welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: aftermath of a scandal. the entire board of us gymnastics is to resign in the wake of the scandal surrounding the sexual abuse of young athletes by larry nassar. president trump stands by his america first policies for trade, but insists when america grows, so does the world. police in canada say a billionaire and his wife were murdered in a targeted killing. and paris braces itself for more flooding as water levels are set to peak this weekend. hello and welcome to the programme. the entire board of the us gymnastics authority is to resign in the wake of the scandal

involving former team doctor, larry nassar. on wednesday, he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 female gymnasts. the olympic committee threatened to strip its status if directors didn't stand down. larry nassar was jailed forup to stand down. larry nassar was jailed for up to 175 years for sexually abusing young athletes. more now from the bbc‘s peter bowes. the entire board of usa gymnastics has gone and there have been other resignations too. mark horace was the athletic director at michigan state university when larry nassar worked their. he and another official have decided to quit. it's been an absolute honour to guide the athletic department for the last decade. that being said, today i'm

announcing my retirement. i'm not running away from anything, i'm running away from anything, i'm running towards something. comfort, compassion and understanding for the survivors in our community. togetherness, time and love for my family. there's been reports that michigan state university and usa gymnastics knew all the abuse claims but failed to ta ke knew all the abuse claims but failed to take action. though both denied there was a cover—up. with several investigations into abuse in us sports now under way, the recriminations are onlyjust beginning. peter bowes, bbc news. president trump has told business and political leaders that his policy of putting america first does not mean the united states will reject free trade agreements with other countries. but speaking at the world economic forum in switzerland, he attacked what he described as unfair global trading practices. here's our north america editor, jon sopel. wherever donald trump has gone in davos, the crowds have

gone with him. and wherever the cameras have been, the president has been pleased to oblige. i hope we're going to bring back many billions of dollars into the us. i think that'll happen. it's already happening. but billions of dollars is coming back into the us, and i think that willjust continue. how much today? how much? probably a lot. and that was the theme of his speech. america first, yes, but an america welcoming the world. i will always put america first, just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also. but america first does not mean america alone. when the united states grows, so does the world. but at the end of a week in which the us imposed extra charges on some imported goods

from china, he played down talk of a trade war. nevertheless, there was a warning. we cannot have free and open trade if some countries exploit the system at the expense of others. we support free trade, but it needs to be fair, and it needs to be reciprocal. because in the end, unfair trade undermines us all. some stood to applaud, but it wasn't the ovation given to president xi of china last year. this hasn't been a complete meeting of minds, but then again it was never going to be. that said, donald trump has been more conciliatory than many would have expected, and the audience have reacted more warmly. it may be that davos 2018 turns out to be a win—win. and the president was in conciliatory, almost repentant mood over those britain first anti—muslim retweets from last year that brought him to blows with the prime minister. here's what's fair.

if you're telling me those are horrible people, horrible, racist people, i would certainly apologise, if you'd like me to do that. i know nothing about them. so, yes, he would apologise, he just didn't actually say sorry. the president has now left the swiss alps, and if not yet a fully paid—up member of the davos set, he will probably be invited back. there's a lot they liked about what donald trump said, and who would disagree with his central message, that a booming us economy is good for the global economy? jon sopel, bbc news, davos. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the main syrian opposition group, the high negotiations committee, says it won't attend a peace conference hosted by russia in sochi next week. russia's meeting is backed by iran and turkey, but western powers are concerned it would undermine

a un—backed solution to the conflict. the opposition's announcement came after two days of un—sponsored syrian peace talks in vienna. several of the richest and most influential men in saudi arabia have been released from detention in a luxury hotel after paying large sums of money to the authorities. they were being held in an anticorruption purge of november. those now free include the owner of the first privately owned arabian satellite network, the founder of nbc. formal coalition talks have begun in germany to break four months of political stalemate following september's inconclusive elections. angela merkel‘s conservatives are seeking to form a government with the country's second biggest party, the social democrats. the pair were found dead in their

home in december. offices originally thought it could have been made murder—suicide. their deaths shocked canada's business and philanthropic communities. barry and honey sherman were found dead in their toronto home on december 15. in the days following, local media reported their deaths were being treated as a possible murder—suicide. the family denied that, saying no one close to the couple believed this. they criticised the initial handling of the case by authorities, hired their own private investigator and conducted an independent autopsy and say they're not surprised that six weeks later authorities now say they're treating their deaths as murder. there are no signs of forced entry on all access points to the home. honey and barry sherman were found deceased in the lower—level pool area. we believe now, through the six

weeks of work review, we have sufficient evidence to describe this as a double homicide investigation. and that both barry and honey sherman were, in fact, targeted. barry sherman founded pharmaceutical giant apotex, which sells generic medicines worldwide. he and his wife were both well—known for their donations to hospitals, charities, and jewish organisations. detectives do not yet have any suspects, so the mystery of who killed the shermans and why continues. harvey biggs, bbc news. hundreds of homes have been evacuated in paris as the city braces itself for more flooding. the river seine, which burst its banks on tuesday, has swollen again, due to ongoing torrential downpours. stefan levy reports. days of heavy rain in the french capital have left the city on high alert. roads, usually filled with paris traffic, are now devoid of cars and submerged in water.

forecasters say the river seine's water levels could rise further over the weekend, to six metres, just shy of the 6.2 metre peak injune 2016, which led to two deaths and injured dozens more. authorities insist that they are prepared. translation: what would be a problem would be the boats stationed near the banks. the operations put in place by our brigade, which consists of putting wooden boards on the sides of the boat and the river banks, are to prevent them getting stranded on the banks. the city usually bustling with tourists admiring all paris has to offer. the rising river levels are now, themselves, the attraction. this statue of a crimean soldier zeavue has been used to alert people

to rising water levels for years. by thursday, the water was up to his thighs. river police have been helping families flee their homes. translation: in the four years i've lived here, twice it has flooded. it is a big deal. i have two children. it's traumatising. experts say the weather could stay high throughout next week, especially if more rain falls. with increasingly unpredictable weather, there comes a sense of uncertainty for people in paris as to when the waters will return. stefan levy, bbc news. african migrants living in tel aviv and jerusalem have been protesting againstan and jerusalem have been protesting against an israeli government programme designed to remove people who have entered the country illegally. they've been offered $3500 cash to leave before march or face arrest. african migrants are angrily

protesting outside israel's rwanda and embassy, but why? personally i'd choose to be in prison rather than go to uganda or wonder because i'm from eritrea. israel has a controversial plan to force out thousands of illegal african migrants. it will pay $3500 and airfares to anyone who voluntarily goes to a third country, uganda or wonder. if the government can do nothing and the city can do nothing, i think this is a solution. those who stay after march face arrest. i fought for my rights for ten yea rs arrest. i fought for my rights for ten years and now i have to fight again. about 40,000 african migrants olivier illegally. most are young men from sudan and eritrea. i left my country because there is no right for human beings. i had no right, i was imprisoned,

no right for human beings. i had no right, iwas imprisoned, i no right for human beings. i had no right, i was imprisoned, i was forcibly drafted to the army. he made a dangerous journey paying people smugglers to cross from egypt to israel. israel has since built a high fence on the long desert border. i prefer to go back to my home when my home is safe for me and for my community. i don't want to stay here in israel because israel is for israel is but i'm asking here for asylum. nearly all the migrants moved to rundown areas of south tel aviv and residents want something to be done. so from this specific balcony every day you can see fights, people drunk. this was the knockout for this neighbourhood because from the beginning it was worse, so lots of immigrants, lots of older people used to live here were frightened to go out. last year israel's prime minister came to see the problems. the mission is to return south tel aviv to israeli citizens he says.

previously he said the migrants threaten israel's social fabric and jewish character. he calls them illegal infiltrators, not refugees. some israelis support the deportation plan. others are against it for humanitarian reasons. they remember how their country was a sanctuary forjewish refugees. it's hard. i mean, migrant parents were immigrants also —— my grandparents. they came from europe. if a few families, i don't know, 200 people, 500 people are living among us, it's not a problem at all. but to put 1000 people here is a huge problem. already some migrants have begun receiving official documents meaning they're likely to face difficult choices sooner rather than later. yolande knell, bbc news, tel aviv. do stay with us on bbc news.

there is plenty more still to come, including paying tribute to the pope of french cooking. thousands pay farewell to the french chef paul bocuse. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word "revolution". the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is firmly in control of the entire republic of uganda. moscow got its first taste of western fast food as mcdonald's opened their biggest restaurant in pushkin square.

but the hundreds of muscovites queued up today will not find it cheap, with a big mac costing half a day's wages for the average russian. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the entire board of the usa gymnastics authority is to resign in the wake of the scandal involving the wake of the scandal involving the sexual abuse of 150 female athletes by the former team doctor larry nassar. and president trump has defended his policy of america first and says he accepts open trade as long as it is reciprocal. donald trump made that statement at the world economic forum in davos. among world leaders attending the summit was the irish prime minister. last year he became the first openly

93v last year he became the first openly gay person to hold the post and in march he will be in washington to celebrate st patrick's day at the white house. what will his discussions be like with vice president mike pence, whose views have come under criticism from lgbt communities? that's the question we asked him. yeah, well, you know, i am there representing my country, it's not all about me and the role that i hold as taoiseach prime minister is to represent my country. but my view on all these matters, when it comes to engagement overseas is that the best policy is actually to engage with people and to co—operate with them and to raise concerns to their face. so i'm absolutely sure that one of the things that i will be speaking to vice president pence about is about equality for everyone but also for the lgbtq community. what will you say? i do not know yet, ‘cause i have not met him. but i imagine, if it comes up in conversation as part of our meeting, i will be telling him a little bit about our story, about how ireland

has gone from being a very conservative country to one that now has enshrined in our constitution the right to marriage equality. maybe tell him a little bit about my personal story, but i'll have to see how that meeting goes. but you will be hoping to change his mind? i'll be hoping to influence him. i'm not so hubristic to believe that i'm going to turn up in washington, dc and change the mind of the vice president but i would hope he would look to america and america is in so many ways a beacon for freedom in the world and the gay rights movement started in america, starting in stonewall, in new york, and spread from there around the world and i think what makes america great is actually those kind of liberal values. i think the vast majority of american people have not given up on that just yet. it's more than a month since iraq's prime minister declared victory in his country's fight against the militants of the islamic state but,

despite that, the battle is far from over, with attacks on iraqi soldiers taking place on a daily basis. much of the fighting occurs on the porous border with syria, where is fighters are able to take refuge. bbc persian's nafiseh kohnavard travelled to the station of al-qaim, where the is invasion of iraq began and continues to this day. al-qaim train station has seen many battles pass through — the invasion of iraq, the fight against al-qaeda, and, two months ago, it saw one of the final stands of the militants who call themselves islamic state. this train station was an american—base used back in 2008 to fight al-qaeda fighters. it now, as you can see, stands completely devastated after it was recently won over from is militants. they were driven out of iraq,

with the prime minister declaring victory. but months later, this station, which sits on the border with syria, is not at peace. the threat is still very realfrom isis. in the past ten days there have been attacks almost daily, attacking the border check—points, destroying iraqi tanks, humvees, there's been many casualties. coalition forces are now based in al-qaim, helping the iraqi army defend against regular is attacks from across the border. they gave us exclusive access to their operations, covering one of the most challenging parts of the country. the area around al-qaim and the border and the western euphrates river valley is a complicated mosaic, of different tribes, different law enforcement and security organisations. the most powerful are the iranian—backed popular

mobilization units, they are mainly shiite fighters, and they have been killed in fighting is. these pictures shows them in actionjust recently, on the border. there is an uneasy understanding between the americans and many of the iranian—backed fighters. they share a common enemy but are far from friends. for now, they say they are focused on dealing with the threat from is, and they know it could be a long fight. i do not know that we're ever going to be able to say that isis is over. what i think will happen opne day is, once the iraqi security forces and the government of iraq and people of iraq have worked together to create conditions where isis looks around and realises that it no longer has a place to insert itself, i think that on that day we're going to wake up one day and realise that isis is gone.

it will not be a declaration, it will be a realisation. but that day is not yet here. is may have lost the territory they held in iraq but they are still clearly a threat. nafiseh kohnavard, bbc news, al-qaim. a funeral has been held for the vedrine chef who was known as the pope of french gastronomy. —— french. as richard forrest reports, the ceremony at lyon cathedral brought mourners from around the world. they came in their hundreds, the great and the good of the gastronomic world, dressed in their chef's whites, to pay tribute to the man credited with changing the taste of french cooking. as his coffin was brought into lyon cathedral, the chefs stood in the aisles. they had flown in from across the world, to say goodbye

to a man who had been their inspiration and, in many cases, their teacher. paul bocuse came from a family of cooks, going back to the 18th century. he was an architect of the "nouvelle cuisine" revolution, sweeping away rich, heavy sauces in favour of super—fresh ingredients and innovation. he was known for his flair in the kitchen as well as his showmanship, and helped usher in an era of celebrity chefs. he was so popular in france, people stood outside the cathedral in the rain to watch the service on video screens. applause paul bocuse will be buried in his family's vault, in a village just north of lyon, not farfrom his restaurant, he turned from a modest inn into a world—famous temple of french cuisine. richard forrest, bbc news. three billboards outside ebbing missouri is a story about a grieving mother's fight forjustice. it's been nominated for seven academy awards and, after her best actress win at the golden globes,

its star, frances mcdormand, is getting plenty of oscar attention. the bbc‘s will gompertz has been speaking to the film's writer and director, martin mcdonagh. my daughter angela was murdered seven months ago... francis mcdormand as mildred hayes, the uncompromising, unflinching and very angry grieving mother... you drilled a hole in the dentist? no i didn't. who rents three billboards outside ebbing, missouri, a fictional town created by martin mcdonagh, the film's london—born irish writer and director. martin mcdonagh has got an oscar nomination for his writing but not for his directing. i wonder if he's a little bit disappointed. no, not really, particularly because the mates got nominated in the other categories. it would have been nice, but seven's good. you get over here. no, you get over here. all right. one of the criticisms that three billboards has is that the sam rockwell character, dixon the policeman, who is a racist, is treated sympathetically by you.

well, he's definitely a racist and a bully. i wouldn't say he's treated sympathetically. i was trying to see, i think, the hope in all of these people. so if you say that's treating characters symathetically, to a degree it is. but the point of the film, and i think the thing that i hope people come away with, is the possibility of changing people. if it was me, i'd start a database. every male baby that's born, stick them on it and, as soon as he'd done something wrong, cross—reference it, make 100% certain it was a correct match, then kill him. we've heard many speeches from many people in the movie industry saying it is time for a change. do you think that's just lip service, or do you think something actually quite fundamental is happening? it feels like something really new and really great is happening. like, i've been in the rooms at the last couple of awards things, and it is palpable, and it does feel angry,

and it does feel like it's not going to go away, and i think that's great. it feels like a change is properly happening. i'd do anything to catch your daughter's killer. the oscars ceremony at the beginning of march might well point towards that change, with some surprising winners, and quite possibly a forthright acceptance speech from this lady. will gompertz, bbc news. that's the way it is looking. don't forget, there's plenty of news and analysis at our website. you can get hold of me and the rest of the team on twitter. for now, thanks very much for watching bbc news. well, the weekend is not looking too great for most of us.

it's not going to be that bad, but there will be a lot of cloud around. it is going to be mild, though. this is what is heading our way. it looks like a lot of cloud streaming in our direction. we'll be stuck under this during the course of saturday. it's already coming in, bringing some rainfall to western parts of the country. ahead of it, you can see it's still dry even through early saturday morning. so here we would have had a touch of frost around. i think by around 6am, the temperatures are above freezing already. but touching freezing early in the night. this is what happens through the course of the morning. so the weather front moves to the east, west to east, so you can see the back edge and rain getting into the western isles and northern ireland. so through the morning, in belfast, for example, the weather will actually be improving, after a damp end to the night. it is raining at this stage, so nine o'clock across the north—west in england, lancashire, wales, into the south—west, but across the heart, the east midlands, east anglia, down to the south—east, it is actually bright. i wouldn't be surprised even by some

blue sky for a time. but not for very long, because by the latter part of the morning, that weather front moves in and it's overcast across many parts of the country, at least in central and southern areas. in scotland, bright and windy, very windy in the western isles and the far north of scotland. gale force winds, and at 70 miles an hour. compared to the rest of europe on saturday, london will be about 10 degrees, paris at eight. madrid nine degrees. pretty much the same across many parts of western and south—western parts of europe. rome will be about 15. back home, here's the low pressure late on saturday into sunday. that will bring severe gales to scotland. blustery conditions throughout the pennines as well. but the isobars are coming from the south—west, meaning that the south—westerly winds will continue into sunday. in this sort of weather situation, we have a lot of cloud. it is mild. temperatures might even touch about 14 or 15 degrees,

which is mild for this time of year. with that, rain around, particularly across northern and north—western areas of the uk. but double figures, i think, for most of us. still staying mild in the south—westerly winds. a bit of rain around in this on monday. that will move southwards, but a shift in the wind direction here in the north means that it will turn a little bit colder. so i think single figures, even about five degrees, there. no more than that in aberdeen. have a good weekend. this is bbc news, the headlines: the entire board of the us gymnastics authority is to resign in the wake of the scandal involving the sexual abuse of 150 female athletes by the former team doctor, larry nassar. a spokesman said all 18 directors would comply with an instruction by the us olympic committee to stand down. donald trump has told told business

and political leaders that his policy of putting america first does not mean america alone. speaking at the world economic forum in switzerland, he rejected accusations of protectionism, but used his address to attack what he described as unfair and predatory global trading practices. police in toronto say the billionaire barry sherman and his wife honey were murdered. the pair we re wife honey were murdered. the pair were found dead near the pool in their home in mid—december. now on bbc news, our world. hundreds of