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!" good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. labour says the brexit secretary should come to the commons and make a full statement to mps about the resignation of britain's eu ambassador, sir ivan rogers. the shadow secretary for exiting the eu, sir keir starmer, has written to david davis seeking urgent clarification of the government's strategy. in his resignation email, sir ivan fired a strong parting shot across the bows of the government's negotiating team. our political correspondent ian watson reports. in 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 recently, a 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. 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. an on sad. ——

an on sad. -- he is not irreplaceable, as some people have said. he carried out 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 and keep their advice to themselves. it makes sense that as we go into what is an incredibly important negotiation, we should have somebody leading for the uk who clearly believes that the outcome can be beneficial to the uk. i think it is fairly apparent that that was not sir ivan rogers's view. 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. our chief political correspondent, vicki young,

is at westminster for us. yes, keir starmer has written a letter to david davis, the brexit secretary, saying that on monday he must come and explain exactly what is involved here. the resignation e—mail sir ivan rogers sent out to his staff yesterday feeds into a lot of the criticism that has been coming theresa may's way from opposition mps and some of those on her own side as well and she has yet to a nswer her own side as well and she has yet to answer many of those questions, so to answer many of those questions, so what will her negotiating objectives be, and what will her tea m objectives be, and what will her team b? those will be the concerns most people will feel here, that no matter what side of the argument you are on, is the government ready? by the end of march these negotiations will start and there is a fear amongst some they do not have the pieces in place, if you like, that they are being overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done and that downing street really is not reaching out to those it needs to. the idea that sir ivan, who was this important ambassador in brussels, he and his team of civil serva nts brussels, he and his team of civil servants out there, according to his resignation letter, do not really seem to have been kept in the loop, so was seem to have been kept in the loop, so was he deliberately being kept

out of what was going on, or did theresa may and downing street not really have a plan ready to go? the opposition failed the government is undermining the impartiality of civil servants, as keir starmer expressed in his letter. he said it is important they remain independent of the executive and that this principle is being undermined by the government's current approach to brexit negotiations. i think ministers will be called upon to a nswer ministers will be called upon to answer some of those questions because we have not heard from any of them yet. keir starmer speaking about the impartiality of civil servants, and the timing is interesting, not to mention the length of the resignation e—mail, just a few days before parliament returns in the midst of a fairly slow news cycle? yes, sir ivan rogers was due to leave in the autumn so there is a very rational argument for saying it obviously makes sense, if he was due to go, that he goes now and a new person comes in. there was no point in him starting negotiations and leaving

after a couple of months, but another way to look at it is to see if things were going well between him and downing street he could have been persuaded to stay for two yea rs. been persuaded to stay for two years. that did not happen and we do not know why, but clearly it was not something downing street offered, andi something downing street offered, and i think that does suggest there are tensions, and you can hearfrom some of the conservative politicians that have been on the airwaves today saying they felt sir ivan was really being too pessimistic about brexit and they want someone more optimistic who seize the opportunities there might be rather than the negatives, and the concerns, of course from friends of sir ivan, saying it is thejob of civil servants to flag up problems to ministers, and that the government and theresa may and it really willing to listen to that. i think when we get the new appointment it might tell us quite a lot about how theresa may wants to approach these negotiations. for the moment, thank you. four men have been charged

after the deaths of two young girls in oldham in a car collision on new year's eve. ii—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 gave the latest details. 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. that was yunus mulla in salford. german police have detained a tunisian man in connection with last month's terrorist attack in berlin. officials say the 26—year—old met anis amri, the evening before he drove a lorry into a christmas market, killing 12 people, 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. amri was shot in italy and killed in milan. our correspondent damien mcguinness is following the story from berlin. because they have evidence this man who was detained, the 26—year—old tunisian, met up with anis amri, the night before the attack, and was seen night before the attack, and was seen to be talking intensively with him ina seen to be talking intensively with him in a restaurant in berlin, the issue in this man knew about the attack at 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 has happened. he is being questioned. the former flatmate of anis amri is also being questioned and they say thatis also being questioned and they say that is because the more police 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 in germany. all the evidence no points to the fa ct all the evidence no points to the fact that anis amri was the man in that lorry who shot the original polish driver, rammed that lorry into the christmas market, killing 12 people, in berlin. what we do not know is whether anyone help anis amri carry that out and that of course 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 right now. yes, and this 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 if this is someone anis amri new while he was in berlin, and they will not give any more details than that. i think that is partly because in the past they have released details about suspects and those suspects have turned out to be com pletely suspects have turned out to be completely innocent so they are very wa ry completely innocent so they are very wary about releasing what might be false information. but 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 that lorry after the attack, namely that anis amri appears to have broken into that 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 nearby station heading towards holland, that was his route. from holland he 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 if and to what extent he was helped by other people, and whether there are still any people connected with that attack who are also guilty. damien mcguinness reporting there from berlin. president obama has arrived on capital hill — he's meeting fellow democrats to discuss how to protect the healthcare reforms he set up. in the last hour vice president—elect mike pence has said that step one of a donald trump administration would be to repeal so—called obamacare and then move toward an orderly transition to a new health plan. 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 affordadable. 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. let‘s cross live to washington and talk to our correspondent, laura bicker. we have this peculiar thing for president obama is in congress urging the defence of his legacy, whilst vice president pence is saying, we are going to and pick it all. yes, president obama pushing democrats forward trying to come up with a strategy to protect his key legislative legacy, this will two act, then you have vice president elect, my spec —— mike pence,

pushing republicans for it and saying it is time to repeal it, but it might be quite easy for the republicans because they have the votes a nd republicans because they have the votes and president elect who will ta ke votes and president elect who will take power in a few weeks who will help them, but the real problem for republicans is what they will replace it with. you just mentioned there are 20 million more people within the united states who are insured, who previously would not have medical insurance. many of them have medical insurance. many of them have pre—existing medical conditions, so they would not have got medical insurance in the first place. that is something republicans, least some of them, have voiced they would like to protect, and remember many people in states that voted for donald trump actually have a high uptake of 0bamacare, so there are aspects of 0bamacare, so there are aspects of 0bamaca re that the 0bamacare, so there are aspects of 0bamacare that the republicans would like to keep, it isjust 0bamacare that the republicans would like to keep, it is just how they go about doing that. meanwhile, we are getting more tweets, of course, from

donald trump, which is the way nowadays. talking about meetings he will have with intelligence agencies later this week. this is the meeting postponed on tuesday and he is questioning why that was postponed. now, we are not quite sure. it is quite difficult to work out. we are not quite sure whether or not he was supposed to have a full briefing on this alleged russian hacking, or whether or not that was already scheduled for friday. what we understand is that president obama has yet to see the full report, the full document ordered into the alleged russian hacking into democratic party e—mails during the us presidential election. let‘sjust remind viewers what this is all about. this is the allegation that russians tried to hack into democratic party e—mails to try to embarrass hillary clinton during the election. the accusation from 17 intelligence agencies here in the

united states is that russia was behind it and it came and was organised by the highest levels of russian government. donald trump has urged russian intelligence... sorry, the cia and fbi to come up with evidence that russian intelligence is behind this. he has questioned the evidence on several occasions and yesterday there was an interview byjulian assange on fox news. he said he did not believe russians we re said he did not believe russians were behind it, and he said that a 14—year—old boy could even have been behind it. donald trump retweeted that this morning. he has always disputed the evidence, has always dismissed the evidence, but we will see what he says when he finally gets that report. get us a quick insight into congress there, laura. we area insight into congress there, laura. we are a couple of weeks away from the inauguration there. what happens in practice, are people changing offices? there will be a changing of

offices, swearing in, lots of meetings being held trying to find out strategy for the future. what you are saying this morning —— seeing this morning is a key component of how things will be shaped in the next few weeks, president obama meeting dan mcgrath because they are now on the back foot and do not have much power here at the moment —— 0bama meeting democrats. they know they will have to use every power of persuasion they have with any persuadable republicans to try to get any votes oi’ republicans to try to get any votes or strategy through on the likes of 0bamacare. republicans can relax a bit because they know they can power forward , bit because they know they can power forward, and you can see a very relaxed paul ryan, the house speaker, forging ahead knowing his policies for the next couple of yea rs policies for the next couple of years at least can probably get through. now, we only have another two years, through. now, we only have another two yea rs, yes, through. now, we only have another two years, yes, just another two yea rs before two years, yes, just another two years before the next midterms, long, so it is up to the democrats to try to prove over the next two yea rs to try to prove over the next two years that they need those extra votes in two years‘ time to get

those bought through to come up with plans on policies that will reignite their supporters and it is up to republicans over the next two years to show perhaps there are supporters that they can get their agenda through. 0k, laura, for the moment, thank you. i think laura will be very busy in the next two weeks. just a bit! it is a little after quarter past four now. good afternoon. the headlines on bbc news: labour calls on the government to make a commons statement about the resignation of the uk‘s top civil servant in brussels, sir ivan rogers. four men are charged by police following a collision in oldham in which two young cousins died. german police arrest a 26—year—old tunisian man in connection with the lorry attack on a christmas market in berlin. he is understood to have met the man who drove that lorry into the christmas market, killing 12 people. in sport: hull city begin their search for a new manager, following the sacking of mike phelan

afterjust three months in permanent charge. former boss phil brown says the club will need support —— manager will need support and the team will need new players. abed has been rejected from west ham forjermain defoe and it is thought they will now increase the offer —— a bid has been rejected. 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. just some news coming through from metropolitan police saying a 50—year—old man has been arrested at heathrow airport this afternoon shortly after getting off a flight from cairo. stressing it was part of a preplanned operation and not in response to any immediate danger. a man detained under the police and criminal evidence act, in custody,

as dean said, and they are also searching a residential address in north london. —— as jane said. it was preplanned and not in any response to an immediate danger. we will keep you posted if we get any more on that. the travel company, all leisure holidays, has stopped trading leaving hundreds of customers still abroad. thousands of other holidaymakers have also had their bookings cancelled. 0ur personal finance correspondent simon gompertz is here. can you explain more? potentially a lot of people affected? 13,000 had the kings. usually it is a couple of people who go. 13,000 people —— 13,000 people had bookings. they will be disappointed because the cruises have been cancelled, around the mediterranean, south east asia, and other places. for those who are going to go pretty shortly it will

be disappointing for them. the good news is the company is covered by the travel agents scheme so they will be able to get their money back. there are also several hundred people, mostly coming to the end of a cruise in malaysia, so today is actually the day which they were due to fly back anyway, and their tickets will be valid so they will be coming back. and just a handful who are on back—to—back cruises so we re who are on back—to—back cruises so were going to go to another one in southeast asia, they will have to come back as well and they will miss out on the rest of their crews. financially, though, it is important to stress no one is affected financially, although i know it is about more than that, but costs will be covered? yes, hotel costs, there are fairwhen be covered? yes, hotel costs, there are fair when you come back, it will be covered. occasionally people are not covered in this sort of situation —— the air fare will be covered. some people would separately pick their own flight and

a cruise on the holiday and then there could be a question over that, but the vast amount of people are prior leader covered. the vast middle people who booked cruises with other companies, they should have done that —— but the vast amount of people are covered. we know this has been affected rudely by the drop in the pound. and unilaterally holiday—makers told to pay an extra £50 probably because of the drop in the value of the pound. if there a question here? i think this is a £2 billion industry, cruises, kept aboard by a lot of enthusiasm from travellers, and most of the other players are much larger than this one, so you have companies that have dozens of ships. the ships themselves take dozens of people and this one had just two so it is much more difficult for them to make the business successful. they have to

make more out of each passenger and thatis make more out of each passenger and that is perhaps one of their vulnerabilities. simon gompertz, thank you. problems within the cruise industry and also within the rail industry... train drivers with southern railway are cutting their six—day strike — planned for next week — to three days. they will now strike on january the tenth, 11th and 13th. but there will be another three days later in the month, the 23rd, 24th —— the 24th, 25th and 27th. 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. the long island railroad train 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. it‘s 50 years since donald campbell died on coniston water, as he attempted to break his own water speed record. he died instantly when his rocket—powered speed boat, bluebird, catapulted into the air,

hit the water and broke into pieces. today a number of commemorations were held to mark his death. as judith moritz reports. exactly 50 years to the moment since herfather died here, gina campbell rowed across coniston water in his memory — in her hands, the teddy bear which donald campbell used as a mascot. and then, flowers, to mark the spot where the record—breaker lost his life. archive footage: campbell was one of a rare breed, a true patriot, flying the flag for britain wherever he went. the eight—times world speed record holder was travelling at more than 300 miles an hour in an attempt to break his own water speed record in the legendary bluebird but the boat was catapulted into the air and campbell was killed instantly as it hit the water and disintegrated.

this morning at his grave near to the lake gina campbell remembered her father. he was a true brit and it was beyond those days of risk assessment and health and safety. and, you know, he went out and did what he did, he did it most times with huge success. and just this one time it went wrong. half a century on and donald campbell‘s name is celebrated by enthusiasts who also gathered in coniston today to pay tribute to him. he‘s a very popular man, his legacy is tremendous. he had a tough act to follow in his father sir malcolm and in his own mind he was setting himself against his father‘s record. and to us he surpassed that. 50 years ago today he was trying to do 300 miles an hour and the record today is 317. it is a really tough record, as tragically proved here. there is no innovation, there is no progress, without risk. gina campbell said it was years before she grasped the magnitude of her father‘s achievements, and that he will be talked

about forevermore and remembered as a hero. i remember people talking about that, and seeing those pictures are many times. yes, judith mauritz reporting from coniston water. let‘s stop and catch up with the weather prospects with louise. yes, good evening everyone. high pressure in control allowing for those temperatures to follow away quite sharply. at by the north sea coast there could be icy stretches and a little more in the way of cloud in a few stretches across cornwall so it should stay largely frost free here but in rural areas, down 2—7 and minus eight degrees, not out of the question, so a

bitterly cold start —— down to —7 and minus eight. a lovely day for many of us, little more breeze through the south west and across northern ireland and more cloud as well. the arrival of weather front out in the wing. temperatures seven 01’ out in the wing. temperatures seven or eight degrees. temperatures a few degrees above freezing despite them lifting. then the winds change direction again, the south—westerly flow driving back milder air across the country but unfortunately bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain spreading to the east. hello. this is bbc news with jane hill and christian fraser. the headlines at a.30pm: labour says the resignation of britain‘s eu ambassador, sir ivan rogers, is a significant loss. they want the brexit secretary to make a full statement to mps about it. four men have been charged in connection with the car crash in oldham on new year‘s eve that killed two cousins, aged 12 and 11.

german police arrest a 26—year—old tunisian man in connection with the lorry attack on a christmas market in berlin — saying he had contact with the truck driver, anis amri. shares in the clothes retailer next drop by 9%, following worse than expected sales before christmas, and a gloomy forecast for 2017. we will talk more about that story shortly. but now we will catch up with the sports news. hugh that is that for us. former olympiacos coach marco silva is the odds—on favourite to become the new boss at hull city. the 39—year—old portuguese left the greek champions last summer. hull sacked mike phelan last night after he picked upjust 13 points in his 20 league games in charge at the k com stadium, although he has taken the club to the semi—finals of the efl cup. half—way through the competition and

there are still a lot of points to be fought for and there are some teams in the same position. it doesn‘t matter who goes in there. that team needs for players around it. a stronger squad, a bigger squad to give itself half a chance of survival. sunderland have turned down a £6 million bid from west ham forjermaine defoe. defoe has scored 11 goals in 20 premier league appearances this season including two in his side‘s draw with liverpool on monday. it is understood west ham will raise their offer for the player who began his career at the club. west ham have won their appeal against sofiane feghouli‘s sending off in the match against manchester united on monday. the midfielder was shown a straight red by referee mike dean after a collision with philjones. feghouli will now be eligible to play in the fa cup match against manchester city on friday. leeds united owner massimo cellino has sold 50% of his share of the club, making a—ser group holding,

led by fellow italian businessman andrea radrizzani, the new majority shareholder. our sports news correspondent richard conway can tell us more. this has been coming for sometime now? this has been a purchase that's taken a few weeks and months to develop. we have had confirmation today that leeds united have a new co—owner. he sold a significant sta ke co—owner. he sold a significant stake in that company to chinese investors recently and he has money to spend and he bought into leeds united taking that 50% stake and we will have to see in time if he increases his holding. his fellow italian will soon be banned. he received an 18 month ban for breaking rules over player agents and transfers. so he will be out of

the picture at leeds united. he will still be a co—owner, but we will have to see if he wants to hold on to his 50% stake. but after such a long time in developing and in coming, today that deal got approval by the english football league and leeds have a new co—owner. by the english football league and leeds have a new co-owner. richard, leeds have a new co-owner. richard, leeds on the pitch have been doing very, very well in the championship. what has the new owner said about the team itself? well, lieths united in the play—off position in the championship at the moment, pushing for a place into the premier league next season. he has praised garry monk saying he has been impressed by thejob he has done this monk saying he has been impressed by the job he has done this season. monk saying he has been impressed by thejob he has done this season. it doesn‘t seem as if he will be coming in with any sweeping changes. he is happy with how leeds are performing on the field this season, but he talks about leeds united‘s great heritage, about its history and

about how he wants to return them to their rightful place. encouraging words for leeds united. it has been a tumultuous few years for leeds and that period of ownership. but the new co—owner talking about the club‘s heritage and saying he wants to be in this for the long—term. richard, thank you very much. paralympic champion kadeena cox has had her uk sport funding suspended while she takes part in the channel 4 winter sport programme, the jump. cox won cycling and athletics golds in rio, and the medical teams from both disciplines have advised her against participating in the show. olympic tae kwon do champion jadejones and gymnast louis smith are also taking part. finally, ms dhoni has stepped down as india one—day captain ahead of the od! series against england which begins later this month. the wicketkeeper batsman will, however, remain available for selection for the series. that‘s all sport for now.

i‘ll have more in the next hour. 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‘s 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‘ve got all sorts of headwinds. we‘ve 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. leading israeli politicians have called for a pardon for a soldier convicted of killing a palestinian knife attacker after he‘d already been shot and wounded. it happened in hebron last year, after abdel fattah al—sharif stabbed another israeli soldier. sergeant elor azaria shot

al—sharif at close—range afterwards saying he believed the wounded man might detonate a suicide belt. our correspondent in tel aviv, yolande knell has the latest. well, just behind me is the israeli defence ministry headquarters, where these legal 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, seargent 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 sergeant 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 little children, families, 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, i 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. it‘s still hard for me every time i remember what happened. 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 reporting 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. police in turkey have arrested 20 people over the new year terror attack on a nightclub in istanbul. people over the new year terror police in turkey have arrested 20 people over the new year terror they were detained in the western coastal city of izmir. the turkish foreign minister says the chief suspect in the attack has now been identified, though he hasn‘t been named publicly. military and civilian medics launched an app called citizen aid. smitha mundasad has more. a warning, what you see next is a reconstruction. an ordinary evening... gunfire. ...turns to terror.

this isn‘t real, but security officials say the terror threat in the uk is high and despite their best efforts, this could happen. get down! many people could be hurt in the chaos. the problem is, it may take some time for help to arrive. police and security forces have to deal with terrorists first, making sure it‘s safe, before paramedics can come in. and in that time, lives could be lost. the first responders to that incident from a police perspective will inevitably be trying to deal with the people causing the threat. they won‘t have time to help people who may have been injured. and we know that that gap is vital for saving people‘s lives. so we‘re really, really interested in the work of citizen aid. yes, the shooting. there's a gunman in the street, three people have been shot. the experts behind citizen aid say

the app and pocketbook give simple, step—by—step instructions to save others. but the public should only attempt first aid once they‘re safe themselves. and there‘s the tourniquet. the app says that you need to pack the wound. and then put pressure on the wound. and then keep the hand elevated. above her heart. we know from recent military experience that if we give simple skills to individual soldiers, then they can save lives when there are very serious injuries as a result of combat style injury. so blast and gunshot. and what we are really keen to do is to ensure that we transfer that learning from the military to the benefit of the wider public. if someone is bleeding severely, you can use anything you have to hand to try and stop the flow.

don‘t be afraid to use the tourniquet made out of a scarf, for example. put one knot in. attempting first aid may not be for everyone, but military medics say it is better to have a plan, in case this worst—case scenario turns into reality. you‘re ok, are you? is that your mum? now, to the dinosaur who is about to go on tour. dippy the diplodocus has been the centre piece at london‘s natural history museum since 1905, and has appeared in two hollywood blockbusters. dippy is being dismantled, ready to be cleaned up, and then sent round the uk on a two—year long tour. he is 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 at 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. labelling every bone and cleaning it and putting it back together. in terms of dippy‘s replacement, the as yet unnamed blue whale should be in position by the summer. i like the look of the whale. the whale looks good! in a moment a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first the headlines on bbc news: labour calls on the government to make a commons statement about the resignation of the uk‘s top civil servant in brussels, sir ivan rogers. four men are charged by police investigating a crash in oldham in which two cousins, aged 11 and 12, died.

german police arrest a 26—year—old tunisian man in connection with the attack on a christmas market in berlin. hello. i‘m ben bland. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. the ftse100 has had a rather flat afternoon. down from the record high it hit yesterday. downward pressure is coming from retailers shares after disappointing pre—christmas sales figures from next. meanwhile the other main european markets end the day lower. eurozone inflation has surged to its highest rate in more than three years. the rise was driven by increased prices for energy, food, alcohol and tobacco. the annual inflation rate hit 1.1% in december, according to official statistics. it‘s a sharp jump from november‘s

rate and is the highest since september 2013. the uk‘s construction sector ended the year well. it expanded at the fastest pace for nine months in december, according to a closely watched survey. stronger demand led to morejobs. but the fall in value of the pound made importing raw materials more expensive and suppliers are passing those cost pressures on to consumers. shares in housebuilders like barratt and persimmon were up today. shares in next are down sharply after the company said it expects annual profits to be at the low end of expectations. it revealed that full—price sales in the weeks leading up to christmas were down by 0.4%. looking ahead, it has warned of a tough trading year ahead and that prices could rise by 5% this year. next is usually seen as an indicator of how things are going on the high street. however, john lewis reported a pre—christmas surge in sales. let‘s get detailed analysis of those stories and

the impact they‘re having. joining me to do that is russ mould, investment director, aj bell. good to see you. so, next, usually seen as an ind cater of the state of the high street, howeverjohn lewis reporting pre—christmas surge. what are we to make of this? is it next under performing or has our spending habits change?ed next is focussed on cloting and footwear, john lewis mentioned in its statement that food and drink were particularly strong and drink were particularly strong and home wares, it depends which target market you are aaddress. b and m retail, the brainchild of terry healey the former tesco chairman, it had a strong set of figures, up 7% in the uk, due to better stock and better in—store experiences. so it depends where you are in the market and what your

target market, but next found it tough going. you mentioned europe. some interesting figures from the eurozone. inflation spiking. almost double the rate that it was in november, the inflation in december almost double what it was in november. what are we to read in that and investors reaction? because the markets in europe didn‘t respond particularly positively? they took it as slightly bad news. it may mean the european central bank is less generous with its monetary policy and people wond whether it will scale back on its quantitative easing programme. that‘s premature. a lot of the increasing inflation came from oil prices. a little bit from food, but mainly energy. oil is at $55 a barrel, it was $37 a year ago. if you look at the core number which the central banks try and look at, it cuts out food and oil, that‘s

still at 0.9%. the european central bank‘s target is 2%. it is a long way from that. i suspect that the ecb will remain again wuss with its monetary policy throughout this year and possibly next as well.|j monetary policy throughout this year and possibly next as well. i want to bring things back to the uk. the construction figures showing the construction figures showing the construction sector ended the year in robust shape. the shares responding. they slipped a profit warning between christmas and new year. we have got persimmon tomorrow and taylor—wimpy and barrat next week. there was a good mortgage approvals number out today for november. an eight month high. the best number since march, but it was

the sixth consecutive year—on—year decline. there is plenty of demand in the housing market. prices are still up 6% and that‘s, although it is boa low what we saw at start of the year, the housing market is suffering from the housing supply. let‘s see what the three statements in the next week have got to say. how much can we read into the uk mortgage approval figures then? how much can we read into the uk mortgage approval figures themm was an eight month high. we did seem to see what was a pre—brexit vote post brexit vote lull. if you saw the broader uk consumer credit statistics today, consumer borrowing rose at its fastest rate for 11 yea rs. rose at its fastest rate for 11 years. that‘s not just rose at its fastest rate for 11 years. that‘s notjust mortgages, it is credit cards as well. maybe that‘s one reason why we saw good numbers from people likejohn lewis. there is extra borrowing going oon. there is extra borrowing going oon. the consumer confidence figures rallied. there does seem to be some

improvement in consumer outlook for 2017. what next were frightened of, if you have seen inflation spike and inflation starts to run ahead that‘s what next are cautious for for 2017 because it will crimp scunler spending power again. glsh consumer spending power again. investors are waiting for the minutes from the fed‘s december meeting when they put interest rates up. perhaps it will give them an insight into how the fed views donald trump‘s forthcoming administration, but that‘s all the business news from me for today. jane and christian, back to you. thanks, ben. simon mccoy will be here with the news at 5pm. now the weather. you can have cloudy and mild or you

can have cold and frosty. take your pick, but you will get a little bit of everything. this has been the story in b pushings de in cornwall. —— bude in cornwall. the reason being this weather front. it is the dividing line between the cloudy, mild weather to the south—west, and the colder, clearer airup to the south—west, and the colder, clearer air up to the north. that will have air up to the north. that will have a significant impact as we go through the night tonight. the cold air is going to push its way across the country and reallyjust air is going to push its way across the country and really just shove the country and really just shove the mild air back out into the atla ntic the mild air back out into the atlantic until friday when it is set to return, but it does mean that temperatures are really going to fall away drastically through the night tonight. still the risk of a few showers running in off the north sea and that could lead to some icy stretches on rural roads, but elsewhere, the cold will be the talking point. below freezing in towns and city centres. so in rural

spots, maybe down to minus seven or minus eight celsius. here there will be more in the way of sunshine and showers from the weakening weather front. elsewhere, it will be a crisp, cold frosty start to your thursday morning. a beautiful one with lots of sunshine coming through, but you have to scrape off the frost from the windscreens first thing. more cloud and not as cold again into northern ireland. beautiful start into scotland. not quite as windy as well as we have seenin quite as windy as well as we have seen in recent days. so hopefully not as many showers around. we can‘t rule out the risk of an isolated shower running in through the east coast, but elsewhere, it is a dry and sunny, but cold afternoon. the breeze continues. the cloud continues out to the west. here temperatures perhaps holding up to seven or eight celsius, temperatures only a few degrees above freezingful all set to change. here is our next choice in the menu as we see more cloud, a south—westerly wind and rain arriving for friday and so that

brings more unsettled weather conditions across the country. spreading in from the north—west, grad citizenshipinging south and east, probably not arriving in the london area until after dark. but milder again, seven to 11 celsius. that weather front moves out of the way for the start of the weekend. high pressure set to build again, but the wind direction always likely to come from a westerly. so that means it will stay relatively mild as we go through the weekend. largely dry as well, albeit cloudy. any rain that we get will be light and drizzly. today at 5pm. a row erupts over the role of civil servants after the shock resignation of britain‘s ambassador to the eu. in a leaked note to his staff,

sir ivan rogers attacked what he called "muddled thinking" over brexit. labour demands answers. some top leave campaigners say he was right to go. there are plenty of people out there who i think could do this job for the government and may actually carry greater respect in government, as a result, and therefore be part of the process, much more than maybe we discover sir ivan was. we‘ll have the latest from westminster as the fallout continues and be talking to the shadow brexit secretary who‘s calling for answers from the government. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm. a man‘s been charged by causing the deaths of two young cousins in oldham by dangerous driving, as they crossed a road on new year‘s even.