the world record for rowing across the atlantic. borisjohnson has ordered a cabinet office inquiry into claims made by a muslim mp who says her faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. nusrat ghani welcomed the inquiry, saying all she wanted was for the matter to be taken seriously. the government's chief whip, mark spencer, said ms ghani's allegation referred to him, but he said the claims were completely false. the new cabinet office inquiry comes at the beginning of what is likely to be a difficult week for the prime minister, with the expected publication of a report into parties on government premises that took place when coronavirus restrictions were in place. from westminster, here's ione wells. as one inquiry into parties here is about to draw to a close, another one is about to open. this time into claims made by the tory mp nusrat ghani, who's said this weekend that she had been told by a party whip that her muslimness was a reason she was sacked as a transport minister. claims strongly denied by the chief whip mark spencer, who said he was the whip in question and called her claims defamatory. miss ghani said she raised the issue with the prime minister in 2020 and urged him to start an inquiry, but that he had told her to complain to the tory party instead. but this morning no 10 have said there will be an investigation. we take these allegations extremely seriously, i took them seriously when they were raised with me 18 months ago. very glad this an investigation taking place now. very glad there is an investigation taking place now. on sunday night cabinet ministers, including the health secretary sajid javid and education secretary nadhim zahawi were amanage those calling for her claims to be investigated. these are you know really serious allegations and you know no one makes those easily, it takes a lot of bravery for somebody to stand up and say this and make these allegations, which is why we have to look at this quickly, but thoroughly, which is why the prime minister has made the right decision to get the cabinet office to look at this. but the conservative party peer baroness sayeeda warsi said this inquiry is only a start. it has to go much deeper than that. this is somebody - who was a government minister who, was told - that herjob came to an end, because of protected characteristics is actually against _ the law. it's not yet clear who will be fronting this new inquiry. labour's deputy leader angela rayner said the prime minister's independent ethics advisor lord geidt should be put in charge, claiming that the chief whip mark spencer could have broken the ministerial code. now, this all comes at a time when mark spencer and other government whips are under pressure and facing allegations for blackmailing tory mps into supporting the prime minister, claims which no 10 say they don't recognise, but which the conservative mp william wragg said he will be taking up with the police. it's a bruising week ahead, as another major report into behaviour in government is about to drop. sue gray's investigation into parties across whitehall during covid restrictions. the prime minister's former top aide, dominic cummings said he has answered her questions in writing. reporter: have you spoken to to sue gray today, mr cummings? he's already claimed the prime minister was warned one party in may 2020 should not go ahead, which borisjohnson denies. for many mps, this report will help them decide whether it is time to end johnson's leadership. and with a fresh inquiry announced today, he'll be hoping he can win back their support. and the bbc has learned that conservative mp william wragg has met with the metropolitan police this morning to discuss those claims of intimidation and blackmail. our political correspondent ione wells is at westminster. first of all, let's talk about this cabinet office inquiry that has been launched into the claims by the muslim mp nusrat ghani. they date back to 2020, why is it only coming to light now?— to light now? that's right. that is at the heart _ to light now? that's right. that is at the heart of _ to light now? that's right. that is at the heart of the _ to light now? that's right. that is at the heart of the allegations. i to light now? that's right. that is i at the heart of the allegations. she has said she raised the allegations at the time, that she spoke with the prime minister as well. at the time, the prime minister had advised her to make a complaint through the conservative party complaint process. now, that wasn't something that she wanted to do for a number of reasons. she said this particular incident happened in a government capacity, involved her role as a government minister and wasn't a matterfor government minister and wasn't a matter for the conservative party in her opinion. she has said as has baroness sayeeda warsi it is an issue she has been raising privately for some time and only now she felt she had to speak out for it to get the recognition she felt was needed to try and launch this inquiry. just today downing street have confirmed there will be a cabinet office inquiry led by the team looking into these claims that she has made regarding her position as a transport minister, which she said that she was sacked from that role after a whip in government told her that her muslim faith was an issue. we saw this extraordinary intervention on twitter from the chief whip, mark spencer, who identified himself as the whip concerned he called the allegation defamatory. it could be that at the moment it is her word against his right now. moment it is her word against his riaht now. �* , moment it is her word against his riaht now. 3 ., ~ moment it is her word against his riaht now. �*, ., ~ ., . ., right now. let's talk about william wra: . , right now. let's talk about william wragg. who _ right now. let's talk about william wragg. who has — right now. let's talk about william wragg, who has metropolitan - right now. let's talk about william i wragg, who has metropolitan police to consider claims of black mail. what does this refer to?- to consider claims of black mail. what does this refer to? over the last ample _ what does this refer to? over the last ample of— what does this refer to? over the last couple of weeks, _ what does this refer to? over the last couple of weeks, whips - what does this refer to? over the last couple of weeks, whips and l last couple of weeks, whips and conservative mps have been trying to rally support from other conservative mps for the prime minister after some of those newer mps elected in 2019 expressed their unhappiness with the prime minister and his handling of allegations of parties in government during coronavirus restrictions. now the allegations that have come out, particularly put forward by william wragg, is that certain mps were black mailed into expressing their support for the prime minister, or rather not expressing their dissatisfaction with him through certain forms of intimidation. the allegations made were things that they would have funding withdrawn. we had one example mentioned by christian wakeford, the tory mp who moved to the labour party. he said he had an example during the row over free school meals, where he said gavin williamson said funding for a school in his constituency would be affected if he didn't back the prime minister's opposition to free school meals at the time. these claims have been denied, no 10 say they don't recognise the allegations that are being put forward, but william wragg has raised serious concerns. he had already submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister and he has now raised these allegations with the police as well. thank you. joining me now is mo hussein, former conservative special adviser to amber rudd, and chief press officer at number 10 under david cameron. thank you forjoining us, the conservative party for some time now has been beset by various allegations of islamophobia, what evidence is, what did you ever see or be on the receiving end of perhaps?— or be on the receiving end of erha s? , . perhaps? so, i never experienced it, i sent perhaps? so, i never experienced it, i spent four— perhaps? so, i never experienced it, i spent four years — perhaps? so, i never experienced it, i spent four years in _ perhaps? so, i never experienced it, i spent four years in downing - perhaps? so, i never experienced it, i spent four years in downing street | i spent four years in downing street and i was a special advisor in one oft big offices of state. i didn't see it myself, that doesn't mean it hasn't happened to other people. there was a report into this last year or so, which did find cases, particularly throughout the party at the local association level, at the grass roots level and in terms of the complaints procedure. i think with these issues are raised they need to be taken seriously and i'm glad there is an investigation into this. but it should have happened when it was raised a few years ago. it does date from 2020, but it seem to have taken until now for this to be taken seriously in the right way with a cabinet office inquiry, why would it have been left to sort of simmer in the back ground? i think initiall it simmer in the back ground? i think initially it was _ simmer in the back ground? i think initially it was referred _ simmer in the back ground? i think initially it was referred to _ simmer in the back ground? i think initially it was referred to an - initially it was referred to an internal conservative party process, which doesn't feel like the right way of handling it. simply because she was a government minister and this was government business and should sit with the government to actually look into this. it is unclear why that didn't happen and there seems to be some quick action to try and resolve it when it could have been resolved a couple of years anding. it does —— years ago. it does a disservice to the fact that we have the most diverse cabinet in our country's history, which is a good thing, but that can all be undone when allegations like this are seen to be just dismissed or passed from pillar to post or not taken seriously. and the use of words that we were told were used like muslimness, i'm not even sure what that is supposed to be mean, but it is offensive and damaging if it is not dealt with quickly. what it is not dealt with quickly. what does this do _ it is not dealt with quickly. what does this do to _ it is not dealt with quickly. what does this do to the _ it is not dealt with quickly. what does this do to the appeal- it is not dealt with quickly. what does this do to the appeal of conservative party with people who count themselves ps as muslims and whether they're devout religious muslims or culturally muslims. that it is damaging _ muslims or culturally muslims. that it is damaging that _ muslims or culturally muslims. twat it is damaging that is what people will see and hear and make a conclusion about the party. that is a shame. that is not my experience of having worked for the party, i remember i was in the home office when nusrat ghani was the never ever muslim female minister to address the commons. we were proud when it happened. but part of that is addressing the issues, there clearly are issues and cases of islamophobia that need to be addressed. i'm glad the party accepted the findings of the party accepted the findings of the report that a report doesn't mean it isjob done. you've to keep going and keep on taking action when it is needed. my slight concern with this inquiry, it perhaps buys more time, but it is about the outcomes and what does the inquiry lead to? what change is affected? if you're somebody who has been discriminated against or experienced this in any form, you don't need a report or process to tell you what you have been through. what you do need is action and you need a different outcome and that is why i hoped we would get to. outcome and that is why i hoped we would get to— would get to. what would that outcome. _ would get to. what would that outcome. yes. _ would get to. what would that outcome, yes, you _ would get to. what would that outcome, yes, you know- would get to. what would that outcome, yes, you know what| would get to. what would that. outcome, yes, you know what the outcome, yes, you know what the outcome is, but what would that outcome is, but what would that outcome be? we have recommendations made by all sorts of reports and they seem to get forgotten about? exactly, the report isn't something that should just sit on a shelf and gather dust. if someone was made to feel, because of their identify that they couldn't serve as a government minister, having already been a government minister, then that is really unacceptable and there has to be consequences of that on the person alleged to have use tds words and also that change in terms of we do have high representation at the top table of government in this country, which is a good thing bgs but that needs to trickle down to all levels, because politicians should represent the communities that they serve and everybody should feel that they have a part in our political process and our democracy. thank you. the prime minister has said that people arriving in england will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test, if they have been double vaccinated. let's talk to our business correspondent theo leggett. it is all a bit vague at the moment, have you got of the detail we need? vagueness when we are talk accuse covid restrictions there is nothing new there. but we know one thing is going to happen, that is that the government is intending to withdraw the requirement for travellers coming into the uk to take a test within a8—hours, provided they're double vaccinated. that is the only concrete thing so far. this afternoon the transport secretary will make a statement in the house of commons and we will hear more. areas that we need to know about is what will happen with children and teenagers and what will happen with unvaccinated people, who currently face more stringent restrictions when they come into the country. they have to isolate for ten days. another area that will be interesting to see what happens is the passenger locator form. interesting to see what happens is the passenger locatorform. it is likely the government will keep it, but it will be simplified. this is the form you've to fill within 48—hours before coming into the country. but one thing we know is that the travel industry is happy with what the prime minister set out, because airlines and tourist groups have been arguing the restrictions don't work very well and did little to slow the spread of the omicron variant, which spread quickly despite the restrictions, but still caused them and the economy harm. the measures that we know about so far, that... the transport industry says is good. there will be other details today and we will have to wait and hear what the transport secretary has to say. what the transport secretary has to sa . . ~' what the transport secretary has to sa . ., ~ , ., the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp�*s claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. people arriving in england will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test if they have been double vaccinated. the prime minister warns russia that invading ukraine would be a "disastrous step", as the uk withdraws staff from its embassy there. the prime minister has warned russia that an invasion of ukraine would be a "painful, violent and bloody business", as the uk moved to withdraw staff from its embassy in ukraine. it follows a similar move by the us and an announcement by the western alliance nato that it's sending more ships and fighterjets to member states in eastern europe. russia has amassed 100,000 troops near its borders with ukraine. although it denies plans for military action. but president putin has demanded that ukraine, formerly part of the soviet union, neverjoins nato, forfear russia's security would be threatened. here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. russia denies it is planning an invasion, but it is continuing to mass forcers close to ukraine and conduct large scale exercising, leading some to fear the worst. this morning the foreign office announced some of the diplomats in kiev will return home with their families. in a tweet, it said: the intelligence is clear, that there are 60 russian battle groups on the borders of ukraine. the plan for a lightning war that could take out kiev is one that everybody can see. we need to make it clear to the kremlin, to russia, that would be a disastrous step.— disastrous step. officials at the forei . n disastrous step. officials at the foreign office _ disastrous step. officials at the foreign office said _ disastrous step. officials at the foreign office said the - disastrous step. officials at the foreign office said the decision disastrous step. officials at the - foreign office said the decision was a response to the risk of a russian incurion, not the result of a specific threat against british diplomats. the families of us diplomats. the families of us diplomats have also been ordered home and some nonessential staff have been given the option to leave. i have no higher responsibility than the safety— i have no higher responsibility than the safety of— i have no higher responsibility than the safety of the _ i have no higher responsibility than the safety of the folks _ i have no higher responsibility than the safety of the folks under- i have no higher responsibility than the safety of the folks under my i the safety of the folks under my care _ the safety of the folks under my care we — the safety of the folks under my care we are _ the safety of the folks under my care. we are tracking _ the safety of the folks under my care. we are tracking this- the safety of the folks under my l care. we are tracking this closely. ukraiue's— care. we are tracking this closely. ukraine's foreign— care. we are tracking this closely. ukraine's foreign ministry- care. we are tracking this closely. ukraine's foreign ministry was - care. we are tracking this closely. | ukraine's foreign ministry was not impressed. ukraine's foreign ministry was not imressed. ~ ,, �* ukraine's foreign ministry was not imressed. �* ,, �* ~ ukraine's foreign ministry was not imressed. ~ ,, ~ . ,, . impressed. translation: we respect the riaht of impressed. translation: we respect the right of foreign _ impressed. translation: we respect the right of foreign states _ impressed. translation: we respect the right of foreign states to _ the right of foreign states to ensure the security of their missions, but we consider such a step to be premature. tn missions, but we consider such a step to be premature. in brussels eu foreian step to be premature. in brussels eu foreign ministers _ step to be premature. in brussels eu foreign ministers gave _ step to be premature. in brussels eu foreign ministers gave a _ step to be premature. in brussels eu foreign ministers gave a billion - foreign ministers gave a billion pounds in aid to ukraine, but said for now eu diplomats would not follow the uk and us lead. we are not auoin follow the uk and us lead. we are not going to _ follow the uk and us lead. we are not going to do — follow the uk and us lead. we are not going to do the _ follow the uk and us lead. we are not going to do the same, - follow the uk and us lead. we are not going to do the same, we - follow the uk and us lead. we are| not going to do the same, we don't know_ not going to do the same, we don't know any— not going to do the same, we don't know any specific reasons, but secretary _ know any specific reasons, but secretary lincoln will inform us and i secretary lincoln will inform us and i don't _ secretary lincoln will inform us and idon'l think— secretary lincoln will inform us and i don't think we have that term applies — i don't think we have that term applies. its i don't think we have that term a- lies. a ~ ., ., i don't think we have that term aulies. r ~' ., ., . i don't think we have that term aulies. m ~' ., ., . , applies. as ukrainian defence forces conducted their _ applies. as ukrainian defence forces conducted their own _ applies. as ukrainian defence forces conducted their own exercises, - applies. as ukrainian defence forcesj conducted their own exercises, nato announced it was bolstering its presence in eastern europe with extra ships and planes to the region. our moscow correspondent caroline davies described what reaction from russia has been. well, moscow's reaction so far has been directly to say that the west is ramping up tensions here. they say that we've heard this language from russia multiple times before, blaming the other side. the kremlin spokesperson did also address comments over the course of the weekend from the british foreign office, saying that they had an idea that president putin was planning on putting a puppet government into power in kyiv. he called these comments hysteria laced with fakes, and he also denied the fact that russia could ever stop delivering gas to europe over this tension. but it has still been a very difficult day on the markets here in russia. russian stocks have stumbled, and the ruble is down against the dollar quite significantly. the kremlin have been fairly bullish about this, but it's clear that this is affecting confidence. diplomacy isn't over yet. we are still waiting to hear from americans on their written demands to russia, and russia's response to those written responses will probably dictate whether russia decides to continue with diplomacy or whether it takes a different and potentially more aggressive path. james waterhouse, our kyiv correspondent, explains what the core message is from ukraine. nothing has dramatically changed. ministers are getting quite frustrated at the hysteria, they say, being whipped up by the forces that surround ukraine in this ongoing power struggle. the country's security chief says this type of uncertainty is damaging ukraine's economy, and that in turn plays into russia's hands. so this eu 1.2 billion euros financial package will certainly be welcomed. in terms of trying to stop the panic, more and more countries now, japan, france and australia are urging their citizens not to travel to ukraine, so the hope from ministers will be for that not to snowball. in terms of how people feel out and about on the street, it's hard to make any distinction as to whether there is any increased panic, because as i say, people have been living with this type of russian aggression for coming up to eight years. a gunman has injured several people after he opened fire in a lecture theatre at heidelberg university. the gunman, who's believed to have then turned the gun on himself, is dead. police say they are not looking for other suspects. the founder of the wikileaks website julian assange has won the first stage of his bid to appeal against extradition to the united states. he'll now take his case to the supreme court. mr assange faces charges over the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the afghanistan and iraq wars. our correspondent greg mckenzie is at the high court in central london. this is a sorry that has been rumbling on for years? for many ears, rumbling on for years? for many years. many _ rumbling on for years? for many years. many years- _ rumbling on for years? for many years, many years. good - rumbling on for years? for many . years, many years. good afternoon. yes, a high courtjudge has asked for the supreme court to expedite a decision in relation to the appeal following the extradition request of julian assange. he has been held on remand at belmarsh prison since april 2019, awaiting that decision in relation to his extradition. outside court today, his fiance spoke to the media and said today is a victory. make no mistake, we won today in court. but let's not forget that every time we win, as long as this case isn't dropped, as long asjulian isn't freed, julian continues to suffer. nowjulian assange is wanted in the united states, they want him to face up united states, they want him to face up to 18 charges accusing him of hacking into military computers and leaking thousands of documents, pertaining to the afghanistan and iraq war. now if he is extradited and put on trial in the united states, he could be sentenced to 170, well he could be sentenced to 175 years. julian assange's camp have always said should he be extradited to the united states and held in a supermax prison if convicted he would simply take his own life and these appeals goes against his human rights in terms of the appeals and they are saying his human rights are infringed if he is extradited and therefore would commit suicide if held at a super max jail in the united states. thank ou. changes to the highway code are expected to come into force on saturday. the government says they will improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, they'll have more priority in certain situations, like atjunctions. but there are concerns that public awareness of the changes is low, and that this could cause problems, and even avoidable collisions. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. ca ptu red captured on cam era. collisions. close shaves. and scary moments across the country. london cyclist mike campaigns for road safety. what are the most common problems? the road safety. what are the most common problems?— road safety. what are the most common roblems? _, ., common problems? the most common ones boil down — common problems? the most common ones boil down to _ common problems? the most common ones boil down to impatience, - common problems? the most common ones boil down to impatience, maybe l ones boil down to impatience, maybe overtaking too quickly or overtaking and then turning left across my path. and then turning left across my ath. , ., . , , ., path. guidance wit be put into the hiahwa path. guidance wit be put into the highway code _ path. guidance wit be put into the highway code saying _ path. guidance wit be put into the highway code saying at _ path. guidance wit be put into the highway code saying at least - path. guidance wit be put into the highway code saying at least 1.5 l highway code saying at least 1.5 metres should be left when overtaking a cyclist and two when overtaking a cyclist and two when overtaking a cyclist and two when overtaking a horse. some other changes to the highway code are due to come in soon, including something drivers need to know about. i have come to a car testing track to get a driving instructor to explain. this brings back memories.— driving instructor to explain. this brings back memories. pleasant ones i ho e. all brings back memories. pleasant ones i house all right _ brings back memories. pleasant ones i hope. all right for _ brings back memories. pleasant ones i hope. all right for me _ brings back memories. pleasant ones i hope. all right for me to _ brings back memories. pleasant ones i hope. all right for me to get - brings back memories. pleasant ones i hope. all right for me to get in? - i hope. all right for me to get in? yes. i hope. all right for me to get in? yes- road — i hope. all right for me to get in? yes. road users _ i hope. all right for me to get in? yes. road users who _ i hope. all right for me to get in? yes. road users who can - i hope. all right for me to get in? yes. road users who can cause i i hope. all right for me to get in? | yes. road users who can cause the most harm, such as lorries will have the most responsibility for safety. coming up to the junction, check my mirrors, indicate left, i have got to give way if there is a pedestrian crossing the road, will that change? if there is someone waiting to cross, you must stop.- if there is someone waiting to cross, you must stop. even though they haven't _ cross, you must stop. even though they haven't started, _ cross, you must stop. even though they haven't started, i _ cross, you must stop. even though they haven't started, i should - cross, you must stop. even though they haven't started, i should wait| they haven't started, i should wait until they have crossed the road? yes. ~ . until they have crossed the road? yes. . ., ., until they have crossed the road? yes. ., ,,you until they have crossed the road? i yes-_ you must yes. what about cyclists. you must allow them — yes. what about cyclists. you must allow them to _ yes. what about cyclists. you must allow them to pass. _ yes. what about cyclists. you must allow them to pass. with _ yes. what about cyclists. you must allow them to pass. with no - allow them to pass. with no cyclist wantin: to allow them to pass. with no cyclist wanting to go _ allow them to pass. with no cyclist wanting to go ahead _ allow them to pass. with no cyclist wanting to go ahead and _ allow them to pass. with no cyclist wanting to go ahead and the - wanting to go ahead and the pedestrian gone, i turn into the next road and remember we mentioned how much space you give a bike, here is me giving them about 1.5 metres. reach across and hold on to the door. reach across and hold on to the doon reach across and hold on to the door. , ., , ., door. there will be guide answer on lookin: door. there will be guide answer on looking over — door. there will be guide answer on looking over your _ door. there will be guide answer on looking over your shoulder - door. there will be guide answer on looking over your shoulder when - looking over your shoulder when opening a ing a door. and it is hoped it will make the most vulnerable safer if people follow the rules. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. away from the north—west, it is dry. still cloudy and feeling chilly as we head into the evening. still some rain across northern parts of scotland. that will tend to push northwards tonight. then a few breaks in the cloud in eastern parts of scotland, particularly in the north—east of england. that is will lead to some fog patches, especially through the vale of york and where those clearer skies temperatures could be below freezing. to minister frost—free. but cold in other parts of england and wales and milder in scotland and northern ireland. the fog will lift as the breeze picks up, some sunshine in north—east england and scotland and northern ireland. ahead of more rain in the highlands later. temperatures similar to today and under the cloudy skies feeling on the chilly side. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp's claims that her muslim a minister in 2020. the prime minister warns russia that invading ukraine would be a "disastrous step" — as the uk withdraws staff from its embassy there. the new highway code rules designed to make the roads safer for cyclists. also coming up this hour: battling and beating the elements — a british all—women crew including a woman with incurable cancer — break the world record for rowing across the atlantic. sport, and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. let's take you to the australian open, where stefanos tsitsipas has beaten the american taylor fritz on rod laver arena to go through to the quarter—finals. it took him a gruelling five sets to do it though. the greek is one of the favourites to take the men's title, but it was fritz who won the first set, with a sensational forehand to win it 6—4. tsitsipas then fought back to take the second 6—4. but the power swung back to fritz for him to win the third, and give him a 2—1 lead. the crowd was enjoying the battle, but tsitsipas seemed to go up a gear. going on to win the fourth 6—3 and then with two match points in the fifth. he smashed into the corner and fritz�*s return went long. earlier, daniil medvedev beat american maxime cressy in 4 sets, playing for a mammoth three and a half hours. the russian is the top seed remaining in the men's draw, and he will face the canadian felix auiger alliasime in the quarters after he beat marin cilic, also in four sets. in the women's draw, kaia kanepi has knocked out second seed aryna sabalenka in a final—set tie—break. it was one set all and 8—7 in the third when kanepi edged in front, she thought the match was over and celebrated early... but needed another point. luckily, her blushes were spared and she got it to go through to a first australian open quarter—final at the age of 36. and two—time grand slam winner simona halep is out. the 14th seed lost in three sets to france's alize cornet, who makes the quarter—finals of a major for the first time at the age of 32, and at the 63rd time of trying. she was understandably very emotional at the end. yes, i had a little birthday present. i had a cake from the tournament. the cheesecake was amazing. 50 tournament. the cheesecake was amazinu. tournament. the cheesecake was amazin. _ ., , tournament. the cheesecake was amazinu. a tournament. the cheesecake was amazinu. amazing. so it was the cake you reckon that's _ amazing. so it was the cake you reckon that's why _ amazing. so it was the cake you reckon that's why you _ amazing. so it was the cake you reckon that's why you were - amazing. so it was the cake you reckon that's why you were in? | amazing. so it was the cake you | reckon that's why you were in? i amazing. so it was the cake you - reckon that's why you were in? i had so much cheesecake, _ reckon that's why you were in? i had so much cheesecake, i _ reckon that's why you were in? i had so much cheesecake, i can - reckon that's why you were in? t wac so much cheesecake, i can tell you guys, i have energy for weeks now! cake always helps! brentford manager thomas frank has extended his contract at the club until the end of the 2024—25 season. the dane led the club to promotion to the premier league last season, ending a 7a—year wait for top flight football. frank took over as brentford manager in 2018 after stepping up from his role as assistant to dean smith. and in rugby union, george ford is set to replaced injured captain owen farrell in england's six nations squad. with farrell out of the opener against scotland, head coach eddiejones will turn to ford after leaving him out of the initial 36—man squad. despite his outstanding club form, ford has been overlooked since the autumn with marcus smith starring at number 10. tyson fury will face either oleksandr usyk in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title next or defend his wbc crown against mandatory challenger dillian whyte. fury�*s promoters have been pushing for whyte to agree terms, but simultaneously speaking to anthonyjoshua's team about stepping aside so fury can fight usyk next. an agreement for either fight is expected to be reached by wednesday. team gb have named their 50th and final member for the games. ellia smeding will be the first female long track speed skater to represent britain for 42 years at beijing 2022. smeding called it a "dream come true" and will race in the 1,000m and 1500m, having recently set new national records in three distances in december. the games start on february the fourth. more on our website. that's all the sport for now. thanks, jane. the former brexit secretary, david davis, has become the latest conservative mp to urge the government to scrap a planned 1.25 percentage point increase to national insurance planned for april. he said when ministers agreed the policy, they hadn't known inflation would reach its highest rate for 30 years. former housing secretary robertjenrick yesterday said the plans should be postponed because of the growing pressure on household budgets. the prime minister has been pressed on the issue during a visit to a hospital in milton keynes. look at where we are. look at what we are investing in, and don't forget that what i think is the number one priority for people in this country. it is, you know, the nhs has done an amazing job, but it has been under terrific strain. but on the tax rise, can you guarantee that national insurance will go up? that's not what i'm saying, that's not what i'm saying. what i'm telling you is, we've got to put that money in. we've got to make that investment in our nhs. we have just been looking at fantastic robotic surgery, robotic—assisted surgery, made in cambridge, an amazing british developer... will that money come through a national insurance rise, though, prime minister? those machines are not cheap. 114,000 more staff in our nhs... but will the money come through a national insurance rise? ..than there were last year. is that guaranteed now? the national insurance rise? what i'm telling people is that if you want to fund our fantastic nhs, we have to pay for it. and this government is determined to do so. downing street says the government is committed to the planned increase. when asked, the prime minister's spokesman said the cabinet stands behind the decision and it was the "right approach" to tackle the backlog and fix social care. joining me now is tom waters from the institute for fiscal studies. welcome. how much money will this truly raise? because there are varying arguments about whether it will or won't raise enough money. it's expected to raise something in the order of £13 billion. that is a pretty sizeable tax increase. it is certainly one of the larger tax increases we have seen in recent years. interestingly, about 85% of it, at least in the early years, is earmarked for the nhs, and only about 15% for social care, which is the thing it was kind of initially meant for. the thing it was kind of initially meant for-— the thing it was kind of initially meant for. �* , ., meant for. but david davies at the moment says _ meant for. but david davies at the moment says that _ meant for. but david davies at the moment says that this _ meant for. but david davies at the moment says that this is - meant for. but david davies at the moment says that this is going - meant for. but david davies at the moment says that this is going to | moment says that this is going to put too much pressure on households that are already struggling with inflation. how likely is that going to be to sway people who think that this money is needed for the purposes you outline? certainly, it means higher _ purposes you outline? certainly, it means higher tax _ purposes you outline? certainly, it means higher tax bills _ purposes you outline? certainly, it means higher tax bills for - means higher tax bills for households. to give you a bit of a flavour of it, if you are on £25,000, it's about £200 extra a year, if on £50,000, about an extra £500 a year. so we're talking about a not insignificant increases in tax, and clearly, if prices are going up and if your salary is not keeping up with that, those things kind of pile on top of one another. but at the same time, you just said the prime minister say, if you want to spend money on the nhs, then clearly, it has to be paid for through taxes one way or another, and this is one particular route. it is not the only route, but it is one particular one towards doing that. how short—sighted might it be, then, if it is to slow the economy? or is that a fiction? t if it is to slow the economy? or is that a fiction?— that a fiction? i think as we come out of the — that a fiction? i think as we come out of the pandemic, _ that a fiction? i think as we come out of the pandemic, there - that a fiction? i think as we come out of the pandemic, there is - out of the pandemic, there is certainly a lot of factors contributing towards the recovery of the economy, and so far, things have looked actually not so bad. unemployment has remained remarkably low, and so you might not be immediately too worried about that sort of factor, and i think the main factor really is that itjust means that people will have less money that people will have less money that they are taking home each month in their pay packets. what other way could they have gone about this? t what other way could they have gone about this? , , ., ,., ., about this? i guess i would point to about this? i guess i would point to a few possibilities. _ a few possibilities. they could have used income tax rather than national insurance. for many people, those two things are pretty similar, but an important difference is, pensioners pay income tax on their state pension, on their private pension, whereas they don't pay national insurance, and you may think that is a relevant factor when social care spending and to some extent the nhs spending is to a significant degree benefiting older people. so that would have been one route towards doing it. they could have also thought about perhaps using something else, like vat, which affects all of our expenditure in a fairly similar way. tom waters, from the institute for fiscal studies, thank you very much. this afternoon the snp is leading a debate in the house of commons on the rise in the cost of living. the party is calling for an emergency financial package to support families. joining me now is the shadow snp spokesperson for work and pensions, the glasgow east mp david linden. thank you very much forjoining us. what is your view of the government saying they intend to go ahead with this rise in national insurance? t this rise in national insurance? i think as is often the case, the government are saying one thing to try and put a holding pattern in place. this is a government clearly in chaos, that has taken its eye off the ball, and we will argue today in the ball, and we will argue today in the house of commons that one of the single biggest issue is that dominates our inboxes and the lives of our constituents of the government is asleep at the wheel, so for example, the cost of living crisis, they have no answers. i thought it was quite telling there that boris johnson thought it was quite telling there that borisjohnson has no answer is forthcoming. perhaps over the last few weeks, we have seen no answer is forthcoming from borisjohnson is not exactly a surprise, but to be crystal clear, the snp position is that that proposed hike to national insurance would be a regressive tax hit. one thing we would talk about quite often is that clapping for carers during the pandemic, but under the government's regressive tax plans to hike national insurance, that would take about 20% of the pay increase for a band five nurse, so, yes, we want to invest in the nhs, but not with a regressive tax hike that would target the youngest and poorest people in society. youngest and poorest people in socie . ., ., society. how would you make it progressive? — society. how would you make it progressive? i _ society. how would you make it progressive? i think _ society. how would you make it progressive? i think there - society. how would you make it progressive? i think there are i society. how would you make it progressive? i think there are a number of _ progressive? i think there are a number of options _ progressive? i think there are a number of options you - progressive? i think there are a number of options you can - progressive? i think there are a number of options you can lookj progressive? i think there are a i number of options you can look at. progressive? i think there are a - number of options you can look at. i was interested in suggestions from the afs before me that you could perhaps to do something with income tax. that is something i would be more sympathetic towards. but what i am absolutely clear about was that we cannot be going ahead with a regressive tax hike that would impact the youngest and poorest members of society who are facing a cost of living crisis that would see inflation peek at something like 7.1% in april. energy bills are rising, food prices are soaring, and yet we have a uk government that seems more focused on navel—gazing and internal politics. i certainly think we're seeing some of that today, with briefings from the chancellor of the exchequer saying he does not support this hike in national insurance. so i think the government needs to come clean and come to parliament with a plan rather than focus this indulgent sort of internal tory party politics we are seeing this week. but sort of internal tory party politics we are seeing this week.- sort of internal tory party politics we are seeing this week. but if you are concerned _ we are seeing this week. but if you are concerned about _ we are seeing this week. but if you are concerned about the _ we are seeing this week. but if you are concerned about the cost - are concerned about the cost of living for people in scotland, you have the power to lower taxes. why aren't you doing that? why have you also lifted the freeze on local authorities raising council tax, because they are two other ways in which the people of scotland could face it. , ., ., face it. yes, we do whether scott is, it has the _ face it. yes, we do whether scott is, it has the power— face it. yes, we do whether scott is, it has the power of _ face it. yes, we do whether scott is, it has the power of the - face it. yes, we do whether scott| is, it has the power of the income tax, and if you listen to conservatives down there, they would say we are the highest taxed part of the uk and also not using our tax powers. the two cannot be true, so they should choose one. we are already doubling that game changing scottish child payment to £20 a week, whereas in contrast, in westminster, there is a government that has callously scrapped the £20 uplift in universal credit that was described by so many of my constituents as a lifeline. we have had the power to do so in scotland, we have taken measures to try and tackle poverty and inequality, but there was a reality that with 85% of wealthier spending —— macca welfare spending reserve here to london, the government in scotland is operating with one hand behind its back. so that's why today we are in the snp are bringing forward a motion calling for a raft of measures to help people right across these islands who really facing a squeeze. unfortunately, the government here in london doesn't seem to care very much and is more interested in internal tory party politics. thank you. scotland is easing most of its remaining covid restrictions, meaning that nightclubs can now reopen, and that limits on indoor socialising have been dropped. but people are still being asked to work from home where possible, and face masks are still required in indoor public places, including secondary schools. our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie has spent the morning in hamilton, south lanarkshire, getting reaction to the changes. things are looking brighter. the number of daily cases is falling in scotland. the number of measures put in place because of the new variant has now eased. this cafe struggled because of the physical distancing rule for indoor public places. it feels great, it feels great, it feels great, it feels great, it feels as we are back to normal a little bit. we have still got facemasks, though. but we are able to have another two tables in. this is one of the areas of scotland most affected by the pandemic. i think it has been worthwhile if it is kept _ think it has been worthwhile if it is kept covid numbers down, and keeping — is kept covid numbers down, and keeping us — is kept covid numbers down, and keeping us all safe, really, is the best thing — keeping us all safe, really, is the best thing for it, isn't it? i best thing for it, isn't it? i don't _ best thing for it, isn't it? i don't know how effective they have been really — i don't know how effective they have been really i'm _ i don't know how effective they have been really. i'm not _ i don't know how effective they have been really. i'm not visual. - i don't know how effective they have been really. i'm not visual. sure. . i don't know how effective they have been really. i'm not visual. sure. i. been really. i'm not visual. sure. i know— been really. i'm not visual. sure. i know some — been really. i'm not visual. sure. i know some industries _ been really. i'm not visual. sure. i know some industries are - been really. i'm not visual. sure. ii know some industries are suffering, people _ know some industries are suffering, people are — know some industries are suffering, people are suffering, _ know some industries are suffering, people are suffering, mental- know some industries are suffering, people are suffering, mental health| people are suffering, mental health problems — people are suffering, mental health problems i— people are suffering, mental health problems. ithink— people are suffering, mental health problems. i think the _ people are suffering, mental health problems. i think the mask- people are suffering, mental health problems. i think the mask was - people are suffering, mental health problems. i think the mask was a l problems. i think the mask was a good _ problems. i think the mask was a good idea — problems. i think the mask was a good idea etut— problems. i think the mask was a good idea-— problems. i think the mask was a good idea. but not closing people down. but all— good idea. but not closing people down. but all these _ good idea. but not closing people down. but all these businesses i down. but all these businesses appear must have suffered terribly. hamilton is in the nhs lanarkshire health board area. covid cases here have been high. gps have suspended some services, and the health board moved to the highest risk level when hospitals reached full capacity. nightclubs, like this one in glasgow, can now open as normal, and there is no cap on the number of people who can attend indoor live events. i people who can attend indoor live events. ~' , ., �* , , events. i think everyone's 'ust ttoin to events. i think everyone's 'ust going to be i events. i think everyone's 'ust going to be really i events. i think everyone's 'ust going to be really happy. i events. i think everyone'sjust going to be really happy. i- events. i think everyone's just i going to be really happy. i think it's going to be a great atmosphere. everyone is going to be of how they want to be, dancing, great atmosphere, so we think they are looking forward to it. the celtic connections festival, which opened with a viking torch parade, can also welcome back audiences to indoor events. alexander mackenzie, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp's claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. people arriving in england will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test if they have been double vaccinated. the prime minister warns russia that invading ukraine would be a "disastrous step", as the uk withdraws staff from its embassy there. new details have emerged about the liverpool bomber who died when his device exploded outside a hospital in the city last november. a previously confidential asylum judgement, seen by the bbc, raises questions about why emad al swealmeen was not removed from the uk years before the attack. our report includes footage of the explosion from the start, and is from our home and legal correspondent, dominic casciani. a moment of terror, the scene last november, when a homemade bomb designed to kill partially detonated in this taxi outside liverpool women's hospital. the driver fled his cab, lucky to be alive, as the fireball killed this man. the attacker, emad al swealmeen, taking the secrets of his motivation with him. but now, in an official document disclosed after a bbc challenge, revelations of the lies he told to cling on to life in the uk. and this is what he claimed to be fleeing in 2014 — syria's civil war. the only problem with that? he wasn't syrian. the 32—year—old was, in fact, from baghdad in neighbouring iraq. he had been living in the united arab emirates for 1h years. the home office spotted he was a liar, and an immigration judge backed that decision in april 2015. in the ruling, now made public, the judge said al swealmeen's account was not credible. he couldn't describe areas of the country he said he knew, and didn't even speak like a syrian. that ruling gave the home office permission to fly him out of the country, but it never happened. instead, he began going to liverpool cathedral, presenting himself as a christian convert. volunteers gave him a bed, and two years after his case had been rejected, he applied once more for asylum, using a different name. it's not clear if home office officials spotted that it was the same man, by checking his fingerprints against their records. by 2020, he'd lost again, but was still not removed from the uk. today, the home office has refused to comment on what happened with emad al swealmeen's case, or whether there will ever be an inquiry. dominic casciani, bbc news. the sister of a british man who was killed in the us by a stray bullet that travelled through a wall has told the bbc it was a "senseless act". 31—year—old matthew willson was visiting his girlfriend in atlanta when he was struck by the bullet while he was lying in bed. police in america have begun a murder inquiry and appealed for witnesses, but no one has been arrested. our correspondent jon donnison has more. this is the last photo taken of matthew willson, visiting his girlfriend catherine in atlanta, georgia. if you hours later, in the middle of the night, he lay fatally wounded in her arms, shot by a stray bullet. i'm so sorry for your loss as well... , ., ,,, well... this morning, his sister kate spoke _ well... this morning, his sister kate spoke to _ well... this morning, his sister kate spoke to bbc _ well... this morning, his sister kate spoke to bbc breakfast. i well... this morning, his sister i kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we well... this morning, his sister - kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we know that there were — kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we know that there were a _ kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we know that there were a group _ kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we know that there were a group of— that there were a group of individuals at a nearby apartment complex— individuals at a nearby apartment complex firing guns. we don't know how many~ — complex firing guns. we don't know how many. perhaps two, we believe, and that— how many. perhaps two, we believe, and that the — how many. perhaps two, we believe, and that the moment that my brother and that the moment that my brother and his— and that the moment that my brother and his girlfriend chose to call the police. _ and his girlfriend chose to call the police. a — and his girlfriend chose to call the police, a bullet came through the wall, _ police, a bullet came through the wall. and — police, a bullet came through the wall, and struck my brother in the head _ wall, and struck my brother in the head it _ wall, and struck my brother in the head it is — wall, and struck my brother in the head it is a — wall, and struck my brother in the head. it is a real senseless act. and _ head. it is a real senseless act. and so— head. it is a real senseless act. and so far— head. it is a real senseless act. and so far in _ head. it is a real senseless act. and so far in this residential neighbourhood, police have made no arrests. brute neighbourhood, police have made no arrests. ~ , , . ., ~ ., arrests. we need the public to know about what happened, _ arrests. we need the public to know about what happened, and - arrests. we need the public to know about what happened, and for - arrests. we need the public to know - about what happened, and for someone to come _ about what happened, and for someone to come forward, because somebody knows _ to come forward, because somebody knows who _ to come forward, because somebody knows who did this, and somebody knows _ knows who did this, and somebody knows who— knows who did this, and somebody knows who was responsible. it's also important _ knows who was responsible. it's also important for us that that person knows _ important for us that that person knows that they have done this, because — knows that they have done this, because maybe they don't even know what happened, because the bullet went into _ what happened, because the bullet went into a building. you know, they didn't— went into a building. you know, they didn't see _ went into a building. you know, they didn't see the aftermath of it, and it's really— didn't see the aftermath of it, and it's really important that they know what their— it's really important that they know what their actions have done and what _ what their actions have done and what they— what their actions have done and what they have taken from us. and kate said in — what they have taken from us. and kate said in the _ what they have taken from us. iwc kate said in the last what they have taken from us. ch kate said in the last few days, there had been an outpouring of love for her brother. he there had been an outpouring of love for her brother.— for her brother. he truly was a 'oy to be around. fl for her brother. he truly was a 'oy to be around. he d for her brother. he truly was a 'oy to be around. he wasi for her brother. he truly was a 'oy to be around. he was that i for her brother. he truly was a joy to be around. he was that typical| to be around. he was that typical bil to be around. he was that typical big brother to me growing up, and as an adult. _ big brother to me growing up, and as an adult. he — big brother to me growing up, and as an adult, he was a wonderful uncle to my— an adult, he was a wonderful uncle to my son. — an adult, he was a wonderful uncle to my son, and he isjust a wonderful— to my son, and he isjust a wonderful friend. to my son, and he isjust a wonderfulfriend. his to my son, and he isjust a wonderful friend. his friends are really— wonderful friend. his friends are really going to miss him, as our way in the _ really going to miss him, as our way in the family — really going to miss him, as our way in the family. —— as our week. a woman from cambridgeshire and her two friends are celebrating after setting a new world record, becoming the fastest female trio to row across the atlantic. kat cordiner from st neots completed the 3,000—milejourney with her crew mates, raising money for cancer research. it's a cause close to her heart, as she herself has incurable cancer. emma braugh reports. that's in! you've got the lion, yer! the moment of triumph after achieving their epic goal. shattering the world record for crossing the atlantic.— crossing the atlantic. tired, because it _ crossing the atlantic. tired, because it is _ crossing the atlantic. tired, because it is sam _ crossing the atlantic. tired, because it is sam antigua . crossing the atlantic. tired, i because it is sam antigua time crossing the atlantic. tired, - because it is sam antigua time and i probably had a few too many rum punches last night, so, yeah, i think my body's just realised it's been growing for 42 days and some, so i am feeling a little broken, i have to admit. kat, who celebrated her 42nd birthday on the trip, is living with incurable cancer, but she only talks about the physical toll of the journey on all of the crew. just teneral journey on all of the crew. just general aches, _ journey on all of the crew. jut generalaches, knees, we all feel general aches, knees, we all feel like we are a bit older than we actually are! but actually, you know, we are in pretty good spirits, and pretty wobbly legs. we haven't quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth _ quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth trip, _ quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth trip, they _ quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth trip, they face - quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth trip, they face many| the mammoth trip, they face many challenges. i the mammoth trip, they face many challentes. ~' ., the mammoth trip, they face many challentes. ~ ., , , challenges. i think nothing prepares ou for the challenges. i think nothing prepares you for the first _ challenges. i think nothing prepares you for the first ten _ challenges. i think nothing prepares you for the first ten days. _ challenges. i think nothing prepares you for the first ten days. they - you for the first ten days. they were very emotional for all of us. i think we couldn't quite work out what we were doing and why we were doing it. and then you settle into a routine, you know, it's fine. so i think, really, wejust end about routine, you know, it's fine. so i think, really, we just end about how tough it would be.— tough it would be. organisers said the had tough it would be. organisers said they had showed _ tough it would be. organisers said they had showed the _ tough it would be. organisers said they had showed the impossible i tough it would be. organisers said i they had showed the impossible was possible, and they had kept their sense of humour. brute possible, and they had kept their sense of humour.— possible, and they had kept their sense of humour. we had a lot of fun on the boat- — sense of humour. we had a lot of fun on the boat- i— sense of humour. we had a lot of fun on the boat. i mean, _ sense of humour. we had a lot of fun on the boat. i mean, abby— on the boat. i mean, abby perpetually said, when does the fun actually start? but i think charlotte and i, you know, you find ioy charlotte and i, you know, you find joy in so many moments when you are growing, and honestly, it's very difficult, butjust trying to help each other to have the best day as we can, and just take one shift at the time. the french fashion designer, thierry mugler, has died at the age of 73. he opened his first boutique in paris in the 1970s and became widely known for designs with broad shoulders and sharp tailoring. mugler�*s designs were worn by stars including lady gaga, david bowie, beyonce, and kim kardashian. brian wilson and the beach boys are famous for songs such as california girls, good vibrations and god only knows. as he turns 80 this year, a new documentary is looking back at his life, including the hard times and his more than 50—year struggle with serious mental health problems. he has given his only tv interview about the film to our entertainment correspondent, colin paterson. brianjust brian just threw away the rule book, took you away from where you were in turkey to another place. there was no greater world created in rock and roll than the beach boys. the no greater world created in rock and roll than the beach boys.— roll than the beach boys. the level of musicianship, _ roll than the beach boys. the level of musicianship, i— roll than the beach boys. the level of musicianship, i don't _ roll than the beach boys. the level of musicianship, i don't think - of musicianship, i don't think anyone — of musicianship, i don't think anyone has touched it yet. long — anyone has touched it yet. long promised road is a documentary on about the life of brian wilson. the premise? he has driven around the beach boys' old haunts in southern california and shares his memories. so southern california and shares his memories-— southern california and shares his memories. , , ., , memories. so this is where the house was ritht memories. so this is where the house was right here? _ memories. so this is where the house was right here? yes. _ memories. so this is where the house was right here? yes. there! _ memories. so this is where the house was right here? yes. there! look! - was right here? yes. there! look! marks the — was right here? yes. there! look! marks the spot- — was right here? ia; there! look! marks the spot. speaking down the line from his house in la, brian was joined by the film's director brent wilson, no relation. this joined by the film's director brent wilson, no relation.— joined by the film's director brent wilson, no relation. this is brian's music room. _ wilson, no relation. this is brian's music room, which _ wilson, no relation. this is brian's music room, which we _ wilson, no relation. this is brian's music room, which we have - wilson, no relation. this is brian's music room, which we have done l wilson, no relation. this is brian's - music room, which we have done some interviews _ music room, which we have done some interviews in _ music room, which we have done some interviews in i— music room, which we have done some interviews in. i will show you a little _ interviews in. i will show you a little bit — interviews in. i will show you a little bit. you get brian's awards over— little bit. you get brian's awards over here — little bit. you get brian's awards over here. an incredible amount of awards _ over here. an incredible amount of awards. �* ., ., ., ., awards. brian, what do you love about the _ awards. brian, what do you love about the music _ awards. brian, what do you love about the music room? - awards. brian, what do you love about the music room? i - awards. brian, what do you love about the music room? i like i awards. brian, what do you love| about the music room? i like the iano. now, why did the two of you decide to collaborate and make a documentary together? because i wanted to- _ documentary together? because i wanted to. there _ documentary together? because i wanted to. there is _ documentary together? because i wanted to. there is so _ documentary together? because i wanted to. there is so much - documentary together? because i wanted to. there is so much that l documentary together? because i i wanted to. there is so much that has been done about _ wanted to. there is so much that has been done about brian, _ wanted to. there is so much that has been done about brian, it _ wanted to. there is so much that has been done about brian, it started - wanted to. there is so much that has been done about brian, it started to| been done about brian, it started to be, been done about brian, it started to be. i_ been done about brian, it started to be. ithink— been done about brian, it started to be, i think it's become legend and become _ be, i think it's become legend and become myth, and i thought if we could _ become myth, and i thought if we could somehow reveal the real brian wilson. _ could somehow reveal the real brian wilson. and — could somehow reveal the real brian wilson, and that was the goal coming in. what is wilson, and that was the goal coming in.- what is the _ wilson, and that was the goal coming in.- what is the real _ wilson, and that was the goal coming in. right. what is the real brian wilson, in. right. what is the real brian wilson. then. — in. right. what is the real brian wilson, then, brian? _ in. right. what is the real brian wilson, then, brian? what- in. right. what is the real brian wilson, then, brian? what did l in. ia gwt. what is the real brian wilson, then, brian? what did people need to know?— wilson, then, brian? what did people. need to know?— that need to know? about me? songs. that sa s it all! says it all! # - says it all! #. , says it all! says itall! saysitall! # wish they could all be california... _ california... # i wish they could all be california girls... but as well as his music the documentary also looked at his mental health. and this is kind of where things got difficult _ and this is kind of where things got difficult for you?— difficult for you? yeah. so much of what was going _ difficult for you? yeah. so much of what was going on? _ difficult for you? yeah. so much of what was going on? i _ difficult for you? yeah. so much of what was going on? i don't - difficult for you? yeah. so much of what was going on? i don't know, l difficult for you? yeah. so much ofj what was going on? i don't know, i was having mental problems. sigh in yeah. for was having mental problems. sigh in eah. ., ., ., :: was having mental problems. sigh in eah. ., ., ., ii, ., , was having mental problems. sigh in eah. ., ., ., 11, yeah. for more than 50 years, he has lived with schizoaffective _ yeah. for more than 50 years, he has lived with schizoaffective disorder, i lived with schizoaffective disorder, meaning he hears negative voices in his head. same like you will see in the film, brian, in his most vulnerable, and you will see how difficult that — vulnerable, and you will see how difficult that is, _ vulnerable, and you will see how difficult that is, but _ vulnerable, and you will see how difficult that is, but i _ vulnerable, and you will see how difficult that is, but i think - vulnerable, and you will see how difficult that is, but i think you i difficult that is, but i think you will discover that through that vulnerability, he still finds the strength— vulnerability, he still finds the strength to keep going. are one, two, strength to keep going. are one, two. three. _ strength to keep going. are one, two, three, four... _ two, three, four... brian turns 80 later this year, but recently toured the us. and don't rule out a certain reunion. what are the chances of you ever performing on stage again with the rest of the beach boys? faith. performing on stage again with the rest of the beach boys?— rest of the beach boys? oh, yeah. reall ? it rest of the beach boys? oh, yeah. really? it could _ rest of the beach boys? oh, yeah. really? it could still _ rest of the beach boys? oh, yeah. really? it could still happen - rest of the beach boys? oh, yeah. | really? it could still happen again? yeah. ., . �* . really? it could still happen again? yeah. ., , �* , ., ., , yeah. that must've been a really excitin: yeah. that must've been a really exciting time? _ yeah. that must've been a really exciting time? was. _ yeah. that must've been a really exciting time? was. it _ yeah. that must've been a really exciting time? was. it was - yeah. that must've been a really exciting time? was. it was a - yeah. that must've been a really| exciting time? was. it was a trip. overindulgence in chocolates and other festive treats often see people cutting back injanuary, and the same is apparently true for a pair of armadillos. patsy and eddie have been put on an exercise regime by zoo trainers after piling on 2 kilograms between them. they are are known to enjoy their treats, but it seems too many lie—ins and not enough moving around during the colder weather has caused them to get a bit out of shape! i reckon they have been overdoing the earthworms rather than milk tray, though! now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello. the dry january continues, theme we have had for a number of weeks. we see some rain coming into the north—west again, and it is in the north—west again, and it is in the north—west again, and it is in the north—west that every now and then we see some weather fronts pushing in from the atlantic. but they will not get much further, because they are running into high pressure that keeps the rest of the country fine and dry. variable cloud, mind you, underthe country fine and dry. variable cloud, mind you, under the high, country fine and dry. variable cloud, mind you, underthe high, and for many parts, we see a lot of cloud into this evening. chilly underneath that cloud as well. a weak weather fronts in the north—west of scotland produces a little light rain or drizzle, and overnight, that damper weather will push northwards up towards the northern isles. we could see a few brakes developing across eastern parts of scotland, particularly in the north—east of england, which could lead to some fog patches, mainly through the vale of york, and perhaps a touch of frost as well. for many, it should be frost free. chili under the cloud in england and wales, milderfor scotland chili under the cloud in england and wales, milder for scotland and northern ireland. the fog tends to lift slowly through the morning as the breeze picks up, and we may see sunshine in north—west england. some sunshine in north—west england. some sunshine in north—west england. some sunshine in north—eastern parts of scotland, and again in northern ireland ahead of the next weather front, bringing some rain mainly to the highlands and islands. temperatures tomorrow similar to what we have had today. again under the cloud across much of england and wales, temperatures may only be 3—4 in the afternoon. high pressure still in charge as we head towards the middle part of the week. that week weather fronts again doesn't get very far. the next one looks like it has more about it, and the winds. to pick up more through wednesday, particularly in the north—west uk. that is where we will find some rain arriving during the afternoon. otherwise, still dry during the day, perhaps more sunshine around throughout england and wales, the breeze stirring things up a bit, and temperatures will be higher, 8—9. double figure temperatures ahead of that in the north—west. windy weather in the northern as overnight, then that when front move southwards this time. little or no rain on that at all. into thursday, brightening up. more in the way of sunshine, more showers in the north and west with a north—westerly wind, but not particularly cold. temperatures around 8—12, mild to end the week. this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines: borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp's claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. it is something i take personally extremely seriously, i took it extremely seriously 18 months ago, we must wait and see what the investigation says. people arriving in england will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test, if they have been double vaccinated. the prime minister warns russia that invading ukraine would be a "disastrous step" — as the uk withdraws staff from its embassy there. the new highway code rules — designed to make the roads safer for cyclists. and — the french fashion designer, thierry mugler, whose designs were worn by lady gaga, david bowie, and kim kardashian, has died at the age of 73. good afternoon. borisjohnson has ordered a cabinet office inquiry into claims made by a muslim mp who says her faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. nusrat ghani welcomed the inquiry, saying all she wanted was for the matter to be taken seriously. the government's chief whip, mark spencer, said ms ghani's allegation referred to him, but he said the claims were completely false. the new cabinet office inquiry comes at the beginning of what is likely to be a difficult week for the prime minister, with the expected publication of a report into parties on government premises that took place when coronavirus restrictions were in place. from westminster, here's ione wells. as one inquiry into parties here is about to draw to a close, another one is about to open. this time into claims made by the tory mp nusrat ghani, who's said this weekend that she had been told by a party whip that her muslimness was a reason she was sacked as a transport minister. claims strongly denied by the chief whip mark spencer, who said he was the whip in question and called her claims defamatory. miss ghani said she raised the issue with the prime minister in 2020 and urged him to start an inquiry, but that he had told her to complain to the tory party instead. but this morning no 10 have said there will be an investigation. we take these allegations extremely seriously, i took them seriously when they were raised with me 18 months ago. very glad there is an investigation taking place now. on sunday night cabinet ministers, including the health secretary sajid javid and education secretary nadhim zahawi, were among those calling for her claims to be investigated. these are you know really serious allegations and you know no one makes those easily, it takes a lot of bravery for somebody to stand up and say this and make these allegations, which is why we have to look at this quickly, but thoroughly, which is why the prime minister has made the right decision to get the cabinet office to look at this. but the conservative party peer baroness sayeeda warsi said this inquiry is only a start. it has to go much deeper than that. this is somebody - who was a government minister who was told - that herjob came to an end, because of protected _ characteristics is actually against the law. it's not yet clear who will be fronting this new inquiry. labour's deputy leader angela rayner said the prime minister's independent ethics advisor lord geidt should be put in charge, claiming that the chief whip mark spencer could have broken the ministerial code. now, this all comes at a time when mark spencer and other government whips are under pressure and facing allegations for blackmailing tory mps into supporting the prime minister, claims which no 10 say they don't recognise, but which the conservative mp william wragg said he will be taking up with the police. it's a bruising week ahead, as another major report into behaviour in government is about to drop. sue gray's investigation into parties across whitehall during covid restrictions. the prime minister's former top aide, dominic cummings said he has answered her questions in writing. reporter: have you spoken to to sue gray today, mr cummings? he's already claimed the prime minister was warned one party in may 2020 should not go ahead, which borisjohnson denies. for many mps, this report will help them decide whether it is time to end johnson's leadership. and with a fresh inquiry announced today, he'll be hoping he can win back their support. and the bbc has learned that conservative mp william wragg has met with the metropolitan police this morning to discuss those claims of intimidation and blackmail. the prime minister has said that people arriving in england will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test, if they have been double vaccinated. earlier we had this update from our business correspondent theo leggett. we have got this line from the prime minister, we know one thing is going to happen, that is that the government is intending to withdraw the requirement for travellers coming into the uk to take a covid test within a8—hours, provided they are double vaccinated. so that is the only concrete thing we have so far. this afternoon the transport secretary will make a statement in the house of commons, we are likely to hear more. so areas that we need to hear more. so areas that we need to know about is what will happen with children and teenagers, what will happen with unvaccinated people who face more stringent restrictions when they come into the country, they have to isolate for ten days. so that kind of thing. another area that will be interesting to see what happens is the passengers locator form. it is likely the government will keep it, but it will be simplified. this the form you've to fill in 48 hours before coming into the country. one thing we know is that the travel industry is happy with what the prime minister has set out. that is because airlines and tourist groups have been arguing that the restrictions don't work very well, they did little according to them to slow the spread of the omicron variant, which spread very quickly, despite the restrictions, but still caused them harm and the economy arm. so the measures that we know about so far, that, the transport industry says is very good. there will be other details later and we will have to wait and hear what the transport secretary says. the prime minister has warned russia that an invasion of ukraine would be a 'painful, violent and bloody business," — as the uk moved to withdraw staff from its embassy in ukraine. it follows a similar move by the us — and an announcement by the western alliance nato that it's sending more ships and fighterjets to member states in eastern europe. russia has amassed 100,000 troops near its borders with ukraine. although it denies plans for military action. but president putin has demanded that ukraine, formerly part of the soviet union, neverjoins nato, forfear russia's security would be threatened. here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. russia denies it's planning an invasion, but it is continuing to mass its forces close to ukraine's borders and conduct large scale exercises, leading some western powers to fear the worst. this morning the foreign office announced that some of the diplomats that work here in the british embassy in the capital kyiv are going to return home with their families. in a tweet, it said some embassy staff and dependents are being withdrawn from kyiv in response to a growing threat from russia. the british embassy remains open and will continue to carry out essential work. the intelligence is very clear that there are 60 russian battle groups on the borders of ukraine. the plan for a lightning war that could take out kyiv is one that everybody can see. we need to make it very clear to the kremlin, to russia that that would be a disastrous step. officials at the foreign office said the decision was a response to the growing risk of a russian incursion, not the result of a specific threat against british diplomats. the families of us diplomats who work at its us embassy in kyiv have also been ordered home and some nonessential staff have been given the option to leave. i have no higher responsibility than the safety and well being of the folks who work for the state department and who are under my care ina sense. so we are tracking this very closely. ukraine's foreign ministry was not impressed. translation: we respect the right of foreign - states to ensure the _ security of their diplomatic- missions, but we consider such a step to be premature and a display of excessive caution. _ in brussels, eu foreign ministers decided to give a billion pounds in financial aid to ukraine, but said for now eu diplomats would not follow the uk and us lead. we are not going to do the same thing, because we don't know any specific reasons, but secretary lincoln will inform us us and i don't think we have to dramatise. but as ukrainian civil defence forces conducted their own exercises, nato announced it was bolstering its presence in eastern europe, with various member states preparing to send extra ships and war planes to the region. james landale, bbc news. in the past few minutes the foreign secretary liz truss has been speaking in brussels we have a full operation in ukraine. but it is important that we prepare for any eventuality and there are worrying signs about what could happen. the uk is at the forefront of providing support to ukraine in terms of defensive weapons, in terms of supporting ukraine with economics and trade and also we have a very strong package of sanctions ready should russia stage an incursion into ukraine.— should russia stage an incursion into ukraine. you have come back from australia, _ into ukraine. you have come back from australia, given _ into ukraine. you have come back from australia, given what - into ukraine. you have come back from australia, given what has i into ukraine. you have come back. from australia, given what has been going on, do you think you were in the wrong hemisphere when this was happening? the wrong hemisphere when this was ha -tenin?~ ., the wrong hemisphere when this was hauenint? ~ ., ., the wrong hemisphere when this was hauenint? ., ., ,., happening? what we are facing is a serious global— happening? what we are facing is a serious global issue. _ happening? what we are facing is a serious global issue. of— happening? what we are facing is a serious global issue. of aggressorsj serious global issue. of aggressors seeking to advance and challenge freedom and democracy and it is important we work with all our allies around the world. if there was an incursion into ukraine, that would have implications notjust for europe, but also more widely globally. europe, but also more widely aloball ., . europe, but also more widely aloball ., , ., ., europe, but also more widely aloball ., . ., ., europe, but also more widely aloball ., , ., ., globally. just on what you released over the weekend _ globally. just on what you released over the weekend about _ globally. just on what you released over the weekend about russia - globally. just on what you released i over the weekend about russia trying to set up a puppet government in ukraine, what was the basis of that intelligence, where did it come are from? i intelligence, where did it come are from? .., �* intelligence, where did it come are from? �* ., ., ., , from? i can't go into the details, the reason _ from? i can't go into the details, the reason we _ from? i can't go into the details, the reason we put _ from? i can't go into the details, the reason we put that _ from? i can't go into the details, the reason we put that into - from? i can't go into the details, the reason we put that into the i the reason we put that into the public domain, we will call out every instance of russia trying to influence democracy and false flag operations and sabotage. will will owl that. operations and sabotage. will will owlthat. ,, ., operations and sabotage. will will owlthat. ., ., , ., , ., owl that. should germany turn on in order stream _ owl that. should germany turn on in order stream two? _ owl that. should germany turn on in order stream two? i'm _ owl that. should germany turn on in order stream two? i'm concerned i order stream two? i'm concerned about the dependency _ order stream two? i'm concerned about the dependency on - order stream two? i'm concerned j about the dependency on russian order stream two? i'm concerned - about the dependency on russian gas and i'm very clear that in order stream two should not go ahead. should it ever go ahead? i would like to see europe reduce its dependency on russian gas. brexit and today's talks, has there been any progress with the eu?- and today's talks, has there been any progress with the eu? there has been progress. _ any progress with the eu? there has been progress, we _ any progress with the eu? there has been progress, we have _ any progress with the eu? there has been progress, we have had - been progress, we have had constructive discussions and i'm determined to protect political stability and peace in northern ireland. i want to work constructively with the eu to be able to achieve that and we need to do it in short order we have agreed to have more intensive talk. we believe there is a deal to be done. you say believe there is a deal to be done. you saj ., believe there is a deal to be done. you sa ., believe there is a deal to be done. yousa ., , you say you say there has been progress? _ you say you say there has been progress? i _ you say you say there has been progress? i am _ you say you say there has been progress? i am not _ you say you say there has been progress? i am not going - you say you say there has been progress? i am not going to - you say you say there has been - progress? i am not going to provide a runnint progress? i am not going to provide a running commently _ progress? i am not going to provide a running commently to _ progress? i am not going to provide a running commently to the - progress? i am not going to provide a running commently to the media, | a running commently to the media, but i'm determined to protect political stability in northern ireland, protect peace in northern ireland, protect peace in northern ireland and get this done. end ireland, protect peace in northern ireland and get this done.- ireland and get this done. end of february has _ ireland and get this done. end of february has been _ ireland and get this done. end of february has been talked - ireland and get this done. end of february has been talked of - ireland and get this done. end of february has been talked of a i ireland and get this done. end of february has been talked of a a i february has been talked of a a deadline, is that right? igrate february has been talked of a a deadline, is that right? we need to make as much _ deadline, is that right? we need to make as much progress _ deadline, is that right? we need to make as much progress as - deadline, is that right? we need to make as much progress as we - deadline, is that right? we need to make as much progress as we can l deadline, is that right? we need to. make as much progress as we can in the next few week, the situation in northern ireland is very difficult, we want goods to be able to flow freely and we made to make progress. would you pause the talks as we approach the stormont elections? i want to get this done. we are putting as much resource as we can into making this work and making things happen for the people of northern ireland. just things happen for the people of northern ireland.— things happen for the people of northern ireland. just finally, on nusrat ghani, _ northern ireland. just finally, on nusrat ghani, did _ northern ireland. just finally, on nusrat ghani, did you _ northern ireland. just finally, on nusrat ghani, did you know - northern ireland. just finally, on | nusrat ghani, did you know about those allegations and do you think the chief whip should be staying in post? i the chief whip should be staying in ost? ., . the chief whip should be staying in ost? ., , . the chief whip should be staying in ost? . ., the chief whip should be staying in ost? .,, .., . ., ., ., post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani _ post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani had _ post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani had to _ post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani had to say, _ post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani had to say, it - post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani had to say, it is - post? i was concerned to hear what nusrat ghani had to say, it is a - nusrat ghani had to say, it is a worrying allegation and i'm pleased the prime minister has ordered an inquiry to take place and i won't make any further except until we have the —— comment until we have the results of that inquiry. liz truss in brussels. we are joined by truss in brussels. we arejoined by a ukrainian politician. what are your hopes for these talks, what do your hopes for these talks, what do you hope they will achieve? for toda 's you hope they will achieve? iff?" today's meeting in nato or what about? a, today's meeting in nato or what about? ., ., ., what about? say that again, sorry? what about? say that again, sorry? what about our about? say that again, sorry? what about your question, _ about? say that again, sorry? what about your question, what - about? say that again, sorry? what about your question, what our - about? say that again, sorry? whatl about your question, what our hopes about your question, what our hopes about the situation in ukraine or today's meeting in nato? ih about the situation in ukraine or today's meeting in nato? is today's meeting in nato? in nato. is this inter-parliamentary _ today's meeting in nato? in nato. is this inter-parliamentary council, - this inter—parliamentary council, nato/ukraine and we have to first of all update the information about build up near the ukrainian borders from the russia federation side. this is the first thing that we have... that we have to do. the second way it's, well, to call for the unity actually of the whole members of the alliance, because as you know, yeah, we have a great support from the us and the uk and canada, but a strange position from germany, which blocks the supply of weapons from the third country, i mean from estonia for example. so this is the second point that we have to, what we have to declare. the third one actually, our needs in weapons. so, yeah, we have to, we have to be strong in face of the invasion... probability invasion from russian federation. so we need concrete systems like antimissile, antiaircraft, antiship. this is the point that we are discussing here in nato right now. point that we are discussing here in nato right now-— point that we are discussing here in nato right now. despite the build up of 100,000 russian _ nato right now. despite the build up of 100,000 russian troops, - nato right now. despite the build up| of 100,000 russian troops, vladimir putin says there are no plans for an invasion in ukraine. but at the same time the kremlin only seems to want to speak to the white house, how frustrating is t that you seem to be locked out of the process that is about you?— about you? well, we really appreciate _ about you? well, we really appreciate the... _ about you? well, we really appreciate the... you - about you? well, we reallyj appreciate the... you know about you? well, we really - appreciate the... you know the principle, nothing about ukraine without ukraine, and our partners try to be, or not try even, they are in connection in... 2a and 7 connection with ukraine, about any negotiations between... with russia. yeah, we clearly understand that if russia says that he will not invade, it doesn't matter that this is true. because it is russia actually. and more of it, you know... there are no regional reasons for... enough for russia to not invade. because it is not about russia. it is not about the consequences of sanctions that we will call up their economy, it is more about their ideology of vladimir putin and kremlin, they have to put in plans... or put a control to the territories that was a part of the ussr or even more the countries that was part of warsaw pact. this is their big idea, you know, like europe from vladivostok to lisbon, as he sa several years ago. it to lisbon, as he sa several years ato, , ., , ., to lisbon, as he sa several years ato. , ., i. to lisbon, as he sa several years ato, , ., 4' to lisbon, as he sa several years ago. it sounds that you think it is inevitable that _ ago. it sounds that you think it is inevitable that there _ ago. it sounds that you think it is inevitable that there will - ago. it sounds that you think it is inevitable that there will be - ago. it sounds that you think it is inevitable that there will be an i inevitable that there will be an invasion. nato, you don't think it is inevitable?— invasion. nato, you don't think it is inevitable? well, i can't predict the actions _ is inevitable? well, i can't predict the actions of _ is inevitable? well, i can't predict the actions of russian _ is inevitable? well, i can't predict| the actions of russian federation. the risk is high. we see this numbers of soldiers and techniques near our borders. i can't say right now it is a game or is it a real threat, but i think that we have to be ready to any scenario. horse threat, but i think that we have to be ready to any scenario. how much confidence — be ready to any scenario. how much confidence do _ be ready to any scenario. how much confidence do you _ be ready to any scenario. how much confidence do you have _ be ready to any scenario. how much confidence do you have on - be ready to any scenario. how much confidence do you have on the - confidence do you have on the international community, to help in a meaningful way if that incursion does take place?— a meaningful way if that incursion does take place? well, thanks we have the support _ does take place? well, thanks we have the support and _ does take place? well, thanks we have the support and the - does take place? well, thanks we have the support and the unity i does take place? well, thanks we have the support and the unity of| have the support and the unity of the western world. that we didn't have before. but still, as i said, some countries have a little bit strange position in this situation. so, yeah, there are several points that we need as help, sanctions, it is quite strong position as we already have that no... any country shouldn't decide for ukraine what the path will be for our country. i mean the best of the eu and nato. of course, their support in the weapons. course, their support in the weapons-— course, their support in the weaons. ., ., . ., , weapons. the idea of sanctions thou . h weapons. the idea of sanctions though has _ weapons. the idea of sanctions though has been _ weapons. the idea of sanctions though has been pro _ weapons. the idea of sanctions though has been pro posed - weapons. the idea of sanctions though has been pro posed in i though has been pro posed in response to an invasion. not before it. so what else is at the disposal of your allies to try to dissuade vladimir putin?— of your allies to try to dissuade vladimir putin? well, diplomatic, only diplomatic. _ vladimir putin? well, diplomatic, only diplomatic. we _ vladimir putin? well, diplomatic, only diplomatic. we are _ vladimir putin? well, diplomatic, only diplomatic. we are in - vladimir putin? well, diplomatic, only diplomatic. we are in stuck i vladimir putin? well, diplomatic, i only diplomatic. we are in stuck and we see both side see, but try to solve the situation through diplomatic measures. from different sides. to avoid escalation and avoid invasion. ~ ., . ., sides. to avoid escalation and avoid invasion. ., , ., , invasion. what signal does it send to ou invasion. what signal does it send to you that _ invasion. what signal does it send to you that the — invasion. what signal does it send to you that the united _ invasion. what signal does it send to you that the united states - invasion. what signal does it send to you that the united states and | to you that the united states and the uk have decided to withdraw some of their embassy staff?— of their embassy staff? well... you know this is — of their embassy staff? well... you know this is signal _ of their embassy staff? well... you know this is signal not _ of their embassy staff? well... you know this is signal not only - of their embassy staff? well... you know this is signal not only for - of their embassy staff? well... you know this is signal not only for us, | know this is signal not only for us, but for russian federation too, because russian federation tried to raise the stakes step by step. the western world showed that... he is ready and we are ready for this raising of steps. because there are no any... possibility to step back from ukraine. orfrom nato. because there is the essence of nato, the unity and the decision that should be made by... alliance and the different countries about the membership. different countries about the membership-— different countries about the membershi. , , ., ., membership. even if this situation is de-escalated _ membership. even if this situation is de-escalated and _ membership. even if this situation is de-escalated and russia - membership. even if this situation is de-escalated and russia steps i is de—escalated and russia steps back this time, how likely is it that it will be repeated at some point, given russia's view of where ukraine belongs? you point, given russia's view of where ukraine belongs?— point, given russia's view of where ukraine belongs? you know, i can say that... ukraine belongs? you know, i can say that--- this— ukraine belongs? you know, i can say that... this situation... _ ukraine belongs? you know, i can say that... this situation... this _ that... this situation... this escalation, the time of the escalation, the time of the escalation is now, because putin and kremlin understands that their window of opportunities for them is closing. becausejust eight window of opportunities for them is closing. because just eight years ago, the support of eu or nato in ukraine was not more than ito%. now it is for eu over 80% for nato it is approximately 60% of support. so we decide eight years ago that we are the part of the european nations. but before this, in ukraine there are a lot of supporters of russian federations that consider our country as a part of maybe a future unity, unit... country orsomething. but right now, there are no... any options to move to, to move to eu and nato from the ukraine. that is why it is happening right now with russian federation and the ukraine. thank you. mps are warning the sharing of images of child abuse and violence against women won't be stopped by proposed new online safety legislation, as it's not robust enough. the government insists the changes will make the uk 'the safest place in the world to be online'. our specialist disinformation and social media reporter marianna spring joins us now. so the digital culture media and sport committee are saying the draft online safety bill isn't tough enough on some types of harmful content, what do they mean? they say it is things that are legal but harmful. that is things light breadcrumbing, where people post images on line to direct them to more dangerous pictures of abuse. when it comes to violence against women, it is things like images that are sexualised and are sent, too often to women who experience harassment and they feel the bill couldn't limit.— harassment and they feel the bill couldn't limit. ., ., . ., couldn't limit. you gave evidence to the committee. _ couldn't limit. you gave evidence to the committee, what _ couldn't limit. you gave evidence to the committee, what was _ couldn't limit. you gave evidence to the committee, what was that - the committee, what was that evidence? i the committee, what was that evidence?— the committee, what was that evidence? ., , ., ., ., evidence? i did an investigation for panorama and _ evidence? i did an investigation for panorama and it _ evidence? i did an investigation for panorama and it was _ evidence? i did an investigation for panorama and it was about - evidence? i did an investigation for panorama and it was about online i panorama and it was about online hate targeting women and how the problem is getting worse and interrogating what policy makers and the police and social media sites are doing. part of what i spoke about it our investigation revealed algorithm has been promoting anti—women hate. they say they do everything they can to tackle hate, that they don't put profit over user safety. but this was a big topic of conversation. they were talking about how to force the social media sites to make algorithms safer. one other thing we spoke about is freedom of speech and for the women i interviewed from love island influencer to politicians and doctors, said the abuse attacks them for gender and race and sexual and the report talks about the false dichotom that we will stop people from speaking freely.— changes to the highway code are expected to come into force on saturday. the government says they will improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, they'll have more priority in certain situations, like atjunctions. but there are concerns that public awareness of the changes is low, and that this could cause problems, and even avoidable collisions. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. oh, my god! captured on camera. collisions. close shaves. and scary moments across the country. london cyclist mike campaigns for road safety. he says those sorts of incidents happen far too often. what are the most common problems you come across? the most common ones boil down to impatience, which is maybe overtaking too close and immediately stopping in a queue of traffic. or overtaking me and then crossing my path, forcing me to brake. guidance is about to be put into the highway code saying at least 1.5 metres should be left when overtaking a cyclist, two metres when overtaking a horse. but that's not all. some other changes to the highway code are due to come in soon, including something drivers really need to know about. i've come to a car testing track to get, who else, a driving instructor to explain. this brings back memories! all pleasant ones, i hope. well, i passed eventually. all right for me to get in? yes. road users who can cause the most harm, drivers of big lorries for example, will have the most responsibility for safety and there will be more priority for pedestrians and cyclists at junctions. so coming up to the junction, i check my mirrors, indicate left. i have got to give way if there is a pedestrian already crossing the road. is that going to change unther the new guidance? the new guidance is if there's someone waiting to cross, you must stop in this hold back position. even though they haven't started, i will wait until they have crossed the road? correct. what about cyclists as well? you must allow them to pass and go straight ahead before we proceed. 0k. with no cyclists wanting to ahead of me and the pedestrian gone, i turn into the next road and remember we mentioned how much space you should give a bike, well here is me giving a dummy cyclist about 1.5 metres. reach across with your opposite arm and hold on to the door handle. there will also be guidance on looking over your shoulder when opening a car door, to avoid doing this. campaigners hope updated guidance will help to drive change and make the most vulnerable safer, if, that is people follow the rules. katie austin, bbc news. edmund king, the aa president is here to speak with me on this. thank you forjoining us. why has there been so little publicity about a change that are significant? i think that is a good question, because if you look back at the history of road safety changes, things like the breathalyzer or compulsory seat belts, the legislation was reinforced with very high profile campaigns. but unfortunately the government campaign, the think campaign doesn't kick off for about two weeks after the launch of the changes. in our view, we would have preferred to see the campaign and the information come before the changes become law. so sit is something we have been talking to government and other bodies about.— talking to government and other bodies about. , ~ ., , ., bodies about. yes, i think that is a fairly good — bodies about. yes, i think that is a fairly good assumption _ bodies about. yes, i think that is a fairly good assumption and - bodies about. yes, i think that is a fairly good assumption and many i fairly good assumption and many people would agree with you on. in terms of changes themselves, how wise are they? are they welcome? yes, i think they are welcome. what it is trying to do is change the culture on our road, change the responsibility on our roads and actually make the roads a more harmonious place for us all, to give is structure. many of the changes though responsible drivers do anyway, so giving 1.5 metres to cyclists, you should do that anyway. but the fact that it is reinforcing it will be helpful and there are other things that perhaps are a lilt less known like given at least two metres space to a horse rider and slowing down to less than 10mph in the current highway code, it says 15mph. so there are significant changes, but it is important for all road users that drivers understand it and cyclist and pedestrians and horse riders understand it. some of the route, from some of the media reports seem to be misunderstood. the most common one is that cyclists are allowed in the middle of the lane, if it is a narrow road or the road narrows. actually, that makes perfect sense, because the last thing you want is a car trying to overtake when the road narrows so there isn't enough space for a car and a cyclist to get through. what the cyclist is doing in that instance being in the middle of the lane is responsible. but we need to get that message across and it has to be understood by all road users. we all need to get some, get used to the changes, don't we? and we will eventually. thank you. for many parts of england and wales still cloudy and filling chili into the evening. still a bit of rain and drizzle across northern parts of scotland. that will tend to push northwards overnight up towards the northern isles. then we will see if few breaks in the cloud across eastern parts of scotland but particularly in the north—east of england. that will lead to five patch is a specialist in the vale of york, and where we have these clearer skies, temperatures could dip below freezing. for many, it should be frost freeze, though colder under the cloud. another other parts of england and wales. calder and northern ireland. fog will tend to live as the breed picked up a bit. there will be otherwise dry, still a lot of cloud across england and where is. temperatures similar to today, again under cloudy skies it will feel on the chilly side. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp's claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. people arriving in england will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test if they have been double vaccinated. the prime minister warns russia that invading ukraine would be a "disastrous step", as the uk withdraws staff from its embassy there. the new highway code rules designed to make the roads safer for cyclists. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane dougall. hello. good afternoon. it took five gruelling sets, but stefanos tsitsipas is through to the quarter finals of the australian open after beating american taylor fritz. the greek is one of the favourites to take the men's title, but it was fritz who won the first set on rod laver arena, with a sensational forehand to take it 6—4. tsitsipas fought back to take the second 6—4. but the power swung back to fritz for him to win the third, and give him a 2—1 lead. the crowd was enjoying the battle, but tsitsipas seemed to go up a gear. going on to win the fourth 6—3 and then the fifth 6—4. he goes through. in the women's draw, kaia kanepi was premature with her celebrations before knocking out second seed aryna sa balenka. it was one set all and 8—7 in the third when kanepi edged in the third when kanepi edged in front. she thought the match was over and celebrated early! but needed another point. luckily her blushes were spared and she got it to go through to a first australian open quarter—final at the age of 36. elsewhere, iga swiatek beat sorana cirstea. and two—time grand slam winner simona halep is out. the 14th seed lost in three sets to france's alize cornet, who makes the quarter—finals of a major at the 63rd time of trying. very emotional at the end. yeah, i had a little birthday present. i had a cake from the tournament. the cheesecake was amazing. 50 tournament. the cheesecake was amazin., ., �*, tournament. the cheesecake was amazint. ., �*, , tournament. the cheesecake was amazint. ., amazing. so that's why you won, the cake from the _ amazing. so that's why you won, the cake from the tournament? - amazing. so that's why you won, the cake from the tournament? yeah, i i cake from the tournament? yeah, i had so much _ cake from the tournament? yeah, i had so much cheesecake, - cake from the tournament? yeah, i had so much cheesecake, i - cake from the tournament? yeah, i had so much cheesecake, i can - cake from the tournament? yeah, i had so much cheesecake, i can tell| had so much cheesecake, i can tell you guys, i have energy for weeks now! best thing to get you through! and in rugby union, george ford is set to replaced injured captain owen farrell in england's six nations squad. with farrell out of the opener against scotland, head coach eddiejones will turn to ford after leaving him out of the initial 36—man squad. despite his outstanding club form, ford has been overlooked since the autumn with marcus smith starring at number 10. tyson fury will face either oleksandr usyk in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title next or defend his wbc crown against mandatory challenger dillian whyte. fury�*s promoters have been pushing for whyte to agree terms, but simultaneously speaking to anthonyjoshua's team about stepping aside so fury can fight usyk next. an agreement for either fight is expected to be reached by wednesday. team gb have named their 50th and final memberfor the winter olympics. ellia smeding will be the first female long track speed skater to represent britain for 42 years at beijing 2022. smeding called it a "dream come true" and will race in the 1,000m and 1,500m, having recently set new national records in three distances in december. the games start on february 4th. brentford manager thomas frank has extended his contract at the club until the end of the 2024—25 season. the dane led the club to promotion to the premier league last season, ending a 71t—year wait for top flight football. frank took over as brentford manager in 2018 after stepping up from his role as assistant to dean smith. the knockout stages of the africa cup of nations continue later with the surprise team of the tournament comoros having to face the hosts cameroon without a recognised goalkeeper. comoros keeper ali ahamada missed training and will miss the last—16 tie, despite testing negative for covid—19 this morning. ahamada has not fulfilled tournament protocols, which state a player who tests positive must isolate for five days before taking another pcr test 48 hours before his side's next match. that could be a good opportunity for someone else on the squad. a reminder that the match between keeperless comoros and the hosts will be shown on the bbc sport website, iplayer and red button. kick off is at 7. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much, jane. the founder of the wikileaks website julian assange has won the first stage of his bid to appeal against extradition to the united states. he'll now take his case to the supreme court. mr assange faces charges over the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the afghanistan and iraq wars. our correspondent greg mckenzie is at the high court in central london. today a high courtjudge has asked for the supreme court to expedite a decision in relation to the appeal following the extradition request ofjulian assange. he has been held on remand at belmarsh prison since april 2019, awaiting that decision in relation to his extradition. outside court today, his fiance spoke to the media and said today is a victory. make no mistake, we won today in court _ court. cheering but let's not forget that every time we win. _ but let's not forget that every time we win. as — but let's not forget that every time we win, as long as this case isn't dropped. — we win, as long as this case isn't dropped. as— we win, as long as this case isn't dropped, as long asjulian isn't freed. — dropped, as long asjulian isn't freed, julian continues to suffer. now, _ freed, julian continues to suffer. now, julian assange is wanted in the states. they want to extradite him to america to face 18 counts of hacking into military computers and exposing or leaking thousands of documents pertaining to the afghanistan and iraq war. if he is extradited and put on trial in the states, he could be sentenced to 170, or he could be sentenced to 175 years. julian assange's cam have always said that should he be extradited to the states and held in a super max prison, if convicted, he would simply take his own life. these appeals are that it really goes against his human rights, they are saying his human rights are infringed if he is extradited and would therefore potentially commit suicide of hell that a super max jail in the states. —— if held at a super max jail. over the past week, lengthy lorry queues have built up on the main road heading into dover. freight heading to the port of dover is being managed by national highways as traffic in the area builds and queues form on the a20. national highways says there are currently no queues for lorries to get into dover let's get more with our global trade correspondent chris morris. chris, why is this happening? dover, calais, is chris, why is this happening? dover, calais. is now— chris, why is this happening? dover, calais. is now a _ chris, why is this happening? dover, calais, is now a major— chris, why is this happening? dover, calais, is now a major trade - chris, why is this happening? dover, calais, is now a major trade border, | calais, is now a major trade border, essentially, and borders bring delays. post—brexit, where there used to be no checks, there are now a variety of checks. new ones came in on the 1st of january. most of the checks that came in at the beginning of the year were on import into the uk, so you might think there would be queues at the other side, in calais, and there have been a few there, but not too many. on the side of the channel, one of the reasons there are queues going into dover is that lorry drivers have new paperwork they need to do to inform the authorities of what is in their cargo, and it's only a few minutes, but the number of minutes it is taking for each lorry to be processed is longer than it needs to be, longerthan processed is longer than it needs to be, longer than it should be, drivers say, and therefore, one minute here, one minute here, the delay is growing. there are other reasons, the things we need to take into account. there have been staff absences due to covid. obviously, there has been worse at some stage in the last couple of years, but omicron hasn't helped. staff absences in ferry companies or freight companies which have complicated things, and also, you need to look at the time of year. some ferries are out of action at the moment. one route is out of action, one of the ferry companies has one ferry out of action, so on a temporary basis, there are fewer crossings. so all sorts of things you can put together, but the basic thing is that that crossing, dover to calais is more difficult than it used to be when we were in the european union. there is less trade taking place, but there are still problems? yes. but there are still problems? yes, and i but there are still problems? yes, and i think— but there are still problems? yes, and i think in _ but there are still problems? yes, and i think in a _ but there are still problems? yes, and i think in a way _ but there are still problems? yes, and i think in a way that is - but there are still problems? is: and i think in a way that is the most important long—term thing. there are clearly companies still trading but which are struggling to do so, and frustrated by the bureaucracy, and you presume that they are still making a profit, because otherwise they would not bother. but the latest trade statistics from here and at places like germany suggest that companies are looked at it and thought, we're just not going to trade any more. new german trade statistics came out at the end of last week saying he had looked at the first 11 months of last year compared to 2020, when covid restrictions were at their worst. there was a real bounce back in most trade last year from 2020, is a german exports were up 17% of the eu, up 18% of the us, but down 2% to the uk. so only down 2%, but compared to trade rebounding and recovering strongly elsewhere. same with german imports. imports from the eu into germany were up 16%, but from the uk, down 8%. so a lot of companies are looking at this new bureaucracy, the cheques, the forms they must fill in, and thinking, you know what? we will put our attention elsewhere. there is a lot of friction about this on social media, with people saying, why is the eu doing this? and others saying, hold on, this is brexit, we are a third country. of course this will happen. this brexit, we are a third country. of course this will happen.— course this will happen. this is kind of what _ course this will happen. this is kind of what happens - course this will happen. this is kind of what happens at - course this will happen. this is kind of what happens at the i course this will happen. this is - kind of what happens at the borders of the eu single market. i have been to a couple of those. poland and ukraine is one. there are queues there. turkey and bulgaria, massive queues of lorries backing up into turkey, almost all the way to istanbul sometimes, strain get into the border with bulgaria. you can argue about whether the eu was too insistent about having such strict controls on its border, but that is the fact of the matter, that this has become a trade border, and some of this will get easier. companies will find ways around it, processes will find ways around it, processes will improve. but we will have to get used to the fact that this is a trade border where they will be delays. thank you very much. some breaking news for you. there has been a resignation from the government. this is lord agnew, a treasury and cabinet office minister. he has resigned over what he describes as the government's lamentable track record on covid fraud. lord agnew alleges that whitehall oversight has been nothing less than woeful and desperately inadequate. we know, of course, that a lot of the support that was offered to businesses during covid to keep them afloat went to the wrong places. it was not legitimately claimed, and hence, it is now marked down as fraud. billions of pounds worth, in fact, having to be written off because it was not properly tracked. so this is lord agnew saying he can no longer stay in the government because of this and really criticising how whitehall did not provide enough oversight to stop it from happening. the french fashion designer, thierry mugler, has died at the age of 73. he opened his first boutique in paris in the 1970s and became widely known for designs with broad shoulders and sharp tailoring. mugler�*s designs were worn by stars including lady gaga, david bowie, beyonce, and kim kardashian. joining me now is vanessa friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic at the new york times. shejoins me from paris, where haute couture fashion week is taking place. va nessa, vanessa, what has been the reaction thereto this news? i vanessa, what has been the reaction thereto this news?— thereto this news? i think especially _ thereto this news? i think especially coming - thereto this news? i think especially coming in - thereto this news? i think especially coming in the i thereto this news? i think - especially coming in the week of another death, this has shocked and saddened people, and they are remembering all the contributions that mugler made to the history of dress and style.— that mugler made to the history of dress and style. what set him apart and ou dress and style. what set him apart and you are — dress and style. what set him apart and you are via? _ dress and style. what set him apart and you are via? he _ dress and style. what set him apart and you are via? he is _ dress and style. what set him apart and you are via? he is absolutely i and you are via? he is absolutely one of the _ and you are via? he is absolutely one of the quintessential- and you are via? he is absolutely i one of the quintessential inventors of what we think of his early 80s power dressing, but he always had this incredible — of camp humour, that sort of levied some of the heaviness, and made it fun. he really thought fashion should be fine and had no truck with minimalism or naturalism. he was all about what was never found in nature. �* . ., .., ., nature. and he decided to come out of retirement _ nature. and he decided to come out of retirement to _ nature. and he decided to come out of retirement to dress _ nature. and he decided to come out of retirement to dress kim - of retirement to dress kim kardashian for the met gala three years ago, i think it was. too good an opportunity for him to turn down? well, he never stopped designing, he simply stopped designing as part of the fashion system. he sold his brand and ultimately left it, and went into theatre designing and production design, which, honestly, is what he was doing from the start. for him, life was theatre, so it wasn't a big jump to go from a catwalk shows that were themselves enormous productions to actual productions. enormous productions to actual productions-— enormous productions to actual roductions. ~ ., ., ~ , productions. what do you think his lea will productions. what do you think his legacy will be? _ productions. what do you think his legacy will be? when _ productions. what do you think his legacy will be? when you - productions. what do you think his legacy will be? when you look - productions. what do you think his legacy will be? when you look at i legacy will be? when you look at other fashion designers, legacy will be? when you look at otherfashion designers, working other fashion designers, working today, otherfashion designers, working today, young ones, can you see his influences and some of them? there is no question _ influences and some of them? there is no question that _ influences and some of them? there is no question that the _ influences and some of them? there is no question that the kind - influences and some of them? there is no question that the kind of- is no question that the kind of extremity of his silhouettes, the battering ram shoulders, the tiny, nipped in waist, the materials he is used, leather, latex, straps, he was into this kind of s&m meats glass ceiling shattering look. he has been incredibly influential with all sorts of designers from the queen to what we're seeing today, and i think it will continue to remain that way. i thought you might mention alexander mcqueen, because even for me, and i amjust alexander mcqueen, because even for me, and i am just an interested amity or looking in, i can see those influences. but in terms of when the rest of us get to wear these clothes, when it filters down to the high street, one of the things that thierry mugler gave the ordinary woman in the street? —— what are the things that thierry mugler gave the ordinary woman in the street? that sense that a _ ordinary woman in the street? that sense that a jacket _ ordinary woman in the street? twat sense that a jacket with a shoulder pad with a very bound up waste would give you the girding and the armour you needed to strut into the world. that is all him. how likely is it that his clothes will be even more collectible now, do you think?— will be even more collectible now, do you think? they have already -- there has already _ do you think? they have already -- there has already been _ do you think? they have already -- there has already been booming i there has already been booming market for vintage mugler in the collectible market, and i think that is only going to be more true when a designer has passed away, because that becomes the rarest of the rare. if you have it in your wardrobe, hold onto it. thank you very much. let's go back to the news that lord agnew, the treasury and cabinet office minister, has resigned over the government's "lamentable track record" on covid fraud. this is what he had to say in the lords a few moments ago. my my lords, you can see it as my deeply held conviction that the current state of affairs is not acceptable. given that i am the ministerfor acceptable. given that i am the minister for counter fraud, to feel somewhat dishonest to stay on in that role if i am incapable of doing it properly, let alone defending our track record. it is for this reason that i have sadly decided to tender my resignation as a minister across the treasury and cabinet office with immediate effect. i would be grateful if my noble lord would pass this letter on to the prime minister wrote his earliest convenience. it is worth saying that none of this relates to far more dramatic political being played out across westminster. this is not an attack on the prime minister, and i'm sorry for the inconvenience it will cause. indeed, i think any prime minister should be able to reasonably expect that levers of government are actually connected to delivering services for our citizens. i hope that as a virtually unknown minister beyond this place, giving up my career might prompt other is more important than me to get behind this and sort it out. it matters for all the obvious reasons, but there is a penny of income tax claiming here if wejust woke up. penny of income tax claiming here if we just woke up. total fraud penny of income tax claiming here if wejust woke up. totalfraud loss across government is estimated at 29 billion a year. of course, not all can be stopped, but a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance freezes the government machine. action taken today will give this government is a sporting chance of cutting income tax before a likely may 2024 election. if my removal helps that to happen, it will have been worth it. so it leaves me only to thank the noble lord, lord tunnicliffe, for his tentative role as my shadow minister of my portfolio, and to thank noble friends, many of whom i know will carry on this important area. thank you and goodbye. applause the treasury minister lord agnew, stepping out of the house of lords, having resigned from the government over how the fraudulent covid business loans have been handled. clearly saying in the house of lords that he was unhappy working between the business department and the treasury. given that i am the minister for counter fraud, treasury. given that i am the ministerfor counterfraud, he treasury. given that i am the minister for counter fraud, he said, it would be somewhat dishonest to stay on in that role if i am incapable of doing it properly. he said that staying is untenable. for that reason, i have decided to tender my resignation as a minister with immediate effect. we saw him leave. but he did apologise for the timing of this, said that he did not in any way blame the prime minister, but this is, however, another issue for the prime minister to have to wrangle with. the sister of a british man who was killed in the us by a stray bullet that travelled through a wall has told the bbc it was a "senseless act". 31—year—old matthew willson was visiting his girlfriend in atlanta when he was struck by the bullet while he was lying in bed. police in america have begun a murder inquiry and appealed for witnesses, but no one has been arrested. our correspondent jon donnison has more. this is the last photo taken of matthew willson, visiting his girlfriend catherine in atlanta, georgia. a few hours later, in the middle of the night, he lay fatally wounded in her arms, shot by a stray bullet. i'm so sorry for your loss as well... this morning, his sister kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we know that there were a group of individuals at a nearby apartment complex firing guns. we don't know how many. perhaps two, we believe, and that the moment that my brother and his girlfriend chose to call the police, a bullet came through the wall, and struck my brother in the head. it is a real senseless act. and so far in this residential neighbourhood, police have made no arrests. we need the public to know about what happened, and for someone to come forward, because somebody knows who did this, and somebody knows who was responsible. it's also important for us that that person knows that they have done this, because maybe they don't even know what happened, because the bullet went intoa building. you know, they didn't see the aftermath of it, and it's really important that they know what their actions have done and what they have taken from us. and kate said in the last few days there had been an outpouring of love for her brother. he truly was a joy to be around. he was that typical big brother to me growing up, and as an adult, he was a wonderful uncle to my son, and he was just a wonderful friend. his friends are really going to miss him, as are we in the family. a woman from cambridgeshire and her two friends are celebrating after setting a new world record, becoming the fastest female trio to row across the atlantic. kat cordiner from st neots completed the 3,000—milejourney with her crew mates, raising money for cancer research. it's a cause close to her heart, as she herself has incurable cancer. emma braugh reports. that's in! you've got the line, yeah! the moment of triumph after achieving their epic goal. shattering the world record for crossing the atlantic. tired, because it is sam antigua time and i probably had a few too many rum punches last night, so, yeah, i think my body'sjust realised it's been growing for 42 days and some, realised it's been rowing for 42 days and some, so i am feeling a little broken, i have to admit. kat, who celebrated her 42nd birthday on the trip, is living with incurable cancer, but she only talks about the physical toll of the journey on all of the crew. just general aches, knees, we all feel like we are a bit older than we actually are! but actually, you know, we are in pretty good spirits, and very wobbly legs. we haven't quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth trip, they face many challenges. they faced many challenges. i think nothing prepares you for the first ten days. they were very emotional for all of us. i think we couldn't quite work out what we were doing and why we were doing it. and then you settle into a routine, you know, it's fine. so i think, really, wejust end about how tough it would be. so i think, really, we just underestimated about how tough it would be. organisers said they had showed the impossible was possible, and they had kept their sense of humour. we had a lot of fun on the boat. i mean, abby perpetually said, when does the fun actually start? but i think charlotte and i, you know, you find joy in so many moments when you are growing, and honestly, it's very difficult, moments when you are rowing, and honestly, it's very difficult, butjust trying to help each other to have the best day as we can, and just take one shift at the time. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello. the dryjanuary continues, a theme we have had for a number of weeks. we see some rain coming into the north—west again, and it is in the north—west that every now and then we see some weather fronts pushing in from the atlantic. but they will not get much further, because they are running into high pressure that keeps the rest of the country fine and dry. variable cloud, mind you, under the high, and for many parts, we see a lot of cloud into this evening. chilly underneath that cloud as well. a weak weather front in the north—west of scotland produces a little light rain or drizzle, and overnight, that damper weather will push northwards up towards the northern isles. we could see a few breaks developing across eastern parts of scotland, straight to the house of commons, where _ straight to the house of commons, where the — straight to the house of commons, where the house of transport secretary where the house of transport secreta i . ., where the house of transport secreta j , ., ,, ., where the house of transport secreta , ., ,, , ., secretary gran shapps is making an announcement _ secretary gran shapps is making an announcement about _ secretary gran shapps is making an announcement about covid - secretary gran shapps is making an announcement about covid travel. announcement about covid travel restrictions. today, i can confirm to the house that our international travel regime will also now be liberalised as part of our efforts to ensure that 2022 is the year in which restrictions on travel, lock downs and limits on people's lives are firmly placed in the past. mr speaker, from 4am on the past. mr speaker, from 4am on the 11th of february and in time for the 11th of february and in time for the half term break, eligible, fully vaccinated passengers arriving in the uk will no longer have to take a post—arrival lateral flow test. that means that after months of predeparture testing, post—arrival testing, self isolation and additional expense, all the fully vaccinated people will now have to do if they travel to the uk is to verify their status via a passenger locator form. verify their status via a passenger locatorform. and verify their status via a passenger locator form. and we verify their status via a passenger locatorform. and we promise verify their status via a passenger locator form. and we promise we wouldn't keep these measures in place a day longer than was necessary. and it's obvious to me now that border testing for vaccinated travellers has outlived its usefulness, and we are therefore scrapping all travel tests for vaccinated people. not only making travel much easier, but also, of course, saving about £100 perfamily visits abroad. providing certainty to passengers, to carriers, and the vital tourism sector with the spring and summer seasons. and so, mr speaker, let me explain to the house how this will actually work in practice. for now, we will maintain our current definition of fully vaccinated, for the purposes of inbound travel to the uk, and that means two doses of an approved vaccination or one dose survey jansen vaccine. we will go further. the measures for those arriving in the uk who do not qualify as fully vaccinated have not changed since last march. so that i must come to review that position too, and today i can announce that passengers who do not qualify as fully vaccinated will no longer be required to do a day eight test after arrival, or indeed, to self—isolate. they will still need to fill out a passenger locator form to demonstrate proof of a negative covid test taken two days before they travel. they must still take a post—arrival pcr test. this is a proportionate system that takes is a proportionate system that takes is a proportionate system that takes is a step closer to normality while maintaining vital public health protections. for kids travelling to the uk, under18 protections. for kids travelling to the uk, under 18 is will continue to be treated as eligible for the vaccinated passengers, which means they will not face any tests at the uk border. today, i'm pleased to confirm that from february the 3rd, 12 to 15—year—olds in england will be able to prove their vaccination status via the digital nhs pass for international outbound travel. again, this should help families cope plan holidays for february half term. it will help the aviation sector to take back to the skies. from 4am on 11th february, we will recognise at the uk borders vaccine certificates from 16 further nations. that will include countries like china and mexico, bringing the vaccine recognition total to over 180 countries and territories worldwide. one of the consequences of covid and the changing infection patterns has been the border regime that has at times been complex and confusing and i know there it has been a challenge for many people travelling over the last two years. so we are going to simplify the passenger locator form and make it easier to complete and from february it will be more convenient, by giving people an extra day to fill out the form before they travel. while the options for a red list of countries will remain in place, to provide a first line of defence against future variants of concern, we are looking to replace the managed quarantine system with our measures, including home isolation, provided we can develop new ways to ensure compliance. our contingency measures remain available, as the house knows, there are no countries on the red list currently. but they are only likely be applied if we are concerned about a variant that poses a greater risk than omicron. the health agency will monitor threat and maintain a high surveillance capacity, monitoring covid infections over seas. but over time we intend to move from blanket measures to a more sophisticated system and i'm committing to develop a full toolbox of options to provide more certainty or how we will respond against future new—variant cjd variants. we will continue to work with international partners, including the world health organization, to help all countries monitor their variants. we are moving into a few face of the fight against covid and insteading of protecting from a pandemic, we are living with endemic covid. just as we live with flu. we will set out our strategy for that transition in spring, but as we return to more normal travel next month, our advice to all eligible adults who have not been vaccinated stays the same, get jabbed and if you're two jabs, please get boosted. i have been speaking to a lot of my opposite numbers around the world and they have made clear that regardless of wh they do, they will require the booster jab wh they do, they will require the boosterjab by this summer. so my advice to anyone who wishes to travel this year, including the during the summer is don't leave it too late, you're likely to be requiring it. we already have one of the most open economies societies in europe. with the result being that our gdp has outpaced that of other g7 countries. with these changes, we have one of the most open travel sectors in the world and of course we know that covid can spring surprises. but everybody know should feel confident about book holidays, and visits to family abroad. but it is only because the government got the big calls right on vaccination, on boosters, on dealing with omicron and we can now open travel and declare that britain is open for business. today we are setting britain free and i commend this statement to the house. the shadow secretary of state. this statement to the house. the j shadow secretary of state. thank this statement to the house. the - shadow secretary of state. thank you can i thank shadow secretary of state. thank you can i thank the _ shadow secretary of state. thank you can i thank the secretary _ shadow secretary of state. thank you can i thank the secretary of _ shadow secretary of state. thank you can i thank the secretary of state - can i thank the secretary of state for advance sight of the statement. the aviation industry is a critical part of the uk, but both the haphazard approach and the refusal to grant support has caused it real damage. the uk's aviation sector has experienced a slower recovery than our european counter parts and experienced 60,000 job losses. it is baffling the government did not do more to support this and attach conditions for transition to net zero as countries like france and germany have done. too often the government's chaotic approach to covid has failed to keep the country safe, while causing uncertainty for the travelling public and business. each time a new variant has emerged, the government has take an different approach. we want to see safe international travel and the protection of public health. that is why the public finally deserve to hearin why the public finally deserve to hear in full how ministers intend to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure that can happen in the months ahead. we must avoid the absurdity of the secretary of state announcing one set of restrictions before scrapping that and announcing a different regime. businesses and the public should have clarity about the changes in the event of a new variant and not wait until 5pm on a saturday night for new measure naas s. that is why the it is welcome the government will produce a plan to allow certainty. why we have outlined our plan on the action needed to learn to live with covid and protect lives and help avoid harsh restrictions. that is critical when it comes to the travel industry. it is as the secretary of state said inevitable another variant will emerge. with omicron it was not fit for purpose. the government must learn lessons for future variants. when the secretary of state publishes his plan will he include the data to guide the approach? and detail the economic well being and equality impact of each scenario? and given the health secretary said last week that testing will remain part of our walls of surveillance, does he agree we should build up the uk's capability to have a supply of tests and has he considered the merits of and has he considered the merits of a surveillance system to detect variants? last month the secretary of state said he would raise my concerns around the pcr market with the health secretary. can he update the health secretary. can he update the house on what progress he has been made on clean up that market? mr speaker, i would been made on clean up that market? mr speaker, iwould be been made on clean up that market? mr speaker, i would be grateful if the secretary of state could confirm if the passenger locator form will be available in other languages. the announcement is a reminder of a truth that in an era of global travel, no one is safe until everyone is safe. in the uk we have learned that lesson the hard way. if we are going to break the cycle of variants, we have to vaccinate the world, but ministers have not met commitments to get the vaccine rolled out to other parts of the world and instead cut the budget. what steps are the government taking to deliver on those measures committed to at the g7? living with covid can'tjust be a slogan, so we need to prepare and protect our live and livelihoods in the future. it is time ministers gave passengers, industry and communities the security and stability they deserve. thank you for the the honourable lady for welcoming i think the statement today. i understand that she hasn't been in the post very long, but she will be aware her predecessors have called for us to tighten up and close the borders while simultaneously relaxing and opening them and often on the same day or a few days apart from each other. but i understand, i understand that she's recently come to the post, but there is something she can do current day if she doesn't mind me suggesting, she could speak to our welsh counter parts who are a constant drag on opening up aviation. i here she is keen that we move ahead and i hope she can assist to help them move promptly. she said we need a toolbox to respond and we do need a tool bobgts. it is notjust a question for the uk. i was talking to the chief executive of the uk security agency who sits and cochairs a world health organization body that is working on this global response and one of the most important things that may have been missed during my statement is to stress we believe the time is right to move from individuals being checked as they come over our board per, what the ever the variant that gets in and every country has found that, to a global system of surveillance that is as good as we have, where world leading is applied often, but we genuinely have a world leading system of surveillance through the amount of coronavirus testing we can do and we are helping other countries in the world to catch up with that as well. she asked about what the government is doing to honour our bid made at the g7 and elsewhere, with coronavirus, and i wanted to sort of gently point out, mention to the house, in developing astrazeneca, oxford developed a vaccine that has been used in more arms than any other vaccine in the world. i think i'm right in saying it is about 2.5 billion people who have been vaccinated with that. that is a huge contribution in addition to the other doe nations that we have made and we will continue to do so. i think i'm pleased to hear the whole house is welcoming this plan to unlock and set britain free. studio: we have grant shapps the transport secretary, let's speak to our business correspondent. setting britain free, he says? yes. our business correspondent. setting britain free, he says?— britain free, he says? yes, some tuite britain free, he says? yes, some quite dramatic _ britain free, he says? yes, some quite dramatic developments, i britain free, he says? yes, some. quite dramatic developments, one britain free, he says? yes, some - quite dramatic developments, one we knew about, from 4 am on 11th february, fully vaccinated passengers no longer need to take a covid test. it will reduce the amount of bureaucracy. the timing is significant, 11th february, just ahead of the half term holiday when companies are hoping that restrictions would be eased. interesting border tested for unvaccinated travellers has been reduced and those who don't qualify as fully vaccinated won't be required to isolate at home and only have to take a test two days after arriving in the country. they will still have to take a test before they set off on theirjourney. but they set off on theirjourney. but they are significant changes and significant that grant shapps said border testing has outlived its usefulness. of course we don't know what will happen down the line. in the last year and a half there have been a lot of changes to the border regime as the covid situation has fluctuated. the new restrictions that were brought in with omicron. what will happen if another variant crops up? the way grant shapps was talking, he was suggesting that the government wants to move from the blanket clamp down's and on to a more sophisticated regime. those are question that the opposition are asking. forthe question that the opposition are asking. for the moment, we are seeing more of a return to normality here i think. seeing more of a return to normality here i think-— here i think. thank you very much. we have had _ here i think. thank you very much. we have had a _ here i think. thank you very much. we have had a statement - here i think. thank you very much. we have had a statement from - here i think. thank you very much. i we have had a statement from british airways, regarding the statement we have heard from grant shapps. this is sean dail saying, today's announcement is a become boost to the economy and finally fully vaccinated customers can book with confidence, whether going on business or holiday without the additional costly burden of testing and sends a message that global britain is back in business. let's speak to alan french from thomas can being. cook. what difference will it make to your customers? i being. cook. what difference will it make to your customers?— being. cook. what difference will it make to your customers? i think we will see a lot _ make to your customers? i think we will see a lot more _ make to your customers? i think we will see a lot more bookings - make to your customers? i think we will see a lot more bookings in - make to your customers? i think we will see a lot more bookings in the i will see a lot more bookings in the short—term. we have seen an uptake for the medium term and summer, but little for half term and half term and easter will start to see the a surge back into bookings. that is good news for the travel industry. what have people been telling you about the reasons for them not travel something how much does the rigmarole of the test and the costs factor into that? fit, rigmarole of the test and the costs factor into that?— factor into that? a lot. there is a treat factor into that? a lot. there is a great deal _ factor into that? a lot. there is a great deal of _ factor into that? a lot. there is a great deal of things _ factor into that? a lot. there is a great deal of things that - factor into that? a lot. there is a great deal of things that can - factor into that? a lot. there is a great deal of things that can go i great deal of things that can go wrong and a great deal of expense you can incur. where people can travel to and understanding the rules to leave the country, to come back n and then think about what might happen if for instance a test as they leave their... holiday destination, what would be the impact of that? that has meant a lot of uncertainty, particularly impact of that? that has meant a lot of uncertainty, particular ly for families. as we return to normality and start to have some certainty that the rules will remain static, that the rules will remain static, that will increase people's confidence in being able to book enormously. i think at the moment there are, you know, as airlines are putting more flights on, as hotels are opening up again, there is some great deals and fantastic locations that people can go to, being return they can go there and return safely. 0f they can go there and return safely. of course, the uk end is only one part of it, to what extent are people looking at the restrictions and requirements in those destinations and how much does that play into where they choose to travel to? assuming they are not having to do on business or going to visit friend and family? it is having to do on business or going to visit friend and family?— visit friend and family? it is a big art of visit friend and family? it is a big part of the _ visit friend and family? it is a big part of the confidence _ visit friend and family? it is a big part of the confidence levels. - visit friend and family? it is a big part of the confidence levels. so | part of the confidence levels. so understanding what the rules are in what locations and having some certainty that those rules won't change is helpful. i think that meant people have been more confident about book holidays in places like spain, greece, turkey where they know that people are looking hard at the rules and trying to make sure they're static. but it plays on people's minds as they about where they're going to go. tastute about where they're going to go. we heard grant shapps saying rather than being a blanket approach to some places in the world, he want there to be a more sophisticated more targeted system in place. not much detail at the moment. what would you like to hear more on that in case there are further variants arise? ~ ., ., ~ arise? we are and i think with everybody _ arise? we are and i think with everybody in _ arise? we are and i think with everybody in the _ arise? we are and i think with everybody in the industry - arise? we are and i think with i everybody in the industry would arise? we are and i think with - everybody in the industry would like to see more transparency in to what are the indicators that would make the government make decisions where they introduced colour schemes, or other restrictions to travel. because the more time we have got, the more we are as an industry can respond to that, and the better that we can take care of customers and advise them. we can take care of customers and advise them-— we can take care of customers and advise them. ., ,, i. ., �* ,, , advise them. thank you. now brussels and 'oin a advise them. thank you. now brussels and join a nato — advise them. thank you. now brussels and join a nato conference. _ advise them. thank you. now brussels and join a nato conference. the - and join a nato conference. the co-operation — and join a nato conference. tie: co—operation between finland, sweden and nato strengthens stability in the region. the co—operation is mutually beneficial. last october we had an excellent meeting to finland. thank you for that. finally, finland is not a member of nato, but maintaining a national room for freedom of choice are part of finland's security and defence policy. thank you.— policy. thank you. thank you, secretary- _ policy. thank you. thank you, secretary. sweden's - policy. thank you. thank you, i secretary. sweden's partnership policy. thank you. thank you, - secretary. sweden's partnership with nato is _ secretary. sweden's partnership with nato is a _ secretary. sweden's partnership with nato is a central part of our security— nato is a central part of our security and defence policy. our enhanced — security and defence policy. our enhanced partner status will remain the platform and the dialogue that we believe is of mutual importance to sweden, finland and nato. let me stress _ to sweden, finland and nato. let me stress how— to sweden, finland and nato. let me stress how concerned we are over russia's_ stress how concerned we are over russia's reinforcement over ukraine and moscow's aggressive rhetoric. it is the _ and moscow's aggressive rhetoric. it is the worst— and moscow's aggressive rhetoric. it is the worst armed conflict in europe — is the worst armed conflict in europe and there has been have been 15.000 _ europe and there has been have been 15,000 casualties. our support for ukraine _ 15,000 casualties. our support for ukraine sovereignty remains firm. european — ukraine sovereignty remains firm. european and trans—atlantic unity is key. partners have made it clear to russia _ key. partners have made it clear to russia there is no place for an armed — russia there is no place for an armed conflict in europe and that any further acts of aggression would be met— any further acts of aggression would be met with massive consequences. sweden _ be met with massive consequences. sweden has had intense contacts with us and _ sweden has had intense contacts with us and european colleagues within the eu _ us and european colleagues within the eu and with nato on this issue. many— the eu and with nato on this issue. many visit— the eu and with nato on this issue. many visit here today is one such opportunity to share information and discuss _ opportunity to share information and discuss the _ opportunity to share information and discuss the current very serious situation — discuss the current very serious situation i_ discuss the current very serious situation. i want to thank the secretary— situation. i want to thank the secretary for the close dialogue and the co—operation that we have. it is particularly — the co—operation that we have. it is particularly important that we have had this— particularly important that we have had this opportunity to meet together with finland, as always we co-operate — together with finland, as always we co—operate very closely with finland _ co—operate very closely with finland. we are closely following developments, carefully analysing the russian military build up and we are preparing fora number of scenarios _ are preparing fora number of scenarios. today, we also discussed the proposal put forward by russia. the core _ the proposal put forward by russia. the core of — the proposal put forward by russia. the core of the proposal is to attempt _ the core of the proposal is to attempt to rewrite what we call the european _ attempt to rewrite what we call the european security order, the arrangements for europe's security that were _ arrangements for europe's security that were agreed after the cold war. one of— that were agreed after the cold war. one of the _ that were agreed after the cold war. one of the principles is that every state _ one of the principles is that every state has — one of the principles is that every state has the right to choose its own security arrangement, whom it co-operates— own security arrangement, whom it co—operates with, whether to join or stay? _ co—operates with, whether to join or stay? a— co—operates with, whether to join or stay? a military alliance etc. this is what _ stay? a military alliance etc. this is what russia want to roll back and this is— is what russia want to roll back and this is not— is what russia want to roll back and this is not a — is what russia want to roll back and this is not a acceptable. let me again— this is not a acceptable. let me again reiterate that the fundamental principles— again reiterate that the fundamental principles underpinning the european security— principles underpinning the european security order must remain non—negotiatable. we supported dialogue — non—negotiatable. we supported dialogue with russia on arms control and codes _ dialogue with russia on arms control and codes of confidence. this is something _ and codes of confidence. this is something we are ready to discuss with russia. having been the chair person— with russia. having been the chair person of— with russia. having been the chair person of ose for a year, i think the ose — person of ose for a year, i think the ose is— person of ose for a year, i think the ose is the right forum for such discussions — the ose is the right forum for such discussions. let me finally and again— discussions. let me finally and again stress that we support the ongoing — again stress that we support the ongoing diplomatic efforts. we commend they nato and welcome the dialogue _ commend they nato and welcome the dialogue between nato and russia. we expect— dialogue between nato and russia. we expect russia to choose to continue to dialogue and accept nato's offer to dialogue and accept nato's offer to organisation further meetings in the nato/russia council. thank you. we will— the nato/russia council. thank you. we will take questions from here. in the press room and try to take a couple of questions online. we will go to swedish tv. the gentleman in the second row.— go to swedish tv. the gentleman in the second row. what was the outcome of toda 's the second row. what was the outcome of today's meeting _ the second row. what was the outcome of today's meeting and _ the second row. what was the outcome of today's meeting and how— the second row. what was the outcome of today's meeting and how will- the second row. what was the outcome of today's meeting and how will this i of today's meeting and how will this affect— of today's meeting and how will this affect nato's — of today's meeting and how will this affect nato's relationship— of today's meeting and how will this affect nato's relationship with - affect nato's relationship with sweden? _ affect nato's relationship with sweden? for— affect nato's relationship with sweden? ., ., ., ., , sweden? for nato and me it is important _ sweden? for nato and me it is important to — sweden? for nato and me it is important to have _ sweden? for nato and me it is important to have close - important to have close consultations with finland and sweden and to share analysis and to share assessments as we face a very challenging security situation in europe, because of the... mill itary build up by russia and the threatening rhetoric by russia. and i think we all agree on the need to pursue a diplomatic path. i hope that the... both on the diplomatic efforts of nato, the fact that we had a meeting of the nato russia council for the first time for a long time was a positive sign, a step in the right direction and nato invited russia to take part in further meetings and outlined the areas that we are ready to discuss with russia. at the same time, we are working for the best, we are hoping for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst. meaning that we also are... as nato are increasing our presence in the eastern parts of the alliance. you asked about what it means for the relationship with nato and sweden, well i think it highlights the importance of the close relationship. that fully respecting the swedish decision to not be a nato member, we welcome the close partnership, sweden is an enhanced opportunity partner and sweden and finland are the closest partners and we share information together is something that is important and the importance is demonstrated in the situation that we are faced with now. let me add finally that i welcome the fact that sweden has reinforced its military presence, because that is important for the whole baltic seas, it is strategic importance for the baltic sea and nato is present there, we have little state there is and nato allies have also increased its presence in the baltic sea region. studio: that is the secretary general nato at that press conference, where tensions over ukraine as russian build up ont borders of ukraine have been discussed. he said they are considering how to further enhance the nato presence in the east of natos territories. that could include additional battle groups. previously we heard the foreign minister of sweden saying there is no place for armed conflict in europe and there would be massive consequences if russia were to invade. she said she should enter dialogue with russia. earlier liz truss spoke about the situation. tattfe truss spoke about the situation. we have a truss spoke about the situation. - have a full operation in ukraine and our embassy is operating and doing all the work we need to do, but we need to prepare for any eventuality. the uk is at the forefront of providing support to the ukraine in terms of defensive weapons and supporting ukraine with economics and trade and also we have a very strong package of sanctions ready should russia stage an incursion into ukraine.— should russia stage an incursion into ukraine. you have come back from australia, _ into ukraine. you have come back from australia, do _ into ukraine. you have come back from australia, do you _ into ukraine. you have come back from australia, do you think - into ukraine. you have come back from australia, do you think you i from australia, do you think you were in the wrong hemisphere when all this was happen something tatafhtztt all this was happen something what we are facing _ all this was happen something what we are facing is _ all this was happen something what we are facing is a _ all this was happen something rmat we are facing is a serious all this was happen something "mat we are facing is a serious global issue. of aggressors seeking to advance and challenge freedom and democracy and it is important we work with all our allies, if there was an incursion into ukraine, that would have implications notjust for europe, but also more widely globally. europe, but also more widely tloball ., . europe, but also more widely tloball ., , ., ., europe, but also more widely tloball ., . ., ., europe, but also more widely tloball ., , ., ., globally. just on what you released over the weekend, _ globally. just on what you released over the weekend, about _ globally. just on what you released over the weekend, about russia i over the weekend, about russia trying to set up a puppet government in ukraine, what was the basis of that intelligence? i in ukraine, what was the basis of that intelligence?— that intelligence? i can't go into details of how— that intelligence? i can't go into details of how we _ that intelligence? i can't go into details of how we precure - details of how we precure intelligence. but we will call out any instance of russia trying to subvert ukraine, false flag operations and sab sabotage and we will call that out. “at? operations and sab sabotage and we will call that out.— will call that out. now the weather. you sound surprised _ will call that out. now the weather. you sound surprised every - will call that out. now the weather. you sound surprised every time. it| you sound surprised every time. it has been a quiet day, a lot of cloud, it has felt chilly under the cloud. the low lest temperatures are where we have the clearest sky social security. where we have the clearest sky socialsecurity. it where we have the clearest sky social security. it is not very warm. the mildest weather is in northern ireland and scotland. we have some drizzle moving into the northern isles. breaks in the cloud across the north—east of england and we could find some fog developing. also for parts of northern england there maybe a up the of frost. even with the cloud in other parts of england and wales, it is not particularly warm tomorrow morning. cloudy skies for many areas, some sunshine after that fog lifts. some sunshine after that fog lifts. some sunshine in eastern scotland and northern ireland once again. ahead of another band of rain that will bring some light rain mainly to the highlands of scotland. ahead of that temperatures similar to today, if you're stuck under the low cloud it will feel on the chilly side. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: people arriving in england from february the 11th will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test if they have been double vaccinated. flow test if they have after flow test if they have months of testing, post arrival after months of testing, post arrival testing, self—isolation and expense, all that fully vaccinated people have to do when they travel to the uk is to verify their status by a passengers locator form. treasury minister lord agnew of oulton resigns from the government and walks out of the house of lords over how it's handled fraudulent covid business loans. thank you and goodbye. this is borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp“s claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. the prime minister warns russia that invading ukraine would be a "disastrous step", as the uk withdraws staff from its embassy there. also coming up this hour: battling and beating the elements — a british all—women crew including a woman with incurable cancer break the world record for rowing across the atlantic. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here“s jane dougall. good afternoon. we are going to start in melbourne. after an epic battle over five sets, stefanos tsitsipas is through to the quarter finals of the australian open after beating american taylor fritz. the greek is one of the favourites to take the men's title, but it was fritz who won the first set on rod laver arena, with a sensational forehand to take it 6—4. tsitsipas fought back to take the second 6—4. but the power swung back to fritz for him to win the third, and give him a 2—1 lead. the crowd was enjoying the battle, but tsitsipas seemed to go up a gear. going on to win the fourth 6—3 and then the fifth 6—4. in the women's draw, france's alize cornet has made the quarter—finals of a major at the 63rd time of asking. and she did it by knocking out two—time grand slam winner and 14th seed simona halep, admitting that she may have had some assistance. yeah, i had a little birthday present. i had a cake from the tournament. the cheesecake was amazing. so that's why you won, the cake from the tournament? yeah, i had so much cheesecake, i can tell you guys, i have energy for weeks now! and in rugby union, george ford is set to replaced injured captain owen farrell in england's six nations squad. with farrell out of the opener against scotland, head coach eddiejones will turn to ford after leaving him out of the initial 36—man squad. despite his outstanding club form, ford has been overlooked since the autumn with marcus smith starring at number 10. tyson fury will face either oleksandr usyk in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title next or defend his wbc crown against mandatory challenger dillian whyte. fury“s promoters have been pushing for whyte to agree terms, but simultaneously speaking to anthonyjoshua“s team about stepping aside so fury can fight usyk next. an agreement for either fight is expected to be reached by wednesday. team gb have named their 50th and final memberfor the winter olympics. ellia smeding will be the first female long track speed skater to represent britain for 42 years at beijing 2022. smeding called it a “'dream come true" and will race in the 1,000m and 1,500m, having recently set new national records in three distances in december. the games start on february the 4th. brentford manager thomas frank has extended his contract at the club until the end of the 2024—25 season. the dane led the club to promotion to the premier league last season, ending a 74—year wait for top flight football. frank took over as brentford manager in 2018 after stepping up from his role as assistant to dean smith. the knockout stages of the africa cup of nations continue later with the surprise team of the tournament comoros having to face the hosts cameroon without a recognised goalkeeper. comoros keeper ali ahamada missed training and will miss the last—16 tie, despite testing negative for covid—19 this morning. ahamada has not fulfilled tournament protocols, which state a player who tests positive must isolate for five days before taking another pcr test 48 hours before his side's next match. a reminder that the match between keeperless comoros and the hosts will be shown on the bbc sport website, iplayer and red button. kick off is at 7. you can see how they get on. that's all the sport for now. jane, thank you very much. a minister responsible for cross—government efficiency has resigned over efforts to tackle fraud relating to a coronavirus business loan scheme. lord theodore agnew said “'a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance" was “'freezing the government machine". lord agnew, who has been a minister at the cabinet office and treasury since february 2020 announced his resignation in the house of lords. my my lords, you can see it is my deeply held conviction that the current state of affairs is not acceptable. given that i am the ministerfor acceptable. given that i am the minister for counter fraud, acceptable. given that i am the ministerfor counterfraud, it feels minister for counter fraud, it feels somewhat ministerfor counterfraud, it feels somewhat dishonest to stay on in that role if i am incapable of doing it properly, let alone defending our track record. it is for this reason that i have sadly decided to tender my resignation as a minister across the treasury cabinet office with immediate effect. i would be grateful if my noble lord would pass this letter on to the prime minister at his earliest convenience. it is worth saying that none of this relates to far more dramatic political events being played out across westminster. this is not an attack on the prime minister, and i'm sorry for the inconvenience it will cause. indeed, ithink i'm sorry for the inconvenience it will cause. indeed, i think any prime minister should be able to reasonably expect that the levers of government were actually connected to delivering services for our citizens. i hope that as a virtually unknown minister beyond this place, giving up my career might prompt others more important than me to get behind this and sort it out. it matters for all the obvious reasons, but there is a penny of income tax waiting to be claimed here if we just woke up. total fraud waiting to be claimed here if we just woke up. totalfraud loss across government is estimated at 29 billion a year. of course, not all can be stopped, but a combination of arrogance, ignorance and indolence freezes the government machine. action taken today will give this government is a sporting chance of cutting income tax before a likely may 2024 election. of my removal helps that to happen, it will have been worth it. so it leaves me only to thank the noble lord, lord tunnicliffe, for his courteous but tentative role is my shadow minister of my portfolio, and to thank noble friends, many of whom i know will carry on the scrutiny of this important area. thank you and goodbye. applause lord agnew of alton, leaving the house of lords earlier this afternoon. a line of breaking news. we are hearing from the white house that presidentjoe biden is going to hold a video call with european leaders today as part of a coordination of efforts with nato allies and allies of nato in response to russia's military build in ukraine's borders. we have seen around 100,000 russian troops being put along those borders, and the nato alliance, we“ve her today, feels the need to bolster its presence in the easternmost territories of nato. so, joe biden to speak to european leaders today. borisjohnson has ordered a cabinet office inquiry into claims made by a muslim mp who says her faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. nusrat ghani welcomed the inquiry, saying all she wanted was for the matter to be taken seriously. the government's chief whip, mark spencer, said ms ghani“s allegation referred to him, but he said the claims were completely false. the new cabinet office inquiry comes at the beginning of what is likely to be a difficult week for the prime minister, with the expected publication of a report into parties on government premises that took place when coronavirus restrictions were in place. from westminster, here“s ione wells. as one inquiry into parties here is about to draw to a close, another one is about to open. this time into claims made by the tory mp nusrat ghani, who's said this weekend that she had been told by a party whip that her muslimness was a reason she was sacked as a transport minister. claims strongly denied by the chief whip mark spencer, who said he was the whip in question and called her claims defamatory. miss ghani said she raised the issue with the prime minister in 2020 and urged him to start an inquiry, but that he had told her to complain to the tory party instead. but this morning, no 10 have said there will be an investigation. we take these allegations extremely seriously, i took them seriously when they were raised with me 18 months ago. very glad there is an investigation taking place now. on sunday night cabinet ministers, including the health secretary sajid javid and education secretary nadhim zahawi, were among those calling for her claims to be investigated. these are, you know, really serious allegations and you know no one makes those easily, it takes a lot of bravery for somebody to stand up and say this and make these allegations, which is why we have to look at this quickly, but thoroughly, which is why the prime minister has made the right decision to get the cabinet office to look at this. but the conservative party peer baroness sayeeda warsi said this inquiry is only a start. it has to go much deeper than that. this is somebody who was _ a government minister who was told that herjob came to an end - because of protected characteristics that herjob came to an end _ because of protected characteristics because of protected characteristics. that is actually against the law. it's not yet clear who will be fronting this new inquiry. labour's deputy leader angela rayner said the prime minister's independent ethics advisor lord geidt should be put in charge, claiming that the chief whip mark spencer could have broken the ministerial code. now, this all comes at a time when mark spencer and other government whips are under pressure and facing allegations for blackmailing tory mps into supporting the prime minister, claims which no 10 say they don't recognise, but which the conservative mp william wragg said he will be taking up with the police. it's a bruising week ahead, as another major report into behaviour in government is about to drop. sue gray's investigation into parties across whitehall during covid restrictions. the prime minister's former top aide, dominic cummings said he has answered her questions in writing. reporter: have you spoken - to to sue gray today, mr cummings? he's already claimed the prime minister was warned one party in may 2020 should not go ahead, which borisjohnson denies. for many mps, this report will help them decide whether it is time to end johnson's leadership. and with a fresh inquiry announced today, he'll be hoping he can win back their support. and the bbc has learned that conservative mp william wragg has met with the metropolitan police this morning to discuss those claims of intimidation and blackmail. the founder of the wikileaks website julian assange has won the first stage of his bid to appeal against extradition to the united states. he“ll now take his case to the supreme court. mr assange faces charges over the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the afghanistan and iraq wars. our correspondent greg mckenzie is at the high court in central london. today a high courtjudge has asked for the supreme court to expedite a decision in relation to the appeal following the extradition request ofjulian assange. he has been held on remand at belmarsh prison since april 2019, awaiting that decision in relation to his extradition. outside court today, his fiance spoke to the media and said today is a victory. make no mistake, we won today in court. cheering but let's not forget that every time we win, as long as this case isn't dropped, as long asjulian isn't freed, julian continues to suffer. now, julian assange is wanted in the states. they want to extradite him to america to face 18 counts of hacking into military computers and exposing or leaking thousands of documents pertaining to the afghanistan and iraq war. if he is extradited and put on trial in the states, he could be sentenced to 175 years. julian assange“s camp have always said that, should he be extradited to the states and held in a supermax prison, if convicted, he would simply take his own life. these appeals are that it really goes against his human rights, they are saying his human rights are infringed if he is extradited and would therefore potentially commit suicide if held at a supermax jail in the states. the sister of a british man who was killed in the us by a stray bullet that travelled through a wall has told the bbc it was a “'senseless act". 31—year—old matthew willson was visiting his girlfriend in atlanta when he was struck by the bullet while he was lying in bed. police in america have begun a murder inquiry and appealed for witnesses, but no one has been arrested. our correspondent jon donnison has more. this is the last photo taken of matthew willson, visiting his girlfriend catherine in atlanta, georgia. a few hours later, in the middle of the night, he lay fatally wounded in her arms, shot by a stray bullet. i'm so sorry for your loss as well. this morning, his sister kate spoke to bbc breakfast. we know that there were a group of individuals at a nearby apartment complex firing guns. we don't know how many. perhaps two, we believe, and that the moment that my brother and his girlfriend chose to call the police, a bullet came through the wall, and struck my brother in the head. it is a real senseless act. and so far in this residential neighbourhood, police have made no arrests. we need the public to know about what happened, and for someone to come forward, because somebody knows who did this, and somebody knows who was responsible. it's also important for us that that person knows that they have done this, because maybe they don't even know what happened, because the bullet went intoa building. you know, they didn't see the aftermath of it, and it's really important that they know what their actions have done and what they have taken from us. and kate said in the last few days, there had been an outpouring of love for her brother. he truly was a joy to be around. he was that typical big brother to me growing up, and as an adult, he was a wonderful uncle to my son, and he isjust a wonderful friend. his friends are really going to miss him, as are we in the family. a man has pleaded guilty to the abduction last october of a four—year—old girl from her family's tent while they were on a camping trip in western australia. cleo smith was found at the home of terence kelly 18 days later. the 36—year—old will appear in court again in march. the headlines on bbc news... people arriving in england from february the 11th will no longer need to take a covid lateral flow test if they have been double vaccinated. treasury minister lord agnew of oulton has resigned from the government over how it's handled fraudulent covid business loans. borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp“s claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. changes to the highway code are expected to come into force on saturday. the government says they will improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders — they'll have more priority in certain situations, like atjunctions. but there are concerns that public awareness of the changes is low, and that this could cause problems, and even avoidable collisions. here's our transport correspondent katy austin. oh, my god! captured on camera. collisions. close shaves. and scary moments across the country. london cyclist mike campaigns for road safety. he says those sorts of incidents happen far too often. what are the most common problems you come across? the most common ones boil down to impatience, which is maybe overtaking too close and immediately stopping in a queue of traffic. or overtaking me and then crossing my path, forcing me to brake. guidance is about to be put into the highway code saying at least 1.5 metres should be left when overtaking a cyclist, two metres when overtaking a horse. but that's not all. some other changes to the highway code are due to come in soon, including some things drivers really need to know about. i've come to a car testing track to get, who else, a driving instructor to explain. this brings back memories! all pleasant ones, i hope. well, i passed eventually. all right for me to get in? yes. road users who can cause the most harm, drivers of big lorries, for example, will have the most responsibility for safety and there will be more priority for pedestrians and cyclists at junctions. so coming up to the junction, i check my mirrors, indicate left. i have got to give way if there is a pedestrian already crossing the road. is that going to change under the new guidance? the new guidance is if there's someone waiting to cross, you must stop in this hold back position. even though they haven't started, i will wait until they have crossed the road? correct. what about cyclists as well? you must allow them to pass and go straight ahead before we proceed. 0k. with no cyclists wanting to ahead of me and the pedestrian gone, i turn into the next road and remember we mentioned how much space you should give a bike? well, here is me giving a dummy cyclist about 1.5 metres. reach across with your opposite arm and hold on to the door handle. there will also be guidance on looking over your shoulder when opening a car door, to avoid doing this. campaigners hope updated guidance will help to drive change and make the most vulnerable safer, if, that is, people follow the rules. katie austin, bbc news. in 1927, mercedes gleitze became the first british woman to swim the channel. later that same year, she became the first person to swim the strait of gibraltar, and went on to set many more remarkable swimming records. her achievements made her a celebrity in the 1920s and “30s, before she completely disappeared from the public eye. today her life as a pioneer of british swimming is being celebrated in brighton, as david sillito explains. sunrise, brighton seafront. there“s frost on the ground and the sea is a mass of chilly bobbing heads. amazing. we saw the sun come up. beautiful. you need to go for yourself to find out. i don't think you can ever persuade anyone with words. you need to experience it. the early morning cold water dip has become a thing. thousands of us, in recent months, have started to enjoy the physical and mental boost it can bring. and it's notjust because it's a beautiful place for an early morning dip. the reason we're here in brighton is because this was the home of a pioneer of this madness. her name was mercedes gleitze, the first british woman to swim the channel, and the straits of gibraltar, and around the isle of man. she was, in the “20s and “30s, a major celebrity. even when she got married, her honeymoon, a swim across the hellespont in turkey. leaving today for turkey to attend the hellespont. and i hope to win for england this additional swimming honour. now, a hundred years on, kirsten callaghan has spent three years recreating those experiences for a film celebrating the life of mercedes gleitze. a role that was about more than just learning lines. she really had to swim the swims. it's very cold! and it changes so quickly. there was sea sickness, and there was — i had really bad cramp. during the winter, when it was very, very cold, sometimes if i lost my nerve, i would have to say, "what would mercedes do? "what would mercedes do?" because she always stayed calm. itjust made me appreciate mercedes more for what she did and how brave she was to do it, and do it alone. and if you've never heard of mercedes, you're in good company. even her own family had only a sketchy idea of her achievements until they found her archive after she died. i knew my grandmother well. i spent a lot of time with her. but she never spoke to me about swimming. you knew nothing about the swimming? nothing. she never spoke to me about swimming at all. in fact, she lied about the fact that she was a swimmer to the neighbours that she lived with. you know, she was challenged — you know, “'you“re mercedes gleitze, aren't you?" she would deny who she was? it“s laughable, because it's obvious who she was, but she denied who she was, because she didn't want that life any more. what would you want to take from her these days? i mean, what is her message? i think the central message i from mercedes gleitze is that, such an incredible example to people generally, and to women. i'm so glad to be able to talk about my grandmother with my daughter, for example, because itjust shows you, you can do anything. this film is honouring a pioneer. mercedes gleitze had done it on her own. a secretary who had started swimming in her spare time, and used herfame to raise money to provide housing for the homeless. and now, an inspiration for today's hardy souls, enjoying the pleasures — and challenges — of a rapidly growing way of embracing the therapeutic joys of a cold, wet winter. what a way to start the morning. it“s fantastic. the most perfect, perfect sunrise. glorious sunshine. a little bit chilly. david sillito, bbc news, brighton. he has a braver man than me, appearing on tv and a wet suit! —— isa appearing on tv and a wet suit! —— is a braver man than me! a woman from cambridgeshire and her two friends are celebrating after setting a new world record becoming the fastest female trio to row across the atlantic. kat cordiner from st neots completed the 3,000—milejourney with her crew mates, raising money for cancer research. it's a cause close to her heart, as she herself has incurable cancer. emma braugh reports. that's in! you've got the line, yeah! the moment of triumph after achieving their epic goal. shattering the world record for crossing the atlantic. tired, because it is sam antigua time and i probably had a few too many rum punches last night, so, yeah, i think my body“sjust realised it's been rowing for 42 days and some, so i am feeling a little broken, i have to admit. kat, who celebrated her 42nd birthday on the trip, is living with incurable cancer, but she only talks about the physical toll of the journey on all of the crew. just general aches, knees, we all feel like we are a bit older than we actually are! but actually, you know, we are in pretty good spirits, and very wobbly legs. we haven't quite got our land legs back. during the mammoth trip, they faced many challenges. i think nothing prepares you for the first ten days. they were very emotional for all of us. i think we couldn't quite work out what we were doing and why we were doing it. and then you settle into a routine, you know, it's fine. so i think, really, we just underestimated about how tough it would be. organisers said they had showed the impossible was possible, and they had kept their sense of humour. we had a lot of fun on the boat. i mean, abby perpetually said, when does the fun actually start? but i think charlotte and i, you know, you find joy in so many moments when you are rowing, and honestly, it's very difficult, butjust trying to help each other to have the best day as we can, and just take one shift at the time. overindulgence in chocolates and other festive treats often see people cutting back injanuary — and the same is apparently true for a pair of armadillos. patsy and eddie have been put on an exercise regime by zoo trainers after piling on 2 kilograms between them. they are are known to enjoy their treats, but it seems too many lie—ins and not enough moving around during the colder weather has caused them to get a bit out of shape. works i think they look adorable. darren bent looks adorable too! here he is with the weather. that was a bit random, martin! lovely, lovely! this most of our weather comes in from the atlantic, but what has happened over the last week or two is that a lot of that weather is getting blocked off by an area of high pressure, which is why it has been so dry. most wet weather continues to be towards the north—west of the uk. we have had a week when the phone rings and patchy rain and drizzle into western scotland today, but there has been some sunshine in eastern scotland, and here in the north—east of england, it will turn cold overnight. won“t feel particularly one end of this great car which has been sitting of the most of england and wales today, and that is still there overnight, temperatures drop by a couple of degrees. we will keep the clearer skies across parts of northern and, especially across the pennines, patchy fog forming in particular through the vale of york, and in these areas, we may find a touch of frost. quite chilly under the cloud and the rest of england and wales, but always milder weather across scotland and northern ireland. as the breeze starts to pick up a bit tomorrow, we should eventually see that fog lifting in northern england, some sunshine again perhaps. most sunshine in eastern scotland developing again in northern ireland, ahead of a weak weather front bringing some more rain, towards the far north—west of scotland. across the rest of the uk, temperatures will be much as today, so will feel chilly again if you are underneath that grey, low cloud in england and england in way. a big area of high pressure sitting over the uk. that weatherfront area of high pressure sitting over the uk. that weather front as a result becomes a lot weaker. but this one looks like it has more about it as we head into wednesday. we start into wednesday. whist actually around, and hopefully as the winds pick up, we mix things up. more sunshine in england and wales, that weather system brings some crowding from the atlantic, mainly to north—western parts of scotland, where winds could such gale force. drawing on mild air, temperatures 8-10 drawing on mild air, temperatures 8—10 on wednesday, so warmer than today. windy weather transfers on wednesday night into the northern isles, and then we see this with the front pushing its way down across england and wales, with the weather front weakens again, meaning there is little or no rain on it. what is left of the cloud and rain moves away, and then we get more sunshine on thursday, a fu showers moving into the north and west. a north—westerly wind on thursday will ease down through the day. not particularly cold. temperatures good for the time of year, 8—10. essentially, this dry january continues for most parts of the uk. with those weather fronts in the north—west, this is where there is most of the rain, the wise, quiet and dry. today at five — borisjohnson orders an inquiry into an mp“s claims that her muslim faith was given as a reason for her sacking as a minister in 2020. it is something i take personally, extremely seriously, i took it very seriously 18 months ago. we must wait and see what the investigation produces. thank you and goodbye. more trouble for the pm this afternoon — a minister publicly resigns over the government's handling of fraudulent covid business loans. people arriving in england will no longer need to take