this is bbc news — the headlines... the memphis police department has disbanded the so—called scorpion special unit — whose officers are accused of murdering tyre nichols. the 29 —year—old black man was kicked and punched by five policemen — who are also black. they've now been sacked and face multiple charges — including murder. a special meeting of israel's security cabinet has approved measures in response to the killing of seven people outside a synagogue in eastjerusalem by a palestinian gunman. family members of attackers are set to lose their residency and health insurance rights. stripping their citizenship will need new legislation. the former nato general who'll be the next czech president has described the election outcome as a victory for the values of truth, dignity, respect and humility. in a speech to cheering

supporters in prague — petr pavel said it was time to return those values to politics. now on bbc news... new hope in hard times: fighting the cost—of—living crisis. you want a piggy back? are you going to be superman, are you? nobody can afford to keep up with anything. i don't know how i'll cope, i really don't. it's autumn 2022, and anita's got troubles. troubles from every direction. absolutely shattered. i'm constantlyjust lying in bed and just thinking about how am i going to pay this? how am i going to pay that? i'm trying to make you a den. money is beyond tight. try that, brett. for little brett and his two older sisters, the outside world can feel scary. there's a monster out there. what monster?

a huge one. a huge one? oh my goodness. for his mum, the monsters are getting real. i've always managed with the money i get, me benefits and the money that i earn from work. i've always just managed to manage, but ijust can't do it at the minute. it's the gas, the electricity, the bills, and then the cost of the food that went up. how are you supposed to live, man? bottom line, anita's working. she's got a family. she's got no money. do you want some to eat, sweetheart? this is the first time i've actually had to say, can you help us? tough times. but as we'll see, there's also hope and help. there's a lot to go through today. in a cold church in benwell, carole rowland is on the mic. it's worry and fear. anything that worries you, anything you're fearful of, please come and talk to us.

if the cost of living crisis is a national crisis, the response here in newcastle's west end is local. the other things that we've got are more kiddies coats, which is fantastic. this place started years ago as a food bank, but it's had to change, adapt and expand to become a community hub to keep up in these hard times. used to be that people don't have sufficient food to eat. we can help them with that. it's now that they don't have enough fuel. they don't have heat. our fear here at our food bank is that people may die. it's getting a bit colder. it is slightly. so it is food and help with fuel. but we're here to see much more than that. there you go. of course, pat's work, handing out vouchers for access to the food bank, is crucial. oh, thank you. but then there's courtney. how much do you spend

on public transport? i don't because i can't afford to. a benefits wizard who's here to give priceless advice. we're definitely getting all the details that we need, good lass. fantastic. then there's dara, a kurdish refugee who's always here, always smiling, always helping. the main thing that we can help you with is making sure you have food. i need support as well. and they are all driven people, like helen, who's a volunteer. you see me around in benwell, just say hello. people who are at their wit�*s end about how to cope. she wants and needs to help. i see struggle. i see embarrassment. i see guilt. i see shame. i see joy at small things. it's november, and anita has come in for food. get your coat on, sweetie. it's november, and anita

has come in for food. get your coat on, sweetie. no judgment, no stigma. just food and a friendly face. iordanis has developed a special bond with little brett. you did an amazing job. you've helped me so much, and i wouldn't be able to do it without your help. high five. unless you want to give me a hug. i mean, iwill. i love a hug. brilliant. i don't know how to cope. i really don't. i do need it. that's the top and bottom of it. and i feel embarrassed because i've got to ask for help. to be fair, i would have probably been worn out asking people to borrow money. thank you ever so much. thank you. for anita's family and so many others across her community, carol's team are life—savers. oh, that's a rice. but in this crisis, there are no easy answers and no quick fixes. lost quite a lot of weight in the last year and a bit, just not being able to live, to be fair. i'd rather my children

eat their meat. i might have a meal a day if i'm lucky. in the end, of course, it's down to money. her ex makes some modest payments for the kids, and anita's always worked. she still does. get off me leg! but she's also a single mum and has to fit her cleaning shifts around brett's childcare. the problems don't stop there. i don't receive, like, any sort of benefits for little man because he was born after that time period where they said you couldn't. it's a cut—off point. and that's because brett was born after 2017 when the rules changed for families with three or more children. so i only get money for the two girls. so we're literally living off that. and it'sjust, it's craziness. i don't know how they've come up with these calculations and how they expect people to live. it's called great britain for a reason, and it's not great britain any more. are they ready to come in?

oh, yes, get them in now. passion. it's absolute passion. passion. take your time. carol believes in this and that the team is making a difference. will i hang on to him until you've packed your bag? she's the lynchpin of this place. never stops. i haven't got enough winter coats. but when they go, they go. always fighting for the people, for the community. we're not having anybody missing christmas. a lot of the work here is connecting people in need to the benefits and grants that they are entitled to, to untangle the complexities of the welfare system. and it's working. the team have now claimed over £1,000,000 in benefits for the people they serve. don't sit in silence. we can now help you with fuel, and that's really the first proper time we've ever been able to do that. so please, please. yes, there is some money here from central government. many have had cost of living payments totalling £650. and it's all welcome. you've got to have an interview

before you get the vouchers. it's busy, getting busier all the time. in december, they gave out more food parcels than ever. go along now, it's 1:00 at the place. but everyone here knows that this is a sticking plaster, not a long term fix. it is actually simple, not saying never—ending benefits. it's about giving people enough to live on so that they can start and make some choices. for dean, the choices are limited. they say your life expectancy is about 45 years. i'm 37. his heart condition is terminal. carole knows me so well. and she's like, you've lost a lot of weight. and i go, yeah. he weighs seven and a half stone. go and have a word with paul, he's the person. that's lovely. thank you so much. carole wants dean to check that he's getting all of the benefits that he can. how are you? oh, well, getting there. so how would you mark

your general well—being at the moment? i would say zero. and what conditions is it that you have? oh, gosh, i have congenital heart disease, i have unstable angina. and the last one is marfan syndrome. despite all of that, somehow dean doesn't qualify for pip or personal independence payment. have you considered claiming pip? have you tried? i have. i scored zero. would you consider putting in another claim for that now? i can see that it's tough for dean. his failing health means hospital treatment, usually several times a week. thank you so much. thank you. dean's mum, denise, is by his side. he's on powerful painkillers and needs all the support he can get. i worked from being in school. i was up until a few years ago when my health really deteriorated. i was, i want to work. i can't lift, i can't carry. i can't do anything. are you dependent on this place? yeah, absolutely. there are plenty of people struggling here.

but dean's life, it just feels so hard. you're all right. all you want for people is to have some dignity, you know? 0h, are you okay? that's a tough story. despite it all, this hub isn't about misery. it's about help. just a thank you goes a long way. and i do appreciate the work you've done for me. you're welcome. the work never stops. teresa is here to check that all of her benefits are up to date. how much are you paying for that? £350 for the gas and electric. basically, it's living hand—to—mouth. it's so cold, brett. winter's here. anita and the kids have all been ill. i'm exhausted with it. absolutely exhausted. she's on the way to the food bank. the food bank that she was donating to just a year ago. i think my hands are just starting to get the feeling back in my fingertips.

it's been weeks since we've seen her and brett, and she's changed. thinner. colder. i couldn't put the heating on at all, last week. it was so cold. ijust couldn't put it on. just didn't have enough. what money i had, so the girls could have, like, showers or their bath in the school. it's surviving. and it's embarrassing because i work and i should be providing for my children. right now, even the hunger takes second place. today, it's all about the cold. that's a good idea. shall we just stay here today? she will let us sit inside the nursery and get us a cup of tea till i had to go and get me other little girl from school. oh, that's lovely. is your hands warm now?

your hands are cold. my hands are cold. all i feel like i've done for weeks is cry and cry. just feel like such a letdown all the time. do you know what i mean? should be able to provide for these, at least a warm home... what would you like? ijust want to have more fun. brett's desperate to team up with iordanis again. he's made to feel welcome and included. at its best, this place can feel like family. i feel good. at the end of the day, i feel like i did - something good to help. and he is a lovely boy, he's very clever. - i think you can tell that. i'll give you some eggs as well. - iordanis doesn't have to be here, he's an international it consultant, but his silicon valley employers encourage this sort of volunteering. this is some fish. you can have that. and he's happy to be here. the very first few times, i was very upset when i went home.

i've got four kids, . so i spoke to my kids and my wife and i said, i look, you know, you don't know how lucky we are. that'll keep your strength up. it's been a tough week for anita. i'm going to have a piece of this orange. i've had no breakfast. as well as struggling with the cold, she's also struggling with the benefits system. apparently, i'm not meeting government criteria. i'm supposed to make £491 a month and i'm only making £a56. the issue is that she's been told that she needs to get her wages up by £35 a month or lose benefits. the trouble with that is it's hard to do more hours with no more free childcare and she feels stuck. i've only had to claim benefits, i'd say, the last year and a half. since me and my partner separated. i've never claimed benefits, i've worked since i was 16. i've never not worked. don't worry, when you sit down with courtney in welfare, right, we'll go through this. we'll contact them on your behalf. i'm trying to do my best, and

they're just not getting it. i'm a mess! it'sjust horrific. that woman, this time last year, was actually giving us food. she was donating to us. she is doing everything she possibly can. and it'sjust not good enough. for somebody. it's good enough for me. it's good enough for her family, who know that she's doing everything she possibly can. my worry now is her mental health because she is on the edge. the level of need here is high and rising. it can feel overwhelming. but so can the response of this community, local people helping their own. thank you. good to see you! in again this week. joan is a benwell lass, a benwell legend.

to take it up over £200. oh, my goodness. and that's how much you spend, isn't it? despite all the kindness and support, there's no hiding the fact that this is also a place where too many people are feeling desperate. what would they do without it? i would have given up by now, to be fair. i would have. aye, i would have. sorry. i don't like talking like that. i shouldn't feel like that. newcastle's west end is a strong, multi—ethnic community. it has a recent history of regeneration, some new housing, community investment. but the old problems are still evident. this is among the most deprived places in a region where child poverty is the highest in the uk. i'm around at theresa's. hi, theresa. how are you?

i want to know more about the real impact of the cost of living crisis. it's meant a lot to you, hasn't it? the help you get. it really has. yeah, because i was stuck with the stress and the anxiety of where i go, what i do, and i'm talking to nobody. because you'rejudged. i felt in the food bank i wasn'tjudged. courtney and carol both said, look, you can call me, you can talk and we can help. teresa's single and lives with her autistic granddaughter. the food bank and the community hub keep this family afloat. it's no good being proud. proud is not going to feed you. it's not going to help me to get the stuff i need for my home or my bairn. without help you're stuck in a situation where your mental health does deteriorate quicker. something's got to give. let's hope so. it'll not be me. it won't be you. it'll not be me. i'll be in my corner, fighting. to stock a food bank

you need food. and rising prices mean some people here can't afford to donate any more. basics pasta means you can get more of it. but remember, joan, well, she's still down the supermarket shopping for others. how are you paying for all of this? where do you get your money from? well, out of my own money. i'm retired and i have a reasonable pension. you're at the heart of your own community. and these are your people, really. i belong to a church in the west end, so that's a motivation to me. many hands make light work. i feel that i want to support the people who are in great need as much as i can. carole�*s called us. there's something she says we need to see. are we coming in? of course you are. in we go. and she's right. if you want to know what deprivation looks like, how about this?

have you seen worse than this? this is the worst that we've dealt with. this place is off the scale. huge amount of mould. the damp�*s grown up, all of the walls. courtney and carole are here to help a woman who's been living, existing, here with her two dogs, like this, for two years. she's got asthma. she's got pleurisy at the minute because of the damp. and the state of this place. so she can actually speak to her upstairs neighbour. oh, really? while she's in the bath, as you can say, we've got no ceiling. so she's not been able to use a bath or a bathroom for over two years now. with support from the hub, the tenant has been offered a new place in a new build. but there's a problem — no dogs allowed. if you're living on your own, that's your family, isn't it? definitely. and she's had to give it up. almost 15 years, they're like her children, the only family really that she's had, and she's had to give them upjust to be in

a safe, comfortable home. the lady from the rspca is here and she'll be taking bronson, hoping to find him a new home. and little muffin, well, it's carole, once again, to the rescue. and you're still going to come up and see her? muffin will be welcomed into carole�*s family home. it's december now and it's getting seriously cold, frigid. there's three elves on one shelf. the water in the tray... for anita, this time is all about christmas, about using every ounce of energy, every last penny, to make it special for the children. how are you feeling, going into the christmas period? i'm positive now, compared to what i was, like, six, seven weeks ago. i was beside myself six or seven weeks ago. like, i don't know how

i'm going to manage, how i'm going to cope. her plans are modest, nothing fancy, but so hard to deliver in this bleak midwinter. i was like, because i love having them sat down and a properfamily meal, and ijust think it would be lovely this year, just to have that. regardless of anything else, just sitting as a family would be lovely. i'm really hoping, just for those few hours, that you can put all of this out of your head and just... it'd be lovely to stop. i'm an overthinker. # you better watch out!#. is that your favourite song? family time. absolutely. it's the children and it's normality and it's just keeping that normality for them. i like yourjumper, by the way. thank you. very festive! i've had it about six years. it's st james's church which is at the centre of operations for the community hub. we need to fundraise some money for her. we will do that.

the vicar, chris, knows benwell�*s reputation. he knows that some regard the situation as hopeless, but not him. people have real hope. they have real love in them. and the way that i've seen people come together in crisis, the crisis shouldn't be happening. they shouldn't have to come together under those circumstances. but when they do, this incredible thing happens. i've never seen anything like it. now i am three years volunteer in food bank. of all the people i've met here, maybe it's dara who will stay with me the longest. i am finished accounting in my country. but in here, no have anyjob because no have any paper. he's been here for three years. a kurdish christian refugee escaping the murderous violence of northern iraq. i'm so sorry, because i'm no speaking english very well. he's happy to be here. i no need money, i need life.

this country is very safe. this country is very good for all people because help me. dara doesn't ask for much. as an asylum seeker, he certainly doesn't get much. and he's got his wife and two sons. his eldest, hani, is at school. hani is lovely, lovely boy. thank you for all teacher, because he is now speaking english, geordie! one thing i've noticed about you, or two things, number one, you're so smart, your clothes are always perfect. yes, all second hand. me, my wife and my son. and number two, you're always smiling. thank you so much. it feels like dara's always here. he's so grateful to the country that's taken him in, but can't escape the cost of living crisis. the cost of baby milk for his boy. are you finding it hard to pay for what you need? about that... because...before it's often

cheaper, now is very expensive. are you worried? you can... no, thank you. can i just say that you are an amazing person because when we come, you're always smiling and you always do for everybody else. thank you so much. sorry about that... don't be sorry. ...because i'm worried about this baby. your baby, yeah. what a hero. what a special, special person. that's somebody who has lost everything. in circumstances you can't even imagine. he's come here. can't get a job because of his paperwork. and yet comes here.

this cold, old church, just to help people in newcastle who are struggling with the cost of living. and it's so selfless. and it's a really moving, beautiful thing. into the new year, i'm back to catch up with anita. last time i saw you, you were looking forward to christmas, wondering how it's going to work out. how did it work out? brilliant. been wonderful to give them the stuff that i was never able to give them. just before christmas, we featured part of anita's story on bbc news. the reaction from viewers was amazing. the generosity made a big difference. did you have that meal around the table that you were talking about? yes, i had me hat on. all had christmas hats on. it was wonderful.

lovely. thanks to everybody, the generosity and just everybody, it's been overwhelming how kind people have been. ijust couldn't believe it. got new washing machine? idid. and the microwave. it's such great news that with a bit of cash, anita's doing a bit better, but she knows it's temporary. she's still having problems with benefits. she still looks really worried. it's like i said to the children, it's nice to have what we've had, but it is going to run out and it is going to stop and we're going to be back to where we were, where we're going to be struggling. give us more free childcare, and i'll do it as many hours as you want us to. what are you hoping for then? ijust want him to be happy and safe and be able to keep warm, and food in theirtummies. it's all i want. it's been a cold, hard winter, but at least spring is coming. for carole and the entire team here, the work goes on.

there is so much need, yet there is so much hope. people who come to us, they're just, like you. they're like me. they're like anybody out there. people now regard food banks as a way of life. that should never be. this is not a solution. they need people to listen to them. this is the key. don't think they're all thick. don't think they haven't got a voice. they have got a voice. the trouble is, they need to be heard. the problems of benwell are the problems of a nation. yes, it's tough, but as we've seen here, as well as deprivation, there is spirit, a determination to fight back, a belief that things can and will get better. details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised in this programme are available.

hello. after an uneventful first half of the weekend weather—wise, sunday does look set to bring something a little livelier, with some stronger winds and some outbreaks of rain for some, particularly across the northern half of the uk. the reason — an area of low pressure pushing to the north of scotland, this frontal system which will eventually bring some outbreaks of rain. and plenty of isobars on the chart. that always shows that we will have some brisk winds. so a breezier day, really, across the board. a lot of cloud to start off in the south of england and south wales. some of that will break up, and actually for england and wales, we will see some spells of sunshine through the day. but winds really picking up across parts of northern

england, particularly gusty conditions over the pennines and just to the east of the pennines as well. rather windy for this north coast of northern ireland and more broadly across scotland. strongest winds of all in the far north of scotland, gusting to 65 miles per hour. and this band of rain here pushing its way southwards and eastwards. but just ahead of that, a particularly mild feel, 12 or 13 degrees in parts of eastern scotland, and actually a fairly mild day generally. now, as we go through sunday night, we'll push this band of cloud and rain southwards. much of the rain will fizzle. behind it, a mix of clear spells and showers with some slightly colder air tucking in. some of the showers could be wintry over high ground in scotland. it probably will be too windy for us to see anything much, though, in the way of frost. and then into monday, we see this little bump in the isobars here, this little ridge of high pressure building its way in. so that means, actually, plenty of dry weather, some spells of sunshine. those early showers in the north—east should tend to ease off, but we will bring more cloud in from the west as the day wears on. a little bit of rain

with that, temperatures of 8, 9 or 10 degrees. now, as we look ahead to tuesday, we will see some spells of sunshine. but particularly through northern england, northern ireland and scotland, there will be some showers, these falling as sleet or snow over high ground, but perhaps even to low levels in parts of scotland, where the winds will once again be strengthening. very gusty conditions the further north you are through tuesday afternoon. temperatures north to south, 7 to 12 degrees. and then as we head into tuesday night, well, there's uncertainty about the detail of this, but we could well see a really deep area of low pressure pushing close to the north of scotland. and that could bring some very windy, even stormy, conditions for some, particularly in the far north.

this is bbc news. i'm monika plaha. our top stories — memphis police disbands the so—called scorpion special unit, whose officers are accused of murdering tyre nichols. israel's security cabinet agrees new measures in response to the deadly attack on a synagogue in eastjerusalem. a former head of the czech republic's armed forces wins the race to be the country's next president. and meet the new queen of melbourne: aryna sabalenka wins the australian open women's final.