over 13,000 migrants have been removed from the uk since labour took power — but the government admits the rate of illegal channel crossings is still too high. and thousands gather for mass in corsica, as pope francis visits the island for the first time. hello and welcome, i'm samantha simmonds. it's feared that thousands of people may have been killed by cyclone chido in the french archipelago of mayotte in the indian ocean. a local official has been quoted as saying that the death toll may be in the thousands. residents have spoken of apocalyptic scenes in mayotte. the mayor of the capital, mamoudzou, said nothing had been spared. houses have been destroyed, along with schools and the hospital. french emergency personnel are now on mayotte to assist and the first aid flight has arrived.

chido has now reached northern mozambique after picking up strength crossing the mozambique channel. in a television interview, the prefect of mayotte said hundreds, even thousands of people may have been killed. translation: it's extremely difficult to say. _ i think there will certainly be several hundred, perhaps approaching 1,000 or even a few thousand dead, but it's obvious that given the violence of the storm, we all experienced it in ourflesh, in ourfamily, with our loved ones and colleagues. i was myself at the command centre with all my colleagues. the ceiling of the operational centre flew away. we found ourselves facing the storm. inevitably there is a much higher count. we will try to do this because it is obviously up to us to draw up the toll. nickjohnson has more. winds of more than 140mph batter the french

island territory. it's thought to be mayotte's worst cyclone in a century. islanders take shelter in any way they can. it takes three people to keep the door closed from the power of the storm. "there's nothing left here," this man says. most of the archipelago�*s 300,000 inhabitants live in shanty towns. tens of thousands have lost their homes. electricity and water supplies have been affected, and internet services are down. a local firefighter said even buildings built to withstand earthquakes have collapsed. the french government has sent a military transport plane with supplies and emergency workers. the french prime minister, francois bayrou, who's only been in the job since friday, has held an emergency meeting in paris. translation: what matters isn't only the short term - and the rescue and help we can

provide, but also the medium term with the supply of water and food, in particular for sensitive facilities, including prisons and detention centres. a combination of severe damage, an impoverished population and isolated location mean mayotte's death toll is expected to rise. nickjohnson, bbc news. guy taylor is the spokesperson for unicef in mozambique, and he explained what the situation is like there and the challenges that lay ahead. we were hit very hard in the early hours of this morning when cyclone chido arrived in mozambique as an intense tropical cyclone. it brought winds of over 200km an hour and, as you said, very intense rainfall. and we've been out in the city today seeing some of the aftermath of that impact, so many houses destroyed or seriously damaged, health care facilities, schools put out of action. and obviously people are trying to pull together their lives after a very serious impact,

so a very difficult situation here in mozambique. and what is unicef doing in terms of its crisis response there? yeah. well, fortunately, we saw this cyclone coming, as many others did, and that enabled us to prepare. we pre—positioned large quantities of essential supplies in pemba, where we have a warehouse, and we've already begun distributing those to the hardest hit. so things like water purification supplies, medications, supplies to prevent and treat the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases, which is another serious concern for us, given the large volume of rainfall. and, as you said, lots of homes, medical facilities, schools damaged. what are the longer term challenges the country is now going to face, and what help are you going to be able to offer? yeah. well, as you say, the longer term challenges are what we're particularly concerned about.

i mean, mozambique is one of the poorest and then, as i mentioned, we're also worried about the spread we ...weare we are concerned that the immediate — we are concerned that the immediate term _ we are concerned that the immediate term about - we are concerned that the immediate term about loss i we are concerned that thei immediate term about loss of access to critical services like medical treatment, schools and clean water and sanitation which are of course critical to preventing the spread of disease. and then, as i mentioned, we're also worried about the spread of diseases like cholera and malaria over the longer term. so you're a major aid organisation that's there on the ground. is there any sign of any more international aid or help coming? we're working very closely together with other un partners and with support from our international supporters. we are very concerned about the scale of the need, particularly as it's exacerbating an already very difficult situation. countries in the world.

and so we're calling urgently for additionalfunding to help us meet the needs of the people here who are really in a very, very difficult and very precarious situation. guy taylor from unicef. the uk has announced a fifty million pound humanitarian aid package to help the most vulnerable syrians, including refugees across the region. foreign secretary david lammy announced the new emergency aid following talks injordan yeserday, alongside international leaders from the european union, the middle east, and the us, with the aim to build long—term stability across the middle east. the intervention comes a week after the collapse of the assad regime. hts remains a proscribed organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact, and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you would expect. we want to see a representative government, an inclusive government, we want to see chemical weapon stockpiles secured and not used, and we want to ensure

that there is not continuing violence. and so, for all of those reasons, using all the channels that we have available — and those are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence—led channels — we seek to deal with hts when we have to. one of those welcoming the aid announcement is asif hussain, whose charity skt welfare has been operating in syria since 2012. we certainly go some way to supporting the vulnerable syrians and alleviating their suffering. skt welfare has been on the ground since 2011. we have a number of different ways we help them — through food distribution, emergency health care. so we have our own hospital on the ground in in idlib province that's been there saving lives since 2014. we've built six villages. we've just completed our sixth village, providing over 3,000 homes for families that have been living in tents. and so some of the funds will come to skt welfare, we're hoping, through

the united nations, because we carry out work on the behalf of the the different united nations agencies. so that could be un, unhcr, for example, even the world health organization. so skt welfare does carry out work on the behalf of other non—governmental organisations within syria. so our team firstly is is quite jubilant because some of them have actually been in prison themselves and were released. they've had family members that were that were just recently released as well. 0ur hospital has treated no fewer than ten people that were released from the various prisons in damascus who had travelled, who lived in idlib province, but they were just happy to get back. 0ur hospital was there, treating them, helping them in any which way they can. that includes psychosocial support, psychological support as well. you know, mental health is a crucial thing, especially for those that have been released. the team on the ground is happy, as you expect them to be, firstly, because they've kind of suffered themselves

under the assad regime, but also now they're in a position where they can freely operate and help their fellow syrians. and, you know, we can start to move forward by implementing bigger and better plans and hopefully together rebuild a much brighter syria. syria's de facto leader ahmad al—sharaa has held talks in damascus with the un envoy geir pedersen. on his first visit to damascus since assad fled a week ago, geir pedersen urged justice, not revenge. he called for the lifting of sanctions against syria and said it was critical the country receives immediate humanitarian assistance. the sanctions, and i've said it all along, are not un sanctions, hmm? they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the european union, and maybe a few others. reporter: do you support lifting them? listen, listen... yes, i think we need, as i said, an orderly process, and i'm very much looking forward to continuing my discussions with the syrian

caretaker government and the authorities there. meanwhile, syria's de—facto leader, ahmed al—sharaa, has condemned israel for its continued airstrikes on his country. 0ur middle east correspondent, lina sinjab, in damascus has more on those comments. this is the first time that ahmed al—shara, known as al—jolani, the leader of the hayat tahrir al—sham, comes out to comment on israeli air strikes. it's been a week since the toppling of the president, bashar al—assad, but also a week of israeli air strikes on syria, nearly 400 throughout the week and 60 this night. so mr al—shara is under pressure that he has to make comments, that he has to address this issue. he has been under criticism from, you know, syrians here. so he made his statement saying that israel is using false pretexts in its attacks on syria, but at the same time made sure that he doesn't want to engage in any conflict

— he's focused on rebuilding syria, on rebuilding the economy. and this is what we are seeing today. it is the first week, the first day of the week after the toppling of assad. universities are open. i'm actually now in damascus, university students are pouring in to the university, going to classes. the children went to school this morning as well. public institutions are open, so everything is going back into action. and it seems that, you know, this is the focus of this interim government. in a meeting yesterday, mr al—shara told people, told journalists that he wants to rebuild the country, that he may also nominate himself as a president for syria in case the people wanted him. and it seems that this is the time where also there is international diplomatic efforts to support the transition to power, provided that this transition will be inclusive and that the government is going to be representative of all syrian

society, protects minorities�* rights, and protects women's rights. so while this new leadership is getting a lot of support from around the world, but also is being watched of its actions and how they are going to move ahead and not turn this country into an islamist state government. syria is under sanctions that really crippled the economy, crippled the livelihood of people, so many activists are now calling for the us and for the world to lift these sanctions. and having hts in power, and it is a designated also on the terrorist list, may hinder support or, you know, financial support coming into the country. so it seems that, you know, many countries are reconsidering how to deal with hayat tahrir al—sham and also watching how mr al—sharaa and his the interim government are going to work. it's three months of transitional government that after that should be an inclusive government that includes all denominations

of the syrian society. lina sinjab in damascus. well, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he's spoken with us president—elect donald trump about developments in syria. the two spoke on saturday night, with the israeli prime minister saying they have no interest in a conflict with syria. mr netanyahu says they also spoke about a recent push to secure the release of israeli and foreign hostages held by hamas in gaza. israel says it will close down its embassy in dublin in light of "the extreme anti—israel policies of the irish government". in a statement, foreign minister gideon saar cited ireland's decision to recognise a palestinian state earlier this year and dublin's announcement of support for south africa's legal action accusing israel of genocide over its assault on gaza. irish prime minister simon harris has reacted, calling israel's decision "deeply regrettable" and saying that he "utterly rejected" the assertion that ireland is anti—israel. "ireland is pro—peace,

pro—human rights and pro—international law," he has tweeted. now it's time for a look at today's sport with karthi. hello from the bbc sport centre. a busy weekend of sport, and a fascintating manchester derby in the premier league with a dramatic final few minutes giving macheser united victory. gvadiol had given manchester city a first half lead, but united hit back with two goals in two mintues right at the end of the game at the etihad stadium — the first a penalty scored by bruno fernandes, the second from amad diallo to complete the turnaround and give the new united manager ruben amorim an important derby win. we were in the game for 90 minutes, and that is very good. and ifeel that minutes, and that is very good. and i feel that they believe edge. we talked about the arsenal game, we were playing well in the first half but i felt they were not believing that we could win. today was so

much different and you feel it in the game. we believe edge, we managed to score and i think we managed to score and i think we deserved the win. the reality is the game was not exceptional for our side, i know— exceptional for our side, i know the _ exceptional for our side, i know the situation for many, many— know the situation for many, many reasons but the reality is we are — many reasons but the reality is we are not_ many reasons but the reality is we are not winning games and it is not _ we are not winning games and it is not good _ we are not winning games and it is not good enough. i'm the boss — is not good enough. i'm the boss here, the manager, i had to find — boss here, the manager, i had to find a — boss here, the manager, i had to find a solution, i don't find _ to find a solution, i don't find it _ to find a solution, i don't find it. so, yeah, that is the reality _ tottenham were in action against southampton, where the visitors scored five goals in the first half — final score 5—0. chelsea have beaten brentford 2—1, marc cucurella and nicolas jackson with the goals. crystal palace were 3—1 winners away at brighton, ismaila sarr scoring twice for the visitors. some other news from the english premier league this sunday and it's all over between gary o'neil and wolves. they lost 2—1 in injury time

to ipswich town on saturday, with o'neil accusing his players of bad decision—making. frustrations came to the fore at full—time with wolves players rayan ait—nouri sent off for an altercation. they'd lost four leauge matches in a row and find themselves in 19th place in the premier leauge table. —— the premier league table. celtic have won the scottish league cup, beating rangers in a thrilling match which was evenutally decided by a penalty shoot—out. after rangers�* ridvan yilmaz�*s effort was saved by kasper schmeichel, it was daizen maeda who scored to win the trophy for celtic. it was 3—3 after 90 minutes and extra time. the result continues brendan rodgers�*s record of never having lost at hampden park, and leaves rangers boss phillippe clement still looking for his first derby victory. i think it was a real... a celtic rangers game that

finishes 3—3 after extra time, goes to penalties, people get their money's worth but ultimately you want to be on the right side, thankfully we were. let's round up some of the big results around the rest of europe. in italy, fiorentina lost ground in the serie a title race as they were beaten 1—0 at bologna and missed the chance to claim a club record ninth straight league win. in spain's la liga, atletico madrid have beaten getafe 1—0 to move level on points with league leaders barcelona, facing leganes right now. and barca are losing, 1—0 down with around 30 minutes to play. centuries from maia bouchier and nat sciver—brunt helped england to a score of 395 on the opening day of their one—off test against south africa in bloemfontein. bouchier hit 126 on her test debut, sharing in a 174—run partnership with sciver—brunt, who scored the fastest women's test hundred from 96 balls, before being run out. england declared nine wickets down and south africa closed the day on 17 without loss.

and that's all the sport for now. more for you later. studio: thank you, karthi, see you then. two people have been arrested after what police called �*a hazardous drone operation�* near boston�*s logan airport airspace. the arrests come after a spate of drone sightings in recent weeks across six states in the north eastern united states. following the story. well, this all happened yesterday afternoon. boston police said that they spotted a device flying dangerously close to boston�*s logan airport around 11:30, and they detected that it was being flown from an island just off the coast of boston, long island. the boston harbour police were dispatched. there were three people that they tried to track down there. they managed to get hold of two of them. one of them escaped. the two people who were arrested are 42—year—old robert duffy and 32—year—old jeremy folcik, and they also recovered a backpack with a drone in it. now, those two men are

due to appear in court charged with trespass, they were on land they weren�*t officially meant to be on, but the police say they could face further charges because this is obviously an ongoing investigation into what happened. i mean, flying a drone near an airport is extremely dangerous. they can cause potential damage to the aircraft or to a helicopter, which could be potentially extremely serious, but also they can cause aircraft to have to divert their course at the last minute, and that carries major risks as well. yeah, and in recent weeks we have been hearing about drone activity across the skies in the us, so just put this updated to context for us. —— this update into context for us. i mean, there�*s been a real sort of frenzy around this issue since sort of mid—november, when the first reported sightings of these drones happened, and they started off around the sort of newjersey area, and they�*ve spread to a number of states, mainly in the north—east of the united states, but also some spotted in southern california as well. and, in fact, i wasjust

reading a briefing that was given by some of the federal authorities. on that briefing, the fbi talked about how they set up a tip line because the emergency services were being inundated with calls about these drones, some of which are up to almost two metres across. the fbi said that they�*ve now had 5,000 calls to their tip line around these drones, but they say that actually most of them, they think, aren�*t anything suspicious, that, infact, a number of them, they suspect, are actually aircraft that have just been misidentified at night as being drones. but having said that, they are not dismissing this issue. they accept that there is a something going on with drones flying around the north—east, and nobody is exactly sure where they�*ve come from. such is the sort of level of concern around this, alejandro mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, was out on tv this morning saying extra federal resources are being sent to newjersey to help to try and reinforce the effort to work out what�*s going on here.

here in the uk, police are on the hunt for the driver of a stolen porsche after a toddler was killed in an apparent hit and run. the two—year—old died from his injuries and four other adults were hurt in the incident in smethwick in the west midlands. police say the driver of the sports car, which had been stolen earlier in december, fled the scene. in london, a woman has died in a triple shooting that has left a man fighting for his life in hospital. police were called to north—west london, just after nine o�*clock on saturday, where a woman, believed to be in her 40s, died at the scene. two men were also injured. here in the uk, the home secretary, yvette cooper, has refused to set out a timetable to reduce the number of small boats crossing the channel — despite admitting the figures are "far too high". it comes as the home office said it was on track to return the highest number of failed asylum seekers in five years, with more than 13,000 people sent to their home countries since the election injuly. damian grammaticas reports. immigration enforcement, raids seeking to root out those in the uk

without the right permissions. this is one arm of the government�*s strategy. it says deportations have gone up. and in italy this weekend, the other arm of the strategy. the home secretary shared a stage with ministers from the front—line mediterranean states, france, italy and malta. how are you? this is about building partnerships with countries either where migrant routes start or which they pass through. yvette cooper meeting her italian counterpart said it�*s about recognising migration is complex and can�*t be solved by empty slogans. there is a history of home secretaries and prime ministers making grand promises but never actually having a proper plan. the approach we are taking to this is really step—by—step. we are putting in place the things that we need, the agreements with other countries, the stronger returns arrangements, the much stronger law

enforcement, the operations with germany to go after the smugglers supply chains, the operations with italy to go after the illicit finance. earlier in the week in london, it was ministers from northern europe she was meeting. germany has agreed to change its laws so it can try to stop the supply of small boats used to cross the channel. arrivals this way have totalled over 311,000 this year. last year it was 29,000. two years ago, a record 45,000. while the number returned is 13,500 since the election. the conservatives say they would seek to reinstate their rwanda scheme, which labour scrapped. we would aim to resurrect a deterrent—style scheme. now, whether the rwanda scheme is still available in five years' time, we will have to see. but certainly a deterrent scheme like that, where if somebody crosses the channel, dangerously, illegally, and unnecessarily, unnecessarily because france is safe, they will rapidly be removed somewhere else. and if you do that, it's common sense that the people who are thinking of crossing

simply won't do so. but the government says with rwanda not a single enforced return happened despite hundreds of millions spent. the idea was a gimmick that did nothing to deter. and as yvette cooper was in italy, another rescue and more lives lost in the mediterranean, all part of the chain the government is trying to break. damian grammaticas, bbc news. a vigil has been held outside the family house of 10 year old sara sharif in surrey. around 500 local residents turned up to pay tribute to the little girl, whose body was found there in 2023. people laid bouqets and brought candles and cards with messages to pay their respects. sara�*s father, urfan sharif, and step—mother, beinash batool, were found guilty of her murder earlier this week, following a ten—week trial. the pope has wrapped up the first—ever papal visit to the french island of corsica. pope francis

arrived in the papal plane on sunday morning before moving through the packed streets of the capital ajaccio in his popemobile. he held an open—air mass, before meeting with president emmanuel macron at the airport ahead of his departure. of course, you can stay up to date on all of the day�*s top stories on the bbc news website. that is eight for the moment, to stay with us. thanks for watching. hello there. much of the country today had a fine and largely dry one, and it was milder than it was yesterday, despite the lack of sunshine. now this mild theme is here to stay, certainly for the first half of this upcoming week, but it will be dominated by low pressure, so it will be wet and windy at times, and then all areas will be turning colder from thursday onwards, with an increasing chance of wintry showers on hills in the north. at the moment, though, we�*re in this wedge of milder

air, rather cloudy skies because of a lot of moisture there. and on this boundary between the mild and colder air across northern scotland, we�*ve got a weather front which is going to bring persistent rain, which will drive into the western highlands, rainfall totals really mounting up even as we head into monday as well. elsewhere, apart from some drizzle across western hills, it will be mostly dry, variable cloud and a mild night to come. so it starts mild on monday for all areas. we�*ve got that rain still piling into the north and west of scotland, particularly the north—west highlands. elsewhere, variable cloud, some sunshine, a bit of drizzle i think, across western hills, but mild again with temperatures into 10 to 13 celsius. but we�*ve got some concerns of the amount of rain just falling across the north—west highlands by the end of monday into early tuesday. some of the worst affected areas could be up to 150mm, so that could cause some localised flooding and some travel disruption. but as we move into tuesday, that weather front eventually starts to shift northwards as we start to pick up a southerly wind thanks to a renewed area of low pressure. and again it will be

a mild start to tuesday. here it is, a new area of low pressure, more isobars on the charts. this one�*s a bit more powerful than we�*ve had over the weekend, so it looks like it�*ll be windier with gales around irish sea coasts. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and into western scotland again, areas that really don�*t need any more rain. but i think the midlands eastwards and large parts of eastern england should stay dry all day on tuesday, but rather cloudy with limited sunshine. mild double figure values for most, wet, windy weather with gales spreads across the country during tuesday night. another area of low pressure will arrive later on wednesday, but we�*re in between the weather systems for wednesday, so we should see quite a bit of dry weather across the northern half of the country with some sunshine. a few showers across western scotland and then we�*ll start to see wet and windy weather pushing up from the south across england, wales into northern ireland. given some sunshine we could be up to 15 degrees across eastern england. it does turn colder for the end of the week. wintry showers across northern hills.

this is bbc news, the headlines. hundreds of people are feared deadin hundreds of people are feared dead in a cyclone in the french territory. £50 million for syria — britain�*s foreign secretary pledges money to help vulnerable people and refugees, and confirms the uk is in contact

with the country�*s rebel leaders. hds remainsa hds remainsa hds remains a proscribed hds remains a proscribed terrorist organisation but we terrorist organisation but we have diplomatic contacts. have diplomatic contacts. 0ver13,000 migrants have 0ver13,000 migrants have been removed from the uk since labour took power, been removed from the uk but the government admits the rate of illegal channel the rate of illegal channel crossings is still too high. crossings is still too high. and thousands gather and thousands gather for mass in corsica, for mass in corsica, as pope francis visits as pope francis visits the island for the first time. the island for the first time. seven people have been taken to hospital in fiji after suspected alcohol poisoning. suspected alcohol poisoning. it�*s believed all those affected were guests it�*s believed all those affected were guests at a resort where they drank at a resort where they drank cocktails in the bar cocktails in the bar on saturday night and fell on saturday night and fell ill shortly afterwards. ill shortly afterwards. it comes just a few it comes just a few weeks after the death weeks after the death of six tourists in laos of six tourists in laos because of suspected because of suspected methanol poisoning. methanol poisoning. 0ur reporter, who�*s from fiji, 0ur reporter, who�*s from fiji, vandhna bhan has the details. vandhna bhan has the details. the alcohol incident in fiji the alcohol incident in fiji happened near the south—west happened near the south—west

coast. it coast. it happened at this 5—star resort. it�*s very different to the incident we saw in laos which occurred at a backpacker hostel. vg, unlike many parts of southeast asia, isn�*t known for backpacking culture because it is expensive, predominantly tailored towards honeymooners, so a different demographic. the ministry of health in fiji said those hospitalised between the ages of 18 and 56, four australians, one american and two foreigners living in fiji, expatriates. the different demographic to laos, which was teenagers and young adults affected, some who sadly died. that was perhaps because of bootleg alcohol. in fiji, bootleg alcohol. in fiji, bootleg alcohol. in fiji, bootleg alcohol or fake alcohol isn�*t as big an issue as in southeast asia. fiji, very

protective about their tourism image on the international scale. that�*s because it makes up scale. that�*s because it makes up about 40% of their gdp, it�*s their largest industry. there were a lot of questions at the moment

drug ring have been freed and flown back to australia after almost 20 years in an indonesian prison. the five australians were jailed for their roles in a heroin smuggling plot in bali in 2005. after years of advocay from the australian government, the group were flown back to australia today, after a deal struck between the two governments. the case made news worldwide when the gang�*s two ringleaders were executed by firing squad in 2015. prime minister anthony albanese revealed the remaining men have returned as free citizens and will not have to serve out their life sentences in australian prisons. i�*m pleased to confirm that australian citizens matthew norman, scott rush, martin stephens, si yi chen and michael czugaj have returned to australia this afternoon. i want to express my gratitude to president prabowo for indonesia�*s cooperation and commitment to working with australia on this matter. i have conveyed my personal appreciation to president prabowo

for his act of compassion. 0ur reporter bridget rollason has more on this story and explains who the bali nine are. if i take you back to 2005, the bali nine were caught attempting to smuggle heroin out of bali into australia back in 2005 after a tip—off from the australian federal police to the indonesian police. now these high—profile cases were really followed closely by australian media, but also international media. it made headlines around the world, and this was because a lot of these people were so young, they were just 18 years old. and this decision by indonesia to hand down the death penalty for its two ringleaders was really controversial and shocking for something like drug trafficking. now, i remember, iwas a teenager at the time, you know, i remember it so clearly because these nine faces were saturated across our media, and there was a lot of sympathy for these young people

who had made a pretty stupid decision to stash drugs in suitcases and strap heroin to their bodies. and, you know, a lot weren�*t given a second chance. so a really controversial part of this, though, was the fact that the australian federal police tipped off the indonesian police, knowing that there was the penalty of death in place for drug trafficking, and its ringleaders of the bali nine, andrew chan and myuran sukumaran, they spent ten years on death row before they were executed by the firing squad in 2014. and there was a huge reaction to this in australia. i remember there was candlelight vigils. there was protest after protest of people trying to stop this happening, but in the end they were powerless to do so. so now, today, after 20 years in an indonesian prison and years of advocacy from the australian government, the remaining five of the bali nine have been released. so that is su yi chen, matthew norman, scott rush, martin stephens

and michael czugaj. so they have returned to australia and they�*re now free, so they do not have to serve the remaining time in australia. they are free to go about and live their lives. leaders of the west africa regional grouping ecowas have ratified the withdrawal of mali, burkina faso and niger from the economic bloc. they were meeting at a summit in abuja in nigeria on sunday. this means that from the end of january 2025, the three sahel countries, which are all ruled by militaryjuntas, will cease to be members. a six—month transition period was agreed during which, if they decide to rejoin, they would be readmitted. earlier, the three countries announced visa—free travel and residency rights for citizens of the west african regional bloc. two russian oil tankers have sunk in bad weather in the kerch strait that separates russia from occupied crimea. footage shows one tanker split in half. an operation is under way to rescue the crews and assess the extent of the oil spill.

russia has been using a fleet of so—called ghost tankers to evade western sanctions. many of these are old and poorly maintained. brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva has been released from hospital after two emergency surgeries to fix a bleed on his brain. the 79—year old spoke publicly at a hospital press conference in sao paulo — saying he was "healed" and "just needed to take care of himself". he stressed that he was keen to get back to work as soon as possible with his medical team�*s blessing. an animal charity in the north of england says it�*s struggling to cope with the number of cruelty cases being brought in. the rspca team in north yorkshire are concerned the problem could get worse due to financial hardship at christmas. it comes as the charity has seen a 25% rise in pet neglect compared to last year across the uk. 0ur reporter kate sweeting has more. starved, isolated and neglected. these are just some

of the hundreds of animals rescued in the last year. there definitely is more cruelty cases, unintended cruelty cases, i may add, from covid. and we�*ve seen a lot more families relying on ourfood banks for animals. cruelty is around the animal�*s behaviour, cruelty for being left alone. that�*s separation anxiety. it�*s sad to see those behaviours coming through in this generation of animals. beautiful. bella and george came in needing urgent care that their owner couldn�*t afford. and the rspca says across the country, animals bought in lockdown are being rescued because their owners no longer have the time or money for them. animals are falling victim to people having less disposable income. unfortunately, people tend not to seek early advice and support, and so all too often we�*re called when things have come into crisis and it�*s all too late.

new animals are arriving here almost every day, and in fact, this site has taken in almost 300 abused or neglected animals in the last year, and it would have taken more, except that the number of people adopting animals has gone down by 30%, which means it simply doesn�*t have room. it�*s cost of living, and everybody thinks that when they come to the rspca, they want healthy animals. but these animals have experienced some trauma, some form of cruelty. they might have ongoing medical concerns. and then you�*ve obviously got the vet bills, vet insurance and things like that. so ijust think, yeah, the way the world is changing out there, animals, you know, unfortunately less and less adopted. bella and george are now up for adoption, but their current carers say the chances of finding them a new home are more unlikely than ever. kate sweeting reporting. there�*s a warning that disabled people are being failed by the planning system, because of a lack of suitable new housing.

the district councils network, which represents 169 councils across england, wants housing authorities to be given new powers to ensure developers build more accessible homes. nikki fox reports. daniel has a physics degree. he�*s a photographer, writes code and has worked alongside nasa. he�*s done much of this from his bedroom. he has had to because the home he has lived in with his mum julia for more than 30 years isn�*t accessible or adaptable. this is daniel�*s room. the ceiling hoist isn�*t right for daniel. we have to move the bed every time we want to get daniel out. we have to get him in the sling and hoist him up over to the chair, then he moves out the way so we can move other things out the way. that is a tight squeeze for him to get around and not take the gate with him.

daniel says he has been on the housing waiting list for seven years. next year he will finally move into his new home with his mum, but it�*s still not ideal. yeah, better than where you are at the moment. yes, yeah. two years ago, the previous government promised that all new homes would be built to the new adaptable standard, meaning they don�*t have steps and are more spacious. but that hasn�*t happened, and there are growing calls for labour to make

this a priority. there's certainly not enough quality accessible accommodation available for them, and that is something that urgently needs to be reviewed and addressed. so we would be looking for commitments of around 8—10% of homes being built that are accessible. there�*s no way of really knowing just how many new accessible homes are being built in england because the government doesn�*t collect that data. the district councils�* network says one of the problems is that homes may start out as being accessible, but then the features that help disabled people live independently are then removed. emma was on the housing registerfor eight years before she moved here. her bungalow wasn�*t built to the adaptable home standard, her partner�*s life. but it works, and it has changed her and her partner�*s life. i�*ve got so much more independence, you know, we are stronger as a couple, we have been able to foster

a dog, we�*ve been able to... i�*ve been able to do a bit more voluntary work. it�*s not just the fact that we live together, it�*s all, you know, all aspects, really. emma and daniel both say it took years to find their new homes because of a lack of accessible options. you have applied for a few of those? 50 or 60? and is that because the others just aren�*t suitable? daniel�*s local authority says it took over the management of housing in order to build and deliver more affordable and social rented homes, including those better suited to disabled people. it says it�*s a national issue and strongly relies on increased and more urgent

support from government. the government says it is providing a range of safe and suitable accessible housing of part of its ambitions to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years and it will set out its policies shortly. nikki fox, bbc news. the shortlist for the academy awards 2025 will be announced on tuesday, and one film vying to be included is india�*s official pick for best international feature film. lost ladies is a satire about a young man who brings the wrong bride home. meanwhile, his wife ends up lost, having to fend for herself. 0ur reporter sadia khan sat down with bollywood superstar aamir khan who co—produced the film to discuss his hopes for an oscar and his career. thank you for coming here.

congratulations on lost ladies being in the mix for the oscars. it�*s about 0scars. it�*s about women�*sempowerment but there is a strong main male character too, so as a man, why was it important to back a film looking up the fight against the patriarchal? i looking up the fight against the patriarchal?— the patriarchal? i 'ust love the patriarchal? i 'ust love the story. h the patriarchal? i 'ust love the story. when _ the patriarchal? i 'ust love the story. when lb the patriarchal? ijust love the story. when i read - the patriarchal? ijust love the story. when i read the script, i was in thejury in a script, i was in thejury in a script competition and this script competition and this script i fell in love with. i thought mmm... such important things with so much heart. the sense of humour, saying it with such poignancy. the script really spoke to me. i felt, here is a film that not only is a great script, it is also talking about an important issue. women all over the world has been subjected to a lot of challenges in their lives. all over the world, notjust in india. all over the world. they

have a raw deal in life. it doesn�*t feel nice. so i felt, here is a story that brings it out really well in such a nice way. which is why i wanted to produce it. i was very keen. india has never won the best international feature film at the oscars. lnternational feature film at the 05cm— international feature film at the oscars. mother india 50 ears the oscars. mother india 50 years age -- _ the oscars. mother india 50 years ago... yeah, - the oscars. mother india 50 years ago... yeah, and - the oscars. mother india 50 years ago... yeah, and the | the oscars. mother india 50 - years ago... yeah, and the most recent example... _ years ago... yeah, and the most recent example... why - years ago... yeah, and the most recent example... why do - years ago... yeah, and the most recent example... why do you i recent example... why do you think indian films haven�*t been able to cut through on the global stage in terms of awards recognition? despite having audiences all over the world? when you are looking at foreign language categories, it�*s probably the toughest category at the oscars. it�*s tougher than best film. because you are competing with the best film from each country. india has made really great films over the years. 0ccasionally, i