this is bbc news. the headlines: in the last 30 minutes or so — the french president emmanuel macron has

named his new prime minister — francois bayrou will take the place of michel barnier after days of political deadlock. israel's political deadlock. defence ministers tells israel's defence ministers tells troops to prepared to spend the winter in the battle area. and scientists discover how neanderthals played a key role in the survival of early humans a8,000 years ago. hello i'm annita mcveigh. a chinese businessman described as a "close confidante" of the duke of york has lost his appeal against a decision to bar him from entering the uk on national security grounds. the home office said they believed the man — known only as h6 — was engaged in covert activity for the chinese communist party, and that his relationship with prince andrew could be used for political interference. our correspondent charlotte gallagher is at windsor — and joins us now. hello to you. what more do we

know about the relationship between prince andrew and this man known as h6? we between prince andrew and this man known as h6?— between prince andrew and this man known as h6? we know they had a very — man known as h6? we know they had a very close _ man known as h6? we know they had a very close working - had a very close working relationship. we know that this man known as h6 was invited to prince andrew's 60th birthday party in 2020 and that he was told that he could act on prince andrew's behalf when it came to talking to potential investors in china. so it was a close working relationship. there was also a letter from one of prince andrew's senior advisers describing this man being at the very top of the tree when it came to prince andrew's contacts. prince andrew's contacts. prince andrew met this man, thought he was a chinese businessman that could help him. however, the security services and then the home office believe that this man was in fact a spy and working for the chinese communist party. so he was barred from the country last year by the then home secretary suella braverman, and his devices were seized and they were gone through and there were gone through and there were various communications on there, letters and messages,

that they found to be very suspicious. this man lodged an appeal and as you said he has now lost that appeal on national security grounds. this is very embarrassing for prince andrew, and of course it's not the first time that his relationships and also his judgment have been questioned. of course, in 2019 he was essentially sacked as a working royal after his friendship with a convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. so he no longer has any kind of public role for the royal family. buckingham palace have said they will not be commenting. he is no longer a working member of the royalfamily is no longer a working member of the royal family and we have heard nothing from prince andrew himself. the chinese embassy in london has said there is always people in the uk willing to spread what they call baseless theories about chinese spies.— call baseless theories about chinese spies. charlotte, do we know what _ chinese spies. charlotte, do we know what was _ chinese spies. charlotte, do we know what was in _ chinese spies. charlotte, do we know what was in it _ chinese spies. charlotte, do we know what was in it for - chinese spies. charlotte, do we know what was in it for prince l know what was in it for prince andrew, this relationship with the chinese businessman? you would imagine _ the chinese businessman? firm would imagine money the chinese businessman? 7m, would imagine money and financial benefits. if a royal biographer is to be believed,

the king has essentially cut prince andrew off financially. he lives here in windsor not too far from where we are on the windsor estate in a very large home and he will have to pay for the upkeep of that home, the security, his own personal security, and for that he will need millions of pounds. so it is believed his financial pressures could be essentially what this spy was wanting to exploit. charlotte, thank you _ wanting to exploit. charlotte, thank you very _ wanting to exploit. charlotte, thank you very much. - wanting to exploit. charlotte, i thank you very much. charlotte gallagher in windsor for us. a bbc world service investigation has found that steven bartlett is amplifying harmful health misinformation on his top podcast diary of a ceo. starting as a business podcast, there has been a noticeable shift towards health. over 15 recent episodes, an average of 1a harmful claims were shared by the guests, with little challenge from bartlett. leading health experts told the bbc the claims made on the podcast could sow distrust in medicine

and could lead to patient harm. jacqui wakefield reports. stephen bartlett is one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the uk, and host of one of the biggest business podcasts globally, the diary of a ceo. topping the charts in places like nigeria, india and mexico. but over the last 18 months, there's been a notable change in its guests and subject matter. we tracked the podcast�*s episodes from the last 18 months, then we analysed the health—related ones. we fact—checked the claims of 15 episodes with the advice of four experts. we found an average of 1a potentially harmful claims per episode. bartlett rarely challenges these claims. one of the guests bartlett hosted was dr mark hyman, an alternative medicine doctor. gluten can cause everything from osteoporosis to autism to schizophrenia. another guest claimed the ketogenic diet was a treatment solution without chemotherapy. to manage cancer without

toxicity is to simultaneously restrict the two fuels that are needed to drive this dysregulated growth, while transitioning the whole body off to a fuel that the tumour cells can't use, which is fatty acids and ketone bodies. at no point in the episode does stephen challenge the suggestion that the keto diet could treat cancer. when we next hear from him, he says... so what can we learn from our ancestors about cancer? if you were a cancer patient who took some of this advice and maybe changed your dietary patterns and became very restrictive when you were undergoing treatment, you could potentially and very realistically get very, very sick. but what could have motivated the shift to health? it's a very health—related clickbait content - with scary titles with "this thing is toxic", "this thingj is going to kill you." and we know that that does really well online

with the algorithm amplifying that. l a spokesperson for flight studio, stephen bartlett's production company, said the diary of a ceo is an open—minded, long form conversation with individuals identified for their distinguished and eminent career and or consequential life experience. they said, each guest is thoroughly researched, offered freedom of expression, and they hear a range of voices, not just those stephen and the diary of a ceo team necessarily agree with. dr thomas seyfried said he stands by the statements that he made in the interview. dr mark hyman didn't respond to requests for comment. is there a risk in having too much meat products? bartlett's shift to health may be great for the reach of his podcast, but what's the line between hosting contrarian views versus allowing them to go unchallenged? and what are stephen bartlett's responsibilities as the host of one of the world's biggest podcasts? and you can watch the full investigation on iplayer.

israel's defence minister has ordered troops to prepare to remain throughout the winter in the un—patrolled zone between israel and syria. the area was seized by the israeli military on sunday. israel katz said events in syria meant that it was of critical security importance for troops to stay at the summit of mount hermon. the strategic position at the north of the golan heights overlooks the syrian capital damascus. for more on this we can speak now to our correspondent yolande knell in jerusalem. hello. this is supposed to be a demilitarised zone. israel is now there. lots of questions about israel does make intent in this area.— in this area. indeed and up to now we had _ in this area. indeed and up to now we had been _ in this area. indeed and up to now we had been hearing - in this area. indeed and up to. now we had been hearing from israeli officials that the plan was to stay there in a move of self defence, it was supposed to be a limited and temporary manoeuvre. now we have the first real indication is officially that troops are expected to stay there for a more prolonged period through

the winter. the defence minister went up there yesterday with israel's chief of staff and surveyed that area. certainly we have been hearing in recent days from israeli journalists who have been on embeds with the military that it did look like israeli forces were preparing to stay there for certainly a longer term. this is a very strategically important plateau, mount herman is on the border between syria and lebanon —— mount hermon. and you have the troops and their who have entered from the israeli occupied golan heights. and we have had arab countries and france condemning israel does not movie saying this is in contravention of the ceasefire deal that followed the 1973 arab—israeli war. from israel's perspective it says it believes that following all the events that have happened in syria, that deal has effectively collapsed. we have got the us and others who have

been more supportive of israel, the us saying this is a move of self defence.— self defence. yolande, more re orts self defence. yolande, more reports of — self defence. yolande, more reports of deaths _ self defence. yolande, more reports of deaths in - self defence. yolande, more reports of deaths in gaza, i self defence. yolande, more | reports of deaths in gaza, the nuseirat camp on thursday, what more can you tell us about that incident? aha, more can you tell us about that incident? �* .. ., ., more can you tell us about that incident? �* ., ., ., ~ incident? a cameraman working for the bbc _ incident? a cameraman working for the bbc has _ incident? a cameraman working for the bbc has been _ incident? a cameraman working for the bbc has been to - for the bbc has been to nuseirat in central gaza and seen the rescuers earlier continued to search for survivors in the rubble of this post office building that was hit late last night in an israeli strike. more than 30 are said to have been killed there. local people told us that there had been doctors living in that building, that they were displaced families there, and children were among those who had been killed. the israeli military says that it was targeting a senior figure in islamichhad and accused the armed group of using civilian infrastructure and civilians as human shields. through the day yesterday,

across gaza, medics say there were at least 66 palestinians who were killed. there were also among them a prominent doctor and orthopaedic surgeon, the last specialist of his kind in the very north of the gaza strip, and he had been moving between a hospital and another hospital when he was killed by an israeli quadcopter and we have not had comments yet from the israeli military yet about that. ., ., that. yolande knell in jerusalem, _ that. yolande knell in jerusalem, thank - that. yolande knell in| jerusalem, thank you. judges in the hague have rejected a request to ban the dutch government from exporting weapons to israel. the case was brought by ten pro—palestinian ngos, who cited high numbers of civilian casualties in israel's war in the gaza strip. lawyers for the dutch state said that it was not up to a judge to dictate foreign policy. a request to ban trading with israeli settlements in occupied palestinian territories was also dismissed.

our correspondent anna holligan is following developments from the hague. here she is speaking earlier — just after that ruling. the palestinian ngos brought the case under the genocide convention, 19118 convention, which obliges all countries all over the world to prevent and punish any acts of genocide. they have lost their case in its entirety. so i've just been digesting the judgement which has come down from the district court in the hague in the last 15 minutes. so, kind of four main points here. first and foremost, the court said it's up to the government itself, the state, in principle, to assess policy and only in limited cases should courtsjudges intervene. secondly, there are already measures in place to ensure the netherlands isn't supporting violations of international law. so it goes into a bit more detail here. "the court finds that there is no reason to impose a total ban on the export of military and dual use goods. the state has an obligation under international

law to assess on a case—by—case basis." and essentially the court found that that's already happening. the mechanisms, number three, are already in place. and the application for export has regularly been refused on the basis of the checks and balances which are already in place from the dutch government. and then numberfour, israel has a right to protect itself. so the court said that, "the state cannot be obliged to announce a full embargo on the export of military goods. israel has the right to protect its own territory. so there is every reason to distinguish between the supply of military goods, which can be used in attacks on the palestinian people, and goods which can be used exclusively for the defence of israel's own territory." so that's the kind of breakdown of this lengthyjudgement from the district court here in the hague.

anna holligan reporting. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

football now — and the qualifying draw for the world cup in 2026 has been made. the tournament will take place in the united states, canada and mexico — and will be the biggest so far, with a record 48 teams taking part. with me is our sports correspondent natalie pirks. brings the highlights of the draw so far.— brings the highlights of the draw so far. well, this is for the 16 teams _ draw so far. well, this is for the 16 teams that _ draw so far. well, this is for the 16 teams that will - draw so far. well, this is for the 16 teams that will be . draw so far. well, this is for the 16 teams that will be at | the 16 teams that will be at the 16 teams that will be at the world cup in 2026. i'm glad to see you have lots of notes because mine are chaotic as the draw. , ., ., ., draw. they are not all football, _ draw. they are not all football, i— draw. they are not all football, i have - draw. they are not all football, i have to - draw. they are not all| football, i have to say. draw. they are not all. football, i have to say. i draw. they are not all- football, i have to say. i will let ou football, i have to say. i will let you off- _ football, i have to say. i will let you off. let's _ football, i have to say. i will let you off. let's talk - football, i have to say. i will let you off. let's talk about| let you off. let's talk about the home nations because for people watching in england, scotland, northern ireland and wales that's the key thing for them. england are drawn in a five team group, there were six groups of four teams and six

groups of four teams and six groups of four teams and six groups of five teams that means england will start the campaign in march with a new boss thomas tuchel who has been speaking to the first time as england manager in zurich. they will play serbia, albania, latvia and andorra. eye—catching for anyone who knows anything about geopolitics is serbia and albania together in a group, that's interesting, with the, you know, centuries long row over kosovo there. england will have to go both home and away to serbia, albania, latvia and andorra. they are never played latvia before, they beat serbia in the euros this summer in the first group stage. so all in all, thomas tuchel says he is quite excited. qualification is a top priority. any team that wins their group will be automatically in the us. if we look at scotland, they will play the loser of portugal and denmark, greece and belarus. greece is quite a tricky tie, they beat england already in they beat england already in the nations league this year. so for them that's quite difficult. looking up course to qualify for the world cup for the first time since 1998. they did reach the play—off but they

were beaten by ukraine. and belarus will be tricky because they are not allowed by uefa to have any of their home fans and have any of their home fans and have to play in a neutral venue because they have sided with russia in the war against ukraine so there is a lot that also going on. ukraine so there is a lot that also going on-_ also going on. sport and olitics also going on. sport and politics often _ also going on. sport and politics often clashing. l also going on. sport and. politics often clashing. as they do- _ politics often clashing. is they do. wales are in a five team group starting in march unlike scotland who'll start in september because they are in a four man group. belgium, north macedonia, kazakhstan and lichtenstein, a long trip to kazakhstan for craig bellamy�*s side. he'sjust been giving his reaction. he says they will have to do their homework very well. he's very happy that they get to start in march. if they are in a good run at the moment under him, unbeaten in their nations leaguejust beat nations league just beat iceland 4—1 in their last match. they do face belgium and haven't beaten them since 2016, said belgium often very good in qualifying, often not that brilliant when they they get to a world cup. and then northern ireland, and they will play slovakia, luxembourg and the winner of either germany or italy, four—time winners both of them so that will be tricky.

that is tough. if you had to pick one of the most eye—catching ties, what would it be at this early stage? i will not hold you to it long—term but your instant reaction? long-term but your instant reaction?— long-term but your instant | reaction?_ we reaction? this is tricky. we have only _ reaction? this is tricky. we have only got _ reaction? this is tricky. we have only got 30 _ reaction? this is tricky. we have only got 30 seconds. | reaction? this is tricky. we i have only got 30 seconds. i'm forcing you! i have only got 30 seconds. i'm forcing you!— forcing you! i would say northern _ forcing you! i would say northern ireland - forcing you! i would say| northern ireland against germany or italy. northern ireland will be looking to challenge for second spot in that group. if they face germany who are resurgence since the world cup, that will be very tricky. but that is winnable.— be very tricky. but that is winnable. , ., winnable. sorry for forcing you into a decision, _ winnable. sorry for forcing you into a decision, natalie. - winnable. sorry for forcing you into a decision, natalie. thank you very much, natalie pirks. do stay with us, we are waiting for statements from france on the announcement of the new prime minister. now, a new law in iran imposing harsher penalties on women who break the country's strict dress code is going to the president for signature. president masoud pezeshkian has expressed reservations about the legislation, which has

already been approved by the parliament and guardian council. he has five days to sign it. a bbc correspondent says the decision poses a major dilemma for the iranian president, who took office injuly after criticising the morality police. if he were to refuse to sign the law, it's possible that parliament could press ahead and enact it. let's speak to shiva mahbobi, women's rights activist and spokeswoman for campaign to free political prisoners in iran. thank you forjoining us. what is your instinct or hunch on what the president will do? i need to first say that signing ljy need to first say that signing by president doesn't mean anything. first of all, the president of the regime pezeshkian is part of the system, he was one of the first in 1979 who said the hijab needs to be compulsory and women cannot attend hospital etc for that. so we need to remember that he is not a

reformist as he is claiming and all this. but at the same time, this law has already been passed. it doesn't matter who signs it or not. the point is that the regime has been trying to impose all these laws on women in iran from the day they took power. they took power in 1979. and now pezeshkian is for hijab, is for imposing hijab, the only reason he is saying that it shouldn't be that harsh etc, is because they are scared of another uprising as we saw in the time when mahsa amini was murdered. so therefore when we see all this we have to remember that brave women in iran have been fighting for this, have been tortured, and in this law actually a 13—year—old child, a girl, if they put something on social media to mark the hijab they will get three months to one

year prison sentence. people could be executed for that. women keep protesting despite all of this, don't they? talk to us about the range of possible punishments for this. it also depends whether someone is, let's say, a civilian as opposed to a celebrity. if iranian celebrities choose to protest against this law, they could face even tougher penalties, can they? it would ranue penalties, can they? it would range from — penalties, can they? it would range from paying _ penalties, can they? it would range from paying millions i penalties, can they? it would range from paying millions of iranians money to kind of being flogged, 10—15 years of sentencing, it will be deprived of even having a driving licence, even having a passport. and your assets being confiscated. and also executions. because corruption

can carry an execution sentence. and imagine if any british citizen goes to iran as a tourist not wearing a hijab, you could be executed. i think people undermine how harsh that is to women in iran. and as he said, women are still protesting. just two days ago, a very brave woman who is a singer parastoo ahmadi chose personally to make a statement ljy personally to make a statement by singing and broadcasting it on youtube, and now she has been persecuted. many other women, such as one who took off her clothes in protest of the harsh punishment. at the moment, many women not wearing the hijab, confronting the morality police, even they do make these women know that they might be killed or executed or tortured and raped her. we must leave it there. _ tortured and raped her. we must leave it there. but, _ tortured and raped her. we must leave it there. but, shiva - leave it there. but, shiva mahbobi, thank you for talking

to us on bbc news. scientists say they've discovered that inter—breeding between neanderthals and early humans — while migrating from africa to europe around 48 while migrating from africa to europe around 118,000 years ago — was critical to the success of our species. the study suggests the genes modern humans inherited from neanderthals may have helped our ancestors adapt to life away from africa. pallab ghosh, has the details. our kind evolved into various different types of human, but why were we the only ones to survive? the answer lies in the dna scientists extracted from ancient fossil remains. they show that our species, modern humans, died out several times. often, we are seeing ourselves, modern humans, as a big story of success coming out of africa 50,000 years ago, moving all over the world, expanding into all kinds of ecosystems and really being the kind of most successful mammal on the planet. but that actually shows that at that time, we were not. we go extinct multiple times in different ecosystems or areas, continents

like europe that we moved into. our species, homo sapiens, evolved in africa around 200,000 years ago. a large wave began to leave the continent around 60,000 years ago, running into the neanderthals on the way, and began to spread across the globe. the new research shows that around 118,000 years ago, those leaving africa interbred with the neanderthals, who lived in the middle east and europe, and their offspring also migrated. the scientists found that those who arrived before the interbreeding went extinct. you can see straight away, the shape of the skull is different. the results, which have been in the journals nature and science, have surprised independent experts. perhaps getting neanderthal dna was even part of the success, because it gave us better adaptive capabilities outside of africa, because we had evolved in africa in an african environment.

these other populations like neanderthals had evolved outside of africa, and they had, for example, immune defences to the local diseases and pathogens. by interbreeding with the neanderthals, we got a quick fix to our immune systems. the analysis of ancient dna has lifted a veil on the mysterious story about evolution. that story has today been rewritten. pallab ghosh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news now. much more to come. hello. in many places, it has turned into another one of these grey, murky, damp and drizzly days. there is a change on the way for the start of the weekend. this weak frontal system pushes southwards and eastwards, and leaves us with a window of clearer skies and some sunshine for saturday, but that won't last. this warm front then shifts its way eastwards and introduces a lot of cloud

once again for sunday. in many ways, we're back to square one. some misty, murky conditions, some damp conditions, but it is going to feel mild for the second half of the weekend. back to the here and now. this view is representative of the sort of weather we've got across many parts of the uk. thick clouds and misty murky conditions, spots of rain and drizzle. a few brighter glimpses here and there. temperatures generally stuck in single digits. but here comes our weather front. quite a weak front. the rain fizzling as it goes. but behind it, you can see the skies clearing. yes, some showers blowing into the north—west of the uk. wintry showers over high ground in northern scotland. and as that weather front clears through and the skies clear, temperatures will drop away. so still the leftovers of the cloud, the mist, the murk, the spots of rain and drizzle across the south—east corner first thing, but that should clear. here is our window of sunshine for saturday, albeit with some showers out towards the west. but then we see the cloud

thickening once again through the afternoon. some rain into northern ireland and western scotland. that process continues during saturday evening, this warm front working its way eastwards. it's going to turn quite misty, murky, damp and drizzly. but it will turn increasingly mild through saturday night, into the first part of sunday morning. actually, as we wake up on sunday morning, temperatures will generally be around 7 to 11 degrees. mild start to sunday. that mild airjust keeps pumping in through the day. the winds picking up. could see gusts of around 60mph through the afternoon across the northern isles. it'll be very murky, damp and drizzly, and some heavy rain will start to develop in the north—west of scotland. temperatures — 11, 12, 13 degrees. but that rain in the north—west of scotland is set to continue into monday and tuesday. could be enough rain to give some flooding issues elsewhere. generally, a lot of cloud, some brighter spells, but it will be mild.

today at one, the economy shrinks again, for the second month in a row, with a drop of 0.1 %. the chancellor, rachel reeves, called the figure disappointing, saying she hasn't had enough time yet to improve it. it's not possible to turn around more than a decade of poor economic growth and stagnant living standards

in just a few months. also on the programme... a close confidante of prince andrew is denied access to the uk, over allegations the man spied for china. thefts and robberies on the railways rise, as police urge travellers to keep their valuables safe. england. the home nations find out who they'll face in qualifying for the 2026 world cup. and the people who climb a mountain every day to make sure we get an accurate weather forecast. and coming up on bbc news, arne slot says he's not worried about the contract situation with his star man, mo salah — will he still be with the club next season? good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one.

the uk economy shrank for the second month in a row in october,