tonight at ten... britain offers more money to unblock the brexit negotiations — reportedly as much as 50 billion euros. the final figure has yet to be formally confirmed, but ministers now suggest they want to give a fair offer. we've been waiting for this for a long time, 18 months or so. now‘s the moment to get the whole ship off the rocks and move it forwards. we'll have the latest on the brexit process and the other obstacles still remaining before talks can move on to talk about trade. also tonight... donald trump shares anti—muslim material on social media. downing street says he was wrong to do so — the white house disagrees. the threat is real, and that is what the president is talking about. that's what the president is focused on, is dealing with those real threats. and those are real no matter how you look at it. a convicted bosnian war criminal kills himself by drinking poison in court after his sentence is upheld. lawyers say the man jailed for murdering lin and megan russell

in kent in 1996 should have his conviction reviewed following an alleged confession by another convicted killer. the shipping forecast. coming up on sportsday later in the evening bbc news, there's an instant impact at goodison park as sam allardyce watches his new team everton take on west ham. good evening. ministers are expressing confidence that they can break the deadlock in the brexit talks with an improved financial offer, which is understood to be around a0

to 50 billion euros. but the eu still says that no final agreement has been reached. the kind of sum being mentioned would be a considerable increase on the amount previously offered by theresa may's government as a so—called brexit divorce payment. critics said many who voted for brexit would find any payment unacceptable. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more details. there is no substitute for personal diplomacy. the prime minister, the first major leader to visit iraq since so—called is were driven out of mosul. thousands of miles away, dealings between westminster and brussels mean a broad offer to settle the uk's accounts has been hypothetically agreed. we are still in negotiations with the european union, and i am very clear that i want us to move together onto the next stage. of course, we are working in the lead up to the december european council. i want to see us able to move on to the trade talks

and the security talks, but it means us moving together. surely a bill of around a0 to 50 billion euros is too much for brexiteers, who promised we would get money back? after months of haggling, and handshakes — and, frankly, changes of heart — the cabinet is pretty much on board. the prime minister is going to go forward to the december european council with, i think, a very fair offer. now is the moment to get the whole... the ship off the rocks and move it forwards. the hope is that with more hypothetical cash on the table, talks about trade can start next month. reporter: do you think the brexit divorce bill is too large? but nothing is final, so no minister will publicly give an official seal of approval. nothing is agreed until everything is agreed about this whole package, but we accept that there are obligations that we have built up, and we will meet them, as the prime minister has said. weren't we all told there would be plenty of money back if we voted to leave?

it seems the eu has won the argument, that the bill to settle our accounts runs into the tens of billions — whether paying for long—term projects we have already signed up to, or the pensions of brussels staff in years to come. in the bigger picture, around a0 billion spread over many years is not big bucks for the government. so the anger you might have expected in there didn't really explode. if we are going to negotiate the comprehensive new trade agreement with the european union, which we need for future jobs and prosperity, we do need to be seen as a country which can be trusted to comply with the deals we reach. so will my right honourable friend guarantee that there will be no legally binding commitment to spend money until our partners do agree to a serious free trade deal? she should not pay more than we owe, mr speaker, but she should be confident that, whatever that is, it's a bargain against the cost of staying in. reporter: do you welcome britain's decision to pay more, mr barnier?

we are still working. the eu chief negotiator in no mood to declare it's done. the finer details of the bill will not be agreed for some time, and a deal to move onto the next phase of talks could still be scuppered by disagreement over the irish border or the european courts. "we are still waiting for more from london," he said. "we are not there yet." after months of european hard talk, and sticking together, britain has moved significantly towards their version of what we have to pay — the government finding little success, perhaps, in the brexit talks in trying to stay out on a limb. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. estimates for the size of the final brexit divorce bill have varied widely, and although a broad framework has now reportedly been agreed between the uk and the eu, many details are still to be settled. chris morris, from the bbc‘s reality check team, has been taking a closer look at the calculations.

so, negotiators may have reached a broad agreement on the outlines of a financial settlement. but it's still got to be signed off politically, and everyone is understandably cagey about the detail. but why do estimates for the size of the bill vary so much? well, the figure we've been hearing about today could be up to 50 billion euros net. and these are the major components. the prime minister had already agreed to cover budget payments in 2019—20 so that no—one else would be out of pocket. that amounted to a pledge of about 20 billion euros. but the eu wanted more. if the uk has now agreed it will meet all its other financial commitments, as defined by the eu, that will have broken the logjam. but there could be plenty of technical haggling ahead about the exact uk share of the total. the biggest part of any bill will be money that's been committed to future projects, but not yet paid out. the eu has suggested that the uk should pay roughly a 13% share of total commitments, based on the size of its economy.

the uk says it should be lower, partly because of the fall in the value of the pound. then there's the estimated liability for the pensions scheme for eu employees. the uk argues that the way it has been calculated is unfair and it hopes to reduce the bill by several billion euros. there's also a debate to be had about the eu's assets, especially cash and the timescale for future uk payments. take an eu employee who is about 25 years old, for example. he or she may not draw their pension for another a0 years. so, in theory, the uk could be making small pension payments for decades to come. this would a, spread the load and, b, make it almost impossible for anyone to come up with a final figure now for the cost of divorce. but if the eu was initially hoping for a net figure of about 60 billion euros — and some brexiteers were hoping to pay next to nothing — the outcome is going to be a lot closer to 60 billion than to zero. for its part, the government always

said there would be bills to pay and it wants to focus on the future — a new trading relationship with the eu and the rest of the world, affecting the overall health of the uk's £2.2 trillion economy. that means the toughest negotiations are yet to come. that was chris morris from the bbc‘s reality check team, and laura kuenssberg is at westminster tonight. a few months ago borisjohnson said the eu could go and whistle for the money — we seem to have moved some way from that? well, nothing is final until it is final. but there has been a really big shift in this thinking at westminster. if a year ago you had said to me that a government that was full of brexiteers at the top table, that has lots of eurosceptic tories on the backbenches, worth at the point of agreeing a bill of tens of billions without much rage, without there being venom, with a

relatively acquiescent atmosphere around it, iwould have relatively acquiescent atmosphere around it, i would have said to you, frankly, pull the other one. the political atmosphere around the brexit bill has changed significantly over the recent months. i think there are a couple of months for that. first of all, it has been clear for of months for that. first of all, it has been clearfor some of months for that. first of all, it has been clear for some time that the eu was not going to budge that far. second, because the figures, the territory we are talking about, 40 the territory we are talking about, a0 billion or so, that has been knocking around for some time, it wasn't a huge surprise to people. so, it wouldn't have been very plausible if there had been white hot shock. third, i think talking to brexiteers in the last couple of weeks about the money and other issues, there is a sense now that what they want, above all else, is for this to be a success, for this to work they are keeping their eyes on the prize, rather than stumbling oi’ on the prize, rather than stumbling or throwing a strop over any particular issue. the priority for brexiteers in the tory party and in

the government is to make this process work, rather than to see, for some of them, their life's political work fail in front of them. i think, political work fail in front of them. ithink, over them. i think, over the last couple meant that uk had to budge on the bill. the public, many of whom believed that we were going to get some money is a different question. but, in terms of the political agreement in westminster, for this to be viable for theresa may to get that progress next week, it seems there are still issues that could scupper it. but money isn't going to be one of them. many thanks, laura kuenssberg with the latest analysis at westminster. downing street has criticised president trump for using social media to share anti—muslim videos from the far—right organisation britain first. the footage claims to show muslims committing acts of violence. mr trump's decision to share the material led to sharp criticism

here and in the united states. but the white house insisted mr trump was keen to highlight genuine threats, regardless of whether the footage was real, as our correspondent nick bryant reports. britain first! fighting back! britain first is a far right anti—muslim group with a small membership that often engages in publicity stunts to try to raise its profile. and early this morning it received a huge propaganda gift from donald trump, the "america first" president. on his twitter feed, he retweeted three inflammatory videos from the group's deputy leader, jayda fransen, the first claiming incorrectly to show a muslim migrant attacking a man on crutches. you think you can take over towns and tell us that it's your country? this is jayda fransen in action. earlier this month, she was charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour during speeches she made in belfast. for her, these presidential retweets

are manna from heaven. "god bless you, trump," she tweeted. "god bless america." from the family of the murdered mpjo cox, there has been a despairing response. she was killed by a right—wing extremist who shouted "britain first." i have to say, i thought it was a horrendous thing to do. britain first is a well known hate group. it drives hatred against muslims, and donald trump is the president of our nearest ally, and the fact that he didn't check first, or didn't even think about the content of those tweets before doing it, i think suggests his judgment is hugely lacking. merry christmas, said the president, as he ignored questions about his tweeting. but downing street has spoken out, saying it was wrong for the president to have done this. it added that his invitation to make a state visit to britain next year still stands. as for the president's spokeswoman, she was unapologetic. the threat is real. the threat needs to be addressed. the threat has to be talked about, and that is what the president

is doing in bringing that up. previous us administrations have liked to think of themselves as beacons of democratic values, but that's not been a high priority for the trump white house. many people around the world will be saddened and sickened to see the president of the united states appearing to validate tweets from a far—right group. ten months into this unorthodox and provocative presidency, donald trump still has the capacity to shock. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. one of the most prominent figures in the bosnian civil war has killed himself in court after he was convicted of crimes against humanity. moments afterjudges had upheld his conviction at the international criminal tribunal in the hague, slobodan praljak said he rejected the verdict and drank what he said was poison. 0ur middle east editor jeremy bowen, who testified at the tribunal about his experiences reporting the conflict, has the story. his report contains some distressing images. slobodan praljak and his

co—defendants were told their appeals against long jail sentences has... had failed, when praljak kept standing to insist one last time that he was innocent. translation: slobodan praljak is not a war criminal, iam rejecting slobodan praljak is not a war criminal, i am rejecting the court ruling. he drank from a vial of liquid. i have taken poison. the court, dealing with its final case after 2a years, court, dealing with its final case after 2a yea rs, was court, dealing with its final case after 2a years, was stunned. the emergency services arrived. praljak died later in hospital. in 2007! praljak died later in hospital. in 2007 i was a prosecution witness in the trial of praljak and his co—defendants in the hague. he cross—examined me, outrage that he was being prosecuted for, as he saw it, doing his duty. i testified, because in 1993,

in the depths of the bosnian war, i'd seen what they've done in mostar, in the south of the country. this was the a00—year—old 0ttoman bridge, then under fire from praljak‘s forces. it was a symbol of the old bosnia that they wanted to dismantle. the destruction of the old bridge wasjust one item on a long list of war crimes. in 1993, bosnian soldiers who were besieged on the east side of mostar, along with thousands of civilians, were fighting back against bosnian croat forces, led by slobodan praljak. he was convicted of the murder of civilians, then like this, with his wife and his neighbours, i tried to help them, but he was already dead. —— men like this. civilians were dying because praljak and his co—defendants were trying to establish an ethnically uniform

state the bosnian croats, which the court decided was a joint criminal enterprise. their war crimes included the persecution of civilians, mainly muslims they wanted to kill or expel. at night, i saw civilians under fire being forced over the front line in the east mostar. these pictures were evidence in praljak‘s trial. i heard many first—hand accounts of the murder, rape and ethnic cleansing at the hands of bosnian croat forces from a traumatised people arriving in east mostar. after the war, the old bridge was rebuilt, but mostar and all of bosnia—herzegovina is still divided on ethnic lines. at least the war‘s victims, thousands of whom have been to the hague, have had somejustice, thanks to the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia. its work to convict the worst war criminals europe has seen since the nazis should not be overshadowed by the suicide of slobodan praljak. jeremy bowen, bbc news.

the highest—paid university vice—chancellor in the uk, who announced yesterday she was taking retirement, has been defending her salary. professor dame glynis breakwell of bath university says she's not embarrassed by her annual pay packet of £a68,000, and she insisted the university hadn't been damaged by the controversy. dame glynis has been speaking to our education editor, bra nwen jeffreys. cold winter sun on the campus. the university of bath hoping to move on. the vice chancellor, in herfirst interview, told me her pay was justified. you seem unembarrassed by the controversy. i think that the controversy has been something that i would have wished to avoid, but i'm not embarrassed by the fact that those people who actually have determined my salary did so in the way that they did. professor dame glynis breakwell

will be paid £a68,000 a year until february 2019. she'll stay in the university flat in bath until august 2018. and a car loan of £31,000 will be written off. your pay has been one element of the controversy, so has the house, the housekeeper that goes with it, the car loan that is being written off, the fact, indeed, that you will now be paid until february 2019. do you think that's going to do further damage to the university's reputation? i don't actually think that the university's reputation is being damaged by this. i think that we recognise the value and the significance of the university. the cost of being a student has risen. rents in bath are high. few today regretted her departure. students had no trust in her any more, so i think that it was probably the right

thing to do. she's done a good job, though. it was a huge thing in the house of lords as well. and so, it wasjust... she needed to go. it was bad press. it's good that now we are doing something to sort it out, i think. isn't there something fundamental, though, in this, where students feel — and the wider public —that vice chancellors' pay just looks excessive now? yes, i think that has been argued. but do you accept it? i think that we have a situation where we are in a globally competitive market. this is no longerjust about bath. there are far wider questions about who decides on senior pay in universities, with calls for greater transparency and fairness. you have over 50 vice chancellors who are paid over £300,000. you have two thirds of them who are on remuneration committees that never actually tell us how their decisions are made. so what's happened here

may be a tipping point, with universities forced to justify high pay. branwenjeffries, bbc news, bath. theresa may has said she will use a visit to saudi arabia to express concerns about the humanitarian crisis in yemen. she said she would urge the saudi king and the crown prince to lift a blockade which has prevented the delivery of aid supplies. the united nations estimates that 20 million people in yemen are in need of help. the father of a 13 month—old girl who is suspected of sexually assaulting her before she died has begun giving evidence at her inquest. paul worthington, who's a9, refused to answer many of the questions put to him in court. poppi worthington died suddenly five years ago. the cab service uber has revealed that 2.7 million of its british customers and drivers were victims of a major security breach last year. personal details including names, email addresses and phone numbers were stolen in the hack,

which uber kept secret until earlier this month. lawyers for michael stone, who was twice convicted of the murders of lin russell and her daughter megan in kent in 1996, say they have new evidence of his innocence. they believe the murderer of lyn and megan russell was a convicted serial killer, levi bellfield. they say a confession made by bellfield to another prisoner is backed up by other evidence from a witness. bellfield told the bbc he denied the murders and denied making a confession, as our correspondent wyre davies reports. it was a shocking murder, a vicious attack injuly 1996 on a family walking home from school in rural kent. lin russell and her six—year—old daughter megan were killed in the frenzied hammer attack. that was quite heavy. but nine—year—old josie survived, despite suffering terrible injuries. michael stone, a known criminal and drug addict,

was arrested and found guilty of the russell murders, but has always protested his innocence. we intend first to read a statement... and today, dramatic new evidence from stone's lawyers — what they say is a detailed confession to the russell murders by this man, levi bellfield. the russell murders, by levi bellfield, fit perfectly with his modus operandi. he is a man known to attack and murdered women. already serving two full life terms for the murders of milly dowler, amelie delagrange and marsha mcdonnell, bellfield has now allegedly told a fellow prisoner in considerable detail that he also murdered the russells. the prisoner's words have been re—voiced. he said, "i've never told anyone this before. i killed another child and got away with it." he said he approached them with his hammer in hand, and the mother screamed and begged not to hurt her children. he struck her first, and thenjosie. the dog was killed,

followed by megan. what gives this alleged confession even more credibility is that, as far as we can tell, it contains certain details that would have been known to only very few people, like police investigators or the killer himself. none of stone's dna was ever found at the murder scene, but his legal team said today there was potentially new forensic evidence against bellfield. they also said a new eyewitness had come forward, identifying levi bellfield driving a car near the scene. speaking from prison, stone acknowledged his own violent past but told me that, unlike bellfield, he had no history of attacking women. you've got a track record of violence, you hit a man with a hammer. just desperate to link me to the crime, but it's not even similar, because i went to the house of someone who i found out was, like, messing about with people, and i went to his house to warn him not to do it, and he grabbed my throat. and i picked a mallet — it wasn't a hammer, it was a mallet —

i picked it up to strike him with it to get him off my neck. it's nothing like attacking a child, or a mother and a child. there's no similarity, really. levi bellfield tonight denied making a confession, and kent police said they stood by stone's conviction. but michael stone's family described this as a moment of hope. mick's been in prison now for 20 years, and that's 20 years too long for somebody who hasn't committed a crime. they say his case must now be sent to the court of appeal. wyre davies, bbc news. and to see more on this, bbc wales investigates has a special programme tomorrow night at 8:30pm on bbc one wales, and on the bbc iplayer. this draw for the world cup in russia takes place this week. three quarters of a million tickets have already been sold for next year's tournament, which will see 32 teams hosted in 11 cities. but controversy still surrounds the competition, as the football world deals with issues of integrity and security. the russian deputy prime

minister told the bbc the criticism was unfair. from moscow, our sports editor dan roan reports on the challenges for the tournament. russia has a proud footballing heritage, but it had to wait to play host. now, however, the first world cup to be staged here is on the horizon. the countdown, reaching a crucial moment this week when the draw takes place in moscow. the man in charge of organising the £9 billion showpiece, telling me today it would help improve his country's image. it will show a new russia, it will show a democratic russia. it will show how serious we are about our place in the world of football, how much effort we can invest into being a hospitable, welcoming nation. for a long while, it was uncertain whether russia 2018 would even happen, given fifa's corruption crisis. but it's on, and the fact that friday's draw is happening here, at the kremlin, underlines its political importance. but the build—up to this tournament has had to deal with a host of challenges,

from concerns over racism, hooliganism and homophobia to a major doping scandal. russia's on the brink of sporting isolation. next week, the country could be banned from the winter olympics for a conspiracy that has seen a host of athletes stripped of their medals. three more were sanctioned today. world cup chairman vitaly mutko's denied allegations linking him to the scandal, but the questions keep coming. deputy prime minister, bbc. is it a shame that this event could be overshadowed by the controversy over anti—doping? translation: it is a huge disappointment that we have to pay so much attention to such problems. the same situation happened with the sochi 0lympics. now it's happening again, right before the world cup. we are building infrastructure for the games and that is seen as a bad thing because they say it's expensive, full of corruption, human rights abuse. but we're doing this for the development of football and our country. the shocking violence that marred euro 2017 saw russian hooligans go

on the rampage in marseille. england fan stewart gray was so badly beaten he ended up in a coma. his brother, neil, told us the suspects have evaded justice. the message that the russian authorities have tried to tell us is that it will be safe to travel to next yea r‘s world cup for any football fan, from anywhere around the world. but how can it be when we have four individuals that are wanted for two extremely serious crimes just at large on the streets, possibly intent on causing further trouble? russian authorities claim a crackdown on hooligans has proved effective. this week's match here between arch rivals spartak moscow and zenit st petersburg, for instance, passed off peacefully. the policing of the visits of both liverpool and manchester united in the champions league in september was also hailed a success. everyone who comes to russia will want to be sure that it comes in a secure environment, and the environment is and will be secure. the authorities are putting 200% of their efforts to make sure that this happens and this will happen. a dress rehearsal earlier for

friday's glittering draw ceremony. the teams competing for football's greatest prize are about to take centre stage. but the focus will remain on russia's suitability to play host. dan roan, bbc news, moscow. the shipping forecast, a notable feature of bbc radio a, is celebrating its 150th anniversary tomorrow — and it's believed to be the longest—running weather forecast of its kind in the world. it provides weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the united kingdom, and is produced by the met office on behalf of the maritime and coastguard agency. this year marks 80 years since the bbc began broadcasting the shipping forecast, and our weather presenter sarah keith—lucas reports. there's a chance that leaving those seasickness pills at home was a mistake. the weather impacts the power of the ocean... the shipping forecast for the next 12 hours. a disturbance near the hebrides... and after a major storm back in the mid 19th century that led

to hundreds of deaths and the loss of dozens of ships, the shipping forecast was introduced. like then, today the forecast is a vital tool that saves lives at sea, and the rnli say that forward planning is the key to safety on the water. we want people to respect the water as much as possible. it's particularly important for small boats and for vessels who may not have computerised apps available. the traditional use of the shipping forecast through the radio is what they have as their forecasting model. that crucial forecast data is produced daily, here at the met office. there was just a feeling that there was too much risk of loss of life. catherine ross, the chief archivist, showed me the very first weather charts from 150 years ago. what they did, rather cleverly, was basically put pins through the paper, and so you can kind of see just about these little pinpricks here, and that meant they were always plotting the same information in the same place. and you can see how they changed

from having no maps to very detailed maps, and it was known as the storm warning service to start with, but it became known as the iconic shipping forecast. before radio broadcasts, storm warnings were communicated by using drums and cones hoisted up masts. it is a complex job to forecast accurately what the weather will do. and, of course, technology has dramatically changed over the years. they've even got computers to do some of the figuring out. computers were first used in weather forecasting in the 50s, had have become much more sophisticated ever since. humber, west or south west, five or six, occasionally four later. the shipping forecast is not just for mariners, but it's also listened to by hundreds of thousands of us every day on radio a. south west, five to seven. 0ccasional rain, good, occasionally moderate. and that's a flavour of the bulletin which is broadcast four times a day.