tonight at ten: buckingham palace issues a formal apology as a senior member of the royal household is accused of making racist remarks. lady susan hussey, who was lady—in—waiting to the queen, made the remarks at a palace reception yesterday. ngozi fulani, a british—born charity founder, was questioned repeatedly about her background, and asked where she and "her people" were "really" from. the conversation also involved another guest. it made us feel like perhaps we are not welcome, perhaps we don't belong here. and you could be pretty sure that a white woman wouldn't have been on the receiving end of a line of questioning like that. the prince of wales,

lady hussey�*s godson, arriving on an official visit to the usa this evening, says racism has no place in our society. the palace described lady hussey�*s remarks as "unacceptable and deeply regrettable," and said that she had stepped aside with immediate effect. also tonight... the first drug to slow the destruction of the brain in alzheimer's has been described as a momentous breakthrough. at least 25,000 ambulance workers vote to strike in parts of england and wales, possibly before christmas, over pay and conditions. and christine mcvie, the hugely successful singer—songwriter with fleetwood mac, has died at the age of 79. 0n on bbc 0n bbc london, thurrock council faces one of the largest financial black holes ever reported by a local authority. and we look at only —— by

only 1% of bike thefts resulted in police action. good evening. buckingham palace has issued a formal apology following remarks made by a senior member of the royal household in a conversation with a black guest at a palace reception. lady susan hussey is godmother to prince william, and served as lady—in—waiting to the late queen. at a gathering hosted by the queen consort, lady hussey repeatedly challenged ngozi fulani, a charity founder, to say where she and "her people" were "really" from. ms fulani tried to explain several times that she was a british national by birth. the palace described lady hussey�*s remarks as "unacceptable and deeply regrettable," and said that she had stepped aside with immediate effect. another guest at the reception said lady hussey�*s comments had been "offensive,

racist and unwelcoming." a spokesperson for prince william, responding to the incident, said that "racism has no place in our society." 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the latest. buckingham palace yesterday afternoon, a reception concerning violence against women hosted by the queen consort. standing next to camilla with her back to the family is ngozi fulani, the chief executive of sister's space and a prominent advocate for survivors of domestic abuse. lady susan hussey, on the left ear, was a lady in waiting to the late queen elizabeth for more than 60 years and is a senior member of the royal household. according to ms fulani the following conversation took place between them.

another guest at the reception heard the exchange. it another guest at the reception heard the exchange-— the exchange. it may 'ust feel erha -s the exchange. it may 'ust feel perhaps we * the exchange. it may 'ust feel perhaps we are h the exchange. it may 'ust feel perhaps we are not _ the exchange. it mayjust feel perhaps we are not welcome, | the exchange. it mayjust feel- perhaps we are not welcome, perhaps we do not belong —— it made us feel. you can be pretty sure a white woman would not have been on the receiving

end of questioning like that. buckingham palace said it took the whole incident seriously. lady susan hussey has given years of devoted service to the royal family, she is godmother to prince william. she had said nothing further about the incident. ngozi fulani, seen here talking to the queen consort yesterday, has accused buckingham palace of being institutionally bassist. into this tonight have stepped the prince and princess of wales, they have just arrived on a ba flight into boston. william's spokesman said racism has no place in british society and it is right that lady hussey stepped aside. it amounts to an uncomfortable reminder at the start of the us visit of the

comments about racist attitudes by the duchess of sussex. the prince and princess wales havejust the duchess of sussex. the prince and princess wales have just arrived in boston for their first visit to the usa in eight years. our royal correspondence and yellow is outside thejfk presidential library and museum. —— our royal correspondent daniela relph is. it museum. -- our royal correspondent daniela relph is.— daniela relph is. it has not been an ideal start to _ daniela relph is. it has not been an ideal start to the _ daniela relph is. it has not been an ideal start to the prince _ daniela relph is. it has not been an ideal start to the prince and - ideal start to the prince and princess of wales' trip to boston, it has been embarrassing and distracting. this was meant to be a trip about environmental innovation, optimism for the future, meeting a wide—ranging communities in boston but instead their spokesman has had toissue but instead their spokesman has had to issue a statement condemning racism, describing the comments

yesterday as unacceptable. but in issuing that right at the start of the trip, william and catherine have made their feelings and their position on this matter explicitly clear. they will now try to concentrate on the trip itself which now includes a brief meeting with president biden on friday. they will try to concentrate on the things they say matt to them here, diversity, representation, sustainability, the big themes of this week —— the things they say matter to them. we expect to see them on show in their engagements in boston over the coming days. man? boston over the coming days. many thanks, daniela _ boston over the coming days. many thanks, daniela relph _ boston over the coming days. many thanks, daniela relph at— boston over the coming days. many thanks, daniela relph at the jfk thanks, daniela relph at thejfk library. for the first time, scientists have found a drug that slows the onset of early—stage alzheimer's disease. it's being described as a momentous breakthrough following decades of failure, and heralds a new era of possible treatments for alzheimer's — which is the most common form of dementia.

the medicine is called lecanemab, and because the drug works in the early stages of the disease, many would miss out unless early diagnosis is dramatically improved. around one million people are thought to be living with dementia in the uk. alzheimer's affects around 60% of them, a disease which gradually destroys areas of the brain, affecting memory and understanding. this new drug won't be available until it is officially approved, and it's likely to be expensive. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh has more details. dementia is the most feared condition among older people, but mavis, who is 88, is enjoying her retirement, such as coffee mornings, despite a diagnosis of early—stage alzheimer's. i don't feel old, i don't feel tired particularly.

we enjoy life together, and i've got family which i absolutely adore and enjoy them. life, i think, is rather nice. mavis' short—term memory is badly affected, and she increasingly relies on her husband, rodney. what are you going to do with yourself today? i have no idea. you're going up to have an infusion at the clinic. oh, thank you. that's exciting. come on, rodney, let's get going. mavis is one of nearly 2,000 patients who took part in a pivotal trial of an experimental alzheimer's treatment. so i'm just going to show you the hippocampus, i and that's where all our short—term memory is stored. _ and what you can see is that - structure is very small and shrunken and replaced by fluid i because of the disease. alzheimer's gradually destroys key areas of the brain involved in memory and understanding. the damage is driven by the build—up

of a rogue protein called amyloid, which clumps around neurons in the brain. the new drug lecanemab binds to amyloid, which prompts immune cells to attack and clear it from the brain. access to the drug could be severely limited, in part because specialist tests required to screen patients for amyloid or not widely available. but there will be a clamour for the treatment, which in the trial slowed cognitive decline by about a quarter over 18 months. lecanemab is not a cure. it can only help patients in the early stages of alzheimer's, but it is the first drug to convincingly slow cognitive decline, so that makes it a breakthrough against this relentless disease. doctors running the trial are delighted by the findings. this is so exciting because now we are getting results,

the first results, that are indicating that the drug is successfully treating the underlying cause and it is slowing down the symptoms of cognitive impairment, and also the behavioural symptoms associated with alzheimer's disease. you look nice and warm. mavis may have been on a dummy or placebo drug during the trial, but is now definitely getting lecanemab. she receives an infusion every two weeks at this clinic in surrey. now, i heard you had a big coffee morning this morning. _ 0h, did i? her alzheimer's is still progressing, but her husband says it's not robbed her of her personality. we don't want to just sit around and wait for the inevitable, which is why we applied for the trial, and we are now extremely pleased that we did so, because, you know, it appears to have had a very

positive effect on mavis. mavis had no side effects, but others on the trial did, including brain swelling and microbleeds. lecanemab is farfrom being a perfect drug, but alzheimer's researchers say it points the way to better treatments in future. fergus walsh, bbc news. at least 25,000 ambulance workers have voted to go on strike in england and wales, increasing the threat of widespread industrial action in the nhs before christmas. paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff who are members of the gmb and unison were responding to the government's 4% pay award. 0ur employment correspondent zoe conway has more details. together in a show of strength, some of the biggest unions involved in industrial action, representing rail workers, college and university employees,

postal workers and nhs staff. joining picket lines soon will be paramedics and 999 call handlers. 25,000 ambulance workers who are members of the gmb and unison have voted to strike across england and wales in all of these ten areas. they could walk out before christmas. for the last ten years, ambulance calls have increased by over 70%, while the number of staff have increased by only 7%. those figures are just unsustainable, and the pressure on ambulance workers and health workers has been building and building and building. the royal college of nursing is also walking out over two days in december. what do we want? 10%! hundreds of thousands of people have already been involved in strike action so far this year. some people have compared all of this to the industrial

action of the 1970s, the so—called winter of discontent, so how does that compare? well, betweenjune and september this year, 741,000 days were lost to strike action. you come to this figure if you add up all of the days each worker was on strike. no data was available during the pandemic, but you can see we are nearly at a decade—long high in terms of lost days. if we look at the number of days lost compared to the 1970s, well, this year's spike over here is tiny in comparison. in 1979, which is shown by this middle peak here, 29 million days were lost in strikes. unison has admitted today it is disappointed that members at only eight out of 250 nhs trusts voted to strike, but there are many more strike days looming this winter, and there will be more union

votes over industrial action in the new year. there are more updates, news and analysis on bbc news 0nline — that's bbc.co.uk/news — and by using the bbc news app. hsbc is to close 114 branches nationwide from next april as part of the bank's modernisation plans. it says there has been a decline in the number of customers going into the bank, while the use of its digital banking app has risen sharply. up to 400 prisoners in england and wales could be moved to police cells to relieve overcrowding injails. thejustice minister damian hinds said he was activating the temporary scheme — known as 0peration safeguard — for the first time since because of a backlog of criminal cases.

labour said the system was on the brink of collapse. a woman is killed, on average, every two days in england and wales, and where the suspect is known, 90 % of the victims were killed by men. a group of bereaved families has joined together to campaign against male violence, a "tidal wave of violence," and "a culture of gross negligence." more than 1.5 million women experienced domestic abuse last year, according to the latest figures. the home office says it's investing more than £230 million to tackle these crimes. our special correspondent lucy manning has been talking to some of the families who've lost loved ones. i lost two people. one is my sister and one my niece. she was my elder sister. my absolute everything.

she was my aunt and she loved romantic movies. l this room is filled with loss, grief and anger. the real impact of violence against women. many of them could have been prevented, but it's the systems in place and the policies in place that are failing everybody and we demand change. the failure from the police and other sectors was outrageous, was horrendous. so it shows that there's a lack of understanding of domestic abuse. nour�*s sister and niece failed by west midlands police, dismissing their 999 calls. she called them four or five times and they didn't come out even though he was attacking her. so i don't know what it takes really for changes to happen. is it more women to die? anjali has seen little change. heraunt, mumtahina janna, strangled to death in 2011. a judge called her a silly woman

when she said she feared her husband would kill her. nobody believed her. the police, children's services, doctors, school, everyone hadl nuggets of information. nothing was shared. from your experience, what do you think needs to change and improve? there's another angle to it which my aunt really, - really felt keenly, _ which was the racism that can also go hand in hand with misogyny- to downplay domestic violence even further than it was . already downplayed. carol's daughter, ellie, stabbed 13 times by her ex—boyfriend. julie's daughter, poppy, stabbed 49 times by hers. they believe sentencing is unfair, with less time if a knife is used in the home rather than the streets. it's saying that the women who lose their lives in the homes with weapons that are often used from the kitchen, their lives are worth ten years less. it's insulting to the victim's lives.

my daughter's life is worth 12.5 years to the criminaljustice system. the politicians just don't imagine that it could possibly happen to them. well, it could. and if they, forfive minutesjust actually really tried to get inside the pain that we feel constantly and think that could be my daughter lying there, then maybe, just maybe, they would begin to listen and change. my sister gemma was murdered by her husband. i really believe there should be a domestic abuse register because i think from the first moment that you have been charged, you should have your name... you should be forced to put your name on that register, just like sex offenders do. the government are very keen about keeping streets safe, but actually it's not the streets that is the problem. the perpetrators are the ones who are roaming the streets and they are the ones that need to be dealt with. chloe was just nine when her mum suzanne was killed by her abusive partner.

i think social services just need to do ten times better. - like there'd be times— where they would call and pre—book when they'd be coming to visit. there was a time he moved a rug from the living room _ to my bedroom upstairs, because it was blood - stains on the floor. it's not how things . should be done at all. aysha's cousinjan murdered by a convicted sex offender. what's your message to the government, to the prime minister, about what you've been through collectively? listen and learn. 0ur voices are the most important. if you don't listen, you're not going to get nowhere. along with other families, their new campaign group killed women will demand changes to protect women. too much violence, too many left without mothers, daughters and sisters. lucy manning, bbc news. for details of organisations

which offer advice and support for anyone who has been affected by these issues you can contact bbc action line. that's at bbc.co.uk/actionline. china's former leader jiang zemin, who came to power after the student protests in tiananmen square in 1989, has died at the age of 96. he presided over a time when china opened up on a vast scale and saw high—speed growth. a chinese communist party statement said he died of leukaemia and multiple organ failure. his death comes as china sees some of its most serious protests since tiananmen square, with many demonstrating against the tough covid restrictions. in afghanistan, an increasing number of restrictions are being imposed on women by the ruling taliban regime.

in the past month, women have been banned from parks, gyms and swimming pools. girls are still barred from secondary schools in most of the country, and women are not allowed to work in some sectors. from kabul, yogita limaye reports. rare moments ofjoy in a country where so much is often bleak and sad. but the mothers of these children denied the right to be a part of the memories they're making. women aren't allowed in parks anymore. barred from the simple pleasure of a bit of fun with family and friends. this is only a male privilege now, one that many from the ruling taliban appear to enjoy, while they block half of the country's people from it. i'm not allowed inside the park. this is the closest that i or any other woman can get to it.

there are some who'd say that this move doesn't really impact most of the country, because at this point, having a fun evening out is a luxury that a majority of the people simply cannot afford. but that's not the point. it's about the symbolism of the move and what it tells us about the intent of the taliban. a few weeks ago, activist zarifa yakubi and three others were detained, another move that belies a hardening of the taliban's stance on women. there's more. this is badakhshan university in the north. female students weren't allowed to enter unless they wore a burqa. they have the opportunity... and this young student is now questioning what could come next. we're hiding her identity to protect her. every day when i wake up as a girl in afghanistan, i have to hear a new news day by day. these limitations came first, and we are waiting just, we are waiting to hear, it might be tomorrow they say you cannot come out from your home and you have

to stayjust to your home. not far away, the taliban's morality police. its vice and virtue ministry. another place afghan women are barred from. i asked the spokesman why they were clamping down on women. translation: in the past 15 months we gave our sisters l the opportunity to go to parks and other tourist places. unfortunately, they were not following islamic rules. about schools, you have to ask the ministry of education, but with regards freedom of speech, women can ask for their rights. women aren't able to raise a voice, are they? because those who have have been jailed, or their protests have been stopped. translation: in every country, if a woman or man challenge - the orders of the state, they are stopped. in other countries, they have been killed. we have not done that.

but if someone is raising their voice against the national interest, of course they will be silenced. the taliban's words don't scare some, like layla basseem. she's participated in multiple protests and recently set up this library for women, to counter the growing restrictions. translation: we are not afraid| of death or that the taliban might torture or threaten our families. we are scared of being omitted from society, and it's disappointing that the entire world is supporting the women of iran, but not the women of afghanistan. we feel broken and forgotten. half of the country's people uncertain about their future. trapped in the only nation in the world where teenage girls are barred from school. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul.

at the world cup, argentina and poland are both through to the knockout stages after coming top of their group, despite argentina beating poland 2—0.. earlier, tunisia beat defending champions france 1—0, but it wasn't enough to get through to the next round. france and australia will go, as our correspondent jane dougall reports. after a poor start, argentina's hopes of staying in this world cup where resting on the shoulders of messi. so often their saviour but against poland... the star striker had difficulty. it took england —based players to get through, first mcallister then alvarez scored a second, securing their qualification and leaving poland in peril. they were dependent on the other match.

this was mexico's second goal against saudi arabia, a third and they were through, sending poland home. but it wasn't to be. and poland progressed. france had already qualified, so left their best players on the bench. 0pponents tunisia took advantage. khazri keeping his composure. tunisia thought they were through but celebrations were cut short as news from the other match in their group filtered through. australia and denmark could also qualify. denmark the favourites, but mathew leckie powered through to beat kasper schmeichel and the tables had turned. much to the delight of the australian fans watching in melbourne. disappointment for denmark and a shot qualification for australia, through for the first time in 16 years. —— christine mcvie, the hugely successful singer and songwriter

who was part of the rock band fleetwood mac, has died at the age of 79. the band sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the most successful groups ever. christine mcvide was born in cumbria, but spent most of her life in the us, as our correspondent david sillito reports. fleetwood mac and don't stop. the song bill clinton chose as his campaign anthem. # just think what tomorrow will do # don't stop thinking about tomorrow # don't stop because it will soon be here # it'll be here better than before # yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone #. and the songwriter, christine mcvie. she'd been part of the british blues scene in the 60s with the band chicken shack and also as a solo artist before joining mick fleetwood and her husband, john mcvie.

she had a gift for writing hits. # tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies #. little lies, everywhere, you make loving fun, the band's best known songs were her work but she tired of the endless touring. # you can go your own way # go your own way # you can call it...#. there was a long break but she rejoined the band in 2014. # and i love you, i love you, i love you # like never before #. fleetwood mac has had many ups and downs but their success owed much to the songwriting skill of christine mcvie. in a statement the band said, we were so lucky to have a life with her. time for a look at the weather. here's chris faulkes.

it has been another day of contrasts. the scottish borders had some of the coldest weather. fog lingered. this was in the afternoon with the sun trying but failing to make it through the fog. temperature is —1 in places here. in cornwall, 12, 13 in the isles of scilly, quite mild over western areas. right now fog is beginning to thicken up and develop, particularly across southern england, but we have patches in the north—east of england and the scottish borders area which we've had all day. some of the fog will be dense, visibility down to 100 metres in areas. no chance of fog for northern ireland. some of this murky weather for england and wales, well, a slow start, allow extra time for your morning commute as the fog could linger in one or two places all day once again. a bit of rain across scotland, tending to

become confined in the north late in the day. again we will have some of the day. again we will have some of the highest temperatures across the western