good morning, welcome to breakfast with nina warhurst and jon kay. our headlines today. more than 1,900 people who claim their cancer was caused by talcum powder are launching legal action against the company responsible for selling it. when i had my children, the first thing you reach for is that talcum powder. it's just another line of guilt, because you know that you applied it, you did it. president biden approves the sending of anti—personnel mines to ukraine to combat advances by russian troops in another major reversal of defence policy. hands up everybody who thinks northern are doing a greatjob.

time to get northern rail back on track. regional mayors warn ahead of today's deadline for the operator's new improvement plan. good morning, tracking the rising cost of living. could the speed at which prices are going up have picked up again last month? we'll find out in the next hour. i'll explain what's going on and what it means for you. the end of the road for rafa nadal. after 22 grand slam titles in more than two decades competing, he's played the last match of an incredible career. if of an incredible career. you are just heading out, if of an incredible career. you arejust heading out, w out if you are just heading out, watch out for ice on untreated surfaces. many of us will have a dry and sunny day but still some wintry showers in eastern regions and we are looking at a cold day in prospect. all of the details shortly. it's wednesday 20th november. more than 1,900 people who claim their cancer was caused by talcum powder are launching legal action against the company

responsible for selling it. johnson and johnson has strongly denied claims it knew of alleged links between its baby powder and asbestos, an industrial material and known carcinogenic. the company has been sued repeatedly in america, but this is the first time lawyers have represented claimants in the uk. johnson and johnson denies any link between its product and cancer. 0ur reporter charlie haynes has the story. linda jones is one of hundreds of women preparing for legal action against the makers ofjohnson�*s baby powder. before i started using it, my parents were using it on me. itjust was the norm. it was a household staple. after repeated urine infections and problems with her bowel, she went to her doctor. she soon received the worst news of her life. i had an official diagnosis that i had ovarian cancer, stage four, serious, and i was straight on to basically palliative care.

there is no cure. as linda researched her cancer, she found reports in us media of a possible connection with her use of talcum powder. according to the american cancer society, talc, a mineral known for its softness, can contain asbestos, a substance known to cause cancer. women in the us are diagnosed with cancers like linda's have successfully sued j&j. at least $3 billion has been paid out and another ten set aside. talc and asbestos are similar minerals and can be found in the same mines. and central to these cases are claims thatj&j knew of traces of asbestos in their baby powder decades ago. now, johnson and johnson strongly dispute these allegations against their baby powder. they describe them as plainly wrong and that they defy logic, rewrite history and ignore the facts. j&j insists there's no danger in talc and that they've won many of the court cases in the us.

the science is disputed, with experts for both sides disagreeing whether or not there is a link. j&j takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously and always has. as our documents show, we have relied upon the most state of the art testing protocols for decades and have been entirely transparent with government institutions and academic researchers regarding our findings. so what about the baby powder in your cabinet? j&j now use cornstarch instead of mineral talc. they withdrew it from north america in 2020 and in the uk last year, citing a campaign of misinformation. lawyers have started legal action with a pre—action letter. they expect to be in court next year. but for linda, whose cancer is expected to be terminal, she wants the case settled while she still has time. nobody knows. it could come back in three months, six months. most of us are terminal and we're not actually going to see the end of it. charlie haines, bbc news. later in the programme we will hear from another woman involved in that

group action and from a lawyer as well. it's for four minutes past six, and are developing international story overnight. presidentjoe biden has approved the supply of anti—personnel land mines to ukraine in another marked shift in policy in the final weeks of his time in office. the move follows the recent authorisation for ukraine to launch us—made missiles at russian territory. here's our washington correspondent, david willis. well, the use of these weapons is, of course, controversial. back in 1997, more than 160 countries signed a treaty banning the use of such weapons. the united states and russia were not signatories to that treaty. but a couple of years ago, president biden sought to revive an agreement going back to the 0bama administration, which also banned the use or transportation of these weapons. but russia has been making inroads in the east of ukraine, and the outgoing biden administration is keen to leave ukraine as strong militarily as it

possibly can do ahead of the incoming trump administration, which is expected to call for ceasefire talks, which could lead to ukraine having to cede some of the territory that it has acquired from russia. now, president zelensky has been calling for the use of these landmines for some time. russia has been using them liberally, it's reported. and over the weekend came news that the biden administration had authorised the use of long range us—made missiles capable of hitting targets inside russia. now, the us defense department has confirmed that these landmines will be provided to ukraine, and defence officials are saying that there are conditions attached to this. for example, they will not be deployed in densely populated areas and they will also be only mines that remain active for

a limited period of time. but russia, of course, is bound to see this as a further escalation of the conflict and the involvement, of course, of the us and nato. on tuesday, the ukraine fired the first of the us—made long range missiles into russia, and russia has already promised to retaliate. and russia has already the funeral of the former 0ne direction member liam payne is expected to take place later today. the 31—year—old singer died last month after falling from a hotel balcony in the argentinian capital, buenos aires. his family said the ceremony will be a private occasion for family and close friends. northern rail will reveal its new plan for how it will improve its services this morning, when it meets with mayors in the north of england. it's the second time the operator has submitted its proposal, after the original plan was deemed insufficient.

0ur transport correspondent sean dilley has more. on board the 7:05 morning service from southport to manchester. hands up everybody who thinks they are doing a greatjob. and that pretty much sums the problem up. coming home trains, my experience is absolutely rubbish. they're either rammed, they're cancelled, i try to get leave early to get an earlier one. the trains are antiquated, it's freezing. it'sjust not good enough. describe northern for me. huh, diabolical, absolutely diabolical. publicly owned northern cancelled more than 1,000 trains during the october half term. here in southport, one train that has consistently run is norman wallace's miniature railway. he says northern�*s poor performance means people can't get there and it's damaging his business. we are a tourism destination and basically northern

rail are killing us. notjust our business, but the hotels, the retailers, the restaurants. everything in the town is being killed off because we haven't got the lifeblood, which is the people. they haven't got the easy way to get into southport. on a sunday there are no services whatsoever and so we can't get the staff in. it's notjust employers, teachers in the region have worries for their students prospects. we have started to offer the work experience for our key stage 4 students, but it is quite limiting in terms of the employers that we can approach because the students can't physically get to the cities like manchester and liverpool via train. you know, public transport in skelmersdale is a concern. northern mayors have branded the service embarrassing. they've demanded urgent improvements. this railway line is one of the most congested in the country. we say we want growth, but we've got a rail service that's actively working against us getting

that growth and bringing people into the city. it needs to be sorted out now. northern bosses will appear before regional mayors later. the operator has apologised and said it's working to improve staffing and services, but the message from passengers here is clear. northern is not serving them or the region well. sean dooley, bbc news, in southport. an inquest is set to open today into the death of harshita brella whose body was found in the boot of a car. a postmortem examination suggests the 24—year—old was strangled. an international manhunt has been launched for her husband, pankaj lamba, who detectives named as the prime suspect in her killing. a report has found that children as young as 11 in england are carrying knives because they feel unsafe. the joint study was carried out by 0fsted, the care quality commission, the police, fire and probation inspection bodies. the research also found that

children with special educational needs and disabilities were disproportionately at risk of serious youth violence. as many as 50,000 more people will be put into relative poverty next year, as a result of cuts to the winter fuel allowance. that's according to the government's own estimates. under the new rules, only those eligible for pension credit will receive the £300 payment. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffmanjoins us now from westminster. morning to you, henry. the prime minister has defended this decision, though? minister has defended this decision, thou . h? . �* , minister has defended this decision, thou~h? . �*, ., ., �*, though? that's right, nina, and it's little surprise _ though? that's right, nina, and it's little surprise that _ though? that's right, nina, and it's little surprise that he _ though? that's right, nina, and it's little surprise that he has _ though? that's right, nina, and it's little surprise that he has because l little surprise that he has because this was one of the first big decision is the prime minister took after entering office, certainly one of the most controversial decisions he took after entering office. as you say there, when the prime minister and rachel reeves the chancellor announced this decision but they did not give a figure for the number of pensioners they

thought might be affected. this government internal estimate was published yesterday by liz kendall, the work and pensions secretary come in a letter to parliament. and it said that at any point over the next five years, the government estimates that an additional 50,000 pensioners will be living in relative poverty than would be if the government had not taken the decision, relative poverty is a technical term saying that that person had less than 60% of the average income at that point. keir starmer was asked about this at the end of his trip to brazil for the end of his trip to brazil for the 620 the end of his trip to brazil for the g20 summit yesterday and he said, hang on a second, that figure does not take into account the fact that pensioners on pension credit will be exempt from this, and the government is campaigning so that more people are aware that they might be eligible for pension credit, and he also pointed to the fact that this government is still committed to the triple lock on pensions under which the state

pensions under which the state pension will increase next year. nevertheless, this is a sign that people will be affected by this government decision, and we talked a lot yesterday about the government's decision on farmers and the political consequences there might be for the government there, but people i speak to in government and the labour party are more worried about the political consequences of this decision.— about the political consequences of this decision. , ~ , , this decision. henry in westminster, thank ou. the government is reviewing the role of physician and anaesthesia associates in england because of increasing worries about their use in the nhs. it comes after the british medical association voiced concerns that those in the roles were being asked to do tasks they are not meant to. physician associates work alongside doctors in hospital wards, in gp surgeries, and in a&e. the role was created to help support doctors and improve patient access to trained health professionals. they have fewer years of training than a doctor, though it includes a relevant biomedical degree and then a two year masters. but some concerns have been raised

about their role with patients. stephen is a pa who now runs a group representing the profession. the things that we care about are looking after patients and also taking the pressure off the vast majority of the medical workforce that is struggling right now. some doctors have said your profession raises safety concerns and it's not properly regulated. what do you say to them? i'd say they're fundamentally wrong. for 20 years we've done this now. we're very underrepresented in the statistics around safety incidents. we've worked very hard alongside our consultant colleagues to make sure that we practise safely. doctors created our role and doctors asked us to do it and doctors are the ones that designed our curriculum for us to be able to do the things that we do. but over the last 12 months, the doctors union, the british medical association, says patients have been put at risk by pas. in one case, a coroner highlighted concerns about a hospital death and the role of a pa.

what we've seen is physician associates undertaking roles that are above their training. patients are believing that they're seeing a doctor when they are not, and that's leading to some unsafe decisions and, very sadly, patient harm and even death. is there an element of doctors trying to protect their elevated status in the health world? i'm not sure that the medical profession has an elevated status, what we have is expertise. we're not trying to protect doctors, we're trying to protect patients. the health secretary acknowledges the debate has become toxic, but he hoped a review would take the heat out of the issue, as he hinted in a recent breakfast interview. before we put the foot down on the accelerator to expand the number of roles, i think we also we firstly need to take stock on where we are, dive deeply into some of the challenges that have been put to us by the medical profession about the deployment of these roles,

because i need to assure myself, in order to assure the country that we've got the right people in the right place doing the right thing. both the bma and the physician associates welcomed the review, and with the government hoping to treble the number of pas in england to 10,000 over the next decade, the outcome of the review will be crucial for nhs workforce planning. hugh pym, bbc news. the space x starship rocket has been launched on another test flight from texas. the lift—off was watched by us president—elect donald trump and spacex owner elon musk, who he's just appointed to his new team. but hopes of repeating the extraordinary success of the last mission were dashed after half of the rocket splashed down in the gulf of mexico. ah, 0k. a bit different from last month when it landed perfectly in that cradle and the world watched

open—mouthed. hat that cradle and the world watched open-mouthed.— that cradle and the world watched open-mouthed. that cradle and the world watched o en-mouthed. ., , ._ .. , open-mouthed. not every day can be our best open-mouthed. not every day can be your best today. _ open-mouthed. not every day can be your best today, as _ open-mouthed. not every day can be your best today, as we _ open-mouthed. not every day can be your best today, as we know! - open-mouthed. not every day can be your best today, as we know! carrolll your best today, as we know! carroll is here to keep _ your best today, as we know! carroll is here to keep things _ your best today, as we know! carroll is here to keep things on _ your best today, as we know! carroll is here to keep things on track, - your best today, as we know! carroll is here to keep things on track, she | is here to keep things on track, she is here to keep things on track, she isjoining us, that looks very wintry. we are not going to have more snow, we, carol? it isa it is a cold start, and some of us will have some snow, it was cold walking into. it is icy as well. watch out for ice on untreated surfaces, but we are going to have sunny spells, a lot of dry weather in the forecast but still some wintry showers as jon in the forecast but still some wintry showers asjon mentioned under cold wind which will accentuate the cold feel generally. we have wintry showers coming in across the north of scotland, blowing around in the brisk wind is here, it is windy across the north, and the east in particular. we have wintry showers in eastern scotland, eastern england, we could cease quite a bit across the north york moors, wintry showers in east

anglia, northern ireland, wales and potentially the south—west but they are the exception rather than the rule. most will be dry with sunshine. despite that the temperature is at best are two to 6 degrees and that cold feel is exacerbated by the cold wind, it will feel sub freezing for summer. tonight there will be a frost, a risk of ice on damp surfaces and further wintry showers in the far north of scotland. a few in northern ireland and wales and as the next area of low pressure comes our way, it will bring wet and windy conditions, and some wintriness in the south—west and the channel islands. these are the overnight lows, —5, “4, seven of the cold night in prospect. but in complete contrast, as we head towards the weekend, it is looking like it is going to turn wet and windy, quite windy, a chilly, and also a little bit milder and then it goes downhill

again next week with the temperatures.— again next week with the temperatures. again next week with the temeratures. , ~ ., temperatures. sounds like a cosy weekend indoors. _ a group care home residents in bristol are taking a glass half full approach after taking part in a project aimed at improving their wellbeing. it's part of a scheme called the hoppiness project, which got them growing hops in the gardens of their homes to be turned into their own pale ale. 0ur reporter pam caulfield has more. we're also going to add in the hops at this stage. this hoppiness group are on a brewery tour learning how the crop they grew was made into a beer. it's nice to spread the word about brewing, that it is a science. and here it is, the final product named back yard bounty after their bumper hop harvest. what do you make of your beer, sylvia? well, it's not as good as northern beer, but it's fine. what was it like getting involved in the process of harvesting the hops? oh, well, that was interesting, it really was. residents planted and cared for the hops in the gardens of their care homes.

getting their hands dirty and having the odd beer too helped bring back some happy memories. everything is different for everyone. it might be the smell of like rubbing your hands through compost, potting up hop cuttings, yeah, good therapeutic tool all around. quite a few residents that wouldn't have wanted tojoin in many activities have come down, and they really enjoyed it. we had one lady who couldn't see, so just being around the people and smelling the hops and tasting the beer that guy would bring, it was really great, she was smiling and everything. the trial was funded by the university of bristol as part of research into improving the lives of older people. a lot of research, related to dementia particularly, is very medical in focus. so it's quite often about finding a drug that's going to prevent or cure dementia. but a lot of researchers, myself included, would like there to be a lot more focus on how people can live welt —

mm, nota bad drop, that. it will be available in pubs across the country soon, as will these beer mats. and if people scan them, they'll be able to find out the stories behind those who grew and picked the hops right here in bristol. and there's information too, if they want to set up their own project in a care home near them. and following the successful trial here, there are plans to expand the hoppiness project next year. cheers! pam caulfield, bbc news. cheers all round! what a good idea. absolutely, everyone is a winner. let's take a look at today's papers. the times says vladimir putin has "lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike on the west" after ukraine fired us—supplied longer—range missiles at russian territory for the first time. it's also one of several front pages to feature a photo of the protests over changes to inheritance tax for farmers that took place in london yesterday.

the daily express also leads with the protests. the paper quotes opposition leader kemi badenoch warning that labour's "cruel" tax on farmers will destroy the industry. and the mirror says 0ne direction will come together "one last time" at liam payne's funeral today. with the latest round of united nations climate change discussions drawing to a close in azerbaijan this week, what they decide will have a direct impact on polar bears living more than 5,000 miles away. over the last five years alone, the polar bear population near churchill in the canadian arctic has declined by more than 25% as rising temperatures melt the ice. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. i am here on a very robust tundra buggy out on the tundra near churchill, manitoba in northern canada. it's home to one of the most southerly populations of polar bears in the world.

they call churchill the polar bear capital of the world. and there is a polar bear sleeping just nearby. we are safely higher up and in a vehicle that it cannot reach, and we are just quietly watching it, having a snooze. now i'm here with the polar bears international team, including dr flavio lehner. the polar bears here are having they're having a good year, aren't they? what is happening here in terms of the weather that's helped them? yeah, so in the western part of hudson bay, the bears had a good year because the ice stuck around really long in spring. they could use it to hunt for longer than usual. so they really profited from this unusually good year. the bears really need that sea ice, don't they? i heard one of your colleagues refer to polar bears as blubber hunting ice bears, which i really like that expression. that's going to be my expression for them now. why did they need the ice so much? yeah, so the bears used the ice as a hunting platform to hunt seals, which is their main prey. seals are a lot of fat, so they really actually go after this very calorie rich diet. so really this hunting platform is essential for them. it's basically their grocery store.

so with less sea ice available in given years, it's really affecting how much they can eat and starting to affect their survival rates. right, because although it's been a good year this year, what is the pattern of the sea ice? the reason we talk about this as being a good year is because it's a single year that looks like it used to look like in the 1980s, but since then, on average, the years have been getting less and less ice covered in summer. so this ice free period in summer where they cannot hunt seals has extended by over a month now since the 1980s. over the last a0 years, the trend was very clear towards less ice and so like less opportunities for bears to hunt seals. is that having a measurable effect on the population here, on the bears here? so we have actually good data there. and we see that since the 1980s, their population has basically been cut in half, from about 1200 bears, plus or minus, of course, it's hard to estimate, to about 600 now. is that directly connected with the planet warming emissions that we're putting

into the atmosphere? how is it linked? that's right. i mean, it's simply the fact that we're warming the planet so it gets warm enough to melt the sea ice early in the spring, and it takes longer in the fall to be cool enough for the ice to form. so it's simply a function of the warming of the entire planet and the arctic as well. thank you so much, flavio, and thank you for standing out in the freezing cold. and we'll be here making a film about this incredible place, its bears and its people, and you'll be able to see that film later on this year. and our bbc colleagues will be covering the un climate talks throughout. we look forward to it, victoria gill reporting. we look forward to it, victoria gill re-aortin. ~ ., we look forward to it, victoria gill re-aortin. ~ . ., we look forward to it, victoria gill re-aortin. ~ ., ., , ., we look forward to it, victoria gill re ortin _ . ., ., , ., ., reporting. what an expedition for her and the _ reporting. what an expedition for her and the team! _ coming up later in the programme. saddle up! for the first time tonight, the country music awards will be broadcast live on bbc iplayer.

we look at how the sound of nashville has been blowin�* up a storm with music fans this side of the pond. that will be great, we will speak to bob harris from the radio 2 countries show who is the uk ambassador for country music. look forward to that. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning. let's get your london news now with me, frankie mccamley. the operator of the elizabeth line has lost its bid to renew its contract. from next may, it'll be run by a consortium that includes the tokyo metro and the company that already runs southern and thameslink. tfl says it'll bring the "best parts of tokyo and london to the elizabeth line". london is expected to have some of the highest numbers of homelessness among young

people this christmas. according to the charity centrepoint around 2,500 people aged 16—24 could be without somewhere to stay this winter. the government has described the predicted figures as "simply unacceptable" and said there is additional funding in the budget. royal mail is marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of sir winston churchill. each stamp in a new collection features photographs of churchill at defining moments in his life, accompanied by some of his most memorable quotes from articles, books, letters and speeches. bell heather is making a return to epping forest after disappearing more than 50 years ago. the delicate heathland species is being grown in essex and then transplanted to epping forest. its part of a conservation collaboration between essex wildlife trust and the city of london corporation. across the uk, we've lost about 80%

of heather since the 1800s, and so maintaining these areas of heathland is really important and ensuring that we've got the variety of species. so, incorporating bell heather back into the heathland is improving that diversity. lots of problems on the tubes this morning to watch out for. we've got a part suspension on the district and hammersmith and city lines. theres also severe delays on the picadilly and metropolitamn lines and part closure on the 0vergronud. so do check before you travel! now onto the weather with kate kinsella. morning. it's a very cold and crisp start this morning. temperatures for some overnight down at minus three. so today, there are some icy stretches. the met office has a yellow weather warning in place for ice valid through to midday. now, it's going to be a dry day today. yesterday's rain, of course, is frozen. that's where we've got the ice this morning. widespread frost, but plenty of sunshine. north westerly breeze today will make things feel particularly cold between three and five celsius.

now, overnight tonight, again, at least for the first part, it's dry and it's clear we will see more cloud moving in from the southwest as we head through the second part of the night. but again, temperatures down at a very cold “4. so for thursday morning that cloud will retreat. it should stay dry through the morning as well. then plenty of sunshine once again. chilly wind and temperatures staying in low single figures. similar overnight thursday into friday and friday, again with some sunshine. but as we head into the weekend, very wet and very windy on saturday, but the temperatures getting much milder again. that's it from us for now. as ever lots more on our website — but for now i'll hand you back tojon and nina. hello, this is breakfast with nina warhurst and jon kay. in the next half hour or so, we'll get the latest figures on

just how much the cost of living is going up by. peter's having a look at this for us. what at this for us. can we expect? we might have a jump what can we expect? we might have a jump up what can we expect? we might have a jump up in the cost of living and it matters particularly for interest rates. let me explain why it matters. there is no doubt that the huge price increases we were seeing around a year or two ago have dropped off. but things are still getting more expensive just at a slower rate than before. this is the best way of showing what's been happening. we're looking at the inflation rate here. the way we measure the speed of those price rises. we had a relatively stable period. remember a little bit of inflation is generally welcome as long as wages keep up. but then this huge spike, driven mainly by the invasion of ukraine and the impact on energy prices, and we all remember the impact on our finances. impact on our finances. enter the bank of england. enter the bank of england. it's theirjob to keep this line it's theirjob to keep this line

at about this level. at about this level. 296. 296. how does it do that? interest rates. the cost of borrowing. make things like mortgages and loans more less demand then brings down the prices. and it appears to have worked. because in september the headline rate of inflation was back at 1.7%. so roughly where economists would like it to be. but are we about to see it going back in the other direction? experts say it might. energy costs to blame again. remember the price cap for our gas and electricity bills went up last month? also price rises in the services sector are still quite high — this means anything non—physical things we buy, like plane tickets or hair cut costs.

and that hasn't changed, but it is a pace _ and that hasn't changed, but it is a pace of— and that hasn't changed, but it is a pace of the — and that hasn't changed, but it is a pace of the increase which is important, and it's pretty important for the _ important, and it's pretty important for the bank of england as well who will fully— for the bank of england as well who will fully looking at the data and deciding — will fully looking at the data and deciding what to do with interest rates _ deciding what to do with interest rates the — deciding what to do with interest rates. the fact we expect prices, for inflation to increase is already baked _ for inflation to increase is already baked in. — for inflation to increase is already baked in, into the bank of england's expectations, so if we do see an increase — expectations, so if we do see an increase in— expectations, so if we do see an increase in inflation it doesn't mean — increase in inflation it doesn't mean that interest rates will go up or that _ mean that interest rates will go up or that they won't continue to go down, _ or that they won't continue to go down, it's— or that they won't continue to go down, it's about how much inflation .oes down, it's about how much inflation goes up _ down, it's about how much inflation goes up by— down, it's about how much inflation goes up by an what happens with inflation — goes up by an what happens with inflation after the day's data. inflation figures are one thing but they are just an average. and the reality for people can feel different. here's the view from irlam in greater manchester. every item you pick up, it's gone up. £0.02, £0.03, £0.04, £0.10. and that's week on week. everything is going through the roof. it's bonkers.

every time i go to the shop, every. time i go to get a drink, every time i pay the bills. i mean, how much money do they want? how much profit do they want? yeah. really expensive. everything, even you're travelling. the petrol is really bad. and your shopping. you get one carrier bag and it's about £50, nearlyjust for a bag. it depends where you shop, - but even you used to be able to go to your cheaper places. but you can't even do that anymore because they're averaging out - the same everywhere you go. they're a