Lets Return Straightaway to that breaking news that has just come into us from the grid. News that they say they have received a number of allegations of Sexual Assault in london following news reports about the comedian Russell Brand. Metropolitan police. They have said they also received a number of allegations of Sexual Offences committed elsewhere in the country and will investigate these. The offences, they say, are all non recent. They say the officers will be Offering Specialist support to all of the women who have made the allegations. Just to repeat that breaking news. Metropolitan police saying they have received a number of allegations of Sexual Assault in london following news reports about comedian Russell Brand. Of course over recent days Russell Brand has strongly insisted his innocence in terms of the allegations made by the reports in the sunday times. The times in channel for� s dispatch documentary. That is just coming into us in the last few minutes and we will have more on that here on the programme in the next little while. The british army has been stood down from supporting the Metropolitan Police after hundreds of officers stepped back from Firearms Duties. The Prime Minister has said armed officers need clarity about their legal powers. Rishi sunak was backing a home office review, after a metropolitan Police Officer was charged with murdering a 24 year old man, chris kaba, in south london last year. Earlier, the bbc was told up to 300 officers had turned in permits allowing them to carry weapons. Lets head to the newsroom now. Tell us more about legal clarity that the Prime Minister is talking about here. That the Prime Minister is talking about here that the Prime Minister is talking about here. , ,. ,. , about here. This seems to me at the heart of this about here. This seems to me at the heart of this like about here. This seems to me at the heart of this like straight, heart of this like straight, Non Strike Which has been going on where officers have basically handing in their gun permits. Police officers cannot strike, but clearly this has been a source of real concern amongst officers that that you feel have been treated unfairly in the law following the Crown Prosecution Services decision to prosecute one of their number for the alleged murder of chris kaba who was shot dead in london. The key thing about this, how this blew up in the last few days is because the plea started expressing concern internally and with meetings and Senior Officers to understand concerns of seniorfires Senior Officers to understand concerns of senior fires arm officers. The Home Secretary has launched a review and the Prime Minister has talked about the need to provide clarity to officers. What it comes down to is questions posed by the Police Commissioner who has effectively in essence, what he said there is that there seems to be some confusion from officers where in some situations they may face criminal prosecutions, some situations they may not. They simply want everything to be put on the same footing. This is effectively what has been going around for a long time. Earlier, the former director of Public Prosecutions can mcdonalds case eat spoke to our colleagues on the. Lets would yet say. A lot of respect for mark, hes an excellent commissioner. But i think he needs to identify what there is a glaring unfairness is our. Evidence has been assembled by the police about police conduct. It has been referred to the cps, the evidence has been considered and the cps have made their decision. One can understand the concern of the officers and the Home Secretarys position. She has to tread a careful constitutional line and shouldnt do or say anything which has the effect of undermining the decision now it has been made. This afternoon what has become clear is that some officers have effectively gone back to work. Effectively easing the situation as there now appears to be known need to call in from the support of the army because the Metropolitan Police has now said they have enough officers available, sufficient numbers for them to meet all of their counterterrorism obligations. In effect, these are teams working in the background and will have to be on standby to carry out operations at any time. Certainly anyone who has been in Central London today could not fail to have noticed that the officers and key strategic locations like outside Buckingham Palace is during the changing of the guard this morning, i thought to myself on the way to the newsroom. Clearly there is some tension there but offices to appear to have made a point and come back to have made a point and come back to work. Aware it will and will be quite a tricky long Legal Process given the promise now from the Home Secretary of some form of review and the police saying, look, we need certainty about where we stand. Thank you very much for the latest. Earlier, i spoke to dr leroy logan, a former superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, for his reaction. I am really concerned these officers are believing this is the only way to air their concerns. What we dont want is military officers patrolling The Streets Of London in a similar way we saw in the 19805 and 19905 in Northern Ireland. And i think officers really need to remind themselves of the Metropolitan Police is in a bad state, public trust and confidence is not good, and this action is going to make it worse. And reinforce perceptions they feel they are persecuted heroes, being petulant and childish. That is the last thing they want to put across. The best thing i suggest is air your grievances through the home office, through the commissioner, but get back to work. We heard in that report from tom a former Firearms Officer talking about it not being worth the risk any more to be one of the firearms team, the risk of years of investigation if they do fire a shot, the impact on mental health, theirfamilies. Do you sympathise with that thought and recognise it . I recognise it but they know what they sign up to when they become Firearms Officers, and specialist officers. It is part of the selection process, part of the rigorous training. It is risk and rewards. The reward is it is a very specialised, looked up to by their colleagues, a lot of kudos, a lot of trappings, going into Critical Incidents is seen as a real sort of opportunity of developing. If thats the way you want to do policing. They need to know there is a short box. You will see what the Prime Minister said today. Is there a need for any more legal clarity of exactly the position, the rules these Police Officers work under . I know theres an issue, the iopc, and even the internal of personal standards, how they take things forward and how the cps looks at things. In terms of processes and practices, the legislation as well. These things i believe have been put in place in the past. Let me say, these officers are taking this action having threatened to do it in 2011 with the mark duggan issue when an officer may have faced the courts. They didnt use it because he didnt go to court. On this occasion they decided to pull out this tactic, which i think is unprofessional and shouldnt be done, and is Holding People to ransom. Hopefully it will stop soon. Lets turn to another important story now. Ukraines Special Forces have claimed that the commander of russias Black Sea Fleet was killed in a Missile Strike on the navy� s headquarters in occupied crimea on friday. In a statement, a Military Spokesman claimed admiral Viktor Sokolov the commander of russias Black Sea Fleet died in the attack, but wouldnt name him directly when approached by the bbc for confirmation. The building in sevastopol suffered a direct hit by Western Supplied missiles. Our correspondent in Kyivjames Waterhouse has the latest. We saw this really dramatic strike on friday, a direct hit with Western Missiles on russias naval headquarters in occupied crimea. At the very least, it was a symbolic moment for both ukraine in terms of undermining russias presence but also for russia itself because this is somewhere that it has tried to demonstrate a firm grip on and i think when you see the headquarters being blown up in this way, it wasnt immediately clear what Operational Impact this would have on russia and today we are seeing ukraine try to assert that. It was indeed significant in that a sizeable chunk of the Command Structure had been taken out. 3a senior offices, we are told, including admiral sokolov. But no evidence has accompanied this statement. As you say, we tried to contact the spokesman. He has not named him, but they are standing by the broad sentiment of the statement and, of course, there are a lot of reports circulating around this to the delight of the pro ukrainian channels. As for the kremlin, they havent commented on these latest claims, and we dont expect them to. James, so many different strands to this war, but there were reports a few hours ago that the first of the us abrams tanks have arrived there in ukraine. Is there any sort of reporting about numbers that we have here . Yes, i think there is a consensus on this, matthew. Just to give you an idea, a year ago, the west were ruling out sending any kind of tanks to ukraine. Then you have the us signal that they were prepared to send these hugely advanced tanks. And that gave political cover for the german made Leopard Tanks to be provided by other western allies. Equally, it gives you an idea of the time it takes for these pieces of kit to arrive with all the support structure. Nevertheless, the first of 31 tanks, we are told, have started to arrive. There are images of them being loaded arriving and Train Carriages, and they are ultimately ahead of schedule. So we have ukraines Defence Minister saying they are going to be used as part of ukraines counteroffensive. And i think when you have got ukraine looking to try to make as many gains as possible before the onset of winter and softer ground where it will be harder to move men and armoured vehicles across mining infested terrain, this will be welcome news for kyiv. And the hope more will follow. Nevertheless, it will still be sometime before we see those tanks taken off the Train Carriages and used in a meaningful way. What we are being told is that the ukrainians want to use these tanks in what they described as a tailored operation. Why . Because they are valuable but also we saw ukrainians use these tanks and what they described as a tailored operation. Why . Because they are valuable but also we saw Ukrainian Forces use a lot of men in machinery early on in their counteroffensive, which forced them to change tactics. So it will be interesting to see what impact these tanks have longer term. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Lets stay with a couple of stories making the headlines here. A Motorbike Rider has died in a collision in Central London, while being followed by police. The motorcycle which failed to stop for officers after travelling through a red light crashed on Tottenham Court road. A Pillion Passenger suffered non life threatening injuries and was arrested after being found with a machete. Police say the death of Sheffield United player maddy cusack is not being treated as suspicious. The midfielder died last week, aged 27, Derbyshire Police said they were called to an address on wednesday where cusack was pronounced dead at the scene. They added a file will now be prepared for the coroner. Health Service Managers estimate, that more than one million nhs appointments in england, have been cancelled because of strikes. Nhs providers have warned that resources are likely to be severely stretched, as winter approaches. Industrial action began in december. The official number of inpatient and outpatient appointments and operations cancelled is more than 885,000. Youre live with bbc news. Here, the nurse lucy letby is to face a retrial on an outstanding allegation, that she attempted to murder a baby girl. Letby was sentenced to a � whole life order� last month, after she was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the Attempted Murders of six others. But the jury was unable to reach verdicts on six counts, relating to five children. Her barrister told the court, she maintains her innocence on all charges. Our north of england correspondent, danny savage, is outside Manchester Crown court with more details. A short hearing here at Manchester Crown court this morning. The prosecution told the judge they were proceeding with a retrial of lucy letby in relation to one of those six charges that the jury failed to reach verdicts on the end of the trial last month. One of Attempted Murder of a girl known as baby k, who died in February 2016 at the countess of chester hospital. Now, 33 year old lucy letby was present via video link from her prison today. She was sitting in a Conference Room behind a desk. She spoke to confirm her name and that she could see and hear proceedings over that link. Her Defence Barrister in court told the judge that she maintains her innocence on all charges. Now, the proposed retrial date for this one charge of Attempted Murder is injune next year here at Manchester Crown court. Now, thejury failed to reach verdicts on six charges of Attempted Murder at the end of her trial, so why only one today . There are obviously five other charges. The Crown Prosecution Service say those decisions were extremely complex and difficult, and that they listen to the families and met and explained their Decision Making process to them. One of the solicitors representing some of those families say they are disappointed with todays decision. We believe families of further alleged victims still have questions that are unanswered. To sumrise, lucy letby will be tried again in one charge of Attempted Murder in relation to a girl known as baby k. And that will take place in manchester here next summer and is expected to last 2 3 weeks. There have been scenes of panic and confusion as a growing number of Ethnic Armenian refugees try to leave nagorno kara bakh. It follows azerbaijans seizure of this disputed region. Roads leading towards the armenian border, are jammed with traffic. People are afraid of persecution and ethnic cleansing. Armenia reckons about 5,000 people have crossed the border since the enclave was captured by Azerbaijani Forces last week. The territory is at the heart of one of the worlds longest running conflicts. Nagorno karabakh lies in the mountainous South Caucasus region of Eastern Europe and asia between the black sea and the caspian sea. Its recognised internationally as part of azerbaijan, but has been controlled by Ethnic Armenians for three decades. Nick beake from bbc verify explains more. Were talking about one of the longest running conflicts. It isnt often in the headlines but attention is on Nagorno Karabakh, with warnings that could potentially be concerns about ethnic cleansing, forcing out a group from an area. Look at this video from the past 2a hours. If we play at now you can see some of the more than 3000 people, possibly 5,000, who have fled Nagorno Karabakh already. These are Ethnic Armenian families who have been living in the region. These pictures are from armenian tv. Lets step back and try get our bearings. We are talking about a part of the world which is where the east europe meets asia. Specifically between the black sea and caspian sea. Here we have armenia, predominantly christian, azerbaijan mostly muslim. Both parts were former parts of the soviet union. You can see what we are talking about, Nagorno Karabakh. Recognised as being part of azerbaijan. But large areas happy controlled by Ethnic Armenians for three decades and about 120,000 Ethnic Armenians call it home. Now, what happened last week was the azerbaijan military launched this offensive, a quick operation in response to what it said was provocation and made gains. The operation was condemned by the eu. Internet was restricted in Nagorno Karabakh, but we have a video. It is not from close up but around the main city. You can see the smoke there in the distance. What then happened was a peace deal was announced in which the Ethnic Armenian forces would be disbanded and disarmed. Have a look at this photograph because this is within the city, the main city, and you can see this big plume of smoke. Here at bbc verify, we have said the photograph is authentic, weve seen the outlines of the mountains and buildings, using google maps. This is true. The idea of a peace being in place is contradicted by this. Azerbaijan has promised appeal of Nagorno Karabakh will be safe, but Ethnic Armenian leaders say they fear ethnic cleansing, that only one big delivery of food has been allowed in the last week. The claim is thousands of people are without food and shelter. This is footage taken in the past week by peacekeepers in the region. They are not from the united nations, they are from russia. It is clear, keeping the peace, protecting human rights and lives of thousands of armenians who are now set to be uprooted as a pressing concern for lots of people in the international community. To be honest, it has been tough to get a clear picture of what has been happening. With more people are merging with their own first hand accounts, that could change. Lets return as promised to that breaking Development Concerning the comedian Russell Brand. Lets go straight to our correspondent Collin Patterson following this one for us. Collin, bring us up to speed in terms of what we have heard in the last 25 minutes from the Metropolitan Police. The last 25 minutes from the metroolitan police. ,. , Metropolitan Police. The statement has come from Metropolitan Police. The statement has come from the Metropolitan Police. The statement has come from the metropolitan. Has come from the Metropolitan Police, they say detectives have launched an investigation into allegations of Sexual Offences. They say it follows an investigation by channel 4 dispatchers in the sunday times that the met received a number of allegations of Sexual Offences in london. Before today, they had previously said that they had received a report, but not that they had launched an investigation. Todays statement goes on to say we have also received a number of allegations of Sexual Offences committed elsewhere in the country, and will investigate these. They say that all the offences are non recent. They say that officers will be Offering Specialist support of the women who have made allegations. It goes on in more detail saying, investigation has been carried out by detectives in the met central Specialist Crime command led by detective superintendent. That is the breaking news that the Metropolitan Police, they dont mention Russell Brand by name, but say following the channel 4 dispatches in the sunday times investigation, they have launched an investigation, they have launched an investigation into allegations of Sexual Offences. The investigation into allegations of Sexual Offences. ,. , Sexual Offences. The statement ends b sa inc, Sexual Offences. The statement ends by saying. There Sexual Offences. The statement ends by saying, there will Sexual Offences. The statement ends by saying, there will be Sexual Offences. The statement ends by saying, there will be no Sexual Offences. The statement ends by saying, there will be no arrests i by saying, there will be no arrests and inquiries will continue. Remind us, what the comedian has set about all of this so far. All of this so far. Before the oriainal all of this so far. Before the original dispatches all of this so far. Before the l original dispatches buddhists broadcast on channel 4, he came out and he said he denied all of the allegations. That was in relation to that channel 4 dispatches. Today, 15 minutes after this statement was put out by the Metropolitan Police, Russell Brand, as he said he would, took to his Rumble Channel and he is live on there at the moment. A place where he often broadcasts at five oclock uk time in the afternoon about the issues of the day that are interesting him. Iwatched about the issues of the day that are interesting him. I watched the start of the broadcast. No mention of the statement that had just been put out by the Metropolitan Police. We dont even know if he knows they have put out that statement. Instead Russell Brands topic of the day is, are we being silenced, the battle for free speech. Being silenced, the battle for free seech. , ~ , being silenced, the battle for free seech. , ~ , being silenced, the battle for free seech. , ~ ,. Being silenced, the battle for free seech. , ~ ,. , speech. Thank you very much for the latest on that speech. Thank you very much for the latest on that breaking speech. Thank you very much for the | latest on that breaking development. The notorious Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina denaro has died in custody, at the age of 61. He was being treated for cancer. Denaro was arrested injanuary, at a clinic in palermo in sicily, after 30 years on the run. Heres our rome correspondent mark lowen. He presided over the feared and ruthless cosa nostra. One of the biggest bosses in sicily, sicilian mafia, matthew. And he was convicted, actually, of multiple Life Sentences because of the dozens of murders that were attributed to him, including involvement in the murders of the two anti mafia judges, Giovanni Falcone and paolo borsellino, who were two, who remain still two very iconic figures. They were assassinated in 1992 by the mafia, trying to stand up and crush the sicilian mafia. And after that, really the mafia. The Italian Police clamped down very hard on cosa nostra, but denaro remained on the run for 30 years, and he was finally tracked down because of the Chemotherapy Treatment he was receiving in a clinic in sicily. And it is that same cancer that led the police to him, to his Arrest Injanuary that has now led to the end of his life. And when he was arrested, he boasted that he would not divulge any information, would not have any regrets at all. So so many will fear, actually, that he will take some of those big, Biggest Mafia Secrets to his grave. And, mark, i know its only the first few hours since this news emerged, but what reaction has there been . Well, look, when he was arrested, it was a huge deal, matthew, because he was extremely symbolic, even though cosa nostra is not the force that it once was, because it has been rather eclipsed by italys other mafias, particularly the ndrangheta, the toe of italy that is now the countrys most powerful mafia and in fact controls around 80 of the International Cocaine trade. Cosa nostra has sort of been crushed. Other mafias have risen in its place. But he was a huge figure. And so finally tracking him down, you know, many italians breathed a great sigh of relief. But the fact that he has died now before he went on trial, i think many will regret that, particularly, of course, the families and friends of his victims. One of his Life Sentences was actually for the kidnapping and murder of the 12 year old son of a witness in the falcone murder. So that shows you the kind of ruthlessness that he carried out. And as you say, he boasted that he would be able to fill a cemetery with a number of people he killed. Now he is ending up himself in a cemetery buried alongside his mafioso father. Just confirmation that four days of nhs strikes have impacted another 130,000 inpatients taking the total figure over1 million. More on that in a moment. Hello there. Apart from some rain across the north and the west of the uk, today potentially could be one of the better days of this week as things are set to turn very windy with gales and heavy rain, particularly around the middle part of the week. But this afternoon looks largely fine and dry. For most of us, that is a way from the north west of the uk, where here rain will continue to affect the north and west of scotland. A few showery bursts as well, further south and west across Western England and western wales. But a good deal of sunshine around, particularly towards southern and eastern parts of the country which will stay dry all day and will feel quite warm as well. In the brisk south westerly wind, up to 23 degrees in the south east, generally the high teens further north and west. As we head through tonight, itll be dry for most areas. The winds pick up a little bit across the north and the west. We start to see some rain eventually pushing into Northern Ireland as a Weather Front approaches. I dont think anywhere is going to be particularly cold tonight. Lowest values around 7 to 9 degrees across North East England and eastern scotland. A couple of Weather Fronts, though, invade as we move through tuesday. So although we start dry and bright through central and eastern areas, well start to see some rain pushing across england. Well, some of this could be thundery in nature and longer spells of rain also affecting Northern Ireland, Western Scotland with that other Weather Front. So a bit of a mixed day on tuesday. But again, not too bad in the sunshine across the south east, again, could be up to 23 celsius, high teens further north. By wednesday, though, we could see a stormy spell of weather. Storm agnes, named by the met office, could bring some disruption maybe towards northern and western parts of the uk. Here it is on the pressure charts, gathering speed, deepening rapidly as it approaches ireland. But as the storm approaches our shores, it will start to weaken, but still pack quite a punch with some Gale Force Winds 60 to 70 miles an hour around the irish sea coast may be in excess, up to 80 miles an hour. And also very windy conditions across northern and eastern scotland. And with the strong winds throughout wednesday, heavy rain will pile up the western side of the country across Northern Ireland, up in towards scotland, could see some localised flooding in fact across the east and south east of england. I think you will escape the worst of it. Were seeing some sunshine, one or two showers, but it will be quite blustery wherever you are. And then signs as we end the week and push into the weekend High Pressure could build in, bring us increasing amounts of drier and sunnier weather. Take care. This is bbc news. The headlines the Met Police Has said they received a number of allegations of Sexual Assault in london following news reports about the comedian Russell Brand. He has strongly denied the accusations. The british army is stood down from supporting the Metropolitan Police after hundreds of officers stepped back from Firearms Duties when a colleague was charged with murder. Four days of nhs strikes impacted almost 130,000 inpatient and outpatient appointments. The latest data means more than1 million appointments have been cancelled as appointments have been cancelled as a result of industrial action. The former nurse lucy letby will face a retrial on a charge of attempting to murder a baby girl