Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20200113

Leadership close at 2. 30 this afternoon some of the contenders are likely to be knocked out of the race. And in sport, Rugby League Legend rob burrow reflects on an emotional fundraiser match following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease. The support, absolutely unbelievable, i will remember it forever. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im joanna gosling. The queen is holding talks at sandringham later today to try to map out a future path for the duke and duchess of sussex, following their announcement that they want to step back as senior royals. Prince charles, Prince William and prince harry will be at the meeting and meghan is likely tojoin by phone from canada. There are plenty of questions that might be discussed. How will harry and meghan fund their new lives . They say they want to become financially independent but what does that mean for them . Will the couple keep their royal titles . At the moment theres no suggestion they wish to renounce them. The cost of their security and who will pay for it is also unclear. The home secretary, priti patel, was asked this morning about this issue and said safety was a priority. Just by discussing it publicly compromises much of the security arrangements and that is not something that is for the discussion today. I think it is right the royalfamily have the time and space to discuss the issues they need to, and therefore i am not going to and neither will the government give a public commentary in terms of the security arrangements of anybody with protective security. But safety is a priority . Safety is always a priority which is why certain individuals have that. It is important we preserve the integrity of that which is why i am not going to comment publically. Our royal correspondent, jo black, is at sandringham this morning. What is expected around these talks . We are not quite sure is the short answer, expecting the talks will ta ke answer, expecting the talks will take place at some point this afternoon. We are not quite clear what will be discussed. We imagine some of the themes on the table, the half in, half out idea of the duke and duchess of sussex, how they plan to spend their time between the uk and north america. How will that work . There are titles, will they keep them . And how with the royal family sit alongside this commercial world they want to enter into . How will all of that work . Money is very big issue. We know they get some money the sovereign grant and Prince Charles. The taxpayer of course will be interested with regards to their security, how much is that . Who will pay for that . How will that look in the future . The home secretary was on the radio this morning and refused to be drawn on the funding at the moment and how it will look in the future. Big questions there. The queen will want that sorted out as soon as possible, we are told at pace, that the Royal Household are working through the issues. We expect the meeting to happen this afternoon. The sandringham summit it is being dubbed with the queen, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Charles, Prince William, prince harry. What comes of the meeting, firm conclusions and how we will find out about them, we are yet to find out. There is a lot of stuff out there, how much briefing is going on and how unusual is that . There will be briefings going on all over the place, the news broke last wednesday and here we are, all still talking about it. If you look at sandringham today, completely unrecognisable from the estate normally. I am surrounded by fellow reporters and journalists, cameramen, lights and equipment over the lawn i am standing on. Satellite trucks from tv stations from all over this country and the world. I can hear the crew from germany, there is a crew from america over there. This is a big, important story for us, our royal family and these global icons, harry and meghan, the celebrities they are around the world. Angela levin is a journalist who followed prince harry for a year and did two interviews with him captured in the book harry conversations with the prince. Thank you for coming in, there is a lot of speculation it is meghan driving this, what is your perspective . Is this something he wa nts . Perspective . Is this something he wants . When he came back from afghanistan he told me he wanted to weave the royal family because he was fed up with growing up in a goldfish bowl, existing in a goldfish bowl, existing in a goldfish bowl. He said he thought he would be better off in africa looking after rare animals. And then the duke of edinburgh retired and asked harry to take on more work and engagements from him and the queen cut down and asked the same of prince harry and he said to me he thought about it very carefully and decided that his first duty was to honour the queen and respect her and do what she asked. The second duty would be to do the same for Prince William. Before they got married and they change their minds but in theory he has not been happy with theory he has not been happy with the press, basically, since before his mother died because you saw her crying when hounded by reporters and he did not like it. At the time, she had stopped Protection Officers looking after her even though Prince Charles volunteered to pay for it herself but she did not want the restriction but its made her life difficult and the children couldnt bear to see her cry. Stepping back and having a quiet life is one thing but it does not sound like that is what they are anticipating going into, talk of how they are going to make money. Where does that set . I hate to say this but i think meghan made a mistake, she thought i believe, and i have been told by several people, that if she married a prince she would have a marvellous platform for all the things she ca res platform for all the things she cares about. Women, children, healthy living. All those things. It has not worked out like that at all. Because what she has not understood is that celebrities are one thing and royalty is another. Harry said to me that celebrities get pr around when they want them, lots of press and otherwise left. Royals wanted might have it all the time and have to have a steel sense of duty this is their wifes work. I know she doesnt like the restrictions, being told what to do, she is a grown woman, 38, made her own fortune. Do you think there is scope for a Halfway House where they keep royal status, have some involvement but the rest of the time they are off making money . I do not think it will work, particularly if they are living in canada, and a rumourshe wa nts to living in canada, and a rumourshe wants to live in los angeles when President Trump stands down. That is not possible because it is such a long way, you cannotjust turn up when the queen needs you. At the last minute. I think the basis of whether this will work or not is the mood people go in there with. If they are there for a fight, it is an absolute disaster or one upmanship. If they are realising they care about each other, they are an extraordinary family much thought by many around the world, if they work very ha rd towards many around the world, if they work very hard towards it, there is a chance they could come up with something but will not finish it in one day, that is for sure. Does this start wider conversations around the shape of the monarchy Going Forward . Yes, i think one of the very few things good to come out of this discussion is that in todayss world women and men want to have anotherjob if world women and men want to have another job if they are just spares. If they are an air they know what is in store for them. We sought with margaret and Prince Charles. They are too restricted. The queen wants to do things with Princess Charlotte and prince louis, they will have a life fulfilled and can have careers and things. But it has to be very analysed because otherwise they feel ina analysed because otherwise they feel in a prison and otherwise they could do crazy things that bring the royal family into disrepute. I think this is moving forward. As usual with a move it forward, the royalfamily, when it is really necessary. The taal volcano in the philippines has thrown molten rock into the sky, triggering warnings that a hazardous eruption of toxic gas may be imminent. Speeded up footage shows flowing lava and plumes of white smoke several kilometres high. A volcanic Lightning Storm added to the steam and ash. Twenty 5,000 people have been evacuated across the province of batangas, south of the capital manila. 0ur correspondent Howard Johnson has the latest. The taal volcano has entered a magmatic eruption phase. Last night it was a phreatic phase where there was lots of steam and ash. Now, there is lava flowing from the volcano. A weak flow at the moment but that is causing this black smoke to billow out of the volcano and that is affecting the air quality around here, lots of dust and ash in the air, and that is affecting International Airports in this area. New clark city and manila have had lots of flights cancelled and suspended. There is ash on the runway. If we look to my left, you can see ash all over the floor, it has turned into a mud state in some places and on the road on the way up we saw people clearing that mud from the road. We saw pineapple groves completely covered in dust, no doubt affecting livelihoods in this area. The other major risk that the scientists are saying is that there could be a volcanic tsunami. If you look over here, you can see taal volcano surrounded by a lake. If there is a major eruption that could cause the earth to move which will displace water, so, low lying communities on the coastline could be affected by a tidal wave if there is a major eruption. The airline, flybe, has refused to comment on reports that its trying to secure emergency funding to prevent its collapse. Flybe was bought by connect airways, a consortium created by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Investment Adviser cyrus capital last year, when it fell into financial difficulties. Earlier, i spoke to our business presenter dominic 0connell, who said it wouldnt be surprising to find flybe was in financial trouble. It would not be surprising if they were in some financial difficulty, there is a sense of deja vu, they had difficulty this time last year. It put itself up for sale and was bought by Virgin Atlantic, cyrus capital and and stobart. Experts say the main problem is if flybe needs more money, where will it come from . With investors having funded the rescue, do they want to put more money in and on what terms . It is hard to see how the government could help. There is a limited range of options and not much history of airlines being bailed out in the uk. As has happened elsewhere in europe. 2,000 employees at flybe. Add a question for passengers, we are familiar with what happens with thomas cook, the government and atol protection scheme helped passengers get repatriated or refunded when tickets were already booked. At flybe, almost all passengers will not be covered by atol because it is seat early bookings are not part of a package holiday. An uncertain time for staff and customers, and regional connectivity across the uk because it is the biggest regional airline. Why is it in difficulty . It is a two speed game for airlines, the big players are doing quite well, british airways, International Travel is holding up quite well. Regional allies have been struggling as has flybe in particular, it has a legacy of debt, struggling with the wrong kind of aircraft flying the wrong kinds of routes and too many seats chasing too few passengers. Were it to go, what gap would that leave . If it goes into administration it does not mean the end, it might re emerge a slimmed down and in a new form. There could be a profitable kernel that a new backer would like to put their money behind. It would mean some travel routes would be lost and it flies the kinds of roots not well served by rail. Long journeys. It has been clear it is offering too much service on those routes and hasnt found the backing for it. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast to meet with irish Prime Minister, leo varadkar, and ministers of the devolved government, which was restored on saturday after three years of deadlock. Mrjohnson is expected to to urge the Stormont Administration to tackle problems with nhs waiting times in Northern Ireland both the uk and ireland say they are prepared to put new money in to help. Keith doyle is at stormont for us. Whats going to happen today . It is getting busy here in Parliament Buildings in the grand hall. For three years there was nothing happening here because there was no government and on saturday the power sharing executive and assembly were restored with Arlene Foster and michelle 0neill assembly were restored with Arlene Foster and Michelle Oneill is first and deputy first ministers. Boris johnson today, and the taoiseach, leo varadkar, are going to meet michelle 0neill leo varadkar, are going to meet Michelle Oneill and Arlene Foster. Borisjohnson Michelle Oneill and Arlene Foster. Boris johnson says Michelle Oneill and Arlene Foster. Borisjohnson says he wants to hear what they have planned for the assembly and executive. Before arriving he issued a statement saying this is a historic time for the people of Northern Ireland. Stormont is open for business again. The executive can now move forward with, to improve peoples lives in Northern Ireland. That is the crucial thing, no government has been here so serious lack of investment and Decision Making and Serious Problems facing this executive that they have to tackle immediately. A promise of more money, what is the discussion around that . They deal they signed up to on friday to get the assembly back up and running was wide ranging, covering a huge number of issues including health, a big Health Crisis at the moment here. Education. Hundreds more Police Officers they want on the street. Big Infrastructure Projects. This was in the deal all parties signed up for. Five parties pa rt parties signed up for. Five parties part of the executive, a grand coalition in effect. They have signed up, now they want the money to pay for the huge promises they have promised the people of Northern Ireland. That is what they will badger borisjohnson ireland. That is what they will badger Boris Johnson and ireland. That is what they will badger borisjohnson and to some extent leo varadkar because the Irish Government has promised to pay for some Infrastructure Project such as waterways and is infrastructure. I as waterways and is infrastructure. , rhodes. The ministers of all the departments are going to be getting down to brass tacks. They want to know how much money will come forward to put the promises they have made into action. The headlines on bbc news. The queen will hold talks with the duke and duchess of sussex to find a way forward for the couple after their decision to step back from royal duties. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast he and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont to mark the restoration of devolution. Authorities in the philippines are warning a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days after a volcano began spewing lava. Sergio aguero has become the premier leagues record overseas goal scorer, overtaking Thierry Henri after a hat trick in the 6 1 victory over aston villa. James hook, welsh fly half, is going to retire at the end of the season from international rugby. He wants to move into coaching and has written childrens books. The Kansas City Chiefs came from 2a 0 down to reach the afc championship game, beating the afc championship game, beating the Houston Texans. I will be back inis the Houston Texans. I will be back in 15 minutes. Nominations from mps and meps for the labour leadership, close at 14 30 this afternoon, and to get through to the next stage, each candidate needs the support of at least 22 of their peers. Sir keir starmer, rebecca long bailey, Jess Phillips and lisa nandy have the required number of nominations, leaving Emily Thornberry and clive lewis lobbying to get the backing of at least 22 of their fellow labourmps and meps. Registered supporters who are not full Party Members will have 48 hours from 14th to the 16th of january to secure a vote by paying £25. The ballot will be open from 2ist february until the second of april. With the results announced two days later on the fourth april. We can speak to our chief political correspondent, vicki young so what are we expecting . This is the last desperate dash to get support from meps and mps for those two high profile figures, the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornbury. She sounded yesterday confident of getting the 22 required. That will be quite a blow if she does not get that. She has been a high profile member of the labour party, incredibly loyal to Jeremy Corbyn, serving in the shadow cabinet for a long time. During the election and before she was very much on the remain side of the argument, thinking it was a mistake for labour to go into a general election without the issue having been resolved. Clive versus the other shadow minister trying to get over the threshold. The contest itself of course moves to the next stage, that is not the end for the candidates who are left, they have to get the support of at least two trade unions as well, constituency party. Keir starmer, rebecca long barely seen as different runners, they are already looking at that. The real question in the end is whether it is about personality or a change of direction for the labour party. Rebecca long barely very much seen is the person in a Jeremy Corbyns mould, she said the had no problem with the policies at the general election, they had spent a lot of the last few years writing the policies. For those on the left who want to continue with theJeremy Corbyn project, they will go for her and she of course has the backing of the grassroots momentum group, that could be useful for her. The grassroots momentum group, that could be usefulfor her. Sir keir starmer is very much playing up his left wing credentials, talking about opposing the iraq war, supporting the miners strike. Lots of support from mps and he will be trying to make sure as well that he gets those people that supported Jeremy Corbyn last time round. All of that will get under way with hustings over the next month, couple of months. A pretty one contest and dont forget on the side the contest for deputy leader after the departure of tom watson. Former Pope Benedict has warned his successor pope francis not to allow married men to become catholic priests. His successor pope francis is considering allowing married men of proven virtue to be ordained as priests in remote parts of the world such as the amazon in order to address the shortage of priests in the region. Lets get more from our correspondent in rome, mark. Unusual to be a former pope behind the current pope anyway, but how unusual is it even in that context for him to speak out in this way . Extraordinary intervention and some would see it as extraordinary intervenes. 0f would see it as extraordinary intervenes. Of course it was always going to be an unusual situation to have a retired pope, the first to retire in almost 600 years, behind on the sidelines of the current pope. They tend to have a fairly quiet and pope. They tend to have a fairly quietandi pope. They tend to have a fairly quiet and i am told fairly cordial relationship. When Pope Benedict retired in 2013 he said he would remain hidden from the world and now just as pope francis is considering the thorny issue of whether to allow some married men to be ordained as priests in the amazon following last 0ctober here. Pope emeritus benedict has co authored a book with a conservative cardinal supporting priestly celibacy. That will be seen as uncomfortable for pope francis because does he go down the path of using this issue or reforming this issue in certain circumstances . 0r does he bow, be the bow, staunchly defending priestly celibacy and be seen to be bowing to his predecessor. How influential is the pope voice. There are wings of the Catholic Church more conservative and some see him as mother pope than pope francis who is on the more reformist wing of the papacy but is not a deep social reformer. He is looser on some social issues but is not in favour of abolishing priestly celibacy. But in some areas of the world, like the amazon, there is a big shortage of priests and they supported allowing some deacons already married to go and go into the priesthood. It is expected he would support that in a document to be released soon but now people would not be able to tell which way he goes. May be more discussion on theissue he goes. May be more discussion on the issue but certainly Pope Benedict has at age 92 thrown down the gauntlet to his successor in a way that nobody quite expected. Thank you very much. The economy shrank by 0. 3 in november, according to monthly estimates by the office for national statistics. Thats worse than expected. The picture was slightly better for the three month period from september to november last year which saw growth of 0. 1 economists had predicted a slight fall in the same period. You can get more on those figures when we get a full business round up at 11. 115. Exceptionally low tides in venice have left the citys famous canals almost dry. Water levels reached a peak ofminus 52 centimetres. This comes only two months after venice faced its worst flooding in more than 50 years. The bbcs tim allman reports. What a difference a few weeks can make. The boats and gondolas of venice barely able to stay afloat. A city renowned for being built on the water, now the water has all but disappeared. These canals look more like mud trenches. Getting around, a big problem, if how you get around is beached and a romanticjourney may not be so easy if you have to get out and push. But this was venice late last year, more than two thirds of the city underwater. Landmarks like st marks square were flooded. Shops and businesses had to close, and there was a race against time to protect pressures artwork. These were the worst floods venice had seen in half a century. This low tide, while exceptional, is not quite as unprecedented. The tides here mean water levels can vary by around half a metre or sometimes quite a bit more. For the people of venice, life seems to move from one extreme to the other. Tim allman, bbc news. This years awards season is well under way, and the nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards are announced today, with british film 1917 expected to pick up several nominations, alongside films like Martin Scorseses the irishman and Quentin Tarantinos 0nce upon a time in hollywood. You can watch the nominations live here on the bbc news channel at 1. 15, with my colleaguejane hill and ourfilm critic, jason solomons. Now its time for a look at the weather. We have some pretty strong winds today moving across Northern Ireland, scotland and the irish sea coast courtesy of storm brendan, which looks impressive on the satellite. The cloud sheet is spreading its way eastwards, still some brightness towards eastern areas of england. Largely dry here barring one or two showers into the afternoon. Heavy rain Northern Ireland into scotland eventually western england and wales. Gales run the irish sea coast, 70 90 mph in the irish sea coast, 70 90 mph in the west of scotland, 75 around the irish sea coast. And off cause some disruption to travel in northern and Western Areas. Through this evening, rain spreading into the east, risk of snow and ice across Northern Areas but throughout the week staying very unsettled, further bouts of gales or severe gales with some heavy rain, travel disruption likely at times, but quieter by the end of the week. Hello, this is bbc newsroom live. The headlines. The queen will hold emergency talks with senior royals, later today, about the future role of the duke and duchess of sussex. A volcano in the philippines has begun spewing lava, as authorities warn that a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast. He and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont to mark the restoration of devolution. Regional Airline Flybe has declined to comment on media reports that it is in crisis talks in an attempt to put together a rescue deal. Nominations for the labour leadership close at 2. 30pm this afternoon. Some of the contenders are likely to be knocked out of the race. Sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. Good morning. Manchester citys title defence may be futile, but Sergio Aguero has notched up another record for the club. He scored a hatrick in their 6 1 win at aston villa and is now up to 177 premier league goals, overtaking Thierry Henry as the top overseas goalscorer. Joe lynskey reports. Players like Sergio Aguero dont come along very often. He has now gone past Thierry Henry as the top foreign goal scorer in english football. And a 12th hat trick of his career surpasses alan shearers record. Agueros played a part in some of this leagues greatest moments, but the day he broke new ground was in a routine win. City already led 2 0 when aguero scored his first. The Aston Villa Supporters werent staying for the encore. When aguero made it 5 0 in the second half, this one sided match had new significance. Commentator Sergio Aguero has scored in the premier league for the 176th time that figure talk aguero past henrys record and with the argentines third and citys sixth of the day, he was looking further ahead. Only english players are now above him in the premier leagues top scorers. Hes reached it in nine years through relentless consistency. When these kinds of things happen, how many hat tricks and how many goals, it is because its notjust one season, two seasons or a short moment, it is a long, long time. And that is a real value, when you are consistent for a long, long time and sergio has done that. Im so happy, i want to say thanks to my team mates because they helped me these nine years. So im very proud of them. What comes next for aguero rests on how long he stays. Theres 18 months left on his city contract but even as a club as rich as this one, the landmarks, the volume of goals, are impossible to replace. Joe lynskey, bbc news. That win moved city up to second but still 1a points behind leaders liverpool. Former city captain Vincent Kompany says his old club stil have plenty to play for he won the title with city 4 times, and points out that this season, they still have three other trophies in their sights. This season has so much still to be done. 0k, winning the league is a big thing, it is unbelievable, such a hard achievement, it took years for liverpool, but still image champions, the fa cup, the carabao cup, i wouldnt look at this as a seizing of anything else but opportunities still. Former liverpool goalkeeper pepe reina is having a medical at aston villa ahead of a loan move from ac milan for the rest of the season. Villa manager dean smith made a move for the former Spanish International after tom heaton was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The deal is expected to be completed later on today. After a 16 year career that included 81 caps for wales, james hook will retire from rugby union at the end of the season. The 3a year old, who plays predominantly at fly half, is at 0spreys at the moment and also had spells at perpignan and gloucester. He wants to move into coaching but hes also written a series of childrens books, with a rugby theme that will be published later this year. The corruption trial of former world athletics president lamine diack gets underway in paris today. The 86 year old, whose son papa massata has also been charged, has been under house arrest in senegal since november 2015. Diack has been investigated over allegations he took payments diack senior has been investigated over allegations he took payments for deferring sanctions against russian drugs cheats. They both deny all the charges. Rob burrow made his final appearance for leeds rhinos over the weekend, a five minute cameo in a fundraising match for motor neurone disease. The 37 year old former Great Britain scrum half was diagnosed with the incurable condition last year. I know they are making massive moves in research. I saw a professor last week. He was absolutely brilliant formation. Making big strides. So one day, hopefully they will find a cure. Whether it is in my time or not, but raise awareness, get more people looking into it and hopefully one day, cure this horrible disease. Patrick mahomes has led the Kansas City Chiefs to one of the most remarkable come backs in the history of the nfl play offs. They were 211 0 down against the Houston Texans but mahomes threw for four touchdowns as the chiefs staged a remarkable fightback in the second half to win 51 31. They will face the Tennessee Titans in the afc championship game. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Some breaking news. Iran has much ambassador to the uk has been summoned in response to the unacceptable arrest. Air at the ambassador in tehran was arrested after he was arrested after at the vigil. This is the Twitter Response he had to that arrest. It had been claimed he was arrested as an unknown foreigner and was released as soon says credentials we re released as soon says credentials were checked. Now, irans ambassador to the uk has been summoned by the Foreign Office in response to the arrest. More breaking new super new, were hearing that court in pakistan has accepted his petitions against his death sentence in a treason case. He was sentenced to death in absentia for treason. About four weeks ago over his imposition of emergency rule in 2007 when he was president. He has been living in dubai since 2016 so this has been going on while he has been out of the country. The high court in lahore has had petitions against the sentence and the formation of a special court unconstitutional, and there was, it was turned unconstitutional and illegal. According to reports just coming through, the petitions against the death sentence have been accepted. So we will bring you up to date as we get more on that. Lets get more on our top story. The queen is holding talks at sandringham later today to try to map out a future path for the duke and duchess of sussex, following their announcement that they want to step back as senior royals. Prince charles, Prince William and prince harry will be at the meeting and meghan is likely tojoin by phone from canada. Lets talk to dan wootton, hes the executive editor of the sun, and broke the news that meghan and harry were planning on stepping back from their role as senior royals. He joins me from the suns hq in central london. It is quite an extraordinary meeting. What do you anticipate . M isa meeting. What do you anticipate . M is a historic day, but all of the midi music is that the royals want to come to an agreement that is going to satisfy everyone. They dont want to continue what has been a very unsavoury public war. Dont get me wrong, there is a civil war going on within the royal family and there has been for some time. But i think today the aim will be to very much try and get everyone on the same page. Of course there are lots of questions that have to be answered. But, for example, iwould be very surprised to see a result at the end of the day, harry and meghan are stripped of their hrh titles, which is something thatjust a week ago looks very likely. We are getting word of a joint statement from Princes William and harry, just one line at the moment coming through. A spokesperson for them has said it is offensive and the newspaper reports about their relationship are offensive and potentially harmful. I think i might be getting a bit more here, despite clear denials false story ran in the newspaper today speculative about the relationship between duke of sussex and the duke of cambridge. The brothers who care so deeply around the issue of Mental Health, to use such inflammatory language is offensive and potentially harmful. What is your reaction to that . know what they are referring to, it is the story that ran in the front page the times today who is a very, very well connected royal correspondence and brilliant journalist and the story was about the fact that prince harry and people close to him had said that Prince Williams behaviour towards and meghan had been bullying. Now, as soon as you use the word bullying, you are certainly getting into territory that can at times become very uncomfortable for people and it is quite extraordinary that ata time and it is quite extraordinary that at a time when Prince William and prince harry are having so much wa rfa re prince harry are having so much warfare behind the scenes that they have come together to release this joint statement. What i would say, very clearly, is that, i dont want to use the bullying word, but it is absolutely true that Prince William and prince harrys relationship has been incredibly strained for the past 18 months. They are no longer getting on in the way that they used to and that has been a big part of this fractious relationship. That the royal family now find themselves in. Of course, we should not forget the role of Prince Charles in all the role of Prince Charles in all the best because surely there has to be questions about why the future king has been unable to keep his sons having a Good Relationship and i think part of the reason is that we know his team are very often briefing against his own sons. So, it has come incredibly messy. The role of the media, and meghan and harrys clear unhappiness with how things have been reported . You can save that, but obviously look at the story i wrote last week. It was entirely accurate, nothing that we ran they would dispute, likewise all the reports that we have run about the reports that we have run about the tensions between william and kate and harry meghan have been inaccurate so yes, they clearly have issues with the media but i would say that the media welcome to prince harry and meghans relationship. I mean look at the pages and pages, the tv specials, the special magazines and supplements, the day of the wedding when there was so much hope about the excitement that meghan was going to bring to the monarchy. The issue came when magnet a tidy decided to start wading into politics meghan and harry decided to start wading into politics and the media has to give them proper scrutiny because they are a publicly fa i nts scrutiny because they are a publicly faints oh funded royals. If they try to have a Halfway House, could they make things worse if theyd continue to get money from the public, have a royal titles and then make money through whichever means they might. We know sussex royal has been trademark for use in merchandise for instance. Absolutely. Ithink trademark for use in merchandise for instance. Absolutely. I think it is totally u nte na ble to instance. Absolutely. I think it is totally untenable to think that this couple could keep receiving money from the public purse and then, essentially, temp themselves out in hollywood to the highest bidder. We saw in that extraordinary video that wasnt covered over the weekend, prince harry pitching his wife, meghan asa prince harry pitching his wife, meghan as a voice over artist to the chief executive and chairman of disney. As it turns out, meghan has now got a voice over role in a disney film. But that is highly uncomfortable and the reason why the royals have never been able to take these types of commercial endorsements is because there are genuine fears of corruption and we see the case of Prince Andrew and how terrible his relationship with the disgraced paedophile businessmen Jeffrey Epstein turned out to be. He has had to step down from the royal family. It seems unconscionable that the royal family could family. It seems unconscionable that the royalfamily could encourage another situation like that to continue. You could look at this insight is a mature way forward for our royalfamily insight is a mature way forward for our royal family that wants to slim down, and inevitably when you have grown up down, and inevitably when you have grown up people involved, they want to do other things with their lives. But is there a logical way through it as you can see four titles to be maintained and for royals to make money in order to support themselves . Personally i do not think there is. What i would say is they say they want to move towards being financially independent. If you speak to any member of the British Public and see sally has £30 million fortune, meghan has a £5 million fortune, meghan has a £5 million fortune, meghan has a £5 million fortune, that is the definition of financially independent so why are they not prepared to sign we dont need public money and we are going to put ourselves fully into the financial sector. I think half we house will pose so many issues Going Forward but this is what you have to remember. The queen and Prince Charles have very long memories and what happened in 1985 with Princess Diana still gives them night nurse. 1995. The diana still gives them night nurse. 1995. The fact she no longer had her hrh title, they wont want history to repeat. The statement coming through from Princes William and harry, have dismissed what they see as a false story in a uk newspaper, speculating about their relationship. They say Four Brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding Mental Health, the use of inflammatory language is offensive and potentially harmful. They say despite clear denials, a uk story ran a paper speculating about their relationship and they find that very upsetting. They say it is offensive and potentially harmful. We will have the business for you in a moment. First the headlines on bbc news. The queen will hold talks with the duke and duchess of sussex to find a way forward for the couple after their decision to step back from royal duties. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast he and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont to mark the restoration of devolution. Authorities in the philippines are warning a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days after a volcano began spewing lava. Now the Business News. The latest figures on Economic Growth paint a mixed picture. The economy shrank by 0. 3 in november, a figure worse than expected but over a three month period. Gdp did still grow. The value of the pound has been falling after one of the bank of englands Decision Makers said hed vote for an Interest Rate cut this month, unless data shows Good Progress for the uk economy. The regional Airline Flybe has refused to comment on reports that its in crisis talks to prevent its collapse. Management told the bbc that it does not comment on rumour or speculation after sky news reported that it was struggling to secure fresh finance. Good morning. Lets talk about the state of the economy. Back at a time when the country was in a more uncertain political state. Cast your mind back to november, with the election on the horizon and brexit still up in the air the economy shrank by 0. 3 . Monthly figures are important but not as widely watched as the quarterly figures. And while some economists had expected a contraction during september, october and november it turned out that the economy did grow by 0. 1 . Lets dive into the detail now with janet mui who is global economist at cazenove capital. Growth in construction weakening services, adding to ongoing weakness in manufacturing. We will bring you more when we can throughout the day on bbc news. What else is happening today . The boss of the troubled Department Store chain beales has said that councils really dont ca re about supporting high street trading. Tony brown told the bbc that hed only managed to get one council to help save one of the 22 Beales Stores which are under threat. In another store, he complained that Council Rates were four times as high as its rent. Theres a new boss at the worlds biggest planemaker, boeing. David calhoun takes over at a time when the latest model of the worlds biggest selling aircraft, the 737 max remains grounded after two fatal crashes. An industry analyst has warned that boeing will have to pay £6 billion in compensation to airlines with that bill going up by three with that bill going up by £750,000 for each additional month that the aircraft is not allowed to fly. And would you fly with this man to the moon to play among the stars. The japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has posted this ad seeking a life partner to accompany him on space xs maiden tourist voyage to the moon. The 44 year old made his money in the fashion business. He recently broke up with his girlfiend and has asked women to apply for a planned match making event on his website. If that fills your heart with joy, to apply you must be a woman over 20 with a positive outlook and an interest in travelling to space. Lets look at the markets. Investors happy that the us and china are due to sign phase 1 of their hard fought trade deal on wednesday. The ftse 100 also tends to do well when the pound falls. Thats because of growing expectations of a rate cut, which sent many banking stocks lower. But housebuilders are doing well. Reflected in gdp data. Thats all the Business News. A british woman has died after falling off a cliff at a popular tourist spot in sydney. The 21 year old woman has been named locally as madalyn davis, a make up artist from lincolnshire. Australian police are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. Cooler weather in australia has allowed firefighters to take control of most of the huge bushfires that hasve swept over much of the country. 28 people were killed as a result of the fires and thousands of homes destroyed as record temperatures and strong winds fanned the flames. 0ur correspondentjonathan head has been to one Small Community in New South Wales where a0 houses burnt down, to see what chances residents have of re building their lives. Jonathan head has sent this report from New South Wales. In much of south eastern australia, the fires have moved on and leaving behind at wounded communities and weathered landscape, now counting the cost of this disaster. We came across an Army Ambulance here to offer help. They found that few residents had come back yet. There is no power and so many houses have been destroyed. This is all wars a small hamlet, it is very typical of places australians have come to be close to nature but in this exceptional hot season they know it comes with a high price and once the immediate threat of the fire has eased, this community will face the challenge of not only how they rebelled but whether they can defend themselves more effectively against future fires. This man is a retired Civil Servant to moved here 20 years ago for the tranquillity says and for the views. His house was consumed by a bushfire so intense it melted machinery into puddles. He has had enough. We willjust drift off North Queensland i think and move in with the children and grandchildren. No more future for you here . I am getting a bit too long in the tooth to think about putting, necessarily trying to rebuild, think i willjust pack up my bag and drift off into the sunset. The weather has now cooled but smoke hangs ominously over the hills. Hundreds of fires are still smouldering. This isnt over yet. Here, they are hoping there is not much left to burn. But this is the end of their losses this fire season. But what about next year . And beyond. Staying with the bushfires and the theme of donations. Thousands of kilograms of carrots and Sweet Potatoes have been dropped out out of helicopters in New South Wales. Its to try to help endangered animals like the brush tailed rock wallabies, struggling to find food in fire affected areas. Experts estimate that more than one billion native animals have been killed or affected by the fires that have ravaged large parts of south eastern australia. 0ur royal correspondent, jo black is at sandringham this morning. Lets go back to the joint statement from harry and william saying that it is offensive that this article was reported. It is thought it is an article in the times that refers to difficulties between the brothers. And the article says, for brothers to ca re and the article says, for brothers to care so deeply about issues regarding Mental Health, the use of inflammatory language is offensive and potentially harmful. 0ur royal correspondent, jo black is at sandringham this morning. Tell us more about the statement and do you know what it is specifically referring to . This statement has just been released in the last few minutes and of course we are all getting it here now in sandringham and taking a look. It is a joint statement from Prince William and prince harry over reports of bullying in a newspaper article, this relates to an article in the Times Newspaper we understand this morning which refers to billowing from Prince William, so this statement says, despite clear denials, a false story ran in a uk newspaper. Speculating about the relationship between the duke of sussex and the duke of cambridge, Four Brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding Mental Health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful. As i say, that statement has just been released. We are all taking a look at it now, trying to work out what it means. Of course, the princes obviously feel that they have to Say Something about that article, feel compelled to put that statement out. Of course, we are still waiting to see what happens on sandringham estate here today this afternoon we understand that meeting is taking place between the queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and prince harry and Meghan Markle on the telephone. If the time difference allows it. The world media is here, there are tv crews and tv satellite trucks all over the lawn here at sandringham. This is a big global story. It broke last wednesday, but the headlines have been forthcoming ever since. Thank you, more at the top of the hour, right now it is time for a look at the weather. Brighter weather but it is all about strong brendan today. You can see this massive cloud coming from the atla ntic this massive cloud coming from the atlantic but it is developing under what we call explosive psychological and it is a piece of this, the moment. Eventually pushing towards iceland but it will bring us some heavy rain across Northern Ireland, eventually pushing into scotland, Western Areas of england and wales, drier to the east of that although there will be some showers ahead of it. Gales developing all the while around Western Areas, maximum temperature is about 7 11. If youre travelling later into the evening, strong wind later at gusts, 60 70 miles per, up to even 85 or 95 in the west of scotland. Likely to cause some travel disruption across scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland as well. As we go through tonight, that will move into the south east of england, eventually clearing away. Some brendan is to the north, then another weather system that will develop coming in from the south west. Another spell of wet and very windy weather. A dry start, ice and snow across scotland. Rain spreads north and east but again strong winds, public windy day for england and wales, gusts up to 70 miles forever in the south west, even the north west of scotland. Temperatures for five celsius in Northern Areas, 10 13 further south. Into wednesday, we lose that weather system and for many of us, wednesday will be quieter. Still fairly gusting winds towards the north of scotland. The rain to the south east clears. For most of us, wednesday will be dry, bright and there will be sunshine, a few showers, most frequent towards Western North areas, temperatures 7 9. Thursday we see another bout of wet and windy weather. This area of low pressure develops and again look at the quite close together the uk. That again could cause travel disruption with some heavy rain so this week will be dominated by gales or severe gales, well worth staying tuned to the forecast over the next few days. End of the week into the weekend things look quieter. Goodbye. You re watching bbc newsroom live its midday and these are the main stories this morning Prince William and prince harry release a statement saying a newspaper report about their relationship is offensive and potentially harmful. It comes as the queen prepares to hold emergency talks with senior royals about the future role of the duke and duchess of sussex. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast he and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont a volcano in the philippines has begun spewing lava, as authorities warn that a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days. Now there is lava flowing from the volcano. A weak flow at the moment but that is causing this black smoke to billow out of the volcano. Irans ambassador to the uk has been summoned by the Foreign Office in response to the arrest of the British Ambassador in tehran. And in sport, Rugby League Legend rob burrow reflects on an emotional fundraiser match following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im joanna gosling. In the last half hour and ahead of a summit of senior royals today, the duke of sussex and the duke of cambridge have released a statement to deny newspaper reports of a rift between them that contributed to prince harry and Meghan Markles decision to move to north america. In a statement they said for brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding Mental Health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful. Earlier i spoke to the executive editor of the Sun Dan Wootton to get his reaction. I know what they are referring to, a very well connected while corresponding and brilliant journalist. The story was about the fa ct journalist. The story was about the fact that prince harry and people close to him said Prince Williams behaviour towards him and meghan had been bullying. As soon as you use the word billy you are certainly getting into territory that can at times become very uncomfortable for people and it is quite extraordinary that at a time when Prince William and harry have so much water behind the scenes. When you use the word bully. It is absolutely true that the relationship between the two has been incredibly strained for the past 18 months. They are no longer getting on in the way they used to and that has been a big part of the fractious relationship the royal family now finds itself in. Later today, the queen will hold talks at sandringham to try to map out a future path for the duke and duchess of sussex, following their announcement that they want to step back as senior royals. Prince charles, Prince William and prince harry will be at the meeting and meghan is likely tojoin by phone from canada. There are plenty of questions that might be discussed. How will harry and meghan fund their new lives . They say they want to become financially independent but what does that mean for them . Will the couple keep their royal titles . At the moment theres no suggestion they wish to renounce them. The cost of their security and who will pay for it is also unclear. The home secretary, priti patel, was asked this morning about this issue and said safety was a priority. Just by discussing it publicly compromises much of the security arrangements and that is not something that is for the discussion today. I think it is right the royalfamily have the time and space to discuss the issues they need to, and therefore i am not going to and neither will the government give a public commentary in terms of the security arrangements of anybody with protective security. But safety is a priority . Safety is always a priority which is why certain individuals have that. It is important we preserve the integrity of that which is why i am not going to comment publically. 0ur royal correspondent, jo black, is at sandringham this morning. The statement just through the statementjust through is quite extraordinary as the summit is about to get under way later. What is the latest . We understand the summits, the crisis meeting, sandringham summit as it is being dubbed in the papers, will take place at some point later on this afternoon. We dont really know when or how long that meeting will take. We understand the queen will be there, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Charles, Prince William, prince harry, we think this is the first time they have all got together to set round the table to discuss some of the themes raised since the Statement Last wednesday that the duke and duchess of sussex would like to step back from being senior royals. We understand meghan mightjoin the meeting by telephone if the time difference in canada allows it. We dont really know what will be discussed but there are some issues one can imagine will be discussed, this in and out relationship the duke and duchess of sussex want with their role, spending half their time in the uk, half in north america. How would that work . What are the practicalities and realities of that . Their titles, will they keep them . And the finances, as you were talking about, first met on the radio this morning wouldnt be drawn on the security details. The taxpayer, how much would they pay in the future for their security if this plays out like the duke and duchess of sussex would like . Priti patel on the radio this morning. A combine statement from william and harry talking about the newspaper report you were just talking about, that ran this morning from the Times Newspaper, we believe, says despite kurt allows a false story ran in a uk newspaper speculating about the duke of sussex and duke of cambridges relationship. Four brothers who care so deeply about Mental Health the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful. Interesting they feel compelled to release the statement. That has come through in the last half hour. Here at sandringham, com pletely half hour. Here at sandringham, completely extraordinary here today, not business as usual. The usual visitors and dog walkers but i am surrounded by the worlds media, fellow journalists, surrounded by the worlds media, fellowjournalists, reporters, tv crew from germany, from america, satellite trucks all over the place. This is a global story that will keep on coming after breaking last wednesday. Robert hardman is author of queen of the world, a biography of elizabeth ii who writes for the daily mail. What is your reaction to the joint statement . It shows firstly the great sensitivity to getting the right atmosphere ahead of this meeting and i think it shows that the depth of the bond between those two brothers. I know in recent days we have read a lot about how that has been strained but i think they are keen to say by issuing the statement so promptly and quickly is any talk of bullying is completely out of order. What they are really, the overall intention is, to avoid any sense of confrontation at the meeting. I keep hearing everyone is going out of their way not to have any sort of showdown, no thumping the table. The queen likes consensus and that is what everyone will try to achieve. How difficult will it be to achieve. How difficult will it be to find some sort of a Halfway House, maintaining royal status while cashing in as well . It is very hard, some real imponderables. Some things we can safely say will not be discussed. The question of security and who pays for that, that is really down to the government, not for today. The question of titles, early on after the sussex statement, they will be stripped of the title, that will not happen. Prince harry was born in hrh and will not be taken away. Then some of the nuts and bolts, how do you structure and existence where perhaps half your time you are answering to shareholders and the other half answering to the crown and the government and perhaps the commonwealth fulfil. Commonwealth last government and perhaps the commonwealth last year we were told they would have some sort of new existence in africa, we were told about a commonwealth role. You have to be asked to do these things. It isa group to be asked to do these things. It is a group of 53 nations, the commonwealth, the queen is the symbolic head of its parts not the executive had. Quite a lot to be ironed out away from the summit, quite apart from today. This is not gonna be an occasion for blue sky thinking, reinventing the monarchy. This will be practical responses to how you would structure your household and where would it be located . It will be those sorts of things, a practical discussion. There has been discussion around a desire to slim down the key figures at the heart of the monarchy so this is an inevitable side effect of this, do we go forward into a modernised monarchy now . There has been talk of a slimmed down monarchy but the working model, the idea was it would very much include the duke and duchess of sussex in due course. The monarchy normally doesnt do these things quickly. This has been a Quick Response to a crisis that blew up just last week, the idea a Quick Response to a crisis that blew upjust last week, the idea of slimming down the monarchy is something that will take place over time. You have lots of hard working, much loved members of the family doing a greatjob. As we speak, this month you are going to see the duke of gloucester and kent, the earl and cou ntess of gloucester and kent, the earl and countess of wessex, they will be doing things that does not make the National Headlines but is received well on a local level with the charities they support. You cant tear all that up overnight. The slimmed down monarchy will happen over time. One of the reasons the duke of cambridge Prince William is involved in all this and one of the reasons he has been keen to nail this idea, the report out today, he is not just here this idea, the report out today, he is notjust here worrying about where things stand between him and his brother, whatever happens today does set a template for his own children. Ultimately, prince georges testing for the throne but they have two other children who are not. That is at the back of his mind as well. A complicated set of issues. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast to meet with irish Prime Minister leo varadkar and ministers of the devolved government, which was restored on saturday after three years of deadlock. Mrjohnson is expected to to urge the Stormont Administration to tackle problems with nhs waiting times in nortern ireland both the uk and ireland say they are prepared to put new money in to help. Keith doyle is at stormont for us. Whats going to happen today . Iam in i am in the great hall at stormont Parliament Buildings. We know Boris Johnson arrived to the building is close to here, stormont castle. Met with the secretary of statejulian smith and the newly appointed first minister Arlene Foster. And Michelle Oneill, minister Arlene Foster. And michelle 0neill, the deputy first minister. The Prime Minister was supposed to walk over here, a couple of hundred metres and walk through the grounds. But storm brendan has hit Northern Ireland and that has been put off. The indication is that he says he is here to listen to what their plans are for the newly set devolved assembly. Really, it is going to be the mlas that want to know what he is going to bring in terms of cash. He issued a statement saying this is a historical time for the people of Northern Ireland, stormont is open for business again. The people can move forward with improving peoples lives in Northern Ireland, that is the key thing. Lots of promises have been made, now money has to be spent. Has the issue of the nhs been instrumental in where we are now . Absolutely, there have been nurses strikes last week, going on for months. The issue of pay parity. Health workers doing the same job get paid less and Northern Ireland than in the rest of the uk, a huge bone of contention. Waiting lists are huge here, by far the longest in all of the uk. Massive investment is needed. Remember, no work in government here for the last three yea rs government here for the last three years and no decisions have been made. Really, the Health Minister and first and deputy minister are going to want borisjohnson to bring his cheque book and pay for much of the commitments. More on todays main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. The economy shrank by 0. 3 in the month of november, according to the monthly estimate by the office for national statistics. Thats worse than most economists expected however the last quarterly figures, showed the economy grew by 0. 1 between the start of september and the end of november better than expected. A british woman has died after falling off a cliff at a popular tourist spot in sydney. The 21 year old has been named locally as madalyn davis, a make up artist from lincolnshire. Australian police are investigating the circumstances around her death. This years awards season is well under way, and the nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards are announced today, with british film 1917 expected to pick up several nominations, alongside films like Martin Scorseses the irishman and Quentin Tarantinos 0nce upon a time in hollywood. News channel at 1. 15, with my colleaguejane hill and ourfilm criticjason solomons. The headlines on bbc news. Ahead of a senior royals meeting, Princes William and harry have denounced newspaper reports about their relationship describing them as offensive and potentially harmful. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast he and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont to mark the restoration of devolution. Authorities in the philippines are warning a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days after a volcano began spewing lava. Sport now, heres 0llie. Manchester city are well off the pace in the title race, but Sergio Aguero produced a record breaking performance as pep guardiolas side thrashed aston villa 6 1. Aguero scored his 12th premier league hat trick, that surpasses alan shearers old mark. Hes also overtaken Thierry Henry to become the leagues highest scoring overseas player. Truly moving to meet new milestones, he said on twitter. Former liverpool goalkeeper pepe reina is having a medical at aston villa ahead of a loan move from ac milan. Villa manager dean smith has moved for the player after tom heaton was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The deal is expected to be completed later today. After a 16 year career that included 81 caps for wales, james hook will retire from rugby union at the end of the season. The 3a year old, who plays predominantly at fly half, is at 0spreys at the moment and also had spells at perpignan and gloucester. He wants to move into coaching but hes also written a series of childrens books, with a rugby theme that will be published later this year. The corruption trial of former world athletics president lamine diack gets under way in paris today. The 86 year old, whose son papa massata has also been charged, has been under house arrest in senegal since november 2015. Diack senior is alleged to have taken payments for deferring sanctions against russian drugs cheats. They both deny all the charges. Rob burrow made a five minute cameo appearance for leeds rhinos over the weekend in a fundraising match for motor neurone disease. The 37 year old former Great Britain scrum half was diagnosed with the incurable condition last year. I know they are making massive moves in research. I saw a professor last week. He was absolutely brilliant for me. Making big strides. So one day, hopefully they will find a cure. Whether it is in my time or not, but raise awareness, get more people looking into it and hopefully one day, cure this horrible disease. And Quarterback Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City Chiefs to one of the most remarkable come backs in the history of the nfl play offs. They were 211 0 down against the Houston Texans but staged a fightback to win 51 31 with mahomes throwing five touchdown passes, four of them in one quarter, which is a joint record. Theyll now face the Tennessee Titans for a place in the super bowl. Thats all the sport for now. Downing street decribed the arrest of the uk ambassador in iran as an unacceptable breach of the vienna convention, and called for an investigation. It follows protests in tehran after the iranian government confirmed it was responsible for the shooting down of a ukrainian passengerjet. Martin patience is in beirut for us. There are lots of new developments, theissue there are lots of new developments, the issue around the ambassador and also these protests erupting more and more in iran. Bring us up to date. It is very difficult to get information out of iran. We know there has been protest for three days, how big they are is very difficult to know because we are not in the country. Clearly there is a lot of anger against the government. A week ago, there was huge scenes of people moaning, hundreds of thousands on the street after the americans carried out the assassination of. Economic sanctions have been really biting, we saw protest late last year which the authorities crack down on very hard, killing hundreds of people. That sentiment and anger against the authorities that again has reared its head in recent days with many people deeply angry that the authorities lie to them about the reason as to why this aeroplane was shot down. Initially the iranian authorities said they did not know why and then they said it was actually a mistake on the health of their armed forces, who shot down this ukrainian jet. What about the diplomatic incident . The uk ambassador to iran being arrested. A p pa re ntly ambassador to iran being arrested. Apparently that has been criticised. The Iranian Ambassador to the uk has been summoned now to the foreign 0ffice. Been summoned now to the Foreign Office. Clearly tensions are high between iran and britain. The ambassador said he was attending a video for the people who had died in the plane crash, the plane shot down by the iranian authorities. Perhaps there were then chance or a protest occurred close by, perhaps people got angry. He said he was never involved in any protest and said he was briefly detained after going into a hairdressers by the authorities and then held. According to the iranian authorities they said he was attending the protest. The British Ambassador in that country has denied that is the case. The british authorities are calling for an urgent investigation. I think this will go down as yet another incident highlighting the tensions between iran and britain and america, and there is very little trust between the two countries, relations between iran and britain are of course better than with america. But there is a real heightened sense where even the small incidents like this can have far larger repercussions. When you speak to iranians or hearfrom far larger repercussions. When you speak to iranians or hear from them inside the country, they will say the situation at the moment in iran is very tense indeed. The airline, flybe, has refused to comment on reports that its trying to secure emergency funding to prevent its collapse. Flybe was bought by connect airways, a consortium created by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Investment Adviser cyrus capital last year, when it fell into financial difficulties. Earlier, i spoke to our business presenter dominic 0connell, with me now is our business correspondent, theo leggett. What is the latest on the situation. The company will not comment on widespread reports it is in financial difficulties. It was in all sorts of financial trouble a year ago, bailed out by Stobart Group, Virgin Atlantic and cyrus capital. Money for a problems and the rest for investment. We dont know what has gone wrong. It could be funding requirements are higher than that or one of the partners is struggling to provide its share and funding needs to be found from elsewhere. The problem flybe faces iss works in a competitive market. Pa rt iss works in a competitive market. Part of its business is domestic flights within britain, it is competing with railways and the roads. Profit margins are not high. If second gets into trouble. 0n the isle of man, loss of its air routes are served by flybe and nobody else. There could be all sorts of replications. Incentives obviously to keep its going, to what extent might the government get involved . We have seen no inkling so for the government would get involved, if you look at the collapse of thomas cook a few months ago, no sort of government funding coming into this even though there were a lot ofjobs involve, economic activity. The government by past standards doesnt seem particularly interested to prop up seem particularly interested to prop upa seem particularly interested to prop up a business like this. Nevertheless, there are regional implications so if these reports are true and the airline does collapse, there could be all sorts of consequences. Nominations from mps and meps for the labour leadership, close at 2. 30 this afternoon, and to get through to the next stage, each candidate needs the support of at least 22 of their peers. Sir keir starmer, rebecca long bailey, Jess Phillips and lisa nandy have the required number of nominations, leaving Emily Thornberry and clive lewis lobbying to get the backing of at least 22 of their fellow labourmps and meps. Registered supporters, who are not full Party Members, will have 48 hours from 14th to the 16th of january to secure a vote by paying £25. The ballot will be open from 21st february until the second of april. With the results announced two days later on the 11th april. We can speak to our chief political correspondent, vicki young so what are we expecting . The 2 30pm deadline, Emily Thornbury thinks it is going to be close for her. She was confident yesterday. She said it would all be fine as long as nobody got stuck in traffic or on long as nobody got stuck in traffic orona long as nobody got stuck in traffic or ona train long as nobody got stuck in traffic or on a train which suggests she is going to be close. Difficult for clive. Candidates and their friends hanging around the corridors desperately trying to get mps to nominate them at this stage. Before they can then move onto the next stage where they have to get the backing of at least two trade unions or constituency labour parties. The front runners very much seen as rebecca long bailey, following Jeremy Corbyn and the lefts tradition, who said there was nothing wrong with the general election policies. And keir starmer, who has been talking up his left wing credentials. He is not very happy about where the hustings are going to be. 0nce very happy about where the hustings are going to be. Once they get through this round, they will hold hosting throughout the country. At the moment the locations are in places labour did 0k in the general election and he thinks it needs to talk to people who lost faith with the labour party in order to win them back in the future. We will find out at 2 30pm exactly who has managed to get through that first hurdle and the Deputy Party Leadership as well as they try to find a replacement for tom watson. Now its time for a look at the weather. Storm brendan on the scene, some wet and windy weather across the uk. The worst for Western Areas and will continue to get gas of 80 mph and more across western parts of scotland. The band of rain pushing on, quite heavy, snow on the leading edge of that in scotland over the hills. Temperatures 8 10d. Windy weather and wet continues through the evening, the rain band sweeping towards the south east, showers following. Showers over the hills, icy overnight, likewise Northern England and Northern Ireland. Some force was a wintry over the hills, another dose of windy and wet weather pushing on primarily to england and wales, some heavy rain in the south east of england and gusty winds, perhaps stronger than today, for some areas. Windy in the north west of scotland. Cold in Northern Ireland and scotland tomorrow, milder into the wet and windy weather of england and wales. Hello this is bbc newsroom live. The headlines. Prince william and prince harry release a statement saying a newspaper report about their relationship is offensive and potentially harmful. It comes as the queen prepares to hold emergency talks with senior royals about the future role of the duke and duchess of sussex. Borisjohnson has arrived in belfast. He and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont. A volcano in the philippines has begun spewing lava, as authorities warn that a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days. Irans ambassador to the uk has been summoned by the Foreign Office in response to the arrest of the British Ambassador in tehran. Lets recap on our top story. In the last hour and ahead of a summit of senior royals today the duke of sussex and the duke of cambridge have released a statement to deny newspaper reports of a rift between them that contributed to prince harry and Meghans Markle decision to move to north america. In a statement they said for brothers who care so deeply earlier i spoke to the executive editor of the Sun Dan Wootton to get his reaction. I know what they are referring to, a very well connected while corresponding and brilliant journalist. The story was about the the story was the pact about prince harry and people close to him had said that Prince Williams behaviour towards him and megan had been bullying. Of course, as soon as you use the word billy, you are certainly getting into territory that can at times become very uncomfortable for people. It is quite extraordinary that at a time when Prince William and prince harry are having so much warfare behind the scenes that they have come together to release this joint statement. What i would say very clearly is that, look, i dont want to use the b word, the bullying word, but it is absolutely true that Prince William and prince harrys relationship has been incredibly strained for the past 18 months. They are no longer getting on in the way that they used to, and that has been a big part of this fractious relationship that the royal family now finds itself in. The taal volcano in the philippines has thrown molten rock into the sky, triggering warnings that a hazardous eruption of toxic gas may be imminent. Speeded up footage shows flowing lava and plumes of white smoke several kilometres high. A volcanic Lightning Storm added to the steam and ash. 25000 people have been evacuated across the province of batangas, south of the capital manila. The taal volcano has entered a magmatic eruption phase. Last night it was a phreatic phase where there was lots of steam and ash. Now, there is lava flowing from the volcano. A weak flow at the moment but that is causing this black smoke to billow out of the volcano and that is affecting the air quality around here, lots of dust and ash in the air, and that is affecting International Airports in this area. New clark city and manila have had lots of flights cancelled and suspended. There is ash on the runway. If we look to my left, you can see ash all over the floor, it has turned into a mud state in some places and on the road on the way up we saw people clearing that mud from the road. We also saw pineapple groves completely covered in dust, and that will no doubt affect livelihoods in this area. The other major risk that the scientists are saying is that there could be a volcanic tsunami. If you look over here, you can see taal volcano surrounded by a lake. If there is a major eruption that could cause the earth to move which will displace water, so, low lying communities on the coastline could be affected by a tidal wave if there is a major eruption. Bushfire conditions have eased in the sugar, but with more than 100 fires, fire still ablaze and New South Wales alone, and more on the way, the crisis is far from south wales alone, and more on the way, the crisis is farfrom over. Donations are continuing to roll in from cash to close to cosmetics. While we have been watching the fire trucks coming all week, that has been matched by the amount of people have been coming and going dropping off donations for those who have lost their homes and been evacuated. Everything from biscuits and noodles to things for babies like nappies and clothes. The level of generosity here is truly extraordinary and across australia are ordinarily people have given 100 million already to help those in need. Ive been speaking to ronda watson about why she felt compelled to give. What is your response when you see the generosity . Just amazing, it is incredible. The people have all pulled together so much and it is wonderful to see. Its just absolutely incredible. Whats in those boxes . I brought chocolate for them. We had christmas and all that and we went, look, ok we have lots left over, lets give it to them. How long have you been arrested resident near . Resident 0ver how long have you been arrested resident over 30 years. Have you seen one like this . No, never. Ive never seen it that bad. So many people have lost their homes and it is so devastating to see on television as well how the fury of this fire has gone through and when you see six fire trucks pull up in your street, you go, oh, its very scary. We all had plans of where we we re scary. We all had plans of where we were going to go if the fire hit our place. So that is a reality, you have to have a plan . And that is the same for everybody . Yes, everyone must have a plan. Is something you have seen particularly that has really moved you or has it all felt very moving . Hill where they took animals to their home to save them, they actually save the zoo. There are so many things you could possibly talk about, but just dont have the time. Medicals. Looking around, the level of generosity does look miraculous. 0ur industry and across the world, wealthy individuals, corporations, pop stars, movie stars, sports cars have all donated money to help those who have been affected by the bushfire crisis. The big question now is how that money will be distributed and how everything here will get out to those who need it most. Staying with the bushfires and the theme of donations, thousands of kilograms of carrots and Sweet Potatoes have been dropped out out of helicopters in New South Wales. Its to try to help endangered animals like the brush tailed rock wallabies, struggling to find food in fire affected areas. Experts estimate that more than one billion native animals have been killed or affected by the fires that have ravaged large parts of south eastern australia. Now for all the Business News. Heres your Business News on bbc news. The latest figures on Economic Growth paint a mixed picture. The economy shrank by 0. 3 in november, a figure worse than expected but over a three month period gdp did still grow. The value of the pound has been falling after one of the bank of englands Decision Makers said hed vote for an Interest Rate cut this month, unless data shows Good Progress for the uk economy. The regional Airline Flybe has refused to comment on reports that its in crisis talks to prevent its collapse. Management told the bbc that it does not comment on rumour or speculation after sky news reported that it was struggling to secure fresh finance. Good morning. Lets talk about the state of the economy. Back at a time when the country was in a more uncertain political state. Cast your mind back to november, with the election on the horizon and brexit still up in the air, the economy shrank by 0. 3 . Monthly figures are important but not as widely watched as the quarterly figures. And while some economists had expected a contraction during september, october and november, it turned out that the economy did grow by 0. 1 . Lets dive into the detail now with andy verity, our economics correspondent. Thanks for being with us. How much has politics had to do with the figures we had today . It is really difficult to tell but it cant have had no influence at all, given the political people that we had in the time that we are talking about. As you say, over three months it looks relatively cheaper compared to expectations, because most economists were expecting the economy to shrink over that period very slightly. Nevertheless, whether you have a shrinkage of 0. 1 growth of 0. 1 , neither is very good compared to historic averages. You really wa nt compared to historic averages. You really want growth between two and 396 really want growth between two and 3 for a healthy economy, we are nowhere near that. If you look at november and the activity then, compare that with the year before, youve got growth ofjust 0. 6 . That is actually the weakest growth since a time when we werent talking about brexit, were talking about back in 2012, when there was the euro crisis. It is worth remembering that some of the slowdown here wont be down to political uncertainty, it will be down to the global slowdown. Weve seen very weak Global Growth over 2019, some of the week as weve seen any long time. Nevertheless, the figure for november dimension, down 0. 3 , volatile as those monthly figures are and you have to be a bit sceptical, that is not a good number. And looking at what that bank of England Decision Maker policymaker to say earlier, that he bought for a rate cant cut cut this month. What is the likelihood of that coming soon . Dont ask me, as the market. You can always look at where the city traders are betting. And where they spent all of the day is trying to guess with the next Interest Rate move, they are betting that you are more than likely than not to have an Interest Rate cut when the Monetary Policy Committee Meets at the end of the amount. That isa meets at the end of the amount. That is a cut, remember, from the official rate of 0. 75 down to 0. 5 . Remember back in 2005, more than a decade ago, that was supposed to be an emergency rate, yet we have stayed down here. One of the concerns here is that there is not much scope for the government and the Monetary Policy committee to cut Interest Rates by any substantial amount. If we are relying on that to stimulate a flatlining economy, theres not much to rely on. They hope has to be that Government Spending and possibly even tax cuts might be needed to stimulate the economy in the coming months if things continue to be as per as have been. Per as they have b. What else is happening today . The boss of the troubled Department Store chain beales has said that councils really dont care about supporting high street trading. Tony brown told the bbc that hed only managed to get one council to help save one of the 22 Beales Stores which are under threat. In another store, he complained that Council Rates were four times as high as its rent. Theres a new boss at the worlds biggest plane maker, boeing. David calhoun takes over at a time when the latest model of the worlds biggest selling aircraft, the 737 max remains grounded after two fatal crashes. An industry analyst has warned that boeing will have to pay 6bn pounds in compensation to airlines; with that bill going up by three quarters of a billion for each additional month that the aircraft is not allowed to fly. And would you fly with this man to the moon to play among the stars. The japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has posted this ad seeking a life partner to accompany him on space xs maiden tourist voyage to the moon. The 44 year old made his money in the fashion business. He recently broke up with his girlfiend and has asked women to apply for a planned match making event on his website. If that fills your heart with joy, to apply you must be a woman over 20 with a positive outlook and an interest in travelling to space. Thats all the Business News. Now the internet streaming service, netflix is hoping for glory at this years Academy Awards to help cement its reputation as as a serious movie maker. Michelle fleury has more from new york. Marlon brando for mrs eddy could be a contender on the 1954 film on the waterfront. Until recently, netflix rip since it could have felt the same way about the authors. This year the streaming giants prospects are great, with the irishman and marriage story. Of course, winning a golden statute, while it confirms per stage, does not necessarily translate into signing up new subscribers. It seems executives believe that 0scar calibre movies are needed to stand out in an increasingly crowded market, that includes a new streaming Services Like disney plus and apple tv. And the success last year of the netflix film roller suggest that the industry is warming up to the idea that the company is notjust a disrupter, but also a legitimate competitor. It expecting shortly from Boris Johnson, he is meeting with the override car and they re johnson, he is meeting with the override car and theyre discussing theissue override car and theyre discussing the issue of devolution and the new parish government formed by the stormonts five parties over the weekend. Theres suspected to be a news co nfe re nce weekend. Theres suspected to be a News Conference shortly, we not sure whos going to speak. The Prime Ministers have been meeting, as have the dup leader Arlene Foster, who is the dup leader Arlene Foster, who is the first minister, and sinn feins michelle 0neill, who is the deputy first minister, but as soon as they arrive, they are in front of the cameras and so to speak, we will bring that to arrive. Storm brendan has begun to reach uk shores. The met office has issued a yellow weather warning of high winds across the west, south west and north east of the country between 10am and midnight today. The strongest winds are expected around exposed coasts and hills with gusts of 60 70mph likely, and gusts of up to 80mph possible in some places, particularly around the west coast of scotland. All schools in the Western Isles are closed to pupils. There are warnings that there may be some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport, particularly for high sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges parents in the uk are wrongly being arrested and having their children taken into care . Because of the stigma around female genital mutilation. That s according to some campaigners . Who say figures which suggest tens of thousands of girls are at risk of fgm in this country are completely inaccurate. Rachel stonehouse has this report. When going to bring you that, because something is going on at stormont. Borisjohnson there, we we re stormont. Borisjohnson there, we were listening. Just a warning, there is some flash photography. Ok, personable id like to formally welcome to the mac primacy personable id like to formally welcome to the mac primachohnson. Ijust welcome to the mac primachohnson. I just like welcome to the mac primachohnson. Ijust like to welcome to the mac primachohnson. I just like to say that he welcome to the mac primachohnson. Ijust like to say that he is here today as part of the ongoing consolidating of the Peace Agreement reached last week, just a few days ago. All of those participating in these discussions, we will continue Building Momentum and take society forward. 0ver Building Momentum and take society forward. Over to yourself. It is great to be here, and it is a very good day for Northern Ireland and for the people of Northern Ireland. Ive had good discussions already today both with first minister arlene and deputy first minister michelle about their plans also with the executive, about how they see things for the immediate future, and any long term future. I just things for the immediate future, and any long term future. Ijust want to say how grateful i am to all the parties, everybody here in Northern Ireland for the way they have compromised, the way they have worked together to get stormont up and running again. It has shown a willingness to trust each other and to set aside differences that i think its absolutely commendable and wonderful to see. I also want to pay tribute to my friend, the secretary of straight for Northern Ireland, gillian, he seems to vanish. He like the secretary of state. He along with many others work very hard for this moment. Now is the chance for the government executive assembly of Northern Ireland to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland, and to deliver on the priorities of the people. That is, above all, improving Peoples Health care, making sure we have fantastic schools and making sure that our streets are safe. I was able to tell the executive a little bit about our priorities as a uk, is a United Kingdom government, investing record sums, as you know, and health, putting huge amounts into education and Crime Fighting as well. Of course, there is a certain amount of, as you can imagine, a certain amount of conversation about funding and whether we were going to be supported. 0f funding and whether we were going to be supported. Of course were going to be supportive, but the point i wa nt to be supportive, but the point i want to make is that it is notjust about money, is about leadership and what is so great about today is, as i say, that Northern Ireland politicians have put aside their differences, stepped up to the plate and showing leadership. And that is and showing leadership. And that is a fine thing, and the right thing. And they will be able now to develop what is a very, very promising set of circumstances for Northern Ireland and for its people. This is the whole region of the United Kingdom that attracts the most inward investment, the most tech investment, huge growth in the tech sector here in Northern Ireland. Unemployment at record lows, it is a place of fantastic potential. I want to make it absolutely clear that we in in the uk government will now work with this revived government in Northern Ireland to ensure that we deliver on that potential, through better infrastructure, and i heard some wonderful schemes discussed today, better education and, of course, technology. And using those three things to bring our whole United Kingdom together. So that all four nations of the uk, above all, Northern Ireland benefit from the prosperity and growth with intent to deliver. It is a good moment, im very pleased to see the progress that has been made, a great moment. Never mind the hand of history on shoulder, i see the hand of history. No, isee shoulder, i see the hand of history. No, i see the hand of the future i see the hand of the future beckingham is all forward and i hope with goodwill and compromise and ha rd with goodwill and compromise and hard work on all sides, it will be a very Bright Future indeed. Beckoning us all forward. Ive got a list of questions, mark davenport, bbc Northern Ireland. Indiscernible. It is pretty big when it comes to the pledges from the uk government, so can the pledges from the uk government, so can i ask you, are you prepared to provide the estimated £2 billion which will be required to allow the Northern Ireland executive to meet these various commitments and to what extent do you want the politicians here to do their bit by raising revenue locally through rates or water charges . Well, mark, asi rates or water charges . Well, mark, as i was saying just now, we are in the uk government making huge commitments, which will be passed through obviously by the consequential is to Northern Ireland in health care. Ive heard the arguments made to me this morning, everybody made roughly the same point that youve made to me just now. We are listening very carefully and we will certainly do everything we can to support, but it is about leadership, it is about getting the Public Services that are needed, particularly in health care, because we all know what has been happening, it hasnt been very easy over the past few years for the people of Northern Ireland, but it is a moment of hope. They now have politicians who are going to make himself accountable for the improvements that people want to see. The mac. The secretary of state has played an integral role, as is featured here are secretary of state assured . And for that matter, is the future of the Northern Ireland office assured . All i can say is that i share completely your assessment of what gillian has done, he has done a greatjob and gillian has done, he has done a great job and he gillian has done, he has done a greatjob and he certainly has a Bright Future, as i think the two thanks to everybody who played part in restoring stormont. I think there was a moment before christmas where we we re really was a moment before christmas where we were really worried whether it would happen. So fair play to everybody. Prime minister, when this place fell, it was over the cash for our scandal and it has since been revealed that pa rt our scandal and it has since been revealed that part of that scandal involved a culture in this place among some politicians and some Civil Servants that they viewed the treasury as free money for Northern Ireland, they did not treat it with respect. What are you doing to protect the money that you are voters who put you on to power are sending to this place and, secondly, you have given a commitment to the parties here and the people of Northern Ireland that they will be no new checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the uk after brexit, and yet your own government Impact Assessment says that is not correct. It says that it will import declarations and entry summary declarations, because the uk will be applying the eus ecc in Northern Ireland, so which is a . Happy changing that . And if not, how would you be able to guarantee that . First of all, on your point about the rhi, the cash for ash issue and public spending, it is vital. Its there in the new decade, new approach agreement, it is vital that public spending in Northern Ireland is properly individuated and there are no repetitions of that kind of thing. And that there is provision for proper responsibility for the use of public funds in the new agreement. 0n use of public funds in the new agreement. On your second point, which is one that people are busily raise an awful lot, be in no doubt, we are the United Kingdom, i cannot see any circumstances whatever in which they would be any need for checks on goods going from Northern Ireland to gb, the only circumstances in which you can imagine the need for checks coming from gb to ni, as of expelled before, as if those goods were going on into ireland, and we had not secured, which i hope and im confident we will, a zero tariff, zero quota agreement with our friends and partners in the eu. And furthermore i would remind you that the arrangements we have put in place under the Northern Ireland protocol automatically evaporate after four years unless the assembly of Northern Ireland, the government, decide they want to protract them. So there are there are plenty like there are plenty of protections for Northern Ireland. Indiscernible. A publicity song . A bit harsh i think from the belfast telegraph. A publicity stunt. I am very happy to be here because i think it is very important for us in the uk government to show how strongly we not only approve and appreciate the responsibilities that have been taken responsibilities that have been ta ken by politicians responsibilities that have been taken by politicians here in Northern Ireland, the leadership that has been shown on all sides here in Northern Ireland. It is also an opportunity for us to underscore how strongly we will support leaders here in Northern Ireland. And how much work we will do to under ten the United Kingdom, and to support our United Kingdom. Indiscernible. I think ithinkl i think i got your question, let me be clear that i think the parties here who have revived stormont have done a very good job of finding a balance between giving people who are in search of the truth the confidence they need, but also in giving people who have served our country in the Armed Services the confidence and certainty that they need. And we will certainly be Going Forward as a uk government with our manifesto commitment that you will recollect, to ensure that there are no furtherunfair recollect, to ensure that there are no further unfair prosecutions for people who serve the country when there is no new evidence to be brought forward. I think that is the right balance to be struck. Thank you all very much indeed for your patience, and i think i will be seeing you all later on. Thank you very much. Princes william and harry publicly denounce as offensive a newspaper report about their relationship. In a joint statement, they deny reports that a rift between them contributed to the bid by harry and meghan for greater independence. It comes as the queen prepares to hold emergency talks with senior royals about the sussexes future roles. Well bring you all the latest developments from our royal correspondent in sandringham. Also this lunchtime Boris Johnson visits stormont to meet members of the new devolved assembly, after power sharing is restored following a three year suspension. The philippines braces itself for a possible hazardous eru ption as volcano taal spews lava and ash. The Airline Flybe is reported to be in talks for emergency funding to prevent its collapse