the penultimate round of matches, with qualification for the last 16 still in the balance for so many clubs — the likes of p56 and manchester city are battling for a play—off spot. liverpool are the only side with a 100% record — with six wins out of six — and need just one point to guarantee direct progress to the knockout stage. if they win at home to lille later, and barcelona fail to beat benfica, arne slot�*s side would be sure of finishing top of the 36 team league — that should get them a kinder draw for the round of 16. i love looking at a league table in the way of, oh, if we are number one, we probably have the most easy team to face because that is impossible to say because of this weird format — weird, i don't mean in a negative way, but a strange format we are having now. being on top may be doesn't tell you that you are the best team. being number 2a it doesn't tell you that you are number 2a in terms of quality. it has a lot to do with

the teams that you've faced. we want to win but not from an idea that it will probably give us the best lead—up for the rest of the campaign. a further eight fixtures in the champions league tonight, with early starts for monaco — aston villa and atalanta — sturm graz. they kick off in the next few minutes. atletico madrid in 11th who host fourth—placed bayer leverkusen. barcelona in second will look to take advantage of any slip by liverpool, while dortmund could take a step towards a top eight finish, with a win at bologna. manchester city have bolstered their defensive options again, with vitor reis the second player to join the club in the space of 2a hours. the deal for the 19—year—old brazilian defender was only announced early on tuesday. he's cost nearly £30 millionfrom palmerias. and another young defender,

20—year—old abdukodir khusanov arrived from french side lens forjust over £33 million. he becomes the first premier league playerfrom uzbekistan. both have been training, but won't be eligible to play away at p56 tomorrow in the champions league. the 10—time champion novak djokovic is through to the semi—finals at the australian open after a thrilling, hard—fought victory over spain's carlos alcaraz. alcaraz, who beat djokovic in both his wimbledon final triumphs, took the first set 6—4 but from that point onwards, the serb took control, winning the next three in a match that lasted over three and half hours — and finished just before one in the morning. alcaraz, was third seed in melbourne but has never made it past the quarters. djokovic will face alexander zverev in the semis. the women's champion aryna sabalenka is into the semis after a 19th win in a row at melbourne park. the world number one, who is looking to secure a hatrick of australian open titles, had to work really hard to battle past the 27th seed anastasia pavlyuchenkova. she won it in three sets, 6—2, 2—6, 6—3.

i was all over the place, but i'm really glad that at some point i was able to put myself back together and i was able to, you know, like... able to put myself back together and iwas able to, you know, like... i don't know, just get back to the match and like i was able to keep fighting, keep trying as i was able to turn around this match. it was a really difficult one. this year's six nations championship will mark 25 years since italy joined the tournament and to reflect that milestone, the annual launch event took place at the colosseum in rome the coaches and captains of the six nations posed with the trophy within the city's iconic landmark ahead of the tournament's first match on january 31st when france take on wales. ireland are back—to—back champions and are aiming to become the first nation to win the competition three years in a row. and that's all the sport for now. will be back with more later on. we'll see you then.

president trump has started his second term — as promised — with a shock and awe flurry of executive orders. ben chu from bbc verify has been trawling through some of them — there are 100 or so — to see what they will mean. president trump signed 26 executive orders on the day of his inauguration, covering areas ranging from border control, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations to energy policy, withdrawing the us from the paris climate agreement, to diversity and gender, declare there are only two genders male and female. many more executive orders besides. but what are these executive orders? well, they are a written order or directed issue by the president to the us federal government which does not require approval by the us congress, its legislative branch. they are not explicitly mentioned in the us constitution of 1789, but it is expected to derive from article two,

the executive power shall be vested in a president of the united states of america. and every president from george washington down has used them. presidents can't revoke the executive orders of their predecessors, on his first day in office in 2021, joe biden signed an executive order weighing the ground for the us to rejoin the 2015 paris climate agreement, reversing an orderfrom donald trump's purse term. and yesterday trump reversed that biden executive order. they have been historically significant. abraham lincoln's emancipation abra ham lincoln's emancipation proclamation abraham lincoln's emancipation proclamation declared all enslaved people in the confederate states free, was a form of executive order. in the second world war, franklin roosevelt use an executive order to put japanese—americans into put japanese—america ns into detention centres. put japanese—americans into detention centres. it's important to note while executive orders can have the same power as federal law, executive orders can also be challenged in the courts. bill

clinton signed an executive order in 1995 preventing the federal government from giving contracts to firms that hire permanent replacement workers during strikes. a year later, the order was avoided by a federal appeals court. donald trump's new executive order to end birthright citizenship automatic american citizenship granted anyone born in the united states has already drawn a legal challenge on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. the 14th amendment of the constitution explicitly states that all persons born or naturalised in the united states are citizens of the united states. congress can also pass a law to override an executive order, though the president still has a veto over that law. they are at the heart of profound questions of where power lies in the american political system and even what sort of country america is. in his entire first term, trump signed 220 executive

orders after a single day in office he has already had quite rapidly towards a matching that total though how many will last is uncertain. president trump will inherit foreign policy dilemmas, in particular in the middle east. that's despite the fragile ceasefire reached between hamas and israel. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is in riyadh and sent this report. president trump says he wants to stop wars, not start them. he'll be tested here in the middle east even he'll be tested here in the middle east. even before he took office, his pressure pushed hamas and israel to agree to a ceasefire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners. but since then, he says he's not confident that that deal will be upheld. and in his first hours in office, he took steps in support of israel. but will he accept prime minister netanyahu's demand to ratchet up the pressure on iran to stop it

from acquiring a nuclear weapon, a step tehran denies it's taken, but that could potentially start a war which could draw in the united states. what president trump says he is keen on is expanding an initiative he took in his first term, the abraham accords, a process of normalisation between israel and arab states. the big prize would be to get saudi arabia tojoin. but here in the kingdom, they say they won't unless there's a path to a palestinian state. and that's something prime minister netanyahu rejects. so president trump says he wants to be a peacemaker. that's not easy here in this region known for its forever wars and peace deals, which don't stick. that was lyse doucet. one of most pressing issues facing the new us president will be

the situation in the middle east. as the gaza ceasefire continues to hold for a third day the un says aid convoys going into the territory have been free of looters these have been free of looters. these are the latest pictures from rafah. the un says more than 900 aid trucks entered the territory on monday. hamas has confirmed it will release the next israeli hostages on saturday in exchange for palestinians held by israel. nichola jones is from the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies. i asked what their priorities are when providing aid to gaza... yeah, of course, as you outline, the needs are catastrophic for the people in gaza. we're talking about two million people who have been struggling and clinging to survival. and clinging to survival now for the best part of 15 months. and so in this moment, the priorities from our side, from the international federation of red cross and red crescent is really to get in as much emergency and critical aid as we can. and we are focusing on healthcare, on medical supplies, on medicines

and on shelter. just even the most basic of items, like a blanket, are really critical right now. it's our colleagues at the palestine red crescent that are on the ground and who are already responding and have been throughout the whole of the last nightmare of the previous 15 months. and now they're also putting a lot of their efforts onto the medical care and the emergency response to the people who are desperately trying to find their way through the next phase of this emergency. because although the ceasefire provides some level of relief and some level of a moment for people to catch their breath, the reality of people in gaza is that they don't have anywhere to live. more than 70% of of homes have been damaged or destroyed. and so now we are working with the palestine red crescent and our volunteers and staff on the ground there to try and provide as much support as we can in this really difficult moment. yes, aid agencies will want to flood the area with all manner of help. just a short answer on this in terms of the obvious dangers.

i mentioned looters because we've seen aid deliveries being looted in recent months, but also you have unexploded ordnance. how dangerous is it going to be? yeah, you're absolutely right. this is an operation, an aid operation fraught with obstacles and challenges, not only from the logistical point of view ofjust the physical movement of aid at the border and the relaxing of those restrictions that we hope will continue and become more freeing for us as we go forward through the ceasefire process, but also on the other side. sojust to underline, once aid arrives in gaza, we're in a situation where there are barely any functioning roads there, warehouses that we would have used to store aid, for example, have been destroyed. there's no electricity supply. there is still a massive shortage of fuel. so all of these challenges, combined with the ones that you outlined, are presenting something of a of a real big moment for us of a real big moment for us as the sector, but nothing more important

really than the challenges faced by the people of gaza themselves. 0bviously things like food, shelter, medicines are the absolute priority, but i suppose in the short term or medium term, all those psychological issues, trauma, there's going to be an awful lot of help that's needed in that area. there is, absolutely. and that's such an important point, because there are obviously many people who are injured and wounded and dealing with the chronic health conditions that they already have in the absence of any proper functioning medical service. and we with the palestine red crescent, are running medical health services, ambulances, setting up a field hospital. but what is really happening here, also to the community is the wounds that are not so visible, and the trauma and the psychological damage that has been also done to people throughout the last 15 months. to that end, we are focusing on providing that kind of psychological support and safe spaces for people to be able to try to process and grieve and come together at this moment

as the long road to recovery begins. let me take you back to washington because that interfaith service has finished at the washington national cathedral and donald trump heading back to the oval office. a little later there will be a major announcement on infrastructure. so more from washington here on the programme in the next little while. the chancellor will arrive in the swiss town of davos today for the world economic forum, where she will say that the uk is "on the up" — as she meets business leaders and investors from around the world. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, is in davos. it's going to be a turbulent start to the markets this year, not least because of what has been happening in america and speculation about the trade system. the uk's also been caught up in that. this is a great opportunity for the still newish government to present itself and its plans, particularly to convince the world that britain is a great place

to grow businesses. that has been in doubt because of some of the decisions around the budget, but she will want to appeal here directly to the big international investors. and she was helped by one of britain's biggest banks, barclays, saying that they are very optimistic about growth, not necessarily the story we have been hearing back home, but she will also be meeting with those big investors. the message i'm hearing privately is that, yes, the uk has a lot of assets economically and the government has put in place what they say is a kind of stability. but now they need to see some decisions, some long—term decisions and difficult decisions. coming into sight now is a decision on airport expansion. we have been here before on this. it has been long delayed because of court cases, and because of covid when the demand for airlines collapsed. but it is back on the agenda again, because air traffic is booming again. there is a shovel—ready project at gatwick, where they want to convert a runway, but there is also

the idea that heathrow might expand again, which is being considered. the government in opposition said there were four tests that had to be met if they were to go with that, but the investors that have been backing both of those projects and lots of other projects in the uk are here in davos and they are wondering what the direction of policy is, and when the chancellor arrives here, she will certainly have questions to answer and some convincing to do. but there are some people willing to listen about britain's growth prospects, important as they are not just to the economy, but for the whole of britain. south korea's suspended president yoon has made his first appearance at his impeachment trial, where he denied ordering the arrest of lawmakers during his attempt to impose martial law. parliament voted to impeach yoon last month, and last week the constitutional court began a trial to decide whether to permanently remove him from office. 0ur correspondent in seoul, jean mackenzie has the latest.

security here in seoul today has been incredibly tight, as mr yoon has had to be transported from the detention centre, where he's currently being held, to the constitutional court. all the roads around the constitutional court were completely blocked off to the public. police officers formed these human walls to cut off the access. this was to stop mr yoon's supporters from being able to get close to the court, because hundreds of them had gathered nearby. this was quite a moment here today because not only is it mr yoon's first appearance in this impeachment trial, but it is the first time we've really seen him in public since he made that martial law declaration back in early december. and it's the first time that a president here has chosen to turn up to their own impeachment trial and defend themselves. so what did he say? mr yoon argued that he hadn't broken the constitution, that he was within his right to declare martial law. that night, he and his lawyers

claimed that he hadn't ever intended to fully disband the parliament, and that he had dispatched the troops to the parliament that night, in fact, to protect the public. prosecutors responded, though, saying that his arguments were unclear, they were incoherent and that he was trying to evade responsibility. if the constitutional court decides to impeach him, then mr yoon will be officially removed from office. but if not, then he will be put back in charge of running the country. and what is interesting is how mr yoon has chosen to really come out and fight against this impeachment and defend himself. this is in total contrast to how he is dealing with the criminal proceedings against him, which he is completely refusing to engage with, refusing to cooperate with. for days now, he has refused to even answer questions despite the fact that he is in custody. he has called this process illegal and invalid, and infighting it, he has attacked and discredited south korea's political

and legal institutions. he has even said that the rule of law in this country has broken down, and this rhetoric has now been adopted by mr yoon supporters. we saw at the weekend the protests turned violent for the first time, as some of his supporters stormed one of the court buildings and vandalised it. and there is a fear here that we are now going to see more of this, that the more belligerent and unrepentant mr yoon is, the more agitated and aggressive his supporters might become. jean mackenzie in his soul. the actor pauline quirke, best known for her role in the long—running comedy—drama birds of a feather, will be stepping back from acting as she is living with dementia. her husband, steve sheen, announced that she has made the decision, following her diagnosis with the disease four years ago. 0ur reporterjessica lane has more. put the magic back in your marriage. i don't think paul daniels could put the magic back into my marriage. known to many as one of the stars

of long—running comedy birds of a feather... no, this where i belong, with my sister, sticking together through thick and thin. and what's the real reason? i've been here so long, i forgot to pay my gas bill. pauline quirke also starred in many dramas, including emmerdale and broadchurch. you people destroyed my family. her 50—year career saw her nominated for many acting awards, and she was given an mbe in the late queen's final birthday honours in 2022. today her husband announced that she has been living with dementia for the past four years, and said, "we kindly request privacy and understanding for pauline and ourfamily during this difficult period. pauline just wants to spend time with herfamily, children and grandchildren". charity alzheimer's research uk has thanked them for speaking out. we've seen with other

people in the media eye like dame barbara windsor, who was very public about her diagnosis of alzheimer's disease, which is one of the most common diseases that causes dementia, that actually, it helps so many other people, whether that's talking about it in their own families to come forward and get a diagnosis, but it starts to break down the stigma that still exists around dementia. although pauline quirke will now step back from acting, hundreds of drama schools in her name have been launched around the country over the years, allowing children to follow in her footsteps. i started acting when i was nine and i came from, at the time, quite a deprived part of london and my mum didn't have much money and the drama lessons that i went to were 10p a lesson, you know, so it was a long time ago. but because of those lessons and getting involved, my life has been completely different. and what's in it for me, dor? nibbles. alzheimer's research uk says that by speaking out, pauline and steve will raise awareness of dementia

as well as funds to help research the condition to support others in the future. jessica lane, bbc news. a rare colony of red squirrels has been discovered on a tree plantation in the north of england. despite being a native species, red squirrels have been driven to the verge of extinction by their grey counterparts. here's fiona lamdin. deep in the yorkshire dales, new colonies of rare red squirrels are springing up. today, julie and her team of volunteers are heading into the woods to check on the endangered mammals. back in the �*60s, there were no reds here. but now there are over 20 — some of whom, right on cue, come out for oui’ cameras.

just watching them just lifts me. it's great. my face is starting to ache because i've been smiling so much. and you're smiling as well, because you've experienced the same thing as well, so what can be wrong with that? it's been a pretty amazing morning. it has, hasn't it? 2002, reds became evident here because the landowners had planted some christmas trees, and it's thought that the red squirrels here have came from the red squirrels that are in cumbria, which is great. the population that i found most recently in another area of north yorkshire is a brand—new population of squirrels. we didn't know they were there. your heart's in your mouth with joy at seeing such a tiny thing. so up for life, really — busy, busy, finding, seeking, eating, munching, just being a squirrel. i think it's something that

everybody should see and i'm really keen that we do our bit to help it for my grandkids so they can see and have the same effect. native to the uk, there used to be 3 million red squirrels, but their population declined when the victorians introduced the greys, who now massively outnumber by almost ten times as many grey squirrels compared to the reds. the greys spread diseases which kill the red squirrels, so pilots have begun giving oral contraception to help manage the grey population, while others are eating them. maybe once a month, i'll have...i'll have squirrel. what do you eat it with? i like it with porcini mushrooms. others like it in curries, pies, burgers. you know, you can do anything with squirrel meat that you can with any other meat. but i prefer it really slow cooked till it falls off the bone.

and conservation efforts are pretty strategic — creating buffer zones around red squirrel strongholds, making sure the two don't mix. we have a known population of red in that direction by a few miles, and in the other direction there are greys in a number of miles, and in the middle we're in a buffer zone, and we do not want those two networks coming together. so at the moment, this is really quite a key point. here in yorkshire, there is a quiet confidence that, after many years, these precious creatures are beginning to thrive once more. fiona lamdin, bbc news. that is almost at it from me. just time to tell you the reuters news agency is reporting that 18 democratic led states and the district of columbia have filed a

lawsuit challenging donald trump's order curtailing birthright citizenship. but of course is written into the constitution, so those legal challenges they have no already got under way. thanks for watching verified life, see you the same good evening. fog may well be an issue again through the night and for tomorrow morning's rush, but it'll be all change by friday when storm eowyn arrives across our shores. it's the fifth named storm of the season. this may be a notch up — we're talking about gusts of wind up to 90 miles an hour, possibly more, so a very powerful storm. for the meantime, we've still got low pressure, but it's the light winds giving the fog. we may see this arm of rain push by towards the south—east, but this is what is coming in — rapidly developing across the atlantic as it rushes towards our shores thursday night into friday. that is storm eowyn. as for this evening, still some rain to come on our weather front straddling the country. showers to the north, but under the clearing skies, fog is an issue again, i think through the coming night. in the south, we've got the two

weather fronts joining forces, so potentially some patchy rain, some hill fog around and there could be a touch of frost, but it's more likely where we keep clearer skies further north. and there, too, a cold frosty start, but also some pockets of dense fog around as well. it will be generally quite misty and damp, potentially, in southern areas, and it will take a long time to brighten up. the best chance of sunshine tomorrow is further north — again, just a few showers around western shores, but probably fewer than today. temperatures, though much on a par with today — fives and sixes for the majority, perhaps a little chillier further north once again. then, as we go through the night, our rain moves away. our next batch of cloud and rain starts to march in off the atlantic. ahead of that, i think we'll see a fairly widespread ground frost, temperatures in the air as well down towards freezing, one or two icy patches, one or two fog patches. but the winds are picking up, so a brisk wind on thursday and our first significant spell of rain for some time, potentially. 0bviously, we've got some rain to come tonight as well. some snow over the hills because it's bumping into that cold air, so temperatures are not going to be remarkable

as we start to see this change to the atlantic influence. but come friday, this is barrelling in. this is our storm, storm eowyn. and it is going to give some very nasty conditions indeed. widespread gales causing significant disruption. it looks very powerful and it could escalate even further with gusts of wind in quite highly populated areas expected to get to 80, potentially 90 miles an hour in more exposed parts. as well as that, we've got the heavy rain and some hill snow as well. the warnings are on the website. do please stay up to date and tuned to the forecasts.

today at six: the prime minister says a new type of threat is facing the country. it follows the murder of three girls in southport by teenager axel rudakubana. he'd been referred to a counter—terrorism programme three times because of his obsession with violence. this case is a sign britain now faces a new threat. terrorism has changed. in washington, it's donald trump's first full day back in the white house. the president has just attended a national prayer service at washington national cathedral, part of the inauguration traditions, but now he's back to work.

one of the president's first big actions — pardoning those convicted of the attacks on the capitol building. many are expected to walk out of jail today. and coming up on bbc news... a big night in the champions league for aston villa who're in monaco. and for liverpool who only need one point to get through to the knockout stage — they're up against lille at anfield. hello and welcome to the bbc news at six. the prime minister has said the uk faces a "new and different threat" and that terrorism has changed. sir keir starmer said the country is now seeing acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners and misfits who are accessing disturbing material online. his comments follow the murder of three young girls in southport

by axel rudakubana.