music: leith tornn carnal by proc fiskal iceland has topped gender equality rankings for the last 15 years. perhaps one of the secrets to their success — start early. this is laufasborg, a nursery school in the capital, reykjavik. they do things a bit differently. the boys and the girls are separated for most of the day and are encouraged to do things usually associated with the opposite sex. it's called "compensation work". and the girls are taught to be unapologetic and fierce.

meanwhile, the boys are doing something very different. they're getting in touch with their caring side, giving each other compliments and massages. it's a teaching method called "hjalli". the idea is that they develop their personalities without the pressures and constraint of conventional gender stereotypes. bara was one of the first people to attend this school as a child. her mother helped set it up. her two daughters are the third generation with a connection to the hjalli method.

what is the impact of this school on your daughters? about 8% of children in iceland attend these schools, and demand is growing — they've opened 17 across the country. we need to start at the very beginning. at two years old, they have formed their idea of what it means to be a boy or a girl, and that will limit them for the next years, especially when they are having

this concrete way of thinking. it is either—or — boy or a girl — you know? so we need to start early. why do you separate the boys and the girls? girls are deprived of so many possibilities. we are compensating by giving them this opportunity to show their strength. and in the single—sex settings, they are not competing with the boys at the same time. if everything is mixed, the girls will step back. it is the same with boys — we also need to give them compensation for what they have been deprived of based on gender, giving them the possibility of being more social, not only individually — strong as they are — but helping them to train the kindness and closeness. i love what i'm doing. we all do. we believe that we are changing the world.

yes! so, from a very early age, children in iceland are taught to think differently about gender roles not only at school, but in every aspect of life. this is a music space specifically for women, non—binary and trans people. "laeti" — "loudness" — was a word that we found together as a group. it's really appropriate because... i don't know, for me, as a drum teacher, it's what i say all the time, like, "more loudness, more loudness." she laughs the girls do not take space, they just don't. and the boys take all the space. some of the boys. there are always exceptions, of course, but we are here to close the cultural gap,

because, for some reasons, we don't see a lot of girls or non—binary or trans kids doing this. rock music plays do you feel empowered to be in a rock band? together: yes. ifeel more confident than i did. you just can be yourself here. you don't have to be like, uh, someone... yeah, someone else. because, like, rock isn't always for boys. and it has to be... girls also have to take up space. she sings in icelandic oh, my god! that was amazing! the whole thing is based on the safer space idea. so, if they can come in and they see that it is ok to take space, then they can go into the world

and take space there. iceland is a small nation of about 400,000 people. in 2018, it became the first country to require employers to prove that they pay people equally. essentially, paying men more than women for the samejob is illegal. it's based on a bestselling novel... mm—hm. ..and it's about a... we're going for a take! they chuckle i'll tell you later. yes, 0k. nearly 90% of working—age women have jobs. the film industry is traditionally very male dominated, but in iceland, the number of female directors has gone up significantly,

and it's the highest in europe. did you ever feel that something was not achievable to you because you're not a man? i've never thought about myself in those terms. i love, you know, directing. i wanted to be a film—maker, and i think, just the way i was raised, i've never even questioned that. we arejust filming some, uh, degu rats. she laughs some animals. and they are usually the toughest actors, so... really? she laughs do you think that there's, like, a tradition that icelandic women are particularly strong? it's a...it�*s a rough place to live, and i think with that comes a survival instinct, and there comes an inner strength and mentality that i think is really helpful in the film industry, because, obviously, what we do is quite challenging and so, yeah. i think... i think it's in our blood. yeah. 0k. that's pretty good. let's cut.

but staying in the workforce can be hard for many women once they start a family. this is known as the "motherhood penalty", but not in iceland. how hectic is breakfast normally in this family? uh, we usually uh, we usually never have breakfast never have breakfast because there's no time. because there's no time. no. they chuckle no. they chuckle this isjust for you. this isjust for you. they laugh they laugh she says goodbye in icelandic she says goodbye in icelandic parental leave here is 12 months, parental leave here is 12 months, and the mother and the father and the mother and the father can split it equally. can split it equally. katrin and fannar katrin and fannar have five kids. have five kids. today, whilst fannar today, whilst fannar takes them to school, takes them to school, all the equipment is working. katrin is off to work. katrin is off to work. herjob is in the herjob is in the salmon farming industry. salmon farming industry. my role here is... my role here is... i'm an aqua technician. i'm an aqua technician. i work on the cages — i work on the cages —

just make sure that just make sure that all the equipment is working. make sure the oxygen is good, the temperature is good... ..the salmon looks good. what's your favourite thing about yourjob?

you know, dads can take care of the kids just as well as women can. this policy has had a profound impact here. 90% of all fathers take paternity leave. research shows that after going back to work, they continue to be significantly more involved. sharing child care from the very beginning, it seems,

makes a long—term difference. probably, men respect women a lot more now that they have the chance to spend more time with the kids and get to know what women have done, like, for years and take part in that journey, ithink, has, like, helped equality here. they talk playfully in icelandic music: "tremors" by dark shells but what about the lowest—paid jobs? most of them are done by women. solveig anna is head of the second—largest union in iceland, and she's working to change that. so, this is, like, our community home... 0k. ..where we do our meetings and we do our organising... mm—hm. ..and we prepare for, you know, action... the next fight. ..and the next fight, negotiations... about 90% of the country's

workers belong to a union, the highest percentage in the world. how successful have you been in your demands? so, we have been quite successful. for example, we have focused on the pre—school workers, mostly women — 80% plus women — and we fought for, like, a special raise for them, and we got that, and... and how did you get it? how did we get it? by going on strike. we then went on with the same demands for other workers in similar workplaces. we won that too. strike again? strike again. yes, twice during covid. very hard. crosstalk there is a pattern! last big important one that we achieved was this past winter when we focused on the cleaning sector, where we have almost 80% women — a huge group of immigrant women — who had described their who had described their horrible working situations horrible working situations and very low wages. and very low wages. so we took the same thought, so we took the same thought, and we said, and we said, "we're going to get special

raises for this group," and we did. and we did. how? how? by threatening strike. by threatening strike. by now, we've gone by now, we've gone on so many strikes on so many strikes that they know we mean it. that they know we mean it. so, um, at this point, we so, um, at this point, we kind of only have to threaten. kind of only have to threaten. iceland has iceland has a tradition of women a tradition of women coming together coming together to demand change. in 1975, to demand change. 25,000 women went on strike. they refused to work, cook they refused to work, cook and look after the children and look after the children the first country for one day. for one day. it was a pivotal moment it was a pivotal moment that propelled iceland that propelled iceland to the forefront to the forefront of the fight for equality. of the fight for equality. i would say that the i would say that the primary reason for our success primary reason for our success in negotiations in negotiations in the past years in the past years is because of applying women. is because of applying women. when working women when working women come together, come together, they can achieve they can achieve real change in society. real change in society. it sounds obvious — it sounds obvious — to benefit women elect women in positions of power — but, around the world, very few countries have a woman head of state.

iceland was

iceland recently became the first country in the world to issue a gender bond of 50 million euros to provide affordable housing for women on low incomes and to improve parental leave even further. there is an equality representative in all schools and universities, and all names are gender neutral. so, is this really a feminist paradise? even if iceland has made all this progress in a short period of time, something that is much harder to eradicate in any society, really, is gender violence. i want to find out just how much of a problem there is here. a quarter of icelandic women have experienced rape or attempted rape, and around 40% have been subjected to physical or sexual violence.

i've come to a small port town just outside reykjavik to meet hulda. doorbell rings hi. hi, hulda. as a child, she was abused by her grandfather, but for years she was too scared to speak out. in 2017, she founded 0fgar, a feminist organisation. when you talk about or hear about iceland, everybody says, like, "this is the safest country in the world, "we are the happiest, women are the safest." we have been marketed as this feminist paradise, and which we are not. of course, we have less gun violence. of course, we have less gang violence. but at home, we are not any more safe than women anywhere else and in europe. why's...why do you think it's such a big issue here? violence thrives in silence, and we have been taught since we were young to forgive and to forget to forgive and to forget and stay quiet. and stay quiet. i grew up in all the privileges i grew up in all the privileges you can imagine, you can imagine, but at night but at night

or during the weekends, or during the weekends, i was still being molested i was still being molested by my grandfather, by my grandfather, and i didn't dare say anything and i didn't dare say anything because i did not want because i did not want to shame my family. to shame my family. 0ur organisation 0ur organisation is for survivors, is for survivors, done by survivors of done by survivors of gender—based violence, gender—based violence, and we use all our resources — and we use all our resources — our social media, our energy — our social media, our energy — to give survivors to give survivors of gender—based violence of gender—based violence a safe place a safe place to give their voice. to give their voice. we didn't start, like, we didn't start, like, really speaking up really speaking up about what happened to us not taken seriously, about what happened to us until metoo in 2017. until metoo in 2017. so now, women are so now, women are starting to say, like, starting to say, like, "this happened to me, "this happened to me, this is what did it to me." this is what did it to me." some women in iceland some women in iceland believe the justice system believe the justice system has let them down has let them down in a systemic way. in a systemic way. more than 80% of reports more than 80% of reports of sexual violence of sexual violence are dropped — are dropped — they never make it to court — they never make it to court — and because of that, and because of that, the state is being sued the state is being sued for misogyny. we thought it was time to take things further. we thought it was completely unacceptable

that women were for misogyny. iceland is a small country.

it only has two shelters for women fleeing gender—based violence. fleeing gender—based violence. hi! hiya. hi! hiya. how are you? how are you? i'm fine. i'm fine. welcome. going to a shelter can be welcome. going to a shelter can be a very isolating experience. a very isolating experience. the focus here is making women the focus here is making women feel less alone feel less alone from the very beginning. from the very beginning. so, this is the common area. so, this is the common area. 0k. 0k. the living room the living room and the kitchen. and the kitchen. so this is, maybe, like, so this is, maybe, like, the heart of the... the heart of the... ah! ah! ..heart of the house. ..heart of the house. we eat dinner together sort of, we eat dinner together every night... every night... mm—hm. mm—hm. ..and this is very important ..and this is very important for us — for us — to have this common area to have this common area where we come together... where we come together... mm. mm. ..and also, during ..and also, during the nights, we are here — the nights, we are here — there are knitting nights, there are knitting nights, or whatever�*s going on, so... or whatever�*s going on, so... and it's an open—plan kitchen, and it's an open—plan kitchen, as well. as well. yeah. yeah. the idea is, like, the idea is, like, we have our housewife we have our housewife that is here every day, that is here every day, but the idea is that the women, they also help, and they are, like, part of the household.

and it's...| guess it's,

we believe that all this work that we are doing is really helping the women to work their way away from the violence and away from the relationship.

we're at a vigil to remember all the icelandic women who have been killed by men. itjust shows that, even in a country that is supposed to be a great place for women, things are far from perfect. they sing in icelandic iceland has closed more than 90% of its gender gap. it's the only country in the world to have done so. at this rate, when do you think that iceland will close the gender gap? my ambition is for iceland to be first to close the gender gap and hopefully by 2030. and iceland should — and already does — lead on that front. that's an ambitious goal,

i realise that. but when you say "closing the gender gap by 2030," i mean, that's very soon. it is. do you think that's realistic? probably not a realistic goal, but we don't need realistic goals now. we need courageous goals, ambitious goals. we are facing massive challenges the world over, and empowering women, closing the gender gap is a big part of solving them, if not the key to solving them. do you feel optimistic about the changes that the new generation, you know, your daughter's generation, will bring? absolutely. my daughters are so well educated about consent. they will hopefully take that into their relationship if they have one in the future. you don't need to have, like, a husband and two children, and a house, or like... you can be... 0ra wife.

i will. .. you know... or a wife. linda is working on a purpose—built shelter, the first in iceland and one of very few in europe. and what will the common area look like? what do you envisage? warmth and cosiness, and that's, like, the main thing. i feel like it's really important that you get the time to still be yourself. i actually think maybe - iceland's most important role is not only to close its own gender gap, but to be - a lighthouse for the rest of the world. . hello. the new year didn't get off

to the best of starts weather—wise. some parts of the uk had strong winds, heavy rain and flooding and with that rain clearing away, we've been ushering in some colder air. so frost and ice to start thursday morning, and then a day of sunny spells and some wintry showers. the satellite picture clearly shows the band of cloud that brought the heavy rain on new year's day, but then a clearance — those clear skies pushing down from the north. also, a speckling of shower clouds and this cold air digging southwards. so a widespread frost and some ice to start thursday morning. could be some slippery surfaces for the journey back to work. many places through the day, though, will see lots of blue sky and sunshine, but some wintry showers running down this east coast. some for wales, northern ireland, the odd shower for south—west england the odd shower for southwest england and frequent snow showers in the north of scotland — further accumulations of snow are possible here. windy up towards the north and the east. a cold day —

i think there will be parts of scotland and the north of england that may not get above freezing all day long. and then through thursday night, another very cold one. but this band of rain, sleet and snow pushes southwards — that could give rise to some slippery surfaces again on friday morning. widely, those temperatures well below freezing, so another cold start on friday. again, we'll see some spells of sunshine, perhaps a bit more cloud in the mix this time. some showers for northern ireland, wales, north west england, the midlands — some of these actually i think falling as rain, particularly at low levels. still a fair bit of snow in the showers across the northeast of scotland, where it will stay fairly windy — another cold day. and it stays cold into saturday. in fact, there could be some areas of low cloud mist and freezing fog, and if that fog lingers for a good part of the day, those temperatures really will struggle. some wintry showers up to the north. you can see confirmation of those low temperatures through the afternoon, but some wet weather pushing in from the south—west, but some wet weather

pushing in from the southwest, and this could cause some problems. low pressure swirling in from the southwest, some wet weather, some windy weather, but bumping into the cold air, some of us could see significant snow. uncertainty about the detail at this range, but some travel disruption is possible. it is worth staying in touch with the forecast. bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. 15 people are killed after a van rammed into crowds in new orleans. the suspect was shot dead, and found posting videos supporting islamic state hours before the attack. while this person committed a terrible assault on a city, the spirit of new orleans will never, never, never be defeated. it will always shine.

president biden says investigators are looking into whether an explosion of a cybertruck outside a trump hotel in las vegas is linked to the new orleans attack. and — dozens of flood warnings remain in place in the uk after torrential rain. greater manchester police declared a major incident after widespread flooding. hello. i'm sally bundock. we start in the united states, where president biden has said the man who drove a pickup truck into a crowd in new orleans, killing 15 people, had posted videos supporting islamic state hours before the attack. the man has been identified as 42—year—old shamsud—dinjabbar — a us citizen and army veteran from texas. the attacker was killed in a shootout with police in which two officers were injured. authorities say the attack was an act of terrorism,

and jabbar wasn't the only one responsible.