Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20180103

The association, because in the uk artists like these behind me are being streamed some 68. 1 billion times, and it is notjust music that people are streaming. We are talking tv, film and Online Gaming as well. And the uks first polar bear cub in 25 years is born at a scottish park. Good morning. It is january three, welcome to bbc newsroom life. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Storm eleanor has swept across the uk, causing flooding, damage to homes and disruption to motorists. Gusts of up to 100 miles an hour were reported in the pennines and thousands of homes across Northern Ireland, wales, the midlands and South West England are without power. Jon donnison reports. As storm eleanor whipped in from the atlantic, the republic of ireland was the first to take a pounding. In galway, theres been severe flooding. Some, though, are still prepared to take their chances. In the uk, the met Office Issued an amber weather warning for parts of the country. This is anglesey, in wales. Waves driven by winds gusting up to 130 kilometres per hour. Horizontal hail was what greeted anybody foolish enough to brave blackpools promenade. Weve got a hell of a storm here. And in corby, the midlands, john recorded the moment his house was hit by hail. Across the country more than 15,000 homes have been left without power, the bulk of them in Northern Ireland. 0n the m25 motorway traffic was briefly brought to a standstill by a fallen tree. But the full extent of the damage will likely not emerge until later in the morning. And forecasters are warning storm eleanor will continue to bring strong winds until the end of the day. Andy howard reports from clevedon in somerset, where the storm struck in the early hours of this morning and several flood warnings remain in place. From gloucestershire to North Somerset and on down the coast towards devon and cornwall, the flooding is likely, and over my shoulder you can see why. This is high tide, a big one as well, brought to us by the first full moon of 2018. Add to that 40 brought to us by the first full moon of 2018. Add to that a0 mph plus winds, it leads to seems like this. The coast guard has told me this is the highest he has seen in four yea rs, the highest he has seen in four years, and on that day there was considerable damage. I am also hearing of homes waking up in somerset to no power. About 120 of them across minehead and cheddar. Further up the coast, in bridgwater, the Environment Agency has set up a special unit to deal with this and to try and monitor this stretch of water. They leave us with two warnings, one if youre coming to the seaside, stay up and stay away, and more 21st century warning of do not take any stored self photographs. Storm self is. The warning from the Environment Agency is they are now fearful of tomorrow evening, another high tide is expected along the somerset coast. Lots of problems for drivers as well. Edmund king from the aa told me hit had been a busy morning dealing with problems faced by motorists. We have had 30, a0 of phone calls. We have had 30, a0 of phone calls. We have had 200 plus breakdowns, many of them affected by the weather. Wet engines, the car wouldnt start, or even damage caused by debris on the roads, falling trees, damaging vehicles, smashing windscreens etc. So, busy in terms of breakdowns, and also some of the conditions on the roads for driving a pretty hazardous at the moment. What is the advice to drivers in these conditions, very windy, gales, hail as well . The wind can be quite deceptive, if youre driving along the road and there is an opening between buildings or indeed hillsides, and you get a gust of wind, that can affect you. Keep both hands on the seat steering wheel, slowdown, and be careful parsing hire vehicles and be careful parsing hire vehicles and high sided vehicles because they can be hurt by the wind. Hit by the wind. 0ur ireland correspondent, chris page, is in belfast for us now. We can see, chris, fallen trees, a really big problem. Yes, absolutely. Hundreds of them all over Northern Ireland. This is a residential part of south belfast. You can see some pretty major damage has been caused here. A tree falling down really badly damaging the fence at the side of the house. But it also brought down a power line, and residents living here described seeing a flash whenever that happened last night. A pretty frightening experience. The engineers have been out all night, as you can see, chainsaws are out and they are doing their best to gradually remove the tree from the road so that more vehicles can come up road so that more vehicles can come up here and deal with these fallen power lines. At the peak of the problems last night, more than 20,000 homes in Northern Ireland we re 20,000 homes in Northern Ireland were without power, but now that is down to just were without power, but now that is down tojust a were without power, but now that is down to just a couple of thousand. But because the incidence have been so widespread, for example here you have got several houses without pay up have got several houses without pay up power, there is going to be some detailed work needed over the course of the day. The engineers will need to get power restored to homes across Northern Ireland. The strongest wind recorded last night was on the county down coast, where it got to 90 miles an hour. It was the southern counties of Northern Ireland which were badly affected. As well as here in the city of belfast. It is quite unusual, usually whenever windy weather hits Northern Ireland, which is not something we have seen in recent months, it is rural areas that have seen trees falling. But here in belfast unusual for trees to be coming down. Drivers going to work or warrant to take extra time. Were warned. The work to get the roads blocked well under way. And lots of problems in the irish republic, again lots of homes without power there . Yes, thats right, the storm came in across the western coast of ireland, around the city of galway yesterday tea time. You may have seen some very dramatic pictures people were filming on their mobile phones. Storm surges, the high tide, flooding galway city centre. The roles of flooding problems in limerick and cork. 55,000 households at one stage without power in the irish. The storm blew across the midlands of the irish republic, southern counties of Northern Ireland, and towards scotland, wales and the midlands of england. And while it is now heading out to the north sea, the weather warning remains in place. The rain is still coming down here, it is still breezy, but while the high winds are still not as big a danger, people are being warned that the weather will remain severe. I think they have cut the power perhaps to chris satellite link. That is the latest message from chris. Nhs england has insisted theres no crisis in the Health Service, despite their decision to postpone all non urgent operations and routine outpatient appointments until next month. Officials say they have taken early action to ease winter pressures and avoid last minute cancellations. But senior doctors say pressure has escalated rapidly over the festive period. Its estimated tens of thousands of patients could be affected. Our health editor, hugh pym, has more. Ambulance siren. Theres always great pressure on the nhs in the new year. But the strains seem even bigger this year. Two Ambulance Services in england, covering the north east and east, are on the highest state of operational alert, asking families to use their own transport to bring patients into hospital where possible. The trust running scarborough and York Hospitals said high numbers of patients and staff were under considerable pressure. Ive worked in a number of different Emergency Departments around the country and thats the worst ive seen. Ijust want to do a good job. I want to do the best i can for the patients that im seeing. , but im not being given the resources to do thatjob properly. Twitter carried reports from some staff at other hospitals. An emergency doctor in stoke said he personally apologised to local people for what he called third world conditions due to overcrowding. Nhs england has told hospitals to postpone all non urgent operations and outpatient appointments until the end of january, an escalation of temporary measures announced just before christmas. In that time hospitals wont be penalised for putting patients in mixed sex wards. This is a planned response to a winter that we knew was going to be difficult and we are managing that in the way that we expected and were taking early action. Were not waiting to have to respond to a problem. The authorities in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland have said theyre facing higher demand from patients and more pressure on frontline services. With flu cases on the increase, the worry now is that a predicted outbreak may become a reality. We have been speaking to professor Suzanne Mason from the Royal College emergency medicine, who warned that the situation in the nhs could put patients at risk. Safety has been, might, there is no doubt about that. When patients are in crowded Emergency Departments, and staff cannot move between patients and provide the basic care thatis patients and provide the basic care that is required, then safety is compromised. Patients who spent many hours on a trolley, often elderly patients, the sickest patients in our department, do much worse in the long term, they are much more likely to have a poor outcome and even die asa to have a poor outcome and even die as a result of their experience in the emergency department, and that isa the emergency department, and that is a huge tragedy for us in our specialty, and that is why we are so desperate to try and see things improve. We are going to be speaking in a few minutes on the situation to the Shadow Health secretary, jon ashworth, who was great to join us from the leicester newsroom. Six people have been arrested on suspicion of being members of the banned far right Group National action. The five men from cambridge, banbury, wolverhampton, leicester and stockport, and a woman from banbury, were detained by police earlier. Our home affairs correspondent, june kelly, told me that this was an intelligence led operation involving officers from different parts of the country. It is an intelligence led operation, and it has been coordinated by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism unit, and all the people arrested are being held at a Police Station in the West Midlands. They have been arrested on suspicion of two offences, on suspicion of the preparation and instigation of terrorist acts, and then also on suspicion of being members of this band far right organisation, national action, which was prescribed in this country in december 20 16. We have been told by police that various properties are being searched, but there should not being searched, but there should not be any public concern. National action, for people who do not know much about it, what kind of group is it . Afar right group is it . A far right group, and such was the concern about its activities, that it was prescribed just over a year ago, and we have seen other arrests, people allegedly involved in national action. But i think what is interesting in this case is the spread of these arrests are the geographical spread, and the fact we have all these officers around the country involved. June kelly. The latest headlines from bbc news, storm eleanor sweeps across the uk causing flooding, damage to homes, and disruption to motorists after gusts of up to 100 mph. Nhs england insists there is no crisis in the Health Service as tens of thousands of nonurgent operations are delayed until the end of january. Six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the far right Group National action. The Palestinian Government says it wont be blackmailed by president trumps threat to cut more than three hundred Million Dollars of Financial Aid. Writing on twitter, mr trump said the palestinians are no longer willing to talk peace. Last month, the palestinian president said us peace plans were unacceptable after a decision to recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel. Mr trump has also again targeted north korea on twitter as our correspondent, peter bowes explains. Another twitter tirade by donald trump. The president questions why the us should continue to provide aid to countries that show no respect in return and dont reciprocate. 0n the middle east, he tweets that the status ofjerusalem, which the us now recognises as the capital of israel, will no longer be part of future negotiations. Its not only pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries and others. As an example we pay the palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars a year and get no appreciation or respect. They dont even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with israel. The Us Ambassador to the United Nations confirmed that us aid to the palestinians was in jeopardy. We very much still want to have a peace process. Nothing changes with that. The palestinians now have to show their will that they want to come to the table. As of now they are not coming to the table but they ask for aid. We need to make sure they come to the table and we want to move forward with the peace process. In another tweet, the president turned his attentions back to north korea. Apparently responding to a new year message from kim jong un in which he said the countrys Nuclear Weapons could reach anywhere in the us. Mr trump tweets, north Korean Leader kim jong un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. It marks a new tone and new level of rhetoric in the Nuclear Crisis with north korea. Meanwhile, in what appears to be a major diplomatic breakthrough, south korea says the north has restored a hotline between the two governments. It follows seouls offer of direct negotiations with the north and a suggestion that the two sides meet at the highly contested border on january 9th. North korea said the order had been given with a view to sending a contingent to the Winter Olympics, scheduled to take place next month in south korea. Translation kim jong un translation kimjong un has given an order to open the hotline between the north and south from 3pm on january three. To contact south korea regarding the right time for talks. I am sending a delegation to the Winter Olympics. By upholding a decision by the leadership, we will make close contact with south korea ina make close contact with south korea in a sincere and faithful manner. We will discuss working level issues related to the dispatch of the Winter Olympics delegation. I have been talking to our correspondent in the south korean capital, seoul, sophie long, who gave me this update on the possible softening of relationships. There could potentially be talked about talks happening potentially next week. At 3pm pyongyang time, we heard from the Unification Ministry that that telephone line had been opened, and the first telephone colin nearly two years between north and south korea had taken place. The culkin from the north to the south, the only details we have the content of that call is the officer from the Unification Ministry in the south said hello and gave his name, the northside did the same. We are told that that telephone line was connected for some 20 minutes. They checked the lines on the signal, but it seems more words will have been exchanged, but we have not heard what they are yet. It is hoped this is day three, on the 1st of january kimjong un in is day three, on the 1st of january kim jong un in suggested is day three, on the 1st of january kimjong un in suggested he is day three, on the 1st of january kim jong un in suggested he would is day three, on the 1st of january kimjong un in suggested he would be interested in dialogue with the south. And the south government proposed high level talks on tuesday of next week. We are now waiting for the response from pyongyang, and that came today in the form of this hotline reopening. Sophie long, in south korea. Back to our main story today, nhs england insisting there is no crisis in the Health Service. Despite its decision to postpone nonurgent operations and routine outpatient appointment until next month. Tens of thousands of patients could be affected. The Shadow Health secretary, jon ashworthjoins me now from our leicester newsroom. Thanks very much for being with us. What do you make of this . A sensible precaution according to nhs england. I understand why they have taken it, at the nhs is in a very serious winter crisis. We have seen stories of ambulances backed up outside hospitals, people waiting on trolleys in corridors for hours. We have even seen hospitals take to twitter and facebook pleading for staff to come in because they are so in such biased rates. This is a serious crisis, it is because of seven, eight years of tory underfunding and cuts. We have lost 1a,ooo underfunding and cuts. We have lost 1a,000 beds, we got they can seize a 100,000 staff 1a,000 beds, we got they can seize a 100,000 staff vacancies. Elderly people do not get the support in the community they should be getting. Nhs england is specifically saying it is not a crisis. Professor keith willet, director of acute care at nhs england, said a crisis is when you have not got a plan in place. In order to deal with these pressures. And he said, we have gone into this window ina and he said, we have gone into this window in a way we have never prepared for before. In other words, they are better prepared now than ever have been, so it is specifically not a crisis. Lets not argue about the word. The point of controversy is what is happening on hospital wards today. And we have seen doctors take to twitter to apologise, comparing it toa twitter to apologise, comparing it to a third world situation. We have had emergency leaders saying this is worse than the winter last year, which the red cross described as a humanitarian crisis. Whatever word we wa nt humanitarian crisis. Whatever word we want to use, i think we all know that patients are suffering because there is a lack of capacity in the nhs today because we have got 1a,000 fewer beds, 100,000 vacancies, including for nurses, seven, eight yea rs of including for nurses, seven, eight years of severe underfunding. The government say the levels of investment in the Health Service record levels at the moment. Now, the nhs is going through the biggest financial squeeze in its history. It has had the tightest funding squeeze it has ever experienced. The government now that traditionally spending on the nhs rises by a per year. Under this government it is flat lining at 1 , and by next year the government will break its own promise on real term increases. The money will slightly go down. Combined with that, very deep cuts to social care which means ao0,000 deep cuts to social care which means a00,000 very elderly and Vulnerable People are going without the care support they otherwise would have got, and in the community we have seen walking centres close, cuts to public health, Emergency Health provision, more community Health Services privatised, which means the services privatised, which means the services are often cut back. When these things come together, it means we have a crisis in the nhs like were seeing today. Theresa may was warned about this, and ignored the warnings. Again you have called it a crisis. I explained why the director of acute ca re explained why the director of acute care at nhs england said it was not a crisis. But lets go back to the time when labour was in government will stop i remember there being huge problems at times like this when there was a lot of flu over the winter, huge pressures on beds, in a similar way. This kind of problem in the middle of winter happens under governments of both colours. The president of the Royal College of emergency medicine today has said this is the worst he has seen in wintertime this is the worst he has seen in winter time for 16 years now. There are crises under the Labour Government, which is why the Labour Government, which is why the Labour Government in 2000, 2001 brought forward significant funding for the nhs, increased the level of funding to the european average following the crisis in 1999. Then things began to stabilise in the nhs for the remainder of the time of the Labour Government. We are seeing now a crisis year after year. Waiting lists at a million, some suggesting they are going up to 5 million. And a situation where the nhs, all year round, has been told to abandon the 18 week target for operations, which means people will wait longer and longerfor knee means people will wait longer and longer for knee and hip means people will wait longer and longerfor knee and hip placements, ca ta ra ct longerfor knee and hip placements, cataract removals, things like that. So, yes, we can have an argument about the semantics of the word crisis, if you do not want use that word, clear enough. But what is happening in the nhs today is com pletely happening in the nhs today is completely unacceptable, and it is patients who are suffering as a consequence of years of tory neglect and underfunding. Jon ashworth, thank you very much indeed. Joining us there from leicester. The highland wildlife park in scotla nd the highland wildlife park in scotland has welcomed the first polar bear to be born never 25 yea rs. Polar bear to be born never 25 years. The society says they have heard noises from inside the cabin box, indicating the presence of the clu b box, indicating the presence of the club or cubs, but have yet to see the new arrival. Lets talk to charlotte mcdonald, the Royal Zoological Society of scotlands director of conservation and living collections. Thank you for being with us. What can you tell us . You have summed it up very well. We are very excited, there is definitely a cub in there. We will not see it until march, which is the natural way. She will dig her own den in the snow, the wild, and we emulate that by providing her with the den. She buries herself in there and does not emerge until march with some living cubs, hopefully. So you think it might be more than one . To be honest we dont know. We do not know if one cub is crying at time. It is impossible to tell. As the first time for a quarter of a century. Why has it taken so long . Polar bears have very specific needs. But clearly the females need for quite exaggerated privacy in order to breed. We need to provide specific accommodation and a very specific accommodation and a very specific environment for them, which we have done successfully. We have done that over the years. And our bears are fairly young as well. Just tell me, the life of a polar bears cub when they are first born, it is precarious for the first few weeks. What the dangers . It is. The mortality rate is high, in the wild and in zoos. We are dealing with a very natural situation. They have a very underdeveloped immune system, so disease or illness. If the man is disturbed too much she can stop feeding them and abandon her cubs. There are a lot of risks. But we are cautiously optimistic. We are doing everything we can. Sound breaking up. We have lost the line, but i think we got the gist of what you were saying. Lets hope that the cubs at fine. The amount of music bought, streamed or downloaded in britain rose at its fastest rate for nearly twenty years in 2017, with total consumption up 9. 5 . The bpi, which represents the British Music industry, says 135 million albums were purchased or accessed with a particularly big jump in the number of songs streamed. We can now speak to our correspondent Chi Chi Izundu, who is outside the bpis headquarters in Central London for us. Yes, we are talking about 68. 1 billion streams in 2017 alone. To put that into context, that is like a Single Person in the uk streaming more than 1000 tracks throughout the year. And even more importantly, we streamed more music in one week than we did in the First Six Months of 2012. But these figures are not all just about the Music Industry. We are also talking it streaming about film, tv and Online Gaming. Actually, the figures might not actually be that accurate because they do not include youtube in the official collection. With me is kim bailey from the entertainment retailers association. Kim, music, film and tv, streaming. It has made a massive contribution to the uk economy in total. It has, it has been a phenomenal year, {7. 2 billion business this year. It has grown by nearly 9 , four times the average growth of the uk economy. We are really pleased. And it is notjust the streaming that has done well. How have physical sales, going into a shop and buying a cd, dvd, been going . There are really bright spots in physical. Games have seen their first rising more than 80 years, and music, vinyl is growing, up by more thana music, vinyl is growing, up by more than a third year by year. And things likes of striving to netflix, apple music, spotify. How has that help the industry . Music streaming is up ao , film and tv streaming is up more than 20 year on year. We are making it easier and easier for people to consume entertainment, they are doing more of it. We heard that these voice activated speakers, like alexa, helping people talk to the air, basically, and saying, can you put on this track or cani saying, can you put on this track or can i watch disney movie. Is that helping . Absolutely, the number of times we wa ke absolutely, the number of times we wake up in the morning and say alexa, play radio to, it is absolutely amazing how it lets you discover more entertainment. 0nline gaming is huge right now. It is an absolutely massive market, growing year after year. It is a £7 billion business, and there are more and more ways to consume games, it doesnt matter whether it is on your mobile, your tablet, through a console. People are doing more and more of that. And while were talking about the different ways people can consume entertainment, it does help people can do it on so many different devices. Absolutely, the digital retailers we have in this country have innovated and studied more and more ways for people to consume entertainment. Whether you are an amazon, apple, spotify user, there are services out there for everyone. Is there a particular statistic that surprised you when it comes to the Entertainment Industry . I dont know of any of them completely surprise us, cos we track entertainment year in and year out. But the fact that physical is such a huge market has surprised everyone. If you reverse five years, people had written off as a goal with the growth of Digital Entertainment but we are still seeing growth. Fantastic, kim bailey, thank you very much. 68. 1 billion streams in the music market alone, Online Gaming is on its way up as well. And with platforms like netflix, amazon and apple, people are consuming much more tv and films, streaming it straight to a variety of devices at home. Thank you very much for all of that. Lets look at the weather. We had some wild weather overnight but the weather is improving as we head into this afternoon. Storm eleanor has cleared its way, we did see gusts of up to 100 mph across the pennines. Generally between 7080 the pennines. Generally between 70 80 mph. It has cleared into the north sea behind it, we have some strong winds. Much of the squally showers across Northern Ireland, southern scotland. Elsewhere sunshine but still blustered, the winds will ease through the afternoon. Temperatures 11 celsius in london and three celsius at its best in inverness. This evening we will see the next weather front pushing its way through the north southwest. We could see some frost forming and temperatures and scotla nd forming and temperatures and scotland getting down to minus eight celsius. Tomorrow not nice for the rush hour. As we head into the weekend, it is turning cold with temperatures around 3 7dc. This is bbc news our latest headlines. Thousands of homes remain without power after winds of up to 100 mph battered parts of the uk. Hospitals in england have been told to postpone tens of thousands of non urgent operations and outpatient appointments until the end of this month in an attempt to relieve winter pressures. Six people have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to the banned far right terror group, national action. And a polar bear has given birth in the uk for the first time in 25 years. All the sport now. Hugh ferris with that note including all the football action. Still two days and two matches left of what has been a hectic christmas schedule. Pep guardiola claims the christmas schedule is going to kill players. Despite his Manchester City team going 15 points clear at the top of the premier league. City beat watford in what was their 10th game in a month. And after their 18 match winning run in the league ended on new years eve. It took just 39 seconds for Raheem Sterling to put city ahead at the etihad. An own goal and then Sergio Agueros 16th of the season put them three up before a late watford consolation. So city have won 20 of their 22 league games so far. But Guardiola Sez the premier league should be about quality not quantity. I know that here in england the show must go on. And you have to play, but that is not normal, guys. To play in less than 2a hours. It is a way to kill the players. I do not know how many there are in that category for older teams. But with a big federation it doesnt matter. The show must go on. But they do not think about the players and we have to start to think about the players. Reports in spain claim barcelona are preparing to make another bid for Philippe Coutinho. Although liverpool havent yet received a renewed offer. Now the january transfer window has opened its thought a bid will be made imminently after three were turned down by liverpool in the summer the last of which was £118 million. But both barcelona and the brazilian are still interested in the move. And liverpool havent publicly stated that coutinho is not for sale. As they did last year. West ham are investigating a confrontation between west broms Jake Livermore and home fans during their match at london stadium last night. After livermore had been substituted in the second half the midfielder was involved in a Heated Exchange with some west ham supporters. He then needed escorting down the tunnel. The london club are working with both west brom and the player to try and find out what led to the incident. The only thing i know is i see a player in the crowd. There is no way he is going in the crowd. He is a great lad and unless he was provoked severely, and that is all i know. Leg spinner mason crane will make his england test debut in the final match of the ashes series which starts tonight in sydney. The tourists are hoping for a consolation win after already losing the urn. Crane is only 20. And will become the youngest specialist spinner to make his test debut for england in 90 years. But captainjoe root says hes ready. I think the way he has conducted himself in the strip and the way he has conducted himself in the squad is outstanding. For a young man to apply himself and absorb himself in the environment as the has, is exactly what is what youre after. He has performed very well and he has had as opportunities on the strip and in and around the games he has been there and thereabouts. It isa has been there and thereabouts. It is a good chance for him to show what he is capable of. On the surface he will be a good option. Coverage of fifth ashes test starts on bbc radio 5lsx at 1030 tonight. Play gets underway an hour later. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Thank you very much. See you later. Lets return to our main story this morning. Nhs england has insisted theres no crisis in the Health Service, despite their decision to postpone all non urgent operations and routine outpatient appointments until next month. Tens of thousands of patients could be affected. Lets talk to Siva Anandaciva chief analyst at the kings fund a think tank specialising in healthcare policy. Thank you very much indeed for being with us. What do you make of this decision . It will affect thousands of people needing hip replacements and so forth who will be disappointed. I am. The traditional barometer of how the nhs is failing over winter, traditional barometer of how the nhs is failing overwinter, the National Standard is for 95 patients to be seenin standard is for 95 patients to be seen in four errors. If you look at the most recent area data, you can see that that skill of challenge, why the decisions today on nonurgent operations being taken. Is it just on nonurgent operations being taken. Is itjust that on nonurgent operations being taken. Is it just that there are on nonurgent operations being taken. Is itjust that there are not enough beds . The beds are a huge part of the issue. If you look at their figures for december, there are hospitals operating at full bed occupancy. There is no way of getting emergency cases admitted. That cost is pleasure throughout the situation so beds are a huge part of the issue. To be honest staffing is as big a problem. We could have many more beds in the nhs, but unless you have sufficient doctors and nurses to treat those beds, you are not solving the problem. It is as much a staffing issue as a bed issue. Is it also an issue of funding . We were talking tojohn ashworth, he was saying this was a crisis of funding, the nhs is underfunded by the government. The government on the other hand say we are at record levels of nhs funding. You are right to identify funding as another key issue. We are in the middle of the most sustained funding issue. If you look at a e activity, they are going up look at a e activity, they are going up around 5 a year. Funding is standing still. That is quite a potent cocktail, that means you cannot recruit the stuff you need, you cannot invest in the resources you cannot invest in the resources you need and will contribute to the pressures we a re you need and will contribute to the pressures we are seeing at the moment. There is also a debate today whether this is a crisis or not. Labour are seeing it as a crisis in the nhs. Professor Keith Willett saying it really isnt a crisis, he said, a crisis is when you do not have a plan in place to deal with all the pressures and we have got up one. In fact we have gone into this winter ina one. In fact we have gone into this winter in a way we have never prepared for as well. He says there is no crisis. We may not be a crisis point yet, accepting there is no definition agreed yet. It does not mean things are good. If you look back on previous years when i think most people would agree there was a crisis, we saw a different scale of challenges. You saw at a e departments forced to close. The we re departments forced to close. The were so extreme, you saw record levels of flu, record levels of winter vomiting bug is, staff shortages. We knew may not be there yet, but that shows that the performances challenged. We have been lucky when it comes to flu outbreaks and winter vomiting outbreaks and winter vomiting outbreaks at the moment, yet the nhs is fragile. A crisis may be around the corner. Thank you for your time. The chief analyst. Figures from the Health Service in scotland show that hospitals cancelled more than two thousand seven hundred planned operations in the year to november 2017. Those official figures show that the number is slightly fewer than the previous 12 months. Around a quarter of cancelled surgeries fell victim to a lack of capacity in the hospital, or other non clinical reasons. The United States says it plans to call an emergency session of the Un Security Council to discuss the ongoing unrest in iran. 22 people have so far died in six days of Anti Government demonstrations, which were initially against price rises and corruption. However they later began to express wider Anti Government sentiment, including protests over the strict islamic dress code by women, who risked arrest by publicly removing their hijabs. Tens of thousands of people are reporting to be gathering for pro government demonstrations today, after the government said it would organise counter rallies. Today state television has been broadcasting live coverage of tens of thousands of people marching through a number of towns and cities, chanting slogans in support of irans supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. Rana rahimpourfrom bbc persian explained these latest developments. The state television has been showing several cities in which pro government rallies are happening right now. Many of them are carrying flags. The iranian flag and posters of the supreme leader. But we also have unconfirmed reports that many of the Government Employees have been told that they must take part in these rallies otherwise they would risk losing theirjobs. 0bviously because cant be there, its very difficult to confirm these. We also heard that many streets where the pro government rallies are happening right now, are closed to others. Just because the government is worried that Anti Government protesters might get involved and they would chant against the government. So some evidence the pro government rallies are being orchestrated by the regime. But what about the Anti Government rallies, we have seen so many in the last few days. Yes. Have they continued . Yes, they continued, not in the major cities. The Authorities Say in the major cities, things were calm last night, but we received footage that shows Anti Riot Police and many Security Forces in major squares of the bigger cities. But we have received reports of more protests, specially in the south of the country where many people have been deprived ofjobs and are living in a very difficult situation. So, yes, that did continue. It looked very violent. We are waiting to get official reports about the possible tolls of last night. And, as i was saying, most of the Anti Government demonstrations focussed on economic grievances really and Living Standards and so on, but also some complaints about religious restrictions that people live under . Yes, there is its quite complex and there is a number of reasons that people are angry and out on the streets, political freedom, social freedom and most importantly, as you said, its the economy and i think the president has understood this. He mentioned it in his first reaction to the protests and he said that people dont only care about money and food, they want other freedoms and we have to try to give it to them. Whether he will be able to do that, i think its very unlikely. In a moment a summary of the Business News this hour but first the headlines on bbc newsroom live storm eleanor sweeps across the uk causing flooding, damage to homes and disruption to motorists following gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. Nhs england insists theres no crisis in the Health Service as tens of thousands of non urgent operations may be delayed until the end of january. Six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the banned far right Group National action. Hello, iam ben hello, i am ben thompson, these are the top business stories. Next says its pre christmas sales were up by 1. 5 compared to the same period in 2016. 0nline sales were up more than expected helping offset another fall in high street sales. Well have more on this shortly. Carillion, the troubled construction firm, is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority over what it says is the timeliness and content of announcements it made between december 2016 and july 2017. Carillion is one of the firms involved in building the high speed rail line hs2. Rules designed to help keep a closer eye on banks are being introduced across the eu today. Mifid 2 as the new regulations are known will govern the Way Financial Services are sold and are designed to improve transparency for investors. If you wonder what that means its means markets in financial institutions. Were starting to get the first retail results onhow firms fared over christmas. Yesterday Research Firm springboard said that fewer of us hit the high streets over the festive period and this morning, we got the first glimpse of what thats meant for firms. Clothing and homeware firm next is the first of the big retailers to publish their results. It said trading was actually better than expected with sales up 1. 5 . But that increase was from online sales. Sales in its high street and out of town stores were down 6 . Natalie berg is director of Retail Insights at planet retail. Nice to see you. It is that familiar tale, we will get their news from the retailers over the next couple of months. They are seeing the familiar tale, online doing well, high street not much. We can be cautiously optimistic about these results. There were some bright spots, total sales were up 1. 5 when they were expecting them to be in decline. Good news, Online Retail performed very well for next. Stores and their physical, sales from their physical sales stores are falling. That is a pattern we will see across the sector. Those physical stores are expensive to run. In next there are a lot of high street locations that will be expensive. They have a high price tag compared to what they can do online. They are expensive to run and not where demand. Increasingly shoppers are turning online to buy their clothes if they are buying clothes at all. That is another challenge. Consumerspending clothes at all. That is another challenge. Consumer spending habits are changing, consumers are buying online by not buying as many close as we used to. Instead we are spending money on experiences, going out to eat and the cinema and that is impacting on retailers like next as well. It is probably an unfair question, we have loads of results to come, is there any indication that christmas, we will spend, we will have a nice christmas. By january, february and march we will think, i cannot call out any more because i cannot afford it. Black friday was a success for a number of retailers because it kick started Christmas Spending early. 0f retailers because it kick started Christmas Spending early. Of course now that boxing day sales are coming to an end, shoppers will be tightening their belts until the next round of discounts. We will get more of those results over the next couple of weeks. We will talk about those again. Thank you very much. In other Business News. Growth has slowed in uk construction, according to the latest study of the sector. The index fell to 52. 2 for december, thats down from 53. 1 in november. Economists however, had expected it to remain steady. Drinks giant diageo is suspending all its adverts on snapchat globally after the advertising watchdog ruled its captain morgans rum campaign, which let users alter selfies to look like the brands pirate, was inappropriately targeted and was likely to appeal to under 18s. The Music Streaming Service spotify is being sued over allegations it used thousands of songs, including those by tom petty and the doors, without paying the relevant music publishers. Californian firm wixen Music Publishing is seeking damages of at least 1. 6 billion dollars. This is what the markets are doing. A bit ofa this is what the markets are doing. A bit of a mixed picture. High street sales falling but online sales doing very well. 0il high street sales falling but online sales doing very well. Oil prices creeping up a little bit over those tensions in iran and those protests we are seeing. That has caused some nervousness in the markets. But the ftse100 nervousness in the markets. But the ftse 100 as nervousness in the markets. But the ftse100 as you can see, barely changed. Everyone using themselves back into work. Investors having a very quiet day. You are up to date. Rachel has got more later. The uks first dedicated Treatment Centre for people with rare genetic diseases and skin conditions has opened in london. The centre at St Thomas Hospital has been designed with the specialist needs of its patients in mind, including curved furniture and ultra violet free lighting to prevent damaging delicate skin. Graham satchell has been to meet one patient who hopes the new unit will help to change his life for the better. St Thomas Hospital in london. 2a year old james dunn is heading to the new Rare Diseases centre. Hello. I love that wall. James is here to get some news. 0k, come on in, james. Thank you. Welcome. Nice and spacious. A couple of weeks ago, a consultant found a cancerous lump in his left hand. So, last week, you came, and we cut that out for you. I can tell you the good news is it is completely out. There is no cancer left. Thank you. Which is really great news. Thank you i was worried about that. Thank you. I was really nervous. Luckily, it hasnt spread, so it is fantastic. Yeah. We will celebrate later. You wrap me that good. James has a life shortening rare genetic skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa, or eb. It affects around 5,000 people in the uk. Jamess skin, as delicate as a butterflys wing. My type of eb means i am missing the anchors and glue in between each layer of skin. I would say 80 of my body is covered in chronic wounds. I have to bandage all of the wounds. So, although you can only see my arms, i have this type of bandage from my neck down, right to the bottom of my feet. It is hard. Yeah. I cant explain it. It is like your body is burning, or i dont know. Your dad is made up. Says he is over the moon. The newly opened Centre Brings together Specialist Services for rare conditions in one place for the first time. It will mean better conditions for patients like james and more collaboration between experts. I think there are reasons to be cheerful. Whereas before weve just had medicines and trying to patch people up, now weve got opportunities to provide more effective treatments through gene therapy, or cell therapy, and hopefully, one day, a cure. In germany, nine year old hassan has had a highly experimental treatment to successfully replace 80 of his skin. The new treatment will not work for everyone with eb, but it may offer hope with a condition that is severely life limiting. In the last 3 a years, weve noticed a huge difference, from bandages to experimental treatments and research thats going on all around the world. Thanks. Take care, safe journey. Thanks. James is going home. For all of the debilitating pain of his condition, he and his mum remain resolutely upbeat. We have a good life, dont we . Yeah. You dont know what is around the corner. We keep fighting, dont we . Yeah, keep fighting every day. James knows his time may be running out, but with the help from the new Rare Diseases centre and his remarkable spirit, there is always hope. Graham satchell, bbc news. A chef has received Death Threats after boasting online that shed deliberately prepared a non vegan dish for a Vegan Customer at her restaurant. Laora goodman said shed spiked the womans meal. She faced a lot of online abuse for that. We have had an update from the restau ra nt. That. We have had an update from the restaurant. She has tendered her resignation and the board of directors are celebrating their options. The have said she will not be working at either of the restau ra nts be working at either of the restaurants which will reopen later this week. They are saying they are ona this week. They are saying they are on a recruitment drive and they are recruiting an additional head chef to work across both the restaurants in shropshire. So that is the chef at the centre of that row about boasting that she had deliberately prepared and non vegan dish for a leading customer. She has tendered her resignation and the board of directors are considering it. That is the latest. Lets get a look at the latest weather prospect. We had some World Weather prospect. We had some World Weather last night, but the weather is, as we head into night and this afternoon the winds will ease off as well. We saw gusts up to 100 mph across the pennines. Generally between 70 80 mph overnight. As we go through this afternoon, gradually they will ease off as storm eleanor has moved away to the north sea. Behind it we are still feeling the effects of that storm out there, it is pretty windy. But slowly but surely it is becoming, it is easing. There will be some sunshine this afternoon but also the risk of a few showers. Those showers squally and heavy and mixed with ale and thunder particularly across Northern Ireland and western parts of scotland and england. For the rush hour tonight there will be drier conditions across parts of devon and cornwall, perhaps the odd isolated shower. Perhaps windy but not as bad as last night. It is dry, but there are heavier showers continuing across Northern Ireland, western parts of scotla nd Northern Ireland, western parts of scotland but some clear skies across the northeast and chilly. Temperature is no higher than two celsius in inverness and much lighter winds they are for much of today as well. Tonight we will see the next weather front pushing in from the south west bringing more heavy rain with it. Ahead of its clear skies, we could see a widespread frost forming across scotland, temperatures could get down to minus eight celsius in the countryside. Further south, it down to minus eight celsius in the countryside. Furthersouth, it will get down to around nine celsius. This weather front is tracking is way north and east words, there is the potential for some snow as it hits cold a on higher ground. First thing tomorrow, not nice for the rush hour, wet and windy. Across northern parts of scotland it is dry and cold. That front will push its way north and east words. Behind it it is drier and brighter through the afternoon, much milder with highs of 13 celsius. Still remaining rather u nsettled 13 celsius. Still remaining rather unsettled through friday. We have outbreaks of rain and it is lustily, starting to become chilly as we head into friday and into the weekend. Thanks to calder are heading from the north east through the weekend. With that we can look forward to drier and brighter conditions where you will need this extra layers win it will feel bitterly cold. Temperature is not higher than 0 celsius in attenborough on saturday and sunday. So wrap up for the weekend. Edinburgh. This is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at midday storm eleanor sweeps across the uk, causing power cuts, flooding and damage to homes following gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. The strongest wind recorded here last night was on the county down coast, 90 mph was recorded. The southern counties of Northern Ireland were badly affected. More than 50,000 non urgent nhs operations and procedures in england are delayed until the end ofjanuary, due to winter pressures. Six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the banned far right Group National action. A chef has resigned after claims she deliberately prepared a non vegan dish for a Vegan Customer. And the uks first polar bear cub in 25 years is born at a scottish animal park. Good afternoon. Its january 3rd. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Storm eleanor has swept across the uk causing flooding, damage to homes and disruption to motorists. Gusts of up to 100 miles an hour were reported in the pennines and thousands of homes across Northern Ireland, wales, the midlands and South West England are without power. There are over 50 flood warnings in place, meaning imminent action is required to prevent flooding. Dan johnson has this report. It was a wild, wet and noisy night in the name of storm eleanor. In the channel islands, jerseys seafront took a pounding, channel islands, jerseys seafront tooka pounding, under channel islands, jerseys seafront took a pounding, under strong winds and surging tides. Ireland felt the storms force first. This is galway on the west coast where high seas meant flooding. Eleanor also took ourfrom meant flooding. Eleanor also took our from thousands of homes. The storm then swirled across the uk. Huge waves in anglesey. Hailstones in blackpool. And here is what people were dealing with this morning. Trees down, bit of building crashed through cars, some vehicles off the road altogether. 0n crashed through cars, some vehicles off the road altogether. On one high spotin off the road altogether. On one high spot in gardening, winds reached 100 mph. Northern england. It has been hazardous on the roads, we have had a Record Number of call outs this morning, debris falling from trees, branches etc. Wet engines, flat batteries, cars wouldnt start. In terms of brea kd owns wouldnt start. In terms of breakdowns it has been busy but also in terms of driving conditions, many roads have been closed or blocked with fallen branches. In cornwall, part of this harbour wall was taken by the sea. Buildings we re wall was taken by the sea. Buildings were also damaged, and it was not clear what belonged where. The worst of the storm has now passed, but high winds are expected through the afternoon. There is a fear here the community could be vulnerable again at this evenings high tide. Well, Northern Ireland took the brunt of storm eleanor, and our correspodent, chris page, says theres been a particular problem with fallen trees. Hundreds of them down all over Northern Ireland. This is a residential part of south belfast, and you can see pretty major damage has been caused here. A tree falling down and really badly damaging the fence here at the side of the house. But it also brought down a power line, and residents living here have described to me seeing a flash whenever that happens last night. A pretty frightening experience. Engineers have been out all night, as you can see, chainsaws are out, they are doing their best to gradually remove the tree from the road, so that more Specialist Vehicles can come up here and deal with these fallen power lines. The peak of the problems last night, more than 20,000 homes in Northern Ireland were without power, but that is now down to just a couple of thousand. But because the incidents have been so widespread, here you have been so widespread, here you have got several houses without power, you do not have hundreds of houses, all suffering a power cut, there will be detailed work needed by the electricity engineers to get the power restored to your homes across Northern Ireland. The strongest wind recorded here last night was on the county down coast, aghast of 90 mph was recorded. It was the southern counties of Northern Ireland which were badly affected as well as here in the city of belfast. I have got to say, it is quite unusual, usually whenever a windy weather hits Northern Ireland, it is rural areas that see trees falling. But here in belfast, quite unusualfor falling. But here in belfast, quite unusual for trees to be coming down, but certainly whenever people were driving to work this morning, they we re driving to work this morning, they were warned to take extra time by the police, they will have seen 20 of trees down. You can see the clear up of trees down. You can see the clear up operation to get all the roads are blocked, well under way. Unblocked. Andy howard has sent this reports from clevedon in somerset where the storm struck in the early hours of this morning, and several flood warnings remain in place. From gloucestershire to North Somerset and on down the coast towards devon and cornwall, flooding is likely, and over my shoulder you can see why. This is high tide, a big one as well, brought to us by the first full moon of 2018. Add to that a0 mph plus winds, and it leads to scenes like this. The coast guard has told me this is the highest he has seen in four years, and on that day there was considerable damage. I am also hearing of homes waking up in somerset to no power. About 120 of them across minehead and cheddar. Further up the coast, in bridgwater, the Environment Agency has set up a special unit to deal with this and to try and monitor this stretch of water. They leave us with two warnings, one if youre coming to the seaside, stay up and stay away, and a more 21st century warning of do not take any storm selfies. You could end up in more danger than you were before. The warning from the Environment Agency is they are now fearful of tomorrow evening, another high tide is expected along the somerset coast. Nhs england has insisted theres no crisis in the Health Service, despite their decision to postpone all non urgent operations and routine outpatient appointments until next month. Officials say they have taken early action to ease winter pressures and avoid last minute cancellations. But senior doctors say pressure has escalated rapidly over the festive period. We have had a few comments on this from the Prime Minister, theresa may saying that i recognise that for those people who have had their operations postponed this is disappointing, it is frustrating. We will ensure that those operations are put back as soon as possible. Again, isay are put back as soon as possible. Again, i say the nhs staff are doing a fantasticjob. The Prime Minister also seeing the nhs has been better prepared for this winter than ever before and we have put extra funding in. Theresa may admitting that it is disappointing and frustrating for those people who have had operations postponed until next month. Lets get this report from our health editor. Ambulance siren. Theres always great pressure on the nhs in the new year. But the strains seem even bigger this year. Two Ambulance Services in england, covering the north east and east, are on the highest state of operational alert, asking families to use their own transport to bring patients into hospital where possible. The trust running scarborough and York Hospitals said high numbers of patients and staff were under considerable pressure. Ive worked in a number of different Emergency Departments around the country and thats the worst ive seen. Ijust want to do a good job. I want to do the best i can for the patients that im seeing. , but im not being given the resources to do thatjob properly. Twitter carried reports from some staff at other hospitals. An emergency doctor in stoke said he personally apologised to local people for what he called third world conditions due to overcrowding. Nhs england has told hospitals to postpone all non urgent operations and outpatient appointments until the end of january, an escalation of temporary measures announced just before christmas. In that time hospitals wont be penalised for putting patients in mixed sex wards. This is a planned response to a winter that we knew was going to be difficult and we are managing that in the way that we expected and were taking early action. Were not waiting to have to respond to a problem. The authorities in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland have said theyre facing higher demand from patients and more pressure on frontline services. With flu cases on the increase, the worry now is that a predicted outbreak may become a reality. Lets discuss the problems in the nhs with the liberal democrat mp and former health minister, norman lamb, who is in norwich this afternoon. Thank you very much for being with us. Good afternoon. Is this the right decision, do you think, to postpone some of these routine operations and procedures until next month . They are caught between a rock and a ha rd they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They could not do anything else, really. It is predictable, this. My great frustration is that the government, knowing that this was going to happen, have done nothing to confront the problem. It leaves very many people working in the system and patients feeling utterly infuriated that the governmentjust sort of watchers by as this deterioration takes place before i rise. When you say they have done nothing, we heard from the nhs, nhs england have said they have got lots of plans in place. This is part of their planning, part of their precautions. That is precisely why this isnt a crisis, because this is their planning. Ido their planning. I do not criticise nhs england, they are doing what they have to do in the circumstances, but the consequences of this, delaying operations, cancelling all nonurgent operations, cancelling all nonurgent operations until the end ofjanuary, this will have a massive knock on effect on families across the country. Collisions have already made clear that overcrowded hospitals are dangerous places. Patients will lose their lives as a result of this crisis that we are now facing, and the point i am making is that the government knew that they are not putting insufficient resources putting in sufficient resources. We got 90 mps together before the budget to urge the government to start a cross party the government to start a cross party processor, with a long term settlement for the nhs ca re system, long term settlement for the nhs care system, and yet the government still does not listen. The government say they are putting record levels of funding into the nhs. This has been the longest squeeze on funding in the nhss history. They are putting in more money, but demanding demand is rising much faster. We have an ageing society. It isa faster. We have an ageing society. It is a triumph of man and womans ingenuity that there are consequences to this. Demand is rising rapidly. Everyone knows this, apart from the cabinet, the Prime Minister and the chancellor. The increase in resources is not sufficient to meet that rising demand, and the consequences are system under impossible pressure and families will suffer across the country. There is no doubt about that. As you say, the nhs has never got enough money in one sense, is the same was true when you were health minister. In previous governments, we have had problems at wintertime in the nhs, not enough beds when there is a flu problem and so on. That leads to huge pressures. 0ne that leads to huge pressures. One of the leaders in the nhs has said himself that this is the worst he has seen since the 1990s. Ultimately, these are political choices. Many other countries, including france and germany, choose to spend more money on their health ca re system. How much would you spend more than is being spent now . Everyone knows there is a very substantial gap. They speak about a couple of possibly £30 million by 2022. We need to find a way of filling that gap, partly through efficiencies, but there is no doubt we need to spend more money. The lib dems have argued for an extra penny on income tax. But i am also arguing that the parties need to get together, we need to confront this difficult issue. It is difficult telling the public that we need to pay more money, but if we Work Together we can find a solution to this. The government needs to lead this. The government needs to lead this rather than watching by as the nhs deteriorates. Thank you for being with us come norman lamb, the liberal democrat mp and former health minister. We will also be hearing from jeremy hunt, the Health Secretary, appearing on the jeremy hunt, the Health Secretary, appearing on thejeremy vine show. Lets see, he has had to say that he has apologised to people affected by the decision to postpone tens of thousands of operations injanuary. He said it is absolutely not what i want. Jeremy hunt, the Health Secretary, with his first comments since the news that these operations, these routine operations and procedures are being postponed until next month, saying it is absolutely not what i want, apologising to people, potentially thousands of people affected by that decision, people needing hip replacement and so on, saying it is absolutely not what i want. More from jeremy hunt, the Health Secretary, as it comes in two lots. Six people have been arrested on suspicion of being members of the banned far right Group National action. The five men from cambridge, banbury, wolverhampton, leicester and stockport, and a woman from banbury, were detained by police earlier. Our home affairs correspondent, june kelly, told me that this was an intelligence led operation involving officers from different parts of the country. It is an intelligence led operation, and it has been coordinated by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism unit, and all the people arrested are being held at a Police Station in the West Midlands. They have been arrested on suspicion of two offences, on suspicion of the preparation and instigation of terrorist acts, and then also on suspicion of being members of this banned far right organisation, national action, which was proscribed in this country in december 2016. We have been told by police that various properties are being searched, but there should not be any public concern. National action, for people who do not know much about it, what kind of group is it . A far right group, and such was the concern about its activities, that it was proscribed just over a year ago, and we have seen other arrests, people allegedly involved in national action. But i think what is interesting in this case is the spread of these arrests, or the geographical spread, and the fact we have all these officers around the country involved. The headlines on bbc newsroom live storm eleanor sweeps across the uk causing flooding, damage to homes and disruption to motorists after gust of up to 100 mph. Theresa may says it is disappointing and frustrating that tens of thousands of nonurgent nhs operations that have been delayed in england until the end ofjanuary because of winter pressures. Six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the far right Group National action. And the sport, hugh has that for us. Good afternoon, include captainjoe root insists that mason crane is ready for his england test debut, which the leg spinner will make in the final ashes test tonight in sydney. There is an unfortunate recent history of some england spinners failing to take their chance in the test arena. At 20, mason crane will become the youngest spinner to make his test debut for england and some 90 years as they try to win a consolation match for a series already lost. I think the way he has conducted himself throughout this whole trip, and since he has been involved in the squad, he has been outstanding. For a young man to apply himself and absorbed himself in the environment as he has is exactly what youre after. He performed very well when he has had as opportunities on this trip, and in and around the games he has been there or thereabouts. It is a really good chance for him to show eve ryo ne a really good chance for him to show everyone what he is capable of, but i think on the surface he is going to bea i think on the surface he is going to be a really good option. Barcelona are preparing to make another bid for Philippe Coutinho. The janitor january transfer window is open and the offer may be imminent after three were turned down by liverpool in the summer, one of which was £80 million. Both barcelona and the brazilian is still interested in the move, liverpool have not publicly stated that Philippe Coutinho is not for sale as they did last year. West ham are investigating a confrontation between jake west ham are investigating a confrontation betweenJake Livermore and home fans at the stadium last night, afterJake Livermore had been substituted in the second half. The midfielder was involved in a Heated Exchange with some west ham supporters. He needed escorting down the tunnel. The london club are working with west brom and the player to try and find out what led to the incident. The only thing i know, i see jake in the crowd, which disturbed me, you do not want to see a player in the crowd. He is a great lad and unless he was provoked severely then that is all i know. That is all the sport for now, much more in the next hour. Many thanks, hugh. President trump has said the United States received no appreciation respect from the palestinians in return for the Financial Aid they have been given. Those statements we re have been given. Those statements were included in more than a dozen tweets mr trump has sent in the last day. In another tweet, tweets mr trump has sent in the last day. In anothertweet, he tweets mr trump has sent in the last day. In another tweet, he boasted to the north Korean Leader about americas Nuclear Buttons. Another twitter tirade by donald trump. The president questions why the us should continue to provide aid to countries that show no respect in return and dont reciprocate. 0n the middle east, he tweets that the status ofjerusalem, which the us now recognises as the capital of israel, will no longer be part of future negotiations. Its not only pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries and others. The Us Ambassador to the United Nations confirmed that us aid to the palestinians was in jeopardy. We very much still want to have a peace process. Nothing changes with that. The palestinians now have to show their will that they want to come to the table. As of now they are not coming to the table but they ask for aid. Were not giving the aid. We need to make sure they come to the table and we want to move forward with the peace process. In another tweet, the president turned his attentions back to north korea. Apparently responding to a new year message from kim jong un in which he said the countrys Nuclear Weapons could reach anywhere in the us. Mr trump tweets, north Korean Leader kim jong un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. It marks a new tone and new level of rhetoric in the Nuclear Crisis with north korea. Lets get reaction to what mr trump was tweeting about palestinians. 0ur middle east correspondentjoins us from jerusalem. What has been the reaction . 0n the palestinian side, there has been more outrage. We had one palestinian official saying, we will not be blackmailed, a spokesman for the palestinian president saying thatjerusalem will the palestinian president saying that jerusalem will not the palestinian president saying thatjerusalem will not be sold, not for gold for silver. And also seeing that the palestinians would return to peace efforts if their goal was in sight, which is basically the idea of having the creation of an independent palestinian state alongside israel based, he said, on the boundaries that existed before the boundaries that existed before the 19 six to seven middle east war. 1967. The 19 six to seven middle east war. 1967. The the 19 six to seven middle east war. 1967. The israeli side has been very mixed. The culture minister, a member of the israeli prime mrs party, she said that she was very satisfied with mr trumps words. She said that it was time to stop flattering the palestinians, stop giving them flattering words. She also spoke about the abolition of the Un Refugee Agency for palestinian refugees, and their descendants. This was in response to the question that was asked to the Us Ambassador to the un, which was specifically about us funding that goes to that agency and support around 5 Million People in the middle east, in gaza in the west bank and also another arab countries. And then you also have a different voice, much more moderate, she is of course a former police negotiator, and she came out saying that there was time for someone in the Israeli Government to speak quietly to mr trump and explain how it would not be of any benefits to israel, she said, if there was to be a humanitarian crisis in gaza caused by cutting funds. There must be an end if there was to be an end to the Security Cooperation that goes on partly funded by us money. Thank you very much indeed, from jerusalem. More reaction also to what mr trump has been saying on twitter. We can speak now in paris tojohn Nilsson Wright, a Senior Research fellow on the Asia Programme on chatham house. Thank you very much for being with us. We were also hearing mrtrump for being with us. We were also hearing mr trump speaking about north korea, saying that his Nuclear Button is bigger and more powerful than kim jong uns. Button is bigger and more powerful than kimjong uns. This at button is bigger and more powerful than kim jong uns. This at a button is bigger and more powerful than kimjong uns. This at a time when there seems to be a little bit of perhaps hope for some sort of dete nte of perhaps hope for some sort of detente between north and south. The re establishment of this hotline between north and south korea. Thats right, and i think Donald Trumps comments, typically juvenile, typically provocative and surprisingly, of course, in a way acknowledging that north korea is a nuclear power. That is further evidence, if you like, of the absence of a real strategic sense of balance on the part of president trump. Kim jong balance on the part of president trump. Kimjong un has demonstrated he still has the ability to get under the president s skin. Those sorts of tweets do not take as much further in terms of talks between washington and pyongyang. But youre absolutely right, the prospect of talks between south korea and the re establishment of that hotline, the offer from north re establishment of that hotline, the offerfrom north korea re establishment of that hotline, the offer from north korea that it is willing to participate in the 0lympic is willing to participate in the olympic games. If something could be worked out for both sides, this is an important step forward to do is not something that the americans, particularly president trump, welcomes. You say it is juvenile, but in a senseit you say it is juvenile, but in a sense it is what the theory of Nuclear Deterrence is. It is saying, we have got Nuclear Weapons that are bigger than yours. That is all present trump is saying in a way, i suppose. Yes and no. We have also seen in that important new year statement by kimjong un, a declaration by the North Koreans that they will not use Nuclear Weapons first. However much we need to be concerned about a nuclear deterrent, we should welcome this move by the North Koreans as an important step forward. But they will have to demonstrate they are serious about negotiating at offering something to both south korea and other countries, that means a clear commitment to the North Koreans not to continue testing, either long range missiles on nuclear devices. Until they do something substantial, then of course the words coming out of pyongyang are just rhetoric. The problem with president trumps approach is that it is one sided, it is very much a limited approach focusing on sanctions and pressure. If were going to see a resolution of the Current Crisis there will have to be, like it or not, some side of talks between the south and North Koreans and between the americans and the North Koreans. Neither pyongyang nor washington has shown much appetite to engage in those talks. If we are seeing some moves with this hotline, for example, towards maybe a little bit of reconciliation from the north, what is the game plan . We have had all these test firings, missiles, a lot of angry rhetoric from kim jong un, firings, missiles, a lot of angry rhetoric from kimjong un, maybe firings, missiles, a lot of angry rhetoric from kim jong un, maybe a slightly softer tone now. What is the thinking there . I think probably the essential approach is to try and drive a wedge between seoul and washington. To capitalise on the fact that president moon and president trump, despite their public statements, have different approaches for dealing with north korea. The government in the south wants to have talks with north korea, and i think kim believes that by offering something, even if it is not very clear at this stage what is being offered other than dialogue, he can try to rally both the opinion in south korea and the views of the political elite around the position that creates tension with washington. The challenge for the grown ups on both sides of south korea, us alliance ship is that they both stay on the same side in terms of their long term goals. But to do so in of their long term goals. But to do soina of their long term goals. But to do so in a way that sees these initial talks is the beginning of a process of dialogue. For that, the americans have to show a greater willingness to support what the south koreans are trying to do. Good to talk to you, thank you for your analysis. John Nilsson Wright from the independent International Affairs think tank chatham house. Thank you. Lets get more on one of our main stories, nhs england insisting there is no crisis in the Health Service despite its decision to postpone all non urgent operations and routine outpatient appointments until next month. Within the last half hour, we have heard from the Prime Minister, theresa may, who has paid tribute to nhs staff, and promised that operations will be rescheduled as soon as possible. First of all, can i say a huge thank you to nhs staff and their hard work. They work hard and do a fantastic job work. They work hard and do a fantasticjob for a work. They work hard and do a fantastic job for a stay work. They work hard and do a fantasticjob for a stay in and day out all your round. But obviously, when extra pressures are in winter, they are doing a fantasticjob, and their dedication is ensuring that people are getting the treatment they need. The nhs has been better prepared for this winter than ever before. We have put extra funding in, there are more beds available across the system, we have reduced the number of delayed discharges of elderly people who would otherwise have been in nhs beds other than in social care. But i recognise that those people who have had their operations postponed, this is disappointing, frustrating. But we to ensure that those operations are put back as soon as possible. And once again i say, the nhs staff are doing a fantasticjob and i would like to take the opportunity personally tomorrow to thank you for thank them. The Prime Minister, and in the next few minutes we are expected to hear from the Secretary Health secretary, jeremy hunt, we will bring you that as soon become. In the meantime lets look at the weather. We are getting there, ben. It has been a stormy start to the day, but eleanor sitting off into the north sea. The wind is still gusting 50 60 mph, but as we go through the afternoon things will quieten down, the winds will is slightly. Some sun, buta the winds will is slightly. Some sun, but a chilly afternoon in the far north east of scotland, and sandwiched in between the two, some showers. The showers will be replaced by heavy rain pushing into the south west, gales unexposed coasts through the channel. Not as strong as with eleanor but nevertheless it will be a wet and windy start to thursday morning. Rain pushes its way steadily north and east as we go through the day. Grey and wet across england and wales for the Early Morning rush hour. Rain lingers across Northern Ireland, southern scotland, Northern Ireland, southern scotland, Northern Ireland. To the north of that cold and sunny, to the south mild and sunny. But the cold air will win the battle as we move towards the weekend. But hopefully the weather will quieten down just a touch. This is bbc newsroom live. Our latest headlines thousands of homes remain without power after winds of up to 100 miles an hour battered parts of the uk. Theresa may has rejected claims that the nhs is in crisis, saying the Health Service is better prepared than ever before. Six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the banned far right Group National action. And the first polar bear cub born in the uk for 25 years is being monitored at a Scottish Wildlife park. And Services Local Authorities have been clearing up after storm eller, eleanor. I have been talking to the president of the aa about the situation on the roads. Key set it up situation on the roads. Key set it up in situation on the roads. Key set it upina situation on the roads. Key set it up in a very busy morning. Calls up about 30 a0 . Before nine oclock, about 30 a0 . Before nine oclock, about 2600 breakdowns. Wet engines. Years and being damaged by debris on the road, falling trees, smashing windscreens. We have been busy in terms of breakdowns, and hazardous driving conditions. What is the advice to drivers in these conditions . Gales, hail . The wind can be deceptive, if you are driving and then you have an opening between buildings, indeed hillsides, you get gusts and than can affect you. Always keep both hands on the steering wheel, and take care when passing high sided vehicles. They can be hit by the wind. The United States has said that it plans to call an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the ongoing unrest in iran. 22 people have so far died in six days of Anti Government demonstrations, which were initially against price rises and corruption. However they later began to express wider Anti Government sentiment, including protests over the strict islamic dress code by women, who risked arrest by publicly removing their hijabs. Today state television has been broadcasting live coverage of tens of thousands of people marching through a number of towns and cities, chanting slogans in support of irans supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. Rana rahimpour from bbc rana rahimpourfrom bbc persian explained these latest developments. The state television has been showing several cities, in which pro government rallies are happening. Many of them carrying flags, and posters of the supreme leader. We also have unconfirmed reports that many of the Government Employees have been told that they must take pa rt have been told that they must take part in these rallies, otherwise they would risk losing jobs. 0bviously, because we cannot be there it it is difficult to confirm this. We have also heard many streets, with pro government rallies have been caused to others, because they have been worried that the protesters could get involved. Some evidence that these pro government rallies orchestrated by the regime. What about the anti protestors . Continuing . Not in the major cities. Authorities have said that in the major cities, things were calm. But we have seen footage with riot police, and Security Forces. We have received reports of more protests, especially in the south of the country with many people being deprived ofjobs. And people have been living in difficult situations. It looked very violent. Were waiting to get official report about the possible outcomes. And as i said, most of the Anti Government demonstrations focused on economic grievances. The Living Standards and so on. But also some complaints about religious restrictions that people live under . In this complex. A number of reasons that people are angry and put on the streets. Political freedom, angry and put on the streets. Politicalfreedom, socialfreedom. I think the president has understood this. He mentioned this in his reaction to the protest. He said people do not normally receive about money and food, they want other freedoms. If he is able to do that, it is unlikely. Some news coming in, chris parker. About he was at the Manchester Arena bombing, pleaded guilty to stealing a purse and phone from victims of the attack. That is just in. Chris parker, homeless. Pleaded guilty to stealing a purse and mobile phone from victims of the Manchester Arena attack. Initially hailed. Then he was accused of stealing those items. Purse and phone belonging to a teenage girl. We will bring you more on that as we get it. More now on our main story. Nhs england has insisted theres no crisis in the Health Service, despite its decision to postpone all non urgent operations and routine outpatient appointments until next month. In the last few moments, we helping hearing about this from the Health Secretary. What is your message to the patients held up in a e . And the employees under extreme pressure . First, staff. The country wants to say thank you. They have been going beyond the call of duty, walking extremely difficult shifts overnight. Notjust extremely difficult shifts overnight. Not just me. Extremely difficult shifts overnight. Notjust me. The entire country is incredibly proud of the front line staff. This is always the busiest week of the year. And it could not be doing more to keep the patients safe. With respect to the patients, i want to apologise for the fact that regrettably we have had to postpone a number of operations. We are trying to do things differently this year. Last year we cancelled any operations at the very last moment, people got a telephone call the day before. That is obviously very undesirable. We wa nt to is obviously very undesirable. We want to do this with more planning. The hope is that the total number is not going to be significantly higher this year than last year. Signs are we are managing to keep the occupancy we are managing to keep the occu pa ncy levels we are managing to keep the occupancy levels relatively we are managing to keep the occu pa ncy levels relatively lower than last year. But we are dealing with the optic, uptake in flu. The nhs cannot be running properly under your government if youre having to cancel a months worth of operations it is important to recognise that these pressures we are seeing all over the United Kingdom, scotland, wales, when nhs is being run by difficult political parties. It was also a difficult season in australia, france, this is just a characteristic of health care assistants. Do we have more longer term questions to address . Of course. 1 million more over 75s coming down the track in ten years. Those are questions that we have got to answer. But as far as this government is concerned, we want to continue to be proud of the nhs and supported through this challenging time of the year. Under this government, it seems the nhs is only running properly 11 months of the year. Cant be right . Running properly 11 months of the year. Cant be right . We have got more doctors, nurses, the outcomes have dramatically improved. But it isa have dramatically improved. But it is a very pressured time of year. We are trying to do the winter planning better than last year. That is five over the course of last year, to give you an example, we have seen an extra £1 billion for social care, 200 doctors in a e, and if you looked at the last monthly figures, over half of the accident and Emergency Departments are doing better than last year. I think some signs that things are getting better. But this is a difficult period and we do not do what is good to happen with flu. Surely the planning was not adequate . You have had to make this announcement through nhs england about cancelled operations . On the contrary, it is because of the planning that we are doing Something Different to last year. Were looking at the figures, at what happened with respiratory illness, occupancy levels and be thinking ahead. We have taken this decision. Waiting until the last moment that we needed to take, but we are still giving good time, allowing hospitals to focus on emergency care. But you have changed the advice since christmas. Ramping up the advice since christmas. Ramping up the response. That suggests it was last minute. We set up the Emergency Panel and we are asking them to a monitor what is happening ona them to a monitor what is happening on a daily basis and you do not know what has gone to happen with things like care. And respiratory illness. We have been monitoring numbers and decided that on balance when we looked at those numbers yesterday, this justify taking the measures that you would obviously only take up that you would obviously only take up the last possible moment. Things get worse in january . Were having to monitor this on a daily basis. The situation on the ground is changing. We want to do with the pressures that we face in a planned way. We recognise that staff are working incredibly hard and i think the studys decision is going to need things easierfor the studys decision is going to need things easier for staff to cope. That was the Health Secretary. With me in the studio isjohn kell head of policy at the patients association. Thank you forjoining us. Jeremy huntjust said thank you forjoining us. Jeremy hunt just said this thank you forjoining us. Jeremy huntjust said this decision to bus for routine operations is evidence of planning. Good planning from the nhs in england. We have got problems with beds, winter pressure. Do you accept that argument . It is certainly true that nhs england has been putting a lot of planning and to what it is going to do. But they have had to ramp up the response, taking more drastic steps than they had been hoping to, that suggests the initial response was not good enough. It has been clearfor a long time that if we had anything other than a time that if we had anything other thana mild time that if we had anything other than a mild winter being the nhs and hospitals would struggle. That seems to be what has happened. We seem to get this problem every single year. Every single winter. Do you think it has been worse this year than previously . This sounds to be. Images england has said that levels of flu in hospital are higher than they had been hoping for. The same goes for the spirit illness and also norovirus. It seems like a difficult winter. We know that the demographic changes. More elderly patients, living longer, with complex conditions. Provision has not been pace. Sleeping keeping. Conditions. Provision has not been pace. Sleeping keeping. Andjust not enough beds . Some in corridors . Certainly, reports of people being treated in corridors. Sooner or later, youre not going to be able to cope. We want to be keeping people well at home as much as possible. Investing in community services. Nhs england is trying to put those changes in police. Ideally it would have started sooner. That transformation process would have started sooner. And read about social care has been increases, and the desired outcome of keeping people well at home has not been achieved. We will carry on having problems like this until we have the ca re system problems like this until we have the care system that can achieve that. This decision to postpone non urgent, routine operations, things like hip replacements, knee surgery. Like hip replacements, knee surgery. But if you are scheduled to have that and it is postponed, the Prime Minister said it is frustrating. Putting it mildly. More pain, more discomfort for the people waiting. It also increases the risk of poorer outcomes. It is true that life saving operations are not affected by this. But for those affected by this. But for those affected by this. But for those affected by this, consequences are serious. Thank you very much. Van figures from the hill seventh in scotland, said that more than 2700 operations were cancelled. Those official figures show that the number is slightly fewer than the previous 12 months, around a quarter of cancellations happened because of nonclinical reasons. The latest headlines. Storm eleanor sweeps across the uk causing flooding, damage to homes and disruption to motorists following gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. Theresa may has said it is disappointing and frustrating for the tens of thousands of non urgent nhs operations that have been delayed because of pressure. Six people have been arrested across the uk on suspicion of being members of the banned far right Group National action. A chef who boasted online that shed deliberately prepared a non vegan dish for a Vegan Customer has resigned laora goodman said shed spiked the womans meal. Shes since apologised and denied any animal products were involved. Trading standards officials are investigating. Giles latcham reports. Police at carlinis in shropshire, responding to Death Threats made online against Laura Goodman, co owner and head chef. In the early hours of sunday, she posted in a closed Facebook Group that she had just spiked a vegan and that a pious and unjudgemental judgmental vegan i spent all day cooking for has gone to bed still believing shes to those people, active vegans and vegetarians, listen to their side of the story. Nothing happened. They say the spiked comments relate to one of the vegan diners ordering a pizza with cheese on it which laura prepared. But comments online include i spoke briefly to Laura Goodman and she looked pale and exhausted. She said she was deeply sorry for the comments shed posted, deeply distressed by the response to them. Too distressed, she said, to appear on camera. A committed vegan from telford says its a question of trust. Your initial thought is, oh, my goodness, am i able to trust the restaurant again . But also makes you worry for people who might have gone there who might have had an allergy or whatever, and may well suffer from some kind of symptom as a result of, you know, not being given what they thought they were having. Food standards officials have begun an investigation. A new dish at the restaurant, humble pie. The amount of music bought, streamed or downloaded in britain rose at its fastest rate for nearly twenty years in 2017, with total consumption up by 9. 5 . The bpi, which represents the British Music industry, says 135 million albums were purchased or accessed with a particularly big jump in the number of songs streamed. Our correspondent Chi Chi Izundu gave us more background to todays figures a little earlier. We are talking about 68. 1 billion streams in 2017. That is about every Single Person in the United Kingdom thing about 136 songs. It was not just good news for the Music Industry. The Entertainment Industry in general have a really good year. Five years in a row, we are talking television programmes, music and Online Gaming. Joining me, you are from the bpi. Music doing well . Very well. We have at some challenging years so well. We have at some challenging years so it is good to have come out of that. We have come around the corner. 2017, significant gross. 9. 5 the highest since 1998. 135 million albums streamed, bought, cd or vinyl. And streaming, that is over 50 of the consumption. It is notjust over 50 of the consumption. It is not just millenniums. What over 50 of the consumption. It is notjust millenniums. What is going to be fascinating, one of the Big Christmas presents this year was the so called voice activated smart speakers. Meaning to get a catchier name. Play abba, jam, itll do it for you. That has actually been enabled. It is all about the ease of access. Clearly it can only grow that, and accelerate that is a process. At the same time, the dynamic that we have seen that is good for the industry and shops in particular, when people come across something that they love, they can own it, buy it, collect it. 4. 1 million lps sold. You have got to go back to 1991 to see that. Ban all the last ten years, about 1900 million of those actually fell in december. It is a great eco system. But we should not overlook the fact that the artists have been helping to drive this. It begins and ends with music. We can be proud of the british artist. Eight of the top ten best selling artists. Especially a certain ed sheeran. That album was the most streamed, downloaded, and on cd. Purchased the had the biggest selling single of the year. Catchy intro accompanying Many Television adverts. And the christmas number one. Also two other albums, top 20. That was brilliant for him. We also had many others coming through. Debut album, human. Grime. The mercury prize. Little mix here to stay. Sam smith. So much to get excited about. And the more that we can get this happening, the more that we can keep investing. Two yea rs that we can keep investing. Two years ago the Music Industry was actually scared of streaming. Not thinking that people would pay for this. More of us are actually some scraping. Families are doing that, you get great deals. We really value the good experience. We do not want to mess about, not having signal, perfect recording. Having something thatis perfect recording. Having something that is convenient as important. Subscribing to spotify, apple, all of those. It is generating revenue back into the industry. And then investing that back into talent. We can have more exciting talent. And downloading, the one people that one thing that people thought would stick about, thriving . Download is disappearing because people are going towards streaming. Understandably it is just easy and accessible. As you can see, music streaming increasingly on the way up. And a lot of the artists internationally do so well. 68. 1 billion streams in 2017 alone the highland wildlife park in scotland has welcomed the first polar bear to be born in the uk for 25 years. I spoke to Charlotte Macdonald from the Royal Zoological Society of scotland and asked how they felt about the news. Definitely excited. Definitely a cub in there. We wont see it till march. Always going to give birth in the wild. We replicate that. Wont emerge till march. Do think that it could be more than one . To be honest we do not know. We have heard noises. Impossible to tell. Found it is the first time for a quarter of a century . Polar bears have specific needs. Females for exaggerated privacy. We have got to provide specific accommodation and a specific accommodation and a specific environment for them. We have done that successfully. But of course, males are young as well. It ta kes course, males are young as well. It takes time. And tell me. The life ofa takes time. And tell me. The life of a polar bear cub. Precarious for the first few weeks . The mortality rate is high, in the wild and zoos. We are dealing with an actual situation, underdeveloped immune system so diseases can affect them. If mum is affected, she can abandon them. A lot of risks. But we are cautiously optimistic. That was charlotte from scotland. In a moment the news at one with reeta chakrabarti. First the weather. Good afternoon. It was certainly a stormy start. The destruction, trees down, lines affected. Localised flooding. These were the strongest gusts. But generally speaking, across wales, and london, 70 80. The storm arrived through the night, owned by the rush hour it was easing to the north sea. Winds easing. But nevertheless, 50 60. And as we go through the latter stages of the afternoon, it is going to be brightening up, lighter winds, cluster of showers for Northern Ireland and western scotland. North east scotland, frosty start but dry and sunny. Temperatures still struggling. 0verweight, a lull in proceedings and then a touch of frost. The area of pressure moving and bringing more wet and windy weather. Not as strong as eleanor, but still likely to get gales across the channel coast. Wet rush hour. London, midlands. Rain lighter. Perhaps lingering through the north of england and Northern Ireland for much of the day, the far north east of scotla nd much of the day, the far north east of scotland starting frosty, possibly some icy stretches, isolated showers. It is an improving picture to the south, but that band of rain almost coming to a halt. Turns wintry with height. Cold and sunny to the north. South, 12 13. Friday is a mess. Noticeably cooler. And we could get some more snow, because that northerly winds kick in. Cold airfilters because that northerly winds kick in. Cold air filters south. The Health Secretary says sorry to nhs patients whove had their operations delayed because of winter pressures. I want to apologise for the fact that we have had, regrettably, to postpone a number of operations. Theresa may rejects claims that the Health Service is in crisis, but admits the delays are frustrating for patients. Well be looking at the impact on patients and asking what it tells us about the pressures on the nhs. Also this lunchtime. Storm eleanor has been battering large part of the uk, leaving thousands of homes without power. Winds reached 100 miles an hour, bringing down trees and power lines and causing flooding and travel disruption. All of a sudden, the skyjust lit up and these power lines touched each other, and it was just like guy fawkes. It was sparks, it was unbelievable