those numbers from the office of national statistics. live now to jay lindop, director of migration statistics, at the office for national statistics. thank you very much a being with us. what do the numbers show? figs thank you very much a being with us. what do the numbers show?- what do the numbers show? as you sa , the what do the numbers show? as you say. the latest _ what do the numbers show? as you say, the latest figures _ what do the numbers show? as you say, the latest figures for _ what do the numbers show? as you say, the latest figures forjune - what do the numbers show? as you say, the latest figures forjune 23, l say, the latest figures forjune 23, r 672,000, the highest levels we have seen recently. so those numbers have seen recently. so those numbers have gone up since last year, june 2022, but they are actually lower than the december 22 estimate. it's really important to understand the context of the numbers. before the pandemic, migration patterns were relatively stable, we saw a lot more people coming from the eu. whereas since the pandemic we have seen behaviour changing, more people coming from a non—eu to study, work, and they are staying for longer and bringing dependents with them. i can go into more detail.— go into more detail. please do. there was _ go into more detail. please do. there was speculation - go into more detail. please do. there was speculation and - go into more detail. please do. - there was speculation and thoughts the numbers could hit 745,000. while they are up from 607,000 in their previous 12 months to 672,000, where are they coming from, because the numbers were up last year in part to the ukraine war, weren't they? yes. we have seen _ the ukraine war, weren't they? yes. we have seen lots _ the ukraine war, weren't they? yes. we have seen lots of— the ukraine war, weren't they? is; we have seen lots of changes since the pandemic and ukraine, people coming from british nationals overseas, that was a big driver since the pandemic will stop resort 1.2 million people coming into the country, just under a million came from non—eu countries. we saw around 380,000 of those coming to study with dependents. a around 330,000 of those came for work reasons. around 80,000 are coming for humanitarian reasons and around 90,000 are coming... to claim asylum. the covenant _ coming... to claim asylum. the covenant has _ coming... to claim asylum. the covenant has their _ coming... to claim asylum. the covenant has their stop the boats strategies so what proportion are coming through channel crossings illegally? we coming through channel crossings illeuall ? ~ ., �* coming through channel crossings illeuall ?~ ., �* . coming through channel crossings illeuall ? ~ ., �* . ., illegally? we don't include illegal mi . ration illegally? we don't include illegal migration per— illegally? we don't include illegal migration per se _ illegally? we don't include illegal migration per se but _ illegally? we don't include illegal migration per se but we - illegally? we don't include illegal migration per se but we do - illegally? we don't include illegal. migration per se but we do include asylum seekers will stop those who come on small boats, around 90% of them according to home office figures claim asylum. we can see that injune 22 the numbers claiming asylum was around 75,000. in 2023 around 90,000 claimed asylum. so it is on the increase _ around 90,000 claimed asylum. so it is on the increase in? _ around 90,000 claimed asylum. so it is on the increase in? the _ around 90,000 claimed asylum. so it is on the increase in? the numbers i is on the increase in? the numbers have gone — is on the increase in? the numbers have gone up _ is on the increase in? the numbers have gone up since _ is on the increase in? the numbers have gone up since last _ is on the increase in? the numbers have gone up since last year, - is on the increase in? the numbers have gone up since last year, yes. | have gone up since last year, yes. what can you tell us about, and i don't know if you can, but about government strategy and perhaps how it is impacting the figures. i can’t it is impacting the figures. i can't talk about government _ it is impacting the figures. i can't talk about government policy - it is impacting the figures. i can't talk about government policy but it is impacting the figures. i can't. talk about government policy but i can talk about what we see in the figures. we are seeing more coming from non—eu countries, more coming for study and work and we are seeing them stay for longer. people are bringing dependents with them. i can't comment on government policy. and what can you tell us in terms of the predictions going forward, or do you only look at what has happened in the past year, you can't analyse what could be happening next? we don't what could be happening next? - don't necessarily look to the future, but what we do is look at the 12—month definition of the migrants. the most recent figures, you have to make assumptions based on past behaviour and that's why we have been looking back to see how behaviour is changing so we can see people are staying longer, students are seeing more transitional onto work visas possibly as a consequence of the new graduate routes, and we are seeing workers stay for longer as well. we are seeing a slowing in immigration and an increasing emigration and we know from past experience that when you have high levels of emigration, particularly from students, we then see emigration rise so with these change behaviours it is difficult to is know what will happen in the future. thank you for being with us and taking us through the figures, from the ons. taking us through the figures, from the 0ns. we can get some political analysis with damian grammaticas in westminster. the numbers are high but not a record what will the government make of them? i but not a record what will the government make of them? i think the covernment government make of them? i think the government will _ government make of them? i think the government will draw _ government make of them? i think the government will draw out _ government make of them? i think the government will draw out of _ government make of them? i think the government will draw out of this, - government will draw out of this, what the 0ns is saying, scan it through it myself, although numbers have gone up from 2022 to 2023, a higher net emigration figure, in june this year compared to last year, the actual trend they say, they are not sure if it is the start of a new downward trend. —— higher net immigration figure. that's because it's slightly down on what they were estimating it might be. although it has gone up they are not sure whether this indicates a slight downward trend. that is certainly something the government will pick up something the government will pick up on politically and say, look, there is the possibility in this that we are starting to see a downward trend. the other thing they may point to as well, underneath, i think you were just hearing that, there is a rise in emigration, people leaving. and that indicates, if you like, that the downwards trend, that downward pressure in a way is starting to may be manifest, so they might want to say, look, we think we are starting to bring this down. 0ne think we are starting to bring this down. one interesting thing is, and i'm not sure you got to it in the discussion you had there, but looking at this, the increase that did happen from 2022 to 2023 is driven by migrants coming for work, and it says that is largely attributed to health care visas. so i think that's interesting because of course we know that there is huge pressure is on the health service and on the workforce, and this indicates that one of the ways, health and social care i should say, and one of the ways that is being addressed is still through pulling in workers from outside. another interesting thing, looking into the statistics, those arriving on humanitarian routes decreased and that now makes up onlyjust under 10%. 9% of the total, of the increase in... sorry, 9% of the immigration figure. so humanitarian routes, we hear a lot about this in the context of the debate around what to do about illegal immigration and the argument is that we have safe and legal roots, as they are called. people coming on the humanitarian routes is down from 20% of those arriving, 19%, to just 9%. a big drop in the number of people arriving that way.— arriving that way. reminding our views of some _ arriving that way. reminding our views of some of _ arriving that way. reminding our views of some of the _ arriving that way. reminding our views of some of the rhetoric - arriving that way. reminding our- views of some of the rhetoric around people coming over to the country, especially crossing the channel illegally. former home secretary suella braverman, who was sacked a couple of weeks ago, back in october, last month, she predicted the party's annual conference that immigration would turn into a hurricane bringing millions to britain. how did the numbers sit with that kind of language? that of course is a slightly _ with that kind of language? that of course is a slightly different - with that kind of language? that of course is a slightly different issue i course is a slightly different issue that suella braverman's language, which obviously caused a lot of controversy, there was a lot of argument around the use of the words like hurricane, that's all about illegal immigration to this country, what the government because illegal migrants arriving, those arriving through irregular routes and boats along the south coast. these figures are about legal, coming through legal routes, work users, study visas and that sort of thing. 0n visas and that sort of thing. on that issue,, the issue of irregular migration, refugees and claimants, we know of course that the government's rwanda policy is now up in the air, it has been deemed illegal by the courts. what we are waiting for, and the government has said it will bring this week, possibly the talk earlier was that it could be as early as today, is this treaty with rwanda to try to address some of the reasons why the supreme court declared that policy illegal, it looks like that isn't coming today and we are not quite sure when it might be coming. 0n the legal migration we know the government has been talking about measures it is bringing to limit the ability of people coming on study visas to bring family and looking into these figures that's still a large part of dependents coming, it's still a large part of figures still. ., , ., ., it's still a large part of figures still. ., ., ., ~ it's still a large part of figures still. ., ., ., still. damian grammaticas, thank you for takin: still. damian grammaticas, thank you for taking us — still. damian grammaticas, thank you for taking us through _ still. damian grammaticas, thank you for taking us through that. _ votes in the general election in the netherlands are still being counted, but it seems that the veteran anti—islam politician, geert wilders, has led his pvv party pvv — or freedom party — is likely to win about 37 of the 150 seats. that won't be enough to govern alone, but several other parties have said they won't enter a coalition with the far right mr wilders. he says the people want him to be prime minister. translation: the voters have spoken. the voters are determined that the pvv will become the largest party by far. it will be very undemocratic, and so i assume that it will not happen, that voters will be sidelined. voters wouldn't accept that either. they'd find it terrible. i think we need to see where the common ground is and then we need to do business with each other. because we have to help the netherlands move forwards. the hope of so many people is that things must change in the netherlands, that the influx of asylum seekers will be limited, that ordinary dutch people will have more money in their pockets again, that homes will go back to the dutch, that the dutch will be put in the first place again. 0ur correspondent in the netherlands, anna holligan, gave us this analysis of the early results of the election. these early results are already sending a shock wave through dutch society and politics. so many people had predicted that this woman, dilan yesilgoz would be victorious, become the first ever female prime minister of the netherlands that she has taken a hard line on immigration. she came to the netherlands as a child refugee and now she is being accused by her opponents of opening the door to make way for geert wilders by saying she would be prepared to work with him in a coalition government, something her predecessor mark rutter, the longest serving prime minister of the netherlands, had ruled out. geert wilders now will, if these results are confirmed, have the challenge and opportunity to try and form a governing coalition. that's no easy task because so many parties had previously worked at working with him. now some are saying they will have to step over their shadows and make concessions in order to represent the people, so many of whom have voted for geert wilders' populist, anti—immigration, anti—islam party. the final results are expected on thursday and from that moment on the process of forming a coalition will begin and if geert wilders doesn't manage to do it then it will fall to the next biggest party, which is looking like the green left labour alliance led by frans timmermans, which just reflects the fact that the dutch society is so polarised at the moment, and one of the main challenges for the future coalition will be to try to bring people back together and restore faith in politics. officials in the us say a car crash at a border crossing with canada in niagara falls does not appear to have been a terrorist incident. two people inside the car died, but there were no other serious injuries. security camera video at the border shows the moment the car approached the area at high speed before being thrown into the air. you can see the car at the top of the screen, appearing to be thrown over a fence. the car caught fire when it crashed, and some witnesses reported hearing an explosion, but it's not yet known what caused that blast. the incident triggered a security alert along the border, with several crossing points temporarily closed. but officials say the first investigations indicate it was not an act of terrorism. we will continue to investigate but our preliminary assessment of the situation is that it was not terrorism—related, but we will continue to stay vigilant, we will continue to make sure that the information we have is passed on to the public, but as the sheriff said, people can lower their heightened sensitivities to this, knowing that we do not believe this was a terrorist event. kelsey anderson is a news anchor at news 4 buffalo and she told us what the investigation had learned so far. sources have told us that couple that was in that car, who have passed away, they were travelling from a local casino that was just right down the road from the bridge crossing, and they were crossing the bridge to go over to a concert in toronto. toronto is about an hour and a half away from niagara falls. and they were crossing to go over to this concert, and we have found out from sources, that is the couplewho has passed away, a man and a woman in that vehicle. so, very sad news there tonight. we do know that from there tonight. we do know that from the governor and from many others, that this was not a terrorism act, so that was, you know, good news for us to find out today in the western new york region, but of course very sad news as we are now mourning the loss of two people who we are told this area. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news around the world. the lead singer of the rock group guns n' roses has been accused of violent sexual assault. former model sheila kennedy alleges axl rose attacked her in new york in 1989. the lawsuit claims the singer physically and sexually assaulted the former model after an angry confrontation at his hotel. axl rose's lawyer denies the allegations against the star. the world health organization has officially requested that china provide detailed information on an increase in cases of respiratory illnesses and clusters of pneumonia in children in the north of the country. the who said it was unclear if the events were linked. china has attributed the increase to the lifting of covid—nineteen restrictions. north korea says it has completely suspended a military agreement with south korea, as tensions between the countries grow over pyongyang's launch of a spy satellite. north korea's defence ministry said it would deploy more powerful armed forces and new types of military hardware in the region along their border. you're live with bbc news. the rescue teams trying to reach 41 workers trapped in a collapsed indian road tunnel say iron bars in the rubble are slowing their operation. the workers have spent 11 days underground. engineers have managed to reach them, delivering food, water, air and electricity. the men appear to be in good health. 0ur south asia correspondent samira hussain is at the scene. rescue operations here hit yet another snag. this time what happened was as the machine was drilling holes through the mouth of the tunnel which you can see right behind me, they hit some metal mesh, and so they required special machinery to come in and to be able to cut that mesh before they could start drilling soon. now, we have just been told by officials here that, in fact, the mesh has been broken through and that they're hopeful that they're going to be able to start drilling in the next several hours. new research shows the largest animals on earth, blue whales, are making their home in a part of the indian ocean where they were wiped out decades ago. scientists have captured a year's worth of underwater audio recordings that reveal the marine mammals are spending vast amounts of time in the tropical waters around the seychelles. victoria gill has more. the biggest animals on earth. blue whales have returned to inhabit tropical waters, where just a few decades ago they were wiped out. on two recent expeditions, researchers and documentary film—makers came to the seychelles in search of the giant marine mammals. this is really cool. i've never seen so many different species, so many of so many different species. we've got hundreds of animals here. it's... ..it�*s pretty remarkable. this is now an ecological paradise teeming with life. but back in the 1960s, soviet whaling vessels captured and killed hundreds of blue whales in these waters. all right, here you go. 0k. to find out if the animals had returned, scientists listened. underwater microphones are able to pick up the very low frequency sounds that blue whales use to communicate over distances of hundreds of miles through the ocean. but the researchers weren't actually able to hear the blue whales calling directly. it took a year of recording from the sea bed, and painstaking analysis of all those months of sound, to identify the telltale, very low frequency, deep calls, the signature of these marine giants. we do know that blue whales worldwide were decimated by commercial whaling. we listened for over a year and we heard them in many months of the year. that suggests that the seychelles is really important for blue whales, and so understanding when and where blue whales may have recovered and are coming back, it's a really good — it's a conservation win. these whales are vital to the health of our oceans. they lock up large amounts of planet—warming carbon in their huge bodies. they can consume half a million calories in one mouthful, and even their poo provides important nutrients for the marine life. for other marine life. long after the end of commercial whaling here, the seychelles has committed to officially protecting almost a third of its national waters for wildlife. turns out if you stop killing animals on mass scales, and you give them a chance to rebound, they can recover. the scientists hope to return to find out more about how the world's largest whales are using this area, and if they're breeding here. they'll be looking and listening for more clues about how to protect these waters, now that the ocean's largest inhabitants have returned. victoria gill, bbc news. and you can check out the bbc news website, download the app for all the latest details on our moving and breaking stories and live updates on the israel gaza conflict. it's one of the best known shows on british television and today doctor who is celebrating its 60th birthday. filled with daleks, cybermen, and tales of a mysterious doctor, the show has gripped audiences since its first episode in 1963. to celebrate, three new special episodes of doctor who are being released, with some favourite characters returning to the who—niverse. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, has met some of the people who've helped make doctor who the show it is today. david tennant and catherine tate back in the roles they left in 2010. i had to wipe her memory to save her life. no! if she remembers me, she will die. tennant thrilled to be the doctor once more. the doctor once more. to get to return to something that meant so much 15 years ago, was such a huge part of my life, and has never really gone away. i mean, doctorwho, when you're attached to it, you're attached to it. but to get to revisit it, sort of full—time, even briefly, was something i never really imagined. i don't believe in destiny. as well as tennant and tate, the man who brought back the show in 2005, russell t davies, has also returned. together, they made doctor who into one of tv�*s biggest hits. after a very long time something's coming back. your previous era was incredibly successful. there must be an element of nervousness about the pressure of expectation this time around? i think — i know what you mean. it's kind of like people said to me, can lightning strike twice? but actually, if you stand in the middle of a storm and hold up a great big piece of metal, lightning does strike you twice. the three new special episodes are celebrating the show�*s diamond anniversary. today, it's 60 years since the very first episode. when viewers turned on their tv sets at 5:15 on the 23rd of november 1963, this is what would have greeted them, something they'd never quite seen the like of before. so this is? the very first script of doctor who. few can be more delighted to see it celebrating its 60th birthday than the man who directed the very first episode. i wasn't the first director to be chosen. the original director walked. at the time we made the show, nobody knew what we had. i don't think we in the production area department knew what we had. 0r indeed, the bbc. i believe these people are known to you. they're two of my schoolteachers. what they had was something that would make television history, the story of a mysterious science fiction hero. it instantly struck a chord with audiences, even if those involved in making it initially had their doubts. and what's wrong with it? i got the script and ijust didn't understand it at all! one day i shall come back. and for the following six decades, there's been a long succession of doctors... fantastic. ..each with their own distinct personality, while still remaining... the doctor — we're on the list. ..battling monsters and villains... they are to be exterminated. ..and encountering all manner of creatures from across time and space. the secret of the show�*s longevity — who knows? or perhaps doctor who knows? they say there are only six or seven stories under the sun, and mankind's genius is to retell them and entertain us with them. and this is one of those stories. it's all connected to the storytelling of 1000 years ago. after david tennant the show will be in the hands of ncuti gatwa. his first full episode goes out on christmas day. i've had a little glimpse of what ncuti can do, and it's very exciting. fans hope that gatwa will be the first of many more doctors to come over the next 60 years. lizo mzimba, bbc news. the first doctor who special with david tennant is on bbc one on saturday at 6.30pm — as well as iplayer. it'll also be available on disney plus around the world. now time for the weather with matt. hello. pretty wild and windy day across parts of scotland today, but it's here we see the first big signs of weather change. yesterday on the moray coast, the north—east, temperatures reached 15, incredibly mild for this stage in november. just 7 degrees this afternoon. temperatures actually dropping through the day. and tomorrow there will be an added wind chill with it. it's this cold air, a pool of cold arctic air which is pushing southwards to all of us as we go through tonight and into tomorrow. also affecting a good part of europe as well. but it's really confined to the northern half of the uk for today. just to the north of this bank of cloud and rain affecting northern ireland, parts of northern england through this afternoon. sunshine and a scattering of showers to the north of that, but temperatures actually dropping through the day with winds at 50, 60 miles an hour towards the far north—east with showers turning wintry over higher ground. mild but brighter in the south with some broken cloud. but here we will see some patchy rain and drizzle during the first half of tonight, gradually becoming confined to cornwall, the isles of scilly and the channel islands. still reasonably mild here but elsewhere a much colder night tonight, temperatures barely above freezing in parts of scotland and northern england. so, a chillier start to tomorrow morning. showers in the north of scotland, snow even to lower levels for a time, and those strong winds continue. elsewhere, we'll see a lot more sunshine compared to today. a bit more cloud in northern ireland through to parts of wales, running down into the west midlands. could produce the odd light rain shower, but most places will be dry with sunny spells, much colder than we have been used to, though, single figure temperatures and an added wind chill in the north and east making it feel closer to freezing, particularly across parts of north—east scotland. then as we go through to friday night and saturday morning, still strong winds down the eastern coast, stopping temperatures from dropping much here, but further west, lighter winds, clearer skies and a widespread frost to start saturday. but whilst it will be a frosty start to saturday it will be a dry, sunny and crisp one. light winds for many areas, still a bit windy down eastern coasts and the chance of one or two rain showers. most, though, will be dry. again, temperatures widely into single figures. noticing that chill compared to what we've had of late, but the upside is you'll have a bit more sunshine. that will lead into some frost and fog patches to take us through saturday night and sunday morning. but sunday, a cold day, but a cloudier one. outbreaks of rain pushing on across the western half of the country, maybe making it across some southern counties too, and temperatures struggling to rise. take care. live from tel aviv — this is bbc news. israel says the agreement to pause fighting in gaza in exchange for the release of hostages will now not happen before friday. britain's new foreign secretary, lord cameron, arrives in israel. he'll speak to both israeli and palestinian leaders. i'm samantha simmonds — in other news... a further increase in arrivals to the uk — a blow in the prime minister's promise to reduce immigration. the anti—immigrant politician geert wilders shakes up dutch politics. his freedom party is the biggest winner in the netherlands election. hello, i'm anna foster, live in tel aviv. we live in tel aviv. are here in an area that has become we are here in an area that has become synonymous with those more than 240 people being held in gaza. we have learned that there is a delay of at least a day between the agreements —— in the agreements between israel and hamas. that would have seen a four—day pause in the fighting. under the agreement, hamas would exchange fifty israeli hostages, taken during the 7th of october attack, for 150 palestinian women and children held in israeli jails. israel says it still expects that to happen —