07/02/2018 Breakfast

Hello - this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

The most powerful rocket

in the world successfully launches.

Its billionaire backer Elon Musk

says it will help cut the cost

of space travel and he even put

the first car in space.

Good morning - it's

Wednesday 7 February.

Also this morning:

Millions of workers in the gig

economy are to get new rights

including holdiay and sick pay.

£50 billion was wiped off the value

of the UK's biggest companies

yesterday after turmoil

on the global markets.

I'll be taking a look at what it

all means for your savings

and investments.

In sport, Swansea City demolish

Notts County in their FA

Cup replay.

They put 8 goals past them

to set up a 5th round tie

Sheffield Wednesday.

And meet the ancestors --

DNA analysis of the oldest skeleton

found in Britain shows he had dark

skin and blue eyes.

Carol has the weather. Good morning.

It's a cold start to the day. Cold

across parts of northern England but

a fair bit of sunshine. There is

also going to be some snow in the

forecast. As you can see, my

spanking new graphics. More in 15

minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

The world's most powerful rocket,

the Falcon Heavy, has successfully

launched for the first time.

American billionaire Elon Musk,

whose company Space X

is behind the project,

has called it a game changer

for space travel.

Keith Doyle reports.

# This is Ground Control

to Major Tom...

This is not a scene from a film.

This actually is a car

and an astronaut dummy in space

with David Bowie playing

on its music system.

Far above the world.

# Now it's time to leave

the capsule if you dare.

This bizarre but very

real image came

after the launch of the Falcon Heavy

rocket from Kennedy Space Center

in Florida last night.

The successful launch of the most

powerful and largest rocket

since the shuttle has been called a

game-changer in space exploration.

In part, due to its reusable

boosters which have

returned to Earth.

Two spectacularly landing

together in Florida,

the third had a less successful

landing, crashing into the sea.

However getting bigger and heavier

payloads into space is a major

breakthrough for this

commercial space company.

Seeing the two boosters

land in synchronisation,

really like the simulation...

It makes you think it can be

a scalable approach.

You could imagine

large numbers of those

just coming in and landing,

taking off, landing,

doing many flights per day.

When the story of man's exploration

of Mars and beyond is written,

this may well be seen as the moment

it was all made possible.

It doesn't look real but that is a

live shot. Amazing. That is his

first car that he didn't want any

more, he sent it into space. There

is a copy of hitchhikers guide to

the Galaxy in the glove compartment.

Elon Musk says it will be there for

a billion years, that car. Just

extraordinary.

Hundreds of thousands of workers

are to receive new rights,

including holiday and sick pay,

for the first time.

The plans are part of

the government's response

to a review into the

so-called gig economy.

Our business correspondent

Theo Leggett reports.

Up to 5 million people are thought

to earn a living in the so-called

big economy.

big economy. Companies like Uber and

Deliveroo and deliver the jobs on

the job by job basis on on line

platforms. Others like to use people

employed in agencies or on

zero-hours contracts. It's let them

have staff when they need them and

cut costs when they don't. Matthew

Taylor said flexibility in the

workplace is important but it often

put too much power into the hands of

employers. He said change was needed

to ensure people didn't just have

work but had to work. The government

has accepted most of his

recommendations. For example, it

says workers were entitled to sick

pay and holiday pay actually receive

it. It's promised to clamp down on

companies which illegally make

unpaid interns do the work of

employees and it will ask the low

pay commission to consider raising

the minimum wage workers on

zero-hours contracts. Matthew Taylor

has welcomed the proposals but says

more will need to be done to help

vulnerable workers. But the TUC has

accused the government of taking

baby steps when it needed to make a

giant leap.

We'll be speaking to

Business Secretary Greg Clark

about the proposals after eight.

The High Court will hear the start

of a legal challenge this morning

against the release of the serial

sex attacker, John Worboys.

Last month the Parole Board

was criticised when it announced

that Worboys would be freed

after less than nine

years in prison.

He is thought to have drugged

and attacked more than a hundred

women after picking them up

in his taxi in London's West End.

Aftershocks continue to rock Taiwan

after a strong earthquake

which killed at least four people

and injured more than 200 others.

Many buildings in the city

of Hualien

including the local hospital,

have been damaged and a number

of people are still missing.

Hundreds of residents have spent

the night sleeping out in the open.

We can show you the scene as rescue

workers are still trying to free

people from there. This is the

Marshall H in Hualien. It is in a

really precarious situation. Rescue

workers are trying to find two

members of staff who are unaccounted

for.

Theresa May is to meet

senior ministers later,

to try to agree the government's

approach for the next stage

of the Brexit negotiations.

It comes after leaked documents

show the European Union

wants to be able to restrict

the UK's access to the single market

if there is a dispute after Brexit.

The power to suspend "certain

benefits" would apply

during the post-Brexit

transition phase.

A man who said he'd been abused

by a paedophile ring involving high

ranking establishment figures has

been charged with multiple offences

relating to indecent

images of children.

Nick, as he's known,

is alleged to have committed some

of the offences while Scotland Yard

was investigating his claims.

Tesco is facing Britain's

largest equal pay law suit

which could affect up

to 200-thousand mostly female

shop floor workers.

The women say they're paid

less than men who work

in the company's distribution

centres - even though their work

is of the same value.

Lawyers estimate Tesco could be

liable for up to four billion pounds

in back pay if it loses.

The BBC's Economics Editor,

Kamal Ahmed, has more.

Tesco has joined a long list

of organisations facing

controversies over equal pay.

Among retailers, Asda and Sainsbury

are facing similar legal battles.

Birmingham City Council has already

agreed to over £1 billion worth

of payments for women cleaners

and carers and the BBC has been

accused of not paying

men and women equally.

Tesco is one of the country's

largest employers

and is now

facing a series of test cases that

could lead to the largest equal pay

claim in employment history.

Lawyers for Tesco workers say that

female staff on an hourly rate

earn considerably less than a man

even though the value

of work is comparable.

These two women have worked

for Tesco for over 20 years.

I think that although we think

we have equal rights,

there are times

where there are such discrepancies

that you can't explain them.

I think Tesco is just one of many

companies that are not addressing

the fact that women seem

to still be paid less.

Tesco said that all their staff

could progress equally

and were paid fairly.

This is the start of

a long legal battle.

Tesco just the latest business to be

caught up in a fight

over equal pay.

New DNA analysis of the oldest

complete skeleton found in Britain

has come up with some

surprising results.

Scientists have discovered

that the man who lived around 10

thousand years ago had much darker

skin than was previously thought

and he also had blue eyes.

Paul Rincon reports.

One, two, three...

Revealed for the

first time. The oldest modern

Britain. He lived 10,000 years ago,

just when Britain was warming up

after the last Ice Age. He was

originally found in 1903 during a

dig in Cheddar Gorge. Now, a replica

lies on the spot where he was found.

There have been attempts to

reconstruct what he looked like

before. Modern techniques in DNA

analysis have given us new

information about his features and

his lifestyle.

I've been studying

the skeleton for more than 30 years

so it's incredible now to have the

DNA data which really shows us what

this guy looked like. The hair, the

eyes, the face, that combination of

blue eyes and dark skin, really very

striking, something we wouldn't have

imagined and to also go from the

DNA, details of his biology, the

fact he couldn't just milk as an

adult, that's something that came

really with the advent of farming

and 10,000 years ago, people

and 10,000 years ago, people in

Britain didn't have that.

The

project brought together experts

from different fields. Geneticists

and artists and palaeontologists. A

young man in his 20s who lay

undisturbed the 10,000 years has

revealed secrets that are changing

the picture of our past.

It's fascinating. We are speaking to

someone about the Natural History

Museum. -- we were. It's fascinating

what they found as well.

And there is a distinctive DNA

marker for blue eyes.

They got DNA from the skeleton and

there is a marker for blue eyes.

Did they drill the little two

millimetres hole? Imagine the

pressure. You would not want to

crack that skull. Incredible.

crack that skull. Incredible. Holly

is here. She's also got the blue

eyes as well. Absolutely. Speaking

of blue-eyed boys.

of blue-eyed boys. Carlos had a

great night last night. Moving out

of the relegation zone. Just a super

is art and making continue to play

Sheffield in the nest -- the next

round. It is a homecoming for

Carvalhal. He says he's looking to

going back.

Swansea City thrashed

Notts County 8-1 in their FA Cup

4th round replay.

Dan James finished off the mauling

on his Swansea debut.

The Swans will now face

Carlos Carvalhal's former club

Sheffield Wednesday.

Huddersfield and Rochdale

also won their replays.

A service took place at Old Trafford

yesterday to mark 60 years

since the Munich air crash

which killed 23 people,

including eight

Manchester United players.

The crash happened as United

returned from a European Cup tie

in Belgrade.

It's looking increasingly likely

that Leicester midfielder

Wales have named an unchanged side

to face England in the Six Nations

at Twickenham on Saturday.

Warren Gatland has kept faith

with the same team that thrashed

Scotland by 34 points

to 7 at the weekend.

Great Britain start their Fed cup

campaign in a Stoneywood Joanna

Konta. They hope to get to the world

group two play-offs. They do that,

it will be the first time since 1993

that they have reached the elite

level in this competition. It's not

going to be easy for them. But we

will keep across it. Are you going

to hang about the papers? Are you

excited about Carol's new weather

graphics?

There has been so much

chat about these graphics.

Carol, we

are all watching, now we have the

real thing.

Good morning. It is

really exciting. Brilliant new

graphics. The weather today, first

of all, it's a cold start to the

day. There is a widespread frost and

a severe cost as well. That cold

theme continues through the day. We

are also looking at a band of rain

and some snow for a time.

To show you my groovy new graphics,

where you see the lights is where we

can see street lights, but you can

also see a big band of cloud. That

weather front will bring in rain

preceded by snow as we go through

the day. However weather fronts

still producing some wintry showers

in the south-east. They will tend to

fade as that moves away and with a

ridge of high pressure across us it

will be a decent day for many parts

of the UK. Starting in the

south-east, we still have some

wintry showers, we have had them

through the course of the night as

well. Behind them there is a lot of

dry weather and sunshine. As our

weather front comes in it will

introduce cloud is introduced here

by the right door Matt light. The

bright light is where we are looking

at Snow, that will be at lower

levels for a time before it retreats

into the hills and then for most of

us in western Scotland and Northern

Ireland we are looking for some

rain. Temperature-wise, a little bit

milder than yesterday but nothing to

write home about. Instead, it will

be cold if you are stepping out. As

you head to the evening and

overnight this band of cloud with

hill snow and rain slowly sinks

southwards, across Scotland and in

the Northern Ireland. The cloud

building into Wales and south-west

England. Under clear skies it will

be cold. Once again we're looking at

some frost. Temperatures below

freezing, in some places we could

see as low minus five. Kind this

band of rain, again, those showers

and still cold. Like this morning,

there is the risk of ice on

untreated surfaces. Our weather

front will perk up a bit as it

continues to sink southwards, taking

its rain, pre- ceded by cloud. That

eradicates the bright start in the

south-east. Behind it, some brighter

skies and then showers coming in

across the north-west.

Temperature-wise, not really

surprising with all this cloud

around, and the rain not quite as

low as it has been. As we head on

into Friday, our weather front makes

it down towards the south, hitting

parts of the Channel Islands as

well, bringing cloud and rain with

it. Behind it we are looking at some

sunny spells, but still a rush of

wintry showers coming in across

Northern Ireland and northern and

western Scotland. Temperatures by

then, well, the wintry showers gives

it away. They are starting to slide

a little bit and it will feel cold

once again. That takes us into the

weekend, where it will remain cold.

I will have even more graphics for

you in half an hour.

It looks like

you are sort of in the weather now.

It is absolutely brilliant.

But wait

and see what I have to show you in

half an hour!

Seriously, Carol, half

an hour we have to wait?

I can come

back in a few minutes, if you like.

Let's just do weather this morning.

You have until 9:15 a.m., take it

away.

You have until 9:15 a.m., take it

away.

In the meantime, between the

weather slots... The good people of

Scotland are happy, apparently, with

the new graphics. Scotland looks a

lot bigger, it used to be tilted in

proportion to the rest of the UK,

and now it is flatter.

So people

have noticed and already sent us

messages? She was doing a little

shell around on Twitter yesterday

and all of us have watched it.

I

will need to look at that when I get

back. Shall we have a look at the

papers? We

papers? We mentioned about Cheddar

Man, and Louise was talking about

them finding that very clear marker

for the gene for blue eyes. This

reconstruction was done by two Dutch

brothers, suggesting inhabitants of

the British Isles may have had much

darker skin than first thought. Our

main story, MI6 raises concern at

oligarch's £1 billion city

flotation. It is about a Russian

oligarch with links to the military,

able to use the London Stock

Exchange to raise an estimated £1

billion.

The front page of the Times

talks about racks that, as many

papers do, of course. They have a

story that Brussels is demanding

that Theresa May submit to powers

allowing the European Union to

ground flights, suspend single

market access, and impose trade

tariffs on the UK during the

transition period. We will be

talking about that a little later.

And we have the Falcon Heavy rocket.

It has lifted off, and we haven't

seen this live shot, but we will

hopefully see that shortly.

The

front page of the mirror, it hurts

me so much but my marriage is over.

Exclusive, they say, I will never

give up fighting for my Alfie, the

mother of brain-damaged Alfie Evans,

who has vowed to never stop fighting

to save his life. And the Stalker

sentenced to 26 years in jail for

murdering a beautiful and

intelligent student that he met on

Tinder.

You will be unsurprised to

hear I am talking about the market.

That is the word, volatility in the

markets. The Financial Times is

covering that this morning, but

having looked at the markets, they

have picked up a little bit. We saw

a big fall yesterday across all of

the global stock markets, and that

means people are selling off their

shares because they are worried

about what will happen in the

future. I will explain a little bit

more about that in half an hour's

time, and I have some fancy graphics

for you. Another couple of stories

for you before I get myself into

that competition with Carol. More of

a site using vegetarian, apparently,

according to research is in the

Daily Mail this morning. Almost one

in three evening meals contain no

meat or fish, amid the rise of

vegetarianism, and the so-called

flexitarians, who decide today I am

a vegetarian, tomorrow I am not.

You

mean normal people? I have got

myself into a whole world of trouble

there. Have you got any graphics?

I

haven't got any graphics for you at

all, but we have just been looking

at the papers and a lot of them

talking about Conte and the fact he

has decided to stay on after

discussions yesterday. The front of

the sports section this morning in

the Telegraph was that gorgeous

picture as Old Trafford paid tribute

to the 60th anniversary of the

Munich air disaster. A lot of people

who were there, talking about just

how... Not eerie, but the tone with

the snow falling, just really added

to the atmosphere, and it was a

beautiful day for everyone who was

to attend that. Also this morning,

we have found in the papers,

Madonna's Sun... For anybody who

didn't know, he has been training

with Benfica, we saw Madonna turning

up at a few games last year, and she

has moved to Portugal to support him

in his career. This is one of the

first pictures we have seen, and he

is jumping. He is not really toll!

Believe it or not, he is only 12

years old.

And nine foot three!

Absolutely. But Madonna, soccer mum.

Who knew?

And we talk about

technology a lot, but this is

technology used to rescue a spaniel.

After nearly three days trapped down

a water pipe, Spencer the spaniel

was rescued after they used

heatseeking equipment, cameras, all

sorts of things. They think he

basically went missing after a walk

and chaste something down a pipe and

got stuck.

He needs a good wash. You

know what I did yesterday? I had a

shower and my wife had washed the

dog in the bath, and she put the dog

shampoo next to my shower gel. So

this, ladies and gentlemen, is

washed with coat shine shampoo. Like

you have just stepped out of so

long, is what you are trying to say!

When I walked in this morning, the

first thing I noticed was the shine

on your head.

It does feel very

powerful, it is like Charlie state!

-- Stayt.

I am glad it works, you

will have to pass that trick on to

the rest of us.

A group of children in Glasgow

are waging war on plastic -

in particular straws.

Yes, they have already persuaded

Scotland's biggest council to ditch

single-use straws, and convinced

the entire village of Ullapool

to scrap them.

Now, they are taking

their campaign further afield.

Our Scotland correspondent

Lorna Gordon joined them

on the Isle of Arran.

They call themselves the Ocean

Defenders, passionate about nature

and conservation, and on a mission

to end the use of plastic straws.

Now, they are heading across the

water to Arran, in a bid to spread

the word.

I joined because there are

animals out there who are in danger,

because they are eating plastic.

What do you hope to do with this

campaign?

Try and stop drastic

straws from being used, and start

using paper straws.

It is our

future, and we need to make sure

that it is not all gone when we grow

up.

Their campaign is having an

impact. The company which operates

the ferry they are travelling on has

signed up.

Do you have the straws?

We only have paper ones, would you

like some?

But the youthful

campaigners from Sunnyside primary

think that key to their nationwide

battle against plastic is getting

other children, including those on

Arran, involved as well.

I haven't

really thought about it, but now the

presentation has taught me a lot

more about it, and it is very

different now.

The most surprising

and interesting thing is how much

this does affect the environment.

You wouldn't expect that from the

tiny plastic straws.

We can speak to

some of the cafes on the island,

because I know that a lot of the

cafes to sell plastic straws. So if

we could maybe get them to change to

the paper straws, that would be

really good.

There is always litter

on the beaches, and plastic litter

in particular... They work hard on

Arran to keep their waters and

beaches clean.

These blue things are

in fact cotton bud sticks.

But

plastic waste once it enters the sea

can travel far, injuring and killing

marine life in the process.

Even

here we find plastic, despite all

the cleaning that goes on. You

claim, a storm comes in, and there

will be more plastic washed up.

How

do you feel about that?

I really

dislike it. Everyone can do

something to try and help marine

environment, and issues of elastics.

School by school and business by

business, the children's messages

being heard.

We are trying to make

people stop expecting a straw in a

drink...

These primary school

pupils, with a passion to reduce

plastic waste, have had much success

already.

The kids were fantastic.

They are so knowledgeable, and they

are really confident and passionate

in the way they speak.

And did you

find the right in its persuasive? I

mean, you have got the plastic

straws.

Absolutely, this is my

naughty pot. Naughty pot no more.

The children's hope now - that Arran

will become Scotland's first island

to ditch plastic straws for good.

I love that they were on a mission

to do that. Ditch the straws.

Coming up before 7:00am:

The Terracotta Warriors guarded

the tomb of China's first

emperor for 2,000 years.

Now, they are in Liverpool

for a major new exhibition,

and Breakfast's Tim

Muffett is there.

Good morning.

Yes, good morning to

you. It was one of the biggest

archaeological discoveries of all

time. For more than 2000 years, a

vast terracotta Army lay

undiscovered, guarding the tomb of

the first Chinese emperor. This is a

major coup for the world Museum in

Liverpool, because from Friday they

are going on display. Part of that

collection have been brought here,

as you can see. We will be speaking

to the experts about the cultural

significance of them coming here,

and what they tell us about life in

ancient China. It is an

extraordinary collection. First,

extraordinary collection. First,

here

It is, however, going to feel quite

cold.

I'm back with the latest

from the BBC London newsroom

in half an hour.

Plenty more on our website

at the usual address.

Bye for now.

Hello - this is Breakfast

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

We'll bring you all the latest news

and sport in a moment,

But also on Breakfast this morning:

Hedgehogs are in major

decline in the UK.

We'll chat to a woman who provides

sanctuary to hundreds of them

about what we can do to help.

Lifelong Burnley fan

Alastair Campbell and his childhood

hero, Paul Fletcher,

will tell us how they came together

to write a novel blending politics

and the beautiful game.

A 10,000-year-old face.

One of the scientists who helped

recreate so-called Cheddar Man,

from Britain's oldest skeleton,

will join us on the sofa.

Good morning.

Here's a summary of today's main

stories from BBC News.

The world's most powerful rocket,

the Falcon Heavy, has successfully

launched for the first time.

American billionaire Elon Musk,

whose company Space X

is behind the project,

has called it a game changer

for space travel.

The $19 million spacecraft could one

day transport people

and supplies as far as Mars,

but on its maiden voyage the cargo

is Elon's own Tesla car,

with a space-suited mannequin

in the driver's seat.

Seeing the two boosters

land in synchronisation,

really just like the simulation...

It makes you think it can be

a scalable approach.

You could imagine

large numbers of those

just coming in and landing,

taking off, landing,

doing many flights per day.

Hundreds of part-time and flexible

workers are to receive sick and

holiday pay, as the result of a

review into the gig economy. The

number of self-employed workers has

risen in recent years partly because

of apps like Uber and Deliveroo.

The High Court will hear the start

of a legal challenge this morning

against the release of the serial

sex attacker, John Worboys.

Last month, the Parole Board

was criticised when it announced

that Worboys would be freed

after less than nine

years in prison.

He is thought to have drugged

and attacked more than a hundred

women after picking them up

in his taxi in London's West End.

Aftershocks continue to rock Taiwan

after a strong earthquake

which killed at least four people

and injured more than 200 others.

Many buildings in

the city of Hualien

including the local hospital,

have been damaged and a number

of people are still missing.

Hundreds of residents have spent

the night sleeping out in the open.

We can show you the scene as rescue

workers are still trying to free

people from there.

Theresa May is to meet

senior ministers later,

to try to agree the government's

approach for the next stage

of the Brexit negotiations.

It comes after leaked documents

show the European Union

wants to be able to restrict

the UK's access to the single market

if there is a dispute after Brexit.

The power to suspend "certain

benefits" would apply

during the post-Brexit

transition phase.

Hedgehogs are continuing to decline

in the UK according to a new report.

Surveys show a hedgehog numbers have

fallen by about 50% in the past two

decades. Conservation groups say

they are particularly concerned

about the plight of animals in rural

areas.

Rumour has it there is a lady in

here from a rescue centre and to

hedgehogs are coming in.

We have to live hedgehogs. I'm not

sure what names they have.

I don't know how you would spot a

hedgehog. I know what they look like

but I haven't seen them running

about. How would you spot them in

the garden?

I see what you mean.

I

know what they look like! So we can

ask that.

We will get to the bottom

of that hedgehog mystery. No one has

anything -- no one has called

anything hedgehog mystery before.

It

sounds like a great movie. Yes,

beautiful. The hedgehog mysteries.

They'll always called Holly. Holly

the hedgehog.

Were you named after a

hedgehog?

I was very prickly.

I have

a rescue Shapland called Holly.

A

very popular animal name. At least

they are quite cute.

Have you got a

middle name?

I'm going to change it

right now. I am sick of dogs being

named after me. It's always golden

retrievers.

Let's get away from

golden retrievers. What a great

night in Swansea.

Berlin is not the Swansea. Ever

since this man arrived as well, a

great turnaround. That result last

night, 8-1. That is an annihilation.

Just incredible.

Now just a few weeks ago

Swansea City were bottom

of the Premier League

and in disarray.

Then they parted with head coach

Paul Clement and hired Carlos

Carvalhal.

The Portuguese had left

Sheffield Wednesday just days before

and his appointment

at the Liberty Stadium

was questioned by many.

However, he's guided them to wins

over Liverpool and Arsenal to move

them out of the Premier League

relegation zone and last night

he masterminded a club record FA Cup

win beating Notts County EIGHT one

-- 8-1 in their fourth round replay.

And that's earned him

a return to his former side

Sheffield Wednesday

in the next round.

I will be happy to be back home. I

can't say to normal game. It will be

a game for me because I was there

and not a long time ago but at the

same time, it's the competition is

the cup and of course we will try to

do our best again.

So in December Sheffield Wednesday

didn't think he was good enough

to get them out of the Championship

and then a few days later he finds

himself with a Premier League club.

And now he gets an early opportunity

to possible rub his old club's noses

in his new success.

It's a funny old game.

I live in Sheffield and sometimes

you need a shakeup and it's worked.

They did leave on good terms. He

said last night to, he will always

be an owl. And nicknamed the

Sheffield fans. But he also said he

will also be a jack.

Have a look at this pitch in

Rochdale. It looks a bit like a

throwback to the 70s. The League One

strugglers had an upset, 1-0. They

will play the winner between

Tottenham in Newport County.

And Huddersfield will host

Manchester United in the fifth round

after they beat Birmingham in extra

time.

The service has taken place to mark

60 years since the Munich air crash

which killed 20 people including

eight Manchester United players. The

crash happened on United's return

from a European Cup tie in Belgrade.

Eight players, pre- club staff,

journalists and crew members were

killed. The old carpet service

included a silence at four minutes

past three which was the time of the

disaster.

Thank you all.

Great Britain start their Fed Cup

campaign in Estonia later today.

Led by British number one

Johanna Konta they are attempting

to get through the European

and African groups to

the World Group two play-offs.

They play Estonia and Portugal

in a group before hopefully playing

off for a place to get to the next

level of world tennis.

Later this week, the Winter Olympics

get under way in South Korea and one

thing you won't see there is

anything quite like this. This is

extreme off-piste skiing. Like

something you might see in a James

Bond film. This is not a movie or a

stunt to social media, it's the

first event of the Freeride World

Tour. It's enough to make your heart

skip a few beats.

Oh, my goodness. I

like skiing but that's

extraordinary.

I don't think your

holiday insurance would cover that.

Wow, you would need some bits and

bobs that.

Have a look at this.

We often hear about remarkable

sporting exploits being out of this

world.

It's actually the view

from the Falcon Heavy

spacecraft, which was launched

into orbit yesterday.

The SpaceX boss, Elon Musk,

chose a very special

cargo for its maiden voyage -

his own Tesla car, complete

with a space-suited mannequin

in the driver's seat.

Let's chat to Dallas Campbell,

a scientist and broadcaster.

He joins us now from

our London newsroom.

Good morning to you.

Good morning. I

think he is all right. That is

fantastic watching these pictures.

Is it breaking barriers? How

important? Those pictures are just

so extraordinary and you are right,

it looks like a science-fiction

film. Seeing that car with the earth

behind it. I've never seen anything

like it before. Only Elon Musk could

do something like that but on a more

practical level, it's very important

because getting things into space is

very expensive. Of course, whole

business model for Space X is to

reduce the cost of that. The fact

they have reusable rockets. Those

separate boosters you saw on the

launch returned back to work and

landed together. It's absolutely

amazing. It is that which is

bringing the cost down. We can send

much bigger and heavier payloads

into space. It's great for science,

great for engineering.

How do you

think it will affect what other

people are planning and thinking

about doing at the moment?

I suspect

all the other rocket builders are

wondering what to do. How that is

going to change, what other people

do, who knows?

He's got the car on

the front, hasn't he?

It's a sort of

mass simulation. You want to have

something on board that simulates

what a real payload would do. In the

past, they used things like tanks of

water. Elon Musk, he is a showman, a

Simon Danczuk man. He likes to have

a bit of whimsy. A few years ago,

you actually had a wheel of cheese

so he likes to play with the

gallery.

We heard him talking today,

that this could become part of daily

flights into space.

When might that

be? Elon Musk's whole thing, the

whole point about Space X, is to

make human beings and into the dash

is to make human beings and

interplanetary species. Everything

he does, even though it has

practical implications, that is his

end goal. He is thinking about his

next fleet of rockets. Giant

spaceships which are apparently

going to be taking us to Mars on a

regular basis. The trouble is with

Elon Musk, he is a difficult man to

bet against. Anybody else, you would

be raising your eyes. The

timescales, he talks about a few

years. Who knows. I can't see at any

time in the immediate future.

There

is a hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy

in the glove compartment. He says it

will be there for a billion years.

The battery is a pretty good but I

don't know if it will last a billion

years. The final burn that will push

it into that mars heliocentric

orbit. I think it was heading out to

the asteroid belt.

What would you

play if you had to play it on a loop

forever?

What would I play? That is

too difficult question. He's gone

for the obvious choice, David

Burleigh. On an infinite loop and I

had to hear one song?

I will let you

think about it. -- David Powley.

What would it be? I think about it.

Bohemian Rhapsody. It needed to be

something long. You get your money

's worth. I think we are thinking

the same thing. Thank you very much

indeed. You can tweet me if you

like. We are thinking about that,

won't we? What would you play

forever and ever?

I know what Carol

would play. Something by Bryan

Adams.

She

She has some fantastic new graphics,

and she will show us around. We

could even have graphics accompanied

by Bryan Adams, but they don't need

it. I want to show you some of our

new graphics and what we actually

have. This is what we call our

window on weather. So this beautiful

scene represents what is happening

across much of the UK. But I will

add a little bit of extra detail. It

might be snowing somewhere, as it is

today, so what I would do is choose

the element relevant to the weather,

and add it. At the same time, you

could add maybe some winds, blowing

leaves, or indeed some rain. It is

making the weather much clearer,

much more user-friendly than it has

been. We will also be showing you

the jet stream much more readily, so

we can start it across North

America, take it all away across the

Atlantic, and then across our

shores. If there is something

happening in Australia, we can tell

this globe and take it to Australia

so you can see what is happening

there. Something new is the forecast

for the aurora borealis, the

northern lights. If this were the

first forecast for the day, these

are the chances of seeing it. The

green is less of a chance, yellow a

bit more of a chance, and if it was

read, there would be a pretty good

chance you would be able to see it.

That is something our viewers are

certainly interested in. The other

thing which is different is the map

is now green and flat. Cloud is

represented by the light, snow by

the bright light, and blue rain

coming our way. We can zoom right in

to give you our high-resolution

data. So a closer look at what is

happening where you are. And we can

add roads to this map as well, so if

it was snowing, you would be able to

see a lot more detail. If we go back

to today's forecast, the temperature

at the moment is -9.8, almost -10.

There is ice and a widespread frost.

And the bright light indicates cloud

coming in from the Atlantic. That is

courtesy of a weather front which

will bring in some rain preceded by

some snow. But there is a lot of

clear sky this morning, so there

will be a lot of sunshine. That is

why the temperatures are so low, and

we have the risk of ice. Wintry

showers across the south-east will

tend to fade as we go through the

morning. The rain will be preceded

by snow at lower levels, moving into

the hills during the day. Coming in

across parts of Scotland and

Northern Ireland, and

temperature-wise it will be a cold

one, whichever way you look at it.

Not quite as cold as it was

yesterday, though. A weather front

producing this rain and hill snow

continues to move across Scotland

and Northern Ireland. The cloud

ahead of it builds across Northern

England, Wales and the south-west.

Clear skies in the south-east, so

here it will be cold and once again

frosty. Close as low as -6, for

example, and once again the risk of

ice on untreated surfaces. Something

to bear in mind if you are

travelling first thing tomorrow

morning. Torquay of tomorrow, we

start with a bright start in the

south-east, and as our weather front

sinks southwards, it will rejuvenate

in the rain will turn heavier across

northern England, parts of the

Midlands, Wales and south-west

England. Behind it you will find it

will brighten up, but there will

still be a fair few showers across

the north and the west. But it won't

feel as cold as it has done in the

last couple of days. Then, as we

move on him from Thursday to Friday,

this is the weather front we have

been talking about. He pushes into

the south-east, taking its rain with

it. Colder air follows on behind,

and snow showers coming in across

the north and west.

Thank you very

much. My highs deceiving me, or is

the United Kingdom a little

skinnier?

It is flatter, so a better

representation of what we look like.

So you see the Northern Isles, the

Channel Isles as well, and the

reason this is going backwards and

forwards is because I have put it on

a loop so that you can continuously

see that weather front sinking

south, with the ridge of high

pressure building on behind it. They

are brilliant, I can't wait to show

you more! I just wish we had more

weather so I could show you more

things!

We will at some stage, thank

you very much.

It has been a turbulent couple

of days for financial markets,

after £50 billion was wiped off

the value of the UK's biggest firms

Tuesday.

Steph is here to explain

what has been going on.

It is a bit like the weather, it is

all over the shop. It is

It is a bit like the weather, it is

all over the shop. It is volatility

we haven't seen in quite some time

in the market. I will take you back

to why this all started. This was on

Monday in the United States, where

they brought out some statistics

about what was happening with wages.

And that got everyone worrying that

inflation was going to rise, and

prices would go up and when prices

go up, economists raised interest

rates. When interest rates go up, it

will be more expensive to borrow

money, meaning consumers don't have

as much money, and neither do

businesses, and therefore this could

hit company profits. It takes loads

of influences to get to this

decision where they suddenly say

maybe companies will not do as well

as we thought. Therefore we had

better sell off the shares in them

because they will not be as valuable

as they once were. That is what we

talk about when we say the value of

money being wiped off. It means the

shares being sold off. Then there is

a domino effect. So in America this

happens, and obviously with the time

differences and the different times

the markets are open, then in Asia

they think maybe we should worry as

well, and the following morning we

start selling shares as well. If you

look at this graphic, this shows you

what happened with the FTSE 100, the

top 100 companies listed on the

stock market here. And so that shows

you that the fall in January has

been about 7%, in the value of the

FTSE 100, working out at about £80

billion in the last few days knocked

off the value of our top 100

companies. That sounds like loads of

money, and it is, but it is all

theoretical because it could all

change today. And we are already

seeing in Asia some of the market go

up again, and in the US it did. It

could be we will start to see them

go up again. And if you put this on

the bigger picture of the whole of

what has been going on in the last

few years, financial markets have

been doing really well. For example,

last year we saw the value go up by

£140 billion. If you put that in

context of what has come off over

the last few days, it has been

growing a lot. A lot of people think

this is a correction, so the markets

have been too optimistic, and now

people are putting a bit of realism

in that. This is what an expert was

telling us about that earlier.

It is

much more likely to be a correction

than a crash, because actually,

companies are still making good

profits, and everytime see results,

the profits generally, across the

whole piece, are looking pretty

good. That means that investors will

still want to buy those companies. I

think it is a correction. But we are

at a turning point, and it does mean

we will probably see a lot more

volatility this year than we saw

last year.

The reason we care about

all of this is because a lot of

pensions are invested in the stock

market, and obviously people have

stocks and shares personally. So it

means the value of their money going

up and down. Again, people invest in

things like this for the long-term,

so you shouldn't look at what is

happening over a couple of days. It

will be more interesting to look at

what happens over the course of the

year.

Good graphics, but not quite

up to Carol's.

The city of Liverpool is used

to welcoming visitors from around

the world, but the latest arrivals

are not your average tourists.

Six feet tall and stony-faced,

they weigh up to 47 stones,

and have spent most of the last

2,000 years underground.

Breakfast's Tim Muffett

has gone to meet them.

Good morning.

Yes, good morning.

This is a bit of a moment. Take a

look at the Terracotta Army, part of

one of the most significant

archaeological discoveries of all

time. They lay undiscovered for 2000

years, guarding the tomb of the

first Chinese emperor. In 1974 they

were discovered by accident, and

they now form part of one of the

most incredible collections. Very,

very unusual for them to be seen in

the UK. Ten years ago there was an

exhibition at the British Museum,

and now they are here at the World

Museum in Liverpool. David Fleming

is Director of National museums at

Liverpool, and tell us how you

managed to get these extraordinary

figures here.

Well, fortunately a

Chinese colleague had heard of

Liverpool, it is a great brand in

China because of the Beatles and

football, and Liverpool FC play in

the auspicious colour of red, and

the fact they had strong links with

China, especially Shanghai, they

knew a lot about Liverpool. All we

had to be sure about is that we knew

what we were doing at our end,

because this is very precious

material. It is China's major

tourist attraction. The stuff is

very old and delicate, and the

Chinese needed to know that the

people at the British and knew

exactly what they were doing.

Let's

talk about the place where they were

discovered. When and why and how

were they found?

In 1974, some

peasants were digging a well, I say

peasants, guys farming their land,

and they found pottery. Eventually

they found so much stuff that they

called on the authorities. The

authorities arrived, stopped all

work going on and what they actually

found was the world's biggest burial

ground.

And these figures were

created by the first Emperor for

what purpose?

Simply to guard him in

his afterlife. At that time there

was a strong belief that life

continued after death, and he needed

an army because it was a very

fractious time in China at the time.

So he had maybe 8000 or 10,000

Warriors buried with him, but all

made of terracotta and larger than

life.

The state they are in, given

their age, is remarkable. They were

not this colour originally, worth a?

Threw they were painted, and if you

look carefully at some of the

Warriors, you can see traces of the

paint. Generally speaking it has

faded, leaving the terracotta lying

underneath. It is actually quite

special to see the coloured paints

which have lasted for more than ten

doormat 2000 years.

Thank you ever

so much. We will be talking to other

experts throughout the morning. The

exhibition opens on Friday and runs

through until the autumn. If you

want to see this very unusual chance

to appreciate an ancient piece of

Chinese history, now is your chance.

I will leave you with the beautiful

sites of the Terracotta army about

to go on display in Liverpool.

It is

great to see the perspective and how

tall they are. I didn't realise

until I saw you with them. And there

are thousands more still to be

excavated, as well, aren't they a?

Stunning. Time to

I'm back with the latest

from the BBC London newsroom

in half an hour.

Bye for now.

Hello - this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

The most powerful rocket

in the world successfully launches.

Its billionaire backer Elon Musk

says it will help cut the cost

of space travel and he even put

the first car in space.

Millions of workers in the gig

economy are to get new rights

including holdiay and sick pay.

It's been a rollercoaster

on the global stock markets over

the last two days.

In sport, Swansea City demolish

Notts County in their FA

Cup replay.

They put 8 goals past them to set up

a 5th round tie with

Sheffield Wednesday.

And DNA analysis of the oldest

skeleton found in Britain shows he

had dark skinned and blue eyes. And

Carol has the weather gaff rigs --

graphics. A cold start to the day.

The risk of ice and widespread frog.

The many, dry with sunshine. Also

some snow in the forecast. Coming

with some rain across the

north-west. More in 15 minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

The world's most powerful rocket,

the Falcon Heavy, has successfully

launched for the first time.

American billionaire Elon Musk,

whose company Space X

is behind the project,

has called it a game changer

for space travel.

Keith Doyle reports.

# This is Ground Control

to Major Tom...

This is not a scene

from a science fiction film.

This actually is a car

and an astronaut dummy in space

with David Bowie playing

on its music system.

Far above the world.

# Now it's time to leave

the capsule if you dare.

This bizarre but very

real image came

after the launch of the Falcon Heavy

rocket from the Kennedy Space Center

in Florida last night.

The successful launch of the most

powerful and largest rocket

since the shuttle has been called a

game-changer in space exploration.

In part, due to its reusable

boosters which have

returned to Earth.

Two spectacularly landing

together in Florida,

the third had a less successful

landing, crashing into the sea.

However getting bigger and heavier

payloads into space is a major

breakthrough for this

commercial space company.

Seeing the two boosters

land in synchronisation,

really like the simulation...

It makes you think it can be

a scalable approach.

You could imagine

large numbers of those

just coming in and landing,

taking off, landing,

doing many flights per day.

When the story of man's exploration

of Mars and beyond is written,

this may well be seen as the moment

it was all made possible.

Hundreds of thousands of workers

are to receive new rights,

including holiday and sick pay,

for the first time.

The plans are part of

the government's response

to a review into the

so-called gig economy.

Our business correspondent

Theo Leggett reports.

Up to 5 million people are thought

to earn a living in the so-called

gig economy.

Companies like Uber,

Deliveroo and Yodel deliver the jobs

on a job-by-job basis

on online platforms.

Others like to use people

employed through agencies

or on zero-hours contracts.

It lets them have staff

when they need them and cut costs

when they don't.

In his review, Matthew Taylor said

that flexibility in the workplace

was important but it

often put too much power

into the hands of employers.

He said change was needed to make

sure people didn't just have work

but what he called good work.

The government has accepted most

of his recommendations.

For example, it says it will make

sure workers who are entitled

to sick pay and holiday pay

actually receive it.

It's promised to clamp down

on companies which illegally make

unpaid interns do

the work of employees.

And it will ask the Low Pay

Commission to consider raising

the minimum wage for workers

on zero-hours contracts.

Matthew Taylor himself has welcomed

the proposals but he says

more will need to be done

to help vulnerable workers.

But the TUC has accused

the government of taking

baby steps when it needed

to make a giant leap.

Theo Leggett, BBC News.

A document leaked says that the EU

wants to restrict the UK after

Brexit.

Brexit. Norman Smith is in the

Westminster studio price. Agreement

between senior ministers, that is

one of the difficult things to sort

out at the moment, isn't it?

It's

going to be difficult, certainly in

the next few days. The signs are

this could take weeks. We have

tended to show our hand in the

negotiations pretty late in the day.

The focus of ministers at the moment

remains on getting this transition

deal which we have to get signed,

sealed and delivered by the end of

March. Above all, because of the

divide between different Cabinet

ministers over to Brexit we want,

between those like the Chancellor,

Philip Hammond, who want is to stay

close to the EU, to minimise any

disruption to British business, and

those like Boris Johnson who thinks

we had to cut free to give ourselves

the ability to strike free trade

deals because they say the great

golden opportunity of breaks it is

to strike deals with countries

outside of the EU and that is going

to be a real growth area. If you put

those divisions together, it seems

the likelihood of any agreement

merging is probably still a bit

optimistic.

Thank you very much this

morning. We are speaking to Greg

Clark a bit later. In other news

this morning:

Aftershocks continue to rock Taiwan

after a strong earthquake

which killed at least four people

and injured more than 200 others.

Many buildings in the city

of Hualien

including the local hospital,

have been damaged and a number

of people are still missing.

Hundreds of residents have spent

the night sleeping out in the open.

We can show you the scene as rescue

workers are still trying to free

people from there.

This is the Marshall

Hotel in Hualien.

the basement on the ground floors

were completely destroyed by the

quake. Search teams are trying to

find members of staff who are as yet

unaccounted for.

A man who said he'd been abused

by a paedophile ring involving high

ranking establishment figures has

been charged with multiple offences

relating to indecent

images of children.

Nick, as he's known,

is alleged to have committed some

of the offences while Scotland Yard

was investigating his claims.

Tesco is facing Britain's

largest equal pay law suit

which could affect up

to 200,000 mostly female

shop floor workers.

The women say they're paid

less than men who work

in the company's distribution

centres - even though their work

is of the same value.

Lawyers estimate Tesco could be

liable for up to £4 billion

in back pay if it loses.

Tesco says it is working hard to

make sure employees are paid fairly.

New DNA analysis of the oldest

complete skeleton found in Britain

has come up with some

surprising results.

Scientists have discovered

that the man who lived around 10

thousand years ago had much darker

skin than was previously thought

and he also had blue eyes.

Paul Rincon reports.

One, two, three...voila!

Revealed for the first time,

the oldest modern Briton.

He lived 10,000 years ago,

just when Britain was warming up

after the last Ice Age.

He was originally found in 1903

during a dig in Cheddar Gorge.

Now, a replica lies on the spot

where he was found.

There have been attempts

to reconstruct what he looked

like before.

Modern techniques and DNA analysis

have given us new information

about his features

and his lifestyle.

I've been studying the Cheddar Man

skeleton for more than 40 years

so it's incredible now

to have the DNA data which really

shows us what this guy looked like.

The hair, the eyes, the face,

that combination of blue eyes

and dark skin, really very striking,

something we wouldn't have imagined

and to also go from the DNA,

details of his biology,

the fact he couldn't

digest milk as an adult,

that's something that came really

with the advent of farming

and 10,000 years ago,

people in Britain didn't have that.

The project brought together experts

from different fields -

geneticists, artists

and palaeontologists.

A young man in his 20s who lay

undisturbed for 10,000 years has

revealed secrets that are changing

the picture of our past.

Paul Rincon, BBC News.

We will be talking to somebody

involved in that project a little

bit later. It we'll have a bit more

of a look.

He's thought to be one of Britain's

most prolific sex attackers

but the London cab driver

John Worboys could soon be released

on parole after just

eight years in prison.

Today, High Court judges

will decide if there are legal

grounds to challenge

the Parole Board's decision

in a judicial review.

Before we speak to a barrister

about that process, let's

have a quick reminder

of the key facts.

In 2009 Worboys was given

an indeterminate jail

sentence, with a minimum term

of at least eight years.

Last November, the

Parole Board approved

his

release but their reasoning

remained confidential.

That decision was made

public last month,

to a furious reaction.

Campaigners hoped the government

would apply for a judicial review

but the Justice Secretary said

lawyers had advised against it.

Just over a week later,

two of Worboys' victims won a legal

challenge to stop him being released

but only temporarily.

The first stage of their legal

challenge to keep him

behind bars begins later.

Matt Stanbury is

an appeals barrister.

He can tell us more about how

today's hearing will work.

Let's rewind a little bit to this

whole legal process. We have looked

at the time line. How does it get to

this point where someone like him is

being released?

Obviously the parole

board takes its decision is and that

is that. In this case, there has

been to challenges which have been

brought. The first challenge the

victim challenge which has been

brought by some of Mr Worboys

victims. And the London Mayor has

attempted to challenge it in the

courts. Quite unusual.

If the judges

say there is a judicial review, is

there a further process for those

who believe he should still be in

jail?

In other words, whether it is

hopeless. That will be an end to

these proceedings. There wouldn't be

any further proceedings. He would

have to be released sooner rather

than later. Just talked was little

bit about these victims.

Is there

nothing anybody can do that is the

decision?

There is a technical

writer appeal. This is being heard

by two very senior judges. If

permission to proceed with this case

is refused, the chances of it going

any further would be very slim

indeed.

After his conviction, older

people are talking about this. 85

women complain to police that they

believed Worboys might have

assaulted them as well. Would it be

possible at any stage for those

allegations to be put forward?

In

theory, it would be but the CPS has

suggested a must the Metropolitan

police refer any further cases to

them, they are not going to, of

their own motion, look at these

cases again. We do know as well that

there is a fresh investigation and

there has been a further complainant

who has come forward. The Met Police

have started an investigation but

that. That might more likely route.

And just talking about the parole

board. These decisions are

confidential, aren't they?

That is

one of the arguments they are having

today. It's impossible you might

think to challenge a decision when

you don't know what the decision is.

That is one of the key issues that

is before the court today. Does it

have to be handed over to the

victims survey can better frame

their arguments. They are saying in

effect, the Secretary of State

didn't have the power to make the

rules that he did. Making parole

decision secret. That is one of the

arguments. The Justice Secretary

said that he started an urgent

review of the parole board's

secrecy. That is an issue before the

courts today. The port -- the court

rules in favour, that would have an

impact.

Many people will be

interested in the outcome.

Here is Carol with a look

at this morning's weather.

Here is Carol with a look

at this morning's weather.

And it is chilly out.

It certainly

is, and the temperature in the

Highlands as minus ten. So this

morning, wherever you are, it is

cold. Watch out for ice on untreated

surfaces and we have a widespread

frost. The forecast generally is a

cold and sunny one. However, there

are some winter showers and some

rain in today's forecast. If we look

at the satellite picture, to point

out a few things which are different

on our new graphics, the twinkling

lights represent a street light in

our towns and cities. We have a

distinctive band in the south-east

and another one coming in from the

Atlantic. Both areas of cloud, both

weather fronts. This one in the

south-east is producing wintry

showers, but high pressure builds in

behind before this next front comes

our way, introducing transient snow

and also some rain. As we go through

the course of the morning, after the

cold start, we are looking at wintry

showers across the south-east. They

will fade, and the south-east will

join much of the rest of the UK in a

decent day with sunny spells. As our

weather fronts coming the west it

will introduce a bit more cloud

ahead of them. Then we will see

transient snow at low levels across

Scotland. As the rain comes in

behind, that is no level will lift

into the hills. Northern Ireland

also has rain and hill snow but

wherever you are today it will feel

cold. Temperatures, two or three

across northern England, and

generally we are looking at five,

six, seven or eight, so not quite as

cold as yesterday. It will still be

nippy if you are standing outside

for any length of time. Through the

evening and overnight, clear skies

across England and Wales for a time,

but as our weather front sinks

southwards, the cloud will build

ahead of it in northern England,

Wales and south-west England, and

the rain follows on behind. Behind

that there will be some showers and

here and there are some clearer

skies. Once again a cold night,

temperatures dipping in the

south-east to -6, and we are looking

at some frost and ice on untreated

surfaces. After a beautiful start of

the south-east, the cloud connected

with this weather front builds as it

sinks southwards. The weather front

producing rain across northern

England, Wales and south-west

England rejuvenates and the rain

turned a bit heavier. Behind that,

some brighter skies. Still some

cloud around, and some showers.

Tomorrow it will feel a little bit

milder than it is going to do today.

Temperatures up to about nine, maybe

even ten. As we head on into Friday,

our weather front makes it down into

the south-east. Taking its rain into

East Anglia, the Channel Islands,

and behind it, although there will

be avail of cloud, that pushes away

and they will be right this coming

through. A rash of wintry showers

across the north and west of the UK.

That in itself will tell you that it

will feel cold. By the time we get

to Friday, temperatures slipping

back down by a couple of degrees.

to Friday, temperatures slipping

back down by a couple of degrees.

We

will have a look at some of the

front pages. We were talking about

Cheddar Man, and speaking to one of

the people involved in this project.

This is basically a reconstruction

of a skull, this man lived in

Britain 10,000 years ago, and they

have done an extraordinary analysis