today at 1:00: storm darragh brings a red weather warning. the met office says extreme winds of up to 90mph could put lives at risk. the warning is due to impact the entire west and south coasts of wales, as well as the bristol channel, and we are due to expect falling trees, large waves and flying debris. also on the programme... the prime minister says he doesn't want to raise taxes — but he might have to — in a bbc interview where he defends his dip in popularity and asks voters to judge him on outcomes. jailed for 15 years — the advocate of slapping therapy whose practice led to the death of a diabetic woman who stopped taking her insulin. all aboard hms prince of wales. 10,000 ticket holders are invited on to the uk's biggest warship

while it docks in liverpool. and coming up on bbc news, despite losing early wickets, a harry brook century gives england the upper hand on day one of the second test against new zealand in wellington. good afternoon. the met office has issued a rare red weather warning as storm darragh approaches, meaning its dangerous winds could pose a threat to life. the alert, which covers large parts of southern and western wales, as well as the bristol channel, warns winds of up to 90 miles per hour could be imminent. elsewhere, amber and yellow warnings for wind, rain and snow are in place across other areas of the uk. we can go live to the bbc�*s weather centre now and join darren bett. darren, how significant is this?

well, this is the highest level, and the most severe level of warning that the met office issues. a red weather warning. they are pretty rare. you tend to get maybe one each year. this will actually be the second one we've had this year because there was one issued at the beginning of the year from another storm. at this one is storm darragh, and when you have a red weather warning it means that there is going to be a big impact, and it is a severe weather event that is most likely to happen. and it also means there is a danger to life. in this case, we are likely to find winds gusting at 90 mph. under the area thatis gusting at 90 mph. under the area that is covered by this red weather warning is shown here, across western and southern parts of wales, and the really strong north to north westerly wind is will funnell through the bristol channel as well. the warning runs from 3am tomorrow

until 11pm on saturday, and as well as the danger to life, we are likely to find some travel disruption will stop there may well be some power cuts as well, and there will be some large and dangerous waves. there are some other weather warnings, and i will have more on those a bit later in the programme. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan is in penarth for us this lunchtime. tomos, what's the latest where you are? well, where you are? as the old cliche goes, it really well, as the old cliche goes, it really is the calm before the storm here in penarth this lunchtime. i've got to be honest, in the short time we have been year, the wind is slowly starting to pick up. and what will happen here, there will be a yellow warning for wind and rain across much of the mainland across the uk, in wales and northern ireland, which comes in at around three o'clock. in the early hours, that red warning comes on across the entire southend west coast of wales and the bristol channel. the thing

about this, really, is that it was only to weeks ago that wales was battered by storms bert under the have that severe flooding across the south wales valley, pontypridd was hit, there was a landslip, an old coal tips left. some of these areas are still recovering from the storm to mecca weeks ago, and now we're having this red warning for wind across the coasts of wales, and also there will be an amber rain warning for the entire of wales tomorrow, up until the early evening. having just about to come through the last storm, wales is going to get hit again. and there have been warnings from the deputy first minister to make sure that people do adhere to the warnings, they don't travel unless it is completely necessary, and a huge swathes of sporting phase deliver ago occasions and events across south wales are already being called off in preparation for storm darragh. a major disruption on the uk's rail network has caused delays on at least nine lines today.

national rail said the issue, which has now been resolved, was the result of a "nationwide fault." 0ur transport correspondent sean dilley is at london's waterloo station for us this afternoon. sean, what's the latest? it's better than it was. i bring you good news this lunchtime that the disruption, although there are a huge knock—ons and some of the lines, the disruption that happened earlier is now sorted. we can give you an explanation as to what happened. 0vernight, there had been a hardware card replaced in stoke, on the national radio communication network, gsm are. it is kind of like a dedicated mobile phone system, where drivers and signallers can communicate, particularly ann tunnels and places they would not receive signals, so it's a productive and important signal. the hardware card, for whatever reason,

had not worked overnight. when train drivers were locking on this morning, their radios were not connecting to the national rail system for mobile communications. that wasn't a disaster, it wasn't a safety disaster, what it meant was that drivers had to use something called a wild card code, it is a bit like entering the details on your mobile telephone if you lose wi—fi connection. it took some time and caused delays right around the country, everything from scotrail, thameslink, gatwick express was not servicing brighton at one point in the day. cardiff central, the major hubs, manchester piccadilly, very much affected. the hardware card has been replaced in stoke, the system is up and running. as far as the trains this afternoon, things should look brighter as far as communication is concerned, if not the weather. the prime minister has told the bbc that life should start to feel better soon for many households, but refused to rule out future tax rises.

in an interview he said by the next election he'll have hit targets on the economy, the nhs, national security and migration, but asked voters to be patient. 0ur political correspondent harry farley reports. new targets on house building, nhs waiting lists, energy, crime, education and whether you feel better off. so will there be more tax rises to pay for this? i don't want to in any way suggest that we're going to keep coming back for more, because that isn't the plan. so, no more tax rises? so, we did the tough stuff in order to stabilise, because what individuals and particularly businesses have said to me is, look, do the tough stuff but then we need the degree of certainty. we need to know that things aren't going to materially change. so that's the approach we've taken. what i can't do is say to you, there are no circumstances, unforeseen, in the future that wouldn't lead to any change at all. why do you think you're so unpopular? you have an approval rating of —38.

why do you think that is? i just don't want to do what politicians have done in the past, which is get in the warm bath of empty promises, the feelgood factor that isn't really feelgood. i want to ask you, if i may... i'm prepared to roll up my sleeves and tell people — it's tough, we're going to do it, but you're going to be better off. you'll have a better health service, you'll have better houses. you'll feel better off. you'll have better energy bills at the end of this. more houses is one area the government is focused on. in today's times newspaper, the prime minister takes on what he calls the blockers and bureaucrats who have stopped the country building. but some of those concerned at the new targets for more homes are in his own party, like this local councillor. i feel that we are going to be on a collision course with labour. and it's notjust labour councils, it's liberal democrats, it's conservatives. they've all said the same thing. sorry, as a labour leader of a council you think you'll be on a collision course with the labour government? absolutely, absolutely. 0ver these planning targets,

they are absolutely impossible and unrealistic. next week, the government will respond to a consultation on changes to the planning rules. while some small tweaks will be made, i understand that councils will largely be told they have to hit their new increased targets. but ministers i've been speaking to admit there are real questions over whether they can reach that overall aim of 1.5 million new homes by the next election. sir keir starmer, this morning in scotland, knows his future could rest on meeting these milestones he's set himself. harry farley, bbc news, in westminster. great 0rmond street hospital has defended its ongoing reviews into the care provided by the discgraced surgeon yaserjabbar. more than 700 individual patient reports hve been commissioned, and with around 10% completed, some families say there are gaps and omissions in diagnoses and treatments which have added to their distress. the hospital says the reviews are in line with nhs guidelines and it is deeply

sorry to the patients of this surgeon who we have let down. 0ur reporter chloe hayward has more. bunty was referred to yaserjabbar for leg lengthening surgery. in may 2020, after a series of failed operations, her lower left leg was amputated. none of her operations worked and none of them were of any benefit to her whatsoever, they've admitted this. now when the leg lengthening didn't work, he shortened her leg by about eight inches. so this was when ella's legs were at their worst. claire's daughter, ella, has a rare bone condition, which led to a referral for a series of operations to realign her knees as she grew up. the first operation worked, but then she switched to mrjabbar. this is how mrjabbar's surgery had left her. she went from walking for miles to, "mummy, i can't walk round the supermarket. " and it was at that point we had to make the choice to get

a wheelchair for her because she just, she just refused to walk through pain. concerns about jabbar�*s practice led to a damning report from the royal college of surgeons, and he left his post at great 0rmond street hospital. the hospital says it is deeply sorry to the patients they have let down, and that "patient safety is our core purpose." in response to the rcs report, gosh commissioned independent reviews for all of jabbar�*s 723 patients. so far, around 10% of families have had their personal reports back, but several are unhappy. this report is not worth the paper it's written on because it hides the truth. it states that she only had six procedures when i can count ten. it's just a smoke screen to cover up what really went on. our review itself, i feel, missed out a lot of important information about ella's personal journey. they missed out a condition that she's got in the hip, wasn't even detailed in the report. they also missed out discussing one

of the surgeries that had been done in betweenjabbar's and the successful one. there was a couple of things that we reallyjust couldn't find any clarity in, because it felt like it wasn't ella's report. both bunty and ella were referred for psychological support prior to this year, but ella's report said she suffered no psychological harm. i find that very, very hard to digest because i know other consultants that we've seen have told me that if you met with ella, you would not come to that conclusion. unfortunately, we were never given the opportunity to meet with the independent reviewer, so we weren't ever able to put that across to him. a gosh spokesperson says... "the independent experts have and will continue to invite patients to a clinic appointment if required. the independent review of patient care is in line with the nhs england guidelines. we understand that for some patients their experience could have caused psychological harm. and so we asked the external paediatric orthopaedic consultants to consider if there is documented evidence from the medical notes of this, as well as physical harm."

it adds that all reviewers can access full patient records with dedicated support for them to do this. many parents have joined an online group to discuss their concerns. of the 12 families that i've been in contact with who have had their report, i haven't seen anyone who's been very positive about the situation. most have been quite unhappy that there was information that they haven't felt was addressed or it was missing details, and that, you know, they felt like they wanted a bit more of a, a response from gosh as to the results. chloe hayward, bbc news. 0ur health editor hugh pym joins us now. hugh, what more have we heard this morning? well, the hospital has put out a new

statement saying, again, it is sorry for what happened and that these case reviews were carried out in line with nhs guidelines. but it has addedin line with nhs guidelines. but it has added in response to our story, as you heard there, some families really not happy with the process, feeling they are not being heard and that there was no proper contact made with them by the reviewer, the hospital says, we completely understand for families who have experienced pain and distress that these findings may never feel adequate. we will always discuss concerns families may have. i think the worry amongst families that we have spoken to is that great 0rmond street have only got through about 10% of the 700 or so cases, and the whole process of getting through all of them, all of these reviews, could take at least 18 months or longer. so there is uncertainty there. lawyers for the families are saying they welcome the idea of independent case reviews, but they really don't

feel they've been proper and comprehensive assessments. so the lawyers say they will bring in their own experts, both to look at the medical notes and to interview families, so they can get a fuller picture of what actually happened and decide what their next move may be. officials from south korea's ruling party have said they now won't call for the impeachment of president yoon suk—yeol after he declared martial law on tuesday. this contradicts earlier comments made by the party leader, han dong—hoon, who in a lengthy meeting, reportedly tried to convince ministers to back the president's removal before an impeachment vote tomorrow. the french president, emmanuel macron, has said he'll name a new prime minister in the coming days. in a ten—minute address to the nation last night, he rejected pressure to stand down, and accused the far right and hard left of collaborating in what he called an "anti—republican front", forcing michel barnier to resign as prime minister following a no—confidence vote.

thames water has received multiple bids to buy their business, after the company warned that it could run out of cash by next year. the firm, which is britain's biggest water supplier, is in almost £18 billion worth of debt, and needs more than £3 billion of new investment to prevent collapse. a former soldier has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in relation to bloody sunday in londonderry in 1972. the parachute regiment shot dead 13 people at a civil rights demonstration in the bogside area. the army veteran known as soldier f was in court in belfast this morning. our ireland correspondent chris page is there. chris what happened during the hearing? in court, soldier f was shielded from view by a blue curtain which stretched from the floor to the ceiling. the charges were read to

him in turn and he replied not guilty to each one. the charges relate to the events of bloody sunday in londonderry 5a years ago, one of the worst and most significant days of the long conflict in northern ireland known as the troubles. there was a civil rights demonstration in derry and in the bogside area, a place where most people were irish nationalists the army shot dead 13 civilians. soldier f is charged with murder in relation to two of the deaths, those of james wray and william mckinney. he is also accused of five counts of attempted murder. earlier in the hearing thejudge attempted murder. earlier in the hearing the judge dismissed an application by defence lawyers to have the case thrown out on grounds of insufficient evidence so there will be another hearing on the 24th of january when a date will be set for the nonjury trial. thejudge also rejected an attempt by the families to have the anonymity order

protecting the identity of soldier f lifted. he said soldier f faced a real risk which was neither fanciful nor trivial. outside the court here william mckinney�*s brother mickey said the families were disappointed that soldier f would remain anonymous but overall this was a good day for victims.— good day for victims. chris page with the latest _ good day for victims. chris page with the latest from _ good day for victims. chris page with the latest from belfast, - good day for victims. chris page i with the latest from belfast, thank you. the time is 1:18. our top story this afternoon... the met office issues a red danger—to—life weather warning for southwest england and large parts of wales, ahead of the arrival of storm darragh. and still to come, we'll hear how emergency call handlers are facing rising levels of sexist, homophobic and racial abuse. coming up on bbc news, angst for ange, as the spurs boss sees his team beaten and overtaken by bournemouth in the premier league, with some travelling fans making their views known.

police in the us are continuing their search for a gunman who shot dead the boss of america's biggest health insurance company. brian thompson was killed outside a hotel in new york on wednesday. our senior north america correspondentjohn sudworth joins us now. john, what is the latest on the search? the suspect is still at large this morning but the police have been gathering an increasing body of evidence in their attempts to track him down, multiple images caught on cameras across this city, some of them giving a pretty clear view of them giving a pretty clear view of the suspect�*s face. and quite a few details about his movements in the days and weeks before the shooting.

the police say he used a fake id to check into a hostel in the upper west side of manhattan and that he took a greyhound bus en route from atalanta to new york on the 24th of november. but no information, at least not officially from the police about any possible motive. but of course a great deal of speculation. there are reports from police sources that the shell casings found at the scene were inscribed with the words deny, defend and depose, which appear to bear some resemblance to the sort of words in the reporting around health insurance companies' attempts to strategise over denying and delaying claims to patients. a huge amount of anger on social media about those strategies in the wake of this killing. we don't know, a lot of speculation, but you would think with the information they have

the police must now be getting closer to knowing who that suspect is. , ., ,, ., closer to knowing who that suspect nearly 300,000 people are now thought to have been displaced in syria following last week's surprise offensive on aleppo. tens of thousands are now fleeing the third—largest city, homs, as the islamist—led rebels continue their advance, following the capture of the city of hama yesterday. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega is on the turkish—syrian border. hugo, fears now that the rebels are headed towards the capital, damascus. this astonishing offensive by these rebels continues. yesterday they captured hama and now they are advancing on homs. reports suggest they are getting closer to the city. this is a key city because it connects the capital damascus to the north of the country and also to the coast. president bashar al—assad's heartland. these front lines in

syria have been frozen for years but they are changing and changing fast as part of this insurgency being led by islamist rebels from a group known as hts. they have their roots in al-qaeda and they have tried to rebrand themselves as a nationalist force. there leader gave an interview to cnn and talked about the future of syria. he said the goal of this campaign is to topple the government of president bashar al—assad and allow the return of syrian refugees who have been forced to flee because of the conflict in syria. we don't know how president al—assad will respond, whether he has the ability to launch a counter offensive, but the un is warning up to1 million people could be forced to1 million people could be forced to flee their homes because of the conflict. ., �* .. ., ., conflict. hugo bachega on the turkish syrian _ conflict. hugo bachega on the turkish syrian border, - conflict. hugo bachega on the turkish syrian border, thank l conflict. hugo bachega on the . turkish syrian border, thank you. a man who used so—called slapping therapy as an alternative treatment for serious illnesses has been

jailed for 15 years for the gross negligence manslaughter of a woman from sussex. the court heard how hongchi xiao, who had no medical training, failed to intervene when his 71—year—old client, danielle carr—gomm, went into a diabetic coma at his slapping therapy workshop in wiltshire in 2016. our correspondent duncan kennedy has been in the court. in the words of the judge, hongchi xiao was a dangerous individual for promoting this slapping workshop. he described the death of danielle carr—gomm as a tragedy. she had been persuaded by hongchi xiao to stop taking her insulin medicine for her type one diabetes, believing that slapping could cure her of diabetes. she referred to hongchi xiao as a messengerfrom god, but he had no medical training and he had also been convicted of the manslaughter of a six—year—old boy in australia who had also attended one of his slapping workshops. today hongchi xiao was given a 15 year sentence.

it's called paida lagin — meaning slapping or stretching — and supposedly clears the body of everything from back pain to cancer. but the prosecution said there was little scientific or medical evidence to back up those claims. yet followers around the world are willing to endure these sessions, even if it leaves some covered in bruises. one of them was danielle carr—gomm, from lewes in east sussex. she suffered from type 1 diabetes but feared the daily injections of insulin. thank you all for coming here. so in 2016, she turned to hongchi xiao, who ran slapping therapy workshops. but his only training was in finance. i find that i've been able to reduce my insulin by half. danielle, here at one of his workshops, was convinced he could help. you can see the bruises

on her arm from the slapping, and she praises hongchi xiao with an almost religious devotion. you're definitely a messenger sent by god — that i'm sure of. but four days into a slapping workshop at this retreat in wiltshire, danielle died. she had stopped taking the insulin for her diabetes, believing everything that hongchi xiao had claimed. in previous interviews, he'd always maintained his methods worked. it has a healing effect, number one, on diabetic one, diabetic two, and also on all the heart diseases, all kinds of... also high blood pressure. it works. it works so well that people love it. hongchi xiao admitted to the court that he wasn't medically trained and that he wasn't a doctor, but that slapping was all about self—healing. but the prosecution said that he had a responsibility towards danielle

when she was at one of his slapping workshops, and that he had a duty to take care of her. injuly, hongchi xiao was convicted of her gross negligence manslaughter. today, he was sentenced. the result is that the total sentence is 15 years. this comprises a determinate sentence of ten years and an extended licence period of five years. you will be released from custody no later than two thirds of the way through the determinate sentence, namely six years and eight months. hongchi xiao's brand of alternative therapy clearly attracted many desperately seeking solutions to their serious medical conditions. but he now stands convicted and sentenced, responsible for the death of a woman who put her trust in him and his questionable practices. duncan kennedy, bbc news, at winchester crown court. uk house prices rose at their fastest monthly rate of the year in november according

to new data. the fifth consecutive increase saw values rise by 1.3% on the previous month, bringing the average house price tojust over £298,000. the owner of the guardian newspaper has confirmed a deal has been approved to sell its sunday title, the observer, which was founded in 1791. its purchase by the tortoise media group, which was launched five years ago, follows a 48—hour strike by journalists at the paper this week. the princess of wales will host a christmas service at westminster abbey this evening as she continues her return to public life following treatment for cancer. kensington palace says the service will reflect upon the importance of love and empathy. catherine is expected to be joined by her husband prince william and their three children. 10,000 tickets have been issued

for visitors to go aboard one of the uk's biggest warships, hms prince of wales, whilst it's docked in liverpool this weekend. the aircraft carrier is being given the freedom of the city with a parade of sailors due to take place later, but there are fears storm darragh could disrupt the celebrations, as jayne mccubbin reports. the sun rises on a special day for hms prince of wales. almost all of the 800 crew on board will parade around liverpool this afternoon after a special ceremony which will give the ship the freedom of the city, an honour the scouse contingent are most grateful for. it's good to let my family see what it's good to let my family see what i do. they are all coming on board, coming to the march later. it special for me coming to the march later. it specialfor me in particular because at the pass out rally it was during covid so they didn't get to see me pass out, so it's a special day for us. ~ , pass out, so it's a special day for us. 3 ~ , pass out, so it's a special day for us. ~ , . , . pass out, so it's a special day for us. g . , ., , , pass out, so it's a special day for us. g , ,., us. my nieces and nephews thought the fli . ht us. my nieces and nephews thought the flight ramp _ us. my nieces and nephews thought the flight ramp over _ us. my nieces and nephews thought the flight ramp over there _ us. my nieces and nephews thought the flight ramp over there was - us. my nieces and nephews thought the flight ramp over there was a - the flight ramp over there was a ninja _ the flight ramp over there was a ninja warrior. i had to pick which

one i_ ninja warrior. i had to pick which one i loved _ ninja warrior. i had to pick which one i loved more! onlyjoking. it's a good _ one i loved more! onlyjoking. it's a good opportunity and i'm excited to bring _ a good opportunity and i'm excited to bring everyone on board. it�*s to bring everyone on board. it's aood for to bring everyone on board. it's good for the city, i feel big, happy and proud — hms prince of wales is the nation's flagship, the biggest warship ever built for the royal navy. it can deploy to any incident anywhere in the world within just five days' notice, but today it's just about one thing, liverpool. but of course, beyond this place and this moment live volatile and this moment lie volatile international waters — waters hms prince of wales, as the new flagship, is now ready to respond to. i mean, liverpool isn't a dangerous international water, let me just be clear, it's the most friendly place i'd been for a long time. but, yeah, ourjob is five days' readiness. what for? whatever the country needs us to do. are we worried? no. i think what we're doing is trying to become comfortable with uncertainty. it's huge. very impressive. it is huge! - the money is coming in to all the restaurant and bars...and parking spaces. if the weather behaves.

yeah, yeah! _ 18 ropes would usually tether this ship in place but in anticipation of tonight's amber weather warning the anchor has been dropped and the mersey pilot tug boats are on standby to help hold her in place, all 65,000 tonnes of her. 10,000 people are expected to tour the flight deck tomorrow, if the weather allows. the ship is only tied to the jetty by ropes. if there are 70 knot gusts as predicted she might move around a bit which might make the gangway, the entrance to the ship, dangerous. but we're not going to cancel it until we've had the chance see what arrives. she is now in good company. nelson mandela, paul mccartney, ringo starr and jurgen klopp all have the freedom of the city of liverpool. but none as mighty and majestic as hms prince of wales. jayne mccubbin, bbc news. how might the weather tomorrow affect it? we'll have a full forecast

in the next half hour, but it's time now for a quick look at the weather. the met office have issued a where severe weather warning for the strength of the wind, a danger to life with gusts of 90 mph expected across this part of wales and running through the bristol channel. the warning runs from three o'clock in the morning to 11 o'clock tomorrow morning. as well as the danger to life there may be travel disruption, power cuts and a large and dangerous waves. we don'tjust have red warnings, there are amber warnings for wind gusting 70—80 mph covering a larger area of wales and western parts of england together with south—west scotland and northern ireland. that warning runs for a bit longer. as if that wasn't enough we have an amber rain warning from the met office as well, given how wet it has been from storm burt, maureen, 80—90 millimetres could bring more flooding. it will be windy everywhere this weekend with windy everywhere this weekend with wind being the main issue. we have the risk of some flooding and for a

while they will even be snow on the scottish hills. a reminder of our top headline this afternoon. the met office issues a red danger—to—life weather warning for southwest england and large parts of wales ahead of the arrival of storm darragh. still to come, with many of us due to take a staycation this christmas, we'll hear from the staff at butlins as they prepare to welcome more than 111,000 guests over the festive period. than a third in the past five years. our reporter daniel o'donoghue has been speaking to workers at a 999 centre in manchester. you want to do this, you really want to do this, stupid bleep? yeah, i've got questions to ask, so can you... you little bleep, you little bleep, aren't you?

this is a recording of a 999 call received byjamesjust an hour into his morning shift. i took a particular call for a gentleman whose mum had an itch. the gentleman spoke about me arranging a taxi. happens all the time, we remind people that we're not a taxi. it must have frustrated him. he just started hurling abuse at me. you horrible, dirty bleep! i'm going to, i'm going to tell you one more time... bleep! it doesn't normally faze me, but on this particular call, it became personal, it was very homophobic and i could barely get a word in. and all i was doing was triaging his mum. are you done? you horrid little dirty dog, you are. remember what you are, yeah? you're a dirty, dying dog. i was shocked. you get called all sorts and you tolerate certain things and certain words, and there's certain buzz words that will affect certain people differently. but by the end of this call, i mean, i came off

the phone and i was shaking. what impact did that call have on you? i'm a bit more apprehensive about sort of my tone of voice and things. and obviously with this guy being homophobic, i got quite self—conscious. do i sound gay? ambulance service, is the patient breathing? over the last 11 months, more than 250 abusive calls were logged by staff who work in the north west's three emergency call centres. ambulance service, is the patient breathing? and it doesn't take long for one call to turn abusive here in manchester. you have called an emergency line. ok, you've come on the line and started swearing at me and calling me names. right, again, i'm going to ask you not to take that tone with me, ok? i am only trying to help you. how does it make you feel when you're on a call like that? it makes you feel worthless. it makes you feel like you're not doing yourjob properly. it does make you feel like you don't

want to do it any more. it's something that natalie is trying to tackle in her role as head of violence prevention. it's an emotional time needing an emergency service, needing an ambulance. and i think there's that frustration, certainly in the call centres, we have to go through a set of questions to make sure we get the right care to people, and that brings a level of frustration. and we just ask, really, for the public to stick with the questions and just answer them as calmly as they can. and what we don't want to do is for our staff here at nwas to come in and feel in fear to work. james's abuser was identified as 36—year—old mahinder singh from trafford. he got a £500 fine, 100 hours of unpaid work and a suspended prison sentence. i don't need to listen to this, ok? yeah, because you're a bleep, because you're gay, you're a bleep. one more time, i'm going to clear the line, ok? james never got to look his abuser in the eye, but this is what he would have said. the comments reminded me of slurs and insults i received whilst i was at school, when i was coming to terms with my sexuality when i was younger. this made me feel

personally attacked. i don't think it's acceptable in this day and age in 2024 to be homophobic. attacks and abuse may be on the rise nationally, but our emergency services remain ready and on hand to help. dan o'donoghue, bbc news. still to come on today's programme, with hospital admissions rising for cases of flu and norovirus, we'll hear how you can protect yourself as health bosses warn of a quad—demic of emergencies this winter. now it's time to join our colleagues with the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday. harry brook shines again, his century in wellington in the second test, puts england in reach of a series win against new zealand.

postecoglou vows to keep fighting to revive the fortunes of spurs after receiving "some direct feedback" from unhappy fans following their loss to bournemouth. and the most famous sportswoman come to bristol, we spend time with usa's ilona maher, who has almost eight million followers on social media. good afternoon. we'll start with the second test between england and new zealand in wellington, where harry brook starred with the bat again. his century has given the tourists the upper hand after day one. england lost early wickets but brook then steadied the ship, continuing his excellent away from home with 123 runs from just from 115 deliveries. ollie pope also made 66 as england were bowled out for 280.

new zealand struggled in reply, brydon carse taking two wickets as the black caps finished the day 86 for 5 trailing by 194 runs. obviously 26 for three or whatever. it came in and the pitch was doing quite a bit seaming and swinging and yeah, i'm just glad i put my attacking mode on and really took it to them and put them under pressure. luckily they had to try and bowl at the stumps early on, and i felt like the time to run down was, was then and cash in with it being full, it's a bit harder when you run down and they bowled a bouncer, i think henry baldwin when i ran down and it felt like it was about a million miles an hour. so yeah, ijust tried to take them off the lines and length and stop them from bowling at the stumps, really. he's world class. he's right up there today. he was keen to take the game on as well and it paid off for him. but you know what we're trying to do isjust out there. it's a wicket that's

going to offer you a little bit. so we're just still trying to hit the top of the stumps. and he showed today that, you know we're bowling quite well. and he tried to hit us off our links by using his feet. and he played some ridiculous shots to full credit to him. so nathan smith full of praise for harry brook, let's get more on his performance from the bbc commentator henry moeran. he's an extraordinary cricketer. he scored eight test centuries, seven of them away from home. you are looking at an average overseas in their 90s and that is don bradman territory, really unprecedented for a cricketer to be reaching those sort of heights in this area. of course, he will have a dip in his career overseas, every cricketer does but the fact that he pay so consistently with such freedom in the england line and is such a boost to an england side that has shown vulnerabilities. abilities. harry work plays with such exceptional clarity of thought, the way that he

plays. it was an remarkable innings and arguably, of the hundreds that he has good this winter and let's not forget that there was a triple hundred in pakistan, this was arguably his best. elsewhere, mitchell starc claimed career—best test figures of 6—48 as australia seized the initiative on day one of the second test against india. it's a day—night match in adelaide and australia fought back back after losing in perth last week. starc took his first wicket with the first ball of the match, before going on to take five more. nitish reddy was the top—scoring indian batter with 42, as they got to 180 all out. in reply, australia were 86 for 1 at close. tottenham manager ange postecoglu says he is going to fight to make sure he brings success to the football club, after he had an exchange with angry fans following their loss at bournemouth in the premier league last night. they were beaten 1—0 on the south coast, a defeat that leaves them 10th in the premier league table, one place below the cherries. it was spurs' sixth league defeat this season, with only five sides

in the top flight having lost more games than them and some fans made their feelings known to postecoglou. that's a man has taking a squad, held together essentially by duct tape and vibes. one word, odobert was first to be the key signing this summer and kept them competitive. if you look at all the fit but that he has played during his tenure at the club, he has shown enough that he has got it in him to be the leader coach. the fact is that he his operator with a mid—table squad during one of the biggest injury crises in the league and if he is working, i will not save miracles, but if he is doing ok so far with this, imagine what he could do with actual resources. let's not ignore the elephant in the room, he is the only site name and if you have completed a full season in 2019.

that is not a record, it is a self—destructive habit and anyone who is on this bandwagon, sacking him now would be like smashing the last light bulb in a blackout so i am not on the bandwagon. and you can hear more from that interview with davina, alongside chelsea fan niinii and former chelsea and tottenham midfielder gus poyet in the latest edition of the football news show — that's available on iplayer later today. now, we're talking about the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media — male orfemale. it's ilona maher and she has almost 8 million followers on instagram and tiktok. she's an american olympic bronze medalist and hasjust signed for bristol bears. our rugby union reporter sara orchard sat down with her. get out of my way, this is a leading our! alone i'll run a bronze medal at the paris olympics last summer. i

am here at the olympics are going to test out its during various activities she's best known for her social media followers with full points instagram and 3.3 tiktok. as a player, i have to do ten times more on the fluid—filled, i'm not even going to make six figures paying rugby, that is the sad truth was back in and put all my focus here. i have to put on everything else and somehow, that has to related to the biggest on rugby. extensive cv also goes to be a sports illustrated model and also finished as a runner—up as scratch on the us version on strictly. just basically change the face of this board _ basically change the face of this board and people are already intrigued about wanting to watch so how do— intrigued about wanting to watch so how do i_ intrigued about wanting to watch so how do i get the right broadcasting channel_ how do i get the right broadcasting channel to— how do i get the right broadcasting channel to make sure that i can watch _ channel to make sure that i can watch it. — channel to make sure that i can watch it, how do i get that right merchandise. she is going to change

the way— merchandise. she is going to change the way that rugby scene over here in england — the way that rugby scene over here in england here as well. two the way that rugby scene over here in england here as well.— the way that rugby scene over here in england here as well. two of the most penular _ in england here as well. two of the most popular men's _ in england here as well. two of the most popular men's rugby - in england here as well. two of the most popular men's rugby playersl in england here as well. two of the i most popular men's rugby players are on the planet are from south africa and france, it is not what she does on the rugby pitch, it's a message that around positivity for young women in particular that is either millions of fans. you women in particular that is either millions of fans.— millions of fans. you can be beautiful — millions of fans. you can be beautiful and _ millions of fans. you can be beautiful and wear - millions of fans. you can be beautiful and wear lipstick. | millions of fans. you can be | beautiful and wear lipstick. i millions of fans. you can be - beautiful and wear lipstick. i wear lip stick when i play rugby because i feel like i lip stick when i play rugby because ifeel like i do not have a sacrifice one on another. i can be based on the field but also for her beautiful underwear list sweat lipstick. it beautiful underwear list sweat li stick. , beautiful underwear list sweat listick. , , ., beautiful underwear list sweat listick. , . lipstick. it is up to decide your own femininity. _ lipstick. it is up to decide your own femininity. she _ lipstick. it is up to decide your own femininity. she is - lipstick. it is up to decide your own femininity. she is now - lipstick. it is up to decide your - own femininity. she is now switching from... the opening match of that tournamentjust happens to be england boss michael red raises normal matter against a usa's equals. exciting time for rugby.

second practice is under way for the final formula one race of the season in abu dhabi. we have seen plenty of drama ahead of the race already and this morning charles leclerc has been handed a 10—place grid penalty. the ferrari driver was quickest in first practice but he had to have a new battery pack fitted, taking them beyond their permitted allowance for the season. it is a major blow to ferrari, who trail mclaren by 21 points in the constructors' championship with a maximum of 44 points available. it's been over two years since nick kyrgios last played in a grand slam, losing in the 2022 us open quarter—final, however the australian is set to return early next year, using his protected ranking to secure a place in the main draw of january's australian open. he has not competed sincejune 2023, with a series of knee, foot and wrist injuries having interrupted his career. britons jack draper, cameron norrie, katie boulter, emma raducanu, sonay kartal and jodie burrage have also been confirmed

on the main draw list. two days after leaving ineos grenadiers, great britain's tom pidcock has joined the 036.5 pro cycling team. he's signed a three—year contract and willjoin his new team for a pre—season training camp in spain injanuary. the double olympic champion, who retained his mountain bike title at paris 2024 left ineos despite signing a five—year contract in 2022. as always, you can get all the latest sports using the bbc sport website and app. for now, that is it for me. see using. —— see you soon. nhs bosses say hospitals in england are facing what they call academic of cases with rising cases of flu,

covid, and a whispered as he virus which comes amid a warning that the health service is now busier than ever heading into the winter. the nhs under strain in the winter isn't unusual, but this year the pressure is hitting harder and earlier than before, and there are now warnings of a potential quad—demic. the first nhs figures for the winter show that the average number of patients taking up beds in hospitals in england last week with flu were almost 1,100 — that's four times higher than this time last year. 751 beds were occupied with patients with norovirus—like symptoms. more than 140 children were in hospital with a respiratory condition — rsv. and nearly 1,400 beds had covid patients in them — which is lower than last year. and, out of a total of 100,000 beds, 95,000 are already occupied. staff at one hospital in nottinghamshire say they're already experiencing extreme pressure on services. there's a 92—year—old gentleman who's been in ed now for 24 hours

waiting for a medicine bed. now, that's almost unheard of here. with increasing admissions across the uk, the national medical directorfor the nhs, professor sir stephen powis, warned that the next few months will be difficult. with cases of flu — and norovirus, in particular — rising sharply, there are concerns that the extra pressure caused by the huge number of patients will lead to many hospitals declaring critical incidents. the nhs says that one of the ways the public can help is that for those who are eligible for vaccinations, to get theirjabs as soon as possible. 27 million people have already had jabs for flu, rsv and covid, but there are many that haven't. vaccines are one of the key ways to protect yourself this winter. i get there is a lot of vaccine apathy, we all had a lot of vaccines during covid, but the important thing is, these viruses are really clever. so particularly covid and flu, they mutate every year and that's why we need a top—up virus to align ourselves to the most common strain.

applause. this all comes the day after the prime minister said one of his six long—term priorities for government was hitting the 18—week target for non—urgent hospital care. but, as it stands, pressure on the service is mounting earlier than ever before. steve knibbs, bbc news. wet and windy weather might be tempting some abroad — but there's still an appetite for uk holidays at christmas. butlins will welcome 14,000 guests over the festive period, as peter ruddick reports. redcoats, check. but not a knobbly knee insight. this holiday resort in bognor regis has splashed £15 million in cash to transform a car park into a 50,000 square—foot nine—game interactive experience. it's the kind of investment holiday parks need to make to stay relevant. i think it's always important to understand what's made you successful. we pay homage to our past, redcoats are iconic within our brand

but we are always looking at how we evolve and how we enhance for the future. it's all a far cry from the nostalgic past. billy butlin transformed the frankly frightening holiday camp to an all—inclusive higher—end experience. and they were innovative. entertainment, monorails and even see—through pools. the heyday might be over but the remaining resorts have not given up. at least six in ten of us enjoyed a uk holiday last year. that works out at just over 170 million overnight trips. but those numbers are down slightly. however, 14,000 people are still expected to choose their christmas at holiday parks like this one. on top of the investment, firms are betting on adult—only trips, as well as the traditional family fun. the ability to jet off on the cheap, rival resorts in the forests, not the seaside, and the cost of living — holiday parks have had to beat several challenges.

future victory will depend on the success of investments like this. peter ruddick, bbc news, bognor regis. a man from birmingham with cerebral palsy has been gifted a new accent ahead of his wedding. 22—year—old jack reeve, who uses a communication device with a robotic voice launched an appeal earlier this year to find a new one. rachael lewis reports. robotic voice: i am really excited about getting my new voice. - ever since jack was a child, he's dreamed of sounding like those around him. the 22—year—old student was born with cerebral palsy, and has always spoken through a device with a robotic voice. robotic voice: i want to sound more like my family, _ and we live in birmingham. i am getting married, and i want to be able| to say my vows in my own voice. jack and his fiancee beth are getting married injuly 2026. after a joint appeal from bbc wm and west midlands ambulance service,

jack was inundated with people offering him their voice. and how did you choose which voice to have? i chose a voice with a dudley accent, as that is where - my fiancee is from. i also liked the timing of the voice. - i wanted to make the right choice. it is going to be my voice for the rest of my life. i jack's anonymous donor was chosen, and has now recorded around 1,500 phrases to make up his vocabulary. today he's hearing his new voice for the first time. 0k. ready? the big moment. are you ready? go for it. dudley-accented voice plays. he gasps. are we ready to show mum and dad? hello, jack. you all right? dudley accent: i love you, mum and dad. . aww! i love you too, jack.

super happy, super proud. | i had my little — . shed my little tear. emotional. and super thankful to the guy that's, like, i donated his voice forjack. like...what a thing - to be able to have done. but there's one other thing jack wants to do before his wedding. i want you to take me to an aston villa game now, please, dad. i want to show off my new brummie voice. fair enough — 0k, jack. we wish him well for the big day. rachael lewis reporting. to some sports news now and in cricket there was a breathless start to england s second test in new zealand with harry brook leading the way once more. he only made his test debut two years ago. overnight, the eighth hundred of brook s career took england to 280 all out in theirfirst innings. new zealand fell to 86—5 in reply. joe wilson reports.

cricket was first played here in 1868, wellington's ground has changed a bit. england's batting won't alter, always attack, or try. a duck for ben duckett. next, matt henry to zak crawley. only one winner. now watch out for daryl mitchell. edged, taken, beauty. only one hand. remember when new zealand dropped everything? that was last week, this was now. the situation was delicate. right, that was harry brook's solution. absolutely extraordinary. the camera tried to track his sixes, and there were five, every spectator became a fielder. there you go. ollie pope made 66 his way and new zealand were chasing a changing game. brook had one intention. oh, up and over. he kept connecting. his latest century rescued england. yeah, i think that might

be my favourite hundred so far, i liked that a lot. the pitch was doing quite a bit, seaming and swinging, and, yeah, i'm just glad i put my attacking mode on and really took it to them and put them under pressure. england made 280 and then fielded, well. brydon carse... they're claiming it. yeah, out. new zealand closed 86—5. ollie pope continues to impress, wicketkeeping, and brydon carse, fast bowling. just be a little careful with him. joe wilson, bbc news. in the last few minutes the welsh fa has announced following met office advice all football matches in wales tomorrow have now been postponed. darren bett is here and can explain why. storm darragh is approaching the west of the uk from the atlantic now but the weather will take a turn for the worse overnight and into tomorrow. this is when we have this red wind warning from the met

office, gusts of 90 mph for this part of wales and the bristol channel. a red weather warning means a danger to life. they were at the risk of travel disruption, there may be power cuts and some large and dangerous waves. everything is happening out in the atlantic. this area of cloud is developing into this deepening area of low pressure which is forming storm darragh. looking at the radar picture over the last few hours this is the first signs of the storm. this is where we have seen rain coming into western areas and the wind is starting to pick up. elsewhere the wind is much lighter, it is cloudy and dry but more chilly than yesterday. following the track of the storm overnight, pushing in from the west, tracking across the uk, bringing spells of rain, also snow over higher parts of northern scotland. another spell of rain arrives and following the low pressure as it moves into the north sea, this is when the wind will pick up as we pick up this north, north—westerly

wind. as well as the red warning there are amber warnings covering large areas of wales, south—west england, south—west scotland and parts of northern ireland. this will last longer and the gusts will be 70-80 last longer and the gusts will be 70—80 mph over a larger area. on top of that, given how wet it has been other parts of wales, and another 80-90 other parts of wales, and another 80—90 millimetres with this storm brings the risk of flooding. the story in two tomorrow morning, this wet and windy weather, showers and longer spells of rain continuing through the day. as the wind may be easier said bit later in the west they will pick up along some north sea coasts and it will be windy for all of us on saturday. those temperatures very similar to those of today, around 7—9 but the wind will be the biggest concern, together with the risk of flooding. the storm will push away to the continent as we move into sunday. still a lot of isobars on the chart, it will be windy again on sunday,

and just not as windy. the strongest wind in the eastern side of england. this is where most showers will stream in. further west, this is where most showers will stream in. furtherwest, drier, more sunshine and the wind will continue to ease down. a northerly wind, not helping temperatures, may be a bit colder on sunday. over the weekend we have the storm sweeping across the uk bringing wet and windy weather. into next week that will push its way into europe and high pressure will build settling things down, dropping the wind and turning dryer. that's all from today's bbc news at one. enjoy the rest of the day. goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. thousands flee syria's third largest city as islamist—led rebels advance towards homs after taking hama. romania's top court annuls results of the first round of presidential elections. officials say the whole process must be rerun. president macron says he'll name a new french prime minister within days, after michel barnier was ousted in a no—confidence vote. the uk met office says extreme winds of up to 90mph could put lives at risk.

hello, i'm ben brown, welcome to bbc news now,