this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the prince and princess of wales arrive in boston, but the focus is on allegations of racism at buckingham palace, after the resignation of a royal aide. more than 10,000 paramedics in england and wales vote to strike over conditions, pay and staffing levels. donald trump's tax returns are handed to a democratic—led congressional committee, following last week's supreme court ruling. mass celebrations in melbourne

as australia's footballers go hello, and welcome. the prince and princess of wales are in boston, where they'll focus on their annual earthshot environmental prize, as well as meeting president biden on friday. but their arrival in the us has been overshadowed by a row over racism after one of william's godmothers left the royal household after repeatedly asking a black british woman where she was from. that happened at a reception at buckingham palace. a spokesman for the palace described the comments as unacceptable and deeply regrettable. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.

buckingham palace yesterday afternoon. a reception to highlight the issue of violence against woman hosted by the queen consort. standing next to camilla was ngozi fulani. she is chief executive or sistah space and a prominent advocate for survivors of domestic abuse. also at the reception was lady susan hussey, she was a lady—in—waiting for the queen for more than 60 years and was 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 were not welcome perhaps we're not welcome and don't belong here. you can be pretty sure a white woman wouldn't be on the receiving end of a line of questioning like that. buckingham palace said it took the whole incident extremely seriously. it went on...

lady hussey has given years or second or she said nothing lady hussey has given years of devoted service to the family. ngonzi fulani seen 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 prince william and catherine's visit. william's spokesman has said racism has no place in british society and it was right that lady's hussey had stepped aside. earlier, 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. at least 25,000 ambulance workers have voted to go on strike in england and wales before christmas. paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff, who are members of the gmb, unison and unite unions, are responding to the government's 4% pay award. here's our health correspondentjim reed. just a few months ago, mary lynn was up, about and mobile. then she had a bad fall. the ambulance took 11 hours to reach her. the doctors had said not to move her off the floor in case she had damaged any bones or anything like that. and when they did eventually arrive, she was really poorly and i thought

i was going to lose her. when mary lynn got to hospital, she had to wait over an hour in the ambulance before she could be moved into a&e. she's now recovering, but that day has taken its toll. she deteriorated mentally, and that is a direct result of how poorly she was because of how long she'd been left. i can see now the 23 ambulances with patients. this has been the problem across much of the country. hospital backlogs mean often there's not enough room for ambulances to unload sick patients. when they get to a&e, ambulances should be able to deliver patients in 15 minutes, but 10,000 crews a week in england are now stuck outside for an hour or more, the highest ever, with other parts of the uk facing similar problems. that means it's now taking more than an hour, on average, to respond to someone with a stroke or possible heart attack in england. in some cases,

it's much longer. 85—year—old kula had to wait 1a hours for paramedics after breaking her hip. it's not really a state that anybody should be left in for that length of time because you don't know what complications it could lead to. but when paramedics tried to drop her at hospital, there was another wait, this time for 26 hours, in the back of an ambulance, before she could be admitted. i cannot fault the ambulance crews, the paramedics, the nurses or doctors at all in any of this. this is a whole system failure. it'sjust really traumatic for her. and to see a family member like that, it'sjust horrid, absolutely horrible. the government says there is extra funding to pay for more staff and free up hospital beds. a full emergency care plan is due in the new year. but with winter coming, along with strike action involving some nurses and ambulance services, hospital bosses are warning of difficult times ahead. jim reed, bbc news.

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. 0ur correspondent peter bowes has more on what can be done with the documents. they can analyse these 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. 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 decades 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 tactic, 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 week. the ruling went against donald trump. the court said, without offering any comment, that the treasury had to hand them over to the house ways and means committee, which is involved in an investigation, looking at whether tax officials are properly auditing presidential candidates and whether any new legislation is needed. so, that 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. staying with us politics, and 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. let's get some of the day's other news. france's president macron has honoured french veterans of the second world war, at the french embassy in washington. he took part in the ceremony before a short meeting with president biden. the two leaders will hold formal talks on thursday,

where mr macron is expected to raise what he believes are unfair us subsidies being offered to american companies. the vatican's official website has been hit by a suspected cyberattack. earlier this week, the pope accused some russian forces in ukraine of behaving in a cruel manner. ukraine's ambassador to the vatican blamed russian hackers. the kremlin has not commented. the governments in peru and ecuador have declared three—month—long health emergencies, because of an outbreak of bird flu. tens of thousands of birds have died, and hundreds of thousands more will be slaughtered to try to stop the spread of the disease. vaccination programmes are also being put in place. bird flu has already wiped out more than 50 million birds in the us this year, and outbreaks are also being tackled in europe.

an independent panel in south africa has found that president cyril ramaphosa may have committed serious violations of the constitution linked to a burglary at his farm. he's now facing the threat of impeachmentjust two weeks before the anc meets to decide who their new leader will be. gail maclellan reports. it was a robbery at cyril ramaphosa's farm, phala phala in limpopo, in 2020 that set this in motion. after an estimated $4 million in cash hidden under sofa cushions was stolen by robbers who fled into namibia, a former security chief accused the president of trying to hide the theft, and also prompted allegations of money laundering. the president denied any wrongdoing but, following an outcry, an independent panel was set up to investigate. their report suggests that the president should face further scrutiny. underlining the seriousness of the situation,

one of the panel — former chiefjustice sandile ngcobo — said any moves to impeach the president must be based on firm evidence. dragging the president before an impeachment process is a huge decision. it cannot be done on flimsy grounds. there has to be something tangible that you can hold onto before you take that decision. the speaker of the national assembly set out the next steps. the house will consider the report, its findings and recommendations, and adopt a resolution through a simple majority vote, whether a further action by the house is necessary or not. cyril ramaphosa — who has consistently denied wrongdoing —

became president vowing to tackle the corruption that had infected the anc under his predecessor, jacob zuma. parliament may choose not to proceed to impeach the president, but the scandal has overshadowed his bid for re—election. gail mcclellan, bbc news. in the last few minutes, the the united nations has announced its humanitarian appealfor 2023 — it says it needs a record $51.3 billion to fund its work next year. the figure is a 25% increase on its appeal

last year. the world body says the cash will support two hundred and thirty million people worldwide. humanitarian needs are, the un says, �*shockingly high�*, with the war in ukraine, mass hunger in the horn of africa. and flooding in pakistan coming on top of existing crises in afghanistan, yemen and syria. rising food and fuel prices have shrunk aid agencies' purchasing power, and some traditional donor countries, like britain, have cut foreign aid. south sudan is one of the most challenging countries in the world for babies to be born. research carried out by the united nations childrens fund unicef suggests that political instability, combined with climate change, is forcing pregnant women to keep moving around the country, often taking them away from the few available health facilities. it means that the child mortality rate stands at 78 deaths for every 1,000 live births. we should warn you, you may find some parts of merchuma's report upsetting. this room holds the most fragile little babies, those born too early or to small.

this is a neonatal ward in a hospital run by doctors without borders, msf, in malakal. there are ten beds crammed into a narrow ward. this woman is in one with her twin baby boys. the pediatrician is checking on them. they are twins. this is the first twin. and the second twin. they are one month old now. they've been here with us since they were born. they both were premature and low birth weight. and they were very sick. they developed neonatal sepsis and apnea. so apnea means that they stop breathing until you touch them or you try to stimulate them. and then they they continue breathing. so they were very sick, especially it was at the beginning, especially for one day we had to resuscitate him several times. this is the only hospital in malakal, and the neonatal ward is almost always full. she has been displaced by both conflict and floods. she says she had given up hope that her babies would survive. translation: i asked the doctor, "how will you be able to make him breathe again?" _ and she responded,

"he's not dead." when marina treated him, he started breathing and later he started breast—feeding. south sudan has been wracked by years of civil war and conflict, and climate change is making it worse. four years of heavy rains and flooding have brought food insecurity, malnutrition and a sharp increase in waterborne diseases, malaria and respiratory infections. essential newborn care, which can mean the difference between life and death, is nowhere near adequate. marina admits dozens of premature and low birth weight newborns every week. it's hard, but... but you have to live with it. we have so many, so many babies that that can't survive that at least you you know, that you've tried your best, that you try to give them some comfort, that you've tried to give some comfort to the family. and this is also comfort forfor us. comfort for us.

marina moves to the next bed to geismar and her baby. this is herfirst child born at eight months, severely underweight. marina has been teaching mothers how to do kangaroo care or skin to skin contact. she picks up the baby and lays it on her bosom. geismar laughs and speaks in her native language. 0ur translator says she is finding the skin to skin very funny. skin to skin contact is considered one of the best ways to improve survival and health outcomes for babies like these. so since i arrive, i've been trying as much as possible to introduce this practice by training the staff, by talking to the mothers. and we've had some successful cases. the reality is that culturally, the mothers have not used to put the babies in skin to skin. so it's hard for them and they don't accept it very well. but after some time, by insisting a lot, they start doing it by themselves. kangaroo care is seen as one of the best alternatives to incubators, essential in this region where there

is not a single one, and where the babies will keep coming. masthuma, bbc news, malakal, south sudan. stay with us on bbc news. still to come... the best thing since sliced bread — why the humble french baguette has been given unesco cultural heritage status. 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 11am this morning, just half

a metre of rock separated - britain from continental europe _ it took the drills just i a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. then philippe cozette, a miner| from calais, was shaking hands and exchanging flags| with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the prince and princess of wales arrive in boston, but the focus is on allegations of racism at buckingham palace, after the resignaition of a royal aide. more than 10,000 paramedics in england and wales vote to strike over conditions, pay, and staffing levels.

at the world cup, we now know four more of the teams who'll line up in the first knockout round. in group c, argentina overcame their opening defeat to saudi arabia, and victory over poland meant they topped the group. but the result between mexico and saudi arabia meant poland still go through on goal difference. in group d, france go through in top place, despite losing to tunisia. australia beat denmark to the other place in the round of 16. so, here are the next games for the countries who made it through. argentina face australia and france play poland. those round of 16 games take place this coming weekend. let's put all of that into context now with katie dougall. after a poor start, argentina's hopes of staying in this world cup were resting on the shoulders of lionel messi. so often their saviour, but against poland, the star striker had difficulty.

it took england—based players to break through. first, brighton's alexis mcallister, then manchester city's julian 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 progress. france had already qualified so left their best players on the bench. 0pponents tunisia took advantage, wahbi 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. denmark the favourites, but matthew leckie powered through to beat kasper schmeichel and the tables had turned, much to the delight of aussie fans watching in melbourne. disappointment for denmark

and a shock qualification for australia through for the first time in 16 years. jane dougall, bbc news. let's take a look at what's happening in qatar on thursday. in group e, all four teams could go through or be eliminated. spain just need to avoid defeat, but for germany, anything less than a win means they will go home. and in group f, canada are already out, but one of the pre—tournament favourites, belgium are likely to need to win to progress to the knock—out rounds. you can find details of all of that and more in the special world cup section of our website. just log on to bbc.com/news and click through, or download the bbc app. 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's 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 80 centimetres long and 250 grams 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. yeah, 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. "250 grams of magic and perfection in our daily lives." tom brada, bbc news.

i'll be back with all the top business stories and just a moment. to stay with us. hello again. wednesday brought us some big weather contrasts once again. now, we had 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, the midlands, east anglia — and for a time, as well, northeast 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 and wales typically temperatures around about seven to nine 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 seven to nine — 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 well 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 with the latest business headlines. rate relief! investors get an early christmas present from the federal reserve, as it signals it may ease the pace of interest rate rises — sending wall street soaring. the market seems to like the fact that the inflation will be coming down substantially over the next 12 months. they're seeing a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. also coming up... "i didn't ever try to commit fraud." crypto tycoon sam bankman—fried apologises for "a lot of mistakes" in his first public appearance since the $32 billion collapse of ftx. plus, trading blows — unfair subsidies for us firms

could "split the west", warns france's president macron — ahead of talks withjoe biden.