007 has saved the world many, many times. the cinema industry is still confident it can do the same for them, however long it might take. liza mzimba, bbc news. now, they say dogs are a man's best friend, and this one in turkey has certainly proved that. this devoted pet spent almost a week waiting for her owner outside a hospital after he suffered a brain emoblism. the pair, who have been together for nine years, had an emotional reunion when he was finally discharged from hospitalir. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich.

good afternoon to you. it has been quite a week of weather. we saw the scene in york earlier in the programme. this is a different view of york from one of our weather watchers. flooding still a very real concern in huge part of the uk. numerous flood warnings in force, you can read about those on the bbc weather website. you can read about those on the bbc weatherwebsite. but you can read about those on the bbc weather website. but at least a drier end to what has been a wet week, and we of some drier and rather different view on whether through the weekend. it will be cold with sunny spells, but also some snow or some of us. now, this is how it looks at the moment. the earlier radar picture, you can see showers pushing in from the west, some of these containing some sleet and snow. other high ground, yes, but i think increasingly to low levels the showers in the north—east will start to turn wintry. this can of showers drifting across wales, the south—west coming to the midlands, could give some heavy downpours with rain and thunder, and again some wintriness over the hills. temperatures rarely fall on owen to the midlands, could give some heavy downpours with rain and thunder, and

again some wintriness over the hills. temperatures really fallen away into the first part of the evening, it a cold night, these heavy showers will drift across east anglia and the south—east, the showers up few centimetres in to be widespread, with temperature down to freezing or below. and at the other end of the uk, some fog patches likely tomorrow morning across parts of southern england. now, tomorrow actually not a bad day for many, some sunny spells, but you can see the stream of showers moving out of northern ireland but running through south—west scotland, northwestern would come into part of the midlands, maybe lincolnshire and east anglia. and again, some of these will bring some snow. but whether you seek showers or something, it is cold out there, two to seven celsius at best. and enforceable fall rapidly during saturday night. —— temperatures will fall rapidly. and we are keeping a close eye on this weather feature here into sunday, us a few forecasting headaches, because different computer whether models are handling it somewhat to differently. some say it will move

southwards, others see sports, but we can say that across some parts of england and wales on sunday, we are likely to see some snow, even at quite low levels that could be a few centimetres of snow, but there is uncertainty about how much of that will get across cross into east anglia, for example, northern england and the south—east as well. so the details still to play for. one thing we can be sure of is that will be cold out there, a quick look at what next week, changing again, turning milder but with more rain. some breaking news, we have the new covid r—number, it has fallen, it was previously between 1.2 and 1.3. it is now between 0.8 and 1.0. that is all. have a good weekend. lets join our news teams whenever you are. bye—bye.

hello, i'm sarah mulkerrins at bbc sport centre with your latest news. olympic organisers hope the covid—19 vaccine will mean the rescheduled tokyo games can take place injuly, despite a newspaper report on friday casting doubt on their going ahead. the international olympic committee and the international paralympic committee released a statement to say the report was categorically untrue. and the president of world athletics sebastian coe has also been speaking about the future of the games and was asked if a further postponement could be an option. you could be an option. can't simplyjust go, well, you move you can't simplyjust go, well, you move four years down the line, where does los angeles go, it doesn't work like that. the overall objective does have to be having a laser focus on delivering the games this summer, safely and securely, and doing it anyway that protects the athletes, protects communities, but does

actually maintain the spirit of what the games is about. the key players and all of this, the organizing committee, the municipal government, the national government, the athletes, the international federations, they are all unified in their determination to do this. i would love to have fans, noisy and passionate, the spirit of the games, but if the only way we are able to deliver the games is behind closed doors, i think everyone is now accepting of that. but if you have the athletes and you have broadcasters, then you do have a large part of the games. this is not an exact science, but all i'm saying is that at this moment there is a determination amongst the interactive control —— international federations of sports, the member committees, the olympic committee, the government ofjapan and the organizing committee to deliver these games. it was tough going for england's bowlers in the unforgiving conditions on the first day

of the second and final test against sri lanka in galle. the hosts closed on 229 for 4. england made make an excellent start withjimmy anderson reducing sri lanka to 7 for 2 early on, anderson returned to dismiss lahiru thirimanne for a3. that made it 76 for 3, but after that it was hard work for england's bowlers and they managed just one more wicket. angelo matthews will resume tomorrow on 107 not out. i think the thing i've got is controlling the weight and keeping the pressure on, and i think that last session really, for about 70 or something, not as great pressure from us as a group. and —— data is great pressure, and we keep that pressure on and we have to keep out as much as we can and keep hammering away and trying to force an opening.

when you get that opening, you have to be right behind. meanwhile down in australia, england's alex hales smashed a rapid century as his side the sydney thunder posted the highest big bash total in history. they beat top of the table sydney sixers by 46 runs. hales hit nine fours and eight sixes, reaching his century off only 52 deliveries as the thunder scored 232 for 5. victory lifted the thunder up to third in the table, five points behind their city rivals. the top four teams reach the play—offs, which start next week. britain's elvin evans has the overall lead at the end of the second day of the monte carlo rally. he took the top spot after toyota team mate and world champion sebastien ogier suffered a punctured tyre in the tricky conditions on the day's penultimate stage. evans lost time to the frenchman on the day's final stage,

but he'll start tomorrow with a seven second lead. and you can keep right across all the latest sport on the website, including the abu dhabi championship in golf, where tyrell hatton is having a great day. he's moved to 12 under in his second round, still out, leads by 5 shots. that's bbc.co.uk/sport thanks, see you a little bit later on. good afternoon, you are watching bbc news, i amjane hill to take you through the next few hours of developments, we are going to start with coronavirus. and were just telling you again, just if you're joining us in the last few minutes, we have had the latest r number estimates and through, this is a uk—wide number. the reproductive rate of coronavirus, and there were some good news because it has fallen. so the r number estimated

now at 0.8 and one. it had previously been between 1.2 and 1.3, so a reasonable decrease there. now between 0.8 and one, and that is a uk—wide number. lots and lots of figures and statistics out and about covid today, so we're trying to keep an eye on all of those. and after two o'clock as well i will be speaking about all of that new data as well. let's hear first in this half hour from nicola as well. let's hear first in this half hourfrom nicola sturgeon. nicola sturgeon has announced a new £500,000 fund for health boards and health and social care partnerships to provide "a little extra practical support" for staff on the front line in scotland. she said earlier she hoped the funds would address issues raised by health care staff. throughout the pandemic, i think everybody would agree with this, our health and care workers have done a truly outstanding job in the most difficult and stressful circumstances

that it is possible to imagine. and of course, the stress that they face, the pressure they face, it can be seen in figures that i'm reporting every day right now. it is severe and it is acute. and i am hugely grateful to each and every one of them, and i'm very confident that i say that on behalf of literally every person across the country. we have done what we can to support the well—being of health and social care staff as they have carried out their work. in may, you might recall we launched a national well—being hub, which is there to provide online support for health care workers and their families. we have also established a 24/7 well—being helpline, again dedicated to health and care staff. today i am announcing a further measure which will give staff, i hope, a little bit extra practical support. we are allocating an additional £500,000 to health boards and

health and social care partnerships. that money will be available to help address issues which have been raised directly by health and social care workers. for example, some of it could be used to help provide workers with free hot drinks and snacks when they are on shift. and i know that probably sounds like quite a small thing, and in some ways it is, but it has been flagged up to us as being important in helping workers to rest and recover during the break times that they get during shifts. and of course, sometimes in all walks of life it can be the little things that help quite a lot. so i'm flagging this up todayjust as a way of underlining how much we owe our health and care workers, but also as an example of what we are trying to do to support them in practical ways while they continue to perform such an incredible service for all of us. i don't think we will ever be able to repay those on the front line of health and social care for everything they have done and everything they have suffered over the duration of this pandemic. but in every way we can, it's important to support them

and to show our gratitude. nicola sturgeon at the daily briefing. earlier this afternoon the welsh first minister provided an update on the coronavirus situation in wales. mark drakeford said that more than 212,317 people have had their first vaccine and that as supplies of the vaccine increase in wales, the programme has picked up speed. two weeks ago i set out our plans for increasing the number of mass vaccination centers and gp practices offering vaccination. since then, we have exceeded all those plans. we have more clinics than ever providing vaccinations, more gp practices are offering the oxford—astrazeneca jab, and almost 1000 care home residents a day are being vaccinated in wales. and that is because vaccination is our number one priority.

we are on target to hit our first milestone of offering vaccination to the first four priority groups by the middle of february. and there is, as you can imagine, a massive amount of work going on in wales to make this happen. and of course, i understand that everyone is eager to have theirjab, and not everybody will be vaccinated in the first couple of weeks. for those who are waiting, i thank you for your patience. and if you haven't been vaccinated yet, you will soon hearfrom the nhs about your appointment if you are in one of those top priority groups. mark drakeford mark dra keford there, mark drakeford there, first minister of wales, with his briefing. just a reminder of this afternoon's main stories.

the r number in the uk has fallen to 0.8—1.0 , down from 1.2—1.3 police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus, with clothing sales particularly hard hit. the impact of brexit is gradually becoming clearer as the new trading relationship between britain and the eu beds in. some high street and luxury retailers in the uk are considering abandoning goods their customers in the eu want to return, with some even thinking of burning them, because it is cheaper than bringing them home. they say the new eu trade deal has put costly duties on online returns at a time when firms are already struggling. simon browning reports.

scroll, choose, click, deliver. a seamless retail experience. before january the 1st, we could buy from anywhere in europe with ease and speed, and europeans could buy from our retailers also. but since the start of our new trading relationship, problems and delays are appearing. when shoppers in europe have bought goods from uk brands, lots of them have been hit with the new customs charges on delivery. but it's meant lots of shoppers have said simply, i don't want it, take it away. goods being returned from europe to the uk are now subject to another layer of customs charges and checks. the financials don't make any sense. companies have got no choice but to say, just leave it with the courier company, and the courier companies don't have storage spaces. they don't know what to do with these goods, so they may end up being burned or destroyed. uk retailers have goods mounting in german, irish and belgian warehouses. one retailer has been quoted £18,000

to get their returned goods cleared and back to the uk. ulla runs a london—based sustainable fashion brand. her sales with europe have grown every year since launch. for now, she's stopped exporting and trading with the eu because of the barriers of increased customs costs. it's been an absolute nightmare, to be honest. so we started out the year canceling orders, a lot of orders actually, which was a really sad way of starting 2021. for those in retail, shipping and freight, they had just a week to adapt to the terms of our new relationship. lots of new customs procedures to learn. it's a big, big difference, - and it's a lot for a lot of people to accept and to learn - about as well, to educate themselves with. the government says it's working with industry to help them trade effectively under the new rules, but with parcels stuck and retailers believing it is easier to write them

off than get them back, it's not the smoothest start to our new trading future. simon browning, bbc news. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas already hit hard by bad weather this week. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes in england and wales. our correspondent adam mcclean gave us this update from northwich near chester. the clean—up operation is continuing here in northwich this morning. tractors have been towing huge water tankers in and out of the town centre every couple of minutes to take excess water away from this area. water is being pumped back towards the river behind me. the floodwater has caused devastation to properties and businesses here in northwich, and the environment agency have been here since tuesday. dave brown is the flood risk manager for the environment agency. dave, what is the situation at the minute?

it is an improving situation right now. we have a situation where the high water levels we experienced yesterday, the highest levels ever recorded on the river weaver, which we kept behind our flood defences, are on the way down. and effectively, that is an improving situation but the problems brought with storm christoph were that the surface water infrastructure and the foul waste was unable to cope with that amount of rainfall falling on the catchment in that small space of time. and we then had a problem of surface water rising on the other side of the defences, which has caused problems to those businesses affected and the care home to be evacuated. practically speaking, how do you even begin to deal with this amount of water? what is taking place at the minute? at the moment, we are trying to overpump the surface water back to the river. when the river level is low, the surface water can drain to the river and when it is high, it gets blocked by a flap so it cannot come back,

but it means that cannot get away, which creates a problem and the rest of the infrastructure sometimes struggles, and with the amount of rainfall we have seen, that has caused this problem. all of the authorities combined, the local authority and the water company, united utilities, are involved with over pumping that back. important to say we had contingency in place before the storm, but the sheer scale of the rainfall and the amount of rainfall has caused that to be overwhelmed. is this out of the ordinary for this area? residents we have spoken to say this is not something that usually happens here. this is quite different, isn't it, in terms of the amount of water? yes, we've seen the highest river levels we have ever recorded over the last two days. we have been manning an operation here since tuesday and it has been a round—the—clock response from all those involved to try to mitigate it, and what you are seeing is that recovery phase, as we try to basically get the water out from the town centre, away from those businesses

and properties, and allow people to return back to normal. people will understandably be nervous, many affected by all the flood warnings over the last 2a or 48 hours. what can be done to prevent things like this happening? how can people be reassured that where they live will not fall victim to flooding like this? it is about preparation and the preparation we've done, everyone has done, prior to this event has been very good, very large. we have cleared all the debris screens we can, we have undertaken to make sure contingency is in place, but sometimes the sheer scale of events and events themselves do cause problems and that is what we have seen. and if people want to find out their own risk, i would encourage them to look at our flood map which is available on our website. they can look for their postcode and see their risk and sign up to our floodline number to receive warnings prior to events

happening to ensure they are mitigated where they live. finally, sum up the scale of the response here. this is a picture taking place in towns across the country, but how much goes into a clean—up operation like this? yes, that is what the authority are looking at now, we are all working together towards that. the pumping scenario you see behind me, the number of units on site, overpumping, are all trying to effectively get that surface water back into the river, away from those premises and properties that are flooded so that clean—up can begin, and then it is around cleaning the infrastructure and all the public areas to make sure they are safe and people can return to some kind of normality. dave brown from the environment agency, thank you. as the flood water rose here, 48 people had to be evacuated. dozens of pensioners from a nearby retirement village had to be moved to safety by boat.

as you can see, there is still so much work to do here. those people who have been affected by flooding will be keeping a very close eye on the situation over the coming days. and we will keep you up—to—date with that situation, of course, and the full weather prospects coming up just before the top of the hour. nissan has told the bbc that its plant in sunderland is now secure. the carmarker says the trade agreement reached between the uk and the eu was positive. chief operating officer, ashwani gupta, said around 7000 jobs in the uk were safe, and by implication — tens of thousands more across the supply chain. mr gupta has been speaking to our business editor simonjack, from nissan's headquarters injapan. the sunderland plant being one of the best plants we have in the world in our more than 35 years of history. we have invested more than £4 billion in this plant and we spend £3.5 billion every

year, which goes to the uk economy. we are going to redefine the auto industry in the united kingdom because the brexit makes nissan's sunderland plant competitive in the uk and outside the uk when it comes to exports. the business secretary kwasi kwarteng said nissan's decision represents a genuine belief in britain and a huge vote of confidence in the uk economy. i think this is hugely significant news, and a great, positive win for britain, but also for the people of sunderland. i think it's an amazing opportunity, not only to build back better, but also to build evs, to have battery technology built here, giga factories. and it represents a real vote of confidence, not only in the brexit deal, but also in the future this country and the economic opportunities that we have. and i think for the people of sunderland, this is a really, really big win.

i'll be talking more about that story after two o'clock. we will be getting reaction to the news. police in italy have arrested almost 50 people in an anti—fraud operation targeting a powerful mafia group. offences range from public procurement scams to issuing fake invoices for tax evasion. among those under house arrest is the calabria region's finance minister. you may remember the team of nepalese climbers who became the first to reach the summit of the world's second highest mountain, k2, in winter. they're continuing theirjourney home, and have been giving more details about how they battled freezing temperatures and hurricane—force winds. tim allman has more. the journey there was arduous. the journey back, a lot more enjoyable. this team of nepalese climbers were given a hero's welcome in islamabad. garlanded with flowers and posing for selfies, their achievement is a source of pride.

i think it was a great honour and a great team effort. i think it was emotional because we all walked the summit together and it is a clear message for everybody in the world to say that if you unite together, anything is possible. not quite on top of the world, but near enough. k2 has been called the savage mountain — the only one higher than 8,000 metres that had never been climbed in winter. that is, until a few days ago. hazardous conditions only making what they did all the more impressive. it was very cold, i couldn't bear it, so i almost quit the expedition and there was, like, a sunrise which warmed my body and it was fine again. and just imagine, if this is the sort of welcome they received in pakistan, what will it be like when they finally get back home to nepal? tim allman, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with ben. hello. it is a drier end to what has been an exceptionally wet week for many. and with all that rain water still working through the river systems, flood warnings will continue right through the weekend. you can always check those on the bbc weather website, but the weather itself will be drier, but colder. some sunny spells, but also some snow, and that is giving us a few forecasting headaches by the time we get into sunday. more on that to come. as far as the rest of today goes, we have plenty of showers packing in across western areas, some snow mixing in with these, especially over high ground. this cluster of heavy showers moving across south wales, southern england, some thunder and hail mixing in with that. temperatures dropping away quickly this evening, and those temperatures will continue to drop during tonight. still some showers around, those increasingly turning wintry across northwestern areas. a covering snow to come in places and widespread ice,

with surfaces pretty wet out there and temperatures getting down to freezing or below. in fact, we could get down to —9 across some parts of eastern scotland. tomorrow is a day of sunny spells and wintry showers, some snow, even to low levels in the showers pushing through western scotland, northern ireland, northwest england, north wales, into the midlands and lincolnshire as well. elsewhere we will see largely fine conditions with plenty of sunshine, but it will be cold, despite the winds being lighter than they are today. 2—7 , your top temperature. again saturday night, cold and frosty, and then through the night, we are keeping a close eye out west on this weather feature here. that is what is giving us a forecasting headache for sunday, because as this runs into some cold air, it is likely to produce some snowfall. exactly how this weather front will behave is still open to question. some computer weather models dive it away southwards quite quickly, others allow it to work its way eastwards right across the midlands

into east anglia and the south east, giving a few centimetres of lying snow in place. the snow could get up in the parts of northern england. for scotland and northern ireland through sunday afternoon should be largely fine with some sunshine and just a few wintry showers, but whatever happens with the snow fall further south, it will be cold. that much is clear, 2—6. but that will change during next week, temperatures will rise, it'll turn much milder, however, there will be some heavy rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines... hopes the lockdown is working — as the r number in the uk falls below one for the first time in over a month police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held at a school in north london. retail sales suffer their largest annual fall on record, because of coronavirus, with clothing sales particularly hard hit. the japanese car maker nissan tells the bbc its plant in sunderland is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. and no time for release —