hello and welcome to bbc news — i'm reged ahmad. president trump has suggested he knew that his former national security advisor, michael flynn, had lied to the fbi about his contacts with russia. in a tweet, the us president said general flynn had acted lawfully, but had to be sacked for dishonesty — a charge mr flynn admitted on friday. the controversy comes after mr trump secured what's being seen as the first big legislative achievement of his presidency — a tax reform bill. our washington correspondent, laura bicker reports. donald trump's started the day on a bullish note. he is on course for a much—needed win on tax reform, he brushed aside questions about his former national security adviser lying to the fbi over his meetings with russians. what has been shown is no collusion, no collusion, there has been absolutely no collusion, so we are very happy. but then he issued another controversial tweet, one that could cause him a real headache. he said he had fired michael flynn

because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. it's a shame, he said, because his actions during the transition were lawful, there was nothing to hide. many people are asking why michael flynn, a former three star general, did not tell the truth to the fbi about his meetings with the russian ambassador, as the president said, his actions were not against the law, but mr trump's tweet leads to a bigger question, did you know michael flynn have lied to the fbi? this is a problem because the former head of the fbi james comey has testified under oath that the president asked him to drop an investigation into michael flynn. legal analysts are now wondering if the president was trying to stop an inquiry into his former adviser, knowing he was guilty, in other words, was he trying to obstruct justice? on this vote, 51 in

favour and 49 against. it should have been a momentous day for donald trump, republicans had finally united by a tax bill — a welcome distraction and at last a legislative victory. but now, once again, because of a tweet, the us president is embroiled in a controversy over russian meddling in the us election, a controversy that continues to loom over the white house. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. there've been clashes between german police and demonstrators outside the far—right alternative for germany party conference in the city of hannover. the anti—immigrant party, which recently won seats in parliament for the first time, has elected two new leaders who've strongly criticised islam. both hardliners reject the idea

that the afd should tone down its nationalist rhetoric. the argentine navy says an unmanned russian vessel searching in the south atlantic for the wreck of the sanjuan submarine has examined the first of four shapes detected by sonar on the sea bed. the unidentified object did not prove to the be the missing submarine a spokesman said the search was now moving on to the three other shapes found in deeper waters. state media in syria say their air defence system intercepted israeli missiles which struck at a military installation overnight near the syrian capital of damascus. the media reports also said the israeli action led to "material losses" at the base. the israeli military has not confirmed it carried out the strike. the oscar—winning actor, geoffrey rush, has stepped down as president of the australian academy of cinema and television arts after a complaint about "inappropriate behaviour". the star, who's 66, denies the accusation at the sydney theatre company. more now on yemen.

and the fighting has led the country's former president, ali abdullah saleh, to make an offer to talk with the saudis. he says the talks depend on an end to the coaltion‘s attacks in yemen. translation: i call on our brothers in neighbouring states and the coalition to stop the aggression and lift the blockade, open the airports and allow food aid, medical supplies, and those wounded to travel, as well as those stuck abroad to come back. we will turn a new page and start dealing with them in a positive way, because what happened to yemen and to them is more than enough. we promise our brothers and neighbours that after a ceasefire is implemented, the airports opened and the blockade stopped, we will start negotiating immediately. rhodri morgan has more on how a split between allies has led to the former president offering to talk. there are only fighters

on the streets of yemen's capital and this time, it is allies fighting each other. gunmen loyal to the former president ali abdullah saleh are now trying to force houthi fighters out of the city. the beauty is again scarrede by explosions and bullets. what is already a complex struggle in yemen has become even more so. on one side is the president whose forces control the red area. he is backed by sony states. —— sunni. opposing are houthi rebels. backed by iran, they formed an alliance with the former president ali abdullah saleh. this is broken down with them fighting to houthis. and hinting they could even do a deal with saudi arabia.

is his intense right now but the alliance will continue but the change that will happen is that ali abdullah saleh is more influential. he has the initiative to end the war. a critical humanitarian situation remains. the conflict has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced over two million and triggered a cholera epidemic. people are currently receiving more requests for medical supplies from dual main hospitals. supported by the international red cross in yemen. my my colleagues on the ground are doing their utmost best in order to meet the needs and to help the wounded because of the current clashes. yemenis want the country's almost three years of war to come

of to an end but that may revive the dominance of the man who, until the arab spring, was then president. much of the arctic was permanently frozen but global warming means its waters are increasingly open to shipping. and — you can keep up to date all with the latest news, business and sport on the bbc website. for reaction and analysis from around the world, including up—dated live pages, reports from correspondents based in over 80 international locations, and eye witness accounts; go to bbc.com forward slash news — or download the bbc news app. all the members of the board of the government's social mobility

commission have resigned tonight — in protest at what they say is a lack of progress towards a "fairer britain". in a resignation letter seen by the observer newspaper, alan milburn, the former labour minister who led the commission, said he had "little hope" theresa may's government was capable of making the changes necessary to deliver a more equal society. his three fellow commissioners, including the former conservative cabinet minister, baroness shephard, also walked out. i'm joined by our political correspondent alex forsyth. given theresa may, when she came in, she talked about burning social injustices. how bad is this by the government? it is undoubtedly damaging because she made it her personal mission and wanted to

create a more equal society. she made it a priority for her as prime minister. what really is damaging is when you read the resignation letter from alan milburn in which he says he doesn't doubt the prime minister's personal commitment but doesn't believe the government has the capacity to deliver any meaningful action in that area right now and he in part blames except saying the government is so focused, understandably, in his words, on that and that it doesn't have the capacity to look at anything else so he felt he had no choice but to resign. does this is a any thing about the stability of the government? the stability of theresa may's government and cabinet has beenin may's government and cabinet has been in question ever since. undoubtedly, it all adds to that image that this is a government which is not fully on track, where

people have differing views to a lwa ys people have differing views to always agree with each other and it does portray and paint a picture of a prime minister who is not in full control and that is damaging for theresa may. alan milburn is an ex- labour minister and was due to step down next year anyway. is this a bit of grandstanding from the labour site? he has gone suddenly and tendered his resignation with immediate effect. this is the jockey had since 2012 when he was appointed by the government. —— this is a job he has had. one of those resigning asa he has had. one of those resigning as a former conservative cabinet minister. one is the chief of the charity for social mobility. this is a bigger message than party politics. we haven't had a response from the government on this yet although we understand they are working on one but it is fair to say this will be very unwelcome from their point of view. alex forsyth, we will have to watch the reaction on that one. thank you. 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". alex forsyth has also been covering this story. 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. and on damian green's work computer there was allegedly legal pornography which he has repeatedly said wasn't down to him. the claims were first made public by former met assistant commissioner, bob quick, who feared they would be covered up. then yesterday, this is retired met detective also spoke out,

saying he had no doubt that mr green viewed the material. it was ridiculous to suggest that anyone else could have done it. he'd examined the computer and thought it was in the public interest to reveal what he'd found. the computer was in mr green's office, on his desk, logged in, it was his account, his name. but today, the former chief constable of greater manchester police condemned the pair's actions. most police officers would be very uncomfortable about the police getting involved in making judgements about whether a politician is lying or not — that is ultimately a matter for the courts and for public opinion. or breaching this duty of keeping matters confidential, which are gathered in an investigation unless they end up as evidence. i didn't download or look at pornography. damian green has always denied the claims. his conduct is currently subject to a cabinet office investigation.

the outcome crucial. he's a close ally of theresa may. how she deals with this will be closely watched. so questions now, not just over his political future, but the handling of this whole affair. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. up to 10,000 driving tests could be cancelled because of a two—day strike by examiners. members of the public and commercial services union will walk out for 48 hours on monday, the same day a new test is launched. a last minute intervention by the transport secretary, chris grayling failed to resolve the dispute, which is over changes to examiners contracts. it's been nearly a week since voters in honduras went to the polls for the presidential elections — but the results are yet to be declared. post—election violence has led to at least three deaths during days of protests and a state of emergency being declared. the demonstrations began after claims of election fraud and the announcement of results have been postponed.

our correspondent will grant joins me on the line from honduras. what are you hearing about the violence in honduras? have things calmed down now there is a state of emergency? it seems it has been steadily getting worse from the first protest we now know at least three people have died. there have been scores of arrested. it seems one girl who is still a was shot dead by police. it is a very, very messy situation and one thinks it will get worse before it gets better. a lot of people are staying off the street and there is a curfew between six pm and 6am local time in honduras. a lot of people are very angry about what you mentioned in

your introduction. this electoral result that still hasn't been produced and what they understand and what they perceive as metal in by the authorities. so why does the opposition think there may have been an electoral fraud? —— opposition think there may have been an electoralfraud? —— meddling by the authorities. we are talking about 3.6 million votes in total and it shouldn't take a week for the result of the produced and yet it has. there was supposed technical hitch, that is how it was put by the electoral authorities and in that time, the main challenger moved from being around 5% in the lead to now being around 5% in the lead to now being around 5% in the lead to now being around one point 2% behind. he has already claimed victory so his supporters are not going to set accept anything less than their man being put into power, it seems. ——

not going to accept. someone else has also claimed victory. there is a lot of high ceiling on both sides. what do you think the sitting president is going to do now? —— high feeling. it is a worrying turn of events, the new powers to the police and the military. from his point of view, he will want to see him declared the winner so he can begin to impose his rule again, if you like, his office can take more control, that his party can take more control. even if he is declared the winner in the coming days, i think he will find that honduras is increasingly ungovernable, at least in the short term. i see it very unlikely that these protesters will leave the streets any time soon. are essential —— will grant, thank you.

this is bbc news. our main headlines. president trump admits he sacked his former advisor michael flynn for lying to the fbi. legal experts say the president could now be investigated for obstructing justice. the government's social mobility tsar, alan milburn, and his team resign, warning that the prime minister is failing to build a "fairer britain". 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. 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. 400 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. the youngest patient on the uk transplant waiting list has received a new heart. 8—week—old charlie douthwaite is said to be making good progress following a 9—hour operation at newcastle's freeman hospital. a donor was found after a europe—wide appeal, and just in time — doctors feared charlie had only weeks to live. duncan kennedy reports. a tender moment tracie wright thought she would never have with her baby charlie. charlie was born with only half a heart. hospitals across europe were contacted to find

an organ donor. this week, a heart did become available. and now, atjust eight weeks old, charlie has had a transplant. his skin colour was just amazing. i can't describe it. from going so blue — he was just blue all the time — to being so pink and peachy and perfect. charlie was the youngest patient on britain's transplant waiting list. his doctors say the operation went well. he was extremely lucky, considering his condition and his size, to get a heart, a suitable donor heart, on time. it's not known if the family who donated their baby's heart know about charlie but charlie's mother says they've given her a precious gift. it's the bravest thing anyone could do. they've given my boy a second chance at life.

and for that, i will be forever thankful. i cried for them. charlie is expected to be strong enough to go home in the new year. an unbearable loss in one family that became unrestrained joy in another. duncan kennedy, bbc news. and now here's a sports round up with jessica creighton. it's been a busy day of premier league action but the game of the day, maybe even the season, was manchester united's visit to arsenal. united won 3—1, which means they narrow the gap on leaders manchester city. tim hague reports. under the lights at the emirates. arsenal against manchester united — as iconic fixture as it gets in the premier league. but this game was about more

than history and renewed rivalries. united trying to stay in the title race, arsenal aiming to continue their recent run, but this seemed unlikely after three minutes. a misplaced pass found its way to antonio valencia, and then back to valencia and into the net. a good start for united then became a great one. then another arsenal mistaken possession punished — jesse lingard with the goal and anthony martial with the most magnificent assist. it was befitting of the first half, really, which was open, exerting, and end—to—end. the hosts somehow not getting back into things on more than one occasion. and there were the numerous david de gea saves for good measure, too. you have to feel sorry for the second 45 — it could surely never compete with the first. yet, it did. alexandre lacazette, onside, and the game on, too. there was one big problem for arsenal — de gea pulling off something truly special here. a double save as good as any to keep his side ahead. and just as united were on the brink, they pulled away again.

a classic counter attack, another lingard goal. all they had to do was hold on now. paul pogba did not help the cause, though — a straight red. he misses the manchester derby. yet 3—1 was how it ended. 41 shots on goal in the 90 minutes. an iconic premier league fixture and this was an iconic premier league game. amazing attitude from them. part of the quality from they showed, quality in many things, they showed also an amazing character in the difficult moments of the game. the game give us difficult moment, arsenal gave us difficult moments. they had attacking quality and then, we have also the difficult moment of playing with ten men for quite a long time. so, amazing character by the players. i think they deserve your words — and my words, when i met them in the dressing room. also in the premier league today,

liverpool move into the top four after a 5—1win at brighton. sam allardyce won his first game in charge of everton with a 2—0 win over huddersfield. and swansea are bottom after their defeat against stoke. england's rugby league side suffered an agonising 6—0 defeat to australia in the final of the world cup. the hosts scored the only try of the game in the first half through boyd cordner, and despite a valiant effort, england couldn't find a reply. england players clearly devastated by the result as australia were crowned champions for the 11th time. it's advantage australia at the end of day one of the second ashes test in adelaide. joe root won the toss and surprisingly put australia in to bat, but england's bowlers failed to make the impact he hoped for in the first ever day—night ashes test. england were gifted with an early breakthrough after confusion between the australian openers saw cameron bancroft run out by chris woakes. england then got the wicket of dangerman david warner, three runs short of his half century.

a 50 from usman khawaja settled down the hosts but under the floodlights, james anderson sent him back to the pavilion where he was joined by captain steve smith — craig overton getting a huge wicket for england on his test debut. australia will start day two 209/4. to rugby union, and there was a nail—biter in wales' final test of the year. they almost threw it away against south africa in cardiff but ended their autumn series with a narrow win. two tries by hadleigh parkes on his debut helped 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 211—22 win for wales — just their fourth over south africa. there's been a major shock at the uk championship snooker in york,

where world champion and top seed mark selby has been 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 84 to advance to the third round. that's all the sport for now. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm at bbcregedahmad. time for the weather now with helen willets. hello. it has been a bitter week for some parts of the uk but it is at least a little less cold this weekend. further afield, if you're keeping an eye on the second test in adelaide, it is warmer but we did have some interruptions because of showers on saturday. fewer showers sunday. but still a brisk breeze though. and actually here, temperatures are a little below par. the should recover as we

head towards midweek. despite increasing cloud on saturday, we had some late evening sunshine in kent. i'm hopeful that we will see a little bit more sunshine through the day ahead and slightly less cold conditions, particularly in the south. but at the moment, we still have quite a bit of cloud. it is trickling its way southwards. they're weak weather fronts, really, but they're bringing some patchy rain and drizzle with misty low cloud and hill fog. to the north, yes, the cloud breaks clear and it could turn a tad chilly to start the morning up in the north—east of scotland. perhaps a touch of frost, a little bit of fog here. but for many, it should not be frosty first thing. but it will be rather grey and murky. hill fog around, patchy drizzle, and this weather front may will drag its heels across southern parts of england, across the west and into the west of wales. it will be with us across northern ireland and we may see early brightness. it should be a decent start to the day across scotland. more sunshine here. still a few showers and a brisk wind in the north—east. still the potential for some morning fog and frost in the glens but that should lift and we should see some good spells of sunshine.

gradually, that cloud will thin and break across the rest of southern britain but it may hang around in cornwall, in western parts of wales and drifts eastward across northern ireland to western scotland, so the west of northern ireland may be some brighter spells later in the day. in contrast to yesterday, probably a little bit cooler in the north—east but actually feeling a bit milder further south as temperatures won't be quite so low to start the day. then, through the night ahead, we will see the cloud gradually easing back eastwards but where there are breaks in the cloud, yes, it will turn chilly, but also we could have some fog for the monday morning rush across east anglia, the south—east, the east midlands in particular. but otherwise it's here where, once the fog clears, we should see some brightness and some sunshine again to start our week. relatively mild compared with last week — 9s and 10s — but there will quite a bit of cloud, showery rain coming in, although it will be light and patchy because it is under the influence of high pressure for the next two or three days. this high pressure isjust keeping those weather fronts at bay but this does have our name on it.

this is going to come for wednesday. it looks particularly nasty, actually, some wet and windy weather to keep our eye on. but, between now and then, fairly quiet or benign conditions. as ever, there's plenty more more on our website. goodbye. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has said his former advisor michael flynn's contacts with russia were lawful, but he had to sack him because he had lied to the fbi. some legal experts say mr trump may have then obstructed justice when he urged the former fbi director to drop the inquiry into mr flynn.