hello. this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and steph mcgovern. the veteran actor sirjohn hurt has died aged 77. he appeared in 200 films and television productions and was twice nominated for an oscar. good morning, it's saturday, 28th january. also ahead: hand in hand in the white house. donald trump and theresa may pledge their commitment to the special relationship. i am a people person. i think you are also, theresa, and i can often tell how i get along with somebody very early and i believe we'll have a fantastic relationship. after a spate of accidents, a call for lorry drivers to be banned from using satnavs designed for cars. in sport, a let off for the premier league champions.

leicester city were four minutes from being knocked out of the fa cup by derby county, but wes morgan earns them a replay. and chris has the weather. it's not as cold as it has been over recent days, but we've got rain to contend with today and it is still cold enough for some of that range of four as snow in the hills of scotland. a full forecast in the next half—hour. good morning. first our main story: the actor sirjohn hurt has died. he was 77 and had recently been battling cancer. he starred in around 200 films, including harry potter, and was nominated for an oscar for his roles in the elephant man and midnight express. our correspondent nick higham reports. everything seemed to come to a head today. john hurt as political diarist alan clark. both my black teeth have disintegrated into blackened stumps or stalactites. not a nice man, but surprisingly

sympathetic — a complex character john hurt played with such ease and subtlety. his talent was spotted early in a succession of leading stage and television roles. his first big breakthrough came in 1966 in a man for all seasons. what will you do with it? sell it and buy a decent gown. a small part, but in a high profile, oscar—winning film. a few years later he was starring opposite richard attenborough in 10 rillington place. he played the illiterate timothy evans, wrongly hanged. on television he was the mad roman emperor in i, claudius. for myself? you ordered us not to order any! and you took me at my word?! and then came the naked civil servant. i wear rouge and mascara on my eyelashes, i dye my hair and wear flamboyant clothes. many people said, don't do that,

you will never work again. but i said it wasn't about being homosexual, it was about the tenderness of the individual as opposed to the cruelty of the crowd. he earned an oscar nomination for midnight express in which he played a heroin addict in a turkish prison. and there was another oscar nomination for his performance as the hideously disfigured john merrick in the elephant man. ..a beautiful woman. his lined and weathered face meant he was perfect in the film 1984 as george orwell‘s reluctant rebel, winston smith. he accepted all the film and television parts he was offered, though that meant stage appearances like this were rare. that's something no one can advise you on. he played stephen ward, society schemer and later victim of a scandal. i could do wonders with you, little baby. you're my future selves!

both: yes! late in his career he made a guest appearance in doctor who. why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? few actors were busier, almost 200 screen roles along. few actors were as reliably and engagingly watchable. john hurt who died aged 77. donald trump and theresa may have vowed to renew the special relationship between their two countries. the two leaders also stressed their commitment to nato in talks at the white house. theresa may urged the us not to lift sanctions against russia. the us president is due to speak to vladimir putin today. president is due to speak to vladimir putin todayli president is due to speak to vladimir putin today. i will be representing the american people very strongly and forcefully and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together, which has to

be stopped, that an evil that has to be stopped, that an evil that has to be stopped, that an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. president trump has announced stringent controls on immigration which would keep what he called radical islamic terrorists out of the us. earlier we asked david willis to give us more details. donald trump vowed in his inauguration address to, as he put it, eradicate islamic terrorism from the face of the earth. he has now signed an executive order, banning refugees from the country indefinitely, in the case of those from syria, temporarily in the case of those from other places. mr trump believes that terrorists often pose as refugees in order to get access to the country. he wants only people allowed in who support america and who love its people. he also announced plans for a temporary ban on issuing visas to citizens from seven predominately muslim countries that have been linked to terrorism. reaction has been swift.

the senate minority leader chuck schumer described it as discriminatory and unconstitutional and he said that tears would be running down the cheeks of the statue of liberty. america's grand tradition of welcoming immigrants, he said, had been stomped upon by these measures. theresa may has travelled from washington to turkey for talks with president erdogan. the talks are expected to focus on trade and security but she's facing pressure to discuss concerns about alleged human rights abuses in turkey. a growing number of labour mps have said they will denyeremy corbyn and vote against triggering the formal process to leave the eu. yesterday, a member of his shadow cabinet resigned from the front bench over the issue. our political correspondent ellie price is in our london newsroom. it is worth reminding people, if you

area it is worth reminding people, if you are a party leader that means mps have to do what you say? unless! unless, and that's where it all gets messy forjeremy corbyn. yesterday joe stevens, the shadow secretary, decided to quit the front bench. she says she thinks wrecks it's a terrible mistake. also, intriguingly, we found out that two of the party's witts said they would vote in defiance of triggering article 50. —— whips. interesting is that the whip‘s job is to enforce party discipline. jeremy corbyn struck a conciliatory tone when speaking to joe struck a conciliatory tone when speaking tojoe stevens, saying he understood the majority of labour mps from pro—remain constituencies would be understandably torn, but he isa would be understandably torn, but he is a difficult position as he needs strike an obvious role for labour in what its position should be on brexit. he himself we understand is not that bothered about staying in eu himself. and clearly the party

also have to mac by—elections in the coming weeks. —— two. both of those constituencies are very pro—leave areas. is a difficult decisions on jeremy corbyn about how hard she could come down on those mps who may justify him. —— defy. and we will be getting reaction from labour's shadow international trade secretary barry gardiner in about 15 minutes time. international help has been arriving in chile to help the country fight the worst wildfires in its history. so far, 11 people have died and 1,500 homes have been destroyed. our correspondent greg dawson has more. beneath the rising plumes of smoke you get a sense of the scale of what is now one of the biggest emergencies in this country's history. forests incinerated, towns destroyed and lives lost. the fire service is so overwhelmed that residents elect protecting their homes with hose pipes and bottles of water. more than 100 fires are still

raging, aided by high winds and dry conditions. with services overstretched, teams of firefighters have arrived from colombia and mexico has also provide reinforcements. earlier in the week the world's largest firefighting plane arrived on loan from the us. now russia is sending a similar aircraft. the damage has left thousands without a home and many forced into temporary shelters, like the school. others are sleeping in vehicles, clinging to what they have left. but on friday came a reminder of those who've lost much more. funerals were held for a firefighter and policeman, both killed as they tried to tackle the flames. at least ten people are now known to have died, but with so few of these fires under control it's a number that is likely to keep rising in the coming days. just one other story. the uk's 2017

eurovision entry has been decided. # the oceans cross... she has certainly got the voice! former x—factor contestant luciejones will represent the country in kiev, in may, with the song ‘never give up on you'. it was written by a former eurovision winner. hopefully that bodes well for us. lucie was chosen after winning the combined public and jury vote at the end of a live tv show, in which six singers performed. all of the potential acts were former x—factor contestants. we will see how she gets on. good luck to her. tradition has not been good for our co ntesta nts, tradition has not been good for our contestants, but we wish her well regardless. it is just regardless. it isjust coming up regardless. it is just coming up to regardless. it isjust coming up to 7:11am. theresa may's visit was seen as something of a diplomatic coup. but with the press conference out of the

way, will not attend be pleased with the outcome of the trip? here is a recap of some of the key moments. attention! this is the original, folks. the original in many ways. it isa folks. the original in many ways. it is a great honour to have winston churchill back. today the united states reviews our deep wand with britain, military, financial, cultural, and political. —— deep bond. we pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship. on defence and security operation we are united in our recognition of nato as the bullwork of our collective defence and today we reaffirmed our unsha keable commitment to this alliance.|j reaffirmed our unsha keable commitment to this alliance. i think brexit will be a wonderful thing for your country. i have been listening to the president and he has been listening to me. that's the point of

having a conversation and dialogue will stop i can often tell how i will stop i can often tell how i will get on with someone early and i believe we will have a fantastic relation ship. -- relationship. the labour peer and former foreign policy advisor to gordon brown, lord wood, is in our london newsroom for us. overall, how do you think the meeting went? do you think number 10 will be happy? i think they will be pretty happy. it was difficult for theresa may the course she had to walk a fine line. she had to show britain was a close friend of the us, but she didn't necessarily want to show that she was going to be the best friend of donald trump because he isa best friend of donald trump because he is a controversialfigure, coming out with decisions that don't go down well in her party, let alone the rest of the country. i thought the rest of the country. i thought the balance was struck pretty well, except the last picture of them holding hands and walking down the steps. i think that was pretty —— a little more on the chinese side and something they might regret down the line. —— chummy. something they might regret down the line. -- chummy. do you think that

might ruffle feathers?” line. -- chummy. do you think that might ruffle feathers? i think the next time donald trump says something controversial, he has announcements today on banning refugees from muslim countries coming in, that will cause controversy here. i think that picture will get relayed a little too often for theresa may's team's liking. ithink too often for theresa may's team's liking. i think apart from that of security and trade issues, the press conference went pretty well. i think her speech went down reasonably well, although some people disagree with the content of it. until that last picture writing she was walking that line reasonably well. looking at some of the specifics, especially one of the big wines was about nato and theresa may saying that trump had confirmed he was 100% behind nato. how important are you think that was? it was important not just for theresa may to get donald trump

to commit to nato, and she quoted him in the press conference something he said in a meeting, i think it was important to be the leader to be the one who got donald trump to come back from the more maverick position he was sharing before. she showed she could bring the us back into line and suddenly behind nato, citing they will be pleased about —— with that. on trade she pushed far that there will be a trade dealfor the us she pushed far that there will be a trade deal for the us and that's important with brexit. so those core issues i think she got what she wanted. you yourself were working with gordon brown when he met president will shut president obama. how much preparation goes into these meetings? how much goes on behind the scenes? the huge amount. there have been a couple of weeks of negotiation and discussion. the united states administration has dozens united states administration has d oze ns of united states administration has dozens of people, the british government has fewer people. the british ambassador will be important

in working things out, but the choreography is important, where you stand for that picture. the picture of theresa may and donald trump, with the churchill bust, that will be the key big debate wanted. there are many negotiations about the press c0 nfe re nce are many negotiations about the press conference as they have, who will ask the questions and these things require a huge amount of effort and patience. but also you have to lobby hard on the british side to get what you want. when you are actually there, is there ever a moment where they get to be by themselves? there is. you walk into themselves? there is. you walk into the west wing and everybody stands up, you get show into a room and then the prime minister and president, with three or for aids have a meeting and then they have some time on the road. this being their first meeting would have been important. —— three orfour aides. then there was a lunch, with president obama in our case, in the

east wing. that's a much more private occasion where everybody else is shut out. there is time between the two of them and i think the chemistry thing is over rated. i don't think the chemistry between the two is much less important than the two is much less important than the solid relationship between the governments and teams. but in crises and chemistry can make a difference, so and chemistry can make a difference, so it is important to get a relationship established. interesting. thank you. here's chris with a look at this morning's weather. hello to both of you and to you at home. it was a week that saw some really nasty frost around, some dense fog causing problems at the airport but the thaw is really setting in today. not ask for most parts but we have some wet weather on our hands today. a band of rain pushing in and we are seeing snow in the cold air in the high ground of scotland. there is the scope for

some icy stretches first thing. through the rest of the day the rain will be reluctant to clear from the north and east but in southern wales and southern counties we should see and southern counties we should see an improvement with the weather, as we'll see some bright skies and a scattering of showers this afternoon. quite breezy, nine in london this afternoon. relatively mild compared to the weekjust gone. in northern ireland, brightening up quite nicely in the afternoon, a few showers in western counties. rain relu cta nt to showers in western counties. rain reluctant to clear away in scotland and it will remain quite cold, around four. overnight there's the risk of icy stretches in parts of the north of the uk as temperatures fall awake. pockets of frost developing in the countryside but towards the south—west we should see temperatures lifting to the end of the night as a weather system approaches and that will bring cloud and rain the rest of the night. a damp start for wales and south—west

england, a sunny start for many northern and eastern areas of england, northern ireland and scotla nd england, northern ireland and scotland but we will see this area of rain go north and east. turning wet in northern ireland, the rain getting into northern england, across the midlands to east anglia and the south—east towards the of the date. the best of the sunshine in scotland where it will be still quite chilly, and looking at the week ahead the atlantic finally wa kes week ahead the atlantic finally wakes up and we will see a number of weather systems coming our way next week. on the weather menu things will turn unsettled with spells of rainfor many will turn unsettled with spells of rain for many of the days. it will be quite windy, especially later in the week with severe gales but also it is expected to be mild with temperatures into the double figures especially in the south—west. that's the weather. back to you two. thanks, chris. we will see you in a bit. it's seven months since the uk voted to leave the european union but the labour party appears to still be conflicted over how to respond to brexit.

jeremy corbyn is trying to force mps to back the bill triggering the formal process to leave the eu. but a growing number have said they intend to rebel. yesterday a member of his shadow cabinet resigned over the issue. labour's shadow international trade secretary barry gardinerjoins us from our london newsroom. thank you very much for your time this morning. this is turning into a real headache forjeremy corbyn? brexit i think is a headache. half the country wants to remain, half the country wants to remain, half the country wants to remain, half the country wants to leave. i myself voted to remain, my constituency voted to remain, my constituency voted to remain and yet i think as politicians in a democracy you have to a cce pt politicians in a democracy you have to accept that the democratic will of the people was that we will leave. i think that is what we in the shadow cabinet have tried to put forward this week to the party and say, look, we have to respect that, that means we have to vote on the second reading of this bill to trigger article 50. but your mps to

respect what mr corbyn has said because they're not following their orders. this is an instruction, isn't it? let's be clear about this, in the way politics works, it's worth being clear about this, you're not asking or questing, jeremy corbyn is telling his mps how they should vote —— requesting. what a numberare should vote —— requesting. what a number are saying is no, we don't respect you, we respect the views of oui’ respect you, we respect the views of our constituents more. no, look, it's not about respecting jeremy corbyn. it was the shadow cabinet that arrived at the decision about how we would vote on article 50. but let's be clear, there are two very tough competing principles here. one is the respect for democracy, the fa ct is the respect for democracy, the fact that the whole of the country decided in that referendum that we should actually leave the european union. and the other is that in each constituency a member of parliament

feels a deep loyalty to their constituents to represent their constituents. this is not easy stuff. this is not about," do i want to do what the leader's telling me?" this is actually members of parliament grappling with a very complex issue which the country itself is divided on. sorry to interrupt, help us with your personal decision then. just to be clear to people, your an mp but the area you represent voted 60/40 in favour of remain, i think that's correct? 58/42 actually. you have chosen to ignore what they want and follow the party line? knowl haven't. it's not about ignoring anybody. what it's about saying is, look, it's very easy if you're on the fringes of british politics, if you're a libdem saying," oh, well, we're just you're a libdem saying," oh, well, we'rejust going to you're a libdem saying," oh, well, we're just going to focus on the 48% of the country who want to remain in

the european union and therefore come what may that's what we're going to do". or if you're on the other side, you get all the government's position, we're going to focus on immigration as the issue and side with the 52% and let your immigration policy drive your economic policy. it's very easy to adopt those very winged as asians. the labour party actually has many people in it who are in seats where people in it who are in seats where people actually voted to leave the european union when they themselves we re european union when they themselves were campaigning to remain. —— positions. there are others in the opposite situation. we are a much more differentiated party and in that sense we actually represent the views of the british people much more because actually we contain both the remainers and the levers in almost equal numbers. that's why we're trying to bring all of the country together and say, look, we accept that the democratic position from the referendum voted to leave

and therefore we will respect that. cani and therefore we will respect that. can ijust and therefore we will respect that. can i just ask and therefore we will respect that. can ijust ask you... we and therefore we will respect that. can i just ask you... we will then try and shake that through the amendments we're tabling so that we ensure the eventual decision about what the shape of leaving looks like after those negotiations, that we have a meaningful vote about that in parliament. —— shape that. have a meaningful vote about that in parliament. -- shape that. can i just be clear on one thing, sorry, in relation to the vote and those that choose to go against the wishes ofjeremy corbyn and the shadow cabinet, should they face any kind of sanction? it is such an odd word to use but they are free to do it? will there be a consequence for anyone that goes against the wishes of the shadow cabinet? the discipline within the party is a matter for the chief whip. what do you think? my you think? my own view is actually people like joe, people like tulip has made incredibly difficult decisions, principled decisions, and we must

respect the fact that they've done that. they have imposed the sanction on themselves by resigning their positions from the front bench and from the shadow cabinet. that's something that no end he would do lightly. i think we have to respect the fact that members of parliament in all different constituencies have to struggle with their conscience on this issue and that is about a competing principle of democracy and the principle of representing your constituents. different mps will have to make their own minds up about that. that's why it said tough job and that's why i have absolute respect both for tube it and indeed forjoe in the way they've handled this. they haven't been moaning, they have simply said i understand they have simply said i understand the position of the shadow cabinet andi the position of the shadow cabinet and i understand why the labour party has said we will respect the wish of the british people to leave the european union even though we we re the european union even though we were against it in principle and campaigned against it. but we will

not be able to reconcile that with our own conscience and therefore we're stepping down. i respect them making that tough decision. we apologise for interruptions, tied for time, thank you for your time this morning, barry gardiner, the shadow secretary of state for trade. talking about those voting against in the shadow cabinet. waxwings, redwings and fieldfares are just some of the more unusual birds that might be taking up residence in our gardens thanks to a harsh winter in russia and scandinavia. they are among the species the rspb will be hoping people spot in the big garden birdwatch. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to get out their binoculars and fill up their feeders this weekend to take part in one of the world's largest wildlife surveys as melanie stewart smith reports. over half a million people took part in 2016 with more than 8 million birds counted. the house sparrow was

the most common bird in 2016 with 61% of the uk's gardens containing them. since the first ever big garden birdwatch there have been some changes with an 80% drop of starlings per garden since 1979 and an increase of blue tips by 15%. the wood pigeon has seen the biggest jump, being seen in ten times as many gardens last year compared to 1979. these are the birds we're being told to look out for this year. a harsh winter in russia and scandinavia is expected to cause more unusual birds to come to the uk to enjoy our berry crop. fantastic. richard bashford from the rspbjoins us now good morning. first up, massive respect for the shirt because it has parrots on it. down to my daughter

molly. i don't think you would see them in our gardens. no. tell them about how this bird watch works in our gardens? it's a very simple event, it's been going on for 38 yea rs, event, it's been going on for 38 years, it's simple because it only ta kes years, it's simple because it only takes an hour, if you got a busy weekend, sit down with a cup of tea, count the birds in your garden and send the results to the rspb and that's it. it is something people can get involved in and it makes a big difference to you? because it's quite straightforward, we're talking about familiar birds, blackbirds, house sparrows, starlings and robbins, these are the birds people know and if enough people take part, we get the results and that tells us over 30 years how birds like how starlings and sparrows have been doing. so far, you've been doing it for many years, have you got patterns of which birds are doing best? those we are seeing less of?

there's been quite a lot of changes. most concern to the rspb are things like starlings, which we think of... you take them for granted but starlings have declined by three quarters in that time period and house sparrows by more than half. there are some areas, some of our big urban areas don't have house sparrows, or very few. on the plus side there's birds like the goldfinch moving in and we're putting out some wonderful food in our gardens and things like goldfinches are coming into enjoy that. tell us more about those unusual birds like the waxwings, what do they look like? well, yeah. there's certain birds, the waxwings in particular... you can see one there as you're speaking. dramatic, exotic looking thing, these actually come from the east. we are talking scandinavia, russia. if there is no berries in the winter, this is what

they feed on predominantly in the winter, they'll come to our lovely winter, they'll come to our lovely winter climate, which is a lot warmer than were therefrom and that's what's happened this year. they come to gardens. we plant a lot of very plants and that's a real bonus for people coming to count them. if you have any pictures of them. if you have any pictures of the birds in your garden then let us know. thanks, richard. the rspb's big garden birdwatch starts today and finishes on monday. stay with us. headlines coming up. hello. this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and steph mcgovern. coming up before 8am, we'll have an update on the weather with chris. but first, a summary of this morning's main news. the actor sirjohn hurt has died. he was 77. he starred in around 200 films including harry potter and was nominated for an oscar for his roles in the elephant man and midnight express.

sirjohn continued working despite being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. tributes have been pouring in online. actor elijah wood tweeted, saying, "very sad to hear ofjohn hurt‘s passing. it was such an honour to have watched you work, sir". us director mel brooks said, "no one could have played the elephant man more memorably. he will be sorely missed". actor david schneider in a tweet has said, "i was in a film with him and he was so mesmerising i kept forgetting to act. a genius." and stephen fry posted this tribute: "what terrible news. as great on the stage, small screen and big. a great man." theresa may and donald trump have stressed their commitment to nato in talks at the white house. the prime minister and the president both reiterated the importance of the special relationship in the first visit

of a foreign leader to washington since donald trump's inauguration. theresa may urged the united states not to lift sanctions against russia. the us president is due to speak to vladimir putin today. i will be representing the american people very, very strongly and forcefully and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together, which has to be stopped, that's an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. following the trip to washington, theresa may is now on her way to turkey for talks with president erdogan. the talks are expected to focus on trade and security but she's facing pressure to discuss concerns about alleged human rights abuses in turkey. lorry drivers should be banned from using sat navs designed for cars. that's what councils are calling for after a spate of incidents caused by heavy goods vehicles using bridges where they're too big or too heavy.

the local government association wants legislation brought in to make it compulsory for all lorry drivers to use sat—navs specifically designed for their vehicle. a draft letter of abdication from king george iii has been made public for the first time. the unsent letter, which includes crossings out, redrafts, blotches and scrawls, was written during the american war of independence, and is one of thousands of his private papers released by the royal archives. we will be having a more detailed look at some of those documents are little later in the programme. some brilliant stuff. those are the main stories. mike's here. there's so main stories. mike's here. there's so much to talk about. the tennis, of course. and the football. cracking last night. derby against leicester. a reminder, for anyone playing this weekend, be careful

what you do on the goal line! derby went so close to upsetting their neighbours and the premier league champions leicester city. derby made it hard for themselves, as darren bent showed why he's a striker. he loves to find the net, but usually not his own. but after this slice of luck for his opponents bent made amends, popping up again at the right end to make amends. derby then went ahead before half time, and they held on until with four minutes to go as leicester equalised through wes morgan to force a replay. what a cup tie. what a great atmosphere. as i said, proud of the players, to come against champions, perform, like that. give them a good game. another game against them, i look forward to it. it is a great tie for us. five premier league teams are facing lower league sides today, including liverpool at home to wolves in the 12:30 kick off.

liverpool's only win in any competition in 2017 so far came when they beat plymouth argyle in a third round replay. but wolves have already knocked out premier league stoke city. i don't like the results but i see that we are still fighting for each point, for each little victory, for each success. that's what we are doing and that's the job we have to do. i'm absolutely more than ok and look forward to the next opportunity tomorrow. arsenal manager arsene wenger won't be in the dug—out for their fa cup match at southampton. he's been banned from the touchline for four matches and fined £25,000 after verbally abusing and pushing an official during last weekend's game against burnley. niall mcginn scored two and set up another, as aberdeen beat dundee 3—0 in the scottish premiership. mcginn‘s volley on the stroke of half time was an absolute cracker. the win moved abderdeen above rangers into second place in the table, but they're still 21

points behind celtic. there's a real throwback feel to the australian open tennis. you have to go back to 2008 to find these four players in the same grand slam finals. this morning, serena williams takes on her sister venus and tomorrow's men's decider will be between roger federer and rafael nadal. that's after nadal spent almost five hours on court yesterday seeing off grigor dimitrov, before eventually winning in five sets. but nadal hasn't won a major title for three years, federerforfive. we never thought that we have the chance to be again in a final and especially here. so i think we both worked very hard to be where we are, so it's great and he's great at the game. great that we are in a moment like this and we have the chance to enjoy

a moment like this. and one more line from melbourne — britain's andy lapthorne lost to australia's paralympic champion dylan alcott in the quad wheelchair singles final. the welsh boxer lee selby was almost in tears after his ibf featherweight world title defence against jonathan victor barros was called offjust a little over 24 hours before it was due to take place. the decision was announced on stage just before the weigh—in, in las vegas. american media have reported that barros had tested positive for hepatitis. tiger woods told reporters he was "rusty" after missing the cut in his first competitive tournament for 18 months. he managed a par round, but he was always in peril after opening with a 76. he said he needed to get more rounds under his belt and that's what he's planning to do. justin rose still leads. he's a shot clear of the field on eight—under—par. whichever williams sister wins later this morning, they'll have to go a long way to better the celebrations of the pair that won the women's doubles. behold! bethanie mattek—sands and lucie safarova, or team bucie as they

call themselves. beautifully choreographed! all good entertainment. they pulled that off! i can't see the murray brothers doing that. how do you fancy this? eight miles of fire, freezing water, huge obstacles, muddy trenches and electric shocks. it's why thousands are flocking to the west midlands this weekend, and after 30 years it's the final ever tough guy race this weekend. it's led to hundreds of other extreme races being established. there's now even a movie out to explore why so many want to do this. i've been on the course near wolverhampton ahead of this final weekend. it's the end of an era, on a farm in the west midlands, where for decades people from around the world

have come together. why? to share the ultimate pain and fear. pushing their bodies over eight miles to the extreme. but after this weekend there will be no more tough guy. it's been a huge part of my life. it's definitely changed my life. it'll be a huge part of my life that will cease to be. hundreds of thousands of people have attempted this tough guy challenge over the past 30 years. 0h! but for those doing it this sunday, it will be the last ever. behind it all, the man known as mr mouse. a former soldier who 30 years ago wanted to add more of a challenge to fun runs, and so reinvented the obstacles. keep going! this is mild compared to the electric shocks before. i decided to put people

through something that they'd never seen before. fear, pain, claustrophobia — all of the terrible things that you fear — and live them here! they come through and they say, thank you! yeah! i cried, i was so unhappy. and you get this medal put around your neck and there's nothing else like it. i'm terrified, what can i say? as mr mouse now brings the curtain down on this world—famous event, he is the subject of a movie that looks at why people of today willingly pay to experience such pain and suffering. if you can come back with a flight club—esque scar running through fire, sounds awesome. mr mouse's cultural impact is massive. all of these things have exploded because of tough guy.

not many people know about it and ijust thought that was a compelling story. to mark the final tough guy, competitors will be joined on the course by the star of the war horse film. mr mouse wants entrants to remember the suffering that was real in the trenches 100 years ago. and thanks to what started here, obstacle racing is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world. it was one degree when we jumped into the water, but nothing compared to what the actual competitors go through tomorrow. the legacy of mr mouse. the film explores why people do this. it seems people living, certainly in the first world, obstacles have been removed. would you do it again? i think it is addictive. by the end, the feeling of euphoria and achievement is second to none. well done. thank you.

ghanian—born artistjohn akomfrah has spent his career exploring centuries of struggle and persecution experienced by migrants and refugees. he's now won the artes mundi, one of the uk‘s most prestigious art prizes, for his film which was inspired while he was teaching in barbados in 2009. hejoins us now. this is an art prize that maybe a lot of people haven't heard of, but it looks at not only your current work but your work over a period of time, six or seven years. yes, what happens with most prices is that i think it is about a specific work. they take a long view of your work and say, ok, what have you done the last five years? you have been looking at migration. something that caught your attention. not exclusively, but yes, i've done

quite a bit on migration. i'm from one of those families anyway, so it's a subject that's close my heart. tell us a bit about the film. idida heart. tell us a bit about the film. i did a number of courses across the world and this particular one was in barbados, where i saw this cemetery which has basically europeanjews. it started me thinking about how many people lived and died in different places because they've had to basically run for their lives. so what you've got in auto da fe are six stories across 400 years of different communities who have two escape persecution. what we saw, maybe we can see more of the images, we saw a split screen. so when people actually go and see your work, there are two separate screens

with concurrent things happening at the same time. is that right? yes, but sometimes you would just get the same scene but played from different angles. so you see the back of a person, you see where they are and what they are thinking. almost like a 360 degrees... exactly, you've got it. it has to be said that current events a re it. it has to be said that current events are very much drawing attention to the storylines that you are illustrating. president trump has closed the borders of the united states to refugees, to a number of countries, for a period of time, a matter of months. it couldn't be more timely in some respects in relation to what you why doing. more timely in some respects in relation to what you why doingm is tragic, but i have to say i saw this coming, which is one of the reasons why i worked on this. the story of refugees... people see it as either something from the past or

recent, but it is constant and continuing. when you say that, how did you know it was coming? just the way in which people were talking about refugees coming to this country. thinking about the same in 2009, you could hear in the language. they are cockroaches, this and that. it felt as if something was different. the difference in how we talked about strangers. where we re we talked about strangers. where were you we talked about strangers. where were you hearing that? when you are out and about? i would be in different countries and you would hear it, whether in germany or scandinavia, wherever. here it to some extent. you could just feel this difference in attitude towards outsiders coming in. ijust thought it would be a good thing to do to cou ntera ct it would be a good thing to do to counteract that in some ways. john, thank you very much. and congratulations for winning. john akomfrah has won at the exhibition

in wales it will run until the 26th of eddery. hello to both of you, good morning. we're looking at things getting milder over the course of this weekend. it been a cold week with the nasty fog but different this weekend, a weather front bringing outbreaks of rain widely across the country and with the cold air in scotla nd country and with the cold air in scotland we are seeing some snow in the higher ground, about 300 metres. that means stretches of the 89 and a 85 at the moment are seeing heavy snow, the risk of icy stretches across some higher areas. —— the a89 and the a85. further south the early—morning rain will clear out of the way and a breezy afternoon for southern england, south wales and the south midlands. some sunshine with a few passing showers and mild, nine in london. the rain reluctant to move out of northern england so

cool and wet here. northern ireland brightening up quickly with sunshine this afternoon, a few showers in the west and cloudy and cold in scotland today, only around four degrees for many. overnight as the rain eases away we'll see a few showers falling as snow in the tops of the pennines, still some snow in the hills in scotla nd still some snow in the hills in scotland as well. a cold night with a touch of frost developing in the countryside in northern areas hence the risk of icy stretches on untreated roads and services. on sunday, another weather system will move in of the atlantic and will bring rain into northern ireland, wales and south—west england during the morning and that wet weather will push north and east through the afternoon. with scotland we should see sunshine into the afternoon and temperatures in the sunshine still quite cold, 4—6, the milder air is where the cloud and rain is. next week it looks like a complete change in the weather patterns as low pressure dominates, the atlantic wa kes pressure dominates, the atlantic wakes up and we see weather systems moving across the uk. that means

that next week it will be unsettled with spells of rain, it will become windy perhaps with severe gales around particularly later in the week but the winds will often come from the south—west and that's a mild direction. frost will be relatively rare, especially towards the end of next week. that's how the weather's shaping up. back to you two. i'm very pleased it's getting milder. see you next week. now it's time for newswatch. this week, samira ahmed has reaction to coverage of president trump's first week in office. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. it's been a long week in us politics but did bbc news go overboard in how it covered donald trump's inauguration and first few days as president? and was it in the uk public interest to focus in news bulletins on the failure of a trident missile test last year? it's been a busy and controversial first week in office

for donald trump and we've heard plenty about it on bbc news. it all started of course last friday in washington, dc. i, donald john trump do solemnly swear... that i will faithfully execute... the office of president of the united states... and will do the best of my ability... preserve, protect and defend... the constitution of the united states... the constitution of the united states. before and after donald trump took the presidential oath of office there were hours of coverage of the ceremony plus speeches channel was showing exactly the same coverage with live coverage from washington by the bbc‘s jon sopel and katty kay, while bbc parliament was showing

the same live feed provided by american public service network c—span but without the bbc commentary. it was all too much for leo mccann and kate reed, who wrote: nick bishop had also had enough before the end, e—mailing: well, we put those points to bbc news and they told us: since last friday we've heard further complaints

about the prominence in news headlines of the activities and pronouncements of the new president. the white house is accused of telling falsehoods in a battle with the media about president trump's inauguration. the president opens his first full week in office by signing an order withdrawing the us from a major free—trade deal with pacific rim countries. he meets business leaders at the white house and once he meets business leaders at the white house and warns he will penalise american companies that move jobs overseas. more executive orders signed by president trump, this time he revives plans to build two oil pipelines despite environmental concerns. he promised a wall, now he says he's going to start building it in months. donald trump sets out his plans on immigration control. stepping down for the first time from air force one, president trump looks ahead to his meeting with mrs may.

i'm meeting with her tomorrow, i don't have my commerce secretary and they'll want to talk trade so i'll have to handle it myself! laughter speaking last night, the president again said he was determined to build a wall between mexico and the us and suggested taxing their goods to pay for it. so has bbc news been getting a bit carried away by the new presidency? victoria wells thought so, writing: brian gardner had this question: meanwhile, teresa reilly wrote to us on monday

after she had settled down to watch a report on the supreme court decision about brexit: do let us know your thoughts on the bbc‘s coverage of donald trump's presidency or any aspect of bbc news. details of how to contact us coming up at the end of the programme. now for some of your other concerns this week, starting with the bbc‘s coverage following a report in the sunday times that an unarmed missile went offcourse during a test lastjune. on his show that morning, andrew marr asked the prime minister about this several times.

when you made that first speech injuly in the house of commons about our trident nuclear defence, did you know that misfire had occurred ? well, i have absolute faith in our trident missiles, when i made that speech in the commons, what we were talking about is whether or not we should renew our trident, whether or not we should have trident missiles, an independent nuclear deterrent, in the future. did you know it had happened? i think we should defend our country, i think we should play our role in nato with an independent nuclear deterrent. jeremy corbyn things differently, jeremy corbyn things we shouldn't defend our country. this is a very serious incident, did you know about it when you told the house of commons? the issue we were talking about in the house of commons was a very serious issue. the story was picked up prominently on bbc news bulletins over the next couple of days but some viewers thought the concentration on it was ill—advised. ken sturt put it like this:

maurice sharrock echoed that, e—mailing: now, we've been getting regular complaints on newswatch about the way bbc news online words some of its headlines in two weeks about the way bbc news online words some of its headlines in tweets and on the website. another example came this week. on wednesday the supreme court ruled that parliament must vote on whether the government can start the process of leaving the european union. one of the campaigners who brought the case was gina miller, who has been subjected to a number of violent threats online. that prompted bbc news to post a tweet asking: it linked

to a woman's hour discussion about her treatment, but led to a number of angry responses on twitter. martin phelps answered the question posed like this: dave mcnally thought: humza yousaf thought: well, bbc news gave us a statement in response. it read: wednesday's news at ten took some viewers by surprise with its lead story, a special report from ed thomas on the marked increase

in knife crime in the uk. in five years' time i could be injail, could be dead, could be the biggest drug dealer in the country, you never know, see what happens. tonight it's liverpool but this story could be told in many cities. it's one of knives, fear and wasted lives. it starts by selling a bit of weed. selling a bit of class as. when did you start carrying knives? 12. and annie good was flabbergasted by the report: finally, it's been noticed this week that bbc political correspondent carol walker

is an early riser. on wednesday she was on air in the cold just after 6am. our political correspondent carol walker is outside the houses of parliament for us. good morning to you once again, carol, it's been a busy few days but we heard in tom's piece about that tory rebellion, how large a rebellion is that likely to be? it looks like the number of tories rebelling against the government will actually be quite small. and she was braving the elements in the same spot at the same hour on friday. good morning, carol. doesn't she, between trying to get on with donald trump, with the president, but also not annoying everyone back here with what she says to him. she's under a lot of pressure, isn't she? yes, absolutely. this is going to be a very important, significant but also potentially very tricky meeting. carol was also out and about first thing on tuesday, although in a different location. let's speak to our political correspondent carol walker who is outside the supreme

court this morning. i know they don't decide until 9:30am but what are the thoughts, carol? well, the expectation widely is that the judgement will go against the government, that theresa may will be told she must seek the approval of parliament before she can trigger article 50. as we've mentioned, thejudgement did indeed go against her but steve ketteringham had a question: thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs or even appear on the programme, you can call us on: ore—mail: you can find us on twitter:

and do have a look at our website, the address for that is: that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and steph mcgovern. the veteran actor sirjohn hurt has died aged 77. he appeared in 200 films and television productions and was twice nominated for an oscar. good morning. it's saturday, 28th january. also ahead: