afghanistan is facing its coldest winter in a decade and more than 120 people have died due to freezing temperatures. the extreme cold comes as the country endures a humanitarian crisis in the wake of the taliban seizing power in 2021. germany appears to be on the verge of supplying ukraine with leopard 2 tanks. reports from berlin suggest the chancellor, olaf scholz, has bowed to intense pressure to approve the exports. other countries could also be allowed to re—export their german—made tanks. lawyers for the former us vice—president mike pence have revealed that a small number of classified documents were found at his home last week. the papers have been handed over to the fbi. investigators are already looking at the handling of such documents by president biden and donald trump.

now on bbc news, menopause and me: too young to feel so old. i thought menopause was something that happened to older women and i felt like i skipped a whole chunk of my life. i start menopause tomorrow. even saying it, i'm like, sorry, is this real?! she laughs . diam-t— know how to react. i didn't know what... to say. many of us don't think about the menopause until we're in ourforties, but it could happen to you earlier. at least one in 100 women in the uk experience it at a much younger age. i don't think there is enough i conversation about menopause in the younger age groups at all. - i'm getting the word out there for every woman. being able to control my appearance in any way, shape and form gives me strength because, like,

i don't have control over my health and, most of the time, the lack of control is what causes a lot of mental distress. this is soe—myat. she's currently going through treatment for bowel cancer and she had her last ever period in february 2022. i was going to get pelvic radiation. so my ovaries are in the radiation field. so when... yeah, so that would make my ovaries stop working, basically. i don't remember if the oncologist said the word menopause but i realised that if it was going to stop my fertility, that means that it would stop my ovaries from working, which would put me in menopause. yeah, that's how i discovered. so let's take a look at some definitions. the menopause is when women's periods stop, which usually happens around the age of 50. the run—up to this is called the perimenopause. during this time, women notice their periods becoming unpredictable or heavy and may

have symptoms they've never experienced before. when periods haven't happened for the last 12 months, you can say that you're postmenopausal. it's notjust specific to women who are older. you could go through this in your twenties. you could even go through this as a teenager. i'm elspeth and i went through premature menopause when i was 15. i was 13 when i realised that i wasn't having a very regular period, so i spoke to my mum, i spoke to my gp. my ovaries were significantly too small and underdeveloped. i was told that my blood tests were low and the conclusion was that i was going through premature menopause. i'm diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency. premature or primary ovarian insufficiency is an umbrella term that covers any form of menopause under the age of a0. for many, like elspeth, it's not entirely clear why

the ovaries aren't functioning. for others, like soe—myat, they experience menopause as a direct result of other medical treatment, like chemotherapy or surgery. you can also go into a medically induced temporary menopause. this is also known as a chemical or medical menopause, but we'll come to that in a bit. ijust went back to school and had my history class and i remember trying to subtly tell my friend in code in the middle of class, like, what had just happened. if it was something that changed my hair colour or, like, affected... 0r gave me a huge rash or something, people would be able to know and remember, "0h, she's the menopausal one", but that's not how it works. and when i had the hot flushes when i was in sixth form, i was so hot, i would have to take all myjumpers off, go outside and just stand on the fire escape, often in, like, deep winter, just wearing a t—shirt. i would come back in and my friends that i was sat next to said that they could feel

the heat radiating off me. the only thing i could cling on to with my diagnosis was that it was something that made me different, so i was initially really hesitant to, like, reach out to the community and, like, develop friends with the condition. i'm 22 years old and at the age of 15 i was diagnosed _ with primary ovarian insufficiency. - i never had an actual period, unfortunately, and i've suffered from symptoms since i was ten. i have been post—menopause for 32 years. i went into a very early spontaneous menopause at age 13. i wasjust told over and over again, it's not a thing. - it's super, super rare - to have an early menopause. the daisy network is a charity created to support people with p0|. nothing is off limits. people will come in and be like, "i'm experiencing all these symptoms. i'm really sorry "if this is too much information. i'm really sorry. it's so gross." and people say, "i had the exact same thing. it's fine.

don't worry. " so it's reassuring tojust have that space to ask those questions and vent. yeah. meet emma. she was diagnosed with p0| aged 25 when she came off the contraceptive pill, thinking about starting a family. they sat me down and said... "you're going through the menopause." i kind of sat there stunned. i didn't know how to react. i didn't know what to say. i remember sitting there and... ..looking at him like... he told me like i'd lost my keys that i couldn't have children and... i'm sorry.

sorry. this is dr arif. she's an nhs gp who specialises in women's health. do you know what, i'm not, like... - i'm not a tiktok superstar. she chuckles well, she says that, but she has nearly 300,000 followers across social media and is the go—to person to follow on all things women's health and menopause care. please talk to your... the women in your life. you should be able to have that conversation with your mum, i your grandma, your aunts, i your cousins, your best mate. it's nothing to be i embarrassed about. and learn from what they're going through because thenj you have as much knowledge about it going forward. - she knows first—hand how hard the diagnosis of premature menopause can be on her patients. i think the thing is is that they feel their body has failed them.

the ovaries isn't working and they might have planned to have children, so it scuppers up the life choices so the psychological, the mental wellbeing is really severely impacted. so i lost my self—esteem, confidence through the floor, i didn't know what was happening to my body, my mind, brainfog, rage, depression, anxiety, to the point where i didn't want to be here any more. brain fog, which made me feel like i was losing my mind and suffering from some sort of early dementia, and low mood and anxiety that robbed me of my personality and my ability to feeland be me. i started to drink every night. i started to go out every other night. in a way, i abused my body, but not only with alcohol, with sex as well. i didn't want to be in a relationship. at 25, it felt like everybody

was having children or getting in relationships to then create families, and i didn't want that. meet 0livia mcveigh. she's a make—up artist, an influencer and runs her own brand. alongside all the hair and beauty tips, she uses her online platform to speak openly about her temporary menopause. what they're going to do now is, they're going to put me i in a medically - induced menopause. so, honestly, itjust took last night to process that. - i don't even know. how to process that. like, it's... they've reassured me that it's all going to be grand and it's i just another thing that i have to do, and i'm only 24, - so the thought of the word l menopause carries so much. so what do you want me to say? my name? do you want me to say my age or anything? l do i have to sayi where i'm from? this is like love island.

so i am in a temporary- medically induced menopause because i have stage| three endometriosis. the menopause is being used to alleviate my symptoms - and hopefully give me a better quality of life for six months. i it's only for six months. i'm a couple of weeks now and i ithought i would just discuss... | so, my newest symptom is i have insomnia. - it's been a month so far, so - i'm a month into my menopause. so on the same day every month i get an injection. which keeps me in the l menopause, it stops my reproductive system from working and it| stops the hormones... ..from working. is that right? so, there are certain drug treatments that work on blocking oestrogen receptors and therefore, that can also mean that a person experiences menopausal symptoms. got my menopause - injection on wednesday. don't think i've come - on to chat to you about it. a lot of people messaged me whenever i said i was getting| my third one being, like, i "the third one is the worst one, you're going to be in so much pain, take l

days off work. " it was grand. at first i was told, - maybe after the first month it'll work, maybe after- the second month it'll work, and so far i'm still in pain with endometriosis. - i shouldn't have because it shouldn't be there. - there's no hormones. it shouldn't be doing anything. my symptoms are, i have insomnia, hot flushes, i pressure headaches... ..erm, aches and pains. i get aches... i get pains in my knees and my back and stuff. | i definitely wish i kind - of knew more from a medical point and notjust random stuff that i read on google. - well, let's put it really simply, do you remember when you had your periods and then your oestrogen came up? the reason your oestrogen was increasing at that time is because it was going to kick—start your ovaries into having periods, while the reverse happens as you're transitioning through into the perimenopause. your ovaries go, "hang on, i'm through my fertility years. "i do not need these hormones any more", and so you have a decrease in oestrogen and progesterone. it's the fluctuation of these hormones which means that you get the symptoms that you're experiencing. pelvic pain, constant

headaches, hot flushes, night sweats. the physical symptoms of not sleeping, aching joints, massive fatigue, itchy skin, like, looking like a hot mess. i don't think anybody mentioned to me what the menopause entails and what the symptoms i was going to be getting are. they were solely focusing on my cancer and my cancer treatment. i would get really warm at night and i, yeah, at first i thought it was because of the radiation. the ringing in my ear, hot flushes, fatigue, shortness of breath. everything was at their peak. i remember i was on a walk when i finally had... ijust thought, "i can't do this any more." i was so tired. my face was red and all these things were happening at once.

obviously, being self—employed, like, you just can't ever take - sick days, so, yeah. my stomach is so sore and . swollen, which is so strange. i didn't get that last time. i've already wore these a few times before... i doing make—ups, i'll do. make—ups during the week and the weekend. i can'tjust... i can'tjust ring in sick. there's people... depending on me. i could go a whole week with only an hour's sleep and that, especially when i work with the public as a hairdresser and need to be high in energy and talking to everybody, that is hard. there's up to 48 different - symptoms of the menopause and they're almost hotchpotch symptoms that come and go. i women can experience . palpitations, hot flushes, night sweats. they can experience some . digestive symptoms as well. they can experience some . vaginal and vulvar symptoms. there are psychological - symptoms as well, so that can be irritability, loss|

of confidence, loss of self—esteem, brain fog can occur, sleeplessness, - so insomnia is a really classical symptom. i i was having to diagnose myself, you know what i mean? looking through symptoms and like, diagnosing myself. ok, so this is menopause. and, 0k, what can i get to help with my menopause? but this is things that should be done by medical professionals. this is something that a doctor should be offering to me. i shouldn't be having to google this myself and then asking the doctor to give me the specific medication i need. so that felt wrong. i had 13 years of no hormones, which has affected my health since. seven years ago, at the age of 32, i was put into premature menopause as the result of a radical hysterectomy for treatment for ovarian cancer. for me it was a huge sense of loss and when you are so young i did not fit into the stereotypes i don't think there was as much support as there perhaps could have been. i'm also on hrt patches,

which i will be into my late forties, sort of early fifties. hormone replacement therapy — we're literally replacing - what your body is naturally now decreasing in and that's two - hormones, oestrogen and progesterone. i the issue with being medicated for this long at this point is that there's still stuff i don't... i haven't fixed. and i know, realistically, there won't be a perfect fit but it's trying to balance not only between the symptoms that i have on too high and too low dosage, but also the long—term and the short—term effects. knowing that i'm going to need hormone replacement for the rest of my life, having to... just knowing that i'm going to need medication, i'm going to have to depend on medication for the rest of my life, it's also quite stressful, and, yeah, it's just... it's a lot. . .. it's a lot on you mentally. in medicine, we always say take a holistic approach. _ so that could be diet, j exercise, look at your nutrition, look at your stress levels that you're going -

through. cognitive behavioural therapy might be really useful- for some people. couples therapy might be really helpful in other. circumstances as well. it's so hard to be in a relationship with someone and love them and want to show that you love them, but your body is just not agreeing with it. and particularly with menopause and the hormones, like, the skin can be really sensitive and really prone to, arm, breaking. it can make me feel like a burden at times. it feels like there's so many things going on in my head and stuff that i have to remember that i can never fully, like, be present with someone. if anything, i feel like it's- kind of numbed me a wee bit. something happens, i'm just, like, whatever. - like, someone ghosts me, i'm like, whatever. - itjust is what it is. i'mjust kind of... i feel very numb in a lot. of cases and i don't know whether that's a good

thing or a bad thing. i but, yeah, i think when it. comes to, like, connections with people and, like, l dating people and stuff, it definitely- is a wee bit of a... it maybe is a mental thing as well to turn around... i i just... thinking about myself on a date and having to turn around - to someone and be like, i "so i'm 24 and menopause. "what are you? what's wrong with you, then?" the biggest impact for me has been that i can't have children naturally. whilst it was never a priority for me, i think it's something very different when you're told you can't have something to making that choice for yourself. women with p0| don't have a natural monthly period, so they don't release an egg every month, which means that only a small number, around 5% to 10%, can fall pregnant naturally. the vast majority of women wanting to have children need to find an egg donor and go through ivf treatment. i won't be able to have children any more. that's something that is quite distressing to know. if i wanted ivf, i could get an egg donation... ..which, personally, -

idon't think i could deal with the heartache of... ivf failing. when you're diagnosed in yourteens, you're not planning on getting pregnant for maybe ten, 15 years. you're not thinking about it at all, so the prospect of having that choice taken away from you is so abstract. i knew from when i was diagnosed at 15 that i probably wouldn't be fully experiencing the full grief of my fertility until i genuinely wanted to have children. i see myself being a mummy, j in whatever case that may be. like, if i have to. adopt, if i, erm... am a dog mum, like, i'llalways be a mum in some case. - like, i'm not worried about it. i know it'll happen, so. i'm trying to grow in acceptance and process the grief of the loss of my dreams of becoming a mother to my own children. it can feel really lonely but i am choosing to raise my voice and share my experience

so other women don't feel alone. i'm trying to fight for raising more awareness and making sure that women know that there is one in 100 of them who may go through this at some point in their lives. working with women and people of other genders around - a menopause toolkit called i smash the stigma, listening to so many stories, _ understanding how many people have either lost theirjob . or been threatened to lose theirjob, both laughing - and crying and sharing stories, really made me feel like i'm not alone. l i have got involved with charities like target ovarian cancer to make sure that people that don't fit the menopause mould are supported and that the information is there for them, because we are living with this for much longer than people that go through menopause at a more natural age. none of the women in my life are going through it, so it was hard for me to talk to them about this.

when it comes to the menopause, typically you see an older - woman, white, grey hair, wafting a fan. i that's not representative i of me as a younger woman, not representative of me as an asian woman, - and definitely not _ representative of me as a woman wearing a hijab. it feels like it's just become... like it's onlyjust started for everyone. i have a t—shirt that says make menopause matter. it was part of... ..a big campaign that was on instagram. and i wear it to work quite often. it's now got bleach splashes all over it, but... ..the last time i wore it, four people, so three women and one man, all spoke about it, and at least three of them said, "so who are you wearing that for?" my latest night sweats recovery is talcing the bed before getting in it. no! honestly. some days it makes me feel really empowered.

like, it makes me... ..proud that i'm getting the word out there for... . .every woman. especially when men read it. i had never, ever heard of anyone going into i an induced temporary menopause. in my head, ijust thought, how is it temporary? - how do you come out of that? i had already been so open- about my endo and my alopecia and stuff that i was like, i this isjust another thing. i'm very lucky that i have, - like, my wee community online, like, of my lovely followers that, they give me advice l and they'll be like, . "it's going to be fine." i just think about people that i maybe don't have that or don't have the support and they're being told this news - and they're just thinking, what do i do, like? - what happens? if it helps one person, then you've done yourjob, like. | when i started going through radiotherapy and chemotherapy, i was still in uni and we were writing briefs for ourfinal major project.

that's when i had to decide, do i want to talk about what's happening to me or do i not? it's more just cathartic to just draw something out and it helps me process things. i want people to understand more about menopause. when this does eventually happen to them, it wouldn't cause as much emotional distress as it did to me. technically i'm 23, but, physically, ifeel like i am, like, 73. i'm simultaneously too young and too old. you know, i didn't go through puberty in the same way as my friends, therefore i feel too young, but then i'm going through menopause in my teens, so i feel too old. the menopause - impacts everybody. if you know a woman, love - a woman, come from a woman, you should know- about the menopause. i don't think there is enough i conversation about menopause in the younger age groups, particularly when it comes i to surgical menopause, - chemical menopause and primary ovarian insufficiency. we just don't tell

girls that at all. i since filming with us, soe—myat is in remission from her cancer and hopes to finish herfinal year at uni in 2023. 0livia has nearly finished her temporary menopause and is still in pain from her endometriosis. she's contemplating next steps. elspeth got a first class degree in psychology and one day hopes to do a phd looking into p0|. emma continues to wear her t—shirt to work and is delighted to spend time hanging out with 0rla, her cousin's new baby. to find out more about the issues raised in this film, please visit our website:

hello. tuesday brought some huge temperature contrasts across the uk. it was —9 in 0xfordshire in the morning and then 16 degrees in the afternoon in aberdeen. but i think over the next few days, the temperatures will balance out a little bit more — it'll be closer to the seasonal norm. we'll also lose the frosts in the south of the country where, recently, it has been very cold, and here's an example in the south of the uk. those temperatures won't be quite so low overnight as we head into next week. ok, let's get into the forecast, then. here's wednesday's weather map, and a cold front is moving across the country, introducing a little bit of rain early in the morning across northern parts of the uk through scotland and northern ireland. little bits and pieces of rain and murky conditions further south as well. there will be a touch

of frost first thing anywhere from east anglia through the southeast down towards the west country, but the vast majority of us will have temperatures above freezing first thing. also the possibility of some mist and fog in the midlands, west country, possibly east anglia as well for a time. so, let's have a look at the forecast, then, for wednesday. here's that weather front as it moves from the north southwards, perhaps reaching northern wales, the peak district, early in the afternoon — lincolnshire, too. behind it, the skies actually clear, so some sunshine later in the day for belfastjust before sunset. belfast, glasgow, ten degrees here. then notice that weather front sinks southwards and there will be some rain towards the rush hour, i think, in the south of the country, and then eventually clearing the kent coast late wednesday evening. thursday, we've got an area of high pressure building across the uk nosing in, and that spells

a lot of sunny weather — it really is going to be a fine day for many of us on thursday. a little on the cool side, i think, on the north sea coast, so with that northerly breeze, perhaps one or two showers, i think beautiful weather out towards the west and those temperatures close to the norm for the time of the year — around nine in belfast, not far off that elsewhere across the country. then the outlook as we head into the weekend, you can see temperatures actually recovering to around double figures as we head towards sunday, and we're talking about generally dry weather. that's it from me, bye—bye.

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