this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at four... britain's most senior diplomat at the european union, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man has been shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. mohammed yasser yaqub died during the pre—planned operation. kurdish forces say a 20—year—old briton, ryan lock, has been killed fighting islamic state militants in syria. i'm simon mccoy, and in the next hour... marking the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war. the battle of passchendaele claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of allied and german soldiers. special events will take place over the summer. and, going full—circle: how vinyl is making a comeback, with sales last year reaching a 25—year high. hello, good afternoon.

welcome to bbc news. the uk's most senior diplomat in brussels, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. sir ivan was criticised for warning the government that it could take a decade to reach a trade deal with the european union once britain has left. he told his office today that he would be stepping down as ambassador early — just two months before formal brexit talks are due to begin. he was appointed by the then prime minister david cameron in november 2013. the reason for his resignation has not been revealed. let's get more from our political correspondent iain watson at westminster. we still don't know, we still haven't heard anything from him? i'm afraid we haven't. what is

interesting is the downing street statement, a pretty anodyne couple of lines from number ten, effectively saying the reason he stood down in fact was to give a successof stood down in fact was to give a successor the chance to be in place before the brexit negotiations took place. of course we expect article 50 to be triggered in the spring, probably in april. in a sense he was simply helping the government out and they thanked him for his work. he was due to stand down in november in any case. it seemed to come as quite a surprise to many people in downing street that he had gone quite as quickly as he did. also there had been talk in recent months about extending his stay in brussels as our ambassador to the eu beyond the scheduled date of his departure in november. that seems pretty curious. i think one of the reasons perhaps that he has gone becomes apparent in the reaction to his departure. he has become quite a controversial figure and usually whitehall mandarins stay in the background, they like to give advice privately. some of his private

advice became public in december when the bbc feel he was saying at the eu countries thought it could ta ke the eu countries thought it could take us ten years to get a trade deal after brexit. he then stepped into the limelight and people then started to denounce him from various angles. some of the leave campaigners were saying he was being overly pessimistic and some of the remain campaigners were saying he was being realistic. today we have had much of the same thing. nick clegg, a big remain campaigners, worked in brussels before and said the departure of sir ivan rogers effectively blew a hole in the government's brexit plans. sir peter mandelson knows sir ivan rogers from his days as a former adviser to tony blairand he his days as a former adviser to tony blair and he was suggesting this could be a great lost because of the lack of knowledge and experience now in whitehall to deal with brexit. but on the other side we are hearing from leave campaigners such as nigel

farage saying actually it is time for a clear out of the foreign 0ffice for a clear out of the foreign office and they have never properly accepted the referendum result and he would be glad to see ivan rogers go and is calling for someone truly committed to brexit to be installed by the government to take part in these crucial negotiations. iain watson, thank you for now. joining me now from leeds is the labour mep richard corbett. i'm just wondering what your reaction is to the news of his departure. well, i think it's a big blow to the government. it was clearly unexpected. he was not due to retire until towards the end of the year and going now means they have lost their top civil servant in brussels, the man who was on top of all the detail of what would be the mother of all divorce cases and what i think has been happening is that he has been reporting back about the complexities that need to be addressed when britain needs to at least have an idea of what it needs to negotiate for, what it wants to secure and he also has an idea of

the costs of some of this. in reporting this back to ministers, some of whom seem to be blissfully saying oh well, it will be no problem, it will be all right on the night, i think he was getting rather frustrated. what do you say to those who say that as a result of those very things you have highlighted, he was in fact tainted, he was overcautious and a pro remained pessimist? he's a civil servant so he serves the british government of the day but it is also his job to report facts to them and report back what he is finding out and that is what he is finding out and that is what he is finding out and that is what he was doing and he was doing it well. it's a bit rich for people to come down and attack him as if he was a politician with a particular viewpoint taking one side or another. he wasn't coming he was a civil servant. in terms of who should be doing these negotiations, how many people are there, do you think, who were up to the job? that won't be easy to find somebody who

has an understanding of all the issues involved and what it takes to find a solution to them. that's not going to be easy. the government is already in a mess on brexit and clearly divided as to what it wants to negotiate for in a number of the choices that we as britain have to make. it's beginning to realise how costly this is going to be instead of bringing money and saving money as we were told in the referendum campaign, it would save lots of money which would go to the nhs, it's actually going to cost us a lot of money. getting to grips —— somebody who can get to grips with such detail is not going to be easy to find. do you think he jumped or was he pushed 7 to find. do you think he jumped or was he pushed? i have no idea i've not spoken to him. but it's after the holiday period, it's unexpected, in this context and situation i rather suspect that he jumped. thank you very much forjoining us this afternoon. a man has been shot dead by police during wha

they said was a pre—planned operation near the m62 motorway in huddersfield. west yorkshire police say the operation was in relation to information received about criminal possession of a firearm. the man has been named as mohammed yassar yaqub. police say an officer's firearm was fired during the incident and five people were arrested. the independent police complaints commission has sent investigators to the scene. bbc look north's harry gration has been at the site this afternoon. the incident happened no more than 50 or 60 yards from where i'm standing and the slip road interesting in itself because those of you who may know the m62, this is a rather steady climb from the bottom... first turn—off to huddersfield... and that may well have initiated the police response, which they say was a preplanned police operation based on information received about the criminal possession of a firearm. more details of course are emerging and danny savage has more. it was about 6pm yesterday evening

when police boxed in a car leaving the m62 at huddersfield and brought it to a stop. armed officers were quickly out of the dark—coloured, unmarked cars and shots were fired. bullet holes can be seen in the windscreen of a white audi. one man died and three others were arrested here. we were hoping to get back down there as soon as we could get home... rahul tandon was in a carjust behind the incident as it happened. as soon as the ambulance pulled up, some of the policemen ran up and told the ambulance staff to get down as quickly as possible to where the incident took place. it looked like somebody needed urgent medical help. more police soon arrived. another car was stopped a few miles away as part of a pre—planned operation and two more people were arrested. it's not clear who was the target, but west yorkshire police say it was not terrorism—related. early today, screens have been put up around the scene. investigators were working on the site from mid—morning. the independent police complaints commission will oversee the operation.

the cars remain exactly where they stopped. the keys of the police vehicles involved have been left on the bonnet of the car with the bullet holes. for now though, this busy junction, high on a hill between halifax and huddersfield, remains sealed off. danny savage reporting. the road is still closed. police do tell us that within the next couple of hours they are expecting to reopen this road. at the moment, those drivers are having a 2k mile the tour. more information will emerge in the next hour or so. turkish police are continuing their hunt for the gunman who killed 39 people at an istanbul nightclub on new year's eve. some media reports have identified the suspect as a 28—year—old from kyrgyzstan, but that has not been confirmed by authorities. the islamic state militant group has said it carried out the attack in retaliation for turkish military

action against its fighters in syria. 0ur correspondent selin girit sent this report. a massive manhunt is under way. the turkish police are searching for the man who is now called a monster by the media. this is a selfie video of the alleged attacker, apparently walking around istanbul's central taksim square. the footage is circulated by tv channels across the country. security experts say he appears to be well versed in guerilla warfare and may have been trained in syria. some reports emerging earlier suggested that the police think the man is a kyrgish national who travelled to turkey last year, along with his family, so as not to draw attention. kyrgish authorities say they are investigating a 28—year—old man based on turkish media reports showing his passport. but conflicting information emerged about his identity. at least 16 people have been detained in connection with the investigation,

including two foreign nationals at the airport. in this neighbourhood of istanbul, where operations have intensified, locals are in a worried mood. the police raids were held in this building and several others in the area. there are many immigrants coming from central asian countries who choose to settle in this neighbourhood and locals tell us many of them live in packed flats. could there be an islamic state cell around 7 that is what the police are trying to determine. the central asian minority here feels increasingly tense. translation: there could be traitors anywhere, but it would make us very sad if the attacker was from central asia. because we love this country. i have not seen him before. if i had seen him, i would have killed him with my bare hands. 0utside reina club, where 39 partygoers were killed, around 200 people gathered today ina show of solidarity and to protest the spate of attacks that have crippled turkey, especially the tourism industry. this country has already seen around

30 attacks last year alone and the fear is the spiralling violence could get out of hand. selin girit, bbc news. kurdish militants say a british man has been killed fighting with them against so—called islamic state in syria. they've told the bbc that ryan lock, who was 20 and from west sussex, died during an assault on the is stronghold of raqqa. at least two other british men are known to have died while fighting against is in syria. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy reports. ryan lock had told his family he was going to turkey on holiday last august. but he instead went to join kurdish forces fighting so—called islamic state in syria. a kurdish militia group called the ypg said he had been killed on december the 21st, whilst fighting to take the is—held city of raqqa. there has been no official confirmation of his death, but a statement from the family home here in chichester, his father said

that ryan was a very caring and loving boy who would do anything to help anyone. he had a heart of gold, he said. ryan lock is thought to be one of several british nationals to fight and die for the kurds. many like him had no military training but had wanted to go after seeing pictures of the kurds trying to defeat islamic state. those who have spoken to ryan lock‘s family say they are devastated by what has happened. i mean, the one thing that we were able to tell them, that the ypg will be doing absolutely everything they can to facilitate the return of the body to the uk and would urge other parties such as the british government and the kurdistan regional government to please support the family in every sort of way they can in facilitating the return of ryan lock‘s body to the uk. in a statement, ryan lock‘s former school near portsmouth said... the foreign office hasn't commented

specifically about ryan lock, but said it was extremely difficult to confirm the status and whereabouts of british nationals in syria. ryan lock told friends he believed in the kurdish cause, but that commitment, it seems, has now led to the death of this 20—year—old former chef, who said he had wanted to make a difference. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in chichester. 0ur our top stories... britain's top diplomat to the eu, sir ivan rogers, resigns. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man is shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. he's been named as

mohammed yasser yaqub. a british man is said to have been killed in syria fighting with kurdish forces against islamic state militants. ryan lock had told his family he was going to turkey on holiday. and in sport, west ham are appealing the red card shown to sofiane feghouli during the premier league defeat to manchester united. he was sent off after colliding with phil jones. former super league champions ra dford jones. former super league champions radford bulls jones. former super league champions ra dford bulls have jones. former super league champions radford bulls have been liquidated after the club's administrator rejected a bid to save them. —— bradford bulls. andy murray is playing in the qatar open, his first event since being knighted. he is currently 3—0 up againstjeremy chardy of france. a think tank closely linked o the labour party is warning

that the party has almost no chance of winning the next general election. the fabian society says labour is "too weak" to win a majority and would need to work with rivals like the liberal democrats to stand any chance of getting into government. john curtice, professor of politics at strathclyde university, told me the report goes beyond the current difficulties faced byjeremy corbyn as labour leader. what the fabian society is pointing out at least in part is that it is absolutely nothing to do with the current position of the labour party in the polls, the travails and difficulties it has had sincejeremy corbyn became leader, it is pointing out one of the important consequences of the 2015 general election, in which two crucial things happened. first, labour lost scotland and they show no sign of regaining it. secondly, in so far as it made progress in england and wales, it made progress in seats it already held and made very little progress in the kinds of places it needs to gain from the conservatives. the result of that was to leave an electoral geography that puts

the labour party at a very significant disadvantage as compared with the conservatives. that electoral geography will be made even worse when the boundary changes to the constituencies are in place. to give you some idea, if labour's advance, whatever advance it managed to achieve from the 2015 position, if it is uniform across the country as a whole, then labour will need to be as much as 13 and a half points ahead of the conservatives simply to get an overall majority, and it will need to be about five points ahead simply to be the largest party. in contrast, the targets for the conservatives are an awful lot lower. now, the truth is, that's nothing to do withjeremy corbyn, this is the fact that labour's electoral geography is now significantly weaker and the first past the post system as a result is likely to punish it. there is another side to this also pointed out in the report, which is indeed if labour's vote does collapses, and they speculate about the possibility of a 20% vote, because there are some places where labour is still safe

in england and wales, it is in some sense insulated from that kind of disaster. but certainly, labour's chances of winning the next general election, irrespective of who its leader is, have always looked very remote, ever since may of last year. so when the fabian society talks about it needing to join forces with others, partly the liberal democrats but not just the liberal democrats, for you, that is just the maths, is it? that is just how it is? let's distinguish between two things here. we're not talking about the labour party needing to enter into a pact with the liberal democrats or the greens or whoever, in advance. what we're talking about is what would a sensible labour party do, given the arithmetic, in anticipation of a possibility that we might get hung parliament in which it is the largest party. that seems to be the best prospect for labour at the moment. and the labour party, in truth, will need to prepare

for that circumstance, both in terms of the kinds of argument we had in the last election about, will labour do a deal with the snp or not... it needs to be ready for that. and it certainly needs to be ready for whatever negotiations might take place after it. thousands of new starter homes have been given the go ahead to be built on brownfield sites across england. the properties will be available for first—time buyers aged between 23 and 40, at 20% less than the market value. labour says the target of 200,000 starter homes by 2020 isn't possible. but the government has insisted it's all part of a wider plan. two months after the elections, the us congress is back in session today. for the first time in a decade, the incoming administration will be able to rely on a republican majority in both the house of representatives and the senate. 0ur correspondent jane 0'brien is on capitol hill and spoke to us earlier. very interesting, in the last few

minutes a view details coming through in relation to the ford motor company. ford talking about cancelling a planned factory that they were going to build in mexico. this is really interesting. explain what we know. it is indeed. this is of course the auto industry, which donald trump has really taken on in the last several months. 0nly donald trump has really taken on in the last several months. only this morning he was talking about gm, accusing them of making cars in mexico to sell in the us. gm says thatis mexico to sell in the us. gm says that is not happening, they are selling the cars made in mexico elsewhere. but now we have ford in the last few minutes saying they are going to scrap this planned investment in mexico, $1.7 billion, and instead invest $700 million in a plant in michigan. so it seems that the industry is being shaken up. why and where this is all leading to, i'm not sure. but i have eight

democrat congressman representing california with me and i can put the question to him. do you think that donald trump taking on the auto industry is having a desired effect, jobs are coming to the us. industry is having a desired effect, jobs are coming to the use industry is having a desired effect, jobs are coming to the us. i think it's great that ford is going to invest $700 million in michigan. we don't know the reasons for this, if ford are getting a tax break that other companies are not. but i'm pleased ford is going to bring jobs to america, that's a good thing. so donald trump is having the desired effect, doing what he said he would do? all presidents have taken an interest in the auto industry. president 0bama helped save millions ofjobs in the auto industry. do you think tweeting about individual companies as president of the united states is going to be a sustainable policy? no, because there arejust far too many companies to deal with an donald trump can tweet about companies every day for the rest of his four—year term and it won't have

the desired effect on the economy. what you need is systematic change. you need to have laws passed in congress and a republican congress isa very congress and a republican congress is a very different position for an incoming president. they don't want to do what being coming president wants to do in terms of infrastructure, they want to repeal social security and medicare, which trump says he wants to protect. you will have an interesting dynamic between the republican congress and donald trump. let's talk about the dynamic between the democrats and the republicans because high on the agenda is the repeal of 0bamacare, the affordable care act. president 0bama is meeting with you tomorrow. how are you going to save it? we're going to fight like hell to save it. it's very important that the american people understand that the republicans have no plan. they're going to repeal it or try to and have nothing to put in its place. voters across america will vote again in two years for the congress and they can decide how they like

that, to repeal health insurance for 20 million people. but our democrats going to work work —— to work with republicans in congress? are you going to vote with republicans to make sure that those 20 million people who now have health insurance don't suddenly get abandoned?” would not vote to stop the repeal. -- i will —— i will vote to stop the repeal. we will work for a replacement. it's very ha rd we will work for a replacement. it's very hard to replace 0bamacare. there's reasons that was done the way it was done. thank you very much for joining way it was done. thank you very much forjoining me. a busy week ahead, lots on the go, hearing is about russia, 0bamaca re lots on the go, hearing is about russia, 0bamacare and the overhaul of the tax law. back to you. thank you very much. some breaking news from the world of sport and it's just show you the swa nsea sport and it's just show you the swansea city football club website because they have just announced that paul clement has been appointed

manager of the premier league club. this was after he joined bayern munich is there assistant coach in june last year. he has just agreed a two and a half year deal at the liberty stadium, confirmed before swansea's premier league game against crystal palace on tuesday night but he is expected to take a watching brief at that game. we will have more on that in the sport in ten minutes or so. now, music lovers have been in a spin this year, pushing vinyl sales to the highest they've been in 25 years. you can see where this is going more than 3.2 million records were sold last year, the 9th year in a row that sales have gone up. the industry says it's thanks to artists like david bowie and prince. music streaming was also up by two—thirds, while sales of cds fell again. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito has more. led zep ii. classic album. why is this better on vinyl?

well, it was made to be on vinyl. the actual format of the record, the gate fold sleeve. the artwork. so it was made for vinyl. it was never made to be a cd, it was certainly never to be a download. for phil barton of sister ray records, there is no debate, musicjust sounds better when it comes on a 12—inch disc. but as a business, it's been tough. however, things have begun to change. listen, ten years ago, i would have given you the keys to the shop and said, i can't make any money out of this. i didn't realise this stuff was still going to be hanging around. if we go back to 2007, the industry sold into the trade about 200,000 albums. which is pitiful, really. if we come up to date now, we are on about 3.3 million. next year we may be 4 million—plus. there has always been a market for old vinyl.

this version of let it be is £900. but new vinyl? last year, bowie topped the charts. prince was also in the top 10. memories of those we've lost. but it is notjust men of a certain age rediscovering their lost youth. my parents listen to viynl and they were like — you don't know what music is really like unless you listen to it on vinyl. and it's really impressive how it has come back now. it is a nice feeling where you have spent half an hour in the record store and you've found a gem. the fist thing we look at all the records, skim through, it is like a conversational piece. it has become more than just a fad now. yes, definitely more than a fad. ijust think it sounds better. it's more crackly. it has a better effect to it. of course it is worth putting this into some sort of context. imagine that each of these records represents 1 million sales. the bpi says if you add in streaming, digital downloads, cds, about 123 million albums were sold last year. the number of vinyl albums sold last year, 3 million.

and both piles are totally dwarfed by the real musicjuggernaut of today, streaming. the number of tracks streamed last year, 45 billion. david sillito, bbc news. let's get a weather update. hello there. the weather is a bit of a cracked record at the moment, one day cold and the next day a little milder, but it does look as though we will continue to see more cloud through the night to night, so not quite as cold and frosty. a weather front spilling its way to the east of. we might see clearer skies in the north, temperatures hovering close to freezing with strong gale force gusts of wind for a time across the northern isles in particular. that weather front goes down into north wales and the

midlands tomorrow but it will not really produce that much in the way of rain, just the odd spot of gristle. it sinks southwest as we go through the day. behind it, lest some lovely spells of sunshine coming through, chile to the far north but a few scattered showers across the east coast as well. three 01’4 across the east coast as well. three or 4 degrees here and highs of eight 01’ or 4 degrees here and highs of eight or nine further south. the temperatures fall away as we go through the night ended thursday morning, a wide and hard frost is set to return. hello. this is bbc news with jane hill and simon mccoy. the headlines at a.30pm: sir ivan rogers, the uk's ambassador to the european union, has resigned from his rolejust months before the government is due to start formal brexit negotiations. if the reports are true that ivan rodgers has resigned because of the pressure put on him, it is a spectacular own goal. the bbc has learned that the man shot dead by police on the m62 in huddersfield is mohommed yassar

yaqub. the incident took place during an operation to target suspected illegal weapons. police in turkey have made several arrests as they continue their hunt for the gunman who killed 39 people in a nightclub in istanbul. kurdish activists say a man from west sussex has died while fighting islamic state militants in syria. ryan lock, who was 20 and from chichester, had joined the ypg kurdish militia. and a think—tank closely linked with labour says the party is "too weak" to win a majority, and would need to work with rivals like the liberal democrats to stand any chance of getting into government. labour's real problem is it doesn't look as if it has much chance of being the largest party in a hung parliament given the opinion polls. police are searching for a driver

after two pedestrians were killed. this happened at 11.10am on the b1091. police called to reports of a collision involving two pedestrians and a bmw. the driver, a man, in his 40s, say the police, fled on foot. more details as and when we get them. it is time for the sport. damien, also known as pep's mate! don't you start! in the last few minutes, paul clement has been confirmed as the new manager of swansea city. clement has been assistant coach at bayern munich sincejune and is thought to have agreed a two and a half year deal at swansea. the club are currently bottom of the premier league and play crystal palace tonight. he takes overfrom bob bradley who was sacked last week. west ham have confirmed they're appealing against the red card given to by sofiane ferghouli in their 2—0 defeat yesterday. referee mike dean gave him a straight red after a collision with united defender philjones.

west ham manager slaven bilic said jones "made a meal" of the tackle by the algerian. ferghouli is the fifth player to be dismissed by dean in the premier league this season. ahead of his side's premier league match at bournemouth tonight arsenal manager arsene wenger says this season's festive fixture list is the most "uneven" he's seen in 20 years. wenger‘s team are playing just two days after hosting crystal palace, but leaders chelsea aren't in action until wednesday following their 11—2 victory over stoke on saturday. we have sold the rights to television for a lot of money. we have to accept that the television chooses the games, but i must say on that front some teams have a bit more luck than others. we are paid a lot of money to play football and it is part of it, but sometimes it goes for you and sometimes against you. former super league and world club champions bradford bulls have been liquidated after the club's administrator rejected

a bid to save them. the bulls entered administration for a third time in four years in november. 0ur rugby league correspondent dave woodsjoins me. dave, this has been coming hasn't it? a financial rocky road for the last four years. there was a bid to save the club before xlis mass. the rfl said they were 0k, save the club before xlis mass. the rfl said they were ok, but the administrator decided he wasn't after the christmas period. a second bidder came forward. again a lot of discussions, but today, it was decided that ultimately the club has to be put into liquidation. this is a club really that's been at the fore front of the dawn of super league, isn't it? it has. it was the iconic club. in 1996 it was the by iconic club. in 1996 it was the rugby league experience. lots of great music and a side that was winning trophies on a regular basis. their last was the world club challenge in 2006 and it has been downhill since for them. the players

have been told that they are free agents and they're being helped out by the rfl with a hardship fund, but the rfl are saying that they're asking and inviting people to come forward to make a bid to form a new clu b forward to make a bid to form a new club in bradford. the rfl hold the lease for the stadium. they have said the new club would still be in the championship next year if it was formed but they would have to start with the 12 points deduction. they are saying there is a lot of interest. there will be a bradford bulls playing in the championship next year, minus 12 points. but that's going to leave a bad taste with those being owed money. sir andy murray is playing his first singles match of the new year now. he's taking on frenchman jeremy chardy in the first round of the qatar 0pen. van gerwen beat gary anderson last

night. he has been speaking to our sports correspondentjoe wilson. it is not for me to judge, sports correspondentjoe wilson. it is not for me tojudge, but i believe there is not many better players. well, i wonder if there are any. when you play at your best, there has never been any better, has there? yeah, that's true. yeah, i think phil is the greatest simple as that. what he did for darts, for all of us, he made this happen. a lot of people could earn the money with it. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. one of the largest syrian rebel groups says it has suspended involvement in peace talks planned for later this month. the free syrian army said the regime and its allies had committed "many and large" violations of a ceasefire negotiated by russia and turkey. 0ur correspondent sangita myska reports. this, claim rebel forces,

is evidence that the syrian regime is continuing to shell parts of the north—west of the country, around wadi barada. it is, say the rebels, a direct contravention of the tentative truce brokered last week and the reason a number of anti—assad groups have now withdrawn from peace talks, due to be held in kazakhstan. the ceasefire that we've seen over the last few days has followed the pattern of previous ceasefires, where it is held in many areas, but has been violated in others. so we may be something a familiar story of a slow breakdown, but it still remains to be seen. the ceasefire received unanimous backing by the united nations on new year's eve. it was brokered by russia and turkey and is the third of its kind to be negotiated in less than a year, but even as voting took place, key players, including the united states, sounded a note of caution. our hope is that a ceasefire

will truly hold and will not serve as a justification for further unacceptable offensives. in that regard, we are concerned at reports of a regime offensive, supported by hezbollah militia in wadi barada. the security council's adoption of this text should be seen as a strong signal that such activities must cease. members of what used to be the called the nusra front, who had connections with al-qaeda, are among the rebel groups that the syrian regime is accused of pursuing. they are not signatories to the ceasefire. nevertheless, rebel forces who have signed up to the deal claim daily bombardment by the regime has crushed the spirit of the agreement. if they carry out their threat to withdraw from talks, negotiations for a lasting peace appear, for the time being, improbable. the syrian army has denied the allegations made against it. earlier i spoke to sajjad malik from

the unhcr who is the humanitarian co—ordinator in aleppo. he described the situation there at the moment. i have been to east aleppo several times over the last few days with my colleagues. you may have seen images coming out of east aleppo — video pictures — but nothing prepared the team psychologically for what we saw. it is beyond imagination. the destruction is enormous. it is massive. schools are destroyed. hospitals, clinics, water stations, residential buildings, even the heritage sites are so badly damaged that it is beyond recognition. the old bazaar which is the iconic place in aleppo is beyond recognition. shops are destroyed, businesses are destroyed. but one thing which we saw in east aleppo is that people are beginning to return with some optimism

and with some hope that this peace process is going to hold. so other than security, which is always a prerequisite in situations like this, what are the priorities that you are going to set? we have a team of more than 100 un staff working in aleppo right now. they're working on immediate and urgent needs. there are many competing priorities that we have to look into, but most importantly, over a million people are now getting safe drinking water. we have 12 mobile clinics and seven other units inside east aleppo to provide primary health care. we have propositioned 300,000 treatment supplies in eastern aleppo. 1,400 children who needed special attention have been relocated to hospitals in western aleppo. 10,000 children have been vaccinated. over 250,000 people have received emergency assistance for winterisation.

it is very cold out here. there is no heating. there is no electricity. we are giving 40,000 fresh baked bread every day. 40,000 meals are distributed twice a day to the people there. so there is a lot of work that is going on, but still this is the just the immediate and urgent response that we have to provide. important work of reconstruction, debris removal, buildings that have collapsed need to be structurally and sound and need to be taken care of and that's where the long—term investment has to come in. it was one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war with more than 325,000 allied troops and 260,000 german soldiers killed in the three months of fighting. well, to honour those who fell at passchendaele, and to mark the 100th anniversary, two special events will be held in ypres injuly.

0ur correspondent robert hall is in belgium. "my wound was slight and i was hobbling back and then a shell burst, slick upon the duckboards, so i fell into the bottomless mud and lost the light." "there was not a sign of life of any sort. not a bird, not even a rat or a blade of grass." the words of those who tried to sum—up the hell of paschendaele. three months when more than half a million men died. three months when the allied army fought an enemy, the mud and the cold, to gain a few miles of ground. a century ago, ypres was under siege. the roads leading north climbed steadily to the german lines, which overlooked the allies on three sides. after the war, the british made this sanitised documentary about the battle. tales of personal heroism to distract from the ghastly reality.

the reality of uphill advances, a sucking quagmire, and the horrors of machineguns and gas. this year's commemorations will be focussed in ypres, a city rebuilt from total destruction. there will be a series of events built around remembrance and the need to help visitors understand what happened here. steve almond oversees cemetaries across belgium. he says passchendaele holds a particular resonance. as you walk through the cemetaries, you actually see the headstones and see particular dates and there's so many of them at times in one single day, or a month and it'sjust sometimes it's unbelievable that things like that happened. last post sounds. on a freezing night under

the menin gate, the bugles sound for the fallen once again. paschendaele is burnt into ypres's turbulent history. paschendaele is the loss of a lot of lives for us. a lot of people that we commemorate day after day, and we want to continue the message that the last post has not forgotten. this summer's commemorations will be a partnership with a city whose people have never forgotten. more now on our lead story. the resignation of the uk's most senior diplomat in brussels, sir ivan rogers. we have not heard from him as to the reasons for that, but he is resigning. he was due to be in the post since november. brexit

campaigner and former ukip leader nigel farage says that he's very pleased to see sir ivan hand in his resignation. i'm very pleased. he is a committed europhile. he helped lead the renegotiations with he david cameron that went so badly and then came out the other day with this incredibly negative comment. he thought it might take up to ten years to renegotiate a deal. the only regret is he didn't go the day after the referendum. but surely he is someone who really knows how brussels works, who really knows how brussels works, who really knows many of the key people across those eu 27 states and was able to give the government proper analysis and advice from the european prospective? when you've spent your whole career as sir ivan has, trying it give away britain's independence and sovereignty because you believe in the european project, it doesn't matter how much expertise and it doesn't matter who you know in brussels, you're heading in the wrong direction. in many ways, 2016

did seea wrong direction. in many ways, 2016 did see a political revolution in this country in terms of the way in which the people voted, but we need to see a lot more changes in places like the foreign office. what do you say to the suggestion that he has been hounded out because the eurosceptics, the most pro—brexiteers don't like the message he was delivering, even if it was accurate? it is not accurate. the idea that a trade deal with take ten yea rs the idea that a trade deal with take ten years when all over the world there are independent sovereign states who within less than a year can get the nitty—gritty and of a trade deal organised. sir ivan is pa rt trade deal organised. sir ivan is part of the establishment that haven't accepted the referendum result and are hoping it will never happen. the foreign office is stuffed full of these people from top to bottom. for decades they have been taking britain in the wrong direction and i hope sir ivan‘s departure is followed by many, many more. nigel farage there giving his reaction to the resignation of sir

ivan rodgers. police are searching for a driver who fled on flood after two pedestrians were killed in a crash near peterborough. police and the airambulance near peterborough. police and the air ambulance attended the incident after 11am when a bmw collided with after 11am when a bmw collided with a the two pedestrians who later died. ina a the two pedestrians who later died. in a statement, cambridgeshire police say a man in his 40s fled the scene and is still unaccounted for. any developments on that, we'll bring it straight to you. in a moment a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first the headlines on bbc news: britain's top diplomat to the eu, sir ivan rogers, resigns. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man is shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. he has been named as yasser yaqub. a british man is said to have been killed in syria fighting with kurdish forces against islamic state militants. ryan lock, had told his family he was going to turkey on holiday. hello.

i'm jamie robertson. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. the markets have started the new year in much the same way that they ended the old one, on an upward march, with the ftse up along with the other major european markets and the dow up. the main driver is the oil price which is up some 2% after the deal between 0pec and non—0pec countries to hold back production came into effect on sunday. there have been warnings of brexit related job cuts from jamie dimon, the boss of the american bankjp morgan which employs 16,000 staff in the uk. but he says they would take place over "a period of years". in the us, president—elect donald trump has

said he will nominate robert lighthizer as his trade representative, and a few hours later criticised general motors for selling mexican made cars into the us. let's get detailed analysis of all that with justin urquhart—stewart from seven investment management. justin, that last thing about robert lighthousener, trump criticising gm for selling cars into the us made in mexico. are we getting pictures of how mrtrump mexico. are we getting pictures of how mr trump will act in term of trade? the new line is going to be not fair trade, but free trade on the basis of trying to protectjobs in america and return jobs to america. it is interesting to see how some of these corporates already react. ford saying they are going to actually start their production of new models in the us and not actually in mexico. his tweet about

this gm product though is strange because the cruze product that he is talking about, a type of car, is a hatchback one, it is for exports. i think as you say, that gives a theme as to what is going on here particularly with that appointment, that's back to the future because he is an old regan man and a regan man who was keen on being firm with the chinese in terms of dumping goods. ok, let's talk about oil for a little bit. it is on the way up, isn't it? up and up or are wejust seeing a small strengthening? no, it is up toi seeing a small strengthening? no, it is up to i think a new level. that's to say it could trade within $15 of where we are now. if, of course, that agreement holds and we have seen 0man that agreement holds and we have seen oman and uae cut some of their operations and it looks as though that might hold because it is in all their interests to do so. the fact that they signed a piece of paper with 0pec and non—0pec countries doesn't mean anything at all, but it isa doesn't mean anything at all, but it is a practical solution and that's good news actually as you were saying in terms of what happened to

the ftse because our oil companies, shell and bp, have reacted to that and that's created support. shell and bp, have reacted to that and that's created supportm shell and bp, have reacted to that and that's created support. it makes it harderfor british and that's created support. it makes it harder for british companies, who have to pay more, because the pound is so much weaker, may have to pay more for oil imported or energy? that's an interesting point. today we had the manufacturing ficks out in the uk and they were buoyant. take into account demand for exports because of actually a lower pound, but you are right, the next stage is when they have to start factoring the costs coming in because of a wea ker the costs coming in because of a weaker pound and the higher cost of oil. let's talk about the banking industry. what jamie diamond oil. let's talk about the banking industry. whatjamie diamond was saying they were going to be lost over time. was he saying if we have a sudden departure or if we spread it out over a few years? no one is talking about banks upping sticks and leaving altogether, but rather, it will be key areas where they will feel they want to actually operate within the eu. it maybe for instance

within the eu. it maybe for instance with regard to euro settlement. something we probably won't notice, but over a period of four or five yea rs, but over a period of four or five years, you will realise that certain departments have gone elsewhere or the new departments set—up haven't been set—up here. a lot of the american banks are saying if we need a european het quarters it better be in europe and if london ain't in europe, we have got a problem. you have said the infrastructure in london, the set—up, the culture in london, the set—up, the culture in london, really means that the financial centre of europe is going to stay here, do you still believe that or are you changing your mind? no, i this it will stay here, but you will see more reasons why it would go to the euro area. we should ta ke would go to the euro area. we should take that as a serious threat of pa rt take that as a serious threat of part of our negotiation to make sure we get the right deal out of brexit because it is within our interests. 0ur because it is within our interests. our primary industry, for the whole of the united kingdom, is financial services. let's not endanger this golden goose. justin, good to talk to you, thank you very much indeed. a recap on the markets. most

starting on an up. the dow has come off its highs actually. it is only up off its highs actually. it is only up 36. it was up 120 points when it opened. it is well below the 20,000 level as well which it was aiming for at the end of next year, but never actually reached. 0il for at the end of next year, but never actually reached. oil the real driver. brent crude up there, it is up driver. brent crude up there, it is up 2% on the back of expectations that 0pec and non—0pec countries will reign in production and dwrif the price higher still. that's all from me and from business. a round—up of the top business. a round—up of the top business stories on our website: bbc.co.uk/business four chelsea football fans have been given suspended prison terms following the racism incidents that you may remember this. was a racistence dent on the paris metro before a champions league match.

four defendants just given suspended sentences and ordered to pay the victim. you may remember, a black man, who was pushed off that metro train, ordered to pay the victim 10,000 euros in compensation. this was february 2015 as chelsea fa ns were this was february 2015 as chelsea fans were chanting, "we are racist, we are racist and that's the way we like it." we will bring you more reaction to that. lucy williamson, our correspondent, was in court. we will hear from our correspondent, was in court. we will hearfrom her our correspondent, was in court. we will hear from her later on. children in england are eating half their recommended daily sugar intake before they even get to school — that's the warning from health officials. public health england says sugary cereals, juices and spreads are to blame and, at a time of spiralling obesity levels, have launched a campaign to help us better understand what our children are eating. laura tra nt reports. if breakfast is the most important meal of the day... millions of children consume more than half their daily sugar allowance before they even get

to school, but a new campaign is aiming to curb that sugar rush. many parents will think their breakfast cereals are healthy, that they're buying for their children, and they're actually rather surprised when they find out how much sugar is in them. there are better, lower—sugar, alternative breakfast cereals on the market. we'd be encouraging parents to have a look at those. public health england has launched an app to scan a barcode, and it will tell you how much sugar, salt and fat is in that food. and the results — well, they may be surprising. and that is the idea, to help parents make healthier choices. the average child in england has the equivalent of three cubes of sugar every morning for breakfast. the recommended daily maximum amount for children aged four to six years old is five cubes, and for seven to ten—year—olds, six cubes. by the end of the day, the average child consumes three

times more than their daily recommended amount, up to 18 cubes of sugar. with one in five children now starting primary school overweight or obese, perhaps now, more than ever, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. we can now show you some video from the us showing the moment when a two—year—old boy saved his twin from under a fallen chest of drawers. neither child was injured in this footage. the video, posted on social media, by the children's parents. this is the brothers, brock and bowdy

playing in their bedroom in utah. as they try to climb into the drawers, the unit tips over, trapping brock underneath. bowdy tries to save his brother, climbing over the drawers. he eventually lifts the chest of drawers getting brock out. the parents decided to share this video to raise awareness of the dangers of not bolting heavy furniture to the wall. again neither of the boys were injured as a result of this. perhaps surprisingly. we will pause and catch up with the weather prospects. they come from louise lear. cloud arrived. it filtered down from the north. the best of the sunshine really was further south and west where we had a glorious end to the day across cornwall. in truro, a beautiful weather watcher photograph sentin beautiful weather watcher photograph sent in with hardly a cloud in the sky. a different story across

aberdeenshire. the winds ever increasing. gale force gusts are likely to continue through the far north—east through the northern isles overnight and our weak weather front continues to slip southwards. that will mean more cloud for most of us. perhaps we keep some clearer skies with temperatures falling away in the south—west and certainly into the north behind the weather front it will be a chilly start to the day. a touch of frost and maybe ice if you're close to a scattering of showers across north—east coasts, but there will be this front, although a weak affair, slicing the country in two. producing a band of cloud and showery outbreaks of rain a crosses cloud and showery outbreaks of rain acrosses north wales, stretching down into the midlands and the south east corner first thing in the morning. so it will abgrey start. it is not going to be as cold even at 8am, temperatures sitting at around six or seven celsius. behind it though, there will be a lovely clea ra nce though, there will be a lovely clearance and beautiful spells of sunshine starting to come through, northern england and much of scotland. always the risk of stronger winds up into the north—east and a scattering of showers generally running down through the north sea coasts, but a

beautiful day through scotland and northern england and northern ireland and eventually the late afternoon, north wales and the midlands as our weak front sits into the south—west. so highest values likely of around three to nine celsius. but with plenty of clear skies by day, that is going to allow the temperatures once again to plummet back down. so a widespread, ha rd plummet back down. so a widespread, hard frost, is likely first thing on thursday morning. in towns and city centres we may well see the temperatures dropping below freezing. in rural parts they will be at least minus five and minus six celsius in places. i suspect this time, we will get lovely spells of sunshine to compensate. perhaps more ofa sunshine to compensate. perhaps more of a breeze and more in the way of cloud across northern ireland, south wales and the south—west, but generally speaking, it is a cold afternoon, but a sparkling one. all change by friday. not much respite in the weather story at the moment. the breeze picks up. rain arrives. so it will be an unsettled end to our working week. more from me coming up in half an hour. eye

today at 5 — the man charged with helping guide brexit, today at 5 — the man charged with helping guide brexit the uk's ambassador to the eu, has abruptly resigned. sir ivan rogers has quit, with the formal negotiations on brexit due to begin in less than 3 months. the reason for his departure isn't clear. he thought it might take up to ten yea rs he thought it might take up to ten years to renegotiate it all. clearly the wrong man for the job. the only great i've got, is that he didn't go the day after the referendum. so, where does all this leave theresa's may's brexit strategy? we'll be live at westminster and brussels. the other main stories on bbc news at 5 — a man has been shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. mohammed yasser yaqub died during what's described as a ‘pre—planned' operation. there are more arrests in turkey after the new year's eve nightclub