this is bbc news, i'm geeta guru—murthy live in windsor. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. the uk and eu are set to hold final talks on a new brexit agreement for northern ireland, as the prime minister meets his european counterpart today. will any deal between london and brussels pave the way for northern ireland to get its devolved government back? i am live in belfast with the latest. i'mjessica parker in brussels. ursula von der leyen will leave from here to the uk and she will try to get the brexit deal over the line.

i'm martine croxall in the studio in london. also in the headlines this morning. more than 60 people are now confirmed dead — including 12 children — after a boat carrying migrants sank off the southern coast of italy. fresh calls for the uk government to stop energy bill rises in april as the energy regulator announces a new price cap. early results from the nigerian elections show support for the governing party is holding firm. observers say it's still too early to predict who'll win the presidency. and big wins ahead of the oscars for the fantasy adventure film everything everywhere all at once, at the screen actors guild awards in hollywood. hello and welcome to bbc news.

we are in windsor, about an hour outside london, not in westminster, which has seen of course so much of the brexit drama, but we are here today because we are told that ursula von der leyen and rishi sunak will be here in a couple of hours�* time, also, in orderto will be here in a couple of hours�* time, also, in order to hold what is billed as final talks in a new post—brexit trade deal for northern ireland. that is all due to be happening in the next couple of hours. i have to say, we are in the grounds of a hotel. you can see the pond and fountain behind me and just over my shoulder we can see the police and security dogs doing their security checks as we wait for the two critical arrivals. a new deal has been expected for days. rishi sunak and ursula von der leyen will meet in windsor to discuss "complex challenges" around the exisiting deal — what�*s called the northern ireland protocol. there will be a cabinet meeting later on monday, where an update on those talks will be given.

if a final deal is agreed, the prime minister and ms von der leyen will hold a short joint press conference. rishi sunak would then make a statement in the house of commons. so, what is the protocol and why is it important? since brexit, exports from the uk to the eu are subject to checks, to ensure they conform with eu rules. but in order to avoid controls on the border between northern ireland and the irish republic, goods sent from the rest of britain across the irish sea are checked on arrival in northern ireland. critics argue that effectively creates a border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. but proponents of the deal say the alternative is a hard border with the republic, which would increase political tensions in northern ireland. the uk wants to change the agreement so that fewer goods need to be checked. our political editor chris mason has more on what could be in the deal. so what can we expect in this proposed new deal? a plan to make trade easier between england, scotland and wales, and northern ireland.

it looks like goods that are staying in northern ireland will be able to pass through a green or express lane, and those things going on into the republic of ireland, in the eu, will have to be checked via a red lane. it is also expected there will be a new arrangement about tax. northern ireland follows some eu rules on this and in particular around vat, and that is a real frustration to some. then there is how the rules are enforced. this involves the european court ofjustice, and critics of the protocol want to get rid of the role of the eu�*s court. that seems unlikely, but we can perhaps expect some sort this of promise to talk up other ways of sorting out disagreements first. and then there is also the issue of northern ireland having a say on ongoing rule changes that the eu makes.

this is a very tranquil setting that we are here for for these expected talks. but there is of course politicaljeopardy talks. but there is of course political jeopardy ahead. let�*s get some more on this now with our chief political correspondent, nick eardley. first of all, we are here in the grounds of this hotel in windsor. we can see the police doing security checks just behind us. can see the police doing security checksjust behind us. there is a chunk of the hotel cordoned off. what are we going to see play out here? ~ , ., here? the prime minister and the euro ean here? the prime minister and the european commission _ here? the prime minister and the european commission president | here? the prime minister and the i european commission president will arrive here, i think in a couple of hours�* time where they will thrash out the final details of this negotiation. now we are told repeatedly by number 10 this morning that there are still some things that there are still some things that need to be sorted out, particularly about the level of consent that northern ireland has to give foresight and rules but i think we can agree, we wouldn�*t be here today and being told they were having those high—level talks here at windsor without something being imminent. so we would expect the

deal in the early afternoon and then the prime minister will have a press conference with ursula von der leyen and then the hardest part of all because he will have to go back to parliament and sell the deal, and anyone who has followed brexit over the years will know that it is often that moment at westminster that carries the mostjeopardy. the dup are the first question. do they come on board with the deal? i suspect they will take a few days to mull it over and they will want to see the legal text before they decide but they have set the bar quite high for meeting their tests. so it is plausible that they don�*t back it. the question then would be, do they come out and criticise it and say it is a bad deal? the second group, of course, the brexiteer tory mps, who have always scrutinised these deals, who have often not been won over. in the last few days, they have made a lot of noises, some of them anyway, that they weren�*t happy. it is interesting, i spent a lot of the weekend phoning around tory mps tried to figure out the live the land and they are not all panicking, they are not all saying from what

they are not all saying from what they have heard and from what they have been told when they have been lobbied by senior cabinet ministers over the weekend, they are not saying nojust over the weekend, they are not saying no just yet. over the weekend, they are not saying nojust yet. again, they want to see the detail. there are some who are unlikely to buy it. there are some who i think can be persuaded. the big question is how big is the rebellion in rishi sunak�*s own party? pm? big is the rebellion in rishi sunak's own party? big is the rebellion in rishi sunak's own -a ? �* , ., ., sunak's own party? any word from boris johnson _ sunak's own party? any word from boris johnson yet? _ sunak's own party? any word from boris johnson yet? not _ sunak's own party? any word from boris johnson yet? not this - sunak's own party? any word from i boris johnson yet? not this morning but look, i mean, _ boris johnson yet? not this morning but look, i mean, he _ boris johnson yet? not this morning but look, i mean, he has _ boris johnson yet? not this morning but look, i mean, he has made - boris johnson yet? not this morning but look, i mean, he has made it. but look, i mean, he has made it clear that he wants the northern ireland protocol bill, this piece of legislation he came up with, which would basically give the uk unilateral powers to basically ignore some of the rules of the deal they agreed with brussels, he wants that to continue through parliament. i don�*t think it well. once this deal is signed today, i think you�*ll start to hear the argument from the prime minister that there is no need for it any more, and the european union almost certainly would not have signed up to a deal with significant concessions if they thought that bill was going to go ahead. so i think that has become

part of the negotiation. boris johnson is not happy about that and you know, again, without sounding too much like we are in 2019, everybody watches out for what boris johnson says on brexit deals. a lot of tory mps will probably listen to what he says. he has the ability, if he comes out against it, to cause real trouble for the prime minister. he is reserving the right to do so. and we know that his political ambitions are not yet over and rishi sunak would like this as part of his political legacy to take to a general election. and for people watching around the world, why does this matter on a wider front? watching around the world, why does this matter on a widerfront? look. this matter on a wider front? look, the key sell — this matter on a wider front? look, the key sell you _ this matter on a wider front? look, the key sell you will— this matter on a wider front? look, the key sell you will hear— this matter on a wider front? look, the key sell you will hear from - the key sell you will hear from rishi sunak this afternoon i suspect will be that this deal works for northern ireland. it will keep northern ireland. it will keep northern ireland. it will keep northern ireland as part of the union and it will make trade easier. that is importantjust in terms of how life works for people in

northern ireland. that is a big element of what we will get today. but the other is where it leaves politics in the uk. this is probably the biggest political moment of rishi sunak�*s timeous prime minister so far. last week, we heard a lot of people nosing off about concerns they had about this deal but rishi sunak has decided to call their bluff, to take them on and say, i think the deal works. his team seem pretty confident he has got a really good deal. i think we will hear that cell from him. he said to one of the newspapers, the sunday times, over the weekend, that this was the deal that got brexit done more than boris johnson had done. so this is a big political moment for him, and if you can get through it, i think it will leave him strengthened. if there is a big rebellion, then it could leave him weakened and all bets are off. very briefly, we are in winter and lots of speculation over the last few days about whether the king was going to be involved, just explained that. i going to be involved, 'ust explained that. ., , ., , ., that. i was told this morning we were in berkshire _ that. i was told this morning we were in berkshire but— that. i was told this morning we |

were in berkshire but somebody that. i was told this morning we l were in berkshire but somebody a that. i was told this morning we - were in berkshire but somebody a map to say we�*re on the the border with surrey. but you are right, on friday, there had been a meeting pencilled in between ursula von der leyen and the king. i wouldn�*t be too surprised if that still happened. that is likely to be controversial if it happens because some tory mps think that, some i have spoken to think that is bringing the royal family into politics and it is not something they want to see. i suspect the defence would be that it is not uncommon for senior political leaders to be wined and dined by the royalfamily as part leaders to be wined and dined by the royal family as part of a diplomatic relationship. but we will see. nothing from number 10 nor the palacejust yet. i nothing from number 10 nor the palace just yet-— nothing from number 10 nor the palace just yet. palace 'ust yet. i watch this space. for palace just yet. i watch this space. for now, palace just yet. i watch this space. for new. nick _ palace just yet. i watch this space. for now, nick eardley, _ palace just yet. i watch this space. for now, nick eardley, thank - palace just yet. i watch this space. for now, nick eardley, thank you i for now, nick eardley, thank you very much and nick will be with us in the coming hours. let�*s get the view from europe now and speak to our brussels correspondent jessica parker. we were talking last night, the expectation is that there is going to be a deal signed today? yes.

expectation is that there is going to be a deal signed today? yes, i mean, to be a deal signed today? yes, i mean. as — to be a deal signed today? yes, i mean. as we _ to be a deal signed today? yes, i mean, as we were _ to be a deal signed today? yes, i mean, as we were discussing, i to be a deal signed today? yes, i | mean, as we were discussing, we to be a deal signed today? yes, i - mean, as we were discussing, we knew from talking to sources that the plan, once they got to a point, the eu and the uk, when they thought a deal was in the offing, was that ursula von der leyen, the eu chiefs, would head to the uk in order to have the handshake moment. she is heading to the uk, we have been hearing for weeks and more recently days that a deal was getting very close. so it seems highly likely to me that that is where things are not. having said that, speaking to uk government sources last night, there was still a sense of caution. "we are not there yet", they were saying, the negotiators were still nailing down the final text last night as well so it is not impossible it could all fall apart at the last minute but certainly from where i am sat, having followed this all pretty closely, it seems to me this is the choreography in place to do a deal between the uk and the eu, as nick has been talking about, of course, the next question will be whether rishi sunak can do a deal with his own party and get unionists

on side in northern ireland as well. in terms of what europe would gain from this, can you just explain that? obviously, brexit lefta from this, can you just explain that? obviously, brexit left a lot of tensions over a range of questions, and the whole economic progress and prosperity of the uk. yes, so i think in terms of what could happen next for the eu and uk relationship, more broadly, maybe it will help it move on a new phase. brexit obviously caused a lot of bitterness. frankly, here in brussels, and the people who work here in brussels, a lot of people are invested in the european project and they really believe in it but they were gobsmacked that the uk decided to leave the european union and found it hard, many of them, to understand, and there was obviously all the bitterness over the negotiations as well. and then this dispute over the northern ireland protocol has been a cloud in those post—brexit years over the relationship, for example, because the uk was not actually properly

implementing the treaty. the uk started legal action. so there has been a sense that the relationship has not really been able to move on and not only that, actually, there are things that are outstanding, that haven�*t happened as a result of this dispute, most notably, uk access or full access to the eu�*s flagship multi—billion pound horizon research programme. britain wants in on that programme, the eu has been blocking full access because of the dispute over northern ireland so a lot of people involved in academia and research will be watching very closely to see if that is a first step that might be taken in the coming weeks if this deal is done. jessica parker in brussels, thank you. our ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast for us. all eyes on the dup. they have to watch out for all different factions, don�*t they, within their political spectrum, within their political spectrum, within their political supporters, in terms of

how they then react to this? do you think we are going to get instant reaction or a delay in a response from them today? i reaction or a delay in a response from them today?— reaction or a delay in a response from them today? i would be very surrised from them today? i would be very surprised if— from them today? i would be very surprised if there _ from them today? i would be very surprised if there is _ from them today? i would be very surprised if there is an _ from them today? i would be very surprised if there is an immediate j surprised if there is an immediate reaction from the democratic unionist party. i think it is much more likely that the dup will have a wait and see attitude. the party leader sirjeffrey donaldson i would imagine would want to say that he is going off to consult with members of his party, with the various governing bodies within his party, with grassroots members also. it is likely that the dup will have lawyers involved in looking at the details of any legal text that emerges between the uk and the eu. looking at aspects of that text, for example, how does it affect, if it affects, the legislation called the

act of union, which basically is the piece of law in london that maintains northern ireland�*s position within the uk. what does the legal text mean for trade between northern ireland and england, scotland and wales? what does it mean for who ultimately makes laws for northern ireland? senior dup members have particularly in the last few weeks been emphasising that in their view, there is a democratic deficit here, that part of their problem with the protocol, they would say, is that laws are made for northern ireland, not by politicians here at stormont, outside belfast, usually, where the devolved government is based, not by politicians in london but they would say ultimately by brussels so the role of the eu�*s highest court, the european court ofjustice, that will be scrutinised by the dup i think. important to remember also that although it is the dup that is currently vetoing the formation of a power—sharing devolved government

here in belfast, the other parties in northern ireland would be very keen to have their say on what is agreed. the nationalist party sinn fein, who are the biggest party in the devolved assembly here, the second—biggest nationalist party, the sdlp, the party which is neither unionist nor nationalist or all of those parties have broadly supported the protocol as it stands as a means of managing the fallout from brexit. so they will want to make the point that they would want any new agreement between london and brussels to maintain what they would see as the big economic advantages of the protocol, and that being that northern ireland businesses can sell goods tariff free into both the uk market and the eu market. that, they would say, but northern ireland in a unique position and that should continue. so as ever in this part of the uk, it is a complex picture but i think most of the focus in the uk and internationally perhaps will be on what the dup ultimately makes of

the deal. will it be enough for the dup in their view to lift their veto and allow northern ireland�*s devolved government to be restored? there has been no fully functioning devolved government here now for more than a year.— more than a year. chris page in belfast, more than a year. chris page in belfast. for _ more than a year. chris page in belfast, for now, _ more than a year. chris page in belfast, for now, thank - more than a year. chris page in belfast, for now, thank you - more than a year. chris page in | belfast, for now, thank you very much. we will be back to you in the coming hour. people will be looking at the text when it is released of the deal, if it is indeed signed off here in windsor. as we know, we are then expecting action to move to a press conference later and then back to the house of commons. what people will be watching for is any signs from the dup because that will affect in part what the conservative brexit backers say, whether they welcome this deal or whether they object to it, the numbers in the house of commons also matter of course. rishi sunak has inherited a very big conservative majority from borisjohnson and then liz truss but of course, the response of the conservative party, whether those

divisions can be healed, whether the uk is seen to be able to move on in a more progressive way with the eu, thatis a more progressive way with the eu, that is what is all at stake here as well as the future of politics in northern ireland and beyond. that�*s all for now from windsor, back to you in the studio. 61 people have drowned while trying to reach europe, after their boat sank in rough seas off southern italy. at least 12 were children, including a baby and young twins. it�*s thought the boat — which left izmir in eastern turkey three days ago — was said to be overloaded with close to 150 people. vincent mcaviney has more. on saturday night, another tragedy in the mediterranean. by dawn, this debris was all that was left of a migrant boat that broke up in rough seas just off the calabrian coast. it�*s thought the vessel left izmir in eastern turkey three days prior, with as many as 150 crowded aboard. but only around 80 survivors washed

up ashore near the town of crotone. rescue workers struggled in the conditions to rescue bodies from the waves. dozens, including a baby, are known to have drowned. the regional governor visited the scene. translation: calabria is a region that welcomes people. _ last year, we welcomed 18,000 migrants, but we can�*t be abandoned by the rest of europe. this type of tragedy should have been avoided, not lived how we�*re having to live it today and how we will live it again in the future. reacting to the weekend�*s loss of life, the head of the eu commission ursula von der leyen said eu countries must redouble their efforts to tackle the migration crisis in the central mediterranean. among passengers were migrants from iran, pakistan and afghanistan. despite the dangers, italy is one of the main landing points for people trying to reach europe in small boats. almost 12,000 migrants have already arrived by sea in italy this year.

in 2022, more than 105,000 successfully made the crossing, with over 1,300 dead or missing. although high, those numbers are down on the 2016 peak when there were over 180,000 arrivals by sea. the government blames people traffickers and has pledged to stop the boats. promised a safe passage to a better life, the victims of these gangs now lie beneath these sheets. for the survivors, like hundreds of thousands before them, they face an uncertain future. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. many of the migrants are believed to have come from pakistan, as our correspondent in islamabad caroline davies now reports. a lot of the information at the moment is still relatively unclear. speaking to official sources here in pakistan, at the moment, they�*re not even confirming that any people who were on board were from pakistan. of course, that has been in media reports from italy.

but despite the fact there�*s no official reports, no official names being released at the moment, there�*s already material that is circulating social media here, on whatsapp groups, which are images purporting to be people who have died in this tragic incident, showing images of people who are dead and also showing their photographs of their passports, of identification cards. this is of course unverified. at the moment, it is very difficult to know for certain the individuals that have been involved in this incident. but what is often being pointed to is many people might be from gujarat, which is an area of pakistan where it is quite common to have people who have been human trafficked out of that area and into other parts of the world, into europe as well. so at the moment, still a relatively unclear picture but this is still being pieced together. the pakistan authorities say they are waiting for more information from italy. the energy regulator ofgem has set

a new annual price cap for a typical household. the announcement will not affect what customers pay for each unit of gas and electricity, because that is limited by a government guarantee. the new price cap is set at £3,280. it represent a drop of £999 from the current energy price cap — it means the cost to government is falling. but the typical annual household bill is still set to rise to £3,000 in april because the government�*s guarantee will become less generous and a £400 winter discount on all bills ends. our money and work reporter peter ruddick has more. there�*s lots of schemes and numbers out there, so let�*s break this down. we�*re talking this morning about the energy price cap, the level that the regulator ofgem thinks that bills should be based on the wholesale cost of energy. this has been around for a long time, and it was supposed to stop our bills going up by massive amounts but of course, that was before the end of the pandemic and russia�*s

invasion of ukraine which kind of changed the game in terms of wholesale costs. so the government stepped in to subsidise our bills, to try to keep them low, at a cost to government finances, of course. currently, the energy price guarantee is doing that, it stands at £2,500. as you say, from april, it will become less generous, it will go up to £3,000 but all of the time this has been going on, the energy price cap has still been calculated by ofgem. today, the new price cap, the amount that ofgem thinks is a fair amount based on the wholesale cost of energy, is £3,280. that is above the government guarantee. so it won�*t impact how much we pay. we will still pay the £3,000 government guarantee level. but it�*s only marginally above the government guarantee. that means it�*s increasing pressure on the government to keep the guarantee at the current lower level of £2,500. why? because it would be a significant benefit to struggling households,

but it would come at a relatively small cost of the government, certainly smaller than previously feared. the outcome, though, is that as things stand, on 1st april, bills will go up, but the good news is that, as i say, the energy price cap is much lower than it has been in previous months. if current trends continue, comejuly, the price cap will be lower than the guarantee, meaning the government will be able to stop subsidising bills and the bills should start to come down a little bit. and they would also stop having to subsidise energy companies, wouldn�*t they, because the government compensates energy suppliers with the difference between the guarantee and the cap, assuming that the cap is higher than the guarantee, and that is why the pressure is on the government to keep helping consumers, because they�*re not having to compensate the energy suppliers by quite so much. exactly, that is right, so the energy price guarantee, which is what is subsidising bills, that is due to stay in place until 202a.

however, comejuly, it�*s probably going to be higher than the price cap, so it will be governed by the price cap and as you say, the government pays the suppliers the difference between the guarantee and the price cap. that subsidy, that government payment will essentially go away from july, meaning the government could be left with some money which as i say, campaigners and political opposition parties say it should be used to support people�*s bills right now. the government, it should be pointed out, say that this is just money that wouldn�*t be borrowed, as opposed to money that could be saved and spent elsewhere. the first results have been announced from nigeria�*s tightest election since the end of military rule in 1999. the ruling all progressives congress�*s candidate, bola ahmed tinubu, won the small southwestern state of ekiti. but it�*s still too early to predict who�*ll win the presidency, with more results expected soon. the election went more smoothly

than previous polls but delays and attacks on some polling stations meant voting was postponed until sunday in parts of the country. our west africa correspondent mayenijones is in lagos. things are a little quieter than they would usually be on a monday morning here on the streets of lagos. lots of people are still waiting to see what happens once the election results come out. they have been trickling out very, very slowly, and the electoral commission says that is because they have had issues with the new electronic voting system. it was meant to allow different polling stations to upload the results onto their website as they came in. that did not happen. 2a hours after ballots closed, many results were not up on the portal, which has fuelled speculation here that there is some kind of manipulation going on. people are not very trustworthy of the electoral process because this is a country that has a history of ballot rigging and vote buying. there has been by and large a consensus that the elections

on saturday were pretty peaceful. some isolated incidents of ballot snatching, some violent shooting in lagos, in one northern state and in some southern states, some instances of violence but by and large, the elections went pretty well. later today, the electoral commission will be releasing more results and we should have a clearer picture of who is in the lead. israeli settlers in the occupied west bank have set fire to palestinian buildings, killing one palestinian man. the palestinian red crescent said it had treated nearly 400 wounded people. the rampage followed the shooting dead of two israelis in a village near nablus. residents alleged that israeli soldiers helped the settlers carry out the revenge attack. earlier, our correspondent yolanda knell told us more. violence has been rising in the west bank since the beginning of the year. tension is extremely high and actually, as all this violence began to unfold around hawara, close to nablus yesterday, there was a summit

going on, an unusual one, between israeli and palestinian security officials, the first time they have met face—to—face, we are told, in many years, to try to find ways to work closely together to bring down the violence. this just showed really that challenge that they are going to face. you had this incident where we�*re told a palestinian gunman rammed the car at a busy junction, where there were two israeli settlers from a nearby settlement sitting in their car. he then got out and shot them at close range. the israeli military are still hunting for that gunman but very quickly, it was announced on social media by settler groups that they planned to avenge those deaths. they planned protests. and then we could see videos that were circulating on social media that for hours, the situation seemed to get out of control. there were large groups of settlers setting fire to palestinian properties, throwing stones, there

was one palestinian man who was killed in a nearby village after palestinian officials said settlers and soldiers entered there. but really, this part of the west bank is under full israeli control. palestinian authority security forces do not have the option to go in there without special coordination, and the palestinians are saying that they felt they were completely unprotected and very vulnerable. there have been lots of international calls for calm and for things to be done about this. the british ambassador to israel said, for example, that these were terrible scenes and called for israel to do more to act against settler violence. more now on those final northern ireland post—brexit talks between the prime minister and the european commission. earlier, my colleague geeta guru—murthy spoke with anand menon, director of uk in a changing europe — a think tank for independent research on uk—eu relations.

some in the conservative party and the dup, this is notjust about trade between great britain and northern ireland, it's about sovereignty, so what this piece of paper says about the role of the european court, what it says about whether northern ireland will get any say over the eu rules that will apply on its territory, will be absolutely fundamental. and here, it's worth saying here that the point of the protocol is to avoid a border between the north and south of ireland and the way it does that is by putting northern ireland under some eu laws, particularly when it comes to trade in goods. given that, and given that both sides don't want the north—south border in northern ireland, eu law will continue to have some role in northern ireland and the eu will make that law and we won't get a vote on it and the eu court will have a role in interpreting it, so we have to wait and see whether the potential opponents are willing to compromise a bit and allow some role for those eu institutions. how much of a political

risk or a test is this for rishi sunak, in your view? i mean, is there a real danger of enough conservative critics derailing this? or is it likely that the political momentum will be to support the government? well, it's both a huge test at a huge opportunity. it's a test because insofar as he's faced challenges from his party so far during his tenure in numberio, he's tended to swerve them, either by compromise or by backing off. this time, he seems to be going full speed ahead and saying, opposition or not, i think we need to get this sorted. you know, it's a moment of truth. we remember moments of truth that theresa may had, back with the meaningful vote. it's the equivalent, albeit without the formal parliamentary vote but it's an opportunity, too, because i think number 10 sees a deal on the protocol as a way of unlocking all kinds of things, whether it is uk participation in eu research projects or prospects

in the forthcoming summit with president macron in paris, bearing real fruit when it comes to collaboration over the small boats issue, so there is quite a lot at stake. and in terms of how this affects economic growth across the uk well because we have heard forecasts and current numbers saying that, you know, gdp in the uk has fallen as a result of brexit in part at the moment, does this potentially, this deal, unlock a bit of room for economic improvement? it might unlock a tiny bit. the main impact of leaving the eu has been leaving the single market and there is no way the prime minister is going to countenance something like that, but it provides certainty for those businesses in northern ireland and trading with northern ireland. it also provides a broader certainty because as long as the stand—off over the protocol was going on, companies were not certain if we'd end up with a trade war with the eu if they retaliated against what they saw as our failure to implement it.

moving on, if the mood music becomes better, there are all sorts of issues, notably the rules covering exports of electric vehicles, that the two sides are due to be negotiating on in the next few years and those negotiations might get a bit easier in a context in which we're getting on better and the protocol issue has been laid to rest. police in northern ireland have been given more time to question a man about the attempted murder of an off—duty police officer last week. detective chief inspectorjohn caldwell was shot outside a sports centre in omagh on wednesday and remains in hospital. in total, six people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, and the police�*s main line of inquiry is that the dissident republican group the new ira is responsible. a new law increasing the legal age of marriage to 18 has come into force in england and wales. previously, people could get married at 16 or 17 if they had parental consent. there was also no law against ceremonies for younger

children which were not registered with local councils. the government says these changes will help protect vulnerable children from being forced into marriage. the changes don�*t apply in scotland and northern ireland, where the minimum age will remain 16. when russia invaded ukraine a year ago, one of the biggest successes they achieved was in southern ukraine. within a few days, russian troops attacking from crimea had seized territory bigger than switzerland. to understand more about the early stages of the war, the bbc�*s abdujalil abdurasulov has spoken to military officers, politicians and activists. this is the moment when russian troops invaded ukraine from crimea a year ago. a few hours later, they travelled more than 100 kilometres deep inside ukraine proper. within a few days, they seized territory that was larger than switzerland. in less than a week,

the russian troops managed to reach the outskirts of this city, the city of mykolaiv, where they faced fierce resistance and they were eventually pushed back. but how did the russian troops manage to cross a narrow strip of land from crimea into the ukrainian mainland and capture vast territories of the country�*s south so quickly? the bridges across the strait and irrigation channels were not destroyed to slow down the russian advancement. why? the authorities say that they are still investigating this case. the secretary of ukraine�*s security council, oleksiy danilov, claims that they expected the invasion on february 22nd. and this secret map seized from a russian commander confirms the intelligence reports. mr danilov claims they had to prepare for the invasion secretly in order to avoid panic. translation: just imagine the president of the country comes out and says, dear citizens, we will have a war in two weeks.

then chaos starts, which no one can control. and this is exactly what russia wanted to achieve. but events in the south showed that they were not prepared for russia�*s lightning—fast advancement. ukrainian troops had to retreat from the kherson region as russian forces simply outnumbered them. for two days, yevgeny palchenko, commander of a tank company, defended strategically important antonov bridge near the city of kherson. translation: around midnight, a bloody battle started. russians were using mortars, fighter jets and helicopters against us. artillery was firing at us nonstop. the fierce resistance of his tank unit gave a few extra days for mykolaiv to prepare for a russian attack. and this man, general marchenko, was sent to organise its defence. within a few days, he mobilised

citizens and distributed weapons. they attacked columns of military vehicles and shot down russian helicopters. this city�*s resistance became a turning point in this war, but they had to pay a heavy price for that. a bbc panorama investigation has uncovered evidence that women are being misled and manipulated about abortion by some crisis pregnancy advice centres in the uk. the centres — which operate outside the nhs — say they offer support to women dealing with unplanned pregnancies. but the bbc found more than a third of the services gave advice which could dissuade women from having abortions. contrary to nhs advice, several said abortion could increase the risk of breast cancer, infertility and mental health problems. divya talwar reports. i knew an abortion was the right route for me. i needed somebody to reassure me that it will be ok. melanie was 25 when she found out she was pregnant.

she spoke to an adviser at the pregnancy crisis helpline, which says it gives women a safe space to explore their options. but melanie says she felt pressured not to have an abortion. she had said about the likelihood of me being infertile after having an abortion, and that i might not be able to have children again. the pregnancy crisis helpline says it supports women in a safe, pressure—free environment, and it works hard to offer women the highest possible standard of support. there are at least 57 crisis pregnancy advice services operating outside the nhs in the uk. bbc panorama found evidence that 21 of the centres gave advice that could dissuade women from having abortions. several linked termination to breast cancer, infertility and post—abortion syndrome, a nonexistent disorder. i decided to secretly film a visit to one of these centres, tyneside pregnancy advice centre in

newcastle. it says it offers information provided by trained advisers. we know what's going on, don't we? we know that life is precious, we know that babies are being killed in the womb. it�*s run by this man, an nhs paediatrician who has anti—abortion views, dr chris richards. i made an appointment with audrey, who i�*m told is an adviser. i say i have two children and i�*m pregnant again. i don�*t know what to do, because i have been pregnant before. she says if i want an abortion, i should consult the nhs website. she also gives me a leaflet. i know you can see here the physical risks. and then you�*ve got the psychological effects like guilt, shame, grief, depression. there�*s a lot here. i suppose the one that sticks out the most to me is the avoidance of children,

what does that mean? i show the footage to drjonathan lord from abortion provider msi reproductive choices, and jo holmes from the british association for counselling and psychotherapy. leaving it in the way she did, about "how will you tell your daughters?" it�*s just extraordinary. extraordinary, it'sjust going straight for the guilt button. yeah. dr chris richards says the tyneside pregnancy advice centre has "a 1k year track record of compliance with all our regulatory obligations" and "that over 1,200 women have benefited from the work of our staff and volunteers." audrey didn�*t respond. most of the centres we investigated are registered charities. the charity commission in england says it�*s assessing information provided by panorama. i think it�*s shaken my trust in crisis lines.

i felt really uneasy that she might influence women�*s decisions away from what was right for them. divya talwar, bbc news. jo holmes is from the british association of counselling and psychotherapy — i asked her how worried she was by panorama�*s findings? i mean, not having access to a qualified, professionally trained counsellor at a time when pregnant women either want to explore their options or go through their decision—making processes with someone who isn�*t going to judge them because they want to access an abortion service, is a huge barrier, because they have a right to impartial, judgment—free service and a right to make choices about their own bodies. so how does this impact women? i mean, it has a tremendous impact on women. it�*s going to delay their times to be able to access services and it just isn�*t a fair service. what would motivate someone who claims to be a counsellor

to act in this way? well, they are not counsellors. they are people who are working under that guise. to be a counsellor, you have to be a trained professional with years of study, you�*re a member of a professional membership body. i think it gives people some confidence that they are speaking to somebody who is going to give them a nonjudgemental view, but that is not the case. these aren�*t counsellors, and they certainly aren�*t members of a professional body. so what should women be looking for to make sure they are in the right hands? if you�*re going to see a counsellor in any service, you should be ensuring that they are a member of the bacp or any other professional body, that they are trained, that there is a clear process for making a complaint

if they weren�*t happy with the service. women accessing abortion services through a counselling service would expect that space to be safe and boundaried and judgment—free, and this hasn�*t been the case in this programme. what does it highlight for you in terms of what regulation is needed when it comes to setting up as a counsellor? well, anyone can call themselves a counsellor or therapist, because it�*s not a protected title, such as a teacher or social worker. so it�*s important to find a counsellor who�*s a member of a professional body that has professional standards authority accredited register, such as bacp. bacp counsellors, once qualified, are proficient to practise safely and are listed on the register. you could look up the name of a counsellor and find out which association they are a member of. crisis pregnancy centres uncovered is on bbc panorama on the iplayer.

if you�*ve been affected by any of the issues raised, you can find organisations offering help and support on the bbc action line website, just search bbc.co.uk/actionline. we have some breaking news now from nigeria, where they are busy announcing some more election results. we are told by our correspondent in lagos that it appears that in the largest state of lagos, where the apc candidate bola tinubu was governor, they voted for the third party, the labour party candidate, peter obi. of course, this has been a two—party system in nigeria for many years. but in these elections, the labour party is managing to break through and over the weekend, they were saying it was too close to call who was going to

win the presidential race. we are expecting more results throughout the day in what is the tightest election in nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999. safety investigators say doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other nhs staff in england are facing "significant distress" and harm as a result of long delays in emergency care. the healthcare safety investigation branch,= says many staff broke down in tears when asked about their working environment. our health correspondent jim reed reports. this winter was a nightmare, the worst it�*s ever been. matt works as a 999 call handler in england. he doesn�*t have permission to speak to the media, so we�*ve changed his name and voice. at one point, we hit more than 500 waiting calls. we were overwhelmed. it�*s exhausting, it really is. it�*s really upsetting.

the health care safety watchdog says pressure like that has caused nhs staff significant distress over the last year. call handlers told investigators it was common to worry "how many are we going to kill," because they were not always able to send ambulances quickly. it�*s so deflating, especially for those really critical calls where they�*re screaming to get an ambulance. you just don�*t have the heart to tell them there�*s nothing available. i�*ve seen colleagues try to calm someone down and apologise for the wait time, only to be hit with a wall of abuse. i�*ve seen colleagues cry after those calls. the investigation also found strong links between the wellbeing of nhs staff and patient safety. anxiety, stress and depression are the most common reason for staff sickness in the health service, with rates increasing. carrying out this investigation has been difficult. we have heard the level of emotion that staff are under. but we absolutely have to tell the staff story because there is a direct impact on patient safety. it has been absolutely relentless. imploding comes to mind. dr salwa malik has worked for five

years as a consultant in a busy a&e department. you're basically running a resuscitation room in the corridor and you get scared, you do. it's natural, it's good to feel scared because you should be scared. it's not normal. how easy is it to go home and switch off after one of those shifts? you can't always switch off, actually. i've had nights where you go over the scenarios in your head about patients or whatever problem that you were in, and it can be really difficult to sleep. if you're on edge for ten, 12 hours a day, at the end when you walk out, you can kind of crumble. the nhs said it takes staff wellbeing very seriously and does have a range of support in place. the government said it has provided more funding to reduce pressures with plans to expand the number of hospital beds and ambulances in england by next winter. jim reed, bbc news.

an australian firm has bought the defunct battery making company british volt, which collapsed last month with the loss of 200 jobs. the uk start—up had planned to build a giant factory to make electric car batteries in northumberland but struggled to turn a profit. the new owner, recharge industries, will keep the british volt brand name and will initially focus on batteries for energy storage. in hong kong, four people charged in connection with the killing of 28—year—old abby choi have appeared in court. police found the model�*s remains in a house on the outskirts of the city where she is believed to have been killed. authorities say the suspects include her ex—husband, as well as his brother and father. organisers of protests in mexico against reform of the electoral agency say half a million people have taken to the streets across the country. they say plans to slash the institute�*s funding are an attack on democracy. the authorities in brazil say last week�*s floods and landslides in the state of sao paulo have killed 64 people, including 18 children.

a search effort is continuing for one missing person. police in the sri lankan capital, colombo, have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a protest against the postponement of local elections. the government said it couldn�*t fund them because of the financial crisis. hollywood awards season is heating up, with everything everywhere all at once winning big at the screen actors guild awards in los angeles. these winners are closely watched because actors make up the largest group of voters at next month�*s oscars. emer mccarthy reports. and the actor goes to everything everywhere all at once. it�*s the dimension—hopping adventure seemingly winning everything everywhere all at once as it dominated sunday night�*s screen actors guild awards. along with the top honour, the film also won best

supporting actress forjamie lee curtis, best supporting actor for ke huy quan and best actress for michelle yeoh. thank you for giving me a seat at the table, because so many of us need this. we want to be seen, we want to be heard. and tonight, you have shown us that it is possible. best lead actor went to brendan fraser, the only performer from a film other than everything everywhere to win a movie prize for his turn as a morbidly obese teacher in the whale. believe me, if you just stay in there and you put one foot in front of the other, you�*ll get to where you need to go. and the actor goes to... the white lotus. on the tv side, it was the cast

of the white lotus that the prize for ensemble in a drama series, its 83—year—old star f murray abraham summing it up. this was the bestjob i ever had. the sag awards are voted on by more than 120,000 members of hollywood�*s acting union, and are seen as a major indicator for the oscars. and with those gold men set to be handed out in just two weeks, the race for gold is as open as ever. emer mccarthy, bbc news. the recent awards showed us what we can expect at the oscars next month, where our entertainment correspondent colin paterson will be attending. but for now, let�*s speak to colin about what happened last night. so the big winner seems a bit of a john robusta?_ so the big winner seems a bit of a john robusta? ~ , ,., , , john robusta? absolutely. everything eve here john robusta? absolutely. everything everywhere all _ john robusta? absolutely. everything everywhere all at _ john robusta? absolutely. everything everywhere all at once _ john robusta? absolutely. everything everywhere all at once is _ john robusta? absolutely. everything everywhere all at once is now - john robusta? absolutely. everything everywhere all at once is now a - everywhere all at once is now a clear favourite to win best picture at the oscars, but there is a big butt. the oscars uses a different

voting system to all the other award shows. it uses a transferable vote system, the preferential ballot, so it is often not the film that gets the most first choices from the votes. the most popularfilm in the balance doesn�*t always win. it�*s the consensus film. and if there is something you would say about this film, it does not appeal to everyone. it is quite bonkers. it�*s a sort of absurdist comedy. it�*s part sci—fi, part kung fu. it deals with the multi—verse, and it is winning. last night, it won more sag awards than any film in history, winning every category it was nominated in, taking home four of the five acting prizes. tell nominated in, taking home four of the five acting prizes.— the five acting prizes. tell us who else might _ the five acting prizes. tell us who else might do _ the five acting prizes. tell us who else might do well, _ the five acting prizes. tell us who else might do well, then, - the five acting prizes. tell us who else might do well, then, in - the five acting prizes. tell us who else might do well, then, in the l else might do well, then, in the oscars? there are often many films that managed to break through. is it

an indication of what has won in other award ceremonies and where the oscars might end up?— oscars might end up? yeah. last ear, the oscars might end up? yeah. last year. the five _ oscars might end up? yeah. last year, the five winners _ oscars might end up? yeah. last year, the five winners at - oscars might end up? yeah. last year, the five winners at the - oscars might end up? yeah. last year, the five winners at the side j year, the five winners at the side awards were repeated at the oscars — best actor, actress, supporting categories and then instead of best picture, they have ensemble. that is what the actors have instead best picture. what you have are some ding—dong head—to—head races. let�*s quickly go through them. in best actress, michelle yeoh won last night for everything everywhere all at once. now, she has won at the golden globes. she has won here. but after baftas and at the critics choice, it was cate blanchett who won four tar, where she plays a conductor accused of abuse. so we have a head—to—head battle there. let�*s go for best actor, where brendan fraser won last night for the whale. he also had a previous success during this awards season. he won the critics choice award. but when it came to the baftas and the

golden globes, it was austin butler who won for his role as elvis. so again, a real ding—dong head—to—head. and in best supporting actress, possibly the biggest shock of last night was jamie lee curtis winning for playing a tax inspector in, again, everything everywhere all at once. and the person that she beat was angela bassett, who had been seen as the clear favourite to win this category at the oscars. that is for playing a grieving queen in the black panther movie. now we have another ding—dong head—to—head. that is three out of the four categories that we do not have a clue who is going to win until the moment the envelope is opened. the one that i would betjust about everything i own on is that when it comes to best supporting actor, and again last night, that was won by ke huy quan, who has won everything going apart from at the baftas. he plays the husband in everything

everywhere all at once. it is his story that is winning this, because he was a child star who retired for 30 years. this is his first role since then and i guarantee you, it�*s going to win an oscar. we were know in two sundays�* time. we going to win an oscar. we were know in two sundays' time.— in two sundays' time. we will test our in two sundays' time. we will test your theory! _ in two sundays' time. we will test your theory! thank _ in two sundays' time. we will test your theory! thank you, _ in two sundays' time. we will test your theory! thank you, colin - your theory! thank you, colin paterson. now — some pictures which prove that the recent snowy weather in parts of america hasn�*t been bad news for everyone. these playful seals have been enjoying rolling around in the snow at oregon zoo, which remains closed to visitors due to the conditions. the city of portland recorded nearly 11 inches or 28 centimetres of snow in one day earlier this week — its second snowiest day on record. in a very rare display, the northern lights were seen as far south as kent and cornwall on sunday night. across more northern areas of the uk, the display was one of the best seen in a very long time by bbc weather watchers.

stay with us. in the hours ahead, more on the northern ireland protocol deal. hello again. under clear skies last night, the northern lights were seen as far south as southern england. under this area of high pressure tonight, there is a good chance we could see them again where the cloud remains broken. this high pressure is fairly dominant. it is going to be with us for much of the week. what is happening is, we have got the air coming around it, so an onshore breeze along the north sea coastline blowing in some showers through the course of the day. the cloud building in the south—west and south wales and breaking across the south—east through the day. the lion�*s share of the sunshine in western scotland. temperatures, 7—10 degrees. 7—9 as we come down this coastline. but when you add on the breeze coming in from the north sea, instead of 7—9 on the north sea coast, it will feel more

like 5—6 degrees. as we head on through the evening and overnight, this is where we are looking at clear skies. if you get the chance, go out and see if you can see the northern lights. they won�*t be vibrant colours. they will be white, more like clouds that are swaying. there will also be some frost where we have clear skies. for many of us, it is going to be a cloudy night with one or two showers. that is how we start the day tomorrow, still under the influence of high pressure. the lion�*s share of the sunshine across scotland after the cold start, but we will also see some sunshine across parts of southern england and south wales. but still showers coming in from the north sea, drifting across eastern england, into the midlands and also parts of wales. at the same time, another little system coming up from the near continent, introducing some sharper showers. top temperatures up to 10 degrees. through the course of the week, high pressure remains with us. you can see from the isobars there is not going to be much breeze. not a lot will change. still a fair bit of cloud around. still a breeze coming

in from the north sea. we will see some of those showers. brighter breaks at times across the far south—east and the chance of a few showers on wednesday across the far north. but temperatures roughly where we would expect them to be at this stage of the year, between 7—9 degrees. on wednesday into thursday and then into the weekend, high pressure remains with us. you can see this weather front is trying to come in from the atlantic but not having much success. for the ensuing couple of days, things remain fairly static with variable amounts of cloud and some sunny spells and average temperatures.

this is bbc news, i�*m geeta guru—murthy live in windsor. the headlines at 11. the uk and eu are set to hold final talks on a new brexit agreement for northern ireland as the prime minister meets his european counterpart today. ursula von der leyen will be here today. i�*m chris page live in belfast — we�*ll bring you the latest reaction from here in northern ireland. and we�*ll also be bringing

you all the latest reaction from europe, as ursula von der leyen makes her way to the uk. and here in windsor. i�*m shaun ley, with you from our london studios — the other headlines at 11... growing pressure on the government to stop energy bill rises in april as the energy regulator ofgem announces a new price cap. nhs staff tell safety investigators they feared patients were dying as they grappled with long ambulance delays. and it�*s back! the bbc�*s reality game show �*the traitors�* will return for a second season. hello and welcome to bbc news. we are in the grounds of a rather swish hotel in windsor. the prime

minister and european commission leader are due to meet your in the next hour or so. the prime minister and the european commission are due to hold "final talks" on a new post—brexit trade dealfor northern ireland on monday. a new deal has been expected for days. rishi sunak and ursula von der leyen will meet in windsor to discuss "complex challenges" around the exisiting deal — what�*s called the northern ireland protocol. there has been much debate and speculation about it but we know that today�*s there will be a cabinet meeting later on monday, where an update on those talks will be given.

if a final deal is agreed, the prime minister and ms von der leyen will hold a short joint press conference. rishi sunak would then make a statement in the house of commons. so, what is the protocol and why is it important? since brexit, exports from the uk to the eu are subject to checks, to ensure they conform with eu rules. but in order to avoid controls on the border between northern ireland and the irish republic, goods sent from the rest of britain across the irish sea are checked on arrival in northern ireland. critics argue that effectively creates a border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. but proponents of the deal say the alternative is a hard border with the republic, which would increase political tensions in northern ireland.

the uk now wants to change the agreement so that fewer goods need to be checked. 01’ or that there are different types of cheques. —— or that there are different types of checks. our political editor, chris mason, has more on what could be in the deal. what can we expect in this proposed new deal? a plan to make trade easier between england, scotland and wales

and northern ireland. it�*s also expected that there�*ll be a new arrangement about tax. northern ireland follows some eu rules on this and in particular around vat, and that is a real frustration to some. then there is how the rules are enforced. this involves the european court ofjustice and critics of the protocol want to get rid of the role of the eu�*s court. that seems unlikely, but we can perhaps expect some sort of promise to talk up other ways of sorting out disagreements first. and then there is also the issue of northern ireland having a say on ongoing rule changes that the eu makes. well, we are here in windsorfor a reason and that is because this is where the prime minister rishi sunak is expected to exit from and meet ursula von der leyen at this location. there will be a lot in the choreography in the old political theatre of it because if rishi sunak does manage to secure a deal and gets to present this to the country as his take on clearing up the ongoing difficulties of brexit, that is a political victory for the moment but all eyes then turned to the dup and the conservative erg members to see if they will back it or try to make life difficult and we

already know the labour party and liberal democrats are broadly supportive. let�*s get some more on this now with our chief political correspondent, nick eardley. this is the hotel be expected to lead us to pull up at and we have seen a lot of security checks but they are presenting this year in windsor because they want to prepare a strong kind of optical vision of success here because that is a big political wing, success here because that is a big politicalwing, isn�*t success here because that is a big political wing, isn�*t it, success here because that is a big politicalwing, isn�*t it, if success here because that is a big political wing, isn�*t it, if they do that? political wing, isn't it, if they do that? , , , ., political wing, isn't it, if they do that? , , ., ., that? yes, both sides will want to take something _ that? yes, both sides will want to take something away _ that? yes, both sides will want to take something away from - that? yes, both sides will want to take something away from it - that? yes, both sides will want to take something away from it and l that? yes, both sides will want to | take something away from it and it looks like both sides have compromised as well but assuming this gets over the line, i don�*t think we would be here if we did not think we would be here if we did not think it would get over the line, i think it would get over the line, i think the prime minister will sell it to the country as an answer to some of the big challenges that have come from the post—brexit trading arrangement so the difficulty of getting some goods from great britain to northern ireland, we think the checks will be vastly reduced and the prime minister will say that is good for the people of

northern ireland, pitching this is a good dealfor the union northern ireland, pitching this is a good deal for the union that keeps northern ireland within the uk�*s economic market but whatever happens here, the deal will be what really matters, it is that legal text of where we see it that we pore over but perhaps more importantly the dup and conservative backbenchers pour over as well because the dup have been keeping quiet for the last 24 spot we know they�*ve had significant concerns that this does not go far enough, they will want to look over this with lawyers to see what the practical implications would be and likewise have chatted to a lot of conservative mps over the past few days, some of whom are deeply sceptical about some elements of this deal, they want to see what is written down in legal text before they make theirjudgment as well. it is interesting because some of the tory mps who are preparing to man the barricades over this sound a bit

more consolatory last night, i�*m not sure that means they will definitely sign up. —— they seem a bit more conciliatory. they will want more detail before they decide on a thumbs up ourselves down. is this clearin: thumbs up ourselves down. is this clearing up — thumbs up ourselves down. is this clearing up a _ thumbs up ourselves down. is this clearing up a mess _ thumbs up ourselves down. is this clearing up a mess that _ thumbs up ourselves down. is this clearing up a mess that boris - clearing up a mess that boris johnson left? it clearing up a mess that boris johnson left?— clearing up a mess that boris johnson left? , ., johnson left? it is fixing some of the elements _ johnson left? it is fixing some of the elements of— johnson left? it is fixing some of the elements of the _ johnson left? it is fixing some of the elements of the protocol- johnson left? it is fixing some of| the elements of the protocol that johnson left? it is fixing some of - the elements of the protocol that he signed up to when rishi sunak was chancellor of course so they were all involved in that in some sense. the argument that rishi sunak has been making over the weekend as he will get the final parts of this brexit process done, the uk has always argued that the protocol was not a bad thing but some elements of it were implemented in a way that has not really worked so, yes, in some ways, this is fixing some of the problems with the original deal, the problems with the original deal, the extent to which they think that

deal was a mistake in the first place will probably depend on a brexit position to be honest. our ireland correspondent, chris page, is in belfast for us. jeffrey donaldson is the person everyone is keeping an eye on for his reaction but there is a range of opinion within the dup and other parts of that electorate, other political groupings. just explain for us who you are looking out for in terms of reaction today. yes. for us who you are looking out for in terms of reaction today. yes, sir jeffrey donaldson, _ in terms of reaction today. yes, sir jeffrey donaldson, as _ in terms of reaction today. yes, sir jeffrey donaldson, as you - in terms of reaction today. yes, sir jeffrey donaldson, as you say, - in terms of reaction today. yes, sir jeffrey donaldson, as you say, the | jeffrey donaldson, as you say, the leader of the democratic unionist party, is the main politician who will be looked at nationally and internationally, as news unfolds throughout the course of the afternoon about what is in this deal but whatever his personal opinion is, whatever his analysis is of this deal, there will be a sales job for him to do if indeed he does decide

this deal is something you can support both within his party and among the wider unionist community, worth bearing in mind that the democratic unionist party has a vote of party officers who basically run the party, there are other important members who will be consulted, not least grassroots members elected politicians at local government level, councillors in northern ireland who will be facing the electorate in just over a couple of months on the 18th of may, there will be council elections held there on that day and that is a very important political dynamic playing into all this with the main electoral threat that the dup would see, i don�*t think it comes from more moderate political forces see, i don�*t think it comes from more moderate politicalforces such as the ulster unionist party, for example, orthe as the ulster unionist party, for example, or the alliance which is not and neither unionist nor nationalist. they would be looking

to make games that these elections is the voice and that is a more hard line unionist party and it has one member out of 90 here at stormont, the leader of the traditional... who is... of power here at the assembly, at all. he has been mourning in the past 24 hours that today will be a day where he believes that a lot of spin will be about so he is very likely to i think double down on his opposition to the dup accepting a deal and going back into power—sharing here, allowing northern ireland to have a devolved government back so i think it is that section of the unionist electorate that section which is more likely to be looking at the dup ending traditional unionist voice in the forthcoming elections, may be basing their decisions as to what they think the right thing is to do in light of this deal and that will

certainly be a very important factor, i believe, in the dup�*s thinking and that said the dup will, i think, be stressing publicly that they will be putting the emphasis on they will be putting the emphasis on the deal itself and they will have to look at the details of the deal particularly the legal text and how it affects trading between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, and northern ireland puzzle in the uk when you look at the act of union, the key piece of legislation that maintains northern ireland�*s place in the uk. and when you look at the european court ofjustice with politicians emphasising in recent days it will come down to make the laws for northern ireland, people in london, at stormont if was to come back or with the ultimate control in their view still be with brussels? so all those factors in play today. and all of those forjeffrey donaldson himself whether he will to dup or tries to lead them back into

stormont and a devolved government here or whether he rejects the deal ultimately and stays out, and that would call into question your future of devolved government in northern ireland at all. i of devolved government in northern ireland at all-— ireland at all. i remember covering the good friday _ ireland at all. i remember covering the good friday agreement, - ireland at all. i remember covering the good friday agreement, the i the good friday agreement, the anniversary coming up, it would be a embarrassing for all sides if power—sharing is not up and running ljy power—sharing is not up and running by then. by what degree does the dup just try to extract a financial pricier? just try to extract a financial ricier? �* , ,., ., ._ just try to extract a financial ricier? �*, ,., ., ._ , .,. pricier? it's the good friday peace agreement. _ pricier? it's the good friday peace agreement. as — pricier? it's the good friday peace agreement, as you _ pricier? it's the good friday peace agreement, as you say, _ pricier? it's the good friday peace i agreement, as you say, anniversary coming up on the 10th of april this year and that i think is being viewed as an important anniversary ljy viewed as an important anniversary by the british government, probably the irish government, the european union and by the biden administration in washington and as far as the dup is concerned, i�*m unsure the 25th anniversary of the agreement will be seen by them as significant at all because the dup actually opposed the good friday agreement when it was signed in

1998, ultimately they did enter the power—sharing devolved government here with sinn fein after they would say they secure changes to the good friday agreement to make it work so i do not think that anniversary coming up will be any added incentive for the dup to restore the devolved institutions. you often find whenever there is a period of collapse in devolution here, you do get parties on all sides, the dup and sinn fein, trying to extract some financial benefit from northern ireland and we know certainly the finances of the government departments at stormont are pretty perilous at the moment with multi—million pound black holes there so it is likely that if this whole matter does, after today, point to the restoration of devolution, well you could see some negotiations being entered into with the government in london as to what extra funding stormont could get. thank you very much for now, we will

be back to chris as we get more details on the deal. we are just getting confirmation of something that has been speculated about in the last few minutes, the eu�*s ursula von der leyen is going to be meeting the king, king charles, we are told. the line from the palaces that the king is pleased to meet any world leader and it is the government�*s advised that he does so here. there�*s been a lot of speculation and discussion about the fact we here in windsor at a hotel and the choreography suggested that that was going to involve not only a meeting here, a press conference later but also ursula von der leyen meeting king charles. there was criticism, there has been criticism over the past few days about whether the king should be involved intraday at all because it is this the prime minister trying to give this an unofficial seal of approval to try

and get this deal out of politics despite the fact the whole brexit question is utterly fundamentally political. so i�*m sure that news and confirmation is going to get a lot of response and reaction, some might think it is fine and appropriate, it is not a direct endorsement, of course, from the royalfamily or is not a direct endorsement, of course, from the royal family or the monarch and of course we know the king does meet visiting world leaders and international visitors of importance. we will see what the political comment is on that. let�*s get a bit more from brussels and i spokein get a bit more from brussels and i spoke in the last hour tojessica parker who gave us the view from europe. we knew from talking to sources that once we got to the part where we thought the deal was in the offing that ursula von der leyen, eu chief, would head to the uk in order to have the handshake moment. she is headin: to have the handshake moment. she is heading to the uk, _ have the handshake moment. she is heading to the uk, we've _ have the handshake moment. she is heading to the uk, we've been - heading to the uk, we�*ve been hearing for weeks and more recently days that a deal was getting very

close so it seems highly likely to me that that is where things end up but having said that, having spoken to uk government sources last night, there were still a sense of caution, we are not there yet, they were saying, negotiators nailing down the final text last night as well so it is not impossible that it could fall apart at the last moment but certainly, from where i�*m sat having followed this all pretty closely, it seems to me this is the choreography in place to do a deal between the uk and eu which nick has been talking about of course in then will be whether or not rishi sunak can do a deal with his own party and get unionists on side in northern ireland as well. in unionists on side in northern ireland as well.— unionists on side in northern ireland as well. in terms of what euro -e ireland as well. in terms of what europe would — ireland as well. in terms of what | europe would gain from this, can ireland as well. in terms of what - europe would gain from this, can you just explain that? obviously brexit left a lot of tensions over a range of questions and the whole economic progress and prosperity of the uk. yes, in terms of what could happen

next for the eu— uk relationship, more broadly, maybe it will help it move on to a new phase, brexit did cause some bitterness and frankly over brussels and people working in brussels, a lot of people are invested and really believe in it but they were gobsmacked the uk decided to leave the european union and found it hard, many of them, to understand and there was all the bitterness over the negotiations as well in this dispute over the northern ireland protocol has been a cloud in those post brexiteers over that relationship. for example, because the uk was not actually properly implementing the treaty, the uk started legal action, so there has been the sense that the relationship has not been able to move on and not only that, there are things that are outstanding that have not happened as a result of this dispute, most notably uk access our full uk access to the eu�*s flagship multi—billion pound horizon research programme with britain

wanting in on that programme, the uk... eu blocking full access because of the dispute over northern ireland so a lot of people involved in academia, research, and you�*re watching very closely to see if that is a first step that may be taken very closely if this deal is done. let me just very closely if this deal is done. let mejust remind very closely if this deal is done. let me just remind you of that breaking news in the past few moments, confirm the speculation over the weekend that ursula von der leyen will meet the king, the buckingham palace statement says the king is pleased to meet any world leader and it is the government�*s advice that he should do so. ursula von der leyen is not necessarily a world leader in any normal sense of the world but very politically powerful as the commission president and it is potentially divisive, this move, because it risks dragging the monarchy into very contentious politics. but we are just seeing

that treat to come out that the king is —— mixing the tweet came out that the king is pleased to meet any world leader should he be advised to do so. we are at a hotel in windsor, near windsor castle, there will be a press conference, we expect. and we know ursula von der leyen is meeting king charles, the monarch supposed to be above politics and the government will stress that he is remaining out of politics and stress, of course, that the king often meets these international leaders but we know that tory eurosceptics and the dup did accuse number ten of trying to just use the royal family to try and give a veneer of approval to this deal, so we will doubtless get some reaction to that. let me bring in now... dr clare rice who is

politics researcher at liverpool university — specialising in northern irish politics. and ijust and i just want to mention and ijust want to mention one other line from ursula von der leyen, that she is looking forward to turning the page on brexit talks. what are you expecting to see in the ddl if it is indeed signed off today? yes. it is indeed signed off today? yes, well, of course _ it is indeed signed off today? 1a: well, of course everything speculation at this stage so we are looking at what has come to pass beforehand, it is the rumours we�*ve been hearing coming out in the interim and trying to draw a picture from that but certainly i would be surprised if we did not see something which would essentially equate to something similar to the red lines and green lines we heard about before meaning northern ireland would be subject to minimal if any checks compared to those moving onwards —— on goods moving onwards into the european union. there would possibly be renewed glaciation regarding the oversight of what would be natural —— quick renegotiation. there is rumour and speculation of course as well that

is surrounding the roles of northern ireland politicians exhorting... ireland politicians exhorting. .. influence ireland politicians exhorting... influence may be is not the right word but being able to interject opinions. there are a few areas we expect will be covered within the deal. in expect will be covered within the deal. , expect will be covered within the deal ,. expect will be covered within the deal. , ., , ., deal. in terms of whether this deal chan . e deal. in terms of whether this deal change the — deal. in terms of whether this deal change the economic— deal. in terms of whether this deal change the economic picture - deal. in terms of whether this deal change the economic picture and i deal. in terms of whether this deal i change the economic picture and the wider political picture for the whole of the uk in the eu, what are your thoughts on that?— whole of the uk in the eu, what are your thoughts on that? again, we are auoin into your thoughts on that? again, we are going into the — your thoughts on that? again, we are going into the area _ your thoughts on that? again, we are going into the area of— your thoughts on that? again, we are going into the area of speculation - going into the area of speculation with that but it would certainly do no harm whatsoever if there is a solid relationship between the uk and eu which solves a protocol issue which is deeply contentious, to sort that out and there is no reason to expect that relationship will not begin to develop further in a positive way thereafter and certainly you have to think as well of if the uk is able to reach this agreement and form the positive relationship with the european

union, then that would be positive internationally in terms of reputation and trade deals in particular so there is a lot to be gained if this gets across the line. in terms of the timeframe, observing the dup, would you expect quite a long time before we know what their position is on this? yes. long time before we know what their position is on this?— position is on this? yes, i would imaaine position is on this? yes, i would imagine so- _ position is on this? yes, i would imagine so. the _ position is on this? yes, i would imagine so. the dup, _ position is on this? yes, i would imagine so. the dup, i- position is on this? yes, i would imagine so. the dup, i cannot i imagine so. the dup, i cannot imagine so. the dup, i cannot imagine them coming out immediately with a response on it, i imagine they will issue a holding statement of sorts and go through and look at the detail of the deal itself before actually coming out and saying whether they agree with it or do not so we could be looking at anything from a matter of days to perhaps into next week before you get a really solid picture of what the views are of the dup on this and an official position in terms of what the party is thinking on it so we have a lot of momentum and movement happening this weekend today in particular as things stand with regard to the protocol but it may be

another few days yet before we get the full picture of what we are dealing with here.— the full picture of what we are dealing with here. when you talk to individuals. — dealing with here. when you talk to individuals, residents, _ dealing with here. when you talk to individuals, residents, business - individuals, residents, business people, are the most concerned with arguments about sovereignty or borders? orare arguments about sovereignty or borders? or are they more exercised by the practical changes that they have seen?— have seen? essentially it really de-ends have seen? essentially it really depends who — have seen? essentially it really depends who you _ have seen? essentially it really depends who you speak - have seen? essentially it really depends who you speak to - have seen? essentially it really - depends who you speak to another gas goes sorts of questions. they have been different sense of polling is the and surveys done and for many people, the protocol is not a huge issue, there was a survey done by queen�*s university of belfast last week that said whereby the protocol was most likely to be older prior to —— lower priority issues and higher priority issue but in terms of how it operates, the necessity for it and more existential sense, whether it should be there in the first place at all, so it is very

difficult to give a general synopsis of what is out there regarding it but when you look at the bigger political picture, the cost of living crisis, health care issue, there is a whole backlog of issues now that need to be dealt with by a functioning executive and there are certainly a lot of public frustration at the executive that they have been collapsed for as long as they have so there is a building momentum there to see those institutions restored and of course the key to that is finding a resolution to the protocol issues so there is a very complex picture going on the but i think certainly it depends who you speak to as to where it is on the bigger spectrum. arlene foster won a financial deal for her support, what would you be expecting in terms of any financial deal that the dup might want to extract for their support here? again, i wouldn�*t be sure and i would be reluctant to comment on it

because i do not know what is going on behind closed doors but in that regard, this stage, truly the power of rishi sunak to reach a deal that incorporates the democratic unionist party and make them feel involved in the process, actually does involve them in the process and ensures there is a deal there that is amenable to them such as power—sharing here in northern ireland can be restored. i�*m not sure whether or not any sort of financial conversations we have seen in the past will be integral to that process but certainly it is one of those things you will have to wait and see and certainly the dup will have to be involved with the prime minister in order to get it across andindeed minister in order to get it across and indeed all of the parties will have to have a voice within this process going forward.- have to have a voice within this process going forward. thank you very much — process going forward. thank you very much indeed. _ process going forward. thank you very much indeed. just _ process going forward. thank you very much indeed. just to - process going forward. thank you very much indeed. just to remind| very much indeed. just to remind you, ursula von der leyen has sent a tweet out 15 minutes ago saying she is glad to be in the uk to meet the prime minister rishi sunak saying she is looking forward to turning a page and opening a new chapter with

our partner and friend and it�*s also been confirmed that she is going to meet king charles, a statement from buckingham palace saying that he is pleased to meet any world leader and it is on the government�*s advised that he does so that is going to be pretty politically contentious as a move trying to bring potentially the royal family into this big move trying to bring potentially the royalfamily into this big day move trying to bring potentially the royal family into this big day of political theatre. we will be back for much more in about 30 minutes. let�*s catch up now with the weather. here is carol. after a bright start in the south—west we will see a bit more clout in the car breaking in the southeast with just one or two showers coming in off the north sea virtual feel a lot cooler along the coast. as we head onto the evening and overnight, still with high pressure in charge, we still have a

fair bit of clout, so the odd shower and again where the cloud remains broken in parts of the south, and also the north and west, this is where we are likely to see some frost with temperatures falling below freezing where we�*ve got the cloud temperatures will stay at largely speaking above freezing. tomorrow, we still have this cloud producing some showers, a system moving up from france criticism sub shop showers and the best of the sunshine once again in the north—west with highs around about 10 celsius.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. are the uk and the eu on the cusp of a new northern ireland brexit deal? the prime minister — along with the king — meets his european counterpart in windsor today. pressure mounts for the government to stop energy bill rises in april as the energy regulator ofgem announces a new price cap. nhs staff tell safety investigators they feared patients were dying as they grappled with long ambulance delays. and it�*s back. the bbc�*s reality game show the traitors will return for a second season.

good morning. 16—year—old british snowboarder mia brookes has claimed a historic slopestyle gold medal at the senior world championships in georgia. she is the first british athlete to secure this title and did it in some style, landing the first—ever cab 1440 double grab in a women�*s competition, during her second and final run. brookes was too young to compete at the beijing 2022 winter olympics, but has long been seen as a future star of the sport. i honestly feel like i am going to cry. i have never been so happy in my life. i cannot even speak, i am that happy. my coach is like, if you

want to win this, try the 14. i tried to trail in practice. i came round, almost rate 14, i knew it was possible on thisjump. i am super happy. england need a huge performance, if they�*re to get a win against new zealand, and win their second test. they need to pull off the highest run—chase by any team that has enforced the follow—on in a test, on the final day in wellington. the hosts were forced to follow—on after a disappointing first innings, but kane williamson showed some resilience racking up 132. tom blundell was another who excelled with a knock of 90, but five jack leach wickets late in the day saw them removed for 483. in response england suffered the early loss of zak crawley, but are 48—1 at close. leach was quick to praise captain ben stokes for their improved form late in the day. try and enjoy the graft, i guess. not worry about the fact that things

aren�*t happening. that was the message, just to enjoy being out there and play for england and try to win the test match. really trying to win the test match. really trying to enjoy that and actually what we have seen is over the last year or so, the more we enjoy it, the better we play. just a week after losing one final to carlos alcaraz british number one cameron norrie hit back by winning their rematch — in the final of the rio open. the victory his fifth atp title and a repeat of the match—up in argentina just eight days ago. after losing the first set, he came back to win the second before sealing the match with an ace. you could see just how much it meant to him — a huge win for him given that alcarez is the world number two. erik ten hag is off the mark a manchester united, his first trophy with the club coming after yesterday�*s 2—0 defeat of newcastle in the league cup final. he believes this can be the start of something special.

this group can be the inspiration to be even more collective, even more togetherness, even more effort, and togetherness, even more effort, and to be better. and there�*s been great debate over whether this bout was sport or entertainment, but tens of millions of viewers from aroud the world tuned in to see reality tv star tommy fury beat youtuberjake paul in their highly anticpated eight round contest in saudi arabia. tommy fury there in the white, winning on a split points decsion. he appeared on love island, brother of boxer tyson. jake paul is a youtuber, 22 million followers on instagram. fury dedicated the victory to his partner and new baby girl, bambi. boxing broadcaster steve bunce says that while it divides opinion — the contest will bring new fans to the sport. people are saying to me, how are you backing this? how can you back this

place? i said, backing this? how can you back this place? isaid, they backing this? how can you back this place? i said, they are bringing eyeballs to the sport. if they bring millions and noise of new arrivals watching the sport, they are not all going to disappear when the boxing is over. some of them are going to stay. how is maybe 250,000 potential new fans going to hurt any sport, whether it is tiddlywinks or boxing? it has to be positive. that�*s all the sport for now. britain�*s energy regulator, ofgem, has set a new annual price cap for a typical household. the announcement will not affect what customers pay for each unit of gas and electricity because that is limited by a government guarantee.

the new price cap is set at £3,280 a year. it represent a drop of almost a thousand pounds from the current energy price cap — so the cost the government is paying to cap prices is falling. but the typical annual household bill is still set to rise to £3,000 in april because the government�*s guarantee will be less generous and a £400 winter discount on all bills ends. the energy price cap was supposed to stop our bills going up by massive amounts. that was before the end of the pandemic in russia�*s invasion of ukraine which changed the game in terms of wholesale costs. the government stepped in to subsidise our bills, to try to keep them low, at a cost to government finances. currently the energy price guarantee is doing that. it stands at £2500. as you say, from april it will become less generous. it will go out to £3000. but all the time this has

been going on, the energy price cap has still been carpeted by ofgem. today, the new price cap, they make that ofgem thinks is a fair amount based on wholesale cost of energy, is £3280. that is above the government guarantee. it will not impact how much we pay, we will still pay that £3000 government guarantee level. but it is only marginally above the government guarantee. that means it is increasing pressure on the government to keep the guarantee at the current lower level of £2500. why? because it would be a significant benefit to struggling households, but at at a relatively small cost to the government, certainly smaller than previously feared. the outcome though is that as things stand, on the 1st of april, our bills will go up. the good news is that, this energy price cap is much lower than it has been in previous months. if current trends continue, comejuly, the price cap will be lower than the

guarantee, meaning the government will be able to stop subsidising our bills, and our bills will start to come down a little. let�*s speak now to adam scorer— an expert in energy and fuel poverty who is the chief executive of the charity national energy action. what in practical terms will the effect of this be? the effect of the price cap, as your piece has said, is pretty marginal over the next few months for consumers, because it is government thatis consumers, because it is government that is setting the price. what happens if government sticks to its plan of making the energy price guarantee less generous and scrapping the energy bill support scheme, that is £900 on an average bill. that is a huge cliff edge facing people in april. it is not necessary. it is now affordable for the government because it is spending so much less than is expected of the energy price guarantee, to keep it that £2500,

and avoid pushing people over this cliff edge. the consequences for households, if you are already crippled by the rising cost of energy, isjust catastrophic. government can afford to do it. everybody is telling them it is the right thing to do. the ofgem announcement today is the right prompt for them to take action. it simply has to keep the energy price guarantee and £2500. in the end as it is that you are pushing at an open door? government is on the right mindset to do what you propose?— is on the right mindset to do what ou --roose? ., you propose? hope so. there are some kind of calculation _ you propose? hope so. there are some kind of calculation is _ you propose? hope so. there are some kind of calculation is today _ kind of calculation is today suggesting the energy price guarantee is costing its 90% less thanit guarantee is costing its 90% less than it anticipated. we know that the wholesale price of gas is tracking down, and that we expect the energy price cap from ofgem to go below the energy price guarantee, £2500 level, injuly. i�*m hoping they see it as an open door, hoping they see it as an open door, hoping the seat is the right thing to do.

it is a lifeline, it is so important for the householders. we have got to remember that £2500 is still double the cost of energy when this price crisis started. you are not to give people out of the woods, you are just avoiding piling on the pain. the question is what we do in the future. wholesale prices are falling. there is no sign that war in ukraine is going to end anytime soon. but unit has been able to replenish and restore, there has been some efforts to reopen some of the infrastructure that perhaps had been left to gather cobwebs. do you think the energy security issue and the priority and focus it has received in the last year or so means that we might be able to plan better to avoid some of these problems again in the future? or are you a bit sceptical about that? i am always cautious about being too optimistic about it. we have learnt a huge lesson. as you rightly say,

the circumstances driving up the global price of gas, they are softening a little bit. we might be stacked with an energy price level for some conceivable time, double what it was at the start of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. government is to take a long—term view but what its plan is for that level of energy price. it is pretty straightforward, i think. the first thing we all know is that the energy crisis because so much pain in the uk because of a lousy state of our housing stock, forex miss of the heat than in europe, you need to have energy efficiency insulation drive, especially feels people on the lowest income, we have to decide the energy market so it gives the greatest protection including price protection to the most vulnerable, around social tariffs and other things. if the price sees this high, double what it was the start of the pandemic, government is going to have to find ways of targeting financial support

to people who just cannot afford the cost of keeping their homes warm. negative budgets. people are unable to afford the basics in life is hard—wired into the budgets of so many vulnerable households. it is government that the cystic form sure there is a safety net that everybody can afford to keep their homes warm and safe. can we take —— talk about the more vulnerable households? what sort of numbers, in terms of those expected to be in fuel poverty? how has that changed? at the start of the pandemic, from getting the effects of price rises, we would see an end 4 million households across the uk in fuel poverty, by which we mean having to spend 10% of their income to afford a decent level of heat and power. if government sticks to its guns and makes the energy price guarantee less generous, that 4 million households becomes 8.4 million households, a jump of another 1.5

million households. it is such an enormous fact of life for so many people. the child is notjust to think about the breadth of the issue, all of those people who are now suffering —— the challenge is notjust think about now suffering —— the challenge is not just think about the breadth of theissue not just think about the breadth of the issue but the severity, people who already have no hope of heating their homes, the prospect of heating their homes, the prospect of heating their homes, the prospect of heating their home is such a distant one, that we have to do both. support for those people who are finding themselves struggling for the first time. but the depth, the enduring depth of support for those people whose lives are fundamentally conditioned by their inability to afford what most of us would regard as a basic right, the right to be able to keep your home power is it needs to focus on the most vulnerable, though stripping the impact is notjust the cost of living crisis, it is costing lives, it is certainly cost in the quality

of lives. we�*re still waiting for rishi sunak to leave downing street on routes to windsor. we havejust seen to leave downing street on routes to windsor. we have just seen a to leave downing street on routes to windsor. we havejust seen a group of schoolchildren posing for in front of number ten stop he is not about to leave therefore. and the northern ireland secretary, former government chief whip, has just gone into number ten. he is quite important in helping the prime minister to assess whether he has a parliamentary support and what sort of reception is likely to receive this evening when he makes his presence felt in their house of comments later today. that will follow his meeting with ursula von der leyen, and what we hope will be some kind of news conference, press statement, at windsor. we will bring you that here on bbc news. for now,

let as git labour party reaction, he has been talking about a new partnership with the european union. i know northern ireland very well. talking through the issues. with businesses, there is a good business group in belfast were put together a 14 point plan of what they need to change. yes, we haven�*t seen the deal yet. change. yes, we haven�*t seen the dealyet. but change. yes, we haven�*t seen the deal yet. but i am completely across what the issues are, what the practical solutions are. everybody in the room probably knows what the issues that are outstanding, and what are the likely resolutions to those. frankly, any step in those directions is going to be an improvement on what we have got, which is why i can say with confidence we expect to be able to back the deal this afternoon or whenever we see it. it will not be a

surprise, it will not be out of the blue, we have been working on these problems for a long time, and know what�*s on the solutions are. look, it is almost inevitable, the ecg will have to play some part in that. i think the prime minister recognises that, the government recognises that, the government recognises that. —— ecj will have to play some part. we have to make progress, together with the people of northern ireland to fix this. safety investigators say doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other nhs staff in england are facing "significant distress" and harm as a result of long delays in emergency care. the healthcare safety investigation branch says many staff broke down in tears when asked about their working environment. our health correspondent jim reed reports.

this winter was a nightmare, the worst it�*s ever been. matt works as a 999 call handler in england. he doesn�*t have permission to speak to the media, so we�*ve changed his name and voice. at one point, we hit more than 500 waiting calls. we were overwhelmed. it�*s exhausting, it really is. it�*s really upsetting. the health care safety watchdog says pressure like that has caused nhs staff significant distress over the last year. call handlers told investigators it was common to worry "how many "are we going to kill," because they were not always able to send ambulances quickly. it�*s so deflating, especially for those really critical calls where they�*re screaming to get an ambulance. you just don�*t have the heart to tell them there�*s nothing available. i�*ve seen colleagues try to calm someone down and apologise for the wait time, only to be hit with a wall of abuse. i�*ve seen colleagues cry after those calls. the investigation also found strong links between the wellbeing of nhs staff and patient safety. anxiety, stress and depression are the most common reason for staff sickness in the health service, with rates increasing. carrying out this investigation has been difficult. we have heard the level of emotion

that staff are under. but we absolutely have to tell the staff story because there is a direct impact on patient safety. it has been absolutely relentless. imploding comes to mind. dr salwa malik has worked for five years as a consultant in a busy a&e department. you're basically running a resuscitation room in the corridor and you get scared, you do. it's natural, it's good to feel scared because you should be scared. it's not normal. how easy is it to go home and switch off after one of those shifts? you can't always switch off, actually. i've had nights where you go over the scenarios in your head about patients or whatever problem that you were in, and it can be really difficult to sleep. if you're on edge for ten, 12 hours a day, at the end when you walk out, you can kind of crumble. the nhs said it takes staff

wellbeing very seriously and does have a range of support in place. the government said it has provided more funding to reduce pressures with plans to expand the number of hospital beds and ambulances in england by next winter. jim reed, bbc news. police in northern ireland have been given more time to question a man about the attempted murder of an off duty police officer last week. detective chief inspectorjohn caldwell was shot outside a sports centre in omagh on wednesday and remains in hospital. in total, six people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, and the police�*s main line of inquiry is that the dissident republican group the new ira is responsible. the collapsed battery maker, british volt — which went into administration last month — has been bought by an australian company. the new owners will focus initially on batteries for energy storage — rather than electric vehicles.

the company�*s downfall was blamed on a lack of battery experience, unproven technology, and a lack of customers and revenue. why his company was different. what we are bringing which is different to the prior british volt is we are bringing validated technology. that process has already started. us defense has also validated the technology. it is actually already supplied to the uk navy through a subcontractor over here. anyone who is waiting for batteries to come off your production line which are going to slot into a jlr, a nissan or a bmw, that is not happening any time soon, is it? no, but the strategy is for any of the manufacturers listening, they can actually start that now, albeit in the interim period, it will be imported from america. that american facility will then be able to supply until the uk facility steps up and comes online. do you understand why people

are a bit nervous about this? you have got a financial services background in capital markets and banking. you have got a small head count. you run basically like a private equity group. you have tried to bring in bits of expertise, academics in the us, what have you. but what people can�*t see is a tesla, general motors, ford, volvo, bmw, those kind of people involved in this and that is where people were hoping this was going to go. yeah, well, ithink, number one, they all started somewhere before they became big. we have got accelerated growth and have been successful all along the way. at the end of the day, those are customers for us, you know, and so we have some of those names in our customer base. a lot of them don�*t all come in and build batteries. some of them do. a lot of them use other technologies. you know, what we will need is people locally, the contractors that will re—engage, that will start employing, you know, and we have the benefit of picking up and leveraging a lot of the stuff that was in place, as well as a lot of the stuff that was already under way. obviously, there is a lot of focus on this because it is seen

as an important part of the jigsaw of future manufacturing here in the uk. have you spoken to anyone in government? i appreciate how important government is. so we have spent a lot of time for starters with the northumberland county council and i just want to say they genuinely just want a gigafactory built and the best thing for their people. a new law raising the legal age of marriage to 18 has come into force in england and wales. previously people could get married at 16 or 17 if they had parental consent. there was also no law against ceremonies for younger children which were not registered with local councils. the government says these changes will help protect vulnerable children from being forced into marriage. the changes don�*t apply in scotland and northern ireland, where the minimum age will remain 16. the first woman speaker of the house of commons, betty boothroyd, her death has been announced today, at the age, i think i right in saying,

93. betty boothroyd was former labour mp for west bromwich. she spent many years to try to become an mp. betty boothroyd was born in dewsbury in october 1929. she finally entered the house of commons after a long period in which she was after a long period in which she was a secretary to various mps. very active the labour party. in a by—election in 1973, she won a seat in the west midlands, rather than in her native yorkshire. she was proud of yorkshire. she was also very active politician, and in her private life very active, she was still hang gliding in her 70s and 80s. loves to go to cyprus for a summer holiday. often to be seen with and tonic and tonic and a cigarette, which she admitted were her worst vices. she was undoubtedly hugely significant in raising the

profile of the house of commons internationally, not least, with being speaker in the house of commons, where she was famously asked what she should be called, she said, just call me madam. she was a dancer by profession. she brought a lot of theatre to her performance. also worth mentioning, she had a very serious political side. neil kinnock will tell you how important betty boothroyd was in his battle to get militant tendency out of the labour party. she was on the party�*s national executive committee for many years. ma ny yea rs. betty many years. betty boothroyd�*s election as speaker of the comments left some members puzzled as to how they should address the first woman to hold the post. she should address the first woman to hold the post-— hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i stood _ hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i stood up— hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i stood up to _ hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i stood up to my— hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great - hold the post. she left them in no i doubt. i stood up to my great height and said, call me madam. she had come from humble beginnings, born in 1929 in dewsbury and

yorkshire. she had had a colourful life before westminster. in the 19405, life before westminster. in the 1940s, enjoying a career as a dancer, is a member of a girls trip. after working as a secretary for a number of labour mps, she finally joined the ranks herself. the name of the candidate elected as betty boothroyd. the name of the candidate elected as betty itoothroyd-_ the name of the candidate elected as betty boothroyd-— betty boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich _ betty boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west _ betty boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west from - betty boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west from 1974 - betty boothroyd. serving as mp for. west bromwich west from 1974 until her elevation to the lords in 2000. it is time they cleared out. she was elected as speaker in 1992, dragged to the chair in the traditional manner. order. she chose to dispense with the traditional _ order. she chose to dispense with the traditional way. _ order. she chose to dispense with the traditional way. it _ order. she chose to dispense with the traditional way. it felt - order. she chose to dispense with the traditional way. it felt too - the traditional way. it felt too heavy and imperious, she said. she had little patience with the demands from a new intake of

playwright mps for a family friendly hours. ., , , , , ,., ., hours. the house must be prepared to ut in the hours. the house must be prepared to put in the irish — hours. the house must be prepared to put in the irish necessary _ hours. the house must be prepared to put in the irish necessary to _ hours. the house must be prepared to put in the irish necessary to carry - put in the irish necessary to carry out effective examination of the government to�*s legislative programme. and she took seriously her duty to keep sometimes fractious members in order. i think it is time that members of this house he grew up. betty boothroyd said her most memorable moment was welcoming nelson mandela to the house of commons. she held his hand to steady him as he walked down the stairs. i say to all of you, in a phrase you know so well, but has never been more true, time is up.— know so well, but has never been more true, time is up. they knighted in 2000 that — more true, time is up. they knighted in 2000 that she — more true, time is up. they knighted in 2000 that she was _ more true, time is up. they knighted in 2000 that she was stepping - more true, time is up. they knighted in 2000 that she was stepping down | in 2000 that she was stepping down its impromptu and unconventional applause, from both sides of the house. ., ., . :: :: :: house. -- the announcement in 2000. i was house. -- the announcement in 2000. i was privileged _ house. -- the announcement in 2000. i was privileged to _ house. -- the announcement in 2000. i was privileged to hold _ house. -- the announcement in 2000. i was privileged to hold that _ i was privileged to hold that position. i went,

i was privileged to hold that position. iwent, i know, at the right time. she became a cheerful and hard—working addition to the house of lords. a long career dedicated to cherishing the traditions of parliament, but a woman who never lost her sense of fun. # when you can�*t find your way home. baroness boothroyd whose death has been announced at the age of 93. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. under clear skies last night, the northern lights were seen as far south as southern england. under this area of high pressure

tonight, there is a good chance we could see them again where the cloud remains broken. this high pressure is fairly dominant. it is going to be with us for much of the week. what is happening is we have got the air coming around it, so an onshore breeze along the north sea coastline blowing in some showers through the course of the day. the cloud building in the south—west and south wales and breaking across the south—east through the day. the lion�*s share of the sunshine in western scotland. temperatures, 7—10 degrees. 7—9 as we come down this coastline. but when you add on the breeze coming in from the north sea, instead of 7—9 on the north sea coast, it will feel more like 5—6 degrees. as we head on through the evening and overnight, this is where we are looking at clear skies. if you get the chance, go out and see if you can see the northern lights. they won�*t be vibrant colours. they will be white, more like clouds that are swaying. there will also be some frost where we have clear skies. for many of us, it is going to be a cloudy night with one or two showers. that is how we start the day tomorrow, still under the influence of high pressure.

the lion�*s share of the sunshine across scotland after the cold start, but we will also see some sunshine across parts of southern england and south wales. but still showers coming in from the north sea, drifting across eastern england, into the midlands and also parts of wales. at the same time, another little system coming up from the near continent, introducing some sharper showers. top temperatures up to 10 degrees. through the course of the week, high pressure remains with us. you can see from the isobars there is not going to be much breeze. not a lot will change. still a fair bit of cloud around. still a breeze coming in from the north sea. we will see some of those showers. brighter breaks at times across the far south—east and the chance of a few showers on wednesday across the far north. but temperatures roughly where we would expect them to be at this stage of the year, between 7—9 degrees. wednesday into thursday and then into the weekend, high pressure remains with us. you can see this weather front is trying to come

in from the atlantic but not having much success. for the ensuing couple of days, things remain fairly static with variable amounts of cloud and some sunny spells and average temperatures.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the uk and eu are set to hold final talks on a new brexit agreement for northern ireland as the prime minister meets his european counterpart today. —— this is bbc news, i�*m geeta guru—murthy live in windsor. i�*m chris page, live in belfast, with the latest on the potential dealfrom stormont. i�*m shaun ley, with you from our studios in london, the other headlines at 12...

fresh calls to stop energy bills rising and also it has been announced that baroness boothroyd has died at the age of 93. hello and welcome to bbc news. we are live in windsor where we are expecting the prime minister and the european commission head ursula von der leyen to meet today in a very short space of time. we are told that rishi sunak is due to arrive we expect an 45 minutes and ursula von der leyen will arrive about 45

minutes after that, at around 1:30pm, and they will have something of a working lunch, final discussions on that agreement. obviously lots of speculation it is already signed off given the choreography of today and the theatre that the prime minister and theatre that the prime minister and the european leadership are trying to project here about a big political win. of course a lot is riding on what is announced, the detail will be poured over and the judgment will come from the dup and from the tory brexit factions to see whether they are prepared to back key changes. the changes come because of the huge dissatisfaction with the problems left as a result of the initial deal that was signed off and agreed of course by boris johnson. in terms of what is going to be happening today. there will be a press conference just a bit away from here and then ursula von der leyen rather controversially will be

meeting king charles. we don�*t know any details of that and we expect of course given where we are as might be in kit windsor castle and there has been some controversy regarding that in the past couple of days because it looks as though to some critics that the king at the royal family are being dragged into very controversial political territory to try to give this a veneer of national approval, try to give this a veneer of nationalapproval, i try to give this a veneer of national approval, i suppose, try to give this a veneer of national approval, isuppose, and the statement from buckingham palace does seem to be very interesting as it seems the king has been asked to do this meeting by the government. we will bring you more on that and all the very latest soon but first of all, let�*s get into some of the detail as to why we are all here. the question of course is what is the protocol and why the is important. it was created after brexit to avoid border controls between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, which is part of the eu. northern ireland must follow the rules of the eu�*s single market.

keeping the rules aligned means there is no need for a border. the protocol requires goods sent from britain into northern ireland to be checked on arrival to ensure they meet eu regulations. this creates in effect a customs border between northern ireland and britain. her some unionists, including the democratic unionist party, object to this arrangement. but supporters of the protocol say the alternative is a hard border with the republic, which would increase political tensions in northern ireland. the uk wants to change the agreement so that fewer goods need to be checked. our political editor, chris mason, has more on what could be in the deal. what can we expect in this proposed new deal? a plan to make trade easier between england, scotland and wales and northern ireland. it looks like goods that are staying in northern ireland will be able to pass through a green or express lane. and those things going on into the republic of ireland in the eu will have to be checked

via a red line. it�*s also expected that there�*ll be a new arrangement about tax. northern ireland follows some eu rules on this and in particular around vat, and that is a real frustration to some. then there is how the rules are enforced. this involves the european court ofjustice and critics of the protocol want to get rid of the role of the eu�*s court. that seems unlikely, but we can perhaps expect some sort of promise to talk up other ways of sorting out disagreements first. and then there is also the issue of northern ireland having a say on ongoing rule changes that the eu makes. with me now is our chief political correspondent, nick eardley. we we re we were expecting the arrival is now, bit of a delay?— we were expecting the arrival is now, bit of a delay? possibly, maybe that infamous — now, bit of a delay? possibly, maybe that infamous outside of— now, bit of a delay? possibly, maybe that infamous outside of london - that infamous outside of london traffic is cut up with the two of them —— mike has caught up with the two of them. we do hear from

them —— mike has caught up with the two of them. we do hearfrom number ten this morning there are some final thing to be sorted out and thatis final thing to be sorted out and that is why there are leaders around the table to get the final things are over the line but i don�*t think they would be here if there are not going to sign up today and it will be a real significant moment, for the people of northern ireland because this will have an impact on trade and the government will make a very hard to sell this afternoon that it has got rid of some of the checks on goods going from great britain to northern ireland and that this will protect northern ireland�*s place in the uk single market but it is also a big moment politically because for the last week referred all those warnings from tory brexiteers, some dup politicians, about elements of what we think is in this deal and rishi sunak has decided to go for it, in some ways facing down and say that he will go ahead with it. we don�*t know exactly

what is a new deal and i think both the dup and tory brexiteers will wait to see the legal text before they make their finaljudgment on it but what we do know is that rishi sunak almost certainly has the votes to get anything through parliament if it goes to a vote because labour are backing government on this. this is what circular starmer had to this morning. —— what sir kier starmer had to say. frankly any step in those directions will be _ frankly any step in those directions will be an— frankly any step in those directions will be an improvement on what we have which— will be an improvement on what we have which is why i would say with confidence — have which is why i would say with confidence we expect to be able to back the _ confidence we expect to be able to back the deal if there is one this afternoon — back the deal if there is one this afternoon or wherever we may see it. it afternoon or wherever we may see it. it will _ afternoon or wherever we may see it. it will not _ afternoon or wherever we may see it. it will not be — afternoon or wherever we may see it. it will not be a surprise or out of the blue — it will not be a surprise or out of the blue. we've been working on these _ the blue. we've been working on these problems for a very long time and know— these problems for a very long time and know what some of the solutions are. and know what some of the solutions are it _ and know what some of the solutions are it is _ and know what some of the solutions are. it is almost inevitable that the ecj — are. it is almost inevitable that the ecj will have to play some part in this— the ecj will have to play some part in this and — the ecj will have to play some part in this and i— the ecj will have to play some part in this and i think everyone

recognises that. so, we note that sir kier starmer and the other opposition have lent their support without even seeing their support without even seeing the details of the deal which i suppose limits the political distance of the possum ability of the vision —— possibility of the division. it shows that rishi sunak a thickness on, it is complex and if he gets that there will be a dividend for him.— he gets that there will be a dividend for him. , . , dividend for him. yes, and his sale will be that — dividend for him. yes, and his sale will be that part _ dividend for him. yes, and his sale will be that part of _ dividend for him. yes, and his sale will be that part of the _ dividend for him. yes, and his sale will be that part of the wrecked - will be that part of the wrecked deal that were not working, the government will argue it has fixed them. this is not like all those nights where used to stand in parliament and wonder if the government would survive the day because they could not get the votes to get a through parliament, this is a different situation and that does not mean it is not a moment of politicaljeopardy for not mean it is not a moment of political jeopardy for the not mean it is not a moment of politicaljeopardy for the prime minister. let politicaljeopardy for the prime minister. . ., ., .,

minister. let me come in on that, has he already — minister. let me come in on that, has he already made _ minister. let me come in on that, has he already made a _ minister. let me come in on that, has he already made a mistake i minister. let me come in on that, has he already made a mistake in | has he already made a mistake in announcing and confirming that ursula von der leyen will go see king charles?— ursula von der leyen will go see king charles? some tory mps are makin: king charles? some tory mps are making that _ king charles? some tory mps are making that argument, _ king charles? some tory mps are making that argument, yes, - king charles? some tory mps are making that argument, yes, they| king charles? some tory mps are i making that argument, yes, they are not comfortable with the idea of a monarch meeting ursula von der leyen on the day a political decision is being made. the argument of the palace will be that the king meets the foreign leaders all the time but the foreign leaders all the time but the timing of it is really interesting, sits really badly with some conservative mps and some dup politicians as well you do not like the symbolism of the european commission president meeting the king on a day that they political decision is being made.- king on a day that they political decision is being made. much more on that i'm decision is being made. much more on that i'm sure. — decision is being made. much more on that i'm sure, thank— decision is being made. much more on that i'm sure, thank you _ decision is being made. much more on that i'm sure, thank you for _ decision is being made. much more on that i'm sure, thank you for now. - political correspondent, nick eardley. let�*s get more on this with our ireland correspondent, chris page. we know that we are looking out for the reaction ofjeffrey donaldson, do you think there will be some sort of initial holding statement whilst

they look over the details of this? it is the dup style in any negotiation to take a wait and see attitude, not rush into anything, andindeed attitude, not rush into anything, and indeed what the dup has been saying and emphasising over the last few weeks in particular has been that the essence of the decision they have to make is so significant that they are going to have to go through any new deal between the eu and uk in very fine detail so for example lawyers i understand are likely to be involved in that, they are likely to want to consult with all the different layers if you like of their party. there will be a number of key issues, again this has been made clear by senior dup politicians themselves on the run up to today, chief among those, will northern ireland posit place in the

internal market in the uk be restored and trade barriers be they are sufficiently? you will be in charge of making the laws for northern ireland? what would the role be of the european court of justice? the highest court in the eu? will members of the stormont assembly based here have any say in eu regulations that continue to apply here? if so how significant will that save the? all these factors will have to be added into the equation and as far as any definitive statement from the dup today, a firm yes or no, i certainly think that a firm yes, we are happy with this, we will go back into power sharing here and allow the devolved governments to be restored, that scenario is very unlikely but the question is could there be a way of saying neither yes nor no? a way of saying neither yes nor no? a way of a holding statement of sorts, a form of words that it does not accept the deal but nor does it

reject the deal out right? gives the dup time and the supporters in favour of the dup staying out of stormont, at least that�*s what paul suggest, so they will be looking very much at the wider political landscape here, and they will be aware of elections coming up on the 18th of may and assessing all that in terms of the response to this deal. ., «a , in terms of the response to this deal. . , . . , deal. thanks very much indeed. just to remind you _ deal. thanks very much indeed. just to remind you of _ deal. thanks very much indeed. just to remind you of the _ deal. thanks very much indeed. just to remind you of the timetable - deal. thanks very much indeed. just to remind you of the timetable we i to remind you of the timetable we are expecting, we think rishi sunak will be here at about 12:45pm, we expect ursula von der leyen to be here at about 1:30pm and i�*m told they are expected to meet, have a sort of working lunch and they won�*t be a signing such because of this could potentially go through a house

of commons vote, we don�*t know yet, we know the foreign secretary will be here, secretary of state for northern ireland will be here and there will be a virtual cabinet hosted from here with a press conference a bit later in the afternoon at a different location but nearby and after that press conference, we are then going to be seeing ursula von der leyen meeting king charles and again we�*ve not been told a timer exact location but we are very close to windsor castle and that is a controversial move in the eyes of many, and just looking there at the front door of downing street because we�*ve not even seen rishi sunak leave so whether the timings will slip or not, i�*m not sure but this is the outline of the day than we know the prime minister will head back to the house of commons, i gatherfor some sort will head back to the house of commons, i gather for some sort of statement there in the detail will

be released hopefully within the next hour or two, may be a bit further down the afternoon but once it is out, then the political reaction will be the thing to watch. a big day, much more to come here on bbc news, you�*re watching bbc news. we just wejust had to we just had to let our viewers on bbc to go but if you�*re watching bbc news, do stay with us, very glad to have your company today. let�*s speak now to katy hayward, professor of political sociology at queen�*s university. a lot of speculation about what will be any deal if it is signed or agreed at least today and presented publicly. what is your expectation that it will go through and get political support? i that it will go through and get political support?— that it will go through and get political support? i think in terms

of northern _ political support? i think in terms of northern ireland, _ political support? i think in terms of northern ireland, we _ political support? i think in terms of northern ireland, we are - political support? i think in terms of northern ireland, we are very. of northern ireland, we are very much waiting to see the detail of the deal because of course it is in the deal because of course it is in the detail that the devil is and we have known in the past with a protocol being first created and agreed that it was the lack of consideration of the detailed working out of the implications for northern ireland that then created problems down the line so political response from northern ireland will by and large i expect a cautious welcome fundamentally because of reset of the eu— uk relationship on more positive terms and in and of itself means a step forward for northern ireland bearing in mind of course that the whole peace process depends on a good relationship between the uk and ireland and the two governments there and hopefully a better step in terms of the uk relationships and relationships between communities here. flit

relationships and relationships between communities here. of course been a lot of— between communities here. of course been a lot of speculation _ between communities here. of course been a lot of speculation on _ between communities here. of course been a lot of speculation on and - been a lot of speculation on and thought about how this might affect northern ireland but in terms of day—to—day life and the fact that the... is suspended as a key hurdle that everyone wants to get through, but impact will any changes make to people on the ground? bis but impact will any changes make to people on the ground?— people on the ground? as you say, the fact we — people on the ground? as you say, the fact we don't _ people on the ground? as you say, the fact we don't have _ people on the ground? as you say, the fact we don't have a _ people on the ground? as you say, | the fact we don't have a functioning the fact we don�*t have a functioning assembly or executive and we have not had since last may really is the thing that is most impacting people in terms of the protocol so in some ways it�*s a political reaction and debate about the protocol that is having more effect than most people combining that with some frustration and difficulties among some sectors of the business community and there is a real sense of the need for a something significant to happen and to be changed. in polling we have conducted here at queen�*s university, we see that for those opposed to the protocol, the protocol is the biggest issue of concern for about one in five voters

but for the majority of people, they definitely put things such as health care and the economy, education on, as their list of issue of priority and for those things, we need the assembly to be functioning properly hence a lot of expectation that if we do have a deal and a uk— eu agreement, that will hopefully unlock the means by which we could have a functioning executive and assembly once more.— have a functioning executive and assembly once more. thank you very much indeed — assembly once more. thank you very much indeed for _ assembly once more. thank you very much indeed for those _ assembly once more. thank you very much indeed for those spots. - assembly once more. thank you very much indeed for those spots. just. assembly once more. thank you very much indeed for those spots. just to | much indeed for those spots. just to remind you, ursula von der leyen�*s audience with the king today, they are saying that the european commission are saying that this is not part of the northern ireland critical, talks process there describing that are separate to the discussion she is having with rishi sunak but of course it is rather interesting timing given huge choreography that we are seeing and

there is a huge briefing going on as you can imagine, lots of ministers and backbenchers going in and out of downing street as the prime minister obviously tries to get people on board and on the side. this would be a big political victory for him if he got it over the line and managed to keep the support of the dup and members of the tory party who have been very divided but it is a moment of politicaljeopardy been very divided but it is a moment of political jeopardy and been very divided but it is a moment of politicaljeopardy and we�*ll take you through the day in the coming hours so stay with us for now but for now, for the moment, back to the studio. plenty more from windsor during the course. just to bring you some further clarification of something we heard about a bit earlier and that is what chris mason was told by buckingham palace today, spokesperson saying the king is pleased to meet any

world leader if they are visiting britain and if the government advised that he should do so, the king and ursula von der leyen have met before and it is thought climate change will be among the topics they will discuss but it is properly fair to think they will be talking and focusing on a deal if there is a deal on the european protocol with ursula von der leyen arriving on the eurostar this morning. let�*s talk now to our royal correspondent. nicholas witchell. it isa it is a cup of tea but hopefully deal —— but presumably the whole point of it is... yes, the government is building up quite an effort to build up this moment and it is a moment of potential significance if there is a deal on this northern ireland protocol. is it controversial? well, there are those who are attempting to suggest it is controversial and one might

suggest... one might suggest it is controversial particularly for those who are seeking to make the whole northern ireland settlement of? controversial. it has always been a thing to meet heads of state, it is part of his role, as the uk�*s head of state. and he is doing this at the request of the government. there is nothing i think particularly unusual in a meeting such as this. it would be strange, many might think. it was not only in britain but down the road in windsor do not p0p but down the road in windsor do not pop in for a cup of tea to meet the uk's pop in for a cup of tea to meet the uk�*s head of state but underlying all of this, undoubtedly, as they wish on the part of the government to reset the uk�*s relationship with europe and this is part of all of

that, it has been widely reported in the papers that the king will be making his first state visits next month to france and germany. i see at the weekend there were some mps suggesting that this was somehow a rather strange thing for the king to do, not to visit a commonwealth country assess first state visit of his reign. is it curious for the head of state of the united kingdom to visit the two other perhaps most significant countries in the continent of which we are a part, ie france and germany, early in his reign? that is a matterfor individual is really to decide. brute individual is really to decide. we will leave the german bloodline in the royal family out of that one but perfectly fair observations on that. in a sense, what it tells us about the king as we now have a monarchy is a lot younger, a lot more vigorous than the queen was inevitably in the last few years. that presumably opens up a

recognition because we can use this guy, he can travel and reject the soft power. lip guy, he can travel and re'ect the soft power.* guy, he can travel and re'ect the soft power-* guy, he can travel and re'ect the soft tower. , ., ., , soft power. up to a point but he has well honed instincts _ soft power. up to a point but he has well honed instincts over _ soft power. up to a point but he has well honed instincts over the - soft power. up to a point but he has well honed instincts over the 70 - well honed instincts over the 70 years of his mother�*s reign and he will know and his officials will know how possible it is... —— how far it is and how possible. he put out a statement about the invasion of ukraine and that is not something we would have seen not quite in that language from his mother, quite forthright. but we know they are both absolutely committed as heads of state of the united kingdom to peace, in their realm. we know that queen elizabeth met martin mcguinness and these gestures, it is not something that should be considered to be unusual or controversial for the uk�*s head considered to be unusual or controversialfor the uk�*s head of state to make these symbolic but important gestures and i suppose

thatis important gestures and i suppose that is what the government has in mind this afternoon.— that is what the government has in mind this afternoon. thank you very much. in nigeria�*s presidential elections, opposition labour party candidate peter obi hasjust won the country�*s largest state lagos. mrobi is one mr obi is one of the frontrunners for attracting youth. our west africa correspondent mayenijones is in lagos. we have had a country that has been run for decades, one party of the other, and suddenly this guy, he almost seems to have appeared out of nowhere which is strange to say because he has been a state governor for many years but to make the impact in lagos of all places, is remarkable. yellow might guess, in essence remarkable, when i saw the result i said, oh my god, jumped out of my seat i was so surprised, he was projected to win lagos, a lot of

his baseless year, young urbanites who are well educated and have been campaigning for him on social media and elsewhere, so i think many people thought he could win but because there was such a strong presence from the opposition, still a governor, it was a massive surprise he clinched victory. very tight, only10,000 surprise he clinched victory. very tight, only 10,000 votes but sends a really strong message particularly to young nigerians, that their votes are counted in the selection. —— their votes have counted. in terms of what this means for prospects, we are a long way from a final declaration, all sorts of issues your reporting earlier about the problems with electronic account, the whole counting, getting stuff up and running, bit of public suspicion of presumably at least this result using some of the concern that maybe this result might have been in some way engineered. this result might have been in some way engineered-— way engineered. yes, absolutely. since the results _

way engineered. yes, absolutely. since the results were _ way engineered. yes, absolutely. since the results were so - way engineered. yes, absolutely. since the results were so slow . way engineered. yes, absolutely. since the results were so slow in | since the results were so slow in coming out, this new electronic folk thing —— electronic voting was supposed to mitigate that. the plan was for them to be sent electronically onto a website everyone could access and see for transparency and the fact that did not happen for at least 24 hours really started fuelling speculation that the vote was being manipulated in some way so this is a bit i step on the right direction for some the sceptics out there but we have a long way to go, only one state has declared its result officially in abuja with the electoral commission. we are still waiting to hear from the other states as well as the federal capital territory where abuja is so we are a long way off from knowing the results but this has injected some energy into the waiting process.— waiting process. certainly not as predictable _ waiting process. certainly not as predictable as _ waiting process. certainly not as predictable as some _ waiting process. certainly not as predictable as some people - waiting process. certainly not as i predictable as some people might feel nigerian politics was becoming.

let me bring you more on the death of an ouncejust let me bring you more on the death of an ounce just before midday of baroness betty boothroyd, the mp for west bromwich and west bromwich west for many years, won a by—election and was the only female speaker of the house of commons, they were deputy speakers including her and there are now but the only speaker. she has devised 893. we look back at her life and career. betty boothroyd�*s election to the house of commons left some puzzled as to how they should address the first woman to hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i first woman to hold the post. she left them in no doubt.— first woman to hold the post. she left them in no doubt. i stood up to m treat left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great height _ left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great height and _ left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great height and i _ left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great height and i said, - left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great height and i said, call- left them in no doubt. i stood up to my great height and i said, call me | my great height and i said, call me madam. ,, ., _, ., my great height and i said, call me madam. ,, ., ., ., my great height and i said, call me madam. ,, ., ., . , madam. she had come from a humble bettinnins, madam. she had come from a humble beginnings. born _ madam. she had come from a humble beginnings, born in _ madam. she had come from a humble beginnings, born in 1929 _ madam. she had come from a humble beginnings, born in 1929 in _ madam. she had come from a humble beginnings, born in 1929 in dewsburyl beginnings, born in 1929 in dewsbury and yorkshire. she has had a colourful life before westminster, in the 1940s enjoying a career as a dancer, as a member of the telly girl strip.

dancer, as a member of the telly tirl stri -. ., dancer, as a member of the telly itrlstrit. ., ., dancer, as a member of the telly tirlstrit. ., ., , ., girl strip. vote labour, she “oined their ran.tos — girl strip. vote labour, she “oined their ranks. the t girl strip. vote labour, she “oined their ranks. the name h girl strip. vote labour, she “oined their ranks. the name of h girl strip. vote labour, she joined their ranks. the name of the - their ranks. the name of the candidate — their ranks. the name of the candidate elected _ their ranks. the name of the candidate elected as - their ranks. the name of the candidate elected as betty . candidate elected as betty boothroyd. candidate elected as betty boothroyd-— candidate elected as betty boothro d. ,, ~ ., . , boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west _ boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west from _ boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west from 1974 - boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west from 1974 until - boothroyd. serving as mp for west bromwich west from 1974 until her elevation to the lords in 2000. it�*s elevation to the lords in 2000. it's time the elevation to the lords in 2000. it�*s time they cleared out. elevation to the lords in 2000. it's time they cleared out. she - elevation to the lords in 2000. it's time they cleared out. she was - time they cleared out. she was elected speaker _ time they cleared out. she was elected speaker in _ time they cleared out. she was elected speaker in 1992, - time they cleared out. she was i elected speaker in 1992, dragged time they cleared out. she was - elected speaker in 1992, dragged to the chair in the traditional manner. order, order. she the chair in the traditional manner. order. order-— the chair in the traditional manner. order, order. she chose to dispense with the traditional _ order, order. she chose to dispense with the traditional wig, _ order, order. she chose to dispense with the traditional wig, feeling - with the traditional wig, feeling too heavy she said, to imperious. she had a little patience with the demands from a new intake of blairite mps for more sociable hours. , , , , ., , hours. they must be prepared to put in the hours —

hours. they must be prepared to put in the hours necessary _ hours. they must be prepared to put in the hours necessary to _ hours. they must be prepared to put in the hours necessary to carry - hours. they must be prepared to put in the hours necessary to carry out i in the hours necessary to carry out our legislative work. and she tried to keep more fractious members in order. i think it is time that members of this house grew up. betta; members of this house grew up. betty boothro d members of this house grew up. betty boothroyd said — members of this house grew up. betty boothroyd said her _ members of this house grew up. betty boothroyd said her most memorable moment was welcoming nelson mandela to the house of commons. she held his hand to steady him as he walked down the stairs. i his hand to steady him as he walked down the stairs.— down the stairs. i say to all of ou, in down the stairs. i say to all of you. in a _ down the stairs. i say to all of you, in a phrase _ down the stairs. i say to all of you, in a phrase you - down the stairs. i say to all of you, in a phrase you know- down the stairs. i say to all of you, in a phrase you know so| down the stairs. i say to all of- you, in a phrase you know so well but has never been more true, time�*s up. but has never been more true, time's u ._ but has never been more true, time's u . _ ., ., . but has never been more true, time's u._ ., ., . :::::: but has never been more true, time's u. ., ., . :::::: ., up. the announcement in 2000 that she was stepping — up. the announcement in 2000 that she was stepping down _ up. the announcement in 2000 that she was stepping down sparked - she was stepping down sparked impromptu and unconventional applause. from both sides of the house. i applause. from both sides of the house. ., , applause. from both sides of the house. ., ., , , , house. i was enormously privileged to hold that — house. i was enormously privileged to hold that position. _ house. i was enormously privileged to hold that position. and - house. i was enormously privileged to hold that position. and i - house. i was enormously privileged to hold that position. and i went, i | to hold that position. and i went, i know, at the right time. she became a cheerful and _ know, at the right time. she became a cheerful and hard-working - know, at the right time. she became a cheerful and hard-working addition a cheerful and hard—working addition to the house of lords. our long career dedicated to cherishing the traditions of parliament but a women

who never lost her sense of fun. baroness betty boothroyd who death has been announced today at the age of 93. they really don�*t make them like that any more. now, bring an update on the brexit deal we are expecting, one of the names who had been thought to have been in the fray as a positive resign for the government of radial was a conservative mp and northern ireland minister steve baker who is a former... and gave the conservative prime minister is quite a lot of stick over the brexit terms. theresa may of course then supported boris johnson and he hasjust

may of course then supported boris johnson and he has just come out of downing street where he was part of the briefing that involved his boss, the briefing that involved his boss, the northern ireland secretary chris heaton harris and she was asked whether he was prepared to support a proposed deal. —— he was prepared. i can only say this, the prime minister is on the cusp of securing a really fantastic result for everyone involved.- a really fantastic result for everyone involved. a really fantastic result for eve one involved. -m ., ., ., everyone involved. make of that what ou will but everyone involved. make of that what you will but he _ everyone involved. make of that what you will but he does _ everyone involved. make of that what you will but he does not _ everyone involved. make of that what you will but he does not look- everyone involved. make of that what you will but he does not look like - everyone involved. make of that what you will but he does not look like a i you will but he does not look like a man who is grumpy and upset. now it�*s time for a look at the weather. hello again, high pressure remaining in charge but chasing higher amounts. we have that around today around north—west scotland, and after a bright start in the south—west summer cloud and that breaks in the south—east but one or two showers coming in off the north sea where it will feel a lot cooler along the coast. as he had on through the evening and overnight, still with high pressure in charge, we still have a bit of clout, still the odd

shower and again with the met where the cloud remains broken and part of the cloud remains broken and part of the south in the north and west, this is where we are likely to see some frost with temperatures falling just below freezing and where we have the cloud, temperatures will stay largely speaking above freezing. tomorrow then we still have this cloud, still producing a few showers and a system coming up from france could produce sharp showers to the south—east through the day and the sunshine once again in the western highs round about 10 celsius. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. an announcement is expected on post grexit trading arrangements for northern ireland as the prime minister prepares to leave dowling part to meet his eu counterparts ursula von der leyen in windsor this afternoon. pressure on government to stop energy bill rises scheduled for

april as ofgem announces a new price cap for energy firms. the new legal age of marriage has risen from 16, or 17 with parental consent, to 18 in all circumstances in england and wales. and former speaker of the house of commons, betty boothroyd, who was a labour mp before taking the cheer in the comments as the first woman ever to take that role, has died at the age of 93. —— before taking the chair in the house of commons. a new law increasing the legal age of marriage to 18 has come into force in england and wales. previously people could get married at 16 or 17 if they had parental consent. there was also no law against ceremonies for younger children which were not registered with local councils. the government says these changes will help protect vulnerable children from being forced into marriage. the changes don�*t apply in scotland and northern ireland, where the minimum age will remain 16.

let�*s speak now to the director at karma nirvana, a charity which supports victims of forced marriage and is part of the "girls not brides" coalition. this bill has been a long time in the coming. first introduced by conservative mp pauline latham in 2021. it comes into force from today. what in practical terms will it mean, particularly in those cases where young girls, and indeed boys on some occasions, are sent for managed by their parents? thank you for having me on. what this law will mean practically is that for registered managers you will have to be 18 years old. no longer will parental consent or judicial consent at 16 and 17 be acceptable. the second really big important changes that are existing forced marriage law is being expanded to capture a child�*s

marriage. so children on account of their age are automatically recognised as victims of forced marriage if they are married under the age of 18. that is the practical implications of having the new law in place. in terms of the numbers, this is quite interesting, there are various figures, presumably in part because some of this stuff is hidden, people leave the country, come back, they are already married. at the figures we have, governments forced marriage unit said 118 cases involving victims under 18 and 2021. there were some figures also from the national abuse helpline, seeing 64 cases of child marriage. we often assume it is only girls who are affected by this, but it can be boys as well. it affected by this, but it can be boys as well. .., , affected by this, but it can be boys aswell. , , affected by this, but it can be boys aswell. , ., affected by this, but it can be boys aswell. , , ., , as well. it can be boys also, but like with most _ as well. it can be boys also, but like with most forms _ as well. it can be boys also, but like with most forms of - as well. it can be boys also, butj like with most forms of violence against women and girls, it is

precisely —— it is mainly against women and girls. there is very little data to show how often this is happening. it is really hidden. many victims going through this do not recognise that this is abuse, particularly if they have been conditioned to normalise marrying at a young age. and our —— and we are relying on teachers and health professionals to see that these cases are happening, and to bring those cases to the attention of agencies that can safeguard and protect. in some communities traditions have been established for hundreds of years. what is being done, apart from the law, which always feels like it is a hard nut to crackjust using the law, because a lot of these things are hidden. what about changing cultural attitudes? are there changes? is there a sense that over time attitudes towards things like marriage at a very young age

are shifting? after all, it is only are shifting? after all, it is only a very short time ago that in spain the age of consent for sex was raised from the age of 14, which it was for long after spain joined the european union. the was for long after spain “oined the european union.— was for long after spain “oined the european union. the legalframework allows us to — european union. the legalframework allows us to change _ european union. the legalframework allows us to change attitudes - european union. the legalframework allows us to change attitudes over - allows us to change attitudes over time. i think in a decade we will think it... particular when we have laws to protect them, being an educational training until they�*re 18, not be able to use a sunbed until they are 18, it has been such an anomaly in the law that children have been able to get married for so long. i�*m pleased that today we have been able to change that. what that will mean moving forward is that in ten years�* time we will look back and think, it is inconceivable that we were ever able to do this in england and.

are we worried that some might seem —— seek to evade the law simply by going to northern ireland or scotland where these laws do not exist? ., scotland where these laws do not exist? . ., , scotland where these laws do not exist? ., ., , , scotland where these laws do not exist? . ., , , ., exist? the law has been drafted carefull . exist? the law has been drafted carefully- they _ exist? the law has been drafted carefully. they will _ exist? the law has been drafted carefully. they will be _ exist? the law has been drafted carefully. they will be captured | exist? the law has been drafted i carefully. they will be captured by the law in terms of being from england or wales, but we do need to ensure that children from scotland and northern ireland are also equally protected, our next level of this campaign is to take it there, to try to change the law, so that children throughout the uk and globally don�*t have to face the harms of child marriage. presumably you would like a declaration from the three candidates running for first minister of scotland that they would support this, and presumably you would like this also if devolved government of northern ireland is to be restored, some commitment from the parties there?—

the parties there? absolutely. they have all subscribes _ the parties there? absolutely. they have all subscribes to _ the parties there? absolutely. they have all subscribes to the _ the parties there? absolutely. they have all subscribes to the united i have all subscribes to the united nations sustainable development law, work towards ending child marriage. we would be delighted to see that. one more thing, i do not want to end on a down, but can you give as an example of what has motivated you, what circumstance you have seen, with either a boy or a girl that has motivated you to keep this campaign going? just to help people understand the gravity of what we are talking about. this is a campaign that we have been working on for the last decade. a prime example, last week, our helpline received a call in relation to a 14—year—old girl in england due to a 14—year—old girl in england due to marry a 22—year—old man, that was taking place in england, she has not been taken out of the country for that to happen. what was most alarming to me was that there were professionals that were involved,

that were viewing it as a 14—year—old it was ok, because she was agreeing, she was not being forced. therefore i am pleased that the law makes it very clear that children cannot give their consent, that this is a crime. like i said, i hope that in ten years�* time we will look back at this and think, can you believe that that was allowed once upon a time strinicjust to clarify. when you see officials, you mean people in positions of authority in society who thought somehow this was ok? , ., ., ~ society who thought somehow this was ok? , ., ,,. .._ ok? yes. i am talking specifically in this case _ ok? yes. i am talking specifically in this case about _ ok? yes. i am talking specifically in this case about a _ ok? yes. i am talking specifically in this case about a social- ok? yes. i am talking specifically in this case about a social worker| in this case about a social worker that thought that because the child was consenting it did not raise any safeguarding requirements that this should be dealt with as child protection, until our agency got involved to see, and it felt so empowering to be able to see, do you know from next week this is going to be a crime. we do have professionals on the front line who are not tackling this in the way that they

should. and the law, what we hope that will give to professionals, is that will give to professionals, is that confidence to do with it in that confidence to do with it in that way. the safeguarding minister for the government has said, the government is working to ensure that as well as the new law, training and guidance is provided to help police, social workers, otherfront is provided to help police, social workers, other front line workers to save more victims. very good to talk to you. director of kharma nevada, one of the charities. you know of what you speak. thank you for your time. britain�*s energy regulator, ofgem, has set a new annual price cap for a typical household. the announcement will not affect what customers pay for each unit

of gas and electricity because that is limited by a government guarantee. the new price cap is set at 3,280 pounds a year. it represent a drop of almost a thousand pounds from the current energy price cap — so the cost the government is paying to cap prices is falling. but the typical annual household bill is still set to rise to £3,000 in april because the government�*s guarantee will be less generous and a £400 winter discount on all bills ends. our money and work reporter peter ruddick has more. there�*s lots of schemes and numbers out there, so let�*s break this down. we�*re talking this morning about the energy price cap, the level that the regulator ofgem thinks that bills should be, based on the wholesale cost of energy. this has been around for a long time, and it was supposed to stop our bills going up by massive amounts but of course, that was before the end of the pandemic and russia�*s invasion of ukraine which kind of changed the game in terms of wholesale costs. so the government stepped in to subsidise our bills, to try to keep them low, at a cost to government finances, of course. currently, the energy price guarantee is doing that, it stands at £2,500. as you say, from april,

it will become less generous, it will go up to £3,000 but all of the time this has been going on, the energy price cap has still been calculated by ofgem. today, the new price cap, the amount that ofgem thinks is a fair amount based on the wholesale cost of energy, is £3,280. that is above the government guarantee. so it won�*t impact how much we pay. we will still pay the £3,000 government guarantee level. but it�*s only marginally above the government guarantee. that means it�*s increasing pressure on the government to keep the guarantee at the current lower level of £2,500. why? because it would be a significant benefit to struggling households, but it would come at a relatively small cost to the government, certainly smaller than previously feared. the outcome, though, is that as things stand, on 1st april, bills will go up, but the good news is that, as i say, the energy price cap is much lower than it has been in previous months.

if current trends continue, comejuly, the price cap will be lower than the guarantee, meaning the government will be able to stop subsidising bills and the bills should start to come down a little bit. on brexit there will be a statement to parliament, that statement will be made by the prime minister to mps at half past six, uk time, in the house of commons. they will be a statement in the house of commons to mps. usually there is a simultaneous statement, or one is read in the house of lords. they are currently considering the government legislation which was designed to put pressure on the commission, basically saying that if this bill goes through and we have not got a

deal, we could unilaterally withdraw from it, which could spark a trade war. the prime minister keen to avoid that. we will probably hear about the future of that bill. an optimistic sounding steve baker a few minutes ago, a man who had previously been sceptical of changes to the brexit protocol, and in particular, it was one of the people whose most concerned in theresa may�*s deal —— theresa may�*s deal when she was prime minister. and it�*ll be interesting to see if boris johnson has anything to see in the house of commons tonight about the prospect of its disappearing or being amended. we will bring you more on that. we believe that the prime minister is on his way to berkshire to meet ashlar von the lion. she will meet with him and then have tea with the king. —— ursula von the lion.

safety investigators say doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other nhs staff in england are facing "significant distress" and harm as a result of long delays in emergency care. the healthcare safety investigation branch, says many staff broke down in tears when asked about their working environment. our health correspondent jim reed reports. this winter was a nightmare, the worst it�*s ever been. matt works as a 999 call handler in england. he doesn�*t have permission to speak to the media, so we�*ve changed his name and voice. at one point, we hit more than 500 waiting calls. it�*s exhausting, it really is. it�*s really upsetting. the health care safety watchdog says pressure like that has caused nhs staff significant distress over the last year. call handlers told investigators it was common to worry "how many "are we going to kill," because they were not always able to send ambulances quickly. it�*s so deflating, especially for those really critical calls where they�*re screaming to get an ambulance. you just don�*t have the heart to tell them there�*s nothing available. i�*ve seen colleagues try to calm someone down and apologise for the wait time, only to be hit with a wall of abuse.

i�*ve seen colleagues cry after those calls. the investigation also found strong links between the wellbeing of nhs staff and patient safety. anxiety, stress and depression are the most common reason for staff sickness in the health service, with rates increasing. carrying out this investigation has been difficult. we have heard the level of emotion that staff are under. but we absolutely have to tell the staff story because there is a direct impact on patient safety. it has been absolutely relentless. imploding comes to mind. dr salwa malik has worked for five years as a consultant in a busy a&e department. you're basically running a resuscitation room in the corridor and you get scared, you do. it's natural, it's good to feel scared because you should be scared. it's not normal. how easy is it to go home and switch off after one of those shifts? you can't always switch off, actually. i've had nights where you go over the scenarios in your head

about patients or whatever problem that you were in, and it can be really difficult to sleep. if you're on edge for ten, 12 hours a day, at the end when you walk out, you can kind of crumble. the nhs said it takes staff wellbeing very seriously and does have a range of support in place. the government said it has provided more funding to reduce pressures with plans to expand the number of hospital beds and ambulances in england by next winter. jim reed, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news. are the uk and the eu on the cusp of a new northern ireland brexit deal? journalists have been believed that the prime minister will address the

house of commons at half past six this evening, after he has spoken to european union president ursula von the lion. growing pressure for the government to stop energy bill rises in april as energy regulator ofgem announces a new price cap. the first female speaker of the houses of commons, betty boothroyd dies aged 93. this is central london... this is windsor, a phalanx of vehicles arriving at windsor. probably the prime minister, it could be the president of the european commission. what a splendid view on a beautiful morning in windsor. they are meeting at a castle, a hotel, i beg your pardon. i am trying to see

the significant political figure they are. they are, the prime minister, top of the picture with the red folder and resign, just disappearing into shot stop i need to get these contact lenses change. areas, that is a much better picture. he has his briefing under his arm. he is heading in to meet ashlar on the lion, they will probably be in there for quite a while. i assume there�*ll be some kind of protocol. —— —— heading into meet ursula von der leyen. there is not a legal requirement, as i understand it, for this deal to be formally endorsed by mps, but there is no question would help the privacy�*s position if you can demonstrate that he has support on his own backbenchers. this will be interesting to see what contributes is a major soccer question this. a lot of mps grumbling that they have not seen any of the detail, even in

the preparation to the run up, when it is likely that an agreement would be reached. agreements like this. the premise may have to give more details before mps decide whether or not they can support it, including his predecessor but one, boris johnson, who was grumbling according to sources in the papers last weekend, to warn, do not get rid of the protocol, think very carefully met any kind of deal. this is the hotel at windsor where the meeting is taking place. handy of course for ursula von der leyen, then to nip across to the castle for afternoon tea with the king. some controversy obviously over that. we were talking earlier about that. journalists were asking this of the prime minister�*s official spokesman. asking this of the prime minister�*s officialspokesman. some asking this of the prime minister�*s official spokesman. some nice colourful bar as they are free to

check the balance on your television picture. this is a statement from the prime minister�*s official spokesman, the spokesman said, it is not uncommon for his majesty to accept invitations to meet certain leaders. he has met the president of poland, and president zelensky of ukraine recently, he is meeting the president of the eu today. the spokesman added, we provide advice to the king, it is for the king to make those decisions. we have some more pictures mr mack know, that is it for the pictures. we are still looking out for ursula von der leyen. it may be that because rishi sunak is the host protocol says he has to arrive first. i�*m not an expert on these things. hollywood awards season is heating up with everything everywhere all at once winning big at the screen actors guild awards in los angeles. these winners are closely watched because actors make up the largest group of voters at next month�*s oscars. emer mccarthy reports. and the actor goes to...

everything everywhere all at once. it�*s the dimension—hopping adventure seemingly winning "everything everywhere all at once" as it dominated sunday night�*s screen actors guild awards. along with the top honour, the film also won best supporting actress forjamie lee curtis, best supporting actor for ke huy quan and best actress for michelle yeoh. thank you for giving me a seat at the table, because so many of us need this. we want to be seen, we want to be heard and tonight, you have shown us that it is possible. best lead actor went to brendan fraser, the only performer from a film other than everything everywhere to win a movie prize for his turn as a morbidly obese teacher in the whale. believe me, if you just stay in there and you put one foot in front of the other,

you�*ll get to where you need to go. and the actor goes to... the white lotus! on the tv side, it was the cast of the white lotus that took home the prize for ensemble in a drama series, its 83—year—old star f murray abraham summing it up. this was the bestjob i ever had. the sag awards are voted on by more than 120,000 members of hollywood�*s acting union and are seen as a major indicator for the oscars. and with those gold men set to be handed out in just two weeks, the race for gold is as open as ever. in a very rare display, the northern lights were seen as far south as kent and cornwall

on sunday night. across more northern areas of the uk, the display was one of the best seen in a very long time by bbc weather watchers. an aurora is formed by a solar flare erupting on the sun, sending charged particles towards earth which interact with our atmosphere. more displays are expected in the coming nights. the most vibrant display was across scotland and northern england where the aurora was made up of bright greens and deep reds. there were also sightings in northern ireland, south wales and norfolk. former speaker of the house of commons commie —— former speaker of the house of commons, betty boothroyd, has died at the age of

93. alistair campbell has paid tribute on social media. betty boothroyd was labour mp for west bromwich. she left active politics to sit as the speaker. she served in that office for a number of years, before she declared it was time up for her, and she was proud of the fact that she left, in her view, at the right time. some clips from her long life. will you be voting for me tomorrow? you hope so. with a smile like that i am sure you are. i am sure you are. i have never known grown—up people to behave in such a childlike manner. i think it is time that members of this house grew up. i haven�*t got my crystal ball with me, i am forecasting at no majority,

but from the people i see around me, i know that they feel do. defend your rights. remember always, that the privileges that this house enjoys would dearly one and must never be squandered. vote labour, vote boothroyd. it shows total disillusionment in ted heath and his toadies, and it is time they cleared out. —— ted heath itis conservatives. as eric morecambe would see, there is no answer to that. i had a wonderful life as speaker. i enjoyed every moment of it. in a phrase you know so well, that has never been more true, time is up.

hello again. under clear skies last night, the northern lights were seen as far south as southern england. under this area of high pressure tonight, there is a good chance we could see them again where the cloud remains broken. this high pressure is fairly dominant. it is going to be with us for much of the week. what is happening is we have got the air coming around it, so an onshore breeze along the north sea coastline blowing in some showers through the course of the day. the cloud building in the south—west and south wales and breaking across the south—east through the day. the lion�*s share of the sunshine in western scotland. temperatures, 7—10 degrees. 7—9 as we come down this coastline. but when you add on the breeze coming in from the north sea, instead of 7—9 on the north sea coast, it will feel more like 5—6 degrees. as we head on through the evening and overnight, this is where we are looking at clear skies. if you get the chance, go out and see if you can see

the northern lights. they won�*t be vibrant colours. they will be white, more like clouds that are swaying. there will also be some frost where we have clear skies. for many of us, it is going to be a cloudy night with one or two showers. that is how we start the day tomorrow, still under the influence of high pressure. the lion�*s share of the sunshine across scotland after the cold start, but we will also see some sunshine across parts of southern england and south wales. but still showers coming in from the north sea, drifting across eastern england, into the midlands and also parts of wales. at the same time, another little system coming up from the near continent, introducing some sharper showers. top temperatures up to 10 degrees. through the course of the week, high pressure remains with us. you can see from the isobars there is not going to be much breeze. not a lot will change. still a fair bit of cloud around. still a breeze coming in from the north sea. we will see some of those showers. brighter breaks at times across the far south—east and the chance of a few showers on wednesday across the far north.

but temperatures roughly where we would expect them to be at this stage of the year, between 7—9 degrees. wednesday into thursday and then into the weekend, high pressure remains with us. you can see this weather front is trying to come in from the atlantic but not having much success. for the ensuing couple of days, things remain fairly static with variable amounts of cloud and some sunny spells and average temperatures.

today at one: a long awaited deal on new post—brexit trading arrangements for northern ireland could be finally be announced in the next few hours. talks will get under way shortly at windsor between the prime minister and the european commission president — it�*s thought they could sign off a deal with huge implications for the political and economic future of northern ireland. rishi sunak arrived here at windsor a few minutes ago. he is trying to persuade mps that his deal will be better for northern ireland. persuade mps that his deal will be betterfor northern ireland. i�*m better for northern ireland. i'm live in belfast, where people are waiting _ live in belfast, where people are waiting to — live in belfast, where people are waiting to see if any new deal could pave the _ waiting to see if any new deal could pave the way for the return of the devolved — pave the way for the return of the devolved government here at stormont. yes, we�*ll have the latest from windsor, from belfast and brussels. also this lunchtime...

the energy regulator lowers the price cap