this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. live from our studios in singapore and london, —— donald trump has unleashed a tirade against his former chief strategist, saying he lost his mind after he left the white house. it comes as mr bannon reportedly accused mr trump's son and son—in—law of treasonous and unpatriotic behaviour during the presidential campaign. here, the health secretary has apologised, after nhs england postpones tens of thousands of non—urgent treatments, until february, after a surge in admissions. storm eleanor has brought gusts of up to 100 miles an hour to the uk, causing power cuts, travel disruption and flooding. a realigned in america as we talk to stephen bannon, his right—hand man. and we talk at health secretary about why he has continually missed own nhs targets. —— lock —— talk to

the health secretary. good evening and welcome to bbc news. following his tweet about north korea, president trump has gone on the offensive again tonight, this time to launch a lengthy attack on his former chief strategist steve bannon. what provoked it were reports that bannon had described a meeting between the president's son and a russian lawyer during the presidential election campaign as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic. " it's understood the comments will be published in a book next week. the president has hit back with a statement tonight. claiming steve bannon had nothing to do with helping win the presidency, mr trump says: "when he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind." our north america editor, jon sopel, is at the white house.

i thought it would take quite something to eclipse donald trump's tweet about kim jong—un, it now seems that the president and stephen bannon were engaged in a battle for who has got the biggest boston and the most powerful one. let me read you a little bit more what the president has said about his former chief strategist. steve had very little to do with our historic victory, it does not represent our base, he is only in it for himself. steve was only in a one—on—one meeting with men only pretends to have influenced for a few people. this is an unprecedented statement, president, so why the venom? because steve bannon has gone after his family, and two, because it makes it much more difficult for president trump to deny collusion with the russians when have someone who was on the inside talking about countries treasonous and unpatriotic behaviour will stop there was one source of comfort for the white house, steve bannon continued to be an influence, not any more. he has now been cast out into after dark is and the question is what steve bannon do next? i don't think is

going to go away quietly, he has got the breitbart news website, which continues to be powerful, he is going to continue to be a thorn in the side. it is better to have him inside the tent looking out, then inside the tent looking out, then inside the tent looking out, then inside the tent looking in. north and south korea have conducted their first direct communication in nearly two years via a brief conversation on the phone. north korea said the aim would be to discuss sending a north korean delegation to the winter games in south korea next month. earlier today, president trump boasted on twitter that his nuclear button is "much bigger" and "more powerful" than north korea's. our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports now from the south korean capital, seoul. on monday, kim jong—un welcomed in the new year with a more conventional display of fireworks than the sort he's been firing off throughout 2017. but anyone who was hoping his new year message would carry an offer of peace and goodwill was quickly disappointed. "the entire united states

is within range of our nuclear weapons," he said, "and the nuclear button is always on my desk." "this is reality, not a threat." that was all the excuse president donald trump needed, and as we have now come to expect, his response came in a twitter tirade. so 2018 has begun pretty much as 2017 ended, with the president of the united states and the dictator of north korea hurling threats at each other, while the rest of the world looks on, mostly in dismay. but here in seoul, 2018 has begun at least with a glimmer of hope, because as of this afternoon,

north and south korea are talking to each other again by telephone. out of the blue, pyongyang suddenly reconnected the hotline between the two koreas that kim jong—un had personally ordered cut off two years ago. in his new year address, kim also said he was prepared to send a team to take part in the winter olympics, which begin here in south korea in a little over a month. the us state department accused north korea of attempting to drive a wedge between the us and its south korean ally. and it could be right. but for the 20 million people of seoul who live within firing range of north korea's artillery, any sign that pyongyang is willing to talk is a new year gift they will welcome. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in seoul. the health secretaryjeremy hunt has apologised to patients,

after hospitals in england were told to delay tens of thousands of non—urgent operations and appointments. the health service is struggling to cope with mounting winter pressures. the bbc understands at least one in ten hospital trusts have been put on the highest level of alert in the last 2a hours, meaning they are unable to deliver comprehensive care. the royal college of emergency medicine says patient safety is undoubtedly being compromised. labour claims the nhs is in crisis. 0ur health editor hugh pym has the latest. there's been extreme stress at some hospitals. around 20 in england have been on the highest alert level. that means no available beds and severe delays for ambulances handing over patients. one reason why tens of thousands of non—urgent operations this month will be cancelled. that means patients like dave, who is himself a doctor, will have to wait longer. he was due to have heart surgery today, but was told yesterday he'd have to wait for a new date.

as a patient, i think i underestimated how upsetting it is to prepare for something like this and then for it not to be occurring. and as a doctor, i really feel for all our patients who are going through the same thing. so what did the health secretary, jeremy hunt, have to say to patients worried about possible long delays? i want to apologise for the fact that we have had, regrettably, to postpone a number of operations. we're trying to do it differently this year. last year, we cancelled a lot of operations at the very last minute, so people got a call the day before to say their operation wasn't going ahead. that is obviously very undesirable, so we want to do it in a much more planned way. surely, the nhs can't be running properly under your government if you have to cancel a months worth of operations and outpatients‘ appointments?

well, i think it's important to recognise that these pressures are pressures that we're seeing all over the united kingdom, in scotland and wales. the prime minister said she recognised that for people who'd had their operations postponed, it was disappointing and frustrating. she said nhs staff were doing a fantasticjob. nhs england and the government say extensive preparations for winter were carried out across the system. but if that's the case, the question is, why were official instructions on cancelling non—urgent operations extended this week? here at st mary's hospital in west london, they've planned to treat more people without needing overnight stays. the idea is to keep beds free for those who really need them, but it's been tougher than they expected, because patients this year are sicker than they were. the numbers are largely the same, but the intensity of the illnesses we've been seeing this year actually is very, very significant, and we've really had to work very hard to find appropriate places to nurse patients who've got really very serious conditions. and i think, a number

of things play into this. the weather, as we know, we're beginning to see an increase in the number of flu cases — and all of that builds up to quite a problem for us on some days. labour didn't say what the government should do now, but said ministers were to blame for what it called a crisis. when you've got ambulances backed up outside hospitals, you've got hospitals saying they're overcrowded, when you've got people waiting on trolleys for hours and hours and hours, it is a crisis, and it's because of seven years of underfunding and cuts to our nhs, and the government simply burying their head in the sand. nhs scotland said there'd been a 20% increase in a&e visits before christmas. the lanarkshire health board has, for now, cancelled non—urgent procedures. the welsh government said thousands of hours had been lost for ambulance crews waiting to hand over patients at hospitals. it's early in the new year, and the nhs across the uk is already struggling — and it's patients who are enduring the consequences. storm eleanor has swept

across the uk, causing flooding, power cuts, damage to homes, and disruption to motorists. gusts of up to 100 miles per hour were reported in the pennines, and thousands of homes were left without power across northern ireland, wales, the midlands and south—west england. from cornwall, jon kay has this report. breached — nervous moments in portreath tonight. part of the old harbour wall had collapsed, letting the atlantic seep through at high tide. quite a gap, isn't it? it is an awful gap. sandra's house is right next to the giant hole that's been left in the sea defences. what are your thoughts? scared! yeah, we've just had all new carpets put in, so you know, it's... yeah, yeah, it's going to be a frightening night, i think.

it was the early hours of this morning when storm eleanor smashed away the 20m section. cornwall‘s coastal communities are used to fierce weather, but portreath now feels especially vulnerable. they weren't the only ones. this was galway in the irish republic. high spring tides added force to the storm — a potentially deadly mix. in northern ireland, gusts reached 90 miles per hour, leaving 25,000 homes without electricity. we have to bring in crews to cut the trees, we have to bring in digging crews to pull out the poles and to replace poles and to re—string lines. all of this takes time and effort, essentially to restore small numbers of customers at a time. back in cornwall tonight, the collapsed sea wall has become a tourist attraction. just take a step back, please. much to the alarm

of the authorities. we've just got to move them back to a safe distance so that they don't get their feet swept away from them, ‘cause the sea is a powerful thing, it's a silent killer, it'll have you quick as a lick. absolutely crazy, it looks like a very, very angry sea, and it's got a lot of things to answer to. it's just... i think it's amazing, i absolutely love it, but it's so unpredictable, and it's quite scary. in the end, tonight's tide was slightly lower than feared, and no properties were damaged, but there are already more warnings in place for tomorrow. jon kay, bbc news, portreath in cornwall. a homeless man who was hailed as a hero for helping those injured in the manchester arena bombing, has pleaded guilty to stealing from them. chris parker admitted taking a phone from a teenage girl and a purse from a woman whose granddaughter lay dying yards away. 22 people were killed in the suicide attack last may. the head of the powerful

revolutionary guard in iran, which supports the country's clerics, has said the unrest in the country's towns and cities is over. tens of thousands of people have been taking part in pro—government demonstrations today, organised by the regime. 22 people have died in six days of demonstrations against the government, in response to price rises and alleged corruption. the problem of plastics and the impact they're having on our planet is a subject we've been exploring this week. according to a recent study, 95% of plastic pollution in the world's oceans comes from just 10 rivers. one of them is the ganges in india. 0ur correspondent, sanjoy majumder, reports from the banks of the holy city of varanasi. this looks like a drain carrying sewerage, but it's actually a tributary of the ganges. the waste along its banks choking and contaminating one of the world's greatest rivers. every day wrappers, bottles, cups and other plastic waste is deposited here, slowly sliding into the water and then eventually

flowing into the ganges. for centuries, some of india's greatest cities have been built along its banks, varanasi the oldest one of them. it's only when you come to the ancient city of varanasi that you realise how this mighty river, that's so central to the hindu faith, that sustains the lives and beliefs of nearly half a billion people, is as polluted as it is. the ganges is more than a river to indians, it is sacred to hindus who pray and worship along its banks and cremate their dead in it. from the time it flows out of the icy heights of the himalayas, until it gets here, its crystal clear waters give way to a fetid, muddy flow, contaminated by the millions who live along its banks. five generations of sanjit‘s family have lived along the ganges in varanasi, living witnesses to its gradual degradation. translation: there's an old saying here that the ganges

belongs to everyone. you are free to do what you want, throw what you want, cremate dead bodies, bathe, wash, and you'll achieve salvation. but we are being irresponsible, we do not have the right to pollute the ganges this way. three years ago, the indian government pledged more than £2 billion to clean up the ganges, but much of the money remains unspent and the focus, in any case, is on treating sewerage and industrial effluents. so the only people trying to prevent plastic waste being dumped into the river are these scrap pickers. translation: every day we pick up about ten to 20 kilos of plastic. we have to sift through the rubbish and segregate the plastic. it is estimated that every year, 1.2 billion pounds of plastic waste is dumped into the ganges, much of it carried into the bay