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. the plan was first announced in 1995 by the then conservative government, and the idea was women's state pension age would rise gradually from 60 to 65 over a ten—year period. but then in 2010, the conservative—lib dem coalition government decided to speed up those changes. by 2018 women had to wait until 65 for get their state pension. today sir keir starmer said he understood the concerns, but insisted that the majority of women did know about the changes. here's our political editor, chris mason. when i turned on the radio this morning there was anger pouring out of the speakers. it is morning there was anger pouring out of the weaken-— of the speakers. it is deeply insensitive _ of the speakers. it is deeply insensitive and _ of the speakers. it is deeply insensitive and patronising. | of the speakers. it is deeply| insensitive and patronising. i of the speakers. it is deeply - insensitive and patronising. i do take responsibility but someone else moved _ take responsibility but someone else moved the _ take responsibility but someone else moved the goalposts.— moved the goalposts. absolutely dis ustinu . moved the goalposts. absolutely disgusting. three _ moved the goalposts. absolutely disgusting. three years - moved the goalposts. absolutely disgusting. three years of - moved the goalposts. absolutely i disgusting. three years of penchant for me. _ disgusting. three years of penchant for me. that — disgusting. three years of penchant for me, that would _ disgusting. three years of penchant for me, that would have _ disgusting. three years of penchant for me, that would have been- for me, that would have been

50.000 _ for me, that would have been £30,000.— for me, that would have been £30,000. ., ., , ., , £30,000. the anger and questions... have ou £30,000. the anger and questions... have you betrayed _ £30,000. the anger and questions... have you betrayed the _ £30,000. the anger and questions... have you betrayed the waspi - £30,000. the anger and questions... have you betrayed the waspi women, i have you betrayed the waspi women, prime minister?— prime minister? followed keir starmer to _ prime minister? followed keir starmer to parliament. - prime minister? followed keir starmer to parliament. an - starmer to parliament. an independent report concluded millions of women were not properly informed the state pension age is going up and deserve compensation for that. the government said sorry but said no to handing over any money despite the impression the prime minister and others had left in opposition. he prime minister and others had left in opposition-— prime minister and others had left in opposition. he lined up for many hotos in opposition. he lined up for many photos with — in opposition. he lined up for many photos with waspi _ in opposition. he lined up for many photos with waspi women - in opposition. he lined up for many photos with waspi women saying . in opposition. he lined up for many| photos with waspi women saying he would _ photos with waspi women saying he would have their gaps and he has 'ust would have their gaps and he has just betrayed them in the scandalous way possible. is just betrayed them in the scandalous way possible-— way possible. is this what the prime minister meant _ way possible. is this what the prime minister meant when _ way possible. is this what the prime minister meant when he's _ way possible. is this what the prime minister meant when he's promised | way possible. is this what the prime i minister meant when he's promised to lead a _ minister meant when he's promised to lead a government _ minister meant when he's promised to lead a government of— minister meant when he's promised to lead a government of change? - minister meant when he's promised to lead a government of change? finger. lead a government of change? anger o- osite lead a government of change? anger opposite the — lead a government of change? anger opposite the prime _ lead a government of change? anger opposite the prime minister- lead a government of change? opposite the prime minister and on his side. we opposite the prime minister and on his side. ~ , ., , ., his side. we did promise them that the would his side. we did promise them that they would give _ his side. we did promise them that they would give them _ his side. we did promise them that they would give them justice. - his side. we did promise them that they would give them justice. doesj they would give them justice. does they would give them justice. does the prime minister really understand how let down waspi women feel today?

i do understand the concern, of course — i do understand the concern, of course i— i do understand the concern, of course i do _ i do understand the concern, of course i do. i set out the history, mr speaker, _ course i do. i set out the history, mr speaker, but the research is clear— mr speaker, but the research is clear that — mr speaker, but the research is clear that 90% of those impacted did know about the change. and in those circumstances, the taxpayer simply can't afford — circumstances, the taxpayer simply can't afford the burden of tens of billions _ can't afford the burden of tens of billions of— can't afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation but i do _ billions of pounds of compensation but i do understand the concerns. some _ but i do understand the concerns. some campaigners dispute that 90% figure. neither labour nor the conservatives promised compensation in their election manifestos, but labour had done before and frequently expressed their support for the campaign. for frequently expressed their support for the campaign.— for the campaign. for years the prime minister _ for the campaign. for years the prime minister and _ for the campaign. for years the prime minister and his - for the campaign. for years the prime minister and his cabinetl for the campaign. for years the - prime minister and his cabinet play politics with the waspi women. the deputy prime minister said conservatives were stealing their pensions. she promised to compensate them in full. another broken promise. now they admit we were right all along. promise. now they admit we were right all along-—

right all along. here was the now chancellor _ right all along. here was the now chancellor four— right all along. here was the now chancellor four years _ right all along. here was the now chancellor four years ago - right all along. here was the now chancellor four years ago and - right all along. here was the nowj chancellor four years ago and the deputy prime minister two years ago. oh, and the prime minister also photographed with anne potter who i talked to earlier on politics live. i wonder as you reflect back over the last couple of years and those photos that you had taken alongside senior labour politicians where it leaves you feeling about politics in general and politicians and their capacity to bluntly to be believed. i have to say i am so disappointed in this current labour party because they lead us up the garden path. they gave us the information that oh, yes, we will support you, they signed our pledges, showed interest, and at the end of the day, when i heard that commencement yesterday came out of the blue, i was absolutely flabbergasted. winners and losers. the _ absolutely flabbergasted. winners and losers. the post _ absolutely flabbergasted. winners and losers. the post office - absolutely flabbergasted. winners i and losers. the post office scandal, the infected blobs scandal, victims of both are getting compensation.

but familiar in super women born in the 1950s, nothing. and that is an important context, those other scandals, more egregious examples of state or institutional failure. and the trade—offs that the government has to come to particularly at a time when the public finances are as squeezed as they are. but the challenge tonight for the government is this. it is one of the spectacular failure of expectation management. because if you spend your time in opposition giving the impression that you are on the side of a certain group of people, and then your actions in government in their view lead people to say you are not, then don't be surprised by the anger that follows. and in this era of hurricane force gales of cynicism about politics, thatis gales of cynicism about politics, that is a very, very difficult place for a government to end up in. studio: chris mason, our political editor, thank you.

a 19—year—old, who was filmed inhaling laughing gas before crashing his car and killing three of his friends, has been jailed for nine years. thomasjohnson was driving at almost 100 miles per hour when his car hit a tree in 0xfordshire, killing ethan goddard, daniel hancock and elliot pullen. katharine da costa reports. just minutes before the crash, thomas johnson is filmed inhaling nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, from a balloon. 17—year—old elliot pullen and 18—year—old daniel hancock and ethan goddard were killed when the car they were travelling in lost control at nearly 100 miles an hour. 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 i know he's not an awful person, i 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. i 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. 0utside court, the police and families said they hoped the sentence would deter other young drivers from such reckless behaviour. this was without doubt one of the most catastrophic and tragic collisions i have investigated. this incident should never have happened. it shows the very real dangers of excess speed and driving whilst impaired. the numbers of deaths and serious injuries on our roads is far too high. johnson had been driving for less than a year. the families of the three boys want to see tougher restrictions for new drivers, to prevent others from suffering the same heartache and grief. katharine da costa, bbc news. and viewers in the bbc south region can see more on that story on south today at 6:30pm. a criminology student studying at a london university has been convicted of murder and attempted murder after stabbing two women he did not know,

who were sitting chatting on bournemouth beach together last may. the jury at winchester crown court was shown cctv footage of 34—year—old amie gray and 39—year—old leanne miles being attacked late at night. from court, here's duncan kennedy. amie gray lived for football, family and life. a head coach in dorset where her spirit inspired others. she'd never met nasen saadi, but in may this year, he decided he wanted to find out what it was like to kill someone. so he randomly picked bournemouth and went looking for female victims. amie gray and a friend, leanne miles, were about to become his targets. here he is lurking near amie and leanne, who are having a fireside chat on the beach. saadi first goes past them, then turns back,

and then went towards them, stabbing them multiple times, killing amie and seriously wounding leanne. saadi's planning for this took on incredible detail. he researched how police dealt with dna evidence, where the hotels in bournemouth had cctv cameras, and whether it was easier to run across pebble beaches or sandy beaches. today, saadi was found guilty of murder and attempted murder. a police officer gave amie's family reaction. amie will never be forgotten. she touched the lives of so many. the immense support and love shown by everyone reflects just that. amie's life has been brutally taken, but now she can rest in peace. saadi, who called himself the ninja killer on snapchat, had used the internet to buy these knives, but the murder weapon was never found. he'd told police he wasn't involved. i have no reason to attack someone for no reason.

i'm wrongly accused of mistaken identity. friends and team—mates of amie have tonight released this tribute video to her, their colleague and confidante. it was like the heart of the club was ripped apart. it really was, because she was so central to everything. she's given us something that is now irreplaceable in my life. _ so i think you all feel the same. and she is irreplaceable. and it'sjust... yeah. saadi will be sentenced to life in prison in march after mental health reports. thejudge says his minimum term will be substantial. his visit to a seaside town causing random havoc and misery, all planned and brutally carried out on two innocent friends. duncan kennedy, bbc news in winchester. a not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of the man accused of murdering three young girls

in a knife attack at a taylor swift—themed dance class in southport. axel rudakubana, who's 18 and from banks in lancashire, failed to reply after being asked for a plea at liverpool crown court. he appeared from belmarsh prison by video link, charged with three counts of murder, and ten of attempted murder. russian authorities say they've detained a man over the assassination of the head of the army's chemical weapons division. they say the 29—year—old from uzbekistan is suspected of planting the bomb that killed lieutenant general igor kirillov and his assistant in moscow yesterday. russia's security service claimed he had confessed to being recruited by the ukrainian special forces, and had been promised $100,000 to carry out the attack. the rate of inflation has gone up for the second month in a row, with prices rising at their fastest pace since march. fuel and clothing were among the main drivers behind the rise. analysts say the latest figures mean the bank of england almost certainly

won't cut interest rates when it meets tomorrow. here is our economics editor, faisal islam. the christmas market in the centre of york, the perfect place to test the temperature of a british economy that hasn't fully shaken off the cost—of—living crisis. 0ur sort of lower—value products have been the most popular things we sell for quite a while. we do sell more premium things like desk pads and folios and things like that, which do cost a little bit more, and recently, we've started to see our sales of those increasing. so it's definitely a sign that people are a little bit more willing to spend than they were maybe this time last year. from gift stationers to the owner of a chain of chippies. costs have definitely stabilised. i think they stabilised for us around summertime. uh, obviously, we're going into a new year, 2025. we're not sure what's going to happen there. obviously, we've got the spike with the wages in april. 2024 is ending with a bit of a whimper, a dip in growth and now inflation hotting

up a little. here's what's happened with inflation. it's ticked up in november, as you can see at the end there, not as high as during the energy shock, but it's forecast to stay around the 3% mark for most of next year. that's above the bank of england's target. now, at 2.6%, this is now again the highest of the industrialised g7 nations, though we are waiting forjapan�*s numbers and they're expected to be similar to the uk's. but the headline way we measure the cost of living doesn't include, for many, the biggest cost — living in a house or flat — and separate figures showed rent rises near their all—time high for the uk, up above 9% over the past year. that includes an actual record for england, driven by double—digit rises in london and the north west. continuous cost—of—living crisis for private renters, _ given a backdrop of, - you know, already still quite persistent inflation, _ and private renters already facing the tough backdrop of low security

in their housing and generally- low quality as well. ups and downs on inflation for wool merchant rupert, with a stronger pound making imports cheaper. my uk costs have gone up dramatically and are still increasing. i'm a little different, in that i import and i pay for it in nepal, and the currency fluctuation�*s worked in my favour. there are many moving parts, but the bump up in inflation is likely to mean notjust a pre—christmas pause in interest rate cuts tomorrow, but a slower path of rate cuts next year too. faisal islam, bbc news. the time is just after 18:15. our top story this evening: the prime minister has defended the government's desision not to compensate women affected by changes to the state pension age, insisting taxpayers can't afford a £10.5 billion package. chris and dianne! and after lifting the famous glitterball trophy, chris mccausland tells us how he hopes his time

on strictly will help change attitudes towards disabilities. coming up on bbc news... a speical general meeting is taking place at england rugby�*s governing body with calls for chief executive bill sweeney to go after he received a large bonus, depite huge losses. in a town in northern canada that's known as the polar bear capital of the world, scientists say melting sea ice could spell danger for both the polar bears and the people that live there. hudson bay's bears face starvation. as the climate warms and the ice they need to hunt seals from disappears, they are being forced to spend more time on land, bringing them closer to people. 0ur science correspondent, victoria gill, reports. there's a polar bear under our tundra buggy right now. he's very curious about us.

at the height of polar bear season in churchill, manitoba, conservation scientists are out on the tundra, monitoring one of the most southerly polar bear populations in the world. yeah, the bears want to stay with the ice. the bears are waiting for the bay to freeze, so that they can use it as a platform to hunt seals. but as the climate warms up here, the bears are having to wait for longer. so we've lost almost about 50% of these polar bears in the last several decades, and we've tied that to these bears are on land about a month longer than their grandparents were. in the long term, this threatens the survival of this polar bear population, but in the short term, it means these bears are getting hungrier. the longer they're on shore, the longer they're fasting, and the longer they might need to start looking for alternative sources of energy and food. and sometimes, those sources are us. this poses a particular challenge for the team of polar bear alert rangers who patrol and protect churchill. i came down this trail—

and i caught him up on this deck. it was testing the door. what did you do? so, at that point, you chase him i in a desirable direction which, i in this case, would be away from town. - this is a place that takes pride in setting an example for how humans can co—exist with these big predators, and... 0h, should we go? there's a bear there! it's crossing the road. get in the car. so you can just see it through the trees there. climate change is making the challenge of coexisting with polar bears even more complicated, and the loss of sea ice could transform this place. that's why a new marine observatory here is carrying out experiments to better forecast how conditions will change. today, hudson bay has about five months ice—free. that means if we warm up another degree celsius for the world overall, hudson bay's now six months ice—free. then another complication is, well, how fast does the world warm? and that depends on humans.

so it depends on how many greenhouse gases we emit. this is a town preparing for a future without sea ice in the bay. the fate of the polar bears, of the polar bear capital of the world, though, depends on us and whether we can rein in rising temperatures and preserve the ice that they depend on. victoria gill, bbc news, in churchill, manitoba. police have been granted the power to seize more than £2 million from the controversial social media influencer andrew tate and his brother, tristan. a court was told that the pair failed to pay any tax on £21 million of revenue from their online businesses. the brothers are facing a series of criminal allegations in romania, including human trafficking. andrew tate is also accused of rape. our home and legal correspondent, dominic casciani, is with me. a controversial pair. remind us who they are. andrew tate is a self

proclaimed in his own words misogynist. he has a huge following online. a former kickboxer. he and his brother tristan, they run a suite of online businesses and at the heart of those get rich schemes and courses on height masculinity for the predominantly male following and also online pornography businesses as well. these allegations relate to their earnings over eight years and the police told the court here in the uk that the movements of millions of pounds defied all commercial logic and had the hallmarks of money laundering to evade taxation. the judge agreed today because the men had no evidence to knock down the police case. he said the succes straightforward cheat and said you can see is this money, down to 88p and cryptocurrency on one of the accounts. interestingly, some of the allegations in this link back to romania. some of the money the police and forensic accountants i was linked to payments connected to the female complainants in the human trafficking cases in romania and also payments to the co—defendants.

andrew tate himself has put a statement out on x today saying he has been the victim of outright theft. the scale of his influence has been watched by 5 million people so far. this battle continues, but this is a big victory for the police because they have some cash offering and he faces some other serious legal charges. dominic casciani. thank you. a record number of children in england, around 160,000, are currently living in temporary accomodation with their families — in hotels, houses and b&bs — because of what the government is calling the worst housing crisis in living memory. many of them are moved to places hours away from their schools or their parents�* workplaces, and are living in unsafe, often shocking conditions. now the government has set out how it intends to spend £1 billion allocated to prevent and deal with homelessness. michael buchanan has been talking to one family affected. imagine cooking in this kitchen, in this house you didn't choose, when you have to live with this.

i have to spray this house every morning. i have a lot of this, different types of it, to spray all the house before my kids start coming downstairs to eat their breakfast. this is how i live. the family were made homeless in april, after their landlord sold the house they were in. they were placed here in west london by the local authority, enfield council. ok, let's go. you know we don't have much time. it's called temporary accommodation, and it's 25 miles from the children's school. this journey is the helljourney, and we've been late to school all the time. the driving almost always falls to fawzia, as her husband's at work. where i live now, it takes me almost two hours to get to work. where they now live means mohammad has to get up shortly after midnight to start his shift

at 3am, delivering doughnuts. while her children are at school, fawzia sometimes parks up and sits for six hours, unable to drive any more. it's affecting everyone in the house, because now they are missing, like, their childhood, everything. they can't do any activities. returning home, of course, is not appealing. there is mould and damp, the windows don't shut, and flies and maggots aplenty — problems the family have regularly reported to the council and the letting agent. but the biggest issue is the broken drainage system that repeatedly spews sewage into the bathroom. as i've been standing here, the excrement in the toilet bowl has risen noticeably and it's in danger of overflowing again. there is also excrement in the shower and on the floor, and the smell is just unbearable.

it's like a garbage chute but, like, i somewhere that we have to live in. so this smell is here... yeah. ..and you cook in here? yeah. the rental here is over £2,500 per month. temporary accommodation is neither cheap nor healthy. in some places in england, you'll walk into a school and one child in every classroom will be homeless and living in temporary accommodation. and in some parts of london, that's one child in every nine. and we know that's having absolutely devastating impacts on their health, their mental health and their education. all the time, i'm crying. the journey home often takes the family more than two hours. i get tired, and then when. i get tired, i take a shower, then i go to sleep immediately. i don't even get time to do my homework. j sometimes, i get detentions as well for not doing homework. _ we contacted enfield council about the family and, within 48 hours, they'd been rehoused.

the council apologised, saying they thought the drainage problem had been resolved by the letting agent. the new property is closer to school, fit to live in, but still not a permanent home. michael buchanan, bbc news. the government has announced plans to recruit and train a50 more driving instructors to tackle a huge backlog in tests. before the pandemic, learner drivers had to wait around six weeks for a driving test. now, people are having to wait between three and five months to take their test. a ban on the resale of driving test slots will also be brought in from january. the driver and vehicle standards agency says the measures will reduce the waiting time for a test to seven weeks by this time next year. the restaurant critic grace dent is to replace gregg wallace as a presenter of the next series of celebrity masterchef. she will be a judge alongside

john torode, after it was announced last month that gregg wallace would step aside while an external review of misconduct allegations was carried out. mr wallace's lawyers have previously said that "it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature". two nasa astronauts who went for an eight—day stay to the international space station lastjune have been told they won't be able to return to earth until at least march. the pair were left stranded — initially, for six months — because the boeing starliner capsule they arrived on was deemed unfit to return them to earth. now they'll have to wait at least three more months to come home. the comedian chris mccausland made history on saturday night when he became the first blind person not only to take part in strictly come dancing, but also, to win it. he dedicated the win to his dance partner, dianne buswell, and to anyone who had ever doubted themselves. he's been speaking to our

culture reporter, noor nanji. the moment of victory. chris and dianne! cheering and applause chris mccausland, strictly�*s first ever blind contestant, getting his hands on the glitterball trophy. after three months of tangos, salsas and foxtrots, finally, time to rest those sore feet. so, chris, you've had a few days' sleep now, how are you feeling? um, i'm still aching. i still... i still haven't recovered fully. and, two... everyone was completely blown away by your dance moves. how did you learn the routines? 0ften, i'd have to get on my hands and knees and feel her feet and feel her legs, and see what she wanted me to do. and sometimes, she'd just have to pick one of my limbs up and put it where she wanted me, like i was one of them kind of bendy spider—man toys. # superstar...# chris and dianne were among 15 couples at the start, but they quickly impressed, including with their blackout dance moment, which went viral on social media. # well, we all shine on...# the blackout wasn't really to put dianne into the dark, it was to put the audience into the dark and the viewers into the dark.

and 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. there's been some controversy surrounding strictly. did you have any reservations in taking part? i think the bbc have gone out of their way to listen to what's happened and try and make it, um, as, you know, create a supportive environment. i had no problems. but, you know, you can't get away from the fact it is..it�*s hard, it's physically hard. it's mentally hard. and as i found out towards the end, it's emotionally draining as well. chris was praised throughout the series for defying expectations of what a blind person could achieve on the dance floor... # wayne's world...# ..but he says he doesn't think blind people need inspiring. the biggest benefit to everybody you can make is changing people's attitudes towards disability. so for me, it's not being a role

model to people with disabilities, it's changing other people's, everybody else's attitudes to what is possible, raising people's expectations, because that's, that's where the difference is. the winner. chris mccausland there talking to noor nanji. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. a wet evening, if you are an even christmas shower, you might need your brollies. it is going to be quite soggy. the good news is most of the rain falls the side of midnight and of the rain falls the side of midnightand by of the rain falls the side of midnight and by the early hours of the weather should clear. this is the weather should clear. this is the weather should clear. this is the weather system over us right now giving that soggy evening across many south western and western areas of the uk. clearly across scotland and northern ireland, you are not getting heavy rain stopped play spells this evening and overnight. it is blustery, quite a few showers, some of them wintry across the hills. by the early hours, that weather front is all the way in germany and denmark. quite a contrast in temperatures. frost for

scotland and northern ireland. the very far north of england as well. elsewhere, it is mild. tomorrow, i'm pleased to say it is a fine day with some sunshine. brisk pleased to say it is a fine day with s