this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: the northern ireland secretary has announced a snap assembly election for march 2nd. it follows the collapse of the power—sharing executive. no one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political institutions here in northern ireland and what is at stake. ahead of a major speech tomorrow from theresa may, donald trump says he wants to help make brexit "a beautiful thing". 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. so we are at the front of the queue? i think you are doing great. an inquest into the deaths of 30 britons in a terror attack on a beach in tunisia in 2015, has heard security forces deliberately responded slowly to the the shootings. also coming up: at least 37 people have been killed in a plane crash in kyrgyzstan.

drone images show large chunks of debris litter and here's one for sherlock — how did last night's finale get leaked online before it was broadcast? good evening. the political crisis in northern ireland has come to a head with fresh elections called for six weeks‘ time march the 2nd. fresh elections called for six weeks' time march the 2nd.m follows the collapse of the power—sharing executive and a direct refusal by sinn fein to nominate a

replacement for martin mcguinness to step down last week. his resignation was the culmination of a bitter dispute with the democratic unionists. the party that shares power in northern ireland with sinn fein. anita mcveigh is at stormont for us. it was deadline day, but that 5pm deadline to try and salvage that power—sharing arrangement came and went and it forced the secretary of state for northern ireland, james brokenshire to announce that on the 26th of january, the assembly he would formally be dissolved and on the 2nd of march, there would be elections to the assembly in an effort to try and get this power—sharing arrangement back together again. it was interesting that mr brock and shire said not once, but twice this: it was awarded to the political parties going into this election campaign, a warning about their conduct. he is clearly worried about any further

divisiveness, anything that could prevent a return to what he called partnership government here at stormont. now, with a look at the day‘s events and what led up to them, here is gavin hewitt. for a decade, powell has been shed in northern ireland. it was one of the foundation stones of peace. today, that power—sharing government collapsed. i propose that a draft order in council be brought forward shortly to set an election date of thursday the 2nd of march. no one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political institutions here in northern ireland and what is at stake. the trigger for the breakdown was a row over a controversial green energy scheme, drawn up by a unionist minister, arlene foster. but the bitter arguments over the scheme expose

growing tensions between nationalists and unionist politicians. i think it is both parties, personally. ifind it disappointing and sad. i feel i were backin disappointing and sad. i feel i were back in the 1980s. i was hopeful for the future generations, that they would have a different story. there's no sort of balance in any form in the near future. there's no sort of balance in any form in the nearfuture. i there's no sort of balance in any form in the near future. ithink that what may possibly happen is we will have another couple of years of political and security. at stormont, the northern ireland assembly depends on it unionist and nationalists sharing power. today, both main parties were asked to submita name both main parties were asked to submit a name for one of the top posts. first up, the democratic unionist party. mr speaker, i... and they backed their current leader. unionist party. mr speaker, i... and they backed their current leaderi nominate arlene foster to be first minister. next, sinn fein. there can

be no return to the status quo. if something is broken, you stop and you fix it. that is the sinn fein approach. but they refused to put forward a name, so wearing the power—sharing government. —— so ending. what does all this mean? uncertainty for northern ireland. without an executive, key areas of government will be stored and most importantly, there is brexit. where will be the northern ireland voice and crucial decisions are taken? we are ina and crucial decisions are taken? we are in a very grave situation going into this election and the timing of it when northern ireland has no budget agreed when we are facing brexit and we are also commits the end of the financial year is possibly the worst time we could be entering into this kind of disarray. why macri recent years have changed northern ireland, but the shadows of the past still may compromise difficulties. —— may compromise difficult. david, very good to have

you with us this evening. david, it will be a tough road ahead to get to this partnership government that james brokenshire is talking about? certainly. but as you know from reporting tea, northern ireland has never run smoothly in politics. if you look at the bright side, it is a crisis, but not a security or violence crisis. nobody is being killed. at the same time, the parties here seem to be almost intent on proving they cannot work together and are not capable of doing it in any cordial way. it will ta ke doing it in any cordial way. it will take weeks or months to rebuild some sort of basis to get stormont up and running again. the ulster unionists we re running again. the ulster unionists were quick off the mark earlier saying the voters, if you are frustrated, come and vote for parties are willing and ready to return to government. do you think

the dup it will be damaged by this? it is going to be damaged by this, because they were the party who was in charge and they were supposed to be running, albeit in association with sinn fein, the country. sinn fein has walked away and you find many commentators, a lot who are anti—republican and anti—sinn fein tending to blame not sinn fein, but to blame arlene foster and the dup. there‘s bound to be some leakage of votes from her party. yes, if the dup and sinn fein return after these elections as the biggest unionist and nationalist parties, the issues that caused all of this will not have gone away. so it looks like we are infora have gone away. so it looks like we are in for a pretty long period of negotiation to try and about a power—sharing executive? negotiation to try and about a power-sharing executive? yes, but i spoke the hopeful bits is there will bea

spoke the hopeful bits is there will be a period of negotiations were they may have some give and take. it's they may have some give and take. it‘s been established the way things are going until this point, it was going to end in some kind of deadlock and it has. i suppose that the thing is all the parties now get together and knotting conscripts with each other, work—out individually that to getting a power—sharing back again, they are going to have to make some sort of compromise which involve the other side. how do you think all of this is going to play out with regards to brexit? a means none of the northern ireland parties will be at any negotiating table for brexit. they will now have to rely onjames brokenshire, the northern ireland secretary. there will not be an intimate or detailed input from northern ireland. all that will fall ona northern ireland. all that will fall on a british minister rather than any of the local people. david,

thank you very much for your thoughts this evening. there is a three week period after our election in which the political parties here will be asked to try and form a new power—sharing executive as we‘ve been pointing out today. it is difficult to see how they will not sure period resolve all the issues that need to be resolved. after that, we could be looking at a situation where there is direct rule from westminster once again. now, while that might help the government out a little in terms of issues around brexit and then trying to keep their timetable for triggering article 50 on track, james brokenshire has said he is not even considering thinking about that at the moment and is only thinking about a immediate future where we see a return to the power—sharing executive. but everyone here today agrees that is going to be extremely tricky to achieve in the time frame

that we have got. so from a stormont, back to the studio. and we‘ll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow‘s front pages. at 10:40 this evening in the papers our guestsjoining me tonight are broadcaster david davies and france 24‘s uk correspondent, benedicte paviot. the us president—elect donald trump seems to have cheered some in europe and annoyed others with his latest comments. he has said other countries may leave the eu as well, ahead of a speech by theresa may tomorrow in which he is expected to set out plans to leave the single market. mr trump said britain was doing great after the exit boat. —— vote. laura kuenssberg has the story. thumbs up for brexit from the man who in 95 hours will be the most powerful in the world.

told to one of its biggest backers — former minister and sometime reporter, michael gove. don‘t miss the front covers on the walls — dozens of donalds looking on. countries want their own identity and so did the uk but i believe if they had not been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that entails, i think you would not have a brexit. for months, she‘s been less keen to say what it really means. brexit means brexit. what‘s that again? brexit means brexit. and in case you hadn‘t heard. brexit means brexit. but ignore the platitudes, the big decisions have been clear since june. there is clearly no mandate for a deal that involves accepting the free movement of people as it has worked hitherto. unlimited eu migration will not stay, nor the power of european judges. judges sitting not in luxembourg but in courts across the land. without them in charge,

it means we will be out of the single market. people talk as if somehow we are leaving the eu but we still want to keep bits of membership of the eu. we are leaving, we're coming out. and she‘s even dressed up to make plain how doing business outside of europe will be more and more important. with an enthusiastic offer now from stateside of doing a deal at speed. it is very good news that the united states of america wants to do a good free trade deal with us and wants to do it very fast. and it‘s great to hear that from president—elect donald trump. spreading good cheerfor brexit backers ahead of the prime minister‘s speech tomorrow. we are going to have the european court ofjustice no longer overruling our laws, and we will be outside the single market, so we can control our own borders and probably outside the customs union so we can negotiate our own trade deals with the rest of the world. this is the most crucial set of choices any prime minister

has made for years and although the fundamentals were clear before she moved in, there has been precious little detail in public. but theresa may‘s opponents fear she will disappoint because she‘s juggling her party as well as the public. partly because she has had to overcompensate as a former remainer to prove herself to her own party and partly because she has no mandate of her own, she has not been elected and is not in a strong position and partly because she has really only chosen to listen to the 52% of people who voted for brexit and not the almost half of the remaining part of the voting public who voted for a different future. tomorrow matters, theresa may will tell us and them, the other european countries, more about her decisions that will shape britain for decades to come. her political hope — she and the country are not on their way to isolation. joining me now is vince cable, former mp for twickenham and secretary of state for business. you weren‘t one of the 48%, you did

not believe brexit was a good idea. —— you were not believe brexit was a good idea. —— you were one not believe brexit was a good idea. —— you were one of the a0%. do you now concede that strong membership of the single market or access to it and membership of the customs union are probably disappearing? and membership of the customs union are probably disappearing ?|j and membership of the customs union are probably disappearing? i take a pragmatic approach. the public have voted and we‘ve got to live with that and get the best deal we can for the uk. i think of the list of things you have mentioned, i‘ve a lwa ys things you have mentioned, i‘ve always taken the view that the prime minister is right and there will be some restrictions on free movement in europe, but i don‘t say that is incompatible with keeping many of the key positive elements of the single market, which is freedom of trade, notjust on tariffs, but nontariff barriers having regulatory standards and i thinly customs union is crucial for standards and i thinly customs union is crucialfor our supply

standards and i thinly customs union is crucial for our supply chain industries and if we lose that, i think there will be a lot of damage to some of our key manufacturers. so i take to some of our key manufacturers. so itakea to some of our key manufacturers. so i take a practical approach to it andi i take a practical approach to it and i do worry that the momentum towards a ha rd and i do worry that the momentum towards a hard brexit is growing and i think that will do a lot of damage and is avoidable. what about the comments from mr trump that a trade deal with the uk is at the top of his inner tray as it were, once it becomes president and that it could all be done quickly? well, what does that mean? we can‘t negotiate a trade agreement with the united states or anybody else until we‘ve left the european union, which is in over two years. left the european union, which is in over two yea rs. a left the european union, which is in over two years. a trade agreement would have to be approved by congress and we don‘t know what their attitude is. it will be a different congress in two years after mid—term elections. his comments are essentially political. he sees brexit as part of this

populist antiestablishment movement that he has tapped into. he is wanting to snub the europeans, particularly angela merkel who has been critical of him and his attitude to russia, so i think there‘s a lot of political content in it rather than a serious proposition. if you look at the trade aspects, britain runs a large trade aspects, britain runs a large trade surplus with america. it is not terribly clear what we would get out of it. i guess what the americans would get is an opportunity to sell us more agricultural goods, genetically modified food, beef hormones and things they‘ve been prevented from doing under environmental —— european and bimetal regulations. but the economic benefits of that from the uk standpoint, well, it is not clear they are the great substance. once article 50 is triggered by the end of march by theresa may, can there be any meeting between liam fox and anyone from his departments with any americans at all? what kind of links

might there be in order to establish the ground rules for a possible deal further down the track? of course there will be and should be discussions going on, as there will be with european countries. of course, what is constantly being forgotten is that what will determine the outcome of the brexit process is not what the british government wants, but what the european union offer them and that is the way the process works. you are quite right, there is nothing whatever to stop british ministers talking to americans, but nothing can be agreed until we have actually left and then the process has to start with the united states congress, which we know from experience is a very torturous one and the american congress has traditionally been very sceptical about trade deals. and the veiled threat, some have argued, from

philip hammond that britain could become a tax haven, slashing corporation tax which will com pletely corporation tax which will completely throw out of whack european trading. is that something that could fly, do you think?|j european trading. is that something that could fly, do you think? i am not sure it is credible. i‘m not sure the british public have voted for scrapping a lot of environmental protections and keeping our beaches and rivers clean! i can see some of the arguments for brexit in terms of what people wanted to restrict, say immigration, but the idea that we wa nt to immigration, but the idea that we want to throw away all the social and environmental protections, i don‘t think there‘s any appetite for that at all. there‘s not a great deal of evidence that cutting corporation tax below current levels will make a great deal of difference and all of this is just provoking the european union into being more difficult than is necessary in terms of its negotiation with us. i don‘t

think that is helpful, because philip hammond in general has seemed to be one of the more sensible members of the cabinet and this is not a very helpful intervention. vince cable, good to see you, thank you forjoining us. the top stories for you now on bbc news: northern ireland secretary james brokenshire says new elections will be held for the assembly on the 2nd of march. it follows the collapse of the power—sharing government. donald trump has promised a trade deal with britain will be a priority when he becomes us president on friday. an inquest into the fatal shootings of british tourists in tunisia 18 months ago has been told local security unit deliberately and unjustifiably delayed their arrival at the scene. sport now for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. competing at his first

grand slam tournament as world number one, andy murray made a winning start in melbourne. he beat ukraine in straight sets to reach the second round at the australian open. i think he played well, my opponent. he was very aggressive and i made it difficult, but the conditions, i was playing very fast all their, it was very lively, which she hasn‘t been in the practice of weeks. so i found it hard that i managed to get through it. a good day for dan evans, also through to the second round. he beat argentina in straight sets but faces a tough second—round match as he comes up against the former us open champion. making a return to competitive tennis for the first time in six months was roger feder, after missing the second half of 2016 because of injury. he reached the second round in four says. the 35—year—old admitted his comeback

was harder than expected. his compatriot is also through and had to do with the hardware. you needed five says to come past and he made a set and a breakdown in the decider before taking the last three games to progress. in the women‘s drawer, the defending champion and world number one was also taken to a deciding set before beating ukraine. she plays her first match at around midnight tonight. there is commentary on radio five live sports extra. the finnish driver will partner lewis hamilton a mercedes for the new formula 1 season. he has moved to fill the seat left vacant when nico rosberg retired after winning the world title. he returns to williams to replace him and is excited about teaming up with hamilton. west ham have rejected a second bid

from marseille for their striker. they have reportedly added another million pounds to the initial 90 million pounds to the initial 90 million for the offer. west ham are still refusing to sell despite the fa ct still refusing to sell despite the fact he is not currently playing or training with the first team. rory mcilroy has pulled out of golf‘s abu dhabi championship after scans showed he has fractured a rib. he picked the problem in south africa last week, but played on believing it to be fatigued. he just lost out ina it to be fatigued. he just lost out in a play—off yesterday. he said he was bitterly disappointed to miss

the event, where he has finished as a runner—up four times previously. mark allen has knocked out former world champion john higgins mark allen has knocked out former world championjohn higgins at the masters snooker in london. it was a dramatic deciding frame. he potted an incredible pink to beat the world number three 6—5. what a shock it was. it is the third time higgins has lost to allen in the first round of the masters. here is the evening session at the alexandra palace where stuart biggin is up against joe perry. bingaman puts his back into this with an incredible break of 138 in the previous frame. he leads in this fourth frame at the moment in the evening session. bingen, a semifinalist last year and a former world champion in 2015. that is all the sport for the moment. the lawyer for the inquest said

tunisian forces had deliberately delayed conference in the gunman, he was allowed to go on the rampage at a 5—star beach resort for more than half an hour before he was shot dead. for them, the inquests matter so much. the families of those killed, the anguish and grief of the past 18 months, they now hope for answers. as the hearing began, the names of those who died were read out followed by a minute‘s silence. 30 british tourists murdered on holiday. they included three generations of one family, married couples and a teenager. the inquest heard they had needlessly lost their lives.

shouting. mobile phone footage shows the chaos and confusion during the attacks. the families watched it in court. listening to the sound of gunfire and the sense of panic. gunfire. the gunmen was seifeddine rezgui, a 23—year—old who was eventually shot dead by the security forces. but he‘d been intent on killing tourists. the inquest also watched cctv footage from around the resort. the lone gunman on the beach, armed with an automatic weapons and explosives. and also, roaming around inside the hotel, looking for his next victims. a british police team put together this map of his movements. the red arrow indicates where he started shooting near the sun loungers. before moving to the terrace and outdoor pool area and then into the hotel. he killed everywhere he went.

there were no clear signs of any police or security guards trying to stop him. samantha leek qc, counsel to the inquests, referred to a statement from a tunisian witness. she told the court, he said the security units these inquests can‘t lay blame, but they can offer guidance. the families here just want to know how their loved ones came to die in such a horrifying way. let‘s take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon.

the former youth football coach barry bennell who worked at crewe alexandra, has pleaded not guilty to eight charges of child abuse. the allegations against bennell all involve a boy under the age of 15, between 1981 and 1986. the trial of the former entertainer rolf harris has been told he groped a blind woman, despite her protestations. she says she was appalled and degraded. rolf harris, who‘s not attending court in person, denies indecent assault and sexual assault. it‘s a case that might have baffled sherlock holmes himself. who leaked a copy of the final episode of the bbc‘s sherlock on to the internet? the fact that it was dubbed into russian is a major clue. but was it criminal piracy, done for money? or something more sinister? nick higham‘s been investigating. please, no, don‘t hang up. do not hang up. calmly, sherlock, or i will finish her right now. the last episode of sherlock, eagerly awaited by millions, but on saturday, a copy was leaked online dubbed into russian. it was a spoiler and broadcasters don‘t like those.

everything up to this point has been planned with the intention of presenting this programme, this very important finale, as a global event, as a collective community of fans coming together and very much experiencing it for the first time and this has put a big spanner in the works of that. the russian version was widely shared online. the mystery — worthy of an old—fashioned sherlock holmes story — who leaked it and why? one theory, the episode was put online to damage the bbc, which the kremlin doesn‘t much like at present, because the beeb is increasing its radio broadcasts to russia. another theory, it‘s just somebody trying to make money out of some stolen property. experts say film and television piracy is widespread in russia. according to the russian interior ministry, piracy brings around half a billion us dollars annually, that is quite a large number. we have seen recently reported that at least two heads of public

organisations that have been lobbying for reforms of this sector have been arrested and some of the russian experts have suggested that this is a backlash of those pirates who often have also government protection. with russia, it‘s hard to tell and today, the mystery deepened when the russian state—owned television channel who broadcasted the series denied responsibility for the leak and claimed it was a victim of hacking. in a statement, channel one said... save my soul. seek my room. but who could the external third party be? no one seems to know and the conspiracy theorists are having a field day. nick higham, bbc news. now for the weather.

hill fog and outbreaks of rain, some pushing across scotland, down in northern ireland as a mole the weather fronts from northern northern ireland as a mole the weatherfronts from northern england fringing into parts of south west england and eastern wales. underneath the cloud, you will avoid a frost, quite a mild night across parts of scotland and northern ireland, but a touch of frost in the clearer skies and parts of east anglia in south—east england. after a cold start here, this is where you will most likely season shine tomorrow. brightening up into the afternoon in north—eastern scotland, but for much of the uk, a cloudy day and outbreaks of rain affected parts of northern england and north wales with hill fog, too. mild northern ireland and western scotland, but chailly —— chilly despite