welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: president obama reduces the sentence of former us soldier chelsea manning, jailed for leaking classified documents. britain's prime minister spells out her goals for brexit. the uk will leave the european single market, but seek new trade agreements and aim to control immigration. china's president defends globalisation, and insists there will be no winners in a trade war between washington and beijing. and the president of gambia declares a state of emergency, just days before he is due to leave office. hello. president obama has commuted the sentence of chelsea manning, the american soldier, formerly bradley manning, who was found guilty of providing us intelligence documents to wikileaks and sentenced to 35 years in prison. she has served seven years.

it is a high—profile and controversial move, just days before mr obama leaves office. the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan, who covered the original trial, has the story. chelsea manning was responsible for one of the largest leaks of government secrets in american history. born bradley manning, it was while serving in iraq that the low—ranking private hacked government databases, hacking more than 700,000 classified documents tojulian assange‘s wikileaks organisation. request permission to engage. that included this classified video showing us forces machine—gun iraqi civilians, who they mistook for insurgents. and also 250,000 diplomatic cables from across the globe, and nearly 500,000 military records, which detailed american military tactics, and revealed the names of afghan informants.

but the main outcome was that it caused huge embarrassment to us diplomats, by making public their private thoughts. it was a very unfortunate and damaging actions. . .action that were taken, that put at risk individuals and relationships. manning's supporters said she was a whistleblower, not a traitor, but bradley manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. during the court martial, manning's lawyers said their client struggled with gender identity disorder. shortly after the trial, bradley announced she would be known as chelsea, and live as a woman. she was held at a male prison in kansas, and successfully lobbied the us army for hormone therapy. she also tried to take her life on two occasions. the campaign for chelsea manning's pardon began the day

she was convicted in 2013. now president obama has made it one of his final acts in office, a decision that will please as much as it will anger. another controversial figure given clemency by president obama is the puerto rican nationalist 0scar lopez rivera. he belonged to a group which campaigned for independence from the united states, and which claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings in several american cities during the 1970s and ‘80s. after months of waiting, britain has got some clarity on what exit from the european union will actually mean. prime minister theresa may set out 12 key objectives she hopes her negotiators will secure as they haggle over the uk's withdrawal, key among them that the uk will leave the european single market, but still seek a free trade deal with it. sterling rose on the news, but the plan has also been criticised. the bbc‘s andy moore reports.

it was billed as the most important speech of her term in office. it was certainly the clearest exposition yet of what britain wants from brexit. not partial membership of the european union, associated membership of the european union, or anything that leaves us half—in, half—out. i want to be clear. what i am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market. but, she said, britain would push for the freest possible trade with european countries and other nations around the world. for the first time, mrs may confirmed that the british parliament would get to vote on the final deal at the end of the negotiations. sitting in the audience were some of the ambassadors to the uk. mrs may emphasised she didn't want to undermine the eu, but she also warned against those who wanted to see the uk punished for voting to leave. while i am sure a positive agreement can be reached,

i am equally clear that no deal for britain is better than a bad dealfor britain. the opposition labour party said that mrs may wanted to leave the single market, yet still have access to it. that, they said, was like having your cake and eating it, and they warned against her negotiating position. throughout the speech there seemed to be an implied threat that, somewhere along the line, if all her optimism of a deal with the european union didn't work, we would move into a low—tax, corporate taxation, bargain—based economy on the offshores of europe. and that implication of a warning was picked up by the european parliament's chief negotiator on brexit. i don't think we will make a lot of progress if this has to happen under threat, because i... so saying, ok, if our

european counterparts don't accept it, are we going to make britain a free zone, or tax haven? i don't think that's very helpful. it creates an illusion, an illusion that you can go out of the single market, that you can go out of the customs union, and that you can cherry—pick, that you can still have a number of advantages. and i think that will not happen. the german foreign minister said at least the british position was now much clearer, a sentiment echoed in the irish parliament. i welcome the statement today in that it brings clarity in a number of areas. this is the start of the process now. europe is now going to have to respond to the statement made by the prime minister today. and that response is onlyjust beginning. the tough negotiations

will take many years. president xi jinping has told a gathering of the rich and powerful from across the world that china wants to be a champion of free trade and stability. he made no direct reference to donald trump, but his comments contrast sharply with mr trump's "america first" vision. at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland, the chinese leader warned against a trade war between washington and beijing. he said there would be no winners. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed is there. he arrived with full security detail, the president of china, here to speak to an eager audience of political and business leaders. mr xi didn't actually mention president—elect donald j trump. he didn't need to. the message was clear. translation: pursuing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room. while wind and rain may be kept outside, so are light and air. no—one will emerge as a winner in a trade war. he also said that countries should redouble their commitment

to the paris climate change agreement, which mr trump has threatened to quit. translation: all signatories should stick to it, instead of walking away from it, as this is a responsibility we must assume for future generations. the debate about globalisation is truly a "through the looking glass" moment, the leader of the world's largest communist party, here at the home of capitalism, arguing for free trade and open borders, at the same time as donald trump is saying that he doesn't like free trade, and has accused china of raping america with cheap imports. president xi jinping said he didn't want a trade war, but he sounds like he might be preparing for one. after the tough words of the president—elect, today a slightly softer tone from america. i think the chinese and americans have common cause, and we have to have a very strong bilateral relationship. i also believe that the united

states and the new administration does not want to have a trade war. president xi is determined to lead the push for greater free trade, as the us turns inwards. the tense relationship between these two economic superpowers will define the global economy's performance over the next decade. the president of the gambia has declared a state of emergency, no more than two days before the opposition leader is due to be sworn in to replace him. yahya jammeh has refused to accept defeat in last month's election. some holiday companies have begun flying tourists home. greg dawson reports. the buses are crammed, and so are the suitcases. these people are among the thousands abandoning their homes in the gambia's capital, banjul, fearing for their safety. as they count the passengers, staff are struggling with demand. translation: we've been overwhelmed.

we have 25 minibuses leaving every day. that's not including the number of big buses leaving. and, despite that, there are still passengers waiting for a seat. while many choose to flee, this man insists he is going nowhere. just days before he was supposed to leave office, president yahya jammeh declared a 90—day state of emergency, and warned against any threats to public order. if it is allowed to continue, it may lead a state public emergency. last month, the gambian president conceded defeat in his country's elections, and agreed to stand down after 22 years in power. the man who beat him, adama barrow, was supposed to be sworn in on thursday. the result prompted celebrations on the country's streets, but within days presidentjammeh called a by—election,

citing flaws with the vote. despite international pressure, he is refusing to step aside, and the stand—off has now prompted travel companies to fly tourists out of the country. the uk foreign office is the latest to warn people not to travel to gambia, claiming... 0n the road out of the gambia's capital stands a stadium where president—elect barrow is due to be sworn in on thursday, but there is little evidence of any preparations being made, and little hope for those calling for a peaceful transition of power. in other news: the nigerian military says one of its air force jets has accidentally attacked refugees and aid workers at a camp for displaced people in the north—east of the country. the international aid agency medecins sans frontieres says at least 50 people have been killed, more than 50 injured. a study of babies born in south korea, but adopted by dutch speakers and raised in the netherlands, suggests

language skills acquired in the first months of life are never lost. researchers believe adopted children who think they have forgotten their birth language do actually retain information. they say the findings underline the importance of talking to babies. another possible sign of changing times, russia's president putin has invited members of donald trump's team to peace talks on syria next week. russia and turkey, not the us, are driving the agenda at the summit in kazakhstan. it is just a month since the syrian regime, with russian backing, took full control of aleppo, the country's second—largest city. the bbc‘sjeremy bowen sent this from what remains of the great mosque of aleppo. the battle for aleppo was the most divisive of the war so far. it is syria's biggest city, it is the key to the north of the country, and both sides were prepared to destroy it to possess it. the cost has been very high,

in blood, and in the ruin of a city that can trace its history back 50 centuries. now, this is the great mosque in aleppo, the umayah mosque, which dates back to the 700s. it has been used as a military position, and there is heavy damage. it is a un heritage site, now it is covered in sandbags, bullet holes. you can see how much fighting went on here. over in that corner stood the famous minaret. it was built in 1090 and destroyed in april of 2013. at the time there were a lot of reports saying it was done by regime shelling. the people with me,

who are representatives of the syrian government say it was done by the rebels who blew it up. this is one of the sides of the mosque. you can see it was used as an entrance and an exit. a lot of damage around here. a lot of bullet holes. a lot of evidence of shellfire. and the fact that it was used as a military position is very clear. you can see this from the line of oil drums. they were used to shield people inside you. and if you look at the ceiling, it is absolutely gutted with shrapnel marks. that means there were big explosions here, right inside the mosque. you can see the damage. the damage done to these really important religious, cultural, historic sites is tragic. way more tragic, though, is the fact that so many of the people who used to pray in this mosque, who would shop in the streets, they are now dead. in terms of progress of the war, capturing aleppo was a vital

moment for the regime and its allies, the russians and iranians, lebanese hezbollah, because for the first time president assad can now sense victory. the war is in a new phase, it is not over, but from the point of view of the regime in damascus, this is the strongest they have been since it started. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: out with the old, in with the new. why the world's biggest fish market is moving, and why some are not happy about it. the people of saigon have just heard there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was predictable. i'm going home! demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with teargas and set

upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity which is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: president obama has commuted most of the remaining prison sentence of chelsea manning, who was behind one of america's biggest ever leaks of classified information. britain's prime minister theresa may has been spelling out her strategic goals for the uk's exit from the european union. vladimir putin has dismissed

allegations that russia has gathered compromising material on donald trump as total nonsense. in a curious statement, which saw him musing on the merits of russian prostitutes, mr putin claimed the leaked information which appeared last week in some us media was an obvious fake. translation: first of all, he is a grown—up man. secondly, he is a person who has been organising beauty contests for many years, who communicated with the most beautiful women in the world. you know, i can hardly imagine that he went to the hotel to meet with our girls of reduced social responsibility. undoubtedly my girls are the best in the world, of course, but i doubt mr trump took this bait. and people who order such fakes, which are now being spread against a new president of the united states, they fabricate them and use them in the political race, they are worse than prostitutes. they do not have any moral limits.

the world economic forum in davos doesn't just attract business leaders and press, celebrities too. matt damon has been telling us how he got involved with setting up the charity water.org to bring clean water and sanitation to developing countries. a little over a decade ago i started exploring issues of extreme poverty, i was trying to learn about them and i wanted to kind of focus on one that i could try and learn about and kind of move the needle on. ijust found that water and sanitation really underpinned everything, all theseissues really underpinned everything, all these issues of extreme poverty and these issues of extreme poverty and the magnitude of the problem, the scale of it, was so massive that i just became really interested in it because nobody was talking about it. i think it's one of those things we re i think it's one of those things were in the west it's very hard for us were in the west it's very hard for us to relate to not being able to

access us to relate to not being able to a ccess clea n us to relate to not being able to access clean water because we're surrounded by it. map damon on davos on water.org —— matt damon. over to berlin, roderich kiesewetter, mp for angela merkel‘s cdu party and its representative on foreign affairs. thanks very much for talking to us, i know you've got to be somewhere very quickly. given the british government's stated objectives, what it said the british people voted for, as you know, i'm sure, to limit free movement, immigration, generally to take away any sense of people being ruled from outside the uk, a hard brexit, what some people call brexit max, was somewhat inevitable, was it not? the sense that we should be out of the single market and out of the economic union, how did theresa may's speech look from where you are? we are very happy that we now have a very clear decision from the united kingdom,

from the british government, however we are a little bit disappointed about the way that she's putting it forward. but nevertheless, it's a clear decision, we can work with it andi clear decision, we can work with it and i think that's the main issue. what did you make of her threat that if the eu makes it hard for the uk to deter others from leaving the eu, the uk will make it hard for the eu, possibly change its whole economic model? i think it's hard enough for the united kingdom, especially for its population. there will be i think so some constraints in the economic development. there is also really a concern that we have about security policy. what we really need isa security policy. what we really need is a very good cooperation between the united kingdom and the european union and the fears of security policy and energy policy and so on, this must be negotiated. nevertheless i think there is no

need for punishment of the united kingdom. i think your country is punished enough by the brexit decision. so you think it will be possible then to leave the single market but still have access to it? we hope so. it's important we create oui’ we hope so. it's important we create our own model also for other non—eu member states like turkey or tunisia, which is attractive enough to co—operate with the european union on economic affairs, but also in other areas. the european union itself is going to take quite a hit, isn't it crazy how will the european union make up the shortfall from the exit? i hope the european union will reform itself. we need to focus much more on security policy domestic and exterior, on security policy, as well as energy security and the european union must not shape in the future the issues of all the member states developing better, for

example in nutrition areas and agricultural areas and so on. so we also need a refocusing of the european union on the main issues. brexit might help for that. sorry to interrupt you, mr kieswetter, thank you very much. thank you. it's five o'clock in the morning inside the world's biggest fish market and the tuna auctions are under way. this is the first auction of 2017 and the prices are likely to be high. this will be the last new year auction held in tsukiji perhaps ever, because this market's supposed to close, and over here, if you come over here, you can see, you can see through here, it's five o'clock in the morning inside the world's biggest fish market and the tuna auctions are under way. this is the first auction of 2017 and the prices are likely to be high. this will be the last new year auction held in tsukiji perhaps ever, because this market's supposed to close, and over here, if you come over here, you can see, you can see through here, these are the really big ones,

these are the fish that are 200—250 kilos, these are the ones that might reach record prices — that current record for one fish here, us $1.7 million. tsukiji market is like no other, vast and chaotic. on a good day, 60,000 people bustle through this maze of alleys and shops. but soon, all of this will be gone, the buildings demolished, the land sold to developers. toichiro iida's family have been trading tuna since the days of the shogun. in tsukiji, i'm third—generation, and we are doing this business for 170 years almost, so, what we feel is we built this place, i mean, the tsukiji, not built by someone. actually, we make history in this place. but why do we have to move from here? moving is not the only worry.

the meat from this 200 kilo monster will go to the top sushi restaurants in nearby ginza. but fish like this are getting hard to find. in the pacific and atlantic, stocks of bluefin tuna has fallen by more than 90%. the frozen one is 1000 or less each day, and a fresh one is like 300, 200, something, 100 less, so the number of fish is decreased, so we don't have enough fish to sell, actually. do you worry about the future of the industry? yes. maybe, maybe it is going to be like the whale, could be. this new year, the top bid went for this 210 kilo bluefin, $632,000 us. critics say publicity stunts like this ignore the fact that these fish are now endangered species.

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news at the tsukiji market in tokyo. briefly the main news again. barack 0bama briefly the main news again. barack obama has commuted the sentence chelsea manning, the american soldier, formerly bradley manning, found guilty of providing us intelligence documents, nearly 750,000 of them, to wikileaks angie got dirty side, 35 years in prison. —— angie got 35 years in prison. more than 100,000 people have signed a white house petition calling for her release —— and she got. much more on the bbc website any time. you can reach me and most of the tea m you can reach me and most of the team on twitter. thanks for watching. hello there. hopefully you like cloudy weather, because that's what's coming up in the forecast really through the rest of the week

and well into the weekend as well. satellite picture yesterday shows the extent of the cloud cover. rather misty across parst of england and wales, warm for the eastern side of scotland for the time of year but cold with the sunshine across east anglia and south—east england and these conditions will persist for another few days. across the midlands into staffordshire we have misty conditions and that will continue to thicken up as well. so for wednesday morning expect a couple of fog patches over the hills of northern england, the pennines, the vale of york. one or two fog patches possible for the south—east of england as well. for many of us it won't be a particularly cold start to the day, with temperatures around 7—9 degrees, but it will be cold for the south—east of england. here, a sharp overnight frost with clear skies, fog patches and temperatures as low as —7. we're tapping into some of the cold airfrom the continent across the far south—east of england, otherwise we have high pressure in charge of the weather but we also have this weather front

bringing a lot of cloud with it and the cloud will be thick enough at times on wednesday morning to bring occasional spots of rain or drizzle. the likely places to catch that across parts of north wales into the north—west midlands, cheshire, merseyside, greater manchester, these areas probably starting off quite damp. a lot of cloud for northern ireland and scotland. 0ccasional spots of rain in the west. clear spells to start the day across eastern scotland. through the rest of day, where the front remains a slow—moving, if you are underneath this area of cloud it will stay with us all day. it will be a glorious day for south—east england. plenty of sunshine but it is cold and i hold out the prospect of some breaks coming along with the cloud across northern ireland and western scotland. it won't be solidly cloudy but, that said, there will be a lot of cloud around. temperatures reaching double figures in the warmest spots. 0n into wednesday night, another cold one coming up across southern counties of england. the tendency for the breaks in the cloud to extend across southern counties of england. that is where we will have the frosty weather overnight. further north, with the cloud cover, again, it is generally frost free with temperatures

around 5—7 degrees. thursday starting on a dull and cloudy note, save for southern england, with the prospect of early morning sunshine, and staying reasonably bright through the rest of the day. temperatures under the cloud, 7—9 degrees, maybe ten in western scotland, and spots of rain coming from the cloud now and then. similar weather through friday into the weekend. we have to wait until next week before we see any significant changes in the weather pattern. that's your forecast. the headlines on bbc news: president obama has commuted the prison sentence of chelsea manning, the american soldier jailed for 35 years for leaking vast numbers of classified documents. manning is now due to be released in may. the transgender soldier served in iraq, and was formerly known

as bradley manning. britain's prime minister has given more details of her government's plans to leave the eu. theresa may warned that no deal was better than a bad deal. she told eu leaders that it would be an act of calamitous self—harm to impose a punitive settlement on the uk to deter others from leaving. china's president, xijinping, has told the world economic forum in davos that his country wants to be a champion of free trade and stability. in his speech he made no direct reference to us president—elect donald trump, but warned against a trade war with america, saying there would be no winners. now on bbc news, hardtalk.