welcome to bbc news, i'm nuala mcgovern, our top stories: buckingham palace issues a formal apology, after a senior member of the royal household is accused of making racist remarks, to a black, british, reception guest. donald trump's tax returns are handed to a democratic—led, congressional committe, following last week's supreme court ruling. at least two people have been killed and dozens are missing after a landslide on a motorway in southern brazil. musicians and fans pay tribute to christine mcvie, the hugely successful singer—songwriter with fleetwood mac, who's died at the age of 79. and, the best thing since sliced bread, the humble french baguette is awarded unesco

cultural heritage status. hello and welcome to the programme. a member of the buckingham palace household has resigned and apologised after she repeatedly asked a domestic abuse campaigner where she "really came from". ngozi fulani — who's black — says her conversation with lady susan hussey, during a reception hosted by the queen consort was a "violation". lady susan had served as a lady in waiting for queen elizabeth, for more than 60 years — and has now stepped aside with immediate effect. nicholas witchell reports — and a warning there is some flash photography coming up. buckingham palace yesterday afternoon, a reception concerning violence against women hosted by the queen consort.

standing next to camilla here and with her back to the camera is ngozi fulani, chief executive of sister space in a prominent advocate for survivors of domestic abuse. also at the reception was lady susan hussey, on the left here. she was a lady in waiting to the late queen elizabeth for more than 60 years, and a senior member of the royal household. according to ms fulani, the following conversation took place between the two women.

another guest at the reception heard the exchange. it made us feel like, perhaps we are not welcome, perhaps we do not belong here. and you can be pretty sure that a white woman would not have been on the receiving end of a line of questioning like that. buckingham palace said it took the whole incident extremely seriously. it went on, "in this instance, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made. the individual concerned would like to express our profound apologies for the hurt caused, and has stepped aside from her honorary role with immediate effect." lady susan hussey has worked at buckingham palace

for much of her adult life. she is godmother to prince william. ngozi fulani, seen here talking to the queen consort yesterday has accused buckingham palace of being institutionally racist. it all amounts to an uncomfortable reminder at the start of wilyman catherine's us visit of the comments about racist attitudes by the duchess of sussex. william's spokesman has said racism has no place in british society and it was right that lady hussey had stepped aside. a short time ago the prince of wales launched celebrations for the earthshot prize, which is his initiative to tackle climate change. take a listen to what he had to say. 60 years ago presidentjohn f kennedy's moonshot speech laid down a challenge to american innovation and ingenuity. "we choose to go to the moon," he said. "not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

it was that moonshot speech that inspired me to launch the earthshot prize with the aim of doing the same for climate change as president kennedy did for the space race. let's get some of the day's other news. south africa's president, cyril ramaphosa, faces the threat of eventual impeachment after an inquiry found he may have violated his oath of office. his critics accuse him of having covered up a burglary at his farm nearly three years ago. he denies wrongdoing. the vatican's official website has been hit by a suspected cyberattack. ukraine's ambassador to the vatican blamed russian hackers. he suggested the attack was in response to recent comments from pope francis. thousands of ambulance service staff in england and wales have voted to go on strike. members of unite, unison and the gmb unions are concerned about pay and working conditions. they are warning that

the walkouts could take place before christmas, raising the prospect that it could clash with the action by the royal college of nursing. the us house of representatives has passed a bill to block an economically damaging rail strike. if approved by the senate, it will enforce a provisional deal which has been opposed by some unions. the us treasury has made available documents containing former president donald trump's tax returns to a congressional committee. mr trump has long argued that the investigation is politically motivated. lets speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. good to have you with us, peter. this hasjust been handed over, considered a victory for the democrats but what can they really do with that? , . ., what can they really do with that? y a, a, . what can they really do with that? _ a, a, . , that? they can analyse these documents — that? they can analyse these documents to _ that? they can analyse these documents to see _ that? they can analyse these documents to see what - that? they can analyse these documents to see what kind l that? they can analyse these l documents to see what kind of methods donald trump has been using to, as we understand, pay relatively little in taxes over the years, in question, some

six years of documents have been handed over and of course this follows a long legal fight by the president to keep them under wraps. this really goes back to 2016 when donald trump first stood for the white house. he became the first president in four cades not to hand over his tax documents and during the time in office for him he was successful in that. things changed whenjoe biden became president and there was more pressure on the former president to hand over these documents. he used every legal to, it seems, in the book to keep those documents private. it went to the highest court in the land, the supreme court, and they ruled just last weekend the ruling went against donald trump, the court saying without offering any comment that the treasury department have to hand them over to the house ways and means committee which has involved an investigation looking at

whether tax officials are properly auditing presidential candidates and whether any new legislation is needed, so that investigation is about more than donald trump but this has become about donald trump, in large part because of the way in which the issue has been politicised, but of course as well because people are simply curious as to why donald trump has insisted for all of these years that these documents, these tax returns, be kept private. these tax returns, be kept rivate. ~ �* , , private. will americans see them, do — private. will americans see them. do you _ private. will americans see them, do you think? - private. will americans see them, do you think? will . private. will americans see i them, do you think? will they become public? i them, do you think? will they become public?— become public? i think that is uuite become public? i think that is quite likely- _ become public? i think that is quite likely. there _ become public? i think that is quite likely. there isn't- become public? i think that is quite likely. there isn't a - quite likely. there isn't a mechanism where the house ways and means committee has to make the documents public, but they will be scrutinising them over the next few weeks and time is against them to do that. the republicans take control of the house of representatives in january, we got christmas approaching is a really about three weeks of this particular committee before it's dismounted and the republicans take control of the committees

so a tight schedule to go through all of the detail in these documents, but a lot of people believe that the findings will eventually be made public.— findings will eventually be made public. findings will eventually be made ublic. h , ., made public. let's see what it does, made public. let's see what it does. then. — made public. let's see what it does, then, to _ made public. let's see what it does, then, to elections - made public. let's see what it does, then, to elections and i does, then, to elections and all the rest with voters. thanks so much, peter. thanks so much for talking to us. democratic party members in the us house of representatives have elected hakeem jeffries as their new leader. he will take over from nancy pelosi injanuary. mrjefferies will be the first black american to hold such a high—ranking position in congress. what an incredible blessing to be able to continue to rely on the life experiences, the wisdom, the leadership instincts, the skills, the talent and ability of speaker pelosi, leader hoyer and jim clyburn. it is a blessing that we embrace. we stand on their shoulders and look forward to continuing to get things done for everyday americans.

at least two people have been killed and dozens are missing after a landslide on a motorway in southern brazil. rescue workers say bad weather and the remote location are complicating the search effort. sylvia lennan—spence reports. the torrent of mud came rushing down a steep hillside after days of heavy rain in the resilient state of parana. it swept across a large section of this highway, washing away everything in its path, including sections of road as well as around 20 cars and trucks. emergency responders say dozens of people are missing. they are using drones with heat detector cameras to try to find survivors, but bad weather and the remote location are hampering the search. closure of the highway is causing serious issues for brazilian industry, cutting off access to parana port, the country's second—biggest port for grain and sugars shipments.

about 80% of goods to parana arrive by trucks but it is too early to estimate the potential losses from the disruption stopping the national weather service is now issuing further heavy rain warnings for multiple state. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: mass celebrations in melbourne as australia's footballers qualify for the knockout stages of the men's world cup. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i'm feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippie cult - suspected of killing sharon tate - and at least six other.

people in los angeles. at 11 o'clock this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle, then philippe cossette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands and exchanging flags with his opposite numberfrom dover. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: buckingham palace issues a formal apology as a senior member of the royal household is accused of making racist remarks to a black british reception guest. donald trump's tax returns are handed to a democratic—led, congressional committee following last week's supreme court ruling.

to china now, where the former chinese leaderjiang zemin has died in shanghai. he was 96. he took over from deng xiaoping in the aftermath of the tiananmen square massacre in 1989. for more than a decade, he presided over china's extraordinary rise in prosperity and global influence, though it was also a period of increased religious repression, corruption and environmental degradation. steve mcdonell reports from beijing. jiang zemin will be remembered as the leader of china when his country rejoined the global community. a time of opening up and high—speed growth. he was also known as a powerbroker, economic reformer and something of an eccentric. after the bloody 1989 crackdown on protesters in and around tiananmen square, china was ostracised internationally. in the aftermath, jiang zemin was chosen as a compromise leader

in the hope he'd unify hardliners and more liberal elements. he prioritised market forces, giving china the highest level of per capita growth of any major country. but political reforms were put to one side. and he's been criticised for the mass detention of falun gong practitioners who were seen as a threat to the party. he was at the helm for the hong kong handover, when china joined the world trade organisation, and when it was awarded the 2008 summer olympics. whether it be playing ping—pong... ..singing... ..or showing off his hawaiian guitar skills... ..jiang zemin was a showman, in sharp contrast to the leaders who've followed him. exciting! too simple. sometimes naive! he famously gave hong kong journalists a public dressing down

in english, and his images have become gifs and emojis still flying around chinese social media with a mixture of affection and hilarity. at a press conference with former us president bill clinton, there was debating and light—hearted banter. it's hard to imagine this happening now. cbs news asked if he was running a development dictatorship. am i wrong? of course. this is a big mistake. big mistake. of course. in his elderly years, there was still talk of him retaining a factional power base as he survived rumour after rumour that he'd passed away. yet his final public appearance in 2019 showed that evenjiang zemin had to slow down some time. in the world cup, argentina and poland will progress

to the last 16 from their group. australia are also through to the knockout stage for the first time in 16 years, alongside the current champions, france. lucy hockings is in doha. what a spectacle we've had here in doha. as we watched all the twists and turns as group d reorganised itself over the course of just over 90 minutes. because we knew that france were always going to go through to the final 16. they essentially fielded a reserve team to give them some match time. and also, giving some of their star players a rest. so in that match, it was actually tunisia who triumphed, 1—0. it was a nice consolation for tunisia. they won't progress to the last 16, but their fans are saying is "we beat the world champions." so, some pretty happy tunisia fans despite the fact they are not progressing. lots of praise for the australian team, as well, the socceroos.

they really dug in deep. they showed grit and determination in their match to beat denmark, who were the favourites in their match, 1—0. it was a stunning goal from matthew leckie in the 60th minute. incredible scenes in the early hours in melbourne as fans there celebrated the result in federation square in the centre of the city. so the socceroos are through to the knockout stages and that's a feat they've only achieved once before. that was back in 2006. let's look ahead to thursday. costa rica goes up against germany. that game is going to be really interesting. notjust because of the action on the pitch with the players. but the world's attention will also be focused on the all—female refereeing trio. there is history being made at this world cup because they'll take charge for the first time in a men's world cup match. it's referee stephanie frappart who will be joined by assistants neuza back and karen diaz. something to look forward to. something to celebrate as well as some fantastic football too. thank you very much, lucy.

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 mcvie 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, many of 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."

earlier, i asked musicjournalistjim farber about what set christine mcvie apart. first of all, she was a triple threat, she was a master songwriter, a distinct singer with a timbre and tone like nobody else, and she was a great musician, great keyboardist, she brought a sound of the group, she helped changed the group from what had originally been a blues group to a much broader—based pop and folk rock kind of group when they started breaking in america in the 1970s. and it's important to know that at the band's peak in the �*70s, the most famous part of the band, when they were generating hit after hit, and there were three songwriters in the group, also stevie nicks and lindsey buckingham at that time, and she was generating more hits than any of them. if you look at their greatest hits package with 16 songs, eight of the songs on there,

half of the songs on there are written or co—written by christine. i saw as well she wrote songbird, which is one of my favourites. in 30 minutes, which boggles the mind, that it is now part of music history. but also, that they had such a tumultuous time in the band. you say they were high for a lot of making of it, and yet it turns out one of these albums that i think many people would agree is one of the best albums ever written. definitely. i mean, this was an album that famously came out of incredible turmoil, all the relationships in the group were breaking down, and yet they used it for fuel. mick fleetwood has talked about it that he was almost a coach, saying, yes, we had these horrible things happen, but let's use it, let's use it as our inspiration to write songs at a level because, as you know, very often when you're in pain, it can bring out wonderful things in creative people, it can bring them to

a new level of their talent. and what about her, if we can think about christine as well, away from fleetwood mac, what sort of person was she? i know she was working up until really in the past few years as well, continuing pushing musically. tell us a bit more about her life. she was a very modest person, i met her a few times, but other people who knew her quite better, everyone talks about the fact that she was not particularly impressed by fame, but also, not annoying about it. sometimes people, when they run from fame, they get really snotty, but she never seemed like that, she was very down to earth. she someone you could say never really sought the spotlight per se, but the spotlight came and found her, there was no way she was not going to be in the spotlight, given her talent. she wanted to make music, she didn't necessarily want to be famous.

and it was a short illness that she suffered? yes, i don't know anything more. there was an interview that she gave in the last year to rolling stone where she talked about some terrible pain in her back. it hasn't been reported yet specifically what led to her death. there are arguably few things more quintessentially french than the baguette. and yet, the loaf has been in decline in recent years, with many traditional bakeries struggling to stay afloat. but now, there's something to celebrate, as unesco has added the baguette to its intangible cultural heritage list. tom brada reports. the humble french baguette, a towering icon among continental baked goods, is currently the toast of the town. the crusty loaf was voted

onto a prestigious unesco list under the title artisanal know how and culture of baguette bread. and to this day, it remains a key part of french identity. translation: you buy bread, you talk to someone, - you meet people. all of this creates a social link at a time when the world is increasingly virtual without contact. the exact origins of the lengthy loaf aren't known. some say the bread was ordered by napoleon because it would be easier for soldiers to carry. that can't be proven. but the baguette, as we know it today, was only officially named in 1920. it was then that strict rules about what classed as a baguette were put in place, standardised at 80cm long and 250g in weight. translation: shaping the touch of the dough by the baker. - all that is a skill that you've been learning for years. it often takes ten years to really know your subject. the bread sings

when it comes out of the oven. the baguette has struggled in recent times, with hundreds of artisanal bakeries closing down each year. but unesco's decision has struck a chord with french society. president macron captured the mood of the nation, posting this picture along with a simple message: "250g of magic and perfection in our daily lives." tom brada, bbc news. let us turn to the united states again. the us presidentjoe biden, first lady drjill biden and host ll coolj braved the cold to turn on the lights of the 100th national christmas tree near the white house. five, four, three, two, one... here we go! for the first time in two years, the public were able to attend the ceremony and see the 17—foot white fir decorated with thousands of lights. the night's entertainment included music performances by the us marine band, ariana de bose, shania twain,

the estefa ns. the tree lighting ceremony dates back to christmas eve in 1923 when president calvin coolidge lit up a a8—foot fir tree. hello again. wednesday brought us some big weather contrast, once again. now we have some fog that lingered all day around the scottish borders and where that happened, temperatures in places actually stayed below freezing all day, whereas across the south—west of england, we had some pleasant sunshine. it was quite mild. 12 degrees in cornwall, 13 in the isles of scilly. right now, fog is becoming our next concern. we've got quite dense patches of fog across southern areas of england with the risk of some fog developing across wales, midlands, east anglia, and for a time as well, north—east england. so, it might be worth allowing a little bit of extra time for your commute to work during the first part of thursday, because i think some of that fog is going to be

quite dense with visibility down to 100 metres or so. and some of the fog willjust lift into low cloud and mist and could loiter all day in one or two spots. otherwise, a lot of dry weather across england and wales with some sunny spells developing, some damp weather to start the day across eastern scotland. but the rain then tends to move into northern scotland later in the day. and for northern ireland, it brightens up. notice again, the mildest weather will be across the north—west of the country, 12 degrees in stornoway, whereas across england, wales typically temperatures around about 7 to 9 degrees. we've got a similar mix of weather around on friday again with some mist and fog patches to start the day. and then again, it's a day where we'll see quite a bit of cloud, but some sunny spells developing here and there. 0ur temperatures not really changing too much across england and wales. again, about 7 to 9, still mild for northern ireland and western scotland. now, taking a check on the weather picture into this weekend — easterly winds are going to start to strengthen, and what that will do is bring us some thicker areas of cloud and we'll see some patches of mostly light rain moving in. so you could see some damp weather just about anywhere,

but it's the winds that you'll notice and it will start to feel a little bit colder as well. however, into next week, that's when we're expecting the weather to turn much colder. still, you see an area of high pressure is going to develop in greenland. and what that's going to do is it's going to shove these northerly winds southwards with polar air moving its way across the uk, really dumping the temperatures. and for some, particularly over the hills, you may all be looking at the first sign of winter. yes, there is the potential for some winter snowfall into next week. still some way off, we'll be firming upon the details over the next few days.

this is bbc news, the headlines... one of prince william's godmothers has resigned from the royal household and apologised after she repeatedly asked a domestic—abuse campaigner where she really came from. ngozi fulani — who's black — says her conversation with lady susan hussey during a buckingham place reception left her feeling violated. tax returns available to a congressional committee. the move follows a supreme court ruling last week that cleared the way for the democratic—led panel to access his returns. mr trump has argued that move is politically motivated. a landslide on a motorway in southern brazil has killed at least two people and left dozens missing. rescue workers in parana state

said the bad weather and remote location were complicating the search effort.