the amount that pubs can buy in the build—up to christmas. another woman who worked with the tv presenter gregg wallace has made allegations against him — claiming he touched her inappropriately and made another woman who worked with the tv presenter gregg wallace has made allegations against him — claiming he touched her inappropriately and made sexualised suggestions. shannon kyle was the ghostwriter of mr wallace's autobiography — they worked together in 2012. mr wallace's lawyers say he "specifically denies any sexual misconduct with ms kyle". our media correspondent david sillito has the story. chefs, we have just three minutes. gregg wallace, the star of masterchef for nearly 20 years, and now, over the last week, facing mounting allegations of inappropriate behaviour. his lawyers deny there was any sexual harassment. but someone who worked particularly close with him is challenging that.

when i heard some of the allegations, people started to say, "these arejust lewd comments. he's just a bit of a cheeky chappy." no, there's more to this. shannon kyle was the ghost—writer on gregg wallace's autobiography, talking to newsnight�*s victoria derbyshire. she says he would make graphic sexual suggestions. on a carjourney, she says his hand kept moving to her thigh. during one meeting, she said he was wearing only a towel that he then let slip. i kind of looked up and then he dropped the towel. in front of you? in front of me and i had a notebook, so ijust put it like this and ijust said, "just go and get dressed." and then he did, he went off and got dressed. his behaviour was, she says, revolting and predatory. and one incident, she says, was witnessed by her brother. i saw my brother turn to say goodbye and then as i was either walking towards the car and he followed me, orjust before

i started walking, i could feel him touching me around my backside and, um, and my brother saw it. and so when i got in the car, he actually said, "i just saw him do that," and i was... and actually, out of everything that happened, that was the thing that was most mortifying and humiliating because it was my younger brother who saw it. but needing the work and having signed a nondisclosure agreement, she says she felt unable to speak out until now. if i can't speak out as a middle aged, middle class woman that i am now, i wasn't back then, but i am now, then i'll never speak out. i've got two daughters and two nieces, and i want to be able to look them in the eye and say, i tried to do the right thing. in response, gregg wallace's lawyers say...

meanwhile, the company that makes masterchef says gregg wallace has stepped away while they investigate. his current masterchef series is continuing to be broadcast, but two christmas specials and repeats of his other programmes have been dropped from the schedule. david sillito, bbc news. let's speak to lizo mzimba. where does this leave the bbc? a significant amount of pressure on the bbc, because gregg wallace has been one of the prime time faces of corporation. his lawyers deny that he engages in behaviour of a sexual harassing way. he also took place in strictly come

dancing and the sun says bosses received claims about him using language in a sexually inappropriate way when he appeared on the programme. but they continued to allow him to compete. a spokesman said while we do not comment on individuals, we take any issues raised with us seriously and we have processes in place to deal with them. any behaviour that falls below the standards expected by the bbc will not be tolerated. and people are asking are the corporation making the right decisions under pressure? two christmas festive celebrity editions of masterchef will now not be broadcast by the bbc. but the current series of masterchef the professionals is still going out. the bbc says that is because the programme can be

life—changing for the chefs involved. but some are still angry that the programme is still going out. crowds took to the street in the georgian capital for a seventh night of anti—government protests, while opposition groups have called for a general strike. tbilisi has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling georgian dream party claimed victory in parliamentary elections in october — denounced by opposition groups as rigged. let's speak now to our correspondent rayhan demytrie, whojoins us from tbilisi. what is the latest there? well, on wednesday _ what is the latest there? well, on wednesday police _ what is the latest there? well, on wednesday police raided . on wednesday police raided offices of opposition parties, reportedly without search warrants. there was a confrontation outside one of the awe offices and one of the opposition leaders was violently detained by the police. he is now in detention.

also the authorities are saying that they have seized a number of boxes fireworks with eggs and other items that were used by the protesters in the last week. we have seen over several days here this surreal battles with riot police on one side, firing tear gas against the protesters and the protesters on the other side launching fireworks against the police. a short while ago one of the senior officials from the governing party made a statement saying that last night's protest was peaceful and no injuries, no police officers were injured, because, as they said, you know, they raided the offices of the opposition parties. but the opposition parties. but the opposition claims and we have seen a lot of evidence of police violence, more than 300 people have been detained and there is a gallery of people

with swollen faces and bruises, these are the people who suffered and were beaten up by security police. if suffered and were beaten up by security police.— security police. if we go back to what triggered _ security police. if we go back to what triggered this, - security police. if we go back to what triggered this, what | security police. if we go back. to what triggered this, what is the reaction from other nations to georgia moving back into russia's sphere of influence, has has been claimed? baltic states imposed _ has has been claimed? baltic states imposed sanctions, i states imposed sanctions, travel bans against senior officials, the founder of the ruling party, the billionaire, and a number officials from the security services and the interior ministry. the state department said there would be further sanctions. there are already travel sanctions against again people senior people from the security services. but we are also seein resignations from some people

in the interior ministry. so there are small cracks in the system. that follows the resignation of seven ambassadors to a number of european countries and georgia's ambassador to the united states has also resigned over what has been happening here in the country.— over what has been happening here in the country. to the middle east now. the human rights group, amnesty international has accused the state of israel of committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. amnesty says it reached its conclusion after looking at the broader picture of israel s military campaign and the cumulative impact of its policies. israel has responded, calling it a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the search is continuing in new york city to find a gunman who shot dead the boss of a us health insurance company. this is the moment that 50—year—old brian thompson was fatally shot in the back and the leg in manhattan — close to times square. the suspect appeared to be waiting for thompson, who ran united healthcare, outside the hilton hotel. the suspect then fled the scene on foot and was last seen riding an electric bike through central park. as brian thompson arrived early for his meeting, behind him a figure can be seen stepping out of the shadows. the gunman fires at least three rounds before running away — all caught on cctv video. the police have released this image showing the suspect moving further away from the scene by bike, and this one revealing part of his face. taken, officers say, minutes before the shooting.

mr thompson was ceo of unitedhealthcare, this country's biggest health insurer, providing coverfor some 30 million americans. as the investigation began, with numbers marking where the shell casings had been recovered, the police said they had little doubt the killing was premeditated. in midtown manhattan early this morning, 50—year—old brian thompson, the ceo of unitedhealthcare, was shot and killed in what appears at this early stage of our investigation to be a brazen, targeted attack. this does not appear to be a random act of violence. after the shooting, the street here was quickly closed off and the police investigation has been continuing all day. and while they say they do not yet have a motive, significantly, perhaps, mr thompson's wife has given a phone interview to nbc news in which she said her husband had been receiving threats of some kind. and, although she didn't go into any

detail, that will clearly feed into the investigation. gun crime in new york is lower than the national average and extremely rare in central manhattan. those close by when it happened spoke of their shock. i mean, it's new york. it's kind of, it's not normal here at 8:00 and 7:00 in the morning, but it's pretty scary, huh? i feel so sorry for his family. and no matter whatjob he has, no matter where he worked or what he done, nobody deserves to be murdered. for now, the priority is finding the suspect. police drones, helicopters and dogs, and thousands of cctv cameras are combing the city, street by street, and a reward of $10,000 is being offered for information that helps to track him down. john sudworth, bbc news, new york. it's just over eight months since the francis scott key bridge — in the us city of baltimore — collapsed after being

struck by a cargo ship. six people died and the port was closed, putting thousands out of work. tonight a bbc documentary will explore what went wrong and how bridges can be made safer. 0ur transport correspondent sean dilley has the details. hold all traffic on the key bridge. there's a ship approaching just lost their steering. 213 dispatch, the whole bridge just fell down, the whole bridge just collapsed. this is the moment the baltimore skyline changed forever. in seconds, the colossal ship toppled the francis scott key bridge... what's going on, man? we got one out of the water. 0k. leaving only one survivor and the loss of six lives. as night turned to day, the extent of the damage became clear. i remember speaking with the person who was running the operations from the coastguard, and i said, what is the probability that we're going to find someone alive at this point? and the answer

that he gave was, "governor, my professional assessment is zero. there's a 0% chance." a new bbc documentary has been given exclusive access to the $100 million operation to find those victims and clear the shipping channel, and it's seen new footage of the dali the day before it struck the key bridge. investigators say a power outage caused the dali to lose control and hit the bridge. their report found that it experienced two other blackouts the day before. this exclusive footage appears to show dense smoke from one of those blackouts. and this previously unseen angle shows the full extent of the bridge's progressive collapse. as well as the recovery, the salvage team would need to map the debris, free the ship and lift 115,000 tonnes of steel and concrete before they could fully reopen the port, with danger at every turn. the other side of that pendant, is it disconnected? yeah, it looks still connected to a beam, like a truss. -

you turn left and you went underneath something, you have to remember that that's where you have to come back out otherwise you could become trapped. everything that could make diving more difficult, it was on this job. the mission led up to a dramatic but carefully sequenced controlled demolition, where precision explosives were placed into a series of holes cut into the wreckage to free the dolly. to free the dali. we were telling people it wasn't going to be, as you see in the movies, a big explosion. but at the end of the day, it turned out to be a pretty big explosion. as for the dali, a number of lawsuits allege that poor maintenance and cost cutting caused it to lose power and hit the bridge. its owners reject these allegations, but if settled, the total insurance claims could be over £3 billion. eight months on and work will soon begin to replace the fallen bridge. protective structures will be installed to prevent another disaster. meeting notes seen by the bbc show

that the baltimore harbor safety committee had wanted underwater bollards like these for years, though they were never installed. safety experts stress that improving pier protection on existing bridges is an urgent priority. we can't let our old bridges be sitting ducks. we can't just leave them unprotected. notjust sitting and waiting and hoping that nothing happens. a message that will resonate around the us, where an estimated 1500 bridges are believed to be at risk, and a message that will be heard around the world. shaun dilley, bbc news. and that report is from a new bbc documentary "why bridges collapse: the baltimore disaster". here in the uk, you can watch it on bbc one at 9pm tonight, and you can stream it now on the iplayer. the price of a single bitcoin has climbed above $100,000

for the first time — after rising almost 1a0% this year. investors expect president—elect donald trump to support crytocurrencies. he has promised to make america the "crypto capital of the planet" and to create a national stockpile of bitcoin. keeping with his promise for a crypto friendly administration, president elect donald trump plans to nominate former sec commissioner paul atkins to head the agency, that's according to a post on truth social. currently the ceo at potomac global partners, atkins is well known on wall street and within republican political circles. he'd been widely expected to get the role as the nation's top financial market regulator, and, if confirmed, atkins would succeed gary gensler, who has been widely lambasted by the digital currency community for his many efforts to crack down on the $3.5 trillion crypto market. trump's position on crypto mirrors his larger pro—deregulation stance during his first time in office. trump has promised an easier route for bitcoin and its peers,

and the market has soared since his election victory on november the 5th. atkins served as sec commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under then president george w bush. along with adopting a pro crypto stance, atkins was critical of some of the reforms that emerged from the global financial crisis in 2008. specifically, he criticised the dodd—frank legislation as too stringent on the banking industry. film award season is under way and wicked has been named as the best film. the film based on the musical�*s award from the new york organisation puts it in the running for an oscar nomination and a nod at the golden globes.—

nomination and a nod at the golden globes. amanage the other awards, _ golden globes. amanage the other awards, best _ golden globes. amanage the other awards, best actor - golden globes. amanage the | other awards, best actor went to daniel craig for his performance in queer and nicole kidman took best a actress for baby girl, where she played a high ranking executive. the firm that makes guinness is limiting the amount that pubs can buy in the build—up to christmas. diageo — which brews the beer in dublin — is understood to be allocating supplies on a weekly basis. the drink has become more popular with women and younger adults after a marketing push. demand may also have been increased by recent rugby internationals. we wa nt we want to remind you of our top story, which is the situation in france, we can look at pictures from paris, where the prime minister michel barnier arrived to tender his resignation, after the government collapsed after he

was ousted in a no confidence vote, three months after he was appointed. he has become the shortest serving prime minister in the history of modern france. stay with us on bbc news. you're watching bbc news. back to the breaking news. double 0lympic dressage champion charlotte dujardin has been suspended from all competition for one year following a horse whipping controversy that saw her withdraw from the paris games. she was provisionally suspended by equestrian�*s governing body injuly following a video from four years ago showing her making what she described as "an error ofjudgement" during a coaching session.the video showed dujardin repeatedly hitting a student's horse with a whip from the ground. her behaviour sparked widespread condemnation. dujardin is now sidelined

from all competition untiljuly next year several millions of patients in england are to be offered the weight loss drug mounjaro over the next 12 years, in what is the longest nhs rollout ever planned. the healthcare watchdog nice said the length of time was necessary, because of the large number of people eligible for the drug, so as not to overwhelm nhs services. but charities have said it s too long for patients to wait. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. it's estimated that over 60% of adults are either overweight or obese in england, risking their health and putting pressure on the nhs. but only 40,000 are treated by nhs weight loss services each year. now, the health watchdog nice has given the green light for several million obese people to be treated with the weight loss drug tirzepatide, better known by its brand name mounjaro. but the rollout will be over a record 12 years, so as not to overwhelm the nhs. the drugs are expensive and therefore we cannot treat several million people with these drugs at

this moment in time. and also, the nhs is not ready to treat several million people with these drugs. we have to develop the systems, as it were, to be able to be able to prescribe these drugs in a safe and appropriate manner within the nhs, and that will take time. thatjust simply will take time. so who will get this weight loss drug first? 220,000 people with the highest clinical need will be part of an initial three year phase. they must have obesity with a bmi higher than 35 and at least one weight—related illness, such as cardiovascular disease. patients already treated at specialist nhs weight loss services will be included. and, for the first time, it's expected that family doctors will be able to prescribe this weight loss drug. the move has generally been welcomed, but some charities have said they're concerned about the long length of this 12—year rollout. sophie hutchinson, bbc news.

health campaigners say they'd like to see tougher rules on the promotion ofjunk food. this comes after the bbc identified a loophole which means brands can get around the government's new advertising ban — by not showing the unhealthy products they sell. from october next year foods high in fat or sugar will be restricted on adverts until after 9pm. former scotland rugby captain stuart hogg is due to be sentenced this morning after admitting a domestic abuse charge against his estranged wife. hogg — who currently plays for the french side montpellier — pleaded guilty to shouting, swearing and acting in an abusive manner, including repeatedly tracking her movements. the director of public prosecutions says court delays are worse than he has ever

known. the backlog in the courts may be well known, the impact on justice has courts may be well known, the impact onjustice has been courts may be well known, the impact on justice has been less clear. victims are waiting on average between two to five years to see a case go to trial. the director of public prosecutions said the delays are so long that court listings are so long that court listings are running into 2027, citing them as the key reasons victims are withdrawing their support for a prosecution. around two in ten adult rape cases stopped between march and may, because the victim stopped engaging in the victim stopped engaging in the justice process and the case was dropped. the crown prosecution service said new measures will focus on how prosecutors communicate. prosecutors are being urged to speak directly to police in a case to speed up cases. there is a lot of— case to speed up cases. there is a lot of things _ case to speed up cases. there is a lot of things that - case to speed up cases. there is a lot of things that need - case to speed up cases. there is a lot of things that need to | is a lot of things that need to be done over and beyond what has been announced, but it is

important that it is recognised the harm that has been caused to victims of crime and to the criminaljustice to victims of crime and to the criminal justice system to victims of crime and to the criminaljustice system by these terrible backlogs and delays. these terrible backlogs and dela s. , ., , delays. yesterday it was announced _ delays. yesterday it was announced funding - delays. yesterday it was announced funding for l delays. yesterday it was - announced funding for victim support services would be cut by 4.2%. although supporting victims of violence against women and girls will be ring fenced, charities are worried core operations will be affected. now time for the weather. we are into a run of disturbed weather with area of low pressure. 0ne passed last night and one tonight and a deeper one on friday night. they will have an affect with rain fall and it is around some of these western parts where we could see up to 100 millimetres of rain fall. that could enhance

the flood risk on already saturated ground. the other feature will be the winds, getting strong we are each bout of low pressure with some hill snow on saturday. today we have had some bright weather so far and we will see wetter weather return in the afternoon. not a great commute home in the west. the winds will get strong er. they could gust up to 50mph. around this rain band there is more. 50mph gusts as the rain pushes east. especially in england through the first stage of tonight. the rain clears for many. for most while it remains blustery, the winds will fall light tore allow that chill to develop. a colder start to tomorrow. tomorrow morning is the best part of day, with a few showers in the west. sunshine turning hazy through

the morning in the west and rain and stronger winds pushing in. first to northern ireland and then into western fringes of england and wales and temperatures not rising quickly. it will be a cool day. that area of rain and strengthening winds will sweep across all parts as we go friday night. snow on the scottish mountain and the northern hills, including the northern hills, including the north of england and northern ireland. this low pressure will be deep and the wind impacts will be widespread. around some of the coasts greatest concern where we could see winds top 80mph. 60 or70mph where we could see winds top 80mph. 60 or 70mph gusts on saturday morning in inland areas of england and wales. a covering of snow on the hills in the north and showers in the west later. sunshine and a cold day with showers on sunday.

live from london. this is bbc news. french prime minister michel barnier has arrived at the elysee to resign, after the government was toppled by a no—confidence vote. i a no—confidence vote. am mark lone where france' president i am mark lone where france's president macron is under pressure to find a new prime minister fast pressure to find a new prime ministerfast amid the minister fast amid the deepening ministerfast amid the deepening political chaos. the uk's prime minister has promised a �*named police officer' for every neighbourhood in england and wales, as part of his �*plan for change'. iam in i am in seoul following the twists and turns in the political impeachment of the president as a candle light protest gets under way, to call

for his ouster. police in new york use facial recognition in the hunt for a man who shot dead the boss of a major us health company. hello and welcome. i'm luxmy gopal. we start this hour with a historic moment in french political history. in the past hour, michel barnier arrived at the elysee palace to present his resignation to president macron. he becomes the shortest serving prime minister in the history of modern france. for the first time in more than 60 years, mps have brought down the government by a no—confidence vote by mps. the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier. in the end, 331 were cast to remove him. the budget, which was the cause of his downfall, is now defunct. france has been plagued by political uncertainty

since the summer election resulted in a hung parliament,