good afternoon. you are watching bbc news with me, ben brown. our headlines at tpm: primary school teachers in scotland walk out in a dispute over pay. it's just the latest in a wave of strikes this winter. the government responds by starting the process of changing the law on strikes. i'm introducing a bill that will give government the power to ensure the vital public services will have to maintain a basic function, by delivering minimum safety levels, ensuring the lives and livelihoods are not lost. but is the government protecting public safety or restricting the rights of workers to strike? we will get the view of a leading industrial

relations lawyer. also this afternoon... there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year. the highest number outside the covid pandemic in half a century. some shops open at midnight to meet demand for prince harry's heavily trailed autobiography, which is now on sale. and a setback, not a roadblock. the team behind a uk space mission which failed to launch say they will keep on trying. and this picture has been causing something of a stir on social media today, because someone or something is missing. we will be revealing all.

good afternoon. in the last few minutes, the government has been introducing draft legislation to limit future industrial action in the public sector. the bill would cover health, fire and railway workers. ministers say it would introduce a minimum level of service. unions have reacted angrily to the proposals, which they say potentially are undemocratic and unworkable, and would limit the right to strike. the business secretary grant shapps says they are just common sense, and he hasjust announced details of the measures to the commons. we do not want to use this legislation, but we must ensure the safety of the british public. during the passage of the bill, we intend to consult on what an adequate level of coverage looks like in fire, ambulance and in rail services. for the other sectors covered in the bill, we hope to reach minimum service agreements that mean we don't have to use that power in the bill, and they

will be able to come to that position just as the nurses have donein position just as the nurses have done in the recent strikes. mr speaker, this is a common—sense approach, and we are not the first to follow it. the legislation will bring us in line with modern european countries france and spain, and italy, and germany, each of whom already have these types of rules in place. even the guardians of workers�* rights around the world, the international labour organisation, to whom the tuc themselves subscribes, say that minimum service levels are a proportionate way of balancing the right to strike with the need to protect the wider public. because the first job protect the wider public. because the firstjob of any government is to keep the public safe, and unlike other countries, and unlike other countries, we are not proposing banning those strikes, but we do need to know that unions will be held to account. so that was grant shapps in the commons this afternoon.

labour�*s deputy leader, angela rayner, said the plans were an attack on workers, describing the legislation as a "sacking nurses bill". an outright attack on the fundamental freedom of british working — fundamental freedom of british working people. how can he say with a straight _ working people. how can he say with a straight face that this government will always defend the ability to strike? — will always defend the ability to strike? can he tell us if he stands by his— strike? can he tell us if he stands by his article in the telegraph last summer— by his article in the telegraph last summer listing yet more plans to attack— summer listing yet more plans to attack that basic right? does he deny— attack that basic right? does he deny they considered banning some key workers from joining a union at all? key workers from joining a union at ail? and _ key workers from joining a union at ail? and so— key workers from joining a union at all? and so much for levelling up workers' — all? and so much for levelling up workers' rights, mr speaker. and where _ workers' rights, mr speaker. and where is — workers' rights, mr speaker. and where is their promised code of conduct — where is their promised code of conduct conduct on the fire and rehire, — conduct conduct on the fire and rehire, long abandoned employment bill that— rehire, long abandoned employment bill that promised to tackle insecure work? how can he go in one breath— insecure work? how can he go in one breath from — insecure work? how can he go in one breath from thanking nurses to seeking — breath from thanking nurses to sacking nurses, mr speaker? notjust insulting. _ sacking nurses, mr speaker? notjust insulting, but utterly stupid. there is no _ insulting, but utterly stupid. there is no common sense about this at all. is no common sense about this at alt he _ is no common sense about this at alt he says— is no common sense about this at all. he says he recognises pressures faced _

all. he says he recognises pressures faced by— all. he says he recognises pressures faced by key workers, but he knows the nhs _ faced by key workers, but he knows the nhs cannot find the nurses that they need _ the nhs cannot find the nurses that they need to work on the ward. he knows _ they need to work on the ward. he knows the — they need to work on the ward. he knows the trains don't run even on non-strike — knows the trains don't run even on non—strike days such —— such is their— non—strike days such —— such is their shortage of staff. so how can he think— their shortage of staff. so how can he think that sacking thousands of key workers won'tjust he think that sacking thousands of key workers won't just plunge our public— key workers won't just plunge our public services further into crisis?

the government is rebranding this from _ the government is rebranding this from minimum service levels to minimum — from minimum service levels to minimum safety levels. they say that during _ minimum safety levels. they say that during strikes, it is essential to ensure — during strikes, it is essential to ensure there is a minimum level on certein— ensure there is a minimum level on certain services. it was in the conservative party manifesto in 2015 to extend _ conservative party manifesto in 2015 to extend this when it came to rail strikes. _ to extend this when it came to rail strikes. but— to extend this when it came to rail strikes, but they are now extending it to other— strikes, but they are now extending it to other sectors as well, like the nhs, — it to other sectors as well, like the nhs, education, border security and fire _ the nhs, education, border security and fire services as well as nuclear decommissioning services. they say they are disappointed. labour— they say they are disappointed. labour have argued this simply won't work, _ labour have argued this simply won't work, and that the time of staff shortages — work, and that the time of staff shortages and if they�*d don�*t comply with this legislation in certain circumstances,, if their employers circumstances, , if their employers have circumstances,, if their employers have told them not to go in for some unions are particularly up in arms about this, saying they will challenge this legislation legally. this is inflame tensions with unions at a time when ministers are wanting

to talk to unions and wanting to resolve disputes over pay at the moment. but it has caused some unease among some conservative mps as well. the conservative mp stephen mcpartland, for example, issued a statement saying that he would support, for example, finding unions, but doesn�*t think that individual workers should face the sack if they don�*t comply with this legislation, so i think it has a rocky road ahead. it is not becoming lawjust rocky road ahead. it is not becoming law just yet. rocky road ahead. it is not becoming lawjust yet. it needs to get through the house of commons and house of lords and potentially some judicial reviews as well. we will see what happens with that. in the meantime, we were watching grant shapps in the commons, the business secretary, no name a more light—hearted note, he has been making news and social media. it is the curious case of the disappearing prime minister. now you see him, now you don�*t. explain all? prime minister. now you see him, now you don't. explain all?— you don't. explain all? that's riaht, you don't. explain all? that's right. this — you don't. explain all? that's right, this has _ you don't. explain all? that's right, this has caused - you don't. explain all? that's right, this has caused a - you don't. explain all? that's right, this has caused a lot i you don't. explain all? that'sj right, this has caused a lot of intrigue today in our newsroom. the business secretary grant shapps posted a photo of himself on social media marking the first launch of a

rocket from uk soil, but many eagle eyed social media users and certainlyjournalists in our newsroom and up and down the country noticed this photo was just a little bit too similar to one that was posted on a visit last year, which had the former prime minister boris johnson in it, so it appears that miraculously, borisjohnson had been photoshopped out of that image to be reposted by the business secretary grant shapps is a sort of promotional image for that launch. a source close to grant shapps has argued that the business secretary wasn�*t aware that the photo had been edited and took it down as soon as he realised that it had been, but certainly, it has caused quite a lot of humour, but also mockery from opposition parties who, i think, are the first to make the joke that a current cabinet minister is trying to erase the former prime minister. thank you very much indeed. we will try to get some reaction from boris johnson to that!

for more on this, let�*s speak to lord hendy kc, a barrister specialising in trade union rights and the president at the international centre for trade union rights, and chairfor the insititute of employment rights. i think ithinki i think i got your title is correct there. what do you make of this proposed legislation to effectively limit strike action in the public sector? well, it goes beyond the private sector, doesn�*t it? if it�*s going to legislate for the railways as well, thatis legislate for the railways as well, that is in the private sector. you are right to describe this as controversial. the first point to make about it is the cumulative effect of this legislation on top of what has already gone before. the former prime minister back in 1997 said that we already had the most restrictive laws on trade unions in the western world. since then, we have the trade union action 2016, regulations allowing agency workers

to break strikes, quadrupling of the damages payable by trade unions. so this comes on top of that. i think another point to make is that it is said that we are acting consistently with other countries in europe which have minimum service level provisions, but there are some fundamental differences between the united kingdom and those countries in europe. fora united kingdom and those countries in europe. for a start, collective bargaining coverage is much greater in western europe, so that when unions are asked to agree minimum service levels, it�*s easy in france or spain, because they are negotiating with the employers anyway, and particularly over pay, whereas in this country, negotiation over minimum standards will be required of trade unions even with

employers who won�*t negotiate with them over wages, such as in the national health service, where the government so far has refused to discuss wages because they say that pay is set by a pay review body. and the other difference is that if agreement is not reached here and what the minimum service level is to be, it will be imposed by law. that is not the case, i think, in most of the other european countries. and it will be a requirement if this proposed bill follows the example of the transport minimum service level bill which was introduced before christmas, if trade unions don�*t take reasonable steps to ensure that workers required by their employer to operate the minimum service levels don�*t take part in the strike, then the strike will become unlawful, the trade union can be sued, and all strikers, notjust those who have refused to operate

the minimum standard level, service level, but all those who participate in the strike can be dismissed without recourse to unfair dismissal.— without recourse to unfair dismissal. �* . , ., ,, ., dismissal. but what grant shapps has said is that in — dismissal. but what grant shapps has said is that in the _ dismissal. but what grant shapps has said is that in the commons, - dismissal. but what grant shapps has said is that in the commons, the - said is that in the commons, the government absolutely believes in the right to strike, but at the same time, it is duty—bound to protect the lives and livelihoods of people in the uk in all circumstances? certainly, that is indeed what is sad, but there is another way of addressing that problem, and that is to sit round a table and negotiate a resolution to these disputes. these disputes are only occurring because the level of wages is not keeping pace with the level of price inflation, so that gap needs to be met, and it can only be met by... but you are now entering the realms of the negotiations.— but you are now entering the realms of the negotiations._ what | of the negotiations. certainly. what the government _ of the negotiations. certainly. what the government is _ of the negotiations. certainly. what the government is talking _ of the negotiations. certainly. what the government is talking about. of the negotiations. certainly. what the government is talking about hisj the government is talking about his future scenarios where there can�*t be a negotiated settlement, and

there isn�*t a negotiated settlement, there isn�*t a negotiated settlement, there isn�*t a negotiated settlement, there is endless industrial action which it believes orpheus could be putting lives at risk? surely some people watching this would think, actually, that�*s quite sensible, to have some minimum provision to keep a basic, safe level of service? but if workers — a basic, safe level of service? but if workers can't _ a basic, safe level of service? emit if workers can't take industrial if workers can�*t take industrial action, then they have got no way of exercising the pressure required to negotiate a settlement, and the fact of the matter is that all these disputes will ultimately be resolved by negotiation, and the answer to the current problem is to resolve them now by negotiation, and not wait for strikes to create the pressure on government to negotiate appropriate settlements. what is being done here is yet further withdrawal of the right to strike in a way that is much greater in britain than it is anywhere else in europe, and there is also a here for

the government as well. during the second world war, we had what was called order 1305, which prohibited strikes in various sectors. the consequence of that legislation was that industrial action, instead of being restricted, actually exploded. there were more industrial disputes, more days lost in strikes after the order was passed than before it, because workers found other ways of expressing their disquiet with their terms and conditions. it led to unofficial strikes, walk—outs, or people going off sick, or taking other measures to impede the employers�* business. and those are the risks that are going to be run. if you frustrate workers from taking what they regard to be legitimate industrial action, they have to... 0k. ., ., industrial action, they have to... 0k-_ yes. i

industrial action, they have to... | 0k-_ yes. we ok. you have the point. yes, i've heard you — ok. you have the point. yes, i've heard you loud — ok. you have the point. yes, i've heard you loud and _ ok. you have the point. yes, i've heard you loud and clear, - ok. you have the point. yes, i've heard you loud and clear, and - ok. you have the point. yes, i've heard you loud and clear, and i l heard you loud and clear, and i think the viewers have two. lord john hendy, president of the international centre for trade union rights, thank you. well, the new legislation strikes comes amid more action from unions this week. teachers at primary schools in scotland have walked out today in their dispute over pay, with more walk—outs planned tomorrow at secondary schools as well. our scotland correspondent james shaw has the latest. pay attention! cheering a cold, wet morning at this picket line in west renfrewshire, line in east renfrewshire, one of hundreds across scotland, but these teachers are not in the mood to give up and go home. we would all rather be in the classroom. we don't want to strike, and none of us would have got into teaching for the money, it was because we wanted to work with kids. we are just asking for. fair pay, nothing more. we go above and beyond for our children. - scottish teachers held their biggest strike in decades last november. this is the next

phase of the action. primary schools across scotland are closed today. tomorrow it will be the turn of secondary schools, and then from monday, unless an agreement is reached in the meantime, a rolling series of strikes across different regions of scotland, heading through into the start of february. the teaching unions want a 10% pay rise. local authorities and the scottish government are offering five, up to 6.85% for those on the lowest pay. the scottish government have had until november 20 seconds the scottish government have had since november 22nd when the last offer was brought and rejected to bring something substantial back to the table in order that today�*s action could be averted, and sadly they have not done that, so this morning, we have teachers on

picket lines when they should be working with young people. the scottish governance is there is simply not any more money. fairness is a really important principle here, i value the teaching workforce, they do an incredible job, but we have limited resources and are trying to operate fairly, so the offer on the table to teachers is the same as has already been accepted by other local government workers. meanwhile, families across scotland are feeling the impact of the strike. i understand why they are on strike, but itjust disrupts the youngsters�* education. they have had enough disruption over the past two and a half years. i fully support them. looking after my son today. i don't mind, i like spending time with him, so i fully

support the workers. according to both sides, the mood of the talks to try to end the dispute has been constructive. that sounds hopeful but if it does not result in a deal, these strikes could continue for weeks to come. the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in scotland�*s emergency departments has hit another record high. figures from public health scotland show that more than 2,500 people spent at least half a day in a&e in the week ending january 1st. that�*s up from the previous week. a look at our latest headlines... as you have just been hearing, primary school teachers in scotland have walked out in their dispute over pay, the latest in a wave of strikes hitting the uk this winter. the government has responded by starting the process of changing the law on strikes. there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year, the highest number outside the covid pandemic in half a century. and they set back, not a roadblock. the team behind the uk space mission

which failed to launch last night say they will keep on trying. in ukraine, a search is under way for two british men who�*ve gone missing while working as volunteers. christopher parry, who�*s 28, and andrew bagshaw, who�*s a8, were last seen in the eastern donetsk region, where fighting has been particularly intense. the foreign office says it�*s "supporting the families" of both men. here�*s vincent mcaviney. explosion this is christopher parry on friday, racing through bakhmut to save a civilian, oksana, who�*s in desperate need of rescue. filmed on friday, the 28—year—old, from truro in cornwall, has been posting videos like this to document his aid efforts. but a few hours later, christopher parry, and fellow british humanitarian 48—year—old andrew bagshaw, went missing while helping to evacuate civilians near soledar in the donetsk region, where russian attacks have been focused in recent days.

neither man has been heard from or seen since. ukrainian police are appealing for information. christopher parry, who has been in ukraine since last march, is believed to have rescued hundreds of people from the front lines of the conflict over recent months. i�*ve not experienced christmas in a war either. it�*s very peculiar to be here. you kind of forget that it�*s christmas at all. i really have no idea, because there�*s no sign of it anywhere, of course. the foreign office advises against all travel to ukraine, and has urged british citizens in the country to leave due to the risk to life. nevertheless, in a statement, a foreign office spokesman confirmed... andrew bagshaw�*s parents have released a statement saying they love him dearly, and are immensely proud of the incredible work he has done to help people in challenging circumstances. british prisoners are considered high—value targets by russia. in september, the kremlin swapped 55

russian troops in a deal that included five british prisoners of war. ukraine says it�*s strengthening its forces in the area they�*ve gone missing. for both men�*s families, it�*s now an anxious wait for news on their sons. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. we will be talking to our defence correspondentjonathan beale a correspondent jonathan beale a little correspondentjonathan beale a little later, for more on the possibility of british challenger to tanks being sent by the government to ukraine to help with a possible ukrainian counteroffensive. —— challenger two. so we will talk to our defence correspondent about that a little later on. in the meantime, after days of publicity, prince harry�*s autobiography spare has gone on sale here in the uk. some shops opened at midnight anticipating high demand, the waterstones book store says it is one of the biggest preorder titles for a decade. much of the book�*s contents

are already made public at the copies went on in spain. our royal correspondent sarah campbell reports. kept under wraps until publication date. a few stores, including this one in london�*s victoria station, opened at midnight. members of the press outnumbered customers. after the leaks, accidental sales in spain, tv interviews and endless comment... would you like a bag as well? ..people were finally able to get hold of their own copy of prince harry is memoir. prince harry�*s memoir. i cannot wait to read it. i cannot wait to read what he has got to say and to listen to the audio. i'm going on holiday with some friends. i i thought what better| present can i give the group than harry? _ we are bound to talk about it. to leave the family and leave the country, i want to know in his own words why. translated into 16 languages, the global launch is reminiscent of a famous fictional wizard. the closest would be harry potter.

a different harry, obviously. but very similar in the sense of there is huge anticipation around the release and people are invested very much in the story, in a very different way to a fictional story of harry, but this is obviously of a similar ilk. harry narrates his own audiobook, colourfully describing the moment he lost his virginity as a teenager. an inglorious episode with an older woman. she liked horses quite a lot and treated me not unlike a young stallion — a quick ride, after which she would smack my rump and send me off to graze. one of the many things about it that were wrong, it happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub. as a result of lea ks and promotional interviews, much of the content of the book was already out in the public domain before today�*s launch, particularly the most controversial sections.

for example, on page 359, william�*s alleged physical attack on harry. a little earlier, the much commented upon section concerning his time with the army in afghanistan. i can always say precisely how many enemy combatants i can always say precisely how many enemy combatants i killed, and i thought it vital never to shy away from the number. among the many things i learned in the army, accountability was near the top of the list. so my number? 25. across the world, harry�*s words are on sale. of course, many people will not want to read them, including, harry told one interviewer, his father and his brother. and if the royal family have an opinion on the book, they are not making it public. sarah campbell, bbc news. a higher than usual number of people in the uk died last year. the figure of excess deaths is nearly 660,000, below peak covid levels, but still 9% higher than

the year before the pandemic. it�*s the largest level of excess deaths outside covid in half a century. the term excess deaths means those above the five—year average. so it is a pretty significant number. let�*s talk to our head of statistics, robert cuffe. talk us through some of the factors, robert, that may be behind this? it's robert, that may be behind this? it�*s a combination of covid, which hasn�*t gone away, running into the pandemic hangover and the problems we are seeing in a&e, and it�*s starting to really come together in an unpleasant way in the most recent weeks, especially. so covid has not gone away. it was probably involved in 30,000 deaths last year, far lower than the pandemic, but still running at a pretty high level. but it is only one of the many problems. that is what is different. the pandemic was the leading, standout cause. in addition, we are seeing more heart deaths. part of that is

cove itself. if you are there would have had an infection, you out more at risk because of that. but part of it is mr care during the pandemic. i think we can show those figures to the audience now. the number of people who came in to get blood pressure treatment, and that grey area in the middle of the screen is the first lockdown, and you can see the first lockdown, and you can see the number of people who started treatment for blood pressure really fell away, and if you come forward into 2021, it didn't fell away, and if you come forward into 2021, it didn�*t really recover to the end of the year. now, coming in for blood pressure treatment or lipid treatment might not be urgent care right now, but tens of thousands of people who are going untreated, that is building up heart trouble for the future, so when you have these complex needs, plus people dying of covid, and you run that into the situation we are seeing an accident and emergency now, that is a pretty unpleasant mixture. lets focus on that last feature, accident and emergency, because the royal college of emergency medicine the other day said there was something like 3000—5000 excess deaths a week happening because of the crisis in emergency care in the

national health service. i think the government said they did not recognise those figures. this is quite a deeply political kind of issue, but does this play into these levels in excess deaths we are seeing? absolutely, and going back to the definition you gave at the start of excess deaths, it�*s not that we are seeing 3000—5000 people dying on a trolley nand, we�*re just seeing more death as a result of the problems. the figure, you say, is contested, but probably not too controversial. a study back in 2016 looked at people who waited for more than, say, eight hours in a&e, and looked at their risk of dying in the next 30 days. if you multiply that risk by the number of people who were going through very long trolley waits in hospital at the moment, thatis waits in hospital at the moment, that is how you get to this figure of a couple of hundred a week, so it is contributing. it is probably not doing it all on its own, but the trouble is, you have a couple of hundred coming from that, a couple of hundred coming from covid, you wrap them together, especially in

winter with that cold snap we saw in december, and the arrival of flu as well, the last few weeks of december, we were not seen 9% excess but 20% excess mortality, so 20% higher levels of death then we will expect to see. so this is getting pretty urgent now, and with all of these factors contributing, it�*s going to be a pretty hard to grip. robert, thank you. fascinating, and actually quite disturbing. let�*s speak now to stuart macdonald, parnet at lcp health analytics. they analyse data. robert has made it pretty clear there. 21% excess deaths at one level, that is a lot more people dying on average, is the bottom line. what do you make of these figures? yes, so i certainly agree with the picture that robert has painted there. we have had something of a chronic problem developing in the uk through 2022. death rates actually started, on average, about normal. slightly lower than normal, but

actually, even back then in the first quarter of the year, there was a challenge, and we were seeing high death rates amongst younger adults. as the year has gone on, from spring, we have seen this increasing pressure building, so we have seen the delays accessing emergency health care really contributing. we have also got these in the long term factors, so we have had repeated waves of covid threw the year. we are up to our fifth now. that causes are up to our fifth now. that causes a problem in the immediate term, both in terms of people it kills directly, but also in terms of the problems it creates to our health care workers, who are obviously on the front line when infectious diseases strike. we also note that the infections may cause increased cardiovascular risk, so a tale of additional risk, if you like, after people have been infected, and as robert mentioned earlier, we know

that there were a lot of people who would ordinarily have received diagnoses, particularly cardiovascular, because these things play out quite quickly, during the pandemic, who have missed them. people walking around with high blood pressure and diagnosed will contribute to patient demand. so these problems have been building through the air, and as we got into december, we had additional risk factors as well, so that cold snap that robert mentioned in mid december will certainly have contributed to the deaths registered over the last couple of weeks. we had a high and early flute peak. it looks like flu is hospital lazing and potentially killing more people than actually the current covid wave, and of course, there is one more covid way. —— hospitalise. so it is a real perfect storm of both short—term acute factors and longer term problematic ones that we will have to contend with at the moment. is it possible to project into the future, the sort of next forthcoming

year, 2023, in terms of whether this level of excess deaths is going to continue? excess deaths are a comparison to what is normal for the time of year. it is normal for death what is normal for the time of year. it is normalfor death rates what is normal for the time of year. it is normal for death rates to be higher injanuary and february time. that might actually mean that although death numbers stay high, the excess falls a little bit as we move into the first quarter. some of these contributing factors will still be with us. especially i would say there was health care problems that the nhs are experiencing. that is wor int that the nhs are experiencing. that is worrying because covid flew is one thing, but problems with the health care and the national health service, with the ambulance service and getting people to hospital when the need treatment, and getting them into hospital rather than part in an ambulance outside, those all appear

to be playing into those figures. absolutely. the calculations have been done and they estimate that hundreds of additional deaths are arising from these very long waits. we had 600,000 people waiting more than four hours to access a&e. in november. i have not seen a number for december yet, i don�*t think it has been published, but in all likelihood that will be worse based on anecdotal evidence. a good portion of those people are waiting 12 hours or more. the risks mount up in that situation, so for every 72 people that wait 12 hours to access health care, to be admitted to a&e, you are looking at an additional deaths and it is that logic that has led to those numbers that the royal couege led to those numbers that the royal college for emergency medicine have discussed. ., ~ college for emergency medicine have

discussed. ., ,, , ., we are going to see what is happening in the world of sport at the bbc sports centre this afternoon. the first—ever women�*s finalissima at wembley stadium will be a sell—out. the match will see england take on brazil in front of an expected crowd ofjust under 90 thousand. sarina weigmann�*s side are taking part after winning their historic first—ever european championship title last summer, while the brazilians earned their place by winning the 2022 copa america femenina. the match takes place on april 6th. after stevenage and wrexham stunned higher league opponents in the fa cup, tonight charlton will look to continue the theme of shocks when the league one side take on the top flight�*s manchester united in the league cup quarter finals. eddie howe�*s newcastle are also taking on leicester in the last 8. they were eliminated from the fa cup this weekend after a surprise defeat to sheffield wednesday. howe has called on his team to be more clinical in front of goal, and hopes to have striker alexander isak available to start. nottingham forest boss steve cooper

has defended his club after they were criticised for flying to and from blackpool for saturday�*s fa cup tie. rather than a road trip ofjust under three hours, forest players and staff took a 20 minute flight for the 135—mile journey. forest were knocked out after losing the match 4—1. they recently extended an agreement with energy company e.on to "raise awareness of the climate crisis" and "seek to play their part in a greener and more sustainable energy future". but cooper insists his club "probably fly less than most" teams in the premier league. day three of masters snooker at alexandra palace is well under way. and either mark allen or barry hawkins willjoin ronnie o�*sullivan and jack lisowski into the quarterfinals. last year�*s losing finallist hawkins is 2 frames up on allen, in their first round match. it�*s best of 11 frames at this stage. northern ireland�*s allen has won the last two they�*ve played against each other, most recently four years ago. if you want to watch this it�*s currently on bbc two, and online.

later, from 7pm, it�*s mark williams v david gilbert which will be on the bbc red button, bbc sport website and app. the former masters champion stuart bingham enters this year�*s tournament tomorrow but says he�*s still trying to find a way to deal with his worsening eyesight. bingham, who�*s a6, won the competition two years ago but hasn�*t won a trophy since. he�*s failed to progress beyond the second round of any tournament he�*s entered this season and says he�*s trying out glasses and contact lenses to try and regain some form. i�*m looking at shots and they look good but i am missing them, so just obviously trying to get my head round it, try on glasses, trying contacts. the year i won it, literally four days before i played my first match i had contacts in, so i didn�*t feel there was much difference, that is why i have kept them out, sort of thing. i am still trying anything to get my

hands on a bit of silverware. now you might remember that england�*s netballers made history with a maiden commonwealth gold back in 2018 and later this year they�*ll look to secure their first world cup title. this week they begin their preparations for the event with a three—leg series against jamaica. the first game is in manchester tomorrow. the �*vitality roses�* are ranked third in the world, just ahead of their opponents, butjamaica won commonwealth silver last year while england finished fourth. coachjess thirlby insists the team are on the right track though.. that breakthrough moment in 2018 raised expectations and brought a lot of joy into raised expectations and brought a lot ofjoy into the sport, but emergence are the narrowest they have ever been. for decades australia and new zealand dominated the sport and that is no longer the case. we have to be part of the journey and it is the right place for us to be. we have never made a world cup final and that should be the first step, we are using series like this, and we arejumping on a plane to south africa to play south africa and new zealand. seven games

through january africa and new zealand. seven games throuthanuary and africa and new zealand. seven games through january and we africa and new zealand. seven games throuthanuary and we are part of the year through the women�*s world cup final so we need to make sure we have a place around that table. barry hawkins has taken the third frame in that match against mark allen. that is the spot for now. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether to send tanks to ukraine. reports emerged yesterday suggesting future aid could possibly include heavy armoured vehicles. the prime minister�*s spokesperson said that britain would continue to co—ordinate its support for ukraine with its allies. the leaders of the eu and nato have been meeting today in brussels to agree new military cooperation. the nato head, jens stoltenberg, said the alliance would continue to back ukraine. the aim is of course to ensure that we can continue and also strengthen our support to ukraine, because we have seen that russia has suffered big

losses in ukraine due to the brave ukrainian soldiers and the professionalism and dedication of the ukrainian armed forces, but you should not underestimate russia. they are mobilising more troops, they are working hard to acquire more equipment, more ammunition, and they have shown willingness to actually suffer but continue the war, and there is no indication that president putin has changed the overall aim of his brutal war against ukraine, so we need to be prepared for the long haul, we need to continue to support ukraine, and again, it is an extremely important message that we are sending today with the declaration, with the two presidents here present with me, that we stand united, nato and the european union, in our support to ukraine.

i want to update you on this story because the chairman of the commons defence committee has been saying britain absolutely should supply ukraine with heavy battle tanks and do far more to put this fire out, in his words. that is tobias ellwood, the tory mp and chairman of the commons defence committee. joining us now in the studio defence correspondentjonathan beale. are we going to send ukrainians some of our tanks? the are we going to send ukrainians some of our tanks?— of our tanks? the mod's line is neither confirm _ of our tanks? the mod's line is neither confirm nor _ of our tanks? the mod's line is neither confirm nor deny. - of our tanks? the mod's line is i neither confirm nor deny. means of our tanks? the mod's line is - neither confirm nor deny. means yes! we are exoeeting _ neither confirm nor deny. means yes! we are expecting an _ neither confirm nor deny. means yes! we are expecting an announcement. l neither confirm nor deny. means yes! j we are expecting an announcement. i would be cautious about how many tanks the uk will send. we have got dozens of tanks in storage, challenger two tanks, which are more than 20 years old, but if given to ukraine they would be the most modern tank they have because until now they have been given old soviet tanks from former countries in

eastern europe who are part of the soviet bloc at one stage, like poland and the czech republic. essentially, they are talking about a small number of tanks, a dozen, a squadron�*s worth of challenger tanks. the importance is more about the big picture, about crossing the threshold of doing something that has not been done before. we have seen that with weapons. i meant have been given to ukraine in some countries were reluctant to do that. we have recently seen the us, france and germany provide armoured vehicles. this is an incentive for other countries to do more if this announcement is made. i think we will get an announcement soon. there�*s been a reluctance on the west to provide offensive weapons, to go on the attack against russia because that might antagonise russia. there have been worries that russia. there have been worries that russia could use battlefield nuclear weapons. would you class these

challenger tanks as a offensive weapons? would they be again changing on the battlefield? the definition of _ changing on the battlefield? tie: definition of offensive changing on the battlefield? tte: definition of offensive and defensive are difficult to put down on paper because most weapons can be used both ways. if you are talking about tanks and if you are using them with artillery and you are trying to take ground, that is what they are used for, to give an element of shock and to back up infantry. russians have been using them as sitting targets a lot, and anti—tank weapons have taken out russian tanks. game changer is a dangerous word used for weapons, intelligence is a game changer and has made ukraine capable of hitting barix. if the uk did send, even a dozen tanks to ukraine, the hope is for ukraine that other countries will follow and what they really

want is letter tanks. —— leopard tanks. want is letter tanks. -- leopard tanks. ~ ., ., want is letter tanks. -- leopard tanks-_ they - want is letter tanks. -- leopard tanks._ they are| want is letter tanks. -- leopard . tanks._ they are the tanks. what are they? they are the german version _ tanks. what are they? they are the german version of— tanks. what are they? they are the german version of the _ tanks. what are they? they are the german version of the challenger. l german version of the challenger. just to get very technical, the challenger tank has a rifle barrel and only uses ammunition that essentially uk users. if they got leopard tanks they could use native standard ammunition which should make a big difference. if they crush that threshold —— cross that threshold, that might mean other countries will feel more obliged to give ukraine tanks as well. triat countries will feel more obliged to give ukraine tanks as well. not too technical but _ give ukraine tanks as well. not too technical but thank _ give ukraine tanks as well. not too technical but thank you _ give ukraine tanks as well. not too technical but thank you very - give ukraine tanks as well. not too technical but thank you very much. j the first ever satellite mission launched from british soil has ended in disappointment. a technical failure meant the satellites carried by a rocket couldn�*t be released and were lost. those leading the space mission in cornwall say they�*re "absolutely gutted." our science editor rebecca morelle has the story.

the mission started so well. at spaceport cornwall, it was time for the jumbo jet to take off. and there it goes. it�*s lift off for the plane. but this is just the beginning. the next step is to release the rocket and start a new era for uk space. godspeed, launcher one, godspeed, cosmic girl on this historic both european and uk mission to open space for everyone. 2,000 people came to watch, ready to see what they thought would be a moment of history. an hour into the flight, the rocket, called launcher one, fired its engines after it was released from the plane. so far, so good. but then, this. it appears that launcher one has suffered an anomaly which will prevent us from making orbit for this mission. there was a problem with the rocket, and the mission was over. so this evening we had a first—stage burn that took

the rocket into space. but in effect, the second—stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit, so that's now being part of an investigation by virgin orbit and a number of government departments. the jumbo jet returned to spaceport cornwall as planned, but it was upsetting news for the team there, who�*d spent nearly a decade trying to make this launch happen. just absolutely devastated. um, you know, we put our heart and soul into this, and it�*s such a personaljourney for me as well, and my family were here. so, yeah, it was pretty, pretty rough. um, butifeelok. ifeel ok. and i think it�*lljust be a few days ofjust kind of letting it sink in a little bit. the data from the mission is now being analysed to work out exactly what went wrong. it�*s a well—known saying that space is hard. the team, though, is certain they�*ll try again. but tonight wasn�*t their night. well, we can now speak to the space journalist and broadcaster kate arkless gray.

how disappointed are you? it how disappointed are you? it is alwa s how disappointed are you? it is always sad _ how disappointed are you? it is always sad when _ how disappointed are you? it 3 always sad when you lose a mission and although it is the cliched space is hard, the one thing that doesn�*t represent is the number of people that have been involved in making this happen. spaceport cornwall have been trying to get this off the ground for about eight years. and you have got all the people who worked so hard to develop those satellites and other payloads are lost and they are going to have to start again from scratch. fingers crossed they will be able to launch again and we�*ll have to see what the future holds. d0 again and we'll have to see what the future holds-— future holds. do you think the preparations _ future holds. do you think the preparations were _ future holds. do you think the preparations were done - future holds. do you think the preparations were done as - future holds. do you think the l preparations were done as they should have been, was there anything more the scientists and engineers could have done and do we know what went wrong? i know they talked about an anomaly but is there any more detail on what actually happened? the teams will be raking through that data and it will take them a while to work out exactly what has

happened. as we were watching the live stream yesterday there were some strange glitches in the data we were getting back from the rocket. i originally assumed that was an error with the live stream and hoped everything was ok. but then the sad news came that they had this anomaly, a problem in normal speak, with the second stage engine and they were not going to make it into orbit. t they were not going to make it into orbit. ~ ., , orbit. i know the satellites were all insured. _ orbit. i know the satellites were all insured, but _ orbit. i know the satellites were all insured, but hugely - orbit. i know the satellites were i all insured, but hugely expensive. one of the good things about space technology these days is the size of satellites has come down and down, and all of the satellites on this mission were known as cube satellites. they are different units, so the biggest one would have been about 30 by 20 by ten centimetres which is not very big at all. they are cheaper and faster to produce, so hopefully it is not quite the same as if we had had a

major issue with the artemis rocket that nasa launched not so long ago. that would have been a very big problem. these are replaceable and it is a matter of seeing whether virgin orbit is able to carry on, because they have only launched six times in total. they had two failures and money is probably running out for them. it is going to depend on whether they have enough customers that trust them, can be find out what has gone wrong, and will people trust them with their expensive payloads and things they have worked on? will they trust them to lodge those into space in the future? , , future? time will tell. trust is the ke issue future? time will tell. trust is the key issue now- — future? time will tell. trust is the key issue now. thank _ future? time will tell. trust is the key issue now. thank you - future? time will tell. trust is the key issue now. thank you very - future? time will tell. trust is the i key issue now. thank you very much for being with us. let�*s go back to the school strikes in scotland. there is no sign of pay deal after the talks held by unions and the scottish government. primary schools are closed all day

and there are further walkouts expected to take place at scottish secondary schools tomorrow. let�*s speak now to andrea bradley, the general secretary at the educational institute for scotland — she was present at the pay negotiations meetings. thank you very much for being with us. is there any sign of any progress on this?— us. is there any sign of any progress on this? us. is there any sign of any rouress on this? ,., progress on this? there were some very modest _ progress on this? there were some very modest signs _ progress on this? there were some very modest signs of _ progress on this? there were some very modest signs of progress - progress on this? there were some very modest signs of progress at i very modest signs of progress at yesterday�*s official talks. there have been talks on friday which did not take us much further, that was not take us much further, that was not within the formal negotiating forum. the discussions which took place yesterday were an explanation of a number of possibilities and possible ways forward and at the end of those discussions, scottish government and the employers body in scotland resolved to take away some of those options and look at them a bit further with a view to

potentially come back for further negotiation later on this week. the last strike day was the 24th of november, they had left ample time between that date and today in order that the scottish government and cosla could bring forward a much improved and credible offer that our members could seriously consider with a view to averting a strike action today. it is disappointing this action had to be taken today, but almost every single primary school in scotland has been closed today and the likelihood is that almost every secondary school will be closed tomorrow is indicative of the strength of feeling of our members, that they deserve much better than 5% which has been on the table since august, almost six months on the table with little movement from the scottish government and cosla.- movement from the scottish government and cosla. they are offerin: government and cosla. they are offering 5% _ government and cosla. they are offering 596 and _ government and cosla. they are offering 596 and you _ government and cosla. they are offering 596 and you want - government and cosla. they are

offering 596 and you want 1096? l offering 5% and you want 10%? primary school children in scotland are missing a whole day�*s education today. are missing a whole day's education toda . ~ , ,., , are missing a whole day's education toda . ~ , ., ., are missing a whole day's education today. absolutely and that is regrettable. _ today. absolutely and that is regrettable. that _ today. absolutely and that is regrettable. that is - today. absolutely and that is regrettable. that is not - today. absolutely and that is regrettable. that is not a - today. absolutely and that is l regrettable. that is not a state today. absolutely and that is - regrettable. that is not a state of affairs that teachers in scotland are comfortable with or happy with. they would much rather have been in classrooms today rather than picket lines. but the power to bring this to a resolution rest with employers and the scottish government, and they have not done all in the power to avert today�*s strike action. t to avert today's strike action. i know nicola sturgeon, with reference to the strikes in the nhs, has said there is simply no more money available. there is nothing left in the cash till, if you like. do you accept that kind of argument or do you think there is more money they could come up with for you? it is could come up with for you? it is often the case _ could come up with for you? it is often the case that _ could come up with for you? it 3 often the case that employers and government, when workers are in pursuit of therapy, they will say there is no more money and then

after weeks of negotiations, sometimes industrial action, more money materialises. that was the case earlier in the year, or earlier last year in other local government disputes, we do not see why it should be any different for teachers. the scottish government and cosla have known for a very long time that teacher trade unions in scotland have a complain of to restoration in mind because teacher salaries in scotland have eroded in real terms to the tune of 25%. it has been no surprise to them this year that a 10% claim was lodged. the progress they have made to us settling that dispute has been very slow and incremental. they have to do better. ., ~ slow and incremental. they have to do better. ., ,,

tens of thousands of people in several counties of california, have been ordered to evacuate their homes, as heavy rain from a series of deadloy storms continue to hit the region. in the santa barbara area, the severe wet weather has killed at least 16 people, leaving thousands of homes without power. the search for a five—year— old boy who was swept away by rising floodwaters has been called off. aruna iyengar has the latest. california is getting used to extreme weather, here a rock slide blocks a highway. the state is struggling with torrential downpours and battering winds that have already killed a number of people in ten days. it�*s coming out of the creek over there. it�*s overflowing the creek and coming in. half a foot of water you're losing control of your vehicle. we're seeing people go around these detours because they don't see any obstacles. they think everything is fine and putting their lives at risk or putting first responders' lives at risk. the whole community of 10,000

people in montecito, in santa barbara county have been ordered to evacuate. the area is home to the duke and duchess of sussex and celebrities such as ellen degeneres. this creek next to our house never closed. ever. probably about nine feet up. we need to be nicer to mother nature. the torrential rains are the result of an atmospheric river of dense moisture funneled into california from the pacific, powered by low pressure systems churning offshore. across the state, 100,000 people are without electricity. and on sunday, the presidentjoe biden, declared an emergency allowing federal assistance for local relief efforts. these hills looked like this in september last year. now streets across the state are transformed into gushing rivers. in santa clara, the storms bring

this section of highway 101 to a standstill. pounding surf has battered seaside roads. and in napa county, famous for its wines, crews clear mud from roads as the river napa overflows. further south in ventura, 18 people are rescued by fire crews after they�*re stranded on an island by swelling rivers. elsewhere in the county, there�*s chaos on the streets. there�*s just a lot of infrastructure that isn�*t designed for drainage because it�*s southern california. so no one�*s expecting it. no one here can quite believe what they�*re seeing. aruna iyengar, bbc news. there�*s been a big rise in sales in the uk home entertainment market. together, the video, music and gaming sectors brought injust over 11 billion pounds last year, nearly a 40 per cent increase compared with pre—covid spending in 2019. our entertainment correspondent,

colin paterson has the details... it�*s lift off for the home entertainment industry. many of the habits the uk developed during lockdown appear to have stuck, the country now spends almost 40% more on entertainment at home than it did in 2019, the last whole pre—pandemic year. the area with the fastest growth is film and tv, top gun maverick 2022 is the biggest seller shifting over a million copies, mainly digital. the amount spent including on subscription services like netflix and disney+ in the last three years has risen by 70%. i think as people embrace these services, they stay with them, they find more and more content that they want to watch. and therefore the numbers are quite high and i think because there are new services coming into the market all the time,

we�*ve seen launches of things like paramount plus and lionsgate and things, people are therefore buying more services. and away we go. the largest sector is gaming, subscriptions and sales combining revenues of £4] billion. in a world cup year, it was perhaps no surprise the biggest seller was fifa 23. only 10% of games sold are now actual physical copies so again, people are not having to leave their chair to buy them. and while music is by far the smallest of the three sectors, its yearly total of almost £2 billion is its best since 2003. most of that was due to harry styles who had the best selling single and album of the year, something that�*s likely to be reflected when the brit award nominations are announced on thursday. now it�*s time for a look

at the weather with stav danaos. it has been a very wet day for many of us and there is more rain to come as you move through this week. we could see some problems of localised flooding across western scotland, north—west england, wales, and south—west england, these areas most prone. for the rest of today, it will stay windy and one batch of rain, that is the morning rain, clearing through. another one rattling through later in the day. it is going to be blustery wherever you are. temperatures on the plus side will be above average, double figures for most. this second batch of rain will rattle its way through this evening, eventually clearing and then overnight it is clear spells, scattered showers, even longer spells of rain across the north and west of the uk. a little bit of winteriness over the high ground of scotland. and gales will be a feature across the north of scotland, to the northern isles, probably severe gales for a time. thanks to a pretty deep area of low pressure which will move just to the north of scotland. a real squeeze in the isobars. there is plenty of isobars on the charts as we head into wednesday. it is going to be another blustery day with gales and exposure,

particularly around the western coast. we should see more sunshine around tomorrow. showers will come and go, moving from west to east, some merging together and introducing longer spells of rain. could be quite heavy in places. a slightly fresher day for many of us, we are in single digits tomorrow. could just see ten or 11 across the extreme south. as we move through wednesday night, the next batch of low pressure moves into england and wales, perhaps northern ireland, so another spell of heavy rain, strong winds, particularly towards the south and through the channel. temperatures here, 7—10 , but a colder night to come across the northern half of the country. that brief ridge of high pressure will bring something a little bit quieter across the north of the uk as we head into thursday, but another area of low pressure will be pushing in and it stays quite windy with further rain across southern britain. certainly, through the channel, we can see gales, some large waves, some heavy rain as well which will exacerbate flooding problems towards the south and the west. this area of low pressure will start

to push into the north and the west, so the wind is picking up here, increasing amounts of rain. double figure values in the south, certainly for england and wales on thursday. something a bit colder further north, some snow on the hills. and it remains unsettled for the end of the week and into the weekend. one thing we�*re pretty sure on now is the second half of the weekend, things will be turning colder all areas.

this is bbc news. i�*m ben brown. the headlines: the government has begun the process of changing the law to keep public services running at a minimum level during strike action. unions say it�*s an attack on workers�* rights. so i�*m introducing a bill that will give government the power to ensure that vital public services will have to maintain a basic function, by delivering minimum safety levels and ensuring the that lives and livelihoods are not lost. what we want? fair— livelihoods are not lost. what we want? fair pe! — it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest workers to walk out in a dispute over pay. many schools in the country are closed.

there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year, the highest number outside the covid pandemic in half a century. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether to send tanks to ukraine, after reports suggested the uk could send heavily armoured vehicles. some shops open at midnight to meet demand for prince harry�*s heavily—trailed autobiography, now on sale. and a setback not a roadblock — the team behind a uk space mission which failed to launch say they�*ll keep on trying. we will get there. you know, we go back, we get up, we do it again, and that defines ourfuture, back, we get up, we do it again, and that defines our future, really. we need to get back to this as soon as we can.

hello. this afternoon, the government has introduced draft legislation to limit future industrial action in the public sector. the bill would cover health, firefighters and railway workers. ministers say it would introduce a minimum level of service. unions have reacted angrily to the proposals, which they say are "undemocratic and unworkable". the business secretary, grant shapps, says they�*re common sense and has just announced details of the measures to the commons. we do not want to use this legislation, but we must ensure

the safety of the public. we hope to not use that power in the bill, and hoping they will come to the with that position just as the nurses have done in the recent strikes. mr speaker, this is a common—sense approach, we are not the to follow it. mr speaker, this is a common—sense approach, and we are not the first to follow it. the legislation will bring us in line with modern european countries france and spain, and italy, and germany, each of whom already have these types of rules in place. even the guardians of workers�* rights around the world, the international labour organisation, to whom the tuc themselves subscribe, say that minimum service levels are a proportionate way of balancing the right to strike with the need to protect the wider public. because the first job of any government is to keep the public safe, and unlike other countries, and unlike other countries, we are not proposing banning those strikes, but we do need to know that unions will be held to account.

so that is the business secretary grant shapps, introducing that proposed legislation. labour�*s deputy leader, angela rayner, said the plans were an attack on workers, describing the legislation as a "sacking nurses bill". an outright attack on the fundamental freedom of british working people. how can he say with a straight face that this government will always defend the ability to strike? can he tell us if he stands by his article in the telegraph last summer listing yet more plans to attack that basic right? does he deny they considered banning some key workers from joining a union at all? and so much for levelling up workers' rights, mr speaker. and where is their promised code of conduct conduct code of conduct on the fire and rehire, long abandoned employment bill that they promised to tackle insecure work? how can he go in one breath from thanking nurses to sacking nurses, mr speaker? notjust insulting, but utterly stupid. there is no common sense about this at all.

he says he recognises pressures faced by key workers, but he knows the nhs cannot find the nurses that they need to work on the ward. he knows the trains don't run even on non—strike days, such is their shortage of staff. so how can he seriously think that sacking thousands of key workers won't just plunge our public services further into crisis? that was angela rayner for labour. i have been talking about this with our political correspondent ione wells, who is that when has the latest. the government�*s framing of this is essentially rebranding it from minimum service levels to minimum safety levels. they argue that it is only fair, and that it strikes the right balance for the public to ensure that during periods of strikes, there is a minimum service

on certain public services. it was in the conservative party manifesto in the conservative party manifesto in 2019 to introduce this legislation when it came to rail strikes, but now the government is extending it to other sectors as well, including the nhs and education in border security, fire services, as well as nuclear decommissioning services as well. there has been particular attention and emphasis by the government placed on health, and saying that with upcoming ambulance strikes, for example, on wednesday, they are disappointed that ambulance services and ambulance unions haven�*t guaranteed across the board a minimum service level, which they feel like the public deserve to know, but as you say, this has been deeply controversial. labour have argued that it simply won�*t work, and that at a time when there are staff shortages and vacancies across a lot of these public services, they shouldn�*t be introducing laws that could mean workers face being sacked if they don�*t comply with some of this minimum service legislation in certain circumstances, if their employers have told them they need to go in. unions are particularly up

in arms about this as well, with some saying they will challenge this legislation legally as well. certainly, this has inflamed tensions with the unions at times when ministers are wanting to talk to the unions and resolve disputes over pay at the moment, but it has also caused some unease among some conservative mps as well. the conservative mps as well. the conservative mps as well. the conservative mp stephen apartment, for example, has issued a statement saying that he would support, for example, finding unions, but doesn�*t think that individual workers should face the sack if they don�*t comply with this legislation. —— stephen partland. it has a rocky road ahead. it needs to get through the house of commons and house of lords, and potentially some judicial reviews as well. we will see what happens with that. in the meantime, we were watching grant shapps, the business secretary, in the commons, and in light hearted news, he has been making news and social media? it is the curious case of the disappearing prime minister. now you see him, now you don�*t. explain all, iwells?

that�*s right, this is the curious case of the disappearing prime minister. now you see him, no you don�*t. explain all, ionewells? that�*s right, this has caused a lot of intrigue in our newsroom. the business secretary gran shapps posted a picture of himself on social media marking the first launch of a rocket from uk soil, but many eagle eyed social media users and journalists in our newsroom and “p and journalists in our newsroom and up and down the country noticed that the photo was just a little bit too similar to one that was posted on a visit last year which had the former prime minister borisjohnson in it. so it appears that miraculously, borisjohnson had been photoshopped out of that image to be reposted by the business secretary grant shapps is a sort of promotional image for that launch. a source close to grant shapps has argued that the business secretary wasn�*t aware that the photo had been edited and took it down as soon as he realised it had been, but certainly, it has caused quite a lot of, i think, humour, but also mockery from opposition parties, who are, i think, also mockery from opposition parties, who are, ithink, the also mockery from opposition parties, who are, i think, the first to make thejoke parties, who are, i think, the first to make the joke that a current cabinet minister is trying to raise the former prime minister.

ione wells reporting from westminster. i talked more about those proposed strike laws the government are introducing with lord hendy casey, a barrister specialising in trade union rights. he gave me his reaction to that proposed legislation. you are right to describe this is controversial. i mean, the first point to make about this is the cumulative effect of this legislation on top of what�*s already gone before. a former prime minister backin gone before. a former prime minister back in 1997 said that we already had the most restrictive laws and trade unions in the western world. since then, we had the trade union action 2016, regulations allowing agency workers to break strikes, quadrupling of the damages payable by trade unions. so this comes on top of that. i think another point top of that. i think another point to make is, it is said that we are

acting consistently with other countries in europe which have minimum service level provisions, but there are some fundamental differences between the united kingdom and those countries in europe. fora kingdom and those countries in europe. for a start, kingdom and those countries in europe. fora start, collective bargaining coverage is much greater in western europe, so that when unions are asked to agree minimum service levels, it�*s easy in france or spain, because they are negotiating with employers anyway, and particularly over pay, whereas in this country, negotiation over minimum standards will be required of trade unions even with employers that won�*t negotiate with them over wages, such as in the national health service, where the government so far has refused to discuss wages, because they say that pay is set by a pay review body. and the other differences that, if agreement is not reached here and what the

minimum service level is to be, it will be imposed by law. that�*s not the case, i think, in most of the other european countries and there will be a requirement, if this proposed bill follows the example of the transport minimum service level bill which was introduced before christmas, if trade unions don�*t take reasonable steps to ensure that workers required by their employer to operate the minimum service level don�*t take part in the strike, then the strike will become unlawful, the trade union can be sued, and all strikers, notjust those who have refused to operate the minimum standard level... service level, but all those who participate in the strike can be dismissed without recourse to unfair dismissal. but what grant shapps has said in the commons is that, yes, the

government absolutely believes in the right to strike, but at the same time, it is duty bound to protect the lives and livelihoods of people in the uk in all circumstances. certainly, that is indeed what is said. but there is another way of addressing that problem, isn�*t there? and that is to sit round a table and negotiate a resolution to these disputes. these disputes are only occurring because the level of wages is not keeping pace with the level of price inflation, so that gap needs to be met. that is lord hendy casey, talking to me a little earlier on. rishi sunak has been criticised after no 10 posted a photo to its official flickr account showing him boarding an raf plane to visit a hospital in leeds yesterday. it�*s not clear where the prime minister boarded the plane, but a journey from london to leeds on the train — a distance of around 200 miles — would have taken around two and a half hours.

angela rayner called it an extravagance. downing street said it was the "most effective use of his time". the british government signed up to a pledge of having a net zero carbon economy by 2050. the new legislation on strikes comes amid more action from unions this week. teachers at primary schools in scotland have walked out today in their dispute over pay, with more walk—outs planned tomorrow at secondary schools. our scotland correspondent james shaw has the latest. pay attention! cheering a cold, wet morning at this picket line in east renfrewshire, one of hundreds across scotland, but these teachers are not in the mood to give up and go home. we would all rather be in the classroom. we don't want to strike, and none of us would have got into teaching

for the money. it was all because we wanted to work with kids. we are only asking forl fair pay, nothing more. we do go above and - beyond for our children. scottish teachers held their biggest strike in decades last november. this is the next phase of the action. primary schools across scotland are closed today. tomorrow it will be the turn of secondary schools, and then from monday, unless an agreement is reached in the meantime, a rolling series of strikes across different regions of scotland, heading through into the start of february. the teaching unions want a 10% pay rise. local authorities and the scottish government are offering five, up to 6.85% for those on the lowest pay. the scottish government have had since november 22nd, when the last offer was brought

and rejected, to bring something substantial back to the table in order that today�*s action could be averted, and sadly they have not done that, so what we have this morning are teachers on picket lines like this one when they should be working with young people. the scottish government says there is simply no more money. fairness is a really important principle here. i value the teaching workforce, they do an incredible job, but we have limited resources and are trying to operate fairly, so the offer on the table to teachers is the same as has already been accepted by other local government workers. meanwhile, families across scotland are feeling the impact of the strike. i understand why they are on strike, but itjust disrupts the youngsters�* education. they have had enough disruption over the past two and a half years.

i fully support them. looking after my son today. i don't mind, i like spending time with him, so i fully support the workers. according to both sides, the mood of the talks to try to end the dispute has been constructive. that sounds hopeful, but if it does not result in a deal, these strikes could continue for weeks to come. the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in scotland�*s emergency departments has hit another record high. figures from public health scotland show that more than 2,500 people spent at least half a day in a&e in the week ending january 1st. that�*s up from the previous week. the headlines on bbc news... the government has begun the process of changing the law to keep some services running at a minimum level during strike action.

unions say it�*s an attack on workers�* right to strike. it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest workers to walk out in a dispute over pay. many schools in the country are closed. some shops opened at midnight to meet demand for prince harry�*s heavily—trailed autobiography, now on sale. a search is under way for two british men who�*ve gone missing while working as volunteers in ukraine. christopher parry, who�*s 28, and andrew bagshaw, who�*s a8, were last seen in the eastern donetsk region, where fighting has been intense. the foreign office says it�*s "supporting the families" of both men. here�*s vincent mcaviney. explosion this is christopher parry on friday, racing through bakhmut to save a civilian, oksana, who�*s in desperate need of rescue. filmed on friday, the 28—year—old, from truro in cornwall, has been posting videos like this

to document his aid efforts. but a few hours later, christopher parry, and fellow british humanitarian a8—year—old andrew bagshaw, went missing while helping to evacuate civilians near soledar in the donetsk region, where russian attacks have been focused in recent days. neither man has been heard from or seen since. ukrainian police are appealing for information. christopher parry, who has been in ukraine since last march, is believed to have rescued hundreds of people from the front lines of the conflict over recent months. i�*ve not experienced christmas in a war either. it�*s very peculiar to be here. you kind of forget that it�*s christmas at all. i really have no idea, because there�*s no sign of it anywhere, of course. the foreign office advises against all travel to ukraine, and has urged british citizens in the country to leave due to the risk to life. nevertheless, in a statement, a foreign office spokesman confirmed...

andrew bagshaw�*s parents have released a statement saying they love him dearly, and are immensely proud of the incredible work he has done to help people in challenging circumstances. british prisoners are considered high—value targets by russia. in september, the kremlin swapped 55 russian troops in a deal that included five british prisoners of war. ukraine says it�*s strengthening its forces in the area they�*ve gone missing. for both men�*s families, it�*s now an anxious wait for news on their sons. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. after days of publicity, prince harry�*s autobiography spare has gone on sale in the uk. some shops opened at midnight in anticipation of high demand, and the waterstones book store says it�*s one of its "biggest pre—order titles for a decade". much of the book�*s contents are already public after copies went on sale in spain. our royal correspondent

sarah campbell reports. kept under wraps until publication date. a few stores, including this one in london�*s victoria station, opened at midnight. members of the press outnumbered customers. after the leaks, accidental sales in spain, tv interviews and endless comment... ..people were finally able to get hold of their own copy of prince harry�*s memoir. i cannot wait to read it. i can't wait to read what he has got to say, and i can't wait to listen to the audio. i'm going on holiday with some friends. i i thought what better present can i give the group- than a book on harry? - we are bound to talk about it. to leave the family and leave the country, i want to know in his own words why. translated into 16 languages, the global launch is reminiscent of a famous fictional wizard.

the closest would be harry potter. a different harry, obviously. but very similar in the sense of, there is huge anticipation around the release and people are invested very much in history, invested very much in the story, in a very different way to a fictional story of harry, but this is obviously of a similar ilk. harry narrates his own audiobook colourfully describing the moment, he lost his virginity as a teenager. an inglorious episode with an older woman. she liked horses quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion — a quick ride, after which she would smack my rump and send me off to graze. among the many things about it that were wrong, it happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub. as a result of lea ks and promotional interviews, much of the content of the book was already out in the public domain before today�*s official launch, particularly the most controversial sections. for example, on page 359, william�*s alleged physical attack on harry. a little earlier, the much commented upon section concerning his time with the army in afghanistan.

i could always say precisely how many enemy combatants i had killed, and i felt it vital never to shy away from that number. among the many things i learned in the army, accountability was near the top of the list. so, my number? 25. across the world, harry�*s words are on sale. of course, many people will not want to read them, including, harry told one interviewer, his father and his brother. and if the royal family have an opinion on the book, they are not making it public. sarah campbell, bbc news. we would love to know the opinion of the royal family.

let�*s speak now to catherine mayer, author of charles: the heart of a king and cofounder of the women�*s equality party. where does this leave the royal family now? it leave the royal family now? it is interesting- _ leave the royal family now? it is interesting. i— leave the royal family now? it is interesting. i have _ leave the royal family now? it 3 interesting. i have been reading the book today, and reading the full book, as opposed to the excerpts, it makes a rather different impression. so one thing i would say is, we have to give it a bit of time, and those people who are actually going to read the book, as opposed to the ones that were kind of garbled through google translate, draw their own conclusions from it, because it is much more measured and much less angry than it sounded in some of the excerpts. angry than it sounded in some of the excerts. , ., ,, i. ., excerpts. does it make you more sympathetic _ excerpts. does it make you more sympathetic to — excerpts. does it make you more sympathetic to prince _ excerpts. does it make you more sympathetic to prince harry, - excerpts. does it make you more sympathetic to prince harry, do | excerpts. does it make you more i sympathetic to prince harry, do you think having read the book in its entirety? think having read the book in its entire ? ~ ., �* think having read the book in its entire ? ~ . �* ., entirety? well,, i haven't read the book in its — entirety? well,, i haven't read the book in its entirety, _ entirety? well,, i haven't read the book in its entirety, and _ entirety? well,, i haven't read the book in its entirety, and i'm - entirety? well,, i haven't read the book in its entirety, and i'm being| book in its entirety, and i�*m being honest about that. i can tell you, i�*m only on chapter 31, and there are many chapters of this book! but it is so far, elegiac and sad, and

it is so far, elegiac and sad, and it is so far, elegiac and sad, and it is an interesting book. so far very much about grief for his mother, and also about a difficulty in expressing emotions, and this strange alienating royal existence which, when i saw it, i dubbed it planet windsor because it is so peculiar. but i do think, i am not trying to downplay the impact on the monarchy. i think that will be profound. but i think already, there has been a profound impact on the monarchy from the failure to embed this meghan is a new member in its ranks, and instead, the splintering of the family, because that has done many different things in terms of alienating certain demographics that were enthused by her arrival and are now turned off by her departure and what they have said, but it�*s also again... the monarchy is this really

serious institution of state. we as taxpayers give it a lot of money. it has all sorts of real powers. it has a huge amount of soft power and influence. and somehow we are treating it like this sort of crazy soap opera. now, the human dimension in this book and in the interviews is very real. i�*m not trying to say it isn�*t. but i�*m trying to say that i don�*t really think it serves any of us, whether us is the population or the monarchy, well, to kind of devalue it and reduce it in that way. now, you have written a book about charles, and it is sitting there behind you on the shelf, actually. there are some pretty harsh words in the book for him and for camilla, the book for him and for camilla, the queen consort, and of course the william. can you see a time when harry does actually talk again to any of them?— harry does actually talk again to an of them? ., ., ., , ., , any of them? you mean harsh words in harries book? because _ any of them? you mean harsh words in harries book? because i— any of them? you mean harsh words in harries book? because i would - any of them? you mean harsh words in harries book? because i would say - harries book? because i would say mine is deeply measured!

yes, in harry�*s put, not in your book, absolutely. —— in harry�*s book. i think it will be very hard for them to find any kind of full and permanent resolution, but i don�*t think... you know, i know a lot of the sort of harry and meghan detractors are saying they should just go back to california and get lost. i think that that attitude underestimates, again, how damaging that would be. t underestimates, again, how damaging that would be— that would be. i suppose people may be sa int that would be. i suppose people may be saying that _ that would be. i suppose people may be saying that they _ that would be. i suppose people may be saying that they should _ that would be. i suppose people may be saying that they should stay - that would be. i suppose people may be saying that they should stay in - be saying that they should stay in california and maybe just not talk so much, or keep quiet? first california and maybe just not talk so much, or keep quiet?- so much, or keep quiet? first of all, i so much, or keep quiet? first of all. i think— so much, or keep quiet? first of all, i think it's — so much, or keep quiet? first of all, i think it's highly _ so much, or keep quiet? first of all, i think it's highly unlikely . all, i think it�*s highly unlikely that they are going to simmer down! you know, there has been talk of meghan having her own book deal but the main thing that you can see from this, and you can see from the book,

is that harry feels like his entire life has been traduced and misrepresented by the media, and i was amused and saddened by how poor the media coverage here was in response to this. it was as if they were sort of setting out to bear out his criticisms, whereas in fact, you know, we need a strong journalism. we need investigativejournalism, but we don�*t need that. and he is trying to sort of seize and reset his narrative. now, obviously, the coronation�*s coming up. there are some of the stories that are going to bubble up that will not be comfortable for the monarchy, including, you know, potentially a return to the spotlight to some extent of prince andrew. there is an ongoing investigation into allegations of cash for honours. there are other things that can make things tricky for charles. but this family rupture is a huge one, and i think it will be in their interest

to seek... it is clearly in their interest to seek some kind of resolution. whether it is possible to find it, though, iam resolution. whether it is possible to find it, though, i am quite sceptical. very good to talk to you, and maybe we will come back to you when you have finished the book! but thanks in the meantime, catherine meier. give me another day. biographer of king charles, catherine meier. a higher than usual number of people in the uk died last year. the figure of nearly 660,000 is below peak covid levels, but is still 9% higher than the year before the pandemic, and it�*s among the largest level of excess deaths outside covid in half a century. the term excess deaths means those above the five—year average. our head of statistics, robert cuffe, joined me earlier with more on this.

he began by outlining some of the contributing factors behind the numbers. it's it�*s a combination of covid, which hasn�*t gone away, and that�*s running into the pandemic hangover and the problems we are seeing in a&e, and are really starting to come together in a most unpleasant way in the recent weeks, especially for some so covid hasn�*t gone away. it was probably involved in about 30,000 deaths last year. now, that�*s far lower than the pandemic, but it�*s still running at a pretty high level. it is only one of the many problems. that�*s what�*s different to the pandemic here, when it was the leading, standout cause. in addition to that, we are seeing more heart deaths. now, part of that is covid itself. if you have had an infection, you are at higher risk after that, infection, you are at higher risk afterthat, but infection, you are at higher risk after that, but some of it is missed care during the pandemic, and i think we can show those numbers to the audience now, the number of people who came in to get started on blood pressure during the pandemic, you can see that big grey area in the middle of the screen, that big drop is the first lockdown, and you can see the number of people started treatment for blood pressure really fell away, and if you come forward

to 2021, didn't fell away, and if you come forward to 2021, didn�*t really recover to the end of the year. now, coming in for blood pressure treatment or lipid treatment, that might not be urgent care right now, but tens of thousands of people who are going untreated, that�*s building a part trouble for the future, so when you have these complex needs, plus people who are dying of covid, and you run that into the situation we are seeing an accident and emergency, that is a pretty unpleasant mixture. let�*s just focus on that last factor, accident and emergency, the royal college of emergency medicine the other day said that there are something like 3000—5000 excess deaths a week happening because of the crisis and emergency care in the national health service. i think the government said they didn�*t recognise those figures. this is quite a deeply political kind of issue, but does this play into these levels of excess deaths that we are seeing? absolutely, and going back to the definition you gave at the start, excess deaths, it�*s not that seeing 3000-5000 excess deaths, it�*s not that seeing 3000—5000 people dying on a trolley in a&e, we are seeing more deaths as

a result of the problems. now, the figure as you say is contested. but it is probably not too controversial, there was a study backin controversial, there was a study back in about 2016 that looked at people who waited for more than, say, eight hours in a&e, and looked at their risk of dying in the next 30 days. if you multiply that risk by the number of people who are going to very long trolley waits in hospital at the moment, that is how you get to this figure of the kind of couple of hundred a week, so it is contributing. it is probably not doing it all on its own, but the trouble is, you have a couple of hundred coming from that, a couple of hundred coming in covid, you wrap them together, especially in the winter, with that cold snap we saw in december, the arrival of flu as well, and in the last few weeks of december, we went seeing 9% excess, we were seeing 20% excess mortality, so 20% higher levels of debt than we would expect to see. so this is getting pretty urgent now, and with all of these factors contributing, it will be a pretty hard one to grip.

now it�*s time for a look at the weather with stav. hello, it has been a wet day, we had one batch of rain suite three with a second line of rain later on in the day. it is going to remain windy as we head into this evening, we could see severe gales for a time of night across northern scotland into the northern isles and a squeeze in the isobars. furthersouth, clear spells, plenty of showers in the north and west, the best of any dry weather will be towards the east. a blustery night for all. temperatures for — 7 degrees. wednesday, we hold onto the unsettled theme and lots of isobars on the charts. there is an area of low pressure pulling away from the north of scotland. it is going to be another blustery day on wednesday, gale is out west, plenty of showers rattling through and some of showers rattling through and some of them merging together with longer spells of rain. we should see more sunshine around. according feel

across the north, some wintry this over the high ground. —— a colder feel across the north and some wintry nests of the high ground. hello, this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines... the government has begun the process of changing the law to keep public services running — at a minimum level — during strike action. unions say it�*s an attack on workers�* rights. what do we want? fair pay! when do we want it? — what do we want? fair pay! when do we want it? now! _ it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest workers to walk out in a dispute over pay. many schools in the country are closed. there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year. the highest number outside the covid pandemic, in half a century. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether to send tanks to ukraine — after reports suggested the uk could send heavily armoured vehicles.

and a setback not a roadblock — the team behind a uk space mission which failed to launch correctly — say they�*ll keep on trying. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here�*s gavin. good afternoon. wales manager robert page says he still hopes gareth bale has a part to play with the national side, after the former spurs and real madrid forward announced his retirement from playing football. bale, who�*s scored scored a1 goals in 111 wales games — paid tribute to his former managers and club—mates. page confirmed he would have selected bale for wales�* european championship qualifiers in march — but believes the former real madrid star has retired at the right time — despite it being a big loss to the team. it is phenomenal what he has it is phenomenal what he has done it is phenomenal what he has done for not 'ust football but as a for notjust football but as a nation as well, he has put wales on the map globally because of what he

has done in european football at real madrid, what he has done in the premiership, tottenham when he first started off, and in the world cup. notjust from a football point of view, but from a cultural point of view, but from a cultural point of view and wales in general. everybody should be very proud of what he has done for us. after stevenage and wrexham stunned higher league opponents in the fa cup, tonight charlton will look to continue the theme of shocks when the league one side take on the top flight�*s manchester united in the league cup quarter finals. eddie howe�*s newcastle are also taking on leicester in the last 8. they were eliminated from the fa cup this weekend — after a surprise defeat to sheffield wednesday. howe has called on his team to be more clinical in front of goal, and hopes to have striker alexander isak available to start. barry hawkins is on the way to the masters quarterfinals at alexandra palace. he has a a—0 lead over mark

allen. it is the best of 11 frames. northern ireland�*s allen has won the last two they�*ve played against each other. if you want to watch this it�*s currently on bbc two, and online. hawkins is a—0 up. first to six wins. later, from 7pm, it�*s mark williams v david gilbert which will be on the bbc red button, bbc sport website and app. now you might remember that england�*s netballers made history with a maiden commonwealth gold back in 2018 and later this year they�*ll look to secure their first world cup title. this week they begin their preparations for the event with a three—leg series against jamaica. the first game is in manchester tomorrow. the �*vitality roses�* are ranked third in the world, just ahead of their opponents, butjamaica won commonwealth silver last year while england finished fourth. coachjess thirlby insists the team are on the right track though. that breakthrough moment in 2018 raised expectations and brought

a lot ofjoy into the sport, but the margins are the narrowest they have ever been. for decades australia and new zealand dominated the sport and that is no longer the case. we have to be part of the journey and it is the right place for us to be. we have never made a world cup final and that should be the first step, we are using a series like this, and we arejumping on a plane to south africa to play south africa and new zealand. we are hitting the world top order in close proximity. seven games throuthanuary and we are part of a year full of women�*s world cup finals so we need to make sure we have a place around that table. several england players are involved in the open including jofra archer who competes for the first time in a year and a half after his injury problems. jos buttler, jason roy and eoin morgan are on the other side. you can find out more on that and the rest of the stories on the bbc

sport website at the usual address. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether to send tanks to ukraine. reports emerged yesterday suggesting future aid could possibly include british army challenger 2 main battle tanks. the prime minister�*s spokesperson said that britain would continue to co—ordinate its support for kyiv with its allies. the leaders of the eu and nato have been meeting today in brussels to agree new military cooperation. the nato head, jens stoltenberg, said the alliance would continue to back ukraine. the aim is of course to ensure that we can continue and also strengthen our support to ukraine, because we have seen that russia has suffered big losses in ukraine due to the brave ukrainian soldiers and the professionalism and dedication of the ukrainian armed forces, but you should not underestimate russia. they are mobilising more troops,

they are working hard to acquire more equipment, more ammunition, and they have shown willingness to actually suffer but continue the war, and there is no indication that president putin has changed the overall aim of his brutal war against ukraine, so we need to be prepared for the long haul, we need to continue to support ukraine, and again, it is an extremely important message that we are sending today with the declaration, with the two presidents here present with me, that we stand united, nato and the european union, in our support to ukraine. justin crump is a military analyst and chief executive of sibylline, the intelligence consultancy. he�*s also a british army veteran. good to talk to you. let�*s talk

first about the idea of britain sending tanks to ukraine. is that likely to happen? how many would be sent, what difference would they make? it sent, what difference would they make? , , ., ., , make? it is up in the area with this bein: make? it is up in the area with this being considered. _ make? it is up in the area with this being considered. the _ make? it is up in the area with this being considered. the numbers - make? it is up in the area with this l being considered. the numbers been talked about our ten or 12 which is probably the smallest amount that makes sense to be a usable amount by ukraine. you have to think about the support and logistics involved in an item of equipment as heavy and complex as a main battle tank like the challenger two. the real intent is to help prod other nations have much larger tank stocks and all those links to germany, the former at leopard two into action. i think being the first to donate heavy armour to ukraine, being the first to donate heavy armourto ukraine, it being the first to donate heavy armour to ukraine, it opens the doors for the germans to authorise and make transfers of more modern heavy tanks. that is the real intent. ., , ., ,

intent. until now they have been usin: intent. until now they have been using soviet _ intent. until now they have been using soviet era _ intent. until now they have been using soviet era tanks _ intent. until now they have been using soviet era tanks and - intent. until now they have been using soviet era tanks and tanks| using soviet era tanks and tanks they have captured from the russians. what difference would western tanks make? tanks like the challenger on the battlefield? would they be a game changer in any way? western tank design was optimised to over match against x soviet equipment so it is designed to be 20, 30% better, it is designed to be able to beat the other tank one—on—onein able to beat the other tank one—on—one in any situation. they are designed and engineered to be more survivable and have more firepower and to be mobile and sustainable enough to take on russian designed tanks at a higher ratio. as ukraine has done throughout this complex, it is doing more with less, it is the very ethos of design for these tanks. they will be more effective on the battlefield but the big thing about armour in general is it is not about having one or two tanks that are better, it is about having lots and using them together. in the second world war, a german general put it as do not

dribble the tanks, you need to use them en masse. a lot of it will come down to how ukraine will employ it. it is notjust about equipment. hoop it is not 'ust about equipment. how lona it is notjust about equipment. how lona does it is notjust about equipment. how long does it — it is notjust about equipment. how long does it take _ it is notjust about equipment. how long does it take to train? you cannotjustjump into one, you need about 20 months to train to use one. it is shorter than that, you are looking at around six months in western military. but the level of training we apply in peace time is thorough, there is a strong emphasis on health and safety and a fear of anything going wrong. it tank is a dangerous environment, you are dealing with high explosives and fuel, electricals. it is a complex piece of equipment. that is in peacetime. for more experienced people who have been driving and operating, it could be rapidly increased in terms of training time and it is a matter of learning the system is on the new vehicle and the maintenance. i cannot stress enough

how difficult it is to support and maintain heavy armoured forces in the field. they are demanding and there is a step on with the western equipment from the russian equipment which is much more simple and designed to be operated by conscripts. it is pretty disposable and not particularly affected. the price of having these better vehicles is there is a lot more complexity to get your head around. it would not take the ukrainians the time we allow in the french or british or german military. let's talk about _ british or german military. let's talk about the _ british or german military. let's talk about the war _ british or german military. let's talk about the war in _ british or german military. let's talk about the war in general, where are we at? we heard a lot of talk about it would settle into a war of attrition over the long, cold winter but they sale seems to be a lot of fighting going on. —— there still seems to be. fighting going on. -- there still seems to be.— fighting going on. -- there still seems to be. ., �*, seems to be. in each other's battle is auoin seems to be. in each other's battle is going to — seems to be. in each other's battle is going to each — seems to be. in each other's battle is going to each other— seems to be. in each other's battle is going to each other down. - seems to be. in each other's battle is going to each other down. of - is going to each other down. of first world war style trench warfare. the thing they tank was designed to defeat was this traditional environment. that opens

up traditional environment. that opens up something called manoeuvre warfare where you can do what the ukrainians did in september, take that land by moving your forces are moving quickly and chucking and dislocating your enemy. that is the key role of the tank. the two are not mutually exclusive but they are locked when either side could generate an advantage to open up the conflict. the russians are focused on grinding down ukrainian forces and trying to grind forward, especially around towns to the north. very limited real military objectives. they are not strategically important in any way, but it is all about wearing each other down. think about wrestlers who are rattling but they are locked at this point, and hence the secretary general�*s comments about not underestimating russia because they are trying to build a force that would allow them to open things up that would allow them to open things up again. so are ukraine and this is where these donations come in. finally, lots of talk about potential spring offensives, both by

the russians and ukrainians. what you see happening once winter is over? �* ., , , , you see happening once winter is over? , , , ., over? both sides will be looking to build a reserve, _ over? both sides will be looking to build a reserve, to _ over? both sides will be looking to build a reserve, to mount- over? both sides will be looking to build a reserve, to mount these i build a reserve, to mount these operations. neither is locked into the idea that this is going to be an attritional slugfest. it is harder attritional slugfest. it is harder at this time of the year. that is why we are looking at the spring which gives sides time to build up forces, train them and employ them effectively. both sides are talking about these things to try and show their own side and supporters that they are in the conflict and they intend to win and they will do things to go back on the offensive, ifor ukraine to things to go back on the offensive, i for ukraine to recapture the territory that russia has stolen or russia to show the war is not over and they may yet achieve the objectives they set out to achieve. thank you very much. tens of thousands of people

in several counties of california, have been ordered to evacuate their homes, as heavy rain from a series of deadly storms continue to hit the region. in the santa barbara area, the severe wet weather has killed at least 1a people, leaving thousands of homes without power. the search for a five—year—old boy who was swept away by rising floodwaters, has been called off. aruna iyengar has the latest. california is getting used to extreme weather. here, a rock slide blocks a highway. the state is struggling with torrential downpours and battering winds that have already killed a number of people in ten days. half a foot of water, you're losing control of your vehicle. we're seeing people go around these detours because they don't see any obstacles. they think everything is fine and putting their lives at risk or putting first responders' lives at risk. the whole community of 10,000 people in montecito

in santa barbara county have been ordered to evacuate. the area is home to the duke and duchess of sussex and celebrities such as ellen degeneres. the torrential rains are the result of an atmospheric river of dense moisture funneled into california from the pacific, powered by low pressure systems churning offshore. across the state, 100,000 people are without electricity. and on sunday, the president, joe biden, declared an emergency allowing federal assistance for local relief efforts. these hills looked like this in september last year. now streets across the state are transformed into gushing rivers. in santa clara, the storms bring this section of highway

101 to a standstill. pounding surf has battered seaside roads. and in napa county, famous for its wines, crews clear mud from roads as the river napa overflows. further south in ventura, 18 people are rescued by fire crews after they�*re stranded on an island by swelling rivers. elsewhere in the county, there�*s chaos on the streets. there�*s just a lot of infrastructure that isn�*t designed for drainage because it�*s southern california, so no—one�*s expecting it. no—one here can quite believe what they�*re seeing. aruna iyengar, bbc news. let�*s show you the scene at life now. you can see some of the floodwaters there. this is the area of california where prince harry and megan maclay. oprah winfrey and others. —— meghan and harry live.

the rain to produce more flooding, mudslides and landslides in the area where the ground has been saturated by previous heavy rainfall. that is what the emergency services are warning about in california and the national weather service. experts are saying the growing frequency and intensity of these storms are symptoms of climate change. that is the situation in california. much more rainfall expected and it is likely to produce more flooding. the end—of—life charity marie curie are calling for people... it would prevent thousands of people each year from dying prevent thousands of people each yearfrom dying in poverty.

the end of life charity, marie curie, is calling for terminally ill people of working age to be given early access to a state pension. it claims the change could be delivered at minimal cost to the taxpayer and would prevent thousands of people each year from dying in poverty. olivia hutchinson reports. thank you. cheryl and mark have been struggling to pay their bills since cheryl, who�*s 61, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2018. things have got so bad that they can no longer afford to heat their home or run their car. how do we go out and make memories when we haven�*t got anything to make memories with? we have to pull in every penny we�*ve got to just pay things. the end—of—life charity marie curie says people of working age are almost twice as likely to fall into poverty if they�*re diagnosed with a terminal illness than those claiming their state pension. they�*re calling for more government funding so that those affected can access their pensions earlier. i don't have the heating on. even with all that bad weather, we didn't have the heating on because that's one bill we probably couldn't afford. i know the issue for us is terminal cancer and you should get access to your pension. pension you've paid into.

it's your entitlement. audrey�*s husband, eddie, was 6a when he died injune, so hadn�*t reached retirement age. he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020. it got to the stage a month before he died that we were really - struggling then and we've tried to survive until then. _ but then i had to declare myself bankrupt so we could live. - and, you know, i don't think that when you're terminally— ill, you should have i to worry about money. i and i think that, if he had his. pension, his state pension, then at least that would have helped. the department for work and pensions says those nearing the end of their lives can get fast track access to a range of benefits and that last year�*s support was extended. but those affected argue that simply isn�*t enough. olivia hutchinson, bbc news. there�*s been a big rise in sales in the uk home entertainment market. together, the video,

music and gaming sectors brought injust over 11 billion pounds last year, nearly a a0% increase compared with pre—covid spending in 2019. our entertainment correspondent, colin paterson has the details. it�*s lift—off for the home entertainment industry. many of the habits the uk developed during lockdown appear to have stuck, the country now spends almost a0% more on entertainment at home than it did in 2019, the last whole pre—pandemic year. the area with the fastest growth is film and tv, top gun maverick, 2022�*s the biggest seller, shifting over a million copies, mainly digital. the amount spent including on subscription services like netflix and disney+ in the last three years has risen by 70%. i think as people embrace these

services, they stay with them, they find more and more content that they want to watch. and therefore the numbers are quite high and i think because there are new services coming into the market all the time, we�*ve seen launches of things like paramount plus and lionsgate and things, people are therefore buying more services. and away we go. the largest sector is gaming, subscriptions and sales combining for revenues of £a.7 billion. in a world cup year, it was perhaps no surprise the biggest seller was fifa 23. only 10% of games sold are now actual physical copies so again, people are not having to leave their chair to buy them. and while music is by far the smallest of the three sectors, its yearly total of almost £2 billion is its best since 2003. most of that was due to harry styles who had the best selling single

and album of the year, something that�*s likely to be reflected when the brit award nominations are announced on thursday. a technicalfailure a technical failure meant satellites carried by a rocket cannot be policed and were lost. those leading the space mission in cornwall say they were gutted in a science editor has more. the mission started so well. at spaceport cornwall, it was time for the jumbo jet to take off. and there it goes. it�*s lift off for the plane. but this is just the beginning. the next step is to release the rocket and start a new era for uk space.

godspeed, launcher one, godspeed, cosmic girl on this historic both european and uk mission to open space for everyone. 2,000 people came to watch, ready to see what they thought would be a moment of history. an hour into the flight, the rocket, called launcher one, fired its engines after it was released from the plane. so far, so good. but then, this. it appears that launcher one has suffered an anomaly which will prevent us from making orbit for this mission. there was a problem with the rocket, and the mission was over. so this evening we had a first—stage burn that took the rocket into space. but in effect, the second—stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit, so that's now being part of an investigation by virgin orbit and a number of government departments. the jumbo jet returned to spaceport cornwall as planned, but it was upsetting news for the team there, who�*d spent nearly a decade trying to make this launch happen. just absolutely devastated. um, you know, we put our heart and soul into this, and it�*s such

a personaljourney for me as well, and my family were here. so, yeah, it was pretty, pretty rough. um, butifeelok. ifeel ok. and i think it�*lljust be a few days ofjust kind of letting it sink in a little bit. the data from the mission is now being analysed to work out exactly what went wrong. it�*s a well—known saying that space is hard. the team, though, is certain they�*ll try again. but tonight wasn�*t their night. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with stav. it has been a very wet day for many of us and there is more rain to come as we move through this week. we could see some problems of localised flooding across western scotland, north—west england, wales, and south—west england, these areas most prone. for the rest of today, it will stay windy and one batch of rain, that is the morning rain, clearing through. another one rattling through later in the day. it is going to be blustery wherever you are. temperatures on the plus side will be above average, double figures for most. this second batch of rain will

rattle its way through this evening, eventually clearing and then overnight it is clear spells, scattered showers, even longer spells of rain across the north and west of the uk. a little bit of winteriness over the high ground of scotland. and gales will be a feature across the north of scotland, to the northern isles, probably severe gales for a time. thanks to a pretty deep area of low pressure which will move just to the north of scotland. a real squeeze in the isobars. there is plenty of isobars on the charts as we head into wednesday. it is going to be another blustery day with gales and exposure, particularly around the western coast. we should see more sunshine around tomorrow. showers will come and go, moving from west to east, some merging together and introducing longer spells of rain. could be quite heavy in places. a slightly fresher day for many of us, we are in single digits tomorrow. could just see ten or 11 across the extreme south. as we move through wednesday night, the next batch of low pressure moves into england and wales, perhaps northern ireland, so another spell of heavy rain, strong winds, particularly towards the south and through the channel.

temperatures here, 7—10 , but a colder night to come across the northern half of the country. that brief ridge of high pressure will bring something a little bit quieter across the north of the uk as we head into thursday, but another area of low pressure will be pushing in and it stays quite windy with further rain across southern britain. certainly, through the channel, we can see gales, some large waves, some heavy rain as well which will exacerbate flooding problems towards the south and the west. this area of low pressure will start to push into the north and the west, so the wind is picking up here, increasing amounts of rain. double figure values in the south, certainly for england and wales on thursday. something a bit colder further north, some snow on the hills. and it remains unsettled for the end of the week and into the weekend. one thing we�*re pretty sure on now is the second half of the weekend, things will be turning colder all areas.

it will be a pretty hard one to grip. this is bbc news. i�*m ben brown. the headlines: the government has begun the process of changing the law to keep public services running at a minimum level during strike action. unions say it�*s an attack on workers�* rights. what do we want?! fair pay! soiam so i am introducing a bill that will government the power to ensure that vital public services will have to ensure a basic function by delivering on safety levels and ensuring the lives and livelihoods are not lost. what do we want?! fair pay! when do we want it?! now! it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest workers to walk out in a dispute over pay. many schools in the country are closed. there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year,

the highest number outside the covid pandemic in half a century. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether to send tanks to ukraine after reports suggested the uk could send a dozen to help in the war. some shops opened at midnight to meet demand for prince harry�*s heavily—trailed autobiography, which is now on sale. and a setback, not a roadblock — the team behind a uk space mission which failed to launch correctly say they�*ll keep on trying. we will get there. you know, we go back, we get up, we do it again, and that defines our future, really. we need to get back to this as soon as we can.

hello. the government has introduced controversial draft legislation to limit future strikes. the measures would affect those working in the nhs, education, transport, fire and rescue, border security, and nuclear decommissioning. ministers say there are similar laws in other european countries and that such measures are simply common sense to protect lives and livelihoods. workers could could be sacked under the proposed legislation. unions have condemned the proposals, as "undemocratic, unworkable "and a threat to the fundamental right to withdraw labour". here�*s the business secretary, grant shapps, announcing the bill to the commons this afternoon. we do not want to use this legislation, but we must ensure the

safety of the british public. during the passage of the bill, we intend to consult on what an adequate level of coverage looks like in fire, ambulance and in rail services. for the other sectors covered in the bill, we hope to reach minimum service agreements that mean that we don�*t have to use that power in the bill,, and they will be able to come to that position just as the nurses have done in the recent strikes. mr speaker, this is a common—sense approach, and we are not the first to follow it. the legislation will bring us in line with modern european countries like france and spain, and italy, and germany, each of whom already have these types of rules in place. even the guardians of workers�* rights around the world, the international labour organisation, to whom the tuc themselves subscribe, say that minimum service levels are a proportionate way of balancing the right to strike with the need to protect the wider public. because the first job of any

government is to keep the public safe, and unlike other countries, and unlike other countries, we are not proposing banning those strikes, but we do need to know that unions will be held to account. labour�*s deputy leader, angela rayner, said the plans were an attack on workers, describing the legislation as a "sacking nurses bill". an outright attack on the fundamental freedom of british working people. how can he say with a straight face that this government will always defend the ability to strike? can he tell us if he stands by his article in the telegraph last summer listing yet more plans to attack that basic right? does he deny they considered banning some key workers from joining a union at all? and so much for levelling up workers' rights, mr speaker. and where is their promised code of conduct on the fire and rehire, long abandoned employment bill that they promised to tackle insecure work?

how can he go in one breath from thanking nurses to sacking nurses, mr speaker? notjust insulting, but utterly stupid. there is no common sense about this at all. he says he recognises pressures faced by key workers, but he knows the nhs cannot find the nurses that they need to work on the ward. he knows the trains don't run even on non—strike days, such is their shortage of staff. so how can he seriously think that sacking thousands of key workers won'tjust plunge our public services further into crisis? that with angela rayner. —— that was angela rayner. let�*s speak to our deputy political editor vicky young. does this proposed legislation put the unions against the government once again? they are already involved in all these winter strikes we are seeing. yes, they are, and there was some

positivity yesterday in meetings between secretaries of state and union leaders, and a glimmer of hope, i think, union leaders, and a glimmer of hope, ithink, especially union leaders, and a glimmer of hope, i think, especially from some of the health unions, who felt the health secretary was listening more to their calls for something to be done about this year�*s pay settlement, not next year�*s necessarily. talk of a one—off payment or a pay rise backdated. this could sour those relations, something, in looking forward to future disputes, on how a minimum level of service can be guaranteed. the government thinks this is necessary. they said it would bring us in line with some other european countries, and they cite the nurses saying that actually, before the last strike, what they would deliver, and they said that was nationwide, and they said that that was not the case when it came to ambulance workers, because everything there was a group locally. now, as it happened, they agreed across the country that they would respond to category one calls,

but the government says that it wants to put into legislation. important to emphasise, though, at this stage, that this will take months to go through parliament, so it will not affect any disputes this month or several months ahead, but as you can hear, strong opposition from labour. and vicky, while we are talking to you, let�*s talk a bit about the prime minister�*s trip to leeds yesterday, which was a bit more controversial than it might otherwise have been? yes, and that�*s because downing street have issued a photograph of rishi sunak getting on an rafjet to go to leeds. this has prompted some opposition politicians to say that it is a waste of taxpayers�* money, that he should have gone on a train, because that would only take two and a half hours, and also that it goes against those climate change targets. downing street has responded saying it was the most effective use of his time, and they deny this was extravagant. in the past, we are never quite clear about how prime minister�*s travel to

places. we don�*t always know the facts around that. but in this case, it�*s downing street putting out a photo of the prime minister. but they feel they haven�*t done anything wrong. 0k, wrong. ok, vicky, thank you very much. vicky young, a deputy political editor. we talk more about this proposed government legislation on strikes with alison mcgovern, the shadow secretary of state for employment rights. you and labour opposed this, but the government say that this measure is simply what is done in other countries like germany and france to have minimum safety levels in place to get that guarantee from the unions when they go on strike, for example, ambulance workers, there have to be minimum levels of service to ensure patient safety. that is common sense, isn�*t it? t to ensure patient safety. that is common sense, isn't it?- common sense, isn't it? ithink vicky had _ common sense, isn't it? ithink vicky had it— common sense, isn't it? ithink vicky had it right _ common sense, isn't it? ithink vicky had it right there. - common sense, isn't it? ithink vicky had it right there. we i vicky had it right there. we actually already had minimum standards being discussed by trade unions, and actually, we know that the government have failed to get

round the table with unions and to try and resolve some of these strikes, whether it is the attitude that they have taken to our nurses and our nhs workers who deserve a much more —— much more respect than they have had from the government, or whether it is the attitude they took during the train strikes, where positive progress was made, and it seems as if the government have got in the way of a deal being made at the last minute. what we have seen is a tory government that is determined not to help to bring these strikes to an end, and has made the situation worse, not better. i think all of us want to see the situation resolved, and i don�*t think that we have seen any evidence at all of the tory government doing the right and proactive things to make that happen. proactive things to make that ha en. �* ., proactive things to make that hauen. �* . , ., proactive things to make that hauen.�* . ,, proactive things to make that hauen.�* . ,., ,, happen. but what grant shapps said in this proposed _ happen. but what grant shapps said in this proposed legislation, - happen. but what grant shapps said in this proposed legislation, quote, | in this proposed legislation, quote, "i don�*t think any civilised society should have a situation where we can�*t get an agreement to have an ambulance turn up on a strike day for the most serious types of

ailments". and that�*s right, isn�*t it? people out there will be worried that in a strike, for example, may be an ambulance wouldn�*t turn up because the ambulance staff are taking industrial action. the government _ taking industrial action. tte: government posturing with taking industrial action. tt9: government posturing with this legislation rather than dealing with theissue legislation rather than dealing with the issue at hand, and as ijust said, i don�*t think we�*ve seen any evidence of the tories actually trying to resolve this issue. and in any case, a tory mp got up in the house of commons yesterday and said, labour has a plan to try and help our nhs over the long term. where is the long—term plan for the government? and you wouldn�*t catch me agreeing with a tory mp that often, but honestly, he�*s right. it's often, but honestly, he�*s right. it�*s notjust that often, but honestly, he�*s right. it�*s not just that the government are not trying to resolve these strikes, it�*s also, they don�*t have a plan to help our nhs. we want to see more staff, not only because we need them to help get waiting lists down, but also because one of the big problems, and the reason why i think we�*ve seen a nurses�* strike in a way that we haven�*t seen ever

before is also because people are under so much pressure at work now, and it�*s also about a workload that people have got in the nhs, it�*s about stress... taste people have got in the nhs, it's about stress. . .— people have got in the nhs, it's about stress... we don't want to talk about _ about stress... we don't want to talk about the _ about stress... we don't want to talk about the future _ about stress... we don't want to talk about the future of - about stress... we don't want to talk about the future of the i about stress... we don't want to | talk about the future of the nhs, because we are talking specifically about these measures on strike action. but what about the railways as well? surely there is a case for having a minimum level of service on the railways? actually, i think a lot of people would say about trains, we don�*t have a minimum level of service normally, because there is all kinds of problems that the government haven�*t dealt with. you know, there�*s all kinds of staffing shortages and issues in railways. you know, iwould shortages and issues in railways. you know, i would love people to have a better quality of service, day in, day out. that�*s what we need. i�*m actually the shadow ministerfor need. i�*m actually the shadow minister for employment. need. i�*m actually the shadow ministerfor employment. i�*m need. i�*m actually the shadow minister for employment. i�*m trying to work out how we get people the chance of a better qualityjob, that will pay them. do you know what is one of the biggest challenges people have no access to public transport, because the tories have let our

public transport system go to rack and ruin. we don�*t have enough buses, we don�*t have enough trains in a normal day, let alone on a strike day. so if you were in government, would you repeal this legislation that grant shapps has introduced today? yes. we want this legislation to be repealed, if indeed it gets passed, because you never quite know with this government. it is not necessary, and it�*s about a tory government that is desperate to pontificate because they haven�*t got a long—term plan for our economy or our public services. labour are different. if we were in government tomorrow, we would get on with our plan for the health service, to try to provide more staff, to deal with the workload issues and get people the workload issues and get people the quality of health service they deserve. when it comes to the railways, we know that the system is in collapse and needs big reform, and that�*s what louise hay, our shadow transport secretary, has set out. and today, we want to also be talking about our plans forjob centres... well, that�*s my next question, so i will ask you that, because you have

been setting out today plans to get more people into work, to get them back into work, to incentivise them into work. just tell us about those plans and proposals? 50 into work. just tell us about those plans and proposals?— plans and proposals? so the big roblem plans and proposals? so the big problem that — plans and proposals? so the big problem that we've _ plans and proposals? so the big problem that we've got - plans and proposals? so the big problem that we've got is i plans and proposals? so the big problem that we've got is that i plans and proposals? so the big i problem that we've got is that job problem that we�*ve got is thatjob centres up and down the country are dictated to from whitehall. we�*ve got great combined authorities and local authorities who have been doing much more practical work to help deal with the barrier is that people are facing, so instead of running it all from one office in whitehall, we want to see local places take the lead in shaping what those employment services look like. just to give one example, the kick—start scheme for young people completely failed and was overspent by £600 million. is not because young people don�*t need help, it�*s because it was badly designed and centralised in whitehall. so as part of our plans to help people take back control of the local economy, we want to make sure job centres are at the heart of that, and instead of not offering people a real help, your we want them to be tailored to their local areas. as well as other

things we can do to make the system work better. if you are someone with a disability at the moment, you could be waiting months and months on end for the access to work help that people are entitled to. that�*s got to change, so we want to reform the system to make it easier for people notjust to get the system to make it easier for people not just to get a the system to make it easier for people notjust to get a job, but also to get a betterjob and move on and move up in work. alison mcgovern, shadow secretary of state for employment rights, thank you very much for being with us. thank you. the new legislation introduced by grant shapps on strikes come amid more action from unions this week. comes amid more action from unions this week. teachers at primary schools in scotland have walked out today in their dispute over pay, with more walk—outs planned tomorrow at secondary schools. our scotland correspondent james shaw has the latest. pay attention! cheering a cold, wet morning at this picket line in east renfrewshire, one of hundreds across scotland, but these teachers are not in the mood to give up and go home. we would all rather be in the classroom.

we don't want to strike, and none of us would have got into teaching for the money, it was because we wanted to work with kids. we are only asking forl fair pay, nothing more. we do go above and i beyond for our children. scottish teachers held their biggest strike in decades last november. this is the next phase of the action. primary schools across scotland are closed today. tomorrow it will be the turn of secondary schools, and then from monday, unless an agreement is reached in the meantime, a rolling series of strikes across different regions of scotland, heading through into the start of february. the teaching unions want a 10% pay rise. local authorities and the scottish government are offering five, up to 6.85% for those on the lowest pay. the scottish government have had since november 22nd

when the last offer was brought and rejected to bring something substantial back to the table in order that today�*s action could be averted, and sadly they have not done that, so what we have this morning are teachers on picket lines like this one when they should be in classrooms working with children and young people. the scottish government says there is simply no more money. fairness is a really important principle here, i value the teaching workforce. they do an incredible job. but we have limited resources and are trying to operate fairly, so the offer on the table to teachers is the same as has already been accepted by other local government workers. meanwhile, families across scotland are feeling the impact of the strike. i understand why they are on strike, but itjust disrupts the youngsters�* education. they have had enough disruption

over the past two and a half years. i fully support them. looking after my son today. i don't mind, i like spending time with him, so i fully support the workers. according to both sides, the mood of the talks to try to end the dispute has been constructive. that sounds hopeful, but if it does not result in a deal, these strikes could continue for weeks to come. the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in scotland�*s emergency departments has hit another record high. figures from public health scotland show that more than 2,500 people spent at least half a day in a&e in the week ending january 1st. that�*s up from the previous week. the headlines on bbc news... or the government has begun the process of trying to change the law

to keep services running at a minimum level during strike action. unions say it amounts to an attack on workers�* rights. what do you want? on workers' rights. what do ou want? . mm what do you want? fair pay! when the want what do you want? fair pay! when they want it?! _ they want it?! now! i i they want it?! now! it comes as primary school teachers — now! it comes as primary school teachers in — now! it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest _ teachers in scotland become the latest workers to work out over pay. many schools _ in scotland are closed. some shops opened at midnight last night to meet demand for prince harry�*s heavily trailed autobiography, which is now on sale. a search is under way for two british men who�*ve gone missing while working as volunteers in ukraine. christopher parry, who�*s 28, and andrew bagshaw, who�*s a8, were last seen in the eastern donetsk region, where fighting has been intense. the foreign office says it�*s "supporting the families" of both men. here�*s vincent mcaviney. explosion this is christopher parry on friday, racing through bakhmut to save a civilian, oksana, who�*s in desperate need of rescue.

filmed on friday, the 28—year—old, from truro in cornwall, has been posting videos like this to document his aid efforts. but a few hours later, christopher parry, and fellow british humanitarian a8—year—old andrew bagshaw, went missing while helping to evacuate civilians near soledar in the donetsk region, where russian attacks have been focused in recent days. neither man has been heard from or seen since. ukrainian police are appealing for information. christopher parry, who has been in ukraine since last march, is believed to have rescued hundreds of people from the front lines of the conflict over recent months. i�*ve not experienced christmas in a war either. it�*s very peculiar to be here. you kind of forget that it�*s christmas at all. i really have no idea, because there�*s no sign of it anywhere, of course. the foreign office advises against all travel to ukraine, and has urged british citizens in the country to leave due to the risk to life.

nevertheless, in a statement, a foreign office spokesman confirmed... andrew bagshaw�*s parents have released a statement saying they love him dearly, and are immensely proud of the incredible work he has done to help people in challenging circumstances. british prisoners are considered high—value targets by russia. in september, the kremlin swapped 55 russian troops in a deal that included five british prisoners of war. ukraine says it�*s strengthening its forces in the area they�*ve gone missing. for both men�*s families, it�*s now an anxious wait for news on their sons. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. a higher than usual number of people in the uk died last year. a higher than usual number of people the figure of nearly 660,000 is below peak covid levels, but is still 9% higher than the year before the pandemic. it�*s the largest level of excess deaths outside

covid in half a century. the term excess deaths means those above the five year average. our head of statistics, robert cuffe, joined me earlier with more on this story. he began by outlining some of the contributing factors behind the numbers. it�*s a combination of covid, which hasn�*t gone away, and that�*s running into the pandemic hangover and the problems we�*re seeing in a&e, and it�*s starting to come together in a most unpleasant way in the recent weeks, especially, so covid hasn�*t gone away. it was probably involved in about 30,000 deaths last year. now, that�*s far lower than the pandemic, but it�*s still running at a pretty high level. it is only one of the many problems. that�*s what�*s different to the pandemic here, when it was the leading, standout cause. in addition to that, we are seeing more heart deaths. now, part of that is covid itself. if you have had an infection, you are at higher risk after that, but some of it is missed care

during the pandemic, and i think we can show those numbers to the audience now, the number of people who came in to get started on blood pressure during the pandemic, you can see that big grey area in the middle of the screen, that big drop is the first lockdown, and you can see the number of people started treatment for blood who started treatment for blood pressure really fell away, and if you come forward to 2021, didn�*t really recover through the end of the year. now, coming in for blood pressure treatment or lipid treatment, that might not be urgent care right now, but tens of thousands of people who are going untreated, that�*s building up heart trouble for the future, so when you have these complex needs, plus people who are dying of covid, and you run that into the situation we are seeing in accident and emergency now, that is a pretty unpleasant mixture. let�*s just focus on that last factor, accident and emergency. the royal college of emergency medicine the other day said there are something like 3,000—5,000 excess deaths a week happening because of the crisis in emergency care in the national health service. i think the government said they didn�*t recognise those figures. this is quite a deeply political kind of issue, but does this play into these levels

of excess deaths that we are seeing? absolutely, and going back to the definition you gave at the start, excess deaths, it�*s not that we�*re seeing 3,000—5,000 people dying on a trolley in a&e, we are seeing more deaths as a result of the problems. now, the figure, as you say, is contested. but it is probably not too controversial, there was a study back in about 2016 that looked at people who waited for more than, say, eight hours in a&e, and looked at their risk of dying in the next 30 days. if you multiply that risk by the number of people who are going through very long trolley waits in hospital at the moment, that is how you get to this figure of the kind of couple of hundred a week, so it is contributing. it is probably not doing it all on its own, but the trouble is, you have a couple of hundred coming from that, a couple of hundred coming from covid, you wrap them together, especially in the winter, with that cold snap we saw in december,

the arrival of flu as well, and in the last few weeks of december, we weren�*t seeing 9% excess, we were seeing 20% excess mortality, so 20% higher levels of death than we would expect to see. so this is getting pretty urgent now, and with all of these factors contributing, it will be a pretty hard one to grip. our head of statistics, robert cuffe. the controversial social media influencer andrew tate is in court in romania, appealing against his 30—day arrest for alleged human trafficking, rape and organised crime charges. mr tate, his brother tristan and two romanian female suspects were detained on december 29th pending a criminal investigation. mr tate�*s lawyer claims there is "no evidence" to support the allegations against him or his brother. just to remind you, andrew tait gained mainstream notoriety for misogynistic remarks and hate speech which got him banned from all major social media platforms, although, in fact, since elonmusk took over

twitter, his account on has been reinstated. he is a self professed misogynist, and we are going to talk more about his misogyny and it as a phenomenon withjosh roose,, associate professor at deakin university. he joins us from australia — 3:20 am, i believe? sorry for keeping you awake! but tell us more about this phenomenon. we don�*t want to talk about the court case andrew tate and his brother are involved in, but the phenomenon of andrew tate, and why he has had so much influence over so many people with his frankly repugnant views on misogyny? yes, that�*s right, and good afternoon. we know that andrew tate is the longest, or the latest in a long line of social media influences who are really spreading a misogynistic message

internationally, through everything from tiktok and whatsapp, snapchat, right through to telegram and so on. so we know this is a significant international issue, and we know there is strong anecdotal evidence emerging globally of tate�*s influence in schools. what he really talks about here, and the core themes in his messaging, are the victimhood of men, on the one hand, and he plays feminism for that victimhood of men, but on the other, he talks about this neo or ultra masculinity, where he emphasises the importance of competitiveness, of winning, of gaining material assets in order to winning, of gaining material assets in orderto gain winning, of gaining material assets in order to gain sexual access to women. and those views are clearly attractive to some men in particular, and it is it young men? has your research showed what age groups are particularly sort of vulnerable to that kind of messaging? yes, this is a particularly important issue facing our institutions, our society, whether

young men, because we know that, for example, in measures of hard misogyny, that about 5% of men hold the view, for example, this is in the view, for example, this is in the uk, the us and australia, that women don�*t deserve equal rights to men. and when we talk more broadly about measures of soft misogyny, for example, the idea that rights for women have gone too far, we know that in the uk, about a quarter of young men aged 18—35 believe that rights for women have gone too far, and that�*s even worse in places like the us and australia, where that is “p the us and australia, where that is up to one third of young men. so there is a particularly vulnerable audience for this messaging, and to audience for this messaging, and to a messaging that is wrapped up in ideas of what are seen to be success, and material success. and that is dangerous, obviously, because it is not only repugnant, it could lead to violence against women? well,, we know that the language he usesis well,, we know that the language he

uses is violent misogyny, the idea that women need to be forcibly controlled, the idea that women need to effectively not only become subservient to men, but where necessary, to be physically kept in line, and we have seen videos emerge online of such behaviour. obviously, it is very hard to control what is on social media stop social media is incredibly powerful globally, isn�*t it? but in terms of educators and teachers and sort of mentors, people who work with young mentors, people who work with young men and boys, what should they be doing to counter this kind of messaging from people like andrew tate? it�*s a rapidly evolving space. as i�*ve said, andrew tate is the most recent in a long line of influences, and really, because of that rapid evolution in the language and the vocabulary of misogyny, but also the way that this spreads through mechanisms into young men�*s bedrooms

through social media, educators need to be trained in both the vocabulary and the language of this new form of violent misogyny, but they also need to build partnerships between schools and families. this is going on at home. people are being exposed to this in their homes through social media. parents also need to be completely aware of the dimensions of what�*s going on, and really how that might be manifesting in their son�*s behaviour and treatment of girls and women. and of course, there is the question of the responsibility of the social media companies themselves. as i mentioned at the beginning, he was thrown off various platforms, readmitted to twitter. what�*s your view on that? well,, the issue of his readmission to twitter is obviously a significant concern, although that is not primarily a platform that reaches young men in schools. we know that his core audience are

actually slightly older than school age, particularly men who might not be gaining access to women in the way that they feel they deserve to. it's way that they feel they deserve to. it�*s a very materialistic and one—dimensional view of both dating and the role of women in society, and the role of women in society, and so, on the one hand, regulating this content is absolutely critical, and i know there are steps with uk legislation to attempt to do so, but again, this is also an issue of what we are doing as a society, and the conversation we are holding more broadly about respect for girls and women, and online respect for girls and women, and really, to this extent, where we still don�*t see violence, online violence targeting girls and women, treated as seriously as it needs to be. we have talked about the role of teachers and social media companies. what about families, parents of boys and young men who may be influenced by this kind of misogyny online? we know from my own studies and

other studies that indicate that parents and peers are the main influences on construction of masculinity in boys. we know boys are exposed to role models in the home and their first taste of what it is to be a young man from their fathers, stepfathers or guardians or parents as a whole. we know that is an important dimension here. we need parents to step up and engage, to that extent there needs to be resources that are available to parents to make that leap and jump. we know that this has to work hand in hand with institutions, especially schools who could potentially hold workshops educating parents but could also effectively build those resources for parents to engage with at home. tt is build those resources for parents to engage with at home.— engage with at home. it is very interesting _ engage with at home. it is very interesting to _ engage with at home. it is very interesting to talk _ engage with at home. it is very interesting to talk to _ engage with at home. it is very interesting to talk to you i engage with at home. it is very interesting to talk to you and i engage with at home. it is very interesting to talk to you and it engage with at home. it is very i

interesting to talk to you and it is an important phenomenon to address and talk through. thank you very much indeed. talking to us in the middle of the night but well worth talking to you, thanks for your time. : talking to you, thanks for your time. . ~', :, talking to you, thanks for your time. . :, time. thanks for your time, good afternoon- _ now it�*s time for a look at the weather with stav. very wet. it looks very unsettled for the best of this week. we have got a series of low pressure streaming in off the atlantic and some localised flooding as a result in places. mainly towards the west of scotland and wales, south—west and north—west england. windy for the next few days were further spells of rain. a second band of rain is spreading across the uk over the last few hours, that will clear out overnight and that it is clear spells and blustery showers. lengthier, drier clear spells across

the east of the country and gales affecting the north of scotland and the northern isles tonight because of this area of low pressure which will clear away quickly in the morning but there is lots of isobars on the pressure chart for wednesday. it is going to be another blustery one with gales out west. showers and even longer spells of rain spreading from west to east. some sunshine in between. we have not had any today across the uk, is a brighter tomorrow but feeling cooler with single figure values for most. we could make ten or 11 degrees across the south—east. it stays unsettled, wet and windy at times as we head through thursday. hello, you are watching bbc news. our latest headlines... the government has begun the process of trying to change the law to keep services running at a minimum level during strike action. unions say it amounts to an attack on workers�*

rights. amounts to an attack on workers' riahts. ~ : amounts to an attack on workers' riahts. ~ ., :, ., amounts to an attack on workers' rights-— fairl amounts to an attack on workers' i rights-— fair pay- rights. what do we want? fair pay. it comes rights. what do we want? fair pay. it comes as — rights. what do we want? fair pay. it comes as primary _ rights. what do we want? fair pay. it comes as primary school- rights. what do we want? fair pay. | it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest to walk out in their dispute over pay. many schools in scotland are closed. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether or not to send tanks to ukraine. reports have suggested you keep me sent one dozen challenger tanks to help in the ukrainian war effort. some book shops opened at midnight to meet demand for prince harry�*s autobiography which is now on sale. and a setback, not a roadblock. the team behind a british space mission which failed last night to launch directly say they will keep on trying. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here�*s gavin. also a story of successes and failures, that is what sport is all about. you are spot on. wales manager robert page says gareth bale�*s legacy goes beyond the football pitch,

his success helping put wales on the map. the former tottenham and real madrid forward announced his retirement from football at the age of 33, his last welsh appearance being at the qatar world cup. bale was captain of wales and scored a1 goals in 111 games for his country. to utilise and keep in the picture. when you have got somebody of his stature and what he has done for wales and the impact he can have, evenin wales and the impact he can have, even in the changing room, being around the players, then i have got to take advantage of that. he is interested to do that, in whatever capacity. we will have a chat about it further down the line, but that is something i am passionate about and i want to keep, i would like to keep and evolve. after stevenage and wrexham stunned higher league opponents in the fa cup this weekend, tonight charlton will look to continue the theme of shocks when the league one side take on the top flight�*s manchester united in the league cup quarter finals. eddie howe�*s newcastle are also

taking on leicester in the last 8. they were eliminated from the fa cup this weekend after a surprise defeat to sheffield wednesday. howe has called on his team to be more clinical in front of goal, and hopes to have striker alexander isak available to start. it�*s been a dream comeback of sorts forjofra archer. the england fast bowler, making his return after a year and half out with elbow and back injuries, took the first wicket in the inaugural south african t20. his mumbai indians cape town side are facing paarl royals in the opening match at newlands. they chose to bowl first. the royals are currently on 96—3. there are five other english players involved. sam curran and olly stone are on the same side as archer, for cape town, jos buttler and jason roy — currently in bat — for the royals. jos buttler and jason roy for the royals. they also have former england captain eoin morgan in theirfold.

barry hawkins willjoin ronnie o�*sullivan in the masters quarterfinals at alexandra palace. he has sealed a comprehensive 6—0 victory. later on it is mark williams versus david gilbert which will be on the bbc red button and sports website. the former masters challenger says he is still trying to focus with his eyesight. he says he is trying to find glasses and contact lenses to try and regain some form. t am try and regain some form. i am lookin: try and regain some form. i am looking at _ try and regain some form. i am looking at shots _ try and regain some form. i am looking at shots and _ try and regain some form. i am looking at shots and they i try and regain some form. t —n looking at shots and they look good but i am missing them. just trying to get my head around it, try on glasses and contacts. the year i won

it, four days before i played my first match i had contacts in, so i didn�*t feel there was much difference. that is why i kept them out. i am still trying everything to try and get my hands on a bit of silverware. try and get my hands on a bit of silverware-— try and get my hands on a bit of silverware. ~' :, ., , a silverware. luke cowan-dickie will miss at least _ silverware. luke cowan-dickie will miss at least the _ silverware. luke cowan-dickie will miss at least the start _ silverware. luke cowan-dickie will miss at least the start of - silverware. luke cowan-dickie will miss at least the start of the i silverware. luke cowan-dickie will miss at least the start of the six i miss at least the start of the six nations with a serious ankle injury. he went off at the second half, england begin their six nations campaign against scotland with the hookup was not absence a blow for new head coach. —— the hooker�*s absence. that�*s all the sport for now. downing street says it has yet to make a final decision on whether to send tanks to ukraine. reports emerged yesterday suggesting future aid could possibly include british army challenger 2 main battle tanks. the prime minister�*s spokesperson said that britain would continue to co—ordinate its support for kyiv with its allies.

the leaders of the eu and nato have been meeting today in brussels to agree new military cooperation. the nato head, jens stoltenberg, said the alliance would continue to back ukraine. the aim is of course to ensure that we can continue and also strengthen our support to ukraine, because we have seen that russia has suffered big losses in ukraine due to the brave ukrainian soldiers and the professionalism and dedication of the ukrainian armed forces, but you should not underestimate russia. they are mobilising more troops, they are working hard to acquire more equipment, more ammunition, and they have shown willingness to actually suffer but continue the war, and there is no indication that president putin has changed the overall aim of his brutal war against ukraine, so we need to be prepared for the long haul,

we need to continue to support ukraine, and again, it is an extremely important message that we are sending today with the declaration, with the two presidents here present with me, that we stand united, nato and the european union, in our support to ukraine. earlier i spoke tojustin crump, a military analyst and chief executive of the intelligence consultancy, sibylline. he�*s also a british army veteran. i began by asking him about whether the uk will decide to send tanks to ukraine, to support their efforts against russia. the numbers being talked aboutare 10 or12, which is probably the smallest amount that makes sense to be a usable amount by ukraine. you have to think about all the support and logistics involved in an item of equipment as heavy

and complex as a main battle tank like the challenger 2. the real intent is to help prod other nations who have much larger tank stocks and all those linked to germany, in the form of leopard 2 into action. i think being the first to donate heavy armour to ukraine, it opens the doors for the germans to authorise and make transfers of more modern heavy tanks like the challenger 2 and leopard 2. that is the real intent. until now they have been using soviet era tanks and tanks they have captured from the russians. what difference would western tanks make? tanks like the challenger on the battlefield? would they be a game changer in any way? western tank design was optimised to over match against ex—soviet equipment so it is designed to be 20, 30% better, it is designed to be able to beat the other tank

one—on—one in any situation. they are designed and engineered to be more survivable and have more firepower and to be mobile and sustainable enough to take on russian designed tanks at a higher ratio. as ukraine has done throughout this conflict, it is doing more with less, it is the very ethos of design for these tanks. they will be more effective on the battlefield but the big thing about armour in general is it is not about having one or two tanks that are better, it is about having lots and using them together. in the second world war, a german general put it as do not dribble with tanks, you need to use them en masse. a lot of it will come down to how ukraine will employ them. it is notjust about having the equipment, which is better than the russian stuff, it is doing more with it. how long does it take to train? you cannotjustjump into one, you need about 20 months to train to use one?

it is shorter than that, you are looking at around six months in western military. but the level of training we apply in peace time is thorough, there is a strong emphasis on health and safety and a fear of anything going wrong. a tank is a dangerous environment, with lots of moving parts that bite you, you are dealing with high explosives and a turret, and fuel, electricals. it is a complex piece of equipment. that is in peacetime. for more experienced people who have been driving and operating armour, it could be rapidly increased in terms of training time and it is a matter of learning the systems on the new vehicle and especially the maintenance. i cannot stress enough how difficult it is to support and maintain heavy armoured forces in the field. they are demanding and there is a step on with the western equipment from the russian equipment, which is much more simple and designed to be operated by conscripts. it is useable but also pretty disposable and not particularly effective. the price of having these better vehicles is there is a lot more complexity to get your head around. it is not a small task to train, but it would not take the ukrainians

the time we allow in the french or british or german militaries. there was a military analyst and former british tank commander. tens of thousands of people in several counties of california have been ordered to evacuate their homes as heavy rain from a series of deadly storms continues to hit the region. in the santa barbara area, the severe wet weather has killed at least 1a people, leaving thousands of homes without power. the search for a five—year—old boy who was swept away by rising floodwaters has been called off. aruna iyengar has the latest. california is getting used to extreme weather. here, a rock slide blocks a highway. the state is struggling with torrential downpours and battering winds that have already killed a number of people in ten days. it is coming out of the creek over

there. it is overflowing the creek and coming in. half a foot of water, you're losing control of your vehicle. we're seeing people go around these detours because they don't see any obstacles. they think everything is fine and putting their lives at risk or putting first responders' lives at risk. the whole community of 10,000 people in montecito in santa barbara county have been ordered to evacuate. the area is home to the duke and duchess of sussex and celebrities such as ellen degeneres. the torrential rains are the result of an atmospheric river of dense moisture funneled into california from the pacific, powered by low pressure systems churning offshore. across the state, 100,000 people are without electricity. and on sunday, the president, joe biden, declared an emergency allowing federal assistance

for local relief efforts. these hills looked like this in september last year. now streets across the state are transformed into gushing rivers. in santa clara, the storms bring this section of highway 101 to a standstill. pounding surf has battered seaside roads. and in napa county, famous for its wines, crews clear mud from roads as the river napa overflows. further south in ventura, 18 people are rescued by fire crews after they�*re stranded on an island by swelling rivers. elsewhere in the county, there�*s chaos on the streets. there�*s just a lot of infrastructure that isn�*t designed for drainage because it�*s southern california, so no—one�*s expecting it. no—one here can quite believe what they�*re seeing. aruna iyengar, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...

the government has begun the process of trying to change the law to keep public services running at a minimal level during strike action. unions say it amounts to an attack on workers�* rights. it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest workers to watch out in a dispute over pay. many schools are closed. some book shops opened at midnight last night to meet demand for prince harry�*s autobiography which is now on sale. the first ever satellite mission launched from british soil has ended in disappointment. a technical failure meant the satellites carried by a rocket couldn�*t be released and were lost. those leading the space mission in cornwall say they�*re "absolutely gutted". our science editor rebecca morelle has the story.

the mission started so well. at spaceport cornwall, it was time for the jumbo jet to take off. and there it goes. it�*s lift—off for the plane. but this is just the beginning. the next step is to release the rocket and start a new era for uk space. godspeed, launcher one, godspeed, cosmic girl, on this historic both european and uk mission to open space for everyone. 2,000 people came to watch, ready to see what they thought would be a moment of history. an hour into the flight, the rocket, called launcher one, fired its engines after it was released from the plane. so far, so good. but then, this. it appears that launcher one has suffered an anomaly which will prevent us from making orbit for this mission. there was a problem with the rocket, and the mission was over. so this evening we had

a first—stage burn that took the rocket into space. but in effect, the second—stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit, so that's now being part of an investigation by virgin orbit and a number of government departments. the jumbo jet returned to spaceport cornwall as planned, but it was upsetting news for the team there, who�*d spent nearly a decade trying to make this launch happen. just absolutely devastated. um, you know, we put our heart and soul into this, and it�*s such a personaljourney for me as well, and my family were here. so, yeah, it was pretty, pretty rough. um, butifeelok. ifeel ok. and i think it�*lljust be a few days ofjust kind of letting it sink in a little bit. the data from the mission is now being analysed to work out exactly what went wrong. it�*s a well—known saying that space is hard. the team, though, is certain they�*ll try again. but tonight wasn�*t their night. what a shame, better luck next time.

watch this very carefully. this is a story of the disappearing prime minister. head of that attempted launch in cornwall, the current business secretary grant shapps picked up this picture of himself at the cornwall spaceport. the picture was taken onjune the 9th, 2021. this is when he was transport secretary. but this is the mystery because something or somebody is missing and this has been picked up by people on social media and the press association, amongst others. this is the original picture. there he is. do you recognise that man in the middle? former prime minister borisjohnson. this picture remains on the number ten flickr account. here it is again without boris johnson. the altered version with the prime minister appearing to be

airbrushed out, or digitally raised or photoshopped. mr schatz said he was not aware it had been edited and he has now deleted the picture. —— schapps. after days of publicity, prince harry�*s autobiography spare has gone on sale in the uk. some shops opened at midnight in anticipation of high demand, and the waterstones book store, says it�*s one of its "biggest pre—order titles for a decade". much of the book�*s contents are already public after copies went on sale in spain. our royal correspondent sarah campbell reports. kept under wraps until publication date. a few stores, including this one in london�*s victoria station, opened at midnight. members of the press outnumbered customers. after the leaks, accidental sales in spain, tv interviews and endless comment. would you like a bag?

..people were finally able to get hold of their own copy of prince harry�*s memoir. t can't wait to read it. i can't wait to read what he's got to say, and i can't wait to listen to the audio. i'm going on holiday with some friends. i i thought, what better present can i give the group— than a book on harry? we're bound to talk about it. to leave the family and leave the country, i want to know in his own words why. translated into 16 languages, the global launch is reminiscent of a famous fictional wizard. the closest would be harry potter. a different harry, obviously. but very similar in the sense of, there is huge anticipation around the release and people are invested very much in the story, in a very different way to a fictional story of harry, but this is obviously of a similar ilk. harry narrates his own audiobook, colourfully describing the moment he lost his virginity as a teenager. an inglorious episode with an older woman. she liked horses quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion —

a quick ride, after which she�*d smacked my rump and sent me off to graze. among the many things about it that were wrong, it happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub. as a result of lea ks and promotional interviews, much of the content of the book was already out in the public domain before today�*s official launch, particularly the most controversial sections. for example, on page 359, william�*s alleged physical attack on harry. a little earlier, the much commented upon section concerning harry�*s time with the army in afghanistan. i could always say precisely how many enemy combatants i had killed, and i felt it vital never to shy away from that number. among the many things i learned in the army, accountability was near the top of the list. so, my number? 25. across the world, harry�*s words are on sale. of course, many people will not want to read them, including,

harry told one interviewer, his father and his brother. and if the royal family do have an opinion on the book, they are not making it public. sarah campbell, bbc news. we have got some breaking news on that book by prince harry. it is the uk's that book by prince harry. it is the uk�*s fastest selling nonfiction book on record. it has sold figures of a00,000 copies so far, that is across hardback, e—book, audio formats, on its first day of publication. a00,000 copies have been sold. the publishers said, we always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations. as far as we know, the only books to sell more in the first day i dose stirring budge

starring the other harry, harry potter. —— ideals starring the other harry. it is the fastest nonfiction selling but on record. harry was paid $20 million for that book, we are told. they publishers are getting a bit of their money back already. there�*s been a big rise in sales in the uk home entertainment market. together, the video, music and gaming sectors brought in just over £11 billion last year, nearly a a0% increase compared with pre—covid spending in 2019. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson has the details. it�*s lift—off for the home entertainment industry. many of the habits the uk developed during lockdown appear to have stuck. the country now spends almost a0% more on entertainment at home than it did in 2019, the last whole pre—pandemic year. the area with the fastest growth

is film and tv — top gun maverick, 2022�*s the biggest seller, shifting over a million copies, mainly digital. the amount spent including on subscription services like netflix and disney+ in the last three years has risen by 70%. i think as people embrace these services, they stay with them, they find more and more content that they want to watch. and therefore the numbers are quite high and i think because there are new services coming into the market all the time, we�*ve seen launches of things like paramount plus and lionsgate and things, people are therefore buying more services. and away we go. the largest sector is gaming, subscriptions and sales combining for revenues of £a.7 billion. in a world cup year, it was perhaps no surprise the biggest seller was fifa 23. only 10% of games sold are now actual physical copies so again, people are not having

to leave their chair to buy them. and while music is by far the smallest of the three sectors, its yearly total of almost £2 billion is its best since 2003. most of that was due to harry styles who had the best selling single and album of the year, something that�*s likely to be reflected when the brit award nominations are announced on thursday. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with stav. hello, thank you very much. wet and windy conditions today and a lot of rainfall. some areas seeing some issues with localised flooding, over the next few days as we will see more wet and windy weather, especially west of scotland, north—west england, wales and south—west england. we have had rain clearing across the country this evening. that will clear off into

the north sea and then it is clear spells in blustery showers. most of them in the north of the uk. very windy over the north of scotland, into the northern isles. could even see severe gales and exposure thanks to an area of low pressure. that will clear away by tomorrow morning. you can see the azza by chart for wednesday, it is going to be a blustery one. —— isobar chart. there will be some sunshine tomorrow, compared to today, but it will be blustery with gales out west, especially around costs. it will be a blustery day where ever you are, certainly around costs and other hills. temperatures are cooler, behind this heavier rains banned. —— heavier rain band. we could be up to ten or 11 degrees. that rain clears away during wednesday night. it is quiet for a while and then the next batch of wet and windy weather will

racing across the southern half of the country. but the north, some showers around and it could turn chillier across the northern half of scotland versus further south where it stays wet and windy. 7—10 . this weather front hangs around across the south of the country for thursday. this brief ridge of high pressure brings a quite a spell for a time and then we have another area of low pressure pushing into the northern half of the country. a lot going on for thursday, initially chilly with some sunshine around i may be the odd mist and fog patch. the sunshine does not last long along the north of the country. some snow on the hills. it�*s stays windy and wet across the far south of the country with temperatures in double figures. dry weather hanging on along the midlands and into eastern england. friday, quieterspells, saturday it will turn wetter and windier again saturday it will turn wetter and windieragain and saturday it will turn wetter and windier again and there is a chance it will turn colder as we move through sunday into the start of next week as well. it will remain very unsettled with a lot of heavy

rain. head online to check out all the latest weather warnings. you can check the weather for where you are or where you are going by looking at the bbc weather app. this is bbc news, i�*m clive myrie. the headlines... the government has begun the process of changing the law to keep public services running — at a minimum level — during strike action. unions say it�*s an attack on workers�* rights. so i am introducing a bill that will government the power to ensure that vital public services will have to ensure a basic function by delivering minimum safety levels and ensuring the lives and livelihoods are not lost. what do we want?! fair pay! when do we want it?! now! it comes as primary school teachers in scotland become the latest workers to walk out in a dispute over pay. many schools in the country are closed. there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year — the highest number outside the covid pandemic in half a century.