a fresh warning on food supply chains — this time because of a shortage of carbon dioxide. used to package fresh produce and in meat production, its availability has been badly hit by the temporary closure of two plants. by the middle of next week, so ten days' time, we would see a really, really big hit to poultry production, to pig producers and probably, increasingly, in the other sectors. the cause is the rising price of wholesale gas, increasing costs for businesses as well as homes. ministers say gas supplies are not threatened. we'll be exploring the link between the uk's energy supply and what we see in our supermarkets. also tonight: farewell to a footballing great — jimmy greaves, legendary goal scorerfor his clubs and for england.

votes are counted in russia, after elections that president putin was always set to win. and... he laughs john challis — best known as boycie in only fools and horses — has died. good evening. a uk shortage of carbon dioxide could lead to less choice of products in supermarkets within days, consumers were told today, in the latest warning on disruption to food supply chains. the gas is used in food production and packaging and animal slaughter, and its availability has been severely affected by the knock on impact of wholesale gas prices going up.

ministers have been working to get c02 supplies back up and say uk gas supplies are not threatened. here's our business correspondent katy austin. the food supply chain has already been under pressure as firms struggle to find enough workers, including lorry drivers. now, manufacturers and supermarkets say a shortage of carbon dioxide threatens the supply of some products. the gas is crucial for a variety of uses, including the production and packaging of meat, and keeping salads fresh. towards the end of the week to come and into the following week, we're going to see really serious consequences. and i would think that by the middle of next week, so ten days' time, we would see a really, really, really big hit to poultry production, to pig producers, and probably increasingly in the other sectors, so in packaging materials and in bakery and drinks. the supermarket iceland hasn't seen disruption so far,

but its managing director told me the issue needs to be sorted quickly and meanwhile his business is doing what it can to try and prevent any gaps appearing. our supply chain are building up an additional one to two weeks' stock, particularly on key lines they are worried about such as frozen meat, just to ensure that if this c02 crisis does last any longer than a few days or indeed weeks, we will be able to keep servicing our stores and ultimately our customers. at the root of this problem is a huge increase in wholesale gas prices. with energy so expensive, two large fertiliser plants have halted production, and carbon dioxide is a by—product of their operations. the global boss of the company behind those plants came to the uk today and met the business secretary to discuss options for getting them going again. another consequence of high wholesale gas prices is that some small energy suppliers have gone bust, and more are expected to. for a large, prudently run

company like octopus, we bought our energy long in advance. so i think the real problem is for those companies which are smaller, maybe less prudently run, who are buying their energy now. ministers have insisted there's no risk to supply. a significant part of our gas supplies comes domestically. the imported gas, primarily, comes from countries like norway. so we are secure in that. but of course when it comes to prices there will be concern as well. but we have the energy price cap, we have the warm homes discount, to protect people at this particular time. further discussions will take place tomorrow between the business secretary, energy companies and the regulator ofgem, which says it's working to ensure consumers continue to be protected. katy�*s here now — what are the chances of resolving the c02 issue before it hits supermarkets? well, it's really unclear right now. well, it's really unclear right now. we know the government has been

looking at other ways of sourcing carbon dioxide, looking into that. we know there has been these talks with the company behind those two fertiliser plants, which have been shut down. that accounts for the largest domestic source of carbon dioxide. but right now, there is no indication of when those plants will be started back up. some of the underlying issues at play here are beyond the government's control. the natural gas price rises is a global issue, it has been building for some time and won't go away soon. what it is trying to do, the reason the business secretary is having all of these emergency crunch talks, if you like, with the energy industry, is to try to limit the extent, limit some of that damage. as you heard in my report, there are fears that more smaller energy suppliers, the kind that supply to many thousands of households, could go under in the coming weeks, and the government is considering offering emergency state backed loans to the energy sector to encourage the survivors to take on the customers of the many firms that

are expected to fail.— are expected to fail. katie austen, thank yom — tributes have been paid today to one of english football's great goal scorers, jimmy greaves, after his death at the age of 81. in the 19605 he became tottenham hotspur�*s most prolific striker, scoring 266 goals — a club record that still stands. he was part of the england squad that won the world cup in 1966, although he missed out on the chance to play in the final. and he went on to have a successful post football career as one half of saint and greavsie on television. katie gornall looks back on his life. he was one of the most natural finishers ever to play the game. perhaps even the greatest goal—scorer that england has produced. it's greaves! oh, and a hat—trick for greaves! he was devilishly funny as well, with his wit and his personality. so charismatic. but on the field of play, people will remember him most, those of us who are old enough to have witnessed his

magnificence at times. he could score all sorts of goals. he was a beautifully graceful footballer and a wonderful finisher. jimmy greaves made his name at chelsea, before moving to ac milan in 1961. his european adventure was brief, and he soon returned home to tottenham hotspur, the club which would define his career. the goals kept on coming. his 266 at spurs remains a record to this day, and he scored 44 in just 57 games for england. he used to say to me, you do all the running, i'll do all the scoring. and that's what he was. he was a great, great goal—scorer. and in time to come, with stories known aboutjimmy greaves, people will rememberjimmy greaves, because there's been nobody better. greaves was a key player, heading into the 1966 world cup but early in the tournament, he was injured. and although he recovered by the final, he was left out

in favour of geoff hurst. a disappointment which proved hard to take. i couldn't force myself to join the festivities, because i'd built, in my own mind, i'd built myself up that i was going to be in the side and i was going to be one of the key people. and suddenly it wasn't there. this is greaves! after retiring in 1971, greaves struggled. alcoholism was followed by bankruptcy. but he battled back from both to reinvent his career on television. good day! now, saint. what happened 7 there you are, favourites to qualify... alongside ian stjohn, his show saint and greavsie was a huge hit with viewers. although the programme ended in the early 90s, the affection for greaves certainly didn't. and in 2009, the man who famously missed out on the world cup final at last received a winners medal. today, england manager gareth southgate confirmed that they'll pay tribute to him at england's next match, saying jimmy greaves was someone who was admired by all who loved football.

the former tottenham player ozzie ardiles said jimmy epitomises what spurs is — to dare is to do. while another great top goal—scorer, england captain harry kane, described him as a true legend. this afternoon, fans gathered at the tottenham hotspur stadium and gave their reaction. jimmy! absolutely gutted. he'sjust an incredible player, fantastic on saint and greavsie. i think a lot of us grew up watching that. he'll always be remembered for| the great footballer that he was. his record, goal—scoring record, absolutely stands up against anybody. perhaps fittingly, spurs hosted chelsea this afternoon. there was a minute's applause, here and elswhere, including at at west ham, another club where his popularity endures. applause. greaves said all he ever wanted was

to play the game and play it well. at times, he played it better than anyone, and made it look so easy. jimmy greaves, who's died at the age of 81. the liberal democrat leader sir ed davey has said his party can win seats from the conservatives in areas where traditional tory voters have been taken for granted. at his party conference he's attacked the government's handling of coronavirus, trade, and climate change. he's also proposed catch up vouchers for parents to spend on helping their children with learning lost because of the pandemic. here's our political correspondentjonathan blake. his party may be far from centre—stage in british politics, but sir ed davey made the most of his first speech to lib dem members in person since elected as leader last year. they've taken a once safe conservative seat in a by—election since then, and he thinks they're onto something. we heard it loud and clear on the doorsteps, in the high streets, in the cafes, from people who had voted conservative all their lives, but now feel completely let down. betrayed.

he accused the tories of an abuse of power, and rallied members to help remove them. the electoral arithmetic is clear. these conservatives can't be defeated next time unless we, the liberal democrats, win tory seats. borisjohnson will stay in downing street unless we throw him out. this is a heavy responsibility. the main policy focus was education, a call for £15 billion to help pupils catch up, post—pandemic, and money for parents to spend directly. a third of the education catch—up fund should go to parents directly, in the most radical empowering of parents ever. parents should get catch—up vouchers to spend on what they want for their child's education. this was a head—on attack against borisjohnson�*s conservatives, designed to appeal to those

who want to remove them from office. lots of talk of fairness, decency and a focus on education. his party is convinced it is a strategy for success, but it's voters he has to win over. surrey is just the sort of place the lib dems have their eye on. esher and walton has long been a safe conservative seat, but there is hope here that can change after the lib dems came a close second at the last election. it's now a marginal seat. that's very exciting. i was lib dem. i don't know what you were, to be fair? i was conservative. but we will be voting next time. you'll probably be lib dem again. probably, i need to look into it. i suppose i am a natural conservative. that's about all i can say. a natural conservative? yeah. would you consider voting for the lib dems? no, not at this point in time. one, two, three, yes! the lib dems are encouraged and emboldened by their recent success, but know they face a long path back to political prominence. jonathan blake, bbc news.

now the latest coronavirus figures, and there were 29,612 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means in the last week an average of 29,624 new cases per day. hospital figures from last thursday showed just over 8,000 people with covid being treated in the uk. another 56 deaths have been recorded of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. the average number of deaths per day in the last week is now 143. on vaccinations, 89.4% of people aged 16 or over have had theirfirstjab, while 81.7% are now double vaccinated. the taliban mayor of kabul has told female employees of the city authorities to stay at home. hamdullah nomani said it was necessary to stop women from working for a while. the only exception is if they are in jobs where they cannot

easily be replaced by men. 3,000 people work for the local government in the afghan capital and about a third of them are women. votes are being counted in russia after three days of polling in its parliamentary elections. as expected, exit polls are predicting a win for president putin's united russia party. few critics of the kremlin were allowed to run, with supporters ofjailed opposition leader alexei navalny among those affected. from moscow, steve rosenberg reports. there's something different about a russian election. polling stations turn into music halls. buses turn into polling stations. we found this parked just outside of moscow. we asked, why in a bus? he couldn't explain. the authorities say the vote was transparent and fair. it looks like a regular election — there are voters and there

are parties to vote for. but, most opposition politicians and activists, in other words the kremlin�*s most vocal critics are barred from the ballot. and talking of ballots... at polling station 475 a hooded woman is caught on camera, apparently stuffing ballot boxes. she finishes one pile, and then out comes another. and it goes on and on. and here, someone is using a mop to cover up cctv, but they forgot about the other camera that caught them pushing up the handle. at this moscow call centre, an independent vote monitor says it's been made aware of more than 4,000 possible instances of fraud in this election. if you talk about standards, some european standards that were assigned by russia too, russian elections are not free and fair when we compare it with the standards.

russia's state election commission concedes there have been some issues at some polling stations, and says it's taken appropriate action, but it denies violations are widespread. as for the result, no real surprise, the kremlin�*s party on course to win the race that was run according to the kremlin�*s rules. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. a volcano has erupted on the spanish island of la palma, in the canaries, sending plumes of lava and ash into the air. thousands of people are being evacuated from nearby villages in cumbre vieja national park in the south of the island. the last time the volcano erupted was 50 years ago. as students start to head to campuses for a new academic year, universities in england are being urged by their regulator to take student views into account

when deciding about online teaching. the office for students says it expects the majority of teaching to be in person — but many universities have told the bbc some lectures are likely to be online. here's our education editor branwen jeffreys. so, in terms of the plans for freshers' week... freshers' week is about to come roaring back. universities were ghost towns last year. but in the coming weeks, from bars to laboratories, everything will reopen. the biggest change, and the thing i'm most excited for, is to get back into the lectures, to see people. i do a science degree, so i'm really excited to be back in the labs and doing that sort of work. it's time to rebuild their social lives, and get used to turning up to lectures. there are people in the new cohort who have potentially never been out. so they are trying to go for the full uni experience. but everyone is aware, you know, that there is still a bit of precaution that needs to be in place. the coronavirus reminders are still there. but more of a nudge,

less of a strict regime. the big game—changer this year is vaccination. it should allow a return to mainly face—to—face teaching, and that's absolutely crucial, notjust for students, but universities also know they are under pressure to show value for money for those tuition fees. these seats will refill at york. but lectures will also be offered online. in england, a warning that student views on quality matter. we're going to be looking particularly at those courses where we know there are high numbers of students going in, where there may be a risk to quality. but we're also relying on students and others to let us know if they think that quality is slipping. and, if it is, we will intervene and we will be discussing with universities and colleges what the problems are. at york, they've brought forward finishing these student flats. with student numbers up, they've run out of rooms. first year rhys has been offered student accommodation in hull, so he faces an hour each way

commuting untiljanuary. i am still stressing about it, how much i'm going to have to spend travelling instead of studying, or in lectures, or with friends, or socialising. it's going to be a real challenge, especially for my first year of university. the university says giving students the full uni experience is the priority this year. we're going to look after them as well as we can in that situation, making it easy for them to get to and fro, helping them with money and making sure, through well targeted welfare support, and on—site support, that they don't feel isolated. already on campus are international students. one more sign of the slowjourney back to normal university life. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, york. the actorjohn challis, best known as boycie in the bbc sitcom only fools and horses, has died aged 79 after what his family said was a "long battle with cancer".

boycie — played by him for 20 years — made him a firm favourite with comedy fans, as lizo mzimba reports. on only fools and horses, a comedy familiar to millions, one of its most familiar sounds. he laughs. john challis's extensive tv career began in the 1960s, with roles in police dramas like softly softly, dixon of dock green and z—cars. full number of millward components on the front page and inside a sales rep card. only fools and horses made him a household name. far more successful in business than del boy, their rivalry was a running theme for more than 20 years. marlene, have some sensitivity. don't talk about millions of pounds and big houses in front of del. sir david jason lead today's tributes, describing john challis as a wonderful actor and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. boycie was loved by millions,

despite his snobbery. i've left the mercedes parked downstairs. you know what they're like on this estate, they'd have the wheels off a jumbo if it flew too low. can't she go on the national health service? well, of course she can't, i can't expect my wife to mix with all those ordinary patients. have you ever spent an evening in trigger�*s flat? it's like having a seance with mr bean. boycie proved so popular, he was given his own spin off series, the green green grass, set in the countryside. why didn't you open the door to us? we didn't hear you. underlying his status as one of britain's best—loved comedy characters. medals for road sweepers? good god, they'll be giving del boy an award for good taste next. so often, only fools and horses' biggest laughs belonged tojohn challis's boycie. laughter. # no income tax, no vat. # no money back, no guarantee.

john challis, who's died aged 79. a first look at tomorrow's newspapers is coming up on the bbc news channel. on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are.

you're watching the bbc news, with clive myrie. more now on the news that the actorjohn challis, who played the second—hand car salesman boycie in only fools and horses, has died. he was 79 and had cancer. i've been speaking to keith bishop, vice—president of the only fools and horses appreciation society, who's been reflecting onjohn challis's life and career. i've known boycie for 40 years,

but i've known the manjohn for 25 years, and i must admit i have had a tear or two at the news, something that i'd known he hadn't been well for a little while, but when you finally get that call, and sort of say, "sadlyjohn�*s passed away," it does, it makes things a bit more real, i suppose, and it is a sad day. i mean, the world has lost a comedy legend really. his career spanned many, many years from being in crossroads and coronation street, doctor who, but as everybody says, the main character was boycie, everybody knew hims as boycie, everybody knew him as boycie, and he always had so much time for you as well. i mean, i'm privileged to be able to call him a friend as well, and i only spoke to him on the phone probably about three weeks' ago, and chatting to him on the phone, he was still, you know, he was still being boycie, it was great, really, and it's nice to have this opportunity, just to send our condolences to his family and to carol, who's certainly, his wife, who's in our thoughts at the time, and his on—screen wife, of course, marlene as well.

of course, absolutely. what are yourfinest memories of him, i suppose? what are your most prominent memories of him? recently we were chatting about the football, he was a big arsenal fan, but i never held that against him! and it was things like, he was sort of, we were playing about and he was acting, and all of a sudden sue holderness, marlene, she popped up behind, and he said, "is she with you?" i said "i think she might be." he said, "good, i've been trying to get rid of her for years." it was little things like that, there's so many stories. we have a convention with the appreciation society once a year, and this year we haven't managed to have one, but he has been at every single one, right from the start. that's amazing. did he talk about how he perfected that character? yes, i think it was a character that he developed in citizen smith, another one ofjohn sullivan's shows, and john sullivan remembered

john for being in that show, and then wrote the second—hand car dealer into it. little things like his laugh and that sort of thing, it wasjohn all over, so, a lot of the character was in him already, although when you talked to him, that voice was a little bit different, but yeah, just, i think the inspiration came from his own natural talent. yeah, and where did the laugh come from? i think he did it in, in a show some time, some years ago, he did the laugh before, and john sullivan picked up on it and thought, john, that's really, really good and he'd write it in the script, "john does one of his laughs" or "boycie does one of his laughs" and that's how it came about and continued right through. it's certainly a sort of characteristic that will sort of live on, i suppose, in his performances. and obviously he had been ill for some time? yeah, and he managed to keep it quiet. i only found out a few monthd ago he was as ill as he was, i only found out a few months ago

he was as ill as he was, and only recently something i was doing for a recreation of the nags head, and i spoke to him on the phone, and he sent a video in for us his boycie character and he looked fine, he looked great, so you know, you always hope they will pull through, and that was the hope, and as i say when i got the call this morning, you know, i am not embarrassed to say i had a tear or two and it has been a very emotional day. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers, with our reviewers sian elvin from the metro, and the public affairs consultant iain anderson. that's coming up after the headlines. time for a look at the weather with stav. this up coming week is starting on a fine note. many of us should stay dry with sunshine, but it is all change from midweek. low pressure

takes over, it will turn windy with gales in the north and coolerfor most of us, this weather front lying a i cross the eastern side of the country brought torrential downpours, parts of east anglia, it will loiter bringing further cloud, rain during the overnight period although most of the thunderstorms will fade away. more cloud pushing into western scotland and northern ireland, as well by the end of the night but for most clear skies, light winds, it will turn cool out—of—town, a bit of mist and fog but mild in the south—east. so we still have that weather front in the south—east for monday monday, scotland and northern ireland, so here this will spoil the sunshine through the day, turning breezy and cloudy with spots of rain here, a few showers still across the south—east but a fine day for many, with sunshine and feeling warm, particularly in the south west. hello.

this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment