the tale of the whale — new claims this beluga whale first found five years ago was being trained by the russian military. and three dads get mbes. they're recognised for their campaigning after losing their daughters to suicide. and coming up on bbc news, arsenal take aim in the women's champions league by beating juventus to continue their recent stellar run of good form. good afternoon, and welcome to the bbc news at one. a man accused of murdering his ten—year—old daughter has told a court he "takes full responsibility" for her death. urfan sharif had previously denied killing sara sharif,

whose body was discovered at the family home in woking in august last year. our uk correspondent daniel sandford is at the old bailey. daniel, what was the jury told? yes this is one of the most dramatic moments seen at the old bailey in recent years. urfan sharif spent the last six days in the witness box denying any responsibility for the death of sara commerce defence was he was rarely at home, he didn't know how she sustained the injuries including at least 25 broken bones and a brain injury, that were found after her death. this morning is evidence of anyjust got after her death. this morning is evidence of any just got started when he suddenly announced... "i want to say something. i admit what i said in my phone call and my written note. every single word". he was then asked by caroline carberry, the barrister for his co—accused former partner beniash batool, "did you kill your daughter by beating?"

shaking, mr sharif replied, "yes, she died because of me". before later going on to say, "i take full responsibility for everything." by by this point, some of the jurors were open—mouthed and beinash batool were open—mouthed and beinash batool were sobbing loudly in the dock. she then left and the hearing was suspended. when court resumed, miss carbery started going through a long list of allegations asking if he had hit his daughter with a cricket bat? a metal pole? whether he had done that because she started vomiting, to each question he answered yes. then she asked what he wanted to have a charge of murder put to him again so he could change his plea? at that point, his lawyer intervened and the court was suspended again. for legal consultations. it was a breathtaking morning.— for legal consultations. it was a breathtaking morning. daniel, thank ou. the health secretary, wes streeting, has announced new performance league tables which will show failing

hospitals in england. he says nhs managers who don't improve patient care will be sacked. our health editor, hugh pym, has the latest. wes streeting had already made it clear there would be no extra money for the nhs without reform. the budget set out funding. today he told an audience of nhs leaders it was time to deliver better value for money. so improving services for patients should be rewarded, and the quid pro quo is there will be no more rewards forfailure. the work you do couldn't be more serious. when you get it right, lives are saved. when you don't, the consequences can be tragic. if performance slips, i reserve the right to take those freedoms away. and for those judged to be persistently failing, we will act, going from zero consequences for failure, to zero tolerance. the plans include league tables for nhs trusts in england, with a range of performance benchmarks, stopping wage rises for nhs bosses and other performing trusts, and removing bosses at failing trusts.

so what did health leaders make of it? trust leaders absolutely recognise the scale of the task and the need for this to be a genuinely supportive endeavour between the secretary of state and themselves. and there is an unintended risk here in kind of rooting out failure that we perpetuate some of the challenges that are there. wes streeting did say that trusts which improved patient care and were more efficient would get extra funding for equipment, and the freedom to decide how to invest it. others welcome the idea of improving nhs accountability, but warn that in practice the reforms might not help. there is a danger that it creates this target chasing culture where people don't spend the time actually sorting out really structural, difficult, important things we need to do. we've got huge problems around capitaland buildings, it, and the reform of social care. and in a way i want my managers

to be incentivised to spend time trying to fix those things, which make the staff more productive. winter is approaching with all the pressures that brings — crowded a&e units and long waits. there is still an overall waiting list of more than 7.6 million in england for planned treatment. patients and staff may feel those should be the priorities for ministers. that report from our health editor hugh pym, whojoins us now. hugh, the health secretary is also expected to announce measures to mitigate the impact of the national insurance increase on hospices? that's right, lewis, hospices have been saying for a while now that they are under real financial pressure, they only get a third of theirfunding from pressure, they only get a third of their funding from the pressure, they only get a third of theirfunding from the nhs, pressure, they only get a third of their funding from the nhs, they've been hit by rising costs, some of actually been laying off clinical staff. then they were hit with a budget measure to raise national insurance contributions for employers and they say that will put real stress on the hospice sector and it may threaten their viability.

now, wes streeting has been asked about this in the past but today he gave a little bit more detail of a possible funding package when he talked to breakfast this morning. i cannot praise the hospice movement enough _ cannot praise the hospice movement enough i_ cannot praise the hospice movement enough. i want to see more of that end-of-life — enough. i want to see more of that end—of—life care available, highly topical— end—of—life care available, highly topical in— end—of—life care available, highly topical in the context of assisted dying, _ topical in the context of assisted dying, i— topical in the context of assisted dying, i do— topical in the context of assisted dying, i do recognise employer national— dying, i do recognise employer national insurance contributions are a challenge to the hospice sector, and we _ a challenge to the hospice sector, and we have more to say about that shortly _ and we have more to say about that shortly and — and we have more to say about that shortly and i'm currently looking through— shortly and i'm currently looking through our budget next year and how we allocate _ through our budget next year and how we allocate resources but i want to make _ we allocate resources but i want to make sure — we allocate resources but i want to make sure we are protecting them. when _ make sure we are protecting them. when you _ make sure we are protecting them. when you say more shortly but when? i recognise _ when you say more shortly but when? i recognise the need to make decisions for the next financial year so before christmas. the issue of hospice funding has really risen up of hospice funding has really risen up the political agenda with the conservatives and lib dems asking about it at prime minister's questions. but of course if there is a solution for hospices on national insurance then there are other areas of health care including gps and some social enterprises, running health and charities, also really

stretched because of national insurance contribution increases. they will be wanting solutions as well, so i think there is continuing pressure on this agenda.— well, so i think there is continuing pressure on this agenda. more than 100 post office branches and 1,000 jobs are at risk in a major restructuring of the business. the company chairman says the re—organisation would offer a new deal for sub—postmasters. but a union has called the timing of the announcement "tone deaf". our business correspondent, marc ashdown, reports. after nearly a year of intense scrutiny over its past, today the post office is looking to its future. the new chairman, nigel railton, has been carrying out a strategic review, which he says is a bold and exciting overhaul which genuinely puts postmasters at the heart of the business. subject to government funding, it will see us building a new deal for postmasters. you hear that a lot today. but i hope we will start a new chapter in our relationship, by transforming the service and the support you receive from the post office, and by strengthening your voice

across the entire organisation. he promised that postmasters will be undervalued no more. their annual remuneration will increase by £250 million a year by 2030. he also wants to cut costs and improve the finances by addressing loss—making parts of the network, and to enhance services for communities by overhauling technology, introducing 500 new banking hubs. the post office has 11,500 branches across the uk. most are run as franchises. but 115 are crown post offices, like this one. they're owned and managed by the organisation, but they�* re loss—making. so their future is uncertain, putting at risk up to 1,000 jobs, along with hundreds of roles at head office. the dvla are saying no. gerry brown is one of thousands of self—employed sub—postmasters. he welcomes the idea of a slimmed down centre. it will hopefully put more money in his pocket. well, the most important thing is an increase in our remuneration,

in our pay. we have been starved of cash. our income has been cut, services have been cut, and it's made it impossible to run a post office. but the union representing post office staff described the plan as tone deaf and immoral. we are not going to support the idea that they close the entire crown post office network or franchise. that's not going to create a future for the post office. and we're certainly not going to support this attack on our members' jobs. we will be looking for the government to intervene. the government said it is in active discussions with nigel railton. a consultation will follow as he tries to convince ministers, the public and sub—postmasters that this new deal is a good deal. mark ashdown, bbc news. the world's richest man, elon musk, says he will launch an attack on government spending in his new role in the trump administration. the tech entrepreneur says he's been tasked with dismantling bureaucracy. our senior north america

correspondent, gary o'donoghue, is in washington. gary, what more do we know about musk�*s newjob? well, we know that his outside government, effectively an advisory role along with another republican candidate. we know elon musk is going to target what he calls insanely dumb federal spending. and he said on the campaign trail he can identify around $2 trillion of money the federal government spends here, out of a budget by the way $6.75 trillion which you can see is a fairly hefty chunk. we know that the new department will be called dee oge, department of government efficiency, and it seemed to be time—limited because donald trump wants this done, once they worked on at any rate, by independence day on the 2026, the children 50th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence. and mr trump is expected to meet president biden

in the white house later? yes, he is. he is due to be there at about mid morning to meet president biden, a tradition that incoming presidents are invited by the incumbent president to come and have a chat. president trump did it when he went to see president obama and they spent an hour and half together, very polite despite their differences before hand. but donald trump didn't do it tojoe biden in 2020 when he was still contesting the election. bear in mind, lewis, the election. bear in mind, lewis, the last time they metjoe biden said that donald trump was a convicted felon with the morals of an alley cut and donald trump has accused joe biden in the past of being a feeble old guy, low iq and various other insults, so it could be a little bit awkward.- various other insults, so it could be a little bit awkward. gary, thank ou. a teenager is due to appear in court in liverpool by video link this afternoon charged with the murders of three girls at a taylor swift—themed dance class in southport injuly. our special correspondent judith moritz is there.

judith, what's expected to happen this afternoon? this is billed as a plea and case management hearing for axel rudakubana, who is now 18, but 17 of the time he is alleged to have run up the time he is alleged to have run up with a knife at a children's dance class in the school holidays in southport. he is charged with the murder of the three girls, and also the attempted murders of ten other people, eight of them children, including the teacher of that class, leanne lucas. is also charged with possession of a knife and at the end of last month merseyside police announced two more charges, one that he is charged with producing biological toxin, he is charged with producing biologicaltoxin, namely he is charged with producing biological toxin, namely roisin, he is charged with producing biologicaltoxin, namely roisin, an offence under the biologicals map and act, and the second charge of accused of possessing a study of the al-qaeda training manual, an offence

under the terrorism act 2000. you may remember that the police have not declared the southport stabbing a terrorist incident. riots broke out across england in the wake of what happened and the police have urged people not to speculate around the causes, around the case itself, and axel rudakubana is expected to appear here before the crown court at 2pm and his trial is expected to begin injanuary. at 2pm and his trial is expected to begin injanuary-— at 2pm and his trial is expected to begin in january. there are fears for the future of the diy retailer homebase, which could put thousands ofjobs at risk. our cost of living correspondent, colletta smith, has been looking at this. colletta, what more do we know? well it's no secret that homebase has been in big financial trouble for awhile now. they've been looking for awhile now. they've been looking for awhile now. they've been looking for a buyer since the summer and in fact their last set of accounts show they were £82 million in lost last year, that's a big problem for a company of that size. there had been speculation they had been set to go

into administration but we've heard within the last hour that hasn't happened yet, which means the door is still potentially open for them to find a buyer for all or part of the business. there is speculation the business. there is speculation the moment that the company called the range who of course own lots of other stores across the uk, are still in negotiations to potentially buy some of the stores and i also bought the will co—brand a while ago so they sell wilco products in their stores now when they went bust last autumn. lots of competitors have been chipping away at homebase's territory over the last year or so. thank you. the time of 1:15. our top story this afternoon. the father of sara sherif tells a court he takes full responsibility for her death. the ten—year—old was found dead at her home last year. and still to come... the transport secretary announces a review of train fare prosecutions after concerns that some passengers are being treated too harshly.

coming up on bbc news, england will be looking to avoid a fifth defeat in a row when they play south africa on saturday. we'll hear how they plan to stop the springboks. the actor timothy west has died at the age of 90. in a diverse career spanning seven decades, he appeared in soap operas, dramas and tv sitcoms. he is survived by his wife, the fawlty towers star prunella scales. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba looks back at his life. my my lords, i protest my service full of woe... figs my lords, i protest my service full ofwoe... a. ., ., my lords, i protest my service full ofwoe... ., ., ., of woe. .. as an actor he was one of the most skilled _ of woe. .. as an actor he was one of the most skilled of _ of woe. .. as an actor he was one of the most skilled of his _ of woe. .. as an actor he was one of the most skilled of his generation. | the most skilled of his generation. he had a love and a gift for shakespeare.— he had a love and a gift for shakespeare. he had a love and a gift for shakeseare. a, ., ., .,

shakespeare. mounie for what i do lament and — shakespeare. mounie for what i do lament and put _ shakespeare. mounie for what i do lament and put on _ shakespeare. mounie for what i do lament and put on salt _ shakespeare. mounie for what i do lament and put on salt and - shakespeare. mounie for what i do lament and put on salt and black i lament and put on salt and black incontinent. his lament and put on salt and black incontinent.— lament and put on salt and black incontinent. , , �* ., , incontinent. his henry bolingbroke and bbc adaptation _ incontinent. his henry bolingbroke and bbc adaptation of _ incontinent. his henry bolingbroke and bbc adaptation of richard - incontinent. his henry bolingbroke and bbc adaptation of richard the | and bbc adaptation of richard the second won him huge acclaim. as did his appearances in king lear, love's labour lost and macbeth. his presence and passion meant he was also in demand cinema. here portraying a calm determination as a police officer on the hunt for edward fox'sjackal police officer on the hunt for edward fox's jackal in the day of the jackal. edward fox's 'ackal in the day of the jackal. ~ ., ., ., ., the jackal. without a name all the ro osals the jackal. without a name all the preposals are _ the jackal. without a name all the proposals are meaningless. - the jackal. without a name all the proposals are meaningless. the i the jackal. without a name all the i proposals are meaningless. the first task then is to find it. {lister proposals are meaningless. the first task then is to find it.— task then is to find it. over the ears he task then is to find it. over the years he was — task then is to find it. over the years he was regularly - task then is to find it. over the years he was regularly cast - task then is to find it. over the years he was regularly cast in i task then is to find it. over the | years he was regularly cast in a variety of tv shows and was one of the small group of actors to appear in both eastenders, the small group of actors to appear in both eastender