hello, i'm mike embley, with bbc world news. our top stories: 75 years on, japan's prime minister shinzo abe makes an historic visit to pearl harbor, offering condolences to victims of the attack. translation: we must never repeat the horrors of war again. somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way. an outpouring of tributes. the actress and author carrie fisher, forever princess leia in starwars, has died at the age of 60. argentina's former president, cristina fernandez de kirchner, is charged over corruption allegations. hello. president obama and japan's prime minister, shinzo abe,

have laid wreaths at the site of the japanese attack on pearl harbour, where the deaths of nearly 2,400 americans, in 1941, brought the united states into the second world war. it's the first visit by a japanese leader while still in office. mr abe said the horrors of war must never be repeated but he stopped short of any apology. 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 spirits 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, 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. i mean, 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, also an accomplished author, died days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight between london and los angeles. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba looks 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 many i 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 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 a 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 briefly: 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 on 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 crowded market. iraq's prime minister, haider al—abadi,

has said it'll take three months to eliminate the extremists of the so—called islamic state group. is spokesmen have said the last functioning bridge in their key remaining stronghold, mosul, has been damaged beyond repair by american airstrikes. it posted this video showing the destruction. richard adams, author of the children's novel watership down, has died. he was 96. he spent years trying to sell to publishers his book about a group of rabbits in search of a new home, but then shot to fame in 1972 when it became a worldwide bestseller and 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. ms fernandez didn't attend mr macri's 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 that her government steered public contracts to a businessman close to her family. it dates from 2003 up to last year.

ms 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 tupolev jet, 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 film, american actress carrie fisher has died, aged 60. she'd recently suffered a heart attack. 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 earlier i spoke to andy greene, a senior writer at rolling stone magazine, and one of the lastjournalists to interview carrie fisher. he's a guy who talks to a lot of big names — but he said she was a gift to an interviewer. sure, sure, yeah. iwas very surprised by her humour and candour. it was any topic i brought up, she was happy to talk about. very impressive. it was how she dealt

with everything, wasn't it? yeah. she had so much pain in her life in so she had so much pain in her life in so many difficult chapters, that she dealt with it by being very honest about it, and despite being so sunny, she turned everything into a joke, all these terrible things she went through —— funny. joke, all these terrible things she went through -- funny. she did a lot of things but was bogged down by one particular role. as princess leia, she killed jabba the hut. she was very proud of that. most people would be frustrated didn't be known for a single role, but she embraced it. she loved being princess leia, which was great. famously she said

her obituary should say that she was giant by moonlight and struggle by her own bra. this was a reference to something george lucas said to her onset —— john. something george lucas said to her onset -- john. yes, she said she couldn't wear underwear because there was no underwear in space. because it was visible on to the question. the best and worst part of success question. the best and worst part of su ccess a re question. the best and worst part of success a re exactly question. the best and worst part of success are exactly the same. yeah, yeah. i talked to herfor about success are exactly the same. yeah, yeah. i talked to her for about 85 minutes, and almost every answer was funny. it was very witty and refreshingly honest —— 35 minutes. i do lots of interviews. there are three people i have spoken to who have been as forthright about problems as she was to me. and she looked ahead to death and said when it came to it, she would want someone it came to it, she would want someone like her around, and she was going to be there. yeah, yeah. at the very end of the interview, i asked her if she fears death, and

she said she doesn't fear death, but she said she doesn't fear death, but she fears dying. she has coached some of herfriends she fears dying. she has coached some of her friends to it and it was very difficult. but she would be there for her own death, which was a very poignant line to end on. tha nkfully very poignant line to end on. thankfully it was quick and painless. in case you missed interview, carrie fisher told her the best part of success was money, and the people you meet, travelling, and the people you meet, travelling, and the people you meet, travelling, and the worst part was travelling, money and the people you meet. 29 turkish police officers have gone on trial, charged with being involved in july's abortive coup. 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. if you suffer regular aches and pains in yourjoints, scientists think they may have found out why. 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. a waste treatment plant in hong kong has opened its own spa — using human waste to generate electricity. the bbc‘s helier cheung has been trying out the unsettling combination of sludge processing and thermal pools. this may look like a normal spa, but there is more to it than you would expect. the water is nice and warm, but it's heated by burning sludge. that is the waste you get

from treating sewage. this is t park, a plant on the outskirts of hong kong. it treats sludge, the thick, muddy waste from sewers and toilets. sludge is smelly and has been filling up hong kong's landfills. but the government says it has found a solution, turning the sludge into energy. t park incinerates more than a thousand tons of sludge each day. burning the sludge makes it 90% smaller and easier to bury. it also generates enough electricity for the whole plant and 4000 households. even the waste water is treated so it can be used to water the plants. the government says t park is key for sustainability in hong kong. t park is the first waste energy facilities in hong kong. it is the first step of the hong kong government's ways to channel energy and reduce the burdens to the landfill. it provides a sustainable solution to the sewage sludge disposal in hong kong. hundreds of people visit the plant

each day for an educational tour or a free spa session. but critics say not everyone has benefited. translation: there are lots of smells from the sludge when they are being transported. incinerating sludge causes air pollution as well. this affects local residents. the government says it follows stringent standards, and that all emissions are tested before being released. and they will be hoping visitors leave the plant feeling pampered, and with a new interest in sustainability. helier chung, bbc news, hong kong. that is it for now. 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 where the fog could be quite dense first up in the morning. not so much across the west. more in the way of wind helping keep it mixed. anywhere from central eastern wales to the vale of york, it could be quite a slow commute if you are back to work. for 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 feature throughout the day with the odd spot of rain as well. some brightness in the mix for northern england, western 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 fog, your visibility may really suffer for a good wee while. the temperature may never get better than 0—2 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 for 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 4—8 degrees perhaps, but where the fog lingers, 0—2 degrees. into friday, the wind makes progress. we are beginning to squeeze the isobars. perhaps come friday, fog less of an issue. relatively mild air streaming in from the atlantic. further south, the western fringes doing nicely. if the fog lingers for any length of time, it could be closer to six or seven for 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. if you are near the front, it could be pretty wet. this is bbc world news. the headlines: 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 75 years ago. the american film star and author 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. 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. russian air experts

have started examining one of the flight recorders from a plane that crashed into the black sea on sunday, killing 92 people. authorities say the flight data recorder was found