and some localised flooding very popular. the grandad of six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes has said his killers should never be freed. the boy was killed last year by his own father thomas hughes and his partner, emma tustin. people were flagging up there were problems. and social services got involved but said there was nothing to worry about. and australian actor rebel wilson talks to the bbc about fame, fertility and food. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. a whistle—blower who worked on the british operation to evacuate people from afghanistan has told mps that only a tiny fraction of those who asked for help received it. raphael marshall — who resigned from hisjob in september — told the foreign affairs committee in written evidence the process was "dysfunctional" and "chaotic" and it was clear that some of those left behind were murdered by the taliban. the deputy prime minister, dominic raab, who was foreign secretary at the time has denied the government was slow to make decisions. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. kabul airport last summer as thousands sought to flee the advancing taliban. amid chaotic scenes, britain and other western powers trying to evacuate those it could, but, according to a whistle—blower, there was chaos in london, too. the foreign office crisis centre was handling requests from afghans at risk from the taliban because of their links to the uk. one official working there, raphael marshall, said the process of choosing who could be evacuated was arbitrary and dysfunctional. he said up to 150,000 people applied for an evacuation under the scheme, but he estimated fewer than 5% of these people have received any assistance. it is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the taliban. mr marshall, who has since left the diplomatic service, said there were not enough staff and, one saturday afternoon, he was the only person monitoring and processing e—mails in the afghan special cases inbox. thousands of which, he said, remained unread. the chairman of the foreign affairs committee said that mr marshall's evidence raised serious questions about the leadership at the foreign office. i am deeply concerned about many of the things the whistle—blower has raised, including about all those at the very top of the department. the whistle—blower, mr marshall, was dealing with a very, very difficult situation in which many of us were trying to get out people who had served us with enormous courage and integrity for sometimes as much as 20 years. and so i am extremely concerned to hear what he said. mr marshall singled out dominic raab, then foreign secretary, who, he said, delayed taking decisions until he had all the facts set out in well—presented tables. for the foreign secretary to make this request suggests he did not fully understand the situation, mr marshall said. a source close to mr raab said the challenge was not the speed of decisions, but verifying identity and securing safe passage to the airport. a foreign office spokesman said government staff had worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people in a fortnight. our chief political correspondent adam fleming has been listening to dominic raab�*s response. adam fleming has been listening to dominic raab's response.— dominic raab's response. dominic raab is on the _ dominic raab's response. dominic raab is on the airwaves _ dominic raab's response. dominic raab is on the airwaves talking - raab is on the airwaves talking about his newjob asjustice secretary this morning but is still being haunted by his previousjob as foreign secretary and spent the morning basically defending how he handled the scales as kabul fell and people were being evacuated and how the foreign office and government as a whole operated in that period. here is some of what he had to say. this is from a relatively junior desk officer. with the volume of claims that were coming in, we needed the clear facts to be presented. i think his criticism was i was making decisions which took several hours, not days orweeks, and it wasjoint decision—making because some of the cases would have had to be decided by the defence secretary or the home secretary. we were working as a team, i think the whole effort across whitehall and government was making the best effort under incredibly difficult operational conditions and, of course, the _ situation in london and sifting e—mails, of course it was a challenge, the far bigger challenge we had was gleaning the facts on the ground and getting people safely to the airport so we could get many of those eligible people onto the aircraft and out of afghanistan. i think i spoke to you back in august, i believe, and you said at the time, with hindsight you would not have taken the holiday at that time. i wonder what you feel looking back, it is clear some left behind have since been murdered by the taliban. device that is a quote from the whistle—blower. the evacuation... look, the evacuation, as i said, took 15,000 people out, 17,000 if you take the period until april, and we worked after the august evacuation to get others out through working with the qataris to get flights out of kabul, there were several planeloads including british nationals that came out through that mechanism. we were working with third countries, uzbekistan, pakistan, to make sure we could continue the evacuation, but fundamentally it was a very difficult set of operational conditions and the history of the speed of the taliban takeover is well— known. we did, i think, a very good job under very difficult conditions but i understand that we have always recognised that given the tight window for the evacuation, some people would have been left behind and that is why we continued after the evacuation to work as i described to get people out either directly from kabul or via third countries. the questions will keep coming because the senior officials in the foreign office, the senior civil servants, will be answering questions from the foreign affairs select committee in parliament this afternoon, that is the committee which received the testimony from the whistle—blower. it which received the testimony from the whistle-blower.— which received the testimony from the whistle-blower. it was obviously an unbelievably _ the whistle-blower. it was obviously an unbelievably complex _ the whistle-blower. it was obviously an unbelievably complex and - an unbelievably complex and challenging operation to get people out, but from all of the interviews i heard mr raab do this morning, i listen to everyone, he does not accept any of what the whistle—blower said? he accept any of what the whistle-blower said? ., , whistle-blower said? he denied lots ofthe whistle-blower said? he denied lots of the particular _ whistle-blower said? he denied lots of the particular claims _ whistle-blower said? he denied lots of the particular claims and - whistle-blower said? he denied lots of the particular claims and now - of the particular claims and now there has been argy by on social media. in the whistle—blower�*s testimony he said that british military resources were used to escort animals from the animal sanctuary run by the campaign a pen farthing. pen farthing, you will remember that was a controversial story at the time, has been on twitter this morning saying no british military resources were used to escort his animals and he says the whistle—blower is inaccurate. dominic raab has pointed out that this is a person who had visibility of a certain bit of the operation. i think we will have to wait for the afternoon for the civil servants in charge of the multitude sit in front of the committee for a couple of valid to be grilled forensically, and that will be a different thing to the interviews which were quite brief, this session with committee members will be much more forensic. people coming to the uk now have to show evidence of a negative covid test taken no more than 48 hours before they travel. it's the latest in a series of measures introduced in response to the omicron variant. here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. if you want to travel to the uk, you will need to take a test first. under rules that came into force this morning, anyone over the age of 12 will have to provide proof they've tested negative for covid, even if they're fully vaccinated. it's the latest in a series of new measures brought in amid growing concern about the so—called omicron variant. the government had already reintroduced pcr tests for new arrivals. so now passengers face compulsory testing both before they travel and within two days of entering this country. the government has also brought back its so—called red list of high—risk regions. 11 southern african countries are now on it. nigeria was added yesterday. arrivals from these regions are restricted to uk and irish nationals and uk residents. anyone coming from a red—list country will have to go into supervised quarantine in hotels. a ten—day stay for an adult currently costs £2,285. the government insists the new measures are necessary to slow the spread of omicron and to protect public health. but airlines and tourism operators are deeply worried that, faced with extra costs and inconvenience, many people will simply choose not to travel at all. prices have come down, but, for a family of four, the need for tests before and after travelling can still add hundreds of pounds to the cost of a holiday abroad. we've seen a really significant drop—off of demand. consumer confidence has now been significantly diminished and undermined. the government is changing the rules far too quickly with very, very knee—jerk decisions, frankly. we've seen two changes to the travel rules within the space of a few days. the covid pandemic has already caused an unprecedented crisis in the travel industry. now operators complain thatjust as they were beginning to recover, their wings have been clipped once again. theo leggett, bbc news. all eligible adults in wales will be offered a booster vaccination by the end of january as part of efforts to combat the new coronavirus variant. the welsh government says the nhs aims to increase the number of vaccinations from 19,000 a day to more than 200,000 each week. four cases of the omicron variant have been found so far in wales, with experts warning more are set to follow. the white house has announced a diplomatic boycott of the beijing winter olympic and paralympic games, which are due to start next february. the move has been broadly welcomed across the political divide in the us, although it only applies to diplomatic and political figures — not the athletes, who have been given the white house seal of approval to take part. tanya dendrinos reports. beijing 2022. as the snow settles, olympic venues are taking shape, but the pinnacle of sport is no stranger to politics. with two months remaining, the us has announced a diplomatic boycott, saying it won't contribute to the fanfare, nor pretend it is business as usual in the face of china's egregious human rights record. the biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the beijing 2022 winter olympics and paralympic games, given the prc's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in xinjiang, and other human rights abuses. there is precedent here, but the move falls short of the 1980 us led boycott of the moscow games, where team usa athletes were pulled from the competition. the athletes will be participating, we will be rooting for the athletes from home. i am an olympics obsessed person so i am looking for way to doing that, but i think this is just an indication that it cannot be business as usual, that not sending a diplomatic delegation sends that message. but is beijing paying attention? judging by the reaction of the foreign ministry, in a press conference prior to official confirmation from the us, labelling it wishful thinking, grandstanding and politically manipulative, the answer is yes. translation: what the us should do is to correct its _ attitude, practice a more united olympic spirit and take china's concerns seriously. do not politicise sports and stop calling for the so—called diplomatic boycott of the beijing winter olympics so as not to affect the dialogue and cooperation between china and the us in important areas. if the us insists on wilfully clinging to its cause, china will definitely take resolute countermeasures. the uk and australia are among other nations considering a beijing boycott, a move backed by human rights organisations which have long argued china should never have been awarded the games to begin with. as they edge closer, it seems concerns are reaching a crescendo. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. our china correspondent, robin brant, explains what will be the fallout from the us boycott — and what countermeasures china is likely to take. i think the first thing to consider here is this was heavily telegraphed. this is not a big surprise, and it is consistent in terms of some confrontation, some competition, and some cooperation in terms of how the biden administration views china. but, it is a snub. it is a slight, and it was designed to do that. this was designed to highlight, as you just heard the biden administration's ongoing concerns about what it views as genocide being committed by china against its own people in the west. it is important to see it in all of that context. china says it will react in a like for like away. it is tough to see how it will do that. the us isn't due to host a similar event soon, although los angeles in 2028 has the summer games. i'll be looking for how perhaps the officials accompanying some of the american athletes that come here in the coming weeks, how they are treated, how the american athletes will be treated, as well, and will there be the classic but nonetheless quite effective maybe some pressure, some action, some measures against us companies operating here, particularly those associated with the games. that's one way beijing also could demonstrate its dissatisfaction with this decision. jails in england and wales are to be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs, and for testing prisoners. the ministry ofjustice is warning that action is needed to stem the flow of dangerous substances that wreak havoc in prisons. device that is a quote. measures proposed include the use of body scanners. biometric identification could also be used. and drugs dogs brought in to sniff out evidence of illegal substances. the justice secretary, dominic raab has been outlining more of what's to be included in the prisons white paper. the measurement should be how many people commit crime that are released from prison? the last time i looked it is two thirds, the reoffending rate. and it is still around that figure. here is the worrying thing, the public have paid the same over the last two years, all supply chains of rehabilitation programmes, education etc has been paid, nobody has been delivering. kelly? sorry. no, go on. the answer is you measure prison governors on how many people go back to prison. kelly, what would you do differently to the government plan? i would provide holistic support to people in prison... my experience was i did not commit a crime until i started using substances, when i started using substances my crime career went off the scale. i came out of prison for the last time, i was lucky enough to have found treatment that specialised in the cycle of addiction and the criminaljustice system and since stopping using substances i have not committed another crime. it does not take a rocket scientist to work out that if you support why the addiction has taken place, then i should imagine the criminal offences will significantly drop. kellyjudge, that was, and mark johnson, who both run or work for charities that either give inmates a voice or help people break the cycle of addiction and crime. andrea coady is policy manager at the socialjustice charity, macro and is currently the co—chair of the independent monitoring board at her local prison in surrey. thank you for talking too much, andrea coady. what do you think of the proposals from justice secretary dominic raab? —— thank you for talking to us, andrea coady. the? talking to us, andrea coady. they are an interesting _ talking to us, andrea coady. they are an interesting set _ talking to us, andrea coady. tie: are an interesting set of talking to us, andrea coady. tie1 are an interesting set of proposals and we absolutely welcomed the additional funding for a and we absolutely welcomed the additionalfunding for a range of treatment options in prison and the community, we know that drug use in prison is undoubtedly a significant problem relating to health problems, debt problems which can lead to violence, intimidation and really problematic environments in prison. but we must also ensure that once people leave prison they don't face a cliff support. where and all progress is easily lost, and so although support services are available on the outside, once we continue to release hundreds of people every month with nowhere to live and do not ensure they have the basics to get the lights by contract such as id and access to benefits, we will continue to find people leaving prison do not successfully connect with communities —— and do not ensure that they have the basics to get their lives back on track. there are some really strong elements to the white paper but there is still a long way to go. dominic raab, thejustice secretary,�*s argument is if you sort out the drugs problem in prisons, which is easier said than done, when people leave prison they are not addicted to drugs and hopefully can get on with our life without that apply to? i get on with our life without that a--l to? , get on with our life without that -- to? , ., get on with our life without that al.. to? , ., ., apply to? i suppose there are two elements to _ apply to? i suppose there are two elements to that, _ apply to? i suppose there are two elements to that, the _ apply to? i suppose there are two elements to that, the first - apply to? i suppose there are two elements to that, the first is - apply to? i suppose there are two elements to that, the first is that| elements to that, the first is that people can successfully recover from a drug issue while they are in prison, but if they come out to a lack of support and nowhere to live, no one to turn to, the barriers to people moving on with their lives become too great. people fall back into patterns of offending, back into patterns of offending, back into old ways. d0 into patterns of offending, back into old ways.— into patterns of offending, back into old ways. into patterns of offending, back into old wa s. ~ ., ., ., , into old ways. do you know how many eo - le into old ways. do you know how many peeple leave — into old ways. do you know how many peeple leave jails _ into old ways. do you know how many people leave jails in _ into old ways. do you know how many people leave jails in england - into old ways. do you know how many people leave jails in england and - people leave jails in england and wales, literally walk out with nowhere to go to, nowhere to live? before the pandemic 1000 people per month were leaving prison homeless, during the pandemic that reduced because of the additional funding put in place. for because of the additional funding put in place-— because of the additional funding utin lace. ., ., ,, , put in place. for homeless people, es? put in place. for homeless people, yes? exactly- _ put in place. for homeless people, yes? exactly. but— put in place. for homeless people, yes? exactly. but it— put in place. for homeless people, yes? exactly. but it was _ put in place. for homeless people, yes? exactly. but it was still- put in place. for homeless people, yes? exactly. but it was still 600 l yes? exactly. but it was still 600 or more peeple _ yes? exactly. but it was still 600 or more people still _ yes? exactly. but it was still 600 or more people still coming - yes? exactly. but it was still 600 or more people still coming out | yes? exactly. but it was still 600| or more people still coming out of prison with nowhere to live on the day of release. and there is also a big number who come out of prison who might have somewhere temporary, be able tuesday with friends or family for a short period, but those things are not permanent and people quite often fall into homelessness weeks or days after release. victims of crime might— weeks or days after release. victims of crime might say _ weeks or days after release. victims of crime might say if _ weeks or days after release. victims of crime might say if you _ weeks or days after release. victims of crime might say if you had - weeks or days after release. victims of crime might say if you had not. of crime might say if you had not done the crime, you would not be in jail, you may not have lost your livelihood, your kids, whatever, it is tough. livelihood, your kids, whatever, it istou~h. , , livelihood, your kids, whatever, it istou~h. , , ., is tough. absolutely, people are sent to prison — is tough. absolutely, people are sent to prison to _ is tough. absolutely, people are sent to prison to punish - is tough. absolutely, people are sent to prison to punish them i is tough. absolutely, people are | sent to prison to punish them for wrongdoing but what we want as a society is for prisons to perform the function of rehabilitating people, when people go into prison they often lose everything, their home, job, connection to their families, in some cases all of their belongings. as a society we want people to come out of the other end with the ability to not reoffend and the ability to create new lives for themselves, in doing so they create safer societies, themselves, in doing so they create safersocieties, but themselves, in doing so they create safer societies, but whilst we simply cycle people through prison in a way that almost encourages further offending, we are not doing anyone any favours.— further offending, we are not doing anyone any favours. thank you very much for talking _ anyone any favours. thank you very much for talking to _ anyone any favours. thank you very much for talking to us. _ nearly all children in england have for the behind education as a result of the pandemic, according to the education watchdog. in its annual report of state says while the long—term effects of school closures are not yet known, restrictions and repeated lockdowns has meant nearly all children have suffered. the loss of education and disrupted routine led to loneliness, boredom and misery becoming endemic eight—man young people, they develop physical and health problems. vulnerable children disappeared from teachers�* line of sight, referring to significantly lower levels of sig nifica ntly lower levels of referral to social care significantly lower levels of referral to social care and some children in care felt less safe, and in the worst cases it led to them self harming. amanda spielman is the chief inspector of ofsted and joins me now. thank you forjoining us. starting with the overall top like you suggest, nearly all children in england have had their education disrupted, how do you know? from the visits we have — disrupted, how do you know? from the visits we have been _ disrupted, how do you know? from the visits we have been doing _ disrupted, how do you know? from the visits we have been doing throughout l visits we have been doing throughout the year, through the autumn, spring and summer, apart from a few weeks wenlock demonstrations were strictest, we were visiting, discussing and demonstrating —— apart from a few weeks when the lockdown restrictions were strictest. it is very clear the great majority of children have lost a lot. my message last year was we had a renewed understanding of the incredible importance of education incredible importance of education in the lights of children and face—to—face education in schools, colleges and nurseries and the report this year reinforces that. this is all despite the very best efforts and commitment of hundreds of thousands of parents, teachers, social workers, carers, everybody working in education and care, despite all that effort. what it translated into children was way less than they would normally be entitled to expect. as with the tragic case we all spent so much time reading and talking about this weekend, for some children they are most definitely safer in school than out of school, so there is a great deal in this report that is a useful reminder in the face of how we respond to any future pandemic. you are talkin: respond to any future pandemic. you are talking about six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes who was not at school once lockdown started. how can any of us prevents cases like that? , , ., ., can any of us prevents cases like that? , , . ., ., , ., that? this is a dreadful tragedy, a callous murder _ that? this is a dreadful tragedy, a callous murder and _ that? this is a dreadful tragedy, a callous murder and like _ that? this is a dreadful tragedy, aj callous murder and like everybody else we are concerned for everybody who knew and loved him. our part in this now is to lead a joint area inspection looking at all services involved in child protection in solihull. there is a separate national review looking up the specific circumstances of his death, but we will be looking at the services more generally, how they handle child protection, notjust education and cabot health, police, probation, and what improvements can be made, and we are starting next week —— notjust education and care, but health, police, probation. vulnerable children at risk of harm developed from the light of sighted teachers, so fewer referrals to social services, some children in care were anxious, leading to increased levels of self—harm, these are some declarations from the report. do you know, for example, how many children in care self—harm does a result of feeling less safe during lockdown? we does a result of feeling less safe during lockdown?— does a result of feeling less safe during lockdown? we do not collect child level statistics _ during lockdown? we do not collect child level statistics but _ during lockdown? we do not collect child level statistics but we - child level statistics but we collect the evidence from each inspection to draw together this annual report. we look at the whole range of evidence that has come through and draw out the striking themes, and this was one of them. sorry to interrupt, do you know how many ghost children, the phrase people used to talk about kids who literally disappear from the classroom, how many of those that are? ., , ., , classroom, how many of those that are? , ~ ., , , classroom, how many of those that are? , ~ .,, , , are? nobody knows, this has been wor in: are? nobody knows, this has been worrying us _ are? nobody knows, this has been worrying us for _ are? nobody knows, this has been worrying us for years. _ are? nobody knows, this has been worrying us for years. i _ are? nobody knows, this has been worrying us for years. i have - are? nobody knows, this has been | worrying us for years. i have talked about this in the context of the growth of so—called elective home education, for some children it is elective, for others it is children squeezed out of education for any number of reasons and now we have children not in school perhaps because of parents�* covid anxiety, but we also had some children who have left the country so we have a great deal of uncertainty. it comes back to the push i have been making for a number of years for a good register of children being educated outside of school so we have the same information a school holds for a child being educated at school, so we know who the children are, where they live, taking responsibility for their education. it they live, taking responsibility for their education.— they live, taking responsibility for their education. it cannot be beyond their education. it cannot be beyond the realms of _ their education. it cannot be beyond the realms of possibility _ their education. it cannot be beyond the realms of possibility to - their education. it cannot be beyond the realms of possibility to work - the realms of possibility to work out how many children are not in school, because teachers who normally teach certain kids, like arthur labinjo—hughes, can say he is not here, and the local education authority can surely get figures of those educated at home?- authority can surely get figures of those educated at home? people come and no, those educated at home? people come and go. move — those educated at home? people come and go, move between _ those educated at home? people come and go, move between local— and go, move between local authorities, move countries, it is genuinely harder than it looks but nevertheless i think it is absolutely important we do it now. who�*s job is to correct this? pre—pandemic that government had done a consultation, i hope that will be picked up very soon and taken forward because i believe this register is urgently needed. 50 taken forward because i believe this register is urgently needed.- register is urgently needed. so the department _ register is urgently needed. so the department for _ register is urgently needed. so the department for education? - register is urgently needed. so the department for education? to - register is urgently needed. so the| department for education? to pass the legislation. _ department for education? to pass the legislation, i— department for education? to pass the legislation, i would _ department for education? to pass the legislation, i would expect - department for education? to pass the legislation, i would expect it i the legislation, i would expect it to be a local authority responsibility.- to be a local authority resonsibili . to be a local authority resonsibili. ., ., ., responsibility. 0k. looking ahead to the future for _ responsibility. 0k. looking ahead to the future for nearly _ responsibility. ok. looking ahead to the future for nearly all— responsibility. 0k. looking ahead to the future for nearly all the - the future for nearly all the children whose education you say was disrupted by the pandemic, what is key for you for these kids? this disrupted by the pandemic, what is key for you for these kids?- key for you for these kids? this is not entirely _ key for you for these kids? this is not entirely a _ key for you for these kids? this is not entirely a bad _ key for you for these kids? this is not entirely a bad news _ key for you for these kids? this is not entirely a bad news story, - key for you for these kids? this is l not entirely a bad news story, most children are resilient, we can already see signs that good, well structured face—to—face education is helping most children catch up. the daily routines, bringing back sports and extracurricular activities, this all helps to improve children�*s mental and physical health and helps them do everything we hoped they would do, but there will be some like many of those with special educational needs who will need specialist care and support, they can�*t be left wanting, and in particular children in care, children�*s homes and foster care, there is a long—standing lack of capacity in the care system and very heavy demand, and also variability in support for care leaders and we really need those tackled, but overall having all parts of the education and care systems fully backin education and care systems fully back in operation, face—to—face, working to back in operation, face—to—face, workin- to help back in operation, face—to—face, working to back in operation, face—to—face, workin- to help this back in operation, face—to—face, working to back in operation, face—to—face, workin- to help this -eneration working to help this generation achieve its potential.— working to help this generation achieve its potential. thank you for talkin: to achieve its potential. thank you for talking to us. _ achieve its potential. thank you for talking to us, andrea _ achieve its potential. thank you for talking to us, andrea coady -- - talking to us, andrea coady —— amanda spielman, the head of ofsted, the education watchdog. the headlines on bbc news... a whistle blower has claimed 95% of afghans who applied to come to britain to escape the taliban didnt get help. new travel rules mean anyone now travelling into the uk has to show evidence of a negative covid test. china slams america�*s diplomatic boycott of the winter olympics, describing it as "ideological prejudice". prisons in england and wales will be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs. with hundreds of homes in northern england still without power 11 days after storm arwen, with weather warnings in place across the uk. and rebel wilson talks to the bbc about fame, fertility and food. lets talk more about the fact hundreds of homes in the uk are without power, 11 days after storm arwen battered the coast. northern powergrid said it expected the remaining customers to be reconnected by the end of the day. but now, there�*s concern about storm barra, which is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain. the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for the whole of the uk. our ireland correspondent, chris page, has been in county down this morning, where the latest storm has already arrived. pretty blustery, you could say, victoria. storm barra has arrived in northern ireland in earnest and i have to say that the rain is heavy and horizontal, you get that feeling of it stinging your face. believe me, it�*s not very nice, so if you are in this part of the world, my advice would be very much stay indoors if you possibly can, it�*s no day for a stroll. for example, here on the promenade in newcastle, which has a reputation, deservedly, as being one of the most beautiful parts of northern ireland, today you could say that the beauty is rather raw and rugged in nature. looking at the irish sea there, you can see the waves certainly are very choppy, although it is a low tide at the moment. the rnli is warning people to stay away from the sea, not to try to, for example, get some photographs of the waves crashing against the shore line, because if you got swept away by a wave, you would be in a very dangerous situation very, very quickly indeed. gusts of wind here expected to be up to about 75 mph along the county down coast, along the county antrim coast. in—land in northern ireland, about 50 mph, so still pretty severe. the yellow weather warning means that there is a chance of damage to property and travel disruption, maybe some flooding also. across the border in the irish republic, well, things even worse in three south—western coastal counties — counties clare, kerry and cork. there�*s a red weather warning — that�*s the highest level of weather warning and parts of cork city now have flooded due to some tidal surges. other coastal areas in the republic of ireland, for example in dublin, the government advised schools to close there to ensure that everybody is safe. so it�*s definitely a day to avoid being out and about if you possibly can avoid it. there are some people, though, news reporters included, who simply have to be out and about in this weather. over the next 2a hours we can expect the weather to be pretty challenging judging by what it�*s like already. the boss of a us company has come under fire after sacking around 900 of his staff on a single zoom call. vishal garg, chief executive of a mortgage firm, told his employees — if you�*re on this call you�*re part of the unlucky group being laid off�*, adding �*the last time i did this i cried�*. he blamed staff performance and market changes for the mass—firing. let�*s listen to the moment there�*s 900 workers were told they don�*t any longer have a job with immediate effect. longer have a “0b with immediate effect. , , �* , longer have a “0b with immediate effect. , , �* longer have a “0b with immediate effect. , ,�* ., effect. this isn't news you are auoin to effect. this isn't news you are going to want _ effect. this isn't news you are going to want to _ effect. this isn't news you are going to want to hear- effect. this isn't news you are going to want to hear but - effect. this isn't news you are - going to want to hear but ultimately it was my decision and i wanted you to hear it from me. it�*s been a really, really challenging decision to make. this is the second time in my career i�*ve done this and i do not want to do this. the last time i did this, i cried. this time i hope to be stronger that we are letting off about 15% of the company. if you are on this call, you are part of the unlucky group. being laid off. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately.— gemma dale is a lecturer in employment law and business studies at liverpool john moores university. what do you think? well, where to beuin! what do you think? well, where to begin! what _ what do you think? well, where to begin! what i _ what do you think? well, where to begin! what i think— what do you think? well, where to begin! what i think is _ what do you think? well, where to begin! what i think is whether - what do you think? well, where to begin! what i think is whether you | begin! what i think is whether you are able to do that legally or not, which of course you can in america, it does not mean it is the right way to lead an organisation or the right way to treat people. i think it very much comes across as treating people like resources are not the human beings that they are. so like resources are not the human beings that they are.— like resources are not the human beings that they are. so how would ou have beings that they are. so how would you have sacked _ beings that they are. so how would you have sacked 900 _ beings that they are. so how would you have sacked 900 people? - beings that they are. so how would | you have sacked 900 people? well, beings that they are. so how would i you have sacked 900 people? well, if we're talking — you have sacked 900 people? well, if we're talking about _ you have sacked 900 people? well, if we're talking about uk _ you have sacked 900 people? well, if we're talking about uk law, _ you have sacked 900 people? well, if we're talking about uk law, there i you have sacked 900 people? well, if we're talking about uk law, there is l we�*re talking about uk law, there is a very clear process that you need to follow and there are reels and codes of practice and organisations will have their own policies and procedures as well. —— there are rules. at times companies have to make large—scale redundancies or will have large get performance issues. i don�*t think it is clear in this situation which the ceo believes is the case. so the answer in the uk would of course be to consult with your workforce, to follow all those rules and procedures and whenever you have to make people redundant or whether you have to dismiss people, there is a right way of doing it. there is a human way of doing it and i think your weight by following the law and demonstrating real empathy and concern for those individuals. 50 in concern for those individuals. so in the us this — concern for those individuals. so in the us this was _ concern for those individuals. so in the us this was illegal, _ concern for those individuals. so in the us this was illegal, so - concern for those individuals. so in the us this was illegal, so what else could this boss have done to demonstrate empathy and humanity? to try and look at the positives in the way he did it, he said i wanted to do this myself, so he didn�*t delegate it to someone below him. that is a tick i suppose, is it? he did do it that is a tick i suppose, is it? he: did do it himself but i think he also centred himself in the conversation. he talked about how he felt about it and how he didn�*t want to cry, but then he also went on to write a scathing blog post accusing his employees of stealing from the company. i his employees of stealing from the com an . ., �* ~ ., his employees of stealing from the coman . ., �* ~ ., , company. i don't think that is in relation to _ company. i don't think that is in relation to this, _ company. i don't think that is in relation to this, i _ company. i don't think that is in relation to this, i think- company. i don't think that is in relation to this, i think that i company. i don't think that is in relation to this, i think that is i company. i don't think that is in relation to this, i think that is a | relation to this, i think that is a previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think in _ previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think in terms _ previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think in terms of— previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think in terms of how - previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think in terms of how you i previous sacking incident. indeed, but i think in terms of how you do | but i think in terms of how you do something like this, there might be times when actually making a large—scale announcement is the right thing to do. however, tojust simply get people on a zoom call with no notice and say very clearly, this isn�*t great news, you�*re terminated with immediate effect, i think that�*s a really difficult message and doesn�*t show it has been had optically well. when you do something like that, you need to put in place appropriate support for those individuals, whether it is simply providing information about any termination benefits or help the organisation can give them in the circumstances. he organisation can give them in the circumstances.— organisation can give them in the circumstances. he said in the zoom call, we circumstances. he said in the zoom call. we heard _ circumstances. he said in the zoom call. we heard a _ circumstances. he said in the zoom call, we heard a bit— circumstances. he said in the zoom call, we heard a bit when _ circumstances. he said in the zoom call, we heard a bit when he - circumstances. he said in the zoom call, we heard a bit when he was i call, we heard a bit when he was talking about staff performance, productivity and market changes were behind the sackings. what he didn�*t say was the previous week they had had a cash injection from a japanese firm and a key investor of 565 million quid.— firm and a key investor of 565 million auid. ., ., million quid. indeed, and i would think for any _ million quid. indeed, and i would think for any employees - million quid. indeed, and i would think for any employees who i million quid. indeed, and i would think for any employees who are | think for any employees who are hearing that message around this is a around market changes and efficiency will potentially find that information quite hard to believe when you take that additional information into account. unfortunately, under us law at the moment, they have very little recourse. 50 moment, they have very little recourse-— recourse. so as a lecturer in employment _ recourse. so as a lecturer in employment law _ recourse. so as a lecturer in employment law and - recourse. so as a lecturer in l employment law and business recourse. so as a lecturer in - employment law and business studies or adjectives would you use to describe the way the boss did this? i would say cold, i think, is the main thing i would say. we have to remember that even in the most difficult circumstances, our people are humans, they have families. so i think i would say cold and really lacking in empathy for their personal situations.- lacking in empathy for their personal situations. lacking in empathy for their ersonal situations. . ,, , ., , personal situations. thank you very much for talking _ personal situations. thank you very much for talking to _ personal situations. thank you very much for talking to us, _ personal situations. thank you very much for talking to us, thank i personal situations. thank you very much for talking to us, thank you, | much for talking to us, thank you, gemma. gemma dale, lecturer in employment law and business studies at liverpool�*s john employment law and business studies at liverpool�*sjohn moores university. a second woman who says jeffrey epstein sexually abused her has been testifying in the ghislaine maxwell trial in new york. ms maxwell, who was a close friend of epstein, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex—trafficking and other charges. epstein took his own life in a new york prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex—trafficking charges. nada tawfik has been following events in court. the judge instructed the jury that any of the sex acts she testified about were not to be considered illegal acts. instead, the prosecution really used her to lay out their argument about how ghislaine maxwell really was central tojeffrey epstein�*s world and specifically this effort of grooming young girls for sexual abuse, and so kate detailed how she first met ghislaine maxwell at 17—years—old, at her townhome in london. she went there for tea and she said they immediately really felt at ease with each other. she said she wanted to be like ghislaine maxwell when she was older. ghislaine maxwell allegedly told her that her boyfriend, jeffrey epstein, could help her with her music career. but kate says that when she went back the next time and all the times after that, ghislaine maxwell allegedly instructed her to give jeffrey epstein a massage, which turned into a sexualised massage. she says at that point, the alleged abuse continued for years and she was even asked by maxwell to recruit other "young cute girls", as she says she put it. she said she didn�*t do that but ms maxwell of course has denied all of the allegations and in cross examination, the defence really tried to pick holes in kate�*s memories, saying at the time she was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine and questioned whether her memories could be trusted. she said that she remembered everything very well because those were significant moments in her life. they also questioned whether she was in this for money, saying that she got millions of dollars from the epstein victim compensation fund but kate, again, said she had no financial stake in this trial. the lives of many women in afghanistan were transformed overnight when the taliban took control in august. as part of the bbc�*s 100 women season, afghan women have exchanged letters with high profile women who share their interests, to explain how their lives have changed over the last few months. sodaba haidare has more. female leaders from around the world have exchanged letters with women in afghanistan who share their passions for bbc 100 women. high—profile women, including youngest ever nobel peace prize laureate malala yousafzai and footballer megan rapinoe, have shared letters with afghan women to deepen their understanding of how life for women in afghanistan has changed since the taliban took over. "masouma", not her real name, was a public prosecutor in afghanistan. she has written to one of britain�*s most distinguished lawyers, baroness helena kennedy qc, who worked with the international bar association to rescue female judges from the country as the taliban took over. i�*m proud to be a woman public prosecutor who worked in thejudiciary. i always strived to serve my people but now i can�*t return to the job i love and that consumes my thoughts. when the taliban took kabul, i knew a new war was going to be declared on women. i knew that into their sights would come the women who dared to sit injudgment on men, that women who had taken on public roles would live in mortal danger. women who were refusing to be subordinate to men. colleagues who worked in the judiciary are trying to leave. it feels like every waking moment we are waiting for our death. maybe tomorrow it will be my turn. former supermodel and refugee halima aden has shared letters with afghan university tutor aliya kazimy. aliya has told halima how it feels to no longer be able to express yourself through the clothes she wears. just imagine for a moment that you do not have the right to choose the length or the colour of your outfit, how would you feel? you wouldn�*t feel independent. i love the hijab but i�*m against being forced to wear one. it is unthinkable that anyone should be deprived of colour and sentenced to blackjust because they are a woman. when i think about you and your friends having to hide a once colourful wardrobe, i would say keep the peace for you. keep it in a place where only you know and keep it for the day that you could wear that outfit again. my heart beats for my country, its people and my family. aliya. these afghan women want to ensure their words are heard by the world until they can see a better future for their country ahead. sodaba haidare, bbc news. joining me now is soma sara who is the founder of everyone�*s invited. thank you very much for talking us. we are broadcasting right around the world so i wonder if you could explain to our audience what everyone�*s invited is. it�*s explain to our audience what everyone's invited is.- explain to our audience what everyone's invited is. it's a place for survivors _ everyone's invited is. it's a place for survivors to _ everyone's invited is. it's a place for survivors to anonymously i everyone's invited is. it's a place l for survivors to anonymously share their stories and our mission is to expose and eradicate rape culture globally. it started last summer when i decided to share some of my own experiences through my teenage years of harassment and abuse my instagram and it received an over roaming response from my peers who reached out and shared their stories with me and i began sharing hundreds of stories of harassment and rape culture on my instagram which created a permanent platform called everyone�*s invited. in march, i then asked my community once again to share their stories and it really exploded in the media and sparked this national conversation around theseissues this national conversation around these issues and instigated the ofsted review in schools, which conclusive report instructed all schools in the uk to take issues of sexual harassment and abuse online seriously. find sexual harassment and abuse online seriousl . �* ., , ., , seriously. and some of the stories, i wonder seriously. and some of the stories, i wonder if— seriously. and some of the stories, i wonder if you _ seriously. and some of the stories, i wonder if you could _ seriously. and some of the stories, i wonder if you could give _ seriously. and some of the stories, i wonder if you could give some i i wonder if you could give some examples to our audience. some of the stories of schoolgirls sharing what was happening in their school or students or people in further education of sharing what was happening were really shocking. yes. happening were really shocking. yes, absolutel , happening were really shocking. yes, absolutely, these _ happening were really shocking. 1a: absolutely, these stories detail happening were really shocking. 123 absolutely, these stories detail a wide range and wide spectrum of behaviours ranging from experience of misogyny and harassment, school girls getting groped in school corridors, being victims to coercion, image —based abuse, online sexual abuse, which is now particularly prevalent and rife among young people in this digital age. so things like nonconsensual sharing of photos and revenge pornography. images of young girls being shared on google drive is accessed by hundreds of people across london. so it really is a wide variety of abuse and behaviours and experiences which really detail how universal and prevalent these issues are across the uk. and how universal and prevalent these issues are across the uk.- how universal and prevalent these issues are across the uk. and in the main, it is — issues are across the uk. and in the main. it is boys— issues are across the uk. and in the main, it is boys and _ issues are across the uk. and in the main, it is boys and men _ issues are across the uk. and in the main, it is boys and men who i issues are across the uk. and in the main, it is boys and men who are i main, it is boys and men who are doing the groping, the raping, the sexually assaulting and sharing of sexually assaulting and sharing of sexual images. why do you think that is happening, why is it prolific? i think that we have been living in a culture that shames victims that their experiences to such an extreme extent that victims and young people and survivors are not able to speak out about these things. but i and survivors are not able to speak out about these things.— out about these things. but i want to take it one _ out about these things. but i want to take it one step _ out about these things. but i want to take it one step back _ out about these things. but i want to take it one step back if - out about these things. but i want to take it one step back if i - out about these things. but i want to take it one step back if i may, l to take it one step back if i may, what is your view about why boys and men are doing it?— men are doing it? well, it's really down to the _ men are doing it? well, it's really down to the culture, _ men are doing it? well, it's really down to the culture, at _ men are doing it? well, it's really down to the culture, at the i men are doing it? well, it's really down to the culture, at the end i men are doing it? well, it's really down to the culture, at the end of the day, the normalisation of these behaviours. things like the rise of pornography, the normalisation and objectification of women that exist on those platforms and ease and accessibility to that kind of indoctrination and a view of relationships and women. it is down tojust relationships and women. it is down to just normalisation that the culture of victim blaming and victim shaming and individual isjust not believing people when they come forward, it really a cultural problem that needs to be addressed at every level of society.— at every level of society. everyone has access — at every level of society. everyone has access to _ at every level of society. everyone has access to a _ at every level of society. everyone has access to a phone. _ at every level of society. everyone l has access to a phone. pornography on a smartphone is a click away, how do we address that? you on a smartphone is a click away, how do we address that?— do we address that? you know, it's really about — do we address that? you know, it's really about just _ do we address that? you know, it's really about just developing - do we address that? you know, it's really aboutjust developing this i really aboutjust developing this strong education that�*s needed around the reality of pornography and how, you know, this is not how relationships should be conducted amongst young people and it�*s about encouraging parents, teachers, everyone in society to take on that responsibility to encourage things like consent, respect, boundaries. these are so important and just very simple concepts which can be instilled from a very young age. find instilled from a very young age. and i didn't ask instilled from a very young age. and i didn't ask you _ instilled from a very young age. and i didn't ask you how you feel about i didn�*t ask you how you feel about being on the 100 list, what you think? congratulations!- being on the 100 list, what you think? congratulations! thank you so much. it's overwhelming _ think? congratulations! thank you so much. it's overwhelming and - think? congratulations! thank you so much. it's overwhelming and a i think? congratulations! thank you soj much. it's overwhelming and a huge, much. it�*s overwhelming and a huge, incredible honour and an amazing platform to continue the work of amplifying the voices of survivors are making sure that awareness is being raised and just driving home that this is real, this is happening and it is unacceptable.— and it is unacceptable. thank you very much _ and it is unacceptable. thank you very much for— and it is unacceptable. thank you very much for talking _ and it is unacceptable. thank you very much for talking to - and it is unacceptable. thank you very much for talking to us, i and it is unacceptable. thank you| very much for talking to us, thank you. the founder of everyone�*s invited. from december workers in new york will have to be vaccinated. the city has tried to avoid another wave of covid and help reduce the transmission of omicron. emir;r wave of covid and help reduce the transmission of omicron. early on, new york was _ transmission of omicron. early on, new york was the _ transmission of omicron. early on, new york was the epicentre i transmission of omicron. early on, new york was the epicentre of i transmission of omicron. early on, new york was the epicentre of the | new york was the epicentre of the corona virus outbreak in the united states. the man in charge of the big apple, well, he wants to make sure that does not happen again. new york city mayor bill de blasio announced that starting from december 27, all private businesses in the city will need to make sure their employees are vaccinated, with no testing opt out. more details about enforcement will be released in the coming weeks once the city has spoken to the business community. separately, the mayor said children over five will also need proof of vaccines to dine indoors. he described the aggressive measure as a pre—emptive strike against new variants during the winter months and holiday period and he said he was confident his mandate would survive the legal challenges which are sure to come. but he has less than a month in office and his successor mayor elect derek adams, he has not committed to the sweeping vaccine mandate for private employees yet. also an attempt by the biden administration to get all large employers in the country to require workers to get shots all submit to weekly testing, that stalled in court. new york city has previously imposed vaccine mandates for city workers but this will be the first of its kind for the private sector, impacting 184,000 businesses. rebel wilson describes herself in her own words as the "funny fat girl", but decided to go on a "year of health" during the pandemic. after losing more than five stone, she�*s been talking about how her weight loss attracted more attention from the press than her successful career. in an exclusive interview with nomia iqbalfor the bbc�*s 100 women season, she�*s also been speaking about her fertility struggles. in 2019 i had like four pretty successful movies come out and had done all this amazing stuff career—wise but in the next year, all i did was just lose 80 lbs and the attention that gets is more than being in an academy nominated film and producing my own movie and doing all this stuff. can i radio one headline? yeah, sure. "rebel wilson has a bond girl moment and an incredible curve—hugging swimsuit. how do you feel about that? i never thought i�*d be described anywhere near a bond girl! how do you feel about those sorts of headlines about your weight loss? is that what a woman has to do in the world, just lose weight to get attention? i know what it�*s like to be a woman who is essentially invisible to most people because of not being seen as traditionally beautiful or whatever. so i know what it�*s like when nobody holds the door open for you or, you know, just looks at you almost like you can have no value because you are not seen as good—looking to them. so i know what that�*s like. and i got a lot of pushback from my own team, actually, here in hollywood, when i said i would do this year of health. ifeel like i�*m really going to physically transform and change my life. they were like, why? why would you want to do that? because i was earning millions of dollars being, you know, the funny fat girl and being that person. and i go, well, because even though i was still very confident being bigger and loved myself, would rock a red carpet even though i was probably double the size or sometimes triple the weight of other actresses, but i still felt confident in that, but i knew deep down inside some of the emotional eating behaviours i was doing was not healthy. like i did not need a tub of ice cream every night. that was me, you know, numbing emotions using food which was not the healthiest thing. and just things i hadn�*t processed or dealt with in my life that was manifesting as emotional eating. then i was like, that was not the healthiest. but what i tried to do was share just enough that hopefully people can understand some of the struggles i�*ve been through. so i�*ve been showing things about fertility or talking about health transformation and emotional eating and what i suffered going through that, is ultimately to try to help people. the fertility issue that you�*ve talked about, that�*s really personal and intimate. yeah, i was diagnosed when i was 20 with something called polycystic ovarian syndrome, which made sense that i gained a lot of weight rapidly with that. i�*m still trying on the fertility journey, even though it is emotional and you get hopeful and then, you know, your hopes are dashed. ifeel for any woman going through it. but i was the classic example of a career woman who went out into the world, didn�*t even think about kids and then suddenly in your mid—30s, it�*s like, oh, hang on, do i want that as an option? then if i do, what do i need to do? it would be great if i had my own children but i don�*t know whether that�*s going to happen. so i�*m trying not to have any expectations set on an outcome, just that i�*m the healthiest i can be, i�*m going to try and what will happen will happen. rebel wilson talking there. you can find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on the bbc 100 women list — and the rest of the season — on the bbc news website. thousands of tesco workers at distribution centres across the uk have voted to strike in the run up to christmas over a dispute over pay. industrial action is planned to start on 20th december and will last until christmas eve — impacting just over half of the supermarket chain�*s warehouses at their busiest time of year. the death toll from the indonesia volcano eruption has risen to 34. dozens more have been injured and burnt after mount semeru erupted on saturday and buried homes in hot volcanic ash. this drone footage shows the scale of devastation in a village nearest to the volcano. rows of houses have been destroyed, as you can see, many with rooms missing and at least 11 villages in east java missing and at least 11 villages in eastjava have missing and at least 11 villages in east java have been affected. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. storm barra now making its presence felt as it moves across the uk, bringing widespread gales and also, for some northern areas, some snow. so, of course, that combination means blizzards on the hills in the north, drifting of the snow and also poor visibility. now, this area of low pressure is storm barra. you can telljust by looking at the isobars all around it it�*s going to be windy wherever you are, and we�*ve got a front wrapped around it as well. so after a dry and a bright start this morning, the rain already pushing through northern ireland in through england and wales and also scotland, engaging with the cold air in the north and readily turning to snow. but if we follow it round, look at this big curl, that weather front still producing some heavy, potentially thundery showers into the afternoon. now, the met office has copious weather warnings out. these ones are for snow, you can see ten to 20 centimetres in parts of the southern uplands and the highlands, up to five centimetres across northern england, in the hills especially. and the wind is the other feature, gusting 70 to 80 around the irish sea and the english channel, but inland we are also looking at 40 to 50 mph gusts and as storm barra pushes northwards and eastwards, those gusts will also pick up across eastern scotland. now, through the night the rain continues to move across scotland, wrapping around northern ireland in through england and also wales. there will be some wintry showers on the hills in scotland and it will still be windy except for in the centre of the low. another cold night in prospect as well. then as we head into tomorrow, storm barra is still with us. winds not quite as strong as today but as you can see from those isobars it is still going to be windy, particularly across the south—western approaches and into the english channel, and also the northern isles. now, we have got our weather front wrapped around that area of low pressure that is storm barra, so still a lot of showers or longer spells of rain, a lot of cloud, maybe one or two brighter breaks, but that will be about it, and it is going to feel cold. from wednesday into thursday, storm barra starts to weaken, the isobars start to slacken, and a ridge of high pressure builds in before the next weather front. so on thursday there will be areas of slow—moving cloud, we will see some sunshine come through, but then our next weather front�*s approaching, introducing some rain. temperatures seven to about 10 degrees, but nowhere near as windy. this is bbc news, i�*m lukwesa burak. the headlines at 11... a whistle blower has claimed 95% of afghans who applied to come to britain to escape the taliban didn�*t get help. the far bigger challenge that we had was gleaning the facts on the ground and getting people safely to the airport so we can get many of those eligible people onto aircraft and out of afghanistan. new travel rules mean anyone now travelling into the uk has to show evidence of a negative coronavirus test. prisons in england and wales will be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs. with hundreds of homes in northern england still without power 11 days after storm arwen, brace yourself for storm barra, with weather warnings in place across the uk. we are told that winds in exposed coastal areas like this could get up to around 75 mph, also heavy rain and some localised flooding very possible. the grandad of six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes has said his killers should never be freed. the boy was killed last year by his own father thomas hughes and his partner, emma tustin. people were flagging up there were problems. and social services got involved but said there was nothing to worry about. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately. and the boss of a us firm who fired 900 of his staff in a single zoom call. a whistle—blower who worked on the british operation to evacuate people from afghanistan has told mps that only a tiny fraction of those who asked for help — received it. raphael marshall — who resigned from hisjob in september — told the foreign affairs select committee in written evidence, the process was "dysfunctional" and "chaotic" — and it was clear that some of those left behind were murdered by the taliban. the deputy prime minister, dominic raab, who was foreign secretary at the time, has denied the government was slow to make decisions. here�*s our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. kabul airport last summer as thousands sought to flee the advancing taliban. amid chaotic scenes, britain and other western powers tried to evacuate those it could, but, according to a whistle—blower, there was chaos in london, too. the foreign office crisis centre was handling requests from afghans at risk from the taliban because of their links to the uk. one official working there, raphael marshall, said the process of choosing who could be evacuated was arbitrary and dysfunctional. he said up to 150,000 people applied for an evacuation under the scheme, but he estimated fewer than 5% of these people have received any assistance. it is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the taliban. mr marshall, who has since left the diplomatic service, said there were not enough staff and, one saturday afternoon, he was the only person monitoring and processing e—mails in the afghan special cases inbox. thousands of which, he said, remained unread. the chairman of the foreign affairs committee said that mr marshall�*s evidence raised serious questions about the leadership at the foreign office. i am deeply concerned about many of the things the whistle—blower has raised, including about all those at the very top of the department. the whistle—blower, mr marshall, was dealing with a very, very difficult situation in which many of us were trying to get out people who had served us with enormous courage and integrity for sometimes as much as 20 years. and so i am extremely concerned to hear what he said. mr marshall singled out dominic raab, then foreign secretary, who, he said, delayed taking decisions until he had all the facts set out in well—presented tables. for the foreign secretary to make this request suggests he did not fully understand the situation, mr marshall said. a source close to mr raab said the challenge was not the speed of decisions, but verifying identity and securing safe passage to the airport. a foreign office spokesman said government staff had worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people in a fortnight. our political correspondent, damian grammaticas is at westminster. those questions are coming back essentially. those questions are coming back essentially-— essentially. yes, and if you cast our essentially. yes, and if you cast your mind _ essentially. yes, and if you cast your mind back— essentially. yes, and if you cast your mind back at _ essentially. yes, and if you cast your mind back at the _ essentially. yes, and if you cast your mind back at the time, i your mind back at the time, obviously it was a very chaotic situation and difficult, but what was known at the time and coming out even then were dozens of stories from afghans who were desperate saying they couldn�*t get through and get messages through, believing they were eligible for help, their calls and e—mails were unanswered, we were hearing from mps here in westminster who were equally desperate, people at constituents say nero coming forward to talking to the relatives and friends in afghanistan difficult to get out at the difficulties there. what we have in this testimony is some pretty eye—catching detail about what this whistle—blower says was going on at the time. that has meant for dominic robbed the then foreign secretary this morning he was on the media around taking questions and some pretty uncomfortable times and he was saying it was a difficult situation and things could have been handled better but he took some pretty tough questions. have a listen to what he said. this is from a relatively junior desk officer. with the volume of claims that were coming in, we needed the clear facts to be presented. i think his criticism was i was making decisions which took several hours, not days or weeks, and it wasjoint decision—making because some of the cases would have had to be decided by the defence secretary or the home secretary. we were working as a team, i think the whole effort across whitehall and government was making the best effort under incredibly difficult operational conditions and, of course, the situation in london and sifting e—mails, of course it was a challenge, the far bigger challenge we had was gleaning the facts on the ground and getting people safely to the airport so we could get many of those eligible people onto the aircraft and out of afghanistan. i think these questions will not go away easily because this afternoon we are going to hear the foreign affairs select committee in the commons, it is going to be talking to the former uk ambassador to afghanistan laurie bristow and other foreign office officials, so this is very likely i think to come up there. i think mr raab himself is due before a separate committee in parliament tomorrow so questions may follow him, but also remember what the whistle—blower is alleging, we know there were people who were left behind unable to evacuate, many of them still left behind. there was a scheme the government talked about setting up and says it will set up and in the process of doing so, it still hasn�*t been concluded or isn�*t operational, the afghan resettlement scheme to get people out, the successor to the operation back then. still waiting for that. all eligible adults in wales will be offered a boosterjab by the end of january as part of efforts to combat the new covid variant. the welsh government says the nhs aims to increase the number of vaccinations from 19,000 a day to more than 200,000 each week. four cases of the omicron variant have been found so far in wales, with experts warning more are set to follow. people coming to the uk now have to show evidence of a negative covid test taken no more than 48 hours before they travel. it�*s the latest in a series of measures introduced in response to the omicron variant. here�*s our business correspondent, theo leggett. if you want to travel to the uk, you will need to take a test first. under rules that came into force this morning, anyone over the age of 12 will have to provide proof they�*ve tested negative for covid, even if they�*re fully vaccinated. it�*s the latest in a series of new measures brought in amid growing concern about the so—called omicron variant. the government had already reintroduced pcr tests for new arrivals. so now passengers face compulsory testing both before they travel and within two days of entering this country. the government has also brought back its so—called red list of high—risk regions. 11 southern african countries are now on it. nigeria was added yesterday. arrivals from these regions are restricted to uk and irish nationals and uk residents. anyone coming from a red—list country will have to go into supervised quarantine in hotels. a ten—day stay for an adult currently costs £2,285. the government insists the new measures are necessary to slow the spread of omicron and to protect public health. but airlines and tourism operators are deeply worried that, faced with extra costs and inconvenience, many people will simply choose not to travel at all. prices have come down, but, for a family of four, the need for tests before and after travelling can still add hundreds of pounds to the cost of a holiday abroad. we�*ve seen a really significant drop—off of demand. consumer confidence has now been significantly diminished and undermined. the government is changing the rules far too quickly with very, very knee—jerk decisions, frankly. we�*ve seen two changes to the travel rules within the space of a few days. the covid pandemic has already caused an unprecedented crisis in the travel industry. now operators complain thatjust as they were beginning to recover, their wings have been clipped once again. theo leggett, bbc news. joining me now is frances ingham, the independent director of the laboratory and testing industry organisation, which was set up earlier this year by a group of private testing firms to try to self—regulate the industry. thank you forjoining us this morning. how has that regulation been going?— morning. how has that regulation been auoin ? , ., :, been going? very well. there are two cateaories been going? very well. there are two categories of — been going? very well. there are two categories of testing _ been going? very well. there are two categories of testing companies i been going? very well. there are two categories of testing companies in i categories of testing companies in the country at the moment. members who sign up to an independently enforced code of conduct and two prices are transparent and accurate, and sent a group of cowboys who are also on the government register of companies where they advertise prices that are not transparent and not accurate. we would encourage people to make informed decisions before they book pcr test. let�*s before they book pcr test. let's start off with — before they book pcr test. let's start off with the _ before they book pcr test. let's start off with the first _ before they book pcr test. let's start off with the first question, what prices should they be looking according to yourselves and what prices are the cowboys advertising? the prices our members offer vary according to what you want, delivered at home or into a walk—in centre or another method. they are transparent. what you see on the website is what you pay. the problem with the cowboys on the department of health website as well, there is one on there at the moment saying you can have a test for 30 p. but there is less then a stamp. you can�*t get it. when you try and click through it comes through is something like £50. we have said consistently to the government their website is absolutely misleading and the prices advertised are simply not deliverable. when you try and book them you find you can do a test for 99p, if you go to nottingham in february. but if you want to do which now than it is a normal price, 40 or £50. we have urged the government to take more action to beat rigorous and to stop allowing companies to mislead the public about the cost of a test. what companies to mislead the public about the cost of a test.- about the cost of a test. what is the true cost — about the cost of a test. what is the true cost of _ about the cost of a test. what is the true cost of processing i about the cost of a test. what is the true cost of processing a i about the cost of a test. what is i the true cost of processing a test? it varies if you want it delivered at home or in the post or if you go into a walk—in centre. it certainly isn�*t 30p or e1. into a walk—in centre. it certainly isn�*t 30p or £1.i into a walk-in centre. it certainly isn't 30p or it— isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i mean, isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i mean. as _ isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i mean. as far— isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i mean, as far as _ isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i mean, as far as your _ isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i mean, as far as your members | isn't 30p or £1. i accept that, but i i mean, as far as your members go, but think that to street your systems factories and laboratories, how much do you cost and how much is added on of that? i how much do you cost and how much is added on of that?— added on of that? i know that it's a valid question _ added on of that? i know that it's a valid question but _ added on of that? i know that it's a valid question but there _ added on of that? i know that it's a valid question but there is - added on of that? i know that it's a valid question but there is no i valid question but there is no simple answer because it is like every private company, costs vary. the point is the costs of the websites are the costs you will pay and the cost on the government website for a lot of these companies, 30p, 90p % simply you can�*t get them. companies, 30p, 90p % simply you can't get them-— companies, 30p, 90p % simply you can't get them. what i was trying to net at i can't get them. what i was trying to get at izzy said _ can't get them. what i was trying to get at izzy said at — can't get them. what i was trying to get at izzy said at the _ can't get them. what i was trying to get at izzy said at the beginning i can't get them. what i was trying to get at izzy said at the beginning of. get at izzy said at the beginning of this interview you want customers or travellers to have informed choice in looking for the best price, so what i wanted to know is how much it costs in the lab and how much they should expect added on top of that. in terms of an informed choice what should customers be looking for? it entirely depends on what kind of service they want, whether delivered at home in 24 hours or within three hours for a walk—in centre for postal. it entirely depends on that. i know the travel industry has entirely understandably and they feel for them and made the point they want a standardised cost, but thatis they want a standardised cost, but that is entirely unrealistic. you pay a different amount to fly to amsterdam than to new york. people make a choice. the important thing is people know the price advertised is people know the price advertised is the real price. that is our criticism of government at the moment, the department of health website advertises completely unrealistic prices and you cannot get. that is a problem and that is what the government needs to address to resume public confidence in the testing process. this to resume public confidence in the testing process.— testing process. this is self-regulation - testing process. this is self-regulation for i testing process. this is| self-regulation for your testing process. this is _ self-regulation for your members. self—regulation for your members. should the government be taking control of regulating the pricing for these pcr tests? could prices come down further? thea;r for these pcr tests? could prices come down further?— come down further? they vary according _ come down further? they vary according to — come down further? they vary according to what _ come down further? they vary according to what you - come down further? they vary according to what you want. . come down further? they vary i according to what you want. when come down further? they vary - according to what you want. when you say prices have come down, the prices aren�*t the department of health websites are not the real prices, that is the reality of this. what the government ought to do is stop these cowboys putting up prices that are not deliverable, 30p, less than a stamp, absolutely unfeasible, stop these people putting their prices on a government website because it is in effect government endorsement of a scam, betting and gaming the system and pulling people in believing they can get a really cheap pcr test when they can�*t because there are costs attached to having a test sent to a laboratory that tells you whether you have got covid or not. that tells you whether you have got covid or not-— that tells you whether you have got covid or not. let�*s just bring you the latest covid death figures in the uk, published by the office for national statistics. in the week ending 26th november — the figure fell below 1,000 for the first time in five weeks — with a total of 979 deaths associated with covid—19. that�*s 111 fewer than the week period before and marks the second consecutive week that deaths from covid—19 in the uk have fallen. jails in england and wales are to be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs, and for testing prisoners. the ministry ofjustice is warning that action is needed to stem the flow of dangerous substances that �*wreak havoc�* in prisons. measures proposed include the use of body scanners. biometric identification could also be used. and "drugs dogs" brought in to sniff out evidence of illegal substances. the justice secretary, dominic raab has been outlining more of what�*s to be included in the prisons white paper. we are looking at a whole range of things, we are building 20,000 extra prison places. incarceration to protect the public is very important. we are introducing technology to make prisons safer, the x—ray body scanners can stop the flow of contraband into prisons, the drugs, weapons, mobile phones. we are also doing a range of things to make sure prisoners leave in a better place. we want early assessment of addiction to drugs or alcohol, their level of numeracy, literacy, skills, we want to encourage greater work in prisons and will be saying to governors, many of whom are doing an exceptionaljob, that is your core focus, to try to improve so that when they leave prison they are less likely to leave and they have positive community treatment for mental health or drugs. let�*s speak to andrew neilson, who is director of campaigns at the howard league for penal. how badly needed are these reforms? we are awaiting the detail of this white paper, it hasn�*t been published in full. a white paper is simply a document which sets out proposals the government may take forward, it is not hard and fast legislation, it is a consultation in effect. based on the publicity we have seen this morning, it is something of a reheat of previous announcements around drugs and prisons and security and in that sense rather disappointing. the real sting in the tail when it comes to this white paper as we do note the government is talking about massively expanding the prison estate over the next five years. their own projections suggest we will have 98,500 prisoners in england and wales by 2026, an increase of almost a quarter. any resources being put into drugs and security or any of the many other issues and prisons are going to be swallowed up by that increase on demand we are going to see as the prison system gets ever larger. what prison system gets ever larger. what do ou prison system gets ever larger. what do you make — prison system gets ever larger. what do you make of _ prison system gets ever larger. what do you make of the _ prison system gets ever larger. what do you make of the proposal to use airport scanners to detect drugs? i know some are already in use but thatis know some are already in use but that is the proposal but it will be used on prison officers as well. indeed, this is something already in use which is why i think this is something of a reheated announcement this morning. much of what is described in the way of tackling drugs is not new and successive governments have had crackdowns on drugs in prison and yet drugs in prison remain freely available. that is in the end because prisons are overcrowded and prisoners are not being taken out of their cells and into purposeful work and education, that problem has got worse during the pandemic because in order to manage covid infections prisons have been kept in their cells for up to 23 hours a day with nothing to do. prisons are adrift at the moment, there is very little sense of what purpose they have, they are literally warehousing into the jails and try to manage the infection spread and so far the white paper�*s focus on yet another crackdown on drugs will not give prisons the direction they need to do what people want witches to people�*s lives turned around so that when people do go to prison and they are policed they are less likely not more likely to commit crime. he brou:ht more likely to commit crime. he brought up the subject of the purpose of prison, what is that, is it incarceration, punishment or rehabilitation, is that the place to do it? ., , rehabilitation, is that the place to do it? :, i, rehabilitation, is that the place to doit? :, i, ,., do it? clearly prison is a punishment, _ do it? clearly prison is a punishment, the - do it? clearly prison is a i punishment, the deprivation of liberty is a punishment and that is meted down by the courts from the prison sentence handed out. they also provide a degree of public protection as dominic raab was saying earlier although if they incarcerate people and do nothing to tackle the underlying reasons the protection to the public is limited because when they are released they may be more likely to offend than before. that is why certainly rehabilitation, some focus on actually tackling those underlying issues such as a drug or alcohol addiction, mental health, poor mental health is a huge issue in presence of the moment, these are the things that need to be dressed. sometimes they can be addressed in presence and sometimes frankly for many of the people locked up winning it and wales they would be better at receiving treatment in the community. at the moment what we are seeing is prisons, terrible inspection reports on chelmsford recently talking about rat infestation, a report on earl stoke... infestation, a report on earl stoke---_ infestation, a report on earl stoke... :, , :, , infestation, a report on earl stoke... :, , , , :, stoke... one of the proposals is to assess every _ stoke... one of the proposals is to assess every new _ stoke... one of the proposals is to assess every new inmate _ stoke. .. one of the proposals is to assess every new inmate for- stoke... one of the proposals is to assess every new inmate for drug l assess every new inmate for drug addiction upon arrival. why is this done anyway? i addiction upon arrival. why is this done anyway?— addiction upon arrival. why is this done anyway? i think the proposal, we need to — done anyway? i think the proposal, we need to see _ done anyway? i think the proposal, we need to see what _ done anyway? i think the proposal, we need to see what they - done anyway? i think the proposal, we need to see what they are i done anyway? i think the proposal, l we need to see what they are saying, but it is about the methods in which they are trying to assess these things. i think any focus on trying to tackle drug addiction of is important but as say the reality is drugs are freely available in presence and have been despite successive governments and their security crackdowns and in the entities because our prisons are overcrowded and not offering positive regimes and unsurprisingly prisons drugs as a means of escape. many people don�*t take drugs in the community but do they are behind bars. :, ~ community but do they are behind bars. :, ,, , :, community but do they are behind bars. :, ,, i. ,:,, hundreds of homes in the uk are still without power — 11 days after storm arwen battered the east coast. northern powergrid said it expected the remaining customers to be reconnected by the end of the day. but now there�*s concern about storm barra, which is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain. the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for the whole of the uk. our correspondent, chris page, is on the county down coast this morning. the latest storm has already arrived. oh, dear. ican the latest storm has already arrived. oh, dear. i can see it is bad. what is going on, how bad it is that going to get?— that going to get? storm barra is still battering _ that going to get? storm barra is still battering us _ that going to get? storm barra is still battering us here _ that going to get? storm barra is still battering us here on - that going to get? storm barra is still battering us here on the i still battering us here on the county down coast. there has been a slight improvement i think over the last half hour or so in that the rain has largely stopped. earlier in the morning it was really hitting is horizontally, stinging you in the face. my colleague eugenejust behind the camera here astutely observed it was like getting stabbed in the face with multiple needles so it was really not present. it is dried up slightly, but the tide has been coming here, the town of newcastle at the foot of the mourne mountains, evidence of a danger that has been pointed out by the likes of the rnli. the promenade at newcastle is usually a very popular spot for people going for a walk. today people going for a walk. today people are being very wise and staying away because the waves are really battering against that barrier there. they are telling people not to go down near the water edge because there is a risk of being swept away by waves. the spot we are at at the moment is elevated so we are staying safe. there is a safety message going out from various authorities today. the wind is strong enough to damage property potentially, to disrupt travel, power cuts are also starting to kick in, here in northern ireland about 1000 homes and businesses are without power. the worst of those are in the city of lisbon. in the irish republic across the border things are more severe, about 60,000 households without power there. there is a red weather warning, the highest level possible, for three south—western coastal counties, cork, kerry and clare. in cork city there have been some tidal surges and flooding. in other coastal areas of the republic including dublin the government has advised schools to stay shut the date to ensure everybody stay safe. it is certainly a very challenging day as storm barra has ruled in across the atlantic. if the weather were never known and isn�*t in force until nine o�*clock tomorrow morning. the advice for people is to stay end if you possibly can, if you do have to go out, take care particularly on the roads, there is a lot of surface water because of the heavy rainfall. also some bits of debris falling across the road. driving conditions are pretty hazardous.— the maternal grandfather of six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes has said his killers should never be freed. arthur was killed in solihull last year by his father thomas hughes, who was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter, and his partner, emma tustin, who was jailed for life for murder. arthur�*s grandad peter halcrow has been outlining what he�*d like to see from the inquiry into his death. it�*s not as if it was a kind of thing that... a passing by thing. i mean, people were flagging up their problems and social services got involved but said there was nothing to worry about, you know. then, hey—ho, three orfour months later, the boy�*s dead. so how can you ask me what i would like them to consider? i mean, they must have a tick list to do. house is clean, everything�*s tidy, blah, blah, blah, so we�*ll not worry about it. but if alarm bells are ringing all around, even neighbours�* statements, then surely there must be someone or some kind of body that can step in and say, right, we�*re taking that child out of that situation, you know? if the father�*s not man enough to do that himself, then someone has to say this child is suffering and needs help and take them out the situation and i guess that�*s what social services are for. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. we are looking at widespread gales today and also some of us seeing some snow, particularly across parts of northern england and scotland. of course, that combination means there will be blizzards on the hills, there will be drifting of the snow and also poor visibility. some of us started off on a cold and frosty note but, as storm barra comes in, and this is storm barra here, you can see how it pushes northwards and eastwards, engaging with the colder air and producing some snow. but even as it moves through, all that heavy rain behind it, there will be some heavy showers, potentially thundery as well. now, wherever you are today, it is going to be windy, the strongest gusts through the irish sea and english channel, we are looking at gusts as much as 70mph or 80mph, widely inland 50—60mph gusts. this evening, if anything, the storm moves further north, taking its rain and snow with it, there will be a rash of showers coming in behind it, some of them still wintry on the hills, still windy for most, and we�*re looking at another cold night across the board. hello this is bbc news. i�*m lukwesa burak. the headlines: a whistle blower has claimed 95% of afghans who applied to come to britain to escape the taliban didn�*t get help. new travel rules mean anyone now travelling into the uk has to show evidence of a negative coronavirus test. prisons in england and wales will be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs. with hundreds of homes in northern england still without power 11 days after storm arwen, brace yourself for storm barra, with weather warnings in place across the uk. the grandad of six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes has said his killers should never be freed. the boy was killed last year by his own father thomas hughes and his partner, emma tustin. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately. and the boss of a us firm has been criticised after he fired around 900 of his staff on a single zoom call. for a full round up, let�*s go to the bbc sport centre. hello. good morning. it�*s going to be a late night, you�*ve always got to stay up for the first ball of the ashes. the first test gets under way around midnight. england have named their 12 man squad. the main headline is thatjames anderson isn�*t in it. their record test wicket taker will sit this one out. england say that he is fit and they expect him to play a big part in the series but they are managing his workload and he�*ll spend the next five days in the nets. i think with the build—up everyone has had, the guysjust i think with the build—up everyone has had, the guys just want to make sure everyone is perfect to go. he is not going to play but he is fit. it�*s a very long series and we want a guy like that to be able to play as much a part in it as possible. i think it isjust as much a part in it as possible. i think it is just a as much a part in it as possible. i think it isjust a bit precautionary. he bowled well yesterday, he will bowl again today. he is fit and the guys are just being a bit precautionary. he is fit and the guys are 'ust being a bit precautionary. butler is in. not too many other selection surprises from captainjoe root and head coach chris silverwood, ollie pope gets the nod ahead ofjonny bairstow in the middle of the batting order. ben stokes is in the mix, but the all—rounder has played next to no cricket for the past five months. jack leach is the spin option. root will name his team at the toss. so, it all begins tonight at the gabba in brisbane — test match special will have ball by ball commentary as england look to win their first ashes series in australia for ten years. patrick gearey looks at a unique contest. the english imagination, australia means danger. uncomfortable, unfamiliar, uncompromising. english cricketers are used to feeling isolated down under but rarely so literally. they�*ve had to quarantine and abide by strict and changeable australian covid rules. it�*s very different to any series we�*ve ever encountered before. but it�*s the same for both teams. you know, it�*s an environment which, and the build—up that�*s been very unique in many ways, and it will come down to how we manage, how we have managed it. not only do we not know how the series will finish, we don�*t know where either. the final test has been moved from perth due to western australia�*s covid rules. no new home for it has been announced. indeed, finding somewhere to play cricket has been a problem for england. they seem to have taken the weather with them. the likes of ben stokes have had to make the most of rare breaks in the cloud just to warm up. all this in a country where england have won just one test series in eight. in many respects, we�*ve got nothing to lose coming here. we�*ve got a great chance in the circumstances that we find ourselves in, to come and do something very special, and, you know, we should take great confidence from that going into it. so, what about the aussies? well, it all started in tears. it's an incredibly difficult decision but the right one for me. captain tim paine resigned over explicit texts he had sent in 2017. so pat cummins was given the biggest job in australian sport, less than two weeks before the series starts. it�*s the first time i�*ve put on the blazer, actually, fits ok. yeah, i think when we walk out here day one, and see a packed house and see all the tv cameras and the start of the summer, it feels like it�*s here, i think that�*s when it will hit me. where there are ashes, there must be fire. normally, it comes naturally. this is cricket at its fiercest. one thing about this strange series we can be sure of. patrick gearey, bbc news. tottenham are dealing with a coronavirus outbreak at the club. a number of players and coaching staff have been affected. spurs had a full squad available for their win over norwich on sunday but have since returned a number of positive tests. they have a must win game in the europa conference league on thursday against rennes. they will have to fulfil the fixture unless they have fewer than 13 players available or no registered goalkeeper. the match at brighton on sunday could also be affected. just some breaking rugby union news, scarlets have forefited their opening champions cup match at bristol bears on saturday because the majority of their squad are still in a quarantine hotel in belfast. they don�*t get out until friday. they were one of the four sides stranded in south africa last week when travel restrictions were tightened. they say they can�*t safely field a matchday squad. bristol have been awarded the match 28—0. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. i'll i�*ll be back in the next hour. see you then. thank you. more now on a whistleblower at the foreign office in london saying the uk operation to evacuate people from afghanistan was dysfunctional and chaotic and most people who requested help didn�*t get it. we can speak to our afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani, whojoins me from kabul. nice to see you. i don�*t know if any of this news has filtered through yet, but has there been any reaction?— yet, but has there been any reaction? :, ., :, , reaction? no real reaction but it won't come _ reaction? no real reaction but it won't come as _ reaction? no real reaction but it won't come as a _ reaction? no real reaction but it won't come as a surprise, i reaction? no real reaction but it i won't come as a surprise, certainly won�*t come as a surprise, certainly to many of the people who were trying to get out of afghanistan backin trying to get out of afghanistan back in august. i was there, as were other colleagues from the bbc at the time, and it was indeed a very, very chaotic situation. many people desperate for any kind of information about what they could do and many of them unable to access that information or really struggling to get it. when you speak to afghans who are left here who had wanted to leave the country and wanted to leave the country and wanted to leave the country and wanted to go to the uk but had been unable to do so, they are often quite bitter. they describe the situation as being one in which many undeserving people, they say, managed to get to the uk and many deserving people were left behind. no doubt, that is a generalisation and of course there are many deserving people, many deserving afghans in vulnerable situations who were successfully evacuated to the uk, but it gives you a sense of the bitterness that some people still have around this process. there are still those who worked with britain all supported western interests in afghanistan who are still here, who are still afraid that they could be targeted, potentially by the taliban. i was speaking a few minutes ago one british army interpreter. he has not been given permission to be evacuated from afghanistan, despite having sent all the correct documents to the ministry of defence, in this case. he is still waiting for a response. there are others who managed to get out of afghanistan but they are in pakistan or other countries in the region and they are still waiting to find out when and if they will be able to get to the west. in find out when and if they will be able to get to the west. in terms of what has happened _ able to get to the west. in terms of what has happened since _ able to get to the west. in terms of what has happened since that i what has happened since that deadline and the gates closed in kabul at the airport, just how much has been done in terms of getting people out and to safety? there is a scheme in place, isn�*t there? people out and to safety? there is a scheme in place, isn't there?- scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme- _ scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme- it _ scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme. it is _ scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme. it is not _ scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme. it is not exactly i scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme. it is not exactly clear i is a scheme. it is not exactly clear how it is working, that might be because some of those details are deliberately being kept secret so they cannot be disrupted. the foreign office has said that around 3000 people have been helped to leave afghanistan, it is not clear if they have all arrived in the uk. i would imagine that the language used suggest that they haven�*t. i have been told that a number of former british army interpreters and theirfamilies who had previously been given permission to be evacuated on those flights in august but had been physically unable to get inside the airport because of the frenzied means there, that they have been able to get to neighbouring pakistan, some of them have now, from there, travelled on to the uk, but as i say, others still in the process, still waiting in afghanistan. the most vulnerable section of people here, which i think this whistle—blower touches upon as well, are those afghans who might not necessarily have worked directly with british forces or the british government but who have played prominent roles in civil society, for example here. those people have really been running from pillar to post trying to find any country, including britain, who would be willing to accept them and many have really struggled to get responses. many have really struggled to get resonses. ., ~ , :, many have really struggled to get resonses. :, ~ , :, y : responses. ok. thank you very much for that. thank _ responses. ok. thank you very much for that. thank you. _ responses. ok. thank you very much for that. thank you. the _ for that. thank you. the whistle—blower also claims that an instruction from the prime minister to evacuate dogs, looked after by an animal charity, went against foreign office criteria met people at risk of being murdered were left behind. we have been told that the prime minister didn�*t intervene to ensure the removal of a charity�*s animals and staff from afghanistan in the summer. let�*s get some background to this particular aspect of the story. damian grammaticus joins me. can you put it into context? you have been _ can you put it into context? you have been hearing _ can you put it into context? ym. have been hearing through the morning about these whistle—blowers allegations about claims of what was going on at the time against the backdrop of the fall of kabul and this evacuation of thousands of people and many, many thousands more who were desperately trying to make contact with the british government to get on the list to get out. in the middle of that, was the former british serviceman penn farthing who was in kabul when a charity, looking after animals, abandoned animals, so he also was trying to get evacuated and there was a campaign around that at the time. now, the whistle—blower talked about the factor, he said, that the order was coming from... there was in order to help evacuate coming from the prime minister. he is talking about that and he says there was a direct trade—off between transporting the animals and evacuating uk nationals and afghans who had served with the british soldiers. he says that because of that, lies were put at risk. that is obviously a serious allegation. we know at the time there was this big campaign, it was claimed then that the prime minister might have intervened. downing street said he hadn�*t. the whistle—blower saying here that there was a request to help penn farthing�*s organisation. dominic dyer, who is also campaigning for animal welfare, dominic dyer, who is also campaigning foranimalwelfare, has campaigning for animal welfare, has been campaigning foranimalwelfare, has been saying this morning that they made it clear in the summer that we had created a massive campaign, the prime minister couldn�*t avoid taking action and he says the prime minister did, he did it for the right reasons, he helped get people out alongside animals. the animal transport was funded by an american billionaire but there were no british troops used to load that. they simply let people in at the gate of the airport. he said they made it clear to dominic raab who was being lobbied by mps that the concerns well for the vets and the vet nurses and getting them out because that included young women at risk. he also said that he got messages to carriejohnson, the prime minister�*s wife, through contacts there, to push this case as well. thank you very much. well we can speak to the animal rights campaigner dominic dyer right now thank you forjoining us. let�*s try and clear this up because we have had a little bit about what mr marshall alleged in his testimony. we have had background there. what do you know? i we have had background there. what do you know?— do you know? i think you have to go back to the — do you know? i think you have to go back to the start _ do you know? i think you have to go back to the start of the _ do you know? i think you have to go back to the start of the campaign. i back to the start of the campaign. we set it up in the middle of august, it was aimed at rescuing staff and dependents and another london based animal charity. the primary aim of this operation was humanitarian. we had a large number of young women working as vets and vet nurses, ground—breaking professions in afghanistan who remain under threat. we made it clear to the royal college of veterinary surgeons who came out publicly to support us with an open letter to the prime minister that there were jobs letter to the prime minister that there werejobs in letter to the prime minister that there were jobs in this country, as we had a lot of vacancies. this was a humanitarian operation. yes, we lobbied and we lobbied very successfully because millions of people got behind this campaign. yes, the animals were part of the story because we had dogs that needed to come out and cats. but to get them out, we took a private aircraft which was funded by us billionaire at £0.5 billion cost. we agree that we would allow the cargo area just to be for the animals but the passenger area for the people we would take out and also any extra people we could carry out from the airport. the tragedy was that because of actions taken by the ministry of defence and mr ben wallace halfway through this campaign to disrupt this operation, we weren�*t able to get people into the airport. in the income he had no option but to take the animals out on his own when the british withdrew. there was no british forces used. i think there was one soldier who let him in the gate. he came into a hangar area where he was held for nearly 24 hours while we waited to lain in. when the plane came in, it was american special forces that were left because of british were already gone. we made it very clear and dominic raab was in contact with us at the end of the operation, that we were desperately wanting to get people into the airport. the saddest thing of the story, there were thousands of people stuck outside that airport in open sewers, the most disgusting conditions, many of whom had been killed early in the week by suicide bombs, desperately wanted to get out, holding passports in the air, including british passport holders, and they couldn�*t get into the airport. we could have taken out and in the end it had to leave empty. that�*s a tragedy. there are a lot of people trying to protect their reputation from what was a disgusting, disastrous evacuation. they�*re trying to blame penn farthing and i don�*t think that�*s fair. the prime minister intervened to get people on the priority list to get people on the priority list to evacuate. they weren�*t at the top of the list but we made it very clear that they were at severe risk and he accepted that argument. there is no question that dominic raab was talking to him and there is no question at priti patel knew what was been happening. they were all being lobbied. my social media, i had nearly 18 million shares on the videos and posts on this campaign. it was huge in britain and around the world. yes, the prime minister intervened but he intervened for the right reasons. the problem here is he wasn�*t honest about it. when i went public in august, downing street denied it. now the whistle—blower has evidence of the intervention. they�*re trying to make trouble out of it but i think the prime minister was right to intervene. it was the right thing to do, it had huge public and political support. those people are now in school because ben got his people out. the children are now in school, the people in our safe and that is a most important issue that we must address today. most important issue that we must address today-— address today. that is important. when ou address today. that is important. when you say _ address today. that is important. when you say the _ address today. that is important. when you say the prime - address today. that is important. when you say the prime minister| address today. that is important. i when you say the prime minister did intervene, what evidence do you have? what did he actually do? the prime have? what did he actually do? ti2 prime minister had to take decisions on who could go on their evacuation list and only he could go through the big logjam in whitehall. there were tens of thousands of e—mails not even being opened in the foreign office. and these withering names all over the place. civil servants weren�*t even opening the accounts. there was no system to deal with this tragedy. the benefit we had, we had the better in virtue behind us, hundreds of that supporting us, massive public support and pen farthing, a brave man speaking out. the prime minister intervened because of that. i the prime minister intervened because of that.— the prime minister intervened i because of that._ he because of that. i understand. he wasn't wrong _ because of that. i understand. he wasn't wrong to — because of that. i understand. he wasn't wrong to do _ because of that. i understand. he wasn't wrong to do that. - because of that. i understand. he wasn't wrong to do that. that's i because of that. i understand. he l wasn't wrong to do that. that's not what i'm questioning. _ wasn't wrong to do that. that's not what i'm questioning. what - wasn't wrong to do that. that's not what i'm questioning. what we i wasn't wrong to do that. that's not what i'm questioning. what we are| what i�*m questioning. what we are trying to get to it as we have a select committee taking place, it is all about evidence, testimony and evidence, so when i say what sort of intervention, did you get an e—mail, was at a phone call? i know that you also contacted carriejohnson. if you are going to say that the prime minister intervened, how do you prove that?— minister intervened, how do you prove that? well, let me explain what happened. _ prove that? well, let me explain what happened. mr— prove that? well, let me explain what happened. mr wallace i prove that? well, let me explain| what happened. mr wallace came prove that? well, let me explain i what happened. mr wallace came into the media studios and try to attack me personally and the integrity of pen farthing in a very public and humiliating way, i think, for a secretary of state. i went publicly on to social media and said to the prime minister, and i did read out to carry that evening and ministers to carry that evening and ministers to say who is in charge here, mr wallace who seems to open the operation when we had transport ministers, defra ministers working on the support. suddenly the defence secretary was trying to stop it. i forced the prime minister's arm. the next day, the senior commander contacted me and said you can have your flight authorisation and we can get the plane on the ground into afghanistan. that's my proof. without the intervention from the prime minister, mr wallace would have continued to block the operation. he went on twitter at 130 am to do a change of policy. the day before he said pen farthing could leave on his own and leave his animals. the next day, he said he could take the animals. i have no doubt he was given a hard time. i have no doubt he was told it was turning into a disastrous story. ultimately, peoples lives were at stake and i'm glad we got them out. we were living there for now. thank very much. the boss of a us company has been criticsised after sacking around nine hundred of his staff on a single zoom call. vishal garg, chief executive of a mortgage firm, told his employees "if you're on this call you're part of the unlucky group being laid off", adding "the last time i did this i cried". he blamed staff performance and market changes for the mass—sacking let's just take a listen to the moment those 900 employees were told they no longer had a job. this isn't news that you are going to want to hear but ultimately it was my decision and i wanted you to hear it from me. it has been a really, really challenging decision to make. this is a second time in my career i'm doing this and i do not, do not, want to do this. the last time i did it, i cried. this time i hope to be stronger. but we are laying off about 15% of the company. if you are on this call, you are part of the unlucky group being laid off. your employment here is terminated effective immediately. shantha david is head of the employment law committee good morning. just how illegal was that? ., �* ., , , that? that couldn't happen in the uk. we that? that couldn't happen in the uk- we have _ that? that couldn't happen in the uk. we have specific _ that? that couldn't happen in the uk. we have specific laws - that? that couldn't happen in the uk. we have specific laws that i that? that couldn't happen in the l uk. we have specific laws that deal with dismissals and essentially would expect proper communication from your employer and not that sort of zoom call, and for any dismissal to be fair and employer needs to follow a due process, a proper process. before an employment contract can be terminated, and employer needs to have a fair reason for doing that. even if there is a fair reason and a procedure hasn't been followed, then a person can bring a claim against that employer to an employment tribunal. what is being described here is, i think, a redundancy situation which is a type of dismissal and again if certain roles are not needed or there is a change in location or a law office is closed, there still needs to be a selection process and a proper procedure followed. in the uk, we have specific rules where an employer is proposing to dismiss, so quite an early stage of the process. at that stage, an employer must inform and consult with a recognised trade union, such as the one i am head of legal services at, or with an employee representative, and that has to happen quite early in the process and a failure to do that could result in another potential claim that either a trade union all the individuals can bring against an employer which could result in the employer which could result in the employer paying sums to every individual and that is not to forget the individual claims that people can bring for unfair dismissal, payments of statutory redundancy pay, notice pay, holiday pay. each individual has a statutory cap of up to £89,493 for a cap of a weak�*s gross salary. these are issues that we in the uk employers would obviously consider first before doing that sort of thing. i’m doing that sort of thing. i'm assuming — doing that sort of thing. i'm assuming that _ doing that sort of thing. i'm assuming that if— doing that sort of thing. i'm assuming that if there is any company in the uk that thinks they can get around employment law and do something similar, there would be something similar, there would be some sort of blowback, wouldn't there? it would damage the company. yes. there certainly would be. there will be reputational damage, there would also be issues around individuals who might have protective characteristics, specific discrimination claims. the only thing i would say is that we have a tribunal system where you can bring employment tribunal claims which, due to a lack of funding, has big backlogs in claims, so that might be once small deterrent for individuals but we have remedies in the uk and employers would be wise not to follow with a sort of thing that has happened in the us today. in today's climate. what _ happened in the us today. in today's climate, what sort _ happened in the us today. in today's climate, what sort of _ happened in the us today. in today's climate, what sort of cases - happened in the us today. in today's climate, what sort of cases and - climate, what sort of cases and numbers are you seeing in terms of employment tribunal and some of the cases that you have just highlighted there, whether it is unfair dismissal, performance —related dismissal, performance —related dismissal, other cases going up? we understand that the market at the moment is pretty tight, the labour market. , , , moment is pretty tight, the labour market. , , ., market. employment cases continue at a steady pace- — market. employment cases continue at a steady pace. ultimately, _ a steady pace. ultimately, individuals need to have the resources. if you are funded by a trade union who can support you, then individual employees can bring claims to the tribunal. it is still quite a hard process to go through to bring your case against your employer. it is not an easy process. individuals realise that they have to put their head over the parapet. at the moment, you have unfair dismissal claims, you have a dismissal claims, you have a dismissal around disabilities, pregnancy related claims where people have been let off because they have told their employer that they have told their employer that they are pregnant. there is still a lot of work to be done in the uk but i'm pleased to say that i wouldn't expect this sort of thing that has happened in the us to happen in the uk. ., ~ , ., y . uk. 0k. thank you very much indeed. reassuring. — uk. ok. thank you very much indeed. reassuring. i — uk. 0k. thank you very much indeed. reassuring, i think, _ uk. ok. thank you very much indeed. reassuring, i think, for— uk. 0k. thank you very much indeed. reassuring, i think, for us mere - reassuring, i think, for us mere employees. thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. storm barra now making its presence felt as it moves across the uk, bringing widespread gales and also, for some northern areas, some snow. so, of course, that combination means blizzards on the hills in the north, drifting of the snow and also poor visibility. now, this area of low pressure is storm barra. you can telljust by looking at the isobars all around it it's going to be windy wherever you are, and we've got a front wrapped around it as well. so after a dry and a bright start this morning, the rain already pushing through northern ireland in through england and wales and also scotland, engaging with the cold air in the north and readily turning to snow. but if we follow it round, look at this big curl, that weather front still producing some heavy, potentially thundery showers into the afternoon. now, the met office has copious weather warnings out. these ones are for snow, you can see ten to 20 centimetres in parts of the southern uplands and the highlands, up to five centimetres across northern england, in the hills especially. and the wind is the other feature, gusting 70 to 80 around the irish sea and the english channel, but inland we are also looking at 40 to 50 mph gusts and as storm barra pushes northwards and eastwards, those gusts will also pick up across eastern scotland. now, through the night the rain continues to move across scotland, wrapping around northern ireland in through england and also wales. there will be some wintry showers on the hills in scotland and it will still be windy except for in the centre of the low. another cold night in prospect as well. then as we head into tomorrow, storm barra is still with us. winds not quite as strong as today but as you can see from those isobars it is still going to be windy, particularly across the south—western approaches and into the english channel, and also the northern isles. now, we have got our weather front wrapped around that area of low pressure that is storm barra, so still a lot of showers or longer spells of rain, a lot of cloud, maybe one or two brighter breaks, but that will be about it, and it is going to feel cold. from wednesday into thursday, storm barra starts to weaken, the isobars start to slacken, and a ridge of high pressure builds in before the next weather front. so on thursday there will be areas of slow—moving cloud, we will see some sunshine come through, but then our next weather front�*s approaching, introducing some rain. temperatures seven to about 10 degrees, but nowhere near as windy. this is bbc news. the headlines... the deputy prime minister dominic raab has defended his handling of the evacuation of afghanistan after a whistle—blower alleged he'd led a �*dysfunctional�* and chaotic�* operation while foreign secretary. the far bigger challenge that we had was gleaning the facts on the ground and getting people safely to the airport so we can get many of those eligible people onto aircraft and out of afghanistan. new travel rules mean anyone now travelling into the uk has to show evidence of a negative coronavirus test. prisons in england and wales will be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs. with hundreds of homes in northern england still without power 11 days after storm arwen, brace yourself for storm barra, with weather warnings in place across the uk. the waves are really battering against that barrier there. the rnli are telling people not to go down neatly water's edge because the risk of being swept away. nearly all children in england have fallen behind in their education as a result of the covid—19 pandemic, according to ofsted. despite all that effort, what it translated into for children was just way less than they would normally get and they are entitled to expect. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately. and the boss of a us firm who fired 900 of his staff in a single zoom call. the deputy prime minister dominic raab has defended his handling of the evacuation of afghanistan after a whistle—blower alleged he'd led a �*dysfunctional�* and chaotic�* operation while foreign secretary. raphael marshall made the claims in evidence to the foreign affairs select committee. he said only a tiny fraction of those afghans who'd asked for help received it. mr raab has denied he was slow to make decisions. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. kabul airport last summer as thousands sought to flee the advancing taliban. amid chaotic scenes, britain and other western powers tried to evacuate those it could, but, according to a whistle—blower, there was chaos in london, too. the foreign office crisis centre was handling requests from afghans at risk from the taliban because of their links to the uk. 0ne official working there, raphael marshall, said the process of choosing who could be evacuated was arbitrary and dysfunctional. he said up to 150,000 people applied for evacuation under the scheme, but he estimated fewer than 5% of these people have received any assistance. it is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the taliban. mr marshall, who has since left the diplomatic service, said there were not enough staff and, one saturday afternoon, he was the only person monitoring and processing e—mails in the afghan special cases inbox. thousands of which, he said, remained unread. the chairman of the foreign affairs committee said that mr marshall's evidence raised serious questions about the leadership at the foreign office. i am deeply concerned about many of the things the whistle—blower has raised, including about all those at the very top of the department. the whistle—blower, mr marshall, was dealing with a very, very difficult situation in which many of us were trying to get out people who had served us with enormous courage and integrity for sometimes as much as 20 years. and so i am extremely concerned to hear what he said. mr marshall singled out dominic raab, then foreign secretary, who, he said, delayed taking decisions until he had all the facts set out in well—presented tables. for the foreign secretary to make this request suggests he did not fully understand the situation, mr marshall said. a source close to mr raab said the challenge was not the speed of decisions, but verifying identity and securing safe passage to the airport. a foreign office spokesman said government staff had worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people in a fortnight. our afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani, is in kabul and told us about reaction to the allegations. it won't come as a surprise, certainly to many of the people who were trying to get out of afghanistan back in august. i was there, as were other colleagues from the bbc at the time, and it was indeed a very, very chaotic situation. many people desperate for any kind of information about what they could do and many of them unable to access that information or really struggling to get it. when you speak to afghans who are left here who had wanted to leave the country and wanted to go to the uk but had been unable to do so, they are often quite bitter. they describe the situation as being one in which many undeserving people, they say, managed to get to the uk and many deserving people were left behind. no doubt, that is a generalisation and of course there are many deserving people, many deserving afghans in vulnerable situations, who were successfully evacuated to the uk, but it gives you a sense of the bitterness that some people still have around this process. there are still those who worked with britain or supported western interests in afghanistan who are still here, who are still afraid that they could be targeted, potentially, by the taliban. i was speaking a few minutes ago one former british army interpreter. he has not been given permission to be evacuated from afghanistan, despite having sent all the correct documents to the ministry of defence, in this case. he is still waiting for a response. there are others who managed to get out of afghanistan but they are in pakistan or other countries in the region and they are still waiting to find out when and if they will be able to get to the west. in terms of what has happened since that deadline and the gates closed in kabul at the airport, just how much has been done in terms of getting people out and to safety? there is a scheme in place, isn't there? there is a scheme. it is not exactly clear how it is working, that might be because some of those details are deliberately being kept secret so they cannot be disrupted. the foreign office has said that around 3000 people have been helped to leave afghanistan, it is not clear if they have all arrived in the uk. i would imagine that the language used suggests that they haven't. i have been told that a number of former british army interpreters and their families who had previously been given permission to be evacuated on those flights in august but had been physically unable to get inside the airport because of the frenzied scenes there, that they have been able to get to neighbouring pakistan, some of them have now, from there, travelled on to the uk, but as i say, others still in the process, still waiting in afghanistan. the most vulnerable section of people here, which i think this whistle—blower touches upon as well, are those afghans who might not necessarily have worked directly with british forces or the british government but who have played prominent roles in civil society, for example here. those people have really been running from pillar to post trying to find any country, including britain, who would be willing to accept them and many have really struggled to get responses. our political correspondent, damian grammaticas is at westminster. we have questions coming up this afternoon but they started this morning for dominic raab. for the man who was _ morning for dominic raab. for the man who was foreign _ morning for dominic raab. for the man who was foreign secretary i morning for dominic raab. for the man who was foreign secretary at| morning for dominic raab. for the . man who was foreign secretary at the time, he has since been moved to justice secretary, but he was on the morning radio and tv shows and faced a barrage of questions about exactly the allegations that this whistle—blower has come up with. we now at the time there was chaos at the airport, all the stories coming out of afghans themselves who were desperate saying they couldn't get through. mps here also desperately trying to push cases that had been raised with them and their constituencies, also frustrated about not getting through. all this detail by the whistle—blower about what he says was going on at the time inside foreign office, including one of the claims he made that he said the foreign secretary dominic raab at wanted the information put to him in very clear tables and were sending back information that wasn't that way. mr raab has been saying that is not correct, the issue was trying to identify the right people to bring out. this is what he said when he was questioned about the whistle—blower�*s allegations. this is from a relatively junior desk officer. with the volume of claims that were coming in, we needed the clear facts to be presented. i think his criticism was i was making decisions which took several hours, not days or weeks, and it wasjoint decision—making because some of the cases would have had to be decided by the defence secretary or the home secretary. we were working as a team, i think the whole effort across whitehall and government was making the best effort under incredibly difficult operational conditions and, of course, the situation in london and sifting e—mails, of course it was a challenge, the far bigger challenge we had was gleaning the facts on the ground and getting people safely to the airport so we could get many of those eligible people onto the aircraft and out of afghanistan. in the middle of all of this going on at the time was a specific issue around a charity run by former british soldier pen farthing in afghanistan, trying to get out vets and vet workers and some of the animals. that caused a big blow up at the whistle—blower says the prime minister intervened to push for the evacuation of some of the charity staff, saying there was a direct trade—off between transporting the animals and evacuating people there. one of the campaigners who was at this end of that, dominic dyer, he said that his right, the prime minister did intervene, it was also claimed at the time in downing street and they denied it, dominic dyer said he did intervene. i forced the prime minister's arm. i think all of us behind this campaign did. the next day, the senior commander in the ministry of defence in the air force department contacted me and said you can have your flight authorisation and we could get that plane down on the ground into afghanistan. that is my proof because without the intervention from the prime minister, mr wallace would have continued to block the operation. remember, he went on twitter, effectively, at 1:30am to do a 360 degrees change of policy. the day before, he said that pen could leave on his own but his animals and people wouldn't leave. by the next day, he came out and said that pen could take his people and animals to the airport and he will get safe access out of the country. that is because the prime minister intervened and the huge pressure after the g7 summit. i have no doubt carrie johnson gave him a hard time. i have no doubt that the press office and downing street, that i know was being contacted by the daily mail and others, was telling him this was turning into a disastrous story, but, ultimately, people's lives are at stake here and i am proud we got them out. mr wallace is the defence secretary who said at the time he thought soldiers on the ground were being diverted from saving people but downing street has insisted that back then the prime minister is did not intervene. back then the prime minister is did not intervene-— some breaking news. phase two of the grenfell fire inquiry taking place. mistakes and missed opportunities created an environment for the grenfell disaster. this is the latest line coming out of that inquiry. we will bring more on the story later here on bbc news. the government's lawyer has also responded to this effectively admitting and apologising for what happened injune 2017. more on bbc news. nearly all children in england have fallen behind in their education as a result of the covid—19 pandemic, according to england's education standards body. in its annual report, ofsted says while the long—term effects of school closures are not yet known, restrictions and repeated lockdowns have meant nearly all children have suffered. amanda spielman is the chief inspector of ofsted. all eligible adults in wales will be offered a boosterjab by the end of january as part of efforts to combat the new covid variant. the welsh government says the nhs aims to increase the number of vaccinations from 19,000 a day to more than 200,000 each week. four cases of the omicron variant have been found so far in wales, with experts warning more are set to follow. we will be bringing the more. you're watching bbc news. stay with us. people coming to the uk now have to show evidence of a negative covid test taken no more than 48 hours before they travel. it's the latest in a series of measures introduced in response to the omicron variant. here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. if you want to travel to the uk, you will need to take a test first. under rules that came into force this morning, anyone over the age of 12 will have to provide proof they've tested negative for covid, even if they're fully vaccinated. it's the latest in a series of new measures brought in amid growing concern about the so—called omicron variant. the government had already reintroduced pcr tests for new arrivals. so now passengers face compulsory testing both before they travel and within two days of entering this country. the government has also brought back its so—called red list of high—risk regions. 11 southern african countries are now on it. nigeria was added yesterday. arrivals from these regions are restricted to uk and irish nationals and residents. anyone coming from a red—list country will have to go into supervised quarantine in hotels. a ten—day stay for an adult currently costs £2,285. the government insists the new measures are necessary to slow the spread of omicron and to protect public health. but airlines and tourism operators are deeply worried that, faced with extra costs and inconvenience, many people will simply choose not to travel at all. prices have come down, but, for a family of four, the need for tests before and after travelling can still add hundreds of pounds to the cost of a holiday abroad. we've seen a really significant drop—off of demand. consumer confidence has now been significantly diminished and undermined. the government is changing the rules far too quickly with very, very knee—jerk decisions, frankly. we've seen two changes to the travel rules within the space of a few days. the covid pandemic has already caused an unprecedented crisis in the travel industry. now operators complain thatjust as they were beginning to recover, their wings have been clipped once again. theo leggett, bbc news. let's just bring you the latest covid death figures in the uk, published by the office for national statistics. in the week ending 26th november — the figure fell below 1,000 for the first time in five weeks — with a total of 979 deaths associated with covid—19. that's 111 fewer than the week period before and marks the second consecutive week that deaths from covid—19 in the uk have fallen. sport and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre... it isa it is a bit like christmas eve for cricket fans. the first test gets under way around midnight. england have named their 12—man squad. the main headline is that james anderson isn't in it. their record test wicket—taker will sit this one out. england say that he is fit and they expect him to play a big part in the series but they are managing his workload and he'll spend the next five days in the nets. i think with the build—up everyone has had, the guys just want to make sure everyone is perfect to go. jimmy is not going to play but he is fit. it's a very long series and we want a guy like that to be able to play as much a part in it as possible. i think it isjust a bit precautionary. he bowled well yesterday, he will bowl again today. he is fit and the guys are just being a bit precautionary. not too many other selection surprises from captainjoe root and head coach chris silverwood. ollie pope gets the nod ahead ofjonny bairstow in the middle of the batting order. ben stokes is in the mix, but the all—rounder has played next—to—no cricket for the past five months. jack leach is the spin option. root will name his team at the toss. the borussia dortmund and england midfielderjude bellingham has been fined 40,000 euros, around 34 thousand pounds for his comments about the referee following their defeat to bayern munich in the bundesliga over the weekend. he criticised felix zwayer�*s performance and referenced his six month ban for a matchfixing scandal in 2005. the german fa found him guilty of unsportsmanlike behaviour in questioning the official�*s impartiality. tottenham are dealing with a coronavirus outbreak at the club. a number of players and coaching staff have been affected. spurs had a full squad available for their win over norwich on sunday but have since returned a number of positive tests. they have a must—win game in the europa conference league on thursday against rennes. they will have to fulfil the fixture unless they have fewer than 13 players available or no registered goalkeeper. the match at brighton on sunday could also be affected. scarlets have forefited their opening champions cup match at bristol bears on saturday because the majority of their squad are still in a quarantine hotel in belfast. and don't get out until friday. they were one of the four sides stranded in south africa last week when travel restrictions were tightened meaning they had to isolate on their return to the uk. they say they can't safely field a matchday squad. bristol have been awarded the match 28—0. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. hundreds of homes in the uk are still without power — 11 days after storm arwen battered the east coast. northern powergrid said it expected the remaining customers to be reconnected by the end of the day. but now there's concern about storm barra, which is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain. the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for the whole of the uk. our scotland correspondent james shaw is the village of abington in south lanarkshire. 0k, ok, i think the weather has arrived, then. . , , , ok, i think the weather has arrived, then. ., , , , ., then. that is true. this is what that yellow _ then. that is true. this is what that yellow warning _ then. that is true. this is what that yellow warning looks - then. that is true. this is what that yellow warning looks like | then. that is true. this is what l that yellow warning looks like in action. this is the m 74 motorway at abington in south lanarkshire. it is a high point of this really important route between carlisle and glasgow. the main road link between scotland and england on the west coast. the traffic is still moving at the moment quite fast. we have seen a couple of gritters already, so it is very clear that the authorities are trying to keep the roads clear as much as they can. but this snow is falling pretty thick and pretty fast. sometimes horizontal because of the wind. that combination of wind and snow could be a real difficulty if it continues through the rest of the day, because on high sections of the road network, if the snow settles, if the wind causes it to drip and the temperature stays low, it's about1 degrees at the moment here, quite high ground where we are at the moment, that could cause real problems, potential blockages on the road network. at the moment as you can see the traffic is still moving fairly freely but it is reallyjust a watch and wait is to see what storm barra is going to do in this particular part of scotland and across large parts of the rest of the country as well, what the impact is going to be like. the suspicion, we hope perhaps is it is not going to be quite as bad as storm arwen, but certainly where i am standing now it does feel quite bad. i’m but certainly where i am standing now it does feel quite bad. i'm sure it does, it looks _ now it does feel quite bad. i'm sure it does, it looks terrible. _ now it does feel quite bad. i'm sure it does, it looks terrible. get - now it does feel quite bad. i'm sure it does, it looks terrible. get into i it does, it looks terrible. get into the world. thank you. an update on that all—important weather is coming up that all—important weather is coming up on bbc news. jails in england and wales are to be set targets for the first time for keeping out drugs, and for testing prisoners. the ministry ofjustice is warning that action is needed to stem the flow of dangerous substances that �*wreak havoc�* in prisons. measures proposed include the use of body scanners. biometric identification could also be used. and "drugs dogs" brought in to sniff out evidence of illegal substances. the justice secretary, dominic raab has been outlining more of what�*s to be included in the prisons white paper. we are looking at a whole range of things, we are building 20,000 extra prison places. incarceration to protect the public is very important. we are introducing technology to make prisons safer, the x—ray body scanners can stop the flow of contraband into prisons, the drugs, weapons, mobile phones. we are also doing a range of things to make sure prisoners leave in a better place. we want early assessment of addiction to drugs or alcohol, their level of numeracy, literacy, skills, we want to encourage greater work in prisons and will be saying to governors, many of whom are doing an exceptionaljob, that is your core focus, to try to improve so that when they leave prison they are less likely to leave and they have positive community treatment for mental health or drugs. joining me now is sam boyd from switchback, a charity which works to help young men coming out of prison to build stable lives. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. they arejust thank you forjoining us on bbc news. they are just proposals at the moment, but do you think they will help? we moment, but do you think they will hel ? ~ . moment, but do you think they will hel ? . ., ., , help? we will wait to see the full details of course, _ help? we will wait to see the full details of course, but _ help? we will wait to see the full details of course, but we - help? we will wait to see the full| details of course, but we certainly welcome the focus on, as thejustice secretary then said, preparing people for success on release and it seems like there are some positive ideas in the mix in this white paper. howeverthese ideas in the mix in this white paper. however these are quite a lot of things we have seen before and haven�*t necessarily been delivered on and i think what is potentially still lacking is a much more ambitious long—term plan to really address of the long—standing issues in our prison system and greasy ensure that people who are sent to prison have the right support to build a stable life upon release and become active members of society. 50 become active members of society. so why haven't they been delivered so why haven�*t they been delivered so hard if they have been promised before? ., ., ., ., before? there are a range of factors sto ed before? there are a range of factors stepped there _ before? there are a range of factors stopped there has _ before? there are a range of factors stopped there has been _ before? there are a range of factors stopped there has been a _ before? there are a range of factors stopped there has been a real - before? there are a range of factors stopped there has been a real lack l stopped there has been a real lack of investment in prisons, this overcrowding, and really there is a lack of access to the support people need while they are inside. switch back provide intensive one—to—one support to people when they are in prison but crucially we carry that support on on release, but unfortunately what we see a lot of the time is people being released from prison often homeless, so around half of young men we support were released without housing in last year, without a bank account, id, without a plan or a real support to make the change that more often than not they really do want to make in their lives. that is the focus we would really like to see to make sure that support is in place for people to build a stable life after present. people to build a stable life after resent. ~ ., ., , , , present. what does it support actually look _ present. what does it support actually look like _ present. what does it support actually look like if _ present. what does it support actually look like if you - present. what does it support actually look like if you could | present. what does it support i actually look like if you could add it for us? i actually look like if you could add it for us? ~ . actually look like if you could add it for us? ~' ., ., it for us? i think there are two areas, it for us? i think there are two areas. firstly _ it for us? i think there are two areas, firstly some _ it for us? i think there are two areas, firstly some simple i it for us? i think there are two i areas, firstly some simple things around making sure people have the basic essentials to make a real chance, at access to housing, iphone, access to finance, but secondly and really crucially what that support means is skilled one—to—one support from people who can help those young men and others in prison to address their needs and to look at what they want to achieve in the future and to introduce some hope and opportunity and support to build that stable life after present. build that stable life after resent. ~ . , , , present. what is the biggest challenge? _ present. what is the biggest challenge? obviously - present. what is the biggest challenge? obviously we i present. what is the biggestj challenge? obviously we are present. what is the biggest - challenge? obviously we are hearing a lot about drugs at the moment and the use of drugs we understand has gone up whilst in prison, do you find when you talk to the young men you help they enter prison already addicted or they become addicted in prison? it is addicted or they become addicted in rison? , ., , ., ., prison? it is a combination. often lots of the — prison? it is a combination. often lots of the challenge _ prison? it is a combination. often lots of the challenge of _ prison? it is a combination. often lots of the challenge of the i prison? it is a combination. often lots of the challenge of the young men we work with in prison are facing our long—standing issues but often they are exacerbated by the experience of prison so of the young men we are working with at the moment are often spending 20 hours a day locked up in herself, so i think why the focus on reducing drug use and available to in a prison is important we also have to look at addressing why people are turning to drugs and the role of being locked up drugs and the role of being locked up in cramped cells for so long and not having the support, opportunities and the hope for the future and we need to instill in people to make sure they have a real chance of becoming active members of society on release, which will reduce reoffending and reduce the crime we want to see. you reduce reoffending and reduce the crime we want to see.— reduce reoffending and reduce the crime we want to see. you must have some very — crime we want to see. you must have some very private _ crime we want to see. you must have some very private conversations, i crime we want to see. you must have some very private conversations, but| some very private conversations, but in general how on earth are people getting the drugs in prison? ianthem in general how on earth are people getting the drugs in prison? when we talk to the young _ getting the drugs in prison? when we talk to the young men _ getting the drugs in prison? when we talk to the young men that _ getting the drugs in prison? when we talk to the young men that we - talk to the young men that we support they say drugs are very readily available in prison. i think the government have themselves suggested there is an issue with corruption with other means that drugs are getting inside prison, so thatis drugs are getting inside prison, so that is why and letting these ideas on security is important, introducing the treatment we need is also obviously vital, but as i was saying i think looking at why people are turning to drugs injail and providing more and more opportunity and that support in prison but also one lease is absolutely crucial. looking at rehabilitation, obviously er are charity and you offer some one—to—one support with young men in prison, what sort of worked as the prison service itself do? is the private sector still heavily involved in this? i private sector still heavily involved in this?- private sector still heavily involved in this? i think it has been ten _ involved in this? i think it has been ten years _ involved in this? i think it has been ten years this _ involved in this? i think it has been ten years this year i involved in this? i think it has been ten years this year says| involved in this? i think it has i been ten years this year says the government launched its rehabilitation revolution but unfortunately we have seen the reoffending rates remain stubbornly high and meanwhile the prison population is rising but i don�*t think people are not feeling safer and people are returning to prison very quickly after release, too often what we are seeing. i think what people need are the basic essentials on release but also that one—to—one support that means they have a real chance to build that stable like.— now it�*s time for a look at the weather, here�*s matt taylor. some pretty serious weather going on out there. it�*s storm barra here? it out there. it's storm barra here? it isjust arriving at out there. it's storm barra here? it is just arriving at the moment. good afternoon. some pretty stormy conditions in the west, quieter in the east of the mode. worse conditions through will be the south of albert over the coming hours winds, 70 or 80 of albert over the coming hours winds, 70 or80 mph around of albert over the coming hours winds, 70 or 80 mph around some are sickos into east of northern outcome is scotland got into the tringale develop more widely across england and wales is in scotland and to end to the day the north—east of scotland will see winds increase. quietest probably across the highlands and ireland. the chance of some snowfall across the north pennines and the scottish ills and mountains which could mount up through the afternoon at the evening rush hour, blue red by some pretty strong winds. other aspects is the rain, all the way around storm barra this hook, the centre. it is going is from some western areas at the moment but it will be preceded by a short spell a pretty intense rain, that when across eastern parts of bring it into scotland and hills note by the end of the day. showers wraparound the centre of storm barra through the evening and into the night. across many western areas initially putting three east. tonight winds will ease for some particular scotland, northern england, but ratherfor particular scotland, northern england, but rather for north of her native scotland, set and ireland it will still remain very blustery into tomorrow. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the deputy prime minister dominic raab, has defended his handling of the evacuation of afghanistan after a whistle—blower alleged he�*d led a �*dysfunctional�* and chaotic�* operation while foreign secretary. a public inquiry hears how missed opportunities by the government to learn from previous fires created the environment for the grenfell tower blaze. with hundreds of homes in northern england still without power 11 days after storm arwen, brace yourself for storm barra, with weather warnings in place across the uk. nearly all children in england have fallen behind in their education as a result of the covid—19 pandemic, according to ofsted. your employment here is terminated, effective immediately. the boss of a us firm who fired 900 of his staff in a single zoom call. cricket, and england have left their leading wicket—taker of all time — jimmy anderson — out of the team for the first ashes test in brisbane due to a calf injury. the maternal grandfather of six—year—old arthur labinjo—hughes has said his killers should never be freed. arthur was killed in solihull last year by his father thomas hughes, who was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter, and his partner, emma tustin, who was jailed for life for murder. arthur�*s grandad peter halcrow has been outlining what he�*d like to see from the inquiry into his death. it�*s not as if it was a kind of thing that... a passing by thing. i mean, people were flagging up their problems and social services got involved but said there was nothing to worry about, you know. then, hey—ho, three orfour months later, the boy�*s dead. so how can you ask me what i would like them to consider? i mean, they must have a tick list to do. house is clean, everything�*s tidy, blah, blah, blah, so we�*ll not worry about it. but if alarm bells are ringing all around, even neighbours�* statements, then surely there must be someone or some kind of body that can step in and say, right, we�*re taking that child out of that situation, you know? if the father�*s not man enough to do that himself, then someone has to say this child is suffering and needs help and take them out the situation and i guess that�*s what social services are for. that was the grandad of arthur labinjo—hughes there. the boss of a us company has been criticsised after sacking around 900 of his staff on a single zoom call. vishal garg, chief executive of a mortgage firm, told his employees "if you�*re on this call you�*re part of the unlucky group being laid off", adding "the last time i did this i cried". he blamed staff performance and market changes for the mass—sacking. let�*s just take a listen to that moment. this isn�*t news that you are going to want to hear but ultimately it was my decision and i wanted you to hear it from me. it has been a really, really challenging decision to make. this is a second time in my career i�*m doing this and i do not, do not, want to do this. the last time i did it, i cried. this time i hope to be stronger. but we are laying off about 15% of the company. if you are on this call, you are part of the unlucky group being laid off. your employment here is terminated effective immediately. joining me now is marianna fotaki, who is a professor of business ethics at warwick business school, university of warwick. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. we didn�*t see much in the way of ethics in the clip. news. we didn't see much in the way of ethics in the clip.— of ethics in the clip. thank you for havin: of ethics in the clip. thank you for having me- _ of ethics in the clip. thank you for having me. indeed, _ of ethics in the clip. thank you for having me. indeed, this— of ethics in the clip. thank you for having me. indeed, this is- of ethics in the clip. thank you for having me. indeed, this is an i having me. indeed, this is an exemplary case of how you should not lead. vishal garg, he displays a lack of empathy and lack of concern for the effective employees, it is all about him. for the effective employees, it is allabout him. his for the effective employees, it is all about him. his employees are seen as disposable, not only that, they are seen as objects. there is a time for this —— there is a term for this, we call it narcissistic leadership. it is characterised by the lack of concern for others who just don�*t see others as having the same feelings and concerns as you do and it is all about you, really, thatis and it is all about you, really, that is the most shocking part of it. when communicating the decision to 900 people without any further warning, he doesn�*t take any effort to communicate this decision to people in a way that shows concern for them and all of this is still about him. the second thing that we see here from a business ethics point of view, this is not communicated during the time of business as usual. this is a time of the pandemic and people have different expectations of their companies. i am talking about customers. i think, companies. i am talking about customers. ithink, personally, this is going to have a knock—on effect on the company because customers may think, wow, if he treats his employees the way he treats them, how will we be treated as customers? but also people have gone through a lot of hardship and people expect companies to actually stand up for their employees but also, more importantly, the message it conveys to the employees who will stay in the company is that of a detrimental one. people feel they will be treated very poorly, very inconsiderately and callously, shall i say. lead us not forget that we see the big resignation in april 20 4 million people walked out from theirjobs in the us, and there are various reasons for this but the key reason for this is that people were very disappointed and disillusioned ljy very disappointed and disillusioned by how their employers treated professor commit some people would say that is just a hard, fast reality of the business world, this is what it takes to run a business, tough decisions.— tough decisions. sure, it does, indeed, tough decisions. sure, it does, indeed. but — tough decisions. sure, it does, indeed, but there _ tough decisions. sure, it does, indeed, but there are - tough decisions. sure, it does, indeed, but there are different| tough decisions. sure, it does, i indeed, but there are different ways of doing business and also there are different horizons that businesses should be looking at. it is a service company, you rely on the commitment skills on your employees, basically, and no business can survive without committed staff. it is a very short—term view. how can i say? this is an example of how not to run businesses because we talk about sustainable businesses, not just about being in this business forjust a very just about being in this business for just a very short just about being in this business forjust a very short period of time and services must take a longer time. i wouldn�*t be surprised that if the negative publicity will be reflected in the evaluation of the company when it is floated on the stock market. i company when it is floated on the stock market.— stock market. i wonder if i could very quickly _ stock market. i wonder if i could very quickly ask _ stock market. i wonder if i could very quickly ask you, _ stock market. i wonder if i could very quickly ask you, in - stock market. i wonder if i could very quickly ask you, in terms i stock market. i wonder if i could very quickly ask you, in terms of the characters, the psychology needed to run business, you described the executive�*s character as narcissistic, do you think there is a place for that level of self belief in business? oi is a place for that level of self belief in business? of course. in order to be _ belief in business? of course. in order to be an _ belief in business? of course. in order to be an entrepreneur, i belief in business? of course. in| order to be an entrepreneur, you have to have self belief. but there is a toxicity narcissistic and a productive narcissist, creativity, thinking outside of the box but he has behaved with a lack of concern for others and you cannot run a business like that. businesses do not survive in the long term, not evenin not survive in the long term, not even in the medium term. fiic not survive in the long term, not even in the medium term. ok. thank ou ve even in the medium term. ok. thank you very much- _ even in the medium term. ok. thank you very much. thank— even in the medium term. ok. thank you very much. thank you _ even in the medium term. ok. thank you very much. thank you very much| you very much. thank you very much for havin: you very much. thank you very much for having me- _ you very much. thank you very much for having me. you _ you very much. thank you very much for having me. you are _ you very much. thank you very much for having me. you are watching i you very much. thank you very much for having me. you are watching bbc news. let�*s get more on the news that the government has admitted a series of failings in the years leading up to the grenfell tower disaster, and apologised to victims of the fire. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is with me. take us through what has been released. it take us through what has been released. , ., , .., released. it is a significant admission _ released. it is a significant admission from _ released. it is a significant admission from the - released. it is a significant i admission from the government released. it is a significant - admission from the government this morning at the grenfell tower enquiry which hasjust morning at the grenfell tower enquiry which has just started its final phase which is five months of hearings about what the government and other public bodies knew about building safety in the years running up building safety in the years running up to the grenfell tower fire in 2017. we must not forget. in response to criticism yesterday that it was simply not willing to take on a construction industry that was effectively gaming the system when it came to safety, the government has said that it has failed in the past. i can probably best handed over to jason be a qc who said this morning this to the enquiry. the department _ morning this to the enquiry. the department is — morning this to the enquiry. the department is deeply sorry for its past failures in relation to the oversight— past failures in relation to the oversight of the system that regulated safety in the construction and refurbishment of high—rise buildings. also deeply regrets past failures— buildings. also deeply regrets past failures in— buildings. also deeply regrets past failures in relation to the superintendence of the building control— superintendence of the building control bodies which themselves had a key— control bodies which themselves had a key role _ control bodies which themselves had a key role in ensuring the safe construction and refurbishment of such buildings. it apologises to the bereaved _ such buildings. it apologises to the bereaved residents and survivors of the fire _ bereaved residents and survivors of the fire for— bereaved residents and survivors of the fire for such failures. and he went on to say that this could of course never change what had happened no compensate those bereaved and survivors for the loss and grief they have suffered. this is very important because the government yesterday was told by the chief counsel to the inquiry that it has to be honest, it has to stand up and admit what has gone wrong so this does appear to be a fairly solid admission of what has gone wrong. however, the government is saying that it was for the industry to follow the rules in place at the time. the government was not responsible for the safety of individual buildings. having said all that, a lot of this inquiry will be looking in the way in which there was a deregulation of the construction industry, a cutting of red tape. the government has pretty much reversed that policy since and has put in place a whole load of changes to improve building safety, including a building safety regulator, including management of the kind of products that are allowed to be used on tall buildings, and, of course, spending £5 billion on putting right all the failures of the past.— £5 billion on putting right all the failures of the past. thank you very much. failures of the past. thank you very much- just — failures of the past. thank you very much- just going — failures of the past. thank you very much. just going to _ failures of the past. thank you very much. just going to bring _ failures of the past. thank you very much. just going to bring you i failures of the past. thank you very j much. just going to bring you some news, an update, really, to the top story today concerning the whistle—blower talking about events around the evacuation of afghanistan. essentially also pen farthing. he was fighting to evacuate animals and staff from his charity. we have 110w now got a statement, a response, from the prime minister�*s official spokesman who has denied claims made, first off, by the former foreign office official, raphael marshall, that borisjohnson or number ten intervened to help pen farthing evacuate his animals from kabul. he said that the prime minister was not involved in that, going on to say that there was also no instruction from the prime minister�*s office that we prioritised people over animals. government assistance was lifted to giving clearance of mr farthing�*s privately funded charter flight. giving clearance of mr farthing�*s privately funded charterflight. in response to this, we have also had claims by animal campaigner dominic dyer that carriejohnson and the prime minister assisted him in efforts to get staff out of kabul. the response here is this was untrue. neitherthe the response here is this was untrue. neither the prime minister nor mrsjohnson was involved. you can hear exactly what mr dyer was alleging earlier. he spoke to us here on bbc news. a denial coming from number ten�*s official spokesman. more on this as and when we get it. let�*s turn to events in america. the white house has announced a diplomatic boycott of the beijing winter olympic and paralympic games, which are due to start next february. the move has been broadly welcomed across the political divide in the us, although it only applies to diplomatic and political figures — not the athletes, who have been given the white house seal of approval to take part. tanya dendrinos reports. beijing 2022. as the snow settles, olympic venues are taking shape, but the pinnacle of sport is no stranger to politics. with two months remaining, the us has announced a diplomatic boycott, saying it won�*t contribute to the fanfare, nor pretend it is business as usual in the face of china�*s egregious human rights record. the biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the beijing 2022 winter olympics and paralympic games, given the prc�*s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in xinjiang, and other human rights abuses. there is precedent here, but the move falls short of the 1980 us led boycott of the moscow games, where team usa athletes were pulled from the competition. the athletes will be participating, we will be rooting for the athletes from home. i am an olympics obsessed person so i am looking forward to doing that, but i think this is just an indication that it cannot be business as usual, that not sending a diplomatic delegation sends that message. but is beijing paying attention? judging by the reaction of the foreign ministry in a press conference prior to official confirmation from the us, labelling it wishful thinking, grandstanding and politically manipulative, the answer is yes. translation: what the us should do is to correct its attitude, - practice a more united olympic spirit and take china�*s concerns seriously. do not politicise sports and stop calling for the so—called diplomatic boycott of the beijing winter olympics so as not to affect the dialogue and cooperation between china and the us in important areas. if the us insists on wilfully clinging to its cause, china will definitely take resolute countermeasures. the uk and australia are among other nations considering a beijing boycott, a move backed by human rights organisations which have long argued china should never have been awarded the games to begin with. as they edge closer, it seems concerns are reaching a crescendo. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the deputy prime minister dominic raab, has defended his handling of the evacuation of afghanistan after a whistleblower alleged he�*d led a �*dysfunctional�* and chaotic�* operation while foreign secretary. the animal welfare campaigner dominic dyer has told bbc news that the prime minister did intervene to ensure the removal of a charity�*s animals and staff from afghanistan in the summer. number ten has denied this. a public inquiry hears how missed opportunities by the government to learn from previous fires created the environment for the grenfell tower blaze. the longest serving female mp in the british parliament, harriet harman has announced she is stepping down at the next general election after nearly 40 years. in an email to her local party, the labour mp for camberwell and peckham, said it had been an "overwhelming honour" to represent the south london seat. first elected in 1982, harriet harman served in tony blair�*s and gordon brown�*s cabinet and was a former deputy leader of the labour party. the lives of many women in afghanistan were transformed overnight when the taliban took control in august. as part of the bbc�*s 100 women season, afghan women have exchanged letters with high profile women who share their interests, to explain how their lives have changed over the last few months. sodaba haidare has more. female leaders from around the world have exchanged letters with women in afghanistan who share their passions for bbc 100 women. high—profile women, including youngest ever nobel peace prize laureate malala yousafzai and footballer megan rapinoe, have shared letters with afghan women to deepen their understanding of how life for women in afghanistan has changed since the taliban took over. "masouma", not her real name, was a public prosecutor in afghanistan. she has written to one of britain�*s most distinguished lawyers, baroness helena kennedy qc, who worked with the international bar association to rescue female judges from the country as the taliban took over. i�*m proud to be a woman public prosecutor who worked in thejudiciary. i always strived to serve my people but now i can�*t return to the job i love and that consumes my thoughts. when the taliban took kabul, i knew a new war was going to be declared on women. i knew that into their sights would come the women who dared to sit injudgment on men, that women who had taken on public roles would live in mortal danger. women who were refusing to be subordinate to men. colleagues who worked in the judiciary are trying to leave. it feels like every waking moment we are waiting for our death. maybe tomorrow it will be my turn. former supermodel and refugee halima aden has shared letters with afghan university tutor aliya kazimy. aliya has told halima how it feels to no longer be able to express yourself through the clothes she wears. just imagine for a moment that you do not have the right to choose the length or the colour of your outfit, how would you feel? you wouldn�*t feel independent. i love the hijab but i�*m against being forced to wear one. it is unthinkable that anyone should be deprived of colour and sentenced to blackjust because they are a woman. when i think about you and your friends having to hide a once colourful wardrobe, i would say keep the peace for you. keep it in a place where only you know and keep it for the day that you could wear that outfit again. my heart beats for my country, its people and my family. aliya. these afghan women want to ensure their words are heard by the world until they can see a better future for their country ahead. sodaba haidare, bbc news. rebel wilson describes herself in her own words as the "funny fat girl", but decided to go on a "year of health" during the pandemic. after losing more than five stone, she�*s been talking about how her weight loss attracted more attention from the press than successful career. in an exclusive interview with nomia iqbal, she�*s also been speaking about her fertility struggles. in 2019, i had like four pretty successful movies come out and had done all this amazing stuff career—wise but in the next year, all i did was just lose 80 lbs and the attention that gets is more than being in an academy nominated film and producing my own movie and doing all this stuff. can i read you one headline? yeah, sure. "rebel wilson has a bond girl moment and an incredible curve—hugging swimsuit." how do you feel about that? wow. i never thought i�*d be described anywhere near a bond girl! how do you feel about those sorts of headlines about your weight loss? is that what a woman has to do in the world, just lose weight to get attention? i know what it�*s like to be a woman who is essentially invisible to most people because of not being seen as traditionally beautiful or whatever. so i know what it�*s like when nobody holds the door open for you or, you know, just looks at you almost like you can have no value because you are not seen as good—looking to them. so i know what that�*s like. and i got a lot of pushback from my own team, actually, here in hollywood, when i said i would do this year of health. ifeel like i�*m really going to physically transform and change my life. they were like, "why? "why would you want to do that?" because i was earning millions of dollars being, you know, the funny fat girl and being that person. and i go, well, because even though i was still very confident being bigger and loved myself, would rock a red carpet even though i was probably double the size or sometimes triple the weight of other actresses, but i still felt confident in that, but i knew deep down inside some of the emotional eating behaviours i was doing was not healthy. like i did not need a tub of ice cream every night. that was me, you know, numbing emotions using food which was not the healthiest thing. and just things i hadn�*t processed or dealt with in my life that was manifesting as emotional eating. then i was like, that is not the healthiest. but what i tried to do was share just enough that hopefully people can understand some of the struggles i�*ve been through. so i�*ve been showing things about fertility or talking about health transformation and emotional eating and what i suffered going through that, is ultimately to try to help people. the fertility issue that you�*ve talked about, that�*s really personal and intimate. yeah, i was diagnosed when i was 20 with something called polycystic ovarian syndrome, which made sense that i gained a lot of weight rapidly with that. i�*m still trying on the fertility journey, even though it is emotional and you get hopeful and then, you know, your hopes are dashed. ifeel for any woman going through it. but i was the classic example of a career woman who went out into the world, didn�*t even think about kids and then suddenly in your mid—30s, it�*s like, oh, hang on, do i want that as an option? then if i do, what do i need to do? it would be great if i had my own children but i don�*t know whether that�*s going to happen. so i�*m trying not to have any expectations set on an outcome, just that i�*m the healthiest i can be, i�*m going to try and what will happen will happen. rebel wilson talking there. in a moment it will be time for the bbc news you can find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on the "bbc 100 women" list — and the rest of the season — on the bbc news website. in a moment it will be time for the bbc news at one with ben brown. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. a pretty unpleasant second half of the day out there for many of you, quite stormy in places too. storm barra is with us. not only we�*ve got an area of heavy rain sweeping its way northwards and eastwards, but gales now developing quite widely and for time is going to be some snow on the hills across the north. still with the winds, first of all, because the strongest remains around these irish sea coasts. but across the rest of the country, particularly across wales, england, southern scotland, will see widespread gales. and then into the end of the day, those winds will strengthen in the northeast of scotland, too. this is how barra looked on the satellite imagery from earlier. you can see the swirl. it�*s around the hook where we saw the strongest of the winds, particularly across parts of south west ireland, but on the forward edge of it, running into cold air and through the rest of today, the north pennines into the hills of scotland, we could see not only a covering of snow, but a few centimetres for one or two, and that blowing around in strong winds too. the rest of the country, though, for the remainder of today, heavy rain pushing its way eastwards across the eastern half of england. before it clears, there�*ll be a short burst of intense rain, then clearer skies and a mixture of clear spells and showers. it remains windy, milder across the south west, colderthe winds to the north and the east. so as you go through tonight, the snow continues to fall across the grampians. rain piling in the north—east of scotland, showers revolving around the centre of our storm throughout the night. it is going to stay windy, particular across some southern and western areas. and any clear skies between the showers, temperatures could temporarily dip low enough for a touch of frost and ice. so this is the chart for wednesday. storm barra is with us. it�*s very slow moving now. it�*s starting to weaken, but it�*s around the edges where we�*ll see the strongest of the winds. so gales from the north—west of ireland down towards the south west and through the english channel and also across orkney and shetland, in between, winds probably lighter then will finish on tuesday. mixture of sunshine and showers, some longer spells of rain across parts of ireland and into parts of wales, wintry over the hills. and it will be a cold day out there. storm barra continuesjust to fizzle off in situ across us as we head then through into thursday it will mean it�*s could be a cold start on thursday, some frost, some patchy fog as well. for most, though, it will be a dry day. some spells of sunshine, best in the east, clouding over into the west later in the day with outbreaks of rain developing. and it will feel a touch milder out there, milder still as you go through towards next week. a foreign office whistle—blower says a foreign office whistle—blower says to get out after the taliban the government�*s evacuation the government�*s evacuation operation in afghanistan operation in afghanistan was dysfunctional and chaotic. was dysfunctional and chaotic. he says that of the thousands trying he says that of the thousands trying to get out after the taliban takeover, the uk only helped a tiny fraction. the foreign secretary at the time defends the handling of the crisis. the history of the speed of the taliban takeover is well known. we did, i think, a very good job — under very difficult conditions. in his evidence to mp5, the whistleblower says it�*s clear some of those britain failed to help have since been murdered by the taliban — we�*ll be live in kabul. also this lunchtime... the government admits a series of failings in the years leading up to the grenfell tower disaster, and says it�*s deeply sorry. after storm arwen, now it�*s storm barra that�*s battering parts of the uk with gusty winds and heavy rainfall.