this is bbc news. the headlines: american golfer tiger woods has been involved in a car accident in los angeles, california. the authorities said there was no evidence that he was "impaired". mr woods sufffered multiple injuries to both legs and is currently having surgery. an investigation into the cause of the crash is now underway. us senate investigations are taking place into last month's deadly riots at the capitol building by donald trump supporters. lawmakers have begun trying to get to the bottom of what happened. there has been some conflicting testimony between security officials as to whether the national guard was requested. the uk prime minister has confirmed that government ministers are considering the case for so—called �*vaccine passports�*. the document could take the form of a vaccine certificate or proof of covid status. borisjohnson was keen to emphasise the considerable difficulties involved in implementing the idea.

unemployment has risen to its highest rate in nearly 5 years, hitting 5.1% in the 3 months to december. the figures suggest younger workers are bearing the brunt of job losses. our business correspondent sarah corker reports from blackpool, which has one of the highest rates of unemployment for young people. for nine months of the year, blackpool lives or dies on the tourism trade. but the sound of the seagulls is now louder than the screams from the roller—coasters. the owners of blackpool tower and other major attractions here say lockdown has taken away many of the jobs young people relied on. 65% of our workforce is under the age of 2a, so it has really hit them hard. it has been devastating for them. so, last year when we normally would have taken on our seasonal recruits, they didn't get a job. they've spent all of that time or most of that

today's figures show there were 726,000 fewer workers on payrolls last month compared with the start of the pandemic. nearly 60% of that drop, more than 400,000 workers, were those aged under 25. locked up and virtually deserted, seasonal work here in blackpool has disappeared, and with more people chasing fewerjobs, less experienced young people are missing out as a result. 0liver wants to be a mechanic. he's got adhd and autism and says the pandemic has made thejob hunt even harderfor him. it's quite stressful to be honest, because i'm looking forjobs. i try to apply forjobs and i don't get anything other than an e—mail saying you have been unsuccessful. i keep on looking, i keep on looking and there's nothing there. but i mean, at the end of the day,

if you keep on trying, i'm sure something will come up. for the last 30 years linda has been a youth worker here and warns that some people are at crisis point. we're looking at a generation that have fear for the future and have no hope for the future. so what we need to do is ensure that we offer them the training and the skills so they're ready, when the work opportunities are available, they're ready. there is a brighter outlook for euan. he'd been looking for an apprenticeship for three years. in december, he got taken on. financially it's been a struggle, paying bills and paying for food and stuff like that. it's hard. but now that i've got a wage i feel relieved and just over the moon. the government has set up a £2 billion scheme to help the under 25s, and as lockdown eases those looking for work hope thejobs they depend on will come back soon. sarah corker,

bbc news, in blackpool. a historic peace deal has shaken up alliances in the gulf, the middle east and the rest of the world. but what does this new warmth between the united arab emirates, bahrain, and israel mean for business? i'm sameer hashmi in dubai, and this is talking business. a historic deal that could be worth billions of dollars in terms of new trade and business, the so—called abraham accords signed between the united arab emirates, bahrain and israel has certainly injected new impetus in these economies as to start 2021. in a moment we will look at what does this deal mean for them, the region and i will be discussing that with my guests who havejoined me here today. we have mr thani al shirawi who

is the founding member of the uae israel business council. and he is also one of the leaders of the al shirawi group which governs 30 companies across thanks a lot forjoining us. i have adedayo bolaji—adio, she's from the economist intelligence unit and she will be talking in detail about the region and what this deal means. thanks a lot forjoining us. and william brown, the director for crisis and resilience consulting in the middle east at control risks. thanks a lot, will, forjoining us on this programme. so we will start the discussion in a moment, but first let's take a look at what does this deal mean for the region and business? september 15, 2020, and as the pandemic rages around the world, a peace deal is signed in washington, dc. for the first time in their history, relationships between israel and the united arab emirates and bahrain are normalized. these so—called abraham accords were one of president trump's final pieces of foreign policy. today the world sees

that they are choosing cooperation over conflict. friendship over enmity, prosperity over poverty and hope over despair. similar agreements were quickly reached with morocco and sudan. but the response from the palestinians was swiftly seen on the streets of the west bank as well as on social media. in a tweet, the palestinian authority called it "a black day" in the history of palestine. and wrote that the only way to peace is the end of israel's occupation. equally swift has been the flow of money and deals between the countries. this is the israeli arm of the water technology company fluence. it specializes in desalination, transportation and reuse of water. a dealfor business in dubai, a city built in the desert, is one of the first to be signed. this is the fastest deal i've ever encountered in my professional life. it definitely makes it much easier now when we have a

direct approach and welcome in a muslim country, a strong country that can be a hub to us. and this is the hub he is talking about. the port in dubai which has opened up markets in asia and africa for israeli goods. but the operator of this port, dp world, is notjust transporting goods here, it's one of the many companies that has invested in israel. and this is a load of goods in dubai arriving in the israeli port of haifa. trade is notjust in goods. deals with football clubs, finance, food technology and cybersecurity have and despite the pandemic, tourism is also increasing. in december alone, 60,000 israelis have visited dubai. fleur hassan—nahoum is one of the deputy mayors ofjerusalem, and one of the creators of the uae israel business council. israel and the uae are possibly the most advanced economies in the middle east. we have a lot in common.

0ur diversity, our entrepreneurial spirit. and so the minute the piece with announced, i think that people were justjumping to get to know each other. they were so curious about each other. we started creating whatsapp forums and zoom meetings. and it kind ofjust took its own, it really had its own pace and its own momentum. as the water tech company boss at fluence says, it's notjust about money. business can be the path to peace and vice versa. peace is the path to business. so both as an israeli, and as a businessman, i feel both excited and enthusiastic and proud for having our products being the path to the peace there. thani, let me begin with you. you were part of this historic deal, one of the first ones signed between the uae and an israeli company. so tell us, what was the motivation behind that? well, like any other businessman, we always aspire

to grow and to find opportunities. israel was a market that we could not tap earlier. and now when we could, and being a member of the uae israeli business council, i reached out to the council to find me a counterpart in the water industry that, as a group, we are already in. and to filter the companies and to find companies that share with us the values and the vision. and when we found fluence, and of course in the beginning we had the stereotype of each other, but then we found out that to be honest i don't want to sound very romantic, but it was a match made in heaven. we spoke the same language, we had the same aspiration. and we both wanted to grow. israel had the technology, they were a few laps ahead when it comes to the water industry. and in the uae water is an issue. it's scarce, and israel

has solved that issue. so we in the group tried to benefit from it. so we reached out to fluence and agreed on a memorandum of understanding to bridge this industry, and to bring the fluence products to the united arab emirates. adedayo, yes, the deal has formalized relationships between the two countries, but the fact is that both of them were anyways doing business, some sort of business unofficially, so what has changed with this deal? well, for one thing it reduces the cost of doing business with israelis. they can formally enter the uae without having to set up an umbrella company in the uk, or in singapore. so thatjust makes it a lot easier for them to enter the uae market. it reduces the logistics and costs of setting up a business. it also opens multiple sectors for israelis to enter in from tourism to tech, to health care. so itjust opens the market, and finally there's the

people to people ties as well. this is soft power for both countries. and also for israelis trying to meet others in the arab world, this is a very cosmopolitan country, the uae. and so the soft power dynamic is a key component of this deal. will, adedayo spoke a list could be a lot of opportunities for israelis in the uae, but what about the emirates? i think with any of these deals will seek this is i going both directions. it requires a win win situation and unless you have business working in both directions- that's not good to be the case. we have seen in dubai already since the deal was established that we have seen that kosher considerations around - restaurants, we see in the food is being imported into our- supermarkets from israel which

is a huge benefit from food - miles and air miles coming from a personal point of view of- opened in town within the weeks of the deal settling. _ so it's already going both directions. - adedayo, this is not the first deal between israel and an arab country because they signed deals withjordan and egypt, but there were not that successful in terms of business and even in terms of achieving what they were set out to. do you think that there are going to be challenges even for this a deal to work or is this different from the other two? i think the larger deals are quite different. the logic of the deal of the normalization with egypt was born of trying to end the war, it's similar with jordan. and there have been political skirmishes that made those deals not successful. this is different because the emphasis is making sure the people on the ground feel the economic benefits. so from the beginning the deal is all

about trying to get those people to people flows, the financial flows going which is not unlike the deals in the past. we really relate to the different systems of doing business. i don't see the political challenges as being the same. thani you are quite optimistic about this deal, but the fact remains there's still a section at their even within the uae were so sympathizes with the palestine cause and is a mistrust between the two communities that have existed for decades historically, do you think that will be a challenge? definitely. we were adversaries for a very long time. even if united arab emirates has not been into war with israel directly, but definitely there will be reservation, but the uae has taken a stand that they are supporting the two state solution. they have not given up on the palestine cause, there are still palestinian sympathizers that will not be forgotten.

having said that we will have to weigh the benefits to the reservations. i think with time that benefits will outweigh these reservations. it's a big deal definitely for the uae and israel, we see more deals being signed, morocco, bahrain. how does that change trade and business? is could have a significant impact on the dynamics. i one of the things that you see is that - from the arab nations point of view they - have adversarial i views of the deal. we are seeing that in - a reaction in some of the elements around the technology threats that we face in the - region, and we are seeing that there is a spike in some of thej cyber attack elements in the uae since the deal- was signed. we are going to discuss the challenges in more detail later in the programme, but adedayo, as thani was saying, he's quite

optimistic despite the history of the business will be able to drive this deal ahead. but do you think it's going to be challenging or do you think that they can bridge the gap much more easily? i think that these are economies, the economies of the gulf are more economically compatible with israel. there will be some ease in bridging the gap, but these are small markets so only so much that can be achieved. as of the markets that have bigger markets that have been there for a long time. the big deal will be showing the value added. the deal has been signed, and you are already seeing, as you mentioned, companies signing deals. where do you see as thechallenge in terms of emirati businesses entering israel?

there was a stereotype that israeli economies are more of a transactional economy, and that the uae is more of a relationship, but after dealing with a few israeli companies and signing onto them myself, i felt that this is a myth. we are a lot alike, more than we thought. and in the uae, as adedayo just imagine, it's very cosmopolitan. we have adapted to the 200 nationals. now it's 201. do you expect more countries in the region to sign up? for sure. we have ourselves been approached by some companies in our neighboring countries. wanting to reach out to israeli companies. so i definitely think that more countries in the region will follow. they come to you first, will, it has the deal given the confidence to say the salaries

for exhibit to take the leap? i would obviously expect the saudis to continue . as they are and have - been for a period of time. we don't anticipate that there will be any significant change | in the way the saudi - is and israelis are conducting business at the moment. we expect on a global basis people are going to be very| happy to see i you softening of the relationship and - the environment and will help stabilize the region, _ and that's going to be good for business across the board. adedayo is that mark obligate for countries like saudi arabia even if there's a risk for them to go ahead because of political reasons? definitely, under the current king it's impossible. because he aligns to the old school of thought which is that you have to solve the palestinian issue before you can engage with israel. for the moment i think the deal is off the table, but they have a bit of an experiment with bahrain to see how it goes and see how people will react to it.

the challenges, you specialize in cyber security, how big a challenge is that and how do you see that panning out going ahead? there has been a spike since the accord was i signed with about 30%. i think it's important i to put that in context. we are also living in a time where remote working hasl now become the norm when that has done two things, that's - meant that organizations have very rapidly deployed new- technologies in their. environments to enable continuity to take place, and it increases the risk| and the threat of the - environment these employees are working in. we'll an oversimplification - to say that there's been a huge spike as a result. of signing the deal, there's clearly been an impact, but we also working in quite i an unusual context in terms of the aftereffects of 2020. | but i think as you said, - there has been an increase in activity. what organizations need to do

about that is really _ around three legs. the need to make sure i they got the technology in place. technology is absolutely useless without - having effective processes to . make sure that that technology stays current and maintained. and the most important element is around making sure that- people are aware and that their people don't expose| the organization that they are operating in to these attacksl and the threats that| are coming through. thani, is that a worry? because as well as saying that cyber attacks have gone up security people especially businesses involved with israel, is that a concern? a concern? no. because who is a better friend to have than israel when it comes to cyber technology. but this is a variable that needs to be considered. like we do in our organization and i'm sure all of the other

organizations take care of that. where israel can help us a lot in protecting our firewalls by having stronger ones. adedayo, iran of course was unhappy with this deal. how does that play out in terms of the region given that the deal has already been signed and could we see more threats from that side? i think definitely we will see more threats from iran. what we are seeing is a new economic and security bloc with morocco now in the deal. and sudan as well. if the gulf, i'm not quite sure, one of the challenges of dealing with iran in the gulf is every company has their own view. — —every country. 0man still has engage with iran to have their own view on israel. the same can be said for qatar. there is now more at stake for iran as well, and therefore a heightened competition.

the other think of the other change is that we have a new administration in the united states. how does that change things over here? the deals have been signed but what about the potential deals that could have been side, because the view here is that the trump administration was able to push these deals through and there was supporting the business community. how do you see that panning out, will do you want to take that first? i think what we - anticipated that there will be a softening - on the petition with iran. overtime. however, that is not going. to be something that happens immediately. we are not going to. click our fingers and go back to 2015. and the reasons for that is that some of that - sanctions put in place and - regulatory framework will take quite a long time to unwind. very similar to what beasts . expect to see with the us and other nations in the world. there will be a period of time when we start to see a - normalization, stabilization but it's not going back to l where we were a few years ago. but we definitely see that starting to work in that i

direction. and do you see more countries signing up or signing deals apart from saudis? i can see 0man signing a deal. but there's really been a change in power. so it will take some time. i think they would like to see both the benefits of the deals that have already been signed and the trend in popular reaction around the arab world to these deals. one of the things we have seen, thani, since it was announced is that he israelis have softened their position as far as defense goes. the uae is procuring jets from the united states. do you see opportunities in defense? is one of the marbles of it is real. if any group in the uae wants to take advantage of the marvels of israel defense it's definitely one of them. it's just been a few months and sits with announced ——

since this was announced. what you see from this deal and could we see more countries signing up? i think in three years time it will be a good time for the uae to mediate peace. i always say it negotiating with adversaries is like playing poker, and negotiating with friends you build a partnership. so with the business communities, building partnerships and becoming closer to each other, then the uae will be in a strong position to play the mediator role between palestine and israel. the uae has always taken the stand that they will support the two state solution, and i think with being friends israel will not play poker with the united arab emirates. i think will be more of a building of a partnership with the three parties.

and with trade and business radio see that headed? how big a world could be the trade or business world? israel is known to be the start up nation and i would like to call the uae the scale of nation. for israel to actually reach every nook and ——scale up nation. cranny in the world they need, there's no better partner than the united arab emirates. i see the business growing, the products that israel or tangible products that israel could produce if they want to reach christchurch or buenos aires the uae is the best route. or they want to develop an app for the world dubai is the best place to test it. and vice—versa, i see a lot of businesses where israel use to import from europe and turkey and some of these products are available here, made here. so i see that benefit as well. three years from now you have a stronger

economy in the united arab emirates and a stronger economy in israel. you share that view that given all the plates and ——all the blitz and excitement to share that view that given all the plates can you partnership really scaled to that level three to four yea rs ? i think the partnership will scale in certain sectors. perhaps not in all sectors. high—tech definitely is a sector where the uae's lead meets israel's expertise. health care and logistics as well as mentioned. and tourism as well. and so i can see the scale they are. there's other sectors that are more mature in both countries, that there would be less room for partnership. and over all these are small countries. the impact of this deal, three years from now, will be felt even more if we can get even more countries in the middle east and even perhaps in other parts of

africa on board with this deal. final word to will, as you said you need to get more countries, can these were countries bring more countries together? i think if you look at the - opportunity presented by the relationship between israel- and the uae they are both very small, but relatively young, hugely dynamic nations. - we are stronger- together and i think with that kind of context i organizations within those countries are going to work- to more closely with israel and the uae so i absolutely think that's the case. . those are your predictions but we are only know in three or four years with her the deal has worked or not and that we can come back and discuss this again. thank you a lot for your time, thani, adedayo and william. thank you for watching, talking business, this is sameer hashmi signing off. hello there. wednesday is set to be an exceptionally mild day, particularly where you get to see

a little bit of brightness, but even if you keep cloud and outbreaks of rain. that was the picture in the scottish borders during tuesday. there's more rain to come on wednesday courtesy of this pipeline of cloud ploughing in from the southwest. first part of the day still brings met office amber warnings in force for parts of central and southern scotland. rain also affecting north—west england and wales. some patchy rain elsewhere. a few clear breaks, too, but a very mild start to the day. quite a windy start as well, although the winds will be easing just a little as we go through the day. we'll see those outbreaks of rain continuing across parts of northwest england, parts of northwest wales, heading into southern and central scotland. a little bit brighter for parts of northern ireland and certainly the north of scotland, some sunny spells here, and where it stays dry and fairly bright with hazy sunshine for central and eastern parts of england, temperatures will get all the way up to 15, 16 or 17 degrees. as we head through wednesday night into thursday, this band of cloud and increasingly light and patchy rain will sink southeastward

across england and wales. clearer skies behind with some showers. 0vernight lows between five and ten degrees. as this weather front lingers in the southeast corner during thursday, it will continue to bring cloud and some outbreaks of rain. but for the most part, thursday, actually, not a bad looking day — some good spells of sunshine. the winds will be a little lighter, particularly down towards the south. still quite breezy further north where there will be some showers, which mayjoin together into slightly longer spells of rain across northern scotland at times. temperatures down a little bit on wednesday's values, but still above where they should be at this time of year. into friday, there could be fog patches around first thing, particularly for central and southern parts of the uk. the odd spot of rain just skipping across the far north of scotland, but otherwise, a dry day. that early fog lifting to leave some spells of sunshine, and top temperatures between ten and 12 degrees. then, as we head

into the weekend, high pressure will be firmly in charge of the weather. frontal systems maybe just grazing close to northern scotland, perhaps northern ireland, giving a little bit of rain here, but generally, the weekend will be drier with lighter winds. the nights, though, will be quite chilly, and that could lead to some patches of fog.

a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. our top stories: golfing legend tiger woods crashes his car in los angeles. he's undergoing emergency surgery for multiple injuries. the interior was more or less intact, which kind of gave him the cushion to survive what otherwise would have been a fatal crash. us security officials in charge of defending the us capitol during last month's riot blame intelligence failures. these criminals came prepared for war, they came with their own radio system to co—ordinate the attack, and climbing gear and other equipment to defeat the capitol�*s security features. i am sickened by what i witnessed that day. and anger outside georgia's government buildings after the arrest of

the opposition leader, nika melia.