this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk in the uk and around the world. the global financial institution the imf is predicting the uk to be the only major economy to shrink in 2023 — but says the government is shifting in the right direction. the death toll has risen to more than 90 people following a blast which targeted policeman in the pakistani city of peshawar. five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the hillsborough disaster, the author criticises the government, saying it's intolerable that it still hasn't responded. us secretary of state antony blinken travels to ramallah in the occupied west bank later, for talks with palestinian president mahmoud abbas. "united in music" — the slogan for this year's eurovision song contest is unveiled

as the official eurovsion handover ceremony takes place today in liverpool. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the uk economy is due to get smaller this year and do worse than other major nations, including russia — that's according to the world's most important international financial organisation, the international monetary fund. it predicts the uk economy will shrink by 0.6% this year. it believes the uk will be the only country among the world's major economies to see its economy get smaller. it says the forecast reflects the uk's high energy prices, high inflation and high interest rates.

the us, germany, france, italy and japan are all expected to grow. but there is a note of optimisim — the imf believes things will improve in 2024, forecasting the economy will grow by 0.9%. the chancellorjeremy hunt has said that "the uk outperformed many forecasts last year — and that if we stick to ur plan to halve inflation, the uk is still predicted to grow faster than germany and japan over the coming years." our economics correspondent, andy verity, has more. it is saying we are quite dependent on gas prices and other economies are too, germany and other economies are too, germany and italy are much more dependent on gas from russia that the uk, but i think what it is focusing on its retail prices and the fact that although there has been some government support it has not been

as generous as in other countries, so those high prices we are paying for energy will mean consumers will have less to spend on everything else, in a glass economic activity in those other areas and that is one reason why they predict we will be the only economy to shrink. this is a substantial downgrade, we should be clear, from where it was six months or a year ago, partly because of deliberate policies. here is the really interesting thing, they are saying it is fiscal and monetary policy, the fact interest rates are rising and the tax policy is taking money out of the economy rather than putting it back in that means we the households and firms have less money to spend on everything else. the re ort to spend on everything else. the report does _ to spend on everything else. the report does not mention brexit, is that a surprise?— that a surprise? maybe they'll be bein: that a surprise? maybe they'll be being tactful- _ that a surprise? maybe they'll be being tactful. there _ that a surprise? maybe they'll be being tactful. there was - that a surprise? maybe they'll be being tactful. there was only - that a surprise? maybe they'll be being tactful. there was only a l being tactful. there was only a small amount of analysis individuated with different companies, i'm sure the imf would have a lot more to say about the

impact of brexit and other factors relatively unique to the uk, but they have not mentioned brexit specifically as a factor, it is more that policy is all geared to trying to dampen down inflation. we have higher inflation in the uk than most other countries in advanced economies, still more than io%, still in double digits, and the united states it has gone well down to less than 7% and similarly in other euro area countries, so the higher inflation means the bank of england has to work harder by raising interest rates in order to take money out of the economy and take money out of the economy and take some of the heat out, some of the upward pressure on prices. fiscal policy, the government says it has a plan to tackle inflation, what that effectively means is if it keeps on saying we can't afford this, this and that, that means it is putting less money into the economy than it otherwise words and thatis economy than it otherwise words and that is one of the reasons there is

less money for everybody to spend and why the imf projects we will be that weakest economy for growth next year of any advanced economy, not just the g7 but the top 15 most developed countries. it is really striking that they project russia will grow in spite of all those international sanctions, whereas our economy won't. international sanctions, whereas our economy won't-— economy won't. finally and briefly, when a big — economy won't. finally and briefly, when a big organisation _ economy won't. finally and briefly, when a big organisation like - economy won't. finally and briefly, when a big organisation like the - economy won't. finally and briefly, | when a big organisation like the imf put together a forecast for the uk economy like this, what sort of impact will be a tab on the average person? it impact will be a tab on the average erson? , ., , ., ., impact will be a tab on the average erson? ,., ,~ ., person? it is only a forecast so in a way the — person? it is only a forecast so in a way the answer _ person? it is only a forecast so in a way the answer is _ person? it is only a forecast so in a way the answer is zero, - person? it is only a forecast so in a way the answer is zero, it - person? it is only a forecast so in a way the answer is zero, it is - person? it is only a forecast so in | a way the answer is zero, it isjust a way the answer is zero, it is just an economist forecasting what will happen. what will impact the average person watching this is the tax policies, the fiscal policies as we sometimes call them, of the government, and interest rates. we expect the bank of england monetary policy committee to make a decision on interest rates later in the week, less than 10% of households have variable rate interest rates so they

might see their interest rates go up immediately, but nevertheless, as we have seen in the last few months, if interest rates are expected to be higher over the next two or three years, when you come off your fixed rate mortgage you could pay more, thatis rate mortgage you could pay more, that is how it could affect ordinary families. �* , , our chief political correspondent, nick eardley, told us earlier how westminster has been responding to the report. the message from the treasury this morning is they accept i think they are trying to be more optimistic about longer term visions. the primary thing that the chancellor and the prime minister keep saying at every opportunity as they think getting inflation down is absolutely key, that will help with the cost of living, with mortgages that andy verity was just talking about and help to get the uk economy back on track. there is a debate playing out

at westminster, increasingly publicly on the front page of some of the conservative—supporting newspapers, with some conservative mps suggesting tax cuts are essential if this is going to boost growth. i think the chances of those calls being heeded in the budget in march are slim to none. rishi sunak and the chancellor jeremy hunt has proven to be quite stubborn when it comes to sticking to their plan. there is a debate about strategy, the labour party saying the government's growth plan is not good enough, but they have a better one that would be based on green growth instead. what i think you will hear from ministers today is a message that there is a short—term challenge, the longer term prospect is better, but they will caveat that by saying longer term prospects are only better in the short term if the short term plan

is stuck to, meaning focusing on inflation. and yael selfin, chief economist at kpmg, gave us her analysis of the slowdown in the economy. i wanted to put it into context in the sense that this is a relatively mild contraction. if you look at the recession that we are expected to see in the uk, we are expecting peak to trough, output to fall by around 1.6, 1.7, relatively mild compared to even the early 90s recession where there was a contraction of 2.75 and more than double that during the great recession of 2008, 2009. so even though we are seeing a slowdown in the uk and it may be worse than other countries, it is still not a major recession that we expect this year. that is the more positive outlook. why are we now are seeing this differential between the uk economy and other major economies? tell us your thoughts on that specifically. we have a backdrop of weaker

economic momentum globally. it is unfortunate the uk is just facing more headwinds, potentially, in total balance of other countries, for example in europe generally we are facing higher energy costs and based on the way the energy market works in the uk we have higher retail energy costs too. we have not necessarily felt this in the us as much. there are slightly higher interest rates, the bank of england has raised interest rates and we are likely to see higher interest rates in the uk than in the rest of europe for the rest of this year and potentially even further, and we have ever headwinds, the labour market, the housing market, which you have already talked about, where we are more exposed

to the rise in interest rates because of the way our mortgage market works, other countries, their mortgages tend to be fixed for longer. we have a big proportion of mortgages fixed but for a relatively short duration of between two and five years, so even though not everyone will be exposed immediately, as andy said, within a year we could see 50% of mortgage holders exposed to a rise in interest rates and they are potentially already factoring that into their spending decisions. there is more here that makes it more vulnerable, if you like. yael selfin, chief economist at kpmg. it's three years since the uk left the european union. the prime minister rishi sunak has hailed, what he called the "huge strides" the country had taken with the opportunites opened up by brexit. however, the latest data suggest

a hit to the economy — and there are still a number of major questions to resolve, particularly around the northern ireland protocol. 0ur correspondent adam fleming, presenter of the bbc�*s newscast podcast, told us more about how things have changed coming to brussels from the uk for the first time in ages, having done thatjourneyi million times, is there are actually some physical changes. so you get your passport stamped by the french border guards because there is no longer free movement of people. you are an immigrant, a temporary immigrant, from outside the eu, coming into the eu. then you arrive at brussels' train station and there is now a customs checkpoint at the end of the platform, with a green lane if you've got nothing to declare, and a red lane if you've got stuff to declare and some very kind of serious—looking customs officers at the end of the platform. now no—one cares about my slight little extra bit of friction in myjourney on the train but you imagine that replicated for millions of people travelling from the uk to the eu every year. then you imagine that in a trade sense, being replicated for hundreds

of thousands of businesses, large and small, whether that is sending components along supply chains or whether that is extra bureaucracy for businesses having to file customs declarations to send goods from the uk into the single market of the eu. there are no tariffs on those goods but it does come with extra administrative costs and the office for budget responsibility in the uk, the 0br, which monitors the government's finances and comments on the economy, says that overall, that will have a hit to the gdp of the uk of 4% overall. of course, though, that has caught up with lots of other things that affect the state of the health of the uk economy — like covid, like lockdowns in china because of covid, like the war in ukraine. and so constantly, as a journalist, it is quite a challenge untangling all the things that are affecting the uk. is it brexit, is it something else? adam fleming. more than 90 people are now known

to have been killed in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque in the pakistani city of peshawar. emergency teams are still recovering bodies from the rubble in the wake of the bombing. many of those who died were policemen praying inside the mosque in what is supposed to be a secure part of the city. prime minister shehbaz sharif said terrorism was now pakistan's foremost national security challenge. no group has admitted carrying out the attack. the bbc�*s caroline davies is in peshawar. well, these are the gates to the police compound where the explosion happened yesterday. this is as close as we've been able to get, but still, standing here, you can tell there's a lot of activity going on inside. we've seen ambulances career in here and come out at speed as well. we know from the authorities that there is a search operation still under way, that they're using technology to try to identify signs of life. but, of course, the longer this operation goes on for, the more concerning that of course becomes. in the course of the last few hours, the death toll has risen again. we are now not far off 2a hours since the explosion happened yesterday lunchtime during prayers.

the government have declared that this is a day of mourning and we are expecting to see more funerals happen later on today. caroline davies. the author of a report written five years ago about the hillsborough disaster, has said it's "intolerable" that the government still hasn't responded to the document. —— the -- the uk —— the uk government still hasn't responded. 97 people died as a a result of the crush on the terraces at the sheffield wednesday ground in 1989. bishopjamesjones wrote his review about the experiences of the hillsborough families in 2017. later today police will become the first major public body to respond to the report. judith moritz reports. the horror of hillsborough continues to be felt almost 3a years after the crush on the terraces that killed 97 liverpool supporters. police failures were the main cause of the disaster, but the fans were wrongly blamed and, for years, theirfamilies

fought forjustice. # walk on, walk on with hope...# in 2016, they rejoiced when fresh inquests returned verdicts of unlawful killing. the former bishop of liverpool, jamesjones, was then commissioned to write a report about the experience of the hillsborough families to ensure their pain and suffering wouldn't be repeated. the government is yet to respond. i think we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the families. this year, it will be 3a years since the tragedy. and for them to wait for so long for a response to these 25 points of learning is intolerable and adds to their pain and, i think, in some instances, even affects their own grieving. let's hope that's only the beginning of what's going to be done.

margaret aspinall, whose sonjames was killed, is one of those who has campaigned on behalf of the hillsborough families. she is also critical of the time it's taken to hear from government. i rememberwriting — idon't know who it was to, to somebody in government — to say i hope this report does not get put on a shelf gathering dust for years, like other things in the past have done. we are now into 2023. how long does it take to read a report, to come out with the findings or what you think should happen? when bishopjames published this report in 2017, he made 25 recommendations, just under half of which were directed at the police. today, there will be the first national police response to it and, i understand, for the first time, an apology issued on behalf of all of the police forces in england and wales. there are calls for there to be

a hillsborough law which would help victims of future mass tragedies. the government says it will publish its response to the bishop's report in due course. let's get more now from professor phil scraton — he led the research team at the independent panel into the hillsborough disaster, and is author of hillsborough: the truth. professor, thank you very much for joining us. you know many of the families, the relatives of those affected by hillsborough. tell us more about how this delay in responding to the bishop's report affects them. i responding to the bishop's report affects them-— affects them. i think the significance _ affects them. i think the significance of _ affects them. i think the significance of this - affects them. i think the significance of this delay affects them. i think the i significance of this delay is immediate in the sense that this is the most recent delay in a long series of delays. we are talking here about over 30 years when we have known the issues and we have

progressed those issues, we have analysed them, written reports, right back to 1990 when we publish our very first report, 95 our second. in that, all of those issues the bishop has raised have been covered. it is 1997 when i first recommended with the home office study a charter for the bereaved to establish the human rights of all of those who have suffered bereavement in such events, so their participation on their representation. so this is a long—standing scope. i have already read this morning the 25 points of learning or recommendations or acceptance of criticism within the hillsborough families report issued by the police, and those 25 points are not new. they have been known

for over 20 years and have been established throughout that time. it really concerns me that there has been so little progress because that does not bode well for the future. let's talk about any differences between what bishopjames let's talk about any differences between what bishop james jones recommended and the between what bishopjamesjones recommended and the idea of between what bishop james jones recommended and the idea of the hillsborough law put forward by labour whichjudith mentioned in her report. the labour which judith mentioned in her reort. , ., ., report. the hillsborough law, althou:h report. the hillsborough law, although put _ report. the hillsborough law, although put forward - report. the hillsborough law, although put forward by - report. the hillsborough law, i although put forward by labour, report. the hillsborough law, - although put forward by labour, has cross—party support, without any question. what i want to mention as it begins with a charter for the bereaved, to establish their rights, thatis bereaved, to establish their rights, that is absolutely clear. as i said, we have been arguing that since the mid—90s. it also looks for a statutory duty of candour which will compel all public servants to tell

the truth at inquiries, inquests or any otherform of the truth at inquiries, inquests or any other form of criminal investigation. it is that you guarantee the rights of the bereaved, to put them front and centre in the process —— it is fair to guarantee the rights of the bereaved. also to enable them to get independent, state funded representation throughout the process so that full participation can be agreed. financial support for the bereaved and survivors is really significant throughout the process. if i was to say that during the two years of the most recent inquests which finished in 2016, families were travelling every day to the inquest, losing time at work, some took time away from theirjobs, they were staying in hotels, they had absolutely no support for their participation in those inquests. the final element of the hillsborough

law which i think it significant is the appointment of a public advocate to act in the best interests of the bereaved. it is not the bereaved and survivors do not have voices, we have seen over the past few years of course they do, but that best interests need to be represented by a public advocate where there is serious loss of life.— serious loss of life. would a law like that speed _ serious loss of life. would a law like that speed up _ serious loss of life. would a law like that speed up getting - serious loss of life. would a law like that speed up getting to - serious loss of life. would a law| like that speed up getting to the answers that people want, whether the hillsborough families or some other major incidents being examined? ithink other major incidents being examined? i think a lot of the trauma around this is the continued delay upon to lay upon delay, as you say, not being able to get the answers all the justice that families, in this case the hillsborough families, seek. ithink the important _ hillsborough families, seek. ithink the important issue _ hillsborough families, seek. ithink the important issue here _ hillsborough families, seek. ithink the important issue here is - hillsborough families, seek. ithink the important issue here is to - the important issue here is to ensure, we are seeing this in some

of my work in the north of ireland, that still inquiries and the whole process is involved state responsibility, private institutions liberal responsibility. there should be an opening of all records, and access to the families of those records and there should be a way of ensuring their interests are met. it is notjust ensuring their interests are met. it is not just an ensuring their interests are met. it is notjust an issue of redress but thatis is notjust an issue of redress but that is important, reparation is important and memorialisation is important, but crucial in this debate is the reappraisal of the treatment of families, the support and counselling of families in the aftermath, and i think this report is long overdue and apologies do not cut it. the families have had apologies from those in positions of power across parties and organisations for over 30 years.

that does not cut it, apologies are all well and good but there needs to be really serious action to ensure a duty of candour, ethical values, but false public narratives are challenged and that the complaints and disciplinary procedures are put into place, notjust with policing but all public authorities who have responsibility for the best interests of the bereaved and survivors. interests of the bereaved and survivors-_ interests of the bereaved and survivors. ., ., ., survivors. professor phil scraton, thank ou survivors. professor phil scraton, thank you very — survivors. professor phil scraton, thank you very much _ survivors. professor phil scraton, thank you very much for - survivors. professor phil scraton, thank you very much for your - thank you very much for your thoughts today.— the us secretary of state antony blinken is due to meet the palestinian leader, mahmoud abbas, in ramallah in the next few hours. he's already held high—level talks with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem. mr blinken says urgent steps are needed to restore calm between israel and the palestinians after weeks of heightened violence. 0ur middle east correspondent anna foster has more on what to expect today.

i expect a repeat today of some of the key topics that were right at the top of the agenda for that meeting yesterday. the us department of state were very clear before this visit — and it was a visit that was arranged a few weeks ago but has really taken on increased significance because of the violence that you mentioned over the last week or so — the state department were very clear that they would be talking about trying to calm those tensions here, trying to de—escalate things, and also talking about the two—state solution. and when we heard from antony blinken and benjamin netanyahu after their meeting yesterday, we heard the us secretary of state explicitly talk about america's continuing support for the two—state solution. there was a more lukewarm reference to it from benjamin netanyahu, who talked about a workable solution, because his right—wing government is not considering at the moment, or indeed likely to in the future, a two—state solution. so i think when he goes to meet mahmoud abbas, they will talk once again about how to calm violence, how to de—escalate tensions and how the two sides

could perhaps continue to work together. one thing they may well look at is trying to restore security cooperation between israel and the palestinians, which was frozen a week ago after that israeli defence force raid into intojenin camp which killed ten palestinians. i think if secretary blinken wants to come away with some sort of tangible progress when it comes to trying to restore some level of calm, that might be perhaps something that he could focus on, that he could present as a win later. anna foster. a bbc investigation in egypt has revealed how dating apps and online activity are being used to abuse and blackmail people for their sexuality and gender identity. criminal gangs are targeting vulnerable people online — and the state police are also using similar tactics. this report by bbc arabic�*s ahmed shihab—eldin features some distressing scenes from the start. a group of friends ambushed by someone they thought

they could trust — naked, terrified, and forced to dance at knife—point. the whole humiliating ordeal was filmed and posted online. it was viewed more than two million times. these are the victims of gangs targeting lgbtq people in egypt. translation: they were the most . disgusting six hours of my life. . i could have died. i was scared to death. leila, who identifies as transgender, was in the video. sharing her story with us is risky, so she has chosen a 3d face tracking mask to conceal her identity. we have also changed her name. being exposed as transgender leaves leila open to targeting by the police. there is no explicit law against homosexuality in egypt, but our investigation has found that the law against debauchery, originally a sex work charge, is being used to criminalisse the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. queer is an offensive word to some,

but for the people i spoke to, it was their preferred term to describe their sexual orientation or gender identity. any positive depiction of homosexuality is banned in the media here. on this call—in show on state tv, the presenter tells a mother worried about her gay son that he needs treatment. this stigma and the way the law is being used leaves people like leila vulnerable to attack. by interviewing other victims and through online research, we were able to confirm the identity of one of the leaders of the gang. his name is yahia. he is the man with the knife in the video. we have evidence that his gang has carried out at least four similar attacks. sahid is just 18 and another of yahia's victims. translation: he asked for money, which i didn't have, _ so he called my parents, and the video spread

all around egypt. he wanted to report the attack to the police, but his lawyer advised him against it. translation: he said, i "both of you will be jailed. because i am a gay man and because he stole. he said his offence isn't as big as mine in egyptian society. we found the police themselves have been impersonating users on dating apps to find and arrest members of the lgbtq community. we have been given exclusive access to extraordinary police transcripts and investigation records that show in detail exactly how street level police are targeting people online. in some of the exchanges, the police seem to be pressuring people into offering sex for money. but in others, there is no mention

of any financial transaction, so the transcripts appear to show evidence that people are being arrested for their sexuality. police forces in egypt receive training from the uk via the un. the egyptian interior ministry did not respond to the bbc�*s request for comment. yahia denied involvement in any attacks. lgbtq people in egypt are forced to hide their sexuality to survive. leila and sahid hope their stories can help break the silence. ahmed shihab—eldin, bbc news. you can watch the full investigation, queer egypt under attack, on bbc iplayer now. france is bracing for a day of mass protests against pension reform. the strikes are expected to cause heavy disruption to transport, schools and other services. our paris correspondent hugh schofield has more now on the reforms and what this latest industrial action means

for the country. the government plans to raise the official age of retirement — that is the age at which you can retire. it doesn't mean everyone does retire at that age, but you can... the age when you start having the right to retire — from 62 to 64. it's doing that for the well—known reasons that other countries have used to raise their ages of retirement. because of changing longevity — we live longer. and the growing imbalance between the number of people in work and the number of people in retirement. and it says it's the only way to save the system. public opinion doesn't agree. the public opinion is lining up. two thirds of people are lining up behind the unions, the left, the far—right, saying this is rubbish, the situation is not nearly as critical as the government is saying, and even if it were, this reform is unfair because it targets mostly people who start working early and therefore are the poorest in society. people who start work well qualified tend to start working later,

therefore retire later and aren't really affected by this. whereas people with tough jobs, starting at work at 18 or 19 or 20 will have to keep working for a year or two. so it's fundamentally unfair kind of socially. that's the argument. plus a lot of anti—macron feeling. and i think in a way, that's probably the more general impetus behind this whole movement, a feeling of anti—macronism that's certainly very prevalent outside of the big cities. hugh schofield. the fire department in the us city of memphis has sacked three people in connection with the fatal police beating of tyre nichols earlier this month. an investigation found two paramedics and a driver failed to provide mr nichols with adequate care. five police officers have been charged with second—degree murder. two others have been suspended. a number of prayer vigils have been held across multiple cities in america, including this one in memphis. community leaders and locals coming together to honour the life of tyre nichols.

our north america correspondent david willis said it's been revealed that some white police officers are alleged to have been involved in tyre nichols death. the circle of punishment is widening in regard to the death of tyre nichols, that's for sure, and today it was announced that two more police officers from the memphis force have been disciplined in regards to their alleged involvement in the incidents that led up to his death. now, that is on top of the five police officers who were sacked and last week were slapped with charges, including a second—degree murder in regard to the death of tyre nichols. the two officers that have now been charged are preston hemphill, he is a white police officer, and another one whose name and ethnicity has not yet been revealed. now, officer hemphill is said to have fired his taser at tyre nichols but is not thought

to have been involved in the subsequent confrontation that led to tyre nichols' death. nonetheless, the fact that this white police officer's alleged involvement is only being released now in connection, of course, with the death of a black youngster, has incensed tyre nichols' family. they have issued a statement accusing the memphis police department of shielding mr hemphill and basically protecting him, or seeking to protect him, from the public eye. they have called for officer hemphill to be charged and sacked from the force. meanwhile, a couple of paramedics who attended to the scene and to mr nichols following his beating have also been dismissed, along with their driver, for failing to administer proper medical attention. david willis.

the government has revealed its �*blueprint�* for how to clean up air and water, boost nature and reduce waste in england by 2030. under the 25—year environmental plan, everyone will live within 15 minutes' walk of a green space or water. habitats for wildlife will be expanded and there will be 25 new or enlarged national nature reserves. more money will go to protecting rare wildlife, such as hedgehogs and red squirrels. our climate editor told me more about the ambitions of this plan. the overall ambition is to halt and reverse the decline of nature and today, rishi sunak said he believed today's plan will ensure that. a very ambitious target the government has set itself there. the announcement of policies we got today, and your listed most of them, new work on wildlife habitats, 2000 square miles of wildlife habitats, new and expanded national nature reserves, efforts to make water use

more efficient in buildings, action to get councils to reduce air pollution, all these kind of things together are added to... the government said this added to the effort the government is already making. this is on top of what the government is already doing. one of the other important announcements today according to the government as it is going to put environmental protection at the heart of all new environmental policy. so it says you have to see this in a round. ambitious targets and acknowledged its on the back foot of them at the moment and said this is the way it will draw everything the government does together to try and hit those targets. by 2030, so it is really ambitious. i have to say, wildlife charities today have been a bit muted in their reception of this plan. they have said they want to wait and see whether this is really a whole government response. they say the step change in action and ambition that is needed is

absolutely huge and the wildlife trust said, where is the cash? that was justin rowlatt, _ trust said, where is the cash? that was justin rowlatt, our _ trust said, where is the cash? that wasjustin rowlatt, our climate editor. more than a quarter of children will have seen pornography by the time they've left primary school. a report by the children's commissioner for england found consumption of adult content is "widespread" among young people, and often involving violence towards women. i'm joined by children's commissioner for england, dame rachel de souza. thank you very much for your time today. really, really disturbing details in this survey. one figure thatjumped out at me was that 38% of young children had found pornographic content accidentally and there was an example i think of someone, an eight—year—old, whose mother you had spoken to? yes. someone, an eight-year-old, whose mother you had spoken to?- mother you had spoken to? yes, i mean, mother you had spoken to? yes, i mean. and — mother you had spoken to? yes, i mean. and it's— mother you had spoken to? yes, i mean, and it's not _ mother you had spoken to? yes, i mean, and it's not unusual. - mother you had spoken to? yes, i mean, and it's not unusual. i- mother you had spoken to? yes, i l mean, and it's not unusual. i speak to children and parents all the time and it is quite common that children

stumble across pornography and parents are really surprised that of the children who had seen pornography, about 40% of them had seen it on twitter. next it is on porn sites. they have sort that out. but also stumbling across it on snapchat and instagram. so these are normal... if you told your mum you are looking at twitter, your mum wouldn't be expecting you to come across violent pornography. find wouldn't be expecting you to come across violent pornography. and the im act of across violent pornography. and the impact of this _ across violent pornography. and the impact of this absolutely _ across violent pornography. and the impact of this absolutely shocking. l impact of this absolutely shocking. tell our viewers about the 12—year—old girl you spoke to who told you about what was her first kiss. ,, ., told you about what was her first kiss. , told you about what was her first kiss, , ., told you about what was her first kiss. , ., ., ,., told you about what was her first kiss. , ., "~ ' kiss. so, listen, i got about 116-21 ear and kiss. so, listen, i got about 116-21 year and got _ kiss. so, listen, i got about 116-21 year and got them _ kiss. so, listen, i got about 116-21 year and got them into _ kiss. so, listen, i got about 116-21 year and got them into the - year and got them into the department for education where my offices are. i asked them, what you wish your parents had known about social media? they helped me and have given me some good advice. but as part of that, one girl spoke to me and said, look, i a young

teenager, going for my first kiss with my boyfriend. it should be such a sweet moment, an innocent moment, really, and he put his hands around her neck and tried to strangle her. she was just shocked, didn't know what to do. but of course boys are seeing this staff as well as girls. both boys and girls are victims of it. they think this is normal relationships, behaviour, it is seeping in. one of the stats on my report which is really shocking is of the 1000 young people we spoke to, 80% of them had seen violent sexual pornography. we are talking about airway restriction, slapping, lack of consent, forced sex, nasty stuff, notjust a top shelf magazine to have a look. it is serious.- to have a look. it is serious. about as far removed _ to have a look. it is serious. about as far removed from _ to have a look. it is serious. about as far removed from innocence - to have a look. it is serious. about as far removed from innocence as| to have a look. it is serious. about. as far removed from innocence as you could possibly imagine. the online safety bill is continuing to make its way through parliament. does it do enough to protect children from this? , ., ., ., , .,

this? first of all, i have been a big sopporter_ this? first of all, i have been a big sopporter of _ this? first of all, i have been a big supporter of getting - this? first of all, i have been a big supporter of getting the . this? first of all, i have been a l big supporter of getting the child safety bet of the online safety bill through. it will layer a good foundation and the reason it will lay a good foundation is it will for the first time hold the tech companies to account on this material and children seeing it. they will be accountable for children seeing harmful material. i think that is really, really important. they will not only be financially accountable but there was a last—minute amendment as the bill went through the commons to say they would be criminally accountable, too. it has gone to the lords now and i know they will try to strengthen it further. i would have far preferred that the tech companies had stepped up themselves, shown some moral purpose and sorted this out. i meet them every six months and ask them, how many children have you got online? what are you doing about keeping children safe? their answer is clearly show me self—regulation has not worked. that is a shame, a shame we need an online safety bill but we do. but you know what? children will still

see this material, whatever happens with legislation. it is a good basis. i am afraid parents, society, all of us, schools, will have to support our young people in this. any parent or anyone else who works with young people listening to this who is horrified and frankly terrified about all of this, as they should be, what is your top advice to them, what can they do? let me rive ou to them, what can they do? let me give you the — to them, what can they do? let me give you the advice _ to them, what can they do? let me give you the advice of— to them, what can they do? let me give you the advice of 16 _ to them, what can they do? let me give you the advice of 16 to - give you the advice of 16 to 21—year—olds gave. they said keep talking to us. with your children, start, have conversations about things they are likely to see, about relationships and what is going on in their lives. have those conversations early. don'tjust have one talk and then not any more. keep talking. in fact, the teenagers, older teenagers said, you know when you come home from school and mum says, how was your day? the teenager goes, all right... they said keep asking, mum. we need the adults to

look after us. also, put boundaries around your children's use of social media. why are you buying internet phones so young question that you don't need to, by a non—internet connected phone can keep the internet bit as late as possible. don't let older teenagers take their internet connected phones to bed at night. i will never talking to molly russell's father about how he found out all the things she had been scrolling through before she took her own life, with her phone in her bedroom at night. don't let that happen, set some boundaries. schools, teachers need to be really addressing this stuff. children all around the country talk to me and tell me they want to learn about keeping safe, what they are seeing online, but also what a good sensible relationship looks like. that is the stuff we need to be talking to them about, and not turning away and pretending it is not happening. we have to dive in there, parents and schools, otherwise we start getting these

terrible things in society. we are seeing some of the worst of it now. this generation coming through with the terrible attitudes towards women, all sorts of awful incidents. frankly, kids are telling me this stuff is blighting their lives. dame rachel de souza, _ stuff is blighting their lives. dame rachel de souza, thank _ stuff is blighting their lives. dame rachel de souza, thank you - stuff is blighting their lives. dame rachel de souza, thank you for i rachel de souza, thank you for talking to me today. children's commissionerfor talking to me today. children's commissioner for england. talking to me today. children's commissionerfor england. let's go back to the story we brought you a couple of minutes ago. the uk government's blueprint for how to boost wildlife habitats. let's talk now with tonyjuniper, the chair of nature england, who is at the government's launch of the new envioromental improvement plan at camley street natural park in kings cross. i guess this is exactly the sort of place potentially the government is talking about when it says everybody should be within a 15 minute walk of a green space or water. but why is the uk sometimes described as one of the uk sometimes described as one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and what is this plan or is this plan in your view going to do something to change that? yes.

to do something to change that? yes, that is right. — to do something to change that? yes, that is right, this _ to do something to change that? yes that is right, this country is now regarded as one of the most nature depleted countries on planet earth. this is the result of many decades andindeed this is the result of many decades and indeed centuries of decline of the natural environment, arising from industrialisation, from intensive agriculture, urbanisation and fragmentation of natural habitat. so what we face now is a very steep hill in moving towards not only the conservation of what is left but also the recovery of a lot of what has gone. that is what the plan today is all about. we had some really stretching targets in this country, reflecting targets that have been adopted globally as well. what we see today in this document is the steps they are going to take over the next five years towards meeting these really big goals for 2030, including halting the decline of nature and adding 30% of our land and sea protected for nature by the end of the decade. so this is pretty big stuff and will require a scaling

up big stuff and will require a scaling up in action and a real lifting in pace in the delivery of our environmental commitments that we at natural england are delighted to see this piece of work delivered by government and looking forward into getting it delivered. you government and looking forward into getting it delivered.— getting it delivered. you called it a steep hill. _ getting it delivered. you called it a steep hill. i — getting it delivered. you called it a steep hill, i want _ getting it delivered. you called it a steep hill, i want to _ getting it delivered. you called it a steep hill, i want to break- getting it delivered. you called it a steep hill, i want to break it. a steep hill, i want to break it down into little parts and within the restrictions of our interview we can't get into a huge amount of detail. first of all, the recovery and secondly the restoration. what would be the key thing that needs to happen to make those steps work? first of all, on recovery? 50 happen to make those steps work? first of all, on recovery?— first of all, on recovery? so we need more _ first of all, on recovery? so we need more areas _ first of all, on recovery? so we need more areas of _ first of all, on recovery? so we need more areas of natural - first of all, on recovery? so we - need more areas of natural habitats. they need to be bigger, they need to be connected with one another and they need to be in better shape. you remarked on the backdrop to the interview here, camberley street natural park in the centre of london where there is while beautiful habitat with wildlife and people's doorsteps. that is another part of the equation here. it is not only restoring nature for its own sake but doing in a way where people can have a greater connection with it.

coincidently natural england is launching a new green framework which will help local authorities do more of what is going on here, the work done by the wildlife trusts over many years, trying to make that more systematic, building it into local plans and mainstreaming this nature recovery idea across all the government. this is notjust an environment issue but about infrastructure and planning and about how not only can we find benefits of declining birds and insects but also benefits for people, too. this plan really is i think a great basis for doing all of that over the years ahead. i5 think a great basis for doing all of that over the years ahead. is there enou:h that over the years ahead. is there enough money _ that over the years ahead. is there enough money behind _ that over the years ahead. is there enough money behind it _ that over the years ahead. is there enough money behind it to - that over the years ahead. is there enough money behind it to make l that over the years ahead. is there | enough money behind it to make it work? some nature charities are saying not. work? some nature charities are saying not-— work? some nature charities are saying not. there is quite a lot of money already — saying not. there is quite a lot of money already in _ saying not. there is quite a lot of money already in the _ saying not. there is quite a lot of money already in the system. - saying not. there is quite a lot of| money already in the system. for example, the farming budget, encouraging farmers to engage a more sustainable agriculture. we have a substantial budget and lots of money

to catching carbon from the atmosphere and we can use that the nature recovery. also, we will see some significant investments over the coming years for improvement in the coming years for improvement in the freshwater environment. as the chair of a public body that does nature recovery i will always say, more resources will help but i think the first step is to find ways in which we can draw together the existing budgets. on top of all of what ijust said, our amazing wildlife charities in this country between them spend an awful lot of money every year on this agenda. plus we have money coming from the new biodiversity net gain tool, which will require developers to invest in nature recovery as well because the trick will be, the task we have to master is pulling in all of these things together in a strategic, systematic and integrated way so that all these things add up to a bigger outcome than they might do if wejust to a bigger outcome than they might do if we just deployed them individually across the landscape without too much coordination. so my first point is yes, we need more money but actually we already have

quite a lot of it which we could spendin quite a lot of it which we could spend in a morejoined up way quite a lot of it which we could spend in a more joined up way to deliver better outcomes. {lila spend in a more joined up way to deliver better outcomes. 0k, good to talk to ou deliver better outcomes. 0k, good to talk to you today. _ deliver better outcomes. 0k, good to talk to you today. thank _ deliver better outcomes. 0k, good to talk to you today. thank you - deliver better outcomes. 0k, good to talk to you today. thank you very - talk to you today. thank you very much, chairman of natural england. the princess of wales has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the importance of the first five years of a child's life. the project has been described by palace sources as the princess's "life's work" and draws attention to how babies and children develop in response to early experiences. she spoke about this at an event last night. by building a supportive, nurturing world around children and those caring for them, we can make a huge difference to generations to come. because, fundamentally, healthy, happy children shape a healthy, happy future. it's an exciting day for eurovision soing contest fans as the competition finally heads to liverpool as part of the official hand—over from turin. —— eurovision song contest fans. we'll also find out which countries

have got their place in the semi—finals. jayne mccubbin has been to liverpool, to see how locals are gearing up for what's going to be one of the biggest music events in the world. brace — because eurovision is on the way and everyone, everyone in this city is excited. tonight, a special ceremony will see the keys to the competition handed over to liverpool. this man is in charge of the whole shebang for the bbc. the pressure! don't worry. only 160 million people are watching, yeah. hosting eurovision on liverpool's waterfront. the biggest of big gigs here at the arena take one to two days to build. not this. it is big. so, for eurovision, it's five weeks. the first two weeks of those five weeks is just all about the rigging. so it's about lighting, making sure they have got all the special effects in there. after that, we then get into building things. so we build the stage,

we are going to be building the commentator booths, and then we are going to have all the bubbles, effectively. the green room down on the arena floor where the contestants and delegations are going to be. last question — be honest, how much pressure are you under... ..for guest passes? a lot of pressure for guest passes, but it is high demand, low availability. it will be the music event of the year. it isn't where it is meant to be. ukraine! liverpool, of course, is hosting on behalf of last year's winners, ukraine. for you, this is really important? it is very important because it will make our voice. eurovision is in the uk, but it will be ukrainian voices, ukrainian hearts talk to the world. it will make the world

will not forget us. eurovision is an event which shows that life has not stopped for ukrainians. and that they are resilient. hope is what this event gives them — an event which means so many different things to so many different people. i'm joined by our eurovision correspondent, daniel rosney. daniel, eurovision, united in music is the theme for this year's contest. it has become so much more than the sum of its parts in no way. it was a fun contest but now it's become something that has political connotations, much more meaning? i think that with that slogan, united in music, it's another example of the symbolic gesture that the uk is giving ukraine. no matter who i speak to in the run—up to the

contest, be it the bbc or liverpool council or eurovision organisers themselves, they have always maintained that this is eurovision, this is ukraine's eurovision, it's just happening in the united kingdom. last year's uk entrant sam ryder put it best, it's ukraine's party but it's happening in our house. in the run—up to eurovision, outside of the arena, there will be events across liverpool. there will be a eurovision village, which is essentially a fan park you might be familiar with that football tournaments. there will be big screens to watch the show if you can't get tickets. big stages to watch the acts. also a commitment to showcase uk culture but also ukrainian culture. st george's hall where the ceremony is tonight, that has the eurovision low —— logo but also the ukrainian flag. another gesture that will be eurovision

2023. , ., �* , gesture that will be eurovision 2023. , ., �*, ., ,, ., 2023. tell us what's happening later on? so it's a — 2023. tell us what's happening later on? so it's a bit _ 2023. tell us what's happening later on? so it's a bit of— 2023. tell us what's happening later on? so it's a bit of theatre, - on? so it's a bit of theatre, reall . on? so it's a bit of theatre, really- it — on? so it's a bit of theatre, really. it is _ on? so it's a bit of theatre, really. it is essentially - on? so it's a bit of theatre, really. it is essentially the l really. it is essentially the official handover ceremony. to you're in officials and northern italy, where the contest was last year, they have come over to liverpool to hand over a big key, a key to eurovision and it marks the beginning of liverpool having eurovision in its city. then there is what is called the allocation draw. that is the countries will find out which semifinals they will be participating in. the united kingdom and for other countries, pay a higher price to enter the eurovision song contest. they don't take part in the semifinals but automatically get a free pass. the other 31 countries will be drawn a bit like an fa cup draw. they will find out whether they will be semifinal one or two. it is a big moment for eurovision fans across the continent. it is a show that gets 160 million viewers. there are

around 100 days to go now until liverpool will become what is the centre of the music culture in europe, one of the longest shows in the entertainment industry in the world. today is also the day we have launched a new podcast on bbc sounds which will give insight and analysis as we head to liverpool 2023. find which will give insight and analysis as we head to liverpool 2023. and in as we head to liverpool 2023. and in a word, eurovision _ as we head to liverpool 2023. and in a word, eurovision correspondence, l a word, eurovision correspondence, thatis a word, eurovision correspondence, that is a pretty good gig? hot a a word, eurovision correspondence, that is a pretty good gig?— that is a pretty good gig? not a bad 'ob for the that is a pretty good gig? not a bad job for the next _ that is a pretty good gig? not a bad job for the next 100 _ that is a pretty good gig? not a bad job for the next 100 days! - that is a pretty good gig? not a bad job for the next 100 days! good - that is a pretty good gig? not a bad| job for the next 100 days! good luck with it, thank _ job for the next 100 days! good luck with it, thank you. _ job for the next 100 days! good luck with it, thank you. daniel— job for the next 100 days! good luck with it, thank you. daniel rosney i job for the next 100 days! good luck with it, thank you. daniel rosney in | with it, thank you. daniel rosney in liverpool. a team of maritime archaeologists has discovered the true identity of a large wooden ship buried in a lake, on the outskirts of plymouth, on england's south coast. hooe lake is known as a "ships' graveyard" due to the 36 known ship hulks buried there. alex green sent this report. now buried in what's referred to as a ship graveyard. the true identity of this 150—year—old vessel buried in hooe lake on the outskirts of plymouth has been discovered.

this ship was thought to have been a dutch barge called the two brothers. but after an archaeological excavation and some sifting through the archives, it was identified as a west country schooner called thejohn sims. when we investigated her, we found that she wasn't built like one. she was built far more like a west country ship. accidentally finding her name in a letter was just a stroke of luck, but that allowed us to find a photograph of her. we then advertised the fact that she's here on social media and on our website. and i expect, what usually happens, is that the families of people associated with the ship get in touch. there's a lot involved in identifying a ship which has broken down as much as this, including getting your hands dirty at low tide. so one of the things that we do when we're looking at the hulks and the wrecks and even what we do underwater is we have to kind of figure out what type of vessel it is if we don't know the name of it. thejohn sims is just one of the 36 hulks buried on the foreshore in hooe lake,

and that's just the ones that are known about. and we started to look at hooe lake specifically because there's almost a0 wrecks that you can see within the lake and one of the ones that we were looking at was originally called what we thought was the two brothers, which is where we're standing. and you can see behind me. we thought she was a dutch barge, but there's a certain way that certain vessels are made so that we can look at that and kind of check off things as we go. and we couldn't check off any of those things. records show that after an almost 80—year sailing career, thejohn sims was converted to a timber lighter in 1935 for use in timber yard at the end of hooe lake, where the wreck lays today. every time we look at something, we find something new. the hulks in hooe lake tell us lots about trading and what was happening in plymouth back in the 1800s. but also they provide examples of ships that kind of no longer exist. some of the ones we found in the lake, some of the ones we've identified, are the last surviving

examples of this particular type. this newly identified ship lays alongside other ship hulks, thought to date back to the 1870s and beyond. and collectively, along with the many shipwrecks underwater around plymouth, they tell a story of this naval city and its maritime heritage. alex green, bbc news. for the moment it is goodbye from me and the team. you can find me on twitter. right now, let's take a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. for many of us today, there's going to be a lot of dry weather around and some sunshine, but it's going to be windy. the strongest winds, as you can see from the pressure chart, are going to be across the north of the country and they're going to continue to strengthen through the day, peaking tonight. weather front drifting south also clearing, taking its cloud and its patchy rain with it. so a lot of dry weather. one or two showers across parts of wales, in the south west, northern ireland and northern england.

but most of the showers will be in scotland, driven on by the strong winds and they'll be wintry on higher ground — above about 400 metres. you can see the strength of the wind is strongest, the gusts, across the northern half of the country. but wherever you are, it's going to be windy today. and these are our temperatures, five to about 12 degrees north to south. now, as we head through the evening and overnight period, it remains windy with gales, even severe gales, across the north of scotland, 70 to 80 mile an hour gusts. that could cause some disruption, and they'll peak in the middle of the night. the showers continuing in the north our weather front sinking south will take its rain into northern england as well as northern ireland. and on either side of that front, we're looking at some clearer skies. where you see the blues, in the highlands, for example, temperatures could fall below freezing. and here, there's the risk of ice where we've had the showers on untreated surfaces. so tomorrow, the low pressure bringing us these strong winds pulls away, but it's still going to be windy for some time. the weather front comes out of scotland, crosses northern ireland and northern england, and then later in the day it starts to pull back northwards once again.

but on either side of that, we see a return to brighter skies with some sunshine and temperatures five to about 11 degrees. into thursday, our weather front continues to push northwards across scotland, bringing some heavy and persistent rain. then a second one comes into the north—west, a few showers peppering parts of england and wales and northern ireland, especially in the west. but away from those showers, it will be drier. again, temperatures in double figures, above average for the time of year. high pressure is in charge during the course of friday. but on saturday, note how this weather front sinks south. it's a cold front and behind it we'll start to pull in some cooler conditions, even with some wintry showers in scotland. and at times they could get down to lower levels. but then as we move on into sunday, high pressure exerts its influence and things settle down once again.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11.00 — global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but says the government is shifting in the right direction. five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the hillsborough disaster, the author criticises the government, saying it's intolerable that it still hasn't responded. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners have questioned whether it goes far enough to stop the loss of wildlife. today marks three years since the uk's official departure from the eu, but what has been the impact of brexit on life and the economy? united in music — the slogan for this year's eurovision song contest is unveiled

as the official eurovsion handover ceremony takes place today in liverpool. good morning. the uk economy is due to get smaller this year, and do worse than other major nations, including russia. that's according to the world's most important international financial organisation, the international monetary fund. it predicts the uk economy will shrink by 0.6% this year. it believes the uk will be the only country among the world's major economies to see its economy get smaller. it says its forecast reflects the uk's high energy prices, high inflation and high interest rates. the us, germany, france, italy and japan are all expected to grow. but there is a note of optimisim —

the imf believes things will improve in 2024, forecasting the economy will grow by 0.9. the chancellorjeremy hunt has said that "the uk outperformed many forecasts last year, and that if we stick to our plan to halve inflation, the uk is still predicted to grow faster than germany and japan over the coming years." the policy is all geared to try to dampen down inflation. we have high inflation in the uk than most other countries, in advanced economies thatis, countries, in advanced economies that is, more than 10%, still in double digits, whereas for example in the united states it has gone well down to less than 7%, and similarly in other european countries. so that higher inflation means that the bank of england has to work harder by raising interest rates in order to take money out of the economy and stick some of the heat out of it, some of the upward

pressure off prices. fiscal policy, too, the government has said it has a plan to tackle inflation. that effectively means in practice that it keeps on saying, we cannot afford this, we cannot afford that, that means it is putting less money into the economy than it otherwise would, one of the reasons why there is less money for everyone to spend, and by the imf as projecting that ours will be the weakest economy for growth next year. of any advanced economy, not just the g7, next year. of any advanced economy, notjust the g7, but next year. of any advanced economy, not just the g7, but actually the top 15 most developed countries. it is really striking that they are predicting that russia will grow in spite of all of those international sanctions, whereas our economy will not. joining me now is our political correspondent nick eardley. not even doing as well as russia. how is the government going to address this? the how is the government going to address this?— how is the government going to address this? . ., address this? the argument we have had from the — address this? the argument we have had from the chancellor _ address this? the argument we have had from the chancellor this - address this? the argument we have| had from the chancellor this morning is that there are some short—term challenges. that is the phrase he

used. but he is more optimistic about the long—term prospects. i think that is partly management of expectations from the government, because as and it was just explaining, clarity of the government has set itself is on inflation, it wants to bring down inflation, it wants to bring down inflation significantly this year. —— as andy was just explaining. that is the main way to deal with the cost of living crisis, we have had from both the chancellor and the prime minister. but growing the economy is one of the rishi sunak�*s five big pledges that he has made to voters before the next general election. and there is an active debate at westminster about how to achieve that. so there are many conservative mps privately who are very worried, who think that you need to cut tax to stimulate activity in the economy and start to grow the economy as well. i don't get the impression they are winning the debate within the party, although i think the chancellor is

pretty adamant that there is no room for tax cuts in the budget. he has recently made the argument that some of the debt borrowing figures are so concerning to the government, that theyjust concerning to the government, that they just do concerning to the government, that theyjust do not have any room to cut tax. but i don't think there's any doubt that there is a big political debate playing out about the best way to get the economy growing. the government says you needs to concentrate on having inflation, then you take it from there. some conservative mps are saying you need to cut tax. labour and the other opposition parties would say, a lot of this is down to mismanagement of the economy, and the conservative party's growth strategy over the last few years has not worked. labour would say it is time to give us a try.— time to give us a try. speaking of labour, rachel— time to give us a try. speaking of labour, rachel reeves _ time to give us a try. speaking of labour, rachel reeves has - time to give us a try. speaking of labour, rachel reeves has an . time to give us a try. speaking of- labour, rachel reeves has an urgent question tabled for the house of commons today, to ask the chancellor of the exchequer if he will make a statement on the imf economic outlook. three years to the days

since the uk left the eu, that is one factor that none of the other countries we have mentioned are struggling with. how much of a factor is brexit? it struggling with. how much of a factor is brexit?— struggling with. how much of a factor is brexit? it has not been set out as _ factor is brexit? it has not been set out as a _ factor is brexit? it has not been set out as a major— factor is brexit? it has not been set out as a major factor- factor is brexit? it has not been set out as a major factor by - factor is brexit? it has not been set out as a major factor by the | factor is brexit? it has not been - set out as a major factor by the imf today, but you would not struggle to find people within politics or economic to say that one of the reasons the uk's economy has struggled to grow is because of brexit, and some of the challenges that has meant for some companies when it comes to trading. there is still a big debate playing out about the economic impact of brexit, still politicians who would argue that it gives opportunity for growth and different ways to grow the economy, versus those who say it has led to the uk's economy being smaller. i don't get the impression that at westminster anyway, certainly among the two big parties, that there is a

big desire to revisit the question of the single market or the customs union. yes, there are some politicians who want to continue that discussion, but the leadership of both parties would accept that has been sold now, and a stand. but there is a debate about how close there is a debate about how close the uk's economy should be to the european union's economy. certainly still a debate that is playing out. thank you very much. we will go to the house of commons at 12.30 to hear that urgent question from rachel reeves. we can speak now to james smith, reaearch director at the resolution foundation, a think tank focusing on people on lower incomes.

thank you forjoining us. how surprised are you that the imf has come out with this forecast, given that there are more positive indicators, as the government is pointing out?— pointing out? definitely a good oint. pointing out? definitely a good point- the _ pointing out? definitely a good point. the imf _ pointing out? definitely a good point. the imf telling - pointing out? definitely a good point. the imf telling us - pointing out? definitely a good point. the imf telling us the i pointing out? definitely a good| point. the imf telling us the uk pointing out? definitely a good i point. the imf telling us the uk is doing worse. it is not new information, in a way, the uk is the only g7 country that has not regained its pre—pandemic level of output. the data already telling us the uk is doing worse, and as we just heard, there are reasons for that. big increases in interest rates, adjusting to the new relationship with the eu, so there are headwinds for the uk but we should not overweight what the imf is the same today. big falls in energy prices, gas is the same today. big falls in energy prices, 935 futures is the same today. big falls in energy prices, gas futures are telling us the gas prices for next year are something like a quarter what they were back at the sort of august peak, so we have had really good news on energy prices. we have

had some good news in terms of economic data, and interest rate rises. it is surprising that the imf as saying that, but we still see the uk suffering more than other big countries. ~ ., uk suffering more than other big countries. ~ . , . uk suffering more than other big countries. ~ . ' . , countries. what difference will this make to a pot _ countries. what difference will this make to a pot members _ countries. what difference will this make to a pot members of - countries. what difference will this make to a pot members of the - countries. what difference will this i make to a pot members of the public will feel financially? iloathed make to a pot members of the public will feel financially?— will feel financially? what the imf is forecasting _ will feel financially? what the imf is forecasting a _ will feel financially? what the imf is forecasting a very _ will feel financially? what the imf is forecasting a very small- will feel financially? what the imf l is forecasting a very small negative number, a very small positive number, a very small positive number, that will not make a lot of difference to many families —— whether the imf. the big thing going on is obvious that the cost of living crisis, lots of people struggling with really high bills, and in the coming months despite the good news, we will see energy bills going up, because the government support is being withdrawn. so in april, we will get a higher set of

energy bills, and our own survey evidence tells us that people are really struggling with the high cost of living. so people saying that they are cutting back on essentials like food, cannot afford to have repairs done, so for many people, this will feel very alien in terms of what the imf is the same today. of what the imf is the same today. of course we have the bank of england forecast to look forward to as well. i england forecast to look forward to as well. ~ ., , ., , as well. i think what you will see from the bank _ as well. i think what you will see from the bank of _ as well. i think what you will see from the bank of england, - as well. i think what you will see from the bank of england, they l as well. i think what you will see i from the bank of england, they will have that new information on low energy prices, gdp data, they will have lower market expectations for interest rates. i think their forecast will be lower for inflation and stronger for gdp growth, forecast will be lower for inflation and strongerfor gdp growth, so forecast will be lower for inflation and stronger for gdp growth, so they should be slightly rosier, obviously in contrast to what the imf is saying today. growth is weak in the uk, and that is a major issue, that is not something that has happened just now since the financial crisis.

we lost something like 20% of the size of the economy relative to the party one before that. that is worth something like £10,000 passing in the uk. really huge number, and growth is something the government will have to grapple with going forward —— weak growth. will have to grapple with going forward -- weak growth. james smith, thank ou forward -- weak growth. james smith, thank you very — forward -- weak growth. james smith, thank you very much _ forward -- weak growth. james smith, thank you very much for _ forward -- weak growth. james smith, thank you very much for your _ forward -- weak growth. james smith, thank you very much for your time. - the author of a report written five years ago about the hillsborough disaster, has said it's "intolerable" that the government still hasn't responded to the document. 97 people died as a a result of the crush on the terraces at the sheffield wednesday ground in 1989. bishopjamesjones wrote his review about the experiences of the hillsborough families in 2017. it later today, police will become the first major public body to respond to the report. judith moritz reports. the horror of hillsborough continues to be felt almost 34 years after the crush on the terraces that

killed 97 liverpool supporters. police failures were the main cause of the disaster, but the fans were wrongly blamed and, for years, theirfamilies fought forjustice. # walk on, walk on with hope...# in 2016, they rejoiced when fresh inquests returned verdicts of unlawful killing. the former bishop of liverpool, jamesjones, was then commissioned to write a report about the experience of the hillsborough families to ensure their pain and suffering wouldn't be repeated. the government is yet to respond. i think we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the families. this year, it will be 34 years since the tragedy. and for them to wait for so long for a response to these 25 points of learning is intolerable and adds to their pain and, i think, in some instances, even affects their own grieving.

let's hope that's only the beginning of what's going to be done. margaret aspinall, whose sonjames was killed, is one of those who has campaigned on behalf of the hillsborough families. she is also critical of the time it's taken to hear from government. i rememberwriting — idon't know who it was to, to somebody in government — to say i hope this report does not get put on a shelf gathering dust for years, like other things in the past have done. we are now into 2023. how long does it take to read a report, to come out with the findings or what you think should happen? when bishopjames published this report in 2017, he made 25 recommendations, just under half of which were directed at the police.

today, there will be the first national police response to it and, i understand, for the first time, an apology issued on behalf of all of the police forces in england and wales. there are calls for there to be a hillsborough law which would help victims of future mass tragedies. the government says it will publish its response to the bishop's report in due course. professor phil scraton led the research team at the independent panel into the hillsborough disaster, and is author of hillsborough: the truth. i think the significance of this delay is immediate in the sense that this is the most recent delay in a long series of delays. you know, we're talking here about over 30 years when we have known the issues and we have progressed those issues, we've analyzed them, we've written reports, right back to 1990 when we published our very first report, �*95 our second.

and in that, all of those issues that the bishop has raised have been covered. it is 1997 when i first recommended, with a home office study, i first recommended a charter for the bereaved to establish the human rights of all of those who have suffered bereavement in such events to their participation and their representation. so this is a long standing scope. i mean, i've already read this morning the 25 points of learning or recommendations or acceptance of criticism within the hillsborough families' report issued by the police. those 25 points are not new. they have been known for over 20 years, and they've been established throughout that time, so it really concerns me that there has been so little progress because that doesn't bode well for the future.

the headlines on bbc news: global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but says the government is shifting in the right direction. it's been five years since a report into the treatment of families of the hillsborough disaster, which included 25 points of learning. the author criticises the government, saying it is intolerable that it still hasn't responded. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners have questioned whether it goes far enough to stop the loss of wildlife. the government has revealed its "blueprint" for how to clean up air and water, boost nature and reduce waste in england by 2030. under the 25—year environmental plan, everyone will live within 15 minutes' walk of a green space or water. habitat for wildlife will be expanded and there will be 25 new or enlarged national nature reserves. and more money will go

to protecting rare wildlife, such as hedgehogs and red squirrels. our climate editor, justin rowlatt, told me earlier about the intentions. the overall ambition is to halt and reverse the decline of nature and, today, rishi sunak said he believed today's plan will ensure that. it's a very ambitious target the government has set itself there. the announcements of policies that we've got today, and you listed most of them there — new work on wildlife habitats, 2,000 square miles of wildlife habitats, new and expanded national nature reserves, efforts to make water use more efficient in buildings, action to get councils to reduce air pollution. the government's point is this adds to the effort the government is already making. so this is kind of on top of what the government is already doing. one of the other really important announcements today, according to the government, is that it's going to put

environmental protection at the heart of all new environmental policy. so it says that you've got to see this in a round. it says we've set these ambitious targets. it's acknowledged that it's on the back foot on them at the moment and says this is the way it's going to draw everything the government does together to try and hit those targets by 2030 — halt the decline of nature by 2030, so it is really ambitious. i have to say, though, wildlife charities today have been a bit muted in their reception of this plan. they've said they want to wait and see whether this is really a whole government response. they say the step change in action and ambition that's needed is absolutely huge and the the wildlife trust said, where's the cash? new research has found that children as young as nine are being exposed to online pornography. the study suggests that a quarter of children have seen x—rated

material on the internet by the time they leave primary school. the report — by the children's commissionerfor england — found consumption of adult content is "widespread" among young people, and often involving violence towards women. i'm joined now by dr elena martellozzo, associate professor of criminology and associate director of the centre of abuse and trauma studies at middlesex university. thank you forjoining us. your research and seem to be in line with what the children's commissioner has found. ~ , ,., , what the children's commissioner has found. ~ , . found. absolutely, we conducted some of a few years — found. absolutely, we conducted some of a few years ago _ found. absolutely, we conducted some of a few years ago now, _ found. absolutely, we conducted some of a few years ago now, and _ found. absolutely, we conducted some of a few years ago now, and we - found. absolutely, we conducted some of a few years ago now, and we have i of a few years ago now, and we have learned that children who view pornography, unfortunately often violent, develop some distorted understanding of a healthy relationship, which can normalise abusive behaviour. so i am concerned about this current research, which is really confirming, i would say, we also have found. indeed, it has a

corrosive effect on what children view as healthy relationships. 50 view as healthy relationships. so what is the initial impact it will have? i imagine a lot of children do not even really understand what it is they are watching. that not even really understand what it is they are watching.— is they are watching. that is the ruestion is they are watching. that is the question we _ is they are watching. that is the question we have _ is they are watching. that is the question we have asked - is they are watching. that is the question we have asked the - is they are watching. that is the - question we have asked the children. those who participated in the study. the initial reaction to when they are exposed, and i use that word carefully, because they are not searching for it, the stumble across or are exposed to it, which is very different. we are talking about very young children here. theirfirst reaction is horror, disgust, fear, and that can develop quite easily into trauma later in life. sadly, the more they are exposed, the more they view it, the more it becomes normalised and they are desensitised to what they are seeing, which again, it is a very negative effect.

so what is the best way to combat this kind of accidental premature exposure, oraddress this kind of accidental premature exposure, or address it when it happens? exposure, or address it when it ha ens? ., v exposure, or address it when it ha ens? ., �*, ., exposure, or address it when it happens?— happens? that's a very good question- — happens? that's a very good question. there _ happens? that's a very good question. there have - happens? that's a very good question. there have been i happens? that's a very good | question. there have been so happens? that's a very good - question. there have been so many debates, as you well know. we have an online bill coming up, which has been really focusing on this in terms of age verification, which certainly can help in terms of preventing that the of stumbling across or exposure. but we have to remember that children might have older siblings who show them pornography or the come across it in different ways. so what can be done? i always say when i speak to parents and teachers and children, it is important to have those conversations. often replace a lot of responsibility to schools, but

parents also have that kind of responsibility to start having these conversations, sadly is a very young age, as we saw from this report. really good to talk to. dr elena martellozzo from middlesbrough university, thank you very much for your time this morning.— the death toll in the suicide bombing at a mosque in the pakistani city of peshawar has risen to 92. rescue teams are still trying to find bodies under the rubble of the damaged building. it is the latest in a string of attacks targeting police. the pakistani taliban denied involvement after an initial claim by one of its commanders. more than 90 people are now known to have been killed in that attack. emergency teams are still recovering bodies from the rubble in the wake of the bombing.

many of those who died were policemen praying inside the mosque in what is supposed to be a secure part of the city. prime minister shehbaz sharif said terrorism was now pakistan's foremost national security challenge. the bbc�*s caroline davies is in peshawar. well, these are the gates to the police compound where the explosion happened yesterday. this is as close as we've been able to get, but still, standing here, you can tell there's a lot of activity going on inside. we've seen ambulances career in here and come out at speed as well. we know from the authorities that there is a search operation still under way, that they're using technology to try to identify signs of life. but, of course, the longer this operation goes on for, the more concerning that of course becomes. in the course of the last few hours, the death toll has risen again. we are now not far off 24 hours since the explosion happened yesterday lunchtime during prayers. the government have declared that this is a day of mourning and we are expecting to see more funerals happen later on today.

it's three years since the uk left the european union. rishi sunak has hailed what he called the "huge strides" the country had taken with the opportunites opened up by brexit. however, the latest data suggest a hit to the economy — and there are still a number of major questions to resolve, particularly around the northern ireland protocol. our correspondent adam fleming, presenter of the bbc�*s newscast podcast, told us more about how things have changed coming to brussels from the uk for the first time in ages, having done thatjourney a million times, is there are actually some physical changes. so you get your passport stamped by the french border guards because there is no longer free movement of people. you are an immigrant, a temporary immigrant, from outside the eu, coming into the eu. then you arrive at brussels' train station and there is now a customs checkpoint at the end of the platform, with a green lane if you've got nothing to declare, and a red lane if you've got stuff to declare and some very kind of serious—looking customs officers at the end of the platform. now no—one cares about my slight

little extra bit of friction in myjourney on the train but you imagine that replicated for millions of people travelling from the uk to the eu every year. then you imagine that in a trade sense, being replicated for hundreds of thousands of businesses, large and small, whether that is sending components along supply chains or whether that is extra bureaucracy for businesses having to file customs declarations to send goods from the uk into the single market of the eu. there are no tariffs on those goods but it does come with extra administrative costs and the office of budget responsibility in the uk, the 0br, which monitors the government's finances and comments on the economy, says that overall, that will have a hit to the gdp of the uk of 4% overall. of course, though, that has caught up with lots of other things that affect the state of the health of the uk economy — like covid, like lockdowns in china because of covid, like the war in ukraine. and so constantly, as a journalist, it is quite a challenge untangling all the things that are affecting the uk. is it brexit, is it something else?

firefighters across the uk have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute about pay. if the action goes ahead, it will be the first nationwide walk—out by fire staff in almost two decades. howard johnson reports. they are the brave workers that put themselves in danger. but firefighters across the uk say years of inadequate pay offers mean they are willing to go on strike. this anger and disappointment goes back for ten, 12 years we've had pay restraint, now, where are our real wages have fallen behind the cost of living, basically. so firefighters are seeing in their pockets a 12% decrease in their pay, real pay, each month, and that equates to around about £4,000 a year. firefighters do an importantjob.

firefighter salaries range from £24,000 per yearfor a trainee tojust under £46,000 for a station manager. union members rejected a previous 5% pay offer in november. the fire brigades union has given the government and employers ten days to respond. until then, they say they will delay announcing any strike dates. in a separate ballot, control—room staff in the north west of england also agreed to the proposed walk—outs. in a separate ballot, control—room staff in the north west of england also agreed to the proposed walk—outs.

in response, downing street said the government would urge the fbu to reconsider and keep negotiating. this is the latest union to vote to take action over pay offers that do not match the rising cost of living. in scotland, a strike by teachers has entered its third week. teachers in england and wales willjoin this industrial action on wednesday. the february the 1st mass strike action will also be joined by civil servants, university staff, railway and bus workers — totalling around half a million people. industrial action on a scale not seen for more than a decade. the princess of wales has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the importance of the first five years of a child's life. the project has been described by palace sources as the princess's "life's work" and draws attention to how babies and children develop

in response to early experiences. she spoke about this at an event last night. by building a supportive, nurturing world around children and those caring for them, we can make a huge difference to generations to come. because, fundamentally, healthy, happy children shape a healthy, happy future. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. for many of us, it's going to be a dry day with some sunshine but windy. the strongest winds will be in the north of the country and this is where we'll also have the most frequent showers, some of those will be wintry in the hills in scotland but there will be a lot of sunshine around. could catch the odd shower in wales and the south—west of england, as well as northern ireland and northern england. as the winds continuing to strengthen through the course of the night, that may be of some concern, particularly so across the north of scotland, where we're looking at gales, even severe gales, by the middle of the night when the winds do peak. we also have this weather front

sinking south across scotland, getting into northern england and northern ireland through the night, with some clear skies on either side. the risk of some ice on untreated surfaces where we've had the showers in parts of the highlands. as we head on through the course of tomorrow, this weather front continues to sink a little bit further south before flipping round and headed north through the day. on either side, there will be some sunshine and the winds only very slowly easing. the headlines: global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, says the uk outperformed many forecasts last year five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the hillsborough disaster the author criticises the government, saying it's intolerable that it still hasn't responded. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners have questioned whether it goes far enough to stop

the loss of wildlife. today marks three years since the uk's official departure from the eu, but what has been the impact of brexit on life and the economy? the eurovision song contest arrives in liverpool as the official handover takes place in liverpool today with �*united in music�* as this year's slogan. we have some breaking news, which has caught me by surprise. the stationary chain paper chase has gone into administration, putting 800 jobs at risk and all of its stores under threat. the company was put up for sale at the end of last year but failed to secure any viable offers. it has $106 at the moment.

administrators say there is still significant interest in the brand of paper chase and that intellectual properties. stores remain open but customers are being urged to use gift cards as soon as they can. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good morning. strap yourselves in. it's transfer deadline day! premier league, efl, scottish premiership and international clubs have until tonight to sign the players they want before the transfer window closes. chelsea were the biggest spenders across the summer, and have continued that injanuary. jane dougall is keeping across this for us. chelsea have been busy this month — and they could be about to make the british transfer record signing? yes, a significant one here. they want midfielder enzo fernandes and are willing to pay his release

clause of, get this, £105.6 million. it is reported that he does want to go and has asked benfica to release him. it is not because of financial fair play chelsea will play pay the release clause in instalments. it would surpass the £100 million that manchester city paid forjack grealish, making him the most expensive premier league player ever. he would be a huge addition to the london side, who seem to be bolstering their squad with young players. there is a future planned their being put in place by chelsea. we saw the impact he had at the world cup. when roman abramovich left there was talk that this big spending would be over but the exact opposite is happening. chelsea need to balance their books and we could see players leave chelsea today as

well? , , ., ., , well? yes, midfielder georgi new has come to arsenal. _ well? yes, midfielder georgi new has come to arsenal. it _ well? yes, midfielder georgi new has come to arsenal. it was _ well? yes, midfielder georgi new has come to arsenal. it was coming - well? yes, midfielder georgi new has come to arsenal. it was coming to . come to arsenal. it was coming to the end of his contract at stamford bridge, but he has signed an 18 month contract for 12 million at arsenal. he scored 29 golds and 213 appearances for chelsea, winning the champions league with them, as well. we understand that arsenal turned their attentions to him after having two bids rejected by brighton for moses kc though. he is not for sale. there are rumours that chelsea may be interested in him, too, and may try to catch him —— try to snatch him from under their nose. conor gallagher is expected to leave chelsea before the deadline tonight and several clubs are interested in signing him, including everton and newcastle. it is early days yet, lots of business yet to be done. so

much is happening, head over to the bp sport website. —— bbc sport website. it is also the women's transfer deadline today and could we potentially see a world record move for alessia russo? the bbc understands manchester united have rejected a bid from arsenal which was in excess of the current record of £400,000 barcelona paid for keira walsh last year. russo's contract is up in the summer, she has turned down a renewal offer, movement there is possible. the deadline for domestic transfers in the women's super league is 5.00pm today. sir mo farah has confirmed he'll race in what he expects to be his final london marathon this year before retirement. the four—time olympic champion turns 40 in march and has only competed sporadically over the last three

years due to injury problems. farah of course made his name with success on the track in the 5,000 and 10,000m events, but he's completed the full marathon distance on three occassions with his best result third in 2018. that's all the sport for now. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is meeting the palestinian leader mahmoud abbas in ramallah today. he's already held high—level talks with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem. mr blinken says urgent steps are needed to restore calm between israel and the palestinians after weeks of heightened violence. our middle east correspondent anna foster has more on what to expect. i expect a repeat today of some of the key topics that were right at the top of the agenda for that meeting yesterday. the us department of state were very clear before this visit — and it was a visit that was arranged a few weeks ago but has really taken on increased significance because of the violence that you mentioned over the last week or so — the state department were very clear that they would be talking about trying to calm

those tensions here, trying to de—escalate things, and also talking about the two—state solution. and when we heard from antony blinken and benjamin netanyahu after their meeting yesterday, we heard the us secretary of state explicitly talk about america's continuing support for the two—state solution. there was a more lukewarm reference to it from benjamin netanyahu, who talked about a workable solution, because his right—wing government is not considering at the moment, or indeed likely to in the future, a two—state solution. so i think when he goes to meet mahmoud abbas, they will talk once again about how to calm violence, how to de—escalate tensions and how the two sides could perhaps continue to work together. one thing they may well look at is trying to restore security cooperation between israel and the palestinians, which was frozen a week ago after that israeli defence force raid into intojenin camp which killed ten palestinians. i think if secretary blinken wants to come away with some sort of tangible progress when it comes to trying to restore some level

of calm, that might be perhaps something that he could focus on, that he could present as a win later. the fire department in the us city of memphis has sacked three people in connection with the fatal police beating of tyre nichols earlier this month. an investigation found two paramedics and a driver failed to provide mr nichols with adequate care. five police officers have been charged with second—degree murder. two others have been suspended. a number of prayer vigils have been held across multiple cities in america, including this one in memphis. community leaders and locals coming together to honour the life of tyre nichols. our north america correspondent david willis said it has been revealed that some white police officers are alleged to have been involved in tyre nichols death. the circle of punishment is widening in regard to the death of tyre nichols, that's for sure, and today it was announced that two more police officers from the memphis

force have been disciplined in regards to their alleged involvement in the incidents that led up to his death. now, that is on top of the five police officers who were sacked and last week were slapped with charges, including a second—degree murder in regard to the death of tyre nichols. the two officers that have now been charged are preston hemphill, he is a white police officer, and another one whose name and ethnicity has not yet been revealed. now, officer hemphill is said to have fired his taser at tyre nichols but is not thought to have been involved in the subsequent confrontation that led to tyre nichols' death. nonetheless, the fact that this white police officer's alleged involvement is only being released now in connection, of course, with the death of a black youngster,

has incensed tyre nichols' family. they have issued a statement accusing the memphis police department of shielding mr hemphill and basically protecting him, or seeking to protect him, from the public eye. they have called for officer hemphill to be charged and sacked from the force. meanwhile, a couple of paramedics who attended to the scene and to mr nichols following his beating have also been dismissed, along with their driver, for failing to administer proper medical attention. an inquest has started today after a dog walker was mauled to death on the 12th of january.

this was a very short hearing held by the surrey coroner really for the purposes of identifying formerly natasha johnson. he said she was 28 and was a dog walker. he said that a postmortem examination was carried out five days after her death on the 12th of january and said that she had died from shock and loss of blood and said that she had suffered multiple penetrating dog bites. the coroner offered his sincere condolences to natasha's family, saying that the full inquest will take place at the end ofjune. we already know from surrey police that their investigation has been completed, in other words no crime has been committed. what they have told us is that eight dogs were seized after this incident a couple of weeks ago and that they are still being held for forensic purposes to see which dog or dogs might have

been involved in this attack on natasha. we also know from natasha because my family, who put out a statement a few days ago, that they are having what they call a very difficult time and they have asked for their privacy to be respected as they endure what they call their grief. france is bracing for a day of mass protests against pension reform. the strikes are expected to cause heavy disruption to transport, schools and other services. the biggest demonstration will be held this afternoon in paris. our paris correspondent hugh schofield has more now on the reforms and what this latest industrial action means for the country. the government plans to raise the official age of retirement — that is the age at which you can retire. it doesn't mean everyone does retire at that age, but you can... the age when you start having the right to retire — from 62 to 64. it's doing that for the well—known reasons that other countries have used to raise their ages of retirement.

because of changing longevity — we live longer. and the growing imbalance between the number of people in work and the number of people in retirement. and it says it's the only way to save the system. public opinion doesn't agree. the public opinion is lining up. two thirds of people are lining up behind the unions, the left, the far—right, saying this is rubbish, the situation is not nearly as critical as the government is saying, and even if it were, this reform is unfair because it targets mostly people who start working early and therefore are the poorest in society. people who start work well qualified tend to start working later, therefore retire later and aren't really affected by this. whereas people with tough jobs starting at work at 18 or 19 or 20 will have to keep working for a year or two. so it's fundamentally unfair kind of socially. that's the argument. plus a lot of anti—macron feeling. and i think in a way, that's probably the more general impetus behind this whole movement, a feeling of anti—macronism that's certainly very prevalent

outside of the big cities. the headlines on bbc news: global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but says the government is shifting in the right direction. it's been five years since a report into the treatment of families of the hillsborough disaster, which included 25 points of learning. the author criticises the government, saying it's intolerable that it still hasn't responded. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners have questioned whether it goes far enough to stop the loss of wildlife. a bbc investigation in egypt has revealed how dating apps and online activity are being used to abuse and blackmail people for their sexuality and gender identity. criminal gangs are targeting vulnerable people online and the state police are also using similar tactics. this report features some

distressing scenes from the start. a group of friends ambushed by someone they thought they could trust — naked, terrified, and forced to dance at knife—point. the whole humiliating ordeal was filmed and posted online. it was viewed more than two million times. these are the victims of gangs targeting lgbtq people in egypt. translation: they were the most i disgusting six hours of my life. i i could have died. i was scared to death. leila, who identifies as transgender, was in the video. sharing her story with us is risky, so she has chosen a 3d face tracking mask to conceal her identity. we have also changed her name. being exposed as transgender leaves leila open to targeting by the police. there is no explicit law against homosexuality in egypt, but our investigation has found

that the law against debauchery, originally a sex work charge, is being used to criminalise the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. queer is an offensive word to some, but for the people i spoke to, it was their preferred term to describe their sexual orientation or gender identity. any positive depiction of homosexuality is banned in the media here. on this call—in show on state tv, the presenter tells a mother worried about her gay son that he needs treatment. this stigma and the way the law is being used leaves people like leila vulnerable to attack. by interviewing other victims and through online research, we were able to confirm the identity of one of the leaders of the gang. his name is yahia. he is the man with the knife in the video. we have evidence that his gang has carried out at least four similar attacks.

sahid is just 18 and another of yahia's victims. translation: he asked for money, which i didn't have, _ so he called my parents, and the video spread all around egypt. he wanted to report the attack to the police, but his lawyer advised him against it. translation: he said, - "both of you will be jailed." because i am a gay man and because he stole. he said his offence isn't as big as mine in egyptian society. we found the police themselves have been impersonating users on dating apps to find and arrest members of the lgbtq community. we have been given exclusive access to extraordinary police transcripts and investigation records that show in detail exactly how street level police are targeting people online.

in some of the exchanges, the police seem to be pressuring people into offering sex for money. but in others, there is no mention of any financial transaction, so the transcripts appear to show evidence that people are being arrested for their sexuality. police forces in egypt receive training from the uk via the un. the egyptian interior ministry did not respond to the bbc�*s request for comment. yahia denied involvement in any attacks. lgbtq people in egypt are forced to hide their sexuality to survive. leila and sahid hope their stories can help break the silence. ahmed shihab—eldin, bbc news. you can watch the full investigation, queer egypt under attack, on bbc iplayer now. nearly 60 kilos, worth more than three million pounds, every single month. that's how much it's hoped will be

extracted from scotland's only gold mine by the end of this year. the firm that runs it says it could soon expand to other sites across the highlands. david henderson has this report. there's ear defenders for your ears. this long, dark tunnel runs deep underground. it's scotland's only gold mine and it's nowjust starting to give up its treasure. it's taken years to reach this point, to drive a tunnel more than a kilometre into the heart of this mountain, following a gold—bearing vein of quartz. what lies ahead are years of mining that gold. but geologists think there could be far more gold still to be discovered, perhaps even under my feet. how many miles of tunnels have you got here? so we have 1.2 kilometres... a hundred people work here. among them, mine geologist rachel paul, whosejob it is to chart that seam of gold right through these rocks. so the vein itself... so it's a quartz vein, which runs through the mountain and it's been here for 408 million years.

and you can almost see it above our heads right now. so it's a quartz vein and it has sulfides in it. you can see it a little bit closer in my hand. so we're looking for quartz vein, we're looking for different types of mottling and different shear structures. in a long soundproofed shed just below the mine, machines crush the quartz and rock to get at the gold. before the end of the year, the goal is to bring out 2,000 ounces of gold every month, worth millions of pounds. but they've been prospecting far beyond this site and think more seams of gold are there to be discovered. setting the scene, perhaps, for a gold rush across the highlands in the coming years. so the areas that we have stretches to the west, just south of oban, down campbeltown way and it continues on all the way through to loch tay and the like. we have 2,900 square kilometres of area that we can explore and so once we've actually done this vein and the vein next to it, then we'll explore out and see how far and big we can actually make this company.

so this is a bar of 22 carat scottish gold. most of the gold is sold abroad, but a few kilos remain in scotland to be turned into jewellery like this. it's a small but growing market. obviously, you have people that have been born and bred in scotland and want a piece of their country. but you also have so many people from all over the world that feel this really special connection to scotland and want to take a piece of it home. we've done a huge range of bespoke commissions, so things like wedding bands, signet rings are really popular as well as the more statement—style pieces. there's a limited supply of scottish gold, but high prices around the world have fuelled demand and mean the effort to mine it could pay off well. david henderson, bbc news. thousands of ambulance workers who belong to the unison union will take industrial action. belong to the unison union will take

industrialaction. five belong to the unison union will take industrial action. five services in england will be affected and the strike day is the 10th of february as part of a long—running dispute over pay and staffing levels, so the unison union announcing thousand of its workers are to go on strike on the 10th of february. it's an exciting day for eurovision fans as the competition heads to liverpool today as part of the official hand—over from turin. we will also find out which countries have secured their place in the semifinals as part of a special programme on bbc two this evening. breakfast�*s jayne mccubbin has been to liverpool to see how the city is gearing up for one of the biggest music events of the year. brace — because eurovision is on the way and everyone, everyone in this city is excited. tonight, a special ceremony will see the keys to the competition handed over to liverpool. this man is in charge of the whole shebang for the bbc. the pressure! don't worry. only 160 million people are watching, yeah.

can you give us any clues? the biggest of big gigs here at the arena take 1—2 days to build. not this. it is big. so for eurovision, it's five weeks. the first two weeks of those five weeks is just all about the rigging. so it's about lighting, making sure they have got all the special effects in there. after that, we then get into building things. so we build the stage, we are going to be building the commentator boothes, and then we are going to have all the bubbles, effectively. the green room down on the arena floor where the contestants and delegations are going to be. last question, be honest, how much pressure are you under. . .for guest passes? a lot of pressure for guest passes, but it is high demand, low availability. it will be the music

event of the year. the winner... is ukraine! but liverpool, of course, is hosting on behalf of last year's winners ukraine. for you, this is really important? it is very important because it will make our voice. eurovision is in the uk, but it will be ukrainian voices, ukrainian hearts talk to the world. it will make the world will not forget us. eurovision is an event which shows that life has not stopped for ukrainians. and that they are resilient. hope is what this event gives them, an event which means so many different things to so many different people. the city of auckland in new zealand is seeing more rain, days after what the city mayor called a "once in a century flood" which has left at least four people

dead and hundreds more homeless. large parts of the city were inundated with three—quarters of the usual summer rainfall injust 15 hours. vandhna bhan barn reports. this was the wettest day on record for new zealand's largest city. last friday, a storm swept across auckland causing majorflooding. people had to flee their homes as many houses were badly damaged. streets were swamped. this train came off its tracks. this is new zealand's national stadium flooded with water. at least four people have died and about 350 need emergency accommodation. now more bad news for auckland. new zealand's weather authority has issued a red heavy warning for the region. it's the highest level reserved for extreme events. my focus and the focus of central government is supporting auckland

through what is still a big challenge ahead of them. there's the big clean—up to go and, of course, we know through the forecasts that there's more bad weather ahead. climate change is causing episodes of heavy rainfall to become more common and more intense in new zealand. with heavy rains forecast in various parts of the city for at least the next five days, auckland remains under a state of emergency. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. for many of us today, there's going to be a lot of dry weather around and some sunshine, but it's going to be windy. the strongest winds, as you can see from the pressure chart, are going to be across the north of the country and they're going to continue to strengthen through the day, peaking tonight. weather front drifting south also clearing, taking its cloud and its patchy rain with it. so a lot of dry weather. one or two showers across parts of wales, in the south west, northern ireland and northern england. but most of the showers

will be in scotland, driven on by the strong winds and they'll be wintry on higher ground — above about 400 metres. you can see the strength of the wind is strongest, the gusts, across the northern half of the country. but wherever you are, it's going to be windy today. and these are our temperatures, five to about 12 degrees north to south. now, as we head through the evening and overnight period, it remains windy with gales, even severe gales, across the north of scotland, 70 to 80 mile an hour gusts. that could cause some disruption, and they'll peak in the middle of the night. the showers continuing in the north our weather front sinking south will take its rain into northern england as well as northern ireland. and on either side of that front, we're looking at some clearer skies. where you see the blues, in the highlands, for example, temperatures could fall below freezing. and here, there's the risk of ice where we've had the showers on untreated surfaces. so tomorrow, the low pressure bringing us these strong winds pulls away, but it's still going to be windy for some time. the weather front comes out of

scotland, crosses northern ireland and northern england, and then later in the day it starts to pull back northwards once again. but on either side of that, we see a return to brighter skies with some sunshine and temperatures five to about 11 degrees. into thursday, our weather front continues to push northwards across scotland, bringing some heavy and persistent rain. then a second one comes into the north—west, a few showers peppering parts of england and wales and northern ireland, especially in the west. but away from those showers, it will be drier. again, temperatures in double figures, above average for the time of year. high pressure is in charge during the course of friday. but on saturday, note how this weather front sinks south. it's a cold front and behind it we'll start to pull in some cooler conditions, even with some wintry showers in scotland. and at times they could get down to lower levels. but then as we move on into sunday, high pressure exerts its influence and things settle down once again.

only very slowly easing. this is bbc news. the headlines — five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the hillsborough disaster, the author criticises the government, saying it's intolerable that it still hasn't responded. global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but says the government is shifting in the right direction. a new study suggests children as young as nine are being exposed to online pornography, with a quarter of them seing x—rated material on the internet by the time they leave primary school. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners question whether it goes far enough to stop the loss of wildlife.

good afternoon. the author of a report written five years ago about the hillsborough disaster, has said it's "intolerable" that the government still hasn't responded to the document. 97 people died as a a result of the crush on the terraces at the sheffield wednesday ground in 1989. bishopjamesjones wrote his review about the experiences of the hillsborough families in 2017. later today police will become the first major public body to respond to the report. judith moritz reports.

the horror of hillsborough continues to be felt almost 34 years after the crush on the terraces that killed 97 liverpool supporters. police failures were the main cause of the disaster, but the fans were wrongly blamed and, for years, theirfamilies fought forjustice. # walk on, walk on with hope...# the horror of hillsborough continues to be felt almost 34 years in 2016, they rejoiced when fresh inquests returned verdicts of unlawful killing. the former bishop of liverpool, jamesjones, was then commissioned to write a report about the experience of the hillsborough families to ensure their pain and suffering wouldn't be repeated. the government is yet to respond. i think we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the families. this year, it will be 34 years since the tragedy. and for them to wait for so long for a response to these 25 points of learning is intolerable and adds to their pain and, i think, in some instances, even

affects their own grieving. let's hope that's only the beginning of what's going to be done. margaret aspinall, whose sonjames was killed, is one of those who has campaigned on behalf of the hillsborough families. she is also critical of the time it's taken to hear from government. i rememberwriting — idon't know who it was to, to somebody in government — to say i hope this report does not get put on a shelf gathering dust for years, like other things in the past have done. we are now into 2023. how long does it take to read a report, to come out with the findings or what you think should happen? when bishopjames published this report in 2017, he made 25 recommendations, just under half of which were directed at the police. today, there will be the first national police response to it and, i understand, for the first time, an apology issued on behalf of all of the police forces in england and wales.

there are calls for there to be a hillsborough law which would help victims of future mass tragedies. the government says it will publish its response to the bishop's report in due course. some breaking news, police chiefs have promised a cultural change as they apologise to families of the hillsborough victims. 34 years on from the disaster. chief constable andy marsh from the college of policing has said, for what happened as a senior police and we do, i profoundly apologise. policing got it badly wrong. today's response is also from the national police chiefs' council, along with the couege chiefs' council, along with the college of policing, it said that the code of ethics used by forces will be reviewed with a duty of candour becoming a key theme, something we have had a great deal about in relation to bishopjones' report. mr marsh goes on to say,

what we are talking about is a cultural change, which takes a long time, but my goodness, we have started. he said that new recruits will study the report into the experiences of the hillsborough families, and all forces in england and wales have signed up to something called a charterfor a family is believed through public tragedy which police forces must acknowledge any mistakes —— for families bereaved. professor phil scraton led the research team at the independent panel into the hillsborough disaster, and is author of hillsborough: the truth. i think the significance of this delay is immediate in the sense that this is the most recent delay in a long series of delays. you know, we're talking here about over 30 years when we have known the issues and we have progressed those issues, we've analyzed them, we've written reports, right back to 1990 when we published our very first report, �*95 our second.

and in that, all of those issues that the bishop has raised have been covered. it is 1997 when i first recommended, with a home office study, i first recommended a charter for the bereaved to establish the human rights of all of those who have suffered bereavement in such events to their participation and their representation. so this is a long standing scope. i mean, i've already read this morning the 25 points of learning or recommendations or acceptance of criticism within the hillsborough families' report issued by the police. those 25 points are not new. they have been known for over 20 years, and they've been established throughout that time,

so it really concerns me that there has been so little progress because that doesn't bode well for the future. louise brookes lost her 26—year—old brother andrew mark brookes who'd travelled by car to hillsborough from bromsgrove in worcestershire. he was 26. louise, thank you for joining us. i know that for you the wait goes on and on stop we have just heard from the college of policing, there has been an apology from them saying that they recognise this has gone on for far too long. they are now promising this cultural change which they recognise takes time, but they do recognise the need for it. what is your response? i have read the report, not word for word but i have read enough. quite

frankly i do not think there is anything in it that is new. it has taken over 30 years to apologise to us, which is quite frankly absolutely shameful. and ifeel that there is no change, we see what is going on within the police at the moment, especially with the met, something else has come out today about the police. i have always said that whilst these officers keep getting away with it, and they are not ever held accountable, nothing will ever change, and i feel that the change needs to start at the very top with the chief constables. the reason why these police officers behave the way they behave, and i must add it is not all police

officers, but the reason why they do behave the way they behave, is because they know they are going to because they know they are going to be protected by the establishment, and there will always get the best legal team, where sadly as bereaved families, apart from an inquest when we had amazing lawyers and barristers, you look what happened at the david duckenfield criminal trials. it was the families who were treated like criminals, really, and it was myself who had to physically get the evidence of david duckenfield's admissions and make the cps and the prosecution puts that evidence before the jury. let’s that evidence before the “ury. let's remind ourselves h that evidence before the “ury. let's remind ourselves that _ that evidence before the jury. let's remind ourselves that david duckenfield was cleared of manslaughter. but duckenfield was cleared of manslaughter.— duckenfield was cleared of manslau~hter. �* ., duckenfield was cleared of manslau~hter. �* . , manslaughter. but he admitted his auilt. what manslaughter. but he admitted his guilt- what you _ manslaughter. but he admitted his guilt. what you have _

manslaughter. but he admitted his guilt. what you have to _ manslaughter. but he admitted his| guilt. what you have to remember, manslaughter. but he admitted his i guilt. what you have to remember, if you could just let me finish, david duckenfield admitted his guilt, and thatis duckenfield admitted his guilt, and that is in black and white. these are the transcripts we had to get in, but the point i am trying to make, because of the judicial system and the way it works, they ensured that this person who admitted his guilt, and the evidence was overwhelming against him, quite frankly, he walked away free. but because he _ frankly, he walked away free. but because he was cleared of manslaughter in court... he was cleared, but... _ manslaughter in court... he was cleared, but... can— manslaughter in court... he was cleared, but... can i— manslaughter in court... he was cleared, but... can ijust- manslaughter in court... he was cleared, but... can ijust talk . cleared, but... can i 'ust talk about rush cleared, but... can i 'ust talk about this cultural _ cleared, but... can ijust talk about this cultural change . cleared, but... can ijust talk i about this cultural change they cleared, but... can ijust talk - about this cultural change they are talking about at the college of policing? so new recruits learnt from the failings that the service is now admitting to, and saying they got it wrong, they got it wrong for a long time, and they do recognise that every week and month you have had to wait has just added to your

pain, they are talking about this need for a duty of candour for police officers, so that those in public office are compelled to tell the truth. that is welcome even though it might baffle people that thatis though it might baffle people that that is not an expectation already. just two things on that. first of all, there's already a law, and the law is perverting the course of justice and also perjury. so every time a police officerjoined the force, they take an oath, obviously to tell the truth. so my argument has always been, especially when it has always been, especially when it has come to the law, if you have a person in a witness box who does not want to tell the truth, and they know they are going to be protected by their bosses and by the establishment, and it is not in their interests to tell the truth, they will not tell the truth. but i also find it very suspicious,

because they know there has been obviously a public campaign for hillsborough law, and one of the things about hillsborough law was a duty of candour. i have always said that hillsborough law will never happen because the establishment will always try to protect themselves. so i think the tone of this report, quite frankly, when it mentions a duty of candour, it is to try to take away the hillsborough law campaign. ifound try to take away the hillsborough law campaign. i found that very interesting. law campaign. i found that very interesting-— law campaign. i found that very interestinu. ., , ., interesting. one of the things that came out of— interesting. one of the things that came out of bishop _ interesting. one of the things that came out of bishop jones' - interesting. one of the things that came out of bishop jones' report l interesting. one of the things that i came out of bishop jones' report was came out of bishopjones' report was a charterfor came out of bishopjones' report was a charter for believed families that will put them at the heart of any inquiry. how important is that the, to prevent other families and future going to anything like you to tolerate? i

going to anything like you to tolerate? ., ., , ., tolerate? i would not wish what we have one tolerate? i would not wish what we have gone through _ tolerate? i would not wish what we have gone through on _ tolerate? i would not wish what we have gone through on my - tolerate? i would not wish what we have gone through on my worst - tolerate? i would not wish what we - have gone through on my worst enemy. preston almost killed me physically, and i will never get over preston. i cannot stress how ill it made me. one of the things which absolutely baffled me and disgustedly, with the inquests, obviously have funding for that from the home office because they were the ones who said we could have a new inquest, but when it came to the criminal trials, we had no support, we had a family liaison officer, who was amazing, quite frankly, but financially, we have no financial assistance whatsoever, and if it was not for charity, the charity single, i would not have been able to have attended the two criminal trials. been able to have attended the two criminaltrials. i been able to have attended the two criminal trials. i think it is

disgraceful that i potentially could have not gone to a criminal trial investigating the death and because of my brothers death... investigating the death and because of my brothers death. . .— of my brothers death... louise, we appreciate — of my brothers death... louise, we appreciate you _ of my brothers death... louise, we appreciate you sharing _ of my brothers death... louise, we appreciate you sharing these - of my brothers death... louise, we appreciate you sharing these very l appreciate you sharing these very painful memories with us. thank you. the headlines on bbc news, five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the victims of the hillsborough disaster, the chief of the college of policing says police and got it badly wrong. the uk is predicted to be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but the government is shifting in the right direction. children as young as nine are being exposed to online pornography, with a quarter of them seeing x—rated material and internet by the time they leave primary school, according to new survey.

good afternoon. strap yourselves in — it's transfer deadline day! premier league, efl, scottish premiership and international clubs have until tonight to sign the players they want before the transfer window closes. chelsea were the biggest spenders across the summer and have continued that injanuary. earlier, i spoke to jane dougall on a potential major move today. it looks as though chelsea have thrown everything at first. they want midfielder enzo fernandez, and are willing to pay his release clause of £1056 million. it has been reported he does want to go, and has asked his club benfica to release him. it is thought that because of financial fair play rules, chelsea will pay the release clause in instalments, if the deal goes through, fernandez would surpass the £100 million manchester city paid forjack grealish it it months ago making him the most expensive premier league signing

ever. the 22—year—old won for best young player award at the world cup, he would be a huge addition to the london side, who seem to be bolstering their squad with young players. i think that as a future plan being put in place by chelsea. well, chelsea have spend over half a billion pounds across the last two transfer windows, so they'll have to balance the books and one man heading out of stamford bridge should help that. italian midfielderjorginho has moved to rivals arsenal for £12m. another major move has also been also confirmed this morning which sees manchester city fullback joao cancelojoin bayern munich on loan until the end of the season. the german club will have the option to join permanently in the summer forjust over £61m. it is also the women's transfer deadline today,

and could we potentially see a world record move for alessia russo? the bbc understands manchester united have rejected a bid from arsenal which was in excess of the current record of £400,000 barcelona paid for keira walsh last year. russo's contract is up in the summer. she has turned down a renewal offer, but movement there is possible. the deadline for domestic transfers in the women's super league is 5.00pm today. don't forget you can keep across all of the latest speculation and confirmed deals throughout the day on the bbc sport website. there's also a special transfer deadline day edition deadline day live will be on the bbc iplayer and bbc news channel from 10pm. that's all the sport for now. let's speak to our health

corresponded katharine da costa. friday next week, the 10th of february, anderson's work is going on strike. —— ambulance workers. it means that there will be strikes within the nhs every day next week apart from wednesday, so on monday the sixth, the big day, the largest nhs strikes so far, involving nurses in england and wales, but also ambulance workers belonging to gmb and unite, then february seven, tuesday, a second day of nurses' strikes as well, and then midwives are striking in wales. thursday sees physiotherapists in england and wales, and friday unison ambulance workers, the straight they have announced today —— strike announced today. we are not hearing any more on pay talk progression, the union

accusing the government of digging in and letting the strike—out. they say they do not come to the table and find a resolution, they are going to announce further strikes that could drag on into march. it seems the government and the various unions are saying they are prepared to talk, but not about the same things. to talk, but not about the same thins. , ., , ., things. yes, the unions are concerned _ things. yes, the unions are concerned about _ things. yes, the unions are concerned about the - things. yes, the unions are | concerned about the current things. yes, the unions are - concerned about the current pay deal, which runs up to the year ending in march. whereas the government is saying they want to look forward to the new financial year starting in april, the government has always said it was open to talk about what is affordable, what is responsible. the government is committed to trying to bring down inflation. the unions are calling for above inflation pay rises. so there is a big gulf between the two sides, and while the government has been saying they are open to pay talks, the unions are accusing them of actually not sticking to that. deceiving the public. because they have not been sitting down and finding anything concrete they can agree on. and actually it today, there was a committee of mps looking at the

independent pay review process for next year, and the chair of the nhs pay review body told the commons committee that the department of health still have not submitted evidence ahead of the next pay round, and that deadline was the 11th of january. the committee chair steve brian said he was astonished to hear that this had not gone in, because the longer it takes to submit your evidence the longer it takes to make a decision. if you wanted to be paid to kick in in april, you will need to start the process back in september, so they are already overdue. meanwhile, the government has said it wants unions to submit evidence for what they want to see going forward, but 14 health unions have said they are not submitting evidence until the government talks about the current pay deal. we had a standstill and it is difficult to see how it play out.

thank you for the moment, katharine da costa. the uk economy is due to get smaller this year and do worse than other major nations, including russia. that's according to the world's most important international financial organisation, the international monetary fund. it predicts the uk economy will shrink by 0.6% this year. it believes the uk will be the only country among the world's major economies to see its economy get smaller. it says the forecast reflects the uk's high energy prices, high inflation and high interest rates. the us, germany, france, italy and japan are all expected to grow, but there is a note of optimisim. the imf believes things will improve in 2024, forecasting the economy will grow by 0.9%. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, has said that "the uk outperformed many forecasts last yea r" and that "if we stick to our plan to halve inflation, the uk is still predicted to grow faster than germany and japan over the coming years." policy is all geared to trying to dampen down inflation. we have higher inflation in the uk than most other countries, in the advanced economies that is,

around about still more than 10%, still in double digits, whereas, for example in the united states it's gone well down to less than 7% and similarly, in other euro area countries. so that higher inflation means that the central bank, the bank of england, has to work harder by raising interest rates in order to take money out of the economy and take some of the heat out of it, some of the upward pressure on prices. fiscal policy too. the government's said that it's got a plan to tackle inflation. what that effectively means in practice is that it keeps on saying, we can't afford this, we can't afford this, we can't afford that. that means that it's putting less money into the economy than it otherwise would and that's one of the reasons why there's less money for everyone to spend and why the imf is projecting that we'll be the weakest economy for growth next year of any advanced economy, not just the g7, but actually the top 15 most developed countries. it's really striking here as well that they're predicting that russia

will grow in spite of all those international sanctions, whereas our economy won't. let's speak now to fran boait, the co—founder of positive money, a think tank based in london, brussels and the us. fran also stood to be a labour mp in 2019. sorry that we have kept you waiting for a while, thank you for bearing with us. why do you think the uk is another when a lot of the factors missing our country are also affecting others? it missing our country are also affecting others?— affecting others? it is no coincidence _ affecting others? it is no coincidence that - affecting others? it is no coincidence that the - affecting others? it is no coincidence that the uk. affecting others? it is no - coincidence that the uk faces a affecting others? it is no _ coincidence that the uk faces a much deeper struggle while other countries look brighter this year. it is more evidence that we have had over a decade of relate failed economic policy, if you look at the most recent cost of living crisis,

we have seen that louis deepened by the bank of england's very aggressive rate hikes which are looking to continue this thursday. that obviously pushes more families into debt, one of the reasons for the weak outlook. but we also have to look at the longer picture, we have had over a decade of stagnant wages, cuts to public services, a very inconsistent response from government which has failed to... it has left our economy are very weak and very fragile. you has left our economy are very weak and very fragile-— and very fragile. you say the government _ and very fragile. you say the government has _ and very fragile. you say the government has no - and very fragile. you say the j government has no coherent and very fragile. you say the - government has no coherent plan, i think the chancellor would disagree with you, he set out his five pillars last week. he is also aiming to half inflation, that would really take the pressure of people, surely? if you just listen to your item that

ran before on the strikes, there is no plan for investing in our health workers. many stories around nurses having to go to food banks, these are the people that really got us through the pandemic, so what we need now is to get the economy back on track by investing in its people. we need to boost incomes, that is vital. we need to resort communities and invest in our public services, which are at breaking point. hope and invest in our public services, which are at breaking point. how to we afford that? _ which are at breaking point. how to we afford that? as _ which are at breaking point. how to we afford that? as i _ which are at breaking point. how to we afford that? as i mentioned, . we afford that? as i mentioned, there is another _ we afford that? as i mentioned, there is another rate _ we afford that? as i mentioned, there is another rate hike - we afford that? as i mentioned, | there is another rate hike coming this week. that increases in borrowing costs, notjust for households and families but also for the government, that results in banks getting an automatic increase in money. one economist calculated they would receive £80 billion for doing nothing, just for the

increase, there is no reason we can not be tax on some of that money back. we have one of the lowest corporation tax rates in the g7, and research shows that that does not result in good jobs, in investment. what does this public investment. so we do need quite a major shift in economic policy if the uk is going to see a brighter future, and that means investing in people, boosting incomes, protecting those on the lowest incomes.— incomes, protecting those on the lowest incomes. fran, good to have ou with lowest incomes. fran, good to have you with us. — lowest incomes. fran, good to have you with us, thank _ lowest incomes. fran, good to have you with us, thank you _ lowest incomes. fran, good to have you with us, thank you very - lowest incomes. fran, good to have you with us, thank you very much. i it's three years since the uk left the european union. rishi sunak has hailed what he called the "huge strides" the country had taken with the opportunites opened up by brexit. however, the latest data suggest a hit to the economy, and there are still a number of major questions to resolve, particularly around the northern ireland protocol.

our correspondent adam fleming, presenter of the bbc�*s newscast podcast, told us more about how things have changed coming to brussels from the uk for the first time in ages, having done thatjourney a million times, is there are actually some physical changes. so you get your passport stamped by the french border guards because there is no longer free movement of people. you are an immigrant, a temporary immigrant, from outside the eu, coming into the eu. then you arrive at brussels' train station and there is now a customs checkpoint at the end of the platform, with a green lane if you've got nothing to declare, and a red lane if you've got stuff to declare and some very kind of serious—looking customs officers at the end of the platform. now no—one cares about my slight little extra bit of friction in myjourney on the train but you imagine that replicated for millions of people travelling from the uk to the eu every year. then you imagine that in a trade sense, being replicated for hundreds of thousands of businesses, large and small, whether that is sending components along supply chains or whether that is extra bureaucracy for businesses having to file customs declarations to send goods from the uk into the single

market of the eu. there are no tariffs on those goods but it does come with extra administrative costs and the office of budget responsibility in the uk, the 0br, which monitors the government's finances and comments on the economy, says that overall, that will have a hit to the gdp of the uk of 4% overall. of course, though, that has caught up with lots of other things that affect the state of the health of the uk economy — like covid, like lockdowns in china because of covid, like the war in ukraine. and so constantly, as a journalist, it is quite a challenge untangling all the things that are affecting the uk. is it brexit, is it something else? now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. for many of us, it's going to be a dry day with some sunshine but windy. the strongest winds will be in the north of the country and this is where we'll also have the most frequent showers, some of those will be wintry in the hills in scotland

but there will be a lot of sunshine around. could catch the odd shower in wales and the south—west of england, as well as northern ireland and northern england. as the winds continuing to strengthen through the course of the night, that may be of some concern, particularly so across the north of scotland, where we're looking at gales, even severe gales, by the middle of the night when the winds do peak. we also have this weather front sinking south across scotland, getting into northern england and northern ireland through the night, with some clear skies on either side. the risk of some ice on untreated surfaces where we've had the showers in parts of the highlands. as we head on through the course of tomorrow, this weather front continues to sink a little bit further south before flipping round and headed north through the day. on either side, there will be some sunshine and the winds only very slowly easing.

this is bbc news. the headlines: five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the hillsborough disaster, the author criticises the government, saying it is intolerable that it still hasn't responded. global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but says the government is shifting in the right direction. a new study suggests children as young as nine are being exposed to online pornography, with a quarter of them seing x—rated material on the internet by the time

they leave primary school. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners question whether it goes far enough to stop the loss of wildlife. eurovision song contest is unveiled as the official eurovsion handover ceremony takes place today in liverpool. we are keeping an eye on the house of commons were aware the shadow chancellor to ask an urgent question to the chancellor following that report by the international monetary fund. the government has released a blueprint to say how it will clean up blueprint to say how it will clean up the air and water in the uk. the

habitat for wildlife will be expanded and there will be 25 new or a large national nature reserves. more money will go to protecting rare wildlife. the overall ambition is to halt and reverse the decline of nature and, today, rishi sunak said he believed today's plan will ensure that. it's a very ambitious target the government has set itself there. the announcements of policies that we've got today, and you listed most of them there — new work on wildlife habitats, 2,000 square miles of wildlife habitats, new and expanded national nature reserves, efforts to make water use more efficient in buildings, action to get councils to reduce air pollution. the government's point is this adds to the effort the government is already making. so this is kind of on top of what the government is already doing. one of the other really important announcements today, according to the government,

is that it's going to put environmental protection at the heart of all new environmental policy. so it says that you've got to see this in a round. it says we've set these ambitious targets. it's acknowledged that it's on the back foot on them at the moment and says this is the way it's going to draw everything the government does together to try and hit those targets by 2030 — halt the decline of nature by 2030, so it is really ambitious. i have to say, though, wildlife charities today have been a bit muted in their reception of this plan. they've said they want to wait and see whether this is really a whole government response. they say the step change in action and ambition that's needed is absolutely huge and the the wildlife trust said, where's the cash? we arejoined now we are joined now by the head we arejoined now by the head of public affairs by the well life —— wildlife trust. not ambitious enough

is what some critics have said, elliott. how likely is it that in seven years we will reach these targets? seven years we will reach these tar: ets? ~ , seven years we will reach these taraets? ~ , ,., , seven years we will reach these taraets? ~ , , ., targets? we need these pants to succeed. wildlife _ targets? we need these pants to succeed. wildlife is _ targets? we need these pants to succeed. wildlife is in _ targets? we need these pants to succeed. wildlife is in crisis - targets? we need these pants to| succeed. wildlife is in crisis point in the uk. nature is declining at a faster point than at any time in our history. we need to turn that round them to do that we need funding and focus. government spending on biodiversity is 10% lower than it was ten years ago. we can keep expecting to spend the same amount of money and get different results. it was disappointing that the prime minister wasn't there to launch this plan. we need buy in from the very top of your going to succeed. itruihat top of your going to succeed. what improvements _ top of your going to succeed. what improvements have _ top of your going to succeed. what improvements have been seen in those five years? improvements have been seen in those five ears? ., improvements have been seen in those five ears? . ., , .., ., five years? nature has continued to decline, unfortunately. _

five years? nature has continued to decline, unfortunately. between . five years? nature has continued to i decline, unfortunately. between 2013 and 2018 nature has declined by 7%. —— a and 2018 nature has declined by 7%. -- a 17%. and 2018 nature has declined by 7%. —— a 17%. what does that mean, it is a species, habitat, water quality? species and habitats. our skies are quieter because of the birds, our wooden gates have fewer butterflies and bees. my son is much less likely to say a hedgehog in his garden and wildlife across the countryside. we risk handing over our country to the next generation with much less wildlife. ., next generation with much less wildlife. . ., , . wildlife. rated three today since the uk left _ wildlife. rated three today since the uk left the _ wildlife. rated three today since the uk left the european - wildlife. rated three today since the uk left the european union. | wildlife. rated three today since - the uk left the european union. how is brexit affecting regulations which would have been subject to when we were part of the european union? �* , , union? brexit gives us the opportunity _ union? brexit gives us the opportunity to _ union? brexit gives us the opportunity to do - union? brexit gives us the opportunity to do things i union? brexit gives us the - opportunity to do things differently around agriculture, in particular.

it allows the government to spend much more money on supporting farmers generously to help restore nature. one of the biggest threats to delivering this new plant will be jacob rees—mogg? retained eu law bill. that could scrap many regulations by the end of the year. it is going to tie up government departments in huge amounts of bureaucracy when we need to get them focusing on delivery. we bureaucracy when we need to get them focusing on delivery.— focusing on delivery. we could have different, better _ focusing on delivery. we could have different, better more _ focusing on delivery. we could have different, better more appropriate i different, better more appropriate regulations of our own, would be the counterargument. itruihat regulations of our own, would be the counterargument.— counterargument. what can individuals _ counterargument. what can individuals do? _ counterargument. what can individuals do? particularly | counterargument. what can l individuals do? particularly if counterargument. what can - individuals do? particularly if they have space in their garden, create a wildlife pond, create some space for wildlife. they can put stuff on their windowsills. they can join the wildlife trust and help us create nature and create space for nature across the countryside.—

across the countryside. when it comes to _ across the countryside. when it comes to voting, _ across the countryside. when it comes to voting, lobbying, - across the countryside. when it comes to voting, lobbying, you| across the countryside. when it - comes to voting, lobbying, you can make your voice heard directly? absolutely. i would encourage everyone to show how important nature and the environment is for them by contacting their local mp and make sure this is a crucial issue. �* ., , , ., ., issue. don't hedge dogs snored loud when they are _ issue. don't hedge dogs snored loud when they are asleep? _ issue. don't hedge dogs snored loud when they are asleep? they - issue. don't hedge dogs snored loud when they are asleep? they are - when they are asleep? they are wonderful. more than a hundred people are known to have died after an explosion in the shower. many of those who died were policemen praying inside the mosque and what is supposed to be a secure part of the city. the prime minister said terrorism is now pakistan's for most national security challenge.

well, these are the gates to the police compound where the explosion happened yesterday. this is as close as we've been able to get, but still, standing here, you can tell there's a lot of activity going on inside. we've seen ambulances career in here and come out at speed as well. we know from the authorities that there is a search operation still under way, that they're using technology to try to identify signs of life. but, of course, the longer this operation goes on for, the more concerning that of course becomes. in the course of the last few hours, the death toll has risen again. we are now not far off 24 hours since the explosion happened yesterday lunchtime during prayers. the government have declared that this is a day of mourning and we are expecting to see more funerals happen later on today. consumption of adult content is widespread amongst young people. i

wasjoined earlier by widespread amongst young people. i was joined earlier by an associate professor of criminology at middlesex university. we did very similar research a few years ago now and and we've learned very similarly that children that view pornography, unfortunately often violent, develops and distorts, really, understanding of healthy relationship, which can normalize abusive behavior. so i am concerned about this current research, which is really reassuring, confirming, i would say what we also have found. indeed, it has a corrosive effect on what children view as healthy relationships. so what's the initial impact that it will have? i mean, i'm imagining a lot of children don't really understand what it is they're even watching. well, that's a question that we asked our children, those that participated in the study, and the initial

reaction to when they're exposed, and i use the word �*exposed' carefully here because they're not searching for it. they stumble across it or they're exposed to it, which is very different. we're talking about very young children. their first reaction is that of horror, disgust, fear, and that can develop quite easily into some trauma later in life. sadly, the more they're exposed, the more they view it, the more they kind of become normalized and desensitized by what they view, which again, it's a very negative effect. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is meeting the palestinian leader, mahmoud abbas, in ramallah today. he's already held high—level talks

with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, in jerusalem. mr blinken says urgent steps are needed to restore calm between israel and the palestinians after weeks of heightened violence. our middle east correspondent anna foster has more on what to expect. i expect a repeat today of some of the key topics that were right at the top of the agenda for that meeting yesterday. the us department of state were very clear before this visit — and it was a visit that was arranged a few weeks ago but has really taken on increased significance because of the violence that you mentioned over the last week or so — the state department were very clear that they would be talking about trying to calm those tensions here, trying to de—escalate things, and also talking about the two—state solution. and when we heard from antony blinken and benjamin netanyahu after their meeting yesterday, we heard the us secretary of state explicitly talk about america's continuing support for the two—state solution. there was a more lukewarm reference to it from benjamin netanyahu, who talked about a workable solution, because his right—wing government is not considering at the moment, or indeed likely to in the future, a two—state solution. so i think when he goes to meet mahmoud abbas, they will talk once again about how

to calm violence, how to de—escalate tensions and how the two sides could perhaps continue to work together. one thing they may well look at is trying to restore security cooperation between israel and the palestinians, which was frozen a week ago after that israeli defence force raid into intojenin camp which killed ten palestinians. i think if secretary blinken wants to come away with some sort of tangible progress when it comes to trying to restore some level of calm, that might be perhaps something that he could focus on, that he could present as a win later. the fire department in the us city of memphis has sacked three people in connection with the fatal police beating of tyre nichols earlier this month. an investigation found two paramedics and a driver failed to provide mr nichols with adequate care. five police officers have been charged with second—degree murder. two others have been suspended. a number of prayer vigils have been held across multiple cities in america, including this

one in memphis. community leaders and locals coming together to honour the life of tyre nichols. our north america correspondent david willis said it's been revealed that some white police officers are alleged to have been involved in tyre nichols death. the circle of punishment is widening in regard to the death of tyre nichols, that's for sure, and today it was announced that two more police officers from the memphis force have been disciplined in regards to their alleged involvement in the incidents that led up to his death. now, that is on top of the five police officers who were sacked and last week were slapped with charges, including a second—degree murder in regard to the death of tyre nichols. the two officers that have now been charged are preston hemphill, he is a white police officer, and another one whose name and ethnicity has not yet been revealed.

now, officer hemphill is said to have fired his taser at tyre nichols but is not thought to have been involved in the subsequent confrontation that led to tyre nichols' death. nonetheless, the fact that this white police officer's alleged involvement is only being released now in connection, of course, with the death of a black youngster, has incensed tyre nichols' family. they have issued a statement accusing the memphis police department of shielding mr hemphill and basically protecting him, or seeking to protect him, from the public eye. they have called for officer hemphill to be charged and sacked from the force. meanwhile, a couple of paramedics who attended to the scene and to mr nichols following his beating have also been dismissed, along with their driver, for failing to administer proper medical attention.

the headlines: five years after a report into the treatment of the families of the hillsborough disaster, the author criticises the government, saying it is intolerable that it still hasn't responded. global financial institution the imf predicts that the uk will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, but says the government is shifting in the right direction. ministers set out a plan to improve the environment in england, but campaigners question whether it goes far enough to stop the loss of wildlife. no to the house of commons. the shadow chancellor has just asked a question about the imf report. $5 question about the imf report. 33 the imf question about the imf report. 23 the imf said in its press conference today we think that the uk is on the

right track. it also said that the uk had done well in the last year with growth revised upwards to 4.1%. since 2010 the uk has gone faster than france and italy and about the same rate as germany. cumulative growth between 2022—24 is expected to be higher thanjapan and at similar rates to the united states of america. any recession this year is likely to be shallower than previously predicted. the challenges that... we are improving technical education and protecting efforts —— infrastructure protection will spur economic growth in the years to come, benefiting industry. the figures from the imf to confirm that we are not immune to the pressure setting nearly all advanced economies. we agree with the imf

focus on the high level of inflation in our country which is why it is our top priority. inflation is the most insidious tax rise there is so the best cut we can do now is reduce inflation. as the chancellor has said, short—term challenges should not obscure or long—term forecast. if we stick to our plan to have inflation in the uk is still predicted to grow faster than germany and japan over the coming years, helping us to deliver a stronger economy and where people have the opportunities for better pay, goodjobs have the opportunities for better pay, good jobs and that is what we are working tirelessly to deliver. rachel reeves.— rachel reeves. britain has huge otential, rachel reeves. britain has huge potential, but _ rachel reeves. britain has huge potential, but 13 _ rachel reeves. britain has huge potential, but 13 years _ rachel reeves. britain has huge potential, but 13 years of - rachel reeves. britain has huge potential, but 13 years of tory i potential, but 13 years of tory failure has been a drag anchor on our prosperity. today's imf assessment holds a mirror up to the wasted opportunities and it is not a

pretty sight. the uk is the only major economy forecast to shrink this year. we growth compared to our competitors for both of the next two years. the world upgraded, britain downgraded. growth even worse than sanctions hit russia. the imf chief economist singled out higher mortgage rates as a rate for britain's per performance. the tory mortgage penalty is devastating family finances and holding back our economy. british businesses are paying the price for the gaping holes in the tory�*s brexit deal. it will fall to labour to clean up this mess. if the chancellor had ideas, answers or courage, he would be here today, but he is not. the question that the people of our country are now asking is this, ah me and my

family better off after 13 years of conservative government? the answer is no. as the imf showed today it does not have to be this way. i am sure the ministry of a clutch at straws and say everything is fine or the imf forecasts are just wrong, but can he explain why the uk is still the only g7 economy that is smaller now than it was before the pandemic? why is the uk the only g7 economy with its growth forecast downgraded this year? why are we at the bottom of the league table both this year and next year, too? can the minister answer this, why should anyone trust the conservatives with the economy ever again? i am crateful the economy ever again? i am grateful for — the economy ever again? i am grateful for her _ the economy ever again? i am grateful for her question - the economy ever again? i —n grateful for her question but she talked about 13 years of failure. let me repeat the facts of the

matter. since 2010 the uk has grown faster than france, japan and italy. she talks about the next two years. the forecast from the imf is a growth over at the 22—24 period higher in the uk than germany and japan and at a similar way to the us. iam japan and at a similar way to the us. i am grateful that the shadow chancellor go to the imf because i will, too. at the press conference at 3am this morning and coat their economic counsellor who said, let's start with the good news. the uk economy has actually done relatively well in the last year. we have revised growth upwards to 4.1%, one of the highest growth rates in europe in that region for that year. that is from the imf press conference this morning. the crucial point is this, the shadow chancellor did as —— give a passing reference to the pandemic. usually it is in

their habits to airbrush out to fish at the fact that we have faced some of the biggest challenges in our history, the pandemic followed by the invasion of ukraine. back in december 2021 when the welsh administration, they wanted to lock down in the face of omicron we took the brave decision not to lockdown in england. the shadow health secretary said at the time, he said we believe that plan b is insufficient. there are additional measures that are necessary. they would have kept us lockdown for longer. we took the decision to keep our country open and that is because of the vaccine which we brought forward that they would not have done. i want to make this final point. the crucial point is inflation. a key facet of dealing

with inflation is fiscal discipline. we have heard from the shadow chancellor recently that labour is suddenly the party of sound money. since the speech two weeks ago in which the leader of the labour party promised to put away the great big governmentjet book they have made £45 billion of unfunded spending commitments, so we all know where that ends, it starts writing blank checks and ends with no money left. will the minister take this opportunity to reflect on last year when despite the headwinds of the coronavirus, an invasion of ukraine, huge hikes in energy costs, rising interest rates, high inflation in this country, the uk's businesses

manage to generate over 4.1% of economic growth, twice the economic growth of the united states, 25% higher than economic growth in china, and higher than the eurozone? she is spot on. instead of talking down our economy, she is making the key point that despite all of those challenges, we had strong growth last year and the reason is because a british enterprise and that is why on friday the chancellor, himself a former entrepreneur, that is why we will back advanced manufacturing into high—growth sectors to nature we to have that level of growth. the imf has we to have that level of growth. the w has said — we to have that level of growth. the imf has said that the uk economy would face a downgrade, the only g7 country to be facing recession.

there we have the discussion in the house of commons after that statement from the imf that said the uk would be the only country in the developed world not to see growth. the government minister they're saying that the plan to have inflation within the longer term see uk growth outstripped that of and japan. the city of auckland in new zealand is seeing more rain, days after what the city mayor called a �*once in a century�* flood , which has left at least four people dead and hundreds more homeless. large parts of the city were inundated with three—quarters of the usual summer rainfall injust 15 hours. this was the wettest day on record for new zealand�*s largest city. last friday, a storm swept across auckland causing majorflooding. people had to flee their homes as many houses were badly damaged. streets were swamped. this train came off its tracks.

this is new zealand�*s national stadium flooded with water. at least four people have died and about 350 need emergency accommodation. now more bad news for auckland. new zealand�*s weather authority has issued a red heavy warning for the region. it�*s the highest level reserved for extreme events. my focus and the focus of central government is supporting auckland through what is still a big challenge ahead of them. there�*s the big clean—up to go and, of course, we know through the forecasts that there�*s more bad weather ahead. climate change is causing episodes of heavy rainfall to become more common and more intense in new zealand. with heavy rains forecast in various parts of the city for at least the next five days, auckland remains under a state of emergency.

it was a great start across the south of the country but skies have brightened up and it looks like it will stay bright for much of england and wales through this afternoon bar the odd shower. it will be windy across the north, certainly across scotland with winds picking up to gale force. the reason why is this area of low pressure which will be edging closer to the north of the uk that will bring the scales to scotland and frequent showers, some of them are heavy with thunder in places and snow on the hills. much of england and wales will be dry with plenty of sunshine. top temperatures 12 degrees in the south, coolerfurther north. this evening, this area of low pressure will bring a spell of severe gales to the far north of scotland with gusts up to 80 miles an hour as far

north as shetland. we are likely to see disruption here from the gales. there will be frequent showers and longer spells of rain in the northern part of the country. a stormy night to come in the north, quieter in the south, which is closer to an area of high pressure. that deep blue continues to pull out into the norwegian sea on wednesday taking the strong winds with it. it will be a stormy start to wednesday across the north—east of scotland. the wind is gradually easing down through the day with sunshine appearing, as well. this weather front will bring rain to northern ireland, the east of england and the midlands at a time. ahead of it, dry with one or two sunny spells. on thursday, another weather front passes across the north of the country. that will bring outbreaks of rain may need to scotland. some of rain may need to scotland. some of it will be quite heavy in the north and west. for northern

ireland, much of england and wales there will be variable amounts of cloud, spells of sunshine. we will notice film out with a time of year with temperatures in double figures thanks to the south—westerly winds. weather transferred with the far north of the uk on friday. another very mild day. signs of something cold a spreading through the north—west by the weekend. friday, benign day, lots of cloudy and mild. things start to turn colder as we head through saturday into sunday.

today at one — the uk will be the only major economy to shrink this year, according to the international monetary fund. high energy prices, rising mortgage costs, increased taxes, and worker shortages are all responsible, they say — although there is better news for next year. all of these things together account for the sharp slowdown in the economic activity we are anticipating for 2023 but with a rebound again in 2024 at 0.9%. we�*ll be looking at the details of the imf�*s prediction and asking how worried we should be. also on the programme... police apologise to the families of the 97 victims of the hillsborough disaster — promising cultural change a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in peshawar in pakistan —