welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the american actress and singer debbie reynolds has died at the age of 84, just a day after the death of her daughter carrie fisher. us president—elect donald trump launches a scathing attack on the un after last week's security council resolution declaring israeli settlements illegal. where do you see the un's solving problems? they don't, they cause problems, so if it lives up to the potential, it is a great thing, if it doesn't, it is a waste of time and money. israel's prime minister condemns as biased a speech by outgoing us secretary of state john kerry that said israeli settlement building on occupied land was a major problem. police in germany detain a tunisian man in connection with last week's berlin truck attack. hello.

within the past few hours it's been announced that the veteran actress, debbie reynolds, has died just a day after the death of her daughter, carrie fisher. it was reported she was taken ill at her son's home in beverly hills while discussing her daughter's funeral. earlier our correspondent david willis in los angeles gave us some detail about the relationship between mother and daughter. they were not speaking for quite a while, mike, there was a 10—year period in which they didn't communicate very much at all, and then they refound each other, if you like, and were very close towards the and of carrie fisher's life. but, you know, terrible news coming just 2a hours after we heard about the death of carrie fisher, now we are able to report that her mother, debbie reynolds, a hollywood icon, 84 years of age, has herself passed away. looking at what carrie fisher said

about her mother in that interview in november on npr, in fact, she said, very few women from her generation worked like that, kept her career going all through her life and raised children and had horrible relationships, as she put it, lost all her money and got it back again. she had an amazing life. she was someone to admire. absolutely, and debbie reynolds herself was able to even poke fun at herself over the choice of men, she said, i have terrible choices, i'm make terrible choices when it comes to husbands. her first husband, of course, eddie fisher, who was a very popular crooner in the us, went on to have an affair and subsequently marry elizabeth taylor, who was a friend of debbie reynolds at the time — the two women apparently later made it up onboard a seagoing cruise they both happened to be booked on. but this was somebody who, as you say, was very adaptable, she had this film career,

she went on to have a television career, she had her own tv career, although quite short lived, and of course becoming a star of the stage as well, and she was a businesswoman. she had her own hotel in las vegas and quite a reputation for accumulating memorabilia. unfortunately, the choice of husbands said to have contributed to the fact that her finances didn't hold up and she was eventually forced to sell not only the hotel but the memorabilia as well. in the latest sign of the huge political gulf between incoming and outgoing presidents, and the likely impact of their different world views, donald trump has again attacked the united nations. he had already criticised it for the security council resolution last week. the condemned illegal settle m e nts week. the condemned illegal settlements on occupied palestinian land. unusually the us did not back

israel in—out vote. mr trump, just three weeks now from taking office, made his latest comments outside his home in palm beach, florida. the un has such tremendous potential and it's not living up to its potential. there is such tremendous potential, and it's not living up to it. when do you see the united nations solving problems? they don't, they cause problems. so if it lives up to the potential it's a great thing and if it doesn't it's a waste of time. jewish settlements are one of the most contentious issues between israel and the palestinians, who see them as an obstacle to peace and the creation of a viable palestinian state. they also impact on attitudes to israel worldwide. the us is israel's majorfinancial backer, but in the last weeks of the obama administration, frustration with the hardline attitudes of the netanyahu government have boiled over in washington. outgoing secretary of statejohn kerry said today israel would never find peace, without resolution of the settlement issue.

another bitter row between outgoing and incoming us presidents, this time over israel. donald trump's complaining the country is being treated with total disdain and disrespect, but telling it to stay strong until the 20th of january when he takes office. it was the idea of tonight's speech byjohn kerry that angered the president—elect. he said the chances of peace with the palestinians were slipping away. the truth is that trends on the ground, violence, terrorism, incitement, settlement expansion and the seemingly endless occupation, they are combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides. this follows last week's un security council resolution, calling for a total halt in israeli settlements on occupied land. the us didn't use its veto power to protect israel, as it customarily does. the obama administration has just three weeks left, but it is still trying to make a difference here in the middle east, knowing that when donald trump takes over he will be much more supportive of israel and its position

on settlements, and jerusalem in particular. if possible it would like to tie his hands. the secretary of state complains that settlers in the right—wing government are defining the future in israel. a prominent person in the governing coalition was quick to give his response. it was a good speech, but totally unconnected to reality. whatjohn kerry is leaving behind is the middle east in flames, a genocide in syria, iran moving towards nuclear weapons and now throwing israel under the bus. the us oversaw two rounds of peace talks between israel and the palestinians during the obama years. both broke down acrimoniously. the danger is that it's too little too late. in response, prime minister netanyahu has accused the obama administration of paying "lip service" to what he called

palestinian terrorism. president—elect trump has told israel to "stay strong" until he takes office next month and mr netanyahu also suggested good relations between the us and israel would be restored, in three weeks. i have no doubt that our alliance will endure the profound disagreement we have had with the obama administration and will become even stronger in the future. but now i must express my deep disappointment with the speech today byjohn kerry. a speech that was almost as imbalanced as the anti—israel resolution passed last week. in a speech ostensibly about peace between israelis and palestinians, secretary kerry paid lip service to the unremitting campaign of terrorism that has been waged by the palestinians against the jewish state for nearly a century. what he did was to spend most of his speech blaming israel

for the lack of peace, by passionately condemning a policy of enabling jews to live in their historic homeland and in their capital, jerusalem. we've heard from palestinian president mahmoud abbas and a senior palestinian official, saeb erekat, said mr abbas was convinced that peace with israel was achievable, but only if israel halts settlement building. president abbas is fully convinced that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace can be achieved and is doable on all core issues on the basis of the peace initiative, specify terms of reference, which guarantees to fully end the israeli occupation. an ambassador who also worked as

deputy national security defies itself to my —— advice under george w bushjoined us. there is only another three weeks for the obama administration. mr trump is more prone israel. to some degree we will be getting a new administration, so, yes, but the damage done by this resolution and i have underlined among the people who normally support president obama and are unhappy with prime minister netanyahu, including much of the democrats and senator, the washington post editorial board, obama's own middle east negotiator, are all very much appalled by this un vote. the fact that we would not have brought such a one—sided and almost savage attack on israel as is

contained in that resolution. we have in the language like that if everin have in the language like that if ever in the last a0 years and it looks like a revenge deal against israel. it will make a trump even more anti—un, yet for some things we need the un, and it will make the israelis even more entrenched. at the end they said under international law they will embrace john kerry's plan. all of these israeli settlements under international law are violations of international law are violations of international law are violations of international law and that's something we haven't emphasised in the past because they will be traded in one way or another in every peace plan over the last 20 years. do you think one of the mistakes is to treat settlements as a monolithic issue? not all settlements are the same and not all israelis feel the same and not all israelis feel the same about the settlements, as benjamin netanyahu and his government. that's true. but that government. that's true. but that government has moved to the right. it's not good for our government to

be castigating and other government for its democratic composition, but it is true. still, you can have a 2—party solution to this conflict if both sides are willing to sit down and negotiate, asjohn kerry cited in the second of the six points. un resolution 181 of 19a7, which calls foran resolution 181 of 19a7, which calls for an independent palestinian and israeli state. that's the basic framework. and yet there is no peace process 01’ framework. and yet there is no peace process or two state solution on the table and israel will not stop expanding the settlements. it will eventually oppose the solution it wa nts eventually oppose the solution it wants with american backing, won't it? not really. john kerry it -- does have a point there. israel can't be democratic and a jewish state. simply the demographics won't allow that. it isn't a good idea for

american officials to say this publicly, it is interfering in internal affairs, but she is a reality so israel has to negotiate with someone. the clinton negotiation came up to the table with an offer that in the end meant everything gas are that wanted. his comment was basically, that's fine, but i have to win this by the sword, not the pen. —— everything that yasser arafat wanted. not the pen. —— everything that yasser arafat wantedlj not the pen. —— everything that yasser arafat wanted. i just wanted to do the syrian peace talks. there is very much a new order here, the exclusion of the us and the sharp u—turn of turkey's policy. exclusion of the us and the sharp u-turn of turkey's policy. how do you read that? president erdogan hasn't given up on his rhetorical demand that assad go. he demands that saudi arabia and the emirates be brought into these talks, or at least the execution of them, and to some degree this is yet another

agreement that reflects the surrender of the western and arab position to an iranian russian alliance, that does not bode well for the region. this, unlike the palestinian, israeli problem, is really the syrian problem right now. interesting to talk to you. thank you. thanks for being with us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: out with the old. new yorkers say good riddance to 2016. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got underway with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow, in holland, we're gonna use money we picked up in belgium today, then we'll be in france, and again it'll be the same money. it has just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital

after being stabbed in 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. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the american actress and singer debbie reynolds has died at the age of 8a — just a day after the death of her daughter, carrie fisher. the us president—elect has again attacked the un — in the wake of last week's security council resolution condemning illegal israeli settlements on occupied palestinian land. the hollywood journalist jeanne wolf

told me just now of the impact carrie fisher's death had, on her mother. you how to understand that carrie fisher never regained consciousness so fisher never regained consciousness so her mother saw her daughter lying there and sent out messages that she was ina there and sent out messages that she was in a stable condition that she knew carrie was quoted i so it was just too much. her son said she wa nted just too much. her son said she wanted to be with her daughter. i don't know all the details but i know that debbie has been in fragile health. just last year she was honoured by the stream at ‘s guilt and debbie loved to dress up in sequins and get applause and loved the attention but she was too ill to show up. and carrie accepted the award —— screen actors guild. if you

see debbie reynolds at 19 in singing in —— singing in the rain, you would never forget. they went —— she went on to do the unsinkable molly brown. she tried to be a survivor. just like molly brown. or did she say at about the iconic role in the iconic movie at the age of 19? she was up for it. she said it was a wonderful blessing and something that came unexpectedly. she was determined to keep up with gene kelly, keep up with the pros and she did. she was so with the pros and she did. she was so sweet and so lovable, so optimistic. they could see she had magic in that. that movie, singing

in the rain, you have to watch it again. it's really something. as carrie said, she said i will be princess leia are forever and my mum will be tammy for ever. she had hit song, tammy. she could sing, dance, charm anybody. in her later years, she spent a lot of time in vegas, doing an act. everyone thought that debbie was miss perfect but i can tell you, her act in vegas was pretty bawdy. she had a mouth. the audience, theyjust love her, they thought she was her mum too, they related to her. she was very much of the ——a beloved. carry‘s grandmother

said go for it and boy did she ever go for it. this death of her daughter in awaited nobody could have ever predicted did sink the unthinkable. debbie reynolds was carrying out funeral arrangements when she suffered a stroke? there with reports that didn't always get along. bello. that was in the younger days. in the younger most turbulent times, debbie thought she would lose carrie to drug abuse. and then later on, they were in and out of each other‘s kitchen. remember carrie had a daughter, debbie's granddaughter. they would play cards, sing and act together. she is 110w cards, sing and act together. she is

now in her young 20s and is an actress on television. from what i understand, she is quite a solid creature. you can understand that billy losing her mother and grandmother within days, that is who you really have to worry about. jeanne wolf there. german prosecutors say a a0—year—old tunisian man has been detained in connection with the truck attack in berlin earlier this month. police raided the suspect‘s home and workplace after his number was found on the phone of anis amri — the man who drove the truck into a christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring nearly 50. catriona renton reports. security is tightened in berlin ahead of new year celebrations, coming so close after the attack on the christmas market. 12 lives were lost and dozens injured when the truck ploughed into the crowds of christmas shoppers on the evening of the 19th of december. the man who was driving, anis amri, from tunisia,

was shot dead by police in milan four days later. now, another man, a a0—year—old also from tunisia, has been detained in connection with what happened here. german prosecutors say his number was found on amri's phone. it has been reported police raided his home and workplace in berlin. officials have until thursday to decide whether to formally arrest him. the man who should have been driving the lorry, lukasz urban, was found dead in the passenger seat. his body has been taken back to poland, where he came from, to be examined. and other details about the investigation are emerging. the lorry had been moving at speed. it has been reported that investigators say its automatic braking system, which is triggered when an impact is sensed, may have prevented the loss of many more lives. germany is on alert. at the last new year's celebrations in cologne, dozens of women were assaulted. and now, with the attack on berlin,

cities across the country are stepping up their response. syrian rebel groups say they are discussing a ceasefire deal with turkey, but that it's too early to say if it has any chance of success. a top official with one of the main rebel groups said that one of the sticking points was the exclusion of a key rebel—held area on the outskirts of damascus. this comes as moscow accuses rebels of firing two shells at its embassy in damascus. lina sinjab has been following developments so, the russians have announced that there were two attacks on their embassy in central damascus. the embassy is a big embassy in al—mazraa, a street in damascus, and of course we've heard also from some residents that at least two rockets fell, one outside the embassy and one inside the embassy. so far we don't know who is to blame for this attack. of course, the russians have said that this is going to halt or affect any peace efforts. that's happening just in time,

when russia and turkey are preparing for a nationwide ceasefire. the announcement came from the turkish side today, but hasn't been confirmed so far, from neither the russians nor the government. but there is lots happening behind the scenes, basically by the russians, in co—ordination with turkey and iran, to set a sort of a road map to end the conflict in syria. they're talking about talks and meetings in kazakhstan, end of next month. they're inviting both the government and the opposition. so far it's not clear which part of the opposition will take part in these kind of talks, when and if they happen. but even this week there are meetings taking place in ankara between russia and different rebel groups, to discuss a ceasefire, but also a potential wider plan for syria. japan's defence minister has visited

a war memorial in tokyo just after shinzo abe in hawaii. the visit to the memorial is controversial because the site is considered a symbol of japan's military part by china and south korea. military officials can do is —— convicted of war crimes. it's been a tough year for many — and new yorkers have been making the most of good riddance day. it's now in its tenth year with festivities taking place in times square — as catharina moh explains. the first smashing of the day. junk and clutter, be gone! you can all relate to that. it is good riddance day in new york, which means getting rid of the negativity from 2016...

how does that feel? oh, that feels good! ..to make space for all the possibilities that 2017 might bring. crowds of people gathered in times square to take part. some made their grievances public, others preferring to toss their bad memories straight into the bin. good riddance to tiny thumbs on twitter. i want to shred the stress and the anger. this was, like, the last connection to my cancer. it takes a lot of courage to share that with us. thank you, arlene, right? that's amazing. how does that feel? that feels great, great. whilst the majority wrote their memories on pieces of paper bound for the shredder, others came with photographs, bags of bills, anything associated with discontent. it's a lot of stuff that i brought. as the negative vibes were being thrown out, people also began writing wishes, and making resolutions for the new year.

finally, the menus again, a small crowd has gathered at debbie reynolds star on the hollywood walk of fame. the singer, candles and flowers. she died just one day after the death of her daughter carrie fisher. she was 8a. carrie fisher spoke about her mother and said she was a powerful woman who she admired very much. the two had fallen out on several occasions. carrie fisher said there are few women from her generation who worked like that and kept a career going all her life and raised children and had horrible relationships. lost all her money and got it back again. carrie fisher said she had an amazing life and is someone said she had an amazing life and is someone to admire stop best known the starring opposite gene kelly in singing in the rain. most recently in willand singing in the rain. most recently in will and grace. we've got a lot of fog

out there, thick fog. it's quite patchy, which makes it dangerous as well. and on top of that, we've got sub—zero temperatures. so that combination means freezing fog in some areas, and that, in turn, means that the roads could be quite slippy. so really pretty dangerous on some of those roads, if you are travelling during the early hours, and really throughout much of the morning, into the afternoon, because that fog will be stubborn to clear. this time of the year, when there is no wind, the sun is low on the horizon, just can't work on that fog, it cannot melt it, as we say, away. this is what it looks like at 8:00am in the morning. you can see fog extensive across england, also the near continent there. temperatures down to —3 in some areas. now, the further north you go, we've got a bit more of a breeze coming off the atlantic here. so that means that that fog can't form, and there are also bits and pieces of light rain. fog doesn't like the rain, too. so for the western isles and the highlands, i think fog—free, fog—free for northern ireland. but here across the bulk of england, at the very least it will be sort

of cloudy, misty, a bit of brightness, and in one or two areas that fog is going to persist. now, in terms of the temperatures, for most of us, actually quite a chilly day. three orfour degrees. warm spot there, tropical in stornoway, 11 degrees celsius where you've got the wind and the rain, so it's not ideal. let's focus on that fog, because i have said that it may stick around into the afternoon, these sorts of areas here. and where it does stick around, the temperatures of course struggle. we haven't got the sunshine coming in, warming up the ground, so it is around zero degrees celsius. so thursday night, so this is the following night now, a bit more of a breeze across the uk. these isobars here, the pressure lines, mean there is more of a wind. so that means that the fog isn't perhaps going to be quite so widespread into friday morning and friday afternoon, maybe, across the south—east. but i think for many of us it is sort of a cloudy—ish sort of day, with some sunshine. notice that there is some rain getting into the far north of the uk. this is new year's eve, weather front moving into northern ireland, scotland, the far north

of england, too. to the south of that, probably staying dry. temperatures just about into double figures in the south—westerlies. and across europe, actually, the bulk of the continent probably hovering close to freezing during the course of new year's eve. but look at that, london is actually going to be warmer than madrid on new year's eve. now, something does happen as we go into 2017. the thinking is that a cold front, a pretty good cold front, will sweep across the uk, and introduce these northerly winds. so i think 1 january 2017 is going to feel pretty nippy across the uk. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. the hollywood actress debbie reynolds has died, just one day after the death of her daughter, carrie fisher. she was 8a. she's best known for starring opposite gene kelly in singin‘ in the rain, and most recently, after a career spanning seven decades, as grace's mother in tv‘s will and grace. the us president—elect donald trump has made another attack on the united nations, after last week's security council resolution condemning illegal israeli settlements on occupied palestinian land.

he claimed the un caused problems rather than solving them. israel's prime minister has described as "biased" a speech by the outgoing us secretary of state, john kerry, that was one of the most highly critical in years, by any senior american official. mr kerry said israel would never find peace until it resolved the settlement issue. now on bbc news, in a tribute to carrie fisher who died on tuesday we're replaying an interview she gave to hardtalk 16 years ago.