the world right now, a best side in the world right now, a bold claim but one fans hope comes true in sydney in august. studio: natalie pirks in bristol, thank you. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willetts. i wanted to start by showing the stargazers what they are possibly not missing. we havejupiter and venus in the sky with the crescent moon in amongst all the cloud and rain we have seen today because of the story was we had some appreciable rain, the first for some time, and also a significant drop in the temperature behind the weather fronts so for the likes of north—east wales, 13 yesterday and ate today, average for the time of year but it has been so mild it was very noticeable. the raggedy looking weather front is sitting to the east, lots of showers following behind. showers bringing flakes of snow over bodmin moor at the moment so cold air is digging southwards, perhaps a smattering on the hills as

the shell rebound continues but for clearer skies, a colder night than we have had for some time and with the damp surfaces we could have ice around as we head into the morning. a frosty start but with the ridge of high pressure promising more sunshine for scotland, northern ireland, northern england and wales it might drag its heels to clear the far south and south—east, that band of cloud, misty and murky weather and patchy rain. later, more substantial rain coming to the north and strong and gusty wind. for most, and strong and gusty wind. for most, a lot of dry weather with temperatures on a par with those of today, and a chilly day if you're under the breeze or under the cloud. the cloud advancing further south tomorrow evening. the weather front pulling to the south, relinquishing its grip a little bit and more cloud in trading on friday. a frosty start in trading on friday. a frosty start in the south, not much rain left on the weather front as it edges southend west. clearer skies behind but a bracing north wind, particularly for the north and east

of scotland and the east coast, probably feeling chillier than nine or ten. probably feeling chillier than nine orten. high pressure probably feeling chillier than nine or ten. high pressure is back as we go into the weekend, dry weather but still cold at night. thanks, helen. and that's bbc news at ten on wednesday the 22nd of february. there's more analysis of the day's main stories on newsnight, which isjust getting underway on bbc two. the news continues here on bbc one as now it's time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are. but from the ten team it's goodnight. good night, and here's your latest sports news. a long—awaited government white paper, proposing the biggest shake—up to english football governance in years, has been published. it begins the process for a new independent regulator to oversea financial stability across the game, tougher ownership rules, a ban on sides joining breakaway leagues, and a greater say for supporters.

jane dougall has more: this white paper says it finds it should have a greater say in the running of their clubs in terms of team name and badges. if you remember cardiff, whose original strip is blue, known as the bluebirds, they were bought by malaysian owners who unveiled a red kit that did not go down well with fans. because of that it didn't go ahead. there are owners who wouldn't listen to their friends. and more importantly, they oppose the breakaway super league which was important. this would allow the regulator to block clubs from joining rick leads like that one. which is huge. this comes from recommendation from the fund letter. the government has said, the english

game remains one of the uk's greatest imports, which clubs around the world modelling on their success which is why the government has taken targeted which is why the government has ta ken targeted steps to which is why the government has taken targeted steps to ensure it continues for generations. financial mismanagement led to bury�*s expulsion from the football league in 2019 — they now play in the ninth tier north west counties league and say an independent regulator is badly needed: barry has become the poster boy of footballing failure in some respects. we are tired of it. we want _ respects. we are tired of it. we want to— respects. we are tired of it. we want to move on wassup we also want to make _ want to move on wassup we also want to make sure _ want to move on wassup we also want to make sure other clubs don't suffer— to make sure other clubs don't suffer the _ to make sure other clubs don't suffer the same fate. everyone in the ground — suffer the same fate. everyone in the ground today has suffered from what has _ the ground today has suffered from what has happened in the past. we think_ what has happened in the past. we think an _ what has happened in the past. we think an independent regulator is crucial, _ think an independent regulator is crucial, it— think an independent regulator is crucial, it is the only thing that has teeth— crucial, it is the only thing that has teeth and will make the other proposals and suggestions in the future _ proposals and suggestions in the future actually happen and mean something. without that, things will fall apart _ something. without that, things will fall apart and people of argue with themselves and nothing will move on.

another brilliant night for england's women, who have retained the arnold clark cup, thrashing belgium 6—1 in the winner takes all game at ashton gate. the lionesses dominated the match with chloe kelly's two goals making her the tournament's leading scorer. a great night, too, for captain leah williamson, who also scored twice. the victory extends sarina wiegman's unbeaten run as manager to a impressive 29 matches. next, to the one major trophy still missing from manchester city's cabinet. that's the champions league. tonight they had the opportunity to move a step closer to the quarter finals but were denied victory at rb leipzig, with their first leg finishing all sqaure as patrick geary reports: i crossed 12 years, across a continent, a mattress the city have been searching. if their hunt for the european cup has taught them

anything, it's a value of patience. against our beat leipzig the weighted 21 minutes for one riyad mahrez. leipzig seemed in no hurry and bobbed dylan in the second half and bobbed dylan in the second half and they found some urgency and fluency. the feeling was that city don't offer those chances often. 15 minutes later here was an even better one. scored by gvardiol, one of europe's rising forces. no rush or panic from the city but in the final moments of the game they pleaded for a handball, a penalty. there claim highlighted in the post—match. there will be able to take out their frustration in the second but this competition continues to stretch mattresses cities patients. wales' six nations match against england will go ahead this weekend after the welsh players decided against strike action. saturday's game in cardiff was in doubt after players threatened not to turn up because of a dispute with welsh

rugby bosses over their contracts. but at a meeting today the welsh rugby union and players in the wales squad were able to settle some of their differences: welsh rugby can't keep going on this merry—go—round of crisis after crisis, because it's affecting everyone in the game. players, supporters, administrators, grassroots clubs and everybody. with the events of the last six weeks, i think everybody in welsh rugby, we all need to put together now to find the best way forward. and we need to do it collaboratively, together, to put welsh rugby back at the top of world rugby, and not the laughing stock which i think we are at the moment. i think we can do that with the collaboration that's been agreed. andy murray is in to the quater—finals of the qatar open after a chaotic match saw him get past alexander zverev. the scot had to dig deep yet again, winning in three sets, in an absorbing three—hour

encounter in doha. murray will now take to the court against french qualifier alexandre muller, less than 2a hours after beating world number 16, zverev. ra rely rarely does it the easy way, andy murray. that's all the sport for now. her name was ella, and some say she was the canary in the coal mine. this is the church which held her baptism, herfirst communion and,

aged nine, herfuneral. she literally drowned in her own mucus and i know that's really hard for people to hear, and i think there were a few times i wanted to die, too. i think i was in such despair. so, the decision i had to make is do you carry on and fight for others or do you just walk away? this was ella's best friend, anais. hello! mwah, mwah! you've gotten taller! no, i haven't. i'm still the same height! laughs. these have got... oh, my god, i haven't seen you for so long. i know! growing up, they had been inseparable. the very last phone call rosamond and ella had made was to anais, the night before ella died.

i have very, very fond memories, even though we were so young, i get little snippets and memories of us bouncing around and balancing on beams and she loved it so much — she was such an active person — and what, for me, was so shocking is how one day she'd go from being so bubbly and happy and the next day, she'd be really, really ill in hospital. i think she was fanatically calling your house and i think it went through — and it went through to an answering machine... voicemail, yeah. ..voicemail, and she was wishing you happy birthday. yeah. i think that voicemail, i still — i can't listen to it. i think i listened to it the day after... ooh — i wondered that. ..before we came to your house. god — i always wondered that. yeah, but since then, i haven't been able to listen to it. but my birthday is a difficult day because i want to be happy because i know she should be want me to be happy on my birthday... you should be! yeah, you should be, because that's what she would have wanted. when i last saw her before my birthday, she was fine. so for me, it was really difficult

to find out what had happened. in fact, it took rosamond seven years to fight for answers, crowdfunding money to pay for a high court battle to win a new inquest. overwhelmed. absolutely a fantastic day. giggles. and in 2020, that inquest proved what was really behind what had begun as a small cough. coughs. ella's new death certificate was groundbreaking, eventually listing air pollution amongst the causes of death — a moment so significant, it made headlines right around the world. in her final two years, ella had been rushed into a&e here in lewisham 30 times... hello! ..often into the care of doctor tina sajjhana. is there anyone who is left here?

yes! there'sjonah... yep. ..and laurence. rosamond had been trained by staff here how to resuscitate her daughter — something that had happened many times when she stopped breathing and collapsed at home. you don't forget a child like that who's in hospital a lot, but i think there was something else. when ella smiled, she lit up the room. i will always remember us coming into a&e. she could be really sick when she came in. yeah, well, she will have collapsed at some point. watching her on that resuscitation bed, it wasjust incredibly frightening. losing a child is a very tragic thing but to turn that tragedy into something really positive, i think, i can only be admired — admired to the top degree. ella's death certificate was a world first. it made this little girl from london global news.

and since then, her face and her mother's fight has been adopted by clean air campaign is right around the world. 7 million people die every year because of pollution. 7 million. and this is notjust a number, may i remind you. my friend rosamond is in the audience today. rosamond, do you want to stand up briefly, please? give hera big hand. applause. she lost her beautiful nine—year—old daughter ella to pollution. the family lived less than 100 feet from south circular road, one of the busiest roads in london that had thousands and thousands of cars and buses and trucks driving by. normally, her death certificate would say asthma. but rosamond fought for the truth to save other children. so, i want to say thank

you to rosamond for standing up and showing all of us that we can't keep lying. we have to tell the truth! the government estimates as many as 38,000 people a year die as a result of air pollution. the charity asthma and lung uk say a quarter of uk schools are in dangerously polluted areas and city hall data suggests that's 98% for london. how noisy is it here in your playground? really noisy. sometimes it can get really noisy. cars. ambulances. police cars. like, trucks. i have a child that has asthma so obviously, it's quite a little bit of a worry because he gets, like, three or four times a year, he will get quite a lot of cough. do you think the government is doing enough? do you think individuals are doing enough?

i don't think the government is not doing enough. and as well, there is no awareness. they don't want to make people aware of it. in this school not far from ella's home, they took matters into their own hands. it's a busy road, isn't it? yeah, it's kinda fortunate that... siren wails. ..it�*s busy. it's busy. i think it's got about 100,000 cars a day. we even sort of raised some money. in three months, we raised about £100,000 to build a green wall and to buy air purifiers for the classrooms, and we actually improved the air quality within a year by 37%. really?! yep. we couldn't quite believe it when we got the data. it was like, "whoa! "that kind of works!" if each of us does something — you know, we can all do something, can't we? for a decade, rosamond has asked the government to do more. she wants ella's law to make clean air a human right, but she and many in the science community are frustrated that uk ambitions fall far behind guidelines recommended by the world health organization.

"we can and should go much further to reduce air pollution "and it is technically possible to do so." i think i said that. you did say that! and i think still think it. but is that an ambition shared by government? well, i think the thing which i've tried to lay out in a report i did at the end of last year, there are many things we could do with vehicles, things we could do with construction, things we could do with agriculture which will lead to faster improvements in air quality for everybody. exhaust emissions from road transport have decreased dramatically in the last decade, largely down to tighter standards and greener cars. but emissions from wood—burning stoves and fires in homes have more than doubled in that time and new data shows in 2021, this was one of the factors causing the uk to breach legal limits of one of the worst air pollutants, particulate matter 2.5. the coroner in ella's inquest

wrote to the government, saying the world health organization guidelines should be a minimum requirement and this would save lives. do you agree with that? well, i certainly think we should accelerate as fast as we can within the limits of what's technically possible. my point is there's a lot we can do technically we are currently not doing. in a statement, the government said: those who love ella say they can't understand the lack of urgency. i do have something for you. oh, lord, don't shock me or make me emotional because i'll kill you off—camera. this year, anais will graduate. oh, wow! her final year project is a study of the pollution which took a friend's life. you know how obsessed with research i am. she's done a research project. i'm just so proud of you. abstract, of course. chuckles. it's got all of the scientific sections there. i know — i'm so proud of you! this is amazing!

this project, i think with every line i wrote, i kind of felt ella with me and i went in thinking, "i just want to understand more about what happened "and what was actually going on inside of her body "to cause this". but as i carried on writing, i realised that i found it difficult to remain — to remain kind of subjective about it and for me, ijust see a kind of a lack an ambition, especially in this country. one. but make no mistake, significant change is already happening in ella's name. how are you? today, we've brought rosamond on a tour of london hospitals to hear for herself. what we used to do with conditions like asthma is we simply used to treat the child in front of us with the family and treat that disease. now, what we are started to do is to really link postcodes, look at air pollution. we collect that data, we can put it onto our electronic patient record and we can actually

link that to then the child's condition and explain to the parents and the child where they live, what the effects of their local environment's having on them. postcode by postcode, they will monitor pollution and link to medical records. here at royal london hospital, they are opening what is thought to be a first — a dedicated air pollution unit for children. it isn't just an academic endeavour, it's notjust to do research, - it's to make a real difference to children's lives. _ it's the first time that a clinic has been funded to do that. i they will give their young patients air pollution monitors which will track their environment at home and school, just as doctors track the impact. the hope is reports they draw up can be used to advocate for people whose health is been damaged by the air they breathe. when it comes to housing, we'll give them a report. . that will feed them back| to who owns their house. we can advocate for them. this is one of the best things i've actually heard. you can now have the power to actually advocate for them. so, do you know what?

that is amazing. two. to come hear all the hospitals, i suddenly felt overwhelming emotion and i thought, "oh, my god. "she has inspired all this." it's pretty amazing. three. rosamond believes giving more information to families is good but when families have limited resources to act on that information, less pollution is better. if i knew then what i knew now, i would be left with a huge dilemma. one of the first things i would've wanted to do straight away, which would have been really difficult, would have been to move. i don't think i've ever said this publicly — there was a house further away, but it cost £10,000 more. of course, you know, it has gone round and round in my head — if only i had the money.

i think most people like me, average people, we have very little choice. let's be really honest here about it. it is the poorest that live closer to roads. it is up to the government, it is the government's duty to look after its citizens. they have to clean up the air. after ella died, rosamond and ella's brother and sister sophia and robert chose a different way to walk to school every day. robert still developed asthma. we met them rehearsing for their sister's memorial concert — a memorial which would celebrate a short life but huge legacy. she was my role model because i always would try to copy her or look up to her and yeah, she was our favourite person. i think kind of proud but also it's quite bittersweet that, like, it had to be a life lost to have change but i'm proud that, like, her name will be remembered as, like, she helped a positive change in the world.

what can you say to ella's siblings now who, at times, have really struggled? what message could you give to them? i think sometimes, when bad things happen and clearly unexpected and horrible, good can come out of it. she will change and has changed and is changing the way we conduct medicine, people's attitudes towards air pollution and health, and i think that will have a very, very long—term effect which hopefully will save many other children's lives that are in a similar position, and that's an amazing gift she's given everybody. we have come a long way but, as the government admits, there is still a way to go. 70 years ago, thick smog descended on london — the great smog. a smog so thick at times, it stopped ambulances and public transport. that event led to the uk's very first clean air act and many in the science community believe we need another clear

air revolution today. change is happening because of this death certificate. and the research that convinced the coroner to write the death certificate came from professor stephen holgate. so, you are the man whose research pieced this all together? yes, and that involved also excluding other causes of severe asthma worsening. and by doing that, we were only left with one alternative — that was the air pollution. and i think what we had with ella is an extraordinary brave little child. being able to translate this all the way back to an individual makes it much more alive and much more understandable and, for the politician's point of view, much more relevant for them to get on and start cleaning up the air we breathe. because we know that by cleaning up the air, we don't only improve asthma, we reduce dementia, diabetes, chronic obstructive lung disease,

heart disease, strokes, etc, etc, etc, so it all can be done and it's just a matter of will and, you know, we've done this before. we had the clean air act in 1952. we changed the way we heated our homes and got rid of coal. we've got to do the same. we've got to step up to the challenge and improve the life of everybody as a result of that. the need to rise to the challenge is very much accepted. but how we do that and when we do that is up for debate. rosamond says she will not apologise to those who don't like measures brought in to try to make the air we breathe safer. they believe in freedom — the freedom to choose.

it's an ideological choice. i sometimes think when it comes to a matter of life and death, you need to rise above that. if, on the 10th anniversary of ella's death, you were to send off a letter to heaven, what would you say to her? thank you, ella, and thank you of the privilege of being your mum. and still love you — that has never changed. that's quite easy for me to answer that. even in my moments when i go to the cemetery, i do say, "oh, bubba, i know you suffered so much and it will never make up for it, but so much is being done in your name and so many lives are being saved". i think that's important.

hello there. wednesday brought our first appreciable rain for some time. in fact, for eastern england, more rain than we've seen all february so far. but the other element was, of course, a cooler day. temperatures dipped from the 13 in harden on tuesday to just eight on wednesday, which is about average for the time of year. and the change was due to a change in wind direction behind this rather raggedy looking weather front on our satellite picture, the north westerly wind developed and that north westerly wind is blowing our cloud away further south, although we've had a smattering of snow across the moors in the southwest. so it is cold air. we could see something a little bit wintry on the hills as that continues southwards through the rest of the night. behind it, temperatures are dropping to freezing and of course, where we're seeing any wintry mix. so with the surfaces damp,

it could well be quite icy. so that's something we haven't seen for a while either. so a cold and frosty start for many of us in the morning. our weather front and it's cloud still in the south. the next one starting to approach the north. but the high pressure in between does promise more sunshine for many across scotland, northern ireland, northern england, wales. this cloudier zone cool. some bits and pieces of rain drizzle takes a while to clear and later on something more significant comes back into the north and west and the northern isles, along with a strengthening and quite gusty winds. so that will make it feel chillier, but some sunshine elsewhere and take temperatures similar to those of wednesday, which as i say, is about average for this time of year. then through the evening, that weather front will weaken. the rain amounts almost petered out as it pushes its way southwards. and so behind it, the cloud breaks. and ahead of it we could see some frost as well. so cold air to start friday morning. again, a cold start across central and southern areas, but the high pressure isjust relinquishing its grip. for a while now, these weather fronts will introduce more cloud

and also that northerly winds. so i do think it'll feel quite chilly on friday even when the cloud starts to break with some sunshine for the north east of scotland, eastern england, there's a bracing wind and we will still have some rain on this weather front. again, it doesn't look like anything significant, but it will introduce more cloud across the skies and give us some patchy nuisance rain. but as i say, a little bit chilly than the nine or ten would suggest. and then the high pressure's back for the weekend. a strong high pressure building keeping those weather fronts at bay once again. so as we look towards the end of february and through the weekend, there could be quite a bit of cloud around, some drizzly showers, fog and frost, but not a lot of rain is in the forecast.

welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... ahead of the first anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine, outright defiance from president putin. he tells an audience of tens of thousands in moscow that the conflict in ukraine is entirelyjustified, to protect russia's security. translation: there are battles i going on right now on our historical frontiers for our people. courageous warriors are fighting. we'll have details of the putin rally, and we'll look at the latest military cooperation between russia and china. also in newsday this hour... 11 palestinians were killed in over a hundred were injured on an

occupation on the