a few will be happening tonight, a few final preparations going on and there is a real sense of anticipation, not least because for the first time since 2019, there will actually be a live audience share inside the studio. 0bviously share inside the studio. obviously the last few years have been affected by covid, but this year we are expecting an audience of around about 750 guests here inside the studio and of course, the big question they will all be asking is who will be lifting that famous trophy? it is a public vote, remember. you can vote by phone or online and details on how you can vote will be given out during the show which gets under way at 6:a5pm this evening on bbc one. andy, thank you. that trophy will be a nice present for someone with it being christmas. jingle bells and all that. what is the weather going to be like? a white christmas? in the balance. we had a taste of wintry weather already so i'm sure

it's a question i'm being asked but at the moment we've got the battle of the atlantic, the mild wind coming in, the cold airfrom the north and it looks like it will be strong at the moment on christmas day itself, likely to see some of the wintry weather once again. for most of us, the rest of the week stays generally mild with outbreaks of rain and it was quite a dramatic change to our weather to start this week. when i stay mild, you can see why. we got all these bands of cloud queueing out in the atlantic to come in, so again we need to concern ourselves with potential flooding with more rain to come particularly in the south, but it's there, the mild air, at the moment, winning the day. that cold air is never too far away and the showers today in scotland over the showers today in scotland over the hills are falling as snow and thunder and lightning at lower levels but taking a while to clear. the cloud hangs around for much of the afternoon but there will be some sunshine in between and temperatures are not too far away from where they should be at this time of year. that mild day will come back into south—western areas as we go through

the evening and overnight. still some wintry showers over scotland so temperatures could fall near freezing in cold spots. the colder night. but largely frost free has missed out thursday morning but quite grey potentially tomorrow bit sickly for england and wales. how far north that cloud travels tomorrow is a question but it looks like the heaviest rain will be in southern areas of the heavier showers confined to the north. some sunshine is where you'll see the brighter skies but it's milder without rain tomorrow, back up to 11-12 in without rain tomorrow, back up to 11—12 in the south. perhaps milder still as we go into friday because it looks by that stage as if as one band of rain scoots away, heavier band of rain scoots away, heavier band of rain comes back in from the south—west and again, particularly for england and wales, where we had flood warnings in force, bear that in mind and it grinds to a halt as it starts to push towards that cold air. by friday that temperatures are not quite as high across scotland so when that band of rain bumped into that cold air, that's where have the

snow and that's the question, how low will that snowfall? that band of cloud and rain until snow pushes northwards then pulls away to the eastern as it does so, it allows that north, north—westerly men to just plunge a little bit further southwards over christmas weekend. but on balance, at the moment, although it turns a little chillier, it looks as if most will stay a little above average certainly for the first part of the christmas weekend. you can stay up to date with our app. clive. thank you. that's it, so goodbye from me. now on bbc one, let'sjoin our news teams where you are. have a very good afternoon. good afternoon. it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news. leah williamson says arsenal are aiming to win the group tonight as they travel to zurich

in the women's champions league. the gunners are currently top of the group on goal difference from lyon, who have a tough match againstjuventus. arsenal need just a point to qualify but the 25—year—old says they're fully focused on getting all three. the work we have put in so far, the way the girls have played is incredible, so to top the group with this win would be great. i think teams getting through to the next round, it will be a tough game, but naturally, we want to get ourselves ready. you play every game to win. i think the influence comes for us, maybe, not necessarily with who we are going to play in the next round. manchester united are in action in the english league cup later. they play burnley in one of three matches. blackburn rovers, who are third in the championship, play nottingham forest. charlton also have premier league opposition at the valley as they face brighton.

eddiejones says he's not ruled out the possibility of a return to international coaching. the former england boss has been linked with a return to australia as a replacement for under—pressure wallabies boss dave rennie. speaking to bbc radio 4's today programme, the 62—year—old, who took england to the final of the last rugby world cup, says he could sense a change in the air, but has no regrets about his time in charge. there is always judgment, that reflects back with the veil of hindsight, in the manner of actions i made. i was sacked in 2005 from australia and i was not coaching well. when i look back, i don't feel like i was coaching poorly at all, i thought i was coaching well. that is the only thing i can control, mate. we've seen some big tennis retirements this year — ash barty, serena williams, roger federer. now andy murray says he reckons he's one big injury away from calling time on his career following his two

hip surgeries across the last four years. the 35 year old's had a disappointing 2022 but says he's currently in the best shape he's been in for some time, and will be playing at the battle of the brits exhibition series againstjack draper there on your right. the "scotland versus england" event starts today in aberdeen. murray will then team up with his brotherjamie — who organised the event — to take onjoe salisbury and neal skupski in the doubles. ifi if i was to have a big injury, you know, i probably wouldn't try to come back from that. but if my body is in good shape and i'm still able to compete consistently on the tour, then yeah, i will keep playing as long as i'm able to do that if i feel like i could still be competitive with the best players and i'm still able to play in the biggest events, then i'll try to do that. a huge year of sporting achievements will be celebrated tonight

at the sports personality of the year awards later. there are six candidates in the running to scoop the top prize at the ceremony later. but some awards have already been announced, including that of para—athlete 0livia breen — who has been named the bbc wales sports personality of the year for 2022. in august, breen won commonwealth games gold as she beat her english rival sophie hahn in the t37/38 100 metres race in birmingham. wow, thank you so much, i'm shocked! wasn't expecting to win, it's been such a big year. but thank you so much, i'm speechless! 0bviously much, i'm speechless! obviously there has been such strong performances especially from wales, is massive to win this award so thank you so much and thank you to everyone for nominating me. don't forget you can find

all of the contenders for tonight's sports personality of the year awards on our website... i'll be back in an hour. bye. let's return to ukraine. president, volodymyr zelensky, is heading to the united states — in his first trip abroad since the russian invasion in february. he confirmed the visit on twitter. a white house spokesperson added: earlier we spoke to ukraine's former prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk about why president zelensky is making the trip. zelensky decided to pay a visit to the capital of the free world, as the united states, the united kingdom and a new type of allied forces, they are very supportive of ukraine.

so that is the right sign to everyone, and boost geopolitics and domestic politics, so i believe this is the right step to make. the primary goal of zelensky, firstly, is to express the gratitude to the american people, to president biden, and actually to show to the entire world that the western world is to support ukraine as long as it takes. i believe that present biden is to express his will of an ironclad support to ukraine, for us to recreate the characters that have been grabbed by russians. —— reclaim the territories. the home office has acknowledged that it was holding up to 500 asylum seekers illegally in early november. internal emails obtained by the bbc in a freedom of information request reveal details about several centres across the country including manston — the migrant processing facility in kent.

police are investigating allegations that a home office official assaulted an asylum seeker at manston, as vinnie 0'dowd reports. this man spent 2a days in manston. today we hear his allegations of assault by a home office official. translation: he put his arm around my neck to the extentl that i couldn't breathe. we can reveal that police are investigating the allegation at the holding facility in kent. officers came in. we had no idea that they are coming to attack and beat us. and we've obtained exclusive evidence that the home office has detained asylum seekers illegally at centres that were used as overflow from manston. ahmed, not his real name, arrived by boat. he fled his country out of fear of persecution. he told us about his 2a days in manston. he says the overcrowded conditions stripped him and others of their dignity. we were treated like animals. there was only two toilets and

showerfor 120 people in our tent. we slept on cardboard. the centre was holding 4,000 migrants, more than double than it was designed for. ahmed and others started a sit down protest, but things didn't end there. what did the immigration officers do to you? i was crying out while underneath him. i used whatever strength i had to remove his arm from choking me. when i removed his hands, he pushed me and ifell backwards onto someone else. the same officer grabbed my head and used his knee to bash my head in and broke my nose. from this point onward, i lost consciousness. the bbc has learned that kent police is investigating ahmed's allegations, and the home office has started an internal investigation and have told the bbc that ahmed's story does not match their understanding of events. a home office spokesperson said...

ahmed was released from manston on october 31st. at the time, the management of the centre was under intense scrutiny. the week he was released, the home secretary visited, arriving by military helicopter. that same week, a critical incident was declared at harmondsworth immigration detention facility. there was a power blackout and the staff had lost operational control. the prison service's national tactical response group were deployed to assist. internal home office communications, obtained by the bbc under freedom of information, show officials in chaos on the evening of friday, 11th of november.

internal dialogue was fraught. an official at the home office outlined contingency plans if harmondsworth was evacuated. they wrote that 500 people who had arrived by boat were being detained illegally, some for many weeks, at facilities like harmondsworth. the email says that there was no reason to detain the people any longer. it urged home office colleagues to remove them to hotels asap. the home office said... a home office employee is being investigated by police for an alleged assault. but for those who were illegally detained, some may want redress. vinnie o'dowd, bbc news. let's take a look now at what's making the news across the uk.

people travelled from all over the uk to make a dark and cold the welsh government has written to all social housing landlords, "seeking urgent assurance" on how they're monitoring and responding to damp and mould problems. the issue has been in the spotlight since a coroner concluded last month that the toddler awaab ishak from rochdale died from a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould in his home. paul martin has been to meet people in blaenavon in torfaen struggling with damp and mould. denise and her son robert, and daughter, abby, are getting ready for christmas in the flat they used to love. it hasn't felt the same since it was damaged in a storm in 2018, when snow got into the loft and ceilings collapsed. they say it has felt cold and damp ever since. very cold. some nights it's that cold ijust go to bed. i'm in bed some nights by

six o'clock trying to keep warm. hot water bottles... extra clothing on, because that is the way we live. they say mould in the bathroom keeps coming back. across the ceiling and the majority of this wall here, above the window. it's very difficult to maintain. we tried to clean it off, paint over it, within a couple of weeks, it comes back. some days you go in there, and the smell is unbelievable, it hits you in the face. we have to open the window in the cold weather, we've got to have the vent open, we've been told, all year. it is costing me a fortune. it is costing a fortune, the paint, you know, bleach. high energy costs mean using the heating more is extra stressful. all my money is going on gas. trying to keep it warm. i used to love it here. but i'd move tomorrow if i had the chance.

over the road, scott has problems too. this is constantly damp, all the time, have to wait to see every two or three days to get rid of the spores, the black scores. i do open a couple of windows on the latch, when i do go out and stuff — i put the windows on the latch, just to let some airaround. and around the vents, there. it still doesn't seem to make any difference at all. their landlord, blaenavon housing association, said repairs have been completed and it will continue to work with them to resolve any other issues. it said, the aftermath of the storm was dealt with, and it provides all customers with support and advice on the best ways to keep their homes warm and ventilated. across wales, housing associations and councils say they are taking the matter seriously. the welsh government has asked them to report on how the monitoring and dealing with problems by the 20th of january. people travelled from all over the uk to make a dark and cold

walk up glastonbury tor early this morning. it was for the winter solstice — today is the shortest day and the longest night. scott ellis was there. chanting the winter solstice celebrations on top of glastonbury tor. this mum and daughter weren't alone in arriving before sunrise, having travelled many miles to be here. i , from southampton today, will come every year, it is more of , from southampton today, will come every year, it is more of like , from southampton today, will come every year, it is more of like a new year celebration for us. throughout history, the winter solstice has had deep significance for many. as the dark nights begin to ebb away, there is a sense of renewal. those ancient beliefs live on in strike—struck britain in 2022. it's about joy, it's aboutjoy, actually. and life

and vibrancy. celebration, love. and just being here with other humans! the days will get longer so it's a celebration of life, a celebration of the _ celebration of life, a celebration of the earth, a celebration of togetherness. for of the earth, a celebration of togetherness.— of the earth, a celebration of touetherness. ., , , ., togetherness. for me this is also about the time _ togetherness. for me this is also about the time of— togetherness. for me this is also about the time of year _ togetherness. for me this is also about the time of year when - togetherness. for me this is also about the time of year when we i about the time of year when we celebrate — about the time of year when we celebrate the _ about the time of year when we celebrate the time _ about the time of year when we celebrate the time of _ about the time of year when we celebrate the time of deep - about the time of year when we - celebrate the time of deep stillness within_ celebrate the time of deep stillness within us _ celebrate the time of deep stillness within us. ~ ., ., , ., within us. what does it mean? it means connection. _ within us. what does it mean? it means connection. with - within us. what does it mean? it l means connection. with everyone, especially in today's world, it feels like it is needed more than ever. i feels like it is needed more than ever. ~' �* , . feels like it is needed more than ever. ~ �*, ., ., , ., ever. i think it's a lovely thing to do and it predates _ ever. i think it's a lovely thing to do and it predates christmas - ever. i think it's a lovely thing to do and it predates christmas so | ever. i think it's a lovely thing to | do and it predates christmas so i do and it predates christmas sol think— do and it predates christmas sol think it's — do and it predates christmas sol think it's more important. urtema dolphin led the ceremony as the sun rose over glastonbury tor. she wouldn't be anywhere else on the winter solstice. this is where we can bring in more love to the earth and we are spreading that love in that light across all of the lay lines. right here in glastonbury, that's why it

is such a sacred powerful place of pilgrimage. rain was forecast, instead there was a hint of sunshine through the somerset cloud. perhaps all that chanting and optimism worked its magic. members of the scottish parliament have restarted their debate on proposals, aimed at simplifying and speeding up the process which allows people to legally change their gender. msps are considering more than 150 amendments to the planned legislation, which the scottish government says will ensure dignity for trans people, but critics argue, is a threat to women and girls. i'm joined now by the snp mpjoanna cherry. thanks forjoining us. first of all,

it looks likely that this legislation is going to get through at holyrood, what are your objections?— at holyrood, what are your ob'ections? ~ , ., , . ., at holyrood, what are your ob'ections? ~ , . ., ., objections? well, my ob'ection to this legislation h objections? well, my ob'ection to this legislation is h objections? well, my ob'ection to this legislation is not _ objections? well, my objection to this legislation is not because - objections? well, my objection to this legislation is not because it l this legislation is not because it gives trans but any new rights, the first minister is correct when she says it doesn't give trans but any new rights, the difficulty i have is that it gives any man at the right to self identify as a woman after three months of living as a woman, which is not defined, which... with minimal safeguards, and i think that raises problems for the safety, dignity and privacy of women. i want to make it absolutely crystal clear that i support equal rights, it would be surprising if i didn't as i am a lesbian activist. i support equal rights for everyone. my concern about this bill is that it doesn't give additional rights to

trans people, it gives the right to any man to self identify as a woman. that's our concern. would you agree that the current legislation or the current process by which gender can be legally changed is a problem for trans people when it comes to bureaucracy and dignity? well, i su ort bureaucracy and dignity? well, i support what — bureaucracy and dignity? well, i support what was _ bureaucracy and dignity? well, i support what was in _ bureaucracy and dignity? well, i support what was in the - bureaucracy and dignity? well, i support what was in the snp - support what was in the snp manifesto, which was to make the process of gender recognition easier for trans people. what was not in the manifesto was to give any man the manifesto was to give any man the right to self identify as a woman with minimal safeguards. before i went into politics i worked as a specialist sex crimes prosecutor and i know that some men, some predatory men will take advantage of loopholes in the legislation get access to vulnerable women and we've seen examples of that happening already where there

are de facto systems of self id in our prisons in scotland. [30 are de facto systems of self id in our prisons in scotland.— our prisons in scotland. do you think the uk — our prisons in scotland. do you think the uk government - our prisons in scotland. do you think the uk government will l our prisons in scotland. do you i think the uk government will give royal assent to this if it goes through? royal assent to this if it goes throu . h? �* , royal assent to this if it goes throu~h? fl ., royal assent to this if it goes throu~h? �*, ., , ., through? it's not up to the uk government — through? it's not up to the uk government to _ through? it's not up to the uk government to give _ through? it's not up to the uk government to give royal- through? it's not up to the uk i government to give royal assent through? it's not up to the uk - government to give royal assent to it, it is up to the king to give royal assent to it. but the scottish parliament isn't sovereign in the way that the british parliament is, and its legislation can be subject to judicial review, and its legislation can be subject tojudicial review, and i suspect and its legislation can be subject to judicial review, and i suspect we will see a challenge to this bill from grassroots feminist organisations in scotland. but i really hope it doesn't come to that. i don't think it is too late to pause and look at some of the issues which i believe have it be looked at properly. and those issues involve safeguards in the legislation. last night for reasons i cannot understand, by very narrow margin, i think by one vote, msps voted against safeguards to prevent rapists and violent sexual offenders taking advantage of this

legislation. i can't understand why they would do that. particularly when they have very important evidence from the united nations on monday evening, which recommended that further safeguards could be built into the bill. i think it could have safeguards which would protect women and girls and which wouldn't cause any detriment to trans people. so i would like to see the bill paused, the safeguards to be carefully looked at, for our decision in the course about the interplay between despair and the equality act to be looked at and also for survivors of sexual violence wanted to speak to the parliamentary committee but have not so far had an audience.— so far had an audience. thank you for that. it's been a long road to recovery for heidi the turtle, who was left badly injured after getting caught in a discarded plastic fishing net in the maldives. at one point, heidi was facing

euthanasia after losing a flipper. but after spending four years at an animal sanctuary, the turtle which turned out to be male, has now found his forever home in plymouth, as kevin hay reports. what we have today is we've got a selection of oily fish, so we've got some mackerel and we've also got some squid for him. feeding time for heidi, the turtle. he's spent the last few weeks in this quarantine tank in plymouth. before that, he'd spent over four years at a rescue centre in the maldives after being badly injured by a discarded plastic fishing net. and unfortunately, they had to amputate his front left flipper, and his front right flipper, although it's still there, suffered quite a lot of nerve damage so he can't use it. he had no future. if he didn't come to an aquarium, he couldn't be released. the only other option for him would have been euthanasia. so heidi was carefully crated up for the five and a half thousand milejourney to his new home. quite an adventure. for this chap to be taken

from the water and put in a box, ok, it was a nice comfy box, but put in a box and then put on a seaplane and put on a jumbo jet and then in the back of a van, you know, it's a very stressful process. and as he's had amputations, there are potentially some problems with his joints we could see over the years. so that was always a problem. would we exacerbate these potential injuries with the journey? as it turns out, he's had some x—rays since he's been back in plymouth and so far, so good. he looks ok. he certainly hasn't lost his appetite. with his quarantine period over, the time has come to release heidi into his new home — the national marine aquarium's second largest tank, where he'll have to get used to having company. there's a lot of big fish in there, a lot of stingrays, groupers, and he's spent the last four and a half years sat in a little tank in a rehabilitation centre, so he's not used to seeing all these other animals. so he will get used to it, but it might take him a little bit of time. which is something he has lots of.

heidi is around 25 years old and olive ridley turtles can live up to 70. plenty of time to settle in and make new friends. good afternoon. after the dramatic change this week it looks as though we will stay primarily in this south—westerly or westerly airstream off the atlantic were generally mild conditions continuing for the rest of the week. to show you the satellite picture with a low pressure, there is the one driving our weather today. we have further fronts are queueing up in the atlantic to bring yet more rain. in the meantime some brighter skies through the afternoon having cleared the rent mostly from the south but some heavy and thundery showers with a brisk wind blowing into scotland and northern ireland. temperature is not too far away from average, just a bit above but lower than they have been. where we keep

the cloud and bring in some more rain and drizzle, temperatures were holed up but where we have the clear skies you can see temperatures will dip within a degree or to are freezing particularly in the north, where we have the north wind are still influencing the weather. but it's where we will see the brighter skies through thursday. scotland and northern ireland with showers. but uncertainty as to how far north these bands will come, sit on it and a lot of murky weather, perhaps the heaviest rain across southern counties of england and wales. that's where it will be milder, 11 or 12 celsius but with the brightness further north, 7 or 8 but still the offset is that we will see some sunshine. at the time we get a thursday, we have an expander will probably heavier rain marching northwards across england and wales, grinding to a halt potentially and we think northern ireland, stretching through parts of north wales first eastern england where britain is up behind will be mile, 12 or 13 but a little colder further north, just 4 or 5. the hint that the cold air is not too far away and

it may well once the front reaches the north on christmas eve, give some wintry weather over the hills, thenit some wintry weather over the hills, then it starts to pull away to christmas day and allows a colder air back in so we could see some wintry showers foster primarily over the hills but one or two in the heavier smack of the heavier ones come into lower levels in the cold air creeps further south on boxing day but at the moment it is a few days off but it looks like mostly the north will have that more chilly weather. to keep up—to—date of your region, the app is a good source of information. the temperatures are up to day there. for the majority, the mild weather continues into the christmas weekend with the likelihood of any snow more in scotland. more online.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ambulance workers go on strike today in a dispute over pay, as union leaders criticise the prime ministerfor not being willing to negotiate every time the health secretary speaks, i've got my head in my hands. i have never seen such an abdication of leadership that i have from rishi sunak and the health secretary. members of the royal college of nursing in scotland reject the latest pay offer from the nhs. a man has admitted to the murder of a woman and three children, as well as the rape of one of the murdered children. ukraine's president volodomyr zelensky is on his way to washington today in his first overseas trip since war broke out. it's early closing time for thousands of pubs this winter, hit by rising energy bills and staff shortages.