this is bbc news. a sceptical president—elect, donald trump, is to be briefed by intelligence chiefs this afternoon on claims that russia interfered in the american election. hundreds of people attend the funeral of yassar yaqub, the man shot dead by police near huddersfield on monday. russia scales back military operations in syria in light of the current ceasefire. also, discovering ancient sounds of stonehenge. we find out how the circle may have sounded, thousands of years ago. an iceberg a quarter of the size of wales is close to breaking away from the antarctic ice shelf. and 22—year—old south londoner, ray black, is named as the bbc‘s sound of 2017. donald trump will meet

with the heads of the us intelligence services later today, over claims that russia interfered in the american presidential election. the heads of the cia, fbi and national intelligence all insist the kremlin ordered a cyber—attack to help mrtrump‘s campaign. his aides are saying he is prepared to listen and understand the intelligence chiefs. but the president elect has made his doubts very public, in a series of comments on social media. last night, he was lambasted by outgoing vice presidentjoe biden,

who told him to grow up, saying it was absolutely mindless not to have faith in america's intelligence agencies. daniel boettcher has the latest. us intelligence is convinced russia tried to influence the american election by hacking democratic party e—mails. president—elect donald trump has not only dismissed that, but set himself on a collision course with the intelligence agencies. their determination to show that they're right was made clear at a congressional committee hearing. the hacking was only one part of it and it also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news. the claim is that a hack designed to help donald trump win was authorised at the very highest level in russia, something he has rubbished from the start. i think it's ridiculous. it's just another excuse. i don't believe it. i don't know why. once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act, you are not going to catch them,

they have no idea if it's russia, or china, or somebody. it could be somebody sitting in a bed someplace. earlier this week, he appeared to support comments made byjulian assange, the founder of wikileaks, who has denied russia was involved in any hack. later he wrote on his twitter feed, the media lies to make it look like i am against intelligence when, in fact, i am a big fan. but then in another tweet, he has again questioned their judgment. "so how and why are they so sure about hacking, if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers. what is going on?" today, some of the most senior figures in us intelligence will brief him on what they know. i am hoping he is going to be respectful of the profession. respectful of the agency as well as the rest of the intelligence community and looking forward to a rather robust, if not sporty, discussion on this issue. and there has been blunt criticism of mr trump's approach from his political foes.

for a president not to have confidence in, not to be prepared to listen to the myriad of intelligence agencies, from defence intelligence, to the cia etc, is absolutely mindless. an unclassified version of the intelligence findings is to be released. whatever the american public makes of that information, the relationship between the president—elect and the intelligence community is already strained. daniel boettcher, bbc news. earlier i spoke to edward lucas, a senior editor at the economist — and their former moscow bureau chief. i asked how he thought the meeting between mr trump and us intelligence chiefs would go. i think the atmosphere‘s going to be pretty tense, actually, because the intelligence community chiefs are kind of barons of the american system, they run enormous organisations. they are used to being

taken very seriously. they have been publicly disparaged, or ditched, by mr trump with tweets. this is a completely new experience. they have had difficult relations in the past. nixon, for example, didn't particularly like his intelligence services. but to have notjust their competence but also their integrity publicly questioned will strike a very jarring note. mr trump, for his part, thinks that america is generally run by crooks and idiots who have done a very bad job, and he lambasts all the establishment, and has lambasted the intelligence agencies just as he lambasted the federal reserve, and so on, with the particular twist that they are saying that russia interfered with the election which, to some extent, tarnishes his victory. he would like to think he won fair and square, not because the russians had destabilised hillary clinton's campaign. you wonder if they present him with enough facts, enough evidence, would he potentially change his mind on all of that? i wonder if his attention

span is long enough. i've seen the unclassified bit of this, which is pretty simple, that the breach came from the so—called phishing e—mails that many of your viewers may have received, that purport to be from google and so you need to reset your password. if you click on that, you are actually handing your password away to somebody else. from analysis of these e—mails, we can see that they were part of a family of e—mails that were all going to senior people in politics, military, security and so on, in countries that are of interest to russia. so, this was very clearly not some guy in a basement, as trump said. there was also the question of who is behind the dcleaks. not wikileaks, another site, dclea ks. it's anonymously registered on the internet, and came up and published a lot of this stuff. those are the two components, the hacking and the leaking. i suspect that the american intelligence agencies have got some pretty good ideas who is behind dcleaks, from either human or electronic intelligence. they have probably also got some pretty high—level stuff about what was going on in moscow around that time, probably including people like putin

saying to his friends, "yippee, we gotcha." or something like that. and so it will be hard for him to say this is alljust nonsense. but will this change the way he behaves? i don't know. i suppose, in the longer term, he hasn't even started on the white house yet. he's got four years, maybe even eight years of working with these intelligence agencies. if he's already fallen out with them, that doesn't bode very well? no, and they are huge bureaucracies. turning them around would be difficult. i think it is well overdue for reform, america has an enormous, sprawling network of agencies, many of which have had money hurled at them after 9/11. they overlap and compete, and don't always do a good job. on this, they seem to be quite united, don't they, the cia, the fbi, and so on? they seem to be of the same mind about the russian hacking? they do. i think this conclusion is pretty solid. i actually think someone like trump would be well placed to start bringing some order to this, because it has got a bit out of control, just from the sheer size and all these leaks we see with snowden, and people like that.

i'm sure that it needs reform. but i think the crunch is going to come when he starts doing foreign diplomacy, when he starts meeting foreign leaders. he's going to want to know, what did the guy have for breakfast? most importantly, what is his bottom line, what his negotiating position is going to be. that is what your intelligence agency gives you. every country that has an intelligence agency tries to find this stuff out. as the american leader, you want have the biggest and best intelligence briefing when you go in to bat for your country. i think it's going to be very interesting to see how quickly he pivots and goes, golly, actually, i need these people because i'm going face—to—face with merkel, the mexican president, with putin, with the chinese, whoever, and i don't want to walk in there naked. i want some intelligence. well question is, even if they give him that intelligence, will he believe it? will he trust it, if he doesn't get on with these people? i think he will find — he claims to be the smartest guy, to know stuff that nobody else does. that sort of bravado is fine when you are outside the negotiating room.

and when you are sitting there, eyeball to eyeball, across the table with some foreign leader and you've got to walk out of the deal and get a good deal for your country and your administration, you will need a pretty good briefing. i think bluster is very, very good in the real estate market, when you are trying to make people and you money and give you permits and so on. i don't think it quite works when you're running the most important country in the world. you need spies and intelligence, stuff like that. ed lucas talking about that meeting due in the next hour or so between donald trump and the various heads of the us intelligence agencies. hundreds of people have attended the funeral of yassar yaqub, who was shot dead by police on monday. the service for the 28—year—old was held at a mosque in huddersfield. mr yaqub died after police stopped a car nearjunction 2a of the m62. an inquest into the death was also opened and adjourned in bradford. danny savage reports. has been a very busy morning in

connection with the incident, when yassar yaqub was shot dead as he came in his car down a slip road off the m62. his funeral was held a few hours ago. people are gathering for friday prayers. we also have a man in court in connection with the case and the inquest has been opened into the death of the man who was killed. hundreds of people came to yassar yaqub‘s funeral at a mosque in huddersfield this morning. many didn't know him personally, but were here to support his family. his father, mother and sisters were deeply distressed. the consistent thought from those present is that they want answers as to why he was shot by police on monday night. them parents have lost their son, those sisters have lost their brother. they need answers. his friends, family, they all need answers and i think they need answers quick.

we're hoping that within this week we should have a proper report by the officials. do you think that may calm tensions if you get the facts? yes, definitely. we have a proper investigation and a justifiable answer, then yes, why not? one key question about the shooting was answered today. the police have already said a gun was found in the white audi yassar yaqub was shot in. we know he was the front seat passenger in the car. at the inquest into his death this morning, it was revealed the gun was found in the front passenger footwell of the vehicle, exactly where he was sitting. the inquest was told yassar yaqub was shot by a police officer in the execution of his duties. he was listed in court as being a 28—year—old office clerk, but many people in huddersfield believe he was a renowned drugs dealer. he was, in 2010, accused and cleared of trying to murder two people and a firearms offence. his family stress he was never convicted of anything. meanwhile, a 30—year—old man,

arrested at the time, appeared before magistrates in leeds. moshin amin is charged with firearms offences, including possessing a pistol and silencer. he was remanded in custody. now the court case involving him will now go forward with further hearings in the future. the inquest was adjourned until the end of march, and the coroner has asked for the independent police complaints commission, who are overseeing this investigation, to keep him up—to—date with what is going on, so more information will come out. bits and pieces of information are coming out now over the exact events here on monday evening, and a clearer picture is becoming apparent. russia says it's reducing its military presence in syria, including bringing back its aircraft carrier and other warships from the eastern mediterranean. the head of russia's armed forces said the defeat

of rebels in aleppo, and the current ceasefire, meant that its mission had been fulfilled. earlier our correspondent, alex forsyth, gave us the latest from beirut. russian military forces have played a key role in the syrian war since 2015, providing support to the syrian regime with heavy air strikes in rebel—held areas, so much so that moscow is credited with helping turn the tide in favour of its ally, the syrian president bashir. but a week or so ago, at the end of december, the russian president vladimir putin announced a partial pull out of its forces, in light of the ceasefire russia helped to broker, and which, despite some violations and ongoing violence, is largely holding, and today the russian foreign ministry said that its aircraft carrier and some smaller warships based in the mediterranean would be the first to leave. russia will retain a significant military presence in syria, but for some this is a sign that moscow sees the syrian conflict entering into a new phase, after it helped the syrian government take control of the key city of aleppo,

and with peace talks planned for later this month. but this comes with an important caveat. this isn't the first time russia has announced a withdrawal from syria. it did so in march last year, only to ramp up its presence when the fighting continued. the headlines on bbc news: us intelligence chiefs are to brief the president—elect, donald trump this afternoon on their claim that russia attempted to interfere in the us election with a hacking operation. hundreds of people attend the funeral of yassar yaqub, the man shot dead by police near huddersfield on monday. russia orders the withdrawal of its aircraft carrier from the mediterranean, in light of the current ceasefire in syria. in sport, the fa cup third round gets under way tonight. manchester city's manager pep guardiola gets

his first taste of the competition. his side travel to west ham at the london stadium later. england flanker chris robshaw could miss the six nations. he has had a recurrence ofa six nations. he has had a recurrence of a shoulder problem and will see a specialist on monday. england's opening match is on february four. and the manor formula 1 team have gone into administration after talks with potential buyers failed. nicola sturgeon has suggested a so—called soft brexit could postpone another vote on scottish independence. scotland's first minister was speaking on bbc radio this morning, and said she believed scotland's direction of travel was still towards independence, but that could be put aside in the short term. 0ur scotland correspondent glenn campbell has more. well, nicola sturgeon is opposed to brexit. but the position that she's developed is that she's prepared to compromise,

in other words, that she is prepared to accept brexit in certain circumstances. in december, she set out what compromise she would be prepared to accept. effectively, if the uk as a whole was to stay in the european single market, or to argue for a special arrangement that would allow scotland to stay in, then she would be prepared to take off the table the possibility of a second vote on scottish independence for the period of the brexit negotiations. england and wales voted to leave, northern ireland voted to stay. even in scotland, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the eu, 1 million people voted to leave. so what i'm trying to do is to see whether, with compromise and a focus on building consensus, there is a position that the maximum number of people can get behind. so, she has put together a paper exploring these options.

that has been sent to the uk government and miss sturgeon is effectively saying that the ball is in theresa may's court. if she doesn't want there to be a call from the scottish government for a second vote on independence, she wants theresa may to move on this agenda, otherwise she says that she will push for the question of scottish independence to be revisited. some of her opponents think she's making demands that she knows will be rejected to strengthen her argument for independence. nicola sturgeon insists that she is genuinely trying to achieve consensus around a compromise. northern ireland's first minister arlene foster has rejected proposals into the alleged mismanagement of a heating scheme that could cost taxpayers nearly 500 million pounds. sinn fein have repeated their call for the dup leader should temporarily stand aside

while the alleged investigation takes place. let's find out more from chris page in belfast. we have been talking about this a lot this week. what stage is this long—running row at today? well, it is still very much feeling like the classic political game of who blinks first. if neither the democratic unionist party or sinn fein blinks, the devolved government will be on the road to collapse. today, sinn fein published proposalfor an collapse. today, sinn fein published proposal for an investigation into the green energy scheme at the heart of the crisis. it was called the renewable heat incentive. it was supposed to encourage people to switch to environmentally friendly fuels, but it run massively over budget and is expected to cost £500 million over the next ten years. sinn fein say they want a judge to lead a panel to investigate this, and it will have the power to compel witnesses to appear, for documents to be produced. at the heart of the

proposal is that they want arlene foster to step aside as first minister, temporarily, for a few weeks, while the inquiry publishes preliminary report. they have stated that position for a number of weeks, that position for a number of weeks, that they wanted to leave the office for a while. arlene foster has made it clear she has no intention of doing so. she has not done any interviews so far, but she was at an event at a school in her constituency. julian fowler caught up constituency. julian fowler caught up with her there. mrs foster did not say much, but she made it clear that she has no intention of stepping down. will you be accepting sinn fein's terms of reference for an inquiry? will you be standing aside? well, she has given another response today. she tried some humour on social media. social media in northern ireland has gone pretty wild about this this afternoon. she

has posted on her facebook page a photograph of a guinea pig wearing heart—shaped pink glasses and the caption says, can't see all the haters when i've got my love glasses on. i suppose that is a light—hearted way of arlene foster saying she is not letting her critics get to her and she is going to get on with the job. where is this going? ultimately, it comes down to the fact that sinn fein want arlene foster to leave the office, and if she doesn't, when the assembly comes back, monday week, sinn fein are planning on putting forward a motion saying that she should step aside as first minister. if it is not resolved then, sinn fein will have a decision to make. will they, having expressed this wish that she goes, then refuse to serve in government with her, resigned from the devolved government? if that is the case, it would, in theory, trigger a new election to the stormont assembly, less tha n

election to the stormont assembly, less than a year since the last one. it will be a very big week for stormont on a fall of more political tension. thank you, we will clearly be talking about this again. a third of hospital trusts in england issued alerts last month that they were unable to deliver comprehensive care because of the pressure of patient numbers. an analysis by the health think—tank the nuffield trust — using nhs england figures — found that 50 trusts had issued warnings. worcestershire acute hospitals trust has confirmed that it is investigating two deaths in the past week in its a&e department. one patient died after waiting 35 hours for a ward bed elsewhere in the hospital. the president of the royal college of emergency medicine said today that the emergency care system was on its knees. there are certainly signs of very great pressure. this has been building up over years. if we look at the last year, emergency demand has gone way up beyond what you

would have expected, given the growth in population. bed numbers have shrunk, the delays in discharge, which block the hospital up discharge, which block the hospital up and mean that you cannot get new patients in, that has risen. staff are starting to feel the strain. it's getting increasingly difficult to get people to do key roles in emergency medicine. a&e departments shutting their doors to patients more than 140 times in december. that is quite alarming? it seems to be greater than last year. anecdotally, we hearfrom people that december has been extremely busyin that december has been extremely busy in a&e, even busier than normal. even above this very sharp growing trend we have seen over the last five or six years. nobody is really sure. the suspicion is that it isa really sure. the suspicion is that it is a combination of the cuts we are seeing and social care, in community services run by the nhs, and very heavy pressure in general practice, which we are not talking about today, the previous stories this week and over christmas, from

the royal college of gps, pointing out that general practice is suffering from significant problems. there always seems to be a winter crisis in the nhs. is this worse than we have known it before? well, we have certainly seen worse winters than this. it is still, u nfortu nately, early than this. it is still, unfortunately, early days. winter is certainly not yet over. i think what it does show is the increasing of prussia in general practice, social care, a&e departments, hospital wards themselves building up. there also comes a point when it takes its toll on the staff. the story idea from chief executives, that concerns the most, is the impact of this relentless pressure on the staff, which has not grown up the extent of the workload has. briefly, we have to talk about potential solutions, more money, more staff? staff are theissue, more money, more staff? staff are the issue, i think. money is also an issue. there doesn't seem to be much new money around at the moment. we

have also lost a lot of stuff. a&e doctors have chosen not to pursue their training, or gone abroad. there is a big problem about staffing wards and departments. that is nigel edwards, chief executive of the nuffield trust, talking to me earlier. well one of the other serious issues facing the nhs is so—called bed blocking, where patients who are well enough to leave hospital can't do so because there's no continuing care package in place. and new research indicates the situation is even worse in mental health trusts in england — the research found that in trusts that specialise in mental health and learning disabilities, the rise in the number of delayed discharges is double that of acute hospitals. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, has the details. how are things in the shop? fine, the usual. 0liver lang helps his father run a small post office in norfolk. in 2014, the 27—year—old was detained under the mental health act. he spent several weeks in a psychiatric unit, but even when he was well enough to leave, he couldn't.

delays in arranging suitable support in the community meant he spent a further two months unnecessarily in hospital. ifelt like i was in danger in there, because a lot happens in hospital. i felt like if someone attacked me, i'd have to defend myself. but if i did defend myself, and hurt someone, they'd say he is a danger to the public still, so they'd keep me locked up for longer. i was trying to be whiter than white. the latest figures show more than 200,000 bed days were lost by the nhs in england last october. physical healthcare trusts saw a 30% rise in the previous 12 months. but for mental health and learning disability trusts, the increase was 56%. this former care minister says the figures show once more the crisis in mental health care. it means there's a shortage of community psychiatric nurses, a shortage of support services, like detox facilities, and a shortage in social care, which i think has hit people with mental ill health

disproportionately hard. the pressure on mental health services is intense and growing. last year in london, for instance, four mental health trusts said their bed occupancy levels were 100%. that means that every single bed they had was full every single day of the year. and packed psychiatric wards create problems throughout the entire mental health system. if people can't leave, it's hard to admit other people. so we have people in crisis who need a bed and we have people scouring the country sometimes to find a bed we can admit them to. ministers say they're aware of the problems and will spend £400 million in this parliament ensuring psychiatric patients can be treated at home. michael buchanan, bbc news. a 24—hour strike by london

underground workers will go ahead after talks broke down this afternoon. members of the rmt and twsa unions will strike on monday. london underground is one of significant disruption to passengers and says no stations in zone one will be open. now, it's famous throughout the world for using the sun to mark the summer solstice. but now it seems stonehenge may also have had its own, distinct, sound. scientists at the site have used virtual reality technology to recreate what the henge would have looked like, thousands of years ago, when it was complete. and they've used ancient musical instruments to recreate the circle's original acoustics. 0ur correspondent, david sillito, went along for a listen. wind blows eerily. people have been coming here for at least 4000—5000 years, so we're walking

in the feet of history. when the wind blows, some people say they hear a strange hum. thomas hardy wrote about it in tess of the d'urbervilles, and dr rupert till is convinced the sound of stonehenge is part of its magic. tapping you hear between each beat, a little echo. as the sound leaves you, hits the stone and comes back to you here, bang. tapping. the problem is this isjust a fragment of the sound people would have heard 4000 years ago. i met the site's historian, susan greening. so, this is the front door of stonehenge we're going through right now? that's right, yes, and we are coming into the central space now. it does change a bit as you walk through, doesn't it? it does, you have the feeling

of being enclosed within a space. what we're looking at today is the ruin of stonehenge. many stones have been taken away from the site, many have fallen down, lots have been eroded, they're covered in lichen. it would've been a completely different atmosphere complete, wouldn't it? yes, it would. horn however, rupert till has an answer. what this new vr technology offers is a possibility, a chance to, well, return back and see and also hear what this place used to look like in the past. we have reconstructed it by rebuilding stonehenge digitally and used software to reconstruct the acoustics of the space as it would have been when all of the stones were here. so, how different is the old sound to the sound we have today? well, if i tap this drum now, you will hear a little bit of an echo.

when all of the stones are put in place, there is a much more powerful sense of enclosure, a slight reverberation, more echo, and it changes more as you walk around. so today it's just a ruin beside a city road. this, a chance to say goodbye to the 21st century and experience the last sound of stonehenge. now the weather. it has been turning milder as we headed through the day, that is down to the fact we have had a lot of cloud from the west, with this warm front introducing that milder air across the country. so after a could start, temperatures have been on the rise, but we have a lot of cloud and light drizzly rain in the southern half of country, whereas further north clearer skies but we will see

some mist and fog patches forming overnight. for most of us it will be frost—free with that cloud around but across central and northern scotla nd but across central and northern scotland there could be the odd pocket of frost first thing, so some mist, fog and low cloud and fill fog in the south with drizzle, but through the course of the day it remains quite quiet, a fairly grey picture, we are into double figures in southern areas whereas further north five to seven degrees or so. sunday, no great change, again mist and fog and it is a grey cloudy sort of picture, but, a lot of useable and dry weather throughout the course of the weekend. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. donald trump's aides say he will have an open mind when he's briefed by the heads of the us intelligence agencies on their claim that russia carried out a hacking operation which interfered with the american presidential election. hundreds of people have attended the funeral in huddersfield of a man shot dead by police on the m62 motorway on monday.

an inquest has been opened and adjourned into the death of 28—year—old yasser yaqub. nicola sturgeon has suggested the prospect of a second referendum on scottish independence could be taken off the table in the short term if the uk pursues a soft brexit. the first minister said she wants the uk — or scotland at least — to remain in the eu single market. russia is withdrawing a naval task force — led by its only aircraft carrier — from the mediterranean. military commanders in moscow say the ships had achieved their set tasks, helping syrian president bashar al—assad to retake aleppo. scientists say a giant iceberg will soon split off from the most northern ice shelf in antarctica, after a long running rift grew suddenly last month. it could leave the whole shelf vulnerable to breaking—up in the future. we will have the sports news coming

up we will have the sports news coming up in we will have the sports news coming upina we will have the sports news coming up in a moment. also to tell you we are keeping an eye on events in washington, because we are expecting, in the next little while, what is believed to be the last public event hosted by michelle 0bama as first lady. there have been a lot of journalists 0bama as first lady. there have been a lot ofjournalists gathered in that room for really a long time, a lot of anticipation about this, due to be herfinalformal lot of anticipation about this, due to be her final formal appearance lot of anticipation about this, due to be herfinalformal appearance as first lady. the new president is inaugurated on january 20th so first lady. the new president is inaugurated onjanuary 20th so we will be back, some delay we think, as soon as will be back, some delay we think, as soon as michelle 0bama emerges. we have also being hearing more from president—elect donald trump who is due to meet in the next hour or so, american intelligence chiefs on those claims about russian hacking, during the presidential election campaign, donald trump, the president—elect has just done an interview, we are hearing with the new york time, a phone interview in

which he said that in terms of the hacking, a witch hunt is being carried out by his political enemies, in the united states, who he said were embarrassed by their defeat to him in the election last year. he said the us has become the hacking capital of the world. that is one of the comments he has made to the new york times. we will hear more about that meet, in an hour's time. right now as promised sport time. right now as promised sport time. here is lizzy. here is lizzy. good afternoon. british cyclist chris froome says the use of tue‘s in competition doesn't sit well with him morally. the three time tour de france winner chose not to use medication to treat a condition during a race despite being told he was allowed to under the therapeutic use exemption or tue rule. i was basically said your condition is severe enough that you need medication, and medication you need would require a tue. that didn't sit

well with me at the time. i didn't feel as if having a tue in the last week of the tour de france was something i was prepared to, it didn't sit well with me morally. do you think therefore it is right we are asking questions of for example why sir bradley wiggins had three steroids in the lead up to big races. it is only healthy to ask those questions, but, yes, obviously everyone, i am those questions, but, yes, obviously everyone, iam not those questions, but, yes, obviously everyone, i am not making negative commentary on his situation, that is something he will have to address himself. something he will have to address himself. that was our sports correspondent natalie pirks asking the questions. sir bradley wiggins has not done anything wrong and was prescribed the tue for his asthma. the big fa cup third round weekend is upon us, when teams from all levels of football meet for the first time and a giant killing becomes a possibility. the first tie of the round is a live on bbc one this evening and sees two pl teams meet as manchester city make the journey south to face west ham. for city boss pep guardiola, it will be a first taste of the fa cup. we are playing against west ham,

away, after what happened the last game, with them, so i will try to win that game. it's a premier league team, and in a way, so, tough, and we wa nt team, and in a way, so, tough, and we want to try to continue that competition. big game for them, big game for us. it is fa cup. for both club, spectators, for the fans of course, and i am sure they are going to again, also put very strong team together. we are thrive the london stadium with fa cup sportsday at 6 #0i7b 30. jon 0bi mikel is the latest premier league player to join the chinese super league. the nigeria midfielderfollows former chelsea team—mates oscar, ramires and demba ba to china, joining tianjin teda fc. in an emotional letter to his

"chelsea family" on social media, manor racing — the formula one team who finished last in the 2016 world championship — has gone into administration, after failing to find new investors. staff were informed of the situation earlier today. 0ur formula one reporterjennie gow has more our formula one reporter jennie gow has more. i am afraid it will be pretty tough for them. the administrators, which is frp, said there is a very limited window of opportunity, and of course, the season starts on march 26th in australia, so there really isn't much time for them to get this sorted out. there are people who are interested in buying the team, nobody has put the money down on the table yet, it needs somebody to come in an fast, for the jobs to be secured, and for the racing to continue. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. we are going to return to

washington. an air of excitement in this particular room inside the white house, she is in the east room of the white house, and this is expected to be the last public event by michelle 0bama as the us first lady. now, all the people on the stage there, they are all finalists, because she is presenting an award this afternoon, presenting the 2017 school councillor of the year award, so, we school councillor of the year award, so, we assume school councillor of the year award, so, we assume that all of these people, most of them women, almost entirely women, just filed on to the stage there, i assume that is the sum total of the the short list, a long the short list but they are all up long the short list but they are all upfor long the short list but they are all up for school councillor of the year and the winner will be presented with his or her trophy by the outgoing first lady we expect her to say a few words as you might expect. it is running late. this was due to happen half an hour ago and there is an enormous number of journalists

crammed into the east room there, waiting and waiting, very exciting day for everyone on the stage there, for the eventual winner, but i think just that extra touch to all of this, because it is michelle 0bama's final appearance at a public event. we arejust a final appearance at a public event. we are just a matter of days away from the inauguration of course, president—elect donald trump will be inaugurated into washington applause thank you so much for that. i am sure i speak for everyone thank you so much for that. i am sure i speakfor everyone here, in saying thank you to ms 0bama for

hosting this event in supporting our work by recognising school councillors at the national level. applause the profession and the students we serve will forever be enriched by the initiatives you have established. as the change in administration occurs raising questions about the direction education will take, i can promise you, all school councillors will continue the legacy you have established. applause we will work to help all students reach higher and achieve their full potential. thanks for the organisation and support and professional development you offer school councillor, i feel blessed to be part of an association that values its member, one that is intentional about offering tools and guidance we need to be successful in our profession. thank you.

applause finally, thank you to the other educators here today. i am honoured to stand among you and know amazing work happens in your building every day. in a profession where we may not always feel gratitude i want you to know your work is appreciated. take a moment and think about the lives you affect daily. no other profession is as deeply fulfilling as that of educator, let us remember this today as we are all being recognised for the impact we have on stu d e nts recognised for the impact we have on students and families. this impact is multi—facetted and critical to society and communities. in her speech in 2014, our first lady spoke about a ripple effect. she said it would spread our influence. she said we need to be cognisant of not only

the child but the family that child will some day raise. we need to think how our work will continue in our students' hearts and minds as well as the hearts and minds of eve ryo ne well as the hearts and minds of everyone they touch. think about that for a moment. that is the power that resides in believing in our young people in doing what we can to reach their goals and dreams. as you may no, i work in a career centre in western michigan. a large portion of my role is helping stu d e nts portion of my role is helping students determine what their first steps will be, in provieweding support, kiera, one of my students had a hard time believing in herself and sold herself short. she did not think she was good enough or smart enough to be successful in high school. she could not see her passion to help others in her selflessness, was some day lead to her live's calling. she did not realise this amazing qualities will put her in a position to help

others. through our conversation about goal, her goal, aspirations, fears and dreams she started to realise her potential. he began to find excitement in her learn, in her vision of the future came into focus, today, she works in the medical field. focus, today, she works in the medicalfield. helping others wile attended classes while earning her nurses degree. when i think of kiera, i think of the many lives she is changing, and will change throughout her career, this is the ripple effect ms 0bama mentioned. through persistence, caring and support for student, we make a difference in their lives, and they make a difference in the lives of others. we all have stories like this, all of you have stories like this. 0ur of you have stories like this. our students and their stories are why we love what we do. it is why school counselling is less about a career at and who we are. regardless of the grade levels we serve no

student can fall through the cracks on our watch. we must work to eliminate barriers to success by ensuring to the best of our ability that all students receive the support they deserve. this applies to those with aspiration of getting degrees as well as those who seek to go to the military or earn career certifications, this applies to first generation college goers and those who may never go beyond high school because they struggle with poverty, homelessness, or live in communities where drug use and abuse rips away at their family fabric. we need to be advocates for these student, we need to spark the motivation, we need to be the leaders who create change, to support the dreams of our country. soi support the dreams of our country. so i leave all school councillors with a challenge and call to action, provide your students with everything you can offer. consistently and passionately. every day.

when times are difficult, and you feel overwhelmed, remember why you area feel overwhelmed, remember why you are a school councillor. remember your students' stories and the impact you v remember the huge roll you play in their growth and development. —— role. rememberthat, if it wasn't for all of you, all of you on the stage, many students would not be where they are today. by would not be where they are today. by keeping all these things in your heart, i know this team of change will per veer and continue to do amazing work ‘ve and every day. i am honoured to be on your team. thank you p —— best veer. —— performances veer. studio: that is the person chosen at the 2017 school councillor of the year, who works in battle creek we think this paves the way for a final address for the first lady michelle 0bama. there there is no greater

honour i can imagine that to introduce you to someone who understands the value of great education, our school councillor in chief, the first lady of the united states, m rs chief, the first lady of the united states, mrs michelle 0bama. cheering and applause hay. what's going on? thank you all so hay. what's going on? thank you all so much. you guys. that is a command. rest yourself, we are almost at the end. hello everyone, and may i say for the last time, officially, welcome to the white house. yes. well, we are beyond thrilled to have you'll here to

celebrate the 2017 national school councillor of the year, as well as all of our state councillors of the year. these are the fine women and a few good men... laughter . one good man, who are on the stage and they represent schools from across this country, and i want to start by thanking terri for that wonderful introduction and her on the spot remarks. i am going to say a lot more about neverry in a few moment, first i want to the a knowledge a few people who were here, first our outstanding secretary of education, john king. applause as as well as our former education secretary, arne duncan. applause i want to take this time to thank

you both publicly, for your dedication, and leadership and friendship. we couldn't do this without the support of the department for education, under both of your leadership, so i am grateful to you personally, and i am very proud of all that you have done for this country. i also want to acknowledge a few other special guests acknowledge a few other special gu ests we acknowledge a few other special guests we have in the audience, we have a pretty awesome crew. as one of my staff said, you roll pretty deep. like, yeah, we have a few good friends, we have with us today, ted alan, connie britain, an —— andy coen, yes, andy coen is here. carla hall. coachjim and his beautiful wife who is a lot better looking at him. my buddyjake farrell. kelly rowland. usher. keep

it down! keep it together, ladies. and of course alison williams and her mum are here, and all these folks are here because they are using their star power, to inspire our young people and i am so grateful to all of you for stepping up grateful to all of you for stepping up in so many ways, on so many occasions i feel like i have pestered you over the year, asking time and time again, where are growing to be? can you do this, can you take that, ask for that, can we rap, can we sing? so thank you all so rap, can we sing? so thank you all so much. it really means the world to this initiative, to have such powerful respected and admired individuals, speaking on behalf of this issue, so congratulations on the work you have done and we will keep working, and today, i especially want to recognise all the

extraordinary leadership team that was behind reach higherfrom day one. this wasn't on the script, they don't know it. i want to take time to acknowledge a couple of people, executive director eric waldo. where is eric? applause he was... you have to step out. eric's acting like he is a ham, but he likes the spotlight. he is a little shy. i want to recognise our deputy director stephanie sprow. stephanie. applause and he is not going to like this,

because he tried to pretend he doesn't exist but our senior adviser greg darnita. there you go. greg darnita. there you go. greg has been a leader in education, his entire life. i have known him since i was a little organiser person, and it isjust, it has been a m person, and it isjust, it has been a joy to work with you all, these individuals, they are brilliant, creative, they have worked miracles with hardly any staff or budget to speak of, which is how we roll in the first lady's office. and i am so proud, and so grateful, to you all, for everything that you have done, so for everything that you have done, so let's give them a round of applause. applause and finally i want to recognise all of you who are here in this

audience, we have our educator, leader, young people who have been with us since we launched reach higher back in 2014. when we first came one this idea, we had one clear goal in mind, we wanted to make higher education cool. we wanted to change the conversation around what it means and what it takes, to be a success in this country. because let us be honest, if we are always shining the spotlight on professional athletes or recording artists or celebrity, if they were the only achievements we celebrate, why would we think kids would see couege why would we think kids would see college as a priority? so we decided to flip the script. and shine a big bright spotlight on all things educational. for example, we made couege educational. for example, we made college signing day a national event. we wanted to mimic all that

drama and excitement, traditionally reserved for those few amazing football and basketball players choosing their college and university team, we wanted to focus that same level of energy and attention on kids going to college, because of their academic achievements. because as a nation, thatis achievements. because as a nation, that is where the spotlight should also be, on kids who work hard in school, and do the right thing, when no—one is watching. many beating daunting odds, next, we launched better make room a social media campaign to give young people the support and inspiration they need to com plete support and inspiration they need to complete higher education and to really drive that message home you may recall i debuted my music career, rapping with jay about getting some knowledge by going to college. applause

we are also very proud of all that this administration has done to make higher education more affordable. we doubled investments in grants and couege doubled investments in grants and college tax credit, we expanded income based loans for tens of millions of student, we made it easier to apply for financial aid, we created a college score card, to help students make good decisions is about higher education and we provided new funding and support for school councillors. all together... applause yes. thank you. you're welcome. all together, we made in this administration, the largest investment in hieroglyphicer education since the gi bill —— in higher education since the gi bill. and today, the high school

graduation rate is at a record high, and more young people than ever before are going to college. and we know that school councillor like all of the folks standing with me on the stage have played a critical role in helping us get there. in fact a recent study showed that students who met with a school councillor we re who met with a school councillor were three times more likely to attend college, and they were nearly seven times more likely to apply for financial aid. so our school councillors are truly among the heroes of the reach higher story. that is why we created this event two years ago, we thought they should finally get some recognition. applause we wa nted applause we wanted everyone to know about the difference that these phenomenal men and women have been making in the lives of our young people every day. and our 2017 school councillor of

year is a perfect example. as you heard terri works at theical hewn career centre, a career and technical education centre in michigan. here is what her principal said about her. he said once she identified a systematic need, she works tirelessly to address it. so when students at the school reported feeling unprepared to apply for higher education she sprang into action, to create a school wide top to bottom college readiness effort. under terri's leadership more stu d e nts under terri's leadership more students than before attended workshops. and interview preparation, i can barely say it. they did career and personalty assessment, they helped plan a special college week, and they

organised a military day, hosting recruiters from all branches of our armed force, and because of these effo rts armed force, and because of these efforts tide, 75% ofical hewn's seniors complete key college application steps and terri's school has one state and national recognition. all of this isjust has one state and national recognition. all of this is just one small part of what terri does for her students etch die. i can go on about the time she spends one—on—one with students helping them figure out their life path, terri told us as you heard, she told us about one of those students, we reached out to kiera, and here is what she had to say in her own words. she wrote that her councillor helped her grow to love herself. she helped me with my doubts and insecurities. she said my life has changed for the better, in all aspects. she said she held my

hand through my hardest time, she said her councillor was her life saver. that is what kiera said. and this is what each of you do. every single day. you see the promise in each of your students, you believe in them even when they can't believe in themselves and you work tirelessly to help them be who they we re tirelessly to help them be who they were truly meant to be. you do it all in the face of some overwhelming challenges, tight budgets, impossible student councillor ratios. yes. amen. endless demand on yourtime, ratios. yes. amen. endless demand on your time, you'll come in early, you stay late. you reach into your own pocket, we have the amen corner over here. you stick with students in their darkest moments, when they are

most anxious and afraid, and if anyone is dealing with the college senior ourjunior you know what it feels like. these men and women show them that those kids matter. that they have something to offer, no matter what they look like or who they love, or how they worship or what language they speak at home, they have a place in this country. and as i end my time in the white house, i can think of no better message to send to our young people in my last official remarks as first lady. for all the young people in this room and those who are