this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at three: 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. screaming 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 advice on how to stay secure online is just one of the highlights from click‘s recent ‘live‘ show. 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. 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 himself has tweeted: so, why has the president of the united states had to assert his own mental competence?

so, why has the president of the united states had to assert his own mental competence? fire and fury quotes trump's former chief strategist steve bannon, the man credited with getting trump elected. 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. and we will find out more on this when we speak to our correspondent in washington. stay tuned for that. it's coming up shortly. 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 of the decision that has been made. so, i just think this time is right, and if the government need to change the law, they need to change the law 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 have 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 ask 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. the white now more now on president trump describing himself as are very sta ble trump describing himself as are very stable genius after the publication of book that questioned his ability to do thejob. of book that questioned his ability to do the job. the of book that questioned his ability to do thejob. the book of book that questioned his ability to do the job. the book claims that staff regard trump as childish and we re staff regard trump as childish and were concerned about his mental abilities. let's go to our washington correspondent. david, this is extraordinary, isn't it? he is something of a teflon character, but will he be able to get over this questioning of his mental stability?

it isa questioning of his mental stability? it is a terrible claim for the presidential office. it is extraordinary, as you say. it is distressing, i think, for a senior republican leaders, who are meeting with the president at camp david today to discuss the legislative agenda. they were hoping that the headlines would be full of talk about welfare reform, infrastructure, spending, overhaul and that sort of thing. instead, we have these claims that the president is unfit for office, based on, emanating from, a book by an americanjournalist, michael emanating from, a book by an american journalist, michael wolff. that has prompted president trump to once again lash out on twitter. this morning, he took to his favoured medium of communication to say: throughout my life, my two great is that sets —— assets have been mental

stability and being really smart. i went from successful business that went from successful business that went to tv star to president of the united states on my first try. i think that would qualify as notts mark bunn genius, and a very stable genius at that. there are those who would argue thatjust by leaving all this alone and not dignifying it but the response, that pl might clear and it might die down. the book, have you read it? what sort of reaction has there been?” have you read it? what sort of reaction has there been? i have read extracts, as many people here have. it is on sale now, and there have been long queues at certain book stores with people anxious to get their hands on it, despite the extraordinarily cold conditions here. it contains a lot of extremely damaging claims as far as the president is concerned, claims that

basically all the people around, one by one, came to the same conclusion, that this was a man who was not fit to hold the office of president of the united states. and we have had sight of one of president trump's most senior lieutenants, rex tillerson, wheeled out on at least one of the cable tv channels to defend their mental acuity of the leader of the free world. it's not the sort of start to the new year that senior republicans gathering 110w that senior republicans gathering now at camp david had been hoping for. david willis, in washington, thank you. 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. i'm joined by ann frankie, chief executive of the chartered management institute. thank you for coming in to speak to us. thank you for coming in to speak to us. what strikes you most about these figures? well, unfortunately, what strikes me is, it's not surprising at all. you are seeing the impact of the transparency regulations from the uk government. if you look into the whys, there are really two basic reasons: in the case of tack—mac phase eight, they have far more men in management than women, and the men are paid more. we

call this the glass pyramid, more women injunior call this the glass pyramid, more women in junior roles call this the glass pyramid, more women injunior roles and call this the glass pyramid, more women in junior roles and far more men in senior roles, so the men are dropping. to fix that, companies need to have programmes to pull up women through the ranks. the second is an example such as easyjet, where you have a technology sector were not enough women are attracted in. in the case of pilots, that is driving the pay gap. easyjet is having a programme to drive more women pilots to apply, and to create more. so the fixes are different, but the problem is widespread. there are women at the top. we have women in management. i'm looking at one. what are the differences like at management level? we know from cm i, we did a survey with over 100,000 data points. unfortunately, the gap in management is very prevalent. it's larger than 18%, almost 27%. on

average, male managers are paid 27% more than female colleagues. bonuses, which of course must be disclosed in the new regulations, tell a very sad story indeed. we know that mells put—mac male ceos have bonuses that are 83% higher than those of female counterparts. why? there are many reasons. one is that we tend to reward people in our own image —— we know that male ceos. the thought might be, john has a family support... to support, so he needs a bigger bonus. it is behaviour that holds women back in the workplace. we won't address the gender pay issue until we change the behavioural issue in the workplace. you get the impression that women in those senior position our balls see

go—getters. when they understand that they are paid less than their male colleagues, do they go and get it, or is they're still this hesitancy ayes i would encourage all women that transparency is a powerful thing. as the figures are published, and only 500 companies have published, and there will be over 8000 by april, women should go one the government website, look at their company's figures, look at the quarters, and if you are in the top one, and you find that your company is paying the men on average 25% more than they are paying you, you go in and you ask for our race. easier said than done. as a woman, you are terrified of being labelled a troublemaker, for example, for saying, hey, this isn't fair. what would you say to those women?” would you say to those women?” would say we need to call out this

behaviour. it is gender bias and that needs to stop. in 2018, there are increasing voices of women, within the too movement and others for women to come forward. —— with the me too movement. a lot of these are uk companies, but how do we compare with the rest of the world? the uk is on average in the world economic forum data in their 20s, mid 20s, for gender equality. the us is worse. really? !you mid 20s, for gender equality. the us is worse. really? ! you have seen some stunning examples of leadership in the us. look at president trump and the way he behaves towards women. these are the sorts of things we do need to change. we could keep going on and on, couldn't we? thank you so much. the headlines on bbc news:

president trump insists he is a very sta ble president trump insists he is a very stable genius, while the secretary of state says he has never questioned mr trump's mental health. it follows the publication of a book in which it is said that staff doubted his fitness for office. there have been calls for an overhaul of the poll role system after the release of sex attacker john worboys. companies have published details of gender pay gap. in sport, there are 25 fa cup third round ties today. middlesbrough have knocked out sunderland 2—0. fleetwood kept leicester to a goalless draw. australia are in control on the third day of the final test. they

have six wickets in hand in sydney. james bowen has become the youngest jockey to win the welsh national. the won at chepstow this afternoon. i will be back with an update in the next hour. see you then. 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 us 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. 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. earlier, i spoke to paul ingram, executive director of the non—partisan think tank the british american security information council. he said the us intervention had the iran nuclear deal in mind. 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. its 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 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. 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 for ——a possible decision in the next week or two to relax... sorry, to bring the sanctions back into play. 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 of a pensioner who died after waiting nearly four hours for paramedics to arrive. the 81—year—old woman rang 999 complaining of chest pain at 8pm on tuesday. paramedics arrived 3 hours and 45 minutes later, by which time the woman had stopped breathing and could not be saved. the ambulance service offered its "sincere condolences" and said it was stretched, with pressures on staff and the nhs as a whole. the search for the missing mh370 malaysian airlines plane which disappeared almost four years ago is to be resumed. the jet was carrying more than 200 passengers when it vanished in march 2014. now a private us exploration company called 0cean infinity has been given permission to continue the search, which officially ended last year. 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. 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. more weather, but this time, here in the uk. here is louise. a cold, breezy, sunny day for some will the clear skies and frost. in shropshire, a weak weather front produced a lot of cloud and drizzly conditions at times. that with the north—east wind coming from the sea just exacerbated the cold feel today. the wind. to ease through the night, with the exception of the south, where the cloud will linger for longest. elsewhere, clear skies and a frost forming, a hard one in parts of rural scotland. temperatures as low as —10 celsius in sheltered glens. clear skies and

plenty of sunshine like play on sunday. —— likely on sunday. temperatures will struggle to climb above freezing in parts of scotland, around seven celsius further south. at the start of the week, it stays cold for most. 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. more than 500 major employers reveal their gender pay gaps. easyjet, ladbrokes and virgin money are amongst those who have disclosed