against the taliban, after a bomb in kabul killed at least 95 people. donald trump said it "renewed the resolve" of america and its afghan partners. the attorney general in the us state of michigan has launched an investigation into who knew what, about claims of sexual abuse by larry nassar. he's the former doctor for the us gymnastics team, who received up to 175 years injail for molesting girls and women. the czech president, milos zeman, has won a second term in office by a narrow margin. mr zeman is a strident opponent of immigration and also opposes eu sanctions against russia. the multi—billionaire prince alwaleed bin talal is the latest high—profile figure to be released in saudi arabia after a major anti—corruption drive was launched in november. he is reported to have been freed this morning from detention in a luxury hotel in riyadh. now on bbc news, talking movies‘ tom brook reports from park city in utah where american‘s foremost showcase for independent cinema,

the sundance film festival, draws to a close this weekend. hello, and welcome to our look back at this year's sundance film festival in park city, utah. in today's programme, highlights from this 11—day independent film extravaganza. sundance belonged to women this year, with numerous films by them and about them. women in independent film were speaking out. the #metoo and #timesup movement were major talking points. there has been hurt and suffering.

people will not stand for that anymore. also, the festival premiere of a live documentary which told the history of the famous kronos quartet, and more. and the festival film, our new president, looked at how russian youtube and tv channels covered the us presidential election. donald trump. also, the intense month—long protest over the dakota access pipeline protest examined in a documentary. all that and more in this special sundance edition of talking movies. an activist spirit was evident at sundance this year. people came together to protest, among other things, the sexual harassment and assault of women in the film industry. the #metoo and timesup movements

prompted much discussion. many attended a respect rally that was an anniversary rally of last year's women's march. this is the year when we said to rich, powerful men, you can break our hearts but you can not break our rights. wwomen‘s right lawyer, gloria allred, fired up the crowd. so did jane fonda. sexual harassment has been a problem in the world of independent film as it has been elsewhere. there is no part of the film industry that is not affected by it. it is a really hard thing to gather metrics on because everything has been very under the rug for many years. i guess we are going to be seeing how widespread the problem is in the coming years. sundance is the first major american film festival to take place since the harvey weinstein story broke. some alleged past assaults involving weinstein took place

at the festival. to address the concerns, the festival's code of conduct had been updated. separately, a safe space venue had been set up for women to discuss their concerns. there was a sense of solidarity and support from stars. there has been a tectonic shift. you know, it feel slike people have really been really listening to women and everybody is saying things have to change. there has been a lot of hurt, a lot of suffering, a lot of silencing, and i really don't people are going to stand for it any more. carey mulligan thought there was a need to bring a code of conduct into operation on film sets, as has been the case with the play she recently appeared in. on the first day of rehearsal, we all had to look through the code of conduct,

it tells you what is expected in the workplace, it tells you what to do if someone steps outside of the code of conduct. i think really solid action plans like that will move us forward. despite the trauma of these incidents, robert redford, the sundance founder, struck a positive note at the press conference. i'm pretty encouraged right now as this period of change is, it is bringing forth more opportunity for women, and more opportunity for women in film to have their own voices heard. not to be forgotten, of course, were the films at sundance. there were more than 120 full—length features this year. sundance‘s director of programming detected some trends. we noticed the african—american male experience was really prevalent. especially in our us competition. we observed, also, a lot of really interesting, complex, powerful women on screen, both in the documentaries, and in the narrative films. moving away from films getting a lot of attention at sundance

were virtual reality installations. with one work, special gloves enabled participants to have the sensation of touching physical objects by giving them feedback. then there was a virtual reality world that could be shared by several people simultaneously. these vr projects are ingenious, but do they belong at a film festival? when you put someone inside of the goggles, vr, the person remembers it as something that has happened to them. that is why film—makers are constantly coming and showing interest in vr and these converging technologies around storytelling give us more more tools to do what they really want to do at the heart of it all, which is tell stories. now, let's move on and look at some

other sundance films in greater detail. "our new president" was one of the opening day attractions, it is a compilation of russian video material, tv broadcast and youtube channels and looks at how it portrayed the 2016 us presidential election. the film has been put together by director, maxim pozdorovkin. our main principle was we wanted to try to weave together a film made entirely out of disinformation. so, when we were initially gathering material, we wanted every single statement in the film to be false, and the fact that we could source russian television and make a film like that, that basically doesn't have a single true statement in it, i think that tells you something that is horrifying and really worrying about the state of media today in general. the material he collected denigrates hillary clinton and barack obama, and it definitely places donald trump in a very flattering light. trump is described as behaving

like a british lord and being very composed, and obama is seen as indecent and manspreading his legs. in a way that is forbidden on new york city subways. there is lots of kind of racial connotations about obama as well. sundance audiences responded well to the film. it was fantastic, because you really get a sense of what an organisation that really wants to put out propaganda can achieve. it is an incredibly powerful film. it is effective at showing the crazy landscape they are in now, in terms of media. we are in a society where news media is not being trusted any more. that seed of doubt puts us in a precarious position and this film shows us what happens when it is at this extreme. with so much disinformation shown as fact.

i am really hoping that people see this and realise what is at stake. all the ongoing talk of russian meddling in the us election gave "our new president" a lot of currency at sundance. it earned positive reviews, but there were some detractors who felt the documentary lacked context and structure. donald trump. the film "burden," based on a true story of a white supremacist, a member of the ku klux klan who underwent a transformation. he leaves the klan only to be taken in by an african—american minister. it's a sundance film with fine performances. i'm a klansman. what are you gonna do... burden is set in south carolina in the 1990s. garrett hedlund plays mike burden,

a klansman who espouses their racist beliefs, but things change when he meetsjudy, played by andrea riseborough. he ended up falling in love with a single mother named judy that made him have to face a decision to stay in love or stay in the clan. and then he also meets a reverend played by forest whitaker, who shows him an immense amount of hospitality and warmth and takes him in and it becomes a redemption story and a story about love and acceptance and accepting who you are in the midst of a very sort of kind of chaotic scenario. the african—american minister who takes him under his wing has a history of organising against the klan. he extends himself to mike burden because he believes he has to practice what he preaches. mike is a test for the reverend, a test of all the things he has

ever believed in. we get a chance to see him go through that, we get a chance to see him say, to his son, if i don't do this, i will never be able to preach again. if i don't try to commit, try to find a solution and believe that love is the answer, i will never be able to live by what i believe, i will never be able to be the example in my community. to the world. this story of a black minister saving a white supremacist isn't fiction, it is based on a true story. i heard about it in a blurb in a newspaper 20 years ago. i got in my car and i drove down to south carolina. it is a wild redemption story. it is insane and crazy but it is the fact that extremes can change, and so when i read this story, i'm besieged what the story could be, i realised that if we can understand these people, we can gain empathy for them,

and empathy is the beginning of change. you get to see a man really transition in front of your eyes because of being introduced to a better future and a better understanding of how life and love can be. the kind of racism found in south carolina in the 1990s hasn't disappeared. groups that espouse isolationism and hatred have done an under the things that arise communities. the movie has a lot of relevancy. to try to see if there is a solution, what is the path for us to be able to come together as a people. with burden at sundance, the main audience wasn't the film itself but the acting, particularly garrett hedlund, who really shines in his role.

his performance in burden augurs well for his future. among the women profiled this year are jane fonda, rockerjoan jett and justice ruth bader ginsburg. at age 84, ruth bader ginsburg has become something of a pop icon. she is referred to as the notorious rbg. a candidate ripe for profiling. we call her bubby, the yiddish word for grandmother. in the documentary, a more intimate life is portrayed. do you have fake sugar? there should be some someplace. that's helpful.

not only is ruth bader ginsburg the doting grandmother, but she has a tremendous legal legacy. how could you not want to make a documentary about ruth bader ginsburg? she has become in recent years this mega celebrity, like a rock star. a lot of people that are her biggest fans don't really know her history, don't know everything that she has accomplished, don't understand the obstacles she was up against when she was a young lawyer, when women weren't supposed to be lawyers, and we wanted to tell the whole story. she agreed to teach a course... the film—makers take the story from her past and the present. they look back at ruth bader ginsburg's life, student life, her legal career, and her current activities. or am i telling them something they haven't heard before? are they paying attention. when people think about the women's rights movement in the 705 with the so—called

women's lib movement, ruth bader ginsburg played just as big a role getting equal rights for american women in that era. she wasjust doing it little more quietly, more strategically, not in the streets but in the courts, but as you will see in the film, she won a string of victories that really started us down the road towards equal rights for women and men underlaw. overall, this documentary is an illuminating and flattering portrait of ruth bader ginsburg, an inspiring account of a woman who has led a very full life, both professionally and personally. i ask no favour for myself. —— i ask no favour for my sex. all i ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks. it made international headlines in 2016 — the protests over the dakota access pipeline in north dakota. many native american tribes had concerns over this oil pipeline.

one was that it would leak and pollute ground water. the intense long process was the subject of a sundance film. i welcome you to our treaty territory and i thank you all for being here. the film shows protesters stopping or delaying the work of the company building the pipeline. they locked themselves to equipment and blocked roads, all to preserve what they argue is sacred land which is lawfully standing here. they were arrested and met with tear gas. the director collected a lot of material. a big challenge was gaining access to film the protesters on the front line who are known as water protectors, so—called because they defend the main water source. the protesters were under 24—hour surveillance by police. the director had to earn their trust. these people didn't want cameras following them around,

because if we had footage of them doing something and the police got the footage, there would be evidence against them. another part of it was that they didn't want to be seen with the camera following them everywhere. respect had to be earned. helping build our caves and getting tear—gassed a couple dozen times, —— helping build our barricades and getting tear—gassed a couple dozen times, and missed maced several times, after a while, i was able to get the footage needed to tell the story properly. the documentary shows the final moments of the battle of standing rock in which the water protectors were pushed off their campsite and watched as it was destroyed. many mourn the loss. in north dakota, there were economic benefits. they reported $40 million of revenue in the first month. some view this as positive.

there was no positive aspect. indigenous people have been feeling the brunt of free source extraction —— indigenous people have been feeling the brunt of resource extraction in our territory since the beginning of colonisation. we are the ones that have lost millions, billions, even trillions, if you put an economic value on our territory. we are the ones sacrificing everything for this. though the outcome of this demonstration can be seen as a loss for the water protectors, the director, as well as the activists, feel this film can direct change in the native american community and how they are perceived. we have travelled the globe. we have had to continue to talk about who we are and people have this outlook about native americans. i want this film to show them, this is us. and we are standing up. i have little money to my name but this water is priceless to me, and i'm going to fight for it. thousands of people come throughout the country for this one moment and all they want to

do isjust step up. my intention in creating this film and showing it to the world was to inspire the next generation of activists. i hope this film can inspire the next generation after us to build upon what we did. the director sees sundance as a great home for the film and credited it with helping him in his endeavours with the project. sundance is strong on documentaries and this year, there was a live documentary — the director provided narration and the famed kronos quartet performed. the aim of this endeavour was among other things to tell the story of the kronos quartet. this is sunny up on the screen. here is david, john, hank and i playing down there. of the many documentaries, a thousand thoughts could be seen

as an expanded cinema experience. it comes from a man who has mounted similar documentaries. it is all the elements of the film but it happened live so that our images up on the screen, and i am onstage narrating, and there is a band, music group performing a live soundtrack. a thousand thoughts is a portrait of the band. it isa it is a loose portrait. it gets a bigger idea of time and the ephemeral nature of music and life, the power and resilience of the human spirit. the internationally recognised kronos quartet was founded a0 years ago in san francisco and the film brings many artists who have collaborated with the quartet. they have collaborated with tonnes of people over the years, from terry riley, phillip glass, laurie anderson, lots

of younger people. i think it has given them a lot of energy and inspiration over the years to keep working with different people and getting new energy. 0n—screen, the audience sees footage of sam green going through the kronos quartet‘s vast archive. the co—director believes that this engages the audience, especially with sam green as a storyteller. here is another quote that i like. this one from robert cross. —— this one from robert frost. "in three words, i can sum up everything i have learned about life. it goes on." i like that sam is a character. i saw one of his shows, i really liked him as a character. i like those kind of films where it is through someone's eyes. it is an effect, a device, if you will, that i know works in documentary.

it is discovery, so when i found this out and then i found that out and then i found that out. it is very generous to an audience because they go a journey with you. as sundance audiences emerged from the event, they were very impressed. i think it is really cool, a lot more interactive, and you get to feel the presence of the artists that are there, and the emotion they bring with to the piece, really cool. unbelievably special, life affirming. there are no words. when we think of a string quartet, we usually think of elderly gentleman in black tie and tails but that is not what this quartet is about. you can't watch this on netflix or youtube, you have to be there and you have to be present. more and more, all of our devices and the way we consume culture is pushing us to be alone. i think in the world today, being with other people, being in a room with strangers and having a collective experience is important and actually profound.

well, that brings this special sundance edition of talking movies to a close. we hope you have enjoyed the show. you can reach us online. and you can find us on facebook, too. from me, tom brooks and the rest of the talking movies production and crew, it's goodbye. hello again, good morning. yesterday, we had some rain for a time, then we saw the cloud thinning, but we will see the clouds thickening up again and more rain returning across northern parts of the uk on that weather front. that area of low pressure to the north, though, for a while has been bringing some very windy weather across northern scotland, the winds easing by the morning, and we will have mild air all the way from southern parts of the mid—atlantic heading our way. this is tropical maritime air and it means a lot of cloud. across scotland, some rain.

it won't be as windy by the morning across northern scotland. there will be some showers here, but rain across central southern scotland and quite a soggy start probably across northern ireland. and some rain and drizzle over the hills of northern england, where it will be quite gusty in the wind. generally dry elsewhere across england and wales, mild and cloudy, but still very misty and murky over the hills of wales and perhaps in south—westjust for a while. for most of us, it will be a cloudy day. that rain still there for central southern scotland. improving conditions, though, for northern ireland. still a bit dreary over the hills of england and wales. 0n the whole, it will be cloudy and breezy, some gusty winds around. widely, temperatures around 12 degrees, even in the cloud. get some sunshine to the east of high ground and they could be even higher. a bit chillier across the far north of scotland north of that weather front there, which is bringing the rain actually across scotland. the weather fronts takes the rain southwards overnight and starts to arrive into england and wales on monday. behind it, we start draw down some colder air. the really mild air getting squeezed away into the near continent.

so some changes on the way. by monday, the rain could be heavier at times, moving southwards across england and wales. in the afternoon, it is more across southern england, and that's where we will have the highest temperatures. eventually, we will have some sunshine in wales and the midlands. sunnier skies further north in that slightly colder air. the showers in scotland could be wintry over the higher ground but there's colder air to come later on in the week. a chilly start for tuesday. maybe some frost around here and there but some sunshine early doors before things tend to cloud over, and it's going downhill right at the end of the day as we start to see some rain coming into the south—west. at the same time, some rain heading into the north—west. so temperatures are little lower, 6— eight degrees, fairly typically. those two weather systems bringing the rain sweep through overnight, then we draw our air all the way from the north and north—west, and that means it will be turning colder. it is also turning very showery, i think, on wednesday. there will be some strong winds around as well. and particularly for the northern half of the uk, those showers

will be of a wintry flavour. it feels colder with the strong winds. goodbye. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: president trump calls for decisive action against the taliban after one of the deadliest suicide attacks in afghanistan for months. almost 100 people are dead and dozens more injured. gunmen storm a nightclub in north—east brazil, killing at least 1a people. local media says rival drugs gangs are to blame. hello. president trump has called for decisive action against the taliban in the wake of one of the deadliest attacks