good evening. the government's chief scientific advisor during covid, sir patrick vallance, has revealed more about what went on in downing street during the pandemic. the covid inquiry heard that the then prime mininster, borisjohnson, was clearly bamboozled by the science around covid. excerts from sir patrick's diary at the time were read out at the inquiry and he had plenty to say about these two men — he described borisjohnson as inconsistent, indecisive and weak. and he said scientists were not consulted on the eat out to help out scheme —l aunched by the then chancellor rishi sunak. sir patrick said it was very obvious that it would increase transmission of coronavirus. here's our political editor, chris mason. images from the pandemic. otherworldly moments we'll never forget. lives lost, liberties crushed — an unimaginable new normal — for a while at least. the evidence i shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. in his diary in summer 2020 he claimed the most senior figures in government, borisjohnson and rishi sunak, who wanted to open up the economy, were irritated by the scientific advice. "number 10 pushing hard on releasing measures. they're pushing very hard and want the science altered," he wrote. a few weeks later, he said, "in economics meeting earlier in the day they didn't realise the chief medical officer was there and the chancellor, rishi sunak, said, "it's all about handling the scientists, not handling the virus." then they got flustered when the chief medical officer chipped in later and they realised he'd been there all along." was there a feeling perhaps, particularly at that time that, perhaps you were not being asked for your advice in good faith? i think there were definitely periods when it was clear that the unwelcome advice we were giving was, as expected, not loved. rishi sunak pretended to be a waiter to talk up his eat out to help out scheme. a veg katsu curry? where katsu curries and plenty else besides were subsidised by the state to tempt us to go out again. eat out to help out we didn't know about until it was announced and i think our advice would have been very clear on that. the advice would have been it would spread covid but in his witness statement mr sunak claims, "i do not recall any concerns about the scheme being expressed during ministerial discussions, including those attended by the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser." there's a certain inconsistency between your statement where you say you think that it would have been apparent to everyone that you opposed it and mr sunak's statement where he says you never objected to it. ministers, though, did have to have society's wider well being and the economy in mind, too. but sir patrick claimed borisjohnson often struggled to understand scientific advice. "late afternoon meeting with the pm on the schools. pm is clearly bamboozled," he wrote. a month later, he said, "watching the prime minister get his head around stats is awful." i think there was a problem in scientific understanding amongst leaders in western democracies. sir patrick also said matt hancock had a habit of saying things that turned out not to be true and that dominic cummings who worked for borisjohnson claimed that rishi sunak thought it was ok to let people die, as ministers considered further lockdowns. mrsunak, mr mr sunak, mrjohnson and mr hancock will appear in the coming weeks. chris mason, bbc news, at the covid inquiry. our health editor hugh pym was listening to sir patrick vallance giving his evidence today — what did you find the most revealing? the revelation by isere patrick that there had been a disagreement between him and sir chris whitty. we got used to seeing them both at press conferences. sir patrick said over the decisions are not down sir chris had been worried about pulling the trigger too early. he was considering impact on mental health on the popular wider hell. he said he respected that view but he personally wanted to go earlier with the lockdown. on to the issue of the second lockdown in the autumn of 2020. again, sir patrick fallon said he would have gone earlier than the decision that was made, which was to go into tears in england. he said thatjust resulted in delaying the inevitable and mps were always wanting to go down a tear in their particular area. and finally we get to the political views at that time in the late autumn of 2020 as lockdown was looking more and more inevitable. sir patrick diaries referred to a shambolic day at that time when the prime minister was arguing for letting it rip and they would have to be more casualties because people had had a good innings. and dominic cummings had suggested, according to sir patrick's diary that rishi sunak had also agreed to let people die. mr sunak and mrjohnson will give their own evidence to the inquiry early next month. own evidence to the inquiry early next month-— own evidence to the inquiry early next month. , . ~' the prime minister has promised tax cuts to boost economic growth ahead of the chancellor's autumn statement on wednesday. for the first time rishi sunak has indicated it would include more general tax cuts for workers but the biggest focus will be tax cuts for businesses, as our business editor simonjack reports. business investment in action. this cardboard box factory in birmingham is investing £6 million that will make it more productive and more profitable. this is the first of its kind in the uk. schumacher have two of these machines in our plants, in one of our plants in germany and one of our plants in poland. rules that expire in march 2026 allow the company to offset this investment against profits, cutting its tax bill by over £1,000,000. extending those rules or making them permanent could unlock tens of millions more investment. if this is made permanent, then i think for any business which is thinking of investing, either inwardly from europe like we do, orfrom within the uk, it makes that investment, those large investments, much easier. and we're talking there notjust £6 million, we're talking multi million up to £100 million investment. this is the problem. uk firms have invested less than other developed countries for many years. the bottom line here is the uk shown against the rest of the g7. today, the chancellor said he was going to try and fix that. over time, we can and we will cut taxes. growth is all about getting the private sector to invest too, and that's why the chancellor is cutting taxes directly on investment. so what you're looking at here is a mock up satellite... but many small, young companies, like this one in oxford, using artificial intelligence to help satellites dodge each other, won't benefit from this plan. we aren't the sort of business that buys plant and machinery. we invest in people and ideas. and, like a lot of early stage startups, we aren't profitable yet. and therefore having a policy that allows us to offset against profits just doesn't work for us. but most firms agree that constant changes to government policy are a problem. business taxes, investment allowances, have been all over the place over the last ten years. what businesses want is something which is generous and competitive with other countries, but also stable so they can make long—term investment plans. labour today kept up their own business charm offensive with infrastructure investors and said they would keep the government's expected tax reforms. if there is money available in the autumn statement on wednesday, labour would back the full expensing of business investment. indeed, if there is money to make that permanent, i would support that. but these tax cuts come at a cost of up to £10 billion a year — a price worth paying, it seems, to get investment and the economy moving. simon jack, bbc news. the us presidentjoe biden says he believes a hostage deal between hamas and israel is near. around 240 hostages were taken on october 7th by hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government. the white house says they are closer than ever before to freeing some of them. in gaza, a group of 28 premature babies who were trapped by the fighting around the al—shifa hospital in gaza city have now arrived in egypt via the rafah crossing for medical treatment. our senior international correspondent orla guerin reports from jerusalem. alive, against the odds. premature babies rescued from al—shifa hospital. parents cluster around before they are transferred from gaza. this man seems to be identifying his son. nora hasjust been reunited with her twin girls. translation: i been reunited with her twin girls. translation:— been reunited with her twin girls. translation: �* ~ ., ., , translation: i didn't know anything about their condition. _ translation: i didn't know anything about their condition. today - translation: i didn't know anything about their condition. today i - translation: i didn't know anything about their condition. today i saw - about their condition. today i saw them for the first time since the day they were born. thanks, god, i have been reassured they are fine. then they are wrapped up for the journey across the border. faces of the war in gaza, who suffering caught the attention of the world. in egypt specialists standing by with the waiting incubator. still desperately vulnerable, but now safe from harm. unlike about a million other children, who remain trapped in gaza. in israel, families of those held in gaza are daring to hope there will be a deal to free at least some of them. this was the moment on october the 7th when the hostage ordeal began. here, women being dragged away by hamas, barefoot and in terror. gill dickman's cousin was among them. so dickman's cousin was among them. sr this is my cousin, carmel, 39 years old. she is an occupational therapist, loves music and travelling. therapist, loves music and travelling-— therapist, loves music and travellinu. ,, , , ., ., travelling. she is being held along with her sister-in-law, _ travelling. she is being held along with her sister-in-law, who - with her sister—in—law, who three—year—old keeps asking when she is coming home. three-year-old keeps asking when she is coming home-— is coming home. hamas doesn't give us any signs — is coming home. hamas doesn't give us any signs of— is coming home. hamas doesn't give us any signs of we — is coming home. hamas doesn't give us any signs of we don't _ is coming home. hamas doesn't give us any signs of we don't even - is coming home. hamas doesn't give us any signs of we don't even know l us any signs of we don't even know whether my cousin and her sister—in—law are alive or not. the sister-in-law are alive or not. the same goes _ sister-in-law are alive or not. the same goes for _ sister—in—law are alive or not. the same goes for about 40 israeli children being held hostage, among them, babies. the children are expected to be freed if there is a deal, along with some women. gill knows his loved ones may not get out now. ., ., ., ., _, now. some of them are going to come before the others. _ now. some of them are going to come before the others. and _ now. some of them are going to come before the others. and i _ now. some of them are going to come before the others. and i understand i before the others. and i understand that some of them are going to come before carmel and her sister—in—law. i believe if they are there, they also understand it and they want the children to come back before them. for israelis, a deal may bring dozens of hostages home. for palestinians, a few days respite from israeli bombings. so how close could we be to hostages being released? our security correspondent frank gardner is here. the white house is sounding fairly optimistic? the white house is sounding fairly o timistic? , , ., ., optimistic? yes, they are. i have soken optimistic? yes, they are. i have spoken to _ optimistic? yes, they are. i have spoken to a _ optimistic? yes, they are. i have spoken to a number _ optimistic? yes, they are. i have spoken to a number of _ optimistic? yes, they are. i have spoken to a number of people i spoken to a number of people involved indirectly in this potential deal. they are optimistic, but we have been here before and this is terrible for the families who have had their hopes raised and then dashed. but i have to say, we're probably closer than we have ever been before. we are talking here about an arrangement that would see around 50 to 70 hostages, israeli hostages, noncombatant, so not the soldiers who were captured but women, children, civilians released in an initial batch. and in return, there would be a pause of six hours a day for about four days for three to five days and they would be few will into gaza. none of this is actually agreed absolutely yet, but what the parties are saying is the fundamental agreement is in place. what has been holding it up is the logistics and the practicalities of it. what does that mean in practice? the negotiations are taking place in doha and qatar, but it takes time to get that message back to the military commanders in gaza, who are fighting a war and they are underground. they don't get immediate answers and the longer this war goes on, the fewer of those military commanders there are to answer it. then you have got together the hostages held in different places. if you cast your mind back to the horrific day on october the 7th, as soon as they got them to gaza, they scattered them out to different places. so getting them back in and getting the red cross to go in and get them out, it will take time. bbc verify has been analysing footage released yesterday by the israeli military which the idf says shows a tunnel leading to a blast—proof door underneath the al—shifa hospital in gaza. hamas have denied there's a command centre there. the israeli defence forces have also released cctv footage which it says shows hostages abducted by hamas being brought to the hospital. here's caroline hawley. israel's been under pressure to produce evidence for its claim that al—shifa hospital has a command centre beneath it. hamas has always denied it, tut now israel says it is finding proof. the idf says that these soldiers are at the entrance to a 55—metre—long tunnel 10m below the hospital. bbc verify has geolocated the video to here, the north—east edge of the al—shifa hospital complex. we can see here what looks like a muzzle, which we think is the muzzle of a dog that the israeli military lowered down into a tunnel with a camera. this is the footage they got back. as the camera moves along the tunnel, as you can see, it looks very similar to this hamas tunnel, filmed by the bbc back in 2014. at the end it is what the idf says is a blast—proof door with a firing hole in it. we have asked the idf if they managed to get through the door yet but haven't had an answer. the idf has also released what they say is cctv footage from al—shifa on october 7th, showing hostages taken from southern israel. you can see a person in blue shorts there who seems to be dragged in against his will. and then these three men we have circled have guns. the video then moves further inside the hospital where you can see an injured person on a trolley whose face has been blurred by the idf. bbc verify has established that the person we just saw being dragged in briefly appears in this but of video, too. you can see the same clothing there. the idf says the two captives in the hospital footage are a thai and a nepalese national. and thai and nepalese citizens are reported to have been kidnapped from this kibbutz. we have analysed this cctv footage which purportedly shows the moment of the kidnapping, just there. it is time—stamped around half an hour before the hospital footage on 7th october. in response, hamas has said it has taken many hostages to receive treatment in hospitals. we don't know where the two people we saw in that idf video are. as israelis hope desperately for a deal that would release all the hostages. four men have been found guilty of murdering a 28—year—old woman in liverpool. ashley dale was shot dead with a machine gun in her home last august after a long—running feud between her boyfriend — the intended target — and a gang of drug dealers in the city. it was one of several high—profile shootings on merseyside last year. nick garnett reports. it's the police, if there's anyone here, make yourself known. officers with taser. police arrive at ashley dale's house. the front door�*s been kicked in, the lights are still on. bullet holes are everywhere, shattered kitchen tiles. back door is open. they find a woman, fatally injured. ambitious and charismatic, ashley was 28 years old. liverpool crown court was told all she had done was go out with the wrong boyfriend, a man called lee harrison, who was mixed up with the wrong crowd. on the night of her murder, she heard her car alarm go off. she texted her boyfriend to say she was worried. he replied... shejoked, "no, i'm dead." half an hour later, the gunman attacked. her mobile was found full of messages. i have never in my experience heard a victim's voice telling you what is happening, what is going on in their life that's paralleling what you are obtaining and looking at evidentially. it's absolutely chilling. as mobile phone messages and voice notes were played to the court, ashley's mother and stepfather listened. harrowing, really distressing, upsetting, but absolutely necessary as well because without it we wouldn't be at a trial. we have not seen one ounce - of remorse from not one of them, not one ounce of remorse, not one tear, nothing. - ashley's boyfriend was the intended target but despite his girlfriend's death, he refused to cooperate and hasn't given evidence against those on trial. the gunmen, james witham, was arrested. what's your name, fella? francis. say that again. francis kelly. he gives a false name but eventually admits who he is. you're under arrest on suspicion of murder, all right? you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. anything you do say may be given in evidence, all right? dna was found on a bullet casing and his footprints were on the front door he had kicked down. three other men, sean zeisz, niall barry and joseph peers, were also convicted of ashley's murder. this wasn't the end of the shootings on merseyside. just 24 hours later, nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel was murdered. on christmas eve in wirral, elle edwards was shot dead too. three deaths, three innocent people, crimes that shocked a city. merseyside police say this year there has been a 66% drop in shootings but the battle against gangs and the drugs they deal in goes on. nick garnett, bbc news, liverpool. the founder and chief executive of one of the world's leading ai companies, openai. was suddenly sacked by the board last friday, and we still don't really know why. today it was announced that sam altman would now work on al development for microsoft. almost all of the 770 staff at openai have now signed a letter calling on the board to resign. they say if that does not happen, they may all quit. zoe kleinman has the latest. the stakes are about as high as they get. not only in terms of cash — billions of dollars of it in investment — but also the future of the world itself and the way we all live, if you believe the extraordinary promises made about the power of artificial intelligence. openai, the creator of chatgpt, has now got through three ceos in almost as many days — sam altman, mira murati and emmett shear. the cards were reshuffled after sam altman, the friendly face of ai and co—founder of openai, got the boot. and now microsoft has thrown him a bone. hundreds of millions of people use this product every week. and, yeah, over the last weekend, things just seem to have imploded. it was absolute chaos and it sort of showed that no company, no team is immune from the laws of corporate physics. it doesn't matter how powerful the organisation is, one bad decision can be enough to derail everything. it's been a wild weekend and despite all this drama, we still don't know what spooked openai's board so much that they decided to suddenly fire a popular boss. they said sam altman hadn't been honest with them. was he working on a project they didn't agree with? had they discovered a secret new ai development? or was it something very human? was it all about making money? inside openai, many staff want their old boss back. today, the firm's chief scientist admitted he was wrong to support the firing of sam altman and signed a letter alongside other workers saying they may choose to resign. not many people turned up for work at its san francisco headquarters this morning. remember, this is a multi—billion dollar company with an ai tool used by thousands of millions of people. but ultimately, this is a very human story. openai is nothing without its people, is the message from staff. zoe kleinman, bbc news. voters in argentina have elected a far—right outsider to be their next president. the landslide victory of the economist javier milei has been welcomed by like—minded politicians including former us president donald trump and former brazilian leaderjair bolsonaro. mr milei's victory comes amid a deep economic crisis in argentina with inflation standing at over 140% and two in five argentinians living in poverty, as katy watson reports. the streets of buenos aires were packed with javier milei's fans last night, celebrating a political earthquake. translation: | feel so incredibly happy. | it is the end of the decadence we didn't think would ever end. out with the corrupt government. with milei's victory, his fans want to bury the old politics which many blame for the country's economic problems. translation: the situation in argentina is critical. - the changes our country needs are drastic. there is no room for gradualism, there is no room for half measures. today is a public holiday in argentina so the markets are yet to react to the news of milei's win, but in a country where annual inflation is now over 140%, people are willing to risk unorthodox proposals, like threatening to blow up the central bank and introducing the us dollar as the official currency. and it was straight to business for the new president as he announced plans to privatise several state media outlets and the energy company, as well as visits to the us and israel in the coming days. translation: what was clear was that the majority - of argentinians want a change. milei won and represents change but many people voted for him not because they agree with him but they just want something different. milei's economic policies made most of the headlines but his questioning of the number of victims who were killed during the country's brutal dictatorship have led critics to say he is a threat to argentina's democracy. in the past few years, south america has seen a shift to the left, with the likes of chile, colombia and here in brazil with the return of president lula da silva. meanwhile, argentina seems to be moving in the opposite direction, butjust because javier milei is supported by the likes of donald trump — a man he is often compared to — or closer to home here in brazil with the former presidentjair bolsonaro, that doesn't mean that his victory is a vote for conservatism. in fact, it is better seen as a resounding call for change. but it won't be an easy ride for mr milei. many predecessors have tried and failed to turn the economy around. javier milei will be no exception. katy watson, bbc news, sao paulo. a woman whose ex husband was sent to prison for child sex abuse has taken legal action and won after she discovered that her ex could still be allowed access to their child after his release. she took the case to the family court in cardiff. now senior politicians are calling for a change in the law. our correspondent sanchia berg joins me now. this young mother who we are calling bethan, although that is not her real name, we have to protect her identity, she sought orders from the court that would last until her daughter was 18 which would in essence remove her ex husband's parental rights, they would ban him from contact with their daughter and make it really hard for him to appeal against this because, as you said, even convicted child sex offenders retain their parental rights, and in prison, for example, they have the right to be consulted about their children's health and education and when released they can seek contact with their children. bethan explained to me exactly why she was so worried. the risk was he gets out of prison, i have not been told and turning up at school and being told, "0h, she has gone with her dad now, she's not here." and calling the police and being told it's a domestic, go back to family court, knowing all that time she is probably being abused. she did win but it cost £30,000, money that her parents had to find they extended the mortgage on their family home. all three of them told me they thought the law should be changed so people in their position did not have to do this. they suggested that what could happen is a convicted child sex offender on sentencing could have his or her rights suspended. the labour mp harriet harman, a veteran mp, said she would back that. where a court has decided that a man is a danger to children, they should . step forward and protect his own children from him, - instead of leaving that responsibility to the mother, l to go to a different court and spend a great deal of time i and worry and a huge amount of money to try and — protect her children from him. she has invited thejustice secretary and justice minister to join her in supporting an amendment that she is tabling to a bill going through parliament but when we spoke to the ministry ofjustice a couple of days ago, they said there were no plans currently to suspend parental rights in that way, although they said they were currently carefully reviewing parental access to ensure children were kept safe.— reviewing parental access to ensure children were kept safe. football, and it's been an underwhelming night for england after a 1—1 draw in north macedonia, but they end their euro qualifiers as unbeaten group winners. meanwhile, italy will be able to defend their crown in next summer's european championship after sealing automatic qualification against ukraine tonight. and northern ireland secured a 2—0 win over denmark. natalie pirks watched the action. the final hurdle on the road to germany at unbeaten england looked to make it an almost perfect ten but they were heading into a less than perfect start. rico lewis turns 19 tomorrow and on his debut, this penalty for a trailing hand wasn't the gift he was hoping for. and penalty for a trailing hand wasn't the gift he was hoping for. and the roar around — the gift he was hoping for. and the roar around the _ the gift he was hoping for. and the roar around the stadium... - the gift he was hoping for. and the roar around the stadium... the - the gift he was hoping for. and the roar around the stadium... the jobj roar around the stadium... the “0b of enal roar around the stadium... the “0b of penalty taker�* roar around the stadium... the “0b of penalty taker fell d roar around the stadium... the “0b of penalty taker fell to i roar around the stadium... the “0b of penalty taker fell to the i roar around the stadium... the job of penalty taker fell to the north i of penalty taker fell to the north macedonia captain. england's sense of injustice clearly acted as a second—half fuel, captain harry came coming off the bench and seconds later forcing an own goal. it's in! but that is how it finished, another flat performance but england still end the year unbeaten with bigger fish to fry injimmy —— captain harry kane. they will be joined by the team that beat them in the final at wembley, reigning champions italy have to puffed against ukraine but ultimately a goalless draw was enough to perhaps set up another date with england next summer. natalie pirks, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schaffernaker. good evening. the weather is fairly quiet at the moment and it has been relatively mild but it will turn somewhat colder by the end of the week and at the weekend and i dare say even a little dose of winter on the way for some northern parts of the way for some northern parts of the country. tomorrow, rather cloudy and this is satellite picture of the entire globe, a bit confusing and we went to zoom into europe but anyway! this is the map for tuesday, hydra shipbuilding into north—western parts of the uk and that means clear skies through the night and into the morning so pretty chilly in scotland and northern ireland but the bulk of england and wales i think have a relatively mild nice with the breeze of the north sea and thick cloud, 8-10 but of the north sea and thick cloud, 8—10 buta of the north sea and thick cloud, 8—10 but a touch of frost expected in some northern towns and cities. we wake up to sunshine in scotland and northern ireland also a bit developing in northern england and wales but east anglia and the south—east, probably staying fairly cloudy, that breeze off the north sea and a few showers. but in the north or the south, temperatures in the range of 8—12 . on wednesday, thick cloud and a mild westerly