this is bbc news. the headlines. the uk is facing more heavy snowfalls with an amber weather warning issued in many parts of the country. drivers are being asked to be prepared. some roads will be better than others and with any forecast it can change. it's a case of keeching your eye on the media and we will do our best to keep what we can open but with the free that's forecast there will be problems. there's been travel disruption across the country. birmingham and stanstead airports have been closed because of heavy snow. the foreign secretary has left iran following a meeting with president hassan rouhani without any deal to free the british woman nazanin zagari—ratcliffe. the brexit secretary has warned that the uk could still refuse to pay its divorce bill if it doesn't get a trade deal with the eu so number one. no deal means that we won't be paying the money. disgraced celebrity publicist max clifford has died in hospital at the age of 7a.

he had been serving an eight—year sentence for historical sex offences. students could save thousands of pounds on tuition fees with a proposal for shorter two—year degree courses. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. heavy snow has hit much of the uk, causing disruption to roads, railways and airports. 20 flights have been cancelled at stansted airport — while flights were suspended at luton. a number of motorways have been covered in snow — with police asking people to travel only if absolutely necessary. the heaviest snow has fallen in north wales — amber snow warnings have been issued there. in the midlands and in northern and eastern england. let's get this report

on all the latest disruption from our correspondent lee milner. this was the scene on the m25 in buckinghamshire today. heavy snow brought motorists to a standstill. in llangollen in wales there was no chance of people getting anywhere today. this is by far the worst i've ever seen. it's probably the worst snow i've ever seen, to be honest, certainly about a foot deep around and still coming in. the rac says it is currently dealing with five breakdowns a minute and expecting around 7,500 by the end of the day. with ten to 20 centimetres falling in some parts of the uk, gritters have been replaced with ploughs in areas like redditch in worcestershire. as snow continues to fall, the met office has issued an amber weather warning mainly for the east of england, west midlands and wales. passengers at birmingham and other uk airports are being warned about delays and cancellations. 20 flights have already been cancelled from sta nsted.

flying over wales it could be a scene from the snowman, a thick coating of white right across the mountains and lakes. for these children in the peak district, finally a chance to play in a winter wonderland. i like it because where we live we never get snow, it is just sleety. i like snow because you can make snow angels and snowmen and i find it really fun to do. for many it is a time for fun and enjoyment, but with more snow on the way, more disruption is inevitable. leigh milner, bbc news. navtej johal is at east midlands airport. welcome on the sign behind and somebody coming out with cases but it's a — but is there much sign of flights? it's been a miserable scene

here at east midlands airport throughout the day. it's really borne the brunt of the travel disruption here in the east midlands. there was a family i was speaking to earlier arrived at around 7. 30 for a 9. 30 flight and have been waiting over six hours, they can't leave until thursday for their home in france where they're originally from. that's really been the case here because of the snow that fell earlier this morning around seven when it arrived. it's caused the runway to be closed at east midlands airport. we are expecting more news to come later from east midlands airport about what's going to be happening in the next few hours. across in the west midlands, in birmingham, the birmingham airport, the flights have been cancelled there as well, flights suspended. we have learned over half an hour or so that the airfield is being cleared and they're expecting progress to be made on a reopening time over the next couple of hours. here in the east midlands, derbyshire police have been telling people recently to

stay off the roads, stay home if you can. if you are travelling, please drive slowly. the weather is also affecting local bus services, particularly in leicester where there has been disruption. here at east midlands airport we have been learning that around four there will be another inspection of the runway and hopefully we will have better news for a very disappointed group of travellers behind us here in the departures lounge. is it busy there, are there people stuck waiting for something to happen? absolutely. there was a huge queue inside here when we were there earlier. a lot of people waiting in the queue, there was another couple we spoke to who we re was another couple we spoke to who were saying they arrived here ready to go to tenerife, another couple for a flight to faro, they've been waiting for a few hours. another family in almost in tears because they were missing out on a holiday. 0ne couple told me they were expecting to fly out today and back on wednesday. they won't be able to

make that holiday now. the snow has disrupted their plans, prevented them from going on holiday so they're heading back home to derby. a lot of disruption and disappointed people here and we have been speaking to them throughout the afternoon. thank you very much. we will get an update from you later as soon as will get an update from you later as soon as we will get an update from you later as soon as we know what's happening about the airport reopening. british airways is asking people to check for information before heading for heathrow and not to come to the airport unless their flight is operating. there were no reported injuries which caused the port to — the

incident did cause the port to close. people travelling this afternoon have been told to contact their ferry operator to check about disruption. to keep up to date with all the latest for your area go to the bbc news website and tune into your bbc local radio station or bbc radio wales. and we'll have full weather forecasts every half hour — here on bbc news. the disgraced celebrity publicist max clifford has died in prison at the age of 7a. clifford was jailed three years ago for assaulting teenagers as young as 15. he was in the middle of an eight—year term, and it's thought he died of a heart attack. nick higham reports on a career that hid years of sexual predation. the former record company publicist was britain's best—known pr man. the king of the kiss and tell. he gave sensational stories to the tabloids, while keeping other clients out of the papers. in 1989, he fed a story about carmela and her numerous affairs with influential men

to the news of the world. but he had another client, a brothel madam. as far as my involvement was, it was really a cover—up for something else. there was a story involving lots of stars which i was trying to keep out. then there was the cabinet minister david mellor, who'd had an affair with actress antonia de sancha. angered, he claimed, by mellor‘s hypocrisy, clifford took her on as a client. once again, the most salacious detail in the story was made up. mellor hadn't been wearing a chelsea strip. he advised faria alam, the former fa employee who had affairs with the chief executive and sven goran eriksson, the england manager. east anglia? that's abroad! and he represented jade goody when the big brother contestant was diagnosed with terminal cancer. it was the way she wanted it. her life, her death, in the spotlight, because she wanted it to be in the spotlight. whenjimmy savile's dark side emerged, max clifford was an obvious person to comment. i was aware of allegations,

but no one ever came to me and said, jimmy savile abused me. but in december 2012, he was himself arrested. in all, he faced 11 charges of indecent assault stretching back decades. the allegations in respect of which i have been charged are completely false. very upsetting, very distressing, but completely false. i've never indecently assaulted anyone in my life. and this will become clear during the course of the proceedings. it wasn't true. max clifford, it emerged that his trial, was a liar and a hypocrite himself. he was convicted on eight charges. he promised his victimsjobs orfame. instead, he made them his sexual playthings. he'd always been arrogant and manipulative. now he stood revealed as a sexual predator as well. 0ur

our home affairs correspondent covered the trial of max clifford. how different was the image of the man as projected to the tv cameras in his long and arguably successful career until the last few years, to the one you saw in court and your relationship with him as a journalist? well, he came across as a really arrogant man. that arrogance was shown a few days before the trial started when i put ina call to before the trial started when i put in a call to his office with a question about the case going ahead and max clifford himself called me back and tried to charm his way on the phone and dismissing one of the allegations saying it's all a load of nonsense or whatever and that was how he played it through the trial. but as well as that there was this real ha rd steely but as well as that there was this real hard steely intimidating side of him and when he was convicted and came outside court because he hadn't been sentenced yet and there was a group of photographers and people

throwing questions at him and i asked,isit throwing questions at him and i asked, is it time to apologise to the victims? he turned around and he stared at me as though he could intimidate me. if that was a little bit of what some of the women went through who were the victims of him, that gave you an idea of the type of man he was. what he had a talent for was able to play off one potential tabloid story against another. so, i will give you something if you keep this story off the front pages and for a long time hejuggled those things quite successfully. yeah, he did. he was an expert at that. at juggfing did. he was an expert at that. at juggling those particular interests, getting stories that were favourable on to the papers to keep other stories out, keeping newspapers sweet with a supply of different stories and so on. he was the person you went to if you had a story to tell or you wanted to keep out a story or further your career, it was max clifford you went to. what we heard at the trial was a succession

of aspiring actresses and models who we re of aspiring actresses and models who were put in touch with clifford, he went — went to his office and were told to strip, he wanted to look at them and sexual favours and — some of the most disgusting sexual acts took place and some of them were left traumatised by this behaviour thinking is this normal? is this what i have let myself in for? it was a real revelation. did he show any sign of remorse? not one, not one sign of remorse at all. right throughout the whole trial. he was still appealing against his convictions at the time of his death. in fact i think a hearing was scheduled for the next few months. he was clearly protesting his innocence right to his death. danny shaw talking about max clifford, thank you. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has left iran without an agreement on the early

release of the british—iranian aid—worker nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. mrjohnson met iranian president, hassan rouhani this morning where it's believed he continued to press for her release. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe has been held prisoner in the country since april 2016 and denies charges of trying to overthrow the iranian government. but she faces the possibility of a further court appearance today after mrjohnson appeared last month to contradict her claim she was on holiday in iran at the time of her arrest. well, our diplomatic correspondent james robbins told us about the meeting between president rouhani and boris johnson. they spent nearly an hour together. now, borisjohnson's very deliberately said nothing publicly before leaving iran. this is so sensitive. but the foreign office put out a statement saying that they had discussed the full range of issues, including banking matters, and our concerns about the consular cases of dual nationals. now, banking matters could include an outstanding debt of £400 million owed by britain to iran. britain says the money is ready to be paid, and they are only waiting to make sure that they can do it

in a way that is compliant with international sanctions. neither side is linking the money in any way with this appeal for prisoner releases. but nevertheless, you can see that there is a possibility for progress, and that's what the foreign office say they are going to try and build on. labour has suggested that britain should "stay aligned" to the european union after brexit — allowing the easy movement of people and continuing payments to brussels. the party's brexit spokesman, sir keir starmer, said he wanted the uk to stay in the customs union and a version of the single market. the government says it's committed to a broad and ambitious free trade deal outside the eu. susanah mendonca reports. a moment heralded as a landmark deal in britain's eu negotiations, but this was just the starting point for doing the deal that britain really wants with the eu, which is all about trade. and today the brexit secretary gave us a clearer idea

of what the government wants that to look like. if the basic deal... i'm being very crude about this, but is canada plus the city or something like that? canada plus plus plus would be one way of putting in. the trade deal canada has done with the eu took seven years to negotiate and didn't include the financial sector, which is key to the uk's economy. but the brexit secretary says that isn't the only example he's looking at, and services would have to be included in any deal. what we want is a bespoke outcome. we will probably start with the best of canada and the best ofjapan and the best of south korea, and then add to that the bits missing, which is the services. but labour are looking towards northern europe as a model for the kind of deal it would be after. norway isn't in the eu but has access to the single market, and pays for the privilege. labour's brexit secretary revealed he would want a similar setup to retain the benefits of the single market and customs union, but that could come at a price. norway pays money in. they do it actually on a voluntary basis. would you accept it? there may have to be payments, that would have to be negotiated. the focus now is all on getting a trade dealfor britain,

but with varying opinions of what that deal should look like, and the eu unlikely to want to give the uk a better deal outside than it had inside the club, that might prove tougher than the deal that got the government to this point in the negotiations in the first place. susana mendonca, bbc news. breaking news about the ashes tour to australia. ben duckett, you may recall had been involved in an altercation with a fellow player who had thrown a pint of beer over, they we re had thrown a pint of beer over, they were talking about this yesterday on the news channel, has been suspended from playing on the tour after powering the drink overjames anderson in a perth bar. this is the second incident of its kind since the ashes tour and pre—tour build—up period began. ben is with the

england lions, the next team down as it were, and had been given an opportunity to play yesterday but as a result of that incident reported to the team he wasn't allowed to play and was waiting for the outcome of the disciplinary hearing. we don't know what punishment he will receive yet beyond the suspension but that could be punishment enough given that this was his first opportunity to play at the highest level. the manager had made it clear yesterday how fed up he is of having to defend his players‘ behaviour and among others kevin peefter send, former england player, really —— pietersen, really suggesting guys need to get a grip on out—of—hours performance as it were to improve their on the field performance. we will possibly hear more about that from our colleagues at the bbc sports centre. stay with us on bbc news. let‘s look at the headlines. travel disruption across the country due to heavy snow. stanstead and birmingham

airports have been closed. borisjohnson has left iran in the past hour after talks with the country‘s president over the detention of the british—iranian woman nazanin zagari—ratcliffe and other dual nationals. max clifford has died at the age of 74. he max clifford has died at the age of 7a. he collapsed in prison yesterday. students in england are being encouraged to study for undergraduate degrees in two years rather than three. the university‘s ministerjo johnson says these shorter courses will save thousands of pounds in tuition fees — even though universities would be able to charge nearly £2,000 more per year. andy moore reports. it was a conservative manifesto promise to introduce more 2—year degree courses. implementing that plan has proved tough going. the universities say it will mean major changes to their schedules,

with the prospect of the same or less money in income. by the government‘s own admission, the pickup so far has been pitiful, with only 0.2% of students on fast—tracked degrees. the new scheme would see students paying more for each individual year of their course, but more than £5,000 less than they would have done if it had lasted three years. it is a fantastic offer. the same quality degree, quality assured in exactly the same way, provided in a more intensive way. so instead of 30 weeks a year studying over three years, a really driven student, a highly motivated student, could pack in 45 weeks over two years. the government says each student on a 2—year course will save at least £25,000 if you add in saved living costs and a year‘s extra earnings to the equation. and they say demand from students will persuade universities to offer the new courses. an 18—year—old man arrested in connection with the deaths of two teenagers on a night out in plymouth

has been released under investigation. the i9—year—olds had ta ken a form of the drug ecstasy when they collapsed at the pryzm nightclub in the early hours of yesterday morning. the arab league has urged the united states to reverse its decision to recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel. after an emergency meeting in cairo, the organisation said the move was a dangerous violation of international law, which threatened to plunge the middle east into violence. sarah corker reports. another day of violence in the gaza strip and parts of the israeli—occupied west bank. a new round of hostilities. meanwhile in egypt, arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting. there was scathing criticisms of donald trump‘s decision to recognise jerusalem is the capital of israel. translation: it is a dangerous decision by its nature and form, an insult to the rights of the arab countries, and in disagreement with international law. diplomatic relations

between the palestinian leadership and the white house are under severe strain. a meeting between the palestinian president mahmoud abbas and us vice president mike pence has been cancelled. translation: we have taken the decision that there will be no official communication between any palestinian official and any american official. we are committed to this decision. gunfire. in gaza, the anger over the us decision was mixed with grief. funerals were held for two people killed in israeli air strikes on friday. the islamist group hamas said the men belonged to their armed wing. weapons stores and a base run by the militant group were targeted, said israel. three rockets were fired from gaza. one landed in this southern israeli town, israel said. there was minor damage but no casualties. further disruption took place in jerusalem as palestinians continued to vent their anger

at president trump. these clashes have so far not matched the scale of previous mr trump has appealed for calm and moderation. many israelis continue to praise his move, but it comes at a cost of increased tensions. sarah corker, bbc news. 24 2a sudanese women have been charged with independent deasy after a party was raided by the morality police. the punishment can be severe. let‘s talk to our world service africa editor. thank you for coming in to explain more about the background. this will sound to some people rather odd that wearing trousers could be regarded as indecency as opposed to exposing parts of your body. yes, in sudan according to the law basically you are not allowed to

wear trousers or any kind of tight fitting or short skirt, any clothing thatis fitting or short skirt, any clothing that is considered to be an obscenity and form of indecency. that is not allowed under sudanese law. that‘s not to say that people don‘t wear those clothes, often they don‘t wear those clothes, often they do and nothing happens. but then there are rights groups, between [io—50,000 women are flogged every careerfor [io—50,000 women are flogged every career for the way that they dress. [io—50,000 every year? career for the way that they dress. 40-50,ooo every year? that's what rights groups say. astonishing number. in terms of this particular incident, this was a party on wednesday. yes. what do we know about the circumstances? was it the party or the clothing in a sense or both? the women say they obtained a permit to have this party and it was held in a private place. you are allowed to wear what you want in private, it‘s in public that you are not supposed to wear trousers or expose parts of your body. you could dress like that in your own home? that‘s what these women are arguing,

they had a a permit to have the party, why it was raided is unclear as yet. do we know what conditions they‘re being held in? as yet. do we know what conditions they're being held in? it's unclear at the moment. they‘ve been charged. they were meant to appear in court today. but this is a country where women are treated as very much a second class citizen. the fact that they receive a0 lashes and a fine for this crime shows how draconian the law is and how the situation is for women in that country. thank you for women in that country. thank you for explaining that to us. three people have been arrested after an attack on a synagogue in sweden. burning objects, reported to be molotov cocktails, were thrown at the synagogue in gothenburg by a group of masked men late on saturday. the building didn‘t catch fire and there were no reports of injuries. security for all synagogues in stockholm has now been raised. demonstrators have clashed with police near the us embassy in the lebanese capital beirut. security forces fired tear gas and water cannons to repel activists who tried to force open the metal gate sealing the road to the embassy. they are the latest protests against president trump‘s decision

to recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel. california‘s governor says devastating wildfires fuelled by climate change are ‘the new normal‘. jerry brown made the comments after surveying the damage in ventura county, north of los angeles. six fires have destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced two—hundred thousand people from their homes. the flames have been driven by low—humidity and parched ground. this is the new normal. and this could be something that happens every year or every few years, or it happens to some degree. it isjust more intense, more widespread, and we are about ready to have a firefighting christmas. this is very odd and unusual, but it is the way the world is, with the kind of carbon pollution that we are not only living with, but we are generating still, it is still increasing. we have to make that turn. it is going to take heroic efforts. there are many places in this

country that don‘t get it yet, there are several countries of the world that don‘t quite get it. let‘s go to another familiar face. on the balcony is matt taylor. good afternoon. it‘s been a mixed picture in this part of the country. how is it looking over the hours and that all—important it looking over the hours and that all—importa nt issue of it looking over the hours and that all—important issue of temperatures tonight. good afternoon. it‘s a case of things slowly improving as far as snow but cold weather on the way. my graphics have jumped ahead, snow but cold weather on the way. my graphics havejumped ahead, let me just move it back to take you through what‘s happening. it‘s a winter wonderland across many parts of the uk. this was a short while ago in staffordshire. the heaviest of the snow has eased here. we have

seen as of the snow has eased here. we have seen as much as a foot of snow in parts of wales. these are the official measurements, but i am sure some of you have seen a good deal more in places as well. the met office still have that amber weather warning for snow through the rest of this afternoon. you can see the radar chart here, the snow areas starting to fragment, turn lighter and patchier. what you have across southern most counties is rain, heavy rain at that. we have seen strong winds as well. winds gusting 90mph through the english channel today. the rain will start to ease offa today. the rain will start to ease off a little bit across southern areas. it‘s been milder here compared with the rest of the country but we could see even wintriness into the evening, as cold air continues to work southwards. northern half a different story, showers in scotland, one or two to northern ireland but most finish the day with clear skies. but plunging temperatures, some haven‘t got above freezing all day. ice will become a major issue tonight. just about anywhere across the country but especially where you have showers.

let‘s talk about temperatures. widely below freezing to monday rush hour. ic on the roads and pavements, this is what‘s going to happen in some of the countrysides, minus double figures where some have the snow lying. we have that ice risk and frost risk into the morning. also keep an eye on this low pressure that will produce disruptive weather across spain, france and portugal. it will bring some rain sleet and snow to the south—east corner through the day. some of that could be on the heavy side, especially on the hills. gusty winds here touching gale force across the south—east. snow far north of scotland, wintry showers in parts of northern ireland and to the western fringes of wales and cornwall. again a covering of snow. elsewhere, sunny day on monday. raw feeling day, especially in that wind. as the winds ease into the night showers will continue around some of the coasts of the country. still producing snow in places, a covering here and there. inland lighter winds, coldest night of the week in the country side where you have snow on the ground, could get as low as minus 12 or 13, maybe even

as low as minus 12 or 13, maybe even a little bit lower. it does take us into the brightest day of the week. a frosty icy start to tuesday. lots of sunshine around. showers fading for a time of sunshine around. showers fading fora time and of sunshine around. showers fading for a time and then later on cloud increasing into the west bringing rain that will push eastwards through tuesday night lifting temperatures, but a as snow melts we could see a risk of minor flapping too. bye for now. —— minorflooding too. bye for now. —— minor flooding too. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: stansted and birmingham airports have closed and police are warning of treacherous driving conditions and travel disruption due to heavy snow across the uk. borisjohnson has left iran in the past hour after talks with the country‘s president over the detention of the british—iranian woman nazanin zagari—ratcliffe and other dual nationals. disgraced celebrity publicist max clifford has died at the age of 7a after collapsing in prison.