justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire. moskowitz, who is the senior editor at scientific american. if you can explain and lay people's terms, how significant a milestone is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? it’s is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? �* , , ., is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? �*, , ., _ is this in terms of breakthroughs in science? 2, ., , , science? it's still a baby step. the bi thin science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with _ science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion _ science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion power - science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion power is - science? it's still a baby step. the big thing with fusion power is that| big thing with fusion power is that we have not yet been able to extract more energy from it then we put in. this experiment is no different. but they've taken out more energy than ever before, so it's a really promising sign that we're on the right track. promising sign that

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.ditor at scientific american, and she explained how this ranks as a breakthrough in scientific achievements. it is still a baby step, you know. the big thing with fusion power is that we have not yet been able to extract more energy from it then we put in, and this experiment is no different, you know, but they have taken out more energy than ever before, so it is a really promising sign that we are on the right track.— the right track. clackamas surely the _ the right track. clackamas surely the goal _ the right track. clackamas surely the goal is - the right track. clackamas surely the goal is to - the right track. clackamas surely the goal is to be i the right track. clackamas i surely the goal is to be able to get more energy from the thanit to get more energy from the than it takes to produce it. —— claire,, surely. are we anywhere close to that now? we are anywhere close to that now? - are getting close, this experiment they are talking about which is coming up, eter in france, i

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.o a covid test when they arrive back in the uk. but britons travelling abroad will still need to follow the rules that apply to wherever they are going. some british families are cancelling half term trips to spain because teenagers over 12 have to be double jabbed to get in, and many are not. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. ben and his family have great memories of the canary islands. they were looking forward to making more last year, but restrictions forced them to postpone to this february. now, children over 12 need two jabs to enter spain, so the holiday is off. unfortunately, the 12—year—old has onlyjust turned 12, so doesn't have his second vaccination yet. so we cancelled, only cancelled a few days ago, we thought we'd hold out until the 1st of feb in case anything changed. but unfortunately we had to pull the plug. ben is far from alone. travel agents say lots of people want to go away at the moment, but they're having to keep their customers informed of an ev

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.the crisis over ukraine. there is talk about the minsk agreement is being used to defuse tensions. the foreign secretary will fly to moscow for talks with the kremlin tomorrow. from friday, fully—vaccinated holidaymakers will no longer need to do a covid test when they arrive back in the uk. but britons travelling abroad will still need to follow the rules that apply to wherever they are going. while entry rules for some destinations are starting to ease, some british families are cancelling half—term trips to spain because teenagers over 12 have to be double jabbed to get in, and many are not. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. ben and his family have great memories of the canary islands. they were looking forward to making more last year, but restrictions forced them to postpone to this february. now, children over 12 need two jabs to enter spain, so the holiday is off. unfortunately, the 12—year—old has onlyjust turned 12, so doesn't have his second vaccination yet. so

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire. fascinating story there.n touted by chinese officials as the greenest games ever. they say they prioritise protecting native species and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. but critics point out that this is the first winter games to rely entirely on artificial snow. some events are even being held in the middle of a nature river reserve. just how green are these games? i'm joined by the professor of geography at the university of roseanne in switzerland. he's been studying the said sitting ability of major events such as the olympics for more than a decade. great to have you on the programme. let's start with the claims that these are the greenest games ever, how true is that?— true is that? you should take those claims _ true is that? you should take those claims very _ true is that? you should take those claims very carefully. l true is that? you should take l those claims very carefully. we did a study last year were compared the olympic games, both winter and summer, over the last 30 years, and we found t

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.poke to steven cowley, who's director of the princeton plasma physics laboratory. steven was previously the director of the culham centre for fusion energy where this latest successful research took place and gave his reaction to the current team's incredible achievement. actually, when i was there, we were working towards this success, it was taking a bit longer than we had hoped, and thejet team had to solve a number of difficult problems to get there. i am so glad they got there. it proves that when you think through the science rigorously, you can make it happen, and i'm so pleased for them. it is wonderful to see. actually, i wish i was part of the team still, because it is so exciting. that is exactly what we wanted to hear, but it is a huge success story, congratulations to the team, and for your works as well, to lead up to this moment. we are talking about temperatures that are higher than the sun. it beggars belief how you manage that. talk us through how the machine manages

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.speak to saskia mordijck, who's an assistant professor in the department of physics at william & mary research university. sazski has been working with labs throughout the world to solve the complicated problem of refueling fusion reactions. in terms of what we have been hearing today, we are talking about assured space of time, a small amount of energy that has been created but put this into context, the equivalent of powering 60 cattle, just how significant his these for our futures? ., , , ., , ., futures? for us, this was a hue futures? for us, this was a huge advance. _ futures? for us, this was a huge advance. five - futures? for us, this was a | huge advance. five seconds futures? for us, this was a i huge advance. five seconds is short and, as you can tell, thatis short and, as you can tell, that is not enough to make sure your house keeps power all day long. however, the plasma itself decayed much faster than those five seconds so for us it is really a way that we can show we

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire.hank you forjoining us. it's all very exciting. i don't know if you heard that report byjustin that he said get it right. it is his energy produced on the sun and the stars, is it not a bit dangerous? laughter. no, no, it's a very sort of small region in which these temperatures and pressures are happening. we are in no danger of igniting the sun, so i would not worry about that at all. safety is very much not an issue inside a fusion reactor.- safety is very much not an issue inside a fusion reactor. well, how lona will inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then it _ inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then it was - inside a fusion reactor. well, how long will it take then it was my i l long will it take then it was my i think everybody will want to know. when is it going to happen it becaus

this dashcam footage taken on the mao motorway between bicester and banbury in oxfordshire shows a lorrywas reported to have been pretty "shaken—up" and to have sustained a facial injury. we hope very much it is not serious. people in south manchester have been warned they may have to evacuate their homes as two severe flood warnings were issued. about 400 have been warned they are going out this afternoon. environment agency officials issued the warnings — indicating a possible danger to life — for the river mersey at didsbury and northenden. heavy rain overnight caused water levels to rise and is expected to continue into monday. they've asked those at risk to prepare for property flooding. you can't have too much of a good thing, more louise lear. then it's we are england. i'll see you later. hello there. the weather has been getting worse again today. the winds are continuing to strengthen, and a lot of rain around at the moment. it will stay wet into the afternoon across much of england and wales. milder cross england and wales, mostly cooler for scotland and northern ireland as we

scientists in oxfordshire say they've made a major breakthrough in their quest to develop practical nuclearbroke their own world record for the amount of energy extracted by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen. they hope that in future fusion will be able to provide a reliable source of low—carbon power. a discovery in a cave in france shows that modern man arrived in europe some 12,000 years earlier than previously thought. in a paper published in the journal science advances, researchers described finding fossilized remains of homo sapiens, the species to which all modern human beings belong, along side those of neanderthals, an extinct species of archaic humans, whose disappearance remains a hotly debated issue. our science correspondent pallab ghosh has the story. sifting through ancient remains, archaeologists have been scrabbling in the french heat, looking for clues to our own history. and they've discovered that the very first modern humans to have arrived in western europe came thousands of years earlier than previously thought. we are now able to demonstrate that homo sapiens

justin rowlatt, bbc news, oxfordshire. goodbye. hello.cotland was the patchy rain and drizzle clearing southern counties through the small hours but a bit of a lag in temperatures fallen way behind the weather front, i think we will avoid a frost on the whole here. elsewhere, frosty started thursday and for scotland, a very windy start because of this area of low pressure, widespread gales, gusts of wind, 50 to 60 mph in exposure and some pretty frequent snow showers. obviously the heaviest of the snow is likely for high ground but we could see wintry conditions at lower levels for a time. northern and western scotland taking the impact of that low. during the morning rush hour it starts to shift eastwards and eventually goes out to the north sea by the middle part of the day. the afternoon fine for many, a lot of sunshine, a few showers coming in off the irish sea, a blustery wind feature for all throughout the day. temperatures in the arctic air, definitely a cold day, notably cold across southern england, where it has been so mild. for

this dashcam footage taken on the m40 motorway between bicester and banbury, in oxfordshire shows a lorrya facial injury. really dramatic pictures there. storm franklin on its way. with me is malcolm tarling from the association of british insurers. it must be an extremely busy time for you at the moment?— for you at the moment? yes, it is. but insurers _ for you at the moment? yes, it is. but insurers expect _ for you at the moment? yes, it is. but insurers expect this, - for you at the moment? yes, it is. but insurers expect this, this - for you at the moment? yes, it is. but insurers expect this, this is . but insurers expect this, this is what people take out insurance or an insurer is have had contingency plans in place at the beginning of the week to deal with storm eunice and the various other storms that look like they are heading our way. this is what we expect to face at some time during the year and the priority now and in the coming days and weeks for insurers will be to help and support affected customers as much as they possibly can. so they can necessary make emergency paym

let's cross to oxfordshire and speak to doctor anthony harnden who is the deputy chairperson for theand immunisation. good afternoon to you. first off, why have you recommended this? how to secretary of — why have you recommended this? time" to secretary of state said, this is a safe and effective vaccine, so when we looked at dictator data, although children are very much lower risk than adults, some children to get complications from covid, and we felt that given that this vaccine was available in the paediatric dose, although it wasn't as important as the at—risk children, that's those with underlying illnesses, we felt that parents ought to be given the choice, because we know that even if children have had covid, they can't get covid again, and that actually vaccinating gives you a much broader immunity, even on the basis that a child has previously had covid. so, in many ways this is an offer to future proof against potential further waves or variants arising, and we just felt that, given the safety signals that we have had from america particularly, for 8 million children have

and it happened here, the world's most powerful fusion plant, jet fusion, in culham in oxfordshire. one of the greatest technological challenges humanity has ever faced. get it right and it holds out the potential for producing almost unlimited supplies of energy, pretty much forever. the key part of this reaction only lasts for five seconds, and only generated enough power for 60 kettles, but it is an important proof of the principles of fusion, but it means there is still lots of work to do. do you think we'll see commercial fusion in your lifetime? yes, i do think we will seek commercial fusion in my lifetime. you are confident we will? yes, i am confident, i want to believe in it! so answer me this, why is it taking so long? it is hard, it is really hard, very complex but it's worth it and we just have to do it for the future. fusion energy is carbon—free, but it is not going to be ready in time to get us out of the climate crisis. that shouldn't stop this research, say supporters. the enormous promise fusion holds means we have got to keep working on it. justin rowlatt, bbc new

it is proof of the design of the reactor we have in oxfordshire.so how can this - dream of unlimited energy. it is not there yet, so how can this be i there yet, so how can this be factored into what their future... this will not get us out of the climate fix we have at the moment but it may, before the end of this century, the next 50 years, it may be something that could provide an alternative source of energy and ultimately may be all the energy we need. and if we have the kind of supplies of energy, they have said that before about cheap technology, but if we had it it would be truly transformative for human society. so a huge potential but still quite a long way away. a huge potential but still quite a long way away-— pope benedict xvi has acknowledged errors were made in the handling of sexual abuse cases before he assumed the papacy. in a letter released by the vatican, he asked forgiveness for any "grievous fault", but denied personal wrongdoing. the cases date back to his time as archbishop of munich more than 40 years ago. he stepped down

johnson was speaking as he met personnel at raf brize i as he met personnel at raf brize norton in oxfordshiren to president zelensky of ukraine _ phone again to president zelensky of ukraine and it is in no doubt things are not— ukraine and it is in no doubt things are not going all the way of president putin. very far from it. the ukrainians are fighting heroically and in some places with great _ heroically and in some places with great successes, as many of us thaught— great successes, as many of us thought they would because they are a great _ thought they would because they are a great country, a very brave country. — a great country, a very brave country. but as you rightly point out there — country. but as you rightly point out there are some terrible atrocities being committed and there will be _ atrocities being committed and there will be some very grim days ahead for ukraine — will be some very grim days ahead for ukraine. we have got to do everything we can to change the heavy _ everything we can to change the heavy odds ukraine faces and to help them and _ heavy odds ukraine faces

this is oxfordshire with some clear skies allowing a beautiful sunrise and that is the picture for theof scotland to the latter part of the day. locally we could see gusts of two 14 miles an hour. the numbers in wide circles behind me other sustained wind speeds. in terms of temperatures, actually start but not quite as cold as yesterday. the eventual hires somewhere between nine and 11 degrees. quiet day but overnight we will see the weather front sweeping across the uk, part of a bigger area of low pressure that will be a feature for monday and, certainly, overnight the picture will change quite dramatically and we fill in a lot of cloud, rain for many areas, eastern england stays clear with a few pockets of frost on early monday. elsewhere it is a mild start of the new week —— mild start. the front on monday is not straightforward. it is waving and what does that mean? it is not tracking in a straightforward pattern so it could mean that the timing for it moving east to west are quite not as our model makes them up and the areas where we see heavy rain may be a little bit for monday