and find out the look on the bbc app and find out the latest in your area. this programme contains scenes of repetitive flashing images. today at 1:00pm, 25 people have been arrested in germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. the accused are alleged to be part of a far right group that planned to storm the german parliament. translation: it should concern us lthat these people are not stupid. l they are educated people with experience in life. they have access to arms and to information and to important people. thousands of officers raided properties across germany, including an army barracks. we'll have the very latest. also on the programme... the health secretary signals there'll be no increased pay offer to stop ambulance crews and nurses going on strike. harry and meghan accept an award for antiracism work, ahead of their tell—all documentry, released tomorrow.

and, the sequel to avatar, the highest grossing film of all time, finally comes to britain. and coming up on the bbc news channel... england are training in doha ahead of their match against france on saturday. it's after portugal beat switzerland to complete the line up for the world cup quarterfinals. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. 25 people have been arrested in germany on suspicion of being involved in a plot to overthrow the government. federal prosecutors say 3,000 officers raided several properties right across the country, including an army barracks. one person was also detained

in austria, and another in italy, with the suspects all alleged to be part of a far—right group that planned to storm the german parliament. with the very latest, here's damian mcguinness in berlin. this 71—year—old aristocrat, prince heinrich the 13th was allegedly the ringleader a far right plot to overthrow the german state and establish himself as monarch. this might sound far—fetched but it has sparked the largest anti—terror operation modern germany has ever seen. in raids across the country, 3000 officers have arrested dozens of people, including former soldiers accused of going into barix to recruit army staff, and an ex member of parliament, who until she was arrested was working as a judge in berlin. the plan was to attack energy infrastructure, spark a civil war and so overthrow the government.

these people are known as the reichsburger, or citizens of the empire in english. they are conspiracy theorists who don't believe in the legitimacy of the modern german state. they claim it is occupied by the us and want to set up a nation modelled on the german empire before world war i. 0utlandish ideas, but dangerous. translation: outlandish ideas, but dangerous. translation: jl outlandish ideas, but dangerous. translation:— outlandish ideas, but dangerous. translation: it should concern us that these people _ translation: it should concern us that these people are _ translation: it should concern us that these people are not _ translation: it should concern us that these people are not stupid. i that these people are not stupid. they are educated people with experience in life. they have access to arms and to information and to important people. this domination makes it particularly threatening and remarkable. == makes it particularly threatening and remarkable.— makes it particularly threatening and remarkable. , , ., ., and remarkable. -- this combination. this movement _ and remarkable. -- this combination. this movement has _ and remarkable. -- this combination. this movement has been _ and remarkable. -- this combination. this movement has been active - and remarkable. -- this combination. this movement has been active since| this movement has been active since the 1980s but during the pandemic gained momentum, boosted by anti—vaccine covid deniers and conspiracy theorists, inspired by america's qanon, even trying to storm the german parliament in 2020. experts say this latest pot is

unlikely to have worked. the movement is small and very french, but it is also potentially violent with access to military training and weapons. —— very fringe. that's why germany takes this so seriously. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. our security correspondent frank gardner is here. where has all this come from, this alleged plot to overthrow the government? it alleged plot to overthrow the government?— alleged plot to overthrow the covernment? �* ., ., government? it hasn't come out of nowhere. government? it hasn't come out of nowhere- the _ government? it hasn't come out of nowhere. the german _ government? it hasn't come out of nowhere. the german authorities i government? it hasn't come out of- nowhere. the german authorities were aware for some time of the reichsburger group. there was a plot in april, a failed plot that was discussed to kidnap the health minister. what you have here is a very toxic mix, a toxic soup of conspiracy theories, access to weapons, disinformation, infiltration in some cases of the police and armed forces, and people who are prepared to kill for their very extreme beliefs. so the police were on to this for some time. the reichsburger group has been around

since 2016 but there are fringe groups within this group. there are circles within the circles and that's why this is such a widespread raid that has taken 131 raids, 11 provinces, 3000 police. this is a big operation. as we heard there, it probably wouldn't have worked but the fact people are prepared to kill for their conspiracy theories is a worry. for their conspiracy theories is a wor . . ~' for their conspiracy theories is a wor . . ~ h, for their conspiracy theories is a wor , ., " ,., ., " worry. indeed. frank gardner, thank ou. the health secretary, steve barclay, has signalled the government won't increase its pay offer to nhs staff to avert strike action in the run—up to christmas. yesterday, ambulance workers across most of england and wales announced that they would walk out on the 21st december, the day after nurses stage a second day of industrial action. here's leila nathoo. an emergency service facing its own crisis. so say the unions representing ambulance staff across england and wales, who will go on strike in a fortnight over pay. life—saving care will be provided

but unions claim the service is in a critical condition. one third of our members in the ambulance service are telling us that they believe delays have led to deaths. it is not industrial action that is posing a threat to the service, it's over a decade of cuts, this has been a long—running developing crisis and the government has simply refused to listen up to now. elsewhere in the nhs, nurses in england and wales and northern ireland are also planning to walk out this month. they, like others, want pay rises in line with inflation, which has been running at its highest rate in decades. but the government has been standing firm, saying their demands are unaffordable. if everyone in the public sector was to receive a pay rise in line with inflation, that would cost an extra £28 billion, an extra £1000 per household. at a time of huge cost—of—living pressures, it is important we get that balance right between what additional tax we ask viewers to pay at a time of cost—of—living pressure alongside

recognising that paramedics and the nhs as a whole have faced very real challenges as a result of the pandemic. rail workers are planning further strike action over december and january in a dispute with their employers over pay, terms and conditions. the transport secretary mark harper has insisted his role was not to negotiate but urged unions to keep talking and put any proposed deals to their members. but labour says ministers need to be around a table. we can't go on like this, we have people leaving our front line professions. yes, they need a pay rise, yes, the situation is incredibly difficult, but that is why the government should be in the room, sitting around a table, moving heaven and earth to get this sorted. but in the commons this afternoon, rishi sunak said he was focused on minimising disruption from strikes. if the union leaders to continue to be unreasonable, then it is my duty to take action to protect the lives and livelihoods of the british public,

and that is why, since i became prime minister, i have been working for new tough laws to protect people from this disruption. from postal workers to driving test examiners, strikes are spreading across public services. they will be noticed and felt this winter while all sides try to find resolutions. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. the walkout by ambulance staff before christmas comes amid growing concerns over ambulance response times. in one of england's worst performing regions for delays, in the west midlands, there's been a big rise in the number of patients who've died after emergency crews were late to reach them. here's bbc newsnight�*s david grossman. ijust assumed, like 90% of other people, that when you ring 999 and you call for an ambulance, that within a few minutes, that one will be with you.

when darren childs'12—month—old daughter myla had a seizure and for a time stopped breathing, it took 47 minutes for the ambulance to come. the target for the average response time on such a serious life or death call is seven minutes. it was horrendous. it's every parent's worst nightmare. mercifully, darren's daughter survived, but sadly, many do not. data obtained by newsnight through a freedom of information request paints a worrying picture. in the whole of 2020, west midlands ambulance service had just one patient who was dead by the time the ambulance turned up following a delay. so far this year, up until september, the total is 37. and that is with three months�* data still to come. as we've heard repeatedly, one of the big problems is ambulances being stuck outside hospitals, unable to

hand over patients. over a single day, newsnight journalists monitored ambulances at five hospitals covered by west midlands ambulance service to see just how bad the problem is right now. on the day we recorded data, the longest an ambulance had to wait to hand over a patient was; at worcester royal, 21 hours; at princess royal hospital in telford, 19 hours; at alexandra hospital in redditch, 8 hours; at royal stoke, 15 hours; and at royal shrewsbury, more than 20 hours. problems at the ambulance trust go far deeper than just delays. the number of serious incidents defined as an avoidable, serious outcome caused by problems with care has shot up over 400% so far this year, compared with the same period last year. minutes of the ambulance trust board meeting suggests part of the rise in serious incidents is down to mismanagement of things like choking and cardiac arrest. newsnight�*s been told by a senior ambulance trust insider that

actually most of these serious incidents have their root cause in the long delays. experienced staff, we were told, are getting fed up of hanging around outside hospitals for an entire shift, so they're leaving theirjobs. and in their place, the new recruits, well, they're hanging around outside hospitals, so they're not getting experience of the range of problems that they're going to have to deal with safely. west midlands ambulance service say they remain confident in the training student paramedics receive, and the vast majority of the rise in serious incidents was down to hand over delays. the department of health and social care said it was taking urgent action to support the ambulance service and staff. childs, darren, is duly elected councillor for the town council. after what happened to his daughter, darren childs won a local council seat on a pledge to sort out delays. he says, however, problems have got worse.

the stories have gone from we waited three, four hours to five, six hours, to eight, nine hours. so now you've got people waiting nine hours for ambulances. i think that the nhs isn't just in crisis any more. i think the nhs is failing and we are losing the nhs, and i think that this winter's pressures are going to be the thing that topples the nhs over. david grossman, bbc news. and you can see more on that story at 10:30pm this evening, on newsnight over on bbc two. the government has scrapped flagship legislation that was designed to raise education standards in england. the schools bill included plans for a register of children who are missing lessons, and for all schools to become members of multi—academy trusts. our education correspondent hazel shearing joins me. how much of a surprise is this change of tack on the schools bill?

the schools bill has faced a lot of hurdles since it was first introduced. we had the schools white paper, a policy document outlining the government decision back in march. over the some of the schools legislation, the schools bill, which is legislation to implement some of that vision, came up against hurdles in the house of lords where it was criticised as a power grab for some proposals related to academies. it was then rumoured that the schools bill would ultimately be dropped and the education secretary confirmed this was the case when she was speaking to mps earlier this morning. speaking to mps earlier this morninu. . ,, ., morning. hazel shearing live in leeds, thank _ morning. hazel shearing live in leeds, thank you. _ the duke and duchess of sussex have accepted an award in new york for their work addressing racism and mental health issues. the event took place as netflix prepares to release the first instalment in a documentary entitled "harry and meghan", in which the couple are expected to reveal more about tensions with the royal family. our royal correspondent

sarah campbell has that story. this report contains flash photography from the beginning. the duke and duchess of sussex on the red carpet at an awards ceremony in new york last night. this was their first public appearance since the trailers were released promoting their six part netflix series. no talk of that last night, or the rift with the royal family. meghan did reportedly talk about mental health on stage but the only footage released was light—hearted in tone. to be honest, i thought we were going on date night so i found it quite weird that we're sharing the room with 1500 people. we don't get out much because our kids are so small and young, so this is completely unexpected. on stage with them, kerry kennedy, who presented them with a human rights award named after her father, robert f kennedy. we are so proud of their work on racialjustice and on mental health, parenting and awareness, and the multitude of things that they have done,

showing up when people really need them. i realised they are never going to protect you. . the first three episodes of their new series will drop tomorrow. ijust don't i just don't want history to repeat itself. these two minute—long trailers have already been poured over, dissected and commented upon, and the authenticity of some of the images questioned. the series has been billed as the couple's love story. and the challenges they have faced from the press, the family and the royal institution. there is a war against meghan. i can't bear the thought of it, i cringe when i think about it. i feel a bit sorry for them. i think they are quite - misunderstood and desperate for a bit of publicity. everybody wants to know the secrets hiding of the royalfamily, so, yes, looking forward to it. from the palace there has been no comment. last night the king and queen consort, along with the prince and princess

of wales, were hosting a reception for the diplomatic corps. earlier in the day, the king was carrying out engagements in luton. royal life continuing but in the knowledge that potentially more damaging revelations may be about to reach a global audience. the dilemma for the royal family is whether to respond if new allegations are made. sarah campbell, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime. 25 people have been arrested in germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. and as a major un conference on protecting biodiversity begins in canada we'll look at what's being done to tackle the problem here in the uk. coming up on the bbc news channel. michael o'neill has been appointed as manager of northern ireland for a second spell, signing a five—and—a—half—year contract. in his first stint, o'neill was in charge forjust over nine years.

a survey for cbbc�*s newsround programme has highlighted the impact the cost of living crisis is having on children. more than 2,000 young people between the ages of 7 and 15 were surveyed, and nearly three quarters said they were worried about rising costs. one in 10 children said they were skipping more meals now than three months ago, as hayley hassell reports from blackpool. makenzie is 12. he's one of eight children and lives with his mom, kristy, on a large estate in blackpool. although his mum works, the money she gets doesn't cover all of their bills. it's hard because, like, you could have a whole cupboard of food, and then the next couple of days, you could have nothing. and i'm like, you have to wait, like, at least a couple of days before your mother or father can go to the shop to buy more food. we use smaller portions

to save some of the food that we might need later on, instead of going to the shop more often and buying more food, which costs more. the pocket money i have now, instead of using it to, like, buy toys and treats, obviously ijust put it on my dinner account at school. so obviously it helps out a lot instead of asking my mum, when she could use it for gas or electricity. blackpool is one of the most deprived areas of the country and things were tight for many people here even before the rise in the cost of things. so the local authority have put on this warm hub. it's a place where people can come to keep warm, but they can also get some food and use the electrical appliances here, so that at home they don't have to. i do come here a lot to hang out. and obviously keep warm a bit because it is very cold nowadays. it actually helps a lot because obviously you can dry your clothes a lot instead of turning on your heating, or you can go to the cafe and like cheap meals, like £2 meals. the council's director of public

health, dr arif rajpura, has helped fund this much needed community project. we've already got a population that's struggling here and now this cost of living crisis isjust adding to the burden of the problem. so it'sjust pushing people into a worse situation, and it's pushing more people into a situation where they're having to rely on support services like what we've got here. so it's down to families to help themselves. one of the ways mackenzie helps out is by going to the shop while his mum, kristy is at work, to pay for things like food and gas. hi,joe. please, can i have £20 on gas? thank you. we've had to do a lot of changes. he goes and gets my gas for me. he goes and does my shopping a lot more. he saves his spending money, which isn't quite fair, to be fair. and now he uses it to top up his dinner card because his dinners, it's not covered enough. thank you. bye! i'm super proud of mackenzie,

but he shouldn't have to cope like that, really, should he? he's 12 years old, he shouldn't be doing that. kristy there, ending that report by hayley hassell. met office yellow weather warnings for snow and ice come into force across parts of the uk today. temperatures could fall to minus six in places. health officials are urging people to put their heating on, despite rising bills. our correspondent phil mackie is in bridgnorth in shropshire. just how cold could it get where you are? ., , ., are? tonight the temperature will drop considerably _ are? tonight the temperature will drop considerably below- are? tonight the temperature will drop considerably below zero - are? tonight the temperature will| drop considerably below zero here and are dropped below zero for the first time in a long time last night just hovering around the freezing point. there are three weather warnings, the first in the north of scotland from now until midday tomorrow for snow and ice. the

second covers this part of england bordering on north wales and mid wales and parts of northern ireland and south—west england particularly north devon and north somerset and thatis north devon and north somerset and that is from five o'clock tonight until six o'clock tomorrow and the third is a stretch of eastern england which is until midday tomorrow. both of those warnings just for ice, not snow. i would not be surprised if some of the warnings are extended or renewed in the next couple of days because it looks like we are in for a colder spell than normal. you mention people been told to turn the heating on and the advice is you should keep it around 18 and a lower. i know a lot of people are keeping it lower than that or not turning it on but it is very cold at the moment. national highways england said in this area they have gritters out to try to keep the main routes clear. but a

lot of people ijust saying it is december and what is the story. i suspect the story really is about cost of living and people having to put the heating on when they have not done so up until now. phil mackie, not done so up until now. phil mackie. many _ not done so up until now. phil mackie, many thanks. china is abandoning strict coronavirus controls in a shift away from its zero covid strategy people can now isolate at home if they test positive instead of at state facilities and can travel more freely around the country. it comes after protests against strict rules. previously catching covid meant instant to centralised quarantine facilities which varied widely in quality but not anymore. now if you contract coronavirus you can choose

to isolated home. life is returning to isolated home. life is returning to the streets of beijing. infections have not come down but easing measures have been announced with pcr test no longer required to enter buildings apart from hospitals and schools. restrictions on inter—province travel have been removed. translation: i've retired and i want to travel again. after easing up i can go on a trip somewhere. translation: all these venues are open and now we can go in such as parks and shopping centres. translation: i'm still afraid, i go to places with not many people and protect myself wearing a mask and washing my hands. anti—0 19 protests had been building all years and after calls were made for the leader xijinping to resign, changes came quickly. the speed with which china is dismantling the system has taken us

by surprise. the government says it is because the virus itself has changed and it is not in response to protests in the streets. those who have been demonstrating do not care how the government spends it as long as they get these changes. but hospitals like this are going to find it difficult to deal with a big influx of patients so officials say they are expanding the capacity of specialist units. pharmacies have become very busy with people rushing to buy medicine in anticipation of an increase in infections but here the mood is much more buoyant and finally there is light at the end of the zero covid tunnel. a once—in—a decade un conference on biodiversity begins today in canada, amid warnings humans are driving mass extinction of life on earth, with a million species at risk of being wiped out. the uk is among a number of countries pushing for an ambitious deal to protect

the planet's ecosystems, but as one of the most nature—depleted countries in the world, britain's own record is under scrutiny. our environment correspondent, helen briggs, has more, from somerset. a great egret making the most of a winter wonderland at wetlands on the somerset levels. in winter, generally on wetlands and in estuaries, you get larger congregations of birds. as governments meet to agree tough new targets for protecting life on earth, conservation charities are calling for urgent action to restore nature. we are in a major extinction event. we've not seen species become extinct at the current rates as they are now, since the dinosaurs. so a million species, one in five species are at risk of extinction. so we need to halt that decline by the end of 2030 and need to be actually recovering nature by that point. born out of an industrial past, this reserve shows how, with a bit of help, nature can heal itself. so 25 years ago, this was an industrial landscape where they dug peat out

of the ground. now it's precious wetlands full of wild birds. all different types of species come here to feed. but wildlife groups say while the uk's pushing for ambitious targets in montreal, it's not doing enough domestically. so the government has led a really good level of ambition coming into montreal, particularly looking at 30% of land and sea protected by 2030. and that's essential if we're going to reverse nature's catastrophic decline. but fundamentally the uk government needs to be delivering on that here as well, at home. and we're not yet seeing that. only 3% of the land and 8% of our seas are effectively protected. the government says nature plays a crucial role in all our lives and it's working with other countries to put the natural world back on the road to recovery. these salt marshes on the somerset coast are another example of how a nature—depleted world can be turned around. old farmland has been flooded

to provide space for nature. what we can learn from what we've been doing here at the marshes, by restoring wetlands on this sort of scale, is that we know that the wildlife is coming here and it's supporting biodiversity, but we're helping. there's a health and wellbeing benefits to people. carbon storage properties. they are vital for our fight against climate change. so the time to act is now. places like this offer a glimpse of a more nature friendly future, but scaling it up will be a massive challenge. helen briggs, bbc news, somerset. when the film avatar was released in 2009, it became the highest grossing in cinema history, and the hollywood studio that made it promised a sequel five years later. well last night, eight years late, avatar — the way of water, had its world premiere in london. our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, was there.

a high flying first movie is the biggest film of all time, and fans have been waiting 13 years for this sequel. james cameron wants this to be the first of four new, hugely expensive instalments in the series. so this film really does need to be a huge smash to justify avatars 3, 4, and particularly avatar 5. i've always been nervous every time before we put a movie out into the marketplace, and this is a particularly fraught time because after the pandemic, you know, the market has contracted somewhat, but we just have to see what happens. the original film was applauded for its spectacular 3d imagery. this is our home! the cast want the emotion to bejust as important as the spectacle of the movie. the movie is about protecting what you love. in this case it's protecting your family. we can all relate to that. and, you know, that's very important. you know, that connectivity

and taking what you care about and protecting it at all costs. you know, it's all about the emotion. the experience of the film is completely emotional. and all the battles and all the flights and all of that is also absolutely amazing. but the heart of it is emotion. joining the cast for this film is kate winslet, as a character whose tribe has a close relationship with the ocean. the last time she worked with james cameron also involved rather a lot of water! it was really different. because i think titanic, you know, it's such a long time ago. people keep talking about the 25th anniversary. hang on. sorry. yes. hi. people shouting! it's actually, for us, nearly 27 years since we were filming. so it's over half of my lifetime. just a totally, totally different atmosphere and energy on avatar. you know, it's reallyjim's baby. obviously coming back to it

for the second time. of course, it's notjust the studio that financed this that will be keeping its fingers crossed. the film industry still hasn't fully recovered from covid, and hollywood will be keeping a close eye on a film that has the potential to do something that neither spider—man, no way home nor top gun maverick managed. and that is become the first multibillion dollar blockbuster since the pandemic. liso mzimba, bbc news at the avatar 2 premiere. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. i have got my woolly socks on! it is a great look! you will need a lot of layers because this week is all about the cold. we've seen mild weather recently so it is a shock to the system in the cold stays with us for the rest of the week with