i discussed this story earlier with our security correspondent, frank gardner. britain as an island nation is very dependent on undersea cables, primarily for telecoms, for communications. and we're not alone in this. so there are also, in the baltic sea, a number of undersea cables, some of which have recently been cut. now, this particular vessel, the yantar, which is a russian surveillance vessel, was seen in november. loitering is the word that was used over britain's very sensitive undersea cables and it was effectively chased off. it departed southwards to the mediterranean, and it has now come backjust a few weeks later, and the royal navy surfaced a submarine quite close to it to basically give the russians the clear understanding that it was being monitored. and you saw therejohn healey, the defence secretary, saying that, you know, and he's also said this is a clear message to president putin that we're watching you.

there are two factors here, ithink, anita. one is the what's called hybrid warfare, the fear that russia is mapping undersea telecoms, communications and other, the cables, including pipelines that connect britain to the rest of europe and to the rest of the world. i mean, when you get on your phone and you send a message over the internet that's not going up into space, that's going under the sea. and, you know, i only found that out myself relatively recently. i mean, its extraordinary, but these things go along the sea bottom. now, russia has got a number of vessels that have the capability to cut these things. and so there is the hybrid warfare aspect of cutting undersea cables, which is something that has taken place twice. it's suspected that russia is to blame, but russia is not going to admit to this. that's taken place twice recently. and then there's the whole shadow fleet business. so it's very murky. so russia is heavily sanctioned. it's not allowed to transport

its oil and gas freely around the world in the way it was before, but it's got so—called shadow fleet of around 1000 rusting hulks that is that often uninsured, that are illegally transporting this stuff around the world. and some of those are being used for these nefarious purposes. another story today involving russia, more specifically, frank, the approximately 11,000 north korean soldiers who arrived to help russia fight against ukraine in the kursk region. we know now from some latest data that nearly a0%, around 4000 of those soldiers are casualties, either dead, a thousand of them injured are missing or arrested. now, does this say more about the preparedness of the north korean soldiers, or more about the nature of the fight in the kursk region? i think it's both. so this story was given exclusively to us, to the bbc, on grounds of anonymity by, quote, western officials. so, of course, we've got no means of being able

to check it ourselves. we're not going to go wandering around the battlefield. but at the same time, there's no reason for me to doubt this. we know that north korea sent a contingent of around 11,000 so—called storm core troops. now, these are, in north korean terms, elite troops. they are better than the normal north korean conscripts, but they have no battle, no combat experience. and they will be very, very doctrinal, very old fashioned doctrine. and so they were unprepared for the intensity of combat in kursk, and of the 4000 that you mention, a thousand are believed to have been killed. that is an unsustainable attrition rate. yeah. just finally and briefly, frank, will north korea send more troops to replace these or is that out of the question? and what does that mean for russia for its actions? if they don't send them, then the north korean contingent will eventually just eviscerate and it will disappear. i mean, they already are having problems with language because none of them,

very few of them, almost none of them speak russian. they've got to have interpreters. they are operating in a completely different system and tactics from what they're used to, and frankly, they're being used. according to one military expert i spoke to as cannon fodder. they are being thrown into the meat grinder and being mown down by what's called fpv. first person view drones. so it's a tough time for them. will they be replaced ? probably, yes. there are plenty more where they came from, but of course it begs the question what is north korea getting in exchange from russia? is itjust money and aid, or is it help with submarine technology, ballistic missiles, space technology? south korea is worried. you are watching bbc news.

a 26—year—old man has admitted murdering three members of the family of the bbc racing commentatorjohn hunt. kyle clifford stabbed mr hunt's wife carol at their home in hertfordshire injuly and shot two of the couple's daughters, 25—year—old louise and 28—year—old hannah with a crossbow. he had initially denied three counts of murder but changed his plea at cambridge crown court this morning. kyle clifford, caught on cctv leaving an alleyway leading from the hunt family home on the day of the murders. he is carrying a large object before entering a car. this morning kyle clifford pleaded guilty to carrying two offensive weapons. a knife and a crossbow. he also pleaded guilty to murdering 61—year—old carol hunt, a mother and wife to racing commentator john hunt. their daughters, 28—year—old hannah, a beautician, and 25—year—old louise, who ran a dog grooming business and was an ex—girlfriend to kyle clifford. a family and community

left in shock. the women were remembered at vigils and a church service shortly after they were murdered. leigh was an old friend of carol. lovely girl. sweet, kind girl. always thought about her family. very family orientated. i just feel for their eldest daughter. and john. ijust can't imagine what it would be like. the nicest, kindest, sweetest person. a beautiful person. at the time, john hunt and the couple's daughter amy said the devastation we are experiencing cannot be put into words. the horse racing community rallied around them. here is a moment of silence at newmarket injuly. john's bbc sports colleague mark chapman paid this emotional tribute.

this has been a heartbreaking day. john hunt is our colleague and ourfriend, notjust in the current 5 live sport team but all of those who have worked here with him over the past 20 years. and also to all of you who have enjoyed his superb commentaries. today 26—year—old kyle clifford pleaded not guilty to the charge of raping louise hunt during his attack on the family. the trial is expected to begin on that specific charge later this year. a family has been left devastated by his brutal violence in a home where they should have found safety. "kindness" has been named as the uk 2024 children's word of the year. thousands of youngsters aged between six and fourteen took part in the vote.

oxford university press, which carried out the research says its often found that events around the world have an influence on children's choices and their language. 0ur reporterjayne mccubbin has been speaking to pupils in the north west as this year's word was revealed. the children's word of the year is... kindness. and isn't that nice? the quality of being caring, friendly and generous. and a kind act. a kind act. we've come to westcliff primary in blackpool to reveal the most important words chosen by thousands of children across the uk. and yes, number one is... all: kindness! why do you think this is the word of the year? maybe some people — not in this school, but maybe some people around aren't being that nice to each other or something. people have to be kind, otherwise one will get hurt. so true, annie. are you kind? of course she is!

and the words kids choose tell a story of our times. in 2020, the children's word of the year was coronavirus. you must stay at home. in 2021...anxiety. 2022. ..queen. and 2023... climate change. and the people behind the list think the latest word reflects awareness of current affairs and mental health. because there's been loads of wars, this isn't a very kind thing to do. nursery, shall we show our kind hands? shall we wave our kind hands? wave them? you teach the kids a lot about kindness, don't you? i think it's important for children to learn from adults about the kindness. but also, i think it's really important for adults to learn from children as well. and as we know, children tell the truth. so i think it's really important that they chose that word this year.

kids can teach us a thing or two, notjust lessons in kindness. take you on an adventure! especially when it comes to the slang words of the year. skibidi! so you're going to educate me. sigma. sigma! sigma. what does this mean? the kids�* slang word of the year is... slaying! slay queen! can the grown—ups pull it off? mrs stokes, we know you can be down with the kids. hit it! mr mac? you are so skibidi. you slay! laughter. the lingo may be new and evolving, but basic foundations of kindness seem to be eternal. get down with the kids!

jayne mccubbin, bbc news. living the to see the teachers playing along with jane when she was making that report. let's take a look at the weather. hello. after a run of quieter weather over the last few weeks, things are about to get quite stormy across the uk. the met office has already issued a number of amber warnings across parts of northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england and north wales. we could see some damaging gusts in excess of 90 miles an hour for one or two. storm eowyn is still out in the western atlantic right now. it's set to develop into that potent storm, but before it arrives,

this will bring some wet and windy weather tomorrow before we see a quieter spell after some rain through today. before we see a quieter spell now that rain is clearing away from eastern areas. clearer skies tonight. 0utbreaks outbreaks of reign in ireland and strengthening winds. after frosty start outweigh the fog will clear in this area of reign will spread this way eastwards across most areas of england. finalfeast eastwards across most areas of england. final feast will stay largely dry with temperatures close to the average for this stage injanuary. reign stage in january. reign sweeping stage injanuary. reign sweeping in most areas and then the wind strengthened. gales are possible just about anywhere across the uk but the met office has amber warnings in these areas. northern ireland will see the worst of the wind. north wales and northern england and afternoon in england and southern scotland and some could see winds of 70 to 90 mph. so have plans prepared if necessary.

0utbreaks plans prepared if necessary. outbreaks of reign will come and gojust adding to outbreaks of reign will come and go just adding to the winds with further snow on the hills of scotland. we could see a brief spell of hill snow in northern ireland. the winds remain strong by the end of the day. it will remain when the overnight with severe gales in northern scotland on saturday and further showers here. elsewhere the brighter start to the weekend but batches of reign, sleet and potentially hill snow will move into the north and the west as we go through saturday.

live from london, this is bbc news. prince harry settles his long—running legal battle with news group newspapers over allegations of unlawful information—gathering. in a monumental victory today, news uk have admitted that the sun, the flagship title for rupert murdoch's uk media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices. iamat i am at the royal court of justice. and terry says it is vindication notjust for him vindication not just for him but for the vindication notjust for him but for the hundreds of other victims who he says have been forced to settle. —— prince harry says. donald trump warns russia to end the war in ukraine ourface new sanctions. tributes are

paid to the 12—year—old boy who was stabbed to death in birmingham yesterday. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder. the british government warns moscow after a russian a russian spy ship is caught operating off the coast of britain. prince harry has accepted substantial damages and settled his long—running legal battle against the publisher of the sun, news group newspapers, which is owned by the media tycoon rupert murdoch. the duke of sussex and the former labour party deputy leader lord watson, who also settled his legal claim today, alleged that journalists had carried out unlawful information—gathering into their private lives. news group newspapers gave a full and unequivocal apology to prince harry for serious intrusions over the course of 15 years. it's also apologised for intruding into the private life of his late mother, diana, princess of wales.