this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: britain offers more money to unblock the brexit negotiations — reportedly as much as 50 billion euros. donald trump shares anti—muslim material on social media. downing street says he was wrong to do so. the white house disagrees. a convicted bosnian war criminal kills himself by drinking poison in court, after his sentence is upheld. and on newsnight: we now know the irish border is turning out to be one of the stickiest brexit issues to resolve. this evening, we will hear from the irish agriculture secretary. can he see a way out of this? will ireland block brexit trade talks? good evening and welcome to bbc news.

the government has offered to significantly increase the so—called brexit divorce bill, the amount of money it is willing to pay the european union for our departure from it. it is understood the government is now prepared to pay up to 50 billion euros, around £41; billion, in an attempt to kick—start talks on a future trade deal. back in september, the prime minister had said the uk was prepared to pay 20 billion euros. today, on a surprise visit to iraq, theresa may said the uk was still in negotiations with the eu, but wanted to move soon to trade talks. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more. 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'm very clear that i want us to move together onto the next stage. of course, we're 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. well, 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‘s 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've built up, and we'll 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? well, 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? is it enough? we are still working. the eu chief negotiator in no mood to declare it's done. the final 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're 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 ona limb. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. you saw the prime minister in laura's report. well, theresa may has since arrived in saudi arabia, on the latest stage of her visit to the middle east. theresa may says she will use the trip to express concerns about the humanitarian crisis in yemen. she says 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. 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 mp jo 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 hisjudgement 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, but 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 has 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. tonight the communities secretary, sajid javid, has spoken out against president trump. let's speak to our political correspondent ben wright at westminster. what has he said? well, julian, sajid javid has tweeted in the last couple of hours saying that president trump had endorsed a vile, hate filled organisation that hates me and people like me. he said the tweets we re people like me. he said the tweets were wrong. i refuse to let it go and say nothing, the communities secretary said, i view then echoed by the tories' leader in scotland. there is a sense, i think, that

political anger and condemnation about this in westminster is growing. the foreign office minister, alistair burt, also a few hours ago re— tweeted comments by the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, who said that these tweets should be removed and donald trump should be removed and donald trump should make clear that he opposes racism. i think there is a bit of a head of steam building here, cross— party head of steam building here, cross—party calls condemning donald trump in the strongest language possible. this is putting pressure, i think, on number ten to do more perhaps than they have done already. of course, in the backdrop is this state visit that was offered and accepted right at the beginning of the year. there is no date in the diary, but there has to be now a very big question mark over that. you think it could go that far now, do you? well, possibly, yes. labour has been pretty strong all year on the fact they don't think the red carpet should be rolled out for donald trump. this is only going to increase their determination to say he should be withdrawn, scrapped.

and you hear them from sajid javid, a member of the conservative government, condemning so strongly the president of the united states. it is hard to see how he would think that a state visit, certainly at this present moment, would be an a cce pta ble this present moment, would be an acceptable thing for the uk to do. i just get a sense there is a building head of steam here. very difficult, though, of course, for number ten. the us remains the closest ally. a hugely important partner to the uk on all sorts of fronts, particularly counter intelligence sharing, and all the rest of it. the invitation has been made, but within number ten, they will be acutely aware of how controversial this visit has already been over the last few months, as we have been discussing it, and how it might be, were it to go ahead on the back of these sorts of views. i think this had already been kicked into the long grass. i

think this can be kicked way into the very long grass. i think cancelling it is unlikely. that would be a heck of a statement for number ten to make. but i don't think there's visit is going to happen any time soon. thank you very much. 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. our middle east editorjeremy 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 being told their appeals against long jail sentences had failed. when praljak kept standing, to insist one last time that he was innocent. praljak is not a warcriminal. i that he was innocent. 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 his case after 25 years, was stunned. take a weather glass used when he drank something. the emergency services arrived. 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, outraged that he was being prosecuted for, as he saw it, doing his duty. i testified because, prosecuted for, as he saw it, doing his duty. itestified because, in 1993, in the depths of the bosnian war, i had seen what they had done in mostar, in the south of the country. this was the 400—year—old ottoman bridge, then underfire from praljak‘s forces. it was a servant, a symbol of the old bosnia that they wa nted a symbol of the old bosnia that they wanted to dismantle. the destruction of the old ridge was just one item

ona of the old ridge was just 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, we re along with thousands of civilians, were fighting back against bosnian croat forces led i praljak. —— led by praljak. he was convicted of the murder of civilians, men like this. with his wife and his neighbours, i tried to help him, but he was already dead. civilians were dying because praljak and his co—defendants were trying to establish an ethnically uniform state for bosnian croats, which the court decided was a joint criminal enterprise. their war crimes included the persecution of civilians, mainly muslims they wa nted civilians, mainly muslims they wanted to kill or expelled. at night, i saw civilians under fire being forced over the front line in

the east mostar. these pictures were evident in praljak‘s trial. i heard many first—hand accounts of murder, rape and ethnic cleansing at the hands of osney and croat forces from the traumatised people arriving in east mostar. after the war, the old ridge was rebuilt, but mostar and all of bosnia herzegovina is still divided on ethnic lines. at least the victims, thousands of whom appeared in the hague, have had some justice from international tribunal in the former yugoslavia. it has worked to convict the worst war criminals europe has seen since the nazis should not be overshadowed by the suicide of praljak. now on bbc news, it is time for newsnight, with evan davies. the border between north and south in ireland. is this where theresa may's vision for brexit becomes unstuck? it's the issue with the power to disrupt — britain is leaving the eu, partly to get control of its borders -

but can that be squared with a no—border solution in ireland? if measures are put in place to control it again, whether that is remote—controlled cameras or customs officers, those could easily become the focus for protest or even violence, by those opposed to any tightening of control. the irish agriculture minister tells us how the problem can be solved, and what happens if it isn't. president trump retweets anti—muslim hate videos from far right britain first. does getting shocked by that, just encourage him? michael stone — jailed for the murder of lin and megan russell. but is it the biggest miscarriage ofjustice for decades? we'll hear about the arguments for re—examining the evidence for that conviction.