gchq is the uk's intelligence security and cyber agency.for the second year running, it's also set a festive, mind—bending challenge for school pupils. if two equals growth and six equals exist, then nine is what seven—letter word which describes what you'll be doing with your presents on christmas day? how are you finding it? we're finding it quite exciting, actually. yeah, it's really fun, thinking outside the box and actually making your brain think a different way. i thought it would be quite maths orientated, but it's actually like quite a lot of codebreaking and puzzling and stuff like that. so, these puzzles have been set by an actual intelligence officer who works for gchq. we can hearfrom him, but for obvious reasons we can't show his face. so he's going to appear in the form of a cartoon character called colin. so this year, the christmas card has puzzles covering different skill sets, including languages, engineering, analysis and codebreaking. the qualities needed are ingenuity, analytical skills, perseverance and an inquiring m

it is on the gchq h wonder why! it is on the gchq website along _ wonder why!try at home. tell us the answers. we will get some - brainteasers to try at home. tell us the answers. we will get some tips | the answers. we will get some tips from a mathematician later! giving us tips on having to solve puzzles. this is something we can do. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning from bbc london. i�*m alison earle. passengers are being warned to expect more disruption to train services today as the rail strike continues. around a0,000 members of the rmt union are walking out today, friday and saturday in a row over jobs, pay and conditions. just 25% of services are expected to run. we�*re being urged to travel only if necessary. a london charity says the money it should be using to buy food is now being spent on driving into central london. charity begins at home, which provides meals to those in need, says rising bills and the cost of paying congestion and ulez charges are having an impact on it�*s work. an impact on its wor

gchq is the uk's intelligence security and cyber agency.rowth and six equals exist, then nine is what seven—letter word which describes what you'll be doing with your presents on christmas day? information allows you to break the code. they're challenging, they're very challenging questions. but what i think they're doing is they're helping promote resilience and perseverance. if the students are going down a particular route and making a mistake, they're not giving up. how are you finding it? we're finding it quite exciting, actually. yeah, it's really fun, thinking outside the box and actually making your brain think a different way. i thought it would be quite maths orientated, but it's actually like quite a lot of codebreaking and puzzling and stuff like that. so this question here, what is this actually encouraging students to do, do you think? it's more about being spatially aware. and the twist of that is that whenever you touch the key, the direction changes. so they need to actually do some reverse operation. how can i get from poi

gchq is the uk's intelligence security and cyber agency.cribes what you'll be doing with your presents on christmas day? how are you finding it? we're finding it quite exciting, actually. yeah, it's really fun, thinking outside the box and actually making your brain think a different way. i thought it would be quite maths orientated, but it's actually like quite a lot of codebreaking and puzzling and stuff like that. so, these puzzles have been set by an actual intelligence officer who works for gchq. we can hearfrom him, but for obvious reasons we can't show his face. so he's going to appear in the form of a cartoon character called colin. so this year, the christmas card has puzzles covering different skill sets, including languages, engineering, analysis and codebreaking. the qualities needed are ingenuity, analytical skills, perseverance and an inquiring mind. in a sense, solving the challenge replicates what we need to be able to do in gchq, but in a fun way. along with mi5 and mi6, gchq says it wants to widen its recruitment net. what

was calling on gchq, the british communications intelligence agency, for the nsa to tap the office andmbers of the security council. so that they would vote for a war that would otherwise be illegal and unjustified, illegitimate, a war of aggression like iraq. that was iraq. and actually, i think the very good movie about her did not bring out the fact that she did succeed in keeping the security council from voting in favour of that war. what i'm saying is that if you put it out in time, you have a chance to do something. she should have been able to stop that war, but blair wouldn't allow that. the flip side of that is if you leak information in real time while conflict is continuing, the danger is you put people's lives in danger. and the us government's case againstjulian assange to this day is that with his leaking of information provided by chelsea manning. a raft of information, which we've actually discussed with chelsea manning on hardtalk. the accusation remains that theyjeopardized key us national security interests, but they also jeopardized the lives of notjust us personne

many of our students wouldn't have heard of gchq prior to this challenge, and understanding that in actual fact they have the skill sets to be able to go into such areas is really good for them. has this made you think about a career in that world? definitely, yeah. i've always been into, like, problem solving, criticalthinking, like, what you've got to do to solve things. that made me look at that side in much more detail. it is making me more interested in what this could lead to. hundreds of schools will be taking part in this challenge today. anyone initially bamboozled should take heart. in this classroom, what to many seemed mission impossible became mission accomplished. tim muffett, bbc news. no mystery about the weather today. this picturejust no mystery about the weather today. this picture just shouts out cold! we do have more sunshine around across much of the country today. this is a bit hazy and misty across southern areas. we stay in cold air over the next few days into the start of the next few days and we have frost and ice to come in scotland. that is where we have seen m

even though 40,000 staff use food banks, and the government has never denied there is a food bank at gchqthe border for strikes are today? our reporter is at gatwick. she spoke to someone who travelled back from berlin who said he had no problems, military were checking his passport. spoke to gatwick saying there might be disruption in terms of up to two hours in queues but no flights will be cancelled. how effective are these beautiful strikes? i effective are these beautiful strikes? . . effective are these beautiful strikes? ., . ., strikes? i watched that report. -- these border _ strikes? i watched that report. -- these border for _ strikes? i watched that report. -- these border for strikes. - strikes? i watched that report. -- these border for strikes. the - these borderfor strikes. the government has gone to huge expense. the military should not be in airports and should not be driving ambulances. this is not a solution. the military have had five days of training. the staff they are replacing have had months and years of training and they are notjust there to check passports to d