welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: president trump admits he sacked his former advisor michael flynn for lying to the fbi. critics say the president could be investigated for obstructing justice. republicans in the us senate claim a major victory as they push through the biggest package of tax cuts in decades. as clashes continue in yemen, the former president, whose forces are fighting the saudi—led coalition, says he's ready to talk. hello and welcome to bbc news. 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 tweet now has analysts asking questions about the possibility of obstruction ofjustice. 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 hanover. the anti—immigrant party, which recently won seats in parliament for the first time, has elected two new leaders alexander gauland and jorg meuthen, 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. fighting has continued in the fourth day in yemen. the two groups have been fighting a study led alliance. he has now said he would be ready to

turn the page. saudi arabia has welcomed his suggestion to talks. 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 davies 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 of ancient sana'a is again scarred by explosions and bullets. what's already a complex struggle in yemen has become even more so. on one side is president president hadi whose forces control the land in red. he is backed by saudi arabia and eight other mostly sunni arab states. opposing them are shia houthi rebels. backed by iran, they built an alliance with former president saleh. though this alliance appears to be breaking down, with mr saleh‘s forces now fighting the houthis and hinting they could even do a deal with saudi arabia. the alliance between the houthis and saleh will not end. yes, it's very tense right in sana'a, but the alliance will continue but the only change that will happen is that saleh right now is more influential, more powerful and has the power to announce the initiative to end the yemeni war. a critical humanitarian

situation remains. the conflict has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced over two million and triggered a cholera epidemic. the latest violence adds only further pressure. we are currently receiving more requests for medical supplies from dual main hospitals. supported by the international red cross in yemen. 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 to an end but that may revive the dominance of a man who, until the arab spring, spent 33 years as their president. the deal covers an area roughly the

size of the mediterranean sea and is expected to last for 16 years. in that time, research will be carried out into the existing marine ecosystem. much of the arctic was once permanently frozen, but global warming means the waters of increasingly open to shipping. 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, go to bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. stay with us here on bbc news, still to come: the remarkable story of charlie, the eight—week—old baby who's had a heart transplant. 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. earlier i spoke with our political correspondent alex forsyth who explained how damaging this is for the government. it is undoubtedly damaging. theresa may made it her personal mission. she said she wanted to create a more equal society. she made it a priority to her as prime minister. i

think what really is damaging is when you read the resignation letter from alan milburn in which he says he does not doubt be prime minister's personal commitment to social justice, but he minister's personal commitment to socialjustice, but he doesn't believe the government has the capacity to make that happen to deliver any meaningful action in that area right now. here in part blames a brexit, saying the government is so focused, understandably in his words, that it does not have the capacity to look at anything else. so he feels he did not have any choice but to resign. does it say anything about the stability of theresa may's government? herauthority, the stability of her cabinet and the government has been in question ever since the election. this is not the same as a resignation of cabinet ministers that we have had of late. and it has to the