activity and other policies on the ground. so there is that, but i do think it's a little bit of just a rhetorical exercise. it does align with the current policy. it may be a nasty shock to mr netanyahu and his very right—wing government, but the new world is mr trump and he has appointed a man to be in charge of the issue has contributed heavily financially to israeli settlements. well, no, he isn't going to be in charge of the issue. he is nominated to be the ambassador to israel. the ambassador doesn't make policy. he would first have to be confirmed by the senate. secondly, ambassadors don't make policy. so we'll definitely have to wait and see what the policy is under mr trump, and i think it is probably true that prime minister netanyahu is salivating at the prospect, and is actually trying to exacerbate tensions with president obama and john kerry, in order to get closer to president—elect trump and his incoming administration.

i'm not sure it will work for him in the long run. it's very risky, and a big gamble, and it could backfire as well as it could succeed. why do you think senator kerry is saying it now? is it a sign that they weren't expecting to be handing over to a president trump? they were expecting to hand over to clinton? no, i think if they were handing over to a president clinton they would be proceeding much more cautiously. i think this almost a post—facto gesture, where americans who are at the end of power or out of power tend to speak more freely about this issue. i think it's a parting shot, to some extent, at prime minister netanyahu, that especially goes to the un resolution, and i think it made some very important points but actually won't help palestinians at all. because whatever price it extracts it won't be at the expense of the us or the 14 countries who voted yes,

it will be at the expense of the palestinians. there was a point to make about the illegality of settlement activity, but all of this is a parting shot at benjamin netanyahu and in that sense... and just looking to the future a little bit, what do you expect the impact to be of mr trump's policy? a free hand for prime minister netanyahu? we have no idea, and anyone who claims they do is making it up. i think he has high hopes but he should be cautious. mr trump might take a presidential point of view based on right—wing populism, and following the trend of going to the right and identifying with rightists in israel. but he also might take a nationalistic, america —first attitude, where when israeli policy runs up against american policy, he has even less patience than other republicans and democrats have shown. so i think it is hard to know and anyone who is confident that they know what a trump

foreign policy will look like i think is deluded. could paintings teach us more about ea rly—onset dementia ? an analysis of more than 2,000 works by seven famous artists has shone new light on the development of diseases like alzheimer's and parkinson's. the research shows that neurological conditions could be detected by subtle changes in composition and brushstrokes, long before any symptoms become obvious. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has more. who is this painting by? can you remember what the painting is called? the girl with the pearl earring. it is one of my favourites. living with dementia, joyce still enjoys painting, but today her work is very different from the highly detailed pictures she used the proceeds before the disease took hold. there is this really good copy of the masters, and very detailed. it is not as detailed now, but she can remember things from years ago,

but generally if you ask what she had for breakfast this morning, she can't remember. arquin art, more specifically the way artists work, tell us something about the development of dementia and other degenerative brain diseases? much of the research into dementia has obviously been very medical. but now a new approach combines both maths and art, and offers an intriguing insight into what might be going on in the brains of those artists who develop dementia, long before any symptoms become obvious. there is some fractal content in this, which is what we call very low—level fractal dementia... fractal analysis isa fractal dementia... fractal analysis is a complex, mathematical method of looking at recurring patterns. the recurring patterns of our brain waves and heart needs fractal. the same applies to the individual brushstro kes same applies to the individual brushstrokes of artists, it is a bit like their handwriting. now, an analysis by more than 2000 works by

i7 analysis by more than 2000 works by 17 artists has revealed tiny changes in those patterns. artists who went on to develop dementia or parkinson's disease, the fractal pattern started to change. in an unusual way. so what we find is up to 20 years before they had a diagnosis of a neurological disorder, the fractal content within their paintings had started to decrease. so anything that helps us understand more about how the brain operates is a useful way to inform future directions for research. this artist was diagnosed with alzheimer's disease after his death in 1997. brushstroke pattern seen in his earlier work were different when compared to later paintings, but in the work of picasso, who died free of any known neurological disease, the patent route remained constant throughout his life, regardless of what he was painting. this won't help diagnosed dementia, or similar diseases, but it does give a

valuable insight into changes that are taking place in the brain, years before the illness appears, and so could help answer questions about these devastating conditions. elders are centralfigures in many african communities. in the south of senegal, grandmothers are helping to bring about change, especially for young girls who face issues like early pregnancy and dropping out of school. here is the story of one of these influential grandmothers, part of the bbc‘s 100 women series. many programmes promoting the well—being of women and girls leave out the grandmothers. they will often see them as an obstacle or a barrier. but i have always seen them asa barrier. but i have always seen them as a resource. the work with the grandmother leaders contributed to a significant de crease in teen pregnancy, which was a major problem in this area. tales from south senegal there. you can get much more from all of our stories on the bbc website, including a look back at the life

and film career of hollywood actress and film career of hollywood actress and singer debbie reynolds, who has died just a day after her daughter carrie fisher, famous, of course, as princess leia. 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. hello. this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and sally nugent. the veteran hollywood actress debbie reynolds has died just a day after her daughter, carrie fisher. she was 84 and had been rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke. her son said the stress of his sister's death was too much for her. good morning.

it's thursday, the 29th of december. also this morning: patients could be forced to wait up to a month to see their family doctor because of winter pressures. that's the stark warning from the uk's leading gp. in sport, sir bradley wiggins has announced his retirement from cycling, after a career during which he won five 0lympic golds and the tour de france.