following allegations of russian interference in the recent us election. president putin says he won't respond to the expulsion of russian diplomats from the us, until president obama is replaced by donald trump in the white house. but the american sanctions are going ahead. removal vans have arrived at two russian compounds in the us, which are being closed down within hours. also today, a coach overturns in oxfordshire, as fog and freezing conditions cause difficulties on roads and disruption at airports. new light is shed on the poll tax riots of 1990, in official government files released for the first time. and how cristiano ronaldo turned down a record—breaking deal to play in the chinese super league. good evening.

russia has announced it will not be expelling any american diplomats, despite a decision by president obama yesterday to send home 35 russians in a row about cyber espionage and hacking. mr obama had accused the russians of interfering in the us presidential election by hacking into democratic party emails. the kremlin has always denied any involvement and president putin said today he looked forward to rebuilding links with america, when donald trump becomes president. our moscow correspondent steve rozenberg has the latest. near the kremlin tonight, they were putting on a seasonal show. ahead of the new year celebrations, there was song and dance and some musical theatre. but that was nothing compared to the political theatre being played out inside. first up on stage,

the foreign minister who advised president putin to expel 35 us diplomats. america had expelled 35 russians. in other words, tit—for—tat. cold war style. it seemed inevitable. but, no, vladimir putin said, he wasn't going to stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy. he wasn't going to expel any americans. he even invited the children of all us diplomats in moscow to a new year's party here in the kremlin. that was a surprise. but it didn't change what america's top intelligence agencies believe to be true, that state—sponsored hackers backed, by the highest levels of the russian government, had interfered in the us presidential election. with a cyber attack on the democratic party. was president putin behind it? washington suspects he was.

and 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. 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 tell me. 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 russian nationals, wanted by the fbi for cybercrimes.

but today, president putin said he would work to restore relations with america under donald trump. what putin and trump expect from each other is a certain kind of decency. a certain kind of frankness. and no hypocrisy and no political correctness. by not expelling diplomats today, the kremlin was sending a new year's gift. to the new man in the white house. a sign that moscow wants a new relationship with washington. could 2017 be the year that russia finally comes in from the cold? our correspondent laura bicker is in washington. laura, what's been the latest

reaction in washington to what's came out of moscow, today? we've had no official reaction from the white house as yet. but those sanctions are well underway. while vladimir putin is extending party invites to the children of american diplomats, here state department employees are clearing out russian compound in new york and maryland. but by taking this actionjust 20 york and maryland. but by taking this action just 20 days before york and maryland. but by taking this actionjust 20 days before he leaves office, it's almost like president obama is saying to president—elect trump, your move. this is a mr trump who has in the past dismissed the allegations that russia was behind the hacking, during the us election. in fact, he said these were the same intelligence officials who told us that saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction. he has suffered that stance a little in the last 2a hours, saying he will meet with intelligence officials. but he said in the same breath that it was time to get on with our lives. but the pressure is growing on him to say

something. senatorjohn mccain has scheduled hearings injanuary where congress will discuss this intelligence. and president 0bama's opponents, mr trump's supporters, have said that he's done the right thing. they maybe believe he's done ita thing. they maybe believe he's done it a little too late. mr trump has a dilemma. does he dismissed the intelligence from 17 agencies and risk the rash of his political supporters? 0r risk the rash of his political supporters? or does he continue and push forward with these sanctions? and perhaps risk a frosty, rather than a fresh start, with vladimir putin. thanks for the latest in washington. 0ur correspondent. russia is asking members of the un security council to consider a new resolution that would endorse the ceasefire in syria that came into force last night. the ceasefire agreed by the syrian government and some opposition forces appears to be holding, despite reports of sporadic fighting in parts of the country. fog and freezing conditions have

caused difficulties on the roads and severe disruption at several airports. a coach overturned on a slip road of the mao in oxfordshire. 16 passengers and the driver were injured in the accident early this morning. 0ur correspondent helena lee reports from the scene. it was in the early hours of this morning in thick fog that coach veered off a slip road off the mao 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 critically 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 ambulance crews that attended. assisted by fire and the police services as well. 0bviously, probably a chaotic scene to start with. dense fog not helping. 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? for drivers in parts of southern and eastern england and wales, conditions on the roads today have been challenging. heavy fog has meant visibility has been poor in some places, less than 100 metres. and the fog is expected to linger throughout this evening. it's been causing problems, too, at airports. at heathrow, there's been cancellations and delays throughout the day. the same at city airport in london

and gatwick, with thousands of passengers' plans before new year's eve disrupted. the advice, to check with the airline before travelling to the airport. helena lee, bbc news. a postmortem examination carried out as part of the investigation into the death of george michael has proved inconclusive. further tests will now be carried out. police are treating the singer's death in oxfordshire on christmas day as unexplained but not suspicious. 0n the financial markets, the ftse100 index has ended the year at a record high. the index of leading shares closed at 7,142 points, beating the previous record set yesterday. the sharp fall in sterling, following the brexit vote has boosted the value of many global companies that generate much of their revenue in dollars. the government is giving renewed consideration

to allowing learner drivers to have lessons on motorways in england, wales and scotland. other changes affecting motorcycle learners are also being considered. the lessons won't be compulsory, and driving instructors will decide when learners are ready. ministers hope the move will make roads in britain safer, as our correspondent daniel boettcher reports. turn right at the end of the road. 17—year—old hannah spicer is practising driving with her mum today. she started in september and has had 20 lessons. she hopes she will be ready to take her test soon. she will not be allowed to drive on a motorway until she passes, but there are plans to change that. the government is considering proposals to allow supervised learners onto the motorway for the first time, and hannah is in favour. coming onto the motorway for the first time with your instructor next to you would be easier, and you have a second pair of eyes looking at everything that is around you. if you go on your first time alone, it's going to be a daunting experience. learner drivers would only be

allowed on motorways in certain circumstances. they would have to be with an approved driving instructor, the lessons would be voluntary, and the instructor would decide if they are ready. they would also have to be in a car with dual controls. you can't make it compulsory for practical reasons. large bits of the country have no motorway access. and if you allow it to happen, the people who are nearest the motorways, those most likely to be using them, will get to learn how to do it properly. this would covering england, scotland and wales. northern ireland has its own plans to allow learners onto motorways. the government says britain's roads are already among the safest in the world but these measures could improve that record further, and it proposes changes not just for drivers but for novice motorcyclists, 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 get more than six penalty points. hannah expects to have passed before any of the proposed changes come in. this is a consultation

at the moment. it will also consider a target number of hours before a test can be taken, and some argue that could make learning too expensive, but the government insists there are no plans to make that target compulsory. daniel boettcher, bbc news. the latest files to be released by the national archives shed new light on the political turmoil of 1989 and 1990, as margaret thatcher's period as prime minister came to an end. the files reveal attempts by mrs thatcher to modify the community charge, widely known as the poll tax, her controversial plan to replace local authority rates. the policy led to rioting and was a key factor in her downfall, as nick higham reports. it was the biggest political misjudgement of margaret thatcher's career. the poll tax provoked outraged opposition. even riots. the files show her normally self—confident government

on the defensive. these are all files dealing with the poll tax over a period of 18 months, hundreds of pages of documents. it's an indication of how much time mrs thatcher herself spent worrying about the problem, how complex it was, and how difficult it was to find a way out of the mess. many of the documents are covered in mrs thatcher's characteristically spidery handwriting. the government tried some desperate expedients. at one point she herself floated the idea of letting councils put an extra penny on a gallon of petrol to raise more cash. the poll tax was meant to force labour councils to spend less. instead, the government got the blame when millions found they were paying more, and mrs thatcher realised it was hitting what she called the conscientious middle, her natural supporters. 0ne turning point came with this letter in march 1990, from an elderly conservative voter in norfolk. he and his wife were paying twice

as much under the poll tax. he accused the prime minister of behaving like a dictator, riding roughshod over opposition. michael portillo was the local government minister who had thejob of trying to make the poll tax work. he says there are lessons to be learnt today. well, there are lessons to be learned, of course, but i don't think they are learned. i think the conservative government's commitment to introduce a poll tax in the 19805 without thinking it through is quite strongly paralleled by david cameron's commitment quite recently to hold a referendum without thinking through what its consequences might be. as for mrs thatcher, the poll tax ended her career, but not before the files reveal westminster council threatened her with a fine if she didn't complete her own poll tax registration on time. nick higham, bbc news. the real madrid star cristiano ronaldo has turned down

an offer worth £85 million a year to play in china, according to his agent. the deal would have been a major coup for the emerging chinese super league and would have smashed the world transfer record in the process. joe wilson has the story. china wants football, it wants footballers. earlier this year, bbc sport filmed at one of china's first designated football schools, two hours east of beijing. but the country can't simply wait for its grassroots to grow. in the meantime, there is money. whipped across, and ronaldo's met it. according to his agent, cristiano ronaldo turned down £85 million a year, offered by a club in the chinese super league. well, maybe, but the relocation is already happening.