england and one in the north of england, although some negotiations are still ongoing, with landlords around some of the sites. in the five new shops are expected to be quite different from each other as well, some single level shops, some multilevel shops, potentially on out—of—town retail park on the cards as well. some of the new sites could even include former wilko stores. industry experts had expected that cgs would go on to sell wilko home products, garden products across the range. but the reinstatement of those stand—alone shops under the wilko brand specifically was far from certain. and there is certainly a lot of affection for the wilko brand in the uk and it seemed like that was a huge part in the decision—making by cts. we head its chief executive say today that the public reaction to the loss of the wilko stores was undeniable —— we heard. ibig wilko stores was undeniable -- we heard. �* , ., _, , , .,

heard. big news for consumers, what does this mean _ heard. big news for consumers, what does this mean for _ heard. big news for consumers, what does this mean for former _ heard. big news for consumers, what does this mean for former wilko - does this mean for former wilko staff? 50 does this mean for former wilko staff? ,, ., does this mean for former wilko staff? ~ _, ., ,, ., staff? so when wilko collapsed into administration, _ staff? so when wilko collapsed into administration, it _ staff? so when wilko collapsed into administration, it put _ staff? so when wilko collapsed into administration, it put thousands - staff? so when wilko collapsed into administration, it put thousands of| administration, it put thousands of jobs at risk. here at the bbc, we heard from devastated staff who had worked at the disco chain for decades in some cases. but the lease from some wilko stores has been taken on by competitors, the likes of poundland or b and m, so some workers have already been offered new opportunities by other retailers. and on friday, cts superstores did confirm in its statement that those former wilko employees would be given priority in any recruitment process for the new stores it is hoping to open in the next couple of years.— next couple of years. thanks for takin: us next couple of years. thanks for taking us through _ next couple of years. thanks for taking us through that, - next couple of years. thanks for taking us through that, laura i next couple of years. thanks for - taking us through that, laura jones, taking us through that, laura jones, our business correspondent, thank you. one of scotland's leading health officials during the covid

pandemic is reported to have deleted his whatsapp messages, meaning they can't be handed over to official covid inquiries. the times newspaper says that scotland's national clinical director, professorjason leitch, deleted his whatsapp communications every day during the pandemic. live to glasgow and our scotland correspondent, rebecca curran. rebecca, professor leitch was a key figure in scotland's's fight against covid, wasn't he?— figure in scotland's's fight against covid, wasn't he? absolutely right, i'm sure many _ covid, wasn't he? absolutely right, i'm sure many viewers _ covid, wasn't he? absolutely right, i'm sure many viewers will - covid, wasn't he? absolutely right, i i'm sure many viewers will remember him, he became something of a household name during the pandemic, particularly here in scotland. he regularly appeared on our television screens and radios communicating the science behind the decision is the scottish government was taking. and he was described by many at that time as a very effective communicator. but it is his own communications now in the spotlight after it was reported that many of professor leitch�*s electronic messages have been deleted. times newspaper report today claims professor leitch deleted his whatsapp messages every single day.

it is not clear whether that was an automatic function or if it is something professor leitch was doing himself. we should be clear that the bbc has approached professor leitch for comment. but why does this matter? well, the uk—wide covid inquiry is trying to get hold of whatsapp messages sent by scottish government officials during the pandemic and it says that barring one instance, none of them have received. 50 one instance, none of them have received. ., , one instance, none of them have received. . , , received. so what is the scottish government _ received. so what is the scottish government saying? _ received. so what is the scottish government saying? yesterday, | received. so what is the scottish . government saying? yesterday, the scottish government _ government saying? yesterday, the scottish government was _ government saying? yesterday, the scottish government was accused . government saying? yesterday, the| scottish government was accused of not handing over any whatsapp messages to the uk covid inquiry. jamie dawson casey, counsel to the inquiry, said it was surprising that so many messages from politicians and officials had been deleted —— kc. the first minister humza yousaf said he took those comments very seriously and he ordered an investigation. and he also pledged all relevant information of any type

would be handed over. but humza yousaf told msps earlier this year that it was scottish government policy to retain the messages like this and scottish labour are now calling for those comments, which humza yousaf made in the holyrood chamber, to be investigated. but the scottish government said all civil servants are cooperating fully with both the uk and scottish covid inquiries. both the uk and scottish covid inuuiries. , _, , ., inquiries. this comes on the day bereaved families _ inquiries. this comes on the day bereaved families begin - inquiries. this comes on the day bereaved families begin giving l bereaved families begin giving evidence to the scottish covid inquiry. evidence to the scottish covid inuui . , ., �* , inquiry. yes, that's right, the scottish inquiry _ inquiry. yes, that's right, the scottish inquiry began - inquiry. yes, that's right, the| scottish inquiry began hearing evidence from its first witnesses today and the very first witness was jane morrison. jane lost her wife jackie to covid in october 2020. jackie to covid in october 2020. jackie was registered blind and had been admitted to hospital suffering from jaundice and tested positive for covid 15 days later. jane told the inquiry that infection control must be one of the main lesson is thatis

must be one of the main lesson is that is learned from the pandemic. and she also described the final moments that she got to spend with her wife. , ., ., moments that she got to spend with her wife. , ., . ., , her wife. they got her all ready, took her into _ her wife. they got her all ready, took her into the _ her wife. they got her all ready, took her into the side _ her wife. they got her all ready, took her into the side room. - her wife. they got her all ready, | took her into the side room. and her wife. they got her all ready, i took her into the side room. and i was able — took her into the side room. and i was able to— took her into the side room. and i was able to sit with her for 15 minutes_ was able to sit with her for 15 minutes before she died. and i sat with her_ minutes before she died. and i sat with her for— minutes before she died. and i sat with her for a while afterwards. and the two _ with her for a while afterwards. and the two young male nurses on the ward _ the two young male nurses on the ward were — the two young male nurses on the ward were lovely. and they asked if i ward were lovely. and they asked if iwas _ ward were lovely. and they asked if iwas going — ward were lovely. and they asked if i was going to be all right going home _ i was going to be all right going home on— i was going to be all right going home on my own. the i was going to be all right going home on my own.— i was going to be all right going home on my own. the scottish covid inuui is home on my own. the scottish covid inquiry is looking _ home on my own. the scottish covid inquiry is looking specifically - home on my own. the scottish covid inquiry is looking specifically at - inquiry is looking specifically at the decisions taken by the scottish government during the pandemic and it will hearfrom government during the pandemic and it will hear from other families who lost loved ones to covid. and already we are hearing some reaction from relatives to reports that messages have been deleted. one saying she is absolutely devastated and in order to achieve justice and accountability, both the uk and

scottish covid inquiries must receive all the information to ensure that they are as robust as possible. b. ensure that they are as robust as ossible. �* ., ., , , ., possible. a lot happening today. rebecca, thank _ possible. a lot happening today. rebecca, thank you, _ possible. a lot happening today. rebecca, thank you, our - possible. a lot happening today. | rebecca, thank you, our scotland correspondent. let's look at some other stories making the news. a plane has arrived in the uk from pakistan, carrying afghan refugees who worked with or for the british government, and their families. more than 3,000 people have been stuck in pakistan, waiting for their visas. among them are former translators for the british army and teachers for the british council. the editor—in—chief of british vogue, edward enninful, has been named as the uk's most influential black person, on the latest annual powerlist. it highlights black role models to young people. other names on the 2024 list include dragon's den star steven bartlett. a mother who cut short her family break to butlin's in skegness afterfinding a bedbug infestation says she "had to leave".

rebecca horgan was sharing a "gold" apartment at the resort with her five—year—old son and parents. a butlin's spokesperson said it had "strict cleaning and hygiene policies", including treatment for preventing bedbugs. it might be hard to believe, but it's been a year since elon musk bought twitter — now known as �*x'. the social media site has changed immeasurably since he took over. the company now employs thousands fewer people than when musk bought it, but he still wants his remaining staff to "think big" about the future. our north america technology reporter, james clayton, has more. a year ago, elon musk famously, infamously, walked into twitter holding a sink. "let that sink in," he quipped, before firing huge swathes of its staff. 30 seconds left. 35 seconds. everybody here? we're all about to get fired. it was emblematic of his erratic leadership. he slept in the office, changed twitter�*s name to x,

talked about fighting mark zuckerberg, who launched a rival to twitter, called threads, over the summer. i got a taste of that unpredictability when i messaged him to ask him for an interview six months ago. a few hours later, he was telling me he'd appointed his dog to run twitter. i'm not the ceo of twitter. my dog is the ceo of twitter. 0k. but although some have left the platform, it has been remarkably resilient. a year on, x, formerly known as twitter, still exists. threads, mark zuckerberg's rival, has not been the twitter killer that some have touted it to be, but it still has major problems. despite what elon musk says, independent analysts say that twitter�*s user numbers are falling. x has put out different numbers, saying that things are going great — there must be something going on that we're not seeing. but basically, everything is down on a year—over—year basis. advertisers have also shunned

the platform and the eu has criticised it for high levels of disinformation. he hired former advertising exec linda yaccarino over the summer to try to bring them back. many of you in this room know me and you know i pride myself on my work ethic but, buddy, i met my match. but some investors say advertisers won't come back until the platform is better moderated. i think that twitter is dying. i think it's just dying right now. and i don't think twitter users like me want it to die because it's become such a valuable resource for me. but... but it's dying. so i don't care what elon says. it doesn't matter what he says. there's a reality and there's a fantasy. the fantasy that ross gerber is referring to is mr musk�*s big dreams for x. this is what he told me he wants x to become. if twitter�*s an accelerant to x... what does that, what does that mean? what does it mean? well, i guess you'll have

to stay tuned to find out. ah, come on! we now know a little bit more. he wants x to do streaming games, video calls, banking, you name it — the everything app. that was embarrassing, i almost died. but ultimately, x still gets the vast majority of its revenue through advertising. if it's going to survive in the short term, at least, it needs to bring them back. james clayton, bbc news, san francisco. finally, a sheep spotted at the foot of steep cliffs on the shores of a scottish firth has been dubbed "britain's loneliest sheep". jill turner said she first came across the ewe while kayaking along the moray firth's east highland coast. she believes she has seen the same sheep again, with a very overgrown fleece, on a recent trip this year. the ewe bleated at the group of kayakers. ms turner told bbc scotland she has tried contacting a number of organisations about helping

the animal back up the cliffs. now it's time for a look at the weather, with elizabeth rizzini. hello. good afternoon. some very autumnal scenes earlier on this morning, particularly across northern and eastern areas of england, with some patches of mist and fog, such as here in sheffield. it's now largely lifted and cleared. it won't be quite so much of a problem overnight tonight or, indeed, for the next few days, because the winds are set to pick up. there'll also be some more heavy downpours of rain, generally staying very unsettled. and if we take a look at the rainfall accumulation chart, through the weekend and into monday, you can see the area of most concern again is eastern scotland, with another 50 to 100 millimetres of rain, especially over the higher ground. of course, all of this falling on already saturated ground. that rain just feeding through in a constant stream of showers on the south—easterly wind for the rest of today. also some heavy, frequent, even thundery showers across eastern areas of northern ireland could possibly cause some issues here. some showers further south, but also some more sunshine developing from the south by the end

of the day. top temperatures — 10 to 15 degrees celsius, a little lower than they were yesterday for most. overnight tonight, again, we've got this constant feed of showers into eastern areas of scotland. still some more showers across northern ireland. we'll start to see heavy, more persistent showers start to approach the south coast of england where, also, the winds are set to pick up into tomorrow morning. it's mild and it's frost—free as we begin the weekend. now, we look towards the south coast on saturday morning. again, some heavy, thundery showers always likely. some strong, gusty winds of around 50 miles an hour, perhaps, in places. windy, too, across the north of scotland. the rain continues towards the east. heavy, persistent rain approaching the south—west of england and wales by the time we get to the end of the day on saturday. some of that rain likely to be very heavy across south—east england, too. another sign of autumn, the clocks due to go back by one hour on saturday night into sunday. now, as we head through saturday evening, then that rain will gradually push its way further northwards across to southern scotland, northern england and northern ireland.

this is how we'll begin sunday morning. some showers feeding in towards the south, but also some sunshine. blustery conditions. that rain perhaps moving further northwards, as we head through the day on sunday. temperatures again generally between ten and 15 degrees celsius for most, but staying very unsettled, possibly turning stormy too through the middle part of next week. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news. a senior un official warns many more will be killed in gaza from catastrophic aid shortages after three weeks of bombardment by israel. israel's military says it's carried out more air and ground attacks in gaza, hitting dozens of hamas targets and killing a senior commander. the everyday dangers of being pregnant during war — we hearfrom one woman who has documented her experience of giving birth in gaza. and still at large, the manhunt continues for a gunman who murdered 18 people and injured 13 others in a mass shooting in maine. hello, welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction.

gaza's hamas—controlled health ministry says 7,326 people have been