this is bbc news. the headlines at four. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn accuses the chancellor of risking a ‘trade war‘ with europe if the uk doesn't get the deal it wants over brexit. she appears to be heading us in the direction of a bargain a warning that cancer operations in some hospitals are being cancelled because of increased pressures on the nhs. also in the next hour donald trump is urged not to move the us embassy in israel tojerusalem. it comes as delegates from 70 nations attend a conference in france in an attempt to kick—start the middle east peace process. and a debate over whether to bring in birds of prey to reduce the number of seagulls on britain's beaches. and in half an hour, the story of yulia stepanova, the russian athlete who exposed the state—sponsored doping

scandal in life on the run. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has accused the government of threatening a "trade war" with europe if it doesn't get the deal it wants over brexit. he was responding to comments by the chancellor, phillip hammond, who told a german newspaper that britain wouldn't "lie down wounded" if it no longer had access to the single market and hinted that corporation tax could be cut in response. on tuesday, theresa may is due to reveal details of her brexit strategy. our political correspondent tom bateman reports. under pressure to reveal a plan for brexit, theresa may will hope to answer her critics this week, calling for unity and an end to insults over leaving the eu.

injune, people voted for change, and a change is going to come. when she first detailed her thinking on brexit, the prime minister said it must mean control of immigration policy and ministers with the power to strike global trade deals. her speech on tuesday seems likely to reflect that, which many interpret as britain being outside the formal market, but seeking bespoke trade deals. i think the prime minister has always been clear that she wants the uk to be an open, outward looking trade nation. she has said that on a number of occasions. that is the positive view we have on the uk moving forward. and obviously ensuring that uk companies have the best access to the ability to trade with and operate within the european union. the chancellor said there would be a hardball approach to the talks. he was asked by a german

newspaper about lowering tax rates to entice business. he said... he said britain wouldn't lie down wounded, but would be competitive. the labour leader attacked the comments, saying they amounted to an ultimatum. he appears to be making a sort of threat to the european community, saying, if you don't give us what we want, we will become this sort of strange entity on the shores of europe, where there will be low levels of corporate taxation designed to undermine the effectiveness or otherwise of industry across europe. it seems to me a recipe for some kind of trade war with europe. mrs may will hope to shine more light on the heated debate over brexit. so far at least, her a call for unity shows little sign of being heard. cancer operations are being cancelled because of

pressures on the nhs according to the royal college of surgeons. its president says cancer procedures used to be protected because of their urgent nature, but for the past two weeks that has not been the case in some uk hospitals. earlier ian eardley, a vice—president of the royal college of surgeons and a consultant at stjames' hospital in leeds told us cancellations were happening all over the uk. the nhs is under enormous pressure at the moment, increased admissions combined with difficulties in getting patients home because of lack of support in the social and community, means that hospitals are just too full and they can't do a elective surgery. while cancer operations are usually the cases that are most important, up and down the country patients with cancer are having their surgery cancelled or delayed. our correspondent, richard lister,

has given me more details. the royal college of surgeons says it is happening across the uk, notjust in nhs england. they say that they were hearing anecdotally that there were more cancellations and postponements at the end of last amongst all hospitals in the country to find out the extent of the problem. they haven't got the definitive statistics but they tell me that large numbers are having to postpone cancer surgeries and that so far, in the past two weeks, it has affected dozens of cancer patients. and why are they saying that this is happening specifically now? because of the pressure on the nhs, half the hospitals in england declared a major alert in the first week of the year because of the pressure on nhs resources. and they don't have the inpatient beds available to be able to ensure that every person who is due to have cancer surgery can have space in a hospital and have it done and have care when they come out of surgery.

the pressure on the resources is the problem. it is upsetting for the cancer patients to think they are having the procedure and then it is cancelled at the last minute. it is very difficult to be told you will have surgery next week, they prepare themselves for it mentally, and they get help in if it's needed, then to be told perhaps on the day that it is not going to happen and they don't even have a date when it will happen can be very traumatic. with me is dr fran woodard, from macmillan cancer support. thank you very much a being with us. what is your experience on this? do you think cancer operations are being cancelled ? you think cancer operations are being cancelled? yes. we are getting more evidence speaking to professionals and patients. especially over the last few weeks we've seen an increasing number of

people whose operation has been cancelled, either the day before or on the day. having cancer is a deeply difficult and distressing time, anyway, worrying about having your surgery only then that it could be cancelled is very difficult. this isa be cancelled is very difficult. this is a situation that has arisen in the last few weeks? we have had some evidence before the operations had been cancelled when the system gets really stressed and faithful, but we are now seeing really stressed and faithful, but we are now seeing an really stressed and faithful, but we are now seeing an acute issue. and number of increased issues into hospital, where a pressure getting people out of it means there isn't the pressure holing —— isn't the beds. specific beds are needed to support people after their operation and we are seeing huge pressure on those beds as well as just generally in a&e. those beds as well as just generally in age. what typically happens, your operation is proponent to another

day, weeks ahead? absolutely, and thatis day, weeks ahead? absolutely, and that is the problem not only is it postponed you don't know when it is postponed you don't know when it is postponed to. so not only is there the distress of wanting the operation, secondly if you don't know when it is rescheduled, cancer needs treatment ellie and that is what enhances your survival. —— needs treatment i leave. any delay is unacceptable in cancer which is why we have always had waiting time targets relating specifically to cancer, it is notjust the emotion it's about people's survival as well. and we are hearing that a lot of these cancellations is very last minute, maybe on the day which is upsetting people. absolutely and people have to wait hours to find out if there is a bed. it is not only distressing for the patient it is also distressing for the family and exceptionally difficult for nhs

staff. they don't want to cancel these operations and understand the impact, with singh staff, patients, and families really suffering from this. —— and families really suffering from this. -- nhs and families really suffering from this. —— nhs staff. when you again to the point where you are having cancel operations, which are always deemed to need to be done in a pampering, when they are being cancelled and the numbers increasingly being cancelled, this absolutely has to be looked that ensures we have an acute crisis at the moment. notjust affecting people waiting in a&e but how the whole hospital is working, as well as seeing less people being able to be discharged to social care. doctor fran woodard, from macmillan cancer support, thank you. the french foreign minister has urged the incoming us administration not to move the country's embassy in israel tojerusalem. he said this would have serious consequences. jean—marc ayrault‘s comment follows the opening of a conference in paris to re—start the middle east peace process.

our paris correspondent hugh schofield explained the significance of the us moving their embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. and he is at that conference. looking back historically, all the big powers have kept their embassies in tel aviv, for the very strong reason that in principle, in international law, the status ofjerusalem remains undetermined. to move an embassy tojerusalem is to do what israel is one to rub the noses of the palestinians it. that is why countries have not done that. it is part of what would seem to be a shift in policy in america to a much more forthright pro—israeli direction. there is a new ambassador that is likely to be appointed who quite clearly

supports ha rdline israeli view on the west bank. and this idea of transferring the embassy is on his agenda and is a promise of donald trump. were it to happen, and this is what we are getting from the participants here who are opposed to it, the fear is that it would create the conditions for another upsurge in violence. it would be seen as a provocation. and therefore, it is deplored by the people here. one has to be careful, because one thing that can be said with certainty about the incoming trump administration and its foreign policy is that we don't really know what is good to happen at all. we will have to see if this promise is put into effect. all you can say for certain here is that there is a great deal of apprehension and alarm about the prospect of this change

president obama has described his successor donald trump as "unconventional" and warned that he shouldn't be underestimated. mr obama made the comments in his last ever tv interview as president. on friday donald trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. jane—frances kelly reports. washington is busy preparing for a new president. us air force personnel practice perfection and ahead of donald trump's inauguration, which will take place on friday. in his last tv interview as president, barack obama has been speaking about his time in office, and also about his successor. he described him as an unconventional candidate that won an improvisational campaign. now he is in the process of building an organisation. and we will have to see how that works. it will be a test, i think, for him and the people that he has designated, to be able to execute on his vision. president obama admitted he had passed on some words of advice to

mrtrump. one thing i said to him directly, and i would advise my republican friends in congress and supporters around the country, is just make sure that as we go forward, certain norms, certain institutional traditions don't get eroded, because there is a reason they are in place. activists led by the reverend al sharpton have been on the streets of washington, criticising donald trump for comments he has made on twitter regarding civil rights campaigner, congressmanjohn lewis, who said trump was not a legitimate president. we won't be trumped! many more protests are planned in the run—up to friday. security will be tight for a president that has made a virtue of being different, and has gained support because he is not part of the political establishment.

we have been hearing from the outgoing director of the cia uses the donald trump doesn't fully understand russia's intentions and capability. he said that when enough is mrtrump must capability. he said that when enough is mr trump must be very careful about lifting sanctions against moscow unless it changes its behaviour. he also questioned the message that president elect is sending by underplaying american intelligence, accusation that moscow did use cyber attacks to undermine the american presidential action. the northern ireland secretaryjames brokenshire has said that he's not yet considering the possibility of direct rule by uk ministers after the resignation of northern ireland's deputy first minister martin mcguinness. mr brokenshire is obliged to call a fresh election if there is no resolution to the political deadlock at stormont by 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

speaking to the bbc‘s andrew marr show mr brokenshire also dismissed the idea that britain would consider a joint government with the republic of ireland. i am not contemplating alternatives to devolved government in northern ireland. that is my resolute view. don't you have to, really? it might be on your plate very soon? what is my responsibility is to see that we are working with each of the parties to ensure we are not looking at greater division. my concern is that an election campaign will be divisive, will lead to greater distance between the parties at the end of that. exactly. it is that work therefore that i am doing and will continue to do. i would encourage the parties themselves to think about these big issues on how they conduct that campaign, and how we are able to build things back together again once that has concluded. the headlines on bbc news...

the labour leaderjeremy corbyn accuses the government of risking a ‘trade war‘ with europe if it doesn't get the deal it wants over brexit. a warning that cancer operations in some hospitals are being cancelled because of increased pressures on the nhs. delegates from 70 nations attend a conference in france in an attempt to kick—start the middle east peace process. and in sport..... england have lost the first international. manchester city were beaten by everton. they now trail league leaders, chelsea by ten points. and manchester united are taking on liverpool at the second big game

today at old trafford. liverpool could move above rivals manchester city with a win. tensions between serbia and kosovo have flared over a new train service between belgrade and an ethnic serbian part of northern kosovo. serbia's prime minister accuses kosovo of what he called "war games" by preparing to block the train, which set off from belgrade on its inauguraljourney on saturday. janey mitchell reports. the first rail service since the war 18 years ago which led to kosovo's independence. the train is painted on the outside, "kosovo is serbian. " in 20 languages. and inside serbian orthodox religious. kosovo calls it a provocation. kosovo declared independence in 2008 from serbia. it set off on its 10 hourjourney

packed with passengers and journalists, attendance dressed in serbia's national colours. the train was never reached the border, it was halted at the border after concerns of attack. translation: they have sent special units. we realised they wanted to provoke the bigger conflict. there was a heavy police presence at the border. the prime minister defended moves to block the train, saying it is serbian nationalists who violated its translation: i think the return of

the train was the right thing to do and its entry should not have been allowed. the two nations signed an agreement to try and normalise relations. and free up both to tissue membership of the european union. their relationship has deteriorated in recent months, however, and could now be further derailed. there's a warning that air passengers arriving in britain will face "severe disru ption" after brexit, unless there's an increase in border force staff. the airport operators association says passport checks for eu nationals are likely to become more stringent, leading to longer queues and processing times. here's our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw. there are record numbers of travellers at britain's airports. in 2015, there were 251 million passenger journeys. it's thought last year's figure was even higher. but there is concern that growth in air traffic hasn't been matched by an increase in resources for border force, which is responsible

for immigration and customs checks. the airport operators' association says that has led to longer queues at passport desks and it's concerned delays will worsen. at present, eu travellers use separate channels or automatic e—passport gates. they tend to be quicker than for passengers from outside of europe. but after brexit, if people are all screened in the same way, the association says overall waiting times will increase. in evidence to a parliamentary enquiry, the association said introducing tighter controls on eu passport holders would be... "highly disruptive for passengers, airlines and airports." it says airports would have to spend millions of pounds on extra facilities for immigration checks, so it is asking the government to keep the current system in place for eu passengers travelling to uk airports. the home office says it would be wrong to set out details of how future immigration controls might work in advance of negotiations with the eu.

but the department says border force has the capacity to meet passenger demand and maintain security. danny shaw, bbc news. multi—billion pound plans to renovate the palace of westminster, including both houses of parliament, are to be subject to an inquiry by a committee of mps. the commons treasury committee will examine the cost and consider whether both mps and lords will have to move out while the work is being done. here's our political correspondent tom barton. the buildings of parliament are not in a good way. stonework is crumbling, roofs are leaking and something needs to be done to bring the palace of westminster back to life. parliament is part of a world heritage site, recognised as a building of outstanding value to humanity. but fixing it won't be cheap. estimates range from 5.5 to £4 billion and the work will take at least five years. during that time mps could have

to move out of the commons chamber, where to hasn't yet been decided. the treasury committee usually conducts enquiries into big economic issues, like the work of the bank of england or the government's tax policy. but its next enquiry will take a look much closer to home. the committee says previous reports have failed to provide enough evidence to assess the proposals and claims ministers haven't answered their questions about the cost of the work. the palace of westminster may be crucial to public life in britain, but those who are elected to serve there say fixing it must be good value for the taxpayer. four months after one of its rockets blew up on take—off, spacex, has launched a falcon 9 rocket from a launchpad in california. there were cheers as the first stage touched down successfully on a barge moored in the pacific, nine minutes after launch.

richard forrest reports. on a clear californian morning the rock company resumed flights with this rocket blasting into the blue sky. it was launched and carried ten space crafts. it now has 70 planned missions worth more than $70 billion, including for nasa. which will use it to fly cargo to the international space station. minutes after the launch the first stage of the rocket landed successfully on a platform in the pacific, prompting huge applause at mission control. spacex founder and entrepreneur tweeted. ..

an hour and 15 minutes after the launch the mission was complete. it was different last september, when one of its rockets exploded on a launch pad in florida. a falcon 9 was about to go through a routine engine ignition test when fire ripped through it and destroyed the rocket and a $200 million satellite it was due to carry into orbit two days later. investigators believe it was caused by a design problem. after this latest successful launch, they have a busy 2017 ahead, with 27 launches planned. plans for four new "nature schools" in england would still see pupils

learning traditional subjects, but also having the opportunity to spend more of their day outside. david gregory—kumar reports. brandon marsh nature reserve near coventry, home to some excited woodland creatures getting to grips with nature. brandon marsh is also headquarters for wildlife trust and it is the trust that his leading plans for nature schools across the uk. some of these children could be amongst the very first pupils. but what exactly is a nature school? children at our schools will still need to learn times tables and to read and write. but we are preparing an educational philosophy that will allow teachers to achieve that learning outside, using the natural setting of the school as much as in the classroom. so they will be outside more? they will. probably coming home a bit dirtier than they might otherwise. initially four nature—based primary schools are planned with two in the midlands, one in warwickshire wildlife trust which has been identified as possibly going into camp hill in nuneaton. they have already got their eyes on a site and a building. it is the camp hill school that may be the very first nature school in the uk and its location that might surprise some people.

it's definitely an urban area but it is the area that was identified by local authorities as with the greatest need for a new school. we'll make the most of any outdoor space there is. we will create new outdoor spaces for learning, a garden and a lot more wildlife areas, possibly even beehives, really exciting. parents visiting the reserve today were very excited. some have already looked into applying for the new school. she loves being outdoors and we would like that for her, for education, really. the outside is an amazing place to learn and i think you can have so many experiences that are not traditional education that still give you the same knowledge that you would have in a classroom so i think it's brilliant. if all goes well, the uk's fist nature school could open in september, 2018. a sound of the seaside?

or a blight on the beach? seagulls are synonymous with the coast, but they're also known for stealing food from passers—by. so at one british resort, they're debating whether or not to bring in birds of prey to reduce the seagull numbers. emma glasbey reports from scarborough. seagulls and scarborough just go together. but, in recent years, the relationship has been turning slightly sour. the number of birds in this town has grown to a few thousand and especially in the summer, it's claimed they are becoming more aggressive. i have seen them take food from people's hands. for children, it can be quite scary. people feed them. they feed them titbits and they should not encourage them to come to the area. i don't think it is a real issue. i think one or two people complain too much about it. the council has been discussing what to do about the gulls. councillors could decide to hire a firm to work on reducing the number of birds over the next few years.

we would use egg and nest removal. that is not removing all eggs from nests, that is removing a percentage. we work with natural england on that to say, this is how many we're going to take, and report back the numbers. we also fly birds of prey. we are not going out to kill anything, that's for sure. the idea is to move them to nesting in the cliffs or further away from town. it may be winter, but there are still seagulls around. injanuary, you would expect them to be all out to sea, but they are so used to being fed here, they are staying on land. if action is going to be taken, it will need to happen soon. the seagull mating season is about to begin. time for the latest weather. hi, it'sa

hi, it's a cloudy prospect to be honest. through the rest of the week. a lot of buzz going to see a lot of mark and some rain as well. it has been rather damp today will stop particularly through central areas. the rain is easing off for a time but then we will see some damp weather coming from scotland down to the heart of england and wales. a lot of fog around in the high ground and some fog patches lower down across east anglia. a chilly night. for the rest of us, mild start to monday morning but cloudy and dismal. the area of rain is lingering across the central parts of england and wales. dry to the east and west, a bit of brightness around. hopefully you will see some sunshine but don't on it. chilly in east anglia and the south east, but my other the rest of us. subtle changes from day to day, but

hopefully as we go through this week there will be a lot of dry weather. all the latest can be found on the website and i'll be back in half an hour.