welcome to bbc news. this is the top story. the us congress has voted to begin the process to repeal obamacare. but some congress members have expressed reservations about starting the repeal process before a replacement healthcare programme has been agreed. rural hospitals will be closed. and they have no alternative proposition. they want to kill aca, but they have no idea about how they are going to bring forward egg a substitute proposal. this is not what the american people want. this is irresponsible and dangerous and should be defeated. the vote in the end was 51 to 48 in the us senate in the early hours of thursday, the first significant step towards the death of obamacare. the resolution now goes to the house of representatives, which is expected to vote on it this week. for more on this, laura bicker spoke

to us from washington. all throughout the campaign, the cry from donald trump was that he would repeal and replace obamacare and he has already praised the swift action of his republican colleagues by getting this through congress and saying that soon the ‘unaffordable care act‘ would be history. however there is that repeal process under way. it is a budget measure that has gone through today and that will make way for a repeal and replace bill. however there is yet to be a replacement. we spoke to people today in the house and there was a clear choice — keep affordable care or have chaos. they fear in the meantime amidst the uncertainty, insurance payments would continue to rise. there are also 20 million americans who now have insurance under obamacare who did not previously have it. the worry is what will happen to them. many have pre—existing conditions, be it multiple sclerosis, viruses, diseases, cancer, and many would not have health insurance without obamaca re.

what do they do? republicans have said that they will not pull the rug from under those people, that they want to repeal the act and replace it at the same time within the first 100 days of a donald trump presidency. so far the ideas coming forward have not been able to form into a cohesive plan that republicans can back. the other big story. donald trump has accused political opponents, including members of his own republican party, of putting together a dossier of what he called "totally made up" claims linking him to russia. in a series of tweets the president—elect described those behind the allegations as "sleazebags." from washington, nick bryant reports. there are storylines that

could easily come from a cold war spy thriller and plot twists involving sex allegations and potential russian blackmail that even the tv series house of cards might baulk at. but this is reality, not a show, and the first episode of trump the presidency airs in just one week's time. for now, donald trump mainly delivers his lines on twitter. he's a 140 character actor. i could have said do this and say that. i did not. isaid i could have said do this and say that. i did not. i said the yourselves. he's a 140 character actor. it now turns out that the phoney allegations against me were put together by my political opponents and a failed spy afraid of being sued. "totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives. both democrats and republicans. fake news. russia says nothing exists." footage has emerged

of christopher steele, the former m16 officer who produced the dossier at an event at cambridge university. he is now in hiding, apparently fearing for his life. former colleagues defended his professionalism. it is certain that what he has reported is something he believes. he recognises that this is raw intelligence that needs validation and it needs further exploration. 0n capitol hill, lawmakers received a behind—closed—doors briefing on the unverified dossier and the alleged interference of russia in the presidential election. many left demanding more answers. the american people are owed the truth. there is a great deal of evidence to say that this is an issue of high interest to the american people. the strength, the integrity of our own democracy. and there's yet more intrigue. a senior official confirming today that there were frequent contacts between the top national security adviser of donald trump and the russian ambassador, here in washington and that those contacts took place on the day that president 0bama expelled dozens of russian officials in retaliation

for the alleged hacking. it again raises questions about the trump team's ties with the kremlin. but washington moves on. it has always been a city of political farewells. and next week this capital and this country will be under very different management. let's round—up some of the other main stories. talks to broker an end to the political crisis in the gambia have failed. the president—elect, adama barrow, has now left the country, while the african union says it will no longer recognise yahya jammeh, who's refusing to relinquish power. turkey has ruled out withdrawing all of its troops from cyprus as part of any reunification deal unless all greek troops also leave the island. the two sides have been holding talks aimed at resolving cyprus‘s future. the island was divided between turkey and greece in 197a. french authorities have launched an investigation into renault, over allegations they tried to cheat emissions tests with some of their diesel vehicles.

as a result the car—maker's share price dipped 4% in morning trading. earlier this week volkswagen agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines in the us for cheating similar tests. a girl stolen as a newborn from a hospital in florida has been found alive after 18 years. kamiyah mobley was taken from her biological mother when she was just eight hours old. the woman kamiyah grew up with has been arrested after a tip—off. to keep up—to—date with international and national news, go to our website. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: lord snowdon, the former husband of princess margaret and celebrated photographer, has died aged 86. we'll look back at his life. there's been further confirmation of the difficulties within the nhs as it's emerged nearly half of all hospitals in england declared

a major alert in the first week of the year. theresa may has acknowledged that the nhs in england is under pressure, but she said that an extra £400 million had been invested in anticipation of winter problems. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has more. how do you feel now? it's still sore but a lot better than it was. perfect. another day, another a&e patient. here a fractured wrist is dealt with. apologies for the delay. patients waiting and nhs staff doing the best they can under extreme pressure. the story here at northwick park hospital in london is the same as across the service. things are a little quieter today, but they know bad weather could bring a surge in patients this weekend. this a&e consultant told me it was the busiest she'd known in her 16—year experience. there have been moments in the last two weeks, like the whole country has had,

where actually it's been quite frightening for members of staff, for the nurses, for the doctors, for the ambulance crews who are bringing patients in, and there have been moments where it has been very sticky. but we have managed as best as we can and everybody has worked incredibly hard. today's figures from nhs england showed that last week, 43% of hospitals had declared a major alert. that means when help‘s required to handle patient numbers or safety‘s at risk. 16% faced this serious pressure every day of last week. after a difficult few days, the prime minister was asked again about the state of the nhs. we have acknowledged that the nhs is under pressure. we always see increased pressures in the nhs overwinter periods. that is why in preparing for winter the period this time, £400 million was put in to ensure that winter preparedness. but the labour leaderjeremy corbyn will argue in a speech tomorrow that the government must invest more in social care to ease the pressure on what he calls a danger zone for the nhs. in northern ireland, nearly four in ten patients waited

more than four hours in a&e during the christmas period. in wales, latest data showed nearly one in five patients were waiting longer than four hours. scotland was performing better than those levels and england's in the holiday week, but at this glasgow hospital, pregnant women were turned away yesterday and sent to other maternity units, because of a high level of general admissions. management said safety was maintained at all times. back at northwick park, a traffic light—style screen monitors hospitals across the capital, including bed capacity. as you can see there are some hospitals under real pressure right now, and that's indicated by the black. this is the sort of thing you will find in most hospitals each day — ambulance crews queueing in a corridor with patients, waiting to hand them over. they are in a safe situation, but there is no room in the accident and emergency unit at this stage for them to be treated or assessed. the message is they're coping for now, but they know a flu

outbreak could make life even tougher on the front line. thousands of people living on the east coast of england have been evacuated and had an anxious wait as the emergency services prepared for severe flooding caused by a tidal surge. preparations have been under way since thursday with the army helping police forces and volunteers to bolster the flood defences. last night, the high tide peaked along most off the coast and many areas have avoided being flooded. sophie long reports from great yarmouth. right along the east coast of england, waves battering seaside towns. streets have been submerged in water as the tidal surge reached seawalls. here in great yarmouth, people filled sandbags late into the evening. last—minute precautions to protect their properties. from early this morning people braved the cold and snow to prepare for the worst, with potentially

life—threatening conditions ahead. emergency services and the military knocked on thousands of doors, urging people to leave their homes. a little bit worried, but this happened a couple of years ago and we all got evacuated and it was ok, thankfully, because they built the defences up so fingers crossed the environmental agency have done a good job and built the defence up well enough to protect us. who knows? tonight will tell. we're only living over the road, we do get flooded quite a bit, so as long as we've got the sandbags for now, we have moved everything upstairs already so it'sjust a waiting game now. in essex, police activated a full evacuation plan. emergency services were poised to assist anyone in need. the environmental agency warned people not to be complacent. the issue about a storm surge is that it really is about the high winds coinciding with high tides and if you get that you get really, really high levels. that can be very changeable through the day so we are forecasting it it as closely as we can and watching it through, but it is quite important that people stay alert because some of these high tides will happen

late thorugh tonight. police urged people to comply with their innstructions to head the centres like this one in the relative safety of daylight. some needed less persuasion than others. there was no question. the moment i knew i had to go i just left. left my phone behind, i left everything behind, as long as i was safe, that was all that mattered. earlier, waves crashed over the lighthouse and breached seawalls in scarborough forcing those who chose not to stay away to run for cover. and much of whitby has been drenched in water as communities up and down the country battle against the elements. labour's former education spokesman, tristram hunt is resigning as an mp,

triggering a by—election in his stoke constituency — an area which voted for brexit and where ukip came second in the last election. mr hunt, who's leaving to become director of the victoria and albert museum in london, had been critical of jeremy corbyn's leadership. mr corbyn has said he was looking forward to the by—election campaign. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, reports from stoke. stay with labour and lose, all walk away and leave it behind. hunt decided to leave behind. 0ne caught up decided to leave behind. 0ne caught up weekend today, this job offer was too good to turn down. it is a tough too good to turn down. it is a tough to leave stoke—on—trent. but being director of the albert museum was my dream job. director of the albert museum was my dreamjob. you have been clear director of the albert museum was my dream job. you have been clear that labour is heading for trouble with jeremy corbyn as leader. have you changed your mind? jeremy corbyn as leader. have you changed your mind ?|j jeremy corbyn as leader. have you changed your mind? i have had differences with jeremy corbyn changed your mind? i have had differences withjeremy corbyn in the past but i will now be a

director of a museum. it is not the time to reverse differences. jeremy corbyn heard you were stepping down earlier today. how did he take it? he was gracious and interested in thejob and he was gracious and interested in the job and interested he was gracious and interested in thejob and interested in he was gracious and interested in the job and interested in victoria. iimagine the job and interested in victoria. i imagine disappointed. a bit for an. he was pulling his punches today but his verdict on labour's leader was on the record. we are facing an historic wipeout of the labour party. today jeremy corbyn is glossing over worry is ahead. party. today jeremy corbyn is glossing over worry is aheadlj don't want anyone to resign and i do not want to lose mps, but he has decided to do this and good luck to him. here in staffordshire, stoke is the kind of industrial city where many industrial workers feel overlooked, on the wrong side of the global economy. most voted for brexit and ukip came seventh by 5500 votes. ask anyone, this will be a

ha rd test votes. ask anyone, this will be a hard test will labour and its leader. ukip, labour, it will always be in the balance whether labour get in or not. will they have a tough time holding on? i think so. politics is so muddled. traditional labour voters do not know how to vote now because of redford. you wa nt vote now because of redford. you want them to win? historically i am a labour man. but today there is no clear choice. ukip seems keen for the fight. hard left because he felt he had a brighterfuture the fight. hard left because he felt he had a brighter future away from the labour party and jeremy corbyn. we feel there are many voters in the area that will feel the same way. for labour, this is a difficult time for a by—election, a tough place. some mps we have spoken to say they are prepared to quit before the next election or resign. labour will have

to throw everything into this campaign, which if they fail, will make losing all the harder to bear. just now, this fight will gauge whether labour and hold its ground, 01’, whether labour and hold its ground, or, our traditional whether labour and hold its ground, or, ourtraditionalvoters whether labour and hold its ground, or, our traditional voters turning their backs and walking away? this is bbc news, the headlines: the first step has been taken in the us to dismantle the divisive 0bamaca re health system. but there are some concerns about what will take its place. in a series of tweets, donald trump has accused political opponents, including members of his own republican party, of putting together a dossier of what he called totally made up as we've been hearing a baby girl stolen 18 years ago from a hospital in the us state of florida has been found alive in south carolina.

a woman has been arrested in connection with the abduction, as peter bowes reports from la. this is an extraordinary story. the sequence of events that we're now learning about go back to 1998, july of that year, when this baby was taken from the hospital by a woman, it seems, who was posing as a nurse. she said that she needed some treatment because the little girl had a fever. she was taken out of the ward, away from her mother, and never seen since. there was a huge investigation launched, a lot of coverage on american television. there was a $250,000 reward for information announced, and over the years police have received many, many tips, in excess of 2,000. and they have been looking into all of these potential new leads, but never ultimately resulting in what has happened today, and that is finding this baby, now a young woman, 18 years old, living seemingly with a woman in south carolina. now, we haven't been given a name that she has been living under.

we know relatively few details about her circumstances now. other than it seems as if there was some sort of tip, or new information over the last few months, that led her to believe that she might have been part of this kidnapping. she had a dna test and it confirmed her true identity. now, we understand that there has not yet been a reunion with her family. the authorities are saying this woman, she has a lot to process, a lot to take in, finally understanding what happened to her, and realising that she has a completely different identity. the woman that she'd been living with, who is called gloria williams, she has been arrested and charged with kidnapping. more than 65 people have died as a result of icy storms across parts of europe over the last week. the world metereological 0rganisation said these cold outbreaks happen about once in 35 years. there's growing concern for refugees and migrants living in makeshift camps in freezing temperatures.

the un refugee agency is urging governments to do more. sarah corker reports. hundreds of migrants queued in the freezing snow in belgrade to get a warm meal. this is their makeshift shelter in the serbian capital. there's no running water or heating and they manage with what little they have. the men and boys are mainly from afghanistan and pakistan trying to find a route onto western europe. it's very cold and we are just making fire, but still we can't keep warm ourselves. we don't like to stay here, we are trying to leave this country and go to europe but we are stuck because of the border. inside this abandoned warehouse, temperatures aren't much warmer. aid groups warn that migrants are in danger of freezing to death. they

are still in appalling conditions i would say, they have no electricity, they have very little running water, apart from some heat is provided by humanitarians they have practically no heating, they are burning scrap wood. cold air from siberia means temperatures are five to 10 celsius colder than normal. in serbia, 80% of migrants are staying in government shelters while in bulgaria several migrants have died from cold and exhaustion. strong winds in northern france left more than 250,000 homes without power. the storm officially named egon also battered belgium and germany. but the harsh conditions haven't deterred migrants desperate to get to europe. 800 people were rescued from dinghies in the freezing mediterranean sea on thursday.

at this refugee camp on the greek island of lesbos, the most vulnerable mainly women and children had been moved to local hotels until conditions improve. the un refugee agency is urging governments to do more to help as the worst of the weather heads eastwards. sarah corker, bbc news. theresa may is expected to deliver a key speech on brexit next week, with just two months left until she's expected to trigger the formal process of leaving the european union. one of the areas up for negotiation is freedom of movement, which allows eu citizens to live and work here, and vice—versa. many who voted brexit oppose it, claiming it costs britishjobs. it's a debate that's also being played out in the netherlands where the deputy prime minister has told the bbc he believes the system is open to abuse and needs reforming, as our economics editor kamal ahmed reports. 500 years old, a fort in amsterdam, and a reminder of a time when europe's borders

were the subject of wars, not debates about freedom of movement. those borders are open now, open to workers who live in the eu to work within any other member state. but that has led to controversy, over wages being undercut, over unemployment. i met one of the netherlands' top politicians, and asked him why he thought resentment was growing. you can find a romanian or a portuguese painter doing the exact same work as a dutch painter who's standing right next to him, who is allowed to earn 200, 300, 400 euros less than the dutch worker. but that means, of course, that the dutch painter is out of work, out of a job. and it means that the support for the principle, which is in essence good, is eroding. immigration is not, of course, a new issue for europe. this hotel where i've just interviewed mr asscher was built 100 years ago to house economic migrants from eastern europe

on their way to south america to pick coffee. the search for an economic better life is as old as history. present—day history is dominated by that search, a core part of what it is to be in the eu. the free movement debate has become increasingly controversial. it is one of the four principles of the european union. the other three are free movement of money, goods, and services. agreeing to all four principles is necessary to be a member of the economically important single market. for some sectors, like flower—picking, immigrants are necessary, but union leaders say there is a problem of cheap labour from eastern europe. a polish worker is hired by a dutch employer in the netherlands, there is full and equal treatment, according to the dutch and the european rules. but, if this polish worker is hired by a temporary agency based in warsaw, and then he is brought with a bus to work in the agriculture or the bulbs, then all of a sudden he's falling under different rules.

and that is really creating havoc. with leading politicians in the netherlands at least willing to have a debate about free movement, could theresa may find some willing allies, as she launches her battle to keep open trade relationships with the eu without keeping open borders? we have always been allies, and we are very important trading partners of each other. many people — my sister studied in the uk, i mean, there's so many connections. however, negotiation is negotiation. we should not go out there to punish the brits, no. we want them to prosper, with us. he wants europe to reflect on why brexit happened. he doesn't want to close borders, he doesn't want britain to cherry—pick what it wants. but he does want to make reform of free movement a key part of the uk's negotiated exit from the european union. kamal ahmed, bbc news, amsterdam.

lord snowdon, the photographer and former husband of princess margaret, has died. he was 86. he married princess margaret in 1960 but separated 16 years later and they eventually dicoreced. he had a long and successful career taking striking pictures of leading figures around the world. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell looks back at his life. he was the society photographer who took pictures of the royal family, and who married one of its leading members. it was in 1960, at the start of a decade of considerable social change, that the then anthony armstrong—jones married the queen's younger sister, princess margaret. he was an untitled commoner, she was the princess who, a few years earlier, had had to renounce her love for a royal official because he was divorced. archive: with unbounded enthusiasm, acclaim for princess margaret and her husband when they appeared on the balcony... the couple brought glamour to the british royalfamily.

they travelled widely, this was them on a visit to san francisco. a—list celebrities before the term had really been invented, presenting an image of britain more in keeping with the informality of the time. although he became the earl of snowdon, he continued to work as a photographer. this, a portrait of his wife wearing her crown in the bath. another portrait, this time of david bowie. he was also a talented designer — one of his proudest achievements was designing the aviary at london zoo. the queen wanted above all else her sister's happiness, and her sister seemed to have found happiness with this very different young man who was extremely artistic, very talented, and i think people really respected him for that. by the late 1960s the couple had two children, but their marriage was in serious difficulty, both were having affairs.

in 1976, lord snowdon announced that he and princess margaret were to separate. naturally, desperately sad in every way. as a child, he'd contracted polio. throughout his life he campaigned on behalf of disabled people, and in latter years, despite his own increasing frailty, he retained his passion for photography. i like these ones because they're simple... he could look back on a life notable for his marriage into the royal family, but which had also produced many professional achievements. memorable images, among them this one of the queen which ended up on britain's postage stamps, or this relaxed 80th birthday portrait taken at his home. as for the photographer himself — he shared the view of many an amateur snapper. it's all luck! i'm always relieved that they come out! remembering lord snowdon, who has

died at the age of 86. it is best to get a weather update 110w it is best to get a weather update now from helen willetts. hello there. it looks as if the cold weather will continue into the weekend. some have had snow, quite significant snow, as you can see from oui’ weather watcher here in lanarkshire. of course, there have been other concerns through the day on friday and through the night, this sent in from whitley bay earlier. and that is the combination of high tides and strong winds pushing down the east coast, and so for the immediate future there are still flood warnings, severe flood warnings, out from the environment agency. the floodline, if you are concerned, 0345 9881188. now, the winds will continue to ease through the remainder of the night and into the morning, but they are still blowing a gale in places, and it is a blustery end to the night. still some wintry showers, something a little bit more organised crossing scotland, northern and western areas, which could just watch the salt off. it is going to be icy. that is a big concern if you are out

through the morning. the rest of the night, temperatures widely below freezing, in the towns and cities, even. so it will be much colder out in the countryside, and it will be a severe frost because of the strength of the wind. now, as we pick up the forecast on saturday, the winds are starting to ease away, and you can see a subtle difference in where we will see the showers. more likely, i think, through western areas during the day on saturday. and again, the wintry element is there, especially over the hills, but there will be heavier showers for east areas, and if they come onshore, could have some hail, some thunder, and also we could have some sleet and snow over the hills. you can see a pestering of showers for northern ireland, northern england, across scotland again, and across the north—east, and it remains cold. the wind chill not as significant, just because the winds are easing away. but it is still a breezy old day going into a breezy night, with another frost. and then we get a subtle change. we start to see some milder, slightly milder air coming in off the atlantic. as it comes in, it turns to snow, potentially freezing rain, so potentially some very icy conditions through saturday evening

and overnight into sunday, as that falls on the frozen ground. and that is because we have got this wedge of slightly milder air, so rain—bearing clouds trying to come on top of the cold air. so there is the potential for some snow orfreezing rain. either way, some rather miserably raw conditions as we get going into sunday. slight easing in that patchy rain, sleet and snow later. but, as you can see, a grey day for many, and because we have got that mild air coming over the cold air, could be quite grey and murky as well. in eastern areas we could hang onto the wintry weather,