hello you're watching bbc world news. i'm adnan nawaz. our top story this hour — britain's ex—ambassador to the eu tells his colleagues to challenge muddled thinking about brexit. sir ivan rogers also says britain doesn't have enough experienced negotiators to run the process of leaving the eu. welcome to the programme — our other main stories this hour. criticised by their president and their voters — republican party politicians reverse plans to strip an ethics watchdog of its powers. turkey's parliament extends the country's state of emergency by another three months — continuing the crackdown on suspected coup supporters. i'm sally bundock. in business: us car giant ford scraps plans for a huge new plant in mexico in favour of more investment in the united states. could this be a first win of the new year for trumponomics? and are eurozone‘s prospects

beginning to inflate? we'll find out in the next few hours if price rises in the block are now back on track. britain's top diplomat at the european union has resigned just a few months before the uk begins negotiations to leave the bloc. announcing his resignation, he's said there is muddled thinking about britain's departure from the eu, a comment believed to be directed at the government. it's not known exactly why ivan rogers has stepped down, but the country's ambassador to the eu had recently warned of the difficulties the uk would face in reaching a deal for its exit. tim allman reports. he was britain's man in brussels. the uk's ambassador to the european union. now sir ivan rogers has decided to quit his post. he is

going, he says, to allow a new team to ta ke going, he says, to allow a new team to take over before brexit negotiations begin but, as he was metaphorically walking out the door, sir ivan appeared to criticise the government's preparations for that momentous event. in an e—mail announcing his resignation, he told his colleagues, "i hope you will continue to challenge ill founded argument and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power." all of them, including ivan rogers in my experience, have a strong belief in objective public service and providing deal a subjective advice to politicians. it's a very dangerous thing in senior officials much like the attacks on judges are now susceptible to attack from the political masters course they simply don't tell them what they want to

hear. sir ivan rogers took up his post in 2013. appointed by the then prime minister david cameron. a fairly obscure but traps —— trusted confidant of those in power but he hit the headlines last month when it merged heeded advised ministers that opposed brexit —— the proposed brexit deal could take up to ten yea rs brexit deal could take up to ten years and even then could be rejected by eu nation. —— nations. britain's decision to leave the eu caused shockwaves across britain and europe. people believe the opinions of sir ivan rogers is typical. he is pa rt of sir ivan rogers is typical. he is part of the establishment that simply hasn't accepted the result and i'm sorry to say the foreign 0ffice and i'm sorry to say the foreign office is stuffed full of these people from top to bottom. for

decades they have been taking britain into completely wrong direction and hopes are unimportant to ash departure is followed by many more. but sir ivan's supporters say he is exactly the man with the experience to negotiate britain's departure. he says that serious multilateral experience is in short supply in the british government. it needs rapid resolution. time is running out. to reason they has promised brexit will be triggered by the end of march but sir ivan rogers seems to believe the government is not ready and is ignoring the advice of its diplomats. tim allman, bbc news. republicans in the us congress have withdrawn a controversial initiative which would have to stripped an ethics watchdog of most of its powers. the independent body investigates the behaviour of congress members, and the proposed change had outraged many, but when donald trump criticised the plan, republicans shelved the idea. laura trevelyan reports from washington. the house will come to order. as the brand—new congress convened on tuesday, rather than celebrating

the republica ns' dominance of washington, lawmakers were the centre of the debate over their behaviour is policed in the name of avoiding corruption. on monday night, republicans in the house of representatives tried to gut the independence of the office of congressional ethics by bringing it under the control of a house committee, prompting an outcry from democrats and government watchdogs. despite the row, it looked like a done deal. until donald trump took to twitter, saying: so, republicans had to decide whether they wanted to cross mr trump before he'd even taken the oath of office. some had staked out their positions before the tweets. i voted against this particular amendment because of the oversight language that i thought was ambiguous and needed further clarification. but others were defiant

in their call to strip the ethics oversight body of its powers. i think we should have gone forward and i'm going to push for the full abolishment of the 0ce because they are based on the wrong principles and no one should have to be subjected to public criticism that is generated by an anonymous accusers. the outgoing administration seized on the opportunity to lecture republicans. republicans in congress had revealed a lot about their priorities when the first action they took was to vote in secret to gut the ethical requirements they're subject to. donald trump mounted a hostile takeover of the republican party to become the presidential nominee. and now he has had to remind lawmakers he was elected on a platform to drain the swamp. with an ambitious agenda ahead, the relationship between the new republican congress and the president—elect has got off to a shaky start. and sally is here with all the business news.

a big loss for mexico? lord trevally in there saying he would drain the spot —— swamp. he will also bring jobs back to the united states. donald trump made it very clear he was going to get very tough on the us car makers who outsource production claiming it's already led to millions ofjob losses. well he's not yet in office but already the automobile industry seems to be dancing to his tune. us car giant ford has announced it will extend operations in michigan, as you can see behind me, and cancel plans for a $1.6 billion factory in mexico. earlier, in this tweet, president—elect donald trump criticised ford's rival general motors for making cars in mexico available tax—free in the united states. we will have a lot more on that

later on. in a few hours' time we'll receive the latest inflation figures for the eurozone economy. the block managed growth of 0.3% in the third quarter of last year and a sustained rise in prices could lead to the scaling back of the european central banks de facto money—printing programme. as you can see here — there has been a marked improvement in the rate of inflation for the block and in yellow you can see the 1% rate of inflation that economists are predicting for the last quarter of 2016. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @sallybundockbbc. it will be back in 20 minute with a

full business package, as it were. thanks. the turkish parliament has approved a three month extension to the country's state of emergency, which was imposed following july's failed military coup. turkey has suffered a series of deadly attacks, most recently during new year's eve celebrations, when a gunman shot dead 39 people in a nightclub. greg dawson reports. after the silent commemoration of grief, the noise of anger. istanbul's taxidrivers file past of the reina nightclub to demonstrate against yet another deadly attack in their city. 0ne against yet another deadly attack in their city. one of their colleagues who had driven people to the club was among the 39 killed. 0thers who had driven people to the club was among the 39 killed. others were parked outside the venue and saw the ghanaian shoot his way into the building. translation: i am go through terrible days. of course it is unavoidable to get depressed everytime i think about it. think of the seen all this time. people's

screens and the sound of. as the turkish people live in fear of more violence, the country's parliament voted to extend the state of emergency by another three months. it was first imposed after last summer's failed coup attempt. translation: regardless of which terrorist organisation they are, who supports them and regardless of the motivation, we are determined to fight all terrorists in 2017. we will fight to the end. the main suspect who the islamic state group called at their brave soldier still hasn't been caught. new pictures show him in the central city of konya before he travelled to is ample. there have been more raids in the city from where he have thought —— was thought to have made the journey to the nightclub that there was no arrests. even if he is caught, it is likely to do little to allay people's fears. security is

being titled ash tightened with the knowledge that islamic state is threatening more a tax in a country that has faced so many in the last 12 months —— attacks. in other news: at least 130 inmates have escaped after armed men attacked a jail on the southern filipino island of mindanao, in the early hours of wednesday morning. 0ne prison officer was killed and a prisoner was wounded. authorities say it was a two—hour gunfight in the prison. it's being reported that the convicted mass murderer, charles manson, has been taken to hospital. media reports say manson, who is in his eighties, has been moved to a hospital near his californian prison. an unnamed source told the la times manson is seriously ill. he's serving a life sentence for his role in the infamous murders of seven people, including an unborn child in 1969. a court in france has given suspended prison terms to four chelsea football fans accused of racially abusing a passenger on the paris metro. they've also been ordered to pay the victim 10,000

euros in compensation. the men had been filmed pushing a black man out of the carriage and chanting "we are racist," before a champions league game in february 2015. an israeli military court is due to give its verdict in the case of a soldier charged with manslaughter for killing of a wounded palestinian who had stabbed another soldier. in march last year, sergeant elor azaria shot abdul fatah al—sharif in the head while he was apparently incapacitated in hebron, in the west bank. the case has divided opinion in israel. here's a look back at what we know. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a best—seller once again. hitler's ‘mein kampf‘ shifts eighty—five thousand copies in germany in its first year of re—publication. the japanese people are mourning, following the death of emperor hirohito.

thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respect when it was announced he was dead. good grief. after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc world news.

the latest headlines: in a letter announcing his resignation just a few months before the uk begins negotiations to leave the european union, the outgoing british ambassador to the eu has urged his staff to challenge muddled thinking about brexit. republicans in the us congress have ditched plans to reduce the powers of an independent ethics watchdog, after voters and donald trump questioned their priorities. the watchdog monitors the behaviour of members of congress. the civil war in yemen continues. the civil war in yemen continues. the latest casualties include 11 members of the same —— 11 people, including five members of the same family. the conflict pits houthi rebels backed by iran against a coalition led by saudi arabia, which launched an air campaign nearly two years ago. nawal al—maghafi has been to the country, and reports on the danger for civilians caught in the middle.

this is where the battle to retake the capital begins. the mountains ahead are all that stands between the army and the capture of sana'a. their commander is taking us high up into the frontline positions. he tells me the terrain makes it a naturalfortress for the houthi rebels, and his men are always exposed to death. it is the first time any international broadcaster has visited these areas. they are just 70 kilometres from the capital, but, the closer they push into the mountains, the harder the fight becomes. translation: every day we make some progress. we attack and we retake land. people are lost, but at least the land is liberated. the rebels are retreating on a daily basis. but both sides have reached a stalemate. despite arms and air support

from the saudi—led coalition, these fighters from the national army haven't made any major gains. and as they fight for ground, the situation in yemen has deteriorated drastically. as the frontline shifts, landmines have been left behind. the army says the houthi rebels have planted tens and thousands of them in military and civilian areas. the scale of the problem makes yemen one of the worst affected countries in the world. despite a lack of training, the army says they have diffused over30,000 mines in the past year alone. locals say all of their farmland was mined. this is one of the areas the houthis had control of as they were trying to take over. the national army and the people here then pushed them out and as they were doing so the houthis planted landmines, scattered all over the fields. this man and his family fled once

the fighting started. they thought it was safe to return home. translation: my wife was praying here in the room and my son and daughter were sitting with her. they had lunch, and my son asked my wife to pass him a blanket. as she did so, there was a huge explosion. the mine planted in his home killed his wife, 22—year—old son and eight—year—old daughter. "it hurts to remember what happened", he says. "we just want to forget." the houthis strongly deny the use of landmines in civilian areas. they say they only target military vehicles and accuse the coalition of planting their own mines. regardless of who is responsible, the prospect of a solution remains distant, and the yemeni people, stuck in the middle, continue to pay the price. a special annotated edition

of adolf hitler's mein kampf has seen strong sales since its launch a year ago. about 85,000 copies of the anti—semitic nazi manifesto have been sold. the decision to republish has been criticised byjewish groups. sarah corker reports. controversial, reviled and for the past 12 months back on the shelves in german bookstores. mein kampf, meaning my struggle, set out hitler's anti—semitic ideas before he eventually put them into practice. for this new edition —— at this new edition isn't intended as a celebration but as a sober reflection on a notorious manifesto. the publishers say it has been annotated to highlight hitler's propaganda and mistakes. what we do is to provide a research based,

commentated critical edition for the first time, so that people who are interested in dealing with the book ona interested in dealing with the book on a rational level for the first time can do this. the book was first published in 1925, eight years before hitler came to power. after the nazis were defeated in 1945, allied forces handed the copyright to the state of bavaria, which banned further publications. that copyright expired last year, to allow this new addition to go on sale. —— edition. at a time when the far right is —— is seen to be gaining ground in germany, some say this is irresponsible. however a large chunk of the sales figures is down to the interest from libraries, schools and academics. they say instead of giving the book a platform, this helps undermine it. in sport, in the english premier

league arsenal needed a very late goal on tuesday night to draw 3—3 at bournemouth. with 20 minutes left to play, bournemouth had a 3—0 lead, but alexis sanchez, lucas perez, and then in the sixth minute of stoppage time, after bournemouth's captain had been sent off, 0livier giroud scored to keep arsenal in fourth place. they're eight points behind the leaders chelsea. bournemouth are ninth. when you are 2—0 down, the quality of the response of your team... you hope to come back, but not everybody can do that. mixed feelings tonight, but we have to recognise that my tea m but we have to recognise that my team has shown great strength. swansea city made a winning start in front of their new head coach, paul clement. they won 2—1 at crystal palace to move off the bottom of the table. in the night's other game, stoke beat watford 2—0.

england's rugby union coach eddiejones has confirmed that dylan hartley will captain the side in the forthcoming six nations championship, if he's fit. he's currently serving a six week ban for striking an opponent while playing for his club northampton. hartley, who captained england to the six nations title last year, has been banned for a total of 54 weeks during his career butjones say says if fit he'll be skipper. he is doing everything right at the moment. he has worked hard. the prerequisite is to be fit and not playing games means he needs to undergo an unbelievably stringent fitness programme over the next five or six weeks. he is doing that and put himself in the best position to continue as captain. when will you name your england captain? well, we will name the squad before the court —— the portugal camp. then we will name the actual captain when we

named the team. is it in mind to let dyla n named the team. is it in mind to let dylan hartley continue? 100%. if named the team. is it in mind to let dylan hartley continue? 10096. if he is right to play he will be captain. all this week, bbc news is focusing on what the big global stories might be in 2017. today we ask, is this a decisive year for europe? chris morris reports. hello, these are the top european stories to look out for in 2017. elections in several countries are set to reveal whether rising populism is a passing phase or any reality. in the netherlands in march we will find out how well the dutch man will do, whose popularity has faded before previous elections. in france, good marine le pen from the national front came the presidency in may and will voters from the ce ntre—left in may and will voters from the centre—left and centre—right join forces to shut out? in germany, angela merkel remains the favourite to wina angela merkel remains the favourite to win a fourth term in september. but keep an eye on rising support

for the but keep an eye on rising support forthe anti—immigrant, anti— but keep an eye on rising support for the anti—immigrant, anti— euro alternative fuer deutschland. there will almost certainly be an election in italy. the antiestablishment five star movement is waiting in the wings. in march the 60th anniversary of the treaty which founded the european economic community will ta ke european economic community will take place. critics say there isn't much to celebrate. the eu will try to prove it wrong. march should also see the uk triggering article 50 of the lisbon treaty, setting up a process that will see it leave the eu in two years. the first time the eu in two years. the first time the eu is about to get smaller, not bigger. much will depend throughout the year on the health of the european economy, particularly in the eurozone. the migration crisis will also be closely watched. and then of course there are two big external factors in europe. then of course there are two big externalfactors in europe. to the east, russia and the always difficult relationship european countries have with president

vladimir putin. and to the west, a new factor. the sheer unpredictability of a president donald trump. what will he mean for european security and for trade? 0r decades, europe have relied on sta ble decades, europe have relied on stable relations with the us and 2017 could see that change. the singerjanetjackson has given birth to her first child at the age of 50. in a statement, the musician and her husband, the qatari businessman wissam al mana, said they were thrilled to welcome the infant, eissa. speculation about her pregnancy surfaced in april when she postponed her unbreakable tour. hi there. 0ur temperatures are seesawing around at the moment. one day relatively mild, the next cold and it's the turn of the north of the uk to have a slab of cold air working in behind. it will be windy for a time in

shetland over the next three hours. gus running into 50 mph. cold air pushing into scotland and northern england. that's where the lowest temperatures will be to start the day. perhaps a few pockets of frost in sheltered parts of the highland. as this weak front pushes southwards, for many areas as we start the morning there will be a lot of cloud in the sky and some patchy outbreaks of light rain. it is patchy. some areas will get next to nothing, others will be damp forjust a couple of hours. behind this front, we have the breaking of the cloud in northern england and scotland. northern ireland, a front there, so a few patches of rain. clearing southwards quickly and then skies will brighten. through the rest of wednesday there will be plenty of sunshine across northern areas. any showers in the north sea tending to steer away from the coast, thanks to the winds, but they could clip the far east of norfolk and a few into aberdeenshire. initially these will be wintry for a time. colder in the rest of the uk.

between 3—5. not so cold in southern parts, with temperatures about eight. 0vernight we have clearing skies, light winds, the perfect recipe for a freezing cold night. and in the towns and cities it will be cold enough for some frost. —3 or so in manchester. in the countryside temperatures get down to minus 6, minus 7. there will be icy stretches and the possibility first thing on thursday for the same. a cold, crisp day. temperatures struggling between 2—5. a little bit less cold across western parts. as we go into friday it's all change again towards the end of the week. this atlantic frontal system moves southwards. some slightly less cold air in amongst the rain, as it moves southwards it will be breezy. those temperatures will be picking up. so we end the week with highs into double figures. that's the latest weather. goodbye for now. this is bbc world news,

the headlines: in a letter announcing his resignation, britain's former ambassador to the eu has urged colleagues to challenge what he calls muddled thinking about brexit. ivan rogers said staff should continue to challenge ill—founded arguments. republicans in the us congress have withdrawn an initiative to reduce the powers of an independent ethics watchdog. president—elect donald trump criticised the proposals, saying congress should prioritise tax reform and healthcare. turkey's parliament has extended the country's state of emergency — imposed after a failed military coup injuly — by another three months. the government has purged tens of thousands of alleged coup supporters from public positions. at least 130 inmates have escaped from a jail on mindanao, in the southern philippines, following an attack by militants. a guard said the attackers were part a rebel group, the moro islamic liberation front.