a foreign office whistle—blower says the government's evacuation operation in afghanistan was dysfunctional and chaotic. he says that of the thousands trying to get out after the taliban takeover, the uk only helped a tiny fraction. the foreign secretary at the time defends the handling of the crisis. the history of the speed of the taliban takeover is well known. we did, i think, a very good job — under very difficult conditions. in his evidence to mp5, the whistleblower says it's clear some of those britain failed to help have since been murdered by the taliban — we'll be live in kabul. also this lunchtime... the government admits a series of failings in the years leading up to the grenfell tower disaster, and says it's deeply sorry. after storm arwen, now it's storm barra that's

battering parts of the uk with gusty winds and heavy rainfall. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately. the zoom call you don't want to be on — the chief executive of an american firm sacks hundreds of his staff online. and let battle commence: england take on australia tonight in the first ashes test — but their without record wicket taker. coming in the sport later in the hour on bbc news channel: tottenham are dealing with a covid outbreak in their squad and that could affect their match in europe this thursday. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one.

"dysfunctional and chaotic" — that's the damning verdict of a foreign office whistle—blower on the way it handled the evacuation of people from afghanistan after the taliban took over in august. raphael marshall — who resigned from hisjob in september — has told mps it's clear some of those left behind have since been murdered by the taliban. he says thousands of emails pleading for british help went unread, and that the foreign secretary at the time — dominic raab — was slow to make decisions. mr raab has denied the claims. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. this was kabul airport last summer, as thousands sought to flee the advancing taliban. amid chaotic scenes, britain and other western powers tried to evacuate those it could but according to a whistle—blower, there was chaos in london too. the foreign office crisis centre was handling requests from afghans who were at risk because of their links to the uk. raphael marshall was a young

official working there and he says the process of choosing who could be evacuated was arbitrary and dysfunctional. he said up to 150,000 people applied for evacuation under the scheme but he estimated fewer than 5% of these people have received any assistance. it is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the taliban. one weekend in august, when these afghans were trying to get out, mr marshall said in london there were not enough staff, with too few working overtime and on the saturday he was the only person monitoring and processing e—mails in the afghan special cases inbox. thousands of which remained unread. he also says staff lacked expertise in afghanistan and soldiers brought in to help couldn't access computers. we already knew that many afghans had struggled to get in contact with the foreign office here. mps had raised many of their cases. what this evidence does is tell us what was going on inside and it's

a story of a system that just wasn't working. i'm deeply concerned by many of things that the whistle—blower has raised, including about all of those at the very top of the department. the whistle—blower mr marshall was dealing with a very, very difficult situation in which many of us were trying to get out people who had served us with enormous courage and integrity. mr marshall also singled out dominic raab, then foreign secretary, who he said delayed taking decisions until he had all the facts set out in well presented tables. a claim mr raab denies. we are not talking about days, it's not being suggested weeks, but several hours to make sure that we had the facts, and actually that is, i would suggest, a reasonably swift turnaround. and in terms of presentation, of course with the volume of claims coming in, i make no apology for saying

i needed the clear facts for each case presented precisely, so that we can make swift decisions. a foreign office spokesman said soldiers and diplomats had worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people in a fortnight. but some of the senior officials involved will face tough questions from mps this afternoon. james landale, bbc news. secunder kermani joins me from kabul. you were there at the time, four months ago — scenes of terrible chaos. do we know what's happened to those who wanted to get out but who were left behind? there are still lots of afghans who are desperate to try and get out of the country. i have been speaking today to one former british army interpreter who is yet to receive a response to his application from the uk, though he did say that there are otherformer uk, though he did say that there are other former interpretative as he knows that were meant to board

flights in august but were unable to get into the airport had recently arrived in britain. anotherformer government official i know who had been trying to leave for sometime has said he hasjust been trying to leave for sometime has said he has just recently managed to get into pakistan with his family and he is now desperately trying to find any country, really, that will accept them long—term. around 100 afghan journalists are already in that kind of state of limbo in pakistan, again looking for somewhere that they can travel on to. there is a sense of bitterness amongst many of those who were left behind who were not able to board those evacuation flights, who feel they were more deserving than some of those who managed to board them. thank you very much indeed. secunder kermani in kabul. the government has admitted a series of failings in the years leading up to the grenfell tower disaster and apologised to the victims of the fire. at the public inquiry into the tragedy, a barrister representing the government said it was �*deeply sorry�* for its past failures in overseeing building safety.

our correspondent tom symonds is here. tell us more about what the government has been saying. it isa it is a significant moment, i think, in this enquiry, which is moving into the last five months of its work to examine how the government reacted when it found out about various issues within the building safety system. the government saying there were problems, there were failures, it is deeply sorry for them and has apologised to the bereaved survivors and residents of the fire but also said the apology cannot change what happened or compensate them for the immeasurable loss and grief suffered. that is the government has backed barrister. the government has backed barrister. the government is not saying that it is responsible for the safety of individual buildings. it is also saying that in some cases the industry did not follow regulations that the government regards as absolutely clear and that will be an issue i think which will be disputed and debated at the enquiry in its coming phasers. also the barrister

this morning set out the many changes that have happened, the introduction of ed building safety regulator one of them, which is a complete u—turn from the previous policy of trying to cut red tape and it came to the construction of buildings. it came to the construction of buildi"95-_ it came to the construction of buildinus. ., ., ~ ,, , . buildings. tom, thank you very much. tom symonds- _ tighter travel rules have come into force today, after the emergence of the omicron variant of coronavirus. people coming to the uk over the age of 12 now have to show evidence of a negative covid test taken no more than 48 hours before starting their journey. our health correspondent jim reed has more. dozens have been queueing in the winter rain for their booster vaccines. this site at sandown racecourse is now offering walk—in jabs without an appointment. well, i've got an appointment next week, but i thought i'm due actually now to have it this week, so i'm just going to get it as early as i can. ministers have said they want to put the booster programme on steroids to better protect people from the new omicron variant.

the numbers receiving a third dose have been going up, but we have not yet seen that surge in jabs the government is talking about. it is thought the full accelerated roll—out might only start from next week in england and other parts of the uk. the booster programme is the fastest in europe and i think we have done more boosters than any comparable country. that doesn't mean it couldn't go faster. i mean, we are ahead of our own timetable. there is still a lot we don't know about omicron. scientists, though, are increasingly confident it can spread faster than the existing delta version of the virus. clearly, omicron has demonstrated an ability to spread rapidly within a delta context and within a highly vaccinated context, particularly in gatherings where covid—19 likes to spread anyway, so christmas parties, workplace gatherings, conferences. new travel rules come into force today in an effort to slow

the spread of the new variant. anyone 12 and over must prove they have tested negative for covid before they travel. the government has brought back its red list of high risk countries, with nigeria added yesterday. anyone arriving from there must go into hotel quarantine at a cost of more than £2000 — a move which has come as a shock to some travellers. there was real panic. we just didn't know if we could get back within the 2a hour window or whether we had to stick with the plans that we had, so so much uncertainty, and then on top of thatjust a real shed load of financial pressure as well. vaccinations are the best form of protection... - new rules and this new publicity campaign are all part of the government's plans for what's hoped will be a more normal christmas. while the danger from omicron is still unclear, the message is that vaccinations are still the most effective way to stay safe this year. jim reed, bbc news. the maternal grandfather of six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes

has said his killers should never be freed. peter halcrow also said someone should have stepped in when "alarm bells" were ringing. arthur was killed in solihull last year by his father, thomas hughes, who was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter, and his partner, emma tustin, who was jailed for life for his murder. their sentences are being examined to consider whether they were too lenient. first storm arwen wreacked havoc on large parts of the uk. now, storm barra is sweeping in from the atlantic. there are weather warnings for snow and strong winds in some areas. several hundred homes are still without power, 11 days after arwen hit. in a moment we'll speak to danny savage in county durham but first chris page, who's in newcastle in county down. chris, what are conditions like

there? , . ., chris, what are conditions like there? , ,, ., . chris, what are conditions like there? , ,,., ., ,, there? yes, storm barra is still roarina. there? yes, storm barra is still roaring- for _ there? yes, storm barra is still roaring. for most _ there? yes, storm barra is still roaring. for most of _ there? yes, storm barra is still roaring. for most of the - there? yes, storm barra is still. roaring. for most of the morning there? yes, storm barra is still- roaring. for most of the morning we have been pelted by horizontal rain as well as the strong winds. i am glad to say it is a little dry are now at least, with high tide here in newcastle and county down are showing there is another particular danger, a storm surge. so here on the promenade which is normally a very popular place for walking, as you will see nobody is out for a walk today because these waves really are pelting the seafront. the rnli has told people not to go near the water plasma edge because there is a chance you could be swept away by a wave. we are slightly elevated here so we are in a safe place but you can certainly see the rest when you can certainly see the rest when you look at the scene behind me there. across the border in the irish republic, conditions even worse. the most severe weather warning of all, a red warning for south—eastern parts and in a number

of coastal areas the government is saying that schools should close today to enable everybody to stay safe. there is is what storm barra is doing to the high pennines at the moment. this is the a66. behind me or go into cumbria, down this direction is county durham. we've been talking to some of the people that live in the remote communities appear this morning. they say they did come back up with power in the last day or so but there are still about 700 properties across north—east england that do not have power at the moment. but we have seen the workers down on the wires further down from here today, still carrying out repairs. that work is carrying out repairs. that work is carrying on but although this is quite a severe winter storm, we think this road will open, very much unlike storm arwen the other day when they closed this road for

several days. so condition is not as bad as a week or so ago but pretty severe winter weather up here today. danny savage, thank you. and thanks to chris page in county down. china has warned the united states will "pay a price" for its decision to stage a diplomatic boycott of the winter olympics over human rights concerns. american athletes will still take part in the games, but the united states won't send an official us delegation. china has called the boycott pretentious and a political manipulation. our china correspondent robin brant reports. china has been preparing for years. now it is almost ready for the boarders, the skiers, and the skaters. this us decision has been a long time in the making as well. but when it came, china didn't hold back. translation: us politicians keep hyping a diplomatic boycott - without even being invited to the games. this wishful thinking and pure grandstanding is aimed at political manipulation.

it is a grave travesty of the spirit of the olympic charter, a blatant political provocation, and a serious affront to the 1.4 billion chinese people. if the us is bent on having its own way, china will take resolute countermeasures. it's not clear what those measures will be. it was only a few weeks ago that presidents biden and xijinping were talking face—to—face, almost, but in announcing the decision to keep its officials and dignitaries away, the white house said it came down to one thin — genocide. the athletes on team usa have our full support. we will be behind them 100% as we cheer them on from home. we will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games. us diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the prc's egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in xinjiang, and we simply can't do that.

the biden administration says china is committing genocide against some of its own people — muslim ethnic uighurs in xinjiang in the west. attention will now turn to other like—minded nations, and will they follow suit? in the months leading up to this decision, one senior british government official intimately involved in forming policy towards china told me the uk ran the risk of being seen as a poodle if it simply followed american�*s lead on a boycott. china's biggest concern about hosting these games has been covid, but the prospect of like—minded nations rallying around a boycott based on claims of genocide is not part of the story it is trying to tell at these games. robin brant, bbc news. the time is 13:16pm. our top story this lunchtime: a foreign office whistle—blower describes the government's evacuation operation in afghanistan in august as "dysfunctional and chaotic". i know what it's like to be a woman who is essentially

invisible to most people. the comedy actress and film producer rebel wilson tells us about her "year of health" during the pandemic. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on the bbc news channel: the ashes countdown is into its last few hours. james anderson is going to sit out the first test in brisbane, though. facebook has recently changed its name to meta, because it says it's transforming itself from a social media firm into a company of the metaverse. facebook is actuallyjust the latest tech giant to jump onto this particular bandwagon, but what exactly is the metaverse? our technology correspondent mark cieslak has been exploring it. so, what actually is the metaverse? well, if we think of the internet as something that we look at,

the metaverse is a version of the internet that we are inside. i'd say there are examples of the metaverse already, if you look at video games. i think a lot of people see the future metaverse is expanding on that experience to include not just gaming but maybe things like a digital workspace or digital events, digital socialising. the idea is that we will experience the metaverse as an avatar, a virtual version of ourselves that we control as we explore this new online frontier. companies like ready player me and oz already have tools to create avatars for a coming metaverse. creations which, in my case, are a slightly younger and trimmer version of the real thing. andrew bosworth is from meta, the company formerly known as facebook. we talked all matters metaverse using virtual reality headsets, appearing as avatars.

ok, so here we are in what might be considered a representation of what the metaverse could be. there's a lot of online hatred out there, a lot of online abuse and misinformation and things of that nature. how are you going to avoid those kinds of experiences seeping into the metaverse? do you really want the system, or a person standing by, listening in? but if the conversation is happening in real time, then how can we modify content without listening? and so i think we have a privacy trade—off against... if you want to have a high degree of content safety, well, that trades off against privacy. microsoft's adapted its workplace meeting software for the metaverse, and will introduce the ability to appear as an avatar next year, explains developer alex kipman. there's quite a few people that have got fatigued by having to have video chat meetings and things of that nature, and that they realise they now crave human contact. human communication is about 5% speech, is about 95%

everything else, right? and instead of having a person next to me having a working one—on—one, i can have the avatar version of that person, one—on—one next to me. so it changes completely the... ..you know, call it screen fatigue we are feeling today. the big question, though, is will people embrace this new vision for our online lives? i think it depends on the specific application. we've seen in gaming lots of people really do enjoy those experiences. would you want to sit in a virtual office as an avatar? i'm less sold on that idea. it seems the metaverse is coming, but its success rests solely in our hands. marc cieslak, bbc news. in turkey opposition parties have renewed calls for early elections amid growing economic instability, following historic falls in the value of the turkish lira. the currency has lost 47% of its value against dollar this year, to become one of the

worst performing currencies in the world. annual inflation has reached 21%, according to official figures. some experts have blamed president erdogan, saying his economic policies are reckless. from istanbul, our international correspondent orla guerin reports. runaway inflation and a plunging currency. it's been falling so fast it's hard to keep track. for turks, the exchange rate makes painful reading. the lira doesn't go far these days. many are counting their pennies. this is kasimpasa, the istanbul neighbourhood where president erdogan grew up, traditionally one of his strongholds. yilmaz sees the prices and walks on by. he has to borrow to survive and he

is furious with the president. these days, when the president utters a word about the economy, the lira nosedives. he insists that cutting interest rates will curb inflation. most experts believe the opposite. if he gets success by using this new model, i think he will get a nobel prize. this professor of finance says the president's policy is a costly mistake. i'm sure that it will not work, this new model. we will lose days and days, years and years, and i am so sad

for the young people in turkey. they are getting more poor and they are losing all their dreams. as losses accumulate, the turkish leader has told his people not to panic. some are still putting their money on him, according to this man, a gold dealer in istanbul's grand bazaar for the past 30 years. here is what awaits those who oppose the president. a reception committee of riot police. even for demonstrations as small as this. chanting. the turkish leader is secure

for now but he is dropping in the polls as the lira drops, and he is facing elections in 2023 — or sooner if opposition parties get their way. orla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. hundreds of staff of an american companyjoined a zoom call with their boss, only to be told he was sacking them. vishal garg, chief executive of a mortgage firm called better.com, blamed staff performance, productivity and market changes for the mass online dismassal of some 900 people, just before christmas. lebo diseko reports. thank you forjoining. um... i come to you with not great news. an understatement if ever there was one. nearly 900 staff called to a zoom meeting by their boss to be told this. if you're on this call, you are... ..part of the unlucky group being laid off.

your employment here is terminated, effective immediately. while his actions are legal in the us, where this took place, here in the uk, things are different. if we are talking about uk law, there is a very clear process that you need to follow, and there are also codes of practice and — organisations will have their own policies and procedures as well. whenever you had to make people redundant, or whether you have to dismiss people, there is a right way of doing it, there is a human way of doing it. since the zoom sacking went viral, better.com has told the bbc that... woman: this is not real! oh, my god. i can't believe this! gut—wrenching too for those on the other side of this call. lebo diseko, bbc news. rebel wilson made her name in hollywood as a comedy actress.

now a producer and director, she's fought her way to the top in an industry still dominated by men. she's been talking to nomia iqbal, for the bbc 100 women series, about her year of health, and why she's opened up about her struggles with fertility. in 2019, i had, like, four pretty successful movies come out. and i'd done all this amazing stuff career—wise. but then in the next year, all i did was just lose 80lbs. and, like, the attention that gets... it was insane. ..is way more than being in an academy award nominated film, and producing my first movie, and doing all this stuff. can i read you one headline? yeah, sure. "rebel wilson has a bond girl moment in an incredible curve—hugging swimsuit." wow. how do you feel about that? i never thought i would be described anywhere near a bond girl. how do you feel about those sorts of headlines about your weight loss? so, is that what a woman has to do in the world, isjust lose weight to, like, get attention?

i know what it's like to be a woman who was essentially invisible to most people because of not being seen as traditionally beautiful or whatever. even though i was still very confident being bigger, and loved myself, you know, would rock a red carpet, 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 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 that i hadn't kind of processed or dealt with in my life. that was manifesting as emotional eating. but what i tried to do is just share just enough that hopefully people can understand some of the struggles i've been through. so i've been sharing things about fertility, or talking about a health

transformation, emotional eating, and what i suffered going through that, is ultimately to try to help people. and the fertility issue that you've talked about, that's really personal and intimate. i was diagnosed when i was like 20 with something called polycystic ovarian syndrome, which made sense, like, that i gained a lot of weight rapidly with that. and i'm still trying on the fertility journey, even though, like, it is emotional and you get hopeful and then your hopes are dashed. and so i feel for any woman going through it. it would be great if i had my own children. i am the healthiest i can be, i'm going to try and what will happen will happen. rebel wilson talking to the bbc�*s nomia iqbal there. cricket, and the first ashes test starts tonight in australia, but england have left out their record wicket takerjames anderson. patrick gearey looks ahead to what promises to be an enthralling contest. in the english imagination,

australia means danger. uncomfortable, unfamiliar, uncompromising. english cricketers are used to feeling isolated down under but rarely so literally. they've had to quarantine and abide by strict and changeable australian covid rules. it's very different to any series we've ever encountered before. but it's the same for both teams. you know, it's an environment which, and the build—up that's been very unique in many ways, and it will come down to how we manage, how we have managed it. not only do we not know how the series will finish, we don't know where either. the final test has been moved from perth due to western australia's covid rules. no new home for it has been announced. indeed, finding somewhere to play cricket has been a problem for england. they seem to have taken the weather with them. the likes of ben stokes have had to make the most of rare breaks in the cloud just to warm up.

all this in a country where england have won just one test series in eight. in many respects, we've got nothing to lose coming here. we've got a great chance in the circumstances that we find ourselves in, to come and do something very special, and, you know, we should take great confidence from that going into it. so, what about the aussies? well, it all started in tears. it's an incredibly difficult decision but the right one for me. captain tim paine resigned over explicit texts he had sent in 2017. so pat cummins was given the biggest job in australian sport, less than two weeks before the series starts. it's the first time i've put on the blazer, actually, fits ok. yeah, i think when we walk out here day one, and see a packed house and see all the tv cameras and the start of the summer, it feels like it's here, i think that's when it will hit me. where there are ashes, there must be fire. normally, it comes naturally. this is cricket at its fiercest. one thing about this strange

series we can be sure of. patrick gearey, bbc news.