Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with Charlie Stayt and sally nugent. Our headlines today the Royal Australian navy is evacuating around 1,000 people from a ring of fire on the victorian coast, with more extreme fire conditions forecast for the weekend. Us forces kill the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force with an airstrike in iraq. Who was to blame for the blackout . Millions of homes were left without power, and chaos was caused on the trains in the summer. The Energy Regulator will deliver its verdict on what went wrong and whether it should have been stopped. First illness, now injury hits the england cricket camp. Rory burns is out of the test series in south africa, after he was injured playing football in training. After the tv star, ricki lake posted a picture of herself with a shaved head talking about the quiet hell of hair loss. Well look at the impact it can have on womens confidence. And it is a wet but mild start for many in england and wales this morning. Bear with it, there is something sunnier but also colder on the way. I have details coming up right here on breakfast. Its friday, the 3rd ofjanuary. Our top story. The Royal Australian navy has begun evacuating hundreds of people from a town in victoria where they have been stranded on the beach because of wildfires. Thousands of people are also fleeing New South Wales, where a state of emergency came into force last night. More than 125 fires continue to burn there, and more are expected on saturday, as phil mercer reports. Help has finally arrived in the beleaguered town of al 0kuda. Malacoota. About 1000 people have boarded two navy ships into seaside community, which has been cut off since fires tore through the area on New Years Eve. 0thers since fires tore through the area on New Years Eve. Others have been flown out by military helicopters. But those who remain have been told that could be two weeks before the roads reopen. Across the border, the mass exit is from southern parts of New South Wales is continuing. Residents and tourists have been urged to get out while they can, ahead of extreme fire conditions forecast for saturday. Thousands are on the move, but not everybody is leaving. Some homeowners are determined to stay to defend their properties in a region that has already seen widespread devastation. More than 125 fires continue to burn in New South Wales. Since september,
the blazers have killed 19 people. The Authorities Say about 28 others are unaccounted for in the state of victoria. This is a nationwide crisis. Fires are also burning in western australia, South Australia and tasmania. And there is no end in sight. The blazers have been so big and have arranged with such intensity about the smoke haze has drifted across the tasman sea to new zealand. Philjoins us now from nowra in New South Wales. Phil, whats the latest there . Well, to the south and west of where we are in nowra, this is a regional city about 120 miles to the south of sydney, there is a major bushfire burning, and the authorities fear those extreme conditions forecast
for tomorrow could make fires like this more intense, and that is why there has been this widespread evacuation order. Vast areas of southern New South Wales are being evacuated. We have spent some time today on the main highway, the princes highway between the south coast and cities like sydney to the north, and for quite some time it has been bumper to bumper. But in the last couple of hours the highway has become quite quiet, so it seems those people who are leaving have decided to do so by today. The Authorities Say it is simply not safe for residents and holidaymakers to stay in that part of New South Wales. You might be able to see around me some of the devastation that these fires have caused. The trees are blackened, the earth is that horrible ghostly grey colour, and through the trees you will be able to see one of the buildings that has been destroyed. This is as
close as we are allowed to be in the fire zone. So this is one of 125 fires burning in the state of New South Wales and as we say, conditions in the next 2a hours are expected to be brutal. The last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years, according to analysis by the met office. In the last year alone, temperatures hit new highs for the months of february, july, and provisionally december, since the organisation began keeping records in 1910. The met office say rising temperatures could be linked to Climate Change. A top iranian general has been killed in an american airstrike, directly ordered by President Trump. General Qasem Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force. John donnison has this report. This is all that was left of a convoy of cars carrying irans most senior military commander. His killing by the United States will shake the middle east to its core. Qasem soleimani was head
of the elite quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary guard and is a hugely influentialfigure in the region. In a statement, the pentagon said the immediate aftermath of the attack, which happens near Baghdad International airport, was filmed by passers by. Several other people with military ties to iran were also killed. It comes in a week where simmering tensions between iran and the United States has boiled over. The American Embassy in baghdad has been under siege as pro iranians militiamen and demonstrators tried to breach its walls, angry at United Statess airstrikes in the region. And yesterday, the United States defence secretary hinted america may take further action against iran. All eyes will be on irans response in a region already riven it with conflict, some will fear this could mean another war in the middle east. Were joined now by our chief intenational correspondent lyse doucet, who is in kabul. Give us a sense, if you could, of the significance of this killing . M you want to think of this in british terms, it would be the equivalent of having the head of m16, the chief of the armed forces and downing streets Top National Security adviser killed at once. That was customs of the money. His official job was to had irans elite could force, the external wing of irans revolutionary guard corps. Force, the external wing of irans revolutionary guard corps. Quds force. He was basically responsible for the revolutionary guards activities outside of iran, which made him the mastermind of irans ambitions across the middle east. He has been the principal architect of all the complex iran was involved m, all the complex iran was involved in, from the war in syria, the war in iraq, he campaigned against Islamic State and many conflicts beyond. And inside iran he was regarded as the most powerful personality just below irans supreme personality just below irans Supreme Leader. From iran this morning we are hearing from the supreme morning we are hearing from the Supreme Leader of iran, ayatollah camino, but they will be severe retaliation. The defence minister has about to enact a crushing response. A man will appear in court today charged with the murder of two people found stabbed to death in a house in derbyshire on new years day. Helen hancock, and Martin Griffiths were found dead at a property in the village of duffield. Rhys hancock, whos 39, is accused of their murders. Derbyshire police has referred itself to the Police Watchdog over its previous contact
with mrs hancock. Football fans at fa cup games this weekend will be shown a video before kick off, narrated by the duke of cambridge, encouraging them to look after their Mental Health. The short film also features some of footballs biggest names. Prince william has joined forces with the sports governing bodies and Public Health england to get men talking about their Mental Health. Really interesting, the first time ever, looking ahead to the weekend, you can see the kickoffs are not three oclock, they are 3. 01, to give everybody time to see them. Holly is here with sport. It is a great initiative. Fantastic to see them doing Something Like that. But were not talking about Mental Health, im afraid, in the sport today. It is more physical health, really. We know englands cricketers have had a bit of trouble with flulike symptoms over christmas. Ben stokes has called it the cursed her
in south africa. Now rory burns is injured, but he hasnt injured himself playing cricket. No, he injured himself playing football. You couldnt make this up. The problems keep mounting for the England Cricket Team in south africa. 0pener rory burns, who can be seen here in the yellow bib, is heading home after injuring his ankle while playing football in training. There are also doubts over fast bowlerjofra archer. The second test gets underway this morning in cape town. Liverpools march towards a First League Title for 30 years continues. Goals from mo salah and sadio mane saw off Sheffield United at anfield last night. Theyve now gone a year unbeaten in the premier league. Wayne rooney returned to english football last night, ca ptaining derby county on his debut, as they beat barnsley 2 1 in the championship. Englands record goalscorer couldnt find the net, but he did set up the opening goal. And nick kyrgios will donate a £100 to the Bushfire Relief Fund
for every ace he hits this month. Hes also called on Tennis Australia to do more with fundraising. Brilliant to see him speaking out like that. When i first looked at it i thought, £100 for every ace, it doesnt seem like that much. But he was the highest scorer, in terms of aces, last year at the australian 0pen. So about £1600 a match, but will add up. It is a gesture, as well. Who knows, others may follow. And Tennis Australia are talking about doing perhaps an exhibition match, and they said, watch this space. Heres matt with a look at this mornings weather. I think he might be on the beach. I wish. Well, iwish. Well, maybe i wish. Well, maybe not this morning. Good morning. A bit more sunshine developing across the country today compared to the last few days. We start with some rain across southern areas, but also a big contrasting temperatures from
north to south. This is what it looks like outside the moment. We also have temperatures around 3 four across parts of scotland. Around 10 11 celsius across central and southern parts of england and wales. A mild start here. Watch what happens to those temperatures through the day as you go into the afternoon. Lifting up a little bit in the likes of glasgow and belfast, but swansea and cardiff and much of the south, it is going to be a day which turns colder and colder. That is because cold air is pushing in. These blue colours are on the Northern Edge of this area of High Pressure behind these weather fronts, and if you are about to head out, you will need a rain jacket across parts of england and wales, because it is pretty down stuff. Rain heaviest across the south midlands, pushing into east anglia under southeast at the moment. Turning showery across Northern England and wales. Things turning drier, skies starting to clear out stop some sunshine developing here during the first few hours of the morning stop when showers across scotland. A fuel ratio was in Northern Ireland. They will come and go through the day. Lots of places will stay dry here with some sunny
spells and the sunshine were wintry by the end of the morning across much of england and wales. Pretty blowy outside today with some gusty winds. The strongest of those denoted by the black winter is further north. Could see winds touching 60 or 70 miles an hour later today across parts of 0rkney and shetland. That will actually make you feel even colder, with temperatures of than the temperatures of than the temperatures of than the temperatures of three or four celsius would suggest. Turning chillierfurther celsius would suggest. Turning chillier further south through the day, only 6 8d, compared to the ten or 11 somehow at the moment. A chilly evening and overnight. This weekend, High Pressure dominance to the south. A fewer different skirting by across the northern half of the country. It will stay fairly breezy, so expect outbreaks of rain across parts of northern and western scotland. The high not Strong Enough yet to stop some showers across the west on saturday. There may be if few wetter moments outwards western areas. The best of the drier and brighter weather on saturday the further east you are. Mild hour
starting to push back in as we go through this weekend and a mild enough start to sunday. Still with some rain at times in the far north and west of scotland. Actually, much of england and wales and the east of scotla nd of england and wales and the east of scotland it will be a dry day was sunny spells on sunday and a pleasa nt sunny spells on sunday and a pleasant day to look forward to a temperatures more widely back into double figures. Then as we go into next week, quick heads up about. We will see a strengthening jet stream overhead in the north atlantic. Thats going to fire up ever deepening areas of low pressure to the north west of us. It will bring in strong winds across the country. Next week you can expect gales if not severe gales across the far north. They will be weather fronts pushing through, bringing rain at times. Brighter and drier the further east you are, but compared to today it will be much milder as well. You started on the beach and i think thatis you started on the beach and i think that is a bit of rain in the background with some giant, grey clouds. A bit of a wet feeling sums it upfor clouds. A bit of a wet feeling sums it up for the next few days, i
think. Lets take a look at todays papers. The times splashes with an appeal from borisjohnsons chief adviser for weirdos and misfits to go and work in 10 downing street, but potential recruits are warned that if they dont fit in, they could be binned within weeks. The main image is from the wildfires in the australian state of victoria. The i picks up on our interview with transport secretary grant shapps on yesterdays programme. Northern rail is set to be stripped of its franchise because of poor performance. The sun leads with a plea by a british woman convicted in cyprus of lying about being raped by 12 israeli men. Under a headline help me, boris, it says she has appealed to the Prime Minister to help her return home. And online, australias Daily Telegraph reports what it says is an exodus from hell, as towns are evacuated and thousands flee their homes. That is a story we are covering through the morning on the programme. We will have a look of the inside pages with me and holly but nina, where are you going to start . Front page of the business section in the financial times, carlos ghosn, the former nissan boss, whojumped bail injapan and former nissan boss, whojumped bail in japan and arrived former nissan boss, whojumped bail injapan and arrived in lebanon, there he is having dinner with his wife on New Years Eve, he has denied his family are involved but interpol are involved, they want him, the International Police force. The big consumer story inside the papers. Is anyone doing veganuary . 300,000 are i am doing a meat free january, a step towards it, the new vegan steak bake was the sell out across the country, and this is the queuein across the country, and this is the queue in durham, where greggs was founded, a super fan queue in durham, where greggs was founded, a superfan has a stake ta ke founded, a superfan has a stake take tattooed on his car, this is him comparing the two. Lots of people who eat meat, flex at areas
are having more Meat Products to va ry are having more Meat Products to vary their diet. A steak bake is vegetables . I understand why people wa nt vegetables . I understand why people want the alternative, that is fine, but why queue for it . Good point, sally. Ended sell out. But why queue for it . Good point, sally. Ended sellout. There is the answer it did sellout. Now kfc have got vegan burgers. It is good to have a choice. Burger king have two different options. The back pages, rory burns and liverpool are dominating, but i want to draw your attention to this in the times, talking about the wildfires in australia. It is affecting many people but its notjust the england cricketers out there, we have the inaugural atp cup getting today and Great Britain are there. A great photo of tim henman and the rest of the crew. Tim henman has been
playing down concerns because he says they will have to look out for the welfare of the players, the same as the england cricketers, monitoring the smoke levels and the players have said they can smell the fire and the smoke while training. It is fine, they say, and it will go ahead as scheduled. Something you wouldnt think they would have to think about, trying to play sport in that atmosphere and environment. Think about, trying to play sport in that atmosphere and environmentm would be so strange to try to carry on as normal with all the pain and devastation. The atp cup is a new tennis tournament . Thats right, they are very excited, they want people to be talking about it and not focusing on the smoke. They did fantastic pr in the last few weeks with everyone cuddling koalas in australia but now they are dealing with a really serious situation. On a sporting theme, we are looking at this today, a new campaign the duke of cambridge is fronting, a short film that will run ahead of the fa cup matches this weekend to do with
Mental Health and this is some of the people involved. They have basically asked footballers essentially how they fight anxiety or stress, and some of them are fairly obvious. Harry maguire plays golf. Quite a few people talking about yoga as well. Frank lampard saying he has admitted over many yea rs saying he has admitted over many years he has bottled up a lot of emotions. Joe cole, former teammate, says yoga is his thing, centring himself to get back in the zone. Lots of big football clubs will have a yoga teacher that will go in and do specific classes with footballers, all about hamstrings and trying to protect them, but also trying to reduce stress levels which, you know, you sometimes think about footballers, they have such wonderful lives but the pressure they can be under is amazing. The wider messages to fans as well and men particularly about Mental Health, and the ongoing problem of
them not taking their Mental Health seriously message is. Them not taking their Mental Health seriously message is. A speed skater is coming off social media because of her Mental Health. Another aspect, thinking about footballers, they have these perfect lives they have to deal with the pressure of the job and the stress of social media and the criticism. It all adds up. We will talk about that later, how to handle the stress of the pressure in public life. That later, how to handle the stress of the pressure in public lifem is 6 20am. The wildfires in australia have caused upheaval and devastation that has been called unprecedented, and conditions are expected to get worse again this weekend. Temperatures are forecast to rise again with warnings of extreme fire conditions, as authorities attempt to get thousands of people in victoria and New South Wales to safety. Lets see how this has been covered in australia. We begin with one of the largest peacetime evacuations in australias history, thats what were seeing at
the moment. A navy ship is evacuating hundreds of people to safety in eastern victory. Is the largest evacuation the state has ever seen. Tourists and residents given 48 hours to get out of towns across the south coast ahead of what authorities fear could be one of our worst firefights yet. Last night authorities declared a state of disaster across much of victorias east and that will give police and firefighters the power to forcibly evacuate people ahead of worse conditions this weekend. It stretches over 12,000 square kilometres. For those left behind, a humanitarian problem is growing. Power is some out in some areas and in towns where cash is everything, it is hard to get. There are queues for basic essentials like food and supplies are dwindling. We can speak now to abc reporterjade macmillan, who is in narooma in New South Wales. Jade, very good morning to you. Tell usa jade, very good morning to you. Tell us a bit about the place you are in,
narooma, because that is right in the line of possibly the worst that is coming this weekend . Thats right. Narooma is relatively calm at the moment but you might be able to see behind me the reason why people are camped on the grass right in front of the water, because this is where they feel safest. We have seen right up and down the south coast of New South Wales during those horrific New Years Eve fires that many people faced no choice but to run to the beach for safety as the fire started impacting their towns. Narooma escaped any damage during those fires but the concern now is those fires but the concern now is those fires but the concern now is those fires are still active, and with worsening conditions tomorrow, authorities expect it could be pushed. That fire is burning to the west, it could be pushed towards the west, it could be pushed towards the coast and places like narooma could be in the firing line. We have
seen thousands of tourists evacuating from this part of New South Wales. You would have seen those extraordinary scenes of people in traffic jams those extraordinary scenes of people in trafficjams in tiny country towns lining up for petrol. Weve seen lines out the door at local supermarkets. Traffic is slowly crawling along some of the roads in and out of this region, as tourists desperately try and get out. What we got here now is mostly locals and also People Living in smaller towns nearby. They dont feel safe where they are, they would prefer to be on they are, they would prefer to be on the water and in larger towns, so they are the people camped out here tonight. Jade, weve seen some very terrifying images from some of the fires that have already taken place. Whats your experience of how people are coping and how they are reacting . People are devastated. Ive spoken to so many locals right throughout this region who have lived here their entire lives. They
say they have never experienced anything like this. They have dealt with big bush fires for but in those circumstances, the resources were there. They were put out relatively quickly. Those communities were able to rebuild. In this case, these fires have been burning for such a long time. Weve seen fires joining up long time. Weve seen fires joining up with one another, embers creating spot fires that have then gone on to destroy houses. Weve seen a horrifying death toll, now 16 people have died in New South Wales this bushfire season. Weve lost three volunteer firefighters. All of that taking such an enormous toll on those communities on top of everything in terms of property damage. People are losing everything but they have also lost their neighbours, theirfriends, but they have also lost their neighbours, their friends, their family. Fire authorities have said a short time ago that in terms of the situation tomorrow, it is highly
likely that more homes will be destroyed. Their real focus likely that more homes will be destroyed. Their realfocus is likely that more homes will be destroyed. Their real focus is on protecting peoples lives and they will consider tomorrows efforts a success if no one else dies. Jade, you mentioned at the beginning, we can see to the left of the shot as we look at you, a number of tents on the beach. People are planning if the worst happens they will go into the sea, is it as simple as that, for safety . Exactly right. This is an inlet. This is a small coastal community. People have deliberately set up here. Theres also an Evacuation Centre a bit further into town, people are also camped there. Some have made the choice that they feel safest right on the water. There is a lot of bushland nearby but they have made that strategic decision that if the worst case situation unfolds, they will be most comfortable if they get into that water right there. Further north in maropya today, a town not
on the coast, there is a river and people we spoke to said that part of their plan is if they had no choice they would come to the river and they would come to the river and they would come to the river and they would be prepared tojump in. People are preparing for those worst case scenarios. They have seen what has happened in other towns and they say they are not going to take any chances. Jade, thank you very much. Jade mcmillan, reporterforthe jade, thank you very much. Jade mcmillan, reporter for the abc in australia reporting from narooma. You can see the preparations and many saying the worst conditions will start tomorrow at the weekend. Time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. Good morning from bbc london, im geeta pendse. A man has been charged with attempted murder after a woman was stabbed in front of her child in south london. The 36 year old mother was repeatedly stabbed from behind in downton avenue in Streatham Hill on monday. She was treated at hospital. Her injuries are not life threatening. A 43 year old man was charged after handing himself in at a west London Police station. Plans to revamp 0xford street are a step closer with the appointment of design and construction contractors. The proposed £235 million plan would see improvements to ease congestion and increase capacity ahead of the opening of crossrail, as well as more green spaces and new cycle lanes. The centrepiece of the plans are two new piazzas. A number of London Councils are to benefit from nearly £1 million in funding to help crack down on criminal landlords. The cash is coming from the government and will be used to tackle inadequate and unsafe housing in the rental sector. The funding from the ministry of housing will help councils take enforcement action against landlords who use illegal practices. And its that time of year again
when london zoo does its stock take. It takes nearly a week, and included in the audit so far are 91 penguins, four asiatic lions and 40 giant african land snails. The stock take is an annual occurrence and required by london zoo for its licence. The data is then shared worldwide to help conservation breeding programmes for endangered animals. Lets take a look at the travel situation now. There are severe delays on the 0verground between Liverpool Street and enfield town. Theres also severe delays on Tfl Rail Services between Liverpool Street and shenfield. The District Line is part suspended, im afraid. 0n the roads, in the city the Norton Folgate and bishops gate are closed southbound for roadworks. And on southern trains, buses continue to replace services between redhill and tonbridge. Now the weather with elizabeth ritzinni. Hello, good morning. A very mild night and we saw heavy down per se
did earlier this morning, so quite wet underfoot to start the day and a bit of wet weather around for a time this morning but into the afternoon, it will cheer up and there will be bright spells and spells of sunshine developing and it will also feel a bit cooler too. A very mild start to the morning with temperatures in double figures and outbreaks of light, patchy rain and drizzle and low cloud, all clearing south east into the late morning and afternoon and they should be enough time for some trying to emerge everywhere before the sun sets just after 4pm. Temperatures unusually set to drop off the afternoon, so we end the day ona off the afternoon, so we end the day on a much chillier note and a cold night tonight too underneath largely clear skies and in the colder air. Temperatures set to drop below freezing in rural spots, a touch of frost tomorrow morning. A cold start to the weekend but it should stay dry. It should file bit cooler, plenty of sunshine around as well, particularly on saturday. Im back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. Bye for now. Hello, this is breakfast with Charlie Stayt and sally nugent. Its 06 30. Well bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning, in his first interview since leaving the labour party, well talk to former deputy leader tom watson, about how he thinks his party moves forward and what hes got planned for the future. Us chat show host ricki lake described living with hair loss as a quiet hell. Well find out how the condition affects nearly half of all women. And well be at the rspca centre that has taken in this staffy cross after his owner was forced to give him up. All that still to come. But now a summary of this mornings main news. The Australian Navy has begun evacuating hundreds of people from the town in victoria where they have
been stranded on the beach because of wildfires. Thousands of people are also fleeing New South Wales, where state of emergency came into last night. More than 125 fires continue to burn there, and more are expected tomorrow, as phil mercer reports. Last decade was the second hottest in the last 100 years according to an analysis by the met office. In the last year alone, temperatures hit new highs in the months of february, july, and provisionally december, since the organisation began keeping records in 1910. The met office as the rising temperatures could be linked to Climate Change. A Senior Iranian commander has been killed in an us airstrike in baghdad. General Qasem Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force. Reacting to the death, the countries Supreme Leader said severe revenge awaits the criminals behind the attack. Lets speak now to iran expert, benham ben taleblue. Thank you very much indeed for speaking to us this morning. Firstly, just explained to us how significant a person this general was . Good to be with you. Major general Qasem Soleimani, as you mentioned, was the commander of arounds elite extraterritorial special operations unit, the quds force. The revolutionary guard, under which the quds force is housed,is under which the quds force is housed, is to run mys ideological military. So there is the National Military. So there is the National Military committee ideological parallel military, and the quds force is the tip of the revolutionary spear, you could say. It engages in proxy warfare, its trains and equips terrorists, and Qasem Soleimani was at the helm of that organisation. For the past two decades, you could say, he has been at the helm of irans Foreign Security policy in the middle east. So he may be a of people watching a programme at home may not be
familiar with, but in terms of how significant he is, where would you rank this incident now . |j significant he is, where would you rank this incident now . I would say this is one of the most important incidents in the middle east since the United States and coalition and nato military responses in afghanistan, as well as the iraqi war that followed afterwards. So definitely one of the most important security events of the past two or three decades. His death means iran might lash out. Iran has promised retaliation, though how happen remains to be seen. But he was such a pivotal person who had so much allied, american and British Coalition cloud on his hands, as well as helping iran project power into these conflict zones, places like syria, faces like iraqi, irans strategy is really down to this individual. The pentagon has confirmed he was killed, i am quoting here, at the direction of the president. This has come directly from donald trump. What led him to make this decision, to do this now . The us has reported this
was a defensive strike, saying that Qasem Soleimani was planning further attacks and was tired of course to the recent protests which got quite violent outside the compound of the us embassy in baghdad recently. Qasem soleimani actually had a United Nations travel ban against him pursuant to the nuclear deal. That travel ban was in place until 0ctober that travel ban was in place until october 2020, but soleimani habitually violated that bound. The fa ct habitually violated that bound. The fact that he died while violating that band is actually quite ironic. I know you said it is impossible now to predict what the reaction might be, in what form the retaliation may take, but this is certainly a huge escalation, isnt it, really . Take, but this is certainly a huge escalation, isnt it, really . It is, and it comes amid a large escalation. Your viewers may know that as of may 2019 iran changed its posture in the region and began to
do more flagrant things, more violent things, and began to not worry about exposing its hand anymore. It stepped up its support for terrorist groups, and supported rocket and mortar attacks on diplomatic and coalition facilities. It mined parts of the persian gulf, it shot down an unarmed us drone, and ultimately it fired cruise missiles at the worlds most Important Oil facility. And this escalation is the predicate for what might come in 2020, as iran seeks to respond to the death of Qasem Soleimani stop what might be the wider consequences for the rest of the world . Well, there are different consequences for different actions, but for all countries who do have forces in iraq currently, they will be on high alert across the middle east, countries that are partnered with the us, iran may try to divide
america from its regional partners. It has done that between america and its transatlantic partners with the nuclear deal, which washington left last year. It may respond militarily against israel or americas other partners in the region, such as the gulf states. Really, if there is cause for concern in the middle east, those are the areas where iran could inflame tensions. Yemen, iraq, syria, lebanon, israel. Anywhere where there is a conflict, iran will seek to develop it. It is 6 36am. What is going on with cricket . Not much for rory burns, thats for sure. The problem is, he has injured himself, not playing cricket. He was playing football, while they were doing a bit of training, a bit of warmup and fun before the test starts. So it was part of a warmup routine . It was sanctioned . wouldnt call it a routine. It is a
way the guys. Yeah, they do it in training. A bit of camaraderie. They have been doing it for quite some time. We have seen this before. This isnt the first time we have seen a cricketer injure himself playing football. We saw cricketer injure himself playing football. We sanohnny barstow a couple of years ago do the same thing. We saw couple of years ago do the same thing. We sanoe danley in 2009. And after that one, actually, for all was bound for a short period of time. We are starting to think that maybe england cricketers should do the same thing this time around, wrap them up in cotton wool. What did ben stokes say . The cursed term. It is starting to look that way. Its another blow for england, with the second test in cape town starting in a couple of hours. Theyll be without opening batsman rory burns, here in the yellow bib, for the rest of the tour. He was injured playing football in training. He damaged ankle ligaments and hes heading back to the uk for treatment. He was englands top scorer in the first test that they lost last week. Fast bowlerjofra archer took six wickets in that match and hes almost certain to be missing today as well. He has an elbow problem and hasnt
been able to bowl in the nets for the past two days. Liverpool are another step closer to the premier league title, after a routine 2 0 win against Sheffield United at anfield. Their lead at the top of the table is back to 13 points and theyve gone a year without being beaten in the league. Nick parrott reports. It isa it is a time to savour for liverpool and their fans. Jurgen klopps site have not lost for a year in the premier league. Sheffield united the latest tea m premier league. Sheffield united the latest team to fail to make a mark at the fortress that is unfilled. They arrived with a second best defensive record in the division, but it took just around half for them to succumb to mo salah. The blades had a couple of chances, but alison bakr blunted them. Dean henderson had to be at his best to stop liverpool from running away with things. They could and should have had more, but it didnt matter
that they missed. Liverpool were totally in control. It was only a question of when they would get another. Sadi 0mani showing the dogged determination that has been the hallmark of their incredible season. the hallmark of their incredible season. Sadio mane. the hallmark of their incredible season. Sadio mane. I am really proud of the boys, i have said it plenty of times and i cannot say it often enough. We should not take things like this for granted. We shouldnt, it is not allowed to happen, because it is so difficult. And to control Sheffield United like we did tonight is exceptional. Liverpool now have a 13 point lead and three decades after their last league title, this is finally looking like they year. Wayne rooney made his return to english football last night in the championship, and he was captain on his debut for derby county against barnsley. Englands record goalscorer couldnt find the net himself, but he did set upjack marriott to give derby the lead just before half time. Rooney played the full 90 minutes as derby went on to win 2 1. Nick kyrgios will donate £100 to the Bushfire Relief Fund for every ace he hits this month. Fellow australian players are also making similar gestures, whilst kyrgios has also called on Tennis Australia to do more to help with the fundraising effort. Former World Champion speed skater, elise christie, says shes taking a break from social media to improve her Mental Health. She won short track world titles back in 2017, but she was crushed when she failed to take a medal at the Winter Olympics a year later. Christie has since spoken about her depression and admitted shed self harmed. She has been very brave to talk about this. It is something that a lot of sports stars, a lot of celebrities in general, struggle with. This presence that they have on social media. And they do receive a lot of abuse, it is difficult for them. Mental health, that is something were talking about here today and i think something we will be talking about with the fa this weekend as well. Fa cup. Prince william has once again joined up with some of footballs famous faces to encourage people to talk openly about their Mental Health. All third round fa cup matches this weekend will start one minute late as fans are shown a film about the issue, narrated by the duke of cambridge. Katy austin has more. In life, as in football, we all go through highs and lows. More can football the Kevin Ellison knows exactly what that is like. couldnt describe couldnt control it. It is a dark heart, i would be happy and bubbly and then all of a sudden, literally, it was a dark cloud coming over me. I would bea dark cloud coming over me. I would be a totally different person. I could feel it coming over me but i had no control over it whatsoever. We all sometimes feel anxious. He has given his backing to a new film which also features england stars and is narrated by the duke of cambridge. Its focus, keeping your mind healthy. But we can all start to change things. Over the next few
days, 32 fa cup third round matches will be played at grounds across the country. All of them will start one minutes late, while the film is shown, chance for of fans to pause to think about their own well being. Men are less likely than women to ta ke men are less likely than women to take action to do something about it. Whether that is through stress or feeling low or difficulty sleeping. So the film asks football fa ns to ta ke sleeping. So the film asks football fans to take a minute to learn about what they can do to improve their Mental Health. Every mind matters, and heads up will show you the simple steps you can take to look after your Mental Health. That includes downloading a mined plan which can give guidance on coping with common issues such as feeling anxious or sleeping badly. Prince william is president of the fa and ending the stigma around Mental Health struggles is a goal he has championed. He discussed it with high profile footballers for a special bbc programme in october. Through this campaign he hopes to bring those passions together again and use football to start the largest ever conversation around Mental Health. We can speak now to former footballer marvin sordell, who retired last year after his own struggle with Mental Health. It is great to talk to you this morning. Thank you very much for joining us to talk about this. How pleased are you to see this latest stab, we heard from the duke of cambridge there talking really openly and encouraging people to be more open about any struggles they might have. I think it is extremely important for the country. Mental health is something that is, you know, in men its a very touchy subject and men dont like to talk about it and they see footballers as an industry that is very muscular
and has a lot of testosterone. I think it is very important that it is being discussed in a very open way and on a large scale as well. Just tell me what happened to you . What was your own personal battle . suffered with depression for many, many years, which was triggered in about 2012, and my lows were attempting suicide at that point. And from there i managed to kind of drag myself out of a really dark hole and i am in the place i am in today which is a fantastic place in life. Looking at the life you were living at the time, though, on paper, from the outside, it would have looks like every boys dream. What was the reality like for you . As you say, i was living my dream, and for me, that is one of the things i found so difficult to understand, was that because things we re understand, was that because things were supposedly going so well on paper, i could understand why i was
emotionally struggling. Couldnt. And for me to get that was a very difficult and i felt very alone because i didnt feel like i was capable of being able to speak about my emotions, because i was a Football Player and because i was a man. So you didnt feel like you could confide in your teammates. Do you think actually if you had done, their reaction would have been supportive and positive . Im not too sure at that time. May bei im not too sure at that time. May be i didnt know them so well and they would have been very supportive. Towards the end of my career, i was able to speak quite openly and have that conversation with teammates, with people in football, and it was fine to have that conversation. But earlier, when i first suffered from depression, im not too sure how that conversation would have happened. 0ne
conversation would have happened. One of the biggest things in foot ball one of the biggest things in football is so many people have the same issues that i suffered from but they dont speak about it for fear of the fact harm their careers. You got to the point where you walked away from football, things were so difficult for you. When you look at Young Players now in football clubs, are things different for them . You sense things are changing . Things are changing but very, very slowly. I dont think were quite there. Ijust finished coproducing a miniseries with my company and yahoo, which is kind of touching on the subject of, you know, well being and Mental Health anyway in football, and speaking to some of the players and former players involved. 0ne the players and former players involved. One of the players said that he spoke to his club about his own Mental Health problems and six
months down the line when it came to renewing the contract, they offered him a rolling month to month because they didnt think he was capable of playing in front of a crowd. Something like that, that kind of mentality in football does exist, andl mentality in football does exist, and i think thats the problem that needs to change. Marvin, how are you now . Im fantastic. Im in a great place and having retired from football, it allowed me to really see who i wanted to grow into and i have a lot of freedom and im enjoying everything that im doing ona enjoying everything that im doing on a day to day basis. Enjoying everything that im doing on a daytoday basis. Marvin, brilliant to hear and thank you very much talking to us this morning, marvin sordell. Thanks for having me. Heres matt with a look at this mornings weather. We will talk about the weather today and the next couple of days but also, matt, tell us about some of these figures from the met office. They have been analysing
temperatures for a long period of time but interestingly over the last 20 years particularly. What picture are they painting . Yes, the met 0ffice have produced a report on stretching back to 1910 when they started collating records and it shows each decade we are producing more warmer years and fewer colder yea rs more warmer years and fewer colder years as well. As far as temperature records are concerned, there are more High Temperature records each decade than cold. If you look at over the past ten or 11 warmest years, they have all been since 2000. If we highlight the last decade alone, in the top seven, we have had four of some of the warmest years on record and this year will come in 11th and thats the worrying trend. We will still get bits of variability from one month to the next and one year to the next, we will still get colder spells, but the met office are highlighting the fact we are seeing
what are records rather than colder being broken each year. It all points to the possibility Climate Change is playing more of a role in the uks very own weather, as well as those across the globe, as we have seen in australia recently. Back to today, as i said, we have seen temperatures generally rising but we are still going to get colder spells and today out of what we have seen, one of the colder days for many. Might not feel like that if you are heading out in southern parts. Swansea, london, ten at the moment. Further north, temperatures in single figures and that Colder Weather is going south. By the end of the afternoon, temperatures in the south will drop and further north, rising a bit relative to now but that will be tempered by quite a strong wind. High pressure to the south west. A slice of colder air moving around the top of that behind these weather fronts, and moving around the top of that behind these weatherfronts, and it moving around the top of that behind these weather fronts, and it is these weather fronts, and it is these reducing heavy rain through these reducing heavy rain through the night in england and wales and
still soggy for some. The heaviest rain has been pushing from the south midlands to east anglia, some of that will affect parts of the london area and the south east in the next few hours but the london area, wales and the south west, turning drier with skies clearing and clearer conditions in scotland and Northern Ireland with a few showers and wintry in northern scotland. Sunnier weather will push to all parts through the morning, the exception will be east anglia and kent, with the cloud clearing in the afternoon. Breezy, the sun coming out and the strongest wind will be in scotland with 60, 70 strongest wind will be in scotland with 60,70 mph strongest wind will be in scotland with 60, 70 mph gusts strongest wind will be in scotland with 60,70 mph gusts in strongest wind will be in scotland with 60, 70 mph gusts in scotland and shetland and that would cause disruption and it will be colder than the temperatures suggest. Turning colder through the day in england and wales. Widely 6 8. Into the weekend, High Pressure will be a friend in the south if you want something dry and around the top, we will see weather fronts producing
cloud on saturday in northern mainland scotland and the hebrides with outbreaks of rain. A few showers in western england and wales. The best of the sunshine and dry weather the further east you are, but even the sunshine will be a bit hazy. Temperatures climbing a bit, still cold in shetland but not as windy as today. On sunday, rain returns to shetland with further rain at times around the hebrides, North West Highlands and cloud in the west but further east, dry and sunny weather dominating for the majority. Good sunny spells and feeling milder. Next weekend, with a strong jetstream pushing across the atlantic, we will have potent areas of low pressure to the north of us, bringing spells of rain. The widespread feature for next week, the wind. Gales for many, severe gales in the north. Feeling milder relative to today. Back to you. Mike, thank you very much. The Energy Regulator 0fgem
is expected to deliver its verdict on the massive power cut last summer which left millions of homes without power and caused chaos on the rail network. Nina is here with the details. What are we going to find out today . Cast your minds back to the ninth of august last year. To power stations, one at bathford and one at hornsby, cut out completely and we dont know why just yet. At that point the National Grid backup system kicks in and they cut out 5 of power so the remaining 95 can run at full capacity but that had huge implications across england and wales. 1. 1 million homes were left without power for close to an hour but on top of that, big implications on things like the rail system because some of the signalling cut out, trains from farringdon and kings cross, big stations in london, meant they couldnt leave though there was a huge backlog for up though there was a huge backlog for up to 24 hours. 0n though there was a huge backlog for up to 24 hours. On top of that, traffic lights cut out, very
dangerous, and key departments in Ipswich Hospital lost power and similarat Ipswich Hospital lost power and similar at newcastle airport. Even though it was less than an hour untilfull though it was less than an hour until full capacity kicked in, though it was less than an hour untilfull capacity kicked in, it was serious for millions. 0n the face of it its the kind of thing you think cant happen now, so when it does people want answers. Exactly, and 0fgem are looking at what went on at the two power stations but they will also ask the National Grid how this happened. Why did they have to go back into the reserves . Did they have to go back into the reserves . Was there enough reserve power . Should they be better prepared for small scale power trips like this and what lessons can be learned in expecting the unexpected . In the past, the National Grid have said they hold their hands up and may be different systems should be in place but they were fulfilling their 0fgem regulations, so perhaps they need a structural change to stop this happening again. We expect the sanctions just after 7am. I
imagine the moment that we hear you will tell us. I will be back thank you very much indeed. We will keep you very much indeed. We will keep you up to date with whatever we here in the next ten minutes or so about 0fgem. We are talking about this morning on the programme about Mental Health. The duke of cambridge is doing a new film which will be played ahead of fa cup games across the weekend, one minute in which he and a number of famous faces are addressing the issues a lot of people are facing, especially the problem that young men in particular are not paying attention to their Mental Health. We heard from marvin sordell, the footballer, talking about how difficult it was for him. He had terrible anxiety playing and going into big occasions, so hes been open talking about how he changed his life completely and all part of the campaign, which, as charlie said, we will hear more about on
sunday ahead of the fa cup fixtures with the voice of the duke of cambridge. We have tom watson, the former deputy the labour party coming in later at 8am, you are well aware of one of the stories attached to him, his weight loss following health problems. He has lost an extraordinary amount of weight, around eight stone in total, but of course, the other part of his story is about what he witnessed within the Labour Party Running into the general election and his views now on what might happen in the labour party and, indeed, his thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn and who should take over. He will be with us just after 8am. We will also be hearing from the us roared cast are ricki lake. She has spoken out about women losing their hair, female hair loss. We will talk to a and gail porter about how devastating that can be and what you can do about it agp. We will want to hear from women who have experienced that, im sure many have,in have experienced that, im sure many have, in touch. Matt said the last decade was full of record breaking temperatures and we will find out more about what it could mean for the future. 0ver the future. Over the last 20 years, so many of the hottest years on record have taken place. More on that story from matt and experts later on. Time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. Good morning from bbc london, im geeta pendse. A man has been charged with attempted murder after a woman a donations page has raised over £77,000 for the families of the British Airways staff involved in the fatal New Years Eve crash. The gofundme page was set up after three cabin crew members were killed and another seriously injured when their car collided with a lorryjust outside heathrow airport. Friends
and colleagues paid tribute to dominic fell, rachel clark and Joseph Finnes on the fundraising page. A number of London Councils are to benefit from nearly £1 million in funding to help crack down on criminal landlords. The cash is coming from the government and will be used to tackle inadequate and unsafe housing in the rental sector. The funding from the ministry of housing will help councils take enforcement action against landlords who use illegal practices. Plans to revamp 0xford street are a step closer with the appointment of design and construction contractors. The proposed £235 million plan would see improvements to ease congestion and increase capacity ahead of the opening of crossrail, as well as more green spaces and new cycle lanes. The centrepiece of the plans are two new piazzas. Lets take a look at the travel situation now. And its that time of year again when london zoo does its stock take. It takes nearly a week, and included in the audit so far are 91 penguins, four asiatic lions and 40 giant african land snails. The stock take is an annual occurrence and required by london zoo for its licence. The data is then shared worldwide to help conservation breeding programmes for endangered animals. Lets take a look at the travel situation now. The District Line has severe delays. There are also severe delays on Tfl Rail Services between Liverpool Street and shenfield following track problems. And the 0verground is part suspended between south acton and richmond. South acton. 0n the m25, there are anticlockwise delays from junction 7 tojunction 6 because of an earlier collision. Now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. Hello, good morning. A very mild night and we saw heavy downpours earlier this morning, so quite wet underfoot to start the day and a bit of wet weather around for a time this morning but into the afternoon, it will cheer up and there will be bright spells and spells of sunshine developing and it will also feel a bit cooler too. A very mild start to the morning. Temperatures in double figures. Outbreaks of light, patchy rain and drizzle and low cloud, all clearing south eastwards into the late morning and afternoon, and there should be enough time for some sunshine to emerge everywhere before the sun sets just after 4pm. Temperatures unusually set to drop off for the afternoon, so we end the day on a much chillier note and a cold night tonight too underneath largely clear skies and in that colder air. Temperatures set to drop below freezing in some rural spots, and there will be a touch of frost tomorrow morning. A cold start to the weekend but it should stay dry. It should feel a bit cooler. Plenty of sunshine around, particularly on saturday. That sounds great im back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. Plenty more on our website at the usual address. Bye for now. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast, with Charlie Stayt and sally nugent. 0ur headlines today the Royal Australian navy is evacuating around 1,000 people from a ring of fire on the victorian coast, with more extreme conditions forecast for the weekend. Us forces kill the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force with an airstrike in iraq. The pentagon says general soleimani was developing plans to attack american diplomats in iraq and throughout the region. Who was to blame for the blackout . Millions of homes were left without power, and chaos was caused on the trains in the summer. The Energy Regulator will deliver its verdict on what went wrong and whether it should have been stopped. First illness, now injury hits the england cricket camp. Rory burns is out of the test series in south africa, after he was injured playing football in training. After the tv star ricki lake posted a picture of herself with a shaved head talking about the quiet hell of hair loss, well look at the impact it can have on womens confidence. And it is raining quite heavily for some in england and wales at the moment. A fairly mild start here but a bit of sunshine to add some friday feeling to the forecast. I will have the details here on breakfast. Its friday the 3rd of january. Our top story the Australian Navy has begun evacuating hundreds of people from a town in victoria where they have been stranded on the beach because of wildfires. Thousands of people are also fleeing New South Wales, where a state of emergency came
into force last night. More than 125 fires continue to burn there, and more are expected tomorrow, as phil mercer reports. Help has finally arrived in the beleaguered town of mallacoota. About 1,000 people have boarded two navy ships in the seaside community, which has been cut off since fires tore through the area on New Years Eve. Others have been flown out by military helicopters. But those who remain have been told that it could be two weeks before the roads reopen. Across the border, the mass exodus from southern parts of New South Wales is continuing. Residents and tourists have been urged to get out while they can, ahead of extreme fire conditions forecast for saturday. Thousands are on the move, but not everybody is leaving. Some homeowners are determined to stay to defend their properties in a region that has
already seen widespread devastation. More than 125 fires continue to burn in New South Wales. Since september, the blazes have killed 19 people. The Authorities Say about 28 others are unaccounted for in the state of victoria. This is a nationwide crisis. Fires are also burning in western australia, South Australia and tasmania. And theres no end in sight. The blazes have been so big and have raged with such intensity that the smoke haze has drifted across the tasman sea to new zealand. Philjoins us now from nowra in New South Wales. Phil, whats the latest there . We have just been left through one
of the roadblocks that regards these fire zones. The owner is staying in a house just over the way. On New Years Eve this house was ravaged by fires. You can just see the steel girders there, you can see how hot this fire might have been, because that steel girder has buckled from the sheer intensity of the fires. If you look inside the house there is nothing recognisable that relates to family or household life. All that remains is this twisted and mangled piece of metal roof, which has been left contorted. All around are the signs of the fires that tore through here. If you look down the hill the flames would have raced up here. You can also see how the trees are charred and blackened, and of course the childrens trampoline was no match for the ferocity of these flames. So all around here there is evidence of the devastation that has affect not
just New South Wales but many other parts of australia as well. In australias most popular state it is estimated 1300 homes have been destroyed since the crisis began, and across the country, about 18 people have died. This is a crisis that the authorities fear will intensify with the advent of those hot and windy conditions forecast here in south eastern australia on saturday. I think you said you are speaking to the owner, it stops you in your truck seeing the damage to the house. Do you get a sense, how much notice did they get before they knew they had to get out . much notice did they get before they knew they had to get out . I spoke to the man who owns this house. To us, he seemed to be in shock, quite surprised to see us, because there is literally no one around here apart from the cruise starting the roadblocks. There has been lots of
activity in terms of water bombing aircraft. We have seen lots of fire engines as well, because to the south west of here, there is a large blaze the authorities fear could intensify with those worsening conditions over the next 24 hours. People in this area, many of whom would have wanted to stay and defend their properties, the fires here was so intense that just their properties, the fires here was so intense thatjust wasnt their properties, the fires here was so intense that just wasnt an option. The Recovery Process will possibly take years, so of course this has a traumatic effect on people. The cost to australia of this crisis, clearly there is a financial cost, there is a physical cost, but also there is a great emotional cost as well. The last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years, according to analysis by the met office. In the last year alone, temperatures hit new highs for the months of february, july, and provisionally december, since the organisation began keeping records in 1910. The met office say rising temperatures could be linked to Climate Change. A top iranian general has been killed in an american airstrike, directly ordered by President Trump. General Qasem Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force. John donnison has this report. This is all that was left of a convoy of cars carrying irans most senior military commander. His killing by the United States will shake the middle east to its core. Qasem soleimani was head of the elite quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary guard and is a hugely influentialfigure in the region. In a statement, the pentagon said the immediate aftermath of the attack, which happens near Baghdad International airport, was filmed by passers by. Several other people with military ties to iran were also killed. It comes in a week where simmering tensions between iran and the United States has boiled over. The American Embassy in baghdad has been under siege as pro iranians militiamen and demonstrators tried to breach its walls, angry at United Statess airstrikes in the region. This is one of the most important events in the middle east since the us led invasion of iraqi, and the wa rs us led invasion of iraqi, and the wars that followed. 0ne us led invasion of iraqi, and the wars that followed. One of the most important security events of the past two or three decades. Important security events of the past two or three decadesm important security events of the past two or three decades. It comes ina week past two or three decades. It comes in a week with simmering tensions between iran and the us have boiled over. The American Embassy in baghdad has been under siege, as pro iranians militiamen and demonstrators tried to breach its walls. Angry at us air strikes in the region. And yesterday, the United States defence secretary hinted america may take further action against iran. Last night, more than 650 United States troops arrived in neighbouring kuwait to provide reinforcements. All eyes will be on irans response in a region already riven it with conflict, some will fear this could mean another war in the middle east. Jon donnison, bbc news. A man will appear in court today charged with the murder of two people found stabbed to death in a house in derbyshire on new years day. Helen hancock and Martin Griffiths were found dead at a property in the village of duffield. Rhys hancock, whos 39, is accused of their murders. Derbyshire police has referred itself to the Police Watchdog over its previous contact with mrs hancock. Football fans at fa cup games this weekend will be shown a video before kick off, narrated by the duke of cambridge, encouraging them to look after their Mental Health. The short film also features some of footballs biggest names. Prince william has joined forces with the sports governing bodies and Public Health england to get men talking about their Mental Health. The liberal democrat mp
layla moran has come out as pa nsexual after beginning a relationship with a woman. The mp, who announced the news on social media, said coming out in the context of being a politician had been slightly more difficult than telling her friends and family and criticised parliament as a weird, backwards place for lg btq people. In the last few minutes, the Energy Regulator 0fgem has delivered its verdict on the massive power cut last summer. Ninas here with the details. We were just talking about it, it was last august, that big power cut, 596 was last august, that big power cut, 5 of the National Grids energy had to be cut off to maintain the remaining 95 . 1. 4 Million People left without electricity, Railway Lines going down because of it. In the last few moments, often have announced the sanctions being put in place. 0fgen. Hornsby ltd, one of the companies involved, they will have to pout £1. 5 million. Also
little buffet, the company that wa nts little buffet, the company that wants the power station, they will have to remain pay a similar amount. Uk pn, one of the suppliers of energy, will also have to pay a fine of £1. 5 million, because they reintroduce power before the time they were allowed to do so, which could have endangered the whole system. These are fines . Not specifically. 0fgen says they are volu nta ry specifically. 0fgen says they are voluntary payments they have been asked to pay. It is not a legal requirement, but they have all agreed on their part in it. It has also raised questions on part of the report about how the National Grid coped with it. The executive director, whom we will speak to later, said our investigation has raised important questions about National Grids electricity system operator. 0ur National Grids electricity system operator. Our review will look at the structure and governance of the company. Now, what the National Grid have said in the past is we met all of our regulations. As soon as the biggest power station kicked out, they say they were able to supply energy to the rest, because too
much, coincidently, because of Lightning Strikes, lost power at the same time. They will have to review how they can stop that from happening again in the future. It is a lot of money, £10. 5 million, people will want be wondering where it goes. It will go towards the Energy Saving trust, it is a charity that helps Vulnerable People who perhaps struggle to manage paying their energy bills, it goes into Education Systems for that and also to help people who are struggling with energy. Nina, thank you. The british woman convicted of lying about being raped in cyprus has reportedly called on the Prime Minister to bring her home. Speaking to the sun newspaper, the 19 year old said she wanted to clear her name and come home. Shes due to be sentenced next week. Adam phillips has the background on the case. The 19 year old alleged she was raped by up to 12 israeli tourists ina raped by up to 12 israeli tourists in a hotel room in the party town of
ayia napa injuly. The men accused of raping her were released and allowed to go home after she retracted the allegation. She said she only did so after being put under huge pressure by Police Questioning when she was vulnerable. Last week the teenager was found guilty of causing public mischief. Her lawyers insist both the Police Investigation and the Court Process we re investigation and the Court Process were flawed. They plan to appeal. The Foreign Office say they have serious concerns about how the case has been handled, and has raised the issue with the cypriot authorities. The woman at the heart of the case could face up to a year in prison when showers sentenced next week. She is sentenced. A number of prominent laywers in cyprus have written to the attorney general, urging him to intevene in the case. One of them is kypros chrysostomidies. Hejoins us now from the nicosia. Good morning, and thank you so much for speaking to us. Firstly, why did you write to the attorney general . Good morning to you, and happy new year. Well, this is an example of
state application of the law which leads to results that are not easily accepted leads to results that are not easily a cce pted by leads to results that are not easily accepted by the Public Opinion and the feeling ofjustice of accepted by the Public Opinion and the feeling of justice of the public. The majority of the public in cyprus feels that the young lady has already been punished enough. She has been in detention forfour and a half weeks. And she is not able to travel to england during the proceedings. We believe that the attorney general, who is the appropriate organ to exercise, initiate or discontinue criminal proceedings, should have done that already for the public interest. We respectfully suggest that, along with other ex officials like myself, senior lawyers, but his reply was that the proceedings were
already in process and therefore he should not and could not interfere with the court ofjustice proceedings. So he said that that there is still time. Apologies. He has said that, but what is the next step, the next thing you might be able to do to intervene . Well, we have addressed a new request, a respectful request to the attorney general to discontinue the proceedings at this stage and release the young lady. However, we expect him to take a decision on that. At the other end, if the judgement is proceeding on the seventh for the imposition of penalty, then there are two ways of dealing with this. Firstly the appeal, which will take time and
cause more discomfort for the young lady and her family. Cause more discomfort for the young lady and herfamily. We cause more discomfort for the young lady and her family. We want her to go home as soon as possible. Do you have confidence in the cypriot Justice System currently looking at this case . Yes, well, so far the Justice System in cyprus has been impeccable and i think the judge exercised his discretion in deciding like that. However, the Public Opinion doesnt agree with the outcome of this case and we should consider that the matter should have been suspended long ago. Now it is in the hands of the attorney general
and the president of the republic of cyprus to take the appropriate steps to restore the climate of independence ofjustice and the rule of law applied in cyprus. At the very end, after thejudge pronounces the penalty, that is. However, we are of the view that the penalty cannot be harsh, cannot be more than a few days or a suspended sentence. In order to take into account the inconvenience of the young lady so farfor inconvenience of the young lady so far for five months now, inconvenience of the young lady so farforfive months now, and also the fact that she was already detained for 4. 5 weeks. Kypros chrysostomidies, thank you very much indeed for your time this morning. Im sorry to into a new, theres a bit of a delay on the line, but thank you very much for explaining
the Current Situation in cyprus for us the Current Situation in cyprus for us im sorry to interrupter you. Heres matt with a look at this mornings weather. Good morning. More sunshine today, good news for friday. With the sunshine across northern areas, a chilly start. These are temperatures as we stand. Notice swansea and london, 8 11, mild for the january morning. Watch what happens in the afternoon, temperatures drop substantially and temperatures drop substantially and temperatures rise further north. Colder air going south through the day. Coming around the top edge of this area of High Pressure, the slice of blue on the chart, pushing south behind these weather fronts which are producing heavy rain in southern areas. A wet night in many parts of wales, central and southern england and the heaviest rain is in parts of east anglia, london and the south east. Notice returning to clear skies and a few showers to the
north and west of that, the same in scotla nd north and west of that, the same in scotland and Northern Ireland, many start the day dry here. A blow restart a nd start the day dry here. A blow restart and strong winds continue in northern scotland. The winds pick up further south, clearing the cloud and rain, the sun out for many with isolated showers in the west, lasting longest in kent, essex and suffolk. While the wind will pick up here, it wont be as strong as further north with severe gales in 0rkney and shetland, 60 or 70 mph gusts could be possible and that will make it feel colder. A cold feel in parts of scotland and Northern Ireland but notice attempts dropping further south in the afternoon. 0n the weekend, after a chilly and frosty night for some, milderair chilly and frosty night for some, milder air will try to push back on a south westerly wind as High Pressure remains for the south. A frost around in central and eastern areas on saturday and a cloud in the west are Still Producing some showers. Dampness conditions in the north and west of scotland but
0rkney and parts of shetland will stay dry, not as windy as today, fourin stay dry, not as windy as today, four in lowick but temperatures picking up after the chilly start, between 8 10. 0n picking up after the chilly start, between 8 10. On sunday, a mild start, frost free. Further rain in the north and west of scotland at times on sunday and a few splashes in Northern Ireland but dry and bright here, and eastern scotland. The best on sunday will be in england and wales, good sunny spells, especially in the east, and temperatures widely into double figures. We stay mild into next week because an active jet stream will come across the atlantic reducing a potent weather system. That means we will see widespread gales, severe at times in scotland and Northern Ireland. 0ccasional rain and the best of the dry and bright weather will be further south, and we will stay mild as i mentioned. Not as warm as yesterday in norway. A quick glance, yesterday morning temperatures here in the west peaked
at 19 degrees that is a National Record in norway for winter and across scandinavia. We havent seen temperatures like that ever before. Thank you very much, matt. Fascinating to see that because this morning the met office have looked back over 100 years at temperatures in the uk. Temperatures, rainfall. Werejoined now by the dr Mark Mccarthy from the met office, who is in our exeter studio. Give us the big picture. The official records go back 100 years, so what is the big intra , especially the last 20 years or so the big picture. Especially the last 20 years or so the big picture. Looking back at 2019, the 11th warmest year on record, and if we look at the recent decades, what we have seen is an abundance of climate extremes along the lines of what was just reported for norway. 2019 was quite a
remarkable year. We saw our warmest winter on record in february with 21. 2dc in late february. We also recorded the highest ever summer temperature on record of 38. 7 in cambridge in late july, temperature on record of 38. 7 in cambridge in latejuly, and most recently we have a new provisional record, pending verification, for the highest december temperature on record with 18. 7 at axe ari in northern scotland. What we are seeing looking at the wider picture at the context of the climate records, weve been observing and monitoring the climate since the met 0ffice monitoring the climate since the met office was founded well over 100 yea rs office was founded well over 100 years ago, and we are seeing many more of these High Temperature records being broken in the recent decade than low temperature records. This is in part because these are rare weather events but when those weather conditions play out, they play out on a warming climate. Climate change is tipping the
balance and we are observing more High Temperature extremes and low temperature extremes. Theres a risk of getting bogged down in the statistics but it is fascinating. Since 2002, all top 11 annual average record temperatures have happened since 2002. That is right. 0ur climate in the uk has warmed by about one degree since the mid 20th century. We are seeing all these warmest yea rs century. We are seeing all these warmest years clustered in the recent period. Of the top ten cold est yea rs, recent period. Of the top ten coldest years, the coldest one in time is in 1963. Its been quite a while since weve had a significant cold year. You have also looked at rainfall and how wet it has been as well, and people immediately think about how flooding has affected people. What do the stats tell us about that . December rounded off. 2019, anotherfor about that . December rounded off. 2019, another for many parts of the
country, quite a wet year. Also its the 11th wettest year in our climate records, going back over 100 years. That is quite notable but particularly for some parts of the country and some communities they will have felt that even more where the rainfall was very significant in parts of the summer and autumn this yearin parts of the summer and autumn this year in parts of central england, south yorkshire, nottinghamshire, south lincolnshire, those areas have seen a lot of rain this year. Looking at the information from the past, how can you use that to look ahead . So it is all. It feeds into our understanding and the wider picture of climate and our changing climate, both here in the uk but also internationally, so how the uk fits into the global picture as well if you like. In order to understand our current climate and our current
exposure to risk from weather and climate events, and also the future, we also need to understand the past, so its really important we have these in depth and extensive Historical Records we can use to understand the variability in our weather and climate from all sorts of causes. The natural variability we have in the uk but also our warming climate and what impact that has on us, and what that might mean for our future risk. You made reference to it. Matt talked about the record temperatures in norway and you said december here are my possibly the hottest on record. Then we look at whats happening in australia at the moment. It is hard not to bring those things together in some way . Well, certainly, in the international picture, yes. What were seeing in the uk and with our uk climate records, it is consistent with the wider picture we are seeing in other parts of the world. We are
seeing increases in certain parts of weather extremes around the world, including in the uk, and that is pa rt including in the uk, and that is part of this wider picture of our changing climate globally. Doctor mark macarthur, thank you, head of met Office Climate information. Fascinating to look at those numbers. The change, it is definitely happening. Us chat show host ricki lake described living with hair loss as a quiet hell. Well find out how the condition affects nearly half of all women. Perhaps they dont like to talk about it too much. That is coming up in the programme. Time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. Good morning from bbc london, im geeta pendse. A man has been charged with attempted murder after a woman was stabbed in front of her child in south london. The 36 year old mother was repeatedly stabbed from behind, in downton avenue in Streatham Hill on monday. She was treated at hospital,
her injuries are not life threatening. A 43 year old man was charged after handing himself in at a west London Police station. The air Ambulance Service for kent, surrey and sussex celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. While it has saved thousands of lives, the service suffered its own tragedy in 1998 when a helicopter crashed, killing everyone on board. The air ambulance has to raise more than £14 million a year to fly. Its recently invested in new and bigger helicopters and better technology. 0ne one of the things that stops us flying is the weather, so we want to develop Navigation Systems that allow us to fly in pretty much all weathers, but looking further afield and further into the future, who knows . Technology is moving so quickly and for us, its always been about us being ahead of the game and us using the technology to its full
potential. Plans to revamp 0xford street are a step closer with the appointment of design and construction contractors. The proposed £235 million plan would see improvements to ease congestion and increase capacity ahead of the opening of crossrail, as well as more green spaces and new cycle lanes. Lets take a look at the travel situation now. The District Line is part suspended between Turnham Green and richmond. The overground is also suspended between south acton and richmond. And there are severe delays on Tfl Rail Services at Liverpool Street. 0n the roads, the a40 into town is closed from hillingdon circus to the polish war memorial in South Ruislip following a collision. Now the weather with elizabeth ritzinni. Hello, good morning. A very mild night and we saw heavy downpours a bit earlier this morning, so quite wet underfoot to start the day and a bit of wet weather
around for a time this morning but into the afternoon, it will cheer up and there will be bright spells and spells of sunshine developing, and it will also start to feel a bit cooler too. A very mild start to the morning. Temperatures in double figures. Outbreaks of light, patchy rain and drizzle and low cloud, all clearing south eastwards into the late morning and afternoon, and there should be enough time for some sunshine to emerge everywhere before the sun sets just after 4pm. Temperatures unusually set to drop off for the afternoon, so we end the day on a much chillier note and a cold night tonight too underneath largely clear skies and in that colder air. Temperatures set to drop below freezing in some rural spots, and there will be a touch of frost tomorrow morning. A cold start to the weekend but it should stay dry. It should feel a bit cooler. Plenty of sunshine around, particularly on saturday. Im back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. Plenty more on our website at the usual address. Now its back to charlie and sally. Bye for now. Hello, this is breakfast, with Charlie Stayt and sally nugent. Here is a summery of this mornings main stories from bbc news. A top iranian general has been killed in an american airstrike, directly ordered by President Trump. General Qasem Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force. John donnison has this report. The Australian Navy is evacuating hundreds of people from the town in victoria where they have been stranded on the beach because of wildfires. Thousands are also fleeing in New South Wales were state of emergency came into force last night. Morrow expected on saturday as temperatures continue to rise. The Australian Navy has begun
evacuating hundreds of people from a town in victoria where they have been stranded on the beach because of those fires. Thousands of people are also fleeing New South Wales. A state of emergency came into force last night. Firefighters there released this video as they tried to battle the blaze. Jasper, put the blanke up. Blanket. Battle the blaze. Jasper, put the blanke up. Blanket. Jeez. Radio warbles. Flashover, flashover wow. We can speak now to jasper croft and kayle barton from fire and rescue New South Wales. Gentlemen, thank you very much
indeed forjoining us. We had just watched the most incredibly dramatic video of the conditions that you have been working in. What has it been like for you there . Well, it is one of those seasons but it is just out of control this year. We have got no way of stopping it. As you can see in those pictures, it comes across so quick. We were tasked to doa across so quick. We were tasked to do a job across so quick. We were tasked to doajob and across so quick. We were tasked to do a job and at that stage it was a job that was going to be, you know, when you it was going to be a difficult task, but we were not expecting those conditions to come across as quick as they did. When you are in that situation what on earth is going through your mind at that point . When that fire front came through, what was going through my mind was sheer survival, to do what we did to get through safely, to be able to shelter in our cabin, to be able to shelter in our cabin, to get through it and get our cruise out to safety. And when you get
through the situation like that, what are you finding . What other stories you can tell us about the people you are trying to help now . Are the. People you are trying to help now . Are the. I was lucky enough to be able to drive out of that situation, i drove out in the truck, but kayle and his crew were stuck in that position and the truck was com pletely position and the truck was completely destroyed by fire. Luckily they could get out of that situation. For me on the other end of that, not knowing that kayle and his crew and another appliance were actually still alive, it was a pretty scary thought. I had to make a decision for me and my crew to get out of that situation because i knew the skies have the same training i had, to survive that situation. They did an unreal job had, to survive that situation. They did an unrealjob to do it. And how are you preparing for this weekend . Because we hear that conditions are going to be even worse over the coming days. Thats right. The weather conditions are predicted to spike again over the next 24 48 hours. The way that we prepare is
the same we would prepare any day of the same we would prepare any day of the year, just fall back to our training, our equipment, our teamwork. Regardless of the weather, we prepare every day to look after one another. And have you ever seen a season as bad as this before . No. I have been working for eight years, i have been working for eight years, i have spoken to people who have been working for 20 or 30 years, everybody says there has been nothing like this. With the drought, the wind conditions, being unable to have previous burn offs and things like that, it is unstoppable, these fires. Gentlemen, thank you both very much indeed for talking to us this morning. That wasjust very much indeed for talking to us this morning. That was just a very much indeed for talking to us this morning. That wasjust a croft and kayle barton from fire and rescue in New South Wales. What an incredible job they have been doing. Jasper incredible job they have been doing. Jasper croft. Incredible job they have been doing. Jasper croft. Yes, fully respect what they have been doing. They themselves were in the fires, there
was one true ahead of the other, and they had to abandon their own fire engine because that was lost in the fire, not knowing if their collea g u es fire, not knowing if their colleagues were safe. Really, really scary stuff. It is 7 34am. Coming up, matt will be here with the latest weather. Right now, holly is taking us to the cricket. Yes, ever in south africa, the second test starts today. Bad news for the england camp, im afraid. Rory burns is injured. He didnt do it playing football cricket. You might notice there is a football in that picture. He did in training, playing the game of footie. What are they doing still playing football . This is the thing, we have seen this before, joe denley about a decade ago, johnny bastow a couple of years ago. It happens. You know, it is a ruffled sport, football. So it has happened once again. And paul rory burns has been sent back treatment here in the uk. Another blow for england in what has been, well, ben stokes summed it up, the cursed term, they are calling it. They will
be without rory here in the yellow for the rest of the tour. Injured here playing football in training. He damaged ankle ligaments and headed back here to uk for treatment. He was englands top scorer in the first test, which they lost last week. It never rains, but it pours. Fast bowlerjofra archer took six wickets in that much and he is almost certain to be missing today as well. He has an elbow problem and he has not been able to bowl in the notes for the past the third test between australia and new zealand is underway in sydney. Before the action got underway there was a minutes applause to recognise the efforts of firefighters tackling bush fires across the country. Marnus labuschagne has put australia into a commanding position with his fourth century in his last five tests. The hosts closed on 283 for three. Liverpool are a step closer to the premier league title, after a routine 2 0 win against Sheffield United. Mo salah struck with just three and a half minutes on the clock at anfield. Sadio mane added the second midway through the second half. Their lead at the top of the table is back to 13 points, and theyve gone a year unbeaten in the league. Wayne rooney made his return to english football last night in the championship, and he was captain on his debut for derby county against barnsley. Englands record goalscorer couldnt find the net himself, but he did set upjack marriott to give derby the lead just before half time. Rooney played the full 90 minutes, as derby went on to win 2 1. We are going to return to a top story now, discussing the fact that rory burns will miss the rest of the test series in south africa. We are going to speak to our cricket correspondence jonathan argued going to speak to our cricket correspondencejonathan argued to get more on this. Jonathan, good morning. I think the big question this morning is why they were playing football in the first place. Good morning. Well, it is a question that we appear in the press box have been asking for about ten years. We have seen a number of players getting injured over the years, some more seriously than others. It has a lwa ys more seriously than others. It has always seemed a very strange way of warming up. People can say, look, you can get injured doing anything, and of course this is true. But these are competitive young man. They fancy themselves as being footballers anyway. They dont hold back when they are playing, despite the fact they are supposed to be two or three touch. And the fact is, your body is doing Different Things thanit your body is doing Different Things than it is to preparing for a cricket match. You can get injured breaking a finger taking a catch preparing for cricket, it is entirely acceptable, bad luck but acceptable. Spraining an ankle playing football before a match, and not the first time it has happened, johnny bastow did a year ago and missed two test matches. It seems extraordinary. I am always reminded of synagogue 0scar, the great indian batsmen, we watched him warming up one day and i said, what do you
think of this . He said i saw the German Football Team warming up for the World Cup Final playing cricket, then i would think it is a good idea. I think that is how most cricketers would think about it. Giles didnt want them to do it when he took a job as managing director injanuary, and he took a job as managing director in january, and here he took a job as managing director injanuary, and here they are doing it, with another key player injured and out of the series. I think we will hear more about this. And obviously zach crowley will open for them in the second test. We have heard from jofra archer with that elbow injury, it has been one heck ofa elbow injury, it has been one heck of a series, hasnt it . It has been summed up by ben stokes calling it the cursed tour. The fact is, you can do something about it, you cant control an illness going through a tour, there is nothing you can do about that apart from doing your best to make sure it doesnt spread too far. But there are things you can do to prevent injury such as the one that rory burns had yesterday. Jofra archer, im not sure he is even on the ground. There was a nice huddle at the start about five
minutes ago involving security staff and all the players and goodness knows what else but there was no sign of archer there, so i can only assume he is not going to play because of this elbow injury. The picture looks flat and again, england have to wind this game, but they are going to have to work hard to do it. Jonathan argued, as always, thank you for your time this morning. It isjust always, thank you for your time this morning. It is just remarkable. Another big blow for england. Tricky time. A really tricky time. The test begins in about an hour. The time now is 7 40am. More than half of women in the uk will experience some form of noticeable hair loss in their lifetime, an issue which can have difficult and emotional consequences. Tv chat show host ricki lake has described her own experiences of hair loss in a powerful social media post. Unveiling her new shaved head, the tv star said it has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing and lonely, revealing that shes been struggling with the quiet hell of hair loss for almost 30 years. Were joined now in the studio
by gp dr marion sloan, and gail porter, who developed alopecia in 2005, is in our london studio. When you hear ricky lake talking about that quiet hell, you must surely understand that more than most . Happy new year, by the way well, do you know what, i think i have been very fortunate. I quite like the fact that i do not have had an hour. 0bviously when it first happened, it was very shocking. But now i just embrace happened, it was very shocking. But now ijust embrace it and i can understand people that lose hair and find it really upsetting, but for me, i kind ofjust thought, do you know what, it is what it is and i dont really worry about anything. Is that now, though, because you have the perspective of time, looking back, when it actually happened to you, because it happened to you quite quickly, didnt it . In
that moment, when you realised you how was going, did you feel about the panic and the terror and the horror that lots of women are talking about, the ones who have beenin talking about, the ones who have been in touch with us . Absolutely. When it first happened, it was just a wee clump and then within four weeks, i mean, i had had down to almost my backside, it was all gone within four weeks. I did have that panic, thinking i didnt know what was happening. My main worry was, what was my daughter going to think of me, because i was away working. When i got back, she said, she thought i was very rock n roll. So i thought, 0k, thought i was very rock n roll. So i thought, ok, im thought i was very rock n roll. So ithought, 0k, imjust thought i was very rock n roll. So i thought, ok, im just going to have to deal with this. I understand the panic. I still get abuse in the street every now and then, not too often. But i can take it. But i can understand everybodys worry and panic, and it is a weird thing to happen, but, yeah, ijust get on with it, i suppose. Doctor marion sloan is in the studio with us now. Ricky lee was talking about
suffering in silence for more than 30 years. Lake. She has no she had the condition and has kept it to herself. How common is it . It is very common. Herself. How common is it . It is very common. I think we have to understand it is normal, not to the degree, but if we are talking about female hair loss, male hair loss is a completely different area again, but females do come in and they talk to theirgp, but but females do come in and they talk to their gp, but i think what we see is the tip of the iceberg because a lot of people do worry quietly at home and dont share it. And therefore they are worrying unnecessarily, and what we need as medical professionals or in a social environment is to help people, to understand it is normal at times to lose her. So if somebody comes into your surgery without concern, but is quite a big step in itself, isnt it . Just saying it to someone else. Quite a big step. Then what . Well, you need to know what is going on in their life. There are two things that need testing. 0ne their life. There are two things that need testing. One of them is iron deficiency. Iron deficiency and anaemia, which is governed, because
lots of people dont eat enough red meat and things like that. Which is common. And thyroid disorders. You attest test those two things, and when you rule those out, you would ask what else is going on in their lives. 0thers stressed, how they recently had a pregnancy, are they recently had a pregnancy, are they coming up towards the pause . Those are the three things. It is often a hormone thing, driven by that. There are so many different types of hair loss. We are hearing about women affected by hormones, stress, by their nutrition perhaps. 0ver stress, by their nutrition perhaps. Over the years, have you looked for things to bring your hair back and how difficult a journey has that been . Initially i did actually look into Different Things. We actually did a documentary for bbc one about how loss, so i would see different specialists and nothing seems to work for me and i thought, i will just have to embrace this. The good thing about the fact that i do not
wear a week or anything, i totally understand people wearing wigs and huts and all that, but when i go to sainsburys the amount of women who come up to me and say, you know what, this is a wig . 0r, come up to me and say, you know what, this is a wig . Or, can i talk to you, because underneath this hat i dont have any hair. So like the lovely doctor lady was saying, there are so many people out there. And it isa are so many people out there. And it is a difficult thing to talk about. Why do you think women find it so difficult to talk about . Hair is quite a crowning glory for women. When i go to tv shows, lots of them asked when i want to get my hair and make up done. Think about that one it is nice having hair. I think it is quite an important thing and it is quite an important thing and it isa is quite an important thing and it is a statement. When you dont have your hair, the worst thing personally was i felt like i had been rubbed out a bit because my eyelashes and eyebrows went, i have no eyelashes here, these have been micro blad on. I thought i had lost
my personality micro bladed on. You are nodding in agreement . This isa you are nodding in agreement . This is a condition called alopecia and thatis is a condition called alopecia and that is different from the normal physiological hair loss that happens during a womans life, and they are very separate as conditions. People are worried they will develop alopecia. Thankfully it is rare, and if that is the case, it is a dermatological referral to hospital toa dermatological referral to hospital to a specialist. Normally its the ups and downs of everyday life resulting in your hair getting thinner. Gayle was mentioning a moment ago, the number of people talking to her, and ricki lake doing this publicly, it starts the conversation differently . It does, and it lifts the lid on something thatis and it lifts the lid on something that is a very private, embarrassing and worrying thing but you keep it to yourself. One of the things you advise is for people to talk about it and it takes the terror of it
away. Takes the stigma and the sting out of it and it helps to normalise it and it helps you to feel other people also have that difficulty and you can be helped. The other thing you can be helped. The other thing you say is it is really common and for many women, not all, but many, it comes back. Yes. It regrows at an incha it comes back. Yes. It regrows at an inch a month, so thats very slow. It takes a long time to get your ponytail back to where it was gail. Ithink your ponytail back to where it was gail. I think you are laughing. Im thinking it is going to take a long time to get me a ponytail gail, do you think some of the stigma has come out of it with your story and other stories as well . Yeah, definitely. Like we say, you just have to talk about everything and the more you talk about it and say, you know what, this happens. U nfortu nately we say, you know what, this happens. Unfortunately we dont want it to happen but its happened. Talking is the best thing to do. The stigma is the best thing to do. The stigma is not bad. Gail, thank you so much
for sharing your story this morning. Im sure lots of women would feel empowered by the message gail gives, the message of positivity. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me and have a great new year. We should say. Gp marion sloan will be answering your questions on hairloss on the bbc breakfast Facebook Page shortly. That is coming up very soon. Weve had lots of questions coming in on the programme already. There is lots of information of where to go if youre struggling with the emotional effects of hair loss on the bbc action line page. It is 7 48am. Heres matt with a look at this mornings weather. Good morning, matt. Good morning. A friday feeling for more sunshine later but to start, a contrast north to south with the temperatures. A chilly one in many northern parts, 3 6. Further south, much milder. Still lots of cloud and
we have outbreaks of rain, but as that clears, look at later. Temperatures drop away, around seven in swansea and london as we head to midafternoon, climbing a bit further north relative to at the moment and the reason is we have this slice of blue, cold air toppling around the low pressure behind these weather fronts. These have produced lots of heavy rain overnight in england and wales. Clearing away nicely for Northern England, wales and the south west with isolated showers but heavy bursts in east anglia and the south east at the moment. It wont ta ke south east at the moment. It wont take too long before the worst clears gradually through the end of the morning rush hour. It might take a while for the cloud to break up in east anglia and the south east, but for many sunshine develops widely through the day and some showers in Northern Ireland, scotland, and the air is at its coldest at the moment in scotland and here we see the windiest conditions. The wind
strengthening in the afternoon, 0rkney, shetland, perhaps 70 mph gusts, severe gales causing travel disruption and the breeze picking up further south but not as strong as further south but not as strong as further north. As i mentioned, temperatures are dropping away in southern areas in the afternoon and further north, remaining fairly chilly, especially in the breeze. Through the evening and overnight, clear skies in many southern and eastern areas so a frost here but showers keep going in parts of scotla nd showers keep going in parts of scotland and the cloud will thicken into the morning. Temperatures are to start tomorrow morning will be a bit higher than shown there, a little lower than shown there, temperatures close to freezing in many southern and eastern areas. Through the day, they will pick up gradually with a more south westerly one, not as windy tomorrow, occasional rain in scotland, a few showers in the west and best sunshine in central and eastern parts. In the afternoon, 9 11widely across the country, with the chilly air holding on in scotland. On
sunday, the mild air gets to shetland, rain here, the same in western scotland, some rain in Northern Ireland at times but the majority of the country will be dry for the bulk of sunday. The best of the country will be england and wales with double figures. Next week, as thejet wales with double figures. Next week, as the jet stream strengthens, week, as the jet stream strengthens, we see potent low pressure swinging across the country, bringing outbreaks of rain, strong to Gale Force Winds at times and pretty mild. Nowhere near the heat currently in australia, where this afternoon we have seen temperatures peaking at 46, 115 fahrenheit, in parts of South Australia and that goes east to the likes of canberra into tomorrow and a strengthening wind will be the big danger to those fighting the fires. Thats how its looking. Back to you both. Almost unimaginable. We will be live with our colleague in australia to look at the problem is there just after 8am. 0fgem have announced three companies that were involved in a major power cut last summer i will pay £105 million. Nina . To give you context, overall in 2019, 80 £6 million was paid. A big fine. Last august, 1. 1 million customers were left without power and there was chaos as trains, traffic lights and even a hospital lost electricity after two power stations simultaneously suffer disruptions and today it was announced at the companies that run them will each pay £4. 5 million, and them will each pay £4. 5 million, and the supplier, uk pm, will pay £1. 5 million. Also, there will be a major review of how the National Grid managed the crisis. We can speak to Jonathan Greeley from the Energy Regulator, 0fgem. Lets start with the 4. 5 million power stations at hornsby and little garth wood. Bad
luck or bad practice . Let me start by saying how concerns we were about events on august the ninth, and we ta ke events on august the ninth, and we take this seriously as the regulator, which is why we investigated and took time to work out what happened. The cause of the power cuts, as you say, was this unusual event with two power stations developing a fault almost at the same time. This happens occasionally but for it to happen together is unusual. Those companies have recognised their role and thats why they have agreed to pay over £10 million back to consumers but this isnt about the money, this is making sure the industry takes necessary actions to ensure we continue to improve our electricity supply. What could the power stations have done to protect it against a Lightning Strike . M stations have done to protect it against a Lightning Strike . It is a fairly normal event on the network and most power stations. All power stations are required to ride through that event but what happened in each case is different equipment
in different power stations failed at the same time. That shouldnt have happened and the government today raised concerns about the way the National Grid coped, as have you. What will happen to make sure it doesnt happen again . You. What will happen to make sure it doesnt happen again . What we are doing, especially with National Grid, is looking forward with the Energy System and making sure that we have, as we have done until this point, a resilient system and that means looking at National Grid and making sure they are configured correctly and making sure as our Energy System changes, the security supply improves. Through all of this, we will remain vigilant because we need to make sure we continue to have one of the most Resilient Systems in the world. The Energy Secretary says she wants britain to have the best Energy System in the world but you referenced the distress and danger in august, but the reality is today nothing has changed and the same thing could happen. Bear in mind the biggest disruption on the day was the transport system, which was due to the trains being delayed. That
was a fault with the Train Companies andl was a fault with the Train Companies and i would encourage any consumer of the Train Companies to pursue them for compensation. Today we have done ourjob as a regulator and we had identified what went wrong, how the companies to account, and we will take actions to ensure as far as possible this wont happen again. But there is no guarantee this wont happen again because the changes havent yet been implemented . Happen again because the changes havent yet been implemented . No power system in the world can guarantee no power cuts, but we are twice as reliable as the european average and power cuts have halved in the last 20 years. As a regulator we have to make sure that continues and that is why we are being vigilant and taking action and making sure our system is reliable. There is some concern the system is honourable as things stand and could become increasingly vulnerable as we go to renewable energies. What can we do about that . Bear in mind, this wasnt about renewable energy. 0ne of those power stations was a
traditional gas fired power station. It was an unusual event with two faults at the same time on a system and thats what happened. The companies have taken responsibility, paid the money and we will make sure the industry takes action to make sure as faras the industry takes action to make sure as far as possible this doesnt happen again. They have got to the bottom of why it happened. Payments have been made by the power stations but no guarantee today that it wont happen again. Nina, thanks very much. Time for the news, travel and weather where you are. Good morning from bbc london, im geeta pendse. A donations page has raised over £77,000 for the families of the British Airways staff involved in the fatal New Years Eve crash. The gofundme page was set up after three cabin crew members were killed and another seriously injured when their car collided with a lorryjust outside heathrow airport. Friends and colleagues paid
tribute to dominic fell, rachel clark and Joseph Finnis on the fundraising page. A number of London Councils are to benefit from nearly £1 million in funding to help crack down on criminal landlords. The cash is coming from the government and will be used to tackle inadequate and unsafe housing in the rental sector. The funding from the ministry of housing will help councils take enforcement action against landlords who use illegal practices. Plans to revamp 0xford street are a step closer with the appointment of design and construction contractors. The proposed £235 million plan would see improvements to ease congestion and increase capacity ahead of the opening of crossrail, as well as more green spaces and new cycle lanes. There are no plans for it to be pedestrianised. And its that time of year again when london zoo does its stock take. It takes nearly a week,
and included in the audit so far are 91 penguins, four asiatic lions and 40 giant african land snails. The stock take is an annual occurrence and required by london zoo for its licence. The data is then shared worldwide to help conservation breeding programmes for endangered animals. Lets take a look at the travel situation now. The District Line is part suspended between Turnham Green and richmond. The 0verg round is also part suspended. And there are minor delays on Tfl Rail Services. The a40 is closed london bound from hillingdon circus to the polish war memorial in South Ruislip following a collision. You can see the tailbacks at swa keleys roundabout. Now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. Hello, good morning. A very mild night and we saw heavy downpours a bit earlier this morning, so quite wet underfoot to start the day and a bit of wet weather around for a time this morning but into the afternoon, it will cheer up and there will be bright spells and spells of sunshine
developing, and it will also start to feel a bit cooler too. A very mild start to the morning. Temperatures in double figures. Outbreaks of light, patchy rain and drizzle and low cloud, all clearing south eastwards into the late morning and afternoon, and there should be enough time for some sunshine to emerge everywhere before the sun sets just after 4pm. Temperatures unusually set to drop off for the afternoon, so we end the day on a much chillier note and a cold night tonight too underneath largely clear skies and in that colder air. Temperatures set to drop below freezing in some rural spots, and there will be a touch of frost tomorrow morning. A cold start to the weekend but it should stay dry. It should feel a bit cooler. Plenty of sunshine around, particularly on saturday. Im back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. Plenty more on our website at the usual address. Bye for now. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with Charlie Stayt and sally nugent. 0ur headlines today. Us forces kill the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards elite quds force with an airstrike in iraq. The Australian Navy are evacuating around 1,000 people from a ring of fire on the victoria coast with more extreme conditions forecast for the weekend. Blamed for the blackout and asked to pay £10. 5 million pounds. Three companies have been fined by the Energy Regulator 0fgem for their part in a major power cut that happened last summer. First illness, now injury hits the england cricket camp. Rory burns is out of the test series in south africa, after he was injured playing football in training. In his first tv interview since leaving labour, well talk to former deputy leader tom watson, to find out who he thinks can heal the divisions within the party. 0pened opened in weather, sunnier but
colder conditions on the way today, thats once we get rid of some pretty heavy rain for east anglia and the south east. The full forecast right here on breakfast. Good morning. Its friday the 3rd of january. Our top story. A top iranian general has been killed in an american airstrike, directly ordered by President Trump. General qasem oleimani was the head of the elite quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary guard. John donnison has this report. This is all that was left of a convoy of cars carrying irans most senior military commander. His killing by the United States will shake the middle east to its core. Qasem soleimani was head of the elite quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary guard and is a hugely influentialfigure in the region. In a statement, the pentagon said
the immediate aftermath of the attack, which happens near Baghdad International airport, was filmed by passers by. Several other people with military ties to iran were also killed. I would rank this as one of the most important events in the middle east since the us led invasion of iraq, and the wars that followed. One of the most important security events in the region of the past two or three decades. It comes in a week where simmering tensions between iran and the United States has boiled over. The American Embassy in baghdad has been under siege as pro iranian militiamen and demonstrators tried to breach its walls, angry at United States airstrikes in the region. And yesterday, the United States defence secretary hinted america may take further action against iran. Last night, more than 650
United States troops arrived in neighbouring kuwait to provide reinforcements. All eyes will be on irans response in a region already riven with conflict, some will fear this could mean another war in the middle east. Jon donnison, bbc news. Were joined now by our chief intenational correspondent, lyse doucet, who is in kabul. Good morning to you. First of all, why have the us done this and why have they done it now . That is the biggest question this morning. Viewers may remember that all through 2019 leaders in both tehran and washington, including President Trump most of all said they wanted to avoid another war with iran, another escalation in the middle east which would cost lives across the region. And in the past, for many years now, the United States
contemplated an attack on Qasem Soleimani, regarded as one of the most cunning adversaries in the region, a man who commanded notjust the elite forces of iran is Islamic Revolutionary guards but he was the man who masterminded a network of proxy militias across the region, held responsible for orchestrating attacks on american targets, costing the lives of hundreds of American Service men and servicewomen. But no attack was made because they knew the consequences. This would be an attack not just the consequences. This would be an attack notjust on a senior military figure for the Islamic Republic of iran but also a senior political figure, he is regarded as second and influence only to the all powerful Supreme Leader in iran. So the big question now is iran is vowing harsh retaliation, what form and when will they use it . Thank you. The Australian Navy has begun evacuating hundreds of people from a town in victoria
where they have been stranded on the beach because of wildfires. Thousands of people are also fleeing New South Wales, where a state of emergency came into force last night. More than 125 fires continue to burn there, and more are expected tomorrow, as phil mercer reports. Help has finally arrived in the beleaguered town of mallacoota. About 1,000 people have boarded two navy ships in the seaside community, which has been cut off since fires tore through the area on New Years Eve. Others have been flown out by military helicopters. But those who remain have been told that it could be two weeks before the roads reopen. Across the border, the mass exodus from southern parts of New South Wales is continuing. Residents and tourists have been urged to get out while they can, ahead of extreme fire conditions forecast for saturday. Thousands are on the move, but not everybody is leaving. Some homeowners are determined
to stay to defend their properties in a region that has already seen widespread devastation. More than 125 fires continue to burn in New South Wales. Since september, the blazes have killed 19 people. The Authorities Say about 28 others are unaccounted for in the state of victoria. This is a nationwide crisis. Fires are also burning in western australia, South Australia and tasmania. And theres no end in sight. The blazes have been so big and have raged with such intensity that the smoke haze has drifted across the tasman sea to new zealand. Philjoins us now from nowra in New South Wales. Phil, whats the latest there . Give us the sense of what it feels
like on the ground, you are on a property that has been devastated by the fires. Yes, weve been led into the fires. Yes, weve been led into the fires. Yes, weve been led into the fire zone and weve been talking to the owner of this property that was scorched and crushed by the weight of the fires. The flames would have torn up this ridgeline here, clearly this children s trampoline was no match for the ferocity of these claims and the result is this. This is a scene of devastation that is being repeated in many other parts of australia and the fires that destroyed this house we re the fires that destroyed this house were so intense and were so hot, ta ke were so intense and were so hot, take a look at the girders that were supporting this property. The fires we re supporting this property. The fires were so ferocious they have bent and buckled the metal supports of this property. Clearly, all thats left is the roof, the mangled, metal roof that has been left contorted. This heartbreaking scene is being repeated time and time again here in
south eastern australia and there is a warning that these conditions, these very hot and windy conditions we are expecting in the next 12 24 hours, could mean a repeat of these sorts of scenes. So, australia, once again, bracing itself for another onslaught. Weve been hearing this morning from some of the firefighters involved in that and they themselves have been at some considerable risk and some devastating images coming through from what theyve been through as well . Some of the videos that the firefighters have shared with us show them driving through firestorms that are utterly horrific. Weve seen firefighters in fire engines going through massive walls of flames, being bombarded by red hot embers, having to put up security bla nkets embers, having to put up security blankets against the windows of their vehicles in order to be protected and this is an emergency
effort that now involves the military, as weve been hearing, in the town of mallacoota to the east of melbourne. The emergency effort relies largely on volunteers, ordinary men and women, giving up their time and ordinary men and women, giving up theirtime and in ordinary men and women, giving up their time and in many instances, they are risking their lives trying to save other people and trying to save properties too. This is a crisis that began, its hard to remember, really, back in september and the expectation is it has weeks if not months to run. For the moment, thank you. The last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years according to analysis by the met office. In the last year alone, temperatures hit new highs for the months of february, july, and provisionally december since the organisation began keeping records in 1910. The met office say rising temperatures could be linked to Climate Change. A man will appear in court today charged with the murder of two people found stabbed to death in a house in derbyshire on new years day. Helen hancock and Martin Griffiths were found dead at a property in the village of duffield. Rhys hancock, whos 39, is accused of their murders. Derbyshire police has referred itself to the Police Watchdog over its previous contact with mrs hancock. The liberal democrat mp layla moran has come out as pa nsexual after beginning a relationship with a woman. The mp, who announced the news on social media, sometimes when you meet the right person, it kind of happens. The mp, who announced the news on social media, said coming out in the context of being a politician had been slightly more difficult than telling her friends and family and criticised parliament as a weird, backwards place for lg btq people. The time is now ten minutes past eight. Heres matt with a look at this mornings weather. Good morning. Its getting sunnier and colderfor some
good morning. Its getting sunnier and colder for some of you today. The temperatures going into the afternoon take a bit of a dip in london relative to what they are, colder air pushing southwards, this zone of blue colours on the back edge of these weather fronts, producing lots of rain so for this morning across parts of central and southern england, parts of wales as well. The rain overfor the south west, heavy rain at the moment in east anglia, towards the south east corner, that is shifting out, gradually clearing towards the end of the morning rush hour. Mid morning time, we will see cloud hanging back for the rest of the day across parts of kent and essex but elsewhere across the country, some showers in the west, wintry in scotland, sunshine to come through the uk as we go into this afternoon but it will be a pretty blow the afternoon, especially further north, the wind arrows indicating widespread gales in northern scotland, 60 or 70 miles an hour are possible in 0rkney and shetland, adding to the wind chill but keeping things cool for all of us as we finish the afternoon. Temperatures
well down into single figures. That leads to a frost as we go into tonight, especially across southern and eastern areas, the winds are light, sky is clear, cloud thickening across scotland and Northern Ireland bringing rain to ta ke Northern Ireland bringing rain to take us into the start of the weekend. Through the weekend, the further south and east you are, you should stay largely dry. More in 30 minutes. Thank you. The time is now 12 minutes past eight. Tom watson was until recently, the deputy leader of the labour party. He stepped down as an mp ahead of last months general election citing brutality and hostility within the party. Hejoins us now. Good morning to you. Good morning. Youre talking to us about politics but also a diagnosis of type two diabetes, will talk about all that just a moment but starting if we can with what happened in general election. You had a moment to reflect. What do you think went
wrong . Not enough people voted for labour, obviously they didnt vote for the labour party because i dont think they had confidence in our ma nifesto. Think they had confidence in our manifesto. And thats a very big challenge for my party. Thankfully, im not the one who has to do the postmortem and im also the one that doesnt have to provide the solutions any more but its a big challenge for whoever wants to lead the labour party, theirfirst challenge for whoever wants to lead the labour party, their first task is to explain to 500,000 members of the labour party why we lost and why the labour party why we lost and why the labour party hasnt won for over a decade. Well come to whats going to happen in a moment but you were pa rt to happen in a moment but you were part of the labour party that came up part of the labour party that came up with the manifesto so this last manifesto i didnt sign up to, i wasnt at the meetings that are graded. But, you know, iwas part i wasnt at the meetings that are graded. But, you know, i was part of the collective leadership of the party. And i must take my responsibility for the failure as well. And i do and thats part of the reason i thought it was the right thing to stand down. So those
members of the shadow cabinet that are running for leadership and deputy leadership of the party, i think they got a particular pressure on them because they have to explain whether they think that particular ma nifesto whether they think that particular manifesto was the right one or not. How much blame the tribute toJeremy Corbyn . You know, i dont want to blame individuals on this. Im literally an ex politician now, ive retired from the house of commons. Ive got very great affection for jeremy. 0bviously, ive got very great affection for jeremy. Obviously, as leader, the responsibility is on his shoulders but its not right for me to sort of point the finger and blame people for their failings point the finger and blame people for theirfailings or point the finger and blame people for their failings or successes. Well, what did he do wrong . Well, i think thats for him to explain what he thinks you with the deputy leader, to be honest, people will expect you to know that, why cant you answer that question . expect you to know that, why cant you answer that question . I will give you a very honest answer, its not that i cant answer the question, it means im not answering that question and ill tell you why. Because ive got very great personal affection forjeremy and i have absolutely no intention of walking back into an internal row in the labour party in politics, having just taken a life decision to leave politics after 35 years at the front line. Its not myjob any more, im an ex politician, im the most chilled out person youll ever meet and im not going to do the day to day stuff. And im not going to do the daytoday stuff. Do you think that affection that youre talking about, that other people felt the Jeremy Corbyn, damage the labour party in the end . Hes a very charismatic man andi the end . Hes a very charismatic man and i think, what you are hinting at, is there a challenge that people liked him a great deal and could they see him as a Prime Minister . You know, maybe theres people out there that couldnt do that. But thats forjeremy to explain, its not for me to do. Youve made reference to brutality and hostility within the party. Can you explain that . Yeah. For me, it was sort of
daily trolling and social media from political factions, it was Death Threats that involve people being arrested, it was just a general sort of, lack of collegiate behaviour, all of those kind of things. Politics is a brutal game. And im not saying it was specific to me but i think the last couple of years the brexiteers, the sort of, you know, where the parties are moving in either direction, left and right, made it a particularly intolerant period. And for me, it was a contributing factor, it wasnt the only factorfor contributing factor, it wasnt the only factor for why contributing factor, it wasnt the only factorfor why i contributing factor, it wasnt the only factor for why i decided, contributing factor, it wasnt the only factorfor why i decided, you wait these things up, quality of life, id had this great Health Journey, im feeling chilled out, i just thought, let someone else shoulder that load. I want to go and cu re shoulder that load. I want to go and cure a shoulder that load. I want to go and curea 2 shoulder that load. I want to go and cure a 2 Million People of type two diabetes. We will come onto that, weve got plenty of time. You said
let someone else shoulder that burden. Of leading the labour party. Who has your back in . burden. Of leading the labour party. Who has your back in . I honestly havent made up my mind who i am going to vote for yet. And partly thats because i want to see leadership from the candidates, i wa nt leadership from the candidates, i want them to explain to the labour party why it lost, really, very deeply and very honestly explain what they think went wrong. Remember, in the last 11 general elections, the labour party has only won three of them, all of those under tony blair, and you know, i think they need to be very honest with our members about where they think we failed and then they need to be very strong in their leadership to explain how they are going to get us out of this mess. And i think its too early in the race to decide who that person is. Keir starmer, sorry, sally. Iwant to try and pursue a little bit on that. Keir starmer is seen by many as the frontrunner. You can push me
as the frontrunner. You can push me as hard as you want, charlie. These quys as hard as you want, charlie. These guys havent even declared they are running yet so for me to try and pick a candidate now, i think will be wrong. Ok, individuals youre not going to comment on but anyone putting themselves forward for that job who are still saying the policies we had were right, is that someone who could have your backing because there are senior figures who are still saying that. Theres obviously, my colleague richard berg and his very strongly defended the position we went into the election m, m position we went into the election in, in many senses ive got a great deal of respect for him because i think hes been very honest about where his beliefs are. I probably disagree with him on the manifesto, i think there were manifesto problems simply because it was not implementable in the lifetime of a single parliament because it was so ambitious. But i think theres a little bit of debate that needs to go on about that. But thats down to the leaders to explain. You say you havent decided yet because you want to see a leader but we are talking
about potential runners and riders that you probably known for decades. You must know who the leaders are. Ive got great personal affection for many of them but when youre making these big political decisions, personal affection doesnt come into it, you have to have a cold hearted look. Doesnt come into it, you have to have a coldhearted look. It did with Jeremy Corbyn have a coldhearted look. It did withJeremy Corbyn though, didnt it. For a lot of people it did and that may have been one of the problems but for me its important Labour Party Members reserved judgment until they see what these leaders stand for and what is on offer. A couple of times already youve said that youre chilled, you are youve said that youre chilled, you a re reflective, youve said that youre chilled, you are reflective, possibly. Do you reflect about the mistake you made in politics as well . I refer specifically to coral beach who of course was found guilty of making false allegations against senior politicians and you are very much at the centre of the campaign to expose what then was talked about as a vip be there for ring. What are your reflections now and how you behaved
in that time . Yeah, i have reflected on that time and ive apologised to lady britain for that episode, she has not accepted my apology and i respect that. But in my defence and the child abuse inquiry in westminster i will say that some very serious child abusers, like predators, went to jail over that. It did lead to an independent inquiry and institutional child abuse, we set up a Parliamentary Group of mps that looked at abuse in institutional settings like music schools so i would hope that people could look at that more broadly and reflect that actually, good was done. The tragedy of the coral beach case and at the time i said hes either a hoax or hes the real deal, because people were suggesting he was mentally ill, it turns out he was mentally ill, it turns out he was a hoaxer and he was a very cruel hoaxer, he convinced the police who had the evidence that he was the real deal and that is going to make
ita real deal and that is going to make it a lot harder for victims to come forward in the years ahead. Carl beech. Do you look back at your political career and think if i had got my act together sooner my career could have been different . Do you ever think the weight that you carried for so many years held you back . The weight that you carried. It made me a more pugilistic politician, my fight or flight pugilistic politician, my fight or flight responses were triggered about 20 times a day and i can honestly say, even when you get a tough interview on bbc breakfast, i find it very difficult to get chilled out. Barely recognisable, look at that. When you see that, what do you think up a person do you see . I dont know who he is. Well, the best thing about that is my kids are very the best thing about that is my kids are very proud of me for doing that soi are very proud of me for doing that so i really did this for my children. To put this in perspective, in those days, you were 22 stone. 22 stone. What do you wait
now . Just over 14 after christmas but i want to get below that again. I let myself go a bit at christmas. Individually detailed times in your career, your lifestyle, give us a sense, im reading through and youre talking about nine pints a night, over eating massively, that was just a normal part of your routine. Im not a massive drinker but i used to go on benders so i wasnt drinking every day. But when idid,i wasnt drinking every day. But when i did, i like good fun, i couldnt do that now. Ive not drank beer for two and a half years, now i drink a little bit of wine and the odd vodka and soda. There is a moment, sorry, sally, a moment in the book you recount going into the ministry of defence Revolving Doors and there is a number of times when your weight is either addressed by other people or you have a moment in time when you think this is difficult. What was that, 2004, i think . Very
humiliating moment, 2006, made defence minister and its obviously a very defence minister and its obviously a very secure environment defence minister and its obviously a very secure environment at the mod and theyve got these kind of tubes for the security and it opens up on one side and you go in and then it opens up on the other. And i went in and set the alarms off because id obviously exceeded the weight limit and they thought that two people we re and they thought that two people were in the tube which was a bit embarrassing but more embarrassing for the Security Guard who had to deal with it because obviously this new minister has just been stuck in a security tube at the mod. One of the things im fascinated by come in order to lose weight and this is something i think people at home wa nt to something i think people at home want to know, you didnt follow the nhs advice, did you . Thats why it was difficult when i was finally honing in on it, then cold the eight well plate that gives people a balance between carbohydrates, protein and fat. And for me, having read a lot of papers on this and there is a big row amongst nutritional scientists about it, i decided i was going to cut down carbohydrates. And the day i did i
started to get better and the weight started to get better and the weight started to get better and the weight started to fall off and my sleep improved and my cognition improved and ive been Getting Better every day since i did that. And i feel great. Is that because that suits you and your body type or is it something that other people with type two diabetes should consider . The one thing i said in my book, i dont want them ive had 35 years in politics, i dont want to preach to people so im not telling people how they do it. This story ive written is really just how they do it. This story ive written is reallyjust how i did it and if it gives people pointers as they make their own plan, i hope it can. But ive met many thousands of people who have reversed type two diabetes or lost very significant amounts of white when theyve taken the decision to reject current guidelines on nutrition and i think thats a big challenge for policymakers going forward. You talk quite a bit about your children in the book. In a way, they clearly have been a big driver around the changes youve made. Have been a big driver around the changes youve made. Yep. I reached a point where i thought i was going to die because i was so overweight. In this voice in my head, i wanted to live for them. And the proudest moment ive had in the last two yea rs moment ive had in the last two years and i mention this in the book was when i did the run forjo cox in her own constituency and my daughter did it with me. And we kind of held hands with each other when we crossed the finish line and i honestly think thats one of the proudest moments of my life because that was like a sort of real milestone for me on a Health Journey that i just realised, milestone for me on a Health Journey that ijust realised, my children had mist out on so much because i was overweight and because of the job i was doing and there we were together in this great moment. come back to the point sally made a little earlier. You had a reputation as something of a bruiser in politics. In what has been a very
confrontational time, partly linked to brexit other issues and but thats been growing over time and i think generally, there is a sense that peoplepos my gratitude for that has gone and now the new, chilled out tom watson would appear to be very much the kind of politician or possibly, im suggesting this, that people might like to see. So its almost as if youve taken yourself out of politics precisely at the time when you might have the most to offer . Is that something, i think sally asked exactly that question. For me, it was a very personal decision. When you run out of road, you run out of road. I tried to sort of you know, slightly change the direction of my party to bring a tea m direction of my party to bring a team of people together and id failed in that. So for me, it was a very easy decision. Ive only set to rule since i finished as a politician, i still want to be an instrument for good, i want 2 Million People to be rid of type two diabetes and i want to work with relentlessly positive people from
now on in. And its been quite a negative time in the last few years. I dont hold any rank or about it. It is time to do something new. And i hope i can make the country a better place. Very interesting talking to you. Tom watsons book is called downsizing time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. The rain is clearing away and it will be a drier and brighter day compared to yesterday. But it will feel colder. You will notice that in the south east, where temperatures this morning are in double figures. But that rain clears away from the south east. There will be a few showers in north west england and north scotland. Those could be wintry of a higher ground. Elsewhere, there will be plenty of
sunshine. It will be fairly gusty, especially in the far north of scotland. Temperatures will drop away this afternoon. We end the day with sunny spells. There will be a fairamount of with sunny spells. There will be a fair amount of cloud around, particularly in northern and western areas, where there will also be a bit of rain. Youre watching bbc news. Welcome to viewers in the uk on the news channel. The top story. A stri keforce has channel. The top story. A strikeforce has targeted and killed irans is military commander, the commander he was responsible for Iranian Military foreign operations and is understood to have answered directly to the countrys Supreme Leader. He has declared three days of National Mourning in iran and promised harsh vengeance. Mourning in iran and promised harsh vengeance. He was killed along with others in iraq near baghdads airport. It follows just days after iranian backed militia leaders encourage their followers to attack
the us embassy in