and at least three berlusconi. and at least three people have died in the southern port city of odesa following russian missile strikes. anotherjunior doctors strike is under way in england and thousands of appointments will be affected. hello, i'm maryam moshiri, welcome to bbc news now, welcome to bbc news now. i want to take you live to milan because these are pictures coming into as here at the bbc of the former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi's funeral, his body is just being brought as we speak into the central cathedral in milan. you can see a photograph of silvio

berlusconi they are applauding the coffin as it enters the cathedral flanked by italian guardsmen on either side. is we listen to that applause coming from both inside and outside the

cathedral, we think about the fact that this is the first state funeral being held for a former italian prime minister. these privileges are usually reserved for popes, war heroes and serving state ministers. thousands of people throng the streets of milan and lined the streets of milan and lined the streets along the way from the former prime minister's villa to the ground cathedral in the centre of milan. milan, of course, is a city that has been very deeply associated with silvio berlusconi. both the city and of course one of the football clubs from the city, ac milan.

applause organ plays. screens have been put up organ plays. screens have been put up outside in the main square so that people can watch the final farewell for silvio scully —— silvio berlusconi, he was a controversial figure, but one of the most recognisable and colourful politicians that italy has ever seen. he was called by many during his lifetime a comeback king. he was a powerful political player. he also amassed a vast empire. he was, if you have watched succession, very much based, that series, could very

much based, that series, could very much almost be based on silvio berlusconi, in terms of his powerful media empire. he owned massive swathes of real estate, he had financial companies, he was involved in cinema, he was of course involved in cinema, he was of course involved in sport. he was one of italy's richest men. according to forbes, his business assets are worth around £5 million, that is around 6 billion euros. as you can see, mourners inside the cathedral, we can cross live now and hear the voice of our rome correspondent sofia bettiza, who is outside in bilan, and listening to all this with me. we are seeing a lot of tears in people's faces inside the cathedral, understandably, sofia, it is a funeral, but there is a collective sadness in italy, whether you loved

him or didn't, he was such a huge figure in the italian psyche, it is going to be difficult to move on from him?— going to be difficult to move on from him? ., �* ., , , from him? you're absolutely right and i have — from him? you're absolutely right and i have seen _ from him? you're absolutely right and i have seen some _ from him? you're absolutely right and i have seen some tears - from him? you're absolutely right i and i have seen some tears outside here in the square, just outside the main milan cathedral. thousands of people have gathered here in the square to pay their tributes to silvio berlusconi. they have been waving forza italia flags, which is the political party that serve your burlesque only created, they have also been waving ac milan flags, which is the football team that he owned for years. bellows kony will always be president, they say.

you just saw a glimpse of marina

berlusconi, one of silvio berlusconi's children. in fact his eldest child, who is considered the closest of the five children to her father. as they carry the cross into the cathedral, let me bring back our rome correspondent sofia bettiza. sofia, you have course have lived in italy, you are very well aware of how the italian society and psyche works, just talk me through what this means for italians now, this end of an era, if you like, in italian politics?— end of an era, if you like, in italian politics? well, you know, silvio berlusconi _ italian politics? well, you know, silvio berlusconi dominated - italian politics? well, you know, l silvio berlusconi dominated italian society for nearly 50 years. tv, cinema, sport, real estate,

politics. when it comes to politics, specifically, he was considered a kingmaker and he ended up becoming the longest serving prime minister in italy since world war ii. and his charismatic personality, his sense of humour, the fact that he was a self—made man, all those things made him, many italians looked at him as a man of the people, and that's why they back him again and again, in spite of his corruption scandals and of his infamous sex parties. so, as you mentioned, whether you liked him or you hated him, this is a day where italy comes together and it feels sort of surreal for the country that silvio berlusconi has died. you mentioned marina berlusconi, berlusconi has five children, they are all there in the cathedral, as well as his girlfriend, who is 53 younger than him, and one of his ex—wives. and outside the cathedral, people here

are very emotional, they've been waving flags, chanting, crying, and it is a bit of a spectacle as well. there has been helicopters flying overhead, two huge screens have been set up because of course the whole thing will be televised so that people can follow it live. may peace be with you, says the archbishop. he is introducing this memorial in the name ofjesus christ. i think we can leave the funeral of silvio berlusconi now for a while. of course, as things progress, we could always come back and show you what is happening, because it is a hugely important

moment for italian politics, for italian society. the end of an era, as sofia mentioned there. the funeral of former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi. let's now take you back to the uk and the breaking, top story here that we have been developing for you throughout the day, and that is that police in the city of nottingham are continuing to question a 31—year—old man about the fatal stabbing of two university students and a man in his 50s earlier on tuesday. offices have within the last hour revealed what they believe to be the sequence of events. they say the first victims were 19—year—old students barnaby webber and grace kumar. officers say a man thought to be the suspect then tried to get into a homeless hostel in the city. this is still of the cctv footage seen by the bbc which shows a man in a black hoodie trying to climb into a window at the hostel. he is stopped from entering

by two people. police believe the attacker then stabbed ian coates, a school caretaker, before allegedly stealing his van. he then used that fan to run over and injured three people elsewhere in the city, one of whom is in a critical condition. police have yet to establish a motive for these attacks, as the bbc�*s motive for these attacks, as the bbc�*s helena wilkinson reports. barnaby webber and grace o'malley kumar, both 19—year—old university students, young and happy, with their whole lives ahead of them, their dreams, their hopes, their future, so cruelly taken away. today, barnaby�*s family released these photographs. he was, they said, at the start of his journey into adulthood and was developing into a wonderful young man. "complete devastation is not enough to describe our pain." barnaby was an amateur cricketer, the club where he played in taunton in somerset said he was a dear friend.

this morning flowers have been left in his memory. hejust was engaging, you know, a very grown—up, mature young man, he was going places, he was the sort of guy who would leave an impression, he was always smiling, very engaging and a fabulous personality. the 19—year—old was walking back with grace o'malley kumar after a night out. also a student at nottingham university, she was a talented hockey player, england hockey said it was deeply saddened by her death. she was, they said, a popular member of the england ui6 and u18 squads. the third victim has also been named — ian coates, he worked at huntingon academy, the trust said he was a beloved and respected member of staff. at the start of prime minister's questions this afternoon, a statement from rishi sunak. i know the whole house -

will want to thank the emergency services for their ongoing response to the shocking incident in nottingham yesterday. our thoughts are with those injured and with the families of those who lost their lives. police were first called at about 4.00 yesterday morning, after two people were found dead in ilkeston road. three people were then hit by a van in milton street in the city centre. later, a man was found dead in magdala road, less than a mile away. a 31—year—old man remains in custody, held on suspicion of murder. police are still in the early stages of the investigation. as well as piecing together what happened, they are trying to determine what the motive was. counter—terrorism police are involved, but there is no confirmed link to extremism. last night round 400 people gathered for a church vigil. this is a city that has been left shocked, stunned,

searching for answers. how do the families of those who died even begin to comprehend what has happened? helena wilkinson, bbc news. our news correspondent rajini vaidyanathan in nottingham. iam sure i am sure the city is struggling to come to terms with what has happened, rajini?— come to terms with what has happened, rajini? come to terms with what has ha ened, ra'ini? ~ ,, ., happened, ra'ini? well, you 'oin me from the happened, rajini? well, you 'oin me from the campus * happened, rajini? well, you 'oin me from the campus at h happened, rajini? well, you 'oin me from the campus at the h happened, rajini? well, youjoin me from the campus at the university i happened, rajini? well, youjoin me from the campus at the university of| from the campus at the university of nottingham. it is always difficult to convey moods on camera but it has been very sombre here, understandably. two of the victims are studied here, they were in their first year at university and their lives were cut short so cruelly and so brutally. we have had a statement actually in the last half—an—hour or so from the family of one of the

victims, grace o'malley kumar, who was studying medicine here. i will radio some of the statement from the family. they say that grace was an adored daughter and sister, a truly wonderful and beautiful young lady. not just a wonderful and beautiful young lady. notjust a sister to her brother james but his best friend, he is completely heartbroken. she will be so dearly missed. the statement goes on to say how proud the family were of her achievements and how she was a truly lovely person. she was resilient and wise beyond her years, grace was so happy in life, fulfilling her ambition to become a doctor whilst playing top flight hockey at university. a very moving statement there, and the other victim barnaby was studying history here, and his family also issued an earlier statement saying how they were bereft at the loss of barnaby. that sense of loss, feeling bereft, is really felt here, later today,

there will be a vigil at the university of nottingham, and earlier i spoke to the university's vice chancellor. the earlier i spoke to the university's vice chancellor.— vice chancellor. the whole university _ vice chancellor. the whole university community - vice chancellor. the whole university community is . vice chancellor. the whole university community is in | vice chancellor. the whole | university community is in a vice chancellor. the whole - university community is in a state of shock — university community is in a state of shock. this is a tragedy, and for their_ of shock. this is a tragedy, and for their families, of shock. this is a tragedy, and for theirfamilies, my deepest their families, my deepest condolences theirfamilies, my deepest condolences are too great and barnaby's families. i think everyone feels touched and shocked by this and we _ feels touched and shocked by this and we are doing everything we can to support — and we are doing everything we can to support our students and staff in terms _ to support our students and staff in terms of— to support our students and staff in terms of their well—being through this really— terms of their well—being through this really difficult period. we have been — this really difficult period. - have been starting to get a little bit more detail about the incredible achievements grace and barnaby made in their short lives, they were accomplished sports stars, what more can you tell us about these two students?— can you tell us about these two students? ~ , , , students? well, they were immensely talented, students? well, they were immensely talented. they — students? well, they were immensely talented, they were _ students? well, they were immensely talented, they were very _ talented, they were very intelligent, very... i mean, grace was a _ intelligent, very... i mean, grace was a national level hockey player,

barnaby _ was a national level hockey player, barnaby was a very high level cricket — barnaby was a very high level cricket player. their tutors described them as engaged and lively and intelligent, they were just clearly— and intelligent, they were just clearly wonderful people, they were very popular and amazingly accomplished.— very popular and amazingly accomplished. very popular and amazingly accomlished. ., ., ., accomplished. now, we have had another statement _ accomplished. now, we have had another statement from - accomplished. now, we have had another statement from the - accomplished. now, we have hadl another statement from the police that has come to us in the last hour or so, that has come to us in the last hour orso, it that has come to us in the last hour or so, it is quite extensive, one thing it says is that the police are providing support and assistance to the families of the three victims, of course the other victim that was mentioned in that earlier report was ian coates, who was a caretaker at the huntingdon academy school, and a statement from the school described ian coates as a much love league who always went the extra mile for the benefit of the children there. a few other things to point out from that statement that we got from the police, the police say that there were reports suggesting that they are no longer working with

counterterror policing, they say this is not case, counterterror police continues to work alongside nottinghamshire police. another thing as well, they are disputing reports out there that calls were made to nottinghamshire police about the suspect before the attacks on ilkeston road, the first attack there, they say this is not the case. and the statement that they issued recently goes over some of what we already knew about the three different attacks, the first one, they say, they first got the call at 4.04 in the morning to ilkeston road, that is where the two students were found dead. and the statement also talks about how their investigation continues at pace. chief constable kate meynell said, first and foremost my thoughts are with all of the families affected. i am very aware of the impact of these horrendous crimes will have had not only on nottingham and nottinghamshire but across the whole country, and she says she is determined that we all work with

community members, students from both universities in the city, and others impacted, to reassure and support them. those are just some things from that statement. we know that they are continuing to question a 31—year—old man of west african origins, he has lived in the uk for many years, they say he was not a british citizen but he did have settled status here and had never had a criminal record before. as their investigations continue, some new cctv footage which i think we showed at the start of the programme, has emerged, which is believed to be of the suspect trying to break into a homeless hostel. earlier today, at prime minister's questions in the british parliament, theissue questions in the british parliament, the issue of nottingham was also being raised, both party leaders, the prime minister and keir starmer, both paying their respects to the

victims, and of course, the investigation continues, as does the grieving and the healing process here in nottingham. around the world and across the uk, you're watching bbc news. thousands ofjunior doctors across england have walked out today in the latest round of strikes in a dispute over pay. the british medical association has gone ahead with the action after rejecting a five per cent pay offer — instead calling for 35 per cent — to reflect how pay has fallen over more than a decade. the rnli responded to 290 incidents involving migrants in the english channel last year andsaved 108 lives. this is the first time the volunteer run charity has released such data, their chief executive says he makes no apologies for saving lives at sea. in total rnli lifeboats were launched 9000 times around the coast of the uk in 2022.

the second day of the covid inquiry is under way in london and will continue to hear the testimonies of key participants before moving on to evidence. yesterday, the inquiries lead lawyer claimed that "very little thought" had been given to the impact of lockdowns. you're watching bbc news. welcome back. let's go to ukraine now. a deadly missile from russia has hit the south of the country in ukraine overnight, yalda hakim reports. as you know, for the past 16 ukrainian is have gotten all too used to air raid sirens and russian missile strikes. just in this past week when we have been here there have been a number of times those areas sirens have gone off and people have rushed into bunkers. overnight it was a very difficult night for the southern port of odesa, where three people died as a result of

airstrikes which hit a business centre and a warehouse. i think we can show you some of those images with emergency workers trying to put out the fire. and we were told by the authorities there that it was the authorities there that it was the air defence systems that shot down two missiles but obviously some of the missiles get through, and then of course the death toll rises. we know that at least 20 people have been injured as a result. we also heard in the last 24 hours from vladimir putin, russia's president, who criticised ukraine's counteroffensive and said that they have had heavy losses. but he also made a rare admission in that statement, he said that russia didn't have enough ammunition and drones as well as high precision weaponry, so, we are hearing a lot of things from both sides, claims and counterclaims about losses but that rare admission as well from vladimir putin. but as i said, while the ukrainian people have gotten used to these air ride sirens and

waking up in the morning to hear that there has been another missile strike somewhere in ukraine which has killed their countrymen, they are also trying to get on with the daily lives, and right now we are in a metro, one of the many metros here in the capital kyiv. and as you can see people are trying to get about their daily lives in whatever way they can, they are going to work with ar going to study, they are coming here to the shopping malls, which arejust overhead. coming here to the shopping malls, which are just overhead. and they have also used this base as bunkers. at the beginning of the conflict, these retros were not operating, people were sleeping in these bunkers, they were also used for that purpose. we're following all the developments here in ukraine but for now back to you in the studio. yalda hakim, thank you very much. a mobile phone merger deal has been

agreed. we can speak to our business reporter now. what does this mean for customers of both these companies?— for customers of both these companies? for customers of both these com anies? ., ., ., ., companies? the management of the two com anies companies? the management of the two companies say — companies? the management of the two companies say this _ companies? the management of the two companies say this will _ companies? the management of the two companies say this will be _ companies? the management of the two companies say this will be good - companies? the management of the two companies say this will be good for - companies say this will be good for consumers because it will make it possible for them to invest £11 billion in building out a 5g network, using the next generation of mobile phone technology, which promises everything from faster connections to a whole raft of new applications like controlling robots remotely. they say this is going to cost £11 billion for them to roll out and merging the two companies together makes it possible to save something of the order of £7 billion by combining the two. of course the question will be whether this is really good for consumers because it reduces —looking networks down to three. the competition and markets authority has said that they will look into this merger, and ofcom has also said that ofcom, the broadcasting bigger later, has said that they will provide their input

as well, and it will be reviewed on the basis of the specific circumstances of the deal. ofcom opposed a similar merger between hutchison and 02 back in 2016, so there will be questions about whether this merger can go ahead, but if it does, they are expected to complete the deal and combine operations by the end of 2024. before we leave you, let's take you once more live to milan and the duomo cathedral. the funeral of the former prime minister silvio berlusconi is continuing. let's have a listen. he speaks italian.

presenter: we will leave you from the latest pictures from silvio berlusconi's state funeral. stay with us on the bbc. hello. after the heavy downpours and thunderstorms that have bought some of us and not of rain over the last few days, to date is somewhat,. a bit of high cloud in the south—west of the uk, some low cloud around some western coasts and just a view very isolated showers in northern parts of scotland. temperatures in the western side of scotland up to 27-28, the western side of scotland up to 27—28, southern england, up to 29-30. this 27—28, southern england, up to 29—30. this evening and tonight, any showers in the north of scotland will fade, we will have largely

clear skies overhead, some low cloud for western coasts and maybe some low cloud and mist and fog across parts of north—east england, a slightly fresher night than the ones we had earlier in the week, 9—14. a fresh start to thursday but mostly sunny, most will keep sunny skies overhead but there isjust sunny, most will keep sunny skies overhead but there is just a slightly greater chance of seeing some thunderstorms in the afternoon. one ought to popping up across the highlands of scotland, although the south—west of scotland should stay pretty much dry. western counties of northern ireland are likely to see some thunderstorms, maybe one or two over the hills and mountains of wales and a very small chance of a shower in eastern england as well. temperatures for southern parts if anything just a little down on where they have been during today. moving towards friday, a bit of a change because this area of low pressure is swirling in the atlantic and will start to throw a frontal system northwards, really only grazing the western side of the uk, could bring

the thunderstorm for western areas, especially northern ireland, possibly a few rogue showers popping up possibly a few rogue showers popping up further east but mostly finance. and a subtle shift in the wind direction means that some of these coasts will no longer have the wind coming in off the chilly sea and so will be a little bit warmer in newcastle and hull. into the weekend, the low pressure moves closer and actually, particularly on sunday, there is the chance for some quite heavy, thundery downpours to drive northwards across the uk. so, the increasing chance of rain, some of that heavy, as we go through the weekend, temperatures coming down just a little.