this is bbc news. the headlines at two: president trump insists he is a "very stable genius", and the us secretary of state says he's never questioned donald trump's mental health. i've never questioned his mental fitness. i have no reason to question his mental fitness. the victims' commissioner calls for an overhaul of the parole system in the wake of the release of serial sex attackerjohn worboys. new figures reveal women earn more than 15% less than men at a number of major companies. panic and confusion as two planes collide on the ground at toronto's pearson airport, sparking a fire. also in the next hour: in north america, the east coast shivers. record—breaking low temperatures of minus a0 degrees celsius are expected. at least 19 people have died since a powerful blizzard hit much of the region on thursday.

australia pile on the runs to take firm control of the fifth and final ashes test in sydney — england's bowlers only pick up two wickets all day. and the story of a kenyan woman who celebrated her 117th birthday last year, told by her own great granddaughter. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. president trump has rejected suggestions by the author of a controversial new book that he is mentally unfit for the white house. in a series of tweets, mr trump called himself a ‘very stable genius.‘ and he said his two

greatest assets in life had been his mental stability and being smart. it follows the publication of a book by michael wolff that said many of the president's staff view the president as childlike. jessica parker reports. boarding a flight to camp david for high—level meetings, and here's the image trump's team is trying to project — order, professionalism, control. getting on with the job of running the most powerful country in the world. but it's all being overshadowed by this book, its contents forcing the us secretary of state into a remarkable statement. for i've never questioned his mental fitness, i have no reason to question his mentalfitness. we have different management styles. how i make decisions, how i process information, i have to learn how he takes

information in and processes it and makes decisions. and now the president has tweeted: so, why has the president of the united states had to assert his own mental competence? fire and fury quotes trump's former top aide steve bannon, he is cited as describing a meeting between a russian lawyer and mr trump's son donald junior as "treasonous." it's one of many supposed revelations painting a picture of a chaotic white house. a claim also that white house staff saw president trump as a child. they all come to the conclusion, gradually at first then faster and faster, that something

was unbelievably amiss here, that this was more peculiar than they ever imagined it could be. but the president, as ever, has offered up a robust response overnight, tweeting: but no matter what words come from president trump, he will likely struggle to drown out these volumes. jessica parker, bbc news. a lawyer who represented victims of the serial sex offender, john worboys, says some of her clients, whose cases weren't taken to trial, want prosecutors to re—examine the evidence. worboys, a former black—cab driver, is being freed after serving ten years in jail. he was convicted of 19 offences, although at the time police said they believe he attacked more

than 100 women. tom burridge reports. the decision to release rapist john worboys has raised profound questions about the way sexual crimes against women are investigated and whether the procedures for releasing criminals need changing. worboys picked up young women in his black cab. he duped and drugged them and then carried out his attacks. he was convicted of 19 offences in 2009 and given an indefinite sentence. in total, more than 100 women said worboys tried to drug and assault them. allegations made by some women were investigated but not pursued at the time. now calls that their evidence should be considered again. i think women just wantjustice and want their voices to be heard. they came forward and gave their statements to police, the cps said, don't worry, we won't prosecute in relation to your case because he will be

in prison for a long time and given an indeterminate sentence and will be locked away. they now want their case given the proper scrutiny it deserves, and for there to be a decision made as to whether the prosecution will be brought in their cases. under law, we cannot know why the parole board has decided worboys no longer poses a risk to the public, but many argue the system should change so his victims know why he is being released. tom burridge, bbc news. earlier shaun ley spoke to baroness helen newlove, the victims' commissioner for england and wales. she's spoken to thejustice secretary and told him he needs to look again at legislation so victims don't feel excluded from the parole process. when you go for an appeal hearing, there is a judgment that's in the public domain, and i have been

asking that parole boards should give a similarjudgment so that there is that open transparency, because it is very much a every closed hearing. victims can go and give their statement to a parole hearing, or they can do video link, and we just then wait for this letter 01’ this telephone call to notify you of the decision that has been made. so, ijust think the time is right, and if the government need to change the law, they need to change the law is so that it is open and transparent and no longer is it a closed decision. on this question of the victim contact scheme, a number of people complained that they had no idea that worboys was facing parole until basically they heard it on the news or saw it on the news. the parole board has then turned round and said, look, that may be the case, but everybody who has been recorded as a victim will be told, look, we can keep in contact with you however you want to do it, whether that's by post, e—mail or telephone.

in some cases, they have been sent by post, and maybe the letters haven't arrived, possibly people have changed address. in other cases, people have chosen not to be contacted. presumably, these are quite real issues in terms of dealing with victims. these are real issues, and notjust with this case. there are many victims who write in and i have been working on this with probation. it's not as simple as that. when you are introduced and asked to go on the victim contact scheme, it comes at the most rawest time, and for me, we need to look at how we better engage with victims to allow them the time to reflect, and to allow them then to engage with probation officers, to say, i would like that. and if they do get involved, well, we have got to check on their postal addresses, check that they are updated. you can't just then, maybe six years down the line, pop up an address and they may have moved and there are circumstances become completely different. and it is very, very... it is a raw area. you are kind of picking the scab off again.

so, we have to get better at how the victim contact scheme engages. i'd prefer to opt out, not in, so then we don't lose that information. as i say, this review, and i spoke to the secretary of state last night, we have got to look at the victim contact scheme as well as the parole board and the decisions they make. and if legislation needs to be changed, we need to do that, and i'll work very closely with nick. but also, with probation with the victim contact scheme, we've got to ensure. there is also another point: there were victims there that didn't have a conviction, but their files were late. i also believe they should have the support, because there is going to be nothing worse than hearing this daily, when they've not been contacted, and they could be very frightened that they'll bump into him in the street and whatever. we have got to have a thorough review now of seeing how we can look at victims on a discretionary basis. 0ne brief question — you say you spoke to presumably the justice secretary,

david liddington. yes. did he give you any reassurance about changes that could be coming? the reassurance is that he knows he needs to look at that, and as i say, it was just one phone call. that doesn't mean to say that it's the end of it. when i go back on monday, there was something that i want to speak to his office, and his office are going to speak to mine. more how on one of oui’ top stories today. women in britain are paid on average 18% per hour less than men, according to figures released by large companies. at the airline easyjet women earn 52% less per hour than men. and at virgin money the gap is 33%. the company with the biggest gap to publish so far is the women's clothing chain phase eight. the shop pays its women staff on average 65% less an hour than their male colleagues. the leader of the women's equality

party, sophie walker, has been telling us that the problem is very deep rooted. i think there is a vast difference between the small number of companies that have come forward and said they would take action and the ones saying that this is just what it is. what would fundamentally help is an understanding of where this comes from, and it comes from an education system that is still occupationally segregating girls and boys by saying that boys are better leaders, engineers and scientists and girls are much better carers, and girls are much better carers, and we don't value care, we don't pay it or invest in it. we have a huge problem with childcare, because we have the most expensive childcare in the world in the uk. i would like to see some of these ceos lobbying the government to say, here is the size of our pay gap, here is what we can do about it. you need to invest

in childcare and make it affordable. it isa in childcare and make it affordable. it is a vital motor for economic growth. the united nations has been discussing iran after the united states called for an emergency meeting of the security council to discuss the anti—government protests in the country. china and france said the unrest was not a threat to international security, while russia accused the us of abusing its position. barbara plett usher reports. nikki haley warned iran that the world was watching its response to the anti—government protests. she used the platform of the un to amplify the message of president trump, who's been tweeting support for the iranian demonstrators. the iranian people will determine their own destiny, and let there be no doubt whatsoever, the united states stands unapologetically with those in iran who seek freedom for themselves, prosperity for their families, and dignity for their nation. this unusually robust stance on human rights from the trump

administration coincides with a policy to curb what it sees as iran's malign influence in the middle east. the iranian ambassador called the meeting a farce. he repeated charges the protests were directed from abroad. there is a long history of bullying at the un, but this is a preposterous example, the purely internal affairs of a nation, in this case protesting that the iranian government has addressed with utmost respect for the rights of the protesters and with every attempt to deal with it peacefully despite violent infiltrators. 0ther council members urged tehran to allow free and peaceful demonstrations, and the russian ambassador accused the us of playing politics. some suggested it was not an internal matter, not a threat. the russian ambassador accused the

americans of playing politics. translation: mr president, the real reason for convening today's meeting is not an attempt to protect human rights or promote the interests of the iranian people, but rather as a veiled attempt to use the current moment to continue to undermine the joint comprehensive plan of action. that's the agreement which restricts iran's nuclear programme, which mr trump says is deeply flawed. he has to decide next week whether to continue waiving sanctions suspended under the deal. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. let's speak to paul ingram, executive director of the british american security information council, who joins us from eastleigh. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. first, what do you think the un ambassador nikki haley hoped to achieve by convening this emergency session on friday? well, i think most immediately she hoped to bring

some embarrassment to the iranians government, and to demonstrate the american government's point of view that the iranians rather less stable than the goverment would like it to be, and that there is plenty of opposition inside iran. that is true. it is a fact, but i think, in addition to that, the us administration is looking to undermine the iranians reputation abroad at a very crucial moment. what people don't quite realises that in the next week or two, the trump administration will be making a very crucial decision over the future of the iran nuclear deal, and in this respect, the trump administration is almost alone. it's only ally in this particular approach to the iran nuclear deal is israel, and even they are uncertain about the way the trump administration is dealing with it.

so, there is a crucial decision to be made. indeed, the russian ambassador accused the us of trying to undermine that deal. is the deal in jeopardy? it to undermine that deal. is the deal injeopardy? it certainly to undermine that deal. is the deal in jeopardy? it certainly is. to undermine that deal. is the deal injeopardy? it certainly is. it has the very strong backing of all the other nations directly involved in the deal, including the british, the french, russians and chinese, and the germans will stop the only country that is feeling uncertain about it is the us. and even the trump administration is very wary about being seen to be the one to actually bring the deal down. so, although there is a lot of criticism from trump, both before being elected and afterwards, about this deal, i think the pressure from the allies has been holding them back from dealing the killer blow. and i think that this particular attempt at using the un security council to

bring the iranian government into disrepute will be... is testing the water for our possible decision in the next week or two to relax... sorry, to bring the sanctions back into play. let's just sorry, to bring the sanctions back into play. let'sjust go back to events taking place on iranians streets. how much of a help or hindrance is us intervention? i'm talking about donald trump's comments on things that are taking place. and really, do the protesters welcome those comments from the us? well, the protesters are not a single, unified force. there are no identified organisers. many of them are out on the streets as a result ofa are out on the streets as a result of a very harsh economic situation that they are under. many of the people out on the streets are young, disenfranchised, and actually have

no particular skin in the game when it comes to iranians politics. and they are making both a political statement and also a very strong economic one. i think the americans coming in on it in this way and making a very strong international statement in support of the protesters will certainly do one thing: it will polarise this nation, and it will mean that iranians themselves will have to make a decision: do we support the protest that now have the support of the united states and therefore are seen as potentially stoked by american attempts, or do they protect their own government? the iranians, by and large, are very diverse groups of people, but they do not generally support the interference by a state

thatis support the interference by a state that is widely seen in iran, by opposition and by goverment, as a semi—neo— imperialist intervening force. they have seen the americans intervening country steve bayan don't want the americans to intervene in a run. if anything, the support of the trump administration will kill protests stone dead and will kill protests stone dead and will support the regime unwittingly. paul ingram, thank you very much for that. the headlines on bbc news: president trump insists he is a "very stable genius", and the us secretary of state says he's never questioned mr trump's mental health. it follows claims in a book that people around the president doubted his fitness for office. the victims' commissioner calls for an overhaul of the parole system in the wake of the release of serial sex attackerjohn worboys. more than 500 major employers reveal their gender pay gaps. easyjet, ladbrokes and virgin money are amongst those who have disclosed that they pay women on average at least 15 percent less than men.

the department store house of fraser has confirmed it's asking landlords to reduce the rent it pays for some of its shops. the group is set to release christmas retail figures next week, with some analysts suggesting its takings over the christmas period were disappointing. the east of england ambulance service has apologised to the family ofa service has apologised to the family of a pensioner who had to wait several hours before an ambulance arrived. the woman dialled 999 complaining of chest pain on tuesday. the ambulance arrived three hours and 45 minutes later, by which time the woman had stopped breathing and could not be saved. the

ambulance service offered its severe. . . ambulance service offered its severe... sincere condolences and said it was stretched because it was short of staff and because of pressures on the nhs as a whole. five online gambling companies could have their licenses revoked over concern they're not doing enough to help problem gamblers, or prevent money launderers from using their sites. the gambling commission has written to all 195 online casino operators, to tell them about the safeguards they should all have in place. our business correspondent jonty bloom reports. one third of all gambling in the uk is now online, and it's worth billions of pounds. the gambling commission has been reviewing the safeguards that all companies should have in place. they're designed to prevent problem gambling getting out of control, and to prevent money being laundered by criminals or terrorists. sarah harrison, chief executive of the gambling commission, said... but the commission found many signs of customers' gambling becoming

compulsive were not being followed up, and some staff had little idea of how to stop money laundering, or, in some cases, even what it was. as a result, the gambling commission is warning all online casino operators to review their procedures, and has begun an investigation into 17 online companies. it's considering whether it should review the licences of five of them. losing its licence would mean a company would be unable to continue to operate in the uk. jonty bloom, bbc news. until now, cancer patients, many of them children, have had to go abroad to receive proton beam therapy — a highly advanced way of treating tumours. but by the end of the year the first nhs—run proton beam centre will be up and running at the christie hospital in manchester. the multimillion pound project is nearing completion and our health correspondent dominic hughes has been to see it. you missed a hole, mum.

six years ago, lucas was fighting for his life. diagnosed with cancer, he was sent to the united states to receive a potentially life—saving treatment called proton beam therapy. not being at home, being around strangers, it was awful. mum jodie says travelling all the way to the united states was a challenge for the family and with an immune system damaged by chemotherapy, lucas fell seriously ill and almost died. just being there on your own, it's a lot to be going through, just dealing with the cancer. you need your family and your friends around you, you need people to talk to. throughout that time, the support network of friends and family. it's a long period of time. the treatment alone is six weeks. we found it really, really difficult.

up till now, the nhs has sent patients who need proton beam therapy abroad and after years of campaigning and fundraising, it will soon be available in the uk. it's inside a specially built centre at christie hospital in manchester that medicine and physics meet, offering a new way to treat life—threatening cancers. young patients will benefits because their tissues are growing and very sensitive. but there are also tumours which are next to quite critical structures in the body is the base of the skull or around the spine and this technology enables us to give a treatment dose to those patients while avoiding those critical structures. with standard radiotherapy, a beam travels through the tumour that can damage sensitive tissues in front, behind and around it. but proton beam is much smaller and stops at the tumour, causing less damage

to otherwise healthy tissue. we are now below what they call the treatment gantry where patients will be seen and this really is the guts of this huge 200 ton machine and it is one of three that are being built here in manchester. but down here, you really get a sense of the scale of this project. the protons, which come from the heart of an atom, are generated in a particle accelerator known as a cyclotron which is carefully lowered into place last summer, then travelling at a speed of 100,000 miles per second, they are directed with pinpoint accuracy at the tumour. put it on. six years on and lucas is cancer—free and full of beans. where are you putting it? with the manchester centre coming on stream later this year and a second one in london to follow, the hope is those needing the life—saving treatment proton therapy will soon be able to access it closer to home. dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester. two passengerjets have collided

on the ground at a toronto airport. one of the planes caught fire, but there are no reports of serious injuries. it's the second such collision at toronto pearson international in five months. bill hayton reports. concern — but then panic... after the collision, fire breaks out. passengers begin to scream, while the crew call on them to remain seated. all of a sudden there was fuel all over the wing and then about a second or two later, not even a second, it's kind of all ignited and there was a big fireball, and then everyone started yelling and panicking. the fire was on the other, empty airliner, and all 168 passengers and six crew were able to leave this plane safely by the emergency slides. they had just arrived after

a four—hour flight from mexico. their plane was stationary when it was hit by the other airliner, which was being towed by ground crew. this is the second time in five months that planes have had minor collisions at canada's busiest airport. inquiries are under way into how it could have happened. in the meantime, all are thankful that everyone here escaped without serious injury. weather forecasters in the united states have warned that this weekend could bring record—breaking low temperatures in some parts of the north—east. the national weather service predicts wind chills as low as minus a0 degrees celsius. russell trott reports. the public coming to the aid of public transport on the streets of eastern boston, as snow and ice left many stranded. elsewhere in the city, the emergency services were working flat out,

and in deep water, as high tides flooded roads close to the harbour. plummeting temperatures meant much of massachusetts was under huge quantities of snow. and after a 3ft storm surge brought seas inland, the flood water froze, trapping cars in ice. for the homeless of chicago, life on the streets is now all about survival. those who do find shelter are happy to be anywhere but outside. we see an average of 700— 800 people every single day. sometimes there are people who come in when it's extremely cold who won't come in when it's not so cold. a sudden drop in temperatures can hit hard anywhere. in florida, where in some parts snow fell for the first time in 30 years, cold seas saw hundreds of turtles rescued after their muscles started seizing up. as thousands of snow ploughs are deployed throughout

the eastern seaboard, forecasters warn that the weekend could bring record— breaking low temperatures. goodness me! let's find out how our weather is looking. here is louise. by by us standards, our temperatures are nothing at all. there has been sunshine for some but not for all. this is the dividing line. i weak on whether from making its this is the dividing line. i weak on whetherfrom making its way this is the dividing line. i weak on whether from making its way through the midlands, so it was cloudy and drizzly in shropshire. the winds have been coming in from the north sea, exacerbating the cold feel, and that weather front will sink south overnight. here, perhaps more in the way of cloud and a bit more of a breeze, so temperatures holding up. elsewhere, with clear skies,

temperatures are likely to fall away. in sheltered countryside areas, as low as —10 celsius. it will be a cold, frosty start the day. lighter winds generally across the country, meaning it will feel cold but sunny. 0— three degrees in scotland, 4—7 elsewhere. the winds move to being easterly on monday and tuesday. the best of the sunshine the further north and west you are. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: president trump insists he is a "very stable genius" and the the us secretary of state says he's never questioned mr trump's mental health. it follows claims in a book that people around the president doubted his fitness for office. the victims' commissioner calls for an overhaul of the parole system in the wake of the release of serial sex attackerjohn worboys.