this is bbc news. the headlines at 5: 20 people are reported to have been shot dead and several others wounded in a mass shooting in north east thailand. this is main suspect — a junior army officer, who killed his commanding officer before stealing weapons from a military camp. he is still at large. five british people, including a child, have tested positive for the coronavirus at a ski resort in france. six senior conservatives write to tory mps to raise concerns about the government's decision to allow huawei to help build the uk's 56 network. why would you want to build into your system an organisation that remains a threat? i don't know of anything else in the world that would do that. the met office issues severe weather warnings for the weekend as storm ciara approaches from the atlantic. both desperate for a win — england are taking on scotland

in the six nations. reports from thailand say an armed soldier has killed 20 people, northeast of the capital bangkok. more than a dozen others have been injured. the gunman is said to be holed up in a shopping mall in the city of korat. the thai defence ministry said the attacker shot his boss and a relative and stole weapons from a military camp. the gunmen opened fire at a buddhist temple before opening fire at the shopping centre where police are

continuing to try and track him down. the thai ministry of defence says the attacker is a low ranking officer named jakraphanth thomma. these pictures were taken from his facebook page, on which he posted updates on the rampage as it happened. it has since been taken down. jonathan head reports. panic ina panic in a provincial shopping mall. people realise there is a gunman inside and they have to run. from outside, the sound of multiple gunshots. at this stage he had already killed a senior army officer and shot several other soldiers before reaching the mall. at one point, of his shots appeared to ignite a gas cylinder. the gunman has been identified as 32—year—old sergeant major jakrapha nth thomma. he took selfies of himself outside the mall and live—streamed

parts of his attack on facebook before it was taken down, but his motives are not yet known. gun crimes are not common in thailand —— not uncommon but a shooting on this scale is not. it is understood officials have gone into the shopping mall but there are also reports that the mother of this man has been taken to the shopping mall in the hope of some kind of negotiation. there are concerns that there may still be people inside the shopping mall and potentially the risk of further casualties or that this man takes hostages. we'll hear from jonathan shortly. first, let's move on to some of the day's other news. five british people — including a child — have been diagnosed with coronavirus

in the french alps. they were all staying in the same chalet in a ski resort in the region, and caught the virus from a british man who'd recently returned from singapore. elsewhere, a british family are in hospital in majorca as a precaution, after they reportedly came in to contact with a coronavirus patient. more than 700 people have died from the virus in china since the outbreak started. andy moore reports. a picturesque ski resort in the french alps, the unlikely setting for this new cluster of coronavirus cases. french officials said a british man came to a chalet in contamines montjoie after visiting singapore. he then infected at least five other people, including a child. a total of 11 people are in hospital, but they're not said to be in a serious condition. translation: there are five new cases in a group, all catching it from one infected person.

we are trying to find the people they have been in contact with. it's understood the man is being treated at st thomas hospital. in a separate case in majorca, a british family of four including two girls are in hospital as a precaution after one of them came in contact with the coronavirus case in france. samples have been sent to madrid for testing. will have to wait between 24 testing. will have to wait between 2a and 48 testing. will have to wait between 24 and 48 hours for the results. they will be announced as soon as possible. on a cruise liner quarantined off the coast of japan, 64 people have now tested positive for coronavirus. they have been taken off the ship to hospital. one of them is british. alan steele from walsall of them is british. alan steele from wa lsa ll we re

walsall were celebrating his honeymoon. he said to be doing well, according to his friends, who are still on board the cruise liner. he was taken off the ship yesterday late afternoon. he's in a hospital near tokyo. wendy is missing him a great deal obviously but they are in regular touch and alan has been in touch with me a couple of times today. meanwhile, the chinese city at the centre of the outbreak has opened a second new hospital to deal with the health emergency. it was built from scratch in wuhan in just two weeks. there have now been a total of just 722 deaths two weeks. there have now been a total ofjust 722 deaths in china and two in other countries. more than 34,000 people in china have been infected. tomorrow the last of 150 british citizens are expected to arrive back in the uk on the final repatriation flight from wuhan. they will be taking to a training and conference venue on will be taking to a training and conference venue on the outskirts of milton keynes.

the department for work and pensions says it's "working urgently" to make improvements after a report raised concerns about the number of suicides linked to problems with benefit claims. the national audit office says 69 cases have been investigated in the past six years, but warns that the true number is likely to be much higher. our correspondent helena wilkinson gave us this update earlier. we can now reveal that the government looked at 69 cases over the past six years, but i think crucially what this report also warns is that the number of cases where claimants have taken their own lives may be much higher. it's criticised the department for their way it investigates benefit—related deaths. it says that there are unclear structures within the department, so staff don't know when to investigate, and that may in turn have stopped other deaths were being reported. it also says until recently it's failed to actively seek information from coroners and families. well, we had a statement from a government spokesperson saying the department was urgently

working to drive forward improvements, and learn the lessons of what it called these tragic cases. obviously, though, this is very concerning for any families who've been affected. let's return to our top story in thailand where a gunman has killed a number of people in nakhon ratchasima. it's not clear how many have died. there are confirmed reports of 20 fatalities and several injuries. the gunman is thought to be still on the loose. our correspondentjonathan head is in the capital bangkok, monitoring the situation. i would imagine this is a gripping the nation tonight. it's an awful story, what has happened. it's very shocking. the extent of the deaths and injuries, the health minister has confirmed that 20

bodies have been recovered so we know at least 20 people have died. we think around 50 have been injured, some in a serious condition. at this stage, it looks like the police and army units who had surrounded the mall have now gone inside. there has been quite a lot more shooting in the last hour oi’ lot more shooting in the last hour or two and we've seen lots of people who were trapped inside. it's a very, very large shopping mall so they would have been lots of people inside. there are a lot of places that this gunman can hide and a lot of people were pouring out is this gunman can hide and a lot of people we re gunman can hide and a lot of people were pouring out as the security forces went in. the police have taking control of most of the shopping mall, they say most of the flaws —— all of the floors above ground level which makes them believe he is in the basement —— all of the floors. we don't know if he has any hostages or people he is keeping down there or how they are going to end this. clearly they want to end it as quickly as possible. it started earlier in the afternoon when he killed a senior officer, a

colonel, possibly his commanding officer. that might have been a personal dispute, we don't know, and the colonel's mother—in—law before taking weapons and ammunition from an army base and ending up in the shopping mall but from what people have seen on his social media pages, he was live streaming these attacks at one point, posting selfies before facebook took them down. it's not clear what his motives are, there's no sense of any ideological motive andi no sense of any ideological motive and i think until he is either caught or possibly killed, there is a full investigation, we won't know what caused this dreadful incident. they are dealing with a trained soldier, quite possibly someone who is trained in the sort of techniques that might help him in this situation. his office are very dangerous man if he has killed at least 20 people. that's the bodies they have found and they can't know for certain how many people have been attacked. presumably they are throwing all the resources they can at this incident. the city itself,

isa at this incident. the city itself, is a quite a populated part of thailand? it is, it's a large city, the third—largest in the country, it's the hub in the northeast of thailand saw very busy transport hub —— so thailand saw very busy transport hub ——soa thailand saw very busy transport hub —— so a very thailand saw very busy transport hub —— so a very busy transport hub. this is a very large, new shopping mall so one of the main places that people gather on a saturday evening. they would have been a lot of people there stop that will be on the minds of the security forces. we believe they have set units up from bangkok who may have a specialisation in tackling this sort of situation but it's actually something that's quite unfamiliar at times and none of us can ever remember alone shooting like this happening before —— a lone shooting. as a sergeant major in the army, is possible he is well

trained. he has certainly been ruthless in his gunfire up until now. he doesn't appear to be discover knitting against her he shoots —— discriminating. discover knitting against her he shoots -- discriminating. do we know anything more about him as an individual or are we literally, nobody knew anything about him until this incident started? nothing has come out but the most basic information we have been given by police in what we see on his social media pages so at this stage it is pure guesswork. there was a sentence that referred to people getting rich and taking money so it's just possible that there was a financial problem or dispute that set it off but quite how that led to him deciding to take over a shopping mall and to open fire on innocent bysta nders mall and to open fire on innocent bystanders is something that will have to come out through the

investigation. is it about 12:15am there? it's obviously dark and there is limited opportunity to know what is limited opportunity to know what is going on. are the updates coming from the defence ministry frequently? you mentioned the health ministry have given an update on casualties but are you waiting to hear more from the defence ministry about what's going on in the shopping centre? i think they will give us information when they have it but they have urged people not to broadcast live pictures from the shopping centre itself. they say that it's so as not to alert him but i think there is a sense of a news blackout, they want to control the situation very much in the hands of the authorities and what they choose to tell us about how this goes. we just don't know how many people out there with him and how difficult it's going to be for them to go and tackle him so their articles of information coming through. the police, the defence ministry, health ministry, different arms of the thai government are giving us basic facts

but this frankly came completely out of the blue, nothing much on social media to explain it. we are very much in the dark as to why it happened and at the moment we are still in the dark as to how it is going to play out. it's a military led government in thailand, it strictly controls sources of information and it has the ability, if it requires it, to ensure that broadcasters operating in thailand observe those kinds of restrictions. we've seen it before and they are obviously observed by local media tightly so we are very much in the heart of what information the thai government is prepared to reveal. it looks like the military operation will be ongoing. we will bring you more as we get it. a group of senior conservatives is urging fellow tory mps to challenge borisjohnson's decision to give the chinese

technology firm huawei a role in building the uk's 5g mobile networks. in a letter, severalformer cabinet ministers say there are alternative options which would not compromise national security. the government insists the decision was taken following a "rigorous" review — and huawei's involvement in 5g would be limited. sir iain duncan smith explained why he's concerned about the decision. the government has made a decision, and i have to say i have sympathy for the prime minister, because this is a bit of a hospital pass. it was given to him after civil servants had driven this process hard, because huawei are already in the earlier systems, and bear in mind that the civil service were very heavily criticised by the security select committee back in 2013, who said they should have looked very much more carefully at that security. we are at a point where we need to make a decision, and it's a long—term decision, notjust on 5g but on 6g, which is the big breakthrough, as to whether or not you have an organisation from a country that is an aggressor in terms of cyber—warfare,

and a company that is clearly, totally and utterly in the hands of the chinese government, who demand absolute obedience on these matters. so the answer is, are they manageable? and nobody that i have spoken to in the security apparatus, outside or inside technology companies, they all say it's simply not manageable to have an organisation like that inside your important network, and therefore we now need to drive that to zero, zero involvement, as soon as we can, one or two years, and therefore open up to many more other providers. the third uk patient, corona virus in singapore at business conference. ina in singapore at business conference. in a statement, the company has told the bbc...

the spread of coronavirus including the latest numbers of people known to have the condition and if a charity is is being discussed in a meeting of the world health organization press conference. joining us from geneva, our correspondent is imaging —— imogen folks. he or she will leave for china at the beginning of next week, monday

or tuesday. there is still discussion about who the other members of this team should be. the who would like someone from the united states centre for disease control would. control the united states centre for disease control the who really wants to get that team in there, into wuhan and see on the ground exactly what's going on. do they have a sense of how widespread these contacts are likely to be? i was talking to someone likely to be? i was talking to someone at the who in africa and they said at that stage in africa, only two countries even had testing facilities. given the number of people travelling, they said it's very ha rd to people travelling, they said it's very hard to know until you get test equipment around the world exactly where the cases can be identified. that's absolutely right and i think this is one of the reasons a couple of days ago the who launched this appealfor of days ago the who launched this appeal for developing countries whose health systems may be weaker

and don't have the infrastructure to deal with something like this and who is procuring itself things like face masks, testing kits, respiratory equipment to support those countries because there probably are lots of people infected with the coronavirus who just don't know it. on one side, you could say that's a good sign because maybe it's a virus that the vast majority of people don't feel very ill. at the same time, we have seen, in china, over 700 deaths and that is a worry, and thousands of cases. the chinese authorities have said the rate of confirmed cases appears to have eased over the last few days. nobody can know until we get a longer period for certain what that means. they seem to believe they are containing it effectively. what is the who's view across the world, at

least in terms of places we know where there are cases?” least in terms of places we know where there are cases? i think the who is also heartened a little bit by that apparent sign of stabilisation but the director—general said an hour ago that you have to be really cautious about this because viruses can slow down and then really accelerate again. we don't know yet with this one. but i think the more the more they know and what we do see is that the cases outside china are very, very low. there are 288, i think, so farandi very low. there are 288, i think, so far and i think one of the things that the who is really focusing on and medical experts around the world are these so—called clusters. that business meeting in singapore and who was at it, who was infected, and to the infected after that. that is

going to shed some really, really important light on the nature of this virus, how easily it is transmitted and also, as it spreads, how severe its health impact is. police have spoken to the 16—year—old schoolboy who was sent hundreds of social media messages by scotland's former finance secretary derek mackai. the snp policitian resigned on thursday. police scotland said it hadn't received any complaint of criminality but it was "assessing available information". the foreign secretary says he is seeking an ambitious trade deal with japan as britain begins free trade talks with major economies. dominic raab met with his japanese counterpart on his first overseas trip following britain's departure from the eu last month. mr raab said he wanted a trade agreement at least as good as the eu's. i have discussed how we can deliver new bilateral arrangements at least as high a standard,

if not higher, and at least as ambitious as the eu—japan economic partnership agreement, which would send a very powerful signal of our shared commitment to free and rules—based trade. minister motegi and i also discussed the uk's interest in membership of the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans—pacific partnership and we very much welcome the advice and support from japan in that regard. voters in ireland are voting in a general election today. the country has been governed by coalitions for the past 30 years and there are likely to be fresh coalition negotiations between parties after the result is declared. counting takes place tomorrow.

the same faces, the same arguments. no longer an upstart and a real contender following his win no longer an upstart and a real contenderfollowing his win in iowa. once again he defended his age and inexperience. this time with greater confidence. i bring a different perspective. i freely admit that if you are looking for the person with the most years of washington establishment experience under their belt, you've got your candidate and of course it's not me. the perspective i'm bringing is that of someone perspective i'm bringing is that of someone who is decision are not shaped by washington. clashes with

his opponents were inevitable. biden we nt his opponents were inevitable. biden went after him, bernie sanders went after him, he feels threatened,. is he ready forthis? is after him, he feels threatened,. is he ready for this? is he ready for the scrutiny and the challenge? that's something voters always pay attention to. did joe biden do enough to elevate his campaign? his bad performances and good performances haven't hurt him in a debate but joe performances haven't hurt him in a debate butjoe biden is in a tough spot and we may be looking at the end of his campaign. from the start, joe biden conceded he might lose new hampshire but give a defiant defence of his record. we have to be held accountable for the things we did. i set up drug courts, i wrote it into law, and it never got funded, and on opioids, i'm the guy who has already began to make a down payment. i put on $1 billion to fight opioid addiction. voters say they want to

connect with the candidates and there was more energy and some passionate performances but the central question remains. it is not about who has the best health care plan, all the health care plans are better, i plan, all the health care plans are better, 1 million times better. the question is, who can go toe with donald trump, the real threat to the country? you have to have experience are taken down, this is not a question of he's a nice guy who's going to listen, we need people who have experience. you need to be able to go to to —— toe to toe or we're going to lose and that's the issue facing democratic voters. i have held this issue and these people are all right, if we win we can get the right thing. whether voters are seen anyone on stage capable of beating donald trump will be determined on the ballot box next tuesday but this isa the ballot box next tuesday but this is a volatile race with no clear favourite in this time the new

hampshire primary may not narrow the field. us president donald trump has dismissed two senior officials who testified against him at his impeachment trial. the us envoy to the eu, gordon sondland, said he'd been recalled just hours after lt col alexander vindman was escorted from the white house. women now hold a third of board positions in the uk's hundred biggest public companies. the figure is up from just i2% a decade ago. but a government—backed review, still highlights a lack of women in senior and executive roles. katy austin reports. my name is francesca ecsery. i sit on the boards of several companies, including air france, f&c investment trust. even with francesca's background as a successful business leader, getting her first boardroom position was tough. it's an area where often men still hugely outnumber women.

change is painful. there's a huge value attributed to "chemistry" on the board, and, of course, "chemistry", you have mainly with people like you. she says boards who don't have enough women are putting themselves at a disadvantage. basically, it doesn't reflect your customer base, it doesn't reflect the society at large, it doesn't reflect your staff. the government has backed voluntary targets to increase the representation of women on the boards of the biggest listed companies in the country to 33%, or one in three, by the end of this year. it's february and that target has now been achieved for the top 100 companies, but not yet for the next 250, and it's far from job done. i think 33% is a very good start, but, as we can see, and we know there are still many issues in the workplace to address, and we have a lot farther to go before we see really good gender

balance in the leadership of business. francesca welcomes the latest boardroom target being hit, but she worries getting enough women at the top table remains a long way off. the australian state of new south wales is braced for more severe wet weather this weekend as downpours ease the bushfire crisis in the region. australia's bureau of meteorology warned of "dangerous conditions" on saturday and sunday. there has already been flooding in sydney and other areas along the coast. olivia crellin has more. first came the fires, then the floods. so far this year, australia has faced weather conditions of biblical proportions. after months of destructive wildfires razed millions of hectares of land and killed 33 people and billions of animals, australia has experienced severe hailstorms and flash floods. despite the country receiving the heaviest rainfall in almost 20 years, many of the fires in the east of the country are still burning.

we actually have 723 firefighters still in the field of operations. they are dealing with 38 fires, i9 uncontained, but the rainfall is obviously providing some welcome relief to many of the bushfires that have been raging. a welcome relief, but a challenge in its own right. there have been 13 rescues, flood rescues, which unfortunately has doubled since yesterday. i would appeal to the community to be very conscious of the fact that drains, rivers and any number of pieces of infrastructure will be challenged over the course of this flood activity. still, for much of new south wales, which had been in drought for over three years, providing the conditions that fuelled the intensity of the recent fires, the rain is a salve. with 20 of about 60 fires in the state already put out by the downpour in the past day, australians hope that after the rain comes the sun. olivia crellin, bbc news.

weather warnings have been issued across the uk, as storm ciara moves in from the atlantic. severe gales are expected to cause widespread disruption tomorrow, especially in southeast england, and rail passengers are being urged to travel by train only if absolutely necessary. wind speeds are forecast to reach 80 miles—an—hour. now it's time for a look at the weather. we are expecting exceptionally strong winds to affect all parts of the uk in the next 24 hours, courtesy of storm ciara. the met office has issued an amber warning for england and wales. expect that to be extended further north to possibly on sunday. it will get increasingly windy this evening and overnight. a weather front will start

to push its way south eastwards, something wintry overnight across the mountains of scotland. the wind peaks through sunday daytime. across the southern half, 60—80 mph, scotland 85 mph. and with high tides, we could get coastal flooding, there is enough rain around. we could get local flooding as well and the winds are the biggest concern. whatever your plans are for tomorrow, anticipate disruption in one form or another, whether that be to transport or power cuts too.

hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: 20 people are reported to have been shot dead and several others wounded in a mass shooting in north east thailand. this is the main suspect. jakraphanth thomma is a junior army officer, who killed his commanding officer before stealing weapons from a military camp. he is still at large. five british people, including a child, have tested positive for the coronavirus at a ski resort in france. six senior conservatives write to tory mps to raise concerns about the government's decision

to allow huawei to help build the uk's 5g network. the met office issues severe weather warnings for the weekend as storm ciara approaches from the atlantic. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good evening. at least one of the rugby matches is still ongoing. england and scotland by just three still ongoing. england and scotland byjust three points. it has not been exciting stuff, the winner so far has been the weather. really windy conditions which has resulted any windy conditions which has resulted a ny low windy conditions which has resulted any low scoring first half. owen farrell has missed a couple of penalties for england but he did manage to get one test sail over the

post. it is 3—0 to england at murrayfield. earlier, reigning champions wales were beaten by a slick—looking ireland in dublin. in front of their home crowd and with the skies darkening as storm keira approaches, ireland were clinical and controlled when it mattered, when wales missed their chances. and dreams of consecutive grand slams slip away.michael redford was watching as fa ns as fans waited for the storm to arrive in dublin, all eyes were on events inside the stadium with a lid and wales but aiming to become the force of this year's championship. after both teams won the first round of fixtures, this was always going to bea of fixtures, this was always going to be a tough affair. wales weathered the irish storm and soon responded. williams with a sixth try for his country. the celebrations we re for his country. the celebrations were cut short, a simple mistake giving possession back to ireland who took full advantage. tadhg furlong, too strong, too powerful,

two tries for the home side. it was a sign of things to come. wales, unable to cope with ireland's force, josh van der flier. it was quickly reduced thanks to this player, replace showed the try was disallowed. nothing wrong with the next score. victory secured. in the late from justin tipuric cannot dampen ireland cosmic spirits.|j late from justin tipuric cannot dampen ireland cosmic spirits. i am externally proud, i am most proud of them. just another win, that is what matters in this competition. second half started 0k, we had that try. i think the drive at the end was a little too late. defeat means wales grand slam dreams are over, but not

for ireland. we will keep you updated throughout the programme on the results from murrayfield. there are only two premier league games today because of the winter break, with brighton against watford just under way, while everton beat crystal palace 3—1 in the lunchtime game to go up to seventh in the table and contiunue their revival under carlo ancelotti. lydia campbell reports: when carlo ancelotti took over everton, they were battling against relegation. just two months on they are targeting a european spot. they lost just once in are targeting a european spot. they lostjust once in the league in ten games and had the lead in this one thanks to some brilliance from burn—outin thanks to some brilliance from burn—out in an otherwise... before today christian benteke had not scored since last april so you can imagine his relief when he pulled palace level. he might have to thank jordan pickford for this one. their

reprieve than eight minutes with richarlison finishing off his own run to restore the lead. the added another with just minutes remaining. dominic calvert—lewin tapping in. the aim for everton must surely now be europe but for palace, they face a winter break looking over their shoulders. honestly, i have to be happy. the players, the club, eve ryo ne happy. the players, the club, everyone did fantastic work, the seasonis everyone did fantastic work, the season is not finished yet. we have a possibility to play for the europa league which is our target for the next games. positives are hard to find when you lose a game because foot ball find when you lose a game because football is about winning and losing and every time you lose, the result colours any sort ofjudgment. it is very, very difficult to see the game

as clear as you would like because yourjudgment as clear as you would like because your judgment is coloured as clear as you would like because yourjudgment is coloured by the fa ct yourjudgment is coloured by the fact you have lost. manchester united's new striker odion ighalo will miss the club's training camp in spain, over fears he'll be refused entry back into the the uk due to the coronavirus outbreak. ighalo, a nigeria international, flew from china last weekend afterjoining united from a club in shanghai on a loan deal — but united are concerned about the possible tightening of border restrictions. preston have maintained their championship promotion push with a 2—1 win at struggling wigan. an early goal from tom barkhazen followed by this second half strike from danieljohnson put alex neil's side 2—0 in front. chey dunkley pulled a goal back for wigan, but preston hung on for the three points. elsewhere in the championship it's still incredibly tight at the top. third placed fulham have gone level on points with leeds in second after beating blackburn 1—0, while brentford arejust two points further back after beating middlesbrough 3—2. at the bottom of the table there were big wins for stoke and huddersfield. rangers are through

to the quarterfinals of the scottish cup after thrashing hamilton 4—1. a wave of second half goals quickly ended the tie, alfredo morelos with this injury time winner to secure a spot in the next round. the quarterfinal draw takes place tomorrow following the final tie of the weekend between clyde and celtic. elsewhere, championship side inverness are through to the quarter finals after knocking out livingston of the premiership. stjohnstone won 2—1 at ayr while replays are required in the two—all premiership ties played today. falkirk face hearts this evening. great britain's fed cup team are fighting to stay in their qualifier against slovakia — they must win both of today's singles ties and then a deciding doubles rubber if they're to go through to aprils finals. heather watson did her bit earlier, she was due to play slovak number one viktoria kuzmova — but she pulled outjust before

the match with illness. her replacement was rebecca sramkova — ranked just outside the world's top 200. watson came through in straight sets. harriet dart is currently on court. she is level pegging on serve in the first set. the olympic qualification dream for great britain's women's basketball team look to be over after a 82—79 defeat to south korea. it means gb must now beat reigning olympic silver medallists spain tomorrow — and hope that china defeat south korea — in order to have a chance of claiming a qualifying spot. iamjust i am just disappointed. we only played with urgency for five minutes, we started to make a comeback, we ran out of time and made some crucial errors in the last minute. you cannot play like that, we are playing for an olympic ticket, not for the ymca, everyone is fighting. you have to play with

urgency from the start, not five minutes from the end when you be like it is almost over. —— realise it is almost over. sonny bill williams and toronto wolfpack remain in search of their first super league win after losing 24—16 to salford. the red devils scored five tries to earn a first victory of the season, while toronto have now lost back to back games. it's been jump racing's super saturday at newbury today, featuring some of the final warm—up races ahead of next month's cheltenham festival. one of the star names on show was altior. his i9—race winning streak was ended at ascot in november, but he was the 3—1 on favourite today, and took the exchange chase for trainer nicky henderson. former cheltenham gold cup winner native river also looked in impressive form at newbury this afternoon. the odds on favourite eased to victory in the denman chase for a third time. great britain's men and women were back in action in hockey‘s pro league earlier. the women recorded their first win of the competition after beating new zealand's black sticks 3—0 in auckland — shona mccallin

scoring the third for the olympic champions — her first goal in gb colours. the men meanwhile could only manage a 1—1 draw with new zealand, despite this late equaliser from chris griffiths. the sydney sixers have won the big bash league in australia. they beat melbourne stars by 19 runs. the match had been reduced to 12 overs due to rain but the sixes wrapped up the final with some spectacular bowling. melbourne have now lost all three of their big bash finals that's all the sport for now. you can watch england against scotla nd you can watch england against scotland at murrayfield on bbc one. it is 3-0 scotland at murrayfield on bbc one. it is 3—0 at the moment at half—time to england. next it's click.

la, la, la, la land. it is oscars weekend, time for hollywood to give itself a pat on the back, and time for the rest of us to be reminded there is a reason why the movie industry chose southern california to live and film in. and with all of glamorous la to choose from, they put me in a box. in a warehouse. although it is the coolest box i have been in for a while because, spoiler alert, i am not really in the box! i am out here. and that's virtual me and it is called portl. the box itself is real, of course and the lights inside provide the illumination for the modified human—sized 4k lcd

screen on the front. this can show pre—recorded video or live images of some loon messing about in front of a camera. what am i doing over there though? what's he doing? the same? oh, yeah, of course. i must say, iam impressed. ifigured out all these reasons why somebody might not want to do a hologram, and i eliminated those reasons. that is why we developed this. first things first, these are not holograms. you know what i think about the term hologram. but these are the most realistic not—holograms i think i have ever seen. the key is that this part of the screen is transparent, so if the camera moves left and right you can see the background move behind the character and that really gives you a feeling that they are there and that this is a 3d image. a small piece of reflective floor and the shadow of the actor are also

captured and sent to the booth, something that really adds to the realism. # send in the clowns... with thejoker leading the oscar pack this weekend with 11 nominations, it is not hard to see how the right kind of character inside one of these devices could have a film's marketing department going nuts. i'd like to see every cardboard cutout standee in a lobby replaced with a hologram portl. i want to go to a museum and then hologram einstein asks me a question. we could beam the next president of the united states from his or her own campaign office into all 50 states at the same time. with the ability to hear, see and interact with the audience in real—time. and david has another project on the go which is not live. pretty much exactly the opposite, in fact. one of the most famous things about the hologram industry is bringing back the dead. digital resurrections.

guys like 2pac, whitney...these are people who never gave their consent while they were alive but they have all become super famous holograms in death. and what we are doing is we filmed half a dozen of the world's most famous icons while they're alive, so they could do the performance that they want to do. they hold the microphone they want to, they sing the way they want to sing. it is not a body double and a cgi head, it is really them. makes it less macabre and easier for the audience to get behind. and we have stuck them on a hard drive in a cupboard somewhere. and when the time comes we can access the content and send them on tour. and, actually, that idea is where we go next. because there is currently a trend in resurrecting dead celebrities. the technology exists to put convincing cgi versions of actors into film. and it's raising a lot of issues. you are tearing me apart!

did you know that james dean only ever made three movies before his death in a car accident in 1955? did you also know that after his death his image rights have been handled by mark rosler at cmg worldwide. a boy, a kid was killed tonight! his memory, his image, his values still resonate with young people around the world, struggling to understand themselves as teenagers, and the rebel personality of james dean. so it's always been important for the family that future generations remember who james dean was. managing the business affairs of dead celebrities may sound unusual, but it means that their estates get royalties from any paraphernalia that features their faces. and these days, that does notjust mean mugs. we essentially want to bring

james dean back so that he is an option for storytellers and for content creators to use him for traditional film, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, spatial computing, gaming, music, branded content. and the first james dean project will see a virtual version of this screen icon co—star in a vietnam war film called finding jack. so our intention is to put together a 3d virtualjames dean using all the historical data, images and pictures and video that we have had over the course of the last 64 years. we have watched motion and facial capture technology mature over the last 15 years or so, and it is now completely possible to capture an actor's performance and map their movements and expressions onto a different digital being.

it has created monsters. it made robert de niro and will smith young again, and it has even allowed a film's production to continue after its star's untimely death. but the james dean project takes this idea to a different level. using a celebrity's likeness not because the story demands it, but because some dead celebrities are bankable. it is not like you are creating a brand—new virtual being from scratch where you have to spend ample amount of capital to create the awareness for him. people know james dean. he is an icon. but this is much more thanjust blending old existing footage into new scenes. this needs to be a completely flexible, 3d, photorealistic, fully animatable, believable version of a person that can act in new scenes and deliver new dialogue.

previous attempts at cgi actors have been mixed and i wonder whether there is a certain quality threshold that you orjames dean's estate has to insist on? our expectations are very high. so the virtual assets that we create will evolve over time. this is not a one—time and it's perfect. it will evolve. so ourjames dean that we will release for this movie may be a little different than the james dean we release at a later date. but of course there is more to an actor than just their face. that is just one part of the entire performance package. unsurprisingly, some actors have themselves expressed their annoyance. sometimes it is very easy to use a digital asset to promote what you were trying to get viewers to see, versus hiring actors to promote content.

that costs additional capital. so basically you've said living actors, human actors are a bit of a pain, and you would rather work with avatars? to some extent. laughs it is easy to work with deceased celebrities. oh, jenny, you are so cute! she is said to be the most realistic robotic animal, and i can tell you she feels pretty real. that nose almost feels wet and squidgy. and these dementia patients at las vegas' prestige senior living facility seem pleased to meet her. you are a good dog. she is awesome. you look real. look at those teeth.

jim henson's creature shop is responsible for the lifelike look, feel, movements and behaviour that have been built on top of this sensor—embedded voice—controllable bot. there is a great deal of research on the benefits of live animal therapy for seniors with dementia. it helps soothe behavioural and psychological symptoms and reduces the need for certain medications. the problem is, many seniors can no longer safely care for or have a live animal around them. it's a dog! i thought it was a real dog! this is really quite a strange experience because the dog does almost feel real and sound real. and everybody seems to be feeling that. but is that right? there are people that, despite explaining to them that it is a robot, actually still believe that it is a real dog. we've looked at that from an ethical perspective,

and we are very concerned about not tricking them but on the other hand, you know, if it gives them comfort, that is really the goal. they like to suspend disbelief. they like to be able to relate to it as if it is a long—lost pet that they may have known in an earlier time. i would like to have you. i would let you sleep in bed with me. and she could be solving a problem here that has already been identified. we started a while back, having dogs come into the community because we felt like the dogs were a method of helping with loneliness and... what we found is that we have to pay just as much attention to the dogs as we do the human. she clearly did bring joy though and i can see the benefits of it being designed to sit on laps or raised surfaces rather than creating a tripping hazard on the floor. other breeds and a cat are in development, but i was left with one real issue...

i feel really bad that we have to take her away from them. and that is it for the short cut of click in hollywood. the full version is up on iplayer and is waiting for you right now. if you would like to join us throughout the week, you know where we are, facebook, youtube, instagram and twitter at @bbcclick. thanks for watching and we will see you soon. hello, we are looking at some very stormy weather prospects in the days ahead. no part of the uk is set to be spared. for sunday, it is all about storm ciara, the met office have already issued amber warnings for england and wales for severe gales,

but i think there is a possibility that warning will be extended to cover parts of scotland and northern ireland as well. here is ciara on the pressure chart, tightly packed isoba rs, indicating strong winds and heavy rain sweeping across the uk. in terms of the winds for sunday, 60 to 80 mph across england and wales. in terms of peak gusts, similar for northern ireland, perhaps 85 mph plus possible across the central belt of scotland, especially late afternoon, early evening. wet start, the more persistent rain moves out of the way but the more persistent showers pack in heavy, squally, with heavy thunder and the isobars just squeeze through the late afternoon into the early evening and that is what is likely to push that peak in the winds. further south, it is windy, there is plenty of rain around. there could be a few drier and brighter interludes in between times but they will be very short lived, high tides and with the strong winds, coastal swelling and flooding is possible. the rain itself could give some local flooding but the winds are the greatest concern. why have we got such a nasty low?

thanks to the bend in the jet stream, known as a left exit, it is the development area. that moves out of the way but into the week ahead, we stay in this motorway of the jet stream from the atlantic, so more unsettled weather to come but we also sit on the northern side, the polar side, of the jet so we are moving into some colder air for monday. plenty of showers in our forecast as we approach the week, colder as well and still pretty strong winds too. perhaps a notch down on those in association with ciara, but a notable wind chill and gales possible in exposure, and the showers feeding in pretty thick and fast, to parts of scotland, northern ireland and northern england, could mean some significant accumulations of snow. don't forget with those winds, it will be blizzard conditions possible as well. further south, a mixture of sunny spells and showers. monday into tuesday, we continue with a cutting north westerly wind, but a band of more organised showers actually pushing into scotland

and northern ireland, so again they will be that threat of greater accumulations of snowfall here. to the south, some occasional showers. again, could be a little bit wintry across the higher ground of south wales but in the sunshine to the south, it will feel cold, thanks to the chill of that north—westerly wind. on into wednesday, almost blink and you'll miss it, but there is a little ridge of high pressure just drifting across the uk. still showers to come in the north—westerly wind, especially for scotland and northern ireland, but the winds on wednesday and the next few days will be the lightest that we will see through the week ahead, because look out here towards the atlantic. there is our next area of low pressure, rolling through on thursday. so thursday again, another windy day and there will be some heavy rain at times too. by friday, possibly something a little bit quieter once again. high pressure building, here is the jet towards the end of the week, sitting to the north of the uk. that could allow high pressure to build for the weekend.

moving further ahead though, we're back to where we started, it could get stormy again as we go into the following week.

this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at six: 20 people are reported to have been shot dead and several others wounded in a mass shooting in northeast thailand. this is main suspect — a junior army officer, who killed his commanding officer before stealing weapons from a military camp. he is still at large. five british people, including a child, have tested positive for the coronavirus at a ski resort in france. six senior conservative mps write to tory mps to raise concerns about the government's decision to allow huawei to help build the uk's 5g network. why would you want to build into your system an organisation that remains a threat? i don't know of anyone else in the world that would do that.