‘ has an ‘ui‘fi'x ene it??? ' “flit“flliéi “flit murray has an appointment with an ice pack but dan evans is unlikely to be feeling any of his aches and pains tonight. not a bad day of work for a player once described as the most wasted talent in british tennis. a train from china has big campus first ever to make the journey across asia and europe and arrived in the uk. the engine took 80 days to make the trip to the uk, half the time of the equivalent journey by sea. they travelled through russia, kazakhstan and belarus before heading to the channel tunnel. time for a look at the weather. at this time of the year a place in the sun might hold some appeal. or maybe not. this is the scene from just outside benidorm. and that train journey would have just outside benidorm. and that trainjourney would have been conducted across a pretty cold europe at the moment. some of that cold air has made its way into the

south—east. so you get a glorious start the day if frosty. —7 overnight in some places in kent. and about 8 degrees on the other hand across many parts of northern scotla nd hand across many parts of northern scotland thanks to low from the atla ntic scotland thanks to low from the atlantic for the high pressure still dominant, fairly settled but quite a variety. and we keep that team going over the next couple of hours. if you are thinking about the school run or a you are thinking about the school run ora dog you are thinking about the school run or a dog walk, some rain around gci’oss run or a dog walk, some rain around across the northern isles. coming down to be weather front then it is pretty miserable, quite murky across the west midlands. the best of the guaranteed sunshine perhaps that the southern counties of england and perhaps just creeping into southern counties of england and perhapsjust creeping into parts southern counties of england and perhaps just creeping into parts of wales. but not doing much for those temperatures, stuck around four or 5

degrees. and as soon as the sun goes down, the temperatures will again fall away. not so much where you keep that cloud. somewhere in the south again looking at around minus four degrees. so here we go again on thursday, something of a repeat performance with the best of the sunshine across southern counties. some gaps further north are possible. but again the temperature is nothing to write home about despite what you see the sunshine. five, six, 7 degrees. and the weather pretty much the same on friday. there is a general evening out of those temperatures. and here's the thing, getting into the weekend high pressure is still the dominant feature. but if it looks threatening in the atlantic do not worry, high pressure will be dominant on saturday and on through the weekend which will be mainly dry with some sunshine. if you want to

get involved with weather watchers, those are the details. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime. the eu will seek a balanced deal for britain after brexit says the head of the european commission — but any deal has to be "inferior" to full membership of the eu. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. have a good afternoon. good afternoon. now time for the sports news with me, jessica creighton. there's been a huge upset at the australian open, because britain's dan evans has knocked out seventh seed marin cilic. evans produced some incredible tennis against the czech, coming from a set down to earn the biggest win of his career. but evans has been in such good form of late.

and after dispatching of the 2014 us open champion, evans was quick to share his good news on his phone. he'll now face either victor estrella burgos or bernard tomic in the third round. andy murray saw off russian 19—year—old andrey rublev in straight sets to move into the third round. murray did appear to twist an ankle in the match but insisted he was ok. the scot plays number 31 seed sam querrey of the united states next. europe's ryder cup captain thomas bjorn will be able to choose an extra wild card player for next year's event in france. for more on this, our golf correspondent iain carter joins us from the middle east, where the abu dhabi championship gets under way tomorrow. i bet it's a lot warmer there than

it is here. never before has the european captain had so many pics. is this just european captain had so many pics. is thisjust a european captain had so many pics. is this just a knee jerk reaction to the defeat at hazeltine last year? it is not a knee jerk reaction. the defeat at hazeltine last year? it is not a kneejerk reaction. yes, it was a very heavy defeat for darren clarke's team at hazeltine, but this is to do with the way the european tour calendar is shaping up going forward. they brought in a series of big—money events, they are calling it the rolex series, and they want those to succeed. for that to happen, big—name players must play in those events. to encourage them, they are saying that if you choose to play in america instead in those weeks, you will not earn any ryder cup qualifying points. obviously, they want those players playing in europe, but some will not, the likes of sergio garcia justin rose, henrik stenson, who like to play big american schedules, and asa like to play big american schedules, and as a result, the captain has

this extra wild card to make sure that those players do not slip through the net and that gives them a better chance of silencing those american celebrations. it seems like this kind of option means that players will remain part of the european tour, but won't compromise the quality of the tour. absolutely. the idea is to bolster the european tourin the idea is to bolster the european tour in every way they can. another move they have made is to reinstate, not reinstate but keep in place a rule that says you must be a member of the european tour, if you are going to be part of the ryder cup team. thomas bjorn, the captain, he wa nts team. thomas bjorn, the captain, he wants players to make a commitment to europe, that means being a member of the european tour. paul casey was not a member last year and as a result was not eligible for the team. he will need tojoin result was not eligible for the team. he will need to join the team and play a minimum team. he will need to join the team and playa minimum of four team. he will need to join the team and play a minimum of four rather than five events to satisfy the criteria there. thank you, ian, our

golf correspondent. england women head coach simon middleton has included four new faces in his 33—player squad for the six nations. england host defending champions france in their opener on february 3rd. it's a tournament that should see tamara taylor win her 100th cap and one that she thinks is ideal preparation for the world cup later this year. ourfamily is our family is back together now, ourfamily is back together now, and the six nations is an amazing tournament because you get to have an international meal every week which you don't get in any other tournament for us, so that'll be huge preparation, and again you get to play some of the top teams in world. and at the masters snooker, reigning world champion mark selby is playing mark williams in the first round at alexandra palace. that's on the bbc sport website, as always. williams is 1—0 up at the

moment. theresa may has been defending plans to leave the eu after her speech yesterday. during prime minister's questions she said she wanted to put divisions over brexit in the past and work for an outward looking, prosperous britain. norman smith is at westminster for us. theresa prosperous britain. norman smith is at westminsterfor us. theresa may was sounding very confident and rather bullish during my ministers questions. surprising, really. she has put her head on a block with this brexit deal. she has ratcheted up this brexit deal. she has ratcheted up the stakes in terms of our future relationship with the eu. she should bea relationship with the eu. she should be a woman under pressure. and you have to say that today she was oozing confidence. have a listen to the exchange between her and jeremy corbyn. can i urge her to stop her threat of a bargain basement brexit, a low pay tax haven on the shores of

europe? it will not necessarily damage the eu, but it will certainly damage the eu, but it will certainly damage this country, businesses, jobs and public services. she demeans herself and her office and out demeans herself and her office and our country's standing by making these kind of threats. what i said yesterday was a plan for a global britain, bringing prosperity to this country and jobs to people and spreading economic growth across the country. but actually yesterday we also learned a little more of the right honourable gentleman's thinking on this. what he said was the following, "she has said leave the following, "she has said leave the single market, then at the same time says she wants to have access to the single market. i'm not quite sure how that's going to go down in europe. i think we have to have a deal that ensures that we have... access to the market"! i've got a

plan. he doesn't have a clue. mr speaker, she made the threat... mr speaker, she made the threat... mr speaker, she made the threat... mr speaker, she was the one who made the threat about slashing corporation tax. if you reduce corporation tax. if you reduce corporation tax. if you reduce corporation tax to the lowest common the nominator, this country loses £120 billion in revenue. how, then, do you fund public services as a result of that? while all that was going on, foreign secretary boris johnson was getting into more trouble on the other side of the world. in india, he appeared to compare president francois hollande, saying that he wanted to administer

"a punishment beating" to britain in the manner of a world war ii movie. to mull over that and all matters brexit i am joined by alistair burt for the conservatives, does mean ahmed sheikh of the snp. let's start, alistair burt, with boris johnson. how many times can you get away with these sort of inappropriate remarks? i'm not sure that i would express what he said in a way that he said it. but the point he makes is perfectly reasonable, in that nobody wants to see action taken which would damage the uk or the eu because a good agreement is in both our best interests. but there is a bit of carelessness sometimes from him. let me suggest to you that it is more than carelessness. it is profoundly

offensive, particularly for the french who were occupied by the nazis, to make any sort of allusion to the second world war. any time the phrase world war ii comes into your mind is as a politician then the alarm bells or to ring, there is i'io the alarm bells or to ring, there is no doubt about that. i'm quite sure that the foreign secretary understands that. the point he made was a reasonable one, but the language, he's got to be extremely careful in dealing with colleagues like that. do you think that his position as foreign secretary is sustainable given that this is not the first gaffe he has made? how much longer can this go on as macro you made the point very well. alistair was very generous in his remarks. how many gaffes is the foreign secretary going to make before he's pulled and again? this is not the first time. it has happened on many occasions. he has been slapped down for his tonne logy been slapped down for his tonne mythology but he doesn't seem to be

learning the lessons of diplomacy. -- his learning the lessons of diplomacy. —— his terminology. learning the lessons of diplomacy. -- his terminology. let's talk about brexit, and what is the labour party position on it? keir starmer has said that the government is taking on many of labour's desires, and jeremy corbyn says that it is a bargain basement brexit. what is going on? i think our position is pretty clear. we have had an assist and supported by others across the house that there should be a plan to to parliament. frankly, it is a stepping stone yesterday. we need to see more as ken clarke and anna su be made clear at prime minister's questions. —— anna soubry. this fall short of the hard brexit some on the right of the conservative party were looking for. it insists on access to

the single market which is something we we re the single market which is something we were pushing for. how does potentially falling out of the eu without any deal at all not entail the hardest of hard brexits? that's not the ambition the prime minister laid out yesterday. jeremy corbyn was right. he highlighted, as indeed keirdid, that we was right. he highlighted, as indeed keir did, that we don't want to see these threats. the prime minister firing at the same sort of lines is borisjohnson, this firing at the same sort of lines is boris johnson, this threatening rhetoric to the people of the eu under this country, that if we don't get our way, we want a bargain basement, low—wage, low tax economy in this country. alistair burt, you raised the spectre of as having no deal and walking away. how serious are the risks of that and what are the implications? the risks of no deal would be very real if we got into that position. it does imply,

potentially, a cliff edge and fall back on wto provisions which many sectors of british industry have said is not where they want to be. so the language that the prime minister chose yesterday in relation to the eu was really welcome as a change from the battering and abuse that the eu gets from so many political figures and the media figures in the united kingdom, to make it clear that a deal which is in the united kingdom's interests is also likely to be in the interests of the eu. that is absolutely prefera ble of the eu. that is absolutely preferable to a fallback or default position where there is no deal. the prime minister must be aware that there may be some voices in the uk that might push in that position. and we heard nicola sturgeon saying yesterday that, if the fallout, given we are leaving the single market, a second referendum is now "more likely". let me put it to you, she has bottled it, she hasn't got the nerve to push the referendum

button, mark two. i don't know where you have got that from. the scottish government has put forward a plan in relation to brexit. if labour don't think that is a hard brexit i have i'io think that is a hard brexit i have no idea what they think a hard brexit looks like. scotland did not bow to come out of the single market. we have heard the prime minister talking about the meeting tomorrow that is going to take place and how the scottish government plan is going to beat zamindar. but being primus roll the whole uk does not square with ruling out a key scottish government priority, membership of the single market, which was supported by the scottish parliament yesterday. the plan was laid out and we will follow through due process. coming out of the eu is not the best situation for scotland. a compromise position is in the best interests of all scotland or keeping in all the united kingdom. what is

not going to be achieved by theresa may is her plan to end the divisions over brexit. no sign of that any time soon, i am sure. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news. the eu will seek a balanced dealfor britain after brexit says the head of the european commission, jean—claude juncker. thousands of the european commission, jean—claudejuncker. thousands of thomas cook holiday—makers will return to the uk from gambia, after a state of emergency was declared there. unemployment has fallen to its lowest total in more than a decade, according to the latest figures. and now the business news. average weekly earnings increased by 2.8% in the three months to november, compared with a year earlier. and its 2.7% if you minus bonuses. that means wages are rising faster than inflation so we should have more money in our pockets. meanwhile, the number of people

looking for work fell slightly by 52,000 to 1.6 million. mobile operator ee has been fined £2.7 million by the telecoms regulator, ofcom, for overcharging more than 30,000 customers — a total of around £250,000 in billing errors. before the watchdog stepped in, ee had decided not to reimburse the majority of affected customers instead proposing to give their money to charity. the majority of customers have now been refunded. grandparents are missing out on national insurance credits which could top up their pension by more than £200 a year. mothers who give up work are given national insurance credits while their children are under 12, to help them get a state pension. if they return to work, relatives under pension age who care for their children can claim the credits instead. two more additions to donald trump's team in the white house are set to officially confirmed today. wilbur ross is the billionaire

investor. mrtrump wants him to serve as his commerce secretary. and lawyer and politican scott pruitt is being put forward as the head of the environmental protection agency. joining me from the floor of the new york stock exchange is samira hussain. two controversial appointments, as a lwa ys two controversial appointments, as always with donald trump. the first one, he is known as the king of ba n kru ptcy one, he is known as the king of bankruptcy because he goes and rei nvests in bankruptcy because he goes and reinvests in companies and tries to kind of tear them apart and that is where he has got that label. it is interesting. we were supposed to get this confirmation about over ross. the issue is conflicts of interest. he isa the issue is conflicts of interest. he is a businessman. he has lots of ties to various businesses in different sectors. what congress

needs to see is that he is willing to step away from his business interests and to divest his investments for the most part in order to avoid any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. that's really important, and that's something that members of congress are certainly going to be asking about. with regards to him as a possible, secretary, we have already seen a copy of his prepared remarks that he will deliver to congressional leaders. in it, he's going to be talking about trade deals and having more fairtrade deals. what he wants to do as commerce secretary is to reduce the trade deficit that the united states currently is embroiled in. what he saysis currently is embroiled in. what he says is that he is in fact pro—trade, but he wants to see more fairtrade deals. what he believes right now is that some of the trade deals the us has entered into are not exactly fair to the american people. and scott pruitt as head of

the environmental protection agency. use known as somebody not in line with mr trump's thinking. he's a former attorney general. he's an interesting pic, given that he is actually a climate change the nye. many people —— climate change denier. many people have been vocal about how upset they are having someone about how upset they are having someone like this indisposition. it is hard to try and protect some of the initiatives that president obama has put in place, like the clean energy act, when in fact that he does not believe these rules are necessary. it is in line are some of the things mr trump was talking about on the campaign trail. he spoke to people in west virginia saying that he wants to bring back some of those coal—mining jobs. this appointment of scott pruitt is certainly in line with that direction. let's take a look at some

of today's other business stories. if you like your mr kipling's or bisto gravy, listen up, because shares in the brands' owner, premier foods, have fallen sharply after the firm said it expects profits to be significantly lower this year. the uk food manufacturer predicts a 10% fall in profits due to rising costs. that includes a weaker pound pushing up the price of imported ingredients like sugar, cocoa and palm oil. deliveroo has said it will increase its staff by a third when it opens a new london head office later this year. the uk—based food delivery company is the latest tech firm to expand in the capital, planning to hire more than 300 "high—skilled, high—tech" recruits. the economy in scotland is only growing at a third of the rate of that of the uk as a whole. fresh figures from the office of national statistics show that scotland's economic output increased by 0.2% in the period july to september 2016, compared to a rise of 0.6% for the uk as a whole. and publishers pearson saw their shares fall 30%

after the company warned of a big fall in sales in their us education business. a quick look at the markets before we go. those pearson shares are down roughly about one third. in terms of sterling, it had a positive day on tuesday. it has fallen in comparison today, down to about $1.22. plenty more business to come throughout the afternoon. thank you very much. the chinese government is calling it the new silk route — for the first time, china has begun a direct freight rail service to the uk. it's taken over a fortnight to get here, but that's around half the time a journey by sea would take. 3a wagons travelled 7,500 miles to arrive in barking this lunchtime. our correspondent leanne brown is at barking eurohub terminal

in east london, where the freight arrived a short time ago. quite an epicjourney. yes, this is it, the first train to arrive from china. it set off on new year's day. as you say, it has taken 18 days to get here. it has travelled 12,000 kilometres, 7500 miles. it has gone through various different mountain ranges, deserts, different cultures and of course languages. some of the countries it has been through include kazakhstan, russia, poland, through europe and france and into the channel tunnel. it's carrying more than 30 containers and they include small consumer goods, things like textiles, clothes, bags and

small electrical items. they went through on a special container, designed to go through the channel tunnel. why do this? it has taken much less time to get those products here by rail than it would of done by c. here by rail than it would of done by c. it here by rail than it would of done by c. it takes around 30—35 days by c. so this service is twice as fast. when you compare it to cost, it is more expensive than going by sea. compared to air transportation it is half the price, so there is a saving to be had. sorry to interrupt, i was just about to ask what sort of impact this is going to have one trade. this isjust impact this is going to have one trade. this is just a test impact this is going to have one trade. this isjust a test train at this moment in time. we have had no

further announcements yet. the operators interrail run a weekly service to countries in europe like germany, italy and spain so it is hoped this will become a regular service. of course theresa may yesterday in a speech spoke very much about further trade links and it is hoped that this could be part of that future, post brexit. now it's time for a look at the weather forecast. it looks lovely and sunny there. let's join philavery for forecast. it looks lovely and sunny there. let's join phil avery for the latest. yes, it was indeed. it has been that way for a couple of days across parts of the british isles. i am showing you something a little bit more wintry. that is about a0 minutes drive from benidorm. i bet it didn't look like that the last time you were there. it is quite

cold, not just along time you were there. it is quite cold, notjust along the spanish costas but widely across europe with temperatures struggling to get anywhere near zero. that was across the south—eastern corner under clear skies overnight and that really allowed temperatures to fall away. and we have imported some cool air from the continent. and see the difference is that the flow from the atla ntic difference is that the flow from the atlantic makes, that is 15 degrees in what you would think was quite set up of weather when we should all be in the same boat. a big area of high pressure. don't discount bad weather front. it is high pressure. don't discount bad weatherfront. it is producing high pressure. don't discount bad weather front. it is producing some different conditions to those i have just shown. there is another weather front not 1 just shown. there is another weather front not1 million miles away from the northern isles, so there is a breeze and some rain here as well. generally cloudy for northern ireland and northern england. through the heart of a high—pressure we have that weather front which is keeping it very still, there is no wind and no change in the atmosphere to get rid of that low—level cloud and murk. the best of the sunshine

into the early evening will be found across southern counties. having shown you minus seven celsius last night, i suspect that many of the southern counties will be clear overnight, as will some pockets on the eastern side of scotland. somewhere, again, across the southern counties, we will be looking at minus five celsius, so another frosty start on thursday. that overall picture i showed you with high pressure and the weak weather front, notice with high pressure and the weak weatherfront, notice how it with high pressure and the weak weather front, notice how it is darker from weather front, notice how it is darkerfrom lincolnshire weather front, notice how it is darker from lincolnshire through the midlands to wales. that front has enough about it to produce a spot of drizzle here and there. either side of it, somewhat improved, perhaps more extensive sunshine towards the west on friday. we are looking for nuancesin west on friday. we are looking for nuances in the next couple of days. some hope of seeing some sunshine if you have not seen it, thus far. toward saturday and the weekend, whether foster the west, don't worry

about them, they are not going to be players for us, it is high pressure that dominates. there will be some sunny spells, gaps in the cloud, which will make it chilly by day and by night. if you would likely see more weather watchers pictures on screen, get onto website. all of the details right there. —— get onto the website. this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm: european commission president jean—claudejuncker promises to seek a "balanced" brexit deal, following theresa may's speech setting out her goals, but malta's prime minister says it shouldn't be better than eu membership. we wa nt we want a fair deal for the united kingdom. that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership. here theresa may defends her brexit plan to mps and rejects suggestions that she's bypassing parliament.

what i said out yesterday was a global plan. bringing jobs to people and spreading economic growth across the country. thousands of british tourists are being flown out of the gambia