welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: michael flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russia — he's now cooperating with an inquiry into election interference. the british government has issued a fresh warning about the security risks of using russian anti—virus software. pope francis has met with rohingya refugees in bangladesh — referring to the group by name for the first time on his asia trip. hundreds turn out to cheer prince harry and meghan markle as they make their first official royal visit since announcing their engagement. hello and welcome. president trump's sacked national security adviser, michael flynn, has struck a deal with the inquiry into russian

involvement in last year's us election. he's admitted lying to the fbi about his meeting with the russian ambassador, during the transition period between mr trump winning the election and assuming office. it's now being reported that mr flynn is prepared to testify that the president's son—in—law, jared kushner, was among those who directed him to make contact with the russians. from washington, aleem maqbool reports. it has sent political shock waves through washington. general michael flynn, donald trump's former national security adviser, turned himself in to the fbi, and to a judge admitted lying about his contacts with russian officials. in court, he was asked if he wished to plead guilty to making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements, to which michael flynn answered simply, "yes, sir". well, we now know general flynn had conversations with

the russian ambassador about the possibility of lifting sanctions against moscow. but given barack obama was still in the white house, he was just unauthorised to do that. but he now says, crucially, that he was directed to have those conversations by a senior official in the transition team of donald trump. announcer: general mike flynn, retired, united states army! michael flynn developed a close relationship with mr trump during the election campaign — at one point, even being talked of as a potential vice president. a truly great general right here. mike, thank you. at the republican national convention, he famously led chants for hillary clinton to be imprisoned. yeah, that's right, lock her up! it was revealed michael flynn had previously had contacts with vladimir putin, but he made his costly mistake late last year after president obama had just imposed more sanctions on russia for interfering in the us election. on the 29th of december,

michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone. on the 15th of january, vice president mike pence said that sanctions were not discussed by michael flynn in those calls. only after the ninth of february, when a newspaper revealed general flynn did discuss sanctions when he wasn't authorised to do so did pressure increase and michael flynn lost his job. michael flynn then became one key focus of the investigation into russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election and potential collusion with the trump campaign. the white house is now trying to distance itself from general flynn's actions and the lies he told the fbi, but there's no question that this latest development brings the russia investigation ever closer to the president himself. and of course the developments sparked quick reaction on capitol hill — here's some of them. this is part of a broad pattern of the trump administration and campaign people lying about the contacts with the russians.

so that in itself is very substantial and serious and obviously when it's the national security advisor to the president, all the more trouble. but given the universe of potential charges against michael flynn, it could indicates he could be presenting some substantial information to rob mueller. we've got, now, two people pleading guilty. we've got a campaign manager and his deputy still under indictment. how many more figures have to be brought tojustice because of their ties with russia before we end up connecting all these dots? our correspondent laura bicker has more from washington. us media are reporting that jared kushner may be one of the people that directed flynn to make contact with the russians, how significant is that? it takes the investigation

even closer to the oval office. what we are hearing is that michael flynn had several contacts with the russian ambassador, one on the charge that he says was from a senior adviser in the trump campaign, the other was a very serious adviser. —— senior. one of the directions to contact russia is said to have come from jared kushner, donald trump's son—in—law. these are obviously us media reports at this time, but it is not an offence to ask someone to get in contact with members of other countries. what is an offence is lying about it to the fbi. and that is what michael flynn has been charged with today, and pleaded guilty to. i think the significant moment is seeing a senior member of the trump campaign, a senior member

of the trump administration walked into court to plead guilty. the other thing that is swelling right around washington right now is that after this guilty plea, just exactly what else has michael flynn told special counsel robert mueller who is investigating everything to do with possible collusion between russia and the trump campaign. given what we have learnt today and are reporting that is happening in the us media to do with jared kushner, which we say is not confirmed, how worried you think the trump administration might be? the official line from the white house and donald trump's lawyer is that this plea today in pockets no one other than michael flynn, that michael flynn was fired from the white house because he lied to the vice president. and he has pleaded guilty to the same lie to the fbi. i think there will be some within the white house who will wonder exactly what contact who had with the

russians and when, and how that will be implicated in this investigation. i think the worry is where all this is going, and which tentacle goes down which road. i think that is the bigger picture here. and i think nobody really knows that other than special counsel robert miller, who is taking his time. it is what he is known for. —— mueller. the former director of the fbi, he is slowly and methodically waking his way through this investigation and no one knows where this goes apart from him. if you want to know more about what might be next for the trump—russia investigation — just go to our website. there's analysis from our senior north america reporter anthony zurcher — just go to bbc.com/news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. violent protests across honduras have intensified with one person dead and at least 20 injured. a partial recount of sunday's election is taking place and final results are expected shortly. the opposition candidate, salvador nasralla, has accused the electoral court of manipulating

the vote counting system. dutch prosecutors said slobodan praljak, the former bosnian croat military leader who poisoned himself in the dock at the un's yugoslav war crimes tribunal on wednesday, died of potassium cyanide poisoning. the tribunal has begun an internal investigation that will focus on how mr praljak got hold of poison. white house officials have indicated that president trump is likely to announce next week that the us is to recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel. critics have warned that the decision could jeopardise peace negotiations, because the status ofjerusalem is likely to be part of any final agreement. police in germany are examining an improvised explosive device which had led to the evacuation of a christmas market in potsdam near berlin. police say they found a suspicious powder inside a metal cylinder packed with nails. although, they believe the device may not have been viable. millions of people download anti—virus software

onto their computers every year to try to protect themselves from hackers and cyber crime. but now the british government is warning that using russian software could be a risk to national security. one of the most popular anti—virus products is made by a russian company, kaspersky, but the company's boss has told the bbc there is no evidence they are involved in spying. here's our security correspondent gordon corera. fears of russian cyber—espionage have been growing and, tonight, the government issues a new warning about the risks posed by a widely used russian company, kaspersky lab. our mission has always been to protect the big and the small... kaspersky lab provides security products designed to protect systems from criminals and hackers. it's used by consumers, and also businesses, and some parts of government. we keep the secrets of global significance... for a system like kaspersky to work, this software requires access to almost all the files on someone's computer,

phone or network, to scan for viruses. and the software may also need to communicate back to the company's headquarters in moscow. the fear is that this could be used by the russian state for espionage, stealing secrets. here at britain's national cyber security centre, they say they've not seen actual proof of such espionage, but they believe there is an increased risk. and so today, they've told government departments not to use kaspersky for systems containing sensitive data. this is specifically about entities that may be of interest to the russian government. and so that, for us, is about national security systems in government, of which there are a very small number. and, for example, if you have a business doing negotiations that the russian government may be interested in. kaspersky lab has already faced allegations that it's been used for espionage in america. earlier this week, i spoke to the company's founder

and chief executive at their london offices about those claims. my response is that we don't do anything wrong, and we will never do that. it's simply not possible. and, er, what's in all these publications, they are just speculating about some rumours, opinions, and there is zero of the hard data. 400 million people use kaspersky products around the world. ba rclays actually offers kaspersky‘s award—winning... in the uk, barclays has provided it to customers, but officials say they're not telling the general public to stop using it. kaspersky lab denies any wrongdoing, but today's warning is another sign of growing fears over the risks posed by russia. gordon corera, bbc news. pope francis, who's visiting bangladesh has met a group of muslim refugees, and used the term "rohingya" for the first time during his

trip to the region. he refrained from using the word while he was in neighbouring myanmar, which doesn't recognise the rohingya as an ethnic group. more than 600,000 have fled over the border to bangladesh, to escape violence, with many being held in camp in cox's bazar. our religious affairs correspondent, martin bashir reports from dhaka. on the fifth day of his visit to south asia, pope francis arrived in typically unpretentious style at an interfaith gathering in dhaka. in the audience were 16 rohingya adults and children who'd fled from myanmar. one of them was 12—year—old shawkat ara. shawkat‘s entire family lived in a village in rakhine state, when the army arrived in september. in recalling what happened, she said: "they shouted, ‘you rohingyas, you bengalis,‘

and then killed everyone. they killed my aunt, my uncle, and others in the village." (cries) "they killed my whole family, my four brothers. my sister and my parents are dead. i have no—one left." the pope invited the refugees onto the stage and blessed all of them, including shawkat. and having not used the word once during his visit, he decided to give a name to the people and their suffering. "the presence of god today," he said, "is also called rohingya." a papal visit brought global attention to the suffering, and comfort to a child who has lost everything. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: hundreds turn out to see prince harry and meghan markle on their first public engagement. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i am feeling so helpless, that the childrens are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippy cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11:00 this morning, just half a metre of rock separated

britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands with and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi over his contact with moscow. the british government has issued a fresh warning about the security risks of using russian anti—virus software. the british prime minister's deputy, damian green, is under renewed pressure after claims that he accessed pornography on his parliamentary computer. a retired detective says he found "thousands" of pornographic images on a computer in mr green's office nine years ago and that it was "ridiculous" to suggest that anyone else could be responsible.

mr green, the first secretary of state, has again insisted that the allegations are false. danny shaw has this exclusive report. he's theresa may's oldest and most trusted political ally, now battling for cabinet survival over claims he watched pornography on his work computer. could ijust ask you to leave? is that possible? the allegations, which he denies, centre on computers seized in this police raid over leaked documents from the home office. now, a detective involved in the enquiry has given his account of what he discovered. i had an exemplary record. neil lewis spent 25 years in the metropolitan police before retiring due to ill health. he has multiple sclerosis. in 2008, was given the task of examining damian green's work computer. the shocking thing was that as i was viewing, i noticed a lot of pornography thumbnails, which indicated web browsing. but a lot.

there was a lot of them. how many images did you see on that? thousands. thousands of pornographic images? thumbnail images. this is the one notebook you kept? neil lewis still has his notebook from the time, detailing what he saw on the computer. there's a reference to briefing officers about pornography. he claimed two other detectives also saw the material. it was legal and not extreme, he said. similar images were also seen on a laptop, he claimed. how can you be sure that it was damian green who was accessing that pornography? there's a sort of phrase "you can't put fingers on the keyboard". so i can't say that. but the computer was in mr green's office, on his desk, logged in, it was his account, his name. in between browsing pornography,

he was sending e—mails from his account, his personal account, reading documents, writing documents, and it was just impossible... it was so sort of exclusive and extensive that it was ridiculous to suggest that anybody else could have done it. outside his home in kent today, damian green protested his innocence. a cabinet office enquiry has been examining his conduct. mr green... i've said that i'm not commenting any further while the investigation is going on. i've maintained all along — i still maintain — it is the truth that i didn't download or look at pornography on my computer. but obviously, while the investigation is going on, i can't say any more at the moment.

one of mr green's colleagues in parliament rallied to his defence, saying the detective's account didn't add up. the pattern of behaviour he describes seems to me entirely inconsistent with the normal pattern of behaviour of an mp in parliament. we simply do not have hours to sit in front of our computers and browse leisure websites of whatever variety. reporter: did you look at pornography at all? there are now questions about how apparently confidential information about damian green's computers was made public. scotland yard is looking into it. danny shaw, bbc news. the european council president, donald tusk, has warned the british government that the eu will not begin discussing trade in the brexit talks until ireland is happy with the uk's offer on the future of the irish border. it comes as the head of the world trade organization has told the bbc that the uk faces a "very bumpy" and "long" road to secure a trade deal.

our economics editor kamal ahmed reports. on the banks of lake geneva, the organisation that holds the rule book for trade around the world and is helping both sides, britain and the eu, as they tread their way gingerly towards separation. the man in charge told me that a hard, disruptive brexit would carry costs. i don't think this is going to be an easy negotiation, to be frank with you. i think it's going to be very tough because of the number of elements and variables involved in this conversation. trade negotiations are extremely complex. they are very sensitive politically. people have talked about what has been described as a hard brexit. would that be a disaster for the british and european union economies? clearly, this is not going to be a situation where all trade stops, there is collapse in terms of the economy as a whole. so that, for me, is the end of the world. but it's not going to be

a walk in the park. it's not like nothing happened. there will be an impact. the tendency is that prices will go up, of course. you have to absorb the costs of that disruption. that question of disruption affects so much in these negotiations. what about the irish border and how to keep it open once brexit happens? in dublin, the eu offered the irish prime minister what amounted to a veto. if the uk offer is unacceptable for ireland, it will also be an acceptable for the eu. this is why a big key to the uk's future lies, in some ways, in dublin. is there any example we can look to which could solve this irish problem? i can't think of a close parallel anywhere else. it's challenging, i have to tell you, to the extent that there is no longer a customs union, no easy solution comes to the mind. here in geneva, and a warning — no free trade deal with

the european union would be costly for the uk. next week, the focus moves 500 miles north to brussels, where a lunch may be frosty between theresa may and the president of the european commission, will try and unravel some of these difficult issues. kamalahmed, bbc news, geneva. the world's majorfishing nations, including russia, china and the united states, have agreed to stop commercial fishing in the arctic ocean for the foreseeable future. once permanently frozen, arctic waters are now amongst the fastest—warming areas on earth. the deal protects nearly three million square kilometres for the next 16 years, while scientific research is carried out into the sustainability of the existing marine ecosystem. prince harry and his fiancee meghan markle have carried out their first official public engagement since they announced

they were getting married earlier this week. they were greeted by crowds of well—wishers as they visited a world aids day charity fair. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. as an actress, she's been used to a public stage. she's accustomed to meeting crowds and dealing with fans. little surprise, then, that meghan markle handled her first official public appearance in her new role with considerable confidence. husband—to—be was on hand, solicitous and supportive. there was a lot of eye contact between them and supportive arms going around each other‘s backs. at times, they met the crowds together, but then meghan branched off on her own, stopping and taking time with people, while harry did the same thing on his side of the street. moments later, they were reunited — the cue for more back—rubbing. this clearly is a team effort and the new recruit seems a natural. she will do hundreds and hundreds of events like this in the years

to come, but she will remember this one, her first official encounter with the british public. and the verdict on her performance? i think she's great. a good addition to the royal family. definitely. yeah. an american! go, mixed kids! yeah, mixed kids in the royal family now. the couple heard about the work of the terrence higgins trust, the charity which has worked for years to help people suffering from hiv—aids. it's a cause harry, now with meghan, wants to take forward in tribute to his late mother. and at a local college, they heard about the effort to help young people keep out of trouble — serious issues to which harry, through a charitable trust, is devoting serious attention. but for all that, there was no doubt who sparkled the most today — the woman with the diamond. i saw her ring and the diamond is massive! it's absolutely gorgeous. just knowing that you're sitting

near meghan and prince harry, it'sjaw—dropping, it's really nice. a glittering future then? it certainly seems to augur well. nicholas witchell, bbc news, nottingham. for the first time since the end of the cold war, the us state of hawaii has tested a siren warning of nuclear attack. siren wails the resumption of a monthly state—wide test was prompted by north korea's firing of a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this week. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm at bbcregedahmad. after a fairly wintry end to november, december has started

on a little bit more of a milder note, and through the course of the weekend it will gradually turn that bit milder. we'll still see some sunshine on offer, as well as a little bit of light rain. a few showers, but not all of us seeing them through the course of the weekend. as we start off saturday morning, this is how things look. one or two showers lingering around the east coast of england and a few coming down the irish sea, affecting wales and south—west of england. a little light rain also pushing across scotland that will be persistent over the north over higher ground. let's look at saturday afternoon. quite cloudy for the south—west of england and wales, a few spot of showery rain. further east across england — you are likely to see sunshine here, although temperatures still only around five or six degrees. some sunshine across parts of northern england, perhaps a little more cloud over the west midlands at times, heading northwards into northern ireland and scotland. the cloud will gradually increase from the north—west, things will turn milder. quite windy for the north of scotland with the arrival of some rain too.

heading through saturday night and into the early hours of sunday morning, that milder air creeps its way slowly southwards and eastwards across the country. so it won't be quite as cold as it has been first thing sunday morning. in fact, most of us start the day frost—free. but it will be quite cloudy in the south as that warm front sinks its way southward, with some outbreaks of rain. but then as we move through the course of sunday, a cold front heads its way southward across the country. behind that, clearer conditions as a ridge of high pressure tries to build in from the atlantic. that will bring slightly milder air than we've seen. colder air is pushed away towards the near continent and milder air spills in from the atlantic. so, as we move through sunday, after that cloudy start to the south with some outbreaks of rain, that should clear away and then we're all into the brighter skies come sunday afternoon. so sunny spells developing across eastern scotland, northern and eastern england too. a bit more cloud and a few spots of rain in northern ireland and the west of scotland, but temperatures for england and wales back into double figures —

something we haven't seen in quite a while. onto monday then. another largely settled day. high pressure moving in. a bit of a breeze in the north bringing a few outbreaks of rain to the north—west of scotland. sunny spells elsewhere. the best of the sunshine towards the east of the higher ground and temperatures around eight to 11 degrees. a similar day on tuesday with some rain in the far north—west, but after that fairly mild few days, it could turn colder again later in the week. this is bbc news — the headlines: president trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russia. the charges were brought by the special counsel robert mueller, as part of an inquiry into alleged russian meddling in last year's us election. the british government has issued a fresh warning about the security risks of using russian antivirus software. the national cyber security centre is to write to all government departments warning against using the products for systems related to national security.

security firm kaspersky lab has denied any wrongdoing. pope francis has met a group of muslim rohingya refugees in bangladesh and referred to them by name for the first time on his asian visit. he had refrained from using the term on his earlier visit to myanmar, which does not regard rohingya as an ethnic group. now on bbc news, click. followed by news watch.