president biden and the russian leader vladimir putin have agreed to hold talks after weeks of rising tension over ukraine. the discussions will take place via video call on tuesday. russia has recently boosted its military presence near ukraine's border but denied that it's preparing an attack. the british health secretary, has announced tighter travel restrictions because of rising cases of the new omicron covid variant. people travelling to the uk will once again have to take a pre—departure, pcr or lateral flow test. the measure will come into force on tuesday. the parents of a teenager accused of killing four fellow students in the us state of michigan have pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. their son ethan, is accused of carrying out the high—school shooting, with a semi—automatic pistol bought by his father. people in around 9,000 homes

are facing a second weekend a second weekend without power in parts of scotland and northern england, following storm arwen. those affected are now bracing themselves for almost freezing temperatures forecast in some areas over the next 2a hours. 0ur correspondent peter harris sent this report from rothbury in northumberland. boots on the ground, the troops are taking supplies to those still without power. are you all right? i've come to make sure everything is all right for spy along rural farm tracks they are trying to find those in the most remote communities that could be in need and now face a 90 night without electricity. it was absolute destruction. the woods down there are completely flattened full stop not to call northumberland a national problem until this morning is extraordinary. the army's involvement follows northumberland county council

declaring storm arwen a major incident. a season of goodwill, what could be more rewarding for our soldiers than being out in local towns and villages helping those genuinely in need. across scotland and northern england, freezing temperatures are persisting. in all around 5000 homes are still cut off. northern power grid says it still has a 700 engineering jobs, repairs like this one to do, before it can fully restore the power across the north—east of england and that's why it is still saying it could be the middle of next week before things get back to normal. meaning for those enduring the longest wait it's an ongoing ordeal. distraught, it's terrible, it's awful, really awful. the wind, the rain, and then to top it off we got snow as well so we couldn't get out. you know, it was just awful. northern power grid says its engineers now

have a clearer picture of the repairs needed. the long wait for power goes on. peter harris, bbc news, northumberland. now on bbc news — 100 women in conversation. nomia iqbal meets actress, producer, and director rebel wilson. trying to make your name in hollywood isn't easy, especially if you're a female actress who doesn't look a stereotypical way. enter rebel wilson, who has defied convention to become one of the most famous faces in the industry. she's been a part of some of the biggest comedy films in recent years, including the pitch perfect franchise and bridesmaids. but like many of us during the pandemic, she's been reassessing her life. i've come here to la, where rebel is now based, for this bbc 100 women interview. we talk about why she lost weight, her challenges with fertility, and how she's balancing that with her professional move into becoming a director, and she talks to me about how she's hoping that move will empower her

to make cultural changes in the industry after experiencing sexual harassment herself. rebel wilson, thank you so much for talking to bbc 100 women. it is my pleasure. how are you? i feel like i'm very bbc today as well — i'm very serious, profesh. i think you could almost, like, be a newsreaderfor us. i could, you know. coming up now at the 11am hour — wait, is that what they say? no. coming up! breaking news, um, yeah i — i probably won't get hired from this. it's so interesting because you are one of the most high—profile actresses in hollywood. i'd say you're a household name. i'm in the top 1,000, for sure, i'd put myself. you're one of the top 1,000

actresses in hollywood. but you have been in those really iconic films that people watch over and over again — like, i think i might�*ve watched bridesmaids an insane amount of times. i mean, that was my firstjob in america and, like, what a firstjob, to get — to be in that kind of ensemble and to be in a movie that, really, was one of the first — even though, obviously, women have been funny for at least 20 years — but, no, i'mjoking, forever — but that bridesmaids was one of the first where they were like, "wow! "women are funny in hollywood!" and so to get that as my — my firstjob in america was epic. and also to be in the pitch perfect franchise, which is, like, the most successful musical comedy films of all time — which blows my mind when you think about that. i was like, "god, are they really?" and they're like, "yeah they really are," like, "bang, one, two and three", and i'm like it's so special. and i'm sure it will be eclipsed at some point — you know, it's like 0lympic records — someone will come in and, like, be better. but it's — it's so awesome to be a part of something so special and it's something that people all around the world and really, really enjoyed. yeah. is it true, though, that

you could've been a lawyer? well, i am a lawyer. oh, you are a lawyer?! yeah, i graduated in 2009. so you could be a lawyer. ifeel like i have the photo. it's not my best smile but i was very proud of myself that day. you look so happy and pleased! this is 2009 when i graduated. it was a very happy day because was already, obviously, i was a professional actress — i'd been in 10 tv shows by the time i graduated law school — but there was something about me that was like "i have to finish. "i have to complete this degree." it was very, very difficult — like, in australian law and medicine, you know, you need the top marks in your final exams to get in and i got into, like, the best law school, so i was like "ok, i'm going to, like, graduate," even though it was clear i was working in — as an actress. what was your parents' reaction, then, when you were like "i want to be an actress in hollywood?" i always imagined though that that — those words scare parents, right? it was bad. it was really bad. i was a very studious young lady, so yeah, they — they definitely thought i would do something good —

like — like a more traditional—type job, put it that way. so i took a gap year, which i thought was really smart after high school, and i was what's called a youth ambassador for australia, based in southern africa, so that really changed the trajectory of my life. i was going in and out of malarial zones all the time with the work that i had to do over there, and i got malaria really bad when we were in mozambique. and when i was in the hospital back in south africa recovering from it, i had a hallucination that i was an actress, and, like, it was so real! everyone thought, "no, she'sjust demented," but that was enough to convince me that that's what my life was gonna be. so i come back to australia and i go, "guys, i'm going to become a professional actress — i have seen it, i'm gonna win an academy award. "it's, like, really good," and everyone was like, "oh, my god". like, "no". like, "you're an idiot." like, "no—one�*s gonna pick you," like, "you're not an actress. "like, you're not — you're naturally quite

a shier person". i was like, "yeah, but i've seen the vision." so i went and enrolled in law school but did acting sneaky at night to try and get in there, yeah. so what about, like, so when bridesmaids took off, was that... yeah, i mean, that was big because they came — they came over for the premiere and they were like, "oh, she is like legit now," yeah. it's interesting because i have read that you — you were successful with bridesmaids at age 30. yeah, yeah, i came to hollywood when i was... and you call yourself a late bloomer. i definitely do think that. why, though? i was 29, turning 30, and i had a great career in australia at that point and then, i got offered a big network tv contract in australia and i was like, "oh, but if i don't go now..." like, it's a bit late if you're already 30 or whatever, to come to hollywood, i think, as a woman — although there's many exceptions to that rule and many ladies that have broken out in their 50s and stuff and have incredible careers. you don't hear enough about that, do we? yeah, you don't hear about it but normally... because i think 30's still young.

it's like the younger, more ingenue girls and then they develop more, so i wasjust, like, "0k, if i don't go now to hollywood, i'll never make it", so i sold everything that i owned — my car, my computer, my apartment, everything. i came to america with one suitcase and, like, one little pillow, but like... but it was a bit late, and i was probably overqualified for the very small role i had in bridesmaids. you are now producing, so you've got credits on the hustle and isn't it romantic? yes, isn't it romantic was my first one. the hustle, with anne hathaway, and now senior year, which is a big cheerleading comedy. what's that like? tell us a little bit about what — how it's different. it's great, it's great to have the power because obviously coming up in the industry, i had to work for, like, a lot of guys, coming up where you kind of get the crappier roles — like, the rolesjust weren't as well written, as well developed. it would just be very hard to kind of put kind of you comedy or yourjokes sometimes into it if you

didn't have any power. so what i did is i used all those experiences in a positive way and, like, learned stuff from watching these guys and — but really wanted to get to the point where i had the power to make the movies and choose the storylines and choose the characters and choose who i put in the movies and it's just cool �*cause you can be more authentic and put more of your messages — and my latest one, it's just so girl power and there's so many... and this is your movie that you're directing next year? uh, no, this is the one i'vejust shot. you've just shot that? yeah, just shot. and you are gonna — you are directing a movie as well? yeah, and then i've now — now gone even further and been offered a directing job for a movie script that i've written called girl group, so that'll go into production in 2022. and i'm so passionate about the stories i want to tell and so, why not go for the topjob? talking of empowerment, you've been on a year of health. yeah. i didn't predict the pandemic but weirdly, i thought —

sometimes i'm a little psychic and i go "oh, ifeel like i'm not gonna be working much this year and i feel like turning 40, i'm gonna, like, concentrate on my health" and i was dealing with fertility stuff and the doctor is like, "well, you know, if you were healthier, you'd have better chances," so that all kind of culminated, and so the moment it hit 2020, i was like "0k, yeah, it's gonna be my year of health. "i'm gonna put it, like, publicly out on instagram and stuff for accountability! " but i think that that's. .. and who knows whether that was the smartest but... and why was that important for you to do it that way? um, because i did want to make a lasting change and i wanted to be accountable to myself for it, so making it very public kind of helped — helped. it was risky, i guess. before i — i had lost weight and then put it back on and, you know, you get criticism sometimes for that, and it wasjust, yeah, ijust was like, "0k, i'lljust make it — make the decision to make it public". the — the number of headlines about you losing weight has been phenomenal. oh, it's insane. because i look at what happened for me in 2019 — i had, like, four pretty successful movies come out and, like, had done all this amazing stuff career—wise but then

in the next year, all i did was just lose 80 pounds. and, like, the attention that gets... it was insane. ..is way more than being in an academy award—nominated film and, like, producing my first movie and then doing all this stuff. can i — can i read you one headline? oh, yeah, sure. "rebel wilson has a bond girl moment in an incredible curve—hugging swimsuit." wow. how do you feel about those words? i never thought i'd be described anywhere near a bond girl! but how do you feel about those sorts of headlines about your weight loss? i've noticed that it's been getting a lot of attention and i go "so, is that what a woman has to do in the world is lose — just lose weight to, like, get attention?" for me, it was so much bigger. it was aboutjust being the healthiest version of me, so it wasn't about the size or a number or whatever. but it's fascinating — why are people so obsessed with it? like, i know what it's like to

be a woman who is essentially invisible to most people because of not being seen as, like, traditionally beautiful or whatever, so i know what it's like when nobody holds the door open for you or — or, you know, just looks that you almost like you can have no value because you're not seen as good looking to them, so i know what that's like. and then you really notice — you get, like, this bias towards you, just purely because of your appearance, which is wrong — like i do think it is wrong — but it's — you can't deny that that's how society does operate, so... it's kind of conflicting. it — it must leave you feeling a bit mixed about it because on one hand, like, you shouldn't have to lose weight to be suddenly be treated nicely. no, no, and i'm proud that the message has got across is that it wasn't aboutjust losing weight, it was just about me being healthier overall, and that's what — that's what i'm trying to encourage other people out there, because that is — should be the goal.

it never be to fit some certain weird beauty standard that society deems is the beauty standard of this year, or — it should never be about that. my, like, body type before, when i was a size 16 to 18, was, like, the body type of the 17th, 18th century. like, iwould have crushed in that era. but i got a lot of pushback from my own team, actually, here in hollywood, when i said "ok, i'm gonna do this year of health. "i'm gonna — ifeel like i'm really going to physically transform and change my life" and they were like, "why? "why would you want to do that?" because i was earning millions of dollars being, you know, the funny fat girl, like, and being that person, and i go, "well, because even though i was still very confident being bigger and, you know, loved myself — you know, would rock a red carpet — and even though i was probably double the size, sometimes triple the weight of other actresses, but like, i still felt confident in that. but i knew deep down inside some of the emotional

eating behaviours i was doing was not healthy. like, i did not need a tub of ice cream every night — that was me, you know, numbing emotions by using food, which wasn't the healthiest thing. was that dealing with fame? i think it was — i think it was dealing with not being a natural performer and having to perform almost every day and just things i hadn't kind of processed or dealt with in my life that — that was manifesting as emotional eating and then i was like "that's not the healthiest!" this was when i first got pretty famous after pitch perfect and i'm like "look at me — i'm, you know, rocking, like, a black leather bodysuit, custom—made". i love that person. like, yeah, she was struggling with emotional eating but i also, like, just love that girl and i love that she was just out there, living her best life, playing this character called fat amy and, like, andjust, like, getting out there and crushing it. with — with the character of fat amy, you know, there were those sort of fat jokes that were made as well. do you feel now

you can't do that? well, see, it's weird — i looked at fat amy and the pitch perfect scripts and go "that's the best character," i personally thought, so i would be honoured to play that character. i never thought of it as a negative because i'm the type of person that some people see, yeah, being bigger as, like, a hindrance to being an actress and i go "i'm gonna use it and use it for my comedy". there were some people that said "oh, well, will she not be funny now?" and i'm like "well, check out my new movie, senior year, coming out and see what you think, guys". what it has done career—wise is open up this whole other door of, like, dramatic roles and so now, i've this great movie that ijust shot in the north of england called the almond and the seahorse, based on a west end play and would i have been given that role if i was bigger? i don't know. because people would still — might associate me too much with some of the comedy roles

and physically transforming and giving a performance that is so different, i think it helped, looking different. i'd be interested to know if you feel that pressure of being put on a pedestal when it comes to the body positivity movement. yeah, i guess. i mean, because i was somebody who was, like, really advocates for, like, loving — loving yourself and at whatever size, and you want to, like, love and embrace yourself and be positive about your body — you're only given that body, so that is what you've got to work with, that's your canvas — but also, i don't want to be seen to, like, promote unhealthiness or extreme, you know, and some of the things that i was doing — emotionally eating and carrying the extra weight — was — was unhealthy. so what i'm trying to do is say you can be whatever size you want. just try to be the healthiest version of you — and that can look different for different people. you've shared your weight loss journey on instagram and you've got millions of followers on social media.

are you conscious of the sorts of pressures, i guess, there are for young women as well on social media? oh, yeah, because now if you get into this culture of, like, touching up all of your photos and whatever, it's unrealistic and — but i don't know, but then i'm definitely guilty of, like, posting thirst trap photos on instagram — mainly because i'm still single so i'm like "oh, yeah, 0k". that's mainly why i do it. but also, i didn't think it could be contributing to some larger problem in society, which i hope it isn't and then, if so... you never thought about that... ? ifeel like, yeah, i may — i've grown into my looks 100% and, like, feel like i'm at 41 now, like, looking, yeah, better than i ever have before — which i think is rare. most people peak, don't they, at like 20? and maybe for me, it's about my life journey coming into line, you know, and for me, it only kind of clicked together at a0 properly.

but what i try to do is share just enough that hopefully people can understand, like, some of the struggles i've been through and then, and like the reason why i share it is to hopefully help people, so why i've been sharing things about fertility or talking about a health transformation and emotional eating is ultimately to try to help people. the fertility issue that you've talked about, that's really personal and intimate. yeah, i have something — i was diagnosed when i was, like, 20 with something called polycystic ovarian syndrome and — which made sense, like, that i gained a lot of weight rapidly with that and then have fertility issues and so, it's like, i think something like 10% of women have it, so it's very common, and a lot of people don't know they have it and so, it's just — i think it's just good to talk — that's why i love when everybody opens up about all sorts of things now. mental health is obviously

a big topic with a lot of celebs and people — high—profile people talking about that, yeah. but fertility is a really interesting one because i don't think a lot of women, certainly in the public eye, open up about it. behind the scenes, like, all my actress friends are all freezing their eggs and all kind of pursuing options and so, we all talk about it, but not — not just so publicly sometimes because it can be an emotional roller—coaster and i certainly, you know, froze — went all this trouble and froze my eggs and then, unfortunately because of my condition, the quality of the eggs wasn't — wasn't good enough and i have to repeat the process and keep doing it and keep trying and put a lot of effort in. and that was part of the reason why i tried to get healthier as well. i'm still trying on the fertilityjourney, even though, like, it is emotional and you get hopeful and then, you know, your hopes are dashed and so it's like, ifeel that any woman going through it but i was the classic example of, like, a career woman who went out into the world, didn't even think about kids and then suddenly, in your mid—30s, is like "oh, hang on — do i want that as an option? "and if i do, what do i need to do?" it could be great if i had my own children but i don't know

whether that's gonna happen and so, i'm trying not to have any expectations set on an outcome, just that i'm the healthiest i can be, i'm gonna try and what will happen will happen. you tweeted a few years back about sexual harassment that you had experienced in the industry. yep. and you had said at the time you were no longer going to be polite about it. tell me a little bit more about what happened to you — if you want to. yeah, um, i mean... and how you dealt with it. i guess, in terms of sexual harassment, like, all women in the industry have had, like, things like the little comments when you've been in meetings and you've be — try to be one of the boys and, like, laugh along with the jokes and even they're talking about other actresses and stuff in a way that's, like, not really cool. but i only had, like, two incidents. one is the classic with a director in a hotel room — that was in australia.

and i was so innocent and naive — i was in my 20s, and i literally thought i was going to that — to have a meeting about comedy and talk about comedy. and then, he kept trying to give me more and more alcohol and i'm not a big drinker, luckily, and then, the director gets a call from his wife and i'm sitting there on the couch and it was one of those phones that if somebody left a message, you could hear it through the speaker of the phone, and she started saying "0h, you've got rebel in that hotel room." like, "you're going to sleep with her," blah, blah, blah. and i heard the message and that was the first time i thought "oh, my god". like, "what is this?" "what's going on? " and then ijust grabbed my bag and got out of there, luckily before anything had happened. and i wonder if that woman — if i hadn't heard her voice on the phone, screaming through the phone, i — what could've happened ? i don't know. did you tell anyone at the time? no, because it was a big directorand i didn't... and you've never named names? no, maybe that is the legal side of me that you don't — i don't want to go through any unnecessary court cases 01’ whatever. and, yeah, ijust —

yeah, just got on with the job and did it and luckily, nothing else happened, apart from that one night. and then, many years later, as i'm in hollywood and, you know, pretty — pretty famous, the pitch perfect movies had come out and stuff and had a male co—star was onset, summons me kind of out of my trailer in the middle of the day and takes me to, like, this room, where a couple of his male buddies are with their iphones and he pulls down his pants and asked me to bleep. and i know, again, like, it can kind of sound comic, the way i tell the story, because i've processed it now and i was in shock. i was like "what's going on?" just kept saying no. like "what is this?" like "no". and his buddies are laughing and he's kind of clearly

getting off on it. this was before me too, though, so i didn't quite know what to do and i was in a foreign country, so i called my agent, i reported it, we reported it to the studio — i apparently was the fourth woman to have made a complaint against this guy, too — but i stayed and ifinished thejob which i felt like it was the professional thing to do — which now, i wouldn't do, if something like that occurs. now, i think i have the courage to be like... i'm walking. "ok, that is disgusting." 0bviously some people have been picked up in the metoo movement but there's a lot of others that — that haven't and now, i think it would be different — i wouldn't have as much empathy... is that what you mean when you say you're going no longer be polite moving forward? yeah. it's not like things change overnight with the metoo movement and then, suddenly it's all safe, and... it's not. like, there have been very positive changes but there still — there still need to be more.

but i guess those are the changes that you can make now that you're in these roles as a producer and director. yeah, and so, like, on my movie senior year that ijust produced, i had, like, a young actress play the younger version of me and she came — came over from australia, so she's in a foreign country, she's vulnerable and just i said, like, "if you have any — any issues, if anybody is doing something, you know, or says something or whatever, please come to me as the female producer on the film" and i want to particularly, you know, protect — and i had a lot of young cast in that movie and just — i feel very conscious of, like, you know, making sure they feel safe. are you hopeful that you'll win an academy award one day? is that your aim? uh, yeah, that — that would be the goal. and i was so lucky to be injojo rabbit, that got nominated for, like, best picture — that was such a gorgeous movie and i think — and then now, you know, doing projects that have a really good cachet, that's — that's awesome, but i still will do the

comedies as well, obviously. yeah, ican't... yeah, i think that's what people wouldn't want you to leave. no, i can't — that's my — that's my love as well. hello there. it's been very cold everywhere across the uk on saturday. we've seen increasing amounts of snow across southern southeast scotland and across northern england, mainly over the pennines. sunday is also going to be another cold day, maybe not quite as cold cos the winds won't be as strong as saturday, and there will be further rain. most of the rain towards the eastern side of the country. we've still got that cold air mass across the uk, but like i mentioned, the winds won't be quite as strong across northern and western areas, thanks to this ridge of high pressure. these weather fronts across the east and certainly the northeast will bring further rain. so it could be quite wet again across southeast scotland into the northeast of england. that rain continues through the day to bring localised flooding in places and further winteriness over the high ground. further south, i think most of the showers will slowly ease

down through the day, but will leave a legacy of cloud. the winds quite strong across the eastern side of the country. but apart from the odd shower further north and west, there should be quite a bit of sunshine around here with light winds, shouldn't feel too bad — top temperatures 9—10 celsius across the far southwest and into the channel islands. looks like that rain will eventually ease away for a time through sunday night, but then we look to the west, a new frontal system will work its way in to bring another band of rain, and again, we will see some sleet and snow over the pennines across the scottish hills as it bumps into the cold air. but the east of england will stay dry until later in the morning. so, this frontal system will work its way eastwards across the country through monday, then it turns colder again with a run of west—north westerly winds, which will be quite strong feeding in plenty of showers. so, quite wet across much of the country through monday morning, that rain eventually clears off into the north sea, taking the mountain snow with it. and then it's a brighter afternoon for many with some blustery showers, some of these will be heavy and frequent across the northwest and turning increasingly wintry once again. it's a blustery day, those are mean wind speeds —

gusts will be high, particularly around some irish sea coasts. and it will feel chilly again, temperatures of 3—8 celsius. then we look to the atlantic, the potential of this deep area of low pressure to develop and hurdle in towards ireland, and then, the uk as we push through tuesday and wednesday. still some uncertainty with its track, but i'm pretty sure it could bring some wet and very windy weather on tuesday and wednesday, so do stay tuned to the forecast.

this is bbc news, i'm lucy grey. our top stories: president biden and president putin agree to hold talks, as russia's military build—up on the ukrainian border sends tensions soaring. the uk becomes the latest country to tighten its travel rules, as the 0micron variant spreads. from tuesday, all arrivals will need a pre—departure covid test. we are seeing a number of cases linked to travel and we always said we would act swiftly if we need to, if the changing data requires that and that is why we have decided to bring in this change on predeparture tests. the parents of a teenager suspected of a deadly school shooting have pleaded �*not guilty�* to involuntary manslaughter, after they were found hiding in a basement.

and, the us network cnn fires its leading anchor,