a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: 75 years on, japan's prime minister shinzo abe makes a historic visit to pearl harbor, offering condolences to victims of the attack. translation: we must never repeat the horrors of war again. this is the solemn vow we, the people of japan, have taken. somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way. an outpouring of tributes. carrie fisher, the american actress who played the feisty princess leia in star wars, has died at the age of 60. argentina's former president, cristina fernandez de kirchner, is charged over corruption allegations. make no bones about it, scientists believe evolution may be to blame forjoint pain, and it could get even worse. hello.

president obama and japan's prime minister shinzo abe have laid wreaths at the site of the japanese attack on pearl harbour, where nearly 2,500 americans died, in1941. the attack brought the us into the second world war. it's the first visit by a japanese leader while still in office. mr abe pledged that the horrors of war must never be repeated but stopped short of apologising. here's our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes. it has taken 75 years but today the prime minister of japan and the president of the united states stood side—by—side in silent contemplation, at the spot where the pacific war began. they threw flowers into the water where the wreck of the battleship arizona still lies. more than a thousand us sailors died when the arizona exploded under a rain ofjapanese bombs. in all, more than 2,400 americans were killed

in the surprise 1941 attack. today, prime minister abe spoke of his profound sadness that so many young lives were suddenly ended without warning. translation: we must never repeat the horrors of war again. this is the solemn vow we, the people of japan, have taken. it was president obama who took the first step on this journey of reconciliation when he went to hiroshima. in may, he became the first serving us president to pay his respects at the site of the world's first atomic attack. i offer my sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here, as well as to the spirit of all the brave men and women whose lives were taken by a war that commenced in this very place.

wars can end. the most bitter of adversaries can become the strongest of allies. the fruits of peace always outweigh the plunder of war. but while japan and america heal their old wounds, china still stands aggrieved and unforgiving. translation: japan cannot turn over a new page of history without reconciliation with china and other asian victim countries. the japanese leader should not keep beating about the bush and evading the crucial point. the rise of china is the driving force behind prime minister abe's push for an even closer alliance with the united states but that alliance is about to face the challenge of president—elect donald trump.

mr trump has threatened to pull us troops out of japan and even suggested japan build its own nuclear weapons. for mr abe, it has given even greater urgency to laying the ghosts of pearl harbor to rest. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. i spoke just now to rupert — he told me prime minister abe's words appeared to be very heartfelt. it seems to have been very genuine. it seems to have been very genuine, mike. in fact, the language that the japanese prime minister used was perhaps more emotive than one might have expected from a japanese prime minister. he really was very vivid in his description of the young lives that were taken, the young american sailors and marines who were killed on that day back in december 1941, of lives unfulfilled, of children not growing up with their fathers. i think that was a real attempt by the japanese prime minister to repeat what president obama did here injapan back in may when he visited hiroshima, and that is to make a direct

connection with the american people. by using that sort of election to convey in a very american way, a very emotive way, his feelings of remorse about the lives lost at pearl harbor. there was no actual apology, of course. how much does that seem to matter? there was never going to be an apology, just as when president obama came, he didn't apologise for the dropping of the atom bombs onjapan. the understanding of history between these two countries is still widely different. many people injapan still believe that the pearl harbor attack was forced on japan by american sanctions. many americans still believe the atomic attacks onjapan were justified because they ended the war. so i don't think there is going to be agreement on history but this is, if you like, both countries really trying to put the past behind them and to move forward. and to heal the wounds of history, even if they don't agree on that history precisely. carrie fisher, the american film

star who played princess leia in the star wars series, has died. she was 60. the actress, who was also an accomplished author, she died days after suffering a heart attack during a flight between london and los angeles. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba takes a look back at her life. what the hell are you doing?! somebody has to save our skins. clever and confident, occasionally caustic. i take orders from just one person, me. it's a wonder you're still alive. will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way? carrie fisher's leia wasn't your typical princess waiting to be rescued. for luck. her most famous character was outspoken on screen. i should have expected to find you holding vader's leash. i recognised your foul stench when i was brought on board. carrie fisher was often equally plain speaking in real life, sharing details of her volatile relationship with her mother,

screen legend debbie reynolds, and her own struggles with addiction. people used to ask me, you know, right after i got sober initially, so are you happy now? and i would say among other things, happy is one of the many things, the many emotions i'll go through in a day. you're notjust skipping around, spouting hallmark cards, but you know, yeah, i'm in a really much better place. somehow you lay the entire blame for your drug taking on me. i do not, mother. the film postcards from the edge was based on carrie fisher's semi—autobiographical novel of the same name. the central character — an actress and recovering drug addict — played by meryl streep. i never get my hair done. fisher was a teenager when she made her cinema debut, opposite warren beattie in romantic comedy, shampoo, before star wards made her one of cinema's most famous faces. throughout her career, she continued working behind

the camera, often as a script doctor, as well as in smaller roles in front of the camera, in movies like when harry met sally. restaurants were to people in the ‘80s what theatre was to people in the ‘60s. i wrote that. in 2015 she reprised her role as princess leia in star wars: the force awakens. that's how millions will remember her — a groundbreaking, modern heroine from a galaxy far, far away. carrie fisher, who's died at the age of 60. more of the main news for you now: police in germany say a polish driver was killed just hours before the lorry he had been driving was used in last week's attack at a christmas market in berlin. investigators say lukasz urban was shot in the head by terror suspect anis amri. 12 people were killed when the lorry was driven into the market. iraq's prime minister haider

al—abadi says it'll take three months to eliminate the islamic state group. earlier, is said the last functioning bridge in its key remaining stronghold, mosul, had been damaged beyond repair by us airstrikes. it posted this video showing the destruction. the author of the children's novel watership down, richard adams, has died. he was 96. mr adams shot to fame when his 1972 book about group of rabbits in search of a new home became a worldwide bestseller and a successful animated film. argentina's former president, cristina fernandez de kirchner, has been charged over corruption allegations. a judge has also frozen more than $600 million of her personal assets. ms fernandez has previously denied any wrong doing. caroline davies reports. she may have left the presidency, but cristina fernandez has not left the public stage.

argentina's former president has been indicted for the second time ina year. cristina fernandez became president in 2007, taking overfrom her husband. combined, they held power for 12 years. her supporters praised her for the generous welfare programmes. her critics say she wrecked the economy. she resigned as president last december. her political opponent, centre—right, mauricio macri, w011 power. their relationship has been fractious since the beginning. cristina fernandez didn't attend his inauguration ceremony. since then there have been several accusations of corruption against the former president. in may, she was charged with allegedly ordering irregular central bank transactions. in june, her properties were searched. injuly, her assets were frozen. now she faces a different charge in a new case. this time that she ran a corruption scheme. this allegation says her government steered public contracts to a businessman close to her family. it dates from 2003 up to last year.

mrs cristina fernandez has always dismissed corruption accusations as political persecution by her opponent. tonight she tweeted: illicit association is a legal concept used by all dictatorships to persecute their political opponents. argentina waits to see the outcome. one of the flight recorders from the russian military plane that crashed on sunday has been recovered from the black sea, and taken to moscow for analysis. it's hoped the black box will help explain why the tupolev—154 crashed minutes after take—off from sochi, killing all 92 people onboard. steve rosenberg reports. they had been searching for this for more than two days. finally, from the black sea today, they recovered the black box flight recorder of the russian plane. it seemed to have survived the crash in one piece. the device was taken away and flown to moscow to this laboratory. for crash investigators,

it could provide vital clues to the cause of the disaster. there is data here on the aircraft's speed and altitude, fuel and engines. at the crash site, 70 divers have been working around the clock, searching for bodies and for wreckage of the plane. today, the recovery operation brought to the surface larger fragments of the aircraft. each piece of debris they find, one more clue to this tragedy. the tupolev—154 belonged to the russian military. syria was its final destination, but it crashed after refuelling in sochi. today, a meeting of russia's most senior military commanders began with a minute's silence. 0n the video screen, they showed the names and the faces of the victims.

most of the people on the plane were members of an army choir. the russian authorities are calling for patience. it will take time, they say, to piece together exactly what happened to the tupolevjet, to find out why it fell from the sky. and while russia waits for answers, it continues to search the sea. back on the shore, it continues to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: more reaction to the death of american actress carrie fisher. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today and then france and again the same money, it's got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle,

is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his 0xfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. just good? no, fantastic. that's better. good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: japanese prime minister shinzo abe has visited the us naval base at pearl harbor, offering "sincere and everlasting condolences" to the victims of japan's attack on the base 75 years ago. famously known for her role

as princess leia in the star wars films, american actress carrie fisher has died, aged 60. she'd recently suffered a heart attack. she had been on a transatlantic flight. the reaction to carrie fisher's death has been enormous on social media, an outpouring of condolences from all around the world. let's take a look. music plays a little earlier, the hollywood journalist jeanie wolf shared her personal memories of carrie fisher with us. we have known carrie fisher since she was a little girl. she was 19 when she was cast as princess leia in star wars. we will remember her for that forever. she was on the road with her mother in her nightclub act. she said it was nothing like a normal upbringing. it was very eccentric but very thrilling and she was very excited. funny enough, her mother was a real mummy and very protective of her,

and she felt protective of her mother, debbie. she said, "we have one thing in common. i will always be known as princess leia, and she will always be known as tammy." she had great insight about life and luckily she discovered that she had a way of translating that to the page for scripts, her books that she has written. she has just written a book called the princess diaries, postcards from the edge. she was very witty, very sharp, very sensitive and very understanding about stars and their need for attention and her own need for attention. she was a great broad. she could be tough and tell you what she thought, but there was always a cushion of humour with it. she said her entire family was funny. her mother and her grandmother always said go for it. she said my motto was go for it, and i did. i think the hollywood

community recognised she went for it as an actress, a writer, as a friend to so many. she was very open with her problems with mental health. she was describing her time in a mental hospital, which she said was the toughest thing. but she joked about it and more importantly she shared her experiences with other people. her experiences with addiction, with horrible depression. i think she gave other people hope. she somehow could sprinkle her insights with a giggle, and she said, "you know, my mum and i did not cook, but otherwise, we had a great relationship. they lived next to each other. i think she felt she had a life full of love. 29 turkish police officers have gone on trial in istanbul over their alleged involvement in july's abortive coup. they've been charged with seeking to overthrow the government and belonging to a group led by the us—based preacher

fethullah gulen, who the authorities accuse of orchestrating the plot. catharina moh reports. amid high security, the first major trial of alleged plotters has begun at this prison on the outskirts of istanbul. 29 police officers face a range of charges — some accused of trying to overthrow the government in july, others of belonging to a terrorist organisation. translation: everyone involved in a coup attempt must have a fair trial. those not guilty must be separated. those who are guilty must be sentenced to the heaviest punishment because this is a betrayal against a country. this is a coup attempt to topple the legal government. more than 1000 indictments have been prepared. if found guilty, 21 of them face life sentences. so far, 40,000 people have been arrested since july. 0n the night of the coup, rogue soldiers from the army and police attacked parliament and various institutions across istanbul and ankara.

thousands of turks took to the streets following calls from the president to defend their democracy. more than 200 people died. they were mostly civilians. the coup has been blamed on the us—based cleric fethullah gulen, something he strongly denies. despite this, president erdogan has been purging turkey's institutions of suspected gulenists. critics accuse the government of using the failed coup to hit back at opponents. with more than 100,000 people sacked or suspended and tens of thousands in jail, these trials are set to be the most far reaching legal process in modern turkish history. catharina moh, bbc news. a north korean diplomat who defected to south korea has told the bbc that he has no regrets. thae yong—ho was pyongyang's deputy ambassador to london before he defected in the summer. he's thought to be the highest—ranking diplomat ever to defect — he and his family now

live under the south korean government's protection, in the capital seoul. 0ur seoul correspondent, stephen evans, sent this report. back out in public. thae yong—ho vanished from the north korean embassy in london in august. today i greeted him when he appeared again, now in the south korean capital, seoul. i would like to say to the people of england that i'm very happy, and now my family here is settling down and everyone in my family thinks it is the right decision to come to south korea for a new life. no regrets? no regrets at all. do you fear for your safety and your life? no, not at all. thank you. keep in touch. i will do. before defecting, only six months ago, he lived in the very suburban north korean embassy in london. he played tennis at the local tennis club. he escorted kimjong—un‘s brother to an eric clapton concert. he was the public face of despotic north korea.

socialism is reality. if you read our papers and magazines and photos, you can see how socialism is carried on and put into practice. but now he has turned utterly. in south korea, he performed a ritual signifying the desire for the two halves of korea to unite. kimjong—un is building a nuclear arsenal which the defector thinks may take only a year to be effective. north korea is only 50 miles away from seoul, thae yong—ho's new home. but it is actually a world away. he has made an immense leap from one of the most repressive places on this planet to one of the most vibrant. but defectors here fear retribution from the north. surrounded by guards,

he goes now to help south korea bring down kim jong—un. north korea has called him "human scum". steven evans, bbc news, south korea. if you suffer regular aches and pains in yourjoints, scientists think they may have found out why, and the answer goes back millions of years. they say it's all to do with the way our skeletons have evolved. smeetha mundasad reports. 3—d printing the bones of our distant ancestors and imagining how we might look in thousands of years‘ time. an unconventional way to approach an everyday problem. why is it that the humans of today get so muchjoint pain? to answer, scientists looked back at hundreds of ancient skeletons and say evolution could be partly to blame. this is a 30,000—year—old thigh bone and it is this area here which has changed.

we call it the neck of the thigh—bone. as we have gone through evolution, this area is getting thicker and thicker, whereas we know there is a direct link between this area getting thicker and early arthritis. that is not all. they can nudge their model forward, having a guess at how human skeletons may change in 5000 years‘ time. these 3—d printed models show what the bones of the future human could look like. scientists say by studying them closely, it is clear that the human skeleton is changing and they say if current trends continue, it's likely that arthritis and pain will get more common. consider the shoulder. according to their theory, as we began walking on two legs, the shape of the shoulder shifted to compensate for a new gait. look at this space getting narrower and narrower over millions of years. scientists say this leaves less room for tendons which attach muscles

to bone to move. leading to more pain as we reach overhead. and if this pattern continues, it is set to get worse in the future. researchers say while evolution may have left us with some unhelpful hangovers, physiotherapy and using the right posture can help conquer some of the downsides of our design. they hope that projects like this one might help design thejoint replacements and surgeries of the future. police in new york have evacuated the lobby of trump tower to investigate reports of a suspicious package. the package turned out to be a bag containing children's toys. president—elect donald trump lives in, and has offices there, though he is currently at his mar—a—lago estate in florida. much more news any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching.

hello. the first part of wednesday will be quite cold across england and wales, but that is the least of my concerns, because it is the eastern side of wales and much of central and southern england with the fault could be quite tense first up in the morning. not so much across the west. more in the way of wind helping keeping snakes. anywhere from central eastern wales to the vale of york, it could be quite a slow commute if you are back to work. the northern ireland, and much of scotland, a little more in the way of breeze keeping things mixed overnight. chilly in one or two spots, but relatively mild, especially across the northern and western isles close to a weather front. the wind will be a featured throughout the day the odd spot of rain as well. some brightness in the mix the northern england, west and

wales and the south—west of england and parts of northern ireland doing well. but elsewhere, it will stay really cloudy and if you happen to keep the day, your visibility they really suffer for a good week while, in the temperature may never get better then 0— two degrees. if the fog should lift, it could be back with a vengeance on thursday. we could do something similar with more in the way of cloud against scotland, northern ireland, with rain getting into the north—west up to the western isles and the northern isles. further south, we keep the cloud. not too much in the way of brightness. temperatures for — eight degrees perhaps, but where the fog lingers, 0— two degrees. into friday, the wind makes progress. we are beginning to squeeze the ice bars. perhaps come friday, fog less of an issue ——

isobars. relatively warm air streaming in. further south, the western fringes doing nicely. if the fog lingers for any length of time, it could be closer to six or seven parts of east anglia. then we are off and running towards the weekend and the new year. we will see a change with this weather front coming down and across the british isles. the air streaming in from the north behind that, so a significant change with colder conditions will stop if you only be found, it could be pretty wet. —— are near the front. the latest headlines from bbc news. my name's mike embley. shinzo abe has become the first japanese prime minister in more than half a century to visit pearl harbour. he joined president obama to remember the more than 2,000 us servicemen killed in the japanese attack on the naval base 75 years ago. mr abe said that the horrors of war must never be repeated. the american film star carrie fisher, who played princess leia in the star wars films, has died at the age of 60. she had been in intensive care since friday, after recently suffering a cardiac arrest.

her co—star, harrison ford, said she was one of a kind, brilliant, original. ajudge in argentina has indicted the former president, cristina fernandez de kirchner, on corruption charges. the case involves a private company, austral, which was granted lucrative contracts from the government. let's have a look at the morning's papers: actress carrie fisher's death at the age of 60 is the main focus of the independent. the paper also claims to have seen plans to topple unite union's chief