on ministers to improve funding for end of life care, after a vote in the commons in favour of legalising assisted dying in england and wales. more protests last night in georgia — thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against the ruling party's decision to suspend eu membership talks. at least 10,000 people have been protesting in london calling for a ceasefire in gaza. this is the first major weekend demonstration in london since a truce in lebanon between hezbollah and israel came into force. 0ur reporter louisa pilbeam is at the rally. we have reached the end point of the march here in whitehall, and that is relevant because around 10,000 people have been

estimated, that'sjust around 10,000 people have been estimated, that's just an outcome that my calculation, have come down here today with a message for the british government today. they want the support for israel to own, and they have been chanting today, stop the bombing now, now, people have been saying, stop arming israel, and we won't be silenced. the organisers have told me that this is their 22nd protest, saying there are around 10,000 people here, i actually attended one of the march is back in february of this year, and i were a similar number of people who attended them, so it shows that the support has been capped up for this. i also spoke to people here today and the organisers about the ceasefire deal that has been secured in the week with lebanon, and they said that while they are happy that that while they are happy that that has been done for lebanon, they fear that that firepower from israel will now be focused

on gaza. there will be a sense of refuelling and restocking arms. as i said, there are a lot of people down here today, but it has been well organised and we have seen it has been peaceful. the station calling for a ceasefire in gaza. a memorial service for the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, has been taking place in edinburgh. around 400 people attended the invitation—only event at st giles�* cathedral. alex salmond died last month in north macedonia at the age of 69. there have been a few speakers at the memorial, including alex salmond's niece alexander elliot anderson salmond. to the world he was a political giant, a strong leader, a fearless campaigner. to us, he was a dearly loved husband, brother, and uncle.

0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in edinburgh. many hundreds of invited guests at st giles�* cathedral here earlier on today, among them the former prime minister gordon brown, the current first ministerjohn swinney. there were also musicians — the proclaimers played a song during the service, as did dougie maclean, he played his unofficial anthem caledonia. it was a very moving service at times for a man who was scotland's fourth first minister, who took the country close to independence in that referendum back in 2014. kenny macaskill, who is the leader, the acting leader of the alba party, which is the party that mr salmond set up when he left the snp, described mr salmond, who was also his friend, as a giant of a man. he could have succeeded in any profession or walk of life, such were his talents, energy and ability. in politics he could have risen to the very top in any party.

indeed, there were many offers and blandishments put to him by the established british parties. but he forsook them all — doing so for scottish independence, his guiding light, his north star, his life's work, not just his life's ambition. and he came so close to achieving it. one person who was not there was nicola sturgeon — she was alex salmond's protege and succeeded him as first minister. she said her thoughts are with alex's family today, it's a very sad day for them, she said, but one she said that she hoped would allow them to remember alex in the way they wanted to. one other discordant note today, when the current first minister, john swinney, arrived at the start of the memorial service, he was met with cheers but also jeers and shouts of "traitor" from some in the several hundred strong crowd that had gathered outside the cathedral to pay their respects. it's a sign perhaps of the fact

that this once very united movement for scottish independence has suffered challenges in recent years — that, though, just one slight discordant note in a day, though, that was all about the life, times and legacy of alex salmond. mohamed al fayed manipulated managers to conceal his crimes — and sacked those he could not control, an ex—director has told the bbc. jon brilliant, who worked at harrods from 2000 to 2002, said al fayed plied him with 50 thousand dollars of cash in envelopes which he believes was an attempt to control him. he gave ben king this exclusive interview. how did mohamed al fayed get away with his crimes for so long? did harrods�* directors know? jon brilliant worked in his private office for a year and a half.

he was on the harrods board. he helped to run the paris ritz, fulham football club and the balnagowan estate in scotland. a week into the job, al—fayed handed him an envelope as he left for a business trip. i opened it up and it was $5,000 in cash with no note, nothing. i started to ask, like, "why would...? "why would i do that?" 0r, "why was i being given this money?" and someone said, uh, in theirjudgment that, "he was trying to get you to compromise yourself. you to come back and say, �*0h, i spent money on drugs,�* or, �*i spent money, frolicking, doing something that i shouldn�*t have been doing,�* and that he would then use that information against you if you should ever turn on him." i am certainly aware of people who, i�*ll call it, succumbed to the temptation and took advantage of the envelopes of cash continued for six months. mr brilliant didn�*t spend them and tried to give them back.

about a year later, information from a private phone call was quoted back to him in a meeting. i get kind of goosebumps and the hair stands up on the back of my neck, realising that my phones were being listened in on. shortly afterwards, he was sacked. al fayed routinely bugged staff in their offices and homes, and he fired dozens of managers, all to prevent challenges to his power. do you think that the management culture that we�*ve talked about made it easier for him to get away with the things he did? oh, i think 100%. when i look back at it now, i can understand the construct "let�*s provide money to somebody to see if we can trust them." "let�*s provide money to see if they compromise themselves, and then we�*ll own them, and therefore, if they ever witness anything, they�*ll never turn on us because we�*ll turn on them." were you ever made aware of any allegations of sexual assault against mohamed al fayed? none whatsoever. in terms of my experience there, not one iota of an indication that something like that was going on. do you ever regret

not doing more? yeah. i do beat myself up and say, "were there things i should have picked up on and should have questioned more?" i can�*t say there�*s one specific thing or one individual thing thatjumps out at me like, "man, if i pulled on that thread, i would have discovered..." harrods did not respond to mr brilliant�*s claims. it has previously said that it is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by mohamed al fayed, and is appalled by the allegations of abuse by him. ben king, bbc news. the funeral of the comedian, janey godley, took place in glasgow this morning. she died earlier this month aged 63 after receiving palliative treatment for ovarian cancer. crowds gathered in glasgow to see janey godley�*s hearse leave after the service. those who attended were encouraged to wear bright colours, and the funeral ended with her catchphrase "frank, get the door".

scotland�*s former first minister nicola sturgeon was among the mourners — janey godley found viral fame by making voiceover parodies of sturgeon�*s news briefings during the covid pandemic. the actress cate blanchett has told the bbc she is "deeply concerned" about the impact of artificial intelligence in the film industry. she is due to star in a new film called rumours — an apocalyptic comedy about a group of world leaders trapped in a forest. speaking to laura kuenssberg, she said the issues facing wider society were even greater. there are some things that you think, well, that will benefit humanity. and i�*m looking at those robots going, and driverless cars, and there�*sjust certain things, ithink, and i�*m not a curmudgeon. i�*m a very curious human being. and i just look at these things and think, i don�*t really know what that�*s bringing anybody. sometimes there�*s this experimentation for its own sake — which is creativity to one...

when you look at it in one way, but then it�*s also incredibly destructive, which of course is the other side of creativity. and do you think that there is...can you, you know, can you see a day where actors actually could be replaced by ai creations? is that something that worries you? i�*m less concerned with myjob prospects than i am concerned about the impact it�*s going to have on the average person, on old age pensioners, on, you know, people who are already working three jobs to try and be below the poverty line. you know, that�*s my concern. i�*m worried about us as a species. it�*s a much bigger problem! cate blanchett there. and you can see the full interview on sunday with laura kuenssberg on bbc one at nine o�*clock tomorrow morning, plus — of course — on the bbc iplayer. christmas has offically kicked off in croatia, with zagreb�*s main christmas market opening just a short time ago. the city has been voted europe�*s best christmas market destination for three years in a row, triggering the decision to withdraw from the annual competition

to give other european cities an opportunity to win the top prize. let�*s speak to guy de launey who is at the market in zagreb. we can see the christmas trees behind you, what is it about zagreb that makes it so christmassy?— zagreb that makes it so christmassy? zagreb that makes it so christmass ? ., ~ ., , christmassy? you know, they have been — christmassy? you know, they have been doing _ christmassy? you know, they have been doing this, - christmassy? you know, they have been doing this, it - christmassy? you know, they have been doing this, it has l have been doing this, it has been kicking off over the past decade or so, it is the tenth anniversary this year of one of the main christmas markets, which is in another location than this. we are in the main square here in zagreb, we can hear one of the quire is firing up hear one of the quire is firing up behind me, and it�*s the fact there is so much variety. we actually ran out of options, or out of hand the number of christmas markets and christmas events earlier today when we got to 20. there are locations all over the city, and they�*re

all over the city, and they�*re all offering up something different, he might have traditional music in the upper town, the choir you can hear behind me here, you might have rock musical djs, and you have the most enormous ice skating rinks i have ever seen, which twists and turns its way around one of the many city squares. it quite beautiful, and there�*s a of variety, do somebody has pointed out to me, the prices very reasonable.— very reasonable. indeed! when ou think very reasonable. indeed! when you think of — very reasonable. indeed! when you think of croatia _ very reasonable. indeed! when you think of croatia you - very reasonable. indeed! when you think of croatia you tend i you think of croatia you tend to think of dubrovnik on the coast, that beautiful citadel city that is heavily involved in game of thrones. zagreb, thomas about it, you can see the christmas trees behind you and it looks stunning, but they have withdrawn from this year�*s competition to give other cities a chance? that is quite incredible!— incredible! well, there was a ole incredible! well, there was a pole called — incredible! well, there was a pole called europe's - incredible! well, there was a pole called europe's best - pole called europe�*s best destination, and zagreb one three is in a row and there were then forced to pull out.

that was a couple years ago, i don�*t know if there are back in this year, but they don�*t seem to be too bothered about competing these things any more, because zagreb is very well established, and if you look at any of the must see christmas markets for the year in the international media you will see zagreb is mentioned on their own awful lot. it is, again, the sort of writer we were talking about, but as you mention, eitherthink were talking about, but as you mention, either think of summer tourism with croatia, that was sorta problematic for them. they realised they got tourists in july and they realised they got tourists injuly and august and they realised they got tourists in july and august and june they realised they got tourists injuly and august and june and september, but the rest of the year not so many, and when you�*re economy is so tourism relied, trying to get people succumbing in the winter months as well, so this campaign to get zagreb in was made, they are rubbing their hands with glee at how successful it has been. �* , glee at how successful it has been. h ., ~' glee at how successful it has been, f ., 4' been. so it's working, then? absolutely- _ been. so it's working, then? absolutely. if— been. so it's working, then? absolutely. if you _ been. so it's working, then? absolutely. if you talk - been. so it's working, then? absolutely. if you talk about| absolutely. if you talk about numbers, we were talking earlier today about the people who run the ice rink in the

market i was talking about, they reckon they get half a million visitors each to those two when used alone during the 45 days they have the advance events on here. so, there�*s lots of people coming, notjust from all over the country but from all over the country but from all over the country but from all over the region, and some of the store the are saying, yes, we�*ve had visitors from austria, czech republic, hungary, armenia, i�*ve seen a lot of chinese groups around town as well. the advent eras become world famous. it looks absolutely _ become world famous. it looks absolutely stunning. _ become world famous. it looks absolutely stunning. in - become world famous. it looks| absolutely stunning. in zagreb, surrounded by christmas itself, absolutely fantastic stuff, thank you for bringing that to us. beautiful place, zagreb, i did a programme of the capital, that, absolutely stunning. looking very twinkly dad. now on bbc news, newswatch. how the bbc covers the weather. welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.

coming up — as storm bert hit the uk, what was the point of reporters and presenters going out on location? and how an obituary ofjohn prescott prompted questions about the use of archive footage. it�*s been a week of wild and windy conditions across many parts of the country, with storm bert causing considerable damage over last weekend. plenty of material, then, for the late night weather bulletin on the news channel on sunday night. hello there. plenty of heavy rain through the day on sunday from storm bert and some strong gusty winds too. this time strongest across the southern half of the uk. here are some of the highest wind gusts here. newswatch viewer robert tuned into that, and then again at the same time on monday night where he saw this. hello there. plenty of heavy rain through the day on sunday

from storm bert and some strong gusty winds too.