welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the entire board of usa gymnastics resigns over its failure to protect young athletes from the convicted doctor larry nassar. the fbi says it has "grave concerns" over the accuracy of what's expected to be a critical memo that could soon be released by the white house. is this an act of terrorism? we have a special report on the 16—year—old palestinian girl on trial next week in an israeli military court. and a senior bbcjournalist tells a british parliamentary hearing of her anger at the way the corporation has treated some of the women it employs. it's a trial that has gripped audiences around the world

for its harrowing and powerful testimony from survivors of sexual abuse. now the entire board of usa gymnastics has resigned over its failure to protect young athletes from the convicted doctor, larry nassar. more than 250 victims have now accused nasser, who preyed on young girls, under the pretence of giving them medical treatment, for two decades. andrew plant reports. another day in court for larry nassar, the former gymnastics coach exposed as a prolific paedophile. now time for some of his victims to end their years of silence. i lost all motivation when i was overwhelmed with the truth of your abuse. but that ends today. you are the most vile, disgusting creature i have ever met. scum of the earth is too high of a title for you. i hope you realise that you will never have any power over anybody for the rest of your life.

nassar gave medical treatment to hundreds of girls. there are now more than 265 victims. he has already been sentenced to 175 years injail. he has to listen to the agony he caused his victims. we do not view this as an isolated incident. the gymnastics world allowed him. because women are still not perceived to be credible. many are now suing nassarfor damages — and usa gymnastics and other institutions that they accused of ignoring their earlier warnings that allowed larry nassar

to continue to abuse young girls for more than 20 years. mark aleesha is an investigative reporter for the indy star which first broke the story of larry nassar‘s abuse. what difference do you think these resignations will make, the entire board resigned at the directive of the united states olympic committee. the impact, it is hard to tell. i talked to a very prominent women's sports advocate, a former olympic swimmer, who said she does not care who is on the board or she does not care if usa gymnastics is certified or decertified, she cares about the policies that will be put in place to protect the athletes when this shakes out. the problem seems to be, many problems, there were too few people with power to do anything about it. the structure of rules has to change. no doubt about it. usa gymnastics is kind of in tatters right now. they have lost all of their sponsors, not all of them, but they have lost major sponsors. now they have lost their board and they have a new president and now they have

to somehow rebuild. i have talked to people who have said even if they put the most perfect policies in place right away, sponsors are going to want to sit back and see how it all goes. they are not going to get major sponsors back any time soon. that is quite apart from trying, somehow, to repair some of the damage that has been done. when you reported on the trial and you spoke to the very first victim to come forward and you have spoken to more since. the damage is huge, the damage is enormous. all you have to do is

watch the victim impact statements. 156 at the previous sentencing hearing. and now a total of more than 250 are expected. these are women, really, bearing their souls in public so bravely. that has kind of shaken the american consciousness, since they are paying attention. our report has been out there for quite some time. but the spectacle of these women and all of the pain and visceral reactions you are singing, they have everybody‘s attention now. it is worth saying, when you first broke the story, your colleagues took a lot of flak. the fbi says it has "grave concerns" over the accuracy of what's expected to be a critical memo that could soon be released by the white house. it centres on a report written by the republican congressman

devin nunes, which is thought to condemn the fbi for spying on the trump election campaign. swirling around all this are the allegations of russian interference in the election, allegations that republicans colluded in that, and allegations that the white house has been trying to obstruct justice. democrats argue the memo is just an attempt to derail investigations into all that. an attempt to muddy the waters with that enquiry by special council robert mueller nearing its conclusion. it is saying there are certain omissions, which give the fbi grave concerns about this particular documents. the democrats, as we mentioned, believe it is highly selective and is an attempt to basically discredit the work of the special council. the white house, because of the sensitive nature of this they haven't had to do an analysis

oi'i they haven't had to do an analysis on what sources and methods are. the president says he has not even read the memo. it might be a pretext to sack robert miller and rob rosenstein. it sends a message to the white house that it can fire rosenstein or miller. there are gop

members who are so vested in his presidency that they will roll over. that will cause a constitutional crisis. owing to the sensitive nature of the memo, the white house has to sign off on its release and there are reports here that it is looking to do so, possibly as early as later today thursday. live now to new york and to yael eisenstat, adjunct professor at new york university. yael, you were a cia analyst, under 3 democratic presidents, and national security adviser to vice presidentjoe biden. you used to co—ordinate those top—secret daily briefing documents for presidents. the public statement will look to some people, particularly to supporters of president trump, like the fbi trying to avoid democratic

scrutiny. how do you see it? that's exactly right. i actually served under to democratic and one republican president. the people in the intelligence community, they serve the american people, the president, democrat or republican and while there was enough political squabbling going on between parties right now, people like me are choosing to speak up to really explain how dangerous it is to use intelligence for political purposes, to politicise the process, and the interesting thing is, the fbi is trying to cover some tracks from the reporting, are actually did offer to go through the request with devin nunes and those who are interested

andi nunes and those who are interested and ijust nunes and those who are interested and i just saw that they didn't want to do that. sowing the seeds of political distrust in a process which should be completely non—partisan is a huge concern. which should be completely non-partisan is a huge concern. you know that intelligence doesn't operate in a vacuum. it will have political consequences. why is this situation so dangerous? this situation so dangerous? this situation is going against every possible process in how you need to protect not just the sources possible process in how you need to protect notjust the sources and methods but a whole bunch of ramifications of just methods but a whole bunch of ramifications ofjust using intelligence in any political weight. for example, if we lose the trust of our partners around the world because we are not properly protecting those who provide as intelligence or how we gather intelligence, that well is going to dry up. partners will not trust that the united states will protect those

relationships and they won't necessarily give us the information to protect our national security is thatis to protect our national security is that is one of the multiple reasons why it is so important to follow certain processes to protect how intelligence is gathered. those are the implications of declassification, mishandling as you see it, and not protecting sources. it is suggesting devin nunes made material changes to the memo he sent to the white house, not approved by the committee. does that alter the picture? it absolutely does. the committee. does that alter the picture? it absolutely doeslj the committee. does that alter the picture? it absolutely does. i heard maybe ten minutes ago, it does confirm this idea that this is being used for political purposes and again, there is also an environment where the intelligence agencies, the fbi and cia, other agencies, have been used in this political football

and just one other thing, regardless of whether they be released this memo, they've already accomplished the key part of sowing distrust among the american people and whether they release the memo, whoever it is, devin nunes robbers, who want to make sure that the american public doesn't trust the current process, that damage is already done. we are already talking about it, talking about whether the intelligence community is not believed by sir part of the population. thank you to talking to us. a train chartered to carry dozens of us congress members to a republican party retreat has collided with a rubbish truck in the state of virginia. the driver of the truck was killed and four people were injured. among those on board was the speaker of the house of representatives, paul ryan.

facebook founder mark zuckerberg says it was a hard year for the social media giant, despite announcing a 47% increase in quarterly revenue. the firm says newsfeed changes have led to a significant drop in usage — 50 million hours less per day on the network. fewer viral videos and more checks on advertising were recently brought in to tackle misinformation. this will shift the row over equal pay at the bbc has intensified with the corporation's former china editor appearing before a british parliamentary hearing. carrie gracie, who resigned from her post in protest over the issue, has accused the bbc of having an illegal pay culture. the director general, lord hall, who also appeared, said it was wrong that she had been underpaid. our media editor amol rajan reports. a united front — several of the most high—profile female presenters on bbc news were in westminster today to support their colleague carrie gracie. reporter: do the bbc need to do more on equal pay for women? that's why we're here to support carrie. thank you.

i was appointed china editor at the end of... she resigned her post as china editor in protest at unequal pay. in blistering testimony to a select committee of mps, she accused the bbc of institutionalised discrimination, when it had paid her less than other international editors. we knew there was inequality. we didn't know the details, because the bbc is extremely secretive on pay, but we knew we were underpaid. and i was determined, at this point, where i knew i'd give the china job every last ounce of my skill and stamina, i knew i would do that job at least as well as any man. the corporation's dealing with her grievance was, she said, insultingly shambolic, and she added that she would be declining nearly £100,000 in back pay. i have said i don't want that money. that's not what it's about for me. i feel my salary‘s a good salary, it's public money, i...

that's not what it was about. they're still not giving me equality. and, in a concerted attack against bbc management, she said that for years it had created a fortress to keep out ordinary staff. i was so distraught by what had happened. anyway... then i thought, "no, i have to fight." gracie's grilling went on for 2.5 hours. when said management emerged in the afternoon, the director—general apologised for the situation. i'm sorry it went to a grievance, and i said upfront at the beginning, i'd very much like to resolve the case of carrie gracie with her. and i'm sorry this has taken so long, and i'm sorry we're in this position, yes. he went on to explain for the first time in public why the bbc believe there is a hierarchy of roles among correspondents. the idea that every single editor, home and abroad, i would imagine, should be paid exactly the same, i don't agree with. it should not be a matter of gender, completely agree. outrageous if it was.

but, you know, you have balances between different editors, and we need to be very upfront about what that, as it were, pecking order is. there are two parallel conversations happening today. carrie gracie spoke powerfully about the wider implications of her own case, and also the accumulated failures of the past. but the bbc management wanted to focus on the future. they want to shift this story from the injustices faced by carrie gracie to their new framework for greater transparency. the trouble is, many staff here have other ideas. the bbc has a clear plan, and is largely ahead of the industry on gender inequality. but carrie gracie's case remains far from resolved, or unique. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the presidential portrait with a difference. the money has gone to trump's head — literally.

this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, after 27 years injail, is to be set free unconditionally. the aircraft was returning from belgrade, where manchester united had entered the semi—final of the european cup. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yachstwoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. very good to have you with us.

this is bbc news. one main headline this hour: the entire board of usa gymnastics resigns over its failure to protect young athletes from the convicted doctor larry nassar. next week, a 16—year—old palestinian girl will go on trial in an israeli military court for a range of security offences she was filmed slapping an israeli soldier. the video of ahed tamimi, filmed by her mother, went viral, and they were both arrested. our middle east editor jeremy bowen reports from their home village nebi saleh, on the israeli—occupied west bank. any peace in nebi saleh on a cold winter day is an illusion. it's a small palestinian village on the west bank, a sharp thorn in the side of its occupier, israel. the people here refuse to give in to israel's overwhelming power. for some israelis, that makes them terrorists. an israeli soldier shot

mohammed tamimi, 15 years old, in the face with a rubber coated metal bullet. surgeons took the bullet out of mohammed's brain, along with part of his skull. the tamimifamily lead the protests in the village, many of them have been imprisoned by israel for security offences. mohammed was jailed for three months last year. he was rushed to hospital after he was shot during a demonstration in nebi saleh, on the 15th december. the village was protesting against president trump's decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital. ahed tamimi, his cousin, a seasoned activist at 16 years old, told two israeli soldiers to get

off her family's property, she'd just heard, wrongly, that mohammed had died. after one soldier swatted her away, she slapped him. once the video had gone viral, ahed with arrested with her mother nariman, who did the filming. they're charged with security offences and face jail. ahed's father, bassem tamimi, an activist who's also served time in prison, has been taking to her to demonstrations since she was small. lots of people would say that if you slap a soldier, in any country, you'll get into trouble. so it's no surprise that the israelis have put her on trial. she can't accept a hard man to come to her field. this is the occupier law, we are resisting. that's our daughter's responsibility. we can't give our enemy a rose

when he come to kill us. so this is where it happened, in the driveway of the tamimi's house. the incident says a lot about the conflict. the imbalance of force, the way it's invaded the lives of yet another generation and the bleakness of a future with no prospect of peace. very close to nebi saleh is a jewish settlement, illegal under international law. last summer, a palestinian from another village killed three members of a family there. this area is always tense and the army's mainjob is to guard the settlers. like all west bank palestinians, ahed tamimi is being tried in a military court, which usually convicts. more than 300 palestinians, under 18, are serving time as security prisoners. some israelis are horrified

by the imprisonment of children, but most feel that she should be punished and perhaps herfamily too. if i was there, she would finish in the hospital, for sure. nobody could stop me. i would kick, kick herface. believe me. she's a 16—year—old girl. no, i don't look at it like this because today, as a 16—year—old girl, she punched a soldier, tomorrow she will stick a knife in his throat. they say they're taking part in peaceful protest. you see me smiling. if this is peaceful protest, i don't want to imagine what is not a peaceful protest. a slap isn't terrorism. no, a slap is terrorism. believe me. a slap is terrorism. no peace process exists any more and reviving one looks less and less likely. the future of the next generation

is going to be difficult. incidents like this show the level of tension and anger that's just below the surface. palestinian lives are dominated by the occupation, but keeping a people under military rule for 50 years has also had a profound effect on israel. without change for the better, the risk is that the west bank will slide into more serious violence. jeremy bowen, bbc news, nebi saleh. we will report on that next week, of course. when you become president of the united states you get certain perks with the job. you get an official portrait honouring your time in office. but a pair of ukrainian artists have created their own painting of the current occupant of the white house and it's a little unusual as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. the big reveal of a big portrait of someone who is currently

the biggest celebrity in the world. despite not releasing his tax returns, we know that donald trump is rich. so what better way to represent the most opulent president with a picture made up of hundreds of american coins. on the money you can see lots of faces, you can see presidents, you can see people who had honour and dignity and due to that honour and dignity, they got the place on that money, this is a symbol of the nation. the ukrainian artists behind the face of money took three months to make the work, they used poker chips, but normally the smallest of denominations and this was done for a reason. you can be rich and be cheap in the same moment. he has billions and billions of dollars and you have not any style, it cannot make you a great person. the pair's previous work was called the face of war, a portrait of vladimir putin made up of 5000 bullet shells

from the frontlines of ukraine. it seems the latestjust might be too rich for some. the gallery posting its current exhibit has declined to show it, it seems that money really can't buy you everything. and to another spectacle, briefly. you will have heard of supermoons and eclipses, but people around the world have been looking to the skies, enjoying an even more rare event. the sight has dazzled skywatchers around the world. it's when there's a second full moon in the same month and when it's closest to the earth in orbit, making it look much brighter and bigger. and it's coincided with a lunar eclipse which has given it a reddish glow in some parts of the world. it hasn't been seen in the us for 50 years. thanks for watching.

hello. it will be a cold and frosty start this thursday morning. we have had bands of rain, sleet and snow working eastwards. there is a met office be prepared ice warning in the uk. the added complication with snow continuing in the north. there could be a smattering of snow initially. the showers are running in behind. in scotland they will fall as snow and the hills of northern ireland as well. coupled with the wintry showers, gale force winds, severe gales in the north—east of scotland. it will be bitterly cold. the snow showers will blow around. there will be further showers for the north—west of england, parts of wales, the south—west, into the home counties, potentially as well. there could be rain and sleet here and snow over the hills. the risk of it being slippery.

the showers could come in and wash off the salt on the roads and pavements. it does look as though it will be a slippery affair in places. away from the showers, a sparkling day. plenty of sunshine around. showers interspersed with some brighter, sunnier spells. look at the strength of the wind. into single figures, but the wind will add a significant chill factor if you are out and about with those gales in the north and east. continuing through the coming night, easing a little in western areas and continuing to push in those showers. another cold start on friday. severe frost because of the strength of the wind. a subtle change in wind direction will bring showers to eastern parts of england during friday. further west, fewer showers. a dry day, more sunshine around. slightly less cold. still feeling cold. into the weekend, we have complications. this weather system coming into cold air. this is across the balkans. in italy, we have the rugby taking place here on sunday. saturday looks like a bleak day. cold rain or cold sleet and snow, particularly in the north, possibly further south. there is some uncertainty. we will keep you posted on that. it looks as though there will be

cold rain for wales and the match against scotland, perhaps bit drier in paris. wintry weather not to be ruled out. it might be dry for england's match against italy in rome. we have to clear the low pressure out of the way. our rain, sleet, and snow mix well is on the way through the course of sunday. we pick up the bitterly cold wind across south—eastern areas. more sunshine and drier weather across the west. frosty nights. ice to watch out for through the morning. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines: the entire board of the sporting body usa gymnastics has resigned over its failure to protect young gymnasts from the convicted doctor larry nassar. at a hearing in michigan on wednesday, a judge said the number of known sexual abuse victims of nassar had risen to 265. the fbi has publicly challenged a push by republican lawmakers to release a memo which purports to show bias at the agency against president trump. the agency says it has grave

concerns about omissions of fact. us media suggest the memo is likely to be released by the white house on thursday. the bbc‘s former china editor, carrie gracie, has told british members of parliament she's very angry about the way the corporation has treated some female staff. she was giving evidence to a parliamentary committee. the director general, tony hall, admitted to the hearing the bbc had got some things wrong.