..a real pleasure to talk to you. amol rajan, bbc news, kenya. and you can see that interview in full, tomorrow night at 7.30 on bbc two, when bill gates also the programme will also be available on iplayer and as a podcast on bbc sounds. time for a look at the weather. weather changes on their way for the weekend. here are a lot of cloud out there, that made for some decent sunset views. by sunday, more sunshine out there but temperatures will have dropped. along with all of the cloud moving in. plenty of mild air across as right now but lower temperatures by sunday, although the sky by then will be bluer. a lot of cloud out there tonight, very windy across scotland, northern ireland,

northern england with the rain moving southwards. it is already quite damp and drizzly across wales and western parts of england. a mild start tomorrow with some spots in double figures. the rain that moves south across scotland will lift back northwards across scotland tomorrow though the windiest weather will be easing and we are left with another day with a lot of cloud. wales, western parts of england seen the light rain and drizzle whereas in northern ireland it will brighten up a bit. temperatures rising to 14 degrees. a milder day tomorrow and a mild start to the weekend. clearly with a lot of cloud around, still a lot of light rain and drizzle and for northern ireland and scotland a band of heavy rain moving through and that is the leading edge of the weather change arriving by sunday. a cold front moving southwards with that rain weakening as it does so. behind it the cold moving in but with an area of high pressure

centred right across the uk and that means bags of sunshine on a dry, settled day on sunday. just a little cloud hanging across parts of scotland. it is not terribly cold but it will mean under clearer skies, a frost by the time we get to sunday night. thanks, nick. and that's bbc news at ten on thursday the 2nd of february. there's more analysis of the day's main stories on newsnight, which isjust getting under way on bbc two. newsnight isjust newsnight is just about to get under way. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it's time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the good evening this is your update from the bbc sport centre. this year's six nations rugby championship kicks off this. and while the players will be focussing on what happens on the pitch officials are having to tackle

numerous problems off it ranging from allegations of sexism and homophobia to corruption. our sports editor dan roan explains. with its blend of rivalry, tradition and passion, the six nations remains one of the highlights of the sporting calendar. but with a world cup looming, the start of this year's championship is a timely boost for a game in need of a lift. 2003, and england win the grand slam. sensational finish! before going on to claim their only global crown. 20 years on, new head coach steve borthwick is tasked with rediscovering such glory, starting against old rivals scotland. there's few fixtures in world rugby that have the ability to excite people more than this fixture. i'm looking forward to the loud, packed twickenham this weekend. and england supporters are going to be cheering on this team. england have lost twice in a row against their opening opponents, scotland — last year's defeat at murrayfield

the start of a disappointing campaign that saw them finish in third place under the recently sacked eddiejones. but now there's added turmoil here in the community game — amid mounting concern over head injuries, the rfu has apologised for its handling of a rule change lowering the tackle height. the members of this club near manchester, like many others across england, furious at what they see as a lack of consultation. a lot of the players are thinking, where's it going and is it worth playing rugby any more? because it is a fundamental change to how we play the game, how we got brought up to play the game, and how the guys have been playing it for the last 30, 35 years. so there's a lot of unhappiness. facing a grassroots revolt, litigation over concussion and mounting concern over professional club finances, this weekend's calcutta cup match here at twickenham can't come soon enough for the beleaguered rfu, but they're not the only rugby union facing a crisis off the field. the six nations gets under way in cardiff, where legendary coach warren gatland starts his second stint

in charge of wales. but his return has been overshadowed with the welsh rugby union engulfed by allegations of sexism, racism and misogyny. aired in a bbc wales documentary. bosses today facing questions on the scandal in the senedd. it's possible for things to occur over a period of time and for people to turn a blind eye. i think as an organisation we have been in denial as to the extent of the problem. but away from the controversy, wales can at least look forward to hosting ireland — now the world's top ranked team. and with in—form france defending their crown, the game's authorities will be banking on a classic six nations to put the focus back on the pitch. dan roan, bbc news. charges of rape and assault have been dropped against manchester united player mason greenwood. the 21—year—old had been due to face trial in november over allegations of attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour, which he denied. the crown prosecution service said the charges were discontinued after a key witness

withdrew their involvement. greater manchester police said it was "only fair" to announce greenwood would no longer face criminal proceedings. in a statement manchester united said that they... new everton boss sean dyche has been speaking to the media for the first time since replacing frank lampard. the club are 19th in the premier league with just three wins, and 15 points from 20 games. dyche said he wants their fans to believe in him. it's easy to take a ship and calm water, not so much in choppy water. we want the fence to play their part. it is choppy water, the club is not where wants to be put up we want the fans are joining with us, reconnect with us. it's easy to say, i got air my spurs i totally understand that. not everyone once

shuffled up at the end the day after when you're doing to earn your spurs and not put your hard yards until earned the respect. chelsea manager graham potter said he's "excited" about the challenge his bigger squad will bring, after the club spent more than 300 million pounds injanuary. the blues signed eight players during the transfer window. including a british transfer record fee for world cup winner enzo fernandez from benfica. but under uefa rules, only three can be added to their squad for european fixtures. the challenge is the right word. certainly not complaining about it. it's exciting. it's a test for me, of course and for the staff and for everybody. but it's an exciting one. with a lot of really good players. we have to create an environment where there is competition, weathers healthy competition and they can push each other. i understand there's going to be frustration a time. not everyone can play, that's reality of where we're. it's fuelling the conversation because only 11 can play. it can only be

once etiquette to be disappointed. and finally... he's barely been retired from football for a month but already gareth bale is back demonstrating his sporting prowess... 0n the golf course. he's taking part in a pro am in the united states and made this remarkable recovery at spyglass hill. bale�*s taking partjust 23 days after quitting football — a career which saw him win 5 champions league titles, and become wales�* all time top scorer. the field also includes former american politician condoleeza rice and actor bill murray. that's all the sport for now. this is bbc news. we will have the headlines at all the news stories at the top of the hour straight after this program.

england's world cup is over. the aftermath of england's quarterfinal defeat to france at last year's world cup in qatar. manager gareth southgate admitted afterwards he felt conflicted over his future. a week later, the fa announced he would continue. but now for the first time, he's explained his decision. meeting me at the team's training base, st george's park to reveal why he remained in charge. gareth, great to see you here today. i must ask, first of all, how close did you come to walking away from the job and how difficult a decision was it to stay? no, not difficult. 0bviously, i'm contracted to 202k. my only concern after last summer, really, was that when there feels like there might be division between what the fans want and where my position might have been, that that can affect the team.

and i was conscious of that leading into the world cup, and ifelt we had great support going into the world cup. but i was conscious how would things be during and after the world cup? because i never want to be in a position where my presence is affecting the team in a negative way. and i didn't believe that was the case, but ijust wanted a period after the world cup to reflect and make sure that was that was still how it felt, really. how much soul searching did the decision involve, gareth? did you fluctuate at all between deciding to stay and leave? no, not after the world cup. in the lead in, that was a little bit different. i wasn't quite sure how things would play out and i think it's always right tojudge an international manager on their tournaments. so, did i think that we overachieved? no. do i think we underachieved? no, i don't.

i think our performances were good. i think the game with france going into it is a 50—50 game, which i think everybody would consider france to be one of the best teams in the world with the depth of talent they have. but, of course, across the flow of that game, that's the game we should win. but small margins make a difference, and we've got to make sure now that those small margins are turned in our favour. so, going into the world cup was that night at molineux injune when england lost to hungary and you received criticism from some fans. did that? was that playing a major role in your thought process going into the world cup? and if so, why? because i was worried after that game that the team would be affected by the narrative being constantly about should the manager stay or go. and i felt when we went into the games in september we were a little bit anxious, i thought at wembley against germany

the crowd weren't against the team, but they were waiting to see what happened. and i've been around teams where that can inhibit performance, and the last thing you want as a manager is that your presence is divisive and inhibits performance. so, i knew i had support with the players and how they were responding to things and i knew i had support of the organisation. so, those things are calm, but i think there are bigger things at stake with england than just having the support of those people at certain times. so, at that stage, before the world cup, would you say that you were feeling you were more likely to leave than stay before the tournament? no, i was i was totally focused on the tournament and determined to enjoy it, determined that we wanted to give it the best possible shot, and let's see where it goes and make a decision after, because you need to give yourself time in these

situations to make good decisions. i think it's easy to rush things when emotions are high, and very often you've got to sleep a little bit more and come to the right conclusions. most people agree that you have breathed new life into the england team. you've reinvigorated it during your time in charge. so, did it come as a major disappointment, maybe even shock, that you received the criticism that you did after that result against hungary? no football, is as it is. and you can't lose a game 4—0 at home with england and expect people to be happy about the outcome. so, yeah, i've been in the game long enough to know how fans will react at certain times, and i'm comfortable with that from a personal perspective. my thinking is always around, how does this affect the team? is this going to give the team the best chance going into the world cup, for example?

do we need to free that narrative up so that the support is behind the team and notjust debating whether the manager should be there or not? but i think we came through that period. we've started to score goals again and reminded ourselves of what we could be at our best. and that was very much the mindset we went into the tournament with. and was there a real sense after the world cup of unfinished business? that it would be painful, perhaps, to see somebody else come and take over the role and perhaps benefit from all the hard work that you'd been putting into it for some time? again, i don't have a problem with whatever the succession might be and england doing well once i've gone because no manager is going to be around forever. you would have missed it, right? 0h, iwould have. i mean, it's a privilege to do the role and i feel the team are still in the process of improving.

we've got some exciting players who are getting better, where we're able to play closer to our best level in these knockout games now. we're playing with a lot more freedom in those moments. and, you know, that's a good thing. we're getting more experience of those latter stages of tournaments, which for the next generations is going to be important. the expectations are higher, and that's a good thing. but i'm never worried about somebody else taking over and benefiting. that's how it should work. we're talking about building a future for england for now, for the next few months, for the next tournament. but also beyond that, that's always been the body of work here. so, if you can identify one single thing that proved decisive in your decision to stay, what would it be? um, that i think we're continuing to improve as a team. and i think people could see the quality of the performances and the progress that we're making. um, you know, ifeel confident.

i've been to three tournaments now. were, outside of france, and you could argue croatia, have had two good world cups, but if you put euros in that, we've probably been as consistent as any team in terms of our finishes and where we are. and i think people have enjoyed that journey with us and i feel that we can still go into the euros and we've got to qualify first. so, we can't just talk about winning a tournament until you've qualified, but i feel very confident about our chances in that tournament. gareth, were there ever times when you felt in the aftermath of the france defeat that you had perhaps taken the team as far as you could, and that change may be good for the side as well as yourself? no, i didn't feel that. i think that if anything, the opposite, you know,

i think that we're much closer now to really having that belief to win. we've still got a small step to take. the margins of that game were really fine, but in the end games are won and lost in those key moments. and we didn't defend well enough in the goals they scored, and we had opportunities to score at the other end that we have to take to win those games. but across the tournament, the level of the performances were good. so, i saw progress in the team from our performances in the euros, even though in the euros we got to a final. and in this tournament, if you'rejustjudging on where we finished in terms of the round, not quite as successful. there will inevitably be some fans, however, who would have liked a change, who would have perhaps felt that you've taken it as far as you can, but to get over the line and get

this generation of england players the silverware that many feel they deserve, it would have been perhaps good to have a change. if our performances weren't at the level they had been, then i think that that would have a little bit more of a legitimacy in that argument. i think we're all gaining belief in what we're doing. any regrets? looking back now with the benefit of a few weeks, there was some who said maybe you could have brought on the likes of marcus rashford a little earlier in that final reckoning against france. his form since perhaps supports that view. and do you think that's fair? any regrets? i don't really, you know, the flow of the game. france scored their goal in a period where we were having probably one of our best periods in the game. and, we'd got the equaliser. we were progressing well. we were in the process of bringing those players on when they scored. when we made changes, we obviously won the penalty within a few minutes as well. so, what i've learned in this job, whenever the result doesn't go

as you hope, then the solution is always the things you didn't do, because of course nobody knows what they might look like. so, i'm comfortable with that. i think we've got good depth. i think we used the squad well. there can always be an argument for a different player providing something at a different time. were you ever tempted by the prospect of a return to club management and were there any offers for you to do so? i think people have known i'm under contract, firstly. so, the question for me was more, you know, what's the situation here with england and is it the right thing to to keep taking this project on? because it's notjust the six years i've been with the seniors. i've been here ten years with developing everything as well. so i wanted to make sure i'm still fresh and hungry for that similar challenge. really. and has it taken a toll the last six years? because like never before in this role, you've been asked to notjust manage but also comment on issues beyond the game, especially

in the build up to this tournament. did that take its toll on you at all? no, there are there are moments where life would be more straightforward for me if it was just focusing on football. and you are very conscious of the impact of your words and you've got to be representing your country on a global stage. so, there might be a view in our country of certain things, but you've also got to be an ambassador when you travel and when you're dealing with other people. so, it is complex, but it's also been the greatest privilege of my life to lead my country. and i'm very conscious of that honour and it's allowed me to have life experiences i could never have expected, really. win or lose the euros, realistically, have you managed england at a world cup for the last time, do you think? oh, i've not even thought

about that really. i think it's fair to bejudged, as i said before, on the tournament, and maybe we're sitting in two years�* time thinking about what's next here. it's very difficult to say. i think fortunately my contract is built in until the december, so the fa and everybody has time to review the next tournament, and to make decisions at the pace that we believe are the right ones. who's impressed you from the squad and beyond since the world cup? i mean, several of your players are in very good form, the likes of rashford and saka, of course, as well. harry kane, obviously, despite what happened equalling the spurs goal—scoring record. how pleased for them and him in particular? yeah, yeah. well, i guess harry will have felt things more acutely than anybody coming out of the tournament because of having the captaincy of the team as well, as the way things ended with the penalty. but, you know, he has to be

assured that firstly, he's our best penalty taker and he's one of the best penalty takers in the world, but even the best are hitting about 85%. so, at some point you're going to have one that doesn't get over the line. and equally, you know, the team didn't lose the game because of that moment. there are moments at both ends of the pitch around that 90 minutes that could have changed the outcome. and also, had he scored that we're still only 2—2 and there's still a lot of the game to be played out. it's the first time, of course, players have had to go back from a major tournament straight into club football. and all of their circumstances are different at clubs. and it's a never ending roller—coaster, really, for the players. there are moments where they're really in—form, and the next few weeks are important for us to monitor probably more of the players that perhaps haven't been with us as regularly.

but then of course, as we go in towards march, then it's really key on who's in form and who can help us to win. what's the crucial game going to naples, and then with ukraine as well. and of course this is fa cup weekend, fourth round. how important is that competition to you, gareth? and i guess it also gives you an invaluable chance to check out how your players are performing. yeah, well, the first thing is that the fa cup is still an incredible competition. we still get those brilliant upsets that we see. equally, from my perspective, a lot of the teams of play have been playing young english players, and for a lot of young english players it's their first experience of competitive football. so that's also great to see young players breaking through. gareth, thanks so much for your time. appreciate it. pleasure. best of luck this coming campaign. thank you. hello.

unseasonably high temperatures today, what's up into double digits but also brought a lot of clout in a lot of rain. that was a scene earlier in the highlands. this pipeline of cloud shows a very clearly on our earlier satellite image. also going to be windy for a time in the north of scotland. those winds still coming from the atlantic from the west or southwest so broadly speaking, it's days mild through tonight and tomorrow. those wind gusts widely 40, even touching 60 mph in northern scotland, at least for a time. 0vernight this band of cloud of patchy rain sink southwards before then heading northeastward once again. temperature is between five and 10 degrees. a very mild start to friday morning with our band of cloud and mostly light and patchy rain clearing northern ireland very quickly, affecting parts of north england and drifting its way up across scotland. something a little brighter likely develops into the

afternoon for scotland in northwest england. northern ireland brightened up england. northern ireland brightened up quite nicely. wales and central england some sunny spells, often quite large amounts of cloud but really mild, i2 quite large amounts of cloud but really mild, 12 degrees for glascow, fortune in london. we start the weekend with this wedge of mild air. and you could see behind me there is something a little bit different awaiting in the wings for the colder air waiting awaiting in the wings for the colder airwaiting be high in awaiting in the wings for the colder air waiting be high in this weather front. this band of cloud and rain, through saturday will get in across northern ireland and the western side of scotland. further south and east england and wales logic dry with large amounts of cloud, some sunny spells, temperatures of ten or 12 degrees with up during saturday night that frontal system will push southeastward, the rain fizzling all the while. this big strong area of high pressure is going to build its way in across the uk for sunday. yes, we will be left in some colder air. we will also have bright skies overhead. largely clear skies and

lots of sunshine. a bit of cloud looking across ifor did farzad puelles cloud in the north scotland as well. temperatures down, eight or 9 degrees with it next week broadly speaking, quite a chilly field to the weather. try and many places, some rain in the at times in the north and west.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. the united states reaches a deal to increase its military presence in the philippines as it seeks to counter chinese influence in the region. a former russian officer tells the bbc he witnessed russian soldiers humiliating and shooting ukrainian prisoners of war. the bank of england raises interest rates, to the highest level for over 14 years. and we speak to bill gates about covid, vaccines and those conspiracy theories. now i guess people are looking for the boogie man behind the curtain, the oversimplistic explanation.