this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 3.00pm: 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 that killed two young cousins. an israeli soldier filmed shooting a wounded palestinian knife—attacker is convicted of manslaughter. i'm christian fraser, and in the next hour: shares in next tumble as the retailer reports falling christmas sales. the high street giant warns of uncertainty because of a consumer spending squeeze and brexit. and visitors to the natural history museum bid farewell to dippy the diplodocus ahead of his nationwide tour. a bit sad that he is going but maybe

i can see other dinosaurs, maybe. and what do you think of dippy? he goes, "rawr!" good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the european commission has expressed regret over the departure of britain's eu ambassador, sir ivan rogers, saying he was very knowledgeable and always defended his government's interests. sir ivan issued a strong resignation email, warning of muddled thinking over brexit. but leading eurosceptic conservative iain duncan smith said he'd undermined ministers' trust when his private advice that a brexit deal could take ten years was leaked. our political correspondent ian watson reports.

camera shy in public, outspoken in private. sir ivan rogers has exited his role as britain's eu ambassador. when the bbc revealed his private advice that a trade deal with the eu could take ten years, he was attacked by some leave campaigners for being pessimistic. diplomats are supposed to be, well, diplomatic. but in his resignation e—mail, he is anything but. he tells his staff, "i hope you will continue to challenge ill founded arguments and muddled thinking, and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power." so until a recently faceless bureaucrat in brussels resigns, why should that matter here in britain? well, the clock is ticking on the uk's departure from the eu. the process has to get underway by the end of march. now, it was sir ivan rogers' job to find out and then report back the thinking of other eu member states before these crucial negotiations begin. it will take time to replace him. wall the government can't yet tell us a timescale and some former whitehall mandarins

say his experience will be sorely missed. ivan rogers leaving at this time, so shortly before the triggering of article 50, is a loss to the government because he is a man of great experience and expertise in european matters, with deep knowledge. and we need that sort of experience to take forward the negotiations. you know her catchphrase by now, ‘brexit means brexit‘. but the most damaging accusation in ivan rogers' resignation letter is that perhaps she isn't so sure what it means after all. he says, ‘we do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the uk's relationship with the eu after exit." i think that makes us all believe what we already suspected, which is the government does not have a plan. it does not have clear objectives for these negotiations. that's quite different from not revealing your hand, not revealing your tactics. it means you don't actually know what you want. david cameron tried to negotiate

a new deal with the eu ahead of the referendum. but many leave campaigners blamed sir ivan rogers, their man in brussels at the time, for not pushing the other eu states hard enough in those talks. so they say his early departure as our eu ambassador is no great loss. in the negotiations for david cameron which came to nothing before, so i am sure there are people who can do this job with just as much experience in europe. the question is whether they will do it behind closed doors and keep their advice to themselves —— he is not a replaceable, he represented david cameron in negotiations... sir ivan rogers is likely to be replaced by another senior civil servant to negotiate our departure from the eu. but this diplomatic appointment has now become highly political. tim shipman is the political editor of the sunday times and joins me now from westminster. tim, in your book recently lifted the lid on some of the difficulties between the cameron team and sir

ivan rogers. can you explain what they were? david cameron was advising sir ivan that when he was seeking his renegotiation with brussels he would have to work within the grain of brussels and existing eu law. cameron promised a fundamental renegotiation but rogers went out of his way to ensure it was not a fundamental renegotiation. a lot of people working for david cameron when i was writing my book made clear they felt rogers had behaved undiplomatic way. pretty undiplomatic diplomat, who had made numerous threats to resign if his advice was not listened to. he also would go straight over the head of david cameron if he was not listened to by those staff, so it is not surprising when he finds another prime minister less prepared to listen to him that he has disappeared. let's speak a little about the process. we know about the i’ow about the process. we know about the row over sir ivan. so often there is shouting and so on between civil

serva nts shouting and so on between civil servants and politicians. how experienced was sir ivan at picking up experienced was sir ivan at picking up the more nuanced inferences from brussels. yes, a lot of the activity of brussels is based on personal relationships rather than ideology oi’ relationships rather than ideology or what people think a good outcome might be. a lot of it is a friendly handshake and a deal done behind closed doors, so someone like sir ivan was important as an early warning system, but i think there is a difference between sending back warnings about how other states might react to certain things if britain were to push them, and appearing to be hugely eeyore—ish as appearing to be hugely eeyore—ish as a figure appearing to be hugely eeyore—ish as afigure in appearing to be hugely eeyore—ish as a figure in the brexit deal, and i think that is what people in downing street had come to see. it is a difficult balance, isn't it? for all civil servants and diplomats you have to be there long enough to earn the trust of people on both sides within europe and also here in the

uk. but if it is all about experience and networking, how do you prevent a bias towards one particular path? that is always very difficult. i think there is always a suspicion that people from britain who spend too long in brussels go a bit native and there is certainly a view from success of prime ministers that inhabitants of the foreign office have tended to do that. rogers of course is not actually by training a diplomat. you know, she is one of those people who emerged from the treasury, where often there isa from the treasury, where often there is a view taken that there is a right and wrong answer to things, andi right and wrong answer to things, and i think what downing street saw with rogers is a guy who was becoming sinuously sort of diplomatic with the people in brussels, perhaps becoming a little close to them, but also thought there were sort of right and wrong a nswe i’s there were sort of right and wrong answers in the way treasury mandarin wood and was increasingly telling them they had the wrong answers, so he the worst of both worlds, i

think, as people at number ten were beginning to see it. so someone who knows brussels but is not seen as being part of brussels, that is who they are on the hunt for levels to what that person —— but with that person necessarily have the trust of people in brussels? you need someone who has trust here but also can get underneath the skin of people within the european commission? that is absolutely right but it is not impossible to find such a person. there are people with the trust of the prime minister who also know what they are speaking about and europe. a chap called oliver robins has been operating as theresa may's europe adviser and with a lot of the contacts between number ten and brussels and he could be sent over there. they are bringing back a guy who is currently the ambassador to brazil, alex ellis, he is coming back and is apparently trusted by people at the centre. he spent three oi’ people at the centre. he spent three orfour people at the centre. he spent three or four years working people at the centre. he spent three orfour years working in people at the centre. he spent three or four years working in the european commission so he has some history of working there and understanding how the world works, but perhaps has not been someone who

in their eyes is tainted by recent association. tim, good to see you. thank you for spearing sometime this afternoon. tim shipman, from the sunday times. four men have been charged after the deaths of two young girls in oldham in a car collision on new year's eve. 11 year old zaneta krokova died in hospitalfrom the injuries she suffered in the collision. her cousin, helina kotlarova, who was 12, died at the scene. our correspondent yunus mulla is following the case and has the latest. greater manchester police arrested a number of men following this incident on new year's eve which claimed the lives of two cousins in oldham. four of those men have now been charged in connection with that incident on new year's eve, and one of the men, named today as gabor hegedus, has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, driving without a license, and failing to stop after a collision, and failing to report the collision. three other men have also been charged with perverting, with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. they are david orsos,

janos kalanyos and zoltan peto. all three men there are also from oldham. the two cousins, helina kotlarova, who was 12, and zaneta krokova, who was 11, were holding hands when they were struck by a vehicle on new year's eve. police immediately launched an investigation and tried to ascertain what actually happened on new year's eve, and these arrests followed that. in oldham, and i have spent some time there, there has been a huge outpouring of support, community grief, over what has happened. the family had seven sisters and one brother and have received a lot of support from members of the community there and that support is continuing. a lot of flowers have been laid at the scene there. the men who have been arrested today will appear at the magistrates'

court this afternoon. yunus mulla reporting. an israeli soldier has been found guilty of killing a palestinian knife—attacker as he lay wounded on the ground. it happened in hebron last year, after the palestinian, abdel fattah al—sharif, had attacked an israeli soldier. he was shot and wounded, but then shot again at close range by sergeant elor azaria, who said he believed the wounded man might detonate a suicide belt. prosecutors said his motive was revenge. our correspondent in tel aviv, yolande knell, has the latest. well, just behind me is the israeli defence ministry headquarters, where these proceedings took place in a small courtroom amid tight security. the key evidence in this trial was a shocking video filmed by a palestinian activist. caught on camera in hebron last march, a chilling moment.

a young israeli sergeant cocks his gun and then this. gunshot. a single bullet to the head killed a wounded palestinian, abdul fatah al—sharif. a few minutes earlier, sgt azaria, a medic, had helped treat a wounded soldier, one of those attacked by the palestinian and his friend. today, the sergeant was in court, smiling to see a supporter and his mother. soon afterwards, he was found guilty of manslaughter. the militaryjudges in the court here said that abdul fatah al—sharif was shot needlessly. they rejected the defence argument that he posed a threat. during the trial, the prosecution said sgt azaria acted out of revenge and broke the army's ethical code. but the 20—year—old does have loyal backers, in a country where most young people do military service. they accused the army of abandoning one of its own. this soldier came to protect about little children, about families, about parents.

this soldier is a hero. the military chief of staff and the minister of defence were against him. they elect the judges. they tell the judges what to decide. and he didn't have any hope. on the palestinian side, a different view. ahead of the verdict, id met the parents of abdul fatah al—sharif, who accused the idf of using excessive force. translation: i feel like any father would feel. i've seen my son executed on tv, murdered. it's so hard to see that — no—one can endure this. if he died instantly, it would have been much easier than to see your son executed like that. such a public trial of a soldier for killing a palestinian is very unusual in israel. the shooting happened during a wave of palestinian attacks,

when there was a national debate about how to respond. and this case has proved highly divisive, even setting top politicians against the army's top brass. to underline those tensions the israeli politician avigdor lieberman spoke out strongly in support of sergeant azaria soon after his arrest. he is now the defence minister and has put out a statement urging people to show restraint about what he said was a difficult verdict. sentencing in this case is expected at a later date. yolande knell there. here, the high street chain next which warning that uncertainty over a consumer spending squeeze, brexit and a weaker pound will mean an "even tougher" year ahead, after a dismalfestive period. shares dipped 14% at the start of trading, as the firm announced a drop in sales of 0.4% in the two months up to christmas. here's our business correspondent, emma simpson. next — it is one of our biggest clothing chains, often seen as a bellwether of the high street.

and it has had a difficult winter — sales have fallen. not a great start as retailers reveal how they fared over the all—important christmas season. undoubtedly, it is a big disappointment that next has reported such weak figures as the first retailers report. it is one of the best retailers on the high street. so you would think overall results will not be that great. having said that, all retailers are not doing the same things — some are trading different strategies and there will be ups and downs, but it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that christmas was pretty disappointing. 2016 was tough for many fashion retailers. although consumer spending has been resilient since the brexit vote, people are spending less on what they wear, and more on what they do — like eating out. the sales are on, but there have been discounts all year — competition is cut—throat and we have been changing our shopping habits by spending more online. next warn today things are going

to get even tougher this year, a view shared by many in this industry. we have got all sorts of headwinds, we have got a year of national living wage, costs will be a lot higher. but the real, real challenge is going to be dealing with a sterling exchange rate that is 15% or so lower than before the referendum. next is warning its prices will go up by 5% this year as a result. profits will take a hit. and that inflation may mean consumers will have less spare cash to spend on clothes. in manchester, some shoppers say they are cutting back. we will be reining it in in the new year. definitely spend the normal amount this christmas, i didn't have to go crazy. probablyjust pull back on certain things and see what it is like. as ever in retail, there

are winners and losers. the signs arejohn lewis had a decent christmas with a surge in sales in the final weeks. the full christmas story will unfold in the coming days. it is 3.17pm. the headlines on bbc news: the european commission expresses regret at the resignation of britain's eu ambassador, but brexit campaigners welcome his departure. four men are charged by police following a collision in oldham in which two young cousins died. an israeli soldier is convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a wounded palestinian knife attacker. in sport: hull city begin their search for a new manager, following the sacking of mike phelan afterjust three months in permanent charge. middlesborough sign benin international rudy gestede

from aston villa, thought to be for a fee of between £6 million and £7 million. the striker‘s contract will run untiljune 2020. and paralympic champion kadeena cox has her uk sport funding suspended, while she takes part in channel 4 winter sports programme the jump later this month. i will have more on those stories just after half past. in germany. —— there has been a press c0 nfe re nce in germany. —— there has been a press conference this afternoon in germany. germany's chief prosecutor have detained a tunisian man in connection with last month's terror attack in berlin. officials say the 26—year—old man met with the attacker anis amri the evening before he drove a lorry into a christmas market, and they believe he could have been involved. a former flatmate of amri is also being investigated after a separate raid on an apartment in berlin. let's speak to our correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness. can you explain what details the prosecutor has been giving this afternoon? because they have evidence that this man, this man who

has been detained, the 26—year—old tunisian, met up with anis amri the night before the attack, and was seen to be speaking intensively, as it is described, in a restaurant that evening in berlin, they expect this man knew about the attack at the very least, if not involved in the very least, if not involved in the planning. so they are questioning him. they have not issued a formal arrest although some german media is reporting that is already having happened. the former flatmate of anis amri has also been questioned and that is because police say the more they know about anis amri the more likely it is they can find out if there are any accomplices, because that is the big question right now here in germany. all the evidence is now pointing at the fact that anis amri was the man in that lorry who shot the original polish driver, brand that lorry into the christmas marketjust before christmas in berlin, killing 12 people —— raamed that lorry. what we do not know is whether anyone help

anis amri carry that out and that is important because we need to know, if there was a network of people behind this attack or whether he was acting on his own and that is why this investigation is so important. yes, and is 26—year—old, would they be drawn on whether this was someone known to them before, or how they have tracked him down? how much detail as they prepared to give? all they have said is this is someone that anis amri new while he was in berlin. and they will not give any more details than that and i think thatis more details than that and i think that is partly because they have released details in the past about suspects and those suspects have turned out to be completely innocent, so they are very wary about releasing false information. what we do know as well is what happened in the run—up to the attack and after the attack, so police have now released more information about what happened in the lorry before the attack, namely that anis amri appears to have broken into the

lorry and shot the polish driver straightaway, before then driving through berlin city centre and before then crashing into the christmas market. he then escaped from the scene. he was caught on cctv cameras at a station nearby heading towards holland. that was his route, and from holland he then went down through france, ended up in italy and that is of course where he was shot in that police shoot out. police have now pieced together what exactly happened when but they still do not know to what extent or if he was helped by other people and still if there are any other people connected with that attack who are also guilty. thank you so much for no, damien, with the latest from berlin —— for now. some reaction from the labour party to sir ivan rogers's resignation. we understand the shadow secretary of state has written to david davis seeking urgent clarification about the plan

for brexit following the resignation. you will remember in that e—mail sir ivan rogers raised questions about the team there to negotiate in brussels and also about the plan. as yet, he says, the plan is not clear. i think that has concerned more people about the process and away rather than about sir ivan ‘s resignation, because of course he was due to go in november in any case. it is more about the absence of any plan that is concerning a lot of people on the remain side. we will very much keep an eye on this because there are developments in this story all the time. we will speak to our political correspondent in the next little while about that cold air from labour's keir starmer. more to come on that. —— about that call there from labour's keir starmer. train drivers with southern railway are cutting their six—day strike —

planned for next week — to three days. but their union, aslef, says it will strike again for another three days later in the month. the drivers are striking over the increasing use of driver—only operated trains. a commuter train derailment in the new york has injured at least 37 people, officials say. derailed early this morning at the atlantic terminal in the borough of brooklyn. the new york city fire department have said that all injuries reported are non—life threatening. when there's an emergency, and people call for an ambulance, there's an expectation that the crew which turns up are fully trained. but the bbc‘s victoria derbyshire programme has discovered that some staff at a private ambulance company based in essex, had as little based in essex had as little as an hour's training on how to respond to emergencies. james melley has this special report. sirens. when we dial 999 for a medical emergency, most people expect nhs ambulances and their highly trained crews to respond. but, increasingly, nhs trusts are having to use private

companies to meet demand. one of these companies is the private ambulance service, which is based in basildon in essex. it carries out work like taking patients to hospital appointments, transferring sick people between hospitals, and also provides cover for 999 calls for the east of england nhs ambulance trust. but whistle—blowers have told us staff are not properly trained, and the equipment they use is not up to scratch. the private ambulance service was in the news last year after the essex coroner criticised it over the death of 54—year—old gary paige. one of the company's crews responded to a call, saying he was suffering chest pain. they ran tests and said mr paige had got indigestion or had a hurt muscle, and didn't take him to hospital. he later died, having suffered a heart attack. we've spoken to several people that work or have worked for the private ambulance service. paul would only speak to us if we disguised his identity. he worked for pas as a medic, but lost his job last year. i never had any

induction or training. pretty much just sent out and that was it. so you had no induction, no training? no. it was quite clear that i was working with people that, not through their own fault, were not trained. they were not competent in the job and they certainly were not confident in dealing with situations. didn't know how to take simple things like blood sugars, ecgs. didn't know how to do manual blood pressures. basic, basic stuff, really. we started to hear more disturbing stories about the lack of basic training for staff at the private ambulance service. dan duke worked at the company in patient transport until 2013, when he was sacked. thejob could require him to drive under blue lights when taking an emergency patient between different hospitals. what training where you actually given in order to drive under blue lights? an hour's training. that was it. one hour's training?

one hour's training on blue lights, that's it. that's astonishing. it is astonishing. so what is an acceptable level of training to drive under blue lights? our whole course is four weeks long and the first two weeks are the foundation, if you like, to actually move on to doing blue light training. and then training takes two weeks. we approached the private ambulance service for an interview, they declined. and told us, "the private ambulance service offers a high level of patient care to all patients transported on the service. and we do not accept the nature of the allegations that have been made. we outsource our blue light driver training to an approved training organisation used by the nhs. we started using our current provider in january 2016. all staff received induction training and full training where necessary. staffjoining us from other companies have two complete clinical skills assessments and driving assessments prior to employment being offered." the nhs east of england ambulance service, which uses the private ambulance service to provide cover for emergency calls, told us, the east of england ambulance service needs to use private companies

to meet patient demand. the east midlands and the trust is increasing its front—line recruitment. but nationally nhs trusts are struggling with the level of patient demand, so private ambulance providers, which are regulated, are increasingly likely to respond to emergency calls in the future. we have had more details in the last few minutes that the shadow secretary of state for exiting the eu has sent to his opposite number, david davis. he says it is frankly astonishing that in his resignation letter sir ivan rogers says we do not yet know what the government will set as objectives for eu exit.

time is running out. he goes on to say the best way to clarify these points would be to come back to the house when parliament returns on monday and make a statement, let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young at westminster. labour are piling on the pressure. yes, keir starmer saying there are no serious questions for the government to a nswer questions for the government to answer and that is really because sir ivan ‘s letter feeds into some of the questions raised by people like keir starmer and by other mps in the last few months. he speaks particularly about his incomprehension, really, the idea that someone like sir ivan who should be at the centre of what is going onjust a should be at the centre of what is going on just a few weeks before those negotiations start, that he himself has no idea what the government's objectives are, but also the practicalities. keir starmer speaking about negotiating tea m starmer speaking about negotiating team itself, while their opposite numbers in europe have their team

ready, the leader of their team ready, the leader of their team ready, what is going on with the british team ? who ready, what is going on with the british team? who will be in it? really the suggestion in the letter from sir ivan that in some with the civil servants in brussels are not in the loop, they are not being kept as part of of that, and the other suggestion from keir starmer that concerns him is the independence of the civil service. he sounds very concerned about what is being said in the last couple of days, about the idea perhaps that the new ambassador in brussels has to be someone who is more pro—brexit, if you like, and he is voicing the concerns we have heard from others as well that this is undermining somewhat the neutrality of the civil service, that they have to of course work with their political masters but that also they have to be independent and crucially have to be able to give advice even if it is not what the politicians want to hear. as you say, the suggestion from labour is it is time next monday when they return from their christmas recess that david davis comes to the house and tries to

explain some of this. i think what this whole episode highlights is there are still questions that need to be answered by theresa may. she has suggested she will see more in the early new year, so we will have to wait to see how much more she is prepared to say before she triggers article 50 at the end of march. just quickly, one would anticipate this would be a fairly straight—backed response from sir david davis because —— from david davis because sir ivan rogers was due to leave in october early, so the newcomer can get their feet under the table. and also, if the lost trust in sir ivan rogers, probably they would not share things with him? yes, i think the way to look at and explain this is to say that if everything was going very well between sir ivan and the team in brussels and downing street, then probably he would have been persuaded to stay for the two yea rs of been persuaded to stay for the two years of the negotiating period. that has not happened and that is because they had clearly been a

breakdown of trust, and there has clearly been tension between them. and also the fact sir ivan has not just gone a little early, but has put out there to his staff are very long letter with some pretty implicit criticisms of what has been going on and the preparations made by downing street, so it is not quite as simple as that and i think it would be rather tricky for and minister to have to answer some of those questions, at a time of course when britain is about to embark on this incredibly difficult and complex process. yes, a 1400 word resignation letter, quite fulsome, isn't it? thank you for the moment, and keir starmer will be joining sally mccoy in the news at five, so stay tuned for that. right now we will catch up with the weather. certainly we have been feeling the chill today. a pretty cool feeling day and as it gets dark, the

temperatures will plunge. the skies have been clearing. the sun has been making an appearance and with the clear skies in place, as we go through this evening and the tonight, things are rapidly going to get cold. watch the haze of blue expanding across the map. we have had wintry showers in eastern areas and where those continue for parts of east anglia, lincolnshire, there could be icy stretches to take us into tomorrow morning. certainly it will be chilly by tomorrow morning. towns and cities below freezing in many cases, but out in the countryside, minus six and minus seven celsius and maybe minus eight celsius. that leads us into a beautiful day. blue skies and sunshine. the showers tend to go fade from the east coast. some extra cloud into northern ireland and west wales and the south—west later on and temperatures two to eight celsius at best. through friday, and particularly into the weekend, it is going to turn considerably milder. we will see a lot of cloud and some rain at times. more details in half an hour. hello.

this is bbc news with jane hill and christian fraser. the headlines at 3.33pm: the european commission "regrets" the departure of britain's eu ambassador, but it has welcomed by brexit campaigners who warn of an issue with "public trust". four men are charged following the car crash in oldham that killed two cousins, aged 12 and 11. shares in the clothes retailer next drop by 9%, following worse than expected sales before christmas, and a gloomy 2017 forecast. an israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded palestinian knife attacker as he lay on the ground has been convicted of manslaughter. former drivers for a private ambulance firm that provides emergency nhs cover say they had only one hour of so—called "blue lights" training. janet jackson has, at the age of 50, given birth to her first child,

a baby boy. now over to the sports centre and jessica. 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. it is that stage of the season where you get owners that sort of get trigger—happy. maybe a relegation battle or losing the fact that you have got 60, 70, £80 million coming in at the end of the season if you

survive in the premier league. it is understandable when the money is that big, but i think you've got to sort of share a little bit of sympathy with mike phelan. the first multi—millon pound deal of the january transfer window in the premier league has been made by middlebrough. they have signed aston villa's rudy gestede from the championship for around £6 million. gestede has been at villa for 18 months. he has made 55 appearances for the club, scoring ten times — but was out of favour under new boss steve bruce. the striker has signed a contract until 2020 at middlesbrough. leeds united owner massimo cellino has sold 50% of his share of the club, making aser group holding, led by fellow italian businessman andrea rad—rizzani the new majority shareholder. cellino is now left with a 30% stake in the club. radrizzani says he is very impressed with the job manager garry monk has done and will support him and the team moving forward. leeds are currently fifth in the championship. women's football now,

and notts county striker rachel williams has been called up to the england squad for the first time in almost three years. the lionesses play friendlies against norway and sweden later this month, and manager mark sampson has named a 28—player squad. there's also recalls for her notts teammates ellen white, seens here training with national side, and carly telford. england play their first matches of 2017, in preparation for the european championship this summer. 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 tae kwon do 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

first, kevin pietersen impressed for melbourne, hitting seven 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 luca pwee 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. that's all sport for now. hugh woozencroft will have more in the next hour. thank you. 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. labour's keir starmer has written to david davis seeking urgent clarification about the government's plans for this country's departure from the eu because of that resignation. well, before we heard the news about keir starmer, i was talking to the former conservative leader, a prominent eurosceptic, iain duncan smith, who was critical

of sir ivan's public resignation. i thought the e—mail said more about sir ivan than it did about the government. i see that one of the channels is referring to him as ivan because the end of the letter is about him and it confuses, i think, earlier on the idea of the word truth to power in truth what they actually do is provide advice and advice isn't always the truth, it is just an opinion and the government decides whether or not they take those opinions as you do with civil servants. i don't think he covered himself with glory through this e—mail. it suggests the reason the government may not have him involved, maybe he didn't quite have their trust. but the advice might not always be comfortable and that's one of the points he's making. that the people involved in this negotiation process which is so important for the fewer of this country, do need to know in reality what the other member states are thinking. you can't pretend that

they are not thinking those things? yes, i have done a number of negotiations when i was in business before i came into politics and the thing i know about this is what the others are thinking is intelligence. that's what you glean from that and what you think about what they might do, that's advice and opinion. but there is not truth in this. the truth always lies in whether or not you have got your facts straight. the reality with this negotiation is, the government cannot reveal its whole hand, theresa may has made that clear, and i think the issue about whether or not we listened to civil servants advice, i spent six yea rs civil servants advice, i spent six years ina civil servants advice, i spent six years in a department running it and i listened to advice from civil servants. i argued with them, they arced with me and i wanted them to be robust and clear, but at the end of it all, the ministers make the decisions and the prime minister will make the decision. whether sir ivan was in the loop or not may be 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, but it seems to me this is a somewhat bitter note from somebody who felt that when they spoke somebody should always listen and do what they said. i don't think that's the case. i think as the cabinet secretary said, the job of civil serva nts secretary said, the job of civil servants is to get on and deliver on the mandate of leaving the eu. i'm not surprised by his des par ture in a sense. i think he had become semidetached, but one thing i find rather rep he henceable is the idea that someone who is still serving writes a memo to his colleagues knowing full well that's going to get out to the media and this it seems to me this is really quite wrong and doesn't do very well for civil servants, many of whom to try to keep their advice behind closed doors to ministers so they can avoid having to argue in public. aled williams is a former spokesman for the uk permanent representation to the eu in brussels and worked closely with sir ivan during the referendum

and renegotiation process. he described the nature of the job. it isa it is a really brutaljob. you are negotiating on behalf of the uk government in brussels. facing 27 other countries. you could be negotiating issues to do with financial services, sanctions on ukraine, to the uk's renegotiations. that's makes it a really toughjob and one of the key requirements is to be able to advice ministers in london, properly, to be able to gain their trust, but you need that trust from the counterparts on the other side of the table. they need to know that you are speaking on behalf of the prime minister with his or her authority. one of the things he says in his letter it is important to get the team in place that's going to conduct the article 50 negotiation process. do you think that it was wise in a way to get out now or is ita

wise in a way to get out now or is it a blow to that process, even though it hasn't formerly speaking started that he has gone? clearly, the timing is a matter for started that he has gone? clearly, the timing is a matterfor him. it is clearly a blow because it is coming ata is clearly a blow because it is coming at a time when article 50 has to be invoked by the end of march, president government will be working out the details of its negotiation strategy and ivan is someone who knew the negotiation inside out and knew the negotiation inside out and knew the negotiation inside out and knew the eu inside out and was there asa knew the eu inside out and was there as a cool head to be able to advice the prime minister as to how best to approach the renegotiation. various people said since the resignation news broke that here is a man who is more interested in advancing problems than solutions, telling us what the europeans think rather than pressing britain's case in europe? i don't buy that. his job is firstly to go into the negotiations and fight for what the uk wants. secondly, hisjob is to advice ministers in london about

potential challenges to any negotiation that he is undertaking. getting, doing a negotiation is brussels is not like going shopping, you don't go there and pick something off—the—shelf, you have got 27 other countries on the other side of the table and you have to work through what their demands are, what their problems are, what their issues and ivan was the person who was in the middle trying to navigate the best possible way forward for the best possible way forward for the prime minister. aled williams there. police in the indian city of bangalore have arrested at least six people after reports that gangs of men carried out a number of sexual assaults against women during the city's new year celebrations. several women say they were assaulted by mobs, and cctv pictures have emerged of one woman being attacked. angus crawford reports. noisy, but good—natu red. it began as a celebration. crowds flocked to the centre of bangalore to see in the new year.

but as midnight approached, the mood became darker. a series of women were groped and assaulted, witnesses said the police took little action. i think as bangalorians we should be ashamed, hang our heads in shame that the community and the society, the onlookers, did not take any action. the incidents have caused outrage. one politician blamed victims for wearing western clothes. it has also raised wider questions in a country where only 1% of women feel able to report such crimes. under pressure, the police have now made arrests. we did not waste time. we did not wait to look for the complainant, we have registered the case. the investigation has started, the whole team is investigating. and we will make all efforts to catch the culprits. cctv has now emerged of another

assault on the same night. look, at the top of the screen, a woman walking home. two men on a moped stop, one attacks. she fights back and manages to escape. police are investigating. one night in bangalore has highlighted an unpleasant truth faced by many women across india. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: the european commission expresses regret at the resignation of britain's eu ambassador. four men have been charged by police investigating the collision in oldham in which two young cousins died. an israeli soldier who shot dead a

palestinian knife attacker is convicted of manslaughter. i'm ben bland. in the business news: what next? well, a tough year ahead warns the retailer. it's after next revealed figures showing full—price sales in the weeks leading up to christmas were down by 0.4%. the company is usually seen as an indicator of how things are going on the high street. looking ahead it warns that prices could rise by 5% this year. meanwhile, john lewis reported a pre—christmas surge in sales. pay inequality for women in the workplace gets rapidly worse when they reach their 30s and 40s. 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's a bigger gap than the 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. so, next has said it expects its annual profits to be at the low end of expectations after those falling sales. the retailer has also warned that sales in 2017 could be hit by rising inflation which increases costs and can result in consumers spending less. a little earlier we spoke with tara hounslea, a senior reporter at drapers. she told us what these results told us about the wider retail industry. i think ithink in i think in general, next is seen as a bellwether as you said. in terms of the other retail they ares is a

warning sign. i think we might see some difficult results coming out of some difficult results coming out of some of the other major retailers next week when they report. some of the other major retailers next week when they reportm some of the other major retailers next week when they report. is this down to strategies by the retailers that are working so well, or is it that are working so well, or is it that we're changing our habits? that we're spending less on some things and more on others? it is a bit of both. we have seen widespread discounting on the high street in the run—up to christmas. it has probably been the last few years that we have seen that with the likes of black friday. we have seen discounts z counting. people are looking for a bargain and next sticks to its guns and it sells things at full price going into the sale on boxing day which hasn't paid off as much as they expected, i think, this year. it is interesting because although the figures are just from next, the chill is sort of being felt among other retailers. shares in debenhams and marks & spencer all down today. we don't get

their results until next week, i think, or most of them will report their christmas sales figures next week. do you think we're in for a rocky time or do you think perhaps next is going to be the high point of those? i think it will be a rocky time going forward. as the chief executive of next said, he thinks we're experiencing a bit of a cyclical move away from sales in fashion. so that people just are spending more on other things. they're spending more in restaurants and bars and experiencing and there area and bars and experiencing and there are a lot of clothes shops now. so there is a lot of competition out there. let's take a look at some of today's other business news. top bosses will have earned more by midday today than the £28,200 that the average worker earns in the entire year, according to the high pay centre think—tank. they're calling it fat cat wednesday and it assumes that the executives work 12 hours a day,

most weekends and take fewer than 10 days holiday a year. holiday company, all leisure group, has stopped trading with immediate effect, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded at their destinations. the shutdown of the atol—protected firm affects cruise lines swan hellenic and voyages of discovery. the civil aviation authority will help to bring home the 400 people who are currently abroad, but 7,000 future bookings have been cancelled. personal borrowing and debt rose at its fastest rate in more than 11 years in november. that's according to figures from the bank of england. the amount consumers owe through credit cards and loans that's well ahead of forecasts. the ftse 100 the ftse100 rather flat the ftse100 ratherflat this afternoon. it is down from the

record high it hit yesterday. the downward pressure is coming from a fall in next shares. next shares are down 13.7% after the disappointing sales figures. that warning of a chill in the air for trading sales figures. that warning of a chill in the airfor trading in sales figures. that warning of a chill in the air for trading in the coming year. that chill also being felt by other big retailers. marks & spencer, the owner of primark and british associated foods and debenhams are trading lower. one bright spot, once listed on the ftse 250, band bright spot, once listed on the ftse 250, b and m, reporting record christmas figures. its share price up christmas figures. its share price up there more than 10%. we will be back with more business in an hour. dictatorshipy who is the centrepiece of london's natural history museum is in fact a plaster cast and is not

bone! that bid i did know! dippy is being dismantled, ready to be cleaned up, and then sent round the uk on a two year long tour. he's being replaced by the skeleton of a blue whale. our correspondent, daniela relph has more. it's busy here most days, but for those queueing today, there was a goodbye to be had. the first sight of dippy has been a lasting memory for so many children. it's the first thing you see when you arrive. the natural history museum estimates that 19 million people have stood here and looked up at dippy. it's not known if the diplodocus is a he or she, but today, it is the last chance to see dippy at the museum. because it's the last day, people might want to... people might not have seen it before, so they want to come over. that's why there's lots of crowds. what do you think of dippy?

he goes "rahh! " it's amazing to think that it lived a long time ago though. it was actually walking around. i'm a bit sad that he's going, but maybe i can see other dinosaurs, maybe. dippy first came to the museum more than 100 years ago. made up of 292 bones, the dinosaur arrived in 36 cases. during the second world war, the skeleton was taken to the basement to protect it. the diplodocus is a plaster cast replica of the real thing. it would have weighed 13 tonnes when alive. it's been cleaned up and cared for in the main entrance hall since 1979, when it took up its current position. pulling it apart and moving the dinosaur will be detailed, delicate work. in the morning, we will be starting to take dippy down. we take the glass barrier away and then we start working from the tail, back up to the body, and then the neck, and then over the next month, we'll be taking each bone down. each of those 292 bones.

we will be cleaning them, inspecting them and then packing them up. once cleaned up and reassembled, dippy goes on tour for two years. it begins appropriately on dorset‘sjurassic coast, before moving to birmingham, glasgow, newcastle, cardiff and other locations. and this is what replaces dippy. the skeleton of the blue whale, hung from the ceiling to give the impression of it diving, of it being a living species that needs protecting. but today, it's all about dippy. for those feeling a little sad about the departure, there are tentative plans to recast the diplodocus in bronze and place it in the museum grounds. but for now, it is goodbye. taking dippy apart will be months of work. in terms of dippy‘s replacement, the as yet unnamed blue

whale should be in position by the summer. someone has said that's not now david attenborough pronounces it! i'm all at sea. how does he pronounce it? dip time for a look at the weather. you can have cloudy, but milder conditions like we have got across cornwall at the moment or you can have colder, but clearer with shower clouds just waiting in the wings and these have been spilling in off the east coast affecting parts of yorkshire. now, this weatherfront will continue to drift its way south and west and that's the boundary between the miler air to the south—west and some colder, clearer

conditions up into the north and that means that the sunshine will continue to stay with those clear skies through the night and temperatures falling away. so the cold air is set to win the battle for tomorrow. the mild air not going very far, very fast and it will return as we move towards the weekend. a brief cold snap, but it will feel bitterly cold tonight. a widespread hard frost is likely and if we keep the showers going along the north sea coast, ice could be an issue as well across parts of east anglia. overnight low ins rural spots, dipping down way below freezing. in some areas as low as minus five to minus seven and minus eight celsius. it will be a cold and frosty start with the exception of perhaps the extreme south—west. maybe we will have beautiful blue sky and sunshine, but it will be bitterly cold. mrpty of time needed to scrape the cars. the milder air sits across northern ireland. here temperatures staying above freezing, but it will be a cold start across much of scotland. as you can see a

widespread frost. that frost will lift away into the afternoon. it will be a promising day. still can't rule out the risk of an isolated shower, but they should be few and far between. a decent day. lots of sunshine coming through. temperatures struggling. two to five celsius, but where we have got the cloud and more of a breeze, it will stay milder and that's going to allow the mild air to sneak back in, but unfortunately, it brings with it, some wetter and windier weather. so all change yet again as we move into friday. there will be outbreaks of cloud and rain spilling in across northern ireland, scotland and into the north of england accompanied by a stiff south—westerly breeze. so milder air, dug figures into the south—west by the end of the day. that front clears away for the start of the weekend and high pressure builds once again as we move into the weekend. just allowing the weather fronts to drift up into the far north. president weekend stays milder, rather cloudy. there will be patchy drizzle as well from time to time. more from me coming up later

on through the evening. this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 4.00pm: labour calls on the brexit secretary to make a commons statement about the resignation of britain's eu ambassador. four men are charged following the new year's eve car crash in oldham that killed two young cousins. german police arrest a 26—year—old tunisian man suspected of involvement in the truck attack on a christmas market in berlin. i'm christian fraser, and in the next hour: shares in next tumble as the retailer reports falling christmas sales. the high street giant warns that 2017 will be challenging because of a consumer spending squeeze and brexit uncertainty. and visitors to the natural history museum bid farewell to dippy the diplodocus ahead of his nationwide tour. a bit sad that he is going but maybe i can see other dinosaurs, maybe. and what do you think of dippy?

he goes, "rawr!"