this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at lipm: the foreign secretary borisjohnson warns eu leaders not to penalise the uk for leaving the eu. if mr hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape rather in the manner of some sort of world war ii movie then, you know, i don't think that is the way forward. meanwhile, european commission presidentjean—claude juncker promises to seek a "balanced" brexit deal. what i called during the campaign a fair deal, that's still valid. we need a fair deal with britain. fair means obligations for everyone who is taking part. thousands of british tourists are being flown out of the 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. i'm simon mccoy. in the next hour, we'll be looking the latest delivery from china. the first china—to—britain freight train has arrived in london

after a seven and a half thousand mile journey. dan evans says he's never played better after he knocked the world number seven marin cilic out of the australian open. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has warned them not to give the uk punishment beatings. the president of the european commission told the european parliament that he will do everything he can to ensure that the negotiations end in a good result for all concerned. but he also said the negotiations would be very, very, very difficult. in the last hour, it's been

announced that the supreme court will announce its verdict on tuesday whether theresa may can trigger article 50 without consulting parliament. borisjohnson has boris johnson has been borisjohnson has been speaking about brexit on his visit to india. if mr hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape rather in the manner of some sort of world war ii movie then, you know, i don't think that is the way forward. what i called during the campaign a fair deal and that's still valid. we need a fair deal with britain. fair means, obligations for everyone who is taking part in the kind of internal market. we will see this in the course of the next coming events. in the past hour, the european union council president, donald tusk, has said that there will be no place for pick and choose tactics

from the uk in future negotiations. mr tusk was speaking in the european parliament. yesterday's speech by prime minister may proved that the unified position of 27 member states on the indivisability of the single market was finally understood and accepted by london. it would be good if our partners also understood that there will be no place for pick and choose tactics in our future negotiations. at the same time... applause. at the same time, i want to underline that we took note of the warm and balanced words of prime minister may on european integration which were much closer to the narrative of winston churchill than that of the american president—elect trump. our political correspondent, carole walker, is at westminster.

a hint of good cop, bad cop with jean—claude juncker saying he wanted a dealfor everyone, but mr tusk saying that britain can't pick and choose? yes, there have been politely warm words from a lot of senior european figures all saying that they appreciate the clarity to a degree at least which they got from theresa may yesterday but reinforcing the point that you heard from donald tusk that you can't pick and choose and also making the point, many of them, that britain cannot expect a better deal outside the european union than it has at the european union than it has at the moment inside the eu. well, i'm joined by neil carmichael who chairs the education select committee and was a leading campaigner to remain inside the european union. what do you make of those remarks we have heard from eu leaders? do you think

they are going to gang up to make sure we are worse off they are going to gang up to make sure we are worse off outside the single market? i think those remarks reinforce the need for us to make sure we maintain good relationships with the 27 nation states and brussels as a whole. it is imperative that we understand that it has got a lot of tectonic plates will be on the move this year and next and it is essential that we have friends to talk to and who are reliable. do you think it was a mistake for theresa may to say yesterday that no deal is better than a bad deal. that was seen as a threat, look, we are prepared to walk away from that, if you, the rest of europe, don't give us the sort of deal that we want? the thing is that's a negotiating tactic, isn't it really? what we want is a deal. a deal with access to the single market through a free trade agreement. that's, ithink, what single market through a free trade agreement. that's, i think, what the prime minister is after. of course, we've got two years to go. so it's premature to start talking about what is going to happen and the run—up to march 2019, but what i

would say is relying on the wto as a solution is not a good idea. and you said there that we need to have warm relations with the rest of the eu, what about the remarks from the eu, what about the remarks from the foreign secretary, we heard them a few moments ago, suggesting that francois hollande, the french president, was talking about punishment beatings in the style of a world war ii movie. those have been seen in some quarters as unhelpful, comparing the french presidency to the behaviour of some of the seniorfigures presidency to the behaviour of some of the senior figures in nazi germany? well, president hollande is not going to be around for much longer. he is not going to be president beyond may. i think the important thing is to just take measured views about exactly how it is that we retain good relationships with the other nation states. we have excellent contacts with germany. i'm going to poland shortly where i'm going to be meeting mps and meps and it is that kind of dialogue that we need to maintain. we are going to go through a difficult time over two years. there will be good news. there will be bad

news. there will be challenges. there will be surprises. there will be triumphs and there will be less good things. just briefly, we know that parliament will get a vote at the end of this. if you don't like the deal that is on offer, would you be prepared to vote against it? well, i'm pleased we are getting a vote and it is excellent that parliament is being, you know, given a front seat row... would you be prepared to vote against it if you don't like the like? if it is a bad deal, we will have to think about that, but i'm not going to comment now about something we will be doing in two yea rs' something we will be doing in two years' time. neil carmichael, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. everyone looking to the response to europe to that speech from theresa may, the prime minister, but she made it clear that no deal is better than a bad deal and the threat there is that she would walk away, which would not only make life difficult for britain, but make life pretty tough for the rest of the eu too. ca role tough for the rest of the eu too. carole walker, thank you. and we can speak to gavin

lee now in brussels. let's talk about the tone of this. borisjohnson, a let's talk about the tone of this. boris johnson, a comment from let's talk about the tone of this. borisjohnson, a comment from him. clearly, in europe they are being careful about every word they say? yes, it is though he missed the briefing, don't mention the war, boris. there has been a response to it already by one of the three negotiators over britain's brexit. this is the former belgium prime minister and the negotiator for the european parliament. he said that theresa may should condemn him for it. these were outspoken. these were comments that categorically shouldn't be made and they're not taken with a degree in france as perhaps the intention was. no comment yet from the french which i find quite interesting, whether they believe this is not something they should be dealing with, but if you think wind back a few weeks. the script writers for theresa may yesterday would have spent a long time getting that right. to the

hours before, to make sure she came across with commandment we heard donald tusk describe her as more churchillian than donald trump. this is something she wanted to be seen ina certain is something she wanted to be seen in a certain way and be explicit to set sail ten weeks of article 50 being triggered and the loose lips of boris, maybe she should be used to it. i spoke to one of the officials at the european commission about this a short while ago. he said does downing street have a box for borisjohnson said does downing street have a box for boris johnson for any said does downing street have a box for borisjohnson for any responses to all the things he said? for particular countries, is it tick one for france and tick two for germany? some will be aware this is boris johnson! is there anyone within the eu who is saying well, at least, great britain is expressing a plan for the future that there isn't one from europe?” that there isn't one from europe?|j think that there isn't one from europe?” think the one interesting country that are on side at the moment and

it's rare that hungary in this case are perhaps, a country that britain should cherish given on the migration crisis and the right—wing leader, they have been seen to be perhaps the pariahs in some circumstances not taking part in that, but the hungarian foreign minister has been saying today he wa nts minister has been saying today he wants the biggest, best possible deal with britain because he said if they don't, britain will do deals with china, with america, and india and suddenly the eu will lose out if they don't do a trading deal. so he is, you know, rallying to the call of theresa may. but at the moment, there are others, people likejoseph muscutt the maltese prime minister who is saying he will go out of his way to get an inferior deal on trade for britain for the protection of the eu. split leaders on that. we're seeing what's being said in the european parliament by the commission, in public, what's going on behind the scenes? what are people saying to you? one thing that

i think is pretty central to this, you don't perhaps hear on air very much is within the european commission and the european council, some of the senior officials, the senior civil servants, up unwilling two days ago i met with the team of jean—claude juncker and they said they weren't aware of any big deal from the theresa may speech and i genuinely think up until the briefing hours before, some of the teams, some of the leaders around the capitals in europe, didn't know that britain would be leaving the single market. i'm not saying that's for everybody, but for some leaders, hence why we had 2a hours for a considered response to that. and the other thing is the sense of how the civil service in the uk is seen elsewhere in europe. from a european commission point of view, they believe now the signal has been given and the civil service can work towards this specific deal that theresa may wants, they are pretty revered in europe and they believe once they have got their act together they will be a force to be

reckoned with and that's why the eu are positioning themselves for those opening points. gavin lee, thank you. thousands of british holiday—makers are being flown home from the gambia after a state of emergency was declared there. the foreign office is advising people to avoid all but essential travel to the country, after its president refused to accept that he lost last month's election. richard lister reports. it's not very good news, it is basically that we are going to evacuate everyone back home today. today? yes, today. it's not what they wanted to hear, tourists in the gambia have been told it's not safe for them to stay. thomas cook has five aircraft to bring almost 1,000 of its package tourists home. it will offer flights for 2,500 travellers in the coming days. for those now gathering at banjul airport, it's

been a stressful day. wejust think really it is overkill and they are just trying to frighten people. to me, it feels stupid, because this will all be over within 24 and is the 48 hours. asking us to leave is unnecessary i think at the moment, but i understand that we need to do it. tension in the gambia has been building for weeks. residents are fleeing the capital, as are some government ministers, as the political crisis threatens to become violent. at its centre, this man, president yahya jammeh, who has refused to accept the results of last month's elections and declared a state of emergency. if it is allowed to continue, it may lead to a state of public emergency. 0pposition leader adama barrow was due to be sworn in tomorrow. a group of west african nations has threatened military action if he is not given power, so last night the british government issued this warning to tourists.

the gambia's reputation as a safe haven in the sun is now injeopardy, with thousands of tourists queueing up to leave, and the country edging closer to instability and conflict. unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for more than a decade. the jobless total dropped byjust over 50,000 between september and november and now stands at 1.6 million. average earnings were up by 2.7% compared with a year earlier. but as our economics correspondent andy verity reports, the figures also show that after years of rapid growth, the number of people in employment is no longer growing and hasn't done sincejuly. this farmer and food processor near king's lynn in norfolk supplies root vegetables like carrots

to all the majorfood retailers from m&s to morrisons. but it is being squeezed. it is being forced to offer higher wages to attract the people it needs to do the work, regardless of the living wage. it says that is because the supply of workers from the rest of the european union has now gone into reverse. we're struggling to fill positions at the minute. it's a very fluid marketplace with inflation in wages in our sector at the minute, which is being driven by some eu citizens going home and moving from the uk marketplace. and it is creating a vacuum. in the three months to the end of november, the number of unemployed people dropped by 52,000 to 1.6 million. it remains at its lowest rate in 12 years, 4.8%. the average weekly pay packet was £477, up by £12 compared to a year ago, or 2.7%. businesses cannot always pass on the higher cost of labour

by simply charging higher prices. simon will have to wait until he renegotiates his contract with his customers, the food companies and retailers, and they will not want big price increases. all of us are looking to try and recoup some of this back. and i think the load has got to be shared by all and that includes the consumer. if tighter labour markets are offering modestly paid workers the chance to bid up their wages, many economists will see that as positive. i think we're seeing quite a robust end to the uk economy, it is very consistent with all the other economic data that we have had. hiring has not slowed down materially, and people are finding jobs and finding jobs actually with improved wage levels. but there has been a marked change since the brexit vote. for 20 years now the number of people in work in the uk has been hitting new records. in the three months to the end of november, it dipped slightly and it is now no higher

than it was injuly. the eu will seek a "balanced" deal for britain after brexit, says the head of the european commission, jean—claude juncker. unemployment has fallen to its lowest total in more than a decade, according to the latest figures. thousands of thomas cook holiday—makers will return to the uk from gambia after a state of emergency was declared there, and the foreign office changed its travel advice. and in sport, great britain's dan evans has produced the first major shock at the australian open. the world number 51 knocked out the seventh seed and former us 0pen champion marin cilic in four sets. the world number one andy murray is also through to the third round. he went over on his ankle against the russian teenager andrey rublev but still won in straight sets. three—time champion mark selby has the advantage in his first round match against mark williams at the masters. he leads by 4—3.

i'll be back with more on those stories after a.30pm. an inquest into the deaths of 30 britons, who were killed in a terror 0ur correspondent ben ando is at chelmsford coroners' court and told me the background. it was in december 2015 that the authorities we re december 2015 that the authorities were alerted to issues around the mental health of dean saunders. he locked himself in the bathroom at his girlfriend's parents home and claimed the authorities were trying to get him. he was taken to a hospital, but then allowed to go home to his parents house and the next day, he attacked his father and

his brother with a knife and in fact his brother with a knife and in fact his father has told the inquest which has been going on for a week that allowed his son to stab him and he held the knife inside his own body because he thought it was the best way of his son taking the knife out and then harming himself with it. despite the fact that dean saunders tried to kill himself with the knife, the coroners' court heard that when he was charged attempted murder of his father, he was put in chelmsford prison and after a review at the end of december, he was put on an hour check. dr sarah bromley is medical director of care uk, the company that's contracted to run health care services inside the prison. and she said that suicides

in prison are rising at alarming rate and she said in this instance, there was a lack of leadership, supervision and support, but she denied that budget cuts were directly responsible for the change in supervision regime around mr saunders. she also said that the tea m saunders. she also said that the team leader who took the decision and was involved in the meeting that decided that reduce the level of support should not have been at that meeting and she said that was unacceptable. the inquest here is continuing. it is likely to finish in the next couple of days. a wheelchair user has partially won his case at the supreme court against a bus company. doug paulley took legal action because he couldn't board a bus in leeds when a woman with a pram refused to move. 0ur disability correspondent nikki fox reports. as he makes his way to the supreme court on one of the most important days of his life, doug paulley is about to find out whether his nearly five—year legal battle will end in victory for all disabled people who need to use a wheelchair spaces on buses. hi, jeff, nice to see you. this all began back in 2012 when doug was unable to catch a bus because the space for wheelchairs

was occupied by a mum and her pushchair. she refused to move, which meant that doug could not get on. inside court, all sevenjudges unanimously agreed that first group's policy of requesting and not requiring a person to vacate the wheelchair space was unlawful. but it is only a partial victory. as it does not go as far as insisting someone move from this space. i feel like it will create a cultural shift and that is what they said in court as well. so people will be aware of the fact that the wheelchair area is for wheelchair users and that they should take priority. the impact of today's judgment will still have wider implications. for example, any service provider with a space for disabled people will notjust have to request that a non—disabled person move, they will have to pressurise. for example, a bus driver may refuse to move from a bus stop in order to shame somebody off the bus. first group admit they may have to amend the training they provide their bus drivers

following the verdict today. we really welcome the fact that the court has confirmed that a driver is not required to remove a passengerfrom a bus if they are refusing to move from this space. that is really important for drivers to have that clarity. i'm really happy with today's ruling. it's great that after five years of fighting and campaigning by so many people, that we have got a ruling that says that disabled people do have the right to catch a bus and that the bus company must make all reasonable efforts to make that possible. today's supreme court ruling is not clear—cut but it does pave the way for a closer look at legislation when it comes to prioritising access for wheelchair users. southern rail says it will restore a "full train service", from tuesday next week, after the train drivers‘ union aslef suspended industrial action. fresh negotiations have been taking place this morning.

the union is in dispute with southern‘s parent company gtr over the role of conductors on driver—only operated trains, amounting to britain's worst rail strikes in 20 years. a baby has been born to a previously infertile couple in ukraine using a new type of "three—person ivf". doctors in kiev are reported to have used a method called pro—nuclear transfer in what is a world first. it is not the first baby born with dna from three parents, however. another child was created using a slightly different method in mexico last year. an inquest into the deaths of 30 britons, who were killed in a terror attack on a beach in tunisia in 2015, heard today that tour operators wanted more security but did not want to scare tourists. we can now cross to our correspondent richard galpin, who is at the royal courts ofjustice in central london. so richard, what did the inquest

hear about how the tour operators we re hear about how the tour operators were proposing to balance their desire for more security, without scaring holiday—makers? desire for more security, without scaring holiday-makers? well, i mean to be honest the tour operators, what we heard from them, there was a number of managers from tui, the company which is the parent company for thomas cook which booked all the holidays. they were talking about the fact that actually they were not responsible for security in any way and were trying to push it back to say that security basically was the responsibility in particular of the ministry of the interior. and they we re ministry of the interior. and they were both, two managers who appeared we re were both, two managers who appeared were saying that, you know, they couldn't look at the issue of monitoring the security at the hotels, it had been improved after the previous attack three months beforehand, again saying that was not their responsibility. they could not their responsibility. they could

not go around monitoring and seeing if there had been any improvements. so they were really pushing back against them saying this was not work which they were getting involved in. but one was saying that described himself as being almost like the eyes and ears on the ground, but he was reporting back to tui headquarters. i understand we're also hearing from this inquest some details about the gates leading from the hotel, that many of the holiday—makers were staying at to the beach, details of walkie—talkies and the amount of qualifications that guards had? yes, i think qualifications that guards had? yes, ithink in qualifications that guards had? yes, i think in some ways this is one of the most important developments we have heard today. this came from the barrister who is representing the families, andrew ritchie qc and he was saying blunt things. he was saying, essentially, i mean shocking la pses saying, essentially, i mean shocking lapses in security at the hotel where the attack took place. he was saying that both gates leading from

the beach to the hotel and of course, as we know the gunman carried out attack coming from the beach and going into the hotel, saying both those gates were open. there was only one guard on those gates. he, not only did he not have any walkie—talkie, he didn't even have a mobile phone and apparently, he ran away. we already know that none of the guards were armed because that's against the law in tunisia. none of them had walkie—talkies. they had no means of actually monitoring the footage from the cctv cameras which were around the cctv cameras which were around the hotel, but there were no cameras overlooking the beach gates according to andrew ritchie and there was no lockdown procedure whatsoever at the hotel. so they could have sealed off areas if they had a plan, but that didn't happen. yesterday, you know, we heard that from the general manager of the

hotel saying that they only had in total eight cctv cameras, two of them were not working on the day of them were not working on the day of the attack. 0ne them were not working on the day of the attack. one of those was obviously in a crucial position of being at the entrance to the hotel. that wasn't even working. so, i know, we also heard today actually that this hotel only had six working cameras. 0ther that this hotel only had six working cameras. other hotels had many, many more cctv cameras. 0ne having more than a0. so it seems the hotel, the security at the imperial hotel was disastrous. 0k, richard, thank you. richard galpin at the royal courts of justice. the headlines are coming up. here is the weather. any slow changes in the weather. 0ften that's the case when we have got high pressure. but different

types of weather in different areas. this was berkshire. this was ebbw vale. very different. frosty and sunny, rather mild and cloudy and we will see those same sort of areas as we go through the night. you can see more cloud coming into eastern air whys and we go through the remainder of the evening and overnight, we will see more cloud coming into the east. cold though in the south. then we've got that weather front with us. a lot of cloud covering the uk. sinking on to the hills and sinking to lower levels. mild, and preventing a frost, but where we have breaks, there could be the odd pocket of frost. frosty again in southern areas where we will see the best of the sunshine tomorrow. hopefully more here and there, but it is cloudy. still quite chilly after that morning frost, but temperatures seven to eight celsius, below par for the time of year and slow changes into friday. the best of the sunshine looks likely in the south. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the foreign secretary, borisjohnson,

has warned eu leaders not penalise the uk for leaving the eu. if mr hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape, in the manner of some world war ii movie, then i don't think that that is the way forward. and i think actually it is not in the interests of our friends and our partners. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has said he'll do everything he can to make sure the brexit negotiations produce "good results" for all parties concerned. we want a fair deal, that is still valid. we need a fair deal with britain, and that means equal obligations for everybody who is taking part. thousands of uk holiday—makers are preparing to be flown back home from the gambia, where the president is refusing to give up power after losing last month's election and has called a state of emergency.

unemployment fell by 52,000 to 1.6 million in the three months to november — the lowest level for more than a decade. the jobless rate was steady at an 11—year low of a.8%. the first train on an inaugural china—britain freight service has arrived at barking in east london, after a 7,500—mile journey to build commercial links across europe and asia. time for some or sport. let's at the very latest with 0lly foster. many thanks. we are going to start with some very sad news. former england women's cricket captain and wolves vice—president rachael heyhoe—flint has died aged 77, wolves have announced. she was closely associated with wolverhampton wanderers, they have

broken the news, saying they were deeply saddened to hear of her passing. it was her cricket career she was most known for. she played the 22 years for the england cricket team, captained them for 12 years, she captained the inaugural women's world cup in 1973. and i know that a lot of the current england cricketers will be very saddened by this, because she was influential in the rise of professional cricket and women's cricket. she was the first female member to go on to the lords committee, the mcc committee. she broke down barriers there. and also in the women's game. she has died in the age of 77. we will have a lot more on her career and her life here on bbc news throughout the day.

moving on the tennis... it's been another good day for british players at the australia 0pen. for the first time in 15 years, there are two men into the third round in melbourne. andy murray flew through his match against the russian teenager andrey rublev despite turning his ankle, and dan evans has produced the biggest shock so far. evans, who is ranked 51st in the world, knocked out the former us open champion and seventh seed marin cilic in four sets. he believes it's the best win of his career. definitely. especially in the circumstances, how i did it, it was tough, i had to fight quite hard. that was definitely the situation and the ranking was definitely the best. maybe i was a bit slow, but he went straight out on top of me and i was struggling, i felt i was struggling, as well, that was the worst thing. i had to hang in the second set. it was a big thing. i

think he felt that in the end. once you start to play at the highest level, the more you play at this level, you get used to it. you know, it's probably given him a lot of confidence, you know, these last six to 12 months, playing on the tour against the pros, practising with them. he will have improved a lot. and also he will have realised how good he is. i think it's more the consistency, you know, of the performances that has been surprising, because he hasn't done that before. it's credit to him and his team for, you know, the form he is injust now, hopefully he keeps it going. andy murray talking about his friend dan evans, both through to the third round. kyle edmund plays tonight. if he wins, then it will be the first time three british men have reached the third round of 32. british sprinters james ellington and nigel levine are "conscious and stable" after a motorbike accident in tenerife. the pair had been involved in warm—weather training on the island, and posted this video

on social media earlier in the week. ellington has twice competed at the olympics and twice won gold as part of the ax100m relay teams at the european championships. ellington has had surgery on a broken leg. his injuries are thought to be more serious. levine won european relay golds in 2013 and 201a. british athletics staff are liaising with hospital doctors over their treatment. scotland head coach vern cotter has named his six nations squad for his last championship in charge before he departs for montpellier in the summer. scrum half and points kicker greig laidlaw, who is heading to cotter‘s old club clermont auvergne at the end of the season, retains the captaincy, and matt scott is also recalled. scotland finished fourth in the championship last year after victories over italy and france. we know where we are in the world rugby, and how we are ranked. we know we are playing against teams ranked better than us, bar one. we know that every one of those teams are improving,

we are trying to improve and i think we have, other teams have as well. the challenge of the six nations is substantial. it's a big competition. that's all sport for now. we'll have more in the next hour. russia says its warplanes have joined forces for the first time with turkish jets to attack islamic state militants in northern syria. the defence ministry in moscow said it was the first time the air forces of the two countries had teamed up in this way. with me now is our world affairs correspondent, jonathan marcus. so, jonathan, first of all, what do we know about which location precisely the turks and the russians we re precisely the turks and the russians were targeting? well, the targets we re were targeting? well, the targets were in and around the town a little to the north—east of aleppo. it is a town held by islamic state fighters. but the turkish army is moving from the north towards it. the turks are trying to position themselves between two backs of kurdish controlled territory. they don't

wa nt to controlled territory. they don't want to see a unified kurdish strip along the border. they have put troops across the board into syria. they are trying to carve out this blocking position and this key town, which is held by islamic state, is in the way. so there is no strategic interest for turkey in this relationship with russia. a nato country line with russia. what's in it in terms of strategic interest for russia? i think the muddy the waters, probably, more than they we re waters, probably, more than they were already. first of all it shows you the extraordinary complexity of what is going on in syria at the moment. of course, the kurds and the turks are chief allies of the americans on the ground, and to complicate it even further, in the last week the americans have resumed air operations, supporting the turkish push on this town as well. the russians are eager to try and develop ties with the turks, because obviously they are a nato member, it complicate things for the americans.

they are eager to show some potential in fighting against is, because the bulk of russian air operations have not been against so—called islamic state at all, even though russia has described its role asa though russia has described its role as a counterterror operation. all the were getting about this is largely from russian sources. the russians have spelt out how many aircraft were involved, nine russian, eight turkish. they said which aircraft they were and so on. but we don't know in what sense this was a joint operation. as it were, alongside each other? did they strike different targets in a coordinated way? at what level was the coordination? we haven't been given details of any of that. how much does that detail matter? surely the big picture is the one that the two sides, russia and turkey, were working together? well, that is important, and certainly the turks are largely important, and certainly the turks a re largely interested important, and certainly the turks are largely interested in securing their own national interests in syria. and those, as i have indicated, are to some extent at variance with those of the americans. i think it is a

problematic matter i think to say the least for nato if one of its key allies is conducting joint operations with the russians. there will be questions i'm sure about the degree to which there is any sharing of intelligence sources, one must imagine that some of the turkish intelligence comes from american sources originally as well. so it raises all sorts of complexities. to call them that. and i think those complexities will to say the least use those in moscow, and they may cause some alarm in the number of key western capitals, not least washington. thank you, jonathan marcus. now, one of the main remaining questions in this great brexit debate is membership of the customs union. labour are inclined to keep us in it, theresa may is set upon taking us out. but what is it? newsnight‘s policy editor, chris cook gives us a brief guide to what the implications are if britain does leave.

ido i do not want britain to be part of commercial policy, and i do not want us commercial policy, and i do not want us to be bound by the common external tariff. these are the elements of the customs union that prevent us from striking our own concerns of trade agreements with other countries. -- our own comprehensive trade agreements. so, what does that mean? a customs union is an agreement to win the great countries' customs policies. no ta riffs countries' customs policies. no tariffs between them, goods don't get stopped much at borders, and it comes down to customs paperwork —— it cuts out on customs paperwork. but there's a catch. turkey has a customs union and goods with the eu. that creates a problem. what if the eu were to set a part of of say 10% on imported cars, but turkey set one of 1%? companies could use turkey to evade horie european carrots. so the eu demands that turkey has the same rules and regulations as the eu —— higher european tariffs. when the prime minister said we would be out

of the common commercial policy and the common external tariff, she was basically refusing that demand. realistically, we are out of the customs union. because the prime minister was to be able to cut trade deals around the world, and that means being able to change paris and rules. this might mean tariffs, admin and eu border has awful lots of uk goods entering the eu. —— for lots of uk goods. companies are likely to aim for an agreement which would ease the burden in particular. those sectors might get particularly low tariffs, particularly few border checks and less form filling. a much harder issue is northern ireland. an open border with the republicans regarded as important to the peace. 0fficials regarded as important to the peace. officials are being considering the norway— sweden border solution, a ha rd norway— sweden border solution, a hard border, but where clever use of technology allows goods to move back and forth without hitting too much red tape. being out of the customs

union lets us pursue an independent trade policy. but it doesn't come without a few complications. let's speak to jacob kirkegaard, an economist and european specialist at the peterson institute for international economics. hejoins us from our washington studio. thank you forjoining us. complicated was how our reporter described it. fiendishly contradicted. how on earth is this going to be resolved? how will it play out, do you think? well, i mean i think fundamentally the uk two is going to have to decide. will it wa nt to going to have to decide. will it want to be in or out? this idea that you can be partially in on some areas and then out on others, be in but retain freedom to negotiate freely with other countries while for instance as was mentioned maintaining, you know, open access to european markets for cars and others, i think quite frankly it is

unrealistic. and the time frame as well, as we've been hearing, in discussions today, is apparently quite unrealistic, many people believe. very clearly. i mean, the chief eu negotiator was very clear again. he said, we're going to first negotiate article 50, and then, after that, we will negotiate the future relationships. which is something that i certainly believe is not credible to do within a two—year window. also because within that window, the uk, theresa may was clear about that, she wants a transitional agreement as well that needs to be agreed, too. theresa may's timeline in my opinion does not add up. how important is it for theresa may that she gets on with discussions, you know, to make her vision of a global britain a reality, whether that be a trader with america or other countries outside the eu? and is she going to

be able to do that well discussions with the eu are going on?” be able to do that well discussions with the eu are going on? i think that will be difficult, because one of the key demands from the eu to negotiate a transitional agreement will be that the eu will say, look, the uk is not going to be having discussions with other countries as long as you're in the transitional period. so this isn't going to be something that i think you can do right away. but i think it will be very important in the longer term for theresa may to really try to get some important trade ewels with other economies outside of europe, and noticeably of course the united states —— trade deals. my theory is that all proved very, very difficult, particularly with the united states, —— that will prove. the trade policies of the drug administration is an open question, quite frankly. —— of the trump

administration. donald trump will realise that the reason may will be desperate for a bilateral uk— us trade deal, and he will take full advantage of that to strike an agreement which will be beneficial to be united states but not economic but beneficial to the uk. you make it sound as though the british government will be stuck between a rock and a hard place?” government will be stuck between a rock and a hard place? i think u nfortu nately rock and a hard place? i think unfortunately that is a very real risk. because it is not a car was a dense that you haven't seen —— it is not a coincidence that you haven't seen far reaching trade agreements struck globally in the last decade at least, simply because the mood globally, you know, as amplified certainly by president trump's election, is one towards more protection and less trade liberalism. so theresa may seems to be going against what i think is a fairly u nfortu nate be going against what i think is a fairly unfortunate but very strong international current towards more

protectionism. thank you for your time. ina in a moment, we will have a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day. the headlines: the eu will seek a balanced deal for britain after brexit, says the head of the european commission, jean—claude junker. the supreme court orders a transport firm to make sure that wheelchair users can use the space reserved for them on buses. thousands of thomas cook holiday—makers will return to the uk from gambia after a state of emergency was declared there, and the foreign office changed its travel advice. now a look at how the markets in europe have rendered the trading session. ftse 100 has returned to positive territory. yesterday it ended on a low after the push in sterling.

burberry was the standout gainer, after it reported a% increase in retail sales. they said that was thanks to growth coming from asia. shares in the international publishing group pearson have fallen by 30% after it warned of a big fall in sales in its us education business. it said profits for 2017 could drop by £60 million, and it would cut its dividend for shareholders. pearson will now sell its stake in publishers penguin random house to help finances. the stock market rally that followed donald trump's surprise presidential victory helped goldman sachs profits to soar in the last three months of 2016. the bank posted a net profit of $2.15 billion for that period, up from $57a million from the previous year. two of the largest investment banks in the city of london have said that some staff will definitely have to move abroad when the uk leaves the european union. hsbc said it was preparing to move 1,000 staff from london to paris. and swiss bank ubs said some staff would definitely move to frankfurt or spain. let's get detailed analysis of this with james hughes,

chief market analyst at gkfx. james, this announcement from hsbc and ubs, is it usually surprising? -- is it and ubs, is it usually surprising? —— is it hugely surprising. are the of many announcements? it's not necessarily a surprise, we have seen this happen beforehand, with hsbc touting even before the referendum result coming in that they would consider moving some businesses away from london. we have to remember, this isn't moving a lot of business away from london. it's not necessarily going to affect the bottom line of the tax that comes into the uk. this is talking about moving jobs from london to other areas. which of course is talking about moving jobs from london to other areas. which of course isn't fantastic news. is going to change.

we don't know how for hsbc or ubs, the business that the uk does with europe, how that is going to change their business and what is done here in london. it may be a case of very much like everything else with brexit, it's waiting to see what's going to happen, waiting to see how this business is going to be done. and then moving these jobs to wherever they need to be as a reaction to what happens. the big problem with all of this is that we have no idea what the impact is going to be, still. a potential destination for banks here in london is new york, and wall street. that rally that we saw at the end of last year after we found out that donald trump would be the next president of the united states, that is how goldman sachs increased its profits by quite a bit, although it did have a fine to pay in the previous year, so that could affect figures. in terms of banks in general, they stand to do quite well from a donald trump presidency. he has said he is in the whole regulatory idea of banks. is this going to be a

continued rally in 2017?” banks. is this going to be a continued rally in 2017? i think the rally is something that even now after donald trump's press conference last week and as he approaches inauguration, we are starting to see that rally slowdown. we have seen a bit of negativity and some of those equity markets. we have seen the us dollar start to fall have seen the us dollar start to fa ll lower have seen the us dollar start to fall lower as well. and that is happening as we are getting earnings. we have to remember on friday, we got earnings from jp morgan america, where jp friday, we got earnings from jp morgan america, wherejp morgan did particularly well. but the bank of america missed the revenue targets. citigroup and goldman sachs have done particularly well today, the numbers have come out well. it's going to help things going forward. i don't think it is something we can be looking out for the whole of 2017 and saying, this rally is going to continue. the problem with a donald trump presidency is the fact that there is so much unknown. he could say anything at any point, which very much derail the markets. it is a very old cliche, butjust like what brexit and theresa may's speech

showed yesterday, it is uncertainty which the markets hate and make them more volatile, rather than anything else. thanks. that's all from me. there's a round—up of all the other top business stories on our website — bbc.co.uk/business. as donald trump prepares to take office,... donald trump is inaugurated as us president on friday. security will be tight, and thousands of people are promising to protest about it. relations with russia of course are already under the spotlight, and there's the possibility that mr trump could ease sanctions against moscow. well, our international news programme hardtalk has spoken exclusively with russia's main opposition leader, alexei navalny, chairman of the russian progress party, about the path ahead for washington and moscow over the next four years. i cannot support this part of sanctions which is applied towards the russian economy in general, since i am a russian citizen. but i will be definitely very, very unhappy if mrtrump will be definitely very, very unhappy if mr trump will ease and counsel this part of the section

which applies to these particular personalities, like friends of vladimir putin or putin's oligarchs or corrupt officials in his closest circle. actually these sanctions are very nice for the russian people, and it is supported by the russian people. but, to put it bluntly, do you think that donald trump cares about issues inside russia, human rights, freedom, democracy? absolutely not. and i would say that previous administration, and previous administration, and previous administration, and previous administration before i didn't care about this as well, practically. some of them have said something, but in general theyjust don't care, and i don't have any delusion about this. he was talking to stephen sackur. and you can hear the rest of that interview tomorrow night on the bbc news channel at 8:30pm. 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. 0ur correspondent leanne brown has been at barking eurohub terminal in east london, where the freight arrived a short time ago. this is it, this is the first train to arrive from china. it set off on new year's day. as you say, it's taken 18 days to get here. it's travelled 12,000 kilometres, or 7500 miles. it's gone through various different mountains, deserts, different cultures and languages. some of the countries it has been through include kazakhstan, russia, poland. of course it's gone through europe, through france and onto the channel tunnel. now, it's carrying more than 30 containers.

and they include small consumer goods, things like textiles, clothes, bags, and small electrical items. and they went through on a special containers, which were designed to go through the channel tunnel. why do this? it's taken much less time to get those products here by rail than it would have done by sea. it takes around 30—35 days by sea. so this service is twice as fast. but when you compare the cost, it is more expensive. however, if you compare it to air transportation, then it's half the price. so there is a saving to be had. this train... leanne, can you hear me? sorry to interrupt, i was just about to ask, what sort of impact is this going to have on trade? this is just a test train.

we've had no further announcements yet. but the operators, interrail, do run a weekly service already to lots of other countries in europe, such as germany, italy and spain. it's hoped that this will become a regular service. of course, theresa may yesterday in her speech spoke very much about further trade links, and it's hoped that this could be part of that future, post—brexit. leanne brown. lovely blue skies earlier in east london. let's find out what is in score in the weather forecast with helen willetts. the south and east have the best for the sunshine today. of course we have paid for it with a sharp frost this morning, plenty of ice to scrape off the cars. blue

sky, here we have that in wiltshire. you can see the extent of it. but it was really cold last night. underneath the blanket of cloud, for many it was much, much milder. that scenario is with us again through this evening and overnight. the reason for more cloud this week, a wea k reason for more cloud this week, a weak weather front across the centre of the country. cloud either side of it. in the cloudy zones, it won't because. but we do have holes in the cloud in northern scotland for example —— it will not be cold. this isa example —— it will not be cold. this is a tenuous link, the line of cloud in the south. there will be a frost, but some areas close by, the midlands and east anglia, could see brea ks midlands and east anglia, could see breaks in the cloud, frost and some fog. these scenes we will see again tomorrow morning. this morning. that could be the seen a game, along with parts of east anglia and southern england. and a few other places, it is not wall—to—wall cloud elsewhere, there is a bulk of cloud but there

will be some breaks. where there are breaks, below cloud is sitting on the hills anyway. it will drop to the hills anyway. it will drop to the servers and we will see some fog. the riaz wind the hazards to watch out for for the travel again tomorrow morning —— it will drop to the service. a lot of cloud in northern ireland and scotland, week weather front giving patchy rain. it will look a little like this in the afternoon in staffordshire. there will be breaks in the cloud, aberdeenshire, northern parts, we could see frost and fog. this time of year it does take its time to clear. we will hold on the sunshine, temperatures will be on a par with the cloudy zones, not lifting very much. at least it goes to brighten the day. come friday, similar amounts of cloud, if anything we might see more cross is down by. less sunshine, so try more limited. perhaps a few breaks in the north—eastern part —— sunshine more limited. it is because of the

significant area of high pressure, dominant high—pressure, cold, dense air, not moving very far, actually this dry but fairly quiet scenario will continue into the weekend, with a lot of cloud. again there will be sunshine. very usable weather if you wa nt to sunshine. very usable weather if you want to head out and about. with the brea ks want to head out and about. with the breaks in the cloud, it will be chilly at night with some frost and eyes. as ever, if you want to see your weather watcher pictures here, keep sending them in —— frost and ice. today at five. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, warns eu leaders not to give the uk "punishment beatings" for brexit "in the manner of some world war two movie". he said it was not in the interests of the uk friends and partners. he said it was not in the interests of the uk friends and partnersm francois hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anyone who chooses to escape in the manner of some world war ii will be,

ido manner of some world war ii will be, i do not think that is the way forward. meanwhile european commission presidentjean—claude juncker promises to seek a "balanced" brexit deal — but warns of difficulties ahead. we want a fair deal with britain and a fair day for britain, but a fair deal means a fair deal for the european union too. it comes as the supreme court announces its ruling in battle over brexit will be delivered next tuesday.