ballot this is bbc new ballots. this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at five. officials in afghanistan say 18 people were killed by gunmen who stormed a major hotel in kabul last night. fourteen of them were foreign nationals. a man has been arrested after an eight—year—old girl was stabbed to death in the west midlands. she's been named as mylee billingham. the ukip leader henry bolton has told the bbc it's not right for the party's ruling committee tojudge him on his personal life. an emergency meeting on his future is being held this afternoon. i'm not going to lead his party be disrupted by internal squabbling which is exploited my own domestic situation in order to cause problems. germany's social democratic party has voted to begin formal coalition talks with chancellor angela merkel‘s conservatives. a century from jos buttler helped england's cricketers clinch the one—day series against australia. and more sporting success down under as kyle edmund books his place in the quarter—final of the australian open. hear all about the cricket,

the tennis and the rest of day's sport in sportsday at 5.30pm. good evening and welcome to bbc news. at least 18 people have been confirmed dead in an attack by taliban militants on a luxury hotel in the afghan capital, kabul. the gunmen entered the hotel last night, opening fire before breaking into rooms and taking hostages. 160 people were rescued from the hotel by the security forces. our correspondent zia shahreyar reports from kabul. the final moments of a fight that had lasted all night. gunfire and explosions, as afghan special forces battled to regain control of the intercontinental hotel.

one soldier throws a grenade. he moves away, then the explosion. the room is soon on fire, evidence of the struggle that had taken place. the afghan national flag waving from the roof, proof that the building has been reta ken. more than 150 people, including some foreigners, were inside yesterday evening, when gunmen burst in and opened fire. translation: there were old people and children inside the hotel's rooms, and the attackers were knocking on the door of each room, trying to reach their targets. they killed ordinary people and officials, they were also targeting foreigners. these images filmed by local tv, showed people escaping by climbing

down bed sheets that they'd tied the balconies. this telecoms engineer fell from the sixth floor as he tried to get away. translation: when the sixth floor caught fire this morning, my roommate told me either escape or burn. i got a bed sheet and tied it on to the balcony. i tried to come down but i was heavy and my arms were not strong enough. ifell and injured my shoulder and leg. the hotel is one of kabul‘s most best—known landmarks. it has high levels of security because it is used by foreign visitors and politicians. it was last attacked seven years ago. this sustained and complex assault will prompt urgent questions as to how the gunmen got through. zia shahreyar reporting from kabul. our correspondent auliya atrafi is in kabul and gave us the latest details on the attack.

there was rather more criticism of the interior ministry so that meant there was more response to that criticism because the intercontinental hotel is one of the best known landmarks in afghanistan, especially in kabul. so the people are asking, there are already reports that one of the hotels would be targeted, so the question and the challenge for the ministry of the interior is as to why, despite the information, this hotel was not secured, and how did the taliban managed to penetrate it. for relatives of any particular group to target a luxury hotels like this? —— militants of any particular group? that's right, these hotels are secure and to make security even

stronger security was handed over to a private company to have a more focused security but it looks like it was an inside job, and focused security but it looks like it was an insidejob, and the insurgents managed to penetrate what is also interesting from the eyewitnesses that have spoken to the bbc is the taliban were specifically trying to target foreigners. that may explain the high number of foreign nationals that have been targeted. this is one of the highest number of civilian foreign nationals to be killed in an attack since 2001. will there have to be a rethink necessarily of who provides security in that hotel and others in that hotel? it is proving quite a challenge. perhaps the private

sector will do a betterjob than ordinary police officers, but this particular incident proves otherwise, it just shows particular incident proves otherwise, itjust shows how difficult it is to counter these insurgent attacks, because in all, working through the social networks, adapting to different situations, it is proving a very tough challenge for the security forces here. auliya atrafi in kabul. we are hearing from the ukrainian foreign minister that six ukrainians were killed in that attack in kabul. we know that at least 18 people died and a number of them were foreign nationals, and 160 civilians had to be rescued from the emergency “—

civilians had to be rescued from the emergency —— had to be rescued by the emergency services in the afghan capital. the foreign ministerfor ukraine says six ukrainian nationals we re ukraine says six ukrainian nationals were killed in that attack. a man has been arrested after an eight—year—old girl was stabbed to death in the west midlands. police say they're treating it as a domestic incident, and aren't looking for anyone else. in the last hour police have named the girl as mylee billingham. our correspondent liz copper is outside the house and gave us this update earlier. i think you might be able to see behind me, police forensics teams are still here this lunchtime. police were called first of all around quarter past nine yesterday evening to this bungalow. they found this eight—year—old girl with serious injuries. she was taken to hospital. sadly, nobody could do anything to save her life. she died a short while later. a 54—year—old man is also in hospital, he has a stab wound to his stomach. his condition is described as stable, and police say in due course they will be interviewing him. now they've said that they are treating this as a domestic incident,

and as such they are not looking for anybody else in connection with the death of this little girl. they say that her family, they are describing the family as understandably absolutely devastated. they are being given the support of specially trained police liaison officers, and certainly everyone i have spoken to on the street here today has described a deep, profound sense of shock at what has happened. that was liz copper reporting from walsall. in germany, the centre—left social democrats have voted to begin formal coalition talks on renewing their alliance with angela merkel‘s party. their decision comes four months after the inconclusive general election. but it's not been an easyjourney to this point as our berlin correspondentjenny hill explained to me. we haven't heard from angela merkel yet but no doubt she will be sighing a big sigh of relief this evening. this of course was her only realistic shot now at forming a coalition government and avoiding fresh elections.

and i suspect what swung it in the end was some of the speeches from the party leadership during a special conference today. there was considerable and there still is considerable opposition amongst this party to the idea of another four years of angela merkel, split broadly down two lines. those who believe that coalition with angela merkel is what led them to a terrible election result in september, and who think another four years will destroy the party altogether, and then there are those who say actually, it is now our duty to help germany form a stable government. because it's been four months, nothing has moved, it is time that we swallowed this and got on with the job of governing. those are the people who won it, fairly narrowly, they got a reasonable majority, but as i say there is still considerable opposition. and that means that whilst formal coalition talks can now begin,

possibly as early as tomorrow morning, although it may be that now there is some talk about actually timetabling things for later in the week, it may not be a done deal. first of all, the negotiations have to proceed. we know there are sticking points over things like refugee policy, social security, health insurance and so on. but secondly, worth bearing in mind that every single one of the 400,000 social democrat party members will have to approve any final draft coalition deal via postal ballot, before any government can actually be formed. so mrs merkel isn't out of the woods yet but certainly, tonight, she's cleared another major hurdle. what will the policy priorities be for this somewhat uneasy coalition, then? well, we have a rough idea because exploratory talks were held, which certainly came out with a document looking very much as though europe and the eu's future would be a priority. they were talking about germany putting more money into the eu. there is talk of course about trying to modernise and reform the eu, particularly in the light

of britain's imminent departure. there's a lot of talk, too, about, as you'd expect, migration policy, whether to put a limit on the number of refugees coming into this country, what to do with people who want to bring family members from places like syria into germany to join them. there will also be talk about tax reforms and there have already been some compromises made. what's going to be really interesting now, though, is to see how much of the original document that arose from those exploratory talks will be stuck to. people have voted within the social democrats to allow formal coalition talks to begin, but they have done so with a degree of discomfort, and with the knowledge that they want their leadership to go back into the negotiations and try to strike harder bargains. they are not in the greatest of positions because as we can see from the vote this evening, the opposition to this rather weakens their bargaining position,

but some weeks of negotiations will no doubt the yield some pretty tricky conversations. but as i say, from mrs merkel‘s point of view, this is a really good result. it means that coalition talks can at least go ahead and it breaks what was starting to look like an almost impassable deadlock in german politics. jenny hill reporting from berlin. breaking news, the ukip national executive committee has unanimously backed a motion of no—confidence against ukip leader henry bolton. he been appearing on political programmes this morning saying he will not quit his job and the party has no right tojudge because of his personal life. this emergency meeting was held after offensive texts emerged last week, sent by his former girlfriend. in the last few minutes, paul oakton, the ukip chairman, has explained the decision. this afternoon meeting of

ukip's national executive committee came together to discuss the future of our party leader, henry bolton. they decided to take a vote of no—confidence in henry bolton as our leader. that vote was carried unanimously with the exception of henry bolton himself. this now means ukip will go through the process of having an emergency general meeting of the party, which will take place within 28 days of today and our membership will be written to outlining details of when and where the meeting will take place. the membership at that meeting will have their opportunity to decide whether or not they reject or support that vote of no—confidence. thank you. ukip party chairman paul oakton. henry bolton waiting to find out in the next month or so whether he will continue as the ukip party leader. theresa may has said she'll set out plans in the coming weeks to crack down on company executives who enrich themselves while jeopardising their workers' pensions. writing in the observer newspaper, mrs may describes

the practice as an unacceptable abuse that will be ended. earlier i spoke to the former pensions minister, baroness altmann. she explained what powers the pension regulator have to make companies keep their schemes in good order. the pensions regulator already has the power to stop a company paying dividends if it believes that that would jeopardise the pension scheme. but the pensions regulator would only do that if the trustees call it in and the regulator looks at the scheme and decides that the company should be putting money into the pension scheme rather than into the dividend payment. it also has the power to question executive pay as well, but i think there are duties on trustees and of course on company management that need to be taken really seriously when we have such problems with pension deficits in so many of our big companies. thousands of them are operating with a black

hole, i was reading, so what more needs to be done to make sure that trustees and managers act responsibly? well, i certainly think that the bhs and now carillion situations are a necessary wake—up call so individual management and pension trustees, as well as investors, look more carefully at the pension situation. too often, i feel that pension liabilities have been almost ignored when a company's analyst is looking at what is happening and if the analysis that hedge funds have done, which led them to short the carillion stock, partly because the cash flow was not sufficient, had also been undertaken by the pension trustees and calling in the regulator, then it would have become much clearer, much sooner, that the dividend payment may need

to be controlled or curtailed and also that the top executive management pay would need perhaps to be looked at because money was definitely needed for the pension from the ukip 52:27 backed a vote of no—confidence in leader henry bolton the party members will now vote on that decision. officials in afghanistan say 18 people were killed by gunmen who stormed a major hotel in kabul last night. fourteen of them were foreign nationals. a man has been arrested after an eight—year old girl was stabbed to death in the west midlands. she has been named as mylee billingham. us senators holding a sunday session

to try to resolve the row that has closed large parts of the federal government. so far they've impact of the shutdown has been omitted that thousands of federal employees are due to return to work on monday morning and will have to stay home without pay if no deal is reached. president trump's republican party and the opposition democrats have blamed each other for the and the opposition democrats have blamed each otherfor the pass. mike pence has stated that the republicans would sort out the shutdown and made it clear who he blamed. you know, i'm sure you are all aware of what is going on in washington, dc. despite bipartisan support for a budget resolution, a minority in the senate has decided to play politics with military pay, but you deserve better. you and your families shouldn't have to worry for one minute about whether you are going to get paid, as you serve in the uniform of the united states. we are going to demand that they reopen the government. in fact, we're not going to reopen negotiations on illegal immigration until they reopen the government, and give you, our soldiers and yourfamilies, the benefits and wages you've earned.

applause. us president mike pence speaking in jordan. earlier, our correspondent gaveis jordan. earlier, our correspondent gave is the latest on how things we re gave is the latest on how things were progressing between democrats and republicans. it is pretty busy in washington. president trump instead of being in florida at ‘ resort is mm 5—2 in the buildin %— in the buildin behind c; - ii-.. - .: j: ' ,.'..:c' cu,“ _ weeleene in. th’e’eenemg’eehifie ffie’f ”’ " t’ wrangling goes on, and while this wrangling goes on, and the senate leaders will meet in just under two hours' time. they talked yesterday but it seems that instead of getting closer together, their positions have apparently republicans and democrats and democrats. democrats insist that any deal on keeping the federal government open the aligned to some sort of protection for the so—called dreamers, the 800,000 or so young people who were brought to this country illegally through no fault of their own. they are due to be

deported, deportations are due to start in march. the republicans, for their part, say no, we want a simple agreement on financing the government, keeping it open for a few more weeks, then bill talk about immigration. president trump for his pa rt immigration. president trump for his part has accused the democrats are playing shutdown politics, as he calls it, and putting the interests of illegal immigrants above those of ordinary americans, members of the military. so we have this hardening of positions and it's difficult to see that this government shutdown will be lifted at any time soon. david willetts in washington. two climbers have been winched to safety from 3000 feet up a mountain in glencoe. they had raised the alarm on friday that bad weather meant they could not be rescued until yesterday morning. people with hidden disabilities in england could soon be entitled

to blue badge parking permits under government plans. the department for transport said the change would make it easier for those with conditions such as autism and dementia to get access to the services they need. helena lee reports. the blue badge scheme was first introduced in england in the 1970s. today, around 2.4 million people with disabilities have one. it allows them to park free of charge on roads, and normally without a time limit. the government is now proposing to extend the scheme. it wants people with hidden disabilities and conditions like autism and dementia to be able to qualify for a blue badge, so they too can enjoy the freedom to get out where and when they want. for many parents sometimes they tell us they don't want to go out, don't want to take their autistic son or daughter out to the shops or to schools and services and other places because they're worried about what might happen. but if they can park much closer to their destination, they can easily take someone away if there is an issue

or difficulties when they are out and about. the department for transport says only some councils recognise hidden disabilities under the current scheme, because they interpret the existing rules differently. the proposals would be the biggest change to the scheme since it was first introduced. the plans will now go through an eight—week public consultation. helena lee, bbc news. joining us via web come from mold in north wales is richard, whose father has alzheimer's disease and is in a ca re has alzheimer's disease and is in a care home. if this scheme had been introduced earlier, could it have helped his father? richard, what do you think this idea. it would have helped, i think it is a bit late for my father at the moment but i'd like to see it extended to dementia and

alzheimer's sufferers, certainly. because it is a hindrance, when you have somebody with that type of mental capacity, i suppose, have somebody with that type of mental capacity, isuppose, as have somebody with that type of mental capacity, i suppose, as an alzheimer's sufferer, even just going out in the car to maybe a shopping mall orjust going to an event or even the theatre becomes something that you have to think about and really have to plan. i would certainly welcome it. we have certain situations, i will give you an example, when i would love to have taken my dad to more events and one event that i did take him to was an airshow at gosford. but of course airshows have tens of thousands of ca rs airshows have tens of thousands of cars parking at these events, so i had to make the decision of how am i going to get him close to the event. because somebody with alzheimer's, dementia, doesn't really have the mental capacity to understand that

they need to walk a long distance, and they get very confused and disorientated and anxious about walking long distances. in the end i'd ended up printing off a disabled logo and waving it at the mall at the gates and they were kind to let us the gates and they were kind to let us through. with its being hidden it is something that, if the government thinking about it, and i hope it is extended to wales as well because thatis extended to wales as well because that is where we live, then it needs to be welcomed. because when disabilities are hidden, people are necessarily aware or sympathetic to the extra help that you need. especially if the person doesn't have mobility issues, you suppose. certainly in my experience, dementia ma nifested certainly in my experience, dementia manifested itself both in the mental capacity but also physical

characteristics as well. but under the current government ‘s scheme to mention is not something recognised under the blue badge scheme so even though as a family it would have been extremely helpful to have a blue badge, itjust was not an option for us. you say it may have come too late for your father. how would it have added to his life and your ability to care for him? even just going somewhere like a garden centre we could have parked closer to the entrance. but i found myself doing was driving to the garden centre and actually having to leave him at the front door while i went and parked the car. which, for somebody with alzheimer's dementia, ina somebody with alzheimer's dementia, in a vulnerable state, that can be a distressing time, notjust for them but for you as well because in that short two minutes you don't know what will happen. they could walk of anywhere, they could be getting into anywhere, they could be getting into a car with another person. if the

blue badge scheme had been extended to alzheimer's and dementia patients before, it would have put our minds are dressed as a family. before, it would have put our minds are dressed as a familylj before, it would have put our minds are dressed as a family. i think you've made the case extremely well. richard, thank you for talking to us. tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across america for the second women's march —— with many protesting against donald trump's presidency. the main rally will be held in las vegas later on. marches are also taking place around the world — including in london as simon jones reports. time's up! what time is it? time's up! hundreds gathered outside downing street, determined to make their voices heard. the message, time's up on the sexual

harassment and abuse of women. i think it's really important to come together and speak out against violence against all women across the world. men haven't changed. inequality in the workplace... we are still getting paid way more than women, and it's completely unfair. today's noisy events are taking place a year to the day that tens of thousands of women took to the streets to protest against president trump's first full day in office. many here say a lot has changed over the past 12 months, but there's still much to do. hey, hey. ho, ho. donald trump has got to go! the trump presidency is very much the focus of marches that have already been held in the united states. many repeated the slogan "build bridges, not walls". i really wanted to make sure this year the momentum was kept up, and that women's voices were heard. i want to resist the racism that is happening in our country, especially with the commander—in—chief. he sucks. although the crowds in london are predominately made up of women, the organisers say men are also welcome. they insist they are not setting out to demonise the entire male population, but are looking for everyone to play their part in bringing about change. simonjones, bbc news, westminster. time for a look at the weather.

very wintry mix especially across the north and east with snow and ice causing problems on the roads. weather watcher pictures from scotland, dentist in england, in towards the south—east, show settling snow. —— down towards england. a lot of it will revert back to reign as milder air comes in from the atlantic. towards this evening there will still be sleet and snow across the high ground of central and eastern scotland, a little milder, pushing to the west, a milder day across northern ireland, and dryer. that milder air feeding into the south—west, eventually reaching the midlands and parts of eastern england as we had through the night. some flooding problems across the south—west because of snow and the rain and

further rain falling here. bad news through the course of the night. affecting cornwall, devon and slipping along the south coast as the night wears on, look at those temperatures, much milder than what we have seen temperatures, much milder than what we have seen over temperatures, much milder than what we have seen over the last few nights. this should continue into much of the week ahead, see the orange colours across most of the country, monday starting fairly mild, rain across southern areas clearing away and also clearing away from northern scotland. and then we are intoa from northern scotland. and then we are into a fine afternoon, pretty breezy, a few showers from western areas although some semi spot as well and milder than it's been across the north. tuesday possibly the mildest day of the week, south—westerly winds moving across the country, bringing in moisture so we've got a lot of clout, look at those temperatures, double figure values for most, between 13 and 11

degrees. wednesday more unsettled, this area of low pressure might bring windy, maybe even gales across northern and western areas, a band of rain spreading north and east, some quite heavy. still mired across much of england and wales. something a little fresherjust pushing in towards scotland and northern ireland late in the day. between 11 and 13 degrees in the south. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. ukip's ruling committee has unanimously backed a vote of no confidence in leader henry bolton. the party members will now vote on whether they support or reject that decision. officials in afghanistan say 18 people have been killed by a gunmen who stormed a major hotel in kabul last night. 1a of them were foreign nationals. a man has been arrested after an eight—year—old girl was stabbed to death in the west midlands. she's been named as mylee billingham. germany's social democratic party has voted to begin formal coalition talks with chancellor angela merkel‘s conservatives. let's ta ke

let's take a look at all the sports news now with john. let's take a look at all the sports news now withjohn. hello. after defeat in the ashes, england have won their one day series against australia, after taking an unassailable 3—0 lead following a 16—run victory in the third odi in sydney. jos buttler‘s impressive century sealing the win as england salvage something from their tour down under. alex gulragani reports. under the guidance of eoin morgan, england's short form game continues to thrive, yet recently, the captain himself has struggled for runs. he is, one of six wickets that fell with the score looking unfavourable for the tourists. jos buttler and chris woakes soon changed that as the pair dominated proceedings. the final over of the innings delivered a half—century from chris woakes and all three figures forjos buttler.

303 the target for victory, one that aaron finch fancied chasing down, showing authority in attack. but the real power on the field lies elsewhere. the umpires wanted to check their decision to give steve smith out. replays were somewhat inconclusive, but they're opinion was the one that mattered, not smith's. his team still kept up the attack, marcus stoinis setting up a nervy end but when he departed, england made sure their winning run would continue. at the australian open tennis, there was more good news for the british no 2 kyle edmund who booked his place in the quarterfinals after beating andreas seppi over four sets. in the absence of andy murray and johanna konta's early exit, hopes rest with edmund in melbourne. nick parrot reports. kyle edmund could barely stand after his last match in melbourne. now he has reached greater heights than ever before. the mercury was at a merciful 26 degrees but early on it looked like andreas seppi could prove too

hot to handle. 27 places separate them in the world rankings. on court, it was much closer, with the italian taking the first set on a tie—break. at 33, seppi has a decade's experience on edmund and at times, it showed. the briton was broken first but a change of footwear led to a change in fortunes as he went on to level the match. winning five games in a row saw edmund grow in confidence and seppi's stubborn resistance drained away. it took almost three hours to set up the biggest match of his career but edmund isn't getting carried away. you know, i have to believe i'm going to win and believe in my game and stuff so that is the way i've approached it, one match at a time and i will continue to do that. whatever happens next, edmund will climb the rankings and give hope that britain has found a successor to andy murray. nick parrott, bbc news. tottenham are looking

to maintain their push on the top four against southampton in the premier league this afternoon. they started the day three points behind fourth—placed liverpool — but they made a terrible start, davinson sanchez turning the ball into his own net. that lead didn't last long. harry kane with his 99th goal in the premier league. a win as importnat to southampton , who find themselves in the bottom three. it is still 1—1 with about 15 minutes to play. watford's marco silva has become the eighth premier league manager to be sacked this season. perhaps rather surprisingly, with watford tenth. the club blamed everton's unwarranted approach for his services in november as the part of the reason in their decsion. silva managed just one victory in his last 11 league games. the spaniard javi gracia, who last managed russian club rubin kazan, is expected to replace him. in today's scottish cup fourth round action, the edinburgh derby went

the way of hearts. they won 1—0 at tynecastle thanks to a scrappy 86th—minute goal, christophe berra's downward header was just touched on by substitute don cowie and despite a valiant hibs effort to keep the ball out, it spun over the line. the only other game in the cup today between fraserburgh and rangers was postponed due to a frozen pitch. after today's final round of pool matches, the eight teams through to the quarterfinals of rugby union's european champions cup will be finalised. scarlets are through with a home tie. saracens have scraped in but will play away. hoping to join the party were wasps and ulster who played each other. wasps needed a bonus—point win to remain in the running, as well as relying on results elsewhere going their way. they secured a bonus point win comfortably in the end — 26—7 the score, jake cooper—woolley with their fourth try. that result knocked ulster out. but la rochelle's victory over harlequins ended wasps‘ hopes,

in the other match in pool one. quins are already out of the competition, la rochelle's victory ensuring their place in the quarterfinals. in pool 4, arguably the tightest group to be decided, munster‘s match against castres was delayed by three hours because of a waterlogged pitch at thomond park. both teams still had hopes of progressing. munster are on top at the moment and have qualified as it stands. it is 20-3 at have qualified as it stands. it is 20—3 at the moment. leicester had already been eliminated before the final round of matches. they pushed racing 92 close, but went down 23—20 in the end. maxime machenaud scoring 18 points for racing, who do qualify for the last eight. europe's no 1 golfer tommy fleetwood stormed to victory in the abu dhabi championship to retain the title he won last year. fleetwood started the day two shots behind the overnight leaders but shot eight birdies

in a 7—under 65, six of them on the back nine, to win the tournament. the 27—year—old finished two shots ahead of fellow englishman ross fisher, while northern ireland's rory mcilroy was a further two shots back. it was just important that we carried on going forward. it's all well and good having a great year and it was the best year of my life but we wanted to keep pushing. like i say, i always want to know where my potential will take me but i wa nted my potential will take me but i wanted to keep pushing and make sure that we... that we just come you know, kept improving and it was important to do that and this week feels like another step along the way, hopefully. mark allen and kyren wilson are locked together at 4—1; after the opening session of the masters final at alexandra palace. they've been neck and neck. wilson recorded the biggest break of the afternoon, 89 in the seventh frame to make it 4—3. but northern ireand's allen won the final frame of the session to make it 4—4.

the final resumes at 7pm and will be live on bbc two and the bbc sport website. in netball, scotland beat northen ireland 52—31 in their final world cup qualifying match in perth — scotland. both teams had already qualified for the 2019 world cup in liverpool ahead of the match. scotland's victory means they have topped their group. british skiier dave ryding clocked the fastest time of the day on his second run in the world cup slalom in kitzbuhel. the 31—year—old was 25th after his first run, having made a big mistake. but he was more than six seconds quicker on his second, moving him up to ninth place overall. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. spurs and southampton still 1—1.

plenty of reaction over on the bbc sport website when it ends. i will be back with plenty more in the next hour. france's president, emmanuel macron, has told the bbc he shares the outrage of african countries about reports donald trump used a vulgar and offensive word to describe them. mr trump was forced to deny being a racist, when he was accused of making the comments during an oval office meeting on immigration. the french president was also asked about the uk's relationship with the eu post—brexit. he was speaking to andrew marr.

i think you have to be lucid and fair with people, as you decided to leave, you can't be part of the single market, but the function, the nature of the negotiation, you can have some deeper relations than some others. for example, we have a deeper relationship with norway than the one we have with canada. so it depends on the outcome of the negotiation but for sure, except if you change your mind, you will not be part of the single market, as you will not be part of the european union. in concrete terms, let's talk about what that might mean. you have said in the past you can have canada or norway but you can't have your own special deal. is that really fair, given how long britain has been part of the eu? it's not a question to be fair or unfair, i ta ke question to be fair or unfair, i take that as a reference but for sure you will have your own solution and my willingness. .. sure you will have your own solution and my willingness... there will be and my willingness... there will be a bespoke, special solution for

britain? sure, but i take these two references because this special way could —— should be consistent with the preservation of the single market and our special interests. you can't by definition have the full access to the single market if you don't take the box. to get full access to the single market, you need a contribution to the budget and you have to accept... the freedoms. the freedoms and the four pillars and you have to exit the jurisdiction. as soon as you decide not tojoin jurisdiction. as soon as you decide not to join these preconditions, it is not full access. so it is something perhaps between full access and a trade agreement but what is important is not to make people think or believe that it is possible to have... your cake and eatit? possible to have... your cake and eat it? exactly. so when i talk to david davis alamein brexit negotiator and i ask what britain

really wa nts negotiator and i ask what britain really wants out of this, he says, "we wa nt really wants out of this, he says, "we want canada plus plus plus", and by that he means a deal on services because so much of the uk economy is based on services in general and on the city in particular. from what you have said today, i guess that you have said today, i guess that you don't believe we can have any special deal involving the city?|j special deal involving the city?” mean, you don't just special deal involving the city?” mean, you don'tjust speak about services but you speak about financial services. cooking a deal is thejob of financial services. cooking a deal is the job of michel barnier. we have a very dedicated organisation. i don't want to start a negotiation country by country. it would be ridiculous. and the best way to dismantle the whole eu. i think what we have to do, and what we will do is first, take the decision in march regarding the mandate we want to give to michel barnier to negotiate. after which, he will have to negotiate with your negotiator. and they will decide, and it depends on they will decide, and it depends on the proposals made by the uk, but

for sure, full access for financial services to the single market is not feasible given the functioning of the single market so by definition, it's not full access. so in concrete terms, some form of passporting deal is off the table in these negotiations as for as you are concerned? i'm not the one to negotiate and i don't want to make those calls but it depends on what you are ready to put on the table in terms of preconditions. if you respect the preconditions to get access to the single market, it is visible but... if i have two wrapped up visible but... if i have two wrapped up the full philosophy, no... of the single market because it is not feasible because otherwise, that is the dismantling of the single market and for me, it is one of the pillars of the european union and something you've loved in the past. you say you are not negotiating and that is absolutely right but you are very much think that one of the consequences of brexit, you thought,

was to reaffirm paris' centrality in the financial system and france has made a very strong itch to british financed institutions to come to paris. how's it going? in terms of european dialogue and french services, but for sure, we want to attract maximum activity. why? because this decision has an impact for a lot of players. a lot of players will decide to be part of the eu and the eurozone and have to choose between different countries, so choose between different countries, so there is a garbage in between different countries. of course there is. i suppose the case for the city is. i suppose the case for the city is that it has built up a very big pa rt is that it has built up a very big part of the whole global financial system and to unplug the city from the rest of the european financial structure is a big risk and danger. look, i think... structure is a big risk and danger. look, ithink... first, it is not about my willingness and i think it's not a reasonable perspective. second it is something to be taken into concerned by your negotiator and your own proposals but my

willingness is not precisely to unplug, as you say, the british city. it does not make sense because it is part of the whole financing of al european union. but for sure, if there is no change in terms of full access to the financial single market, it does not make sense for the other. i want to preserve what we created post world war ii. and what we created is a sophisticated organisation called the european union, which is, for the very first time, not anti—germany of one or the other is —— and hegemony of one of the others but for the first time, a democratic, humanitarian and good construction. why do you think the british ready to leave this sophisticated structure? i'm not the one tojudge or sophisticated structure? i'm not the one to judge or comment the decision of your people but my interpretation is that a lot of losers of this new

globalisation and this new system suddenly decided that it was no more for them. you always take a risk when you have such a referendum, just yes or no in a very complicated context. if france had had a referendum, it might have had the same result. yeah, probably. in a similar context but our context was very different so i don't want to make... i mean, to take any bets. but i would have definitely fought very ha rd to but i would have definitely fought very hard to win. but i think it is a mistake when you just ask, yes or no, when you don't ask people how to improve the situation and to explain how to improve it. as for the brexit vote, my understanding is that the middle classes and the working classes, and especially the oldest in your country, decided that the recent decades were not in their

favour and that the adjustments made by both eu and globalisation, because for me, it was a mix of both of them, was not in fa do. but surely it was about europe as well, the structure of europe? and second, i think one of the reasons was precisely an organisation of our european union. probably, which gets too far in terms of freedom without cohesion, towards free markets, without any rules and convergence. i have to say that your government had some responsibilities in it. two new liberal, perhaps? ten years ago, the ultra—liberals and purely free market without any regulation because all your people were saying, "the hungarian workers and polish workers are much more favoured than iam" workers are much more favoured than i am". it was exactly the debate we had in france, ten or 15 years ago,

against some directives, that a lot of your governments push at the time, saying, "guys, you are not free market". i do believe in free market, i believe in the market economy but we need regulation and convergence. eurovision seems to me to be deepening europe as a response to be deepening europe as a response to this. you want a single financial minister over the whole thing, more european taxes, more done at the centre. again, isn't that a terrible risk? no. given how many people -- people european look at this and say it is too far away already and they are not engaged. first of all, i think we need to have a much more protective europe. europe is something which will protect you, on digital, migration, collective security and fair organisation. but my, i would say, on the need to have a long—term view of europe, is the following. i do believe that we have a european union. we will be,

unhappy, 27. but inevitably, definitely? i mean, it depends on you. ido definitely? i mean, it depends on you. i do respect this vote and i regret this vote and i would love to welcome you again. i can say... your vision of a different europe? so my vision, in the very be much more concrete, less bureaucracy and more concrete, less bureaucracy and more concrete and so want to protect people and their issues. more sovereignty, more unity, more democracy. that is the recipe to succeed in europe. if you lose your sovereignty and you don't protect people, they don't believe in you. if you are not based on a democratic approach, they will not for you. if you are not following the unity, creating consistency and convergence, they will leave. you said france is back. what did you mean by that? i mean that we are delivering reforms which seemed impossible for decades. this is, for me, a pillar because when you are not credible at all, you have no chance to be credible outside. you talk about values would not involve,

presumably, freedom of the press and human rights and so forth —— which must involve. did you raise those issues with the chinese president when you met him? i raised them with all the leaders on it. in china, it is counter—productive to raise it during a press conference because i mean, the political system, the regime, resident xijinping is not ina regime, resident xijinping is not in a situation, i mean, in an environment... it won't help the music? i do believe it's totally counter—productive so what i did is i had counter—productive so what i did is ihada counter—productive so what i did is i had a direct discussion. we have attacked this issue. we decided an organisation and i provided, i would say, visibility and the ability for him to be sure that this is not a diplomacy in front of the camera but i issued a very clear statement. let me ask you if i may about yet another leader. i wonder what you thought when you got up in the morning and read what president trump, ican't morning and read what president trump, i can't say the word, said about certain african countries, he

denies it but a lot of people say he used that word and among the african countries who were outraged and very offended by that were many francophone countries, many french—speaking countries in africa. i wonder if you shared their outrage? for sure. so... for sure, it is not a word you can use. and if we wa nt it is not a word you can use. and if we want precisely to build... peace, development in these countries, and respectful relationships. the you can't use those kind of words? but by definition and i think a lot of our issues in both the middle east and africa is due to a lot of frustrations, due to a lot of, in the past, humiliation. yes. we have to understand that and i do believe that we need, we have to respect all the countries. that is what we owe them and that is... much more efficient. so i have very direct

relationships with president trump. we have a read of relationship. you sat down with him to dinner at the top of the eiffel tower. sure. what do you make of him as a person, having come across him closely? look, i think that he's... he's not a classical politician. he, firstly... he was elected by the american people. he's the president of the united. that is a great country and a great place. i want to work with him and i think we build a very strong relationship. we disagree on several topics. sure. very strong relationship. we disagree on severaltopics. sure. i call him very regularly and i'm a lwa ys call him very regularly and i'm always extremely direct and frank. he is. sometimes i managed to convince him and sometimes i fell. do you wake up in the morning, thinking, "what did he tweet last night? " no, no, because i don't think we should overplay the situation and the tweets... i'm asking you... that is a sort of mix

between personal and political reaction. i think it is not feasible when you are president of a republic like the us republic but like the french republic... to respond to much. i'm asking you with a slight smile on my face but it's very serious, something like the north korean situation, when trump basically says my nuclear button is bigger than your nuclear button, a lot of people in the world think it is slightly unhinged and very dangerous. yes, but the best answer you can provide to that is what? just to say, we have to work very closely to force north korea to come back to the table of negotiations. we have to follow the un sanctions and implement them and the critical country in order to deliver it is china. absolutely. that is what we discuss with president xi jinping. talking about bringing countries back... cap on everybody. is there any chance at all of persuading americans to come back to the table on the paris climate change

agreement? first of all, i don't think there is any option to come back to the table of negotiations for the paris agreement. i've always been very clear, it is negotiated and signed, it isjust designing decide what is done. —— to sign what is done. we negotiated more than 180 countries site and are being ratified. come on, we will not remit —— renegotiate for one people so i believe it's a big mistake. i called him and said there is no new negotiation. you join you don't. china decided to remain in the loop. we will deliver, i think we have to accelerate. but what i see is that the private sector and the state in the private sector and the state in the us are following the signs. they are trying to comply with the agreement. so we will do it. very final question, you said you were going to be a jupiter like president. what did you mean by that? i think i never president. what did you mean by that? i thinki never used like that, that excursion. when you

preside, you have to preside, it's different from governing. you have to be, to avoid permanent comments, to be, to avoid permanent comments, to avoid the sort of day to day presence without strong decisions. bit of a lan —— elan. presence without strong decisions. bit ofa lan -- elan. i presence without strong decisions. bit of a lan -- elan. i would not say that, but you need efficiency, authority, humanity. so that is why it is not compatible withjupiter. or anything of this kind. but what is important to me, the message i wa nt to is important to me, the message i want to say is that our credibility is to explain what we want to do, to deliver, to change the country, to prepare the country for the new century. that is what we are doing in france because that is a precondition to succeed in europe. our role in this world is to help eve ryo ne our role in this world is to help

everyone to build peace. that's it. that's my job. kadu, thank you very much indeed. and if you want to hear more from president macron, you can see the full interview at 8.30pm, here on the bbc news channel. now the weather with stav danaos. a very wintry mix of weather to end the day, particularly across northern and eastern parts of the uk, a risk of snow and ice causing problems on the roads. we have had pictures from weather watchers up and down the country, from scotland, down to eastern parts of england, towards the south—east, of settling snow but a lot of it will be gradually reverting back to rain as milder air will be making inroads from off the atlantic. as we head towards this evening, still some sleet and snow across the higher ground of central and eastern scotland, something a bit milder pushing into the west, certainly a milder end to the day across northern ireland, and drier. that milder airfeeding into much of the south—west, double—figure values here, in fact, eventually reaching the midlands and eastern england

as we head through the course of the night. we have had flooding problems as well across the south—west because of snow melt and the rain and also with further rain falling here bad news through the course of the night, affecting cornwall and devon and slipping along the south coast for a while as the night wears on. some rain towards northern scotland but look at the temperatures, much milder than we have seen in the last few nights and mild is the theme as we head into much of the week ahead. you can see the orange colours there across most of the country so monday starting off on a fairly mild note, rain across southern areas clearing away and also clearing away from northern scotland which means a pretty fine afternoon, breezy from the west, a few showers across western areas but sunny spells as well. temperatures, double figures in the south, milder than it has been of late across the north. heading into tuesday, even milder, possibly the mildest day of the week. a south—westerly wind blowing right across the country, feeding in a lot of moisture so we will see quite a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain across western

hills but look at the temptress, double—figure values for most of us, 11 to 13. heading into wednesday, a bit more unsettled, this area of low pressure will bring a spell of windy and maybe even gale force wind across more western areas. a band of rain spreading northwards and eastwards as well, some quite heavy but it will still be mild across much of england and wales. something a little bit fresherjust pushing on in towards scotland and northern ireland later in the day. temperatures 11—13 in the south.