‘this is ‘ this is the ‘this is the conduct 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 will claim a victory on tax reform.

we past the largest tax cuts in this country's history along with other things. the vote was close. there we re things. the vote was close. there were so many things. the vote was close. there were so many last—minute changes to the bill that senators had to scribble them in the margins. democrats say the package will benefit big business and the wealthy. republicans believe it will help the middle classes. for the administration, it was a welcome distraction from the other drama. donald trump's former security adviser michael flynn pleading guilty to lying about the fbi about his meetings with russians. the former three star general played a key pa rt former three star general played a key part in mr trump's campaign and lead this chant about hillary clinton which will live in infamy.

ifi clinton which will live in infamy. if i did clinton which will live in infamy. ifidida clinton which will live in infamy. if i did a tenth of what she did, i would be in deal today. if i did a tenth of what she did, i would be in dealtoday. he apologised about lying with his meetings with russians but more worryingly for the white house, he will testify that he was told to contact russia by officials including donald trump's son—in—law jared kushner. the president remains defiant. what has been shown is no collusion. no collusion. absolutely no collusion. so we are very happy. president trump tweeted that he fired general flynn because of his lies and said it was a shame because his actions were not unlawful and had nothing to hide. this should have been a momentous day for mr trump. the republicans finally united behind tax reform but the spectre of the russian investigation continues to loom over the white

house. barclays bank says it will no longer offer russian anti—virus software free of charge to its customers. it comes after officials recommended that government departments stop using kaspersky lab products because of fears they 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. our business correspondent joe lynam is here. hundreds of thousands of barclays customers have the software. what is your advice? for antivirus software to work it needs to have access to all the files in your computer. that in itself may be exposed to russian hacking, potentially maybe even from the kremlin. as a result they have written to public bodies saying that they shouldn't use this software. ba rclays have they shouldn't use this software. barclays have written to people who

have already got this software, 290,000 people, saying what the advice is. we won't be giving this out to new customers either. however, the bank and the national cyber security centre are stressing not to install this software lest it expose you to malware, unless you have new anti—virus software in place. the company are not pleased. they say it is very important to note that the ncsc is not encouraging consumers from using kaspersky labs software. cricket news. australia will be the happier of the two sides at the close of day one of the second ashes test. craig overton made a superb start in adelaide to his england test career. he claimed the wicket of australia captain steve smith on his debut. after being put into bat,

the hosts eventually closed a rain interrupted day on 209 for four. england's first rugby league world cup final since 1995 has ended in a disappointing defeat to australia. they were narrowly beaten six—nil by the hosts in brisbane, who are crowned world champions for the 11th time. adam wild reports. when you have come so far, got so close, defeat can feel almost unbearable. sometimes you have to go that distance to show how far you have come. for england first rugby league world cup final in more than 20 years. but no tougher test than australia in australia. from the very first, it was always a battle, brutal at times. james graham feeling the full force and bearing the scars. the scoreline remained frustratingly low. australia ahead

by the tightest margin and england unable to close that gap. the world cup summed up perfectly in one agonising moment. kallum watkins finally clear a huge chance but falling painfully short with a very faint final touch. commentator: english players sink tavernier ‘s budget is australia who are champions again. very disappointment but we have to move from this. england have shown how far they have come but to match the mighty australians, england still have just a little further to go. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel, we are back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one its time for the news where you are. goodbye. hello. this is bbc news.

president trump has insisted the actions of former national security advisor michael flynn during the transition after the us presidential election were "lawful". in his first public comments since his mr flynn admitted lying to the fbi over contacts with russian officials — the president insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign team and moscow before he was elected. meanwhile, the us senate has passed a sweeping tax reform bill, paving the way for the first big legislative achievement of donald trump's presidency. let's talk to our correspondent laura becker in washington. the latest from the president is this tweet affectively saying that in the time he worked for the administration he was a good chap and anything he did was nothing to do with the administration. curiously, he says that the reason

he fired general flynn was notjust because of lying to the vice president but to the fbi which we didn't know about. exactly right. right now, a number of lawyers on social media are looking at this tweet saying what on earth has the president done? has he landed himself in hot water? if president trump knew he lied to the fbi, why did he go to the fbi director and asked him to drop the investigation and let it go? there is a worry that this tweet might have landed the president in serious hot water with regards to legal issues but when it comes to the actual premise of the tweet, what he is trying to say, he fired michael flynn for the same lies that he appeared in court for and said that michael flynn's actions during the transition, talking to russians were lawful,

which they were. the unlawful act was lying to the fbi. the other question is why did michael flynn see the need to lie to the fbi and where else did he feel the need to ta ke where else did he feel the need to take those lies? did he tell the president about those meetings with russians. we do not yet know. robert mueller who is in charge of this investigation is collating all the evidence and methodically working through it. one alan bliss said that friday was the best of days and also the worst of it for donald trump. the best of it was when the senate passed the tax legislation. the best of it was when the senate passed the tax legislationm the best of it was when the senate passed the tax legislation. it was dawn by the time they actually got to the vote and it has been a real night of political wrangling. some

of the amendments to the bill were handwritten in the margins. there has been a lot of toing and froing trying to get this bill passed. it isa trying to get this bill passed. it is a huge victory for republicans. they finally seem united around tax reform which is something they haven't been united over in the last ten months of donald trump's presidency. donald trump will see it asa presidency. donald trump will see it as a victory because he wants tax reform but this bill contains a lot of wishes and it is still a long way to go. there are two bills on the way, one in the house and one on the senate and they will have to be collated and more wrangling to get the bill through both houses but it paves the way for a victory and donald trump certainly believes it is tremendous. for republicans, we had bob corker saying that this is going to add to the deficit and therefore it is not fiscally

responsible. that used to be something a lot of conservatives said. people might be surprised more of them are not objecting to legislation of this kind? why is it so legislation of this kind? why is it so important to get this legislation through? is it because congress has nothing to show for the last year of government. it is something they can get behind and have promised voters for a long time. you need to look around the corner. the 2018 midterms. so far, the republicans even though they have the house, the senate and the white house have been unable to say what they have done. finally there is a mixture of week really need to get this through and 110w really need to get this through and now we can offer hope that it will benefit the middle classes. that is what they are saying. plus, this huge cut in corporation tax that they can promise businesses which they can promise businesses which they say will help the economy boomed. it is a mixture of hope and

fear that led senators to put their name to this bill and perhaps they may feel they can amend it along the way. there is a lot of wrangling going on but at the end of the day they can say to the electorate that they can say to the electorate that they did something. indeed they did. thank you very much. earlier i spoke to mallory factor — senior visiting fellow at the university of oxford — about both the allegations of collusion between the trump administration and russia, and what the tax cuts would mean for america. this is a major change that is going to be affecting everyone. but also this corporate tax rate that everyone is yelling and screaming about that has been brought down, america is one of the highest in the world at 35%. the tax rate here is 19% for corporations. what has been happening is corporations keep their money in other countries. that is something president trump has criticised before. and by bringing the tax rate down

he has a shot at getting some of that money back. i was talking tojeffrey kaufmann, the former us network correspondent a little earlier and he was saying it is fine to have this tax cut, but it is loaded towards the wealthy americans. does that help middle americans very much? also there is this sunset clauses where it will expire, whereas the corporate tax cut is for life. firstly i believe you should not have sunset clauses in tax. it causes major dislocation in business and what people are going to do. you need consistency. whatever that is, you need it. but more important a lot of people will benefit including the middle—class. yes, the upper earners will benefit as well and that bothers a lot of the so—called socialists.

but the big benefit will come to that middle class. let me ask you about the kind of cost of it. we are told it will add 1.4 trillion over ten years to the 20 trillion national debt. we have one republican senator who would not vote for it. he said as a fiscal conservative... officially a republican, but he is a fiscal conservative and he's saying i do not think the figures add up. it is a legitimate concern. it is more than a legitimate concern. that has been one of the cornerstones of the republican agenda, bringing the debt down, not increasing it. the trump administration says because of this tax cut business will pick up and you will get more taxes overall. i think it will be negative, i think it will increase our debt and that is a significant problem.

we have to bring that debt down because what we are doing is putting the debt on the back of our children and grandchildren and you are doing that right here as well! let me ask you about michael flynn's confirmation that he lied to the fbi, having already lied to the vice president and got sacked for it. now he is saying he was directed by someone senior in the transition team to actually make these approaches to russia. it has been widely reported that that person was jared kushner, the president's son—in—law. should the president be worried? absolutely, but we are talking about a guy who generally lies. michael flynn? he said he lied to the vice president and now he says he lied to the fbi and he will be fingering other people to save his own neck. it has been about a year already.

mueller has to move forward on issues about the ukraine and money—laundering that go way back before the campaign. long before he was a candidate. when the president says there was no collusion do you think he can stand behind those remarks? if he does not or if he cannot, there will be a constitutional crisis in america. i worry about america. trump was elected by a very significant majority in our way. the electoral college. i hope that for the sake of america that is not the case, that there is collusion. i think it will be very hard to prove. i think mueller has to wrap this thing up. it is starting to look bad, particularly when he has only been able to get michael flynn. professor mallory factor. for the first time since the end

of the cold war, the us state of hawaii has tested a siren that warns of a nuclear attack. the resumption of a monthly test follows the recent firing of long—range missiles by north korea. laura westbrook reports. 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. 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 nuclear ambitions must be stopped, there is not on how to do it.

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 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. that alliance now appears to breaking down with mr saleh‘s forces now fighting the houthis in the capital san'aa. caroline anning is a senior conflict and humanitarian advocacy advisor with save the children and joins us on webcam from sana'a. i know you have had a very difficult night since last night. tell others

about that. you and other people in the city are feeling the consequences of this falling out. the city are feeling the consequences of this falling outm has been a very difficult night in san'aa with a very heavy fighting. it really escalated last night. about three in the morning we decided to move down to the basement in our building. we are lucky to have a secure space to move to. other people are not so lucky. it has been very heavy fire, gunshots still being heard now from outside here. it's a real worry for children in families here. it's a real worry for children infamilies in here. it's a real worry for children in families in the cities who do not have a safe space to go to and cannot go out and get food, water and medical care. particularly this is on top of a situation where many people do not know where their next meal is coming from. we have a bank

to provide cash transfers to vulnerable families and it is in fla mes vulnerable families and it is in flames tonight. it is a really worrying situation. even without this current outbreak of violence, this current outbreak of violence, this situation from sana'a has been bad for quite some time is in terms of the supply of food and clean drinking water. the un announced yesterday that yemen is the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, directly as a result of this conflict. there has been a blockade imposed recently by saudi arabia who are fighting in the conflict which has stopped fuel coming in. water trucks have stopped running, sanitation plants have stopped running. hospitals have two shot off their generators. it is really worrying and to have this escalation

now, i can't imagine what it is like forfamilies huddled now, i can't imagine what it is like for families huddled in now, i can't imagine what it is like forfamilies huddled in their basements wondering what is going to happen to them. we just have to hope that out of this will come some better situation. if there were a possibility of president saleh talking to the saudi led coalition, you would hope it would create circumstances for a ceasefire which would make it safe for organisations such as yours to operate on the streets again? that's absolutely what we hope. any kind of negotiations is positive. any dialogue. what's happening outside doesn't sound like dialogue, u nfortu nately. doesn't sound like dialogue, unfortunately. the hope is that all the sides can come together, not just the former president saleh but the houthi who are fighting here. it's the only way out of a brutal war that has brought the country to its knees. a negotiated political

settlement. save the children is there with the other aid agencies, running food centres, clinics, fixing water networks. we cannot save the country. 130 children are dying each day due to preventable causes. we need to pick it up, agree a ceasefire and do what is best for the people of yemen. in terms of the malnutrition problem and the impact of children, how quickly do you need to be able to provide fresh nutrition for a child, to build them up nutrition for a child, to build them up again before the damage becomes permanent? it varies from case to case but quickly. there's a significant number of under fives in yemen, half a significant number of under fives in yemen, halfa million, really shocking number, with acute malnutrition. it's the most extreme form of malnutrition where without

swift intervention for a number of months, they will die. either of starvation or associated diseases. their immune systems are so weakened. we see this happening across yemen every day. a lot of families are really on the brink. in this situation where they cannot get the supplies through to them that day, they cannot get out to buy food 01’ day, they cannot get out to buy food or water or get cash grants, it can push people over the edge. they are very vulnerable. it is really important that the world wakes up to what is happening here and the warring parties wake up to what is happening to the people. warring parties wake up to what is happening to the peoplem warring parties wake up to what is happening to the people. if they do survive, what are the effects of the long—term damage that mean they may not develop in the way they should have developed? it's a really big concern. we see millions of children

who were stunted because they were malnourished in childhood. it affects physical development and mental development. and they can never reverse that? we can if we have the right intervention later down the line with decent nutrition and health care. we have many healthy and happy children who have benefited from that. i wouldn't want to say it is impossible but there are cases where such acute malnutrition has affected them throughout the rest of their life. it's something that we want to avoid. a generation in yemen with hugely malnourished children. thank you very much for talking to us live from the capital of yemen. we hope you and your colleagues stay safe. the scottish children's commissioner

is considering legal action over the roll out of the new universal credit benefit. bruce adamson has said it's unacceptable so many children are being forced into poverty. the department for work and pensions says that under the system people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer. mr adamson explained why he was considering taking action. social security is a human rights and these actions are having a disproportionate effect on children. it is essential to access education and to develop as a human being. it cuts to the heart of human dignity and we are seeing as we approach the winter months real challenges around the way universal credit and sanctions associated are affecting young people. what you want to see

don? we need urgent change and political leadership. we need to be reminded that social security is a human right. we wrote to the chancellor a few weeks ago asking foran chancellor a few weeks ago asking for an urgent change to the freeze on benefits, asking for a reversal of the decision in relation to universal credit just of the decision in relation to universal creditjust being of the decision in relation to universal credit just being applied to two children. looking at the amount of time it takes to get universal credit. it has moved to five weeks but it is still too long. that has a real effect on getting food on tables in households. would you consider legal action? we are engaging with the government at uk level and in scotland we have the child poverty bill going through and we are bringing in new social security legislation in scotland. we have to look at when children's

rights are being put at risk. we are launching an enquiry into food and security and that will come with real recommendations to take forward but we cannot rule out further action taken. we are going to take a look at the weather prospects. i couldn't help noticing that bruce adamson was a kiwi. we're going to ask ben about the weather prospects. it's going to be nice in new zealand tomorrow with highs of 23 degrees. you're going to be wishing for that after the weather we have had late. there's been a lot of cloud today but some others got to enjoy the sunset with some breaks in the cloud. tonight lodi conditions,

misty, drizzly conditions. rain sinking southwards as well. we could see a patchy frost but for the majority it is not going to be particularly cold. cloud and patchy rain in the south, gloomy first thing but mild. for many, of sunshine, more than today. one finger of cloud with a view spots of rain into western areas. it will be cool in the north—east but 11 degrees down in the south. somewhat higher temperatures staying into monday and tuesday. there will be a lot of cloud and some sunshine as well. once we get back into the rest of the week, we go back into the cold.