this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. the british prime minister holds talks with northern ireland's political parties, with hopes that a deal between the uk and the eu on post—brexit trade arrangements could soon be agreed. president zelensky tells the bbc he's confident ukraine can hold off russia's attacks until it can launch a major counter offensive, and warns neighbouring belarus against helping president putin. it will be a big mistake for him and for belarus. it would be a historical mistake. the royal college of nursing warns there will be "significant impact" on the nhs when members in england stage a 48—hour strike on the 1st of march. and the family of the hollywood actor bruce willis say the die hard and pulp fiction star is now

suffering from a type of dementia. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the prime minister rishi sunak is holding talks with northern ireland's political leaders in belfast today with hopes that a deal between the uk and the eu on northern ireland's brexit arrangement could be reached as early as next week. the current trading arrangement — know as the northern ireland protocol — was negotiated during brexit talks. it was put in place to deal with the fact that northern ireland is in the uk and the republic of ireland is in the eu. some goods passing from england, scotland and wales into northern ireland are getting checked when they cross the irish sea, as the current deal prevents checkpoints on the island of ireland.

unionist parties argue that this places an effective border across the irish sea which undermines northern ireland's place within the uk. the largest unionist party, the dup, is currently refusing to take part in the country's power—sharing government unless its concerns about the protocol are resolved. our ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast following the talks. northern ireland has been without a fully functioning devolved government now for more than a year. the dup says it will not relent until its concerns, chiefly the trade border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, are addressed. the dup want an end to checks on goods arriving here from england, scotland and wales under that arrangement known as the northern ireland protocol. also something senior dup politicians have been mentioning more and more, particularly over the last 2a hours, has been the role of eu law in northern ireland. they don't want the european court

ofjustice, the eu's highest court, to have any role in deciding laws for northern ireland. the likes of sammy wilson, the party's chief whip at westminster, lord dodds, a former dup deputy leader, have said fundamentally for the dup, for unionists, they see it as a democratic deficit, laws being made for northern ireland which are not... which are being made in brussels, essentially, they would argue, not being made by politicians elected by the people of northern ireland. so you get the sense the ante is being upped by the dup, as speculation has mounted that rishi sunak is close to a deal with the european union on the northern ireland protocol. there have been negotiations on and off on this since 2021 and that has led rishi sunak to visit belfast this morning for talks with the stormont parties. also other diplomatic

activity today. in brussels, foreign secretary james cleverly has been leading uk negotiators, meeting with the eu commission vice president, maros sefcovic, and this weekend rishi sunak is due to meet other european leaders in munich so you get the sense all of this is fuelling the expectation that a deal is close but the thinking in downing street and also in the dublin government is that a deal isn't on the table just yet and there is still at least some way to go on this. chris page. our correspondentjessica parker is in brussels. what has been happening in the run—up to what's happening belfast today? we run-up to what's happening belfast toda ? ~ ., run-up to what's happening belfast toda ? ~ . ., ., today? we are waiting for confirmation _ today? we are waiting for confirmation as _ today? we are waiting for confirmation as to - today? we are waiting for| confirmation as to whether today? we are waiting for- confirmation as to whetherjames confirmation as to whetherjames cleverly, the foreign secretary, has yet arrived here for his talks with his counterparts in the eu, maros sefcovic. this seems to have been quite a hastily arranged was that we got news last night that the two men

would meet for an early lunch to discuss the latest on the northern ireland protocol negotiations. and after that, what seems to be the case is that maros sefcovic, the eu's chief negotiator on the northern ireland protocol, will hotfoot it across the road here in brussels and speak to eu ambassadors about the latest as well. all quite full of process, but where why are we at the moment in terms of a potential deal? it's clearly edging closer. downing street continuing to downplay the prospect of anything imminent but they have been doing that for quite a while. other sources, multiple sources, have been indicating that actually a deal could come next week but there is so much politics around all of this, as chris has been talking about. some people i speak to say ultimately there is an outline agreement there. it's about whether the uk government wants to push ahead with that and thinks it can sell that agreement. groups like the dup but also conservative mps as well. it sounds

like, from conservative mps as well. it sounds like. from the _ conservative mps as well. it sounds like, from the analysts _ conservative mps as well. it sounds like, from the analysts we - conservative mps as well. it sounds like, from the analysts we have - like, from the analysts we have spoken to, that for the dup, the continued involvement of the european court ofjustice would be an obstacle. how wedded to that with the eu be? , , the eu be? very, very wedded. one erson i the eu be? very, very wedded. one person i spoke _ the eu be? very, very wedded. one person i spoke to — the eu be? very, very wedded. one person i spoke to recently _ the eu be? very, very wedded. one person i spoke to recently who - the eu be? very, very wedded. one person i spoke to recently who has. person i spoke to recently who has good knowledge of the talks, if i can put it like that, like in the eu's relations to the ec], it was like putting it up there with the royal family. like putting it up there with the royalfamily. forthe like putting it up there with the royalfamily. for the eu, like putting it up there with the royalfamily. forthe eu, i have never heard an official or diplomat say they would be willing to scrap the role of the ec] in terms of being the ultimate arbiter of its single market, its treasured single market. so everything i'm hearing is that there will be a continued role for the european court ofjustice, notjust for the european court ofjustice, not just a for the european court ofjustice, notjust a problem potentially for the democratic unionist party, but also for conservative mps who feel this is a question of sovereignty. i think that's going to be a major point of tension as well as this

issue of checks on goods going from great britain to northern ireland. the czechs are going to be fewer, that's what they have been discussing. we will have a red lane and green lane system if the deal goes ahead, with fewer checks for goods remaining in northern ireland, but the question is, how far have they managed to reduce those checks, have they managed to nearly eliminate them and will that be good enough for unionists in northern ireland? ,, ., ~ enough for unionists in northern ireland? m �* ,, , ireland? jessica parker in brussels, thank yon — jon tonge is a professor of politics at liverpool university, and an expert on northern ireland. he told me the task of persuading the dup to accept a deal would be difficult. most people are onside. the nationalist parties are onside. the alliance party is onside but the dup will need some persuading that this is an acceptable deal. on one level, it's an absurd thing that one party with 184,000 votes can effectively decide the trading arrangements of a bloc of 500 million people. but that's where we are at.

it might be beyond the task of even the smoothest salesperson to persuade the dup round. 25 years ago tony blair couldn't persuade the dup in favour of the good friday agreement. rishi sunak has got to persuade the dup that those seven tests the dup have set have been passed in the uk—eu deal. i don't think there is a problem now in terms of the uk or european union. in effect and for all intents and purposes the deal is done. the problem is persuading the dup that it's worth going back into the power—sharing institutions on the basis that their concerns have been settled by what's been agreed. how has it come about, then? somebody somewhere must have moved. assuming it's the eu, what have they moved on? the uk government and dup got a lot of what they wanted. remember that the uk government, via liz truss, who was foreign secretary at the time, introduced the protocol bill, which demanded green and red channels. the uk government wanted unfettered trade for great britain to northern ireland goods.

they would go through a green channel. and the only checks that should be carried out are for those goods going between great britain and northern ireland and then onwards to the eu single market, that is south of the border on the island of ireland. the eu has conceded that and moved on this, so the stumbling block, as chris page outlined, is really the continuing role of the european court ofjustice, because one of the tests set by the dup is that the northern irish people must have a say in the laws that govern them. northern irish people might not have a say in the role of the european court ofjustice. the other stumbling block among the dup seven tests is the third one that says there must be no border in the irish sea. there will still be a border in the irish sea but the difference will be that it will only pertain to goods going from gb, to ni and then into the irish republic. the dup might say that test is passed but there is still that stumbling block, the european court ofjustice. there are some signs that some

in the dup will not budge on that. can you explain the impact that not having stormont functioning because the dup won't take part, because of the northern ireland protocol, is having on northern ireland? it's been a disaster for northern ireland. the institutions have not been around, they have been in abeyance for 60% of the last six years. the dup conducted the latest walk—out in february last year. you already had a health service crisis before covid because institutions kept collapsing. and since the good friday agreement, as a whole, the institutions have been down for 40% of the time. there is chronic political instability. the health service is in crisis. no decisions are being taken other than by civil servants. there is no democratic accountability and as scotland has become the strongest devolved parliament in europe, as wales has developed a full parliament taking decisions for welsh people, northern ireland's people don't really have anyone taking decisions for them other than ad hoc direct rule from westminster. that is not solving local problems.

the wider question is, as we come to the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, it will be a hollow celebration, that 25th anniversary, in that the political institutions associated with that agreement are not functioning. so there is a lot at stake here. professorjon tonge, professor of politics at liverpoool university. next week marks the first anniversary of russia's invasion. ahead of that, ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has warned belarus against helping a renewed russian offensive. speaking to our world affairs editor, mr zelensky said such a decision would be a big mistake. the belarusian leader, alexander lukashenko, says he's prepared to let moscow launch attacks again from his territory. here'sjohn simpson, and a warning there are flashing images in his report. a year on, president zelensky may be stressed and deeply tired, but there's a definite spring in his step.

compared with the last time i met him, four months ago, he seemed a lot more confident, even though russia may soon unleash a new onslaught. translation: they are coming from several directions - and we understand it but we are holding defence. modern weapons, powerful weapons, when we get them, speed up liberation and peace because weapons are the only language which russia understands. the fact is, he knows that his nato friends are slowly giving him many of the weapons he needs, and he is sure ukraine can hold out until it is able to launch a major counterattack of its own. so he is certainly not minded to make any concessions to russia. translation: any territorial compromises will only - weaken our country. why? it is not about the word compromise. why would we be afraid of it?

we have a million compromises in our lives. they happen every day. the question is, with whom? a compromise with putin? no, because there is no trust. dialogue with him? no, because there is no trust. so no question now of agreeing to let russia have any part of eastern ukraine, and, he says, no peace is possible while russia holds on to crimea. and meanwhile, looking back... a year ago, would you have thought that you would be sitting here, still president, and the war would still be going on? translation: today, - there is already confidence that we will have a positive, victorious result. there is more confidence in that. now, though, belarus is threatening to let itself be used by russian troops for an attack on neighbouring ukraine.

it will be a big mistake, for him and for belarussia. it will be a historical mistake. but if belarussia does involve itself with the attack, can you survive? we will fight. we will survive. we will survive, yeah. john simpson, bbc news, kyiv. russia has been accused of "breaking with civilisation" by the chairman of this year's munich security conference, which begins today. no russian delegation has been invited to the annual event, which is expected to see ukraine at the top of the agenda, amid pressure on european countries to increase spending on defence. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is there and gave us more details on what to expect from the conference. well, this conference is an opportunity for effectively the western alliance, the americans and many european leaders, to come together and make their own assessment of not just the state of the war, almost a year on, but also what might happen in the future.

what is the future security framework of europe going to look like, how might nato need to change, how might europe's relationship with russia change in the future? in other words, this is a conference, yes, to look at the immediate support for ukraine, is there enough ammunition, are there enough weapons, is there enough money going there, how long can that be sustained as europe and elsewhere faces economic pressures? but at the same time looking more to the future to say, actually, how does the world need to change as a result of this war and crucially what relationship will europe and the united states have with russia as and when the conflict comes to some kind of settlement? james landale in munich. in the uk, the royal college of nursing has announced a 48—hour strike from the 1st of march, the biggest walkout

of the dispute so far. the nhs confederation — which represents health trusts — has warned that the government must settle its pay dispute with nhs staff or risk jeopardising its pledge to cut waiting lists in england. our health correspondent jim reed reports. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! what is already a bitter dispute between nurses and the government is set to ratchet up again next month in england. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! unless there is a sudden breakthrough in talks, two further strike dates will go ahead at the start of march and they're likely to be the most disruptive yet. under the plans, nurses will walk out for 48 hours in a row, with overnight shifts now affected. 128 hospital trusts, along with mental health and community services, will take part, covering around half of england. and for the first time, thousands of nurses in key areas, including critical care, cancer treatment and a&e, will be asked to stop work with services stripped back to an absolute minimum.

no nurse during the next period of strike will want to do anything to cause further risk to patients. but what i would say, the prime minister needs to step in now. he needs to decide what he wants. does he want strikes or does he want to save the nhs? no nurse wants to be in this position at the beginning of march and it is time to start talking. it is time to resolve these strikes for our patients and for our nursing staff. groups representing large hospital trusts reacted with concern to the news. in a letter to the prime minister, the nhs confederation urged the government to negotiate with trade unions or accept the pledges to cut long nhs waiting lists are unlikely to be met in england. that really difficult challenge of reducing waiting lists becomes almost impossible if this industrial action spreads as it is spreading, let's go live to belfast where a press conference is taking place following the prime minster rishi sunak�*s visit to discuss

the northern ireland protocol. wright we can listen to the president of sinn fein, mary lou mcdonald. we president of sinn fein, mary lou mcdonald-— president of sinn fein, mary lou mcdonald. ~ . ., ~ ., , mcdonald. we have always known it is absolutely necessary. _ mcdonald. we have always known it is absolutely necessary. it _ mcdonald. we have always known it is absolutely necessary. it is _ mcdonald. we have always known it is absolutely necessary. it is clear - absolutely necessary. it is clear now that significant progress has been made and we are very heartened by that. we now want to see a speedy conclusion of matters. and above all else we want to see the institutions restored, government restored, here in the north. the bottom line is that we have to ensure that any deal provides for ongoing access to the european single market, no hardening of the border on the island of ireland and a protection of the good friday agreement in all of its parts. those are the core elements and aspects that need to be protected. but it seems to us that

it's very much game on and we are very heartened by that, we are very conscious that a deal can be done, should now be concluded speedily. we hope that will be the case. and then it's a matter for everyone, hope that will be the case. and then it's a matterfor everyone, for each of the political parties to step up, get back to work and deliver for the people here in the north of ireland. inaudible question inaudible question i think we have all seen in recent weeks, certainly an opening of the pace of political engagement and activity and that is a very positive thing. it's absolutely necessary that there is intensive goodwill, good faith work done between the parties. so for us this is part of a rolling series of events that we very much hope leads to a speedy conclusion, a deal that protects the core elements of the protocol, that smooths out those elements that can

be and then creates the opportunity andindeed be and then creates the opportunity and indeed to the responsibility for everybody concerned to get to the executive up and running, to get michelle into work as first minister and to get to the issues of concern for the communities across the north of ireland. �* , �* for the communities across the north ofireland. �* , �* ,, ,, of ireland. inaudible question i believe that _ of ireland. inaudible question i believe that very, _ of ireland. inaudible question i believe that very, very - i believe that very, very significant progress has been made and i believe a deal is absolutely possible. and absolutely necessary. and i hope that we see a speedy, successful conclusion to matters. i hope that the core of the protocol is absolutely protected, that's essential. and i hope above all else that people elected in last may's assembly election now step up, get back to work, get the executive up and running. god knows we need government here. there has been a limbo and a sense of drift for

people here that quite frankly is unacceptable. so that's the bottom line and that's really the end game for us. �* , �* ,, ,, for us. inaudible question well, for us. inaudible oussnon well, look. _ for us. inaudible oussnon well, look. i_ for us. inaudible question well, look, ithink— for us. inaudible question well, look, i think the - for us. inaudible question j well, look, i think the british prime minister is here to see what everybody thinks and to listen to all perspectives. the dup talk about their tests, all perspectives. the dup talk about theirtests, but all perspectives. the dup talk about their tests, but there is one bigger test for everyone, and that's the test for everyone, and that's the test of what people expect. there will be a test for everyone, the test will be, are you prepared to govern, are you prepared to share power on the basis of equality, and everybody concerned is going to face that test we believe fairly soon. inaudible question inaudible question i was only delighted with myself! laughter ecstatic. can you not tell?! it's common practice, as you know, over

many years, for the sinn fein president and vice president to take these meetingsjointly. so it was president and vice president to take these meetings jointly. so it was a very constructive meeting and it was my first occasion to meet the prime minister but i look forward to many further engagements with him. inaudible question studio: we will leave that press conference for now, the president of sinn fein, mary lou mcdonald, who has met british prime minister rishi sunak today as part of these efforts to make changes to the northern ireland protocol in the hope that they are acceptable to the dup, who we should hear from a little later, they have been at the talks as well. that's the key to getting the stormont devolved government up and running again in northern ireland. nearly one year on from the russian invasion, ukraine says a steady stream of british volunteers are continuing to enlist with its military. they're serving in a number of different battalions,

but the risks are high. only this week a fifth british fighter was killed. the bbc has had exclusive access to a group of men who've been on the frontlines since the early days of the conflict. they've spoken about wanting to fight the invasion, but also the sense of purpose that comes from serving alongside ukrainians. our correspondent emma vardy has been speaking to the men on the frontline and joins me now. what's the view of the british government, that these men are choosing to enlist? the government, that these men are choosing to enlist?— choosing to enlist? the view has become very _ choosing to enlist? the view has become very clear, _ choosing to enlist? the view has become very clear, that - choosing to enlist? the view has become very clear, that they - choosing to enlist? the view has i become very clear, that they warn people not to travel to ukraine for any reason. they say the risks are very clear, there is a very high risk of being killed, or if you are badly injured, there is nothing the foreign office or british authorities can do to help you be evacuated. although legally, ukraine has made it legal tojoin their armed forces and volunteers who decide to go out there can sign up, they will get a contract and a modest wage. from that perspective

they feel they are going out to serve ukraine, defend the country in an official capacity and actually that trench of people that started to travel out there really came after president zelensky of ukraine made a very strong appeal at the beginning of the conflict, saying in very strong language, to the citizens of the world, come and stand side by side with ukrainians and come and fight with us. that inspired a lot of people from around the world to travel and many of them came from britain. some of them are former army, came from britain. some of them are formerarmy, bringing previous combat skills will stop some came without any military experience at all and have learned to become soldiers out there. over the past year some have returned badly injured, some have lost their lives and others have returned home with incredible stories from the front lines, of daring, risky, dangerous operations. that was something i wanted to find out about. we have been talking to this group of soldiers who have spent much of the last year documenting their own experiences on the front lines.

this is the life of a british volunteer on the front lines of ukraine. whoa! a round from a russian tank misses him by inches. everyone ok? it's landed right next to me. i can't hear nothing. i can't hear a thing. ukrainian officials say 20,000 international volunteers have traveled to help defend the country and that british fighters make up one of the largest groups in the international legion. but there are others also now fighting in a number of different battalions on the front lines. and they've spoken to newsnight and our world about their experiences. seen a facebook advertisement, it was all in ukrainian, but i translated it. it said, "we'll give you a month's training and we'll send you out on the front line, you'll be fighting in the kharkiv district." 30—year—old james from yorkshire traveled to ukraine having had no previous military experience. it's legal to enlist in the ukrainian military.

fighters get a contract and can receive a wage. but the british government has advised strongly about the risks. they needed help, so i knew i can fight. that's what we're trained to do. those that do have combat experience are seen in ukraine as bringing valuable skills. we met james chadwick who, aged 21, quit his role with the british army to go. the ukrainians feel like, it makes them feel like they're not alone, like we are there. we are helping them fight. and much of the fighting involves old school trench warfare. we were 600 metres from russians at all times. it was literally our tree line, their tree line and a field in between. social media platforms like tiktok mean we have a greater insight into life on the front lines than ever before. videos posted by british volunteers can get millions of views. whatjust happened to your rifle? got shot. entrance, exit. butjoining the war

can end in tragedy. when craig mackintosh from norfolk travelled to ukraine, his family had little warning. i thought at first, why would you do that? why would you leave everyone and not tell anyone? and then i thought, wow, what a courageous thing to do. but they were to receive devastating news. police came to inform craig's family he'd been shot by a russian soldier. it hurt. most people die of cancer or common illness, not being shot out at war. six weeks later, his body was repatriated to the uk. i don't know, ijust didn't believe it. didn't feel real. ukrainian military officials say a steady stream of volunteers are still signing up to fight. for those willing to swap their lives in the uk for the battlefields of ukraine, it comes with comradeship and adventure, but those in the conflict and families at home can pay a heavy price. emma vardy, bbc news.

two of the fighters you saw in the film, since interviewing then they have travelled back to ukraine and are on the front lines again. they say it gives them a sense of purpose. there are many like them who despite the dangers are willing to face those risks.— to face those risks. emma vardy, thank you. _ to face those risks. emma vardy, thank you, talking _ to face those risks. emma vardy, thank you, talking to _ to face those risks. emma vardy, thank you, talking to us - to face those risks. emma vardy, thank you, talking to us about. to face those risks. emma vardy, | thank you, talking to us about the situation for british fighters in ukraine. some breaking news. you may recall that the arsenal goalkeeper aaron ramsdale was attacked at the tottenham hotspur stadium in january. joseph watts, 35, has pleaded guilty to assault by beating. that has happened today at the magistrates' court in uxbridge. joseph watts pleading guilty to attack by beating after assaulting arsenal goalkeeper aaron ramsdale.

the hollywood actor bruce willis has been diagnosed with dementia. his family released a statement online to say it was a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis. it comes just months after it was announced he was retiring from acting because of an illness called aphasia, which affects cognitive abilities. david willis has this report. so your lady live out here? the past six months. why didn't you come with her, man, what's up? cos i'm a new york cop. bruce willis in his signature role as the hard—bitten hero of the die hard films, a five—movie franchise that sparked a career that has generated billions of dollars at the box office. sorry, i didn't get that message. mayday, terrorists have seized the nakatomi plaza. this channel is reserved for emergency calls only. do i sound like i'm ordering a pizza?! in all, he appeared in more than 100 films before being forced into retirement last year after suffering what were described as health issues, a condition known as aphasia which can cause speech and cognitive difficulties. a statement released at the time said he would be stepping away from a career that had meant so much to him. now, in a new statement,

the actor's family said... when a person has frontotemporal dementia, what they lose is these abilities to plan and organise their daily actions. and even more importantly, sometimes, to understand how their actions are received by other people around them. bruce willis's marriage to demi moore ended in divorce, but they have remained good friends and the updated statement about his condition was issued in her name as well as that of his current wife and his children from both marriages. in a tweet, the alzheimer's association praised the decision to share the diagnosis

of his dementia. "our hearts are with bruce willis and his family," it said. just the woman i wanted to see. just the man i wanted to see. a fixture on the small as well as the big screen for four decades, ever since his breakthrough role in moonlighting in which he starred alongside cybill shepherd, bruce willis always believed, his family said, in using his voice in the world to help others. got me. hopeless. all right, listen. they added that they hope the news of his plight would raise awareness of a currently incurable disease that merits both more awareness and more research. david willis, bbc news, washington. cbs's jarred hill is in new york. what more do we know about his condition — how severe? so not a lot right now, we do know is was played in the study there that bruce willis has been out of the spotlight for about a year or so now because of the previous

diagnosis, now with this frontotemporal dementia, we have not really seen him in any capacity. the family here again, does not all this is a message coming from his family are not directly from him, potentially showcasing the severity of the disease or at least the direction in which this is going. what reaction in the us? a lot of sadness here, this is someone here, generally speaking, a celebrity people like people enjoyed, and so there is a bit of sadness to learn this is something he and his family are going through. on top of that, i think dementia here in the us and really around the world do something a lot of people know how difficult it can be for families to have two, you know, help a loved one through, so there is a loss of well wishing coming from people here in the states, as well as discussions about the need for further research, so that more people don't have to go through this. ~ people don't have to go through this.~ ., ,, .., people don't have to go through this. . .., people don't have to go through this. ~ ., ~ this. we appreciate you talking to us, thank this. we appreciate you talking to us. thank you _ this. we appreciate you talking to us, thank you very _

this. we appreciate you talking to us, thank you very much. - a former security guard at the uk's berlin embassy that pleaded guilty to spying for moscow faces up up to ia yea rs years in prison when he is sentenced today. david ballantyne smith admitted to passing sensitive material to the russian embassy in germany and was then caught in a sting operation. we can cross to that sentencing at the old bailey now. you gave evidence at that hearing, i rejected your basis of plea, and determined that you should be sentenced in line with the prosecution case. i have already given a fulljudgment outlining my reasons for reaching that conclusion. i will not repeat those reasons now, but will briefly set out the facts of the offences as i

have found them to be. you, as a british citizen, were employed in the british embassy in berlin as a security guard from 2016 until the time of your arrest in 2021. in that time, if not before, you developed decidedly anti—british and anti—western feelings, the people with whom you worked would hear you criticising this country, and you're then country of residence, germany. they formed the impression that you were more sympathetic to russia and in particular to president vladimir putin. you yourself accepted in evidence that at one stage during your employment at the embassy, you were supportive of the russian backed rebels in the donbas region

of the ukraine, who wanted to return to russian rule. i have already found this fact that these feelings were the direct cause of your offending. against that background, in 2018, use started to collect information from the british embassy to which you are not entitled. you continue to do this until your arrest in 2021. you did it by stealth, using the opportunities provided to you by your employment to visit various offices in the embassy at night, when others had gone home, and take photographs of classified documents on your telephone or camera. a number of these documents were clearly marked as secret, others were of a lower classification, but were still obviously not for dissemination

beyond the embassy. of the clearly secret documents, one was a sensitive rapport addressed to the then prime minister of this country, borisjohnson, sent to him by members of his cabinet. some of the documents of a lower classification revealed the names, photographs and personal details of embassy staff. you've found some of these documents on desks, or displayed in areas of the embassy not open to the public, others view removed from private drawers and desks in order that you may copy them. you were fully aware that you should not have copied any of these documents, and were equally aware that where these documents to get into the wrong hands, they might harm british interests or pose a

threat to the safety of people working at the embassy. these activities are reflected in counts three and four on the indictment. i am mindful that the indictment period only runs from april 2020, but i am sure that you have collected material in 2018 and 2019 with a view to damaging british interests. i can only sense you for your activities within the indictment period —— sentence you, but when i assess your culpability for events in 2020 and 2021, i do so against the background that your subversive activities have begun two years before the indictment period commenced. having taken copies of these documents, use then downloaded

them from your phone or camera onto your personal computer or other electronic storage devices. you took care to store some documents in a way which made it less likely that they would be found by someone who casually examined them. for example, you put some of the photograph documents containing personal details of embassy staff into a file, the name of which suggested it contained nothing but holiday photographs. you copied a significant amount of material over the years, the material has been outlined in the prosecution opening and put into a useful table by your representatives, which was presented to me in the course of mitigation. i do not need to rehearse again the

detail of that material, i need only record that it was the luminance and obviously gathered on a number of days and not all at one time —— volume in this. in 2020 eu also took a number of videos of those areas of the embassy into which the public have no right of access. these videos were carefully and methodically filmed. they contained a considerable amount of information, which would be and you knew would be useful to a hostile foreign power. i am sure that you took those videos with that in mind, and that this video footage was always designed to be provided to the russians. you film the main place on the doors of offices, personal information about the

office for us two occupants that was on display in the rooms and any potential useful documents left on a surface in the room or you fine to weigh any desk. you would often include footage of the view from the window of the office. this can only have been so anyone who viewed the footage could have pinpointed where in the embassy building any particular room could be located. this activity is reflected in counties. —— count two. use started to pass this information onto the russians in may 2020. in that month, you wrote anonymously to a general military attache at the russian attache, enclosed with your letter a booklet you had obtained from the british embassy, which set out the names of people working there, along

with some contact details for them and a description of the roles they performed within the embassy. in that letter, you promised that more information would be forthcoming. the other specific example of you passing on information was a letter you wrote to another general, another military attache at the russian embassy in november 2020. in that letter, you provided an update on people newly arrived to work in the organisation, you also passed to him photographs of embassy staff which you had deliberately annotated with personal details of the people depicted in them. you put those people at maximum risk by so doing. it is not possible for me to

determine how many more times you made contact with someone in the russian embassy and passed on material to them. there is no direct evidence of war or other contact took place. but —— no direct evidence of what other contact took place. but i am sure at some stage in 2020 you establish regular contact with someone at the russian embassy, and that this contact was a conduit through which material illegally obtained by you was passed on. the sole count on the indictment concerning the en route provision of material to the russians is count one, the count that relates to your correspondence with one general manger. there is no count on the indictment relating to your other contacts. however, when i passed

sentence on count one, i can take into account that this was not a one—off action, but an offence committed against the background that you had previously contacted this general and provided them with information, and it was about the time of the contact in count one, you established a contact that the russian embassy and passed more information to russia by those means. you were paid by russia for your treachery, there is unsurprisingly no documentation which records the amounts you were paid. i accept there is no evidence that the payments amounted to life changing sums of money, but it was enough to enable you to save up 800 euros by the time of your arrest and

to exist without making significant withdrawals on your bank account which had previously been necessary for you to meet your living expenses. i regard these payments as a significant factor in increasing your culpability for your actions. your duplicity went on until the time of your arrest. by august 2021, unbeknown to you, the british authorities suspected view of being involved in the provision of information to russia. this resulted information to russia. this resulted in what may be termed a sting operation being carried out. a british agent who was not known to you, and you were told was called dmitry, met one of the embassy staff in your presence in circumstances suggesting that they were a russian

seeking to pass classified documents to the british authorities. you took the opportunity presented to you by this situation to collect more information which would have assisted russia and damaged british interests. when you were asked by dmitry to photocopy a document in russian which you took to be classified, you took an extra copy for yourself, which you kept. this is count five. when the employee of the embassy gave the man calling himself dmitry a sim card, ostensibly for him to make contact with the british when he had more information to give, you kept the packaging from that sim card, rather than throw it away, as you were asked to do. this is count six. finally, over two days,

asked to do. this is count six. finally, overtwo days, using asked to do. this is count six. finally, over two days, using your mobile telephone, you filmed the embassy�*s cctv footage of dmitry�*s visit. in doing so, you focused on dmitry�*s face, so that it could be clearly seen. this conduct is represented by count seven and eight on the indictment. you were effectively led into believing that dmitry was a traitor to russia who was offering information to the united kingdom. iam was offering information to the united kingdom. i am sure that you collected together the document, the sim card packaging and the images from the cctv with a view to passing them on to russian authorities. had dmitry been a genuine visitor to the british embassy, and therefore a russian genuinely trying to pass secrets to the british, it is impossible to know what would have

been the consequences for him of having his treachery to russia exposed in this way by you. it is self—evident this case demands an immediate prison sentence. in those circumstances, no presentence report could help me, and none has been obtained or asked for. there is no specific offence guideline to assist me in fixing the appropriate length of sentence was that i therefore use the sentencing council's general guideline. pursuant to that guideline, i must fix sentence by weighing up both your culpability and the harm done by your behaviour. in making those judgments, and the harm done by your behaviour. in making thosejudgments, i must have regard to any guidance given by the court of appeal criminal division. i have been helpfully

referred to a selection of relevant authorities. of course, each case turns on its facts, but i wean a number of guiding principles from those authorities which i intend to employ in your case —— going. in particular, it is clear there is a strong and recognise public interest in protecting secret information. sentences must reflect the public lack of tolerance to the lords those who do not respect this. —— towards those who do not respect this was that the sentence ought to contain an element of deterrent to others who might be tempted to act in this way in the future. and when assessing harm, ishould way in the future. and when assessing harm, i should consider harm actually caused, harm intended, and any harm which was a foreseeable consequence of your actions. i must

of course always have in mind the statutory aims of sentencing, of which in myjudgment punishment is the most important in any case such as this. i assess your culpability as this. i assess your culpability as high. you were a security guard at the embassy. it is not a senior position, but it is one which imposed on you a high level of trust and responsibility. it was yourjob to ensure the embassy was secure, and his staff say. you had access to restricted areas of the building, at times when nobody else was likely to be there. when you did what you doubt, it was the most obvious breach of the trust placed in you. in addition, i am sure that you committed these crimes intending to

assist russia, a state which at that time as now was regarded as unfriendly to the united kingdom. your motive in assisting them was to damage british interests. although you did not start to pass material to the russians until 2020, i am sure that you gathered all of this material with a view to harming british interests in some way. your unlawful behaviour was persistent and, to an extent, sophisticated. you copy documents of many types, and carefully stored them. you took videos of the embassy in a way which would have been of maximum assistance to the russians. you did assistance to the russians. you did as much as you could to ensure dmitry�*s identity had been revealed. as i have already noted, your level

of culpability is increased still further by the fact that you were receiving money for your criminal conduct. it is hard to say what harm was actually caused by your actions, harm could only actually be measured if one knew for certain how much information you had actually passed on, which is on ascertainable. —— on ascertainable. how much was novel to the russians and how much known to them already, and how far and they were use it. as i remarked yesterday, the russian authorities are hardly likely to assist this court in answering those questions. however, to assist me, i have been provided with a number of statements from british officials which address the level of harm you have caused.

in taking out of the embassy personal details relating to its staff, you put all of those staff at increased risk of harm. they had to be told that their security had been compromised in this way, and the level of danger caused by your action then had to be managed. it has because some of the people involved and their families, understandable anxiety and distress. the embassy has had to undertake an overhaul of its processes and procedures to ensure that it does not remain compromised. in purely financial terms, this has cost the taxpayers of this country £820,000 so far. the extraction of documents relating to trade and international relations had, in this case, as in every case of this type, the

potential to reduce the effectiveness of future british negotiations or reduce the level of trust put in this country by its allies. i assess the level of harm in your case to be a high but not at the highest. it is high because of the highest. it is high because of the volume of material you took from the volume of material you took from the embassy, the personal details that contained and the period of time it over what she did it. —— the period of time in which she did it. in addition, the material you obtained was purposely passed onto an unfriendly foreign power. it has been tangible on ascertainable harms caused by your activities. in the foreseeable possibility that the damage done could extend beyond that, which is obvious to date. i say that it is not of the highest

because you did not, for example, obtain or reveal top—level military secrets or details of british armaments which would have lifted this case into the very highest category. i have decided that it would be appropriate to pass on you concurrent terms for each offence relating to the obtaining of the documentation and images from the embassy. these all form part of the same course of conduct. i include in that they sentences relating to counts 5—8, the counts relating to the man known as dmitry. although these counts arose from a sting operation, they were as far as you are concerned, is a continuation of your activities of gathering information which might be obvious

to russia, and detrimental the united kingdom. —— of use to russia. the sentence on each of those counts will reflect your overall culpability for this aspect of your behaviour. on all of the accounts, save count one, i adopt the starting point for sentence after trial of nine years. count one, which concerns the supplying documents to the russian authorities represents a further and separate if related course of conduct which ought properly to attract a consecutive sentence. the sentencing authorities made clear that consecutive sentence in cases such as this are merited where a single course of conduct is particularly protracted or where the behaviour of a defendant is rightly regarded to be as more than one

single course of conduct. the proper starting point for sentence on this count after trial had it stood alone would in myjudgment have been one of ten years. however, i must reflect on my sentence that this count relates directly to some of the documentation already covered by count 2— h. to that end, i reduce my starting point after trial on current one to seven years. the factors which in other circumstances i would have found aggravated the offending, yourfinancial i would have found aggravated the offending, your financial benefit from doing what you did, the abuse of trust and the fact that people were put at risk by your actions have already been taken into account in fixing the starting points for your sentence, and i do not count them again. your mitigation lies

solely in your previous good character. the credit for that must be limited, as the offending hero was so extensive and so serious. i reject any suggestion that you are remorseful for your reject any suggestion that you are remorsefulfor your actions. your regrets are no more than self—pity. when any expression of remorse was tested during the newton heating, you concentrated on the effects your offending had on yourself, your wife and your parents. when asked about the potentially catastrophic consequences for others, you repeatedly suggested that these were nonexistent or negligible, as you only provided to the russians information which they already had available to them. had you been truly remorseful, you would not have lied on oath to me in that hearing,

she did. —— as you did. neither do i intend to reduce your centre significantly for any mental health difficulties you may have. there is no medical evidence before me on which tojudge how no medical evidence before me on which to judge how serious they were at the time of your offending or are now. i have already recorded my view that i see no logical cores or a link between depression and a decision to betray your country. i cannot reduce your sick —— sent insignificantly based simply on your self reporting symptoms and anecdotal observations of others without expert evidence to guide me as to the true effect this has had on you. i was further asked in mitigation to temper your sentence by reference to the fact that you were under suspicion of passing secrets to the russians from late

2020 or early 2021, and committed some of this offending while under that suspicion. i declined to do so. i have rightly not been told of the way in which any investigation into your conduct was pursued, save insofar as directly relevant to the issues in this case. whatever the reasons for the authorities to act as they did, and keep you in post, it was you who made the decision to continue to offend and you who must accept full blame for that. overall, you're limited mitigation allows me to reduce your sentence by one year. the total figure so far therefore it is one of 15 years. you will get credit for your guilty plea. i would

have afforded to 25% credit had you not pleaded guilty on a false basis which necessitated a newton hearing. i arrive at the figure of 25% because you pleaded guilty when first arraigned, but did so having served a defence statement suggesting you were not guilty. your arraignment was delayed a number of times to give you an opportunity to consider your position. in those circumstances, a full reduction of one third would not be appropriate. suggests that over reduction of 50% in the level of credit is appropriate where a defendant can tests and loses a newton hearing. therefore, i will afford you approximately 12 and a half percent

credit for your guilty pleas. this reduces your overall sentence to one of 13 years and that two months. that will be made up of the sentence of six years and two months on account one and a consecutive term of seven years on all other accounts. finally, in arriving at your sentence, accounts. finally, in arriving at yoursentence, i accounts. finally, in arriving at your sentence, i apply the sentencing council guideline on totality and consider whether this totality and consider whether this total sentiment is proportionate to reflect your total criminality. in my judgment, reflect your total criminality. in myjudgment, it is. it reflects your culpability and the harm done and is proportionate reflection of your serious conduct bearing in mind the need for deterrence and punishment in cases such as this. in reaching that conclusion, i have had regard

to sentencing powers in other cases of this type in the past. significantly longer sentences than this have been reserved for offenders such as george blake, whose treachery was in myjudgment of a much greater magnitude than yours. significantly shorter sentences have been reserved for people whose activity was, in my judgment, more limited than your own. such as in authorities referred to me as james and finch. mr smith, stand—up. on counts one of this indictment, i sentence you to a term of six years, two months in prison. on counts two to eight, i sentence you to concurrent terms of seven years but to those terms will be served consecutively to your sentence on counts one, making a total term of 13 years two months.

the time you have served in custody preferable to these sentences will count toward your sentence. that will include both the time spent on remand in this country and the ten days i certified you spent in custody in germany, awaiting extradition. if you serve your sentence in the united kingdom, you will be released after you have served half of that sentence. you will then be on licence until the expiry of the total term. if you breach the terms of your license, you can be returned to serve the remainder of your sentence in custody. if you serve your sentence in germany, their roles earlier release will apply you. it is not for me to decide where your sentence will be served. the surcharge will apply in this case in the usual amount. i make no orders for

confiscation or destruction of your computer and other equipment used in this offending, as it is in germany. if you do not voluntarily breach of rights to it, it will be the germans court to consider further action. that was mrjustice hole at the old bailey there, sentencing former security guard who admitted passing on information to russia when he was a security guard at the british embassy in berlin. he has been sentenced to 13 years and two months at the old bailey. thejudge mr justice will told david smith, who admitted eight charges under the secrets act that he had become decidedly anti—british. we are just trying to cross over to our home affairs correspondent shortly. what

mrjustice hole was saying there was smith had gathered material with a view to harming british interests in breach of the trust of his role as a security guard. he said it is self—evident this case demands an immediate prison sentence. he said, i assess the probability is high, it was yourjob to insecure the embassy was yourjob to insecure the embassy was secure and the staff are safe. the judges say it was impossible to assess the actual harm smith had cause without knowing the actual information he had passed on to russia. wejust information he had passed on to russia. we just had the sentencing at the old bailey, mrjustice wall, sentencing david smith to 13 years and two months. we werejust sentencing david smith to 13 years and two months. we were just hearing their breaking news of former security guard at berlin who passed on information to russia for money

has been sentenced to 13 years and two months at the old bailey. the judge told the 58—year—old david smith that he had become decidedly anti—british. we will cross over to our home affairs correspondent tom symons as soon as possible. the leader of the alliance party in northern ireland says there is some "heavy lifting" still to be done on a new deal governing post—brexit trade. naomi long was speaking, as the prime minister has been holding talks with stormont leaders in belfast today. it's hoped a deal could soon be reached as early as next week. the current trading arrangement — know as the northern ireland protocol — was negotiated during brexit talks. it was put in place to deal with the fact that northern ireland is in the uk and the republic of ireland is in the eu. some goods passing from england,

scotland and wales into northern ireland are getting checked when they cross the irish sea — in order to keep an open border on the island of ireland. unionist parties argue that this places an effective border across the irish sea which undermines northern ireland's place within the uk. the largest unionist party, the dup, is currently refusing to take part in the country's power—sharing government unless its concerns about the protocol are resolved. ms long was speaking after talks with rishi sunak. the prime minister is meeting all five main parties today. this is the scene in belfast where we are expecting statements from northern ireland leaders after their talks with rishi sunak. following the talks. our ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast following the talks.

the trade border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. they dup want an end to checks on goods arriving here from england scotland and wales under that arrangement. that protocol you been talking about is something that senior dv politicians have been mentioning more and more, particularly over the last 2a hours, has been the role of eu law in northern ireland. they don't want the european court of justice to have any role in deciding law in northern ireland. they have said fundamentally for the dup, this is about what they see as a

democratic deficit. laws are being made for northern ireland which are not, which are being made in brussels, not made by the politicians that are elected by the people of northern ireland. you do get the sense that the anti—is being upped by the dup as speculation has mounted that it rishi sunak is close to a deal with the european union. the negotiation has been on and off on there since 2021 and that is what has led rishi sunak to visit belfast this morning for these talks with a storm at parties. also some other diplomatic activity today, in brussels james cleverly has been leader there. and this weekend, rishi sunak is due to meet other european leaders in munich, so you do get the sense that all this is very much fuelling the expectations that a deal is close. but in downing

street and in the dublin government, the feeling is that a deal was not on the table yet, there is at least some way to go with this. meanwhile, the uk foreign secretary james cleverly is due to meet with the european commission today — our correspondent jess parker gave us the latest from brussels. we are waiting for confirmation whetherjames cleverly has arrived yet for his talks with a counterpart in the eu. this is something quite hastily arranged, we had at the team and would meet for an early lunch. and after that what seems to have arranged is that the eu's chief negotiator on the northern ireland protocol with pop across the road here in brussels i'm going to speak to eu ambassadors about the latest two. where are we in the moment in terms of a potential deal? it

clearly is edging closer, downing street really continuing to downplay the prospect of anything eminent but they've been doing that for quite a while while other sources have been indicating that actually, a deal could come next week but there is so much politics around all this, as chris has just been talking about. some people i speak to say that ultimately, there is an outline agreement there, it's about whether the uk government wants to push ahead with that and think that they can sell the agreement to groups like dup and also conservative mps as well. let's return to the old bailey. our home affairs correspondent tom symonsjoins me now. just talk me through that sentencing. b. now. just talk me through that sentencing-— now. just talk me through that sentencina. �* . , ., sentencing. a detailed statement from the judge. _ sentencing. a detailed statement from the judge, mr _ sentencing. a detailed statement from the judge, mrjustice - sentencing. a detailed statement from the judge, mrjustice wall. sentencing. a detailed statement| from the judge, mrjustice wall on the reasons behind the sentence of 13 years and two months is handed

down for david smith, a spy in the british embassy in berlin. he said that he had leaked documents, he had also obtained video footage of the inside of the embassy, he had taken pictures of visitors to the embassy and he said that he had done all that with a view to harming british interest in some way. he said that he had betrayed his country and breach the trust in him and he had done all that to assess russia. he said he was opposed to britain and he was sympathetic to the russian president that a putin. mr smith tried to claim this week that he wasn't doing this for political reasons but because he had a grievance against his employers at the embassy. that necessitated a hearing that took place at the old bailey this week to work out whether, although he had pleaded guilty, whether that was true in the judge found it wasn't true, that he was in effect carrying out an act of

espionage and passing secrets to russia. nobody is entirely clear what he farce of the russian embassy in berlin, the security services may have an idea but they are not saying. it is quite difficult therefore, to assess the harm that he might have caused. we do know that he leaked details of people working at the british embassy and that led the embassy itself to do a security review on all its staff, which cost more than £800,000. thank ou ve which cost more than £800,000. thank you very much- — which cost more than £800,000. thank you very much- we _ which cost more than £800,000. thank you very much. we can _ which cost more than £800,000. thank you very much. we can now— which cost more than £800,000. thank you very much. we can now talk- which cost more than £800,000. thank you very much. we can now talk to a journalist and commentator amanda ferguson who is in belfast, following those northern ireland talks. very promising speech we just saw bite mary lou mcdonald, the president of sinn fein._ saw bite mary lou mcdonald, the president of sinn fein. certainly a deal isn't completed _

president of sinn fein. certainly a deal isn't completed yet. - president of sinn fein. certainly a deal isn't completed yet. the - president of sinn fein. certainly aj deal isn't completed yet. the four parties that have emerged from talks with the prime minister and secretary of state have all indicated that they are getting positive soundings from the progress that's been made, but certainly a done deal is a little way off that. they have indicated that rishi sunak had indicated to him that he'd been a bit surprised by the progress in the areas that there is still work to do but it should be noted that the business community isn't being consulted on a final text, so there is no white smoke yet. we consulted on a final text, so there is no white smoke yet.— is no white smoke yet. we had constantly _ is no white smoke yet. we had constantly from _ is no white smoke yet. we had constantly from mary - is no white smoke yet. we had constantly from mary lou - is no white smoke yet. we had - constantly from mary lou mcdonald that the dup wants to protect what it calls, the core of protocol. do you think they've managed to get what they want, and does that mean other parties have bent over a bit too far? i other parties have bent over a bit too far? ~ . ., other parties have bent over a bit too far? ~ ., ., ,, too far? i think that what sinn fein wants to do _ too far? i think that what sinn fein wants to do is _ too far? i think that what sinn fein wants to do is make _ too far? i think that what sinn fein wants to do is make sure - too far? i think that what sinn fein wants to do is make sure there - too far? i think that what sinn fein wants to do is make sure there is l too far? i think that what sinn feinl wants to do is make sure there is no hard order on the island of ireland and protect the protocol and protect

the good friday agreement. the dup in a hearing with the prime minister, they object to the protocol on economic and constitutional grounds and the dup said what it describes as a series of seven tests that it willjudge any deal against before it will and. some of the test is a very broad, some of them are very specific and sometimes it can seem hard to understand how the dup could be satisfied. i know that sirjeffrey donaldson had indicated to me that he didn't want to be the enemy of the perfect and he felt that a deal could be done, but certainly a very high bar has been set by the dup. if it doesn't have the consent of them and it doesn't protect the gains of the protocol, that some parties want to keep and gets raves of elements that other parties want to lose, we

are not going to get that any back soon. and some parts are looking forward to april to the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. i think we're way to go yet and when it comes to northern ireland deals, it's always very clear that you're never sure if something is a sure thing or its going to happen until it's actually signed. when a little bit of limbo and i think the prime minister still has to work out some further issues and consult with the unionist parties and other local parties and crucially that business community, about whether there proposing the eu to wrap this up is going to work with four people in this particular jurisdiction. it with four people in this particular jurisdiction-— jurisdiction. it really has affected businesses _ jurisdiction. it really has affected businesses over _ jurisdiction. it really has affected businesses over there, _ jurisdiction. it really has affected businesses over there, they - jurisdiction. it really has affected businesses over there, they are l jurisdiction. it really has affected. businesses over there, they are in limbo. certainly, the business

community craves stability. the elements in _ community craves stability. the elements in the _ community craves stability. tue: elements in the gains community craves stability. tta: elements in the gains the community craves stability. "tt2 elements in the gains the protocol that are helping businesses in northern ireland have to be protected and that the areas where the protocol hasn't been protected should be finesse. certainly, it doesn't work for every single business, and particularly smaller businesses but there are plenty of businesses but there are plenty of businesses that are benefiting from it in northern ireland, having access to the eu single market and the gb markets that others don't have. but the tussle between wanting to make sure that business is about provided for and facilitated and also the politics of it because a lot of the objections that the unionist leaders have to the protocol are based on what they view as constitutional issues, it should be clear that northern ireland support the united kingdom unless and until people would vote for

irish unity. sometimes, the objections are out of the protocol are perhaps more perceptions than our reality but there are certainly still serious problems that need to be resolved and i think that whether the uk government all the eu or the local parties all the business community, everyone agrees that there are issues with the protocol that needs to be resolved. but when there is a major thing like brexit, of course we need to work out how the structure will flow on the protocol will work practically. those other tricky issues that the eu and the uk had to work out at the moment. they also had to be clear that it can't be a one—sided issue, the eu has to win and the uk have to win. when you do a negotiation, i can't wait to get what you want. today, the prime minister is expected to meet for the european commission this weekend. we also

have the foreign secretary going to meet his eu counterparts. all eyes on there now or do you think there is still mostly done where you are? i think they're still more to be done here. i don't think the meeting said they had been full of information, the parties are not coming out and telling us every single issue around trading, there are a wide range of issues. no one is to coming out with any detail, it has been described a scant detail by the parties. some of you today a bit cynically, as their box ticking exercise. there is certainly intensive involvement of local parties that they have been calling for doing this process because they have highlighted whether they're have highlighted whether they�* re british have highlighted whether they're british unionist or republicans, ideal needs to be done in collaboration with the political leaders, so i don't think we quite there yet. leaders, so i don't think we quite there et. . ~ leaders, so i don't think we quite there et. ., ~ , ., , . there yet. thank you very much, sarah ferguson _ there yet. thank you very much, sarah ferguson speaking - there yet. thank you very much, sarah ferguson speaking to - there yet. thank you very much, sarah ferguson speaking to me | there yet. thank you very much, -

sarah ferguson speaking to me there. —— amanda ferguson, sorry. thanks forjoining us, give us your reaction to these talks. tt certainly looks as though the uk and the uk government and the european union have managed to come to what they both think is a satisfactory agreement. they keep a rishi sunak isn't so much get in the eu to agree, there is always a deal to be done with the eu. the key is whether in northern ireland you can get the dup to sign up to it and commit to getting back into a power—sharing executive because there is no executive because there is no executive northern ireland at the moment. equally, whether or not rishi sunak can persuade members of his own parliamentary party whether they should back this. there are a number of people, whether it is arch eurosceptics, there are people like liz strauss or borisjohnson on the

backbenches, he also needs to avoid being criticised by his own mps. as a political balancing act for him to carry out over the next few days, to try and sell this.— try and sell this. looking across to the eu, try and sell this. looking across to the eu. eu — try and sell this. looking across to the eu, eu leaders _ try and sell this. looking across to the eu, eu leaders initially- try and sell this. looking across to the eu, eu leaders initially said i the eu, eu leaders initially said that they would not be stepping down. this is politics, of course anything can change. nothing has officially been signed, but clearly something has changed. what officially been signed, but clearly something has changed. what the eu has said all along _ something has changed. what the eu has said all along is _ something has changed. what the eu has said all along is that _ something has changed. what the eu has said all along is that they - something has changed. what the eu has said all along is that they are - has said all along is that they are willing to be flexible within the constraints imposed by the text of the protocol. said from the start is that we are not going to rewrite this deal, we will try and make the steelwork. so it looks like they will make concessions on those red and green lanes in northern island entry. it looks like the eu have managed to make concessions, obviously we'll have to check that

all the member states are happy. i can't believe they have not been keptin can't believe they have not been kept in a loop. the eu has remained true to its worth, within the framework of this deal what we need to see now is whether they dup and conservative mps are happy to live with the protocol, albeit one that is being implemented in a slightly different way, that many of them said that they want to ditch fundamentally rewrite, that would be the key question.— the key question. thank you very much. the key question. thank you very much- let's _ the key question. thank you very much. let's cross _ the key question. thank you very much. let's cross now— the key question. thank you very much. let's cross now live - the key question. thank you very much. let's cross now live to - much. let's cross now live to belfast, these other live shots. we are expecting the dup to come and a statement shortly on those talks that have been happening this morning. so for we have heard that they have gone well and we expect to hear from the dup very shortly to find out what their take is on that and we will bring you that live

here. the royal college of nursing has announced a 48—hour strike from the 1st march, the biggest walk—out of the dispute so far. the nhs confederation, which represents health trusts, has warned that the government must settle its pay dispute with nhs staff or risk jeopardising its pledge to cut waiting lists in england. our health correspondent jim reed reports. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! what is already a bitter dispute between nurses and the government is set to ratchet up again next month in england. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! unless there is a sudden breakthrough in talks, two further strike dates will go ahead at the start of march and they're likely to be the most disruptive yet. under the plans, nurses will walk out for 48 hours in a row, with overnight shifts now affected. 128 hospital trusts, along with mental health and community services, will take part, covering around half of england.

and for the first time, thousands of nurses in key areas, including critical care, cancer treatment and a&e, will be asked to stop work with services stripped back to an absolute minimum. no nurse during the next period of strike will want to do anything to cause further risk to patients. but what i would say, the prime minister needs to step in now. he needs to decide what he wants. does he want strikes or does he want to save the nhs? no nurse wants to be in this position at the beginning of march and it is time to start talking. it is time to resolve these strikes for our patients and for our nursing staff. groups representing large hospital trusts reacted with concern to the news. in a letter to the prime minister, the nhs confederation urged the government to negotiate with trade unions or accept the pledges to cut long nhs waiting lists are unlikely to be met in england. that really difficult challenge of reducing waiting lists becomes

almost impossible if this industrial action spreads as it is spreading, and particularly ifjunior doctors join the industrial action. so the government's aspiration to lower waiting lists, its public commitment to lower waiting lists, is now being jeopardised by this ongoing industrial action. strike action in scotland and wales is currently suspended while unions consider new pay offers in those parts of the united kingdom. while in northern ireland, no further strike dates are currently planned. in england, the government says it is working closely with the nhs on contingency plans and remains open to talks based on what is fair and affordable for the next financial year. jim reed, bbc news. in that report was matthew taylor, chief executive of nhs confederation, he told us this morning how concered he and health leaders are about this strike action. we're extremely concerned.

we've written to the prime minister pointing out that, at the moment, his government have refused to negotiate with the trade unions on this year's pay settlement and the unions have made clear that they won't enter negotiations unless that is on the table. this has now been going on for two months and it is worsening. these 48 hours strikes are a worrying new development which will pose real challenges in terms of managing those 48 hours, but also contribute to the growing problems which you don't necessarily see on strike days but are behind—the—scenes, as it were, which is the impact all of this has on our capacity to recover services. ifjunior doctors also walk out, and many people suspect that they will, that will make it even more difficult for us. so, the government is in an unenviable position, concerned about public spending, concerned about industrial action across the public sector,

but really, the prime minister and ministers have to recognise that if this industrial action is allowed to become business as usual in the health service, it is going to be extremely difficult for us to recover services coming out of an incredibly tough winter. the french energy firm edf, which has some five million customers in the uk, says it earned more than £1 billion from its operations here last year. the firm's underlying profit was one point £1 billion, before stripping out one—off items. that compares with a loss of £21 million in 2021. edf, a global france—based energy firm, generated a £1.1bn profit in the uk in 2022 compared to a global significant loss in other markets. bbc business correspondent, peter ruddick, gives us his analysis. another day, another massive set of profits for an energy company but another day where the full story is slightly more complex than that headline might suggest. edf is a global company,

a french firm based in france, and across the whole global firm, it made quite a significant loss last year because of issues with french nuclear power. however, as you say, in the uk, it did quite well, underlying profit before one—off items of 1.1 billion. essentially, here, the firm has benefited from the high electricity price which is generated from the high wholesale gas price at the same time as not having to pay the costs associated with generating gas power because it is mainly based in nuclear and wind. however, almost all of the profits have come from its electricity generation business here in the uk. its retail business, the one that supplies those 5 million customers you talked about actually made a £200 million loss last year. why? because the cost it pays to get the power it supplies to us was still higher than the limits imposed by ofgem and the government last year. the company will also say, it also says today, it is investing billions in the uk nuclearfleet.

it runs almost all of the uk's nuclear fleet. the home secretary has raised concerns with lancashire police after it revealed personal information about nicola bulley, who has now been missing for three weeks. the force has been criticised for making public that she had ongoing struggles with alcohol and the menopause. the bbc understands that suella braverman was not satisfied with the force's justification for releasing the information. our correspondent yunus muller is in st michael's—on—wyre. yunus, you've been speaking to people there? is three weeks since nicola bulley disappeared from sight make michael's wire. her phone was found on the bench close to the river, still connected to work call and since then, we have had that massive police investigation. are calling it

unprecedented, divers out in the river because they believe that she went into the river. they also had divers further down into the estuary and morecambe bay. they have been going knocking on doors, going through different information and visiting almost 300 premises but still no trace of her. here in the village, people are still shocked, there is a huge amount of focus on what has happened to nicola bulley and earlier i spoke to someone who is out that it's a sleepy little village, you don't expect anything like this. you were here about three weeks ago, weren't you? you were telling me about that. tell me a bit about that. well, only that i do every day, i walk the dog, saw the phone, saw the dog tied up and thought something not right and then there was communication between my wife and i and then eventually we located who the owner of the dog was and it all happened from there.

lancashire police have been criticised for exposing details of nicola bulley�*s private life. the home secretary has asked for an explanation and we understand that she was not satisfied with the response she got. today, the information commissioner has said that police can disclose this kind of information to protect the public and investigate crime, but he wants lancashire police to explain why they disclose this kind of information. nicola's family were told in advance that they were going told in advance that they were going to reveal these details and that is because they want to put an end to the speculation out there and what they say are a claim by a number of people that they will be selling details of nicola bulley�*s case to

newspapers and other outlets. her family said they want to speculation. as it is appalling and damaging the police investigation. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. a fair bit of sunshine out there for many of you at the moment, but it's still very windy. storm otto brought winds in excess of 80mph for some through this morning, but still 50 to 70 mph possible as we start the afternoon across eastern scotland and very gusty to the eastern side of the pennines. those winds will ease down, though, through the afternoon. from northern england northwards lots of sunshine, just a few showers. clouding over in northern ireland with patchy rain later on. staying cloudy in south wales, southern england — a bit damp and drizzly for a few here, but very mild at 13 to 15. cooler than this morning, though, the further north we go. as we go through this evening and overnight cloud and rain becomes more extensive across the northern half of the country, turning to snow readily in the scottish hills. some patchy rain working its way southwards. another mild night here,

but a chilly night in the north of scotland with a touch of frost and some ice around. that takes it into a sunny saturday here. still lots of clouds for southern scotland, northern ireland and northern england, patchy rain, lots of cloud for the south of england, where it will be a breezy day, particularly around the english channel, but many will see the sun break through and still seeing temperatures well above normal. this is bbc news. i'm frankie mccamley. the headlines: a former security guard at the uk embassy in berlin is sentenced to 13 years and two months in prison for spying for russia. the prime minister holds talks with northern ireland's political parties, with hopes that a deal between the uk and the eu on post—brexit trade arrangements could soon be agreed. the royal college of nursing warns there will be a "significant impact" on the nhs when members in england stage a 48—hour strike on 1st march.

the home secretary has raised concerns with police over the release of personal information about nicola bulley, who has now been missing for three weeks. the french energy firm edf, which has some five million customers in the uk, says it earned more than a billion pounds from its operations here last year. sport now and, for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's paul scott. good morning. new zealand proved to be stubborn opponents on the second day of the opening test against england, but ben stokes' side did eventually find a way through and lead by nearly 100 runs heading into day three. the lead could have been bigger but for the batting of tom blundell. try as they might, england's bowlers had no answers to his batting brilliance as he powered past the century mark. he was running short of partners,

but continued to inflict damage on england, eventually hitting 138 before james anderson, finally removed his threat, to end the kiwi's innings. england led by 19 runs at that point, but suffered the losses of openers ben duckett and then zac crawley before the close of play. nighthawk stuart broad, rode his luck at times, but did his duty to close out the day, without further losses. let's take a look at the score card, then. new zealand were indebted to devon conway and in particular tom blundell with only three others making double figures during their first innings. ollie robinson taking four wickets. ollie pope and stuart broad will be at the crease when play begins on day three, with england on 79—2, that's a lead of 98 runs. i think it was pretty even in the end. the ball nipped around a little bit first session and then i think with these pink balls they can go

flat and not very responsive of the wickets, so the second session was hard to really break that partnership. tom obviously played really well and got them back in the game. it's a pivotal day for manchester united. a fter their 2—2 draw with barcelona in spain last night, attention now turns to what's happening off the pitch. prospective new owners are required to submit their proposals today. in november, it was revealed that united's current owners, the glazerfamily, were considering selling the club and "explore strategic alternatives". bids are expected from groups in qatar, the usa, saudi arabia and the uk — that one led by one of britain's wealthiest men, sirjim ratcliffe. he's understood to have employed banking giantsjp morgan and goldman sachs to help him. the fans want somebody to do what we have seen at chelsea under the reign of roman abramovich, which was for 19 years. he essentially wrote out a

cheque for £900,000 a week for nine years. we had similar at manchester city, but as recently as 2021 those two clubs took part in the champions league final and they were the biggest lossmaker makers financially in the history of the premier league, but they deliver trophies. football is a talent industry. the talent follows the money and in order to have the money you need rich owners. rory mcilroy�*s made a decent start in his bid to return to the top of golf�*s world rankings — that's the prize should he win the genesis invitational in california this weekend. he's three shots off the lead after his first round 67. this chipped putt from distance on the 14th gave him one of his four birdies. american duo max homa and keith mitchell share the lead on seven under. i played ok. i hit it fine that i missed a couple of good chances on the front nine. the nice thing is it gives you a chance to manage a game,

there is not a tonne of hazards to hit it into apart from obviously the bunkers. ifelt like i manage my game well today. i didn't feel comfortable at all of 30, but i headed in the right spots when i needed to and birdied the hole is that you shoot. britian's jack laugher has won the european diver of the year award for his performances in 2022. the three—time olympic medallist won two european titles, as well as two silver medals and a bronze at the world championships. it's the third—time the 28—year—old has won the award, putting him one behind the record—holder, tom daley. laugher�*s main target for 2023 will be a maiden world title in japan in july. that's all the sport for now. russia has been accused of "breaking with civilisation" by the chairman of this year's munich security conference, which begins today. no russian delegation has been invited to the annual event, which is expected to see ukraine

at the top of the agenda, amid pressure on european countries to increase spending on defence. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is there and gave us more details on what to expect from the conference well, this conference is an opportunity for, effectively, the western alliance, the americans and many european leaders, to come together and make their own assessment of, not just the state of the war almost a year on, but also what might happen in the future. what is the future security framework of europe going to look like? how might nato need to change? how might europe's relationship with russia change in the future? so in other words, this is a conference, yes, to look at the immediate support for ukraine. is there enough ammunition or enough weapons? is there enough money going there? how long can that be sustained as europe and elsewhere faces economic pressures? but at the same time looking more to the future, saying, actually, how does the world need to change

as a result of this war? and, crucially, what relationship will europe and the united states have with russia as and when the conflict comes to some kind of settlement? nearly one year on from the russian invasion, ukraine says a steady stream of british volunteers are continuing to enlist with its military. they are serving in a number of different battalions, but the risks are high. only this week a fifth british fighter was killed. the bbc has had exclusive access to a group of men who have been on the front lines since the early days of the conflict. they've spoken about wanting to fight the invasion, but also the sense of purpose that comes from serving alongside ukrainians. emma vardy reports. this is the life of a british volunteer on the front lines of ukraine. whoa! a round from a russian tank misses him by inches. everyone ok? it's landed right next to me. i can't hear nothing. i can't hear a thing.

ukrainian officials say 20,000 international volunteers have traveled to help defend the country and that british fighters make up one of the largest groups in the international legion. but there are others also now fighting in a number of different battalions on the front lines. and they've spoken to newsnight and our world about their experiences. seen a facebook advertisement, it was all in ukrainian, but i translated it. it said, "we'll give you a month's training and we'll send you out on the front line, you'll be fighting in the kharkiv district." 30—year—old james from yorkshire traveled to ukraine having had no previous military experience. it's legal to enlist in the ukrainian military. fighters get a contract and can receive a wage. but the british government has advised strongly about the risks. they needed help, so i knew i can fight. that's what we're trained to do. those that do have combat experience are seen in ukraine as bringing valuable skills. we met james chadwick who,

aged 21, quit his role with the british army to go. the ukrainians feel like, it makes them feel like they're not alone, like we are there. we are helping them fight. and much of the fighting involves old school trench warfare. we were 600 metres from russians at all times. it was literally our tree line, their tree line and a field in between. social media platforms like tiktok mean we have a greater insight into life on the front lines than ever before. videos posted by british volunteers can get millions of views. whatjust happened to your rifle? got shot. entrance, exit. butjoining the war can end in tragedy. when craig mackintosh from norfolk travelled to ukraine, his family had little warning. i thought at first, why would you do that? why would you leave everyone and not tell anyone? and then i thought, wow, what a courageous thing to do. but they were to receive devastating news. police came to inform craig's family

he'd been shot by a russian soldier. it hurt. most people die of cancer or common illness, not being shot out at war. six weeks later, his body was repatriated to the uk. i don't know, ijust didn't believe it. didn't feel real. ukrainian military officials say a steady stream of volunteers are still signing up to fight. for those willing to swap their lives in the uk for the battlefields of ukraine, it comes with comradeship and adventure, but those in the conflict and families at home can pay a heavy price. emma vardy, bbc news. you can see more of that story on newsnight tonight and in �*brits in battle: ukraine' on the bbc iplayer. staying in ukraine, next week marks the first anniversary

of russia's invasion. ahead of that, ukraine's president zelensky has been speaking to our world affairs editor, john simpson, reflecting on what's happened and what may happen ahead. president zelensky said his troops could keep defending their country until they are able to launch a counter offensive. you can see more of that story on newsnight tonight crucially, he ruled out conceding any territory to russia in a potential peace deal. a warning that there are flashing images in this report. a year on, president zelensky may be stressed and deeply tired, but there's a definite spring in his step. compared with the last time i met him, four months ago, he seemed a lot more confident, even though russia may soon unleash a new onslaught. translation: they are coming from several directions - and we understand it but we are holding defence. modern weapons, powerful weapons, when we get them, speed up

liberation and peace because weapons are the only language which russia understands. the fact is, he knows that his nato friends are slowly giving him many of the weapons he needs, and he is sure ukraine can hold out until it is able to launch a major counterattack of its own. so he is certainly not minded to make any concessions to russia. translation: any territorial compromises will only - weaken our country. why? it is not about the word compromise. why would we be afraid of it? we have a million compromises in our lives. they happen every day. the question is, with whom? a compromise with putin? no, because there is no trust. dialogue with him? no, because there is no trust. so no question now of agreeing to let russia have any part of eastern ukraine,

and, he says, no peace is possible while russia holds on to crimea. and meanwhile, looking back... a year ago, would you have thought that you would be sitting here, still president, and the war would still be going on? translation: today, - there is already confidence that we will have a positive, victorious result. there is more confidence in that. now, though, belarus is threatening to let itself be used by russian troops for an attack on neighbouring ukraine. it will be a big mistake, for him and for belarussia. it will be a historical mistake. but if belarussia does involve itself with the attack, can you survive? we will fight. we will survive. we will survive, yeah. john simpson, bbc news, kyiv.

the stars were out in london last night for a screening of the son, a new film directed by florian zeller, which opens in cinemas today. the movie which stars huthackman tells the story of peter, his partner beth and their new born son. chaos hits the family after peter's ex—wife kate unexpectedly appears with their troubled teenage son nicholas. director of the son, florian zeller, joins us now. give us more information on this film. tt give us more information on this film. , ., , ., , ., film. it is a story of firefighter t in: to film. it is a story of firefighter trying to help _ film. it is a story of firefighter trying to help his _ film. it is a story of firefighter trying to help his son, - film. it is a story of firefighter trying to help his son, 17 - film. it is a story of firefighter| trying to help his son, 17 years old, who is going through depression. he is a loving father, caring father, but he finds himself in a position where you do not know what to do any more. i knew there were so many people that could relate to this situation because there are so many people in pain and there are so many people in pain and there is so much guilt and shame

around these topics, mental health issues. that is the reason why we wanted to make that story, that film, to open a conversation. tt film, to open a conversation. it says that nicholas is troubled. what troubles does he face? what says that nicholas is troubled. what troubles does he face?— troubles does he face? what i tried to do is not — troubles does he face? what i tried to do is not be _ troubles does he face? what i tried to do is not be specific. _ troubles does he face? what i tried to do is not be specific. it - troubles does he face? what i tried to do is not be specific. it wasn't i to do is not be specific. it wasn't about trying to be inside his own brain or experience his pain, it was to be from the outside from the perspective of the father, where you have questions with no answer. you want to open doors could you don't have the right keys. it was not about trying to be —— about trying to be specific, about trying to face that pain is a mystery when you do not know why someone is in pain. which is the most difficult to accept, i would say.- which is the most difficult to accept, i would say. last night at the screen _ accept, i would say. last night at the screen and _ accept, i would say. last night at the screen and you _ accept, i would say. last night at the screen and you had _ accept, i would say. last night at the screen and you had quite - accept, i would say. last night at the screen and you had quite a i accept, i would say. last night at i the screen and you had quite a few medical professionals watching the film and you have had to work quite closely with those. how difficult is it to tell a story like this

touching such sensitive issues? tt touching such sensitive issues? tit is important because we need to feel comfortable talking about it. i still feel we are not comfortable about it and i think that is the only way to help people who need help, not to feel the shame and guilt and to feel comfortable about it. it is ok to feel pain, and it is ok to help someone he is in pain. when you make a movie it is about trying to catch the reality and you have a responsibility towards people who are in pain, so it was about working with specialists and people working with specialists and people working in the mental health field to make sure we capture the reality. we received a lot of support from many associations because everyone is aware that we are facing a new pandemic somehow, a mental—health pandemic, and so many people do receive the help they need or deserve. sometimes they are not even aware that it is mental health

issues there are facing. we thought the more that we could tell stories about it, feel comfortable about questioning our own relationship with this kind of situation, the more we could help people and take care of ourselves.— care of ourselves. thank you very much, care of ourselves. thank you very much. speaking _ care of ourselves. thank you very much, speaking to _ care of ourselves. thank you very much, speaking to astaire, - care of ourselves. thank you very much, speaking to astaire, the l much, speaking to astaire, the director of the son. the governor of ohio has asked the white house for federal support and on—the—ground assistance after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed there earlier this month. residents in the town of east palestine have reported headaches and nausea in the wake of the derailment, which is also thought to have caused the deaths of thousands of fish. clean—up operations are continuing in the town. our north america correspondent, nomia iqbal reports. the toxic smoke from the rail crash hangs over this town like a dark cloud. the train was leaving east palestine on febuary 3rd

when it came off the tracks, carrying hazardous material. the smell of sulphur still lingers in the air, people say they have been suffering from headaches, they feel ill, their pets are ill, and dead fish have appeared in some of the creeks. for ben, even the sound of trains is now unnerving. he says the noise is getting louder. this morning, waking up before my alarm because there is a train going off with these umpteen horns, and ifeel they are stating they are here, they are not going anywhere, and they are bigger and more powerful than the town and the entities that are put in place to regulate them. like many of the town's nearly 5,000 residents, he is worried about drinking the water. officials say is safe. he isn't taking any chances, though, especially as he has kids. for the town, it's going to be like a 9/11 moment, it's going to be like a pearl harbor moment where people remember where they were when it happened. the memories are going to be ingrained early on and how they felt early on, that sense

of unease and chaos. i feel like there's going to be a before and after from when that happened to living post that situation. the clear—up continues. the rocks have discoloured from where the toxic chemicals spilled. as you can see, a train is once again going through the town. once the evacuation was over, the track opened again, and this is what has upset residents so much — the fact that it has not even been that long since this disaster happened and yet the trains are still going through, carrying substances which they say they don't know what they are, and it is really concerning them. people had a chance to ask questions at a town hall meeting but norfolk southern, which owns the train, didn't show up, saying it was worried about security, leaving residents feeling insulted. they feel that they can

take advantage of us because we are a smaller town but what rolls through on those tracks is of more value than the lives of the residents in this community. norfolk southern has set aside more than $1 million to help people but residents say it doesn't even begin to address the long—term concerns they have about the environment and their health. nomia iqbal, bbc news, east palestine, ohio. tesla is recalling more than 350,000 of its us vehicles due to safety concerns. the national highway traffic safety administration said the company's full self—driving software may cause a crash. tesla said it is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the recall issue, but as samira hussain explains, the full self—driving beta software is a big part of tesla. this self—driving technology for tesla is a big part of its business plan. it's what tesla and elon musk has

been pushing and they believe it is the absolute future. elon musk has also said this self—driving technology is better, and in many cases, safer than just regular drivers. but what tesla has shown is there has been incidents in which some of these technologies have caused accidents. while in this particular software update instance, they are saying that, look, what we are doing is to try and get this update to happen because there could be some issues when going through traffic circles, going through intersections, they are constantly updating this kind of software and this kind of information. but because it is so crucial to tesla's overall business plan, there was a lot of safety concerns regarding it. rappers drake and 21 savage have settled a lawsuit with the media company conde nast.

it accused the stars of using the vogue name and creating a fake vogue magazine without permission to promote their recent number one album �*her loss'. the settlement included an unspecified payment. an 85—year—old care home resident with a passion for adventure has completed the world's fastest zipline. sally webster reached speeds of 100mph as she took to the skies over the welsh county of gwynedd. ms webster flew down the 1.5km long and 500—feet high zipline with her daughterjuliet, a 52—year—old yoga teacher. this is the scene in belfast where were are expecting statements from northern ireland leaders after their talks with rishi sunak. we're hoping to hearfrom the dup and we'll bring that

to you as soon as it begins. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. we saw some ferocious winds to start the day in parts of scotland and north—east england — 70, 80 mph gusts. easing down a little bit as we go through today. the reason, storm otto, this curl of cloud here, well, it's around the southern edge of this cloud head where the strongest of the winds are. the southern edge of our low—pressure system, storm otto. it is moving into scandinavia, so winds will continue to ease down. but certainly in the short term we could still see winds gusting at 70, 80 mph, particularly to the far north—east of scotland, orkney, shetland. and very gusty to the east of the pennines too. some gales elsewhere but as i said, easing down through the rest of the day. lots of sunshine despite those winds, from northern england northwards. the showers in northern scotland are becoming fewer in number, away from shetland that is. cloud increasing in northern ireland again this afternoon. patchy rain or drizzle. and still plenty of cloud, south wales, southern counties of england,

where it could be a bit damp and drizzly. but as you can see from the wind gusts into the afternoon, stronger still in the far north—east of scotland but elsewhere easing down considerably. and temperatures dropping compared to how we started this morning. in the north, 5—7 degrees. in the south, it's stayed pretty mild, 13 or 1a. tonight, nowhere near as windy. more cloud, though, and more extensive rain. northern ireland initially, into northern england and scotland, where it will turn readily to snow across the mountains. a cold night to the north of that with some frost and some ice. patchy rain and drizzle working its way south with some clearer skies and a very mild night here, nine to 11 degrees. but what it does, it leaves us on saturday with two weather fronts. one pushing the far south with some gusty winds. one straddling some northern areas, particularly through central and southern scotland, maybe parts of northern ireland and northern england. underneath that, some of you will see rain or drizzle come and go all day long, but to the north of it, a lovely day, sunshine, light winds. to the south of it, sunny spells for many breaking through, just the odd shower, staying fairly cloudy through the english channel and breezy here, but it's

a mild breeze. in the far north of scotland, which is still above where we should be at this stage in february. those weather fronts then clear away through saturday night into sunday but another one topples in around a ridge of high pressure to the south—west of us for sunday. so for scotland, northern ireland, northern england, more extensive this cloud, more outbreaks of rain more extensively, heaviest and most persistent in the western isles. a few patchy bits of rain and drizzle down through eastern counties of england, but further the south and west you are, certainly compared with saturday, a much sunnier day and again still pretty mild. take care.

this is bbc news. i'm frankie mccamley. the headlines at 12: a former security guard at the uk embassy in berlin is sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for russia. i am sure that you committed these crimes intending to assist russia, a state which at that time, as now, was regarded as unfriendly to the united kingdom. the prime minister holds talks with northern ireland's political parties, with hopes that a deal between the uk and the eu on post brexit trade arrangements could soon be agreed. a dog walker who discovered missing nicola bulley�*s mobile phone speaks to the bbc three weeks since the lancashire mum was last seen. the french energy firm edf — which has some five million customers in the uk —

says it earned more than £1 billion from its operations here last year. the family of the hollywood actor bruce willis say the die hard and pulp fiction star is now suffering from a type of dementia. this is the scene live in munich where the head of nato, jens stoltenberg, is speaking. let others cross over to him. when all the powers _ let others cross over to him. when all the powers are _ let others cross over to him. when all the powers are coming - let others cross over to him. when all the powers are coming closer, l all the powers are coming closer, working closer together, it is more

important we believe in democracy and freedom, that we stand in nato and freedom, that we stand in nato and with our partners across the world. that is the reason why we are supporting them, it has been stated again and again we support ukraine to ensure they win and prevail as a sovereign, independent nation. and sovereign, independent nation. and so this war might end at the negotiating table, but we know what happens is totally dependent on the strength of the battlefield. the only way to ensure lasting peace in ukraine is to give them military support today, so vladimir putin understands he has to accept terms for negotiations which ensure ukraine prevails as a sovereign state. ~ ., ., ,

ukraine prevails as a sovereign state. ., ., , ., state. what would be your message to the eo - le state. what would be your message to the people of— state. what would be your message to the people of georgia? _ state. what would be your message to the people of georgia? the _ state. what would be your message to the people of georgia? the message l the people of georgia? the message is the war as — the people of georgia? the message is the war as a _ the people of georgia? the message is the war as a part _ the people of georgia? the message is the war as a part of— the people of georgia? the message is the war as a part of a _ the people of georgia? the message is the war as a part of a pattern - is the war as a part of a pattern that started with the nation of georgia. then we have seen the brutal war in syria and the illegal annexation of crimea. we will continue to work with partners like georgia and that is part of the message one year after the war. are you concerned russia could launch — are you concerned russia could launch an — are you concerned russia could launch an air campaign sometime soon? _ launch an air campaign sometime soon? ,,. .h launch an air campaign sometime

soon? ,, ., , launch an air campaign sometime soon? .,,,' , , soon? russia has suffered big losses on the ground. _ soon? russia has suffered big losses on the ground, armed _ soon? russia has suffered big losses on the ground, armed vehicles, - on the ground, armed vehicles, battle tanks and also a lot of personnel. they have much less losses when it comes to airpower, aircraft missiles, and therefore it is extremely important to ensure russia doesn't gain air superiority, control the airspace over ukraine, and allies are focus on that, not least continuing to deliver advanced air defence systems to ukraine. this is part of delivering advanced systems to ensure ukraine can defend and protect its guys, but it also about ensuring all the systems ukraine has received can operate as they should, meaning there is an enormous need for spare parts, for maintenance, for ammunition, to

ensure air defence systems we have delivered, that they can operate as they should. but as the messages from the nato defence minister, that the war in ukraine is becoming more and more a war of attrition, and a war of attrition is a battle of logistics, about supplies, ammunitions, including to ensure the systems are working. i express my solidarity yesterday and expect my —— express my condolences after the earthquake, which is the biggest natural disaster since we were founded. nato allies are providing significant

support, nato is setting up temporary housing and also providing strategic airlift to transport different types of support to turkey after the earthquake. in my meetings with the president, we also address theissue with the president, we also address the issue of swedish membership. i reiterated my position that the time has come to ratify both sweden and finland. finland and sweden have met their obligations under the agreement that was negotiated between turkey, finland and sweden at the nato summit in madrid. they have stepped up their efforts to

fight terrorism, and they have removed any restrictions on arms exports. i have made it clear in my meetings that the time has come to rectify both countries and make them full—fledged members. then of course the main issue is not whether finland and sweden join at the same time, the main issue is finland and swedenjoin as soon time, the main issue is finland and sweden join as soon as possible. it is of course a turkish decision whether they ratify both of them or only one protocol. what matters is the ratify both as soon as possible. thank you very much. b5 the ratify both as soon as possible. thank you very much.— thank you very much. as he 'ust walks away. fl thank you very much. as he 'ust walks away. we i thank you very much. as he 'ust walks away, we will i thank you very much. as he 'ust walks away, we will leave h thank you very much. as he just walks away, we will leave the i thank you very much. as he just i walks away, we will leave the munich security conference, and of course,

a really big focus on the war in ukraine. he called on the allies to supply battle tanks and weapons to ukraine. he said his support will stay with ukraine until the end. he said there were discussions in regards to russian losses, battle tanks on the ground, and also focusing on the earthquakes in turkey, as well as the relations between russia and china. lots to talk about there, but moving on. a former security guard at the british embassy in berlin — who passed information to russia for money — has been sentenced to 13 years and two months at the old bailey. thejudge, mrjustice wall, told 58—year—old david smith, who admitted eight charges under the official secrets act, that he had become "decidely anti—british". the judge also detailed how david smith had used his position to spy at the embassy.

you filmed the nameplate on the doors of officers, personal information about the officers on display in the rooms, and any potentially useful documents left on the surface of a room, or you found put away in a desk. you would often include footage of the view from the window of the office. this can only have been so that anyone who viewed the footage could have pinpointed where in the embassy building any particular room could be located. this activity is reflected in counter to. you started to pass on this information to the russians in may 2020. in that month, you wrote an ominously to the russian embassy. you enclose with your letter a

booklet you had obtained from the british embassy, which set out the names of people working there, along with some contacts, and a description of the rules they performed within the embassy. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds gave us this update from the old bailey. well, a detailed statement from thejudge, mrjustice wall, on the reasons behind the sentence of 13 years and two months he's handed down for david smith, a spy in the british embassy in berlin. he said that he had leaked documents. he had also obtained video footage of the inside of the embassy. he'd taken pictures of visitors to the embassy, and he said that he'd done all that with a view to harming british interests in some way. he said that he had betrayed his country, he had breached the trust in him, and he had done all that to assist russia. he said he was opposed to britain and he was sympathetic to the russian president,

vladimir putin. now, mr smith tried to claim this week that he wasn't doing this for, if you like, political reasons, but because he had a grievance against his employers at the embassy. that necessitated a hearing which took place at the old bailey this week to work out whether, although he had pleaded guilty, whether that was true, and the judge found it wasn't true, that he was, in effect, carrying out an act of espionage and passing secrets to russia. of course, nobody is entirely clear what he passed to the russian embassy in berlin. the security services may have an idea, but they are not saying. and of course it is quite difficult, therefore, to assess the harm he might have caused. but we do know that he leaked details of people working at the british embassy and that led the embassy itself to do a security review of all its staff, which cost more than £800,000.

welcome to bbc news. the leader of the alliance party in northern ireland says there is some "heavy lifting" still to be done on a new deal governing post—brexit trade. naomi long was speaking as the prime minister has been holding talks with stormont leaders in belfast today. it's hoped a deal could soon be reached as early as next week. the current trading arrangement — know as the northern ireland protocol — was negotiated during brexit talks. it was put in place to deal with the fact that northern ireland is in the uk and the republic of ireland is in the eu. some goods passing from england, scotland and wales into northern ireland are getting checked when they cross the irish sea, in order to keep an open order on the island of ireland. unionist parties argue that this places an effective border across the irish sea, which undermines northern ireland's place within the uk. the largest unionist party — the dup — is currently refusing to take part in the country's power—sharing government

unless its concerns about the protocol are resolved. ms long was speaking after talks with rishi sunak. the prime minister is meeting all five main parties today. this is the scene in belfast, where we are expecting statements from norther ireland leaders after their talks with rishi sunak. our ireland correspondent chris page is in belfast following the talks. northern ireland has been without a fully functioning devolved government now for more than a year. the dup says it will not relent until its concerns, chiefly the trade border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, are addressed. the dup want an end to checks on goods arriving here from england, scotland and wales under that arrangement known as the northern ireland protocol. also something senior dup

politicians have been mentioning more and more, particularly over the last 2a hours, has been the role of eu law in northern ireland. they don't want the european court ofjustice, the eu's highest court, to have any role in deciding laws for northern ireland. the likes of sammy wilson, the party's chief whip at westminster, lord dodds, a former dup deputy leader, have said fundamentally for the dup, for unionists, they see it as a democratic deficit, laws being made for northern ireland which are not... which are being made in brussels, essentially, they would argue, not being made by politicians elected by the people of northern ireland. so you get the sense the ante is being upped by the dup, as speculation has mounted that rishi sunak is close to a deal with the european union on the northern ireland protocol. there have been negotiations on and off on this since 2021

and that has led rishi sunak to visit belfast this morning for talks with the stormont parties. also other diplomatic activity today. in brussels, foreign secretary james cleverly has been leading uk negotiators, meeting with the european commission vice president, maros sefcovic, and this weekend rishi sunak is due to meet other european leaders in munich so you get the sense all of this is fuelling the expectation that a deal is close but the thinking in downing street and also in the dublin government is that a deal isn't on the table just yet and there is still at least some way to go on this. political parties in northern ireland have been giving their reaction after talks with rishi sunak. sinn fein's president mary lou mcdonald says she's optimistic a deal can be done. it's clear now that significant progress has been made and we are very heartened by that. we now want to see a speedy

conclusion of matters and, above all else, we want to see the institutions restored, its government restored here in the north. the bottom line is that we have to ensure that any deal provides for ongoing access to the european single market, no hardening of the border on the island of ireland and a protection of the good friday agreement in all of its parts. those are the core elements and aspects that need to be protected. it seems to us that it is very much game on and we are very heartened by that, very conscious that a deal can be done and should now be concluded speedily. we hope that that will be the case and then it is a matter for everyone, for each of the political parties to step up, get back to work and deliverfor people here in the north of ireland.

talks are also taking place on the northern ireland protocol in brussels where the foreign secretary james cleverley is holding talks with the european commission. we can get the latest now from suzanne lynch, chief brussels correspondent of politico. are talks under way, have they begun? are talks under way, have they beuun? , g . , are talks under way, have they beuun? , ,. , are talks under way, have they beuun? , ,. begun? yes, james cleverly arrived in brussels — begun? yes, james cleverly arrived in brussels late _ begun? yes, james cleverly arrived in brussels late morning, _ begun? yes, james cleverly arrived in brussels late morning, and i begun? yes, james cleverly arrived in brussels late morning, and he'sl in brussels late morning, and he's having a lunch meeting with the european commissioner, he was been leading these negotiations. we are waiting to hear the white smoke, we know the commissioner will brief all ambassadors from the eu countries in brussels. they been summoned to a special meeting for about 2pm local time, they are expected to be debriefed by the commissioner about

the content of his meeting with james cleverley. this the content of his meeting with james cleverley.— the content of his meeting with james cleverley. this meeting was arran . ed james cleverley. this meeting was arranged late _ james cleverley. this meeting was arranged late in _ james cleverley. this meeting was arranged late in the _ james cleverley. this meeting was arranged late in the day. _ james cleverley. this meeting was arranged late in the day. do i james cleverley. this meeting was arranged late in the day. do we i james cleverley. this meeting was i arranged late in the day. do we know much about the contents and what they will be discussing? this much about the contents and what they will be discussing?— they will be discussing? this is all in the context _ they will be discussing? this is all in the context of— they will be discussing? this is all in the context of very _ they will be discussing? this is all in the context of very quickly i in the context of very quickly moving series of events, including rishi sunak�*s visit to belfast. what we don't know is whether rishi sunak has freed ten won on what the unionist party —— has briefed james cleverley. the real problem is whether rishi sunak has enough to sell this deal to the unionists, northern ireland and to the eurosceptic wing. that is what this comes down to. we don't know yet what is in the specific content of the deal, we know there's been a lot

of movement on customs, green lane and a red line for goods, which would differentiate goods coming into northern ireland and goods which would cross that invisible border into the republic of ireland. apart from that, very little yet about the details of the agreement. before we were hearing from eu leaders, they weren't going to budge, they wanted what they wanted. do you feel there's been some concessions given by the eu, especially when we are hearing from people in ireland saying they are really happy with the deal that is potentially on the table? we can't say it definitely is, nothing has been signed. the say it definitely is, nothing has been signed-— say it definitely is, nothing has been sinned. ., ., ,, ., been signed. the european commission would say the — been signed. the european commission would say the issue _ been signed. the european commission would say the issue on _ been signed. the european commission would say the issue on the _ been signed. the european commission would say the issue on the custom i been signed. the european commission would say the issue on the custom is i would say the issue on the custom is something they had given ground on. the big elephant in the room is about the court ofjustice and

whether that would have any oversight into possible trade disputes that might emerge from this very unique situation that has been created under the northern ireland protocol. the dup did set out seven requirements, significantly it didn't mention the european justice, but there are concerns about it, so with the european commission move on that, what would the ecj have? trying to work out some compromise. that is where discussion is going. the meeting this afternoon is to debrief the countries, see they are happy with what is on the table. the real decisions, if they are made, could be at the munich security council, rare rishi sunak will meet

the german counsellorjoe she was talking also about the talks are ongoing in belfast, and we've got live pictures outside the hotel where senior politicians, the prime minister rishi sunak has been meeting with senior leaders in ireland. we are expecting the dup to come out and give as a statement, and we will bring you that as soon as they do that. nicola bulley has been missing for three weeks. the home secretary has raised concerns with lancashire police after it revealed personal information about her alleged struggles with alcohol and menopause. our correspondent yunus muller is in st michael's on wyre and he's been speaking

to people in the area. it is three weeks since nicola bulley disappeared, she had been walking her dog, dropped off her children at school when her phone was found on a bench next to the river. we've had us amass a police investigation, they are calling it unprecedented. divers are out in the river because they believe she went into the river. they've had divers further down to the st to morecambe bay. they be knocking on doors, going through cctv but still no trace of her. people are still shocked here, there's an enormous amount of focus on what has happened. i spoke to someone he was out that morning. it isa it is a sleepy village. tell me a

bit about it. — it is a sleepy village. tell me a bit about it. |_ it is a sleepy village. tell me a bit about it. i walk _ it is a sleepy village. tell me a bit about it. i walk the - it is a sleepy village. tell me a bit about it. i walk the dog i it is a sleepy village. tell me a i bit about it. i walk the dog every da , so bit about it. i walk the dog every day. so the _ bit about it. i walk the dog every day, so the phone, _ bit about it. i walk the dog every day, so the phone, saw- bit about it. i walk the dog every day, so the phone, saw the i bit about it. i walk the dog every day, so the phone, saw the dog | bit about it. i walk the dog every i day, so the phone, saw the dog tied up. thought something wasn't right. communication between my wife and i also eventually we located the people who owned the dog. lancashire police has been _ people who owned the dog. lancashire police has been criticised _ people who owned the dog. lancashire police has been criticised for— police has been criticised for revealing details of nicola bulley�*s private live, in particular her struggles with alcohol and the menopause. the home secretary has asked for a next nation and we believe the response she got, she wasn't satisfied with it. the commissionerjohn edwards has had police can disclose this information to protect the public and investigate crime, but he will be asking lancashire police how they

reached the decision to disclose this information. the family were told in advance to the police word reveal it, because they want to put an end to the amount of speculation out there, and what they say our claims by people they will be selling details of nicola bulley�*s pass on to other newspapers and other outlets. what they want, her family warned, is a speculation to stop. they say it is appalling and damaging the police investigation. the royal college of nursing has announced a 48—hour strike from the 1st march, the biggest walkout of the dispute so far. the nhs confederation — which represents health trusts — has warned that the government must settle its pay dispute with nhs staff — or risk jeopardising its pledge to cut waiting lists in england. our health correspondent jim reed reports. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! what is already a bitter dispute between nurses and the government

is set to ratchet up again next month in england. claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! unless there is a sudden breakthrough in talks, two further strike dates will go ahead at the start of march and they're likely to be the most disruptive yet. under the plans, nurses will walk out for 48 hours in a row, with overnight shifts now affected. 128 hospital trusts, along with mental health and community services, will take part, covering around half of england. and for the first time, thousands of nurses in key areas, including critical care, cancer treatment and a&e, will be asked to stop work with services stripped back to an absolute minimum. no nurse during the next period of strike will want to do anything to cause further risk to patients. but what i would say, the prime minister needs to step in now. he needs to decide what he wants. does he want strikes or does

he want to save the nhs? no nurse wants to be in this position at the beginning of march and it is time to start talking. it is time to resolve these strikes for our patients and for our nursing staff. groups representing large hospital trusts reacted with concern to the news. in a letter to the prime minister, the nhs confederation urged the government to negotiate with trade unions or accept the pledges to cut long nhs waiting lists are unlikely to be met in england. that really difficult challenge of reducing waiting lists becomes almost impossible if this industrial action spreads as it is spreading, and particularly ifjunior doctors join the industrial action. so the government's aspiration to lower waiting lists, its public commitment to lower waiting lists, is now being jeopardised by this ongoing industrial action. strike action in scotland and wales is currently suspended while unions consider new pay offers in those parts of the united kingdom.

while in northern ireland, no further strike dates are currently planned. in england, the government says it is working closely with the nhs on contingency plans and remains open to talks based on what is fair and affordable for the next financial year. jim reed, bbc news. let's return now to the news that the prime minister rishi sunak is holding talks with stormont leaders as speculation mounts that a deal on the northern ireland protocol could be close. our ireland correspondent emma vardy is in belfast. we are waiting for the dup leaders to speak. we've heard from sinn fein, very optimistic. what sense are you getting? put fein, very optimistic. what sense are you getting?— are you getting? put it this way, the parties _ are you getting? put it this way, the parties were _ are you getting? put it this way, the parties were meant - are you getting? put it this way, the parties were meant to i are you getting? put it this way, the parties were meant to have l are you getting? put it this way, l the parties were meant to have 50 minutes with the prime minister. the dup seem to have been in there for over an hour, so it clearly the hardest conversations he has to

help. that is because the dup are the ones who most bitterly oppose the ones who most bitterly oppose the current protocol arrangements because it's created this border in the irish sea. they see it as undermining northern ireland's place in the uk, i because of that, they have worked out of northern ireland power—sharing government, leaving northern ireland run by civil servants. we have no government here. it is really the dup's demands which will determine whether northern ireland gets its government bar, and whether any deal goes far enough to satisfy them. doesn't all about them, it is about businesses who have really struggled getting goods over from great britain to northern ireland, because it has created lots more paperwork and bureaucracy. some firms don't want to send things over to northern ireland. businesses are very much hoping to hear this deal cut down

all that paperwork and makes life easier for them. all that paperwork and makes life easierfor them. we all that paperwork and makes life easier for them.— all that paperwork and makes life easier for them. we are 'ust looking at the — easier for them. we are 'ust looking at the scene outside i easier for them. we are just looking at the scene outside that _ easier for them. we are just looking at the scene outside that meeting, i at the scene outside that meeting, waiting for the dup to come out and give a statement. much anticipated. emma, we've been speaking to journalists in brussels, and a lot of the sticking point seems to be the laws surrounding this, and how much the european court, the european courts will have an the involvement they will have. yes. european courts will have an the involvement they will have. yes, we not this involvement they will have. yes, we got this half-tone, _ involvement they will have. yes, we got this half-tone, heartfelt - got this half—tone, heartfelt situation. because this border, some good need to be checked. even though the uk is outside of the eu, if there are any questions over the

deal, who polices it? the eu once the european court ofjustice to be involved, the uk says we shouldn't have it. that has been one of the big stick on points. the other is how light touch you can go on goods coming over. the basis is there will be three channels, good staying in northern ireland, they don't need as many checks. one is going into the republic of ireland, they need all the paperwork, they can go through a red lane. how light touch will the eu be with the green lane? those had been the sticking points. [30 eu be with the green lane? those had been the sticking points.— been the sticking points. do you think the dup _ been the sticking points. do you think the dup will _ been the sticking points. do you think the dup will be _ been the sticking points. do you think the dup will be feeling i been the sticking points. do you j think the dup will be feeling the pressure to agree any deal? all eyes on belfast, eyes on these discussions. of course, you mentioned it is serious, but what do you think needs to be done going forward and coming out with a deal in the week ahead? the

forward and coming out with a deal in the week ahead?— in the week ahead? the dup are decree in the week ahead? the dup are degree anything _ in the week ahead? the dup are degree anything today, - in the week ahead? the dup are degree anything today, they i in the week ahead? the dup are degree anything today, they will| degree anything today, they will want rishi sunak to listen to their concerns. they will want to see what is in the final deal and then take their time, to have a good look at it and say, we measure it against whether we feel the integrity has been restored. is there pressure on the dup? they don't feel there is pressure, they feel their support is staying out on the protest. there is a bit of movement behind me. we are expecting the dup to come out anytime soon, but their meeting has been the longest with the prime minister so far. t’ee been the longest with the prime minister so far.— minister so far. i've 'ust seen a messaue minister so far. i've 'ust seen a message saying — minister so far. i've just seen a message saying good - minister so far. i've just seen a message saying good progress| minister so far. i've just seen a i message saying good progress has been made with the foreign secretary. the prime minister will go meet his counterpart overseas. how much... what message will he be

taken from belfast as he heads abroad to go carry on with further talks, further crunch talks to get some deal done? we talks, further crunch talks to get some deal done?— talks, further crunch talks to get some deal done? . ., some deal done? we are entering the endaame, some deal done? we are entering the endgame. his — some deal done? we are entering the endgame, his presence _ some deal done? we are entering the endgame, his presence shows - some deal done? we are entering the endgame, his presence shows that i endgame, his presence shows that very clearly. i think the dup field their message, their concerns about their message, their concerns about the protocol are being heard in brussels more clearly. rishi sunak will be taken their message back to brussels. you might want to strengthen his hand in getting any final concessions by being able to say, i've sat across the table from the dup, this goes to the very heart of what they believe in. that matters for everybody, businesses, people. some of the things said behind those doors might then form part of rishi sunak�*s final tactics in brussels. who knows? it's

impossible to say until they sign on the dotted line. everything we hear is that a deal is close, but not quite there now. we is that a deal is close, but not quite there now.— is that a deal is close, but not cuite there now. . . , , quite there now. we are still seeing behind you. — quite there now. we are still seeing behind you. and _ quite there now. we are still seeing behind you, and waiting _ quite there now. we are still seeing behind you, and waiting for - quite there now. we are still seeing behind you, and waiting for the i behind you, and waiting for the press conference to start, waiting to hear from the press conference to start, waiting to hearfrom the dup. following those talks... you keep mentioning this deal could be looming, but for businesses in belfast, lives had beenin businesses in belfast, lives had been in limbo. businesses have been in limbo. what is the sense you a getting from businesses? this businesses are so frustrated with all of this. they had years of uncertainty not knowing there would be no deal or what type of deal there would be. and there finally was one, northern ireland was left with this half then, how parts of the eu situation and all this

paperwork. we have spoken to many businesses over the past two years, and many of them say that customers were used to deal with don't ship from gp any more. that is one of the big gripes of businesses, that they want to get resolved. others want to protocol protected very much as it is because they see it as an advantage. the majority of politicians in stormont to support the protocol as is with the view changes are in doubt. it is the dup who have been digging their heels in and staying out of government because of it. even if you don't care about brexit, the protocol, what people do care about in

northern ireland is that there should be a government in stormont during the day to day things, dealing with schooling, the day—to—day concerns. the health services in crisis in northern ireland and issues nothing to do with brexiter being held up because there is no government. this is the turning point now as to whether a deal can pave the way to bring the government back, because that matters notjust government back, because that matters not just for government back, because that matters notjust for brexit, imports and exports, but so many areas of life in northern ireland. 50. and exports, but so many areas of life in northern ireland.— and exports, but so many areas of life in northern ireland. so, we are waitin: life in northern ireland. so, we are waiting for— life in northern ireland. so, we are waiting for a _ life in northern ireland. so, we are waiting for a statement _ life in northern ireland. so, we are waiting for a statement from i life in northern ireland. so, we are waiting for a statement from the i life in northern ireland. so, we are i waiting for a statement from the dup in belfast following talks with rishi sunak. these are the live shots just outside of the meeting and we will bring you those statements as soon as we get them. in the past hour, scotland's health secretary, humza yousaf, has told the bbc he's giving "serious consideration" to running to succeed nicola sturgeon as snp leader.

his comments come after deputy first minister, john swinney, ruled himself out of the race. mr swinney said he had to do what was right for his family, party and country. nicola sturgeon announced on wednesday that she would step down after more than eight years as scotland's first minister. the new leader of the snp will be announced on monday, 27th march. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has more on who might be in the running for the snp leadership. some of those who are are not going to go forward, of course nominations are already open, it closes next friday, it's interesting looking at the reasons thatjoanna cherry and john swinney are giving. john swinney calling for an open debate about the party's direction and a fresh perspective, as he puts it, that anchors the snp in the mainstream. joanna cherry saying the new leadership must adopt a more collegiate approach. so whilst they are not standing, they certainly have strong views about what they'd like to see going forward. another another person who's not standing, of course, is stephen flynn, who is the leader

of the snp at westminster. at the moment it is just speculation about who may go forward to try and get the votes to become the next snp leader. it feels increasingly likely because ofjohn swinney not standing, you know, he would have been the sort of unity candidate, the one that a lot of people perhaps would have felt they could unite behind, a sort of steady pair of hands, with him not in the race it feels increasingly likely that there will be a competition. some of the names that are being bandied are humza yousaf, the health secretary. angus robertson, of course he had a spell at westminster. he's a very high profile snp politician, he is now back at holyrood. kate forbes, the finance secretary, she is due back from maternity leave within the next few weeks. ash regan, who quit her position in government over the gender recognition reform bill which was passed at holyrood just before christmas. they have a week to decide whether they'll put their hats into the ring or not. it's not a foregone conclusion. they do have to have the backing

of at least 100 party members from 20 different branches, but i think we are going to see a competition and i think we might well see a competition which could potentially be quite fractious. i saw one mp tweeting a slightly sarcastic comment yesterday evening whenjoanna cherry said she wasn't standing and it feels like there's potentially quite big divides amongst those who are going to stand, perhaps between those who started their politics in the 1990s versus those who were born in the 1990s, perhaps between those who are candidates for continuity versus those who are candidates for change. a young boy has been pulled from the rubble in turkey nearly 11 days after the earthquake hit. rescuers worked through the night in hatay to find him and there were cheers of celebration when he was successfully pulled free. it's as the syrian president, bashar al—assad, made his first public statement, thanking the international community for its help, but said

it must go further. more than a week after earthquakes hit syria and turkey, there's growing anger over why so many buildings collapsed, burying tens of thousands of people as they slept. in turkey, more than 100 arrest warrants have been issued in connection with unsafe buildings and the government has been accused of turning a blind eye. our europe correspondent nick beake has been investigating the collapse of one building in gaziantep. night and day, they've been waiting for a miracle. but there is no sign of one. their relatives lived in the most expensive part of this city. that meant nothing as their apartment block turned to dust. emre, whose five loved ones are missing, says so many people are to blame. translation: they have the blood of the people who died _ here on their hands. it is not right to

scapegoat the contractor. the ones who approved this building are responsible together with the government and the state. the next morning we come back to try to find out why these four blocks collapsed, while all around others stood firm. we learn from officials on the ground that at least 136 people have died here. a community ripped apart in seconds. everything is gone, she weeps. before revealing there had been concerns that water was weakening the building. translation: it was an accident waiting to happen. _ six months ago, the head of the residents' association told us about the problems in the building. she said our buildings might collapse at the smallest earthquake.

let's strengthen the pillars, she said, but nothing happened. neighbours tell us a former security guard at the complex could give us more information. translation: i witnessed - the defects with my own eyes. when i touched the concrete column, it would crumble to dust in my hands. as though it wasn't concrete at all. the iron was rusting in the columns, the rainfall was damaging and corroding the iron. amid all this death and destruction, we need to remind ourselves that these days homes can be built or strengthened to withstand earthquakes of this magnitude. 21i years ago, this country got a big wake—up call when more than 17,000 people were killed in a previous quake.

since then, the turkish authorities have failed to protect their people. whether it is those living in newbuilds or in older properties, too. opposition politicians say tens of thousands have now paid with their lives. in civilised countries, earthquakes happen and people don't die. unfortunately, in turkey, these kind of earthquakes happen every ten years and people die and they say it is a destiny. no, it is not a destiny. if we just do what the science says, nobody dies. a man connected to our particular complex in gaziantep has been arrested. his lawyer tells us he has done nothing wrong and the building was well constructed. the local authorities says no complaints were made and so no inspections were ever carried out. president erdogan says it was not possible to be prepared for such a disaster. but in light of this story, one replicated across the country, how many in turkey can

truly sleep soundly? nick beake, bbc news, gaziantep. next week marks the first anniversary of russia's invasion. ahead of that, ukraine's president zelensky has been speaking to our world affairs editor, john simpson, reflecting on what's happened and what may happen ahead. president zelensky said his troops could keep defending their country until they are able to launch a counter offensive. crucially, he ruled out conceding any territory to russia in a potential peace deal. a warning that there are flashing images in this report. a year on, president zelensky may be stressed and deeply tired, but there's a definite spring in his step. compared with the last time i met him, four months ago, he seemed a lot more confident, even though russia may soon unleash a new onslaught.

translation: they are coming from several directions - and we understand it but we are holding defence. modern weapons, powerful weapons, when we get them, speed up liberation and peace because weapons are the only language which russia understands. the fact is, he knows that his nato friends are slowly giving him many of the weapons he needs, and he is sure ukraine can hold out until it is able to launch a major counterattack of its own. we will just leave that we willjust leave that report and head over to belfast.— head over to belfast. particularly the prime minister _ head over to belfast. particularly the prime minister and _ head over to belfast. particularly the prime minister and the i head over to belfast. particularly i the prime minister and the european commission president to get these issues resolved and to get to a place where the political institutions can be restored. the decisions taken by the prime minister and by the european

commission will either consign northern ireland to motivation or they will clear a path towards healing and to the restoration of political institutions. over the last 48 hours we have been engaging with officials, met the prime minister last evening and this morning. we have not yet seen final text of an agreement, but i think it is safe to say that progress has been made across a range of areas, but there are still some areas where further work is required. if and when a final agreement is reached we will want to carefully consider the detail of that agreement and decide if the agreement does in fact meet ourseven if the agreement does in fact meet our seven tests and we have been very clear with the prime minister that there were seven tests remain the basis upon which we willjudge

any agreement. of course, an agreement between the uk government and the eu will be at a headline level and the detail of course will be entered legislative changes that will flow from any such agreement, both in london and in brussels. i have indicated to the prime minister that it have indicated to the prime minister thatitis have indicated to the prime minister that it is important, fundamentally important that he agrees the right deal. i want to hear that brussels will stretch itself to recognise the concerns that we have as unionists and that this process will correct the wrongs of the last negotiations. i do not believe that anyone should be led by a calendar. what is fundamentally a most important here is getting it right. that must be the ultimate goal. that is our goal, what we are committed to, getting this right and getting it done and we will keep working at this until we will keep working at this until we have got to the place where we

can say that an outcome meets our seven tests and enables us to move towards the restoration of the political institutions here in northern ireland, which remains our objective, to see northern ireland pass my place within the united kingdom and its internal market restored and protected, our place in the union respected and that we have a basis on which political stability can be restored on the basis of cross community consensus once again in northern ireland. we have had some clarity around some of the issues discussed with the european union. that is welcome. there is no doubt that progress has been made on some of those areas and we await the final text of an agreement and we will study that taxed very carefully. we want to be in a position where we have an

agreement that meets our seven tests and that newness as well as nationalist can support. i think that progress has been made across a range of issues and we welcome that but there are some areas where a final agreement with the eu is outstanding. we hope that agreement can be reached and the overall text, and we haven't seen the final text of deaths and we want to see the final text of any agreement so we can make a judgment calls, that we can assess any agreement against our seven tests and come to a decision as to whether that agreement is meets those tests and provides the basis for restoring

devolution in northern ireland based upon the restoration of northern ireland pass my place within the united kingdom and its internal market. we are not party to the negotiation, thatis we are not party to the negotiation, that is between the uk government and the european union. what i have sought to do consistently is to ensure that our government is aware of our concerns, that what we mean when we have set out in seven tests, what those tests mean, how they can be reflected in any outcome as a result of the negotiations between the european union and the uk government. we are not at the table but are seeking to reflect the real concerns of unionists. those concerns of unionists. those concerns need to be addressed and included within the context of any agreement. inaudible.

it is not for me to characterise where the eu and the uk have got to enter negotiations. i will simply say that on some very important issues i think there has been real progress, but there remain some outstanding issues that we need to get over the line and we were then examined the final text of any agreement and come to our decision. i really don't know the answer to that question, vincent. i am not focused on timescales here. i am focused on timescales here. i am focused on timescales here. i am focused on getting this right. it is absolutely crucial that this opportunity is taken, that the issues are grasped, that solutions are fine in that respect northern ireland pass my test within the united kingdom and its internal market that allow us to continue trading with the european union not remove in the context of seven

tests, remove the barriers to trade so that northern ireland can trade freely with the rest of the united kingdom and we need to see an agreement that delivers that. we are hopeful that that can happen, but in the end we will wait to see the final text and make a judgment as to whether that has been delivered. our seven tests reflect the previous commitments that have been given by the uk government, both in their command paper injuly 2021 and another statements made. so it is not a question of us compromising, it is a question of the uk government honouring the commitments they made to the people of northern ireland, delivering on those commitments and providing the basis upon which northern ireland because my place within the uk and its internal market can be respected and protected number institutions here can be restored on a stable basis.

finally, finally, amanda? these are matters that are part of the ongoing negotiation. i will not provide a running commentary on any of this. i have made our position clear as far back as a conference last year. this is notjust back as a conference last year. this is not just a back as a conference last year. this is notjust a question of checks and bureaucracy. it is a question of whether we have the ability to trade freely within the united kingdom and its internal market. when we trade within the uk, then we should follow uk standards and uk rules. that is our clear position. and we are trading with the european union, the products that we make, the goods we want to sell to the european union have to meet eu standards. that is the same as across the whole of the united kingdom. we are looking for an outcome that addresses the issue of where do we stand in relation to our ability to trade within the united kingdom and its internal market and that is, in essence, what we need to get as an outcome from this negotiation. thank you very

much indeed. brute this negotiation. thank you very much indeed.— this negotiation. thank you very much indeed. we will 'ust leave it there. jeffrey h much indeed. we willjust leave it there. jeffrey donaldson - much indeed. we willjust leave it there. jeffrey donaldson speaking much indeed. we willjust leave it i there. jeffrey donaldson speaking to journalists following those talks in belfast. he has not seen the final text of the agreementjust belfast. he has not seen the final text of the agreement just yet belfast. he has not seen the final text of the agreementjust yet but progress has been made. he said there is still further work to do and he wants to hear brussels really stretch itself and correct the wrongs of the last year. it does seem promising and it does seem like talks have made some progress in belfast this morning. tesla is recalling more than 350,000 of its us vehicles due to safety concerns. the national highway traffic safety administration said the company's full self—driving software may cause a crash. tesla said it's not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the recall issue, but as samira hussain explains, the full self—driving beta software is a big part of tesla. this self—driving technology

for tesla is a big part of its business plan. it's what tesla and elon musk has been pushing and they believe it is the absolute future. elon musk has also said this self—driving technology is better, and in many cases, safer than just regular drivers. but what tests have shown is there has been incidents in which some of these technologies have caused accidents. while in this particular software update instance, they are saying that, look, what we are doing is to try and get this update to happen because there could be some issues when going through traffic circles, going through intersections, they are constantly updating this kind of software and this kind of information. but because it is so crucial to tesla's overall business plan, there was a lot of safety

concerns regarding it. a memorial service for dame vivienne westwood has been held on thursday in london, with famous faces from around the world paying their respects. the legendary fashion designer and environmental activist died in december aged 81. stephanie prentice has more. here to honour the life of a fond friend, victoria beckham in black riveted dress joined by helena bonham carter wearing a classic tartan design for a memorial to the late vivienne westwood. her loss felt strongly by the british fashion scene with models turning out to pay their respects, as well as famous faces from around the world in the fashion, music, and art scene. and while many dressed in black, others brought touches of her signature style with flashes of colour and bold patterns and prints. it was a fitting tribute for the grammar school girl from glossop, a small town in england, who brought punk fashion into the mainstream and quickly built a global brand based on doing things her own way.

the trousers all come with a little loincloth on the back. everybody wants to know what that's for, it'sjust a loincloth, it's just a gesture. now finally laid to rest, her legacy will continue in both fashion and in culture. with many guests at the funeral reposting vogue magazine's tribute to her, saying that honouring the great english woman properly was a near impossible task. stephanie prentice, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. it certainly was a stormy start your friday morning in the northern half of the country as gusts of wind at times, whipping up the seas first thing this morning. widely those gusts over 70 miles an hour, some of the strongest gusts we had 80 miles

an hour, and 75 miles an hour in yorkshire, as well. all courtesy of storm alto, which is pushing off towards scandinavia. the winds will gradually ease down. a trailing weather front sinking its way south across england and wales this afternoon could bring some light drizzling rain. there will be sunny spells across northern england and eastern scotland as well. a brisk wind will still drive and plenty of showers across the far north of scotland, but all in all here it will be a reasonable day. cutting of with rain eventually pushing into northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. blustery winds, but certainly lighter than first thing in the morning. it will be a cooler day in scotland. miles across central and southern england and wales. overnight, rain will push into northern ireland and scotland, following a snow across the mountains. the fun continues to push

east ridge. a blanket cloud across england. an incredibly mild night in double figures here. low single figures in scotland. we will start at the weekend on a messy note. a blustery story once again. then through southern scotland, northern england to begin with. light rain across southern scotland. eventually into the afternoon there will be sunshine sandwiched out of sight of these fronts, and some sunny spells into the far north of scotland. 8 degrees to high here. at 15 across southern england. at this time of year it should be seven or 8 degrees, so very mild. our brief ridge of high pressure builds for sunday for many. there is a weather front toppling and across the high. that will bring outbreaks of rain into scotland. for the rest of the country, dry, set to sunny spells coming through. it is still pretty mild, so not a bad weekend in store.

that's it. enjoy.

are there signs of agreement in northern ireland? the prime minister is meeting the main political parties to discuss post—brexit trading. rishi sunak is holding talks near belfast, amid speculation that a deal could be reached with the eu. it seems to us that it is very much game on and we are very heartened by that. we are very, very conscious that. we are very, very conscious that a deal can be done should now be concluded speedily. brute that a deal can be done should now be concluded speedily.— that a deal can be done should now be concluded speedily. we have not seen the final— be concluded speedily. we have not seen the final text _ be concluded speedily. we have not seen the final text of _ be concluded speedily. we have not seen the final text of an _ be concluded speedily. we have not| seen the final text of an agreement, clearly— seen the final text of an agreement, clearly there will be further discussions between the uk government and the european union but i government and the european union but i think_ government and the european union but i think it is safe to say that progress — but i think it is safe to say that progress has been made. we'll have the latest on those talks in northern ireland. also this lunchtime: as more nhs strike dates are announced in england,

a pay rise is offered to health workers in scotland.