a blue whale, hung from the ceiling to give the impression of it diving. being a living species that needs protecting. but today it is all about dippy. for those feeling a little bit sad at his departure, there are tentative plans to recast there are tentative plans to recast the diplocodus in bronze and place it in the museum grounds. but for now, it is goodbye. now taking dippy apart is going to be a month —— months of work as labelling all the bones and training them and then putting them back together again ready for the tour, that will go on over the next couple of years or so. in terms of his replacement, the as yet unnamed blue whale should be in position and hanging from the ceiling by the summer. time for a look at the weather. no bones about it, it is going to be pretty chilly over the next 2a hours. in fact we are in something ofa hours. in fact we are in something of a temperature battle ground with cold air to the east but mild air

never far away out to the west. but for the time being today the cold front is the story bringing in that cold airand front is the story bringing in that cold air and pushing mild air away to the west. it also brings some outbreaks of rain across south—western areas and up to the north—east we have showers coming in. they are blowing in on a pretty blustery north—west wind making it feel quite cold and raw. inland especially over the high ground we have some sleet and snow and showers running right the way down to the coast of east anglia where again it will feel cold in the strong wind. further west we have sunshine but also extra cloud across the far south—west producing the spot of rain and temperatures on chilly side wherever you are. then as soon as it gets dark this evening and tonight, the temperature is are going to plunge. you can see the blue shading spreading right across the map and

where we keep the shower going across eastern areas, there could be some icy stretches on the untreated roads. towns and cities widely getting down to freezing but in the countryside we could reach minus seven degrees. so certainly a cold start to tomorrow morning but a beautiful day with blue skies and crisp sunshine. the showers tending to die away from eastern areas. the temperature is really struggling. through thursday night we hold onto high pressure towards the south—east and underneath the high—pressure, we could have some dense fog patches forming butt out west we have a change with these frontal systems pushing in. the mild air lying in wait out west. we have some rain but behind that things turn milder. ii degrees in belfast on friday afternoon and that sets us up nicely for the weekend. it will feel

considerably milder and we have some rather cloudy conditions for most of the time. from that the odd spot of patchy rain and drizzle at times. so cloudy into the weekend, maybe some rain at times but before we get there prepared to feel the chill. some very cold weather through the next 2a hours. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime. britain's outgoing eu ambassador has attacked the government for "muddled thinking" in its approach to brexit. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon. and now a look at the day's sports news with mejessica creighton. former olympiacos coach marco silva is the odds—on favourite to become the new man in charge at hull city, according to several bookmakers this morning. the 39—year—old portuguese left the greek champions last summer. hull sacked mike phelan last night after picking upjust 13 points in his 20 league games in charge at the k com stadium, although he did take the club

to the semi—finals of the efl cup. chelsea are bidding for a record 14th straight victory in the english top—flight, in one season. they play arch rivals tottenham at white hart lane tonight. a win would extend their lead at the top of the table to 8 points, and match arsenal's top—division record for successive wins, spread over two seasons in 2002. for sure, totten is a good team, a very strong team —— tottenham. for this reason it is important to try to continue our run. it is a reasonable opportunity for us to try and stop them and try and use the 95p~ and stop them and try and use the gap. it is important, it is important for the premier league and

for us to try to win and tried to stop them. our challenge is to be in the top four. leicester and england centre manu tuilagi will be out for the rest of the season, as a result of the knee injury he suffered during his club's premiership defeat by saracens at the weekend. tuilagi's latest setback comes after eddie jones confirmed that he would have been part of his international plans. it is frustrating for him, he is a good kid. he really wants to play well for leicester, he really wants to play well for england, and he was just coming back into some form. you could see he was getting some power back. it is enormously frustrating for him. for us, he is a player we would love to have in the camp, but if he is not there, we willjust get on with it. paralympic champion kadeena cox has had her uk sport funding suspended while she takes part in channel 4 winter sport programme the jump. cox, who won cycling and athletics golds in rio, is one of three current sports stars among the 14 participants,

along with olympic taekwondo champion jade jones and gymnast louis smith. the medical teams from both athletics and cycling are believed to have advised cox against participating in the show but have allowed her to make her own decision. two england cricket captains past and present were the key figures in today's big bash game where the sydney thunder beat the melbourne stars. first, kevin pietersen impressed for melbourne, hitting 7 fours and two sixes in a brilliant innings of 60. it looked as though that would be enough, but england's one—day captain eoin morgan needed a six from the final ball to win it for the thunder — and he delivered in style. it's clear to see what it meant to morgan. this his final match, before leading england in the odi series in india. british number two kyle edmund is through to a first atp tour quarter—final of 2017, after his opponent retired in the second round of their match, at the brisbane international this morning. edmund, ranked 45 in the world,

beat lucas pouille, after the frenchman retired, when trailing 6—3, 3—1. edmund will take on us open champion stan wawrinka in the last eight. great britain suffered another 3—0 defeat in the hopman cup in perth. they lost to france after heather watson was beaten by kristina mladenovic and dan evans lost to richard gasquet. the pair also lost the doubles. britain have already lost to switzerland, so their last group match against germany is now meaningless. meanwhile, a shock defeat today for the 22—time grand slam champion serena williams, who lost in the asb classic to world number 72, madison brengle from the united states. williams lost in three sets, making a huge 88 unforced errors in the windy conditions of auckland. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. thank you, jessica. see you after

two o'clock. hello, good afternoon. you are watching bbc news. i am jane hill. before we turn to our main story of the day, the resignation of ivan rogers, let's bring you some news which has just come through in the past few moments from greater manchester police. we are just hearing from that police force that four men have been charged this lunchtime in connection with the collision in oldham where you were remember two young girls died, two cousins died in that. we are just hearing that four men have been charged. this was on new year's eve, early evening on new year's eve that these two young girls were struck. four men now facing charges, including causing death by dangerous driving, and conspiracy to convert the course of justice,

driving, and conspiracy to convert the course ofjustice, also driving without a licence and failing to stop after a collision. there are quite a number of charges. four men facing those charges and those two cousins who were holding hands as they crossed the road, killed in that collision. that is just through from greater manchester police. let's return now to the news that britain's outgoing ambassador to the european union, sir ivan rogers, has strongly criticised the government's preparations for brexit. we have had more details about his resignation and we have seen his resignation and we have seen his resignation letter. we can talk now to one man very much involved in the campaign to leave, the former conservative leader iain duncan

smith. good afternoon. good afternoon. sir ivan has said there is a lack of preparation and a lack of expertise. do you think he is making valid points? i cannot comment on the lack of preparation but it is not my perception. i think they are getting on with it. theresa may made a statement in october last year at the conference where she set out very clearly what the government would be looking to do, take back control of our borders, no longer be subject to european law and be able to make full treaties with other countries around the world. and to get back the money we give to the european union and those three conditions were a strong plan. they will not be invoking article 50 until the end of march. i thought

the e—mail said more about sir ivan than they did about the government. i see one of the channels are referring to him as i—i—i—i ivan because the end of the letter is all about him. he is confusing the truth with an opinion. the government decides whether you take the opinion. i don't think he has covered himself with glory in this e—mail. i think he suggests the reason why the government may not have had him involved completely is because he did not have their trust. the advice may not always be co mforta ble the advice may not always be comfortable and that is one of the points he is making, that the people involved in this negotiation process which is so important for the future of this country, do need to know in reality what the other member states are thinking. you cannot pretend they are not thinking those things? i have done a number of negotiations

when i was in business before i came into politics. the things i know is what the others are thinking our intelligence. that is what you glean from that. and what you think about what they might do, that is advice and opinion. there is not truth in this. the truth always lies in whether or not you have got your fa cts whether or not you have got your facts straight. the reality is, the government cannot reveal its whole hand, theresa may has made that clear, and i think the issue on whether or not we listen to civil servants' advice, whether or not we listen to civil serva nts' advice, i whether or not we listen to civil servants' advice, i spent six years ina servants' advice, i spent six years in a department running it, i listened to civil servants, they argued with me, but at the end of it all ministers make the decisions and it will be the prime minister who makes the decisions about what that strategy will be. whether sir ivan was in the loop or not maybe the real question to be asked and whether or not it was a good idea to keep him in the loop or not, i don't know. it seems to me this is a somewhat bitter note from somebody who felt that when they spoke some

ad should always listen and do what they said. i do think that is the case. as the cabinet secretary said thejob of civil case. as the cabinet secretary said the job of civil servants is to get on and deliver on the mandate of leaving the eu. i am not surprised by his departure innocence. i think he had become somewhat semidetached. one thingi he had become somewhat semidetached. one thing i do find rather reprehensible is the idea that someone reprehensible is the idea that someone who is still serving writes a memo to all his colleagues, knowing full well that that is going to get out to the media. it seems to me that this is quite wrong and it does not do well for civil servants, many of whom who try hard to keep their advice behind closed doors so they can be robust about it without arguing in public. his note is not entirely negative though. he says, i have argued consistently that many opportunities for the uk in the future will derive from the mere fa ct of future will derive from the mere fact of having left and being free to ta ke fact of having left and being free to take a different path, but then

he goes on to make the point that there is still a lot of tricky negotiation ahead and the best benefits for britain can only come through expert negotiations, from dealing with people who truly understand what the other member states wa nt. understand what the other member states want. you would have to —— you don't have to make that information public but he is making the point that you need the expertise behind the scenes?” agree. the phrase you havejust used is behind—the—scenes. there is nothing behind—the—scenes about this resignation. he has decided to go public about it. back in december there was another e—mail he wrote which is somehow got into the public domain again. i don't disagree with him. ithink domain again. i don't disagree with him. i think there are huge potential opportunities for when britain leaves the european union, andi britain leaves the european union, and i am very much in favour of that. what i do think for civil serva nts that. what i do think for civil servants and this i thought the cabinet secretary was utterly clear about back in june, cabinet secretary was utterly clear about back injune, is that their

job is to deliver for the government who delivering for the people. what you cannot have is confusion by saying look, when i say something to you, you should listen. ministers will make their own minds up about whether they will listen or not. you cannot go around moaning because they do not accept your advice. you have to hope they will come around to your way of thinking if you have a slightly different opinion, but what has happened here seems to be a somewhat bitter note. i was surprised by how he seemed so keen to see this in the public domain. it does not bode well for the future of the civil service if every time you asa the civil service if every time you as a minister and picked your views out there rather than just getting on with thejob. out there rather than just getting on with the job. the job is to deliver on the desire of the british people to leave the european union and this is not really a storm in a teacup. he is not replaceable as some people said. he carried out the negotiations with david cameron which came to nothing before, so i am sure there are plenty of people

who could do this job with experience in europe. the question is, will they do it behind closed doors or will they keep their advice themselves after they have given it to ministers? those are the two component parts. thank you, we will have to leave it there. we will talk more about this story after two o'clock. now let's turn to american politics. the us congress is back in session for a second day, with both parties signalling their policies and priorities for the next term. the republicans will not only have donald trump as president — they'll also hold majorities in the house of representatives and the senate. the us president—elect has already disrupted republican plans to gut an independent congressional ethics watchdog, saying it wasn't a priority. he says tax reform and health care should take precedence. but president obama is fighting to preserve the changes of the last eight years. the controversial affordable care act, or obamacare, was passed in 2010. the law aims to bring health

insurance coverage to some of the 15% of the us population who lack it — around 22 million people. under the law all americans must have health insurance — but the government offers subsidies to make coverage more affordable. it also means that more businesses have to provide health insurance for their employees — and it's easier for customers to shop around and compare policies. but republicans have strongly criticised the law saying it's too expensive for business. many have called it a "job killer". they have said it is an unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of private businesses and individuals. karyn bruggeman — is the politics reporter at the nationaljournal. some people said the republicans

we re some people said the republicans were in the minority —— the democrats were in the minority in both chambers so they do not have power to block the changes. this will be one of the first things the republicans want to attack. president obama will be heading to capitol hill to meet with the sennett which is rare for him but it will show how committed he is to preserving parts of the law which is viewed as one of his signature achievements from his eight years in office. there will be huge battle about this law because it covers over 29 million people. republicans have not made it entirely clear how they would replace the law, so there isa they would replace the law, so there is a lot of concern over and what this will look like and whether it will wreak havoc on the us and system. in amended we will have a summary system. in amended we will have a summary of the business news this hour with ben but first a reminder

of the headlines. four men have been charged with the incident in oldham where two cousins we re incident in oldham where two cousins were killed. the european commission says it regrets the resignation of britain's ambassador to the european union. an israeli soldier is convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a wounded palestinian knife attacker. hello, iam ben hello, i am ben bland with the business news. next — usually an indicator of how things are going on the high street has issued a set of christmas sales figures that they would probably like to exchange or return — full—price sales down by 0.4% in the weeks leading up to christmas eve, and the retailer warns prices could rise by 5% this year. elsewhere on the high street, john lewis reported a pre—christmas sales surge. female workers continue to face a "rapid rise" in pay inequality

when they get into their 30s and 405. that's according to a new paper from the resolution foundation. women born after 1980 can expect to be paid almost 10% less than men when they hit their 30th birthday. that compares with a 5% pay difference between men and women in their 20s. and having children widens the gap. good news for the construction sector. fresh figures from markit/cips suggest construction companies enjoyed the fastest rise in new orders last month, since january 2016. stronger demand led to morejobs but cost pressures are high as suppliers passed on higher imported raw material prices. donald trump's nominee for secretary of state, has just agreed a deal to cut ties with his former employer. rex tillerson, the former chairman of oil group exxon, stands to get a $180m retirement package. joining me now from the floor

of the new york stock exchange is michelle fleury. michelle, good to see you. tell me more about this retirement deal. it sounds rather hefty. it is not bad. it is believed to be worth around $180 million. the company has put out a release today basically outlining what steps have been taken to try and avoid potential conflicts of interest that might arise if rex to —— rex tillerson work confirmed as secretary of state. he was due to receive 10 million shares over the next ten years as part of the deferred pay out of retirement money. that will now be put into a trust that will be independently managed and he will still receive a payment over the ten years but will not have any control over how that money is managed, what is done with it. the other thing is, he was due

to receive, he has his own exxon shares, those are being sold and he also had other benefits due to him which he will have to give up. for example, things like a dental plan and things like that. in total, the company estimates he will lose as much as 7 million that was due to him. it sounds like a huge sum to you and i bet in the big picture of what he is walking away with, not too bad indeed. and this is all because of the requirement that when you hold public office, you have got to show there is no co nflict—of— i nterest to show there is no conflict—of—interest and you have severed the business ties. we saw this with donald trump in the early days of the election, didn't we? this is going to be an issue and the conversation we will hear more about. this particular cabinet has more business people and wealthy individuals who might be called upon to make policies in which they have a certain state, a certain interest.

in the case of rex tillerson, he is leaving exxon mobil. they have a huge deal in russia which they signed back in 2011, but because of sanctions in the country, that investment is remaining idle at the moment. the oil in that country has not been able to be exported. you can see suddenly how being secretary of state there could be a potential co nflict—of— i nterest of state there could be a potential conflict—of—interest there. this is something we have seen, the company says it has worked with federal ethics guides. donald trump says he plans to hand over his business to his sons but that will not be enough to satisfy all people who study these ethics issues. i think it will be something that you and i will talk a lot more about.” be something that you and i will talk a lot more about. i look forward to it. the ftse 100 rather flat this afternoon.

down from the record high it hit yesterday. the downward pressure is coming from a sharp fall in next shares — after those disappointing sales figures and its warning of a chill in the air for trading in the coming year. that chill also being felt by other big retailers — marks & spencer, primark owner british foods and debenhams all trading lower. one bright spot — among british retailers. on the ftse 250, b&m shares are up. the discount shop reporting record christmas figures. i will be back with more business in about an hour. thank you. let's talk a little bit more about the news which came through from greater manchester police. four men have been charged following the collision on new year's eve where two girls died. we can speak to our correspondent. tell us can speak to our correspondent. tell us what the police have been saying. four men were rested after the collision on new year's eve. police

had been given extra time to question those men and today they have charged the men in connection with this incident. one man has been charged with two council causing death by dangerous driving, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, driving without a licence and failing to stop and report the collision. that is gabor hegedus. three other men have also been charged with conspiracy to convert the course of justice. charged with conspiracy to convert the course ofjustice. now, the two cousins, 12—year—old helina kotla rova cousins, 12—year—old helina kotlarova and 11—year—old zaneta kro kova were kotlarova and 11—year—old zaneta krokova were holding hands when they we re krokova were holding hands when they were crossing ashton road in oldham on new year's eve, when they were struck by a blue peugeot car. the 12—year—old died at the scene. her cousin died on monday in hospital.

there has been a huge outpouring of grief in the community. a lot of the community have rallied around to support the extended family. the men arrested will appear in court this afternoon. thank you. you will bring us more on afternoon. thank you. you will bring us more on that, i am sure. much more to come from two o'clock, including that story and all the news out of europe, but let's pause and catch up with the weather prospects. hello, good afternoon. things are feeling decidedly chilly over the next 2a hours or so. we have some milder weather waiting in the west but for the time being it is this cold air which is affecting us. there has been some cloud across southern england, wales and northern ireland. that has been producing the odd spot of rain. but without

clearing away we have had some sunnier skies and our weather watchers have been out and about capturing the blue skies. with the sunshine we also had some showers up to the north—east, where it is also feeling raw. some sleet and snow even to low levels. mostly rain along the immediate coastline that inland some hail and wet snow. out west, yes we have some sunshine, still some cloud left behind. maybe the odd spot of rainier and temperatures ranging from four in aberdeen to eight in plymouth —— the odd spot of rain. with clear skies and light winds foremost, it get cold overnight. how cold is it going to get? council and cities below freezing in many places, but out in

the countryside, we could almost get down to —6 —7 even minus eight. if you are out and about tomorrow, expect a very cold start to the day but at beautiful day in prospect. the showers gradually easing away from eastern areas. a little more cloud beginning to fringe its way in. the temperature stuck firmly down in single figures. a bit of a change through thursday night into friday. towards the south—east there could be some dense fog patches, that up to the north—west, frontal system is beginning to push in from the atlantic. that will bring some rain south and east ward is. ahead of that, quite a chilly day again. behind the rain band we start to bring the milder air back in. 11 degrees the afternoon high in belfast. that takes us nicely into the weekend. it will feel considerably milder but with that, quite a lot of clout and we will see

some patchy drizzle at times. we will lose the bright skies, we will lose the sunshine and we will also lose the sunshine and we will also lose the sunshine and we will also lose the chill with some milder weather on the way. this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 2.00pm: the european commission ‘regrets' the departure of britain's eu ambassador, but there's a mixed reaction at home from both sides of the brexit debate. we should have somebody leading for the uk who clearly believes that the outcome can be beneficial to the uk. i think that makes us all believe what we already suspected, which is the government does not have a plan. four men are charged over the car crash in oldham in which two cousins, aged 12 and 11, were killed. shares in next dive — as the retailer reports falling christmas sales, and warns of ‘great uncertainty‘ post—brexit. an israeli soldier filmed shooting a wounded palestinian knife—attacker