overnight, 3 met office warning. elsewhere, clear overnight, a met office warning. elsewhere, clear spell, one overnight, a met office warning. elsewhere, clearspell, one or overnight, a met office warning. elsewhere, clear spell, one or two showers, mist and fog for the northern half of the uk, may be a touch of frost in the far north of scotland. elsewhere, rain clearing to the east coast, some spells of sunshine but showers around particularly across north england, wales and south—west england. and temperature similar to today. goodbye.

good afternoon. the family behind the british defence company, cobham, has criticised the government for approving a £4 billion take—over by an american firm. a merger between the dorset—based manufacturer and us private equity group advent was agreed injuly, but it was delayed over national security concerns. late last night, the business secretary, andrea leadsom, who announced the decision late last night, said it had been taken in conjunction with defence chiefs. lady cobham said the announcement had been "cynically timed" to avoid scrutiny. our business correspondent katy prescott reports. one of the uk's oldest defence companies. a pioneer of air—to—air refuelling, cobham started life in the 1930s as a flying circus. for the last few months, the government has been grappling with whether to allow its sale

to the american private equity firmed advent. the daughter—in—law of the founder has been critical. she says this is a deeply disappointing announcement and one cynically timed to avoid scrutiny on the weekend before christmas. borisjohnson, arriving estonia to greet uk troops earlier today. in the run up to the sale, the ministry of defence said it was concerned about the change of ownership because of giving away access to information and risk to existing programmes. to allay those fears, the government says advent has agreed to... defence analysts believe the company is already strongly linked to america, a uk ally.

advent have given every protection to the mod, on top of those protections that were already there, so i am not worried about the national security aspect whatsoever. and secondly, cobham needs to grow. it needs a better base, it needs the opportunities, and i think under a new ownership, it will get them. it won't have to look over its shoulders at shareholders. the government says that the agreement with advent is legally enforceable, and any breach could be pursued through the courts. katy prescott, bbc news. our political correspondent, matt cole, is here with me. the prime minister has been demonstrating his support for the military today but presumably that could be overshadowed by events back home? indeed. this was meant to be a fairly standard pre—christmas photo shoot. the prime minister among the 850 troops at that estonian base. downing street billed it as a moment

to be thankful for our troops and their deployment over christmas particularly but this late—night announcement yesterday that cobham was being bought out by advent has raised political questions, not least over security and information held on cobham's systems but the question of manufacturing and potentially jobs under threat. this isa potentially jobs under threat. this is a high—end tech that britain will be focused on as we head towards our future trade relations with the world. speaking in the last few moments, borisjohnson world. speaking in the last few moments, boris johnson has world. speaking in the last few moments, borisjohnson has had lots of checks have been gone through to make sure of the security of their set. boris johnson make sure of the security of their set. borisjohnson also said the uk will continue to be a very dynamic and creative, his words, contributor to this industry. so he, like his business secretary, is playing down concerns over security but i think the questions on this absolutely set to continue. thank you very much. more than 100 bushfires are raging across australia's

most populous state, new south wales. christmas travellers being urged to delay their journeys. record temperatures of more than a0 degrees and strong winds have intensified the fires. australia's deputy prime minister, michael mccormack has said australia must increase its efforts to tackle climate change. with more, here's our sydney correspondent shaimaa khalil. this is set to be one of the worst days australia's most popular state has ever seen and it lived up to every urgent warning. future flame spiralling out of control, moved by strong, unpredictable wind. firefighters have been patrolling this area throughout the day. they have been keeping an eye out on the smokejust behind that have been keeping an eye out on the smoke just behind that tree line. this is where villagers have been told to evacuate and they are concerned that embers will blow this way. elizabeth mcclaren evacuated her house a few hours ago.

she packed the necessities and a few other things she couldn't afford to lose. herfamily other things she couldn't afford to lose. her family is other things she couldn't afford to lose. herfamily is ok but she worries about those she left behind. i hope my house doesn't burn down but ultimately, all my friends stayed to fight the fires at their house, they can't get out now so i hope their say. i can replace my house but i can't replace lives. scott morrison has cut short his holiday to hawaii as criticism continued to mount of his leadership during the bushfire crisis. it's brought the divisive debate about global warning back to the fore. scientists have long warned that a hotter, drier climate would contribute to australia's fire is becoming more frequent and more intense. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. here, nearly 100 flood warnings are in place across southern and eastern england, the midlands and yorkshire. the met office says more rain is expected in southwest england this afternoon. motorists heading on roads for christmas are advised to check their routes in advance.

the duke of edingburgh has spent the night in a hospital in london, after being admitted for treatment for a pre—exisiting condition. let's talk now to helena wilkinson who is outside the hospital. outside the king edward hospital in central london where the prince is staying. some debate about how he got there yesterday. any indication of his condition and how long he is expected to remain? there hasn't been any further update from buckingham palace. not surprising, given they don't tend to give a running commentary for what they say isa running commentary for what they say is a private matter. the duke of edinburgh still here at the central london hospital. he stayed overnight. he was brought here yesterday on the advice of his doctor at sandringham and it has been reported that he was flown here by helicopter from norfolk to central london. that is something the palace isn't confirming or denying but that could have been just for comfort reasons, given that

the duke is 98 years old. the queen is at sandringham starting her christmas holidays. the duke is being observed here by doctors for what we are told is a pre—existing condition. what that condition is, we don't yet know at this stage. the big question, of course, is given we are so big question, of course, is given we are so close to christmas, will he be well enough to go back to sandringham to spend christmas day with his family? thank you very much, helena wilkinson. sport now, and everton have announced they've appointed carlo ancelotti as their new manager. with more on that and the rest of the day's action, here's holly hamilton at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon, holly. good afternoon. yes, the news came about an hour before everton kicked off their premier league match at home to arsenal. ancelotti is there, watching from the stands this afternoon — as is arsenal's new manager, mikel arteta. the appointment of ancelotti is sure to go down well with the everton fans — he's a man with an excellent track record, as michael redford reports.

triumphs, titles, trophies, carlo ancelotti is a man who knows how to get success. next challenge— goodison park. etherton will be the tenth club he's managed in a career that spans nearly 25 years. his first big success came in 2003, leading ac milan to champions league glory. there was also cup and league success as glory. there was also cup and league success as well. another champions league final followed in 2005, although liverpool would famously triumph in istanbul. two years later, ancelotti had his revenge. the same teams, a different outcome, this time ac milan would rule supreme this time ac milan would rule supreme in europe. chelsea soon came calling and success soon followed, a premier league title in 2010 became a domestic cup double as they won the fa cup as well. a sacking at sta mford the fa cup as well. a sacking at stamford bridge led him to psg. league title one mission completed. still, angela t was ambitious. next up still, angela t was ambitious. next up real madrid and that's the biggest title of all. a tenth

european cup for the spanish giants. from madrid to munich and another trophy, league1 from madrid to munich and another trophy, league 1 with ease in 2017, munich finishing 17 points clear. it would prove to be his last triumph, for now. two years at napoli without any major success. his sacking led him to everton, whose fans may feel christmas has come early. to bring someone christmas has come early. to bring someone of his category is undoubtably excited. whether it is the right fit or will last long term is another matter but i think right now evertonians, after the season we've had, after disappointments and underperformance, are allowing ourselves to get a bit excited. new era awaits the ancelotti and a new era awaits the ancelotti and a new challenge to keep their side in the top division. but with a cv is impressive as his, few would rule out ancelotti bringing his magic to merseyside. michael redford, bbc news. ancelotti hasn't seen his new side score yet.

it's goalless so far at goodison park, nearly half time and it is goalless. this weekend's premier league fixture list is missing the leaders, liverpool, who are in doha for the final of the club world cup. the champions of europe will play the champions of south america, flamengo, and our reporter olly foster is there for us — olly, liverpool are taking this seriously, aren't they? they have never won this before? they have never won this before? they are now, yes, because in the next few hours, they might be able to call themselves world champions. that is the title that goes with this club world cup. you go back to 1981, they lost to flamengo, the brazilian, south american champions. they still slip leek sing songs about that, that's what it means to theirfans. there about that, that's what it means to their fans. there will be 30—40,000 of them. not so many liverpool fans but they come in the hope that they can be crowned world champions to go

with that european champions title. rewind to the beginning of the week when liverpool arrive, a mishmash of a team, when liverpool arrive, a mishmash of ateam, a when liverpool arrive, a mishmash of a team, a few injuries, jurgen klopp was honest with us and said, what are we doing here in december? the weather is very nice but this might distract us, might stop our winning momentum. theyjust got through their semifinal on wednesday night against the mexicans of monterey, an injury time winnerfrom against the mexicans of monterey, an injury time winner from roberto firmino. he relied on their substitutes. they will be, we think, at full strength at this final and he sensed the intensity and passion from the fans of the mexicans. we realised this is a big deal to stop liverpool will give it their all. they say they haven't travelled 30,000 milesjust to make up the numbers, but flamengo, the brazilians, are also a very good team. could be interesting, thank you. and that match is live on bbc one, kick—off at 5.30. back to you sean. thank you very much,

holly. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 3:55 — bye for now.

hello — this is bbc news. the man who fought off the attacker at fishmongers hall near london bridge using a narwhal tusk has given a dramatic account of how he was able to stop the knifeman and pin him to the ground. two people died in the attack last month. civil servant darryn frost has described how usman khan was running towards people with knives raised above his head, and wearing what looked like a suicide vest. this report from rich preston. this is the dramatic moment passers—by attempted to stop

convicted terrorist usman khan. his attack had begun at fishmongers' hall, where he had just killed two people. it was there darryn frost, a civil servant, took on khan, with others attending a prisoner rehabilitation event. describing for the first time what happened, mr frost told the press association that he took a narwhal task to defend himself after hearing a commotion from the floor below. he described the moment khan ran at him with knives raised above his head. he went on to recall chasing khan onto london bridge, where a group wrestled him to the ground, stopping him attacking anyone else, or set off what they thought was a suicide vest.

talking about jack merritt and saskia jones, who were both killed by khan, mr frost said he will always feel the deep hurt of not being able to save them. he said he hoped speaking out would urge people to unite against terrorism and raise money for the victims‘ families. the government has rejected concerns that one of britain's biggest defence contractors, cobham, is being bought by an american private equity firm, advent. critics say the £4 billion deal is a threat to national security. eric grove is a visiting fellow at the international institute for strategic studies and says it's not surprising the government has said this won't be a security risk... well, of course, it is an american company, and were so closely integrated with the united states, i mean, the f35‘s carried by our aircraft carriers, in fact, our aircraft carriers will be carrying a us marine corps aircraft as well as raf slash fleet air arm aircraft on the first deployment. so, in fact, having an american company taking over is not really a tremendous security risk because we're so integrated anyway, and cobham in fact have more sites in the us than they have in britain. i was going to say, i think, looking at the figures, it's 10,000 people employed by cobham around the world,

1700 of them in the uk. i think its main base is dorset in this country. but in terms of the importance of the technology, how significant is the air to air refuelling capacity? well, very significant indeed. i mean, obviously in—flight refuelling is an important part of any country'saviation capability. but on the other hand, we are so dependent on the americans anywhere that i don't really see this makes a huge amount of difference. i mean, we are very heavily integrated already, probably even more so after we leave the eu and so on. so i'm not too concerned. i can understand why the cobham family are a bit concerned about this, because this was very much a british initiative and so on, in—flight refuelling was very much pioneered by alan cobham and so on. but i don't really see this being a great problem. in fact, as i say, we are so integrated with the united states anyway that this is just, you know, an additional... just a slight change in the balance.

nearly 100 flood warnings remain in place in england — with further heavy rain expected across the south of the country. the met office says up to 30—millimetres is forecast in some areas and yellow weather warnings are in place. on the final weekend before christmas. flooding is causing disruption to travel plans for those intending to take the train — with lines in parts of sussex submerged. and these pictures of from teston bridge near maidstone in kent this morning show the flooding there. earlier i spoke to our reporter adrian harms who was just outside guildford, and gave us this update. i am by the river wey, i'm actuallyjust outside guildford. you can probably see from the pictures that it is raining heavily. it's gone outside guildford on these fields. it is still raining. it looks like the situation will get worse before it gets any better. there is a lot of water making its way along the river. across the county, how is the picture looking?

you still have pretty heavy rain where you are, right? across the county, how is the picture looking? you still have pretty heavy rain where you are, right? yes, and there is more rain forecast for the rest of the day and overnight. two main rivers. there were six flood warnings on the river mole. some of those have been dropped to the lower state of flood alert, but there is still a flood warning in leatherhead. the environment agency have been working very hard putting up flood defences around the town. currently they seem to be working. the same has been happening in guildford, there are a number flood defences around the town towards the bottom of guildford, around the cinema, and around towards the depot and police station areas of guildford, where flood defences are in place. people will be hoping that with the levels don't go any higher, certainly for the rest of the day, but more rain forecast. borisjohnson is in estonia where he's been serving up christmas lunch to british troops,

during a visit to a nato mission. the 850 soldiers from the queen's royal hussars at the tapa military base near tallinn represent the uk's largest operational deployment in europe. mrjohnson also mingled with service personnel and took a tour of the site afterwards. it might be the first time he's going as prime minister, but mrjohnson has been there before. in 2017 he went to the same base while he was foreign secretary, donning a uniform and even rode around in a british tank. iama big i am a big supporter of our armed forces. they do a massive amount of good around the world. we have the —— we are the second biggest player in nato. we believe in supporting our armed forces. we do that in an efficient way, but we are increasing our budget by £2.2 billion. you know about all of the investments we are making in ourarmed about all of the investments we are making in our armed services. those will continue. president trump has signed into a law the creation of a us space force — the country's first new military service in seventy years. he described space as "the world's newest war—fighting domain". the force's creation is part of a £738 billion defence bill voted through by congress

last week. there are going to be a lot of things happening in space because space is the world's newest warfighting domain. amid grave threats to our national security, america's superiority there are going to be a lot of things happening in space in space is absolutely vital. and we are leading, but we are not leading by enough. but shortly, we will be leading by a lot. the space force will help us deter aggression and control the ultimate high ground. christmas celebrations in the uk often centre on food, drink and family gatherings, but campaigners are warning that the party season can place additional strain on those living with eating disorders. the nhs and the eating disorder charity, beat, have issued new advice for people with conditions such as anorexia and bulimia on how to cope at christmas. stand—up comedian dave chawner discusses his own experiences.

when it first started for me, i was 17, and i remember back then, i had got exams, i had got essays, i had research, all of the stresses and strains that most teenagers have. but i didn't have a coping mechanism, i didn't have a way of dealing with it, and actually focusing on calories, focusing on exercise, and weighing myself was something that i could control. so, it was something that became really important because when everything felt really unmanageable, those are the things that i could manage. those were the things that i could focus on, and over time, that became an obsession, an addiction, it became a control that it was something that i could focus on when everything else felt like it was completely unmanageable. one of the misconceptions about anorexia is people think that anorexics don't like food, or don't think about food, but that was my every waking thought. because as soon as i say to you, you can't have anything, that is the only thing that you can think about. so, i was constantly thinking about food, i was constantly totting up calories in my brain, i was constantly thinking

of excuses, or ways i could get out of things. and also something that we see with people with anorexia is they tend to binge and purge a lot. so, i was eating whole sausage rolls and stuff, not even chewing them, just getting them down. i've been speaking to tom quinn who is the director of external affairs at beat, the charity involved in this campaign. he explained how people can prepare and keep themselves busy during the festive period. for many of us, it's a holiday that's focused on food, on eating, and so for people who have an illness that's focused on struggle with eating, it can be a really difficult time. also, it's a time, often, where usual routines and structures perhaps aren't quite in place, so it's really important that both people who are suffering and their families sort of plan ahead for this difficult time. is routine one of the things that helps people who are suffering from conditions like anorexia and bulimia, in terms of managing their condition, not somebody throwing them into unexpected

situations? so, what we'd suggest is the family get together beforehand and actually plan out the meals, so that the person suffering knows exactly what's coming. we'd also recommend that any perhaps relatives that are coming along are also sensitively spoken to about actually, let's not make it about the food, let's not make comments about how people look, or what they're eating. actually, as much as possible, let's make it a family time but not focused on the meal. the difficulty, kind of twin difficulties that come from that, i suppose, is number one, the house is often full of a lot more people, secondly, people are in the house for a lot longer than they might otherwise be, and thirdly, there is a tendency to kind of snack, to offer things round, to have food around you all the time at christmas. it's quite hard to kind of take those things out, isn't it, without it becoming an issue in itself? that's true, but we would say, as much as possible, try and keep the food perhaps in one room, clear away once the meal has finished, and focus on some other activities that are really nice

to do around christmas, board games, christmas walk, perhaps see a movie. there are plenty of things families can do that aren't focused on food. if you, or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this, contact the bbc action line via bbc.co.uk/actionline for details of organisations which offer advice and support. for a number of years there have been calls for stricter rules in schools around the practise of restraining children, and now the authorities in scotland say they will introduce new guidance for teachers and support staff. jayne mccubbin has been looking at the issue in schools across the uk. at the start of 2019 we reported on children with additional needs who had been locked in isolation, physically restrained, and sometimes injured. we heard from parents and charities fighting for much greater regulation in schools. his feet were tied. his waist was tied. all of these methods of restraint.

it is just heartbreaking to know that they did that to him. to put someone on a chair, strap him in, it makes life easier for the staff, but it certainly wasn't a good thing for harry. schools might have to look after children with complex needs. children like harry have no other way of communicating but by their behaviour. harry's families is represented by one of northern ireland's human rights lawyers who argues restrictive practices are a breach of fundamental rights. people overseeing children with special needs such as presented here have a difficultjob to do. it's a demanding job. but that cannot be at the expense of the interest of the young child. in my view, this points clearly to a breach of the human rights act. the department for education in northern ireland told breakfast that while reasonable force is allowed schools should report incidents. however, there is no legal obligation to do so. this week, scotland announced new guidance. it bans

restraint and seclusion to discipline children. they introduced a new data set, and have consistent reporting of incidents. the welsh government say they are also consulting on measures to limit the use of restrictive practices. the department for education in england told breakfast we will always back head teachers on discipline, but restraint should only be used when absolutely necessary. again, there is no legal obligation to report incidents. campaigners say they will continue to fight on for that statutory change. not only to report incidents, but to end them. from next month, around 2,000 children with severe epilepsy will become eligible for a cannabis based treatment on the nhs in england. the charity epilepsy action said it could be life—changing, as our health editor hugh pym reports. children with two types of severe epilepsy will be eligible for the cannabis—based medicine. they can suffer with multiple seizures each day. epidiolex has been shown by clinical trials to reduce the number of seizures by 40% in some children, if used in combination with another

medicine. it will be available on prescription on the nhs in england from 6th january, and is already accessible to patients in wales. epidiolex is still being appraised by regulators in scotland. the medicines contains the cannabis compound cdb, but not the psychoacitve compound thc. campaigners argue that only medicines with both constituents will help most children with epilepsy. thanks to brave campaigning by families, the law changed in november so that... thanks to brave campaigning by families, the law changed in november so that specialist doctors could write a prescription, for something containing both cbc and thc. but shockingly, to our knowledge, since the law change, not a single prescription has been issued on the nhs for medicines that contain both the cbd and the thc.

charlie used to have up to 120 seizures a day. but, since he has been treated with cannabis oil, that number is down to single figures. the family, though, has to spend more than £1,300 a month to get the treatment through a private prescription. the latest announcement won't help them. if you think that reversing into a tight spot can be a trickyjob, then take a look at these pictures of two cruise ships in port in mexico. the carnival glory, seen here on the right, was manouvering to dock, when it struck the carnival legend which was already moored in the mexican resort of cozumel. six guests suffered minor injuries but the operator says both vessels are still seaworthy. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather.

better than my parking! soggy weather. more rain on the way. the rain has been relentless across the south of the country in the last couple of days, and flood warnings are in force across the south—east, the midlands, east anglia, too. the good news is that the rain, heading our way, won't be as heavy as what we have recently had. this is the weather front that's crossing the atlantic. this is over the last few hours. this is the frontal system approaching the south—west and west of the country, and the messages that —— the message is rain will spread along the south counties. it'll stay roughly south of the midlands come into london, and east anglia. it'll rain a little across the midlands but most of it should go the south. in northern parts of the uk, mostly dry this evening and tonight, clear skies in places, some mist and fog, maybe 1 degrees in the

newcastle area, up to 6 degrees in the south. the weather front which is due this afternoon and this evening is out of the picture, it moves to the north sea, although low pressure is still close by, but it is sending a breeze with sunny spells and showers in our direction. on the whole, not looking too bad for most of us on sunday. the morning might be gloomy in the south and south—east, but a pretty decent day for most. they prepared for occasional showers, maybe even a cla p occasional showers, maybe even a clap of thunder if you get one of those heavier showers. 4 degrees in aberdeen, around 10 degrees in london, ten is above the average, and talking the average, temperatures over the next few days looks like the mild air in the christmas outlook will be edging in our direction. not a snowflake insight. here is monday. the start of christmas week. these winds are generally mild. a bit of rain in the forecast for the south of the uk late on monday and in north—western scotland, but you can see

the