in the most recent case in wiltshire one of the birds, which was being tracked by a satellite tag, has vanished and is presumed dead. police are investigating, and there are concerns over a government plan to introduce more hen harriers into the wild, as andrew plant reports. out on the hunt for a bird of prey. teams have been searching this wiltshire countryside. it is where vulcan, a rare hen harrier, satellite tag suddenly stopped responding. but both the bird and its tag have disappeared. sadly, suspicious occasion. so that tag just one day stopped working? stopped working — so the tag was in very good health, and it's being investigated by wiltshire police as a very suspicious case. hen harriers almost died out in england. now, just a handful are born every year. conservationists tag the strongest ones. of 3a chicks in 2018,

they tagged 11. six have now vanished, tags included, deliberately shot, say the rspb. so, the question is, why would anyone want to kill one? well, that's a difficult question to answer, because this is a blatant criminal act. they are a highly protected bird. but that is what you think is happening, that people are deliberately... that is what we know to be the case. there have been convictions. unfortunately, there has been a pattern of birds of prey going missing in the area, and there is intense shooting. there has long been a plan to introduce more hen harriers back into england. the experts say that the environment can support a lot more breeding pairs. but, because of what has been happening to those tagged birds over the past few years, the rspb now say that plan should be put on hold. absolutely. all the research tells us that the environment in england can support hundreds of hen harriers, and yet we only have 34 chicks. and the one limiting factor, let's make no mistake about this, is illegal persecution.

there is an estimated 575 pairs left in the wild, most in scotland. the rspb say, until the birds can be properly protected, they will continue to vanish into thin air. andrew plant, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, good morning. not great weather out and about. it is almost as if we have stepped back in winter and many will be shivering, the strength of the wind going through you. it is notjust the wind of concern but it is snowing. this was the picture in derbyshire earlier this morning. we have numerous photographs of snow coming through. with all this snow and the wind, it is pretty nasty out there. it is falling as snow widely over the scottish mountains, the hills of northern england, but also snow at lower levels, for exa m ple northern england, but also snow at lower levels, for example in cumbria at the moment. several more hours of

this inclement weather for us. at the moment. several more hours of this inclement weatherfor us. the showers that follow behind will progressively turn to sleet and snow even at lower levels. the wind the story further south, feeling much colder than yesterday. the winds gusting at 50—60 miles an hour in land. to looks a little calmer. overnight, continuing with the showers and turning quite rusty so a concern of further snow covering from the showers and ice from the frost. tomorrow looks a little quieter before some stormy weather comes in on tuesday, potentially. enough problems to worry about and there are warnings on the website. hello this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines: an ethiopian airlines plane with more than 150 people on board has crashed on a flight from addis ababa to nairobi. it's believed there are no sui’vivoi’s. two leading brexiteers have urged the prime minister not to delay

leaving the eu if she loses the meaningful vote on her withdrawal deal in the commons this week. two more british women living in detention camps in syria, with five children between them, are reported to have been stripped of their uk citizenship. sir cliff richard joins other public figures calling for the law to protect the anonymity of people suspected of sexual offences until they are actually charged with a crime. the family of a 23—year—old british woman missing in guatemala say they're "desperately worried" for her safety. those are our headlines. now on bbc news, the actor—director kenneth branagh is talking movies 7 in the second part of a special interview for the programme's 20th birthday. hello from new york. i'm tom brook. in talking movies, a special edition to celebrate our 20th anniversary — a conversation with top british actor and director kenneth branagh on the changes that have taken place in the film industry during the time

that talking movies has been on the air. kenneth branagh joined a special event in new york to mark talking movies‘ two decades on the air. the audience, a media crowd, including former members of the production team, got to sample excerpts of the show going right back to 1999. hello from new york. i'm tom brook. in today's programme, tim robbins‘ new political comedy, cradle will rock. now, let's move on to the digital revolution and the impact it's having on the film industry. the writer's strike has dominated the news. members of the writer's guild of america downed tools. hello and welcome to austin in texas. i'm tom brook. during its existence, talking movies has covered many key developments in cinema, from the changing status of movie

stars to the rise of the streaming services to demands for gender equality in the industry. over the years, big names have given their views. why shouldn't women get paid? i mean, we're not in the stone ages anymore. we've burned all the bras, we've gone through that, it's equality. if a person does equal amount of work and does itjust as well, then absolutely. i've covered the movie industry very much from the outside, but how does somebody influential, a key figure working on the inside of the industry, view the changes of recent years? well, let's have a very big round of applause for sir kenneth branagh. applause. thank you very much. a passenger has died. he was murdered. i will speak to you all in time. forthe moment, i must recommend that you remain in your compartment with the doors locked.

i feel like a prisoner here. it is for your own safety. if there was a murder, then there was a murderer. the murderer is with us. kenneth branagh has starred in some 37 feature films. he has brought his star present to pictures ranging from murder on the orient express to dunkirk to hamlet. most recently, he played william shakespeare in his later years in the film all is true. i wanted to ask you... the best way to get started as a writer is to start writing. can ijust... i don't have a favourite play. i admire all my fellow dramatists equally and, yes, i think women should be eligible for the female roles as is the practise on the continent. now, please do excuse me. a things that has changed over the last 20 years is that movie stars nowadays aren't as important as they used to be. in 1999, you could have tom cruise orjulia roberts opening in a film, even if it was pretty bad, and they would still open

with a very, very strong box office. that doesn't seem to happen. stars seem to be less powerful. would you agree with that assessment? yeah, i think that... when i came into the business, i was told that there were only ever six or seven movie stars in the world at any one time. by that, studios meant there were only six or seven people whose very presence in a movie could open the movie. their presence guaranteed that the opening weekend would be a spectacular triumph. and no, we don't have that in the same way. i know from knowing some of those people that that was, sometimes for them, for what it's worth, an incredible pressure. i think that sometimes it's not necessarily good for the artists themselves to carry that kind of pressure because it can be a distorting thing. notice anything unusual about me this morning? i wish i could. look.

well, look! why, though, don't we have people like stars like elizabeth taylor anymore? do we have actors or, in that case, women who are a combination of incredibly talented and incredibly beautiful and glamorous and interesting? i think we have those for sure. but she was larger than life in a way, wasn't she? yeah, but she also came out of a studio system where when she arrived at the centre of her most sort of glamorous and omnipotent period, it came from a whole history, this was a child actress in hollywood with a hollywood machine that fed an image of her that wasn't necessarily correct. some of her glamorous movie—starness was about that sort of dichotomy between what we thought we knew about her and what she appeared to be as an adult, and for all those great child stars, there seemed to be a sort of a kind of tension or traditions between what happened in later life and makes it very compelling.

but i think that we have... the idea of a movie star is kind of an odd one. i think it's quite a small group of people where the single and remarkable gift is their compelling capacity to hold the screen in whatever way, and to be followed for sometimes a quite particular set of qualities that's distinct from movie stars who are actors. i think we've got many more movie stars who are actors or actors who are movie stars. where would you put, say, lady gaga and bradley cooper into that equation? do you think that they're potent movie stars? i would say that, first of all, i thought that was a terrific movie. a star is born. i thought bradley cooper did a greatjob and i thought

that she did a greatjob. and sam elliott, indeed all of it was exceptional, i thought. # ahhhh! she's a great star and maybe she will become a great movie star. and she's a great star in that movie. and he's a movie star and a great actor. so, i think there's a fudgy blur, but neither is just one thing. good answer. thank you. one of the most star—studded events in the world is the annual oscars ceremony. when talking movies started out, the academy awards was more of a must—see event in the us. nowadays, it's a challenge to reach audiences, particularly young people. is the oscar's becoming irrelevant? what do you think?

i think it's becoming marginalised. why is that? because there's so much competition in terms what people can watch, and i also think — i'm answering my own question. you're very good at it. you know much more than i do. let me put it back on you, if i can, very delicately. do you agree that something is going on, that it is becoming a less vibrant part of the culture perhaps? well, i would agree with you that the many different ways in which people consume their entertainment means that the focus of that event, as a single sort of gathering, moment at which some sort of a summation of the year's cinema is reached, has been divided and diversified by any number of other awards ceremonies, the distinction between different kinds of movies, a sense that one ceremony is pushed, fully and comprehensively address

the issue of appreciation of that year's work in cinema or on screen. so, i think that's maybe the most obvious thing. and then, there's a subjective answer to whether the format of a sort of grand event like that is something that works in quite the same way. so, maybe it's unrealistic to expect that it could command an audience. the world is different, isn't it? i think expectations of it have to be recalibrated in those terms. nobody says a billion people watch it, don't they? that's the figure, but eventually maybe, they do. kenneth branagh has notjust been an actor for four decades. he's also worked as a director and producer, so he knows the film business really well. he directs small art house films like all is true, but also big blockbusters

like thor and cinderella. he understands many of the challenges now facing the industry. i'd like to ask you about some of the changes that have taken place in the film industry during the time that talking movies has been on the air. it began in 1999. at that time, the film industry, particularly in hollywood, was run by white males. you're white and male. has that brought you privileges and benefits? you spotted it! well, yeah, inevitably, the history of our times tells us that things are changing and they need to change more. and i think that it's been a very dynamic 20 years. i mean, you started making these programmes just after the beginnings of the digital revolution and the massive social — the world's social change that the internet brought about. and so, yeah, it's been a period in which you can

feel the seismic shifts, and i think they are happening right now. and do you find that when you're beginning work on a project as a director, involved perhaps with the casting, that you are mindful of the need to create opportunities that match up with gender balance and getting non—white faces on the screen? i mean, i would like to think that that's something i have been doing throughout my career, where there was a more intuitive response to that. but, yes, but i would say, and always as a matter of course and always imperfectly, no question. but i think that's been part of... whether it was with our theatre company 30—odd years ago, that very same company that were there all the way up to henry v were all paid the same money, it was 50—50 gender split, equality of pay, equality

of opportunity is something that i believe in and have tried to foster and have done so imperfectly. remote driving system activated. i've observed myself that there are pressures to increase diversity on screen, especially recently. but the change is only incremental. woo! let's go! do you think that we can learn by way of example? for example, there was black panther, a humongous movie that came out that really gave african—american actors very high—profile roles on the back of a mega hit. and that certainly is a very potent display of diversity. do you think that has a knock—on effect on the industry? i'm sure, there are these crude equations always in a commercial industry with what makes money. and in the case of that particular picture, it also coincided with very

fine work from everybody. so, that for me is the most potent example of how influential that can be, so you can have that showcases excellent direction and terrific acting in a terrific entertainment. and what about other groups, older people, elderly people, getting them involved in stories and seeing their lives actually displayed on a cinema screen? well, i think it's been happening and it will happen. as a man who is sort of seeing 60 years old two years down the line, for me, the idea of that is just silly. you are all going to find it, whether you're south of 60 or north of 60, it's other ages that start to tickle your fancy. but i think that when my parents would get older, there was this kind of paradigm at least in my privileged bit of our western culture,

there was my dad winding down from business, from 50 onwards and certainly from 55. and there was kind of a slightly movie—supported cliche that societally—supported cliche of time to put the slippers on, walk the dog and stuff, doing less things. now that's really been exploded and i talked to people for whom that is just the start of heading that way, doing the things that they might otherwise have done. so it won'tjust be a bit of a cliche if cinema is going to be for old people having sex and people have sex after a certain age. i think we can confirm that that's the case. but they do more things than have sex. and so there will be plenty of stories, certainly many stories north of 60 of all those adventures. you can break our hearts, but you cannot break our spirits!

the #metoo movement has brought about reckoning in the film industry and beyond. do you think that that reckoning was waiting to happen and that harvey weinstein was merely a catalyst? it's an interesting question. that there have been, as in other industries, these appalling incidents or even perhaps insidious waves of behaviour... i think the history of movies, you know, literatures about movies, books about movies and the old studio systems or starlet systems or the fortunes of notjust actors but other participants, definitely lets us understand that we now see numerous ways of behaving that simply were unacceptable. and i think as a society, we took a long time to get to think

that there could be another way of talking about it, of listening to voices and maybe that needed to be heard and maybe whether it was him or something else, something else... human development does not go in a kind of steady curve. it usually hits something, some profound event occurs and then some breakthrough into another area of knowledge happens. so, i think that in that sense, a moment, an incident, a person would inevitably be the tip of an iceberg that was due to break the surface. and so it happened in that particular way, but maybe it was reallyjust a question of not very much more time. but in the wake of #metoo, there hasn't exactly been progress for a lot of women in the film industry. female directors, last year, there were fewer working

on top movies than there were the year before. what could be done about that, do you think? well, that's maybe a false measurement. at least if the progress of women is only defined by whether some of them direct... it is one measure. it is one measure, but it is also a measure that plays to a high glitzy end of something. and so i don't know, what is a proper... what would you like? what would constitute, in that instance, some sort of sense of equality? i think the change will happen. i agree it has been slow, but not necessarily in other parts... i think in the pyramid of all of this, i think there is much more change that is not as visible as that disappointing sign that has more and greater numbers of diverse voices and certainly many women's voices coming into other parts of that particular pyramid. and so i think it will change.

have you thought about what was after all a seismic event, donald trump getting elected to the white house? would you like to make a movie about trump and what would it be? laughter. i think, possibly a miniseries or a long—running series. we had a theatre season two or three years ago in london, and one of the things that we planned for was a new play, a contemporary play about modern british politics. and it had an element that also looked at contemporary american politics. it was written by a very sharp, intelligent writer, a compassionate writer with an expansive point of view. it would've been inclusive in the sense of not merely polemic as it were. and what we found was we just could not keep up.

we couldn't keep up with what was happening day by day. i think you could make a movie about mr trump this week, and it might be a very different movie next week. it depends on what you would like. if you want a movie that sums up what is going on, maybe that needs to wait because it is all changing. if you want a different format that tries to slice and segment the amazing dimensions of this extraordinary political and social and economicjourney the world is going on with these leaders, then maybe that would be in a different form. let's move onto something very different, netflix, which is an entity that everybody knows, a streaming giant. it really has upended hollywood. when talking movies went on the air, netflix had been not in operation forjust two years. you would get a dvd in a bright red envelope. it had not emerged to be what it is today. do you think it's basically a force for good in hollywood ? i remember thinking when the first notion, when it and other

ideas like it appeared, that from your device, whatever it might be, that an entire library, all of what was available in the cinema would be available at the touch of a button... that when i looked around at shelves full of dvds and vhss and things at that time, it seemed to be an absolute miracle. well, it is a miracle. netflix is heralding a lot of change, but do you think there is something in the way sacred about the cinema auditorium and people gathering in the dark to watch a film that will always endure? personally, i do. and that's the thing, although i've been doing this for a long time now, it's still my favourite hobby. i go to the pictures every weekend. i love it. i love it, i love the ritual of it. a packed auditorium or when you go see a friend's film on opening weekend and there's not anybody there. that can be a pretty

chilly experience. it is most chilling when it is one of your films, i can tell you that. no, i love going to movies. and it's never a bust, never a chore. and i prefer myself the concentration of it, i like it. i have done lots of theatre and i go to the theatre, my god, a bad night at the theatre is a terrible night. but i can sit through any bad movie. it's just for me, still somehow i switch back into that kid who was watching that tv in belfast in the early ‘60s and going to the great big cinema. we used to go to royal avenue, it was the odeon on royal avenue, a massive theatre. and i recall watching chitty chitty bang bang, the film where this car and it will crash and it goes over the cliff in cinemascope and it starts to fly and i rememberjust leaning forward like that as a kid.

then the intermission came up. the intermission, commercial, half—time at a movie. just the right time. went out, got ice cream, came back in and the whole family were there, the place was packed, it was just absolute magic. we have to stop. thank you so much for the interview. you were very generous with your comments. thank you, the audience. # chitty chitty bang bang. # chitty chitty bang bang, chitty chitty bang bang. # chitty chitty bang bang. # chitty chitty bang bang, chitty chitty bang bang. # we love you. # what we'll do. # near, far, in a motorcar and what a happy town it will be. # chitty chitty bang bang, thankful friend and friend. # chitty chitty bang bang,

our thankful friend. in the beautiful sunshine, but not this morning... look at this, a picture that says two seasons in one day. those poor daffodils are really struggling out there at the moment. in fact, it is not pleasant at all. we have crashing waves, now the wind is whipping up along the south coast. we had a few trees down, this is at catford, so in the south—east of england. it is notjust the wind but we have seen the snow and we have the rain as well. some pretty nasty conditions if you are out and about travelling in the next few hours. this is how it's looking. further snow to come, particularly for scotland, it is coming down here thick and fast, significant snow over the hills and some at lower levels and also some snow across northern england. again, that is not

the only story. it is cold air, windy weather, so the wind will blow the snow around. poor visibility, blizzard in places. showers coming into northern ireland and following into northern ireland and following into scotland and northern england will turn progressively to snowfall this afternoon for stop still has to clear that rain from the east coast. in the south, fleeting showers, hail and thunder in them but the real story in the south—east the strength of the wind. a very gusty day, gust of the wind. a very gusty day, gust of wind up to 60 miles an hour, bringing down trees, as we havejust seen. bringing down trees, as we havejust seen. the wind is a feature of the weather for northern ireland and southern scotland. temperature —wise, nothing special. it will feel much colder today, notably for england and wales because of the strength of the wind which will continue to blow in the showers through this evening and overnight. a temporary respite, this little bump of high pressurejust pushing a little further in. that means it will be a cold night. we had a cold night last night in scotland but more widely there will be thrust in the countryside, even in towns and

cities temperatures will get down close to freezing. damp ground, showers of sleet and snow continuing through the night and some rain. it could be icy to but otherwise tomorrow looks like we will have a respite, a brief break in our weather. so some quieter weather to come tomorrow but it does not last. rattling in through tomorrow night is our next area of low pressure. it looks like a really deep area of low pressure, wouldn't be surprised to see this as a named storm. more wet and windy weather on tuesday, followed by showers. a little wintry over the hills, nothing too special wintry wise, that is coming today, but then the winds whip up once again on tuesday night over northern and western areas. the turbulence by the weather. there are warnings from the weather. there are warnings from the met office and they sit on the website. but for me, bye—bye.

this is bbc news i'm ben brown. the headlines at 11:00: an ethiopian airlines plane with more than a hundred and 50 people on board has crashed on a flight from addis ababa to nairobi — all passengers are feared dead. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, warns mps that if they get crucial votes wrong this week they risk losing brexit. two more british women living in detention camps in syria, with five children between them, are reported to have been stripped of their uk citizenship. sir cliff richard has joined a campaign calling for legal anonymity for anyone suspected of committing a sexual offence — until they're charged. the family of a 23—year—old british woman missing in guatemala say they're "desperately worried" for her safety. and in half an hour here on bbc news, dateline london looks