this is bbc news. the headlines at apm. donald trump promises a trade deal between britain and the united states will be a priority when he takes office on friday. obama said you'll go to the back of the line, meaning if it does happen, and then he had to retract. that was a bad statement. now we're at the front of the queue? i think you're doing great. fresh assembly elections for northern ireland look likely as sinn fein refuses to nominate a new deputy first minister. an inquest hears a gunman who shot and killed 38 tourists at a beach resort in tunisia in 2015 could have been stopped sooner. a blind disabled woman has described how she felt completely and utterly trapped by rolf harris at his trial. also in the next hour, the abducted teen reunited with her parents after 18 years. her biologicalfather speaks for the first time about their reunion. and sir andy murray is safely through to the second round of the australian open,

after a straight sets win. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. just days before taking over the white house, president—elect donald trump has promised a quick trade deal with britain. the former cabinet minister and brexit campaigner, michael gove, who interviewed mr trump for the times newspaper, said the president elect was enthusiastic about britain leaving the eu and that the offer of a us trade deal would strengthen theresa may's hand in the brexit negotiations with brussels. but president—elect trump's apparent disdain for nato, which he described as obsolete, and for the eu has triggered concern. our political correspondent ben wright reports. angela merkel said this afternoon that european unity was the best

offence to the comments. —— defence to the comments. angela merkel said this afternoon that european unity was the best our political correspondent ben wright reports. by friday, he'll be president, the most powerful politician in the world. and getting a visit in first, formerjustice secretary and brexit campaigner, michael gove, presenting the president—elect with a chance to boast about his brexit foresight. i thought the uk was so smart in getting out. you were there and you guys put it on the front page, "trump said that brexit will happen". yes. right? and it happened. everyone thought i was crazy. obama said they'll go to the back of the line, meaning, if it does happen... and then he had to retract it. that was a bad statement. and now we are at the front of the the queue? i think you're doing great. so perhaps not the front of the trade deal queue and the uk can only start to negotiate once we've left the eu, but michael gove was clearly pleased with his visit to trump tower and the president's enthusiasm for britain and brexit. it is clearly the case that he has an agenda, a business agenda,

which has some potential for britain to benefit from. this all matters to a british government of the brink of leaving the eu. for now, though, it was business as usual for the foreign secretary in brussels this morning. i think it's very good news the united states of america wants to do a good free trade deal with us and wants to do it very fast. as the uk plans to go it alone, theresa may will make a major speech tomorrow setting out the deal she wants from brexit. but we already have some big clues. the prime minister has strongly hinted that britain will leave the single market, with its free movement of goods, finance and people. that's because she wants uk control over eu migration and freedom from eu law. we know theresa may wants to trigger exit negotiations by the end of march, and she thinks negotiations can be done within two years. so britain would be out of the eu by early 2019. but there is so much we don't know as well. what sort of access to the european union single market will britain get and what conditions

will the eu demand? will britain be completely free to strike trade deals with other countries? and how long will they take? i think it is a good thing. who will reject the idea of a new trade deal between the uk and us? although i don't think it will remotely match the scale of our trade relationships with the rest of the european union. where i think we need to be careful, both in the united kingdom and the rest of europe, is that you now have two major world figures who basically wish europe ill, they want to see the union will fall apart. one is vladimir putin and the other is donald trump. but britain needs cheerleaders for brexit, friends to cut deals and rhetorically, at least, the government has one in trump. earlier our europe correspondent told me about the mood in brussels and the european commission's reaction to the president—elect‘s latest comments.

i think if there's any talk of a fast and fair deal across the atlantic, you don't hear that in brussels. the european commission reiterated today through a spokeswoman, that any talks, formal or otherwise, categorically is off the table for the next two years until the end of march 2019. assuming theresa may triggers article 50 by the end of march this year, that formal process of untying britain from the eu, 80,000 pages of specifics from the passport checking system, from fishing rights, the sale of food, all of that will take time. to which the commission are saying, you cannot have any other trade talks until the divorce process is over. the big issue is what they can do about that. it's not clear at this stage. the commission spokeswoman says it is that the lead, the commission spokeswoman says it is absolute, given the talks and the conversation we are hearing from the likes of nigel farage, saying he expects a deal to be done in three months.

she said, that is off the table. let's cross to westminster and get reaction to this with our chief political porrespondent vicki young. they may be slightly cheered by donald trump's comments but there is this huge shadow over negotiations with the eu. yes, donald trump has certainly taken a lot of the headlines. lots of people in westminster talking about what he had to say, particularly his offer ofa had to say, particularly his offer of a quick and fair trade deal with the united kingdom. there are some who say, that is simply not going to happen. 0thers who say, that is simply not going to happen. others say this is the kind of thing theresa may will be aiming for to do, of thing theresa may will be aiming forto do, grand of thing theresa may will be aiming for to do, grand trade deals with other countries, once we have exited the eu. let's discuss this now with tim farron. presumably you are one of those who's a bit negative about this promise from donald trump? i'm most negative about michael gove, his years in politics have made him rusty as a journalist, because he has written basically a puff piece.

all of the things we found out about trump overnight i think we have to ta ke trump overnight i think we have to take with a pinch of salt. when it comes to a trade deal we hope we will have good trade deals with many countries around the world. the problem is, what we know about donald trump is he's made a career out of doing deals that are good for him. the dangerwe out of doing deals that are good for him. the danger we have his once we're outside the eu and outside the single market, then we will be desperate for any deal, even ones that are mostly in the interests of those we are doing the deal with. america is much bigger than we are. we we re america is much bigger than we are. we were in an organisation that economically is bigger than the united states, it's a shame that we enter this new year in a position where we are no longer the stock —— the stronger partner but the weaker one. others would say britain has got a strong hand of cards. we are strong when it comes to security for example, that is a huge part of our relationship with the eu. we are an

economy growing faster than lots of the others in the eurozone for example. why are you not more positive about what we can achieve? wherever we and upon the british people and richest business will fight to make the best of our situation. —— british business. i think it's right to say we are banking upon a set of deals with countries that we are more likely to get better deals with if we are part ofa get better deals with if we are part of a single market. the danger is in all of this, that we end up being done over by bigger economies that have all the cards on their side. let's look at the situation we face just before christmas, we had a more detailed account of trump's position when we heard one of his advisers saying they would take advantage of britain's "weakness" as a result of brexit. we have seen from trump's advisers already an intention to ta ke advisers already an intention to

take advantage of the uk and to do well at our expense, because brexit making us more exposed. this is the time for the united kingdom to be looking at how it protects its own future and that surely means fighting to stay in the single market and not fighting to make medical deals with people who don't have our best interests at heart —— mythical deals. is it your few we will leave the single market? theresa may is clearly briefing in advance we are heading out of the single market, which is extremely foolish. not only the 48% of people who voted to remain, but a good proportion of those who voted to leave belief that britain is better off within the single market... that means we can't control immigration. if you're the british prime minister you are going to argue britain's corner, don't waver white flag

before you've even argued for it. we don't have too long before we have from theresa may. she has promised to tell us a bit more about the kind of brexit she thinks britain should be aiming for. thank you. a report from nigel lawson is urging theresa may to make it clean break from the eu. with me now is the author of that report. tomorrow morning, what do you think she's going to say?|j don't think she'll explicitly rule out being in the customs union, i think it's pretty clear the uk is well prepared to be outside of the single market. the so—called common market that ensures tariff free trade. we may be prepared to be outside the customs union, which imposes a common external tariff for

all imports coming into the eu, but which means we cannot cut our own trade deals. i think it's pretty clear that when theresa may said brexit means brexit, she meant it. if you look at these institutions from a legal point of view and objectively, like the single market, like the customs union, they really do embody being in the eu. i don't think you can actually leave the eu u nless think you can actually leave the eu unless you are outside both of them. have we got a hang—up about what we will lose rather than concentrating on the opportunities?” will lose rather than concentrating on the opportunities? i think so. as my report says, the economic benefits of being in the single market are wildly exaggerated. we aren't going to stop trading with the eu. there were $250 billion of trade between america and the eu last year. they are outside the single market, they are outside the customs union. in the other

direction, our biggest trading partner, the country that takes most uk exports is america. we haven't got a trade deal, they aren't in the single market... why are we so obsessed with trade deals? because most people who comment on politics are economically illiterate and they don't understand how international commerce works. trade happens because commercial people is the opportunities and they go for them. whether or not there's a trade deal. of course they trade deal will be great. we can cut trade deals while we are still in the european union. they just can't we are still in the european union. theyjust can't be enforced while we are still inside the eu. trade happens when people see opportunities, not because people sign trade deals. what you're saying is money talks. capitalism is the system that we are living by, and people have traded across borders since history began. if there's one country donald trump wants to make sure is a success, it is america. he's made it quite clear their

manufacturers, they're he's made it quite clear their manufacturers, they‘ re everything he's made it quite clear their manufacturers, they're everything is number one. so, at some point there is going to have to be some sort of isn't there? of course. we feel close to america as british people. i have cousins in america. i'm sure this will be commercial negotiation. downing street was right to say, let's see what happens. i think it's clear that america and the uk are likely to be very like—minded on many of these trade issues, and they will also want to be seen to be supporting the uk in order to try and cut a trade deal. given its political symbolism over and above its commercial impact. it is largely about political symbolism in my view is. that phrase clean brexit, in terms of whatever the prime minister announces tomorrow morning, if she was to say we start with nothing. we rip everything up, or we import all the laws and trade deals and then we can work on them over time, what's to stop doing that? we can't import

the trade deals, we can import the eu law that applies to the uk. she's already said she's going to do that in the great repeal act. i wish some people would read her conference speech from october. a lot of this was already in there. i think the important thing is that we can either... we have a choice. we can either... we have a choice. we can either try and cut a huge overarching deal that bends the cardinal principles of the eu, trying to bend freedom of movement in return for trade access. that could lead to a nervous breakdown across europe. that could shatter our relations with the european union for a generation. i don't want that. i want us to say, we are going to be outside the single market and customs union, we are going to spend the next two years preparing for that in terms of getting our house in order. ports will need to be reorganised. in the paper i've written, a lot of this stuff is laid out there. rather than trying to go for some kind of cliff edge deal in

a two—year window which will end up with horrible rhetoric, finger—pointing, more nationalism, doing serious damage to our relations with the european union, our nearest geographic neighbours. at the same time we have do assert that we are going to cut trade deals with the rest of the world. after we've left, 88% of the world will be outside the european union. thank you. the headlines on bbc news. donald trump has promised a trade deal between britain and the united states will be a priority when he takes office on friday. northern ireland's power sharing government looks set to collapse today, sparking fresh elections. an inquest has heard that a gunman who shot and killed 38 tourists on a beach in tunisia in 2015, could have been stopped sooner. in sport, andy murray is through to the second round of the australian open. he beat illya marchenko in straight sets. british number three dan evans is also through.

valtteri botas will partner lewis hamilton at mercedes this season. the finn replaces nico rosberg, who retired after winning the world title. felipe massa returns to the vacant seat at williams. and four—time olympic champion laura kenny could miss the world track cycling championships in hong kong in april. she's pulled out of this month's british championships in manchester with a hamstring injury. i'll be back with more on those stories. northern ireland's devolved government looks set to collapse in the next few hours after sinn fein failed to nominate a new deputy first minister to replace martin mcguinness. the northern ireland secretary will now have to call a snap—election. it follows the scandal of a failed renewable energy scheme which could cost almost half a billion pounds. chris page has more. after a week with no functioning government, this is the moment when northern ireland's power—sharing executive

finally collapsed. today, sinn fein will not renominate for the position of deputy first minister. sinn fein has honoured all agreements. we have striven to make these institutions work. sinn fein's refusal to replace martin mcguinness as deputy first minister means stormont can't operate any longer. that's because under the power—sharing system, the first and deputy first ministers can't work in isolation from each other. a new election may be called as early as this evening. northern ireland does not need, nor does its people want, an election. with the triggering of article 50 to leave the european union, a new president in the united states of america, a volatile global economy, now, more than ever, northern ireland needs stable government. long—running tensions between the democratic unionists and sinn fein came to a head over a financial scandal about a green energy scheme. the renewable heat incentive began in 2012 and had overly—generous subsidies and initially no upper payment limits.

the scheme closed in february last year, having run almost half a billion over budget. political controversy grew. the dup leader, arlene foster, had previously been the minister in charge of the project. in december, sinn fein said she should temporarily stand down as first minister. she repeatedly refused. seven days ago, martin mcguinness resigned in protest. the power—sharing partnership between irish republicans and unionists has always been uneasy and it's often been unstable. restoring it may take some time and people here are worried about the prospect of losing their devolved government. a key moment for the stormont executive had been due to come this week. an inquiry has been examining the scale of historical child abuse in residential institutions. its report will be published on friday but now it looks like there will be no ministers to act on the recommendations. we just didn't want to believe that as soon as sir anthony hart's report

was ready and delivered on friday, there's the collapse of the government and the collapse of our dreams and hopes and desires that this was going to be our day. there are many concerns, frustrations and questions as northern ireland faces an uncertain political future. after ten years, the latest stormont stalemate has brought about the downfall of devolution. chris page, bbc news, stormont. what have we got, a0 minutes? what have we got, 40 minutes? yes, that's right. we are fast approaching 5p. that will mark a week since martin mcguinness stepped down as deputy first minister. automatically triggering, because of the protocol around the power—sharing arrangements, triggering the removal of arlene foster as first minister. as you're

aware, earlier today sinn fein confirmed they wouldn't be nominating anyone to fill that post and so once 5pm comes, once the deadline arrives, effectively the power—sharing executive at stormont colla pses. power—sharing executive at stormont collapses. then we expect to hear from the secretary of state james brokenshire news of snap elections. we've talked a lot about how we got to this point, let's discuss what happens from here on in. joining me as david ford mla. post—elections, let's throw forward to that point, theissues let's throw forward to that point, the issues that led, are leading to the issues that led, are leading to the collapse of this executive, will still be there. how difficult will it be to resolve those? if it's left to the dup and sinn fein it may well be very difficult. part of the problem we are in is that 14 months ago the two governments did a deal which they called a fresh start.

which on the day i called a false dawn. it didn't deal with all the outstanding issues. those two parties have been propped up by the two governments to the point now, with relationship deteriorating significantly, it will be difficult for them to get back unless there is a wider discussion, more parties involved, and the two governments recognise they need to speak to all the parties in the assembly. by outstanding issues you mean legacy issues, justice, policing and so on? major issues can delete macro relating to the past, fundamental issues about how we build a united community and bring society together, how we overcome divisions. we've obviously seen because of the problems with the renewable heat incentive, issues about transparency in government, concerns about political donations. unfortunately the government's record isn't great. the secretary of state failed to respond when naomi long road to him before christmas about this and he hasn't done much since. we had about

preconditions the talks, legal protection for the irish language being one, another being the idea of volu nta ry being one, another being the idea of voluntary coalition arrangements in future executives, rather than a mandatory power—sharing arrangement. is that going to make it a protracted period of talks? potentially. the alliance party has believed for a long time that a volu nta ry believed for a long time that a voluntary coalition would be a better way of governing northern ireland, not exclude sinn fein, but to ensure that a party which can't form a government on its own negotiates with others first, rather than people being in power automatically. finally, your thoughts on what this means for the wider brexit timetable in the uk?m the supreme court decides that parliament has to have a vote, and in particular the scottish parliament and northern ireland assembly has to be consulted, there isa assembly has to be consulted, there is a real issue if there isn't a functioning assembly. another problem that has been bought off by

the government. thank you. big clock is ticking towards 5pm. we will be heard throughout the evening to bring you the latest developments. we'll be live in stormont for the news co nfe re nce we'll be live in stormont for the news conference at for 40 5pm with sinn fein. —— at 4:45pm. an inquest has heard that a gunman who shot and killed 38 people, including 30 british tourists, on a beach in tunisia in 2015, could have been stopped sooner. the hearing in london was told that local security units deliberately slowed down, to delay their arrival at the scene. the gunman was eventually shot dead by police. our correspondent richard galpin reports. the families of those killed in the attack have waited a year and a half for this moment. now, with the full inquest finally getting under way this morning, they are hoping for answers to some critical questions. the gunman, seifeddine rezgui, a 23—year—old student armed with an automatic rifle and grenades, began his attack on the beach, systematically

shooting dead british and other european holiday—makers as they sunbathed and swam. from the beach, rezgui, who trained at an islamic state camp in libya, killed and injured more tourists in the hotel complex. amid the panic, local shopkeepers managed to save some people by sheltering them inside. gunfire. the attack continued for more than half an hour until eventually, a large group of policemen arrived and shot him dead. it's alleged other police officers who had been nearby had been too frightened to tackle him, leading to one hotel worker snatching a policeman's gun and trying to shoot rezgui himself. but the gunjammed and rezgui threw a grenade at him. and all this just three months afterjihadis carried out this attack inside one of the country's

most famous museums, in the capital, tunis. once again, tourists were the target. 22 people were killed. and it is alleged the same is cell was behind both attacks. now, almost two years later, tunisia remains on high alert. the country has long been a hotbed of jihadist activity, the security forces struggling to deal with the growth of islamic state. it's estimated 5,000 tunisians have fought for islamic state in iraq, syria and libya. and many have returned home in recent years. the blind disabled woman has told the court how she was left appalled

and degraded after being indecently assaulted by rolf harris. mr harris denies seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. let's cross to southwark crown court and talk to our correspondent, sangita myska. we've heard evidence from this woman all day. she claims that the indecent assault happened in 1977 at moorfields eye hospital in london. she told the jury she was 27 at the time, she was blind and uses a wheelchair. she said she met rolf harris in a small room at the hospital, and in order to greet him she decided to put her hand out. she said, instead, he decided to tell her she was very beautiful and a handshake wouldn't do, and he wanted a cuddle. she said because he was blind she couldn't see he had come down behind her chair and was crouching down. the next thing she knew he was kissing the back of her neck, he put one hand into her skirt and the other hand was groping her

bottom. she said he was very persistent and the indecent assault lasted about ten minutes. she said it escalated and he was eventually touching her breasts. she said she was protesting but he wouldn't listen and in the end the only way to stop the assault was to prise his fingers off her body. she said as she pushed his fingers back, she noticed he had a wedding ring on. she said there was another person in the room at the time but he was unaware of what was happening. she told the court rolf harris was like a hawk, swooping down on his victims. she went on to say he took advantage of a totally blind woman, with limited mobility. it was absolutely appalling. it's as degrading as it gets. rolf harris denies the charges. we have a line coming in from british airways saying they will operate all long haul services to and from heathrow

during the three—day cabin crew strike which begins on thursday. they say they will cancel 1% of short—haulflights they say they will cancel 1% of short—haul flights as a way of dealing with that but they are keeping their long—haul services to and from heathrow100% in service. we'll get more on that later. five people have been injured after an explosion almost completely destroyed a house in north manchester. emergency services were called to cecil road in blackley just after 12:30pm. two people were seriously hurt and taken to hospital, with three others described as "walking wounded." a 35—year—old man is in a stable condition in hospital after being injured in a shooting near a primary school in glasgow. detectives say it appears to have been a targeted attack, but don't believe there is an ongoing threat to any other person. the headlines coming up but first

the weather. plenty of cloud around with some rain through northern england, the midlands and the london area and the south coast. another area of rainfall coming into night, it is going to be patchy in nature. across much of the uk, low cloud and hill fog. there are clear skies in parts of east anglia and south—east england. for some there will be a touch of frost going into tuesday morning. this is where you are most likely to get some sunshine. tomorrow, parts of north—east scotla nd tomorrow, parts of north—east scotland should brighten up. elsewhere, plenty of cloud, some patchy outbreaks of rain. for many of us it's going to be a fairly mild day, particularly into western scotla nd day, particularly into western scotland and northern ireland. the sunni areas in east anglia and the south—east of england have the lowest temperatures, another frost going through tuesday night into wednesday morning. it is high pressure in control with not much going on in the weather into the weekend. many places will be dry,

variable cloud, a bit of brightness if you're lucky. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4.30pm: the us president—elect, donald trump, has promised a "quick and fair" trade deal between the united states and britain. he said the uk was "doing great" following its vote for brexit. northern ireland's power—sharing executive has collapsed following sinn fein's refusal to nominate a new deputy first minister. a date for new elections will be set after five o'clock this afternoon. an inquest has heard that a gunman who killed 38 tourists on a beach in tunisia in 2015, could have been stopped sooner. the hearing in london was told that local security units deliberately slowed down, to delay their arrival at the scene. two people with serious injuries have been taken to hospital following an explosion which almost completely destroyed a house in manchester this lunchtime. the cause of the explosion is yet to be determined. a blind, disabled woman has described to a court how she felt "utterly trapped" by former tv star rolf harris as he allegedly spread his hands over her body. mr harris, who appeared

at southwark crown court via video—link, denies seven charges of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. to the sport. to the bbc sports centre and to john to the sport. to the bbc sports centre and tojohn watson. simon, thank you. andy murray made a winning start at the australian open. he beat ukraine's illya marchenko in straight sets although the world number one was made to work hard by the world number 95. nick parrott reports. will this be the year andy murray finally steps out of the shadows at the australian open? he has reached five final, but has yet to win it. top seed for the first time at a grand slam, on the other side of the net was world number 95, illya marchenko. if anyone thought this would be a gentle broodduction to the first big tournament of the year, they were wrong. murray was given a good work—out in the 31 celsius heat, made to sweat for almost an hour before he could take

the first set. the ukrainian was determined not to give the world number one an easy ride, breaking at the first opportunity in the second. the briton need add tie—break to ove rco m e the briton need add tie—break to overcome his opponent's stubborn resistance. but after that, overcome his opponent's stubborn resistance. but afterthat, it overcome his opponent's stubborn resistance. but after that, it was how many would have expected it to be from the start. comfortable. murray rattled through the third. it was a farfrom murray rattled through the third. it was a far from world—class performance, but to be a champion, you have to win when you're not at your best. illya marchenko played well. you know, he was very aggressive so that made it hard, but also the conditions, you know, it was playing very fast out there. the ball was very fast out there. the ball was very lively which it hasn't been, you know, in the practise week. so, i found it hard, you know, in the practise week. so, ifound it hard, but managed you know, in the practise week. so, i found it hard, but managed to get through. the british number three dan evans is also through to the second round. he beat argentina's facundo bagnis in straight sets, but faces a tough match in the second round as he comes up against the seventh seed marin cilic.

no such luck for the british number four aljaz bedene who is out. bottas will partner lewis hamilton at mercedes for the new formula one season. bottas, who's finnish, has moved from williams to fill the spot left vacant when rosberg retired after winning the world title. his place at williams will be taken by felipe massa, who has come out of retirement to return to the team. liverpool could be without centre—back joel matip for the next month despite the player choosing to remain with his club side instead of representing cameroon at the africa cup of nations. cameroon have attempted to call him to their squad and fifa rules state a player has a duty to represent their country. and if they choose not to, then they can't feature for their club side during the period they should be away on international duty. four—time olympic champion laura kenny could miss the world track cycling championships in hong kong in april. she's pulled out of this month's british championships in manchester with a hamstring injury.

kenny hadn't yet decided whether to compete at the worlds. commonwealth swimming champion fran halsall has announced her retirement from the sport. during an international career lasting over a decade, halsall made her olympic debut at beijing 2008 and narrowly missed out on medals at both london 2012 and rio 2016. she won over 30 medals at world, european and commonwealth level. she said stepping away from the pool was "quite a scary decision", but she's ready for a new chapter in her life. and the british sailor alex thomson has set a world record for the longest distance sailed solo in 24 hours in the non—stop race around the world, the vendee globe. thompson covered 536.8 miles — which averages out atjust over 25mph. now that he's broken the record, and reduced the gap on the leader, thompson wants to become the first briton to win the race which he's expected to finish later this week.

looking forward to. i have been working hard the last couple of days in the lighter breeze. it is not easy. it is not too bad. i'm getting enough sleep and eating well and feeling good and ready for the last run in. i will give it my all and keep my fingers crossed. best of luck to him on the last stint in. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. more now on our top story this afternoon and donald trump has promised a trade deal between britain and the united states will be a priority when he takes office as us president on friday. he was speaking to the former justice secretary and prominent brexit campaigner michael gove for the times newspaper. lets listen to a little of what he had to say about his impressions of britain. the uk, my mother was very ceremonial. i think that's where i got this aspect. my father was like brick and mortar, she loved the queen, she was so proud of the

queen. she loved the ceremonial and the beauty. because nobody does that like the english. and she had great respect for the queen. liked her. any time the queen was on television, an event, my mother would be watching. i thought the uk was so smart in getting out and you we re was so smart in getting out and you were there and you guys wrote it and put it on the front page. trump said that brexit is going to happen. yes. right, and it happened. yes. and that's when i was going to lose easily. everybody thought i was crazy. obama said they will go go to the back of the line. that was a bad statement. in other words the front of the queue? i think you're doing great. i think it's going great. countries want their own identity and the uk wanted its own identity, but i do believe this — if they hadn't been forced to take in all of

the refugees, so many, with all the problems that, you know, it entails, i think you wouldn't have a brexit. it probably could have worked out. well, there was donald trump with a sense of what his future polices may be. a little earlier editor of forbes magazine randall lane gave this insight into the social media savvy but perhaps not so tech wise president—elect. i have been with the president—elect in his office. he doesn't have computer. when he sent me e—mails, he will have the assistant write it and hand write a note and have the assistant attach it to an e—mail. he doesn't e—mail, but he is incredibly sophisticated with social media. he is about 22 when it comes to twitter. the rest of it, not as much, but he gets social media and a lot of the reasons you see these people who are able to create wealth and create change, he is able to see ican go and create change, he is able to see i can go direct to the people. there is no gate keeping. it's

communication and that creates a lot of good and it creates a lot of chaos as well. and you can watch full coverage of donald trump's inauguration as the 45th president of the united states here on bbc news. our coverage begins on friday afternoon at 3pm. we will be live from washington — with katy kay — with the new president sworn in at 5pm. let's get an update now on the in inquests into the deaths of the 30 british tourists among those killed by a gunman on a beach in tunisia in 2015. our correspondent richard galpin joins me now from the royal courts ofjustice in london. yes, we have had the official, a senior official from yes, we have had the official, a senior officialfrom the yes, we have had the official, a senior official from the foreign office talking about what they did in the run—up to the attack in 2015. she was talking about the level of their travel advice because obviously three months before the

attack in sousse there was a serious attack in sousse there was a serious attack in sousse there was a serious attack in a tunisian capital, tunis ina museum attack in a tunisian capital, tunis in a museum in which 22 mostly foreign tourists were killed including one british national. she was saying that while there was an agreement not to discourage travel to tunisia, they needed to see improvements in security being put in place and it was less clear simon as to whether those improvements had actually been put in place in time or not and certainly what we do know is the foreign office did not change its security advice to absolutely no travel. it remained at all, but essential travel at that level despite the attack. richard galpin, thank you very much. on bbc news today, we've been looking at the pressures facing the national health service in england. whether couples get treatment

depends where they live in the uk. nice recommends up to three cycles as long as people meet certain criteria. in nottinghamshire, two clinical commissioning groups which hold the local health purse are proposing ending nhs funding because of financial pressure. fertility experts warn it will leave more couples childless. our news correspondent rob sissons has the story. there is never a dull moment in this family. imogen is four. she is the child kelly and tim thought they'd never have. most never have. m ost pa re nts never have. most parents think their children are priceless, of course, but if you wa nt to are priceless, of course, but if you want to put a price on imogen, you can. she cost her mum and dad £11,000. kelly is infertile and they had to pay for ivf fertility treatment because of where they live. when you're a young couple. we haven't got that sort of money.

everything we had to do, we had borrow. if it could happen naturally, we would have had two, three, children. so we've bit the bullet and decided to go for it again. kelly and tim in staffordshi re again. kelly and tim in staffordshire couldn't get ivf funding. it is a different story though a few miles away in nottingham. for new parents. matthew didn't cost a penny. he was com pletely didn't cost a penny. he was completely free. the nhs funded our ivf and we were extremely happy that it all worked first time. there are some areas where you have three cycles, but in the east midlands you only get one. in mansfield, ashfield, there is a proposal to scrap the nhs funding for ivf. it would save around £300,000 a year. not everyone is against it.|j would save around £300,000 a year. not everyone is against it. i don't think we should be funding it at the moment whilst we've got financial difficulties. we couldn't have any children and we had to adopt. if you

wa nt children and we had to adopt. if you want to have ivf, all well and good, i don't see why other people should have to pay for it. i think they should fund it. a lot of people wanting children, they will price it out of line. health bosses in nottinghamshire say they need to save £20 million and have to make some difficult choices. we have to think that for every pound that we have in the local nhs, how can we best use that? as a former midwife you know about the joy of a child? best use that? as a former midwife you know about the joy of a child ?|j do. you could be denying people this chance that can't afford ivf? that makes the decision even more difficult. a decision here is expected next month. and there will be special programmes on the nhs tonight in inside out at 7.30pm bbc one in england and later on the bbc iplayer. she had no reason to think her own

name wasn't really alexis. now she is trying to deal with the news that the person she thought was her mother is under arrest charged with kidnapping her, just after she was born and giving her a false identity. 51 gloria williams is being held in south carolina after dna tests proved that alexis was the baby snatched in the hospital in 1998. police say she posed as a nurse and stuck the newborn out of the hospital starting a frantic search. at the time her real mother

was distraught and desperate to find her. straight to stormont and sinn fein are giving a news conference. well, today we have called time on the arrogance of the dup and their behaviour in these institutions. we have done so because we could no longer accept how these institutions we re longer accept how these institutions were being treated with contempt and continue today to be treated with co nte m pt by continue today to be treated with contempt by the dup which in turn treats the public who elected us here with contempt. for our part, sinn fein and martin mcguinness have stretched ourselves to the very limit to try and keep the institutions working. unfortunately, they have been let down by the behaviour of the dup, by the imposition of tory policies and by the inaction of the irish government. so, the next step very clearly is to move to an election and the secretary of state needs to call that and we need to move quickly to that point, but we must be clear, these institutions of the good friday agreement, this assembly is based on the corner stones of the

good friday agreement of quality of respect for all and of proper behaviour in government. so there will be no return to these institutions unless we have equality, unless we have respect, and unless we have an end to the corruption of these institutions and corruption of these institutions and corruption within these institutions. there can be no return u nless institutions. there can be no return unless there is fundamental change to the approach of the dup and how they do power sharing and how they exercise their ministerial authority within their departments. reporter: are you expecting an election on 2nd march? well, it is up election on 2nd march? well, it is up to the secretary of state to call an election and to set the date of it. we're prepared for an election on 2nd march and we have called time today on these institutions. we have called time today on the behaviour of the dup within these institutions and we look forward to giving the public their say in relation to all these matters. inaudible how long a negotiation do you think will be required to achieve the certainty that you say is required?

well, you know, brian that negotiations depend on political will. and we're not looking for people have talked about st andrew's mark two, we are looking for the good friday agreement to be honoured and the corner stones of the good friday agreement are equality, respect and accepting of people's rights, not using these institutions to deny the rights of significant sections of our population and also corner stones propriety in office and we have had scandal after scandal and allegations of corruption which need to be investigated properly and need to be dealt with and those responsible need to be held to account. and we also need to see a proper scheme brought forward to recover the money which has been lost. that can happen quickly as there is the political will to do it. if there is nothing sorted out, would you be prepared to let the... inaudible they have zero credibility at the moment. so we'll go to the people

and offer them their verdict and we'll ensure we tell the people we're only coming back on the basis that the institutions operate under the basis of the good friday agreement and they operate on the basis that people behave properly when in office. sorry to finish, so if people are prepared to meet that standard and that's a very basic standard and that's a very basic standard of accountability, and democracy within any institution, then the institution can function. so conor murphy of sinn fein, not unexpected, after the announcement that they are not replacing martin mcguinness as deputy first minister. asked whether they were prepared for snap elections on 2nd march, they said they were ready for whatever date was mentioned. that is an announcement we are expecting at 5pm from james brokenshire because the buck passes to him at 5pm and a decision on the future will come then. let's go back to stormont

because annita mcveigh was at the news conference. so what happens now? well, it was interesting, wasn't it, simon, listening to conor murphy, what stood out was the line when he was asked how long did he think it would take for the political parties for the assembly members post election to get back to a position where they could be entering, rere—entering a power sharing executive. he said as quickly as the political will to do it. how long is a piece of string really? there are some big issues to deal with. he talked about being no return, there being no return to power sharing without the principles of the good friday agreement being adhered to. he talked about equality and respect for law and he also talked about a fundamental change in the approach by the dup to all of this and there—in really lies the nub of this crisis because sinn

fein, the largest republican party, no longer feel that the power sharing executive, the institutions here at stormont are really working for them, are really delivering for them. conor murphy said that the party had stretched itself to the limit to try to make things work here. of the course, on the other side of the coin we heard from the dup leader arlene foster earlier, of course, until last week she was the first minister of northern ireland and she was saying that the people of northern ireland don't want or need an election, but that sinn fein was choosing to, for political purposes, to create the situation in which inevitably an election would happen. so, reallya which inevitably an election would happen. so, really a lot of vitriol between those two parties. at the end of the day, after an election, they're likely to be returned as the two largest parties in the northern ireland assembly so they're going to have to find some way of

accommodating their differences and working to resolve the differences. the next step is we await to hear from the secretary of state for northern ireland, james broken shire. —— brokenshire. in a moment a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first the headlines on bbc news: donald trump has promised a trade deal between britain and the united states will be a priority when he takes office on friday. northern ireland's power sharing government looks set to collapse today sparking fresh elections. an inquest has heard that a gunman who shot and killed 38 tourists on a beach in tunisia in 2015, could have been stopped sooner. hello. now, a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. the ftse has been fairly flat today. it touched a fresh record high in morning trade off the back of that drop in the pound. banking stocks

amongst the biggest fallers and royal bank of scotland and barclays down over 2%. elsewhere in business, if you're a fan of flash sunglasses, a company is merging and they will be worth £40 billion. the international monetary fund improved its forecast for the uk economy in 2017. it said growth in the uk sans the european union referendum had been better than expected. it still is warning of a downgrade in 2018. the pound fell to its lowest level for three months. it fell below the $1.20 before we covering. analysts said that traders we re covering. analysts said that traders were working to report that is theresa may would use a report tomorrow to signal that britain would quit the signal market. let's get detailed analysis of that with jeremy stretch, head of currency strategy at cibc world markets. let's start with the fall in the

pound. the speech isn't until tomorrow. has the speculation taken the zing out. are we expecting the pound to fall more tomorrow when we hear more detailed information about what theresa may's plans are? the speech has been trailed over the weekend. the weekend press stories did impact the start of the trade in asia and that precipitated the fall below 1.20. most of the bad news should be in the price of the pound, but there is still further risks or there are further risks ahead as investors will weigh negatively the growth projections that are still forecast for 2017/2018 despite that better news from the imf, the uk economy will be growing below trend over the next few years and that's not good news for investors. the meusmt f have stepped away from

their doom and gloom forecasts and they said it is down to better than expected growth since the referendum. is that what's driving it? yes, that's true. i think what we have seen through the third and fourth quarters was resilience by the consumer. we saw consumer credit at the highest level in november. that's stoking up further problems down the track if we see lending levels accelerate, but for now, it seems that the consumer is continuing to power the uk economy. the question is what's going to happen as disposable incomes start to get squeezed through the course of this year as prices go up and average earnings don't keep pace? that's going to be the source of concern about the growth projections through the course of this year and next. ok, let's move on to the sun glass merger. £40 billion, a significant amount there. we have seen a lot in the last few months, a lot of companies being snapped up because sterling is lower, it is more attractive to acquire. are we going to see more mergers and acquisitions over the next few months? well, i think we have seen a

period where companies are looking to try and add value and one of the ways they can do that is cut costs and mergers are seen as an ability to cut costs in terms of duplication of sectors and line. this deal looks like it is vertical introduction and it will improve bottom line and that's going to be a story which will continue to drive a number of deals over the next weeks and months particularly with interest interests remaining low. jeremy stretch, thank you. the markets, we can see the ftse 100 the markets, we can see the ftse100 in negative territory. the sterling before we came to air was above £1.20. that's it from me. there is a round—up of the top business stories on our website. a line from south yorkshire police who are saying the body of a teenage

girl has been discovered in rotherham with detectives investigatingful reports received before 11am that a body was found by members of the public on a pathway. police have now set—up a crime scene in the area and are saying that to provide reassurance to the local community and the wider general public additional police patrols are in place and will continue over the coming days. also appealing for any possible witnesses. the body of a teenage girl found in rotherham today. one other piece of breaking news from the british antarctic british antarctic survey who have decided not to winter at the research station for safety reasons. that safety reason is the huge crack in theice safety reason is the huge crack in the ice which has appeared. the station is located on the floating ice shelf in antarctica and it will be shut between march and november

because of a crack which has appeared. it presents a complex picture that means scientists are unable to predict with certainty what will happen to the ice shelf during the forthcoming antarctic winter. a crack appeared two months ago and it is the second crack which appeared 17 kilometres to the north of the research station and it has been monitored, using gps and as a result, they have decided not to winter at the research station because of concerns over safety. we'll get more on that later. we broke away from the story on the reunited 18—year—old in the united states. it is running in our 5pm bulletin before 6pm if you want to see that in full. now, time for a weather update. nick millar has the forecast for us. we have seen a bit of sunshine. not

so in nottinghamshire today. it has not been cloudy, but it has been wet. kent, a different story. however, it felt chilly despite the blue sky that's been on offer. nottinghamshire's rain has come courtesy of this weather front and this one is approaching the north—west of the uk. for you in scotla nd north—west of the uk. for you in scotland and northern ireland, you will get to see outbreaks of rain as that spreads its way south—east wards. the weather front in nottinghamshire will push its way into wales and south—east england. many are cloudy. there will be low cloud and hill fog and temperatures will stay above frost levels. this is the difference, parts of east anglia and south—east england. you may see sunshine today, but overnight tonight, under the clearer skies, you get a touch of frost to start off on tuesday morning. nowhere near that in the western isles and northern ireland to start tuesday. nine, or ten isles and northern ireland to start tuesday. nine, orten celsius, cloudy skies and hill fog around. rain affecting eastern scotland. the

rain will hang around for much of the day. we could see drizzle elsewhere where you have got cloud to begin with, not so into the far south—east of the uk. it is east anglia and south—east england. a touch of frost to begin with. tomorrow we will see sunshine compared with today. elsewhere, we hold on to plenty of cloud. maybe the odd brighter break elsewhere, but i don't think we will get that in northern england and north wales where you are more likely to see outbreaks of rain. ten or 11 celsius, northern ireland and western scotland, but a chilly feel. east anglia and south—east england despite the sunshine. under clear skies tomorrow night, again in this clearer pa rt skies tomorrow night, again in this clearer part of the uk, you get a sharper frost clearer part of the uk, you get a sharperfrost going into clearer part of the uk, you get a sharper frost going into wednesday morning. elsewhere with cloud cover and drizzle and you will stay frost—free. elsewhere, a few brighter breaks and cloud and

temperatures around eight to ten celsius. it looks like thursday will have more cloud. it is high pressure in control. most places are looking dry going into the weekend. this is the picture, the big picture for the weekend. there is the area of high pressure. low pressure in the atla ntic pressure. low pressure in the atlantic and it looks like next week that will begin to come our way. more online. station today at 5pm — decision time at stormont as northern ireland's political crisis comes to a head. today, sinn fein will not renominate for the position of deputy first minister. following that decision, the power—sharing government has collapsed. we'll have the latest from stormont on the likelihood of a new set of elections to the assembly. iamat i am at stormont and we are expecting to hear from the secretary of state james brokenshire in the next hour, when it is thought he will announce elections.

we'll be following events in stormont after weeks of political stalemate in the province. the other main stories on bbc news at five. donald trump tells the times that he wants to help make brexit a beautiful thing. obama said they will go to the back of the line,