this is bbc news. the headlines at 5:00. after donald trump's former national security adviser pleads guilty to lying — the president insists there was "no collusion" between his election campaign and russia. what has been shown is no collusion. there has been absolutely no collusion. so we are very happy. republicans in the us celebrate getting their tax reforms through the senate — in their first major legislative success under president trump. criticism grows of two former police officers who revealed that legal pornograpy had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green nine years ago. the vast majority of police officers and vast majority of chiefs of police realise it is very important that policing

in our country stays out of party politics. the family of a 14—year—old boy who died after he was hit by a car on the m67 motorway say they are "completely heartbroken". also in the next hour — barclays bank says it will no longer offer a russian anti—virus software programme free to customers. it follows fears that kaspersky lab products could be exploited by the kremlin. australia narrowly beat england in brisbane — by six points to nil — to lift the rugby league world cup. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. president trump has insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign team and moscow before he was elected. it's his first public comments since his former national security adviser michael flynn admitted lying to the fbi over contacts

with russian officials. us media reports suggest flynn told prosecutors he was instructed to approach russia's ambassador to the us by a seniorfigure in the trump transition team. michael flynn, a retired three—star general, left the court in washington to a familiar chant, "lock him up." he'd once encouraged donald trump supporters to use a similar version against rival hillary clinton. the 58—year—old played a key part in mrtrump‘s campaign and often travelled with him. if i did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, i would be injail today. he was rewarded with the post of national security adviser, but was forced to resign after just 23 days, when his contacts with russia to discuss us sanctions were disclosed. on the 29th of december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone in

the first of a series of calls. on the 15th of january, vice president mike pence said that sanctions were not discussed in those calls. only after the 9th february, when a newspaper revealed general flynn did discuss sanctions, did pressure increase and michael flynn lost his job. as part of his guilty plea, prosecutors said mr flynn is now cooperating with the investigation. us media claims he will testify that senior members of the trump team, including mr trump's son—in—law jared kushner, directed him to make contact with russian officials. the white house is now trying to distance itself from flynn's actions and the lies he told to the fbi, but having reached a plea bargain to co—operate, what else has mr flynn told the enquiry and what further revelations are to come? president trump was defiant when he spoke this afternoon. what has been shown is no collusion. there has been absolutely no collusion. so we are very happy.

and, frankly, last night was one of the big nights. do you stand by michael flynn? we will see what happens. thank you all very much. thank you very much. president trump speaking before he left for new york where he is carrying out a number of republican party engagements. meanwhile, us senators have passed a sweeping tax cuts bill after a marathon session, paving the way for donald trump's first big legislative victory. the bill includes a sharp cut in corporation tax and reductions for some individuals — the democrats said it only benefited the wealthy and big business. my republican friends will ultimately pay consequences for this bill in 2018 and beyond. the republican party will never again be the party of tax cuts for middle—class people. with the passage of this tax bill today will be the first day of the new republican party.

one that raises taxes on the middle class, abandoning its principles for its political paymasters. chuck schumer who leads the minority party in the senate. president trump described the move as the biggest tax cut in history — in the last hour he's been speaking about the senate victory in new york. when i first went into this deal, i said its tax reform. not since ronald reagan has anything," they couldn't pass it, they couldn't get the votes. for years, couldn't pass it, they couldn't get the votes. foryears, i couldn't pass it, they couldn't get the votes. for years, i asked why they said reform. that could mean taxes are going up. i called eve ryo ne taxes are going up. i called everyone in, senators, congress, everything. we have to use the words tax cuts. if you want to use the

word reform, you have to use both. people don't know what reform means. it could mean cuts going up. a31 yea rs, it could mean cuts going up. a31 years, they've been using the word reform. we use the word tax cuts. last night, after 52 republican senators, voted and we ended up doing it. we didn't need our great vice president to break the tie. we didn't need my. somebody said started, somebody said before it was over. i don't even care. we got no democrat help and i think that is going to hurt them in the election because they voted against tax cuts. president trump speaking a short time ago. criticism is growing over the actions of two former police officers who leaked allegations that

legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green in 2008. the former chief constable of greater manchester, sir peter fahy, strongly rejected suggestions that it was in the public interest to disclose information allegedly found during the course of an unrelated investigation in 2008. he stressed that the officers were entering "dangerous territory". here's our political correspondent, tom barton. when police raided damian green's parliamentary office in 2008, no—one would have imagined the implications would still be resonating nine years later. the raid was part of an inquiry into home office leaks and no—one was charged. but unrelated allegations, denied by mr green that legal pornography was found on a computer seized by police have sparked a furious row. the allegations were originally made by former met assistant comissioner bob quick. while yesterday, retired met detective neil lewis said he had no doubt whatsoever that mr green had been viewing the material.

it was ridiculous to suggest that anybody else could have done it. but today, the former chief constable of greater manchester police attacked their decision to speak out. most police officers would be very uncomfortable about the police getting involved in making judgments about whether a politician is lying or not. that is ultimately a matter for the courts and public opinion. or breaching this duty of keeping matters confidential, which are gathered in an investigation, unless they end up as evidence. this row matters because damian green is theresa may's closest political ally and it pits his word against those of two former police officers. but conservative allies have come to his aid. brexit secretary david davis warning downing street not to fire him. while this former cabinet minister questioned the conduct of the officers making the allegations. if you think something's relevant, you do it by a proper official means. you do not go freelancing,

as these two officers have done, and it has the smack of the police state about it. i didn't download or look at pornography. damian green has consistently denied the allegations. he's waiting to hear the results of a cabinet office investigation into them. we're told that report could be on the prime minister's desk within days. tom barton, bbc news. a 1a—year—old boy who died after a collision with a car on the m67 motorway in greater manchester has been named as samuel berkley. he was found unconscious yesterday afternoon on the hard shoulder nearjunction three of the motorway in hyde. the teenager was in a critical condition and died later in hospital. samuel attended audenshaw school and in a statement posted on twitter, the headteacher said — ‘everyone at the school is shocked and terribly saddened by the news of sam.‘ ‘our heartfelt sympathies

go out to his family‘ ) ‘it‘s greater manchester police said in a statement ‘his family said they are completely heartbroken by their loss and although nothing will ever replace losing sam they hope everyone remembers him for the fun‘ (ani) outgoing and friendly boy he will always be.‘ let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon. five men have been injured after a car hit a number of pedestrians in brixton, south london. police were called in the early hours to stockwell road. the car, a vw golf, was abandoned at the scene. officers believe the incident occurred shortly after an altercation between the occupants of the vehicle and a number of people outside. the men were taken to hospital, but are not in a critical condition. no arrests have been made. it's feared there could be hundreds ofjob losses at "toys r us", after the retailer announced it would close around a quarter of its uk stores. the move, which would see the closure of 25 shops, is part of a deal by the owners to renegotiate debts with its landlords.

it's thought christmas trading and gift vouchers will not be affected by the move. barclays bank says it will no longer offer a russian anti virus software programme free to customers. it comes after officials recommended that government departments stop using kaspersky lab products because of fears it could be exploited by the kremlin. the national cyber security centre says the advice doesn't apply to domestic users. kaspersky lab denies any links to the russian government. jon donnison reports. cyber—security software like that provided by kaspersky lab requires extensive access to the files on a computer phone or network to look for viruses. our mission has always been to protect... kaspersky is used by consumers and businesses as well as some parts of government to protect systems from criminals and hackers. but now a new warning about russian anti—virus software, amid fears it could be used for spying. keep secrets of global significance... at britain's national cyber security centre, they say they've not seen actual

proof of such espionage, but 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 for us that's about national security systems in government, of which there are a very small number. kaspersky lab has already denied allegations that it's been used for espionage in america. we don't do anything wrong. they are just speculating about some rumours, opinions, and there is zero of the hard data. a00 million people use kaspersky products around the world, 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 about growing fears over the risk posed by russia. our business correspondent,

joe lynam explained why this warning has been issued. let's explain what antivirus software is. this is something that has to go deep into your computer to protect it and has to know where your files are and what is in the file so it is not attacked by malware or viruses. the advice since last night by the national cyber security centre is that they worry anti—viral software provided by kaspersky could make your computer vulnerable. they think that russian hackers could use kaspersky and its software network, they are based in moscow, to attack computers in the west. the us imposed this concern a few weeks ago and the british are now joining it and today barclays bank, one of the biggest retail banks, which gives this software for free to new current account holders, say they will no longer give it to you for free. it is not because kaspersky

are necessarily a problem, it is other people could use them. the concern is it could be like a trojan horse into your computer. these guys are pretty bright. they are first class honours, far brighter than anybody at this table. they suspect yes, there are holes in the kaspersky anti—viral system. we need to stress that kaspersky said they have no links to the kremlin and have done nothing wrong. but, this could have a negative impact on kaspersky sales around the world. what should somebody do if they have had this free software from their bank? should they wipe it? definitely not. the advice from the agency and kaspersky is do not uninstall this until you have a replacement, otherwise you are exposing yourself.

thank you. the headlines on bbc news — president trump has insisted there was no collusion between his election campaign and moscow after former national security adviser michael flynn admitted lying to the fbi. criticism for police after they released information regarding legal pornography downloaded on a computer used by former cabinet minister damian green. and warnings not to use casper ‘s sea laps anti—viral software. the former president of yemen, ali abdullah saleh, has suggested that he's willing to talk to the saudi—led coalition

that his forces have been fighting for more than two years the conflict in yemen has killed more than ten thousand people, displaced over two million and triggered a cholera epidemic. on one side is president hadi whose forces control the land in red. he's backed by saudi arabia and eight other mostly sunni arab states opposing them are shia houthi rebels who have taken the land in blue. they are backed by iran and have built an alliance with the former president abdullah saleh. it's this alliance which appears to breaking down with mr saleh‘s forces now fighting the houthis and hinting they could do a deal with saudi arabia. let's talk to our correspondent alan johnston. it is very complicated with two people who have been president, two groupings and outside forces. what is it that we need to understand about yemen?m forces. what is it that we need to understand about yemen? it is a fragmented, fractured, complex conflict. the big picture is, on one

side you have the saudi led coalition which supports the internationally recognised yemeni government. on the other side, you have got the houthi rebel movement which is in alliance with the forces of the former president mr saleh. it is those forces that are crumbling into violence in the streets. right now, the alliance between them and the saudi for seems to be coming apart. dramatic news today with the former president mr saleh reaching across the front lines to his enemies saying he might be able to talk if a list of far—reaching deals we re talk if a list of far—reaching deals were reached. this could be a turning point. this might be a moment when diplomatic, political, military balance of the conflict is

so military balance of the conflict is so radically reshaped that the country so radically reshaped that the cou ntry starts so radically reshaped that the country starts to move more in the direction of peace. on the other hand,it direction of peace. on the other hand, it might lead to more fighting. a new front line, between mr saleh and the houthi rebels. that is the last thing that yemen needs. the saudis believed that this was a prog for iran and states hostile to its interests and those of the region. then it became mired for good couple of years. is it possible this could represent a turning point? the saudis got into yemen more than two years ago hoping for a swift victory, given the fact they have this overwhelming air power but it simply hasn't worked out like that. one more example of a foreign

ina that. one more example of a foreign in a country, civil war, thatjust hasn't gone the way the invading force hoped it might. we have had this stalemate. a situation people began describing as saudi arabia's vietnam. perhaps this is the most important development for very long time. this idea that there is now serious rupture in the ranks of the alliance that has been fighting the saudi led coalition and the government. almost a year ago, i was talking to a young woman from yemen, a photographer, she was describing how the situation in the capital had been transformed. what is the situation now and what has been happening in terms of cholera and other things going on? we are

focusing today on this major political, diplomatic, military development that it is all unfolding against the background of the most appalling humanitarian situation in yemen. this was one of the poorest countries in the world before it was put through this conflict. there has been a tremendous amount of civilian casualties, almost daily air raids by the saudi forces doing a good deal of damage and a huge amount of hardship created by a saudi led coalition blockade in the north. it is badly damaging the reputation of saudi arabia and those western powers who have supported the saudis in this warand powers who have supported the saudis in this war and supplied them with munitions, namely written and the united states. thanks very much for that update. the us state of hawaii

has tested a siren that warns of a nuclear track. —— attack. siren wails. this is a sound that has not been heard in hawaii for decades. a warning system used during the cold war. siren wails. it will once again be tested every month to prepare people for a possible nuclear attack from north korea. pyongyang says its missiles are now capable of hitting america. hawaii is one of the closest us territories to north korea after guam. and its huge military presence makes it an attractive target. in recent months, north korea has successfully tested a host of long—range missiles. but the latest rocket flew longer and higher than ever before. it is not clear though whether it can carry a nuclear weapon.

applause. in pyongyang tens of thousands gathered in the streets to celebrate. the latest test is a stark reminder of the determination of the north korean leader to pursue his nuclear and missile programme. warnings, threats and pressure appear to have little affect on kim jong—un. i'm not willing to say that diplomacy has not worked, we will continue to work diplomatically we will continue to work through the united nations and the united nations security council and we will be unrelenting with that. at the same time our diplomats will speak from a position of strength because we do have military options. while there is agreement north korea's military ambitions must be stopped, there is none on how to do it. a call has been made for nominations of people and events worth commemorating.

the idea is to mark events that until now have not been celebrated. the heritage organisation, historic england, has already received a wealth of nominations, from battle sites to birthplaces. david sillito reports. the site of the presentation of magna carta. the place where the pilgrim fathers set off for america. and here, the memorial to the landing of william of orange at brixham, in the glorious revolution. there are some monuments to great moments in history, but historic england wants more. there are many plaques to where people were born or lived. it now wants suggestions about events and have already received a few. we've done our research and spoken to people across the country and we've found really passionate enthusiasts who want to see unknown histories marked out. we've had people in retford wanting to mark out where the pilgrim fathers set out to make that more well known. we've had people wanting to mark out the birthplace of grime music in east london,

ska music in coventry, all sorts of people with different passions and interests who want to share their knowledge of the history that happened on their doorstep. so it doesn't have to be just the famous places in the history books — they are looking for sites that capture the whole of british life. quite what the memorials will look like hasn't yet been decided. the immediate job is to find the people who have a passion to honour the places where history was made. a couple of bits of breaking news. the first is a tweet from president donald trump in response to journalists before he flew to new york over the news that general michael flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi and is cooperating in the special counsel investigation. he said he had to fire general flynn because he lied

to the administration and the fbi. he has pled guilty to those lies. it isa he has pled guilty to those lies. it is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. maybe the president knew he had lied before and is combining the two things together? the other thing is, a statement made in connection with the damian green affair. this is from the chief inspector of co nsta bula ry from the chief inspector of constabulary sir thomas windsurf. he hasissued constabulary sir thomas windsurf. he has issued the following statement. the special power is citizens confer on police officers are inseparable from the special trust enabling police officers to do their duty. it requires every officer to respect and keep confidential any

information they discovered during the course of their in investigations. they must keep that secret. the obligation of confidentiality and the duty not to break trust is an enduring one and does not end when a police officer retires. and he is essentially rebuking those former officers, including sir bob quick who have revealed this information. an important intervention from her masters —— her majesty ‘s inspectorate of constabulary sir thomas windsor. martin willis has tweeted about how

he grabbed a vehicle to stop it swaying in the wind as it perched precariously over a bridge. extraordinary the strength that people find in those situations. ben rich has the weather details. you wouldn't expect a heat wave at this time of year but it will be a little less cold, a little bit milder. with that milder atlantic air pushing in from the west, a lot of cloud into the picture. for some it's been very misty and murky. for others, the cloud has broken up a little bit and allowed some brightness. particularly cloudy towards the south and central areas. the skies will clear across parts of scotland.

we could see a touch of frost. generally speaking, temperatures higher than they have been on recent mornings. a lot of cloud tomorrow morning. temperatures are around seven, eight, 9 degrees. for northern england, things brightening up. some sunshine. similaracross scotla nd up. some sunshine. similaracross scotland with some sunny spells. a band of patchy rain flirting on of with northern ireland. the sun will come out towards the south but this band of rain will continue to wriggle around close to the west of the country. in eastern areas, decent amount of sunshine. that milderair decent amount of sunshine. that milder air very much in evidence. ten, 11 degrees. sunday night, some clear spells. patchy rain continues

eastwards. monday not a bad looking day. large areas of cloud floating around but good spells of sunshine as well. pretty light winds, the further south you are. nothing too cold. this high pressure is keeping things relatively quiet. it will drift a little bit further south east and for the middle of the week, frontal systems come into play. another dry day on tuesday but wouldn't stay through to thursday could turn wet and windy. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... president trump has insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign and moscow, after his former national security adviser admitted lying to fbi about his meetings with russian officials. the us senate has passed a tax reform bill, president trump's first big legislative achievement. it will mean a significant reduction in corporation tax, and a lower rate for some individuals.

there's growing criticism over the actions of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. on meet the author this week, i guessed is fiona mozley. the raw melodramatic story is her first novel. after that we can join christian fraser with the national and international news coming up. now it is time for the sport. all the football results coming up in a moment but we're going to start in australia where england came so close to causing an upset

in the rugby league world cup final. the kangeroos are champions again but it was a low scoring match in brisbane, england losing 6—0. adam wild reports. sometimes you have to go a long way to prove just how far you have come. for england, the first rugby league world cup finally more than 20 years but against australia in australia. for those in white there is no tougher task. england hopeful glory and australia expects. this was a lwa ys and australia expects. this was always a battle, brutal at times. the stakes so high the scoreline stayed frustratingly low. only one person found a way through. australia ahead by the tightest margins. england unable to close that gap for that they needed luck. in the second half they found just a

bit. this try ruled out for obstruction. a small celebration but not much more for the england fans. this was truly agonising for the world cup summed up perfectly here. calum walker is cleared through, a huge chance falling painfully short will stop the england players sink to their knees in utter desperation. it is australia who are world champions again. we have come a way the last few years and improved a lot. we will keep improving. very disappointing but we must move on from this. to get so close, england have shown how far they have come. to match the mighty australians they have a little to go. just frustration. failed to execute ona just frustration. failed to execute on a couple of occasions. had a couple of chances. what we have is a

massive team ethic, a cohesive unit. how does the england side move on from here? it has been fantastic working with this group of men. fantastic core of outstanding players in the british game for them we had to build on that, keep them together and push on. it is no good being close if you are not ready to ta ke being close if you are not ready to take the step forward. let's stay in australia because the second ashes test is underway. joe root won the toss and surprisingly put australia in to bat and england's bowlers failed to make the impact he had hoped for in the first day—night ashes test. australia closing on 209—a. our sports correspondent andy swiss is in adelaide a day for ashes history and a decent waterproof. there are a english weather, so might it help england's bowlers ? weather, so might it help england's bowlers? joe root put australia in

to bat. risky. as the hosts cruised out of the box, it looked a strange decision but cameron bancroft run out for ten. when woakes induced a david warner waft, the temperature began to rise. new batsmen steve smith and broad exchanged pleasantries. spilled smith and broad exchanged pleasa ntries. spilled on smith and broad exchanged pleasantries. spilled on the way to his half—century for the england we re his half—century for the england were barely clinging on. as they turned tonight, enterjimmy anderson. anderson strikes. what followed was better as craig overton did this to the world's number one batsman. smith out for a0. easy this test cricket isn't it? soon england we re test cricket isn't it? soon england were reminded it is anything but as australia passed 200 at the close. australia passed 200 at the close. australia with plenty work to do after a day of mixed fortunes. it

was a good day for craig overton, making his test debut for england in the ashes. what a perfect wicket to take. steve smith, the man who dominated the first test in brisbane will stop a moment to remember for craig overton. he spoke about that experience. my dream is all is to play for england. to be in a test tea m play for england. to be in a test team against australia in australia is more special. you cannot put into words what it means. it is that special. to have the chance to play for england is a dream come true. it is nice that my folks are here, for them to see it. painfully i have made them proud. as for australia, their top scorer on day one was kawaja, with the half century. he was there when a web verbal exchanges between the australian captain steve smith, stuart broad

andjimmy captain steve smith, stuart broad and jimmy anderson. there has captain steve smith, stuart broad andjimmy anderson. there has been lots of tension between the two teams that these are the thoughts afterwards of kawaja.|j teams that these are the thoughts afterwards of kawaja. i could not hear all of it. the crowd was quite loud in the middle. i was at the other end. there was a bit of going on. it looked like it switched stephen smith on a bit. i was not sure whether to let go or bring him backin sure whether to let go or bring him back in that he was looking forward to being out there. i was happy with how things were going. a good day for australia after being put into bat. they will resume tomorrow on 209-a. bat. they will resume tomorrow on 209—a. shaun marsh and peter handscomb the not out batsmen. as they proved in brisbane they can bat deep. england know they have to make some early breakthroughs on day two. to the football. we've had the seven results so far in the premier league. the biggest win of the day came on the south coast as liverpool thrashed brighton 5—1.

emre can and two from roberto firmino put them three up early in the second half, and though glenn murray pulled one back, a clever phillipe coutinho freekick under the wall and an own goal saw liverpool move into the top fourfor the first time since august, though that may change depending on what happenes in the late kick—off. there has been a goal in that. i will tell you about that in a moment. it is the best day when you win 5—1. we could have scored more. but it was really difficult. to come in this situation. brighton is doing really well. i am really happy. the early kick—off was at stamford bridge, as chelsea beat newcastle united 3—1. it was the visitors who took a surprise early lead though, dwight gayle putting newcastle in front but the champions hit

back almost immediately. this the first of the afternoon for eden hazard to bring his side level. alvaro morata made it 2—1 before hazard finished off the scoring with this cheeky penalty to make it 3—1. the belgian looking in ominous form a day after they were drawn against england in the world cup, but the points put chelsea level on points with second—placed manchester united. i think maybe the start was not good enough. after1-0 i think maybe the start was not good enough. after 1-0 down, we started to play, create some chances. play with the good intensity, play football. our start was a bit slow. sam allardyce has made a good start at everton. he's won his first match in charge 2—0 at home to huddersfield. gylfi sigurdsson and dominic calvert—lewin with the second half goals. that moves everton into the top half of the table. they really wanted to win it. after finding it difficult in the first half and i think probably a bit of fatigue, because of the game on wednesday, playing the same side.

once we got the first goal, it settled us down. i have to say, defensively, did huddersfield ever have a chance today question i gave us have a chance today question i gave us the platform to win the game. you can see the goal has gone in at the emirates against arsenal. valencia for manchester united. arsenal are three points clear in second for the very early stages at the emirates. we have had nine more second—round ties in the fa cup. calvin tinsley put the southern league side in front in the first half was that they play in the seventh tier. the game finished 1—1. they will meet in the replay.

heartbreakfor they will meet in the replay. heartbreak for non—league oxford city against notts county full survey twice pinned them back but conceded a goal in the last minute of injury time at george grant ‘s feeling the winner to put them into the third round. all the results on the third round. all the results on the bbc sport website. all the details on the fa cup and all the goals. to pop up that over the next couple of hours. celtic are now 67 domestic games without defeat after odsonne edouard scored a hat—trick to help them beat motherwell 5—1 at celtic park celtic‘s lead at the top of the scottish premiership is now seven points. elsewhere there were away wins for hibernian, dundee and kilmarnock. hearts drew 1—1 with hamilton. to rugby union and there was a nailbiter in wales' final test of the year. they tried to throw it away against south africa in cardiff but ended their autumn series with a narrow win.

two tries by hadleigh parkes on his debut helpes wales lead 21—3 after 30 minutes. warrick gelant‘s try before half—time changed the momentum and handre pollard and jesse kriel‘s touchdowns after the break edged the springboks ahead by a point but leigh halfpenny's 66th—minute penalty clinched a nervy 2a—22 win for wales, just their fourth over south africa. leaders exeter beat south west rivals bath in a high scoring clash in the premiership. the chiefs ran in six tries including this one from wingerjames short. bath battled back to gain a bonus point late on. elsewhere there was also a win for gloucester over london irish while leicester lead wasps in the late game. a major shock this evening at the uk championship snooker in york, where world champion and top seed mark selby was knocked out by world number 66 scott donaldson. donaldson, who came into the tournament on a 10—match losing streak, made breaks of 90, 87 and 77 to go 5—3 up. the scot then kept his composure in the ninth frame with a break of 8a to advance.

it will be an all—british final at the wheelchair tennis masters in loughborough after gordon reid and alfie hewett both won their semi finals reid had it tougher against shingo kuneida ofjapan, winning 7—5, 6—a then hewett thrashed joachim gerrard 6—0, 6—2 injust over an hour. i started going or more and more and started to time the ball better. really happy to come through that.|j really really happy to come through that.” really felt strong today. it felt like anything i'd done was untouchable. i have to use that to my advantage. meanwhile, andy lapthorne beat lucas sithole in straight sets to make it through to tomorrow's quad final. another goal at the emirates. jesse

lingard again. that's all the sport for now. fiona mozley‘s elmet is a story that you might describe as contemporary gothic, raw and dark and lyrical with a rich bit of melodrama, debut novel powerfully enough to take it to the man booker short list in the autumn, told by a 1a—year—old, it sets the here and now against a brutal and more elemental past and explores a complex and ambiguous relationship between three members of a family who are all in their own ways different. welcome. it's interesting that in trying to write about the contemporary world, trying to say something about the contemporary world, you were drawn to a wild past, a man who lives on land that he doesn't own in a house

that was built with his own hands. how did you come to feel that that was the best avenue to write about the here and now? i think contrast is always a good two when trying to talk about something very specific, and i did want to address the issues of today. —— a good tool. i think those are brought into relief by considering the history of the place, kind of old ways of living, different ways of living, and i wanted to place those things together and see what happened. to suggest although we think we are more civilised than people were many years ago, that is not necessarily true? modes of reality change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse and i wanted to examine that. —— modes of morality.

i also wanted to suggest that the boundaries of landscape have not always been the same. borders change. they are mutable. by giving the novel an older, antiquated feel, i wanted to suggest that not only things have been different in the past but they can be in the future. the question of ownership of land and property, it produces a very dramatic even melodramatic ending which we won't describe in detail, to spoil it for those who haven't read the book, but let's talk about the plot. it is told by daniel who is 1a, and it is a story that revolves around his slightly older sister and their father. it is a very tight conception. the stage is not very crowded. i wanted to include these three characters and they are all serving a different purpose, by our very different in temperament and very different physically. —— they are very different.

i wanted to explore the relationship between temperament and body and they are all trying to look at each other and thing, how do you work, i can't understand it because i'm so very different from you. the father is a very heathcliff type of figure. slightly unfair, but you know what i mean, there is a strength and fearsome strength about him. the way he feels he can mould the world to his purpose physically. yes. he's a masculine archetype, exaggerated and deliberately exaggerated and there is much about this book which is deliberately exaggerated. he embodies everything which is positive and negative about masculinity. cathy, the daughter, she rolls her own cigarettes all the time. she does indeed. her issue is that she takes after her father in many respects but not physically, she can never match his strength. she is constantly being

underestimated by those around her. daniel is stuck with telling the story which it does worry touchingly and lyrically. —— which he does very touchingly. when you have described it justifies the phrase which you used a moment ago, that it is a gothic novel in many ways. it uses extremists, almost as if it is lit in bright colours and dark extremes. i do see this as a genre piece and i was influenced by the narrative arc of westerns, i was influenced by the setting of yorkshire, and because this plays with the genre there are moments which are familiar in there, in their extremity and melodrama. there's a lot of touching the landscape involved in this. elmet is a place to this day, but it was the last celtic kingdom?

that's right. in around the seventh and eighth century, it was the last kingdom that kept... in england, that is, that kept its celtic heritage, and that was a term which is problematic in many respects, but there is something separate and distinct about it. ted hughes has written about this. ted hughes came from that soil and he did write about this, do that influence you? yes and no. —— did. i read his poems as i was drawing to the end of the project. but i think that they did influence it in some respects. the passion that he instils in the relationship between people and their surroundings, physical surroundings, is one of his great characteristics, and that is clearly what you are trying to get to here, there's a great deal of lyricism in the course of a story which is sometimes quite dark

and spare and even brutal, and the plot, but you imbue this with a lyrical top. i was aware there were so much darkness in it, so much which was a pleasant and i really wanted to counter balance it with some lightness —— unpleasant. i wanted the description of the place and the family relationships to have a warmth and in terms of the landscape it's so much about physicality, i wanted it to be a landscape that you could reach out and touch, something that appealed to all the human senses. without going into the details of the climax of the book, there is a sense with which there is a victory of sorts but nevertheless the book has a feeling of something that has been lost. there is a sense of loss. so much of the book is about a lost world, people trying to recover that lost world.

you are still in your 20s. just about. so, this is a book that to some degree must be seen as one that speaks of your generation. do you think the sensibility you are bringing to this is one which is quite common? that there is a feeling as people of your age look forward, that it is inescapable that something has gone? i think so. certainly in terms of forging a home and finding a place to live, that is one of the greatest challenges. that is at the centre of the story. it is a book set in yorkshire but i started writing it in london, so it has a double identity. first novel, you end up on the man booker short list, alongside the winning book and authors like paul auster, extraordinary. yes, it is. the enormity of it only

hit me at the ceremony, because part of me had been trying to shut it down, and just take it one step at a time, but when i got to the ceremony and all those people around me, that is when it dawned on me, that my life had changed. to put it crudely, it must be encouraging, you want to write, you are doing a phd. part—time at the university of york. fundamentally you want to write fiction and that is not bad way to start. yes, it is a pretty good way to start, and one other thing the short listing has done for me is allowed me to be more daring in the future. there is an issue with who gets to write, the sort of fiction that different people get to write and feel entitled to write and this short listing allows me to be brave in the future, i hope. fiona mozley, author of elmet, thank you very much. thank you.

hello. the rest of this weekend certainly won't bring any sort of heatwave but you wouldn't expect that at this time of year. what it will continue to deliver it is something a little bit less cold, little bit milder. with that milder atlantic air pushing in from the west, there is a lot of cloud in the picture. you can see that on the earlier satellite picture. for some it has been very misty or murky during today but for others the cloud has broken up a little a little bit, leaving some spells of sunshine. as we go into this evening there will be some clear spells. generally quite a lot of cloud. misty, murky conditions especially in the south and central areas. a band of rain moving at scotland and northern ireland into england and wales during the night. behind that the skies will clear across parts of scotland. we could see a touch of frost but generally speaking temperatures will be higher

than they have been on recent mornings. so, at nine o'clock tomorrow, we're likely to have a lot of cloud, some outbreaks of patchy rain across the south coast of across east anglia and the midlands, a good part of wales as well. in the north of england things are brightening up at this stage. some sunshine. a similar story across scotland with sunny spells to start the day. a band of cloud and patchy rain flirting on and off with northern ireland for the little be a little bit troublesome in some western areas during the day. —— this will be alittle bit troublesome. while things will perk up down towards the south, the sun will come up. this little band of cloud and rain will continue to wriggle around close to the west of the country. for central and eastern areas are decent amount of sunshine. on the cool side in the north—east but the milder are still very much in evidence to the south—west. 10, 11 degrees. on sunday night pretty much plain sailing with clear spells. the band of cloud and patchy rain

continues its journey eastwards. on monday not a bad looking day for the large areas of cloud floating around. some good spells of sunshine as well. generally the westerly winds, light winds the further south you are. nothing too cold. eight, nine or 10 degrees. this ridge of high pressure is what is keeping things relatively quiet. that looks like it will drift further south eastwards as we get into tuesday. for the middle of the week the frontal systems will come into play. another largely dry day on tuesday. on wednesday into thursday, for some of us, it looks like turning very wet and very windy. criticism is growing of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. the former chief constable of greater manchester, sir peter fahy, strongly rejected suggestions it was in the public interest to disclose information allegedly found during the course of an unrelated investigation in 2008. sir peter said in his view the officers were entering "dangerous territory". here's our political correspondent, alex forsyth. nine years ago, a police operation

that had unforeseen consequences. this raid was part of an inquiry into government leaks. no one was charged but computers were seized and examined. on the work computer of damian green was allegedly illegal pornography which he has repeatedly said was not down to him. the claims were first made public by former met assistant commissioner, bob quick, who feared they would be covered up. yesterday, this is retired met detective also spoke out, saying he had no doubt that mr green viewed the material. out, saying he had no doubt that mr green viewed the materialm out, saying he had no doubt that mr green viewed the material. it was ridiculous to suggest anyone else could have done it. he examined the computer and thought it in the public interest to reveal what he found. the computer within mr green's office, on his desk, logged

into his account and his name. today, the former chief constable of greater manchester police condemned the actions of the pair. most police others as would be very uncomfortable in the police being involved injudging uncomfortable in the police being involved in judging whether a politician is lying or not, or breaching this duty of keeping matters confidential, which are gathered in an investigation unless they end up as evidence.” gathered in an investigation unless they end up as evidence. i did not download or look at pornography. damian green has always denied the claims was that his conduct is subject to a cabinet office investigation. the outcome is crucial. he is a close ally of theresa may. how she deals this will be closely watched. questions now, not just over be closely watched. questions now, notjust over his political future, but the handling of this whole affair. alex is in downing street. in the past half—hour we've had a

statement from the inspector of co nsta bula ry statement from the inspector of constabulary alex windsurf. he said that the public trust the police to keep confidential what they discover in investigations. he says that doesn't end when police officers retire. effectively, criticising the actions of these two police officers. it doesn't mean there will be any further repercussions. the other aspect of this is the conduct of damian green. theresa may will receive a report about that in the next couple of days and it will be up next couple of days and it will be up to herto next couple of days and it will be up to her to decide what action to take. she will not want to lose her de facto deputy prime minister with the need to assert any authority in this situation. while it is damian green's actions that are under investigation, theresa may will be

just as scrutinised. in the united states — the senate has passed a sweeping tax reform bill, clearing the way for the first big legislative achievement of donald trump's presidency. the plan includes a sharp cut in corporation tax and reductions for some individuals. it's estimated the measures will add more than a trillion dollars to the budget deficit. from washington, laura bicker has the story. finally donald trump on course for a much—needed win. it looks like he