arriva said they understand the decision. statement in the last half an hour or so and they sate the scale of the challenges we faced outside of our direct control were unprecedented. we recognise overall service improvements have not come quickly enough. passengers deserve better, for that, we wholeheartedly apologise. just to explain that a bit more, when they say that they faced challenges outside of their direct control, when they took over the franchise, then took over under the franchise, then took over under the impression that certain routes like the bolton line out from manchester would be electrified sooner than it was and that would have freed up older diesel stock to come up to the other side of the pennines so they could put new electric trains on that route. that electrification was delayed so the roll—out of new trains slowed down so their service commitment, say what they wanted to do and their plans were all put on hold. then they had to train drivers so that put people out of the system he would normally be

arriva are operating the trains and because i mentioned it is about also the mess the railways are in up to take arriva's position. the public company bringing them in, i'm not sure that would be the favoured option of the government because it isa option of the government because it is a massive commuter network, not straightforward process. thank you. coming up... he's not got a drugs problem — he's got lyme disease. justin bieber comes clean about rumours surrounding his health. and could this man be the next leader of the labour party? veteran mp barry gardiner says he's considering becoming the seventh candidate to throw his hat into the ring. we'll be asking him why. next, to our exclusive story today — a ministerial inquiry which cleared former welsh secretary, alun cairns, of misconduct over what he knew about the role of his former aide in the collapse of a rape trial, has been dismissed as a sham by the victim. in an exclusive interview with this programme, the woman says she wasn't even contacted as part of the investigation, which was focused on whether mr cairns had been

a sense of relief from them that finally something has happened, the owners of the franchise, arriva,m the 1st of march, the government will take over, that doesn't mean they will see immediate change, but they feel something is happening that gives them hope for the future. i was on one of their trains a few days ago. we saw the levels of overcrowding, the frustration of the passengers, but interestingly, also from the star. this is my report. a snapshot of early rail travel across the north, half an hour late and just two carriages between halifax and hall. passengers worn down, after 18 months of delays, strikes and overcrowding. cancelled all their time, all the time. we have been waiting once on board, there are no seats available, even at the train conductor is 50 to. we apologise for those overcrowding. i have reported it to them, aware of the situation, they will probably do nothing about it, but at least i have tried to do my bit. i sympathise with you all. shouldn't have trained this visit. it had not the odd occasion, it is a continuous thing, it's a bad service thatis cont

quickly, are you saying it is short—sighted to strip arriva given the fact that arriva tends to do verythe reality if situation is long—term and i think the current franchise agreement to by the government is fit for purpose and need a replacement and some of our politicians here would like public ownership and others have advocated the other way. i think he misses immunity feels we need to see action but the real risk is we do something about northern rail but don't deal with trance pin i when the reality is stations like manchester victoria and a crossing point for liverpool to newcastle across the north of england, if you are behind trance pin nine, does not matter how good northern operators are handling their trains, they cannot run reliable behind other trains. the issues had to be sought across both operators in partnership with network rail and perhaps a bit cynical of this was put him of the government to say over the next few weeks we will see more credible analysis of government notjust about capturing headlines but doing their bit to use money that is already in the system t

astonishment cynthia arriva wasn't recognised for her performance as harriet tubman.and the baftas ignored greta gerwig berg's little women. we have heard her story to much. these days we have had three women nominated for best director in 90 plus years. we hope that changes on monday, hopefully with greater, but if it doesn't, that will be a huge story. this is a year where she could be going up against her partner, noah bumbak. that is one of the amazing stories. armour her realm for honey boy and marianne hellerfor realm for honey boy and marianne heller for beautiful day in the neighbourhood, again, queen and slim, again, liu xiaobo long for the farewell. at this point if you were a female filmmaker and your creating these stories, and what point do you say what do you have to do to be recognised by this industry? i'm hoping with the diversification effo rts hoping with the diversification efforts the academy has done, starting with cheryl boone isaacs and the work that kicked off with april rain and 0scarssowhite, i'm hoping for a better result but only time will

the service, which is run by arriva, has been accused of allowing unacceptable delays across its networkrant shapps joins us from westminster. thank you forjoining us. the network's problems have been well documented but why have you decided to go down this route of as you put it, the last resort of the government taking over?” it, the last resort of the government taking over? i approach these things as a frustrated commuter and i have been very concerned about mcnaughton since i became transport secretary last summer became transport secretary last summerandi became transport secretary last summer and i immediately put steps in place to look at the alternatives and issue notices of what has happened today is that essentially the northern franchise has set the franchise, they are to be stripped of that franchise and instead it will go to what is called the office of last resort which means we will ta ke of last resort which means we will take over running best franchise and start to bring in improvements. and what sort of improvements will you be able to bring in and how soon will it ta

he left to escape what he calls political persecution evacuations have begun in relief supplies of arriva thousands of australians stranded in fire ravaged towns another heat waves expected over the coming days the bushfires of 8 people. supporters and members of an iran but group withdrawn from the u.s. embassy compound in iraq's capital baghdad after a 2 day siege leaders of the popular mobilization forces ordered them to leave but in return they want to iraq's parliament to vote on a timeline for the draw of foreign troops but those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after witness statement that's a letter from. if . the phone. on the phone. that he. was going to be able to say. is. going to finance. and some of the festivities and. the firing of his. wife. was over. thank you you look at. condell it's not 2015 the women of golden dawn got to be the stars. the men in prison i witness stuff now and i don't come to life. they were not the victim cinema. it was all me you know love was funny if. you. all the men not. the. fast the warm up all the make this is so yes b

actually what arriva north have provided is having the opposite effect.spital appointments and all sorts of different things like family get—togethers. it is the human cost of this, notjust the fa ct human cost of this, notjust the fact that northern have let people down and are charging them more for the deteriorating service because their fares have gone the deteriorating service because theirfares have gone up, it is some of those stories that mean the government should have acted earlier and we have been calling for 18 months or more for northern to be stripped of its franchise and we will see what the announcement today actually provides, solace for some people who have been badly affected. we have been getting lots of comments and e—mails and messages from people across the uk. they say it is not just from people across the uk. they say it is notjust northern they are struggling with their services as well, so is it fair to single out northern? yes, i represent my constituents, 1.6 million people who have been telling me that they wa nted have been

a final decision on whether to strip arriva of the franchise completely and bring it under public controlwn next month after just two years in the top job. why? profits are down, they're expected to continue to be down, and —— this is after a pretty dismal performance last year and the christmas season — which is normally a boon for retailers. they're not the only ones feeling the pain. m&s has failed to build on signs of a recovery in its clothing business — and high levels of waste have hit its profit margins on food. tesco's been talking today about a subdued market in the uk. in fact, the brc, the retail lobby group says 2019 was the worst sales year on record for the industry, what should we make of all this? lets get the insights of kristen davis from shoppercentric — a specialist agency working across major retailers here and across the eu. sales havent been this bad since at least 1995. what's behind it? it is big news coming through, i think one of the big things we are seeing is a classic stretch scenario, both the bottom and the top benefiting and middle ground where the larger

a final decision on whether to strip arriva of the franchise completely and bring it under public controls immune. staff there have been warned that they may not get their annual bonus for the first time since the 50s. managing director paul nickolds is leaving after two years at the top. not a great two years for her. why? well, sales are down, profits are down, they are likely to fall further, and this is after christmas, which is supposed to be a boon for retailers. 0ne christmas, which is supposed to be a boon for retailers. one of the reasons as we are just not buying as much stuff. some people might be feeling the pinch, maybe there are worried aboutjob security or uncertainty, there has been a lot going on in the news in the last six months which might put you off spending. there is also strong evidence that we would rather spend £10 in the pub then we would on a christmas stocking. we have seen sales of toys, video games, everything from argos yesterday, they were reporting, they said they we re they were reporting, they said they were down. even things that seem like things that

franchise to run rail services across much of the north of england has been stripped from the operator, arriva. tom burridge has been listening to commuters tales of woe. i've had to move house to be closer to uni because the trains are cancelled, or late, and i really struggle to get in in time for lectures and stuff. so, it's been really hard. you've moved house because of an unreliable train service? yeah. i've, like, moved towns completely. quite a lot of people, including myself, will end up spending an extra £100, £150 a week sometimes on taxis because the train hasn't come, i need to be in work. so, i'm a head chef at the moment, if i don't get in, people don't eat. but nationalising this vast network — which runs from the humber, in the east, to places like blackburn, further west, linking communities to cities like leeds — won't change things overnight. northern's parent company said it did what it could. we have been trying to put more services on the network, but the network hasn't kept up, and that has meant that services have become far too unreliable and, rightly, a new plan is n

franchise to run rail services across much of the north of england has been stripped from the operator, arrivarcrowding on out of date trains. tom burridge has been listening to commuters tales of woe. i have had to move house because of unity and because of the trains have cancelled or wait and really struggle to get in time for lectures and so it has been really hard. you moved up because of an unreliable train service? i moved towns completely. a lot of people could myself will spend an extra 100, £200 weight because the train has not, to work. i am a head chef. if i don't come in... nationalising this vast network which runs from the humber in the east to places like blackburn further west linking communities to cities like it leads one change things overnight. —— like weeds. northern pots i pick up and he said it did what it could stop you but we try to put more services on the network and the network has not kept up. that means the service has become fortune revival and a new plan is needed. the government wants performance—based contracts instead. rather than disenfranchise system which

well, i think it is important to note that arriva, who run the franchise, are actually running out ofer contractual obligations to the government for a certain amount of subsidy. they have been using their own money to in effect, prop up their own money to in effect, prop up the franchise financially, and they will run out of money. so, the franchise is financially unsustainable. i understand that, but in terms of use are seeing an improvement, what will change?” think it is very difficult to say that anything will change in the short term, and it may well be that evenif short term, and it may well be that even if the franchise is taken into public ownership in the short term there will continue to be problems. some of those problems will be alleviated when the new fleet is in place, but as i said before, the north needs significant infrastructure investment to give passengers the frequent and reliable service that they want. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. we are expecting that decision a little later. we will also speak to somebody who refused to come back from wuhan becau