a tidal wave of flu is sweeping england's hospitals say nhs bosses. we do what we can to try and deliver the best care we can do. but if you were to ask me, would i be happy for my mother to be cared for in a corridor, i would say no. police searching for former england rugby player tom voyce, whose car was swept away after storm darragh, say they've found a body. an american missing for months is found wandering in syria after rebels freed him from jail. and, your voice your bbc news — your thoughts on the difficulties of buying a home as the government unveils sweeping changes to england's planning system. on bbc london... a court hears how the day before a teenager stabbed elianne andam, and coming up on bbc news. an all british clash in the europa league at ibrox as rangers look to cement their status in the top eight. they take on tottenham at ibrox.

the prime minister says questions need to be answered over the death of ten—year—old sara sharif, after her father and stepmother were found guilty of her murder yesterday. he said increased protections were being brought forward for children who are educated at home. here's our social affairs editor, alison holt. sara sharif, the little girl with big dreams of being a singer. the ten—year—old failed in the most shocking brutal way by the father and stepmother who should have kept her safe. the family's drawn—out history of domestic violence was known to the courts, social workers, the police and there were concerns from teachers, as in similar distressing child deaths it brings questions about whether more could have been done to protect her,

including from the prime minister. it is about making sure there are protections and safeguards for children, particularly those being home—schooled. so that is where i think the questions are but my response first and foremost as a human response, it'sjust the most awful case that many people, many viewers will find very, very hard to hear. . , , , ., . hear. inevitably, protecting children in _ hear. inevitably, protecting children in such _ hear. inevitably, protecting children in such situations i hear. inevitably, protecting| children in such situations is complicated. on home schooling for instance, sara was only out of school for a short time and surrey where she lived had a register of home—schooled children already. more generally, child protection services are under huge pressure. in march 2023 when sara's teachers alerted social workers about bruising on her face it was one of a800 set child safety calls surrey children services received that month. 1250 cases were investigated further, including sara's. with her, it was

decided they were not sufficient concerns to involve social workers further. across england, figures published today by the expert panel that examines all major child protection cases show a85 children died or were seriously harmed in safeguarding incidents in the last year. that number includes sara. the head of the expert panel says professionals need time with families. , , families. sometimes things can chance families. sometimes things can change very rapidly _ families. sometimes things can change very rapidly and you - families. sometimes things can | change very rapidly and you have families. sometimes things can - change very rapidly and you have to have that ability to check what some of your previous assumptions and to be able to finesse that and to act accordingly. and that is difficult. the government is introducing a requirement forfamilies the government is introducing a requirement for families who have been subject to a child protection inquiry, like sara's was, to get council permission before taking a child out of school. there are also plans to increase early support for families. alison holt, bbc news. this comes as the latest figures

show the number of children being home educated in england has increased by 20% in the past year. local authorities have reported that, in this autumn term, 19,000 more children were in home education, as compared to the same term last year. charlotte gallagher is with me now. do we know what is behind the rise? the main reasons given by parents and carers is one of mental health. also there are preferential and philosophical reasons, they say, and also lifestyle choices, they don't want their children to go to school. a smaller number said it was due to dissatisfaction about special needs provision in schools. in total, about 153,000 children in england are being educated at home and there is another worrying figure, around 150,000 children are not receiving any education at all. they are not in school or being educated at home. the school leaders union says there is a real risk of children becoming lost outside the systems. the

schools do not know where they are, the local authorities don't know where they are, they cannot identify them and do not know what has happened to them so they are essentially falling through the cracks and no one is checking on their welfare. the department for education says they think children thrive and achieve best when they are in school but will support the rights of parents to educate at home if it is suitable, of course. they have also said they will introduce a register to identify every child thatis register to identify every child that is not in school and offer them support. that is not in school and offer them su ort. . ., that is not in school and offer them su . ort, ., ., ., ~' that is not in school and offer them su ort, ., ., ., ~' a, a man who tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers during the summer riots in england has been jailed for nine years. levi fishlock, who is 31, broke windows and stoked a fire in a wheelie bin that was pushed up against the holiday inn express in rotherham on august ath. hospital leaders across england are warning they're being struck by a "tidal wave" of flu and other winter viruses. nhs england says there has been a 70% increase in hospital flu cases in the past seven days

and the total number of people in hospital with flu is 3.5 times higher than for the same time last year. our health editor, hugh pym, has been at one a&e to see how this and other pressures are taking their toll. corridor care — lines of numbered beds. but hospitals say it has to be like this to get ambulances back on the road. it's an overdoses i in the side corridor. should i tannoy for him? he's here. oh... he's on the phone. so he is seeing number six. perfect. nurses and doctors are allocated these patients. the care is safe, but not ideal, says consultant amir. we do what we can to try and deliver the best care we can do. but if you were to ask me, would i be happy for my mother to be cared for in a corridor? i would say no. john has just been unloaded from an ambulance. it may be broken, his hip. they're not sure. until the x—ray, they're not sure. now, the hunt for a hospital bed is on so he can be moved off the trolley. the only one that could

potentially go to a ward is the one in number eight. but the whole system is backlogged. james takes us to the respiratory ward to see if any discharges are planned. i've only got one potential for today. terence came into a&e last week. i was in a&e for 26 hours before they... before we were moved even onto a bed. lunchtime — those waiting in the corridors are offered sandwiches and water, but for some this is their third meal here. colin arrived in a&e nearly 2a hours ago. it's a long wait, isn't it? looking the amount of people in here, i think i'm quite lucky. i've never seen so many bodies all over the place. back tojohn, two hours later. he's finally leaving the doorway and is off for x—ray. possibly we could always do with some more porters. i think there's a recognition that when you're moving patients from here to x—ray, what used to be a quick 30 second

journey has now turned into a mario kart journey of trying to avoid patients. the elderly are also vulnerable to flu, and amir is worried. most of the patients that have come in here have come in with respiratory problems. i cannot stress how much and how important it is for patients to have their covid jabs and their flu jabs this year. it is confirmed broken, the hip on the left side, so unfortunately he will need an operation on that. forjohn, it's back to the draughty corridor to wait. crowded and cramped in old buildings, doctors here say only a new hospital is the answer. hugh pym, bbc news, south—west london. question time will be looking at the problem tonight. here question time will be looking at the problem tonight.— problem tonight. here is fiona bruce. problem tonight. here is fiona bruce- as _ problem tonight. here is fiona bruce. as the _ problem tonight. here is fiona bruce. as the nhs _ problem tonight. here is fiona bruce. as the nhs braces - problem tonight. here is fiona| bruce. as the nhs braces itself problem tonight. here is fiona - bruce. as the nhs braces itself for another tough winter we have a health secretary wes streeting, nigel huddlestone and former newspaper editor turned tv presenter piers morgan. we are in beckenham on

iplayerfrom nine and on bbc one after the ten o'clock news. specialist teams searching for the missing former england rugby player tom voyce have found a body close to where the a3—year—old was swept away as he tried to drive across a flood—swollen river in northumberland. the water level was particularly high at the weekend when storm darragh lashed the uk. our sports correspondent olly fosterjoins me now. what more can you tell us? extensive searches had — what more can you tell us? extensive searches had been _ what more can you tell us? extensive searches had been taken place - what more can you tell us? extensive searches had been taken place since i searches had been taken place since the weekend after he failed to come home from a night out with friends on saturday night. after finding home from a night out with friends on saturday night. afterfinding his carjust a couple of days ago, northumbria police said they feared he had died after being swept away in the river after trying to drive across that board. they say the conditions had been extremely challenging but today northumbria's police marine unit did discover a body. formal identification has not taken place but they have contacted

his next of is deeply shocking for the rugby community. he played for england, as you say, and won the premiership title with wasps, the european cup twice with them and so many of his former clubs and team—mates had come forward with their condolences and their thoughts. lawrence dallaglio, they world cup winner, he said just yesterday before this news came through about the discovery of the body, it is the most terrific news. all i would say at this juncture is please let us all respect on's family and their suffering right now and keep them all in our thoughts. sophie. and keep them all in our thoughts. sohie. . ~ i. the first few people who have accepted compensation over the infected blood scandal will receive money in their accounts within days, the government has said. ten have been offered compensation totalling over £13 million. nearly £12 billion has been set aside for compensation. more than 30,000 people were infected with potentially deadly viruses between the 1970s and early 1990s as they received blood transfusions and

products on the nhs. some 3,000 people died as a result and survivors are living with lifelong health issues. an american man who'd been missing sincejune has been found in syria after he was released from prison by rebels as president assad's regime fell. travis timmerman, who was found by residents near the capital damascus, said he had been arrested when he entered syria seven months ago on foot. lucy williamson reports. prisoner of the old syria. poster child for the new one. travis timmerman, an american from missouri, released by rebel forces on monday as they swept president assad from power. in the middle of the night or early morning, they came with a hammer and knocked my door in, and there was two men with guns. and then there was another man named eli. and they helped me get out of prison

and helped me get into damascus. the men who found him put this video on social media saying he was in safe hands and had been checked by a doctor after seven months in the custody of assad's military intelligence. it wasn't too bad. it wasn't bad. i was never beaten. the only really bad part was that i couldn't go to the bathroom when i wanted to. timmerman was found wandering through this damascus suburb today by syrians celebrating freedom themselves. locals here in this neighbourhood are telling us that they found a foreigner wandering in the streets outside. they said he was in fairly good condition, but they brought him here and gave him some food and some water. they said he was very hungry and talking in english, but they couldn't understand what he was saying, and they didn't know exactly who he was.

they showed us the selfies they had taken with him as the militia now in charge here looked on. translation: they found him barefoot on the road. - he kept repeating that he was held by military intelligence in damascus. we helped him, offered him food, treated him well as a human being without any consideration of his american citizenship. travis zimmerman's story is one among tens of thousands from assad's notorious prison system. many more brutal will never be told, silenced by the man many syrians see as the biggest criminal of them all. lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. families in syria continue to search prisons and hospitals for news of missing loved ones, and thousands of people have attended the funeral of a human

rights activist whose body was found in a notorious prison outside the capital, damascus. such a show of public support would never have happened there a week ago when president assad was still in power. a warning — yogita limaye's report contains details you may find distressing. "oh my boy, my baby. "you were only 19," cries a mother who's just found the disfigured body of her teenage son, who until today was one of tens of thousands who disappeared under bashar assad's regime. now his family knows what happened. ahmad was tortured and killed in prison. those still searching would give anything to have closure. "i wish i could see my son, even if it's his dead body, "so i can bury him and

i will know which grave "my son is in," this woman says. her son, al—adeeb al—awad, missing since 2011, when syria's uprising began. she's come to hospital to search through the bodies brought from sednaya prison. this is how she reacted when she saw them... battered, burnt, emaciated, some not even whole. the stench here overwhelming. what we've seen in the past one hour is a steady stream of people coming in here, mothers having to sift through badly disfigured corpses to just find some information about their sons. in one corner, there's literally a bag of human bones. that's what people are searching through. and when you look at the bodies, there are clear signs of torture. there's one body which doesn't have a head. this is but a glimpse of the scale

of the atrocities committed by the assad regime. rage can now be expressed by syria's people, and it is easily found. "every mother who's lost her son should get revenge from assad". if the world had any understanding before this about the brutality of assad's regime, it was in part because of mazen al hamada. his body, found in sednaya prison, returned to his family today. mazen took part in protests in 2011, was arrested and tortured. exiled in 2013, he chose to speak openly about what he endured. he goes on to describe how he was raped and abused. his sister, lamiya, told us why he returned to syria in 2020,

when he was arrested immediately on arrival. translation: the government told him there was an agreement _ and he would be safe. they also told him that his family would be arrested and killed if he didn't come to syria. "we sacrificed our blood and our soul for the revolution," crowds chanted as they took mazen's body along the streets of damascus. this is the freedom he did not live to see. less than a week ago, you couldn't talk openly about activists like mazen hamada. people whose loved ones were disappeared, they couldn't go and ask about where they were. there is no image that reflects this incredible turn of events in syria more than this one, where hundreds of people are able to openly march on the streets for his funeral, calling him a martyr,

calling him a hero. and as we've been walking along the streets, more and more people arejoining in. hundreds, thousands now. everywhere we go, more people joining this march. yogita limaye, bbc news, damascus. the time is 6.18. our top story this evening: the prime minister says questions need to be answered after the death of 10—year—old sara sharif. and still to come... a warning to shoppers as it emerges some online christmas "bargains" could be stolen goods. coming up on bbc news. could be stolen goods. women's football is more popular than ever — the growth in the professional game is a large part of the boom in live sport. we'll be exploring what that's down to. the government has unveiled sweeping changes to the planning system in england in a bid to build

1.5 million homes over the next five years. housing is an issue that thousands of you have got in touch with us about through your voice, your bbc news. here are just a few of your messages. me and my partner have been saving to buy our first home, planned for june 2025. but when we looked into stamp duty, we noticed that first—time buyer relief was going from £6,000 to nearly £20,000. i've had to look outside portsmouth, i've had to look outside hampshire. the property ladder isjust...just so high. the problem for me, i would say, i is the biggest thing is the deposit. the deposit is absolutely massive - and to save up that amount of money is quite challenging. just a few of your messages there. well, today the government announced plans that could see councils in england forced to build on green belt land, which occupies around 13% of the land area in england. the government says that in order for it to meets its target of building 370,000 houses a year

in england, it'll provide £100 million for councils to help them cope with demand as well as an additional 300 planning officers to speed up the planning process. our political correspondent alex forsyth has been speaking to people in kent to assess the situation there. hello. how are you? hi. i'm keir. this might look a bit familiar — politicians in high vis promising house building. but this time, they say it's going to be different. well, i've got 1.5 million homes for you to build! that's what they've promised. and to get there, they say councils will have to get on board, meet much higher housing targets, and if they can't find land that's previously been built on, they'll have to look at what they call low—quality green belt land. for years, we've had not enough houses being built. that means that individuals and families don't have the security that they want. we're determined to break through that, to do what's necessary. of course, we want to get the balance right with nature

and the environment. the hard hats might come in handy, because development can be divisive. in rural north kent, this land is earmarked for almost 8,500 new homes, along with schools, doctors and roads. but you don't have to head far to find someone who's unhappy. so all of this would be houses. it would no longer be a village, will it? so it will. .. it will be just another part of a commuter belt towards london, really, won't it? what do you say to the people that say "we need houses"? what is proposed is a monstrous amount of housing with a tiny proportion that's affordable. what is desperately needed is affordable rented accommodation. what are the government even. thinking, considering developing farmland which we need for uk future food security? _ the local council was poised to reject the scheme, but the government stepped in, saying it would make the final decision — to the fury of some here.

what's happening here is a prime example of the government's whole challenge when it comes to housebuilding. they say more homes have to be built, but there's often lots of local opposition. the question is whether ministers will be prepared to press on when they come up against real concern. for some, the fact ministers seem willing to intervene to get building if needed is welcome. sittingbourne football club would get a new ground if the local scheme goes ahead. the developers are sponsors and the chairman says the whole area would benefit. we need the roads and this gives us a newjunction on the motorway, which we do need. the business community definitely wants this to keep — to retain jobs in the area and hopefully expand jobs in the area. that's the government's hope too — more houses, more growth — but delivering on this will be complex and, in some places, contentious. alex forsyth, bbc news. donald trump has been named as time magazine person of the year for the second time.

the president—elect, who rang the opening bell at the new york stock exchange today, was first named person of the year in 2016 after winning his first us presidential election. a baby girl is in a serious condition after being attacked by a dog believed to be an xl bully. the incident took place near folkestone, and the eight—month—old was airlifted to a london hospital. an 18—year—old man and a 76—year—old woman have been arrested. christmas shoppers are being warned that if online bargains look too good to be true, they could be shoplifted goods. retail trade bodies have told the bbc that thieves are increasingly selling stolen items through resale websites. the sites insist they're tackling the problem. the national police chief's council is calling on the government to introduce new laws, asjim connolly reports. in plain sight, a mum filling her child's buggy with jellycat soft toys — even removing an item from the shelf to entertain them,

which she later steals. the shop found the stolen items for sale on vinted and tracked the shoplifter down on facebook. this time of year, christmas time of year, shoplifting is a massive problem. we're selling more gift—related items that can easily be sold online because that seems to be the main outlet. it's not the back of the van any more, it's selling them online. we had a display here, a slightly different display, but on the top of that display was quite an expensivejellycat. it was a hedgehog. we had noticed it had gone, led us back to her through her husband's site. watching this back, how does it make you feel? yeah, it makes me feel angry. i mean, she's so brazen about it. charlie then showed me some of his detective work. so this is a number plate. yeah. as you see, it's a private number plate, so it's fairly distinctive. you've collected all that evidence together? yeah. what did you do with that? we sent it to the police. yeah, and what did they do? well, we haven't heard anything back from them. dorset police told us enquiries into the incident are ongoing and no arrests have been made. we checked out charlie's detective

work and tracked the woman down. you got out of the car, stole a few hundred pounds' worth of items. line goes dead. well, shejust hung up there. she confirmed that it was her car that we've seen, enter that shop and leave with the stolen items. we put that to her and she basically denied that it was her. she questioned why we were ringing her and when we put it to her again, she ultimately hung up and had nothing to say. she later told me she'd messed up and her husband denied knowing any stolen items were on sale on his vinted account. vinted told us stolen items are not allowed to be sold on the site, and they work closely with the police. tracking down shoplifted goods isn't easy, but nottinghamshire police are keen to show us how proactive they are. jumper, your jumper. .. everywhere we went, the police could see familiar faces — the regular shoplifters. he has previous for shoplifting offences and, unfortunately for him, he also had some cannabis inside his pocket. back at the station,

we spoke to the man in charge of tackling the crime across the county. places like your marketplace, online marketplaces, if it's new, in boxes and it looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true. it will almost certainly be stolen. so the warning is clear — whilst we all want a bargain this christmas, we need to be careful not to fuel crime on our high streets. jim connolly, bbc news, nottingham. plans have been put forward to force energy firms to offer deals by next winter which don't include a standing charge, the basic fee which doesn't vary with energy use. the regulator, ofgem, is responding to concerns that poorer households are disproportionately hit by the charge, which has risen by more than a0% in five years. here's our cost of living correspondent colletta smith. music plays. stand on your tiptoes - rather than your heels... standing charges make lots of people angry. very angry.

and stan is one of them. scrub it! or reduce it. former bricklayer stan's in his 90s and doesn't think it's fair that you're charged even when you're not using any energy. i think that standing charges are ridiculous. the gas companies, electric companies are making too much profit anyway. standing charges have increased by a3% over the last five years. and forjoanne, who's managing a tight budget while off on maternity leave, that's too much. i try not to look, because it's depressing. dealing with these ones is enough. sow _ we can notice a massive drop just from it being — just from us going to bed and then getting up six hours later and literally nothing's been on. and somehow you've spent 60—70p just by going to bed. so now ofgem are planning

to change the system. at the moment, most people pay a unit price for each bit of gas and electricity they use, and then they pay a standing charge — a fixed price, every day, just for being connected to the network. now, ofgem wants every energy supplier to offer an option with a rolled—in price. we will need to work with the suppliers to work out how do we get the right information to people so they can make active and positive decisions about what the right option is for them. the regulator has also decided that something really big needs to be done about the amount of energy debt that's built up over the last couple of years. they want a one—off move that could even allow people to write off their debts altogether, and they're going to spend the next couple of months working out how that could be done. in the meantime, people here in the northern region are facing the highest standing charge rate in the country — more than £100 a year more expensive than the price paid in london — and the regulator's not changing

those regional differences yet. colletta smith, bbc news, in bradford. an 18—year old from india has become the youngest ever world chess champion. the victorious prince has now ascended the throne and takes his place as the new king of chess! dommaraju gukesh beat china's ding liren in the final match of their series in singapore, and broke the record held by russia's garry kasparov, who was 22 when he became world champion in 1985. gukesh burst into tears and hugged his father at the end of 1a games of intense battle against his chinese opponent. what an achievement at the age of 18! time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. hello. a lot of cloud around today, and it was hundred and 80 metres above the ground. how do i know

that? that is the gherkin with the cloud hugging the top of it. pretty misty and drizzly too. on the satellite picture, this cloud is a warm front moving across england. i know, it hasn't felt warm, but the effect has been to increase the amount of humidity in the atmosphere, which is why we have seen more extensive drizzle will stop it will stay damp across england and whilst overnight tonight. mist will be extensive, hill fog patches around as well. a few patches of frost possible in scotland, but for most, even in scotland, but for most, even in scotland, frost free, with temperatures around a—6. not really changing from what we have outside at the moment. next couple of days, at the moment. next couple of days, a cold front pushes south westwards, and that will give us some brighter weather eventually, but before that, another murky day on 1445 00:30:45,4