now with all the latest sport, here's gavin. yes, sport, here's gavin. thanks very much. chelsea boss enzo maresca says the club "trust" mykhailo mudryk after he claimed he didn't knowingly take a banned substance that led to him failing a drugs test. to him failing a drugs test. the ukraine international has been provisionally suspended the ukraine international has been provisionally suspended by the football association by the football association after a routine urine test after a routine urine test provided by mudryk returned provided by mudryk returned an "adverse finding". maresca hopes the forward is absolved of any blame. an "adverse finding". the club, the coaching staff and all the club, the coaching staff and all the people there inside the training the people there inside the training ground, we support and we trust him. ground, we support and we trust him. when these kind of things happen, when these kind of things happen, you need to support your player in you need to support your player in all the aspects. all the aspects. ruben amorim wants marcus rashford ruben amorim wants marcus rashford to stay at manchester united to stay at manchester united after the forward revealed after the forward revealed he was "ready for a new challenge". he was "ready for a new challenge". rashford has scored 138 goals rashford has scored 138 goals

since making his debut in 2016. since making his debut in 2016. he played no part in united's win he played no part in united's win against rivals manchester city against rivals manchester city at the weekend and has said should at the weekend and has said should he leave the club, then he would do he leave the club, then he would do so with "no hard feelings". so with "no hard feelings". but amorim says he'd rather keep him but amorim says he'd rather keep him as part of his squad. as part of his squad. i don't talk about the future, i don't talk about the future, i just talk about the present. i just talk about the present. i want the best of each one of them, i want the best of each one of them, and that is the key point for me. and that is the key point for me. i just want to win and to help i just want to win and to help the team to be better. the team to be better. so we are better with so we are better with marcus rashford, and that is simple. marcus rashford, and that is simple. and we will try different things and we will try different things to push marcus to the best level that he's shown in the past, so that's all. rashford's next chance to play is in the efl cup quarterfinal tomorrow night against spurs, while the other three matches are tonight. it's all change on the touchline to push marcus to the best at st mary's, where southampton take on league leaders liverpool for a place in the semifinals. the under—21s boss simon rusk is in charge, after russell martin was sacked, and liverpool boss arne slot won't be alongside him. he's been banned for picking up three yellow cards

already this season.

campaign after taking over a0 million in contingency funding from the department for culture, media and sport to cover revenues lost during the pandemic. according to the national audit office, wasps�* administrators repaid £300,000 of their £1“ million loan. worcester owed £15.7 million in total, but £9.8 million was paid back injune 2023. no money from london irish�*s £11.8 million has yet been returned. the dcms says it expects to recover further funds in future. and finally, chinese snooker player zhang anda was closing in on a bonus prize of $1 million at the riyadh season snooker championship in saudi arabia when the lights went out. the tournament has introduced a golden ball which becomes active if a player gets a 147 break, triggering the chance to win the extra prize, but an electrical fault forced the game's suspension with zhang on 72. he returned to the table after 45 minutes, but fell short of the maximum a few shots later.

some news from formula one to bring, too. sergio perez has confirmed he's leaving red bull, opening up a space for champion max verstappen�*s teammate. more on the bbc sport website. that's all for now. sportsday coming up at 6:30pm. we will see you a bit later on. a teenager filmed inhaling laughing gas while driving at almost 100 mph moments before he crashed, killing his three passengers, has been sent to prison for nine years and four months. 19—year—old thomasjohnson had pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. katharine da costa reports from oxford crown court.

thomasjohnson inhaling nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, from a balloon whilst his passengers film him from the back seat. it was an accident waiting to happen. they were never going to make it round that corner. it was never going to happen. yeah, i'm going to get the laptop. the biggest thing is next of kin and stuff at the moment. right, yeah. let's not rush. ok, no worries. he was doing an apprenticeship, and he was absolutely loving it. 0h, bleep! typical teenage boy. he liked hanging out with his friends. he liked loud music. he wanted to be an engineer, and he always had aspirations to be his own boss one day. 17—year—old elliot pullen and 18—year—olds daniel hancock and ethan goddard were killed when the car they were travelling in lost control at nearly 100 mph. it doesn't feel like a family any more. it's very difficult. it's so hard.

it has left a massive hole. even, like, our parents as well. it's really affected my dad. if he had any idea that this is how much pain we would be in, - he would've never set foot in that car. - cctv shows a car pulling out of a petrol station. the two sisters inside told officers they heard a car skidding or drifting before they were overtaken at speed by a silver bmw heading towards the village of marcham, near abingdon, just after midnight on the 20th ofjune last year. a matter of seconds later, they've come around the bend to find debris in the road and the same vehicle that's overtaken her in the trees. despite the force of the impact, the driver survived but suffered significant injuries. inside the car, officers found two large canisters of laughing gas and eight more in the boot. cctv revealed the driver and front passenger inhaling the gas in abingdon earlier in the evening,

but during his police interview, johnson couldn't recall using the drug. do you remember that? no recollection at all. it's tragic. i've got a son the same age. and you just hope that they don't put themselves into positions of vulnerability. you hope that they don't drive excessively. you hope they don't use any drugs. it really is a tragic case. it was an accident waiting to happen. it was just completely reckless, dangerous behaviour. he's ruined everyone's life. he's taken three, ruined his own life, devastated ours. _ i know he's just a cocky teenage boy, you know? i know he's not an awful person, but he made some awful decisions. and i really hope that he feels guilty for what he's done. this is his fault. he's done this. he's killed them. and i hope it stays with him forever.

in a split second, it could be your reality. so don't...don�*t drive dangerously and don't consume drugs while driving cos it's never worth it for this outcome. katherine da costa, bbc news. next, the rate of inflation has risen to its highest level in eight months. the figure jumped for the second time in a row in november, rising to 2.6%, with hikes in the cost of fuel and clothing among the main drivers. let's speak to robert blair, a cafe owner in petersfield in hampshire. thanks for coming on the programme. thanks for coming on the programme. thank you. just thanks for coming on the programme. thank ou. , , , thanks for coming on the programme. thank ou., , , ., thanks for coming on the programme. thank ou. , , ., , , ., thank you. just give us a sense of the business _ thank you. just give us a sense of the business reality _ thank you. just give us a sense of the business reality out _ thank you. just give us a sense of the business reality out there - the business reality out there at the business reality out there at the moment. it the business reality out there at the moment-— the business reality out there at the moment. it is genuinely really tou~h for the moment. it is genuinely really tough for the _ the moment. it is genuinely really tough for the moment. _ the moment. it is genuinely really tough for the moment. i - the moment. it is genuinely really tough for the moment. i think- the moment. it is genuinely really tough for the moment. i think a i the moment. it is genuinely really| tough for the moment. i think a lot of us small, independent business owners are really feeling the pinch and have done ever since the end of covid—19 really. and itjust continues to not get any easier at the moment. continues to not get any easier at the moment-— continues to not get any easier at the moment. and what are some of our the moment. and what are some of your significant _ the moment. and what are some of your significant cost? _

the moment. and what are some of your significant cost? staff - the moment. and what are some of your significant cost? staff wages i your significant cost? staff wages is the biggest _ your significant cost? staff wages is the biggest cost, _ your significant cost? staff wages is the biggest cost, but _ your significant cost? staff wages is the biggest cost, but the - your significant cost? staff wages is the biggest cost, but the cost l your significant cost? staff wages | is the biggest cost, but the cost of food over the last few years has gone up significantly. when we look at the rate of inflation rises, the cost of food within that is far above the headline number. i think when we had our 11% inflation, food was nearly double that at the time, and it continues to be a problem for any business that's selling food. and so what kind of impact, what is the reality of that kind of price rise on your viability? it’s the reality of that kind of price rise on your viability? it's touch and no rise on your viability? it's touch and go in _ rise on your viability? it's touch and go in some _ rise on your viability? it's touch and go in some cases. - rise on your viability? it's touch and go in some cases. i - rise on your viability? it's touch and go in some cases. i think i and go in some cases. i think the reality is because people are looking at their own budgets on their own households and saying where can we make savings, one of the first things to give up is extravagance, and that might include going out for a meal. so that's one of the biggest problems is continuing to drive any foot fall into the business. the other main place where i suspect any business would suffer is there is nothing

left in the tank for investment, so you have to just tread water as a business. that's not always great. you cannot look to the future in think i will do this next month, next year or this is where i would like to be in three years. you literally have to just open the door and hope for the best, and that's not a great way to try and run a business sometimes. find not a great way to try and run a business sometimes.— not a great way to try and run a business sometimes. and what kind of su ort, business sometimes. and what kind of support. what — business sometimes. and what kind of support. what kind _ business sometimes. and what kind of support, what kind of _ business sometimes. and what kind of support, what kind of measures - business sometimes. and what kind of support, what kind of measures could | support, what kind of measures could be introduced potentially, do you think, that could help and support business like yours? i think, that could help and support business like yours?— think, that could help and support business like yours? i look back to the covid-19 _ business like yours? i look back to the covid-19 years, _ business like yours? i look back to the covid-19 years, and _ business like yours? i look back to the covid-19 years, and there - business like yours? i look back to the covid-19 years, and there was| the covid—19 years, and there was everything being done and rightly so to support everybody but within business, particularly hospitality, we had schemes like eat out to help out where we had the 5% vat, we had £25,000 grants and bounce back loans. it actually sits covid—19, i think businesses are in a worse place, as is everybody, but i think

businesses and particularly hospitality are in a worse place now than they were and yet we are back to paying the normal rate of 20% vat. there is no schemes out there, there is no support. the support we are getting is continuous minimum wage rises and now recently the rise in business rates coming up. so if anything, it's not support, it's even more burden.— anything, it's not support, it's even more burden. robert blair, we a- reciate even more burden. robert blair, we appreciate your _ even more burden. robert blair, we appreciate your time _ even more burden. robert blair, we appreciate your time for _ even more burden. robert blair, we appreciate your time for talking - even more burden. robert blair, we appreciate your time for talking to l appreciate your time for talking to us, thank you. appreciate your time for talking to us. thank you-— new analysis by bbc verify suggests tens of thousands of pensioners are unlikely to receive their winter fuel payments before the end of the year as the department for work and pensions has been grappling with a growing backlog of new claims for pension credit. here's ben chu. there's been a substantial increase in the number of applications for pension credit in recent months. it follows the chancellor, rachel reeves, announcing on the 29th ofjuly that winter fuel payments

would be means tested by limiting the benefit mainly to those also in receipt of pension credit. before the announcement, the average number of weekly applications was around 3800. since then, it's been averaging around 91100. the pensions minister has told parliament that in mid—november, there were around 91,000 pension credit applications that had not yet been processed. of all the pension credit applications sincejuly, around 45% of them have been successful, and if successful, those individuals are then eligible for the £200—300 winter fuel payment. here's another relevant bit of context. in the week of the 18th of november, the average processing time for a pension credit application was 65 working days, or 13 weeks. that was up from nine weeks at the end ofjuly. so if you put in the claim in mid—november, the average applicant at that time could not expect to get an answer until february.

of course it's possible average processing times have decreased, and the dwp says it has deployed an additional 500 staff to process claims. and the official data does point to a pick—up in the rate at which claims are being processed. in august, it was processing around a500 claims per week, shown by the blue bars here. and the red bars show new claims which don't get processed, and therefore add to the backlog. in the first half of november, dwp was getting through an average of around 9000, almost as many as were coming in. 0n the other hand, there's no reason to believe that the volume of new claims coming in has dropped since then. so here's the bottom line. with a 91,000—backlog of unprocessed claims as of mid—november, and only around 9000 claims being processed each week at that point, and a likely similar amount of new applications coming in each week, there's a very real danger that there will still be a backlog of tens of thousands by the end of the year.

garyjameson, from oxford, who is 66, applied for pension credit in early september, and his claim still hasn't been processed. at the moment, it's costing me £190 a month in lost revenue, which i'm having to make up from my own savings accounts, because the total benefit that i was receiving before reaching my 66th birthday, some of those benefits have now ended. and i applied for pension credit to make up the difference. the dwp declined to give the bbc more up—to—date figures on the backlog than the ones cited here, but they told us that their drive to boost pension credit take—up has seen applications more than double, with over 40,000 more pensioners now receiving it as well as the winter fuel payment. thanks to being there.

southport stabbing suspect axel rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls — elsie dot stancombe, alice da silva aguiar and bebe king — in the attack, and also denied attempting to murder ten other people. the knife attack happened at a taylor swift—themed dance class. 0ur correspondent nick garnett gave us the latest from liverpool crown court. this was a fairly short hearing. axel rudakubana, who's now 18 years old and comes from banks in west lancashire in north—west england, appeared. he was sitting... he appeared on a video link. he was sat in a room on his own in video link room 0ne in belmarsh prison, which is in south london. he was wearing grey...a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. he was able to hear the proceedings and the court checked that he could, but he didn't speak at all during the hearing.

he rocked his body from side to side throughout the proceedings. he faces 16 charges in total — three of murder, eight of attempted murder, possession of a knife and two other charges. all relate to events on the 29th ofjuly this summer in southport. now, pleas of not guilty were entered on all the charges, although he didn't speak, and those charges...those pleas were put to him...those charges were put to him and the pleas were entered by the judge on his behalf. so let's get to those charges in full. he was charged with the murders of bebe king, who was six years old, elsie dot stancombe, who was seven years old, and alice da silva aguiar, who was nine. now, eight more children were at the dance class right at the beginning of the summer holidays in england, in southport in north—west england, when an incident took place, when their deaths happened. eight of the children were... five of the children were critically injured. he was charged with the attempted murders of all of them, as well as the attempted murder of two adults who were there as well. they suffered from

critical injuries. now, he was also charged with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade and a production of a biologicaltoxin, namely ricin, and also possession of information of a kind likely to be useful to someone preparing to act...to commit an act of terrorism, namely a pdf file entitled military studies in thejihad against the tyrants, the al-qaeda training manual. now, that all related to two charges that were added in october of this year. now, his case is listed to come beforejudge goose here at liverpool crown court on the 20th of january. we were told that the trial will last up to four weeks, and mr rudakubana has been remanded in custody until that time when the trial gets underway. thanks to nick there. the uk chancellor has defended the government's decision not to grant compensation to women born in the 1950s who were affected

by changes to rises in the state pension age. it comes after parliament's ombudsman, which independently investigates complaints against government, recommended payouts for the group known as the waspi women. kevin peachey reports. it's been a long, often loud, campaign by the so—called waspi women, born in the 1950s. and it's one that has been supported by high—profile mps. this was when sir keir starmer and work and pensions secretary liz kendall were in opposition. but in power, this. we don't agree with the ombudsman's approach. a case, say the waspi women, of political leopards changing their spots. with the talks that we'd had with members of parliament prior to them coming into power, and, you know, felt very much that they were on our side and they realised the enormity of what had happened to us and they were prepared to do something about it. so to get to this position now and find they're going to renege on it,

yeah, it's heartbreaking. the age to claim a state pension had been 60 for women and 65 for men. from 2010, the state pension age for women was due to gradually increase to 65 over the following decade, but it was then announced the process would happen by 2018, two years sooner than originally announced. campaigners say they weren't properly informed of the change and had little time to prepare, affecting them emotionally and financially. a parliamentary ombudsman suggested payouts of up to nearly £3000 to those affected. the government has ruled that out. the chancellor, rachel reeves, another to have previously shown her support, was out defending the decision today. i understand that women affected l by the changes to the state pension age feel disappointed by this decision, - but we looked in full _ at the ombudsman recommendations. and they said that around 90% -

of women did know that these changes were coming. and as chancellor, i have - to account for every penny of taxpayers' money spent. and given that the vast - majority of people did know about these changes, - ididn'tjudge that it would be the best use of taxpayers' money to pay an expensive _ compensation bill— for something most people knew was happening. despite an apology from ministers, that is an explanation that's gone down badly with the campaigners and the ombudsman herself. it's very unusual for us to have a public body that acknowledges failings, acknowledges they got something wrong, but then doesn't go on to make it right for those impacted. the options for these waspi women are now more limited, pinning hopes on mps delivering a sting in the tail by forcing the issue back onto the agenda. kevin peachey, bbc news. now, when the blind comedian

chris mccausland lifted the strictly come dancing glitter ball trophy on saturday, it was a seen as a pivotal moment in the effort to improve representation of those living with sight loss. the 47—year—old dedicated his win to his dance partner, dianne buswell, as well as anyone who had ever doubted themselves. he's been speaking to our culture reporter noor nanji. the moment of victory. chris and dianne! chris mccausland, strictly�*s first ever blind contestant, getting his hands on the glitter ball trophy. this is for her and it's for everyone out there thatjust got told they couldn't do something or thought they couldn't do it. it just shows that with opportunity and support and just determination, just anything can happen. # shake it up baby, now...# he and his partner dianne buswell were among 15 couples at the start, but they quickly impressed. music: instant karma!

byjohn lennon and yoko ono. including with their blackout dance moment, which went viral on social media. in the end, it came down to a public vote, and history was made. at last, time to rest those sore feet and catch up on some sleep. everyone was blown away by your dance moves. how did you learn the routines? dianne had never really spent any time with anyone who was blind, just even in daily life, and i had never danced. so we were... neither of us had a clue, and it turned out really that she had to use a lot of descriptions, she had to use a lot more words than she's used to when teaching people to dance. and i would often have to get on my hands and knees and feel her legs and feet and see

what she wanted me to do, and sometimes she would just pick up one of my limbs up and put it where she wanted like i was one of them kind of bendy spider—man toys! and your blackout dance went viral on social media. whose idea was that? the idea of the blackout wasn't really to put dianne into the dark. it was to put the audience into the dark and the viewers in the dark and reallyjust surprise them with what was possible in the dark and coming out of the darkness. it was just a brief moment, but one of those things that i had the idea and i hoped it would be received in the way it was intended. and people loved it. it really connected with people. # you'll never walk alone...# i never expected dancing to be emotional. ijust expected it to be this entertainment show with dancing, and if you were good, people were entertained. i didn't expect people to be moved and for people to cry. i didn't expect to cry on it! and so it's just been so much more than i ever thought it would've been.

you're strictly�*s first blind contestant. now you've gone and won it. do you like being seen as a role model in that way or does it get tiring? i don't see myself as a role model for blind people. i don't think blind people need inspiring, really. i think my approach and my hope really was it was more exposure for everyone else. cos it's not really people's blindness or people's disabilities that's often a problem, but people's attitudes towards them. there's been controversy surrounding strictly. did you have reservations in taking part? i think the bbc have gone out of their way to listen to what's happened and try to make it and create a supportive environment. i had no problems, but you can't get away from the fact that it's hard, physically hard and mentally hard. and as i found towards the end,

it's emotionally draining as well. i brilliant win for him and fascinating to listen to that interview. always more on the app and the website. forthe always more on the app and the website. for the moment, this is bbc news. hello. it's been a pretty blustery day across many parts of the uk. some more windy weather to come over the next few days. 0n the satellite picture, you can see one curl of cloud, one weather system sliding away, but another one hurtling in from the south—west, bringing some heavy rain, some more brisk winds. and then as that weather front clears through, well, we will continue to introduce some colder air from the north—west. so as we go through the rest of the evening, some quite windy weather for a time through english channel coasts on the southern flank of this weather system that's sliding away eastwards.

staying windy through the night in the north of scotland, and with that colder air digging in, we will start to see some wintry showers. particularly cold across the northern half of the uk, but even further south, not as mild as it was last night. and then into tomorrow, well, that weather system clears away. we are all into these cold north or north—westerly winds. brisk winds, gusts of a0 mph or more quite widely. one or two showers in these western and northern parts, some of those wintry over high ground. top temperatures of 5—9 degrees, but when we factor in the strength of the wind, it will feel a little colder than that. now another change on friday. we will see another frontal system pushing in from the west. a band of cloud, some outbreaks of rain pushing quite erratically southwards and eastwards. some slightly milder air tucked in with this weather system, for a little while at least. 10—11 degrees, and then into the start of the weekend, a deep area of low pressure approaches the north of scotland.

you see all the isobars, all the white lines here, squeezing together. we are expecting some very windy weather indeed. the north and the west of scotland, the north coast of northern ireland, likely to see gales. gusts could reach 80 mph, so that could disrupt some pre—christmas travel plans. a real rash of showers, some wintry ones over high ground in the north. briefly a bit milder down towards the south, but on sunday, we're all back into the cold air. it's going to be very windy. widely gusts of 40, 50, 60 mph, lots of showers, some hail, some sleet, some snow mixing in over the hills. and, yes, it is going to feel quite cold out there. but then as we approach christmas, things should calm down. high pressure is likely to build. it is likely to turn largely dry by christmas day, and we're expecting things to feel very mild.

at six — the prime minister defends his decision not to pay compensation to millions of women affected by changes to the state pension age. the taxpayer simply can't afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation. but i do understand the concerns. also tonight — a 19—year—old who was filmed inhaling laughing gas before crashing his car is jailed after three of his friends died. a criminology student is found guilty of murder and attempted murder after he stabbed amie gray and herfriend leanne miles on bournemouth beach. there's a polar bear under

a tundra buggy right now. he's very curious about us. and a close encounter with a polar bear — why melting sea ice is proving dangerous for the bears and people. and coming up on bbc news, ruben amorim says he wants to keep marcus rashford, despite leaving the striker out of his squad for the derby at the weekend. the manchester united star has said he's "ready for a new challenge". good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the prime minister says taxpayers can't afford to pay billions of pounds in compensation to women affected by rises in the state pension age. sir keir starmer has been defending his decision after coming under pressure from his own mps and political opponents. campaigners say that 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not properly informed about the changes to raise women's pension age

to 65 in line with men's.