this is bbc news — i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at lipm: president putin says he will not expel anyone in response to president obama ordering 35 russian diplomats out of the us for alleged hacking. mr putin also said that positive developments in relations between russia and the uk would be mutually beneficial. a post—mortem examination into the cause of george michael's death has proved "inconclusive" — further tests will now be carried out. drivers are told to take care in fog and freezing conditions, as a coach overturns on the mao in oxfordshire injuring 17 people. clinging on for life — the only survivor of a boat that capsized off kent recounts his 11—hour ordeal. also in the next hour: the ceasefire in syria appears to be largely holding. there's been calm on the front lines, but there are reports of sporadic clashes and some air raids. and join me for what the world.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the russian president, vladimir putin, has said that he won't expel any us diplomats from the country, in a surprise response to president obama's decision to order russian diplomats out of the us. mr obama, who's also imposing sanctions, had accused russia of interfering in the us presidential election. despite advice from his foreign minister, mr putin has decided not to retaliate — for now. mr putin also said that positive developments in relations

between russia and the uk would be mutually beneficial. steve rosenberg reports from moscow. following accusations of cyber attacks on america, the us had expelled 35 russian diplomats. so, how would moscow respond? well, today, russia's foreign minister proposed tit—for—tat. he said he had asked president putin to expel 35 american diplomats. but the kremlin leader said no — no americans would be expelled. he would wait to see what kind of policies donald trump pursued in the white house. that doesn't change what america's top intelligence agencies believe to be true; that state—sponsored hackers, backed by the highest levels of russian government, interfered in the us presidential election, with a cyber attack on the democratic party. the aim — to embarrass hillary clinton. was president putin behind it?

washington suspects he was. last week, i got a chance to ask him myself. mr president, your country has been accused of state—sponsored hacking, with the aim of influencing the result of the us presidential election. and president obama revealed that he told you personally to cut it out. so what did you tell him in response? the kremlin leader refused to say, dismissing all the talk of hacking as sour grapes from the democratic party. the losing side always tries to pass the buck, he said. but president obama had decided there was enough evidence to merit retaliation. as well as expelling diplomats, he ordered russian government compounds in new york and maryland to be shut down. us officials believe they were being used for intelligence.

washington has announced sanctions against individuals too, including these men wanted by the fbi for cyber crimes. moscow is furious. today, prime minister dmitry medvedev posted this: the russian embassy in the uk had nothing good to say either, about president obama — "you're a lame duck" is the message from moscow. but very soon there will be a pro—moscow president in the white house, and judging by president putin's decision — not to expel any americans — it could be that vladimir and donald will get along just fine. sir tony brenton is a former uk ambassador to moscow — he describes what he thought might

be behind the motives of president putin's stance. mr putin wants to present himself as, "i want a good relationship, i'm the peacemaker in syria, we all hate isis and need to work together", he's trying to build a good relationship with trump. trump, as you know, has said, "we want a better relationship with russia." let's not kid ourselves, and it's a bit sad, really, that british politicians haven't really got the message yet. we were in a very extraordinarily dangerous situation, with regard to russia and america, back a couple of months ago, when both sides‘ generals were talking about shooting down the each other‘s planes over syria. russia was demonstrating nuclear—tipped missiles in kaliningrad and so on. we need to get away from that. trump's arrival and his talk of a thaw, give us an opportunity to do that, and everybody — including here in the uk — should be encouraging it. the results of an initial post mortem examination into the cause of death of the singer george michael have been published this afternoon. richard lister is here with more details. this postmortem examination is

inconclusive? yes, thames valley police issued a short statement saying the postmortem examination was carried out yesterday. that the cause of death is inconclusive and further tests will now be carried out. they go on to say the results of these tests are unlikely to be known for several weeks. for the moment they are preparing a file for the oxfordshire coroner. they say the oxfordshire coroner. they say the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. you may recall his body was found at bed in his home on oxfordshire on christmas morning by his partner. everyone around him as saying he appeared to have died peacefully. his manager suggested he appeared to have died from a heart condition, but as i say, the thames valley force saying at the moment they are treating his death as unexplained and further tests will be done. richard, thank you for that. 17 people have been injured after a coach veered off a motorway slip road and overturned in heavy fog in oxfordshire. the vehicle came off the mao slip road near thame. the met office has issued a weather

warning of fog across much of southern england and parts of wales — and air traffic control restrictions imposed as a result are causing delays and cancellations to flights to and from heathrow, gatwick and london city airports. our reporter helena lee is at the scene of the coach crash in oxfordshire. it was in the early hours of this morning in thick fog the coach veered off a slip road off the m40, before rolling into a ditch and on its side. its mangled remains and the damage done clear when it was turned back over. 16 passengers were on board, travelling from heathrow to oxford. remarkably, none were seriously injured but all were treated in hospital, some for broken bones, others for cuts and bruises. the bad weather made the recovery operation challenging. all three emergency services attended. with 17 people on board in total, very intensive for the paramedics

and the ambulance crews that attended, assisted by fire and the police services, as well. obviously, probably a chaotic scene to start with, and dense fog not helping that. the oxford bus company said the driver was very experienced and had been doing overnight shifts for a number of years. now the coach has been taken away, the investigation turns to how it happened. was the thick fog to blame? and, why did the coach come off a junction earlier than it should have done? the only survivor of a boat that capsized off kent on tuesday has told how he clung on to the hull for 11 hours. one of his crewmates is feared drowned after he was swept away, while a second was rescued but later died. bryony mackenzie reports. this is the momentjohny ronsijns was rescued from the waters off ramsgate. he was only spotted in first light, after clinging to the hull

of his boat, that went down in a blink of an eye. translation: the ship capsized in one, two, three and that was it. one, two, three and no more — it was that fast. a fisherman for 36 years, he started in the industry aged just 14. those years of experience and knowledge helping him to survive the freezing conditions. translation: i was on top of the boat for 11 hours. it was freezing. my legs from here to my feet, they were blue. i didn't have any feeling in them. i kept my head warm by pulling my sweater over my head and blowing into it. i moved my hands, and if my hands got too cold, i peed on them. it was absolutely freezing. he last heard his fellow fishermen while in the water. one later died in hospital, and the other is now presumed dead.

translation: the worst thing is your colleagues who can't come with you, that's what's worse, for me, anyway. it's a lottery. i've got the main prize, they've got nothing. despite this tragedy, he says he won't give up fishing. a nationwide ceasefire that came into effect overnight between the syrian government and rebel factions appears to be holding across most of the country, although some clashes have been reported. the deal was brokered by russia and turkey with the backing of iran in an attempt to end the civil war that began in 2011. the united states was not involved. here's richard galpin. this was the moment when the tide of syria's devastating civil war turned. buses lined up earlier this month to evacuate thousands of rebel

fighters, defeated in their key stronghold in aleppo. a huge blow to the opposition movement, leaving the syrian regime in a commanding position. and giving the regime an opportunity to negotiate a ceasefire from a position of strength. translation: this reflects the reality that after aleppo's liberation the situation is now different. there is a real opportunity to reach a political solution for the crisis in syria that ends the bloodshed and establishes the roots for the future of the country. but it is syria's key ally, russia, which is leading this push for an end to the five—year civil war. a chance for president putin to portray himself as a peacemaker, although he admits the ceasefire is fragile. and already some rebel groups are disputing the terms of the truce.

osama abu zeid of the free syrian alliance insisting that the ceasefire applies to the whole country and all rebel groups, including islamist extremists, which the syrian army says it will continue to target. two ceasefires agreed by russia and the united states earlier this year did fall apart quickly. but this time the americans and other western powers have been completely excluded, with russia working instead with turkey and iran. and so far this latest ceasefire has held in many parts of the country, although there have been some government air strikes. this lull a welcome respite for a country, so much of which has already been destroyed. richard galpin, bbc news. the ftse 100

the ftse1oo has ended the year at an all—time high. the benchmark index closed at 7,142 points, marginally beating the previous record, set yesterday. the sharp fall in sterling, following the brexit vote, has boosted ftse companies, which are largely global firms that generate much of their revenue in dollars. the headlines on bbc news: president putin says he will not expel anyone in response to president obama ordering 35 russian diplomats out of the us for alleged hacking. a post—mortem examination into the cause of george michael's death had proved "inconclusive" — further tests will now be carried out. drivers are told to take care in fog and freezing conditions, as a coach overturns on the mao in oxfordshire injuring seventeen people. sport now, and time for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. a very good afternoon. world number

one andy murray has had a bad start to his new season with a surprise defeat to david goffin in the semifinals of the world tennis championships in abu dhabi. they hadn't conceded a set in his previous five encounters with david goffin but that run was broken when the belgian took the first on tie—break. murray looks like taking control in the second but david goffin fought back to break him twice and win four games in a row. 6- twice and win four games in a row. 6— for the score in the second set. george north will return for northampton saints in their premiership match on sunday. his first game since suffering a head injury against leicester in november. that was his fifth concussion in two years, including two ina concussion in two years, including two in a match between england and wales in february, 2015. a review board said north shouldn't have continued to play against leicester but didn't sanction northampton.

anthony watson will also be back for his first appearance in three months. he is named on the bench ahead of bath's match with exeter tomorrow. he broke his jaw in england's training camp but is now on course to return for the 2017 six nations. hull city manager mike phelan says 2016 has lived up to expectations and the turbulent and difficult. hull are bottom of the premier league going into tonight's match against everton. we are pretty open and honest with the staff and players at this football club. they understand that we will need to do better, when it comes to trying to wina better, when it comes to trying to win a football match. i think what they've shown is a great appetite and passion for their play in the premier league. it is difficult for them, but i don't think for one insta nce them, but i don't think for one instance they have dropped away from the challenge, and i think they are all ready and willing to take it on again in the new year. it's a difficult one. they lost to west ham

away 1—0 but hull were the better team and had four or five times on the post and that means, don't focus about positions in the table. it's a tough one, it's a difficult one and we need to be at our best to get a good result. the team just above hull, swansea city's search for a new manager continues today. with ryan giggs and chris coleman ruled out two new favourites have emerge. gary rowett, who has been out of the game since he was sacked by birmingham earlier this month. he was fired to make way for gianfranco zola. the second man is former derby cou nty zola. the second man is former derby county boss paul clement, currently assistant boss at bayern munich. swa nsea assistant boss at bayern munich. swansea currently one place above hull, second from bottom in the premier league. stuart broad took an

early wicket for his australian big bash side hobart hurricanes but still lost against brisbane heat by seven wickets. broad removed the opener with his first ball of the match. but after that, former new zealand captain brendon mccullum and chris lynn made light work of the run chase. look at that six. brisbane heat cruised to victory with 22 balls to spare. the arrows have been flying at alexandra palace this afternoon. i'm talking about the pvc world championship in north london. peter snakebite right has booked his place in the semifinals. he saw off the challenge of james the machine weighed winning their quarterfinal 5—3. peter wright averaged 105 in each visit to the border. that is all the sport for now, more at 5:30pm. thank you. learner drivers in britain will be allowed on to motorways

for the first time, if new government plans are approved. the lessons will not be compulsory and driving instructors will decide when their students are ready. ministers hope the move will make roads in britain safer. sangita myska reports. britain's road network is amongst the safest in europe and today's proposed changes to both driver and motorcyclist training aims to build on that record. under the plans, for the first time, learner drivers will be able to have lessons on motorways, but there are caveats. learners would have to be accompanied by an approved instructor. the lessons would be voluntary and the instructor would decide if learners are ready. any proposed change to the law would be well publicised. at the moment you can't learn on the motorway until you have passed your driving test. there's a small take—up which means that people learning by trial and error afterwards. much better that they get taught properly right at the outset and encouraged actually to make long journeys using the motorways rather than other roads. novice motorcyclists

would face changes too. they would have to take a theory test online and those holding a provisional licence could have their compulsory basic training certificate revoked if they accrue more than six penalty points. the proposals also include a trial of target number of hours of lessons for all learner drivers before they take their tests. the government stresses that there are no plans to make any target compulsory. sangita myska, bbc news. we can speak now to hannah spicer who's a learner driver. she's in shenfield in essex. i know you felt very strongly about this when you saw our online article and you got in touch. you think this isa and you got in touch. you think this is a good idea, don't you? definitely, to get good practice on the motorway while you have the instructor next to you, rather than going out for yourfirst instructor next to you, rather than going out for your first time i instructor next to you, rather than going out for yourfirst time i knew

just passed, it is a very daunting experience, i imagine. what worries you most about the idea of going onto the motorway for the first time? sorry? let me try that again and hopefully you can hear me now. what worries you most about going on the motorway as a driver for the first time? obviously there's so much going on, you have so much to look at, there are cars coming past and you need to get on the motorway. there is so much to think about and you don't have someone next you reassuring you if you go out for the first time on your own.|j reassuring you if you go out for the first time on your own. i understand you have passed your theory. when you have passed your theory. when you do, all being well, pass your practical as well, will you be taking someone with you for those first few times on the motorway? yes, definitely, 100%, too scared to do it on my own! you have already lined upfamily do it on my own! you have already lined up family members, perhaps, to

do that? yes, my mum will probably come with me. the idea of learner drivers going on the motorway is a government idea but it is not going to be compulsory. do you think it should be compulsory?” to be compulsory. do you think it should be compulsory? i think it should be compulsory? i think it should be compulsory? i think it should be compulsory, yes, because then learner drivers have sufficient experience they need, so it is safer on the motorway when they do go out there. when is your test? i haven't booked it yet but hopefully relatively soon. very good luck to you, i hope it all goes well. thank you, i hope it all goes well. thank you for talking to us, hannah. people in india have until the end of the day to hand—in high denomination bank notes which are being taken out of circulation. last month, the government surprised the country by announcing it was withdrawing the two most popular bank notes which account for more than eighty per cent of all cash. the move was designed to tackle corruption and tax evasion — but it has caused widespread chaos. with me as kevin, who cut short a

six week holiday in india when it became impossible to use his bank card. it should have been the holiday of a lifetime, real adventure. you were travelling around india on your motorbike. tell us around india on your motorbike. tell us what went wrong. i travelled in the beginning of november down tojibe i travelled in the beginning of november down to jibe poor. i travelled in the beginning of november down tojibe poor. the first night in the hotel, there i was on social media saying from midnight tonight the rupee notes would no longer be valid, which i thought was a joke. getting up the next morning it certainly wasn't a joke, because it was reality. to cap it all, they said you could change the notes in any bank or any post office. but the following day, after the demilitarisation nowhere was open. you couldn't get anywhere. they left it for 2a hours before anywhere opened and then it was just anywhere opened and then it was just an absolute nightmare. the queues

we re an absolute nightmare. the queues were biblical. i'd never seen anything like it in my life, in fact i found the whole experience quite shocking. what sort of behaviour did you witness when you were in those queues? i didn't go in any of those queues, and please don't think i'm being racist here, but as a white man, i would being racist here, but as a white man, iwould have being racist here, but as a white man, i would have felt rather awkward in those queues, where i witnessed fighting, i witnessed them trying to push through a very narrow gap that some security people were trying to maintain. there was desperation, absolute desperation and this continued on and on and on. and injaipurthe and this continued on and on and on. and injaipur the traffic is rather interesting, because there is so much of it, and the roads were half empty. the whole placejust much of it, and the roads were half empty. the whole place just about came toa empty. the whole place just about came to a standstill. we were going into stores to try and get food and we couldn't because they wouldn't ta ke we couldn't because they wouldn't take the notes. so even notes that

we re take the notes. so even notes that were going out of circulation, you couldn't use those because shopkeepers didn't necessarily have the change to give you? they didn't wa nt the change to give you? they didn't want them because they couldn't change them instantly, the 501,000s they didn't want because they would then have to go to the bank to change them, so it created a situation they didn't want to be in either. eventually i got some money changed by some indian friends about a week later. it then became the 2000 rupee notes on the 100s. people didn't have an issue with the 100s that nobody wanted the 2000s because shopkeepers didn't have the change. they said you could use them in fuel stations. the queues were there for the whole day. if you got into the queue, you would have been there for a good part of the day, just to get fuel. sorry, i was just a good part of the day, just to get fuel. sorry, iwasjust going a good part of the day, just to get fuel. sorry, i wasjust going to say, how this ended up for you with you having to make a tough decision that this big adventure that you'd

planned couldn't continue? there was a worry that should i go to an area called rajasthan, could i get fuel, could i buy food? what was going on? i didn't have cash. people we re going on? i didn't have cash. people were saying, use your card but uk cards were banned in the indian 80s. the 80s were running dry. so sitting there there were two options, i waited for it to right itself, which it still hasn't or come home. so i had to change my flight and come home. it's interesting you describe this image of the country standing still. this was, tu, the impact of this decision to take these two notes out circulation. those notes are the most popular ones and once you've taken them out, sorry, my phones are going! once they've taken them out of circulation, then the smaller notes, not many people had

that because a lot of transactions we re that because a lot of transactions were done by the 1500s. there was artand were done by the 1500s. there was art and sheer panic, there is no other way of describing it. it felt like the country was imploding and they didn't know what to do. these poor people, they made their business by doing the transactions with cash. cash is everywhere in the world all of a and sudden in india, it wasn't. people burning the notes. there were images on the tv over there of people throwing the notes in sacks in the back of cars on lighting them on fire. people were dying in queues because of the stress of not getting money to feed theirfamilies. it stress of not getting money to feed their families. it was devastation, in my opinion. kevin... it was a crazy situation i just don't understand. kevin, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. with me is neha bhatnagar from the bbc‘s hindi service. there are just

there arejust a there are just a couple of hours left now until this deadline. is there evidence of last—minute panic as people try to get rid of these notes that are going out of circulation? to be honest, the panic has been going on for a while now. the government has changed the rules so the government has changed the rules so many times that the reserve bank of india hasjokingly so many times that the reserve bank of india has jokingly been called reverse bank of india because the rules have been reversed so many times and change so many times. u nfortu nately, times and change so many times. unfortunately, what kevin experienced was reality. i left london on the eighth or ninth and landed on the ninth, the morning and it was chaos. my mother frantically called me and whatever little notes i had left in my house, because we are allowed to bring out small currency from india, i had to scramble it all together and run. when we reached the airport i thought there might be places to change at the airport, there was nothing. unfortunately, over these last 15 days the situation has improved but only marginally. those queues are still pretty long, very

long. kevin didn't stand in those queues for obvious reasons, but i did,i queues for obvious reasons, but i did, i had to. istood in those queues to get money out and it was quite fortress. there were people who were very excited about this decision in the beginning and saying it was great, india has a massive black money problem. but what is the only solution? should it have been done this way? this is a question still to be answered and we don't know what will happen after tonight. and should have been done so quickly? this idea of taking notes out the circulation to deal with the black economy, it was envisaged it would be done over a lengthy period. will there be a political backlash, given it has caused so many people such problems? yes, people do expect there could be a political backlash because there are some big upcoming state elections. more importantly eve ryo ne state elections. more importantly everyone is watching out for what prime minister modi will say tomorrow. we expect some big announcements from him tomorrow. people are waiting for new year's eve. there arejokes

people are waiting for new year's eve. there are jokes going around saying people might get in the queues tonight because they don't know what will happen tomorrow. just the implementation of it, the 2000 rupee note, it was not the right size to fit in the atm machines. so there were practical problems like that that made things had. even those services, such as doctors or chemists, who were supposed to accept old currency won't really doing it, which caused a lot of problems to people. could it have been done in a way that was phased in? a lot of people think probably not, because then people could have looked at alternative ways of getting rid of black money. but in the end, did this work, did this abrupt measure at work in a country is fast and massive as india? and these notes accounted for 86% of india's currency. a lot of people are very unhappy about it. thank you very much. the time is almost four

30p. let's take a look at the weather forecast now. falk has been causing trouble once again in southern and central and eastern parts of england, and it will open with further tonight, we expect further disruption to travel, slow on the roads, further delays at the airport so if you are on the move bbc local radio should keep you up—to—date, the fog will be worst in the south—eastern corner but also in anglia, the midlands, wales as well, and will be cold in the southeast, two, three degrees, around about nine, ten for glasgow, belfast, a south—westerly breeze, but also some wet weather in northern scotland, and a cold front that will slowly slip south through new year's eve,