uk cannot become a "colony" of the eu during the expected two year ‘transition period' after britain's withdrawal in march 2019. jacob rees—mogg made the comments after eu leaders yesterday agreed to move to the next phase of brexit discussions in the new year. they suggested the uk would need to shadow single market regulations and remain under the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice during any transition phase. a short time ago, i spoke with our political correspondent, tom barton, who explained mr rees—mogg's objections. this was published by

the european council after that summit that theresa may attended earlier in the week. now, i'm sure you will remember back in september at a speech in florence, theresa may committed the government to trying to get a transition deal for about two years and essentially, what this does is lay out what the eu thinks that transition period involves. in essence, what they are saying is that the uk will have to continue to accept eu laws, but also to accept any changes or new laws which were introduced during that period. on top of that, they'll have to carry on with things like free movement and carry on accepting thejudgments of the european courts ofjustice. but it's that detail around having to accept changes to laws which is really getting jacob rees—mogg worried. the prime minister's consistently said that she is in favour

of an implementation which means we leave in march 2019 and that the consequences of leaving are implemented. but we cannot be a colony of the european union for two years from 2019—2021, accepting new laws that are made without any say—so of the british people, parliament or government. that is not leaving the european union, that is being a vassal state of the european union and i would be very surprised if that were government policy. does he have support for his view? 0n the broad issue of a transition period, there is generally consensus within the conservative party. after the florence speech, the idea of a couple of years of transition was generally accepted and it was mostly for the reason that although trade talks are going to start now, formal trade negotiations can't begin until after britain has left the european union and so it seems that across—the—board the view has

been taken that some sort of transition period which gives continuity for business while those detailed trade negotiations are taking place is broadly a good thing. there are though, as we heard from jacob rees—mogg the questions around the detail of that and in particular whether or not we should be forced to accept changes to the rules after we've left. on that broad issue today, philip hammond, the chancellor, on a visit to china, was asked whether britain was committed to essentially maintaining the status quo. in his answer, he said "yes". we will no longer be members of the european union. we won't technically or legally be in the customs union or in the single market, but we are committed, as a result of the agreement we have made this week, to creating an environment

which will effectively replicate the current status quo so that businesses can carry on trading with their commercial partners across the european union as they do now. borders will operate as they do now and financial services, businesses will be able to carry on conducting their business across borders, as they do now. so it seems for the transition period at least, things are going to stay the same. 0bviously beyond that, it's all down to the trade deal which is going to be negotiated over the next year or so. tom barton. news of a special programme now. but on monday. we are just packing up in brussels where the prime minister finally got the green light to move onto the next phase. what happens

next? our podcast. on monday at ten past 11 on the bbc news channel. officials in california says one of the wildfires — he later died of severe burns after the incident. a spokesman from the metropolitan police said detectives have spoken to several witnesses, but they are still treating his death as unexplained. severn trent water has apologised to customers in tewkesbury, who are still without water for a second day due to a burst main. the company said a wide area has been affected, and they did not know when the service might be restored. severn trent has been handing out water to around 10—thousand homes and businesses. it is the second major leak to hit the utility in recent months.

earlier, the managing director of production at severn trent water said the water supply has already been restored in some homes, with more to follow soon. i would like to apologise again to everybody affected by this. i know how difficult it can be to be without water for such an extended period of time. i can assure you that we, i can assure the customers that we have lots of staff in the area try to fix this issue as quickly as possible. yesterday we were compounded by a lot of flooding in the area. the burst itself is actually on a flood plain and the river levels themselves are up which has made getting on to that particular burst particularly difficult. in the meantime we have been looking to move as much water around as we possibly can to refill the particular area and i'm pleased to say, we are actually starting to see supplies coming back into the tewkesbury area. this will take some time.

it is early days. it will take a bit of time for supplies to return to tewkesbury, but we are gradually seen that building up over the next while. does that mean that the leak is now fixed? what we've been able to ashley do is isolate the burst itself. it's an incredibly complicated network. but the weather and flooding it has been incredibly difficult for engineers in the area to get out and about. and to be able to move water around the network. what we have been able to do is isolate that particular burst, and provide water into the area so although it is not yet fixed and we now have alternative supplies for the zone around tewkesbury. what was the cause? because you had that a recent problem with the pipes back in october when around 7000 households were affected. what's causing them ? bursts are something that happened across the water

industry. it is often affected at this time of year, when we get periods of frost and then thawing, we see an increase in the number of bursts we get across the network. after the event will try to do everything to understand what has happened in this particular area, and make sure that it doesn't happen again. you said you are slowly restoring water to the affected households. just clarify something for me, does that mean that there was water coming out of the taps and it is safe to drink? i understand there are three bottled water facilities for your customers. there are three bottled water facilities for oui’ customers. the water that will be starting to appear in taps will be safe to drink. there may be times when it looks a little discoloured, but is perfectly safe. there will be, this will take a period of time, as you can imagine, the network being emptied of water over that period of time,

it does take quite a long period of time for that network to refill with water, so some customers may not see water out of their taps for a further period. if you are without water, i would encourage people, we do have three bottled water stations open until late this evening and all of those details are available on our website. that was the managing director at severn water is speaking to me earlier. the headlines on bbc news: police in canada say they're treating the deaths of the billionaire businessman barry sherman and his wifea ' the south african president, jacob zuma, has spoken of the enormous challenges facing the country and the governing anc as it chooses his successor. and 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.

the former prime minister, david cameron, is to lead a uk government investment initiative with china. the announcement follows a two—day visit to the country by the chancellor phillip hammond. mr cameron will be involved in a new $1 billion fund which will invest in the uk, china and other countries. earlier, the bbc‘s china correspondent, robin brant, was asked to explain why phillip hammond was bringing david cameron back into the political fold. i think maybe the answer to that is more about uk institutional investors, their desire to have such a prominent figure on board and mr cameron's desire to continue the work he did in government where he championed even closer ties, expanded ties, between the uk and china. philip hammond told me a few hours ago here in beijing that he supports this investment fund, he endorses it but it is not public

money, not taxpayer's money, not a government fund. nonetheless, david cameron, very well known, has taken a pretty low profile since he left downing street a year ago. he has campaigned on some health causes, he's been involved in the national citizen service for 16—17—year—olds in the uk. but he is now turning his aim to institutional investing and continuing that focus on, as i said, trying to improve and expand economic ties between china and the uk. so i think philip hammond thinks that david cameron will lead this fund, is going to invest in a swathe of projects, possibly, pipelines, railways, infrastructure projects, closely linked with the rather awkwardly named belton road initiative which is china's number one public policy priority and is aimed at helping economies to the west of china and beyond in europe to develop, because that helps china gain access

there and then helps those countries improve their economic ties with china. but i think what it shows more than anything, when you add it to comments from philip hammond, is how much the uk continues to believe in better relations with china, better economic ties, because it believes, especially as brexit approaches and then passes, that china, the world's number two economy, is key to helping the uk economy grew. more than one million homes and offices across the uk still struggle to get good broadband — according to the communications regulator. although coverage is improving, a report by 0fcom found that roughly 4% of properties in the uk were stuck with slow internet speeds. the situation is worse in rural areas, with 17% of homes having a poor connection. the renowned scientist and television presenter heinz wolff

has died at the age of 89. with his trademark bow tie and hair, the german—born inventor became known to british tv audiences in the 70's and 80's on the great egg race, which encouraged teams to invent useful things out of everyday objects. they were thought to be lost forever, but now tv shows, starring cilla black and pete postlethwaite, are being seen for the first time in decades, at an exhibition in london. the event, by the british film institute, celebrates the discovery of programmes which were believed to have disappeared from the archives. 0ur entertainment correspondent, colin paterson, had a preview. # i could learn a lot of things from you. # you shine at every single thing you do...# cilla black and dudley moore together on her bbc one variety show. this episode of cilla has not been seen since it was first transmitted in march, 1968.

# you're the one who's really versatile...# a copy has turned up in the house of a former fairground worker near blackpool, whose dad was a film collector. today it will be shown in full at the bfi southbank as part of their missing believed wiped series, where rediscovered tv is showcased, including a crackly recording of the first ever tv appearance by pete postlethwaite at the age of 29. i still like you, sometimes. come on. local loony hears voices from outer space, get on with it. let's get it over with. one was a half—hour bbc play broadcast in 1975, from which he played a journalist investigating a possible arrival of an alien spaceship. the original was wiped, but the director held onto the video of the first edit, which has been restored. 0ther discoveries include the only surviving episode

of late night horror from 1968, which was cancelled by the bbc after one six—part series, due to the number of complaints about it being too scary. and an episode of itv police drama no hiding place has turned up in australia. in the 1960s it had audiences of seven million, but only 20 of the 236 episodes survived. this one is from 1960 and features a guest appearance by patrick troughton as a grumpy prisoner, six years before hejoined dr who. they don't release nutcases you know, not even after seven years good conduct. you will do another seven, in a straitjacket! it's hoped events like this will encourage more people to come forward with their own tv treasures.

wonderful. the weather now with phil. there has been something of a split between west and east. we keep it going overnight as well. quite cold for a time, and that chill staying across the eastern side of the pennines, east anglia, east midlands. some fog as well. saturday milder in the south—west, bringing milder in the south—west, bringing milderair milder in the south—west, bringing milder air through the western side of scotland's and northern ireland. that's accompanied by now awful lot of cloud, wind and rain as we start sunday. increasingly that area of cloud and rain gradually slumps down towards the greater part of england and wales. where it will not be a warm date through east anglia. milderair warm date through east anglia. milder air dominating across many of these western areas. he west and

east split again as far ahead as monday, with the brightest skies after a frosty start will be in the east. the milder air trying to wind out across western areas. the milder winds out through the week. —— —— the milder air winds out through the week. good evening. the south african president jacob zuma has warned that the ruling anc party's very survival is under threat. at a conference to choose a new leader, he said voters believed it was arrogant and soft on corruption. mr zuma himself has faced allegations of fraud and racketeering. his successor is widely expected to become the next president in 2019. 0ur africa editor, fergal keane is in johannesburg. we are told that by tomorrow, we will know who the next leader of the african national congress is going to be. but a movement which came to

power more than two decades ago promising a new moral nation finds itself in crisis. not since the anc came to power 23 years ago has so much depended on the votes of its party members. an organisation that held together it through more than eight decades of white rule, is now bitterly divided. they sing the same song, but supports very different visions. this conference isjust about the future of a liberation movement. it's about the future of this country. we'll be anc elected new leader who will promise to sweep away corruption? the anc has always been good at shows of unity, like the clasped hands of the two contenders, zouma and the man targeting corruption. both vying for a delegate was mike votes. it would

you like to see as your next president? she is going to be president. definitely. who do you think will be the next leader? doctors uma is the senior politician and also the ex—wife she could prove his nemesis if he makes good on his anti—corruption rhetoric. the president's allies have sought to portray her as the puppet of greedy white business, hence this swipe in his speech. we need to find ways of protecting the

anc from corporate greed. as i'm sure “— anc from corporate greed. as i'm sure —— and ensure that the decisions we take our informed by the policies of the anc and are not dictated by, are not dictated to by business interests. abaca boss michael does liberation movement is fraying. even in the face of poignant pleas for unity. whoever is elected leader of tomorrow will inherit a party in crisis. retailers are expected to make big discounts in the final week before christmas, to convince shoppers to keep spending throughout the festive period. there's fear among some on the high street, that with rising inflation and stagnant wages, consumers may be more willing to shop in the period after black friday in late november, rather than in the run up to december 25th. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. what could be more christmassy

than the salvation army warming our hearts, and the hustle and bustle of shoppers hunting for bargains? and bustle of shoppers but with money tight and competition intense, some big retailers are starting to offer big discounts well ahead of the boxing day sales. to offer big discounts well ahead will it work? to offer big discounts well ahead i do believe that retailers are trying to get the money in before christmas than after. are trying to get the money quite a few shops have got reduced prices, bargains on offer. obviously if you can wait until the sales... but i think a lot of sales, looking around, have started early. i come to leeds every saturday and stuff that i looked at last week is on sale this week. and stuff that i looked at last week the consultants pwc have found evidence of pre—christmas discounting and expect it to intensify next week. promotional levels are ticking up, both online and offline. so if you've not done your shopping yet, we're expecting a lot more promotions, particularly online, in the final week before christmas. particularly online, the bad weather earlier this week may have kept some shoppers at home, but experts feel that they'll be

back in numbers. retail spending was surprisingly up by 1.1% last month. i say surprising because average prices in the shops were rising faster than wages, and ordinarily consumers rein in their spending, but they haven't, yet, and retailers want every penny of that spare money. and to do that they are slashing some prices, but in doing so, they are merely bringing forward the discounts that they would have offered in the winter sales. it's all part of the annual face—off between retailers and consumers. joe lynam, bbc news. more than 10,000 homes and businesses in tewkesbury — in gloucestershire — are without water for a second day. their supply has been off since a main burst yesterday morning. severn trent says repairs are proving extremely difficult because the pipe is in a flooded field. bottled water is being made available for people in the area to pick up.

the scientist and broadcaster, professor heinz wolff, perhaps best known for presenting the bbc science programme, the great egg race, has died. he was 89. richard galpin looks back at his life. hello, and welcome to the murky depths... relishing his role as the eccentric scientist, heinz wolff became a television star in the 19705 became a television star in the 1970s and 80s. in my book, you already have full marks for eccentricity in making a five foot bridge to bridge an eight foot gap. his programme the great egg race testing the scientific and inventive skills of teams to solve a problem he had set them. always the performer, he did later showed them how he had done it. now this is the most critical point

probably here. but this distinguished academic was an inventor in his own right, making an inventor in his own right, making a machine for counting patient blood cells as well as other important medical devices. and he was scientific director of the programme which sent the first british astronaut into space in 1991. both the technical innovations, the big programmes like thejuno mission to space, those are important, but i thinkjust to space, those are important, but i think just everyday human interactions, giving people advice, infusing them about science and technology, he felt both are equally important, i think. the man who arrived in britain as a refugee from nazi germany at the start of world

war ii leads an enduring scientific legacy. professor heinz wolff, who's died at the age of 89. a brilliant batting display by australia's captain steve smith, has put his side in a commanding position, in the 3rd cricket test in perth. they lead england by 146 runs with six wickets left, and victory would give them the ashes. from perth, here's our sports correspondent, andy swiss. for two australians, a day to remember. for 11 englishmen, one to forget. but if this was when their ashes dream finally ended, it was at the hands of batting brilliance. first, steve smith, resuming on 92, he soon reached his half—century. as it turned out, he'd barely started. at the other end, a flicker of english hope. moeen ali removing shaun marsh. little did they know it would be their only wicket of the entire day. enter shaun's little brother, mitchell marsh, who set

about showing his sibling precisely how it's done. perfection from marsh. australia were ruthless, england's bowling more toothless. flailed to all corners of the waca, for captain joe root it was hard to watch. and marsh's aggression soon reaped its reward. a first test 100 to the delight of his fans, and his family. and as the runs kept coming, so did the milestones. smith completing his double century. the world's number one batsman with yet another as australia piled on the misery. smith still there on 229, marsh on 181 on a day when england's bowling limitations were painfully exposed. england have seen some dark days in this series, but none quite as grim as this. they will now need something very special if they are to save this match and save their ashes hopes. andy swiss, bbc news, perth. that is it. more throughout the

evening on the bbc news channel and i will be back with a late news at ten o'clock. now time for the news where you are. by bye for now. hello, this is bbc news. as we've been hearing, the scientist and broadcaster, professor heinz wolff, best known for presenting the bbc science programme, the great egg race, has died at the age of 89. earlier i spoke to the professor's son, laurence wolff, about his father. the person that people saw when they met him was the person that we knew at home. you know, his sense of humour, his curiosity, his enthusiasm, that was our father, too. i have to say, i have an older brother as well, anthony. he has been described as some of his collea g u es been described as some of his colleagues at brunel university as a sparkling scientist. what was his background in science, take us through that? used to say his first experience of science was doing chemistry with his father in berlin as the four—year—old, holding sugar

ina as the four—year—old, holding sugar in a test—tube overabundance burner he encouraged that in us as well. we had worked —— workbenches, it will horrify those health and safety people! we had a bunsen burner at the age of six. he was an extremely bright student. when he arrived at oxford, at school that was, was already inventing proper medical instruments in his teens. so it began there. we talk of tim peake today, but your father was actually, he played a huge role in getting the first briton up in space, doctor helen sharman. how did he come to the world of space, what brought him to that? well he always thought that science was a cultural thing as well. and he knew that there needed to be big projects like sending

somebody into space, to inspire other people, particularly young people. so that was one reason. he knew that there were some very big challenges for human physiology when you go up into space, so he was the scientific director of that programme. and, of course, it was done not through state funding. i think there wasn't as much science in it in the end as he wanted, but anyway, helen sharma went into space. we are very lucky because you have brought some personal photos into us here at bbc news. take us through this. obviously a sense of humour that, and he has been described as something of a joke as well. yes, that was just described as something of a joke as well. yes, that wasjust his natural sense of fun, but he knew it was also a way of engaging people. from just looking at some of the comments on social media, he obviously

entertained as well as educated. you know, he made no excuses for that, but it was also something absolutely within his character, you know, to have fun in that way. a lovely picture there with a little girl. that one i think is a lovely portrait of him, showing his kindness. he was enormously valued —— enormously valued that quality of kindness. i don't know if we can go back to it... the one with my daughter and son with a strange instrument. that was a machine that was designed to perhaps grow food on a mars mission. my children had just come into the laboratory to look at it. he has been described by so many, including my husband, as inspirational. it encouraged him, for example, to go into sciences. what would he like to be remembered

for? i think that really was important. it always struck me that he has the most desirable kind of fame because people would just stop him in the street, just as a husband said, they would say you got me into science, or two paramedic teams that came to him a few days ago, they said we used to watch you and he really explained things well. and incidentally, he also had a morphine pump on him this morning, yesterday, of which are little part of the mechanism was designed by him. so you can see how he touched so many people through his ingenuity, in terms of his inventing, you might say, and his great belief in educating about science and technology. and going to squeeze one more questioning, getting into trouble with my producer! in terms of everyday life on the sciences, what sort of inventions we don't

realise your dad played a part in? can you name a few? i think it's true to shake, you know when you have an ecg and you have those little sticky things on? back in the 50s you literally just start a little sticky things on? back in the 50s you literallyjust start a while was literally glued onto the skin. i was literally glued onto the skin. i was with him in hospital and one of these rather more comfortable things with a little bit of gel in them, i believe he just casually said, oh yes, we invented those. so there are absolutely basic things you see in a hospital. when he started a hospital ward with a broom with beds in it and that was all. all the paraphernalia that you see around hospital beds in terms of monitoring the patient, he was there at the very beginning, developing that sort of thing. did he like his time on tv in front of the camera? he did. it was a small part of his career but the magic box is what, of course, makes people so well known. that was

the son of heinz wolff, who has passed away. lawrence was talking to me earlier. a full state funeral for romania's last monarch — king michael — has been held in bucharest. royalty from across europe attended, among them spain's former king, juan carlos, and prince charles. king michael, who died last week at the age of 96, was forced to abdicate by romania's communist leaders nearly 70 years ago. our central europe correspondent nick thorpe reports. he only ruled for ten of his 96 years, but king michael of romania has been given a farewell fit for a national hero. tens of thousands of romanians lined the streets of bucharest as his coffin was carried on a gun carriage from the former royal palace to the patriarchal cathedral of the orthodox church.

michael came from the german house of hohenzollern and was a third cousin of queen elizabeth. the king's five daughters and royalty from all over europe attended the funeral mass, including britain's prince charles and former king juan carlos and queen sofia of spain. michael came to the throne for the first time when he was only five—years—old in 1927. since then, he was the contemporary of 16 us presidents and eight popes. he's best known for switching romania from the nazi to the allied side during the second world war in 19114. forced to abdicate in 19117 by romania's communist rulers, he lived most of his life in exile in switzerland. from the cathedral, the coffin was taken back through the streets of bucharest to the baneasa railway station. from there, he was carried slowly on the royal train on his final journey to the orthodox monastery at curtea de arges, in the foothills of the carpathian mountains,

to be buried beside his wife, his father and grandfather. romania did not restore the monarchy after the fall of communism in 1989. many of those who came out to pay their final respects today feel that was an opportunity missed. nick thorpe, bbc 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 we re christmas revellers. extra ambulance crews were bought in ahead of last night, amid concerns 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 our 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've 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. everybody is talking about the ashes but there was a lot more sport going on, isn't fair, lizzie? thank you. good evening. a busy programme to come. we will talk about the ashes in a moment where it has been a trying day for england's cricketers in the third test. but starting with the football. a big game going on at the etihad stadium between manchester city and totte n ha m. between manchester city and tottenham. can manchester city extend their lead at the top of the table to 1a points? we will find out

soon table to 1a points? we will find out soon that they have just taken the lead. they are leading 1—0 against spurs at the etihad stadium. chelsea edged past southampton. marcos alonso the only score at stamford bridge with a long—range free kick. chelsea are level on points with manchester united but stay third on goal difference. quite hard figures the result was only 1—0. quite hard figures the result was only1—0. i quite hard figures the result was only 1—0. i think that we dominated the game and had many chances to score. in one game you shoot 2a times, eight on the target, it means that you dominated the game. our idea was to try and be in the game until the end and after we saw change, put fresh legs to try and do something more. it was close. it is a pity... 0k, one point for us would be important but we have to think about next saturday and try to bounce back from this situation. arsenal are back in the top four

after inflicting newcastle's fourth league defeat in a row. mesut ozil brilliantly volleying—in the only goal of the game in the first half at the emirates. i think overall we deserved to win, we had plenty of chances, but after the last five or ten minutes it became edgy because we needed to win today. overall, i feel that became edgy because we needed to win today. overall, ifeel that we dominated quite well the game. it was physically difficult, because it was physically difficult, because it was our third game in six days and physically very intense. we did well. we had chances to draw. it's a pity, because in the end we are learning, we have this situation in some games that we are just one goal behind and then we have to improve quickly and we need to get these draws or wins because we are making

a great effort, the players are working so hard and it is this pity. crystal palace are out of the relegation zone after an impressive victory at an in form leicester city. it's palace's first away win since april and their performance underlines the turnaround since manager roy hodgson took over. christian benteke scored his first goal of the season, wilfried zaha got the second and bakary sako made it 3—0 after wilfred ndidid was sent off for diving. brave refereeing at leicester. elsewhere in the premier league today.... brighton and burnley battled out a goalless draw, huddersfield won 4—1 at watford, and after an hour delay due to a power cut — stoke and west ham are still playing. it is 3—0 to west ham. aberdeen thrashed hibernian 4—1 in the scottish premiership. they're now up to second and just two points behind leaders celtic who play at hearts tomorrow, while hibs stay fourth. hibs had been unbeaten in the league away from home since march, but a goalfrom graeme shinnie

within the first 11 minutes put aberdeen on the front foot. defensive blunders gifted gary mackay—steven a hat—trick and helped aberdeen to a twelfth league win of the season. elswhere in the scottish premiership, stjohnstone beat rangers 3—1 to record their first league win at ibrox since 1971. rangers slip back to third. bottom side partick lost to dundee and there were also wins for hamilton and kilmarnock. an important weekend in rugby union's european champions cup as teams union's european champions cup as tea ms jostle for union's european champions cup as teams jostle for quarterfinal places. in dublin, pool 3 leaders leinster did the double over exeter — althought it was a little closer this time 22—17 the final score. a famous turnaround for the home side who had trailed by 1a points in the first half. the defeat leaves exeter in third place in their group and up against it to qualify. scarlets re—invigorated their champions cup campaign

with a dominant 31—12 win against benetton in treviso. a week after struggling to beat a 1a—man benetton side, they scored four tries in the wintry italian sun. a try each forjohnny mcnicholl and paul asquith as well, as two touchdowns by gareth davies secured the bonus point inside 44 minutes. so confirmation of those scores and the other results... also in pool 3 glasgow stay bottom after losing to montpelier, and the late kick off is between the top two in pool 5 — toulon and bath. last week it went the way of toulon, this time bath are hosting. and they are winning13—5 and they are winning 13—5 the latest score, with 18 minutes on the clock. a wonderful game to be watching in the south—west. england's cricketers are facing the very real prospect of going 3—nil down in the ashes series and therefore relinquishing the famous trophy to australia with two games left to play. the home side are firmly in control in perth — leading by 146 on 549—4,

after a deeply disappointing third day at the waca for england's bowlers. our sports correspondent andy swiss reports. you get the sense this might have been the day when england's fading ashes hopes were finally extinguished. it was a torrid day for their bowlers but an extraordinary one for two australian batsman steve smith and mitchell marsh. smith began the day on 92 not out. he quickly reached his century but that was barely the start. england enjoyed one brief moment of optimism, the wicket of shaun marsh but that only brought his brother mitchell marsh to the crease and what a blistering innings it was for him, as he went on to reach his first test century in front of his home fans, in front of his watching brother and family. an incredible moment for him. steve smith showed why he is the world's double one batsmen as he went on to reach an unbeaten double century. that partnership by the end and broken,

301. an incredible performance from the pair of them. as for england, they will need something very special indeed now if they are going to save this mac and save their ashes hopes. we've got two more days to play and we have to get stuck in and play exceptional. it will be tough, of course it will be tough, but we had opportunities in the last game. we had opportunities in the previous game, so we have had our opportunities, wejust previous game, so we have had our opportunities, we just haven't been good enough or they have been better in the tough moments and they have taken the games away from us. but in terms of this game, there are two based about and we have to believe we can fight hard and make sure there is still a contest to keep going. obviously tired. any time there's 40 overs in a day, it's hard work, and you walk off the ground very tired and sore. i'm not sure they're cracking our spirit but we've put ourselves in a good

position. world number three judd trump has been knocked out of his scottish open snooker semi—final, losing to china's yupeng cao 6—4. trump had been trailing for the most of the match and despite levelling it up at three frames apiece, he couldn't create an advantage. cao will go on to face either neil robertson orjohn higgins who get their semi underway later on. golf and justin rose has retained his clubhouse lead at the indonesian masters, despite torrential rain and lightning causing play to be suspended for a second consecutive day. rose started the third round with two birdies in his opening three holes, before extending his lead with another birdie on the fifth. he was 16—under par through eight holes when play was suspended — three shots ahead of the chasing pack. play will resume at 6.15am tomorrow. the winter olympics are just a couple of months away and britain's snowsport athletes are doing their best to get into medal contention. earlier today skier andrew musgrave took bronze in the 15km freestyle

cross country world cup in italy. and the beleagured bobsleighers battle on despite their chronic lack of funding, the women's 2 bob — finishing 10th in the latest race in austria. misha mcneill and brake woman mica moore were third fastest on the track in innsbruck at one point, before being pushed down the order. britain had two teams in the men's two—man. bradley halll and nick gleeson finishing 20th after making it through to the 2nd heatjust ahead of bruce tasker and joel fearon who failed to make it past the first round. germany took gold in both the men's and women's events. you can find out more about that and all the sport on the bbc sport website. that is it from me for now, more at 6:30pm this evening in ten,

but now the weather. still a wintry flavour to the weather across the british isles and optically warm anywhere. despite the fa ct optically warm anywhere. despite the fact some areas are seeing a little sunshine. nice enough on the eastern side of the midlands. but go a little further west, you still have lying smoke from the snow event we had as far back as last weekend. —— lying snow. two distinct areas, the cold stuff still stays with quite a widespread frost, some fog patches as well. out west, there has been an island of relatively mild air across the south—west quarter and it will bejoined by a new the south—west quarter and it will be joined by a new one as we get on through the night across the north west of scotland. we will bring in weather fronts with cloud and wind and rain and that will make for a pretty u npleasa nt start and rain and that will make for a pretty unpleasant start to the day on sunday across scotland, the north and west of england, through wales and west of england, through wales and through northern ireland as well. further south and east, pretty leaden skies if the truth were known. it will be dry for a time but

not promising it will stay that way right throughout the day. it is a snapshot round about midday or so. still that mild air as we had across the south—western quarter, but joined by some cloud and wind and rain. out east, one of those raw sort of days. 1—3d, no sunshine to speak of. for that you have to get behind the weather front, up into scotla nd behind the weather front, up into scotland and northern ireland two. brighter skies slowly but surely coming in from the north—west. i'm hopeful they may see some sunshine to finish the day. that won't be the case across the greater part of england and wales, as these weather fronts tumble their way ever further south. that weather front quite important as it will clear the skies, the temperatures will fall, especially in the eastern side of england. out west, first signs of really mild air streaming up and along those isobars. so as we move out of sunday and monday, the last of the cold air hanging on for a time across eastern parts and then that quits the scene and here we

are, the regime that will be in place for monday and tuesday and the greater part of the middle part of the forthcoming week which sees us into milder conditions, mainly dry, but we swap the sunshine for a good deal of cloud. it will take time. that sunshine still in the east on monday, cloudier and milder conditions showing the hands across many western areas. 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. police in canada say they're treating the deaths of the billionaire businessman barry sherman and his wife honey, as "suspicious". the renowned scientist and television presenter heinz wolff has died at the age of 89. his son says describes him as having a natural sense of fun. the person people saw when they met him or the person we knew at home. his sense of humour, his curiosity, his enthusiasm.