elaine dunkley, bbc news, in crosby.rrived at tonga's main airport, after last saturday's volcanic eruption and tsunami, cut the pacific island nation off from the outside world. more flights and several ships are on their way, bringing urgently—needed drinking water, food and medicines. the queen says her thoughts and prayers are with the people of tonga, which is part of the commonwealth. here's rupert wingfield hayes. for the first time since last saturday's huge eruption, we're finally getting to see what has happened to tonga's main island. along the coast, the damage from the tsunami looks extensive, with many buildings destroyed. in tonga's capital, nuku'alofa, there's a lot of volcanic ash, but the buildings are intact and the clean—up has begun. telephone services are also back, and that means for tongans living abroad, the agonising wait for news is finally over. it's a relief to finally hear their voices and to finally know how they are back home. my dad had told me that they're fine, no major damages to our h

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in crosby.show the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is falling with just over 107,300 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on average, just under 93,000 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the number of people in hospital has fallen again. tojust the number of people in hospital has fallen again. to just under 18,500. there were 330 deaths reported in the latest 2a hour period — that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, though there will be some amongst this number who won't have died from covid. on average, in the past week, 266 deaths were announced every day. on vaccinations, just under 36,700,000 people have now had a boosterjab, which means nearly 64% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. borisjohnson says he hasn't seen any evidence to back up claims from a senior conservative mp that the government has attempted to "blackmail" colleagues who are opposing him. william wragg, who's one of those calling

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in stockport. our top story this lunchtime.funeral. coming up... early wickets for england in the final ashes test, but australia fight back hard. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes in the bbc news channel, three days before he is due to start his title defence at the australian open, novak djokovic is facing the threat of deportation after having his visa cancelled again. public funding for cricket should be limited unless there's progress the digital, culture, media and sport committee has made the recommendation in a report following testimony by the former yorkshire player azeem rafiq, who described english cricket the england and wales cricket board currently receives over £2 million a yearfrom sport england. eradicating racism from cricket will be a long and difficult road. that's the conclusion of mps who said they are convinced discrimination is endemic in the sport. wales cricket board. if they fail to meet those targets, then there should be the committee praised the former yorkshire player, azeem rafiq, an

elaine dunkley, bbc news.e. he has raised millions of pounds for motor neurone disease charities following the diagnosis of former leeds rhinos team mate rob burrow. britain's population of red squirrels are endangered and protected by law. but new research suggests some of our efforts to conserve their numbers could be causing more harm than good. the planting of large, non—native conifer plantations, intended to help the squirrels, could actually be undermining their survival. our correspondent sarah campbell has more. they are one of the best loved species in the country and under threat of extinction conservationists has spent years trying to save the red squirrel. one key strategy has been the promotion of three forests. red squirrels are thought to be better able to eat the seed cones than their rivals the grey squirrel. but a study in northern ireland has found that these non—native conifer forests could actually be detrimental to the red squirrel populations. the result say it is due to the hungry time

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in stockport.pact of the pandemic." traditional reindeer herders in norway are demanding that wind turbines on their pastures be dismantled after the country's supreme court ruled that they were illegal. the court said that two farms on the fosen peninsula in western norway violate the rights of the sami people to practice their culture. 151 turbines will be affected. the herders say the wind farms disturb the lichen on which the reindeer feed, affecting their winter grazing grounds. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello, the fairly quiet and largely dry weather conditions will continue for many as we go through the days ahead. it's all because of high pressure in charge. over the south of us at the moment, diverting rain bearing clouds to the north and west of us and that's been piling in across norway. but under the area of high pressure, the air becomes trapped, it stagnates and it's for that reason around london and the south—east, we'll have medium to high pollution l

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in stockport. reports. this time last year serbia was leading the european race to vaccinate its people against coronavirus. while other countries were struggling for supplies, serbians could choose from four different covid jabs, but now the campaign's gone from plain sailing to being stuck in the doldrums. translation: we would vaccinate 5,000 or 6,000 people a day - at the belgrade fair. then it dropped to 2,000 during the summer, and in recent weeks the number has fallen drastically to 300 doses per day. all that means that only around half of serbians are fullyjabbed, and that's why the vaccine hesitant stance of novak djokovic isn't as controversial here as it is in australia. still, serbians who are getting jabbed are hoping the sporting icon will come round to their way of thinking. translation: when there - was a davis cup game in serbia he was bringing tennis players for vaccination here, so i believe some day he will get that vaccine. translation: what's going l on in the background is p

elaine dunkley, bbc news.his pause? i think the main concern _ concerns in this pause? i think the main concern the _ concerns in this pause? i think the main concern the reason - concerns in this pause? i think the main concern the reason why - concerns in this pause? i think the main concern the reason why the i main concern the reason why the select committee called for the pores and we are pleased the government are doing so, is to collect more data —— called for the pause. to make sure a smart motorway is as safe as a conventional motorway. take 2019�*s figure, they appear to be less safe. it is a relatively new concept and we need a longer period of time to address it. not building any more as the right thing until we know. crucially, retrofitting the safety measures onto the existing smart motorway network that should have been there in the first place but were not is what now needs to occur. the government have accepted that recommendation. that government have accepted that recommendation.— recommenda

elaine dunkley, bbc news.ed he attended the party thrown by his campaign staff in december 2020. it comes as the conservative party leadership faces a growing backlash over a drinks party at downing street. it's emerged last year was the busiest ever for london ambulance service, which received over two million 999 calls. pre—pandemic, the service expected to take around 5,000 calls a day but at some points last year it was as high as 8,000. officials are reminding londoners that they should only dial 999 when it's a serious medical emergency. the owner of a riding school in teddington who raised more than £1 million to save her stables from closure has been speaking of her pride after being awarded an mbe. natalie o'rourke began fundraising a year ago when park lane was under threat. she said the award also honoured the staff at the stables which provides opportunities for disabled people to ride. i was so proud and i feel very humble and... i've received it, but there is a huge army of people around me that