welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the british prime minister holds talks with the chinese president — they discuss trade, the environment and north korea. the reality of life in china's xinjiang province — our reporter finds out what it's like to live under a huge security operation. china is building a total surveillance state — it's a place where saying, doing or even thinking the wrong thing can get you locked up in an internment camp. american actor, robert wagner, is declared a "person of interest" in an investigation into the death of his wife. and making history — nigeria's bobsleigh team become the country's first athletes to qualify for the winter olympics. britain's prime minister is on the third and final day

of her visit to china, and her officials are trumpeting the nearly $13 billion worth of deals they expect to be signed during the trip. theresa may has agreed a joint trade and investment review with china. it's the first step to what she says will be an ambitious trade deal, post—brexit, although the recently—leaked civil service forecasts on brexit suggest a china trade deal would be of only limited benefit to the uk's gdp. president xijinping said china's markets will be opened further to the uk. and the two leaders also discussed north korea, protecting the environment, and, more controversially, human rights and democracy. a short time ago i spoke to the bbc‘s robin brant in shanghai and i put it to him that everything anyone says in china is closely monitored or censored. yes, i mean, i'm free to stand here and say what i like, but certainly for viewers in china, getting the bbc back, that is certainly monitored and is often censored. and i think i thinkjohn sudworth's reports this morning of his experience in xinjiang,

out in the west of china, are definitely being censored, and viewers here in china are not getting to see that and enjoy it. even what prime minister theresa may had to say about hong kong, i think, did not go through to chinese viewers? yes, i mean, there are subjects that the chinese consider very sensitive. human rights, xinjiang — the list is a very long one — hong kong, hong kong was discussed in the meeting, yesterday, we are told by downing street officials. we are not told who brought it up, but there was an agreement about what is known as the "one country two systems" which treats hong kong, or is supposed to treat hong kong, in a separate way to the rest of mainland china. but look, the view, certainly from the chinese, and increasingly from people like theresa may, emmanuel macron, the french president — he was here a few weeks ago — is that the idea of what is often known as megaphone diplomacy, talking out loud, shouting out loud, about subjects that the chinese

certainly consider sensitive, that is not how you achieve progress when it comes to china. nonetheless, human rights, modern slavery, certainly for theresa may, is a hugely important issue, one that she says she will not shy away from, and one that, she says, i think behind closed doors, she is certainly is bringing up with the chinese. but there are critics who say that is not the way to do it. you should shine a light on these issues more, in the way the bbc is doing with its reporting overnight at xinjiang. in xinjiang. what is happing on the final day of theresa may's visit and what will make this a successful trip as a success? a success, to be honest, is deepening the relationship and getting those deals done — $13 million worth of deals done, we're told, between british firms in various chinese entities — $30 million worth of deals done, we're told, between british firms in various chinese entities —

and being able to go progress forward, progress forward. both parties have a strategic view of this relationship. there is no doubt theresa may is having her local problems at the moment, in terms of leadership, in terms of that cloud of brexit. the chinese know that. but this is all about trying to deepen the relationship between the uk and between china. whether there is brexit or no brexit, in terms of trade, the uk, at the moment, china is only its eighth export market. this country is going to be the biggest economy in the world in several years‘ time, nad the uk has got to do better in terms of exporting to china, if it's economy is to grow in a sustainable way. some breaking news from china, and the authorities in shanghai says a vehicle was driven onto a crowded pavement in the city, injuring at least 18 people, three of them seriously. an official announcement said the incident happened at a time when crowds of people would have been on their way to work. reports say the van was carrying gas canisters. pictures from the scene show the vehicle mounted on the pavement with three fire engines and an ambulance parked next to it. the cause of the accident

is being investigated. wall as soon as we can. —— we will bring you all. well the british government has told the bbc it is concerned about the treatment of muslims in the western chinese region of xinjiang. in the past few months, there has been an increase in reports of ethnic minorities being held in detention camps without trial. our china correspondent john sudworth travelled to the region, where all filming and coverage by foreign media is tightly controlled. in looks and in distance, it's closer to baghdad than beijing. but this is china, its far western province of xinjiang and now the target of one of world's most intense security crackdowns. the uighurs, a mainly muslim minority, have a long history here. today, fear is everywhere. under the watchful eye of government minders, there's only ever one correct answer. "i know nothing," he tells me, "life is good here".

moments later, armed police show up. this is the china visiting prime ministers never get to see. police power here is all—pervasive and growing. millions of residents are being forced to give dna samples. mobile phones are searched for sensitive religious content, using hand—held plug—in devices. and for those suspected of even the mildest disloyalty to beijing, there's now a network of secretive detention camps in which thousands of uighurs have been locked up without trial. close to what we believe is one of them, we are stopped from filming. china is building a total surveillance state. it's is a place where saying, doing or even thinking the wrong thing can you get you locked up in an internment camp.

as you can see, it is a place where foreign journalists are certainly not welcome. wherever we go in xinjiang, we are constantly hassled, detained, monitored and followed. like thousands of uighurs, abdurahman hassan has fled to turkey. he thought his wife and mother would be safe at home — he has since heard, he says, that they have been taken to the camps. translation: from early morning to late evening, she is only allowed to sit on a hard chair. my poor mother has to endure this punishment every day. my wife's only crime was to be born a uighur and, because of that, she lives in a re—education camp where she has to sleep on the ground. i don't know whether they are alive or dead. i can't bear it any more. i would rather they were executed than abused to death by the chinese government.

he says he has no idea what's happened to his children. today, the british government raised its concerns about the treatment of muslims here, including restrictions on religious practice. such a frank statement in the middle of a prime ministerial visit will not go down well. china is seeking the uk's backing for a plan to use xinjiang's desert highways as a new economic corridor to central asia and beyond. it insists the threat of islamic terrorism — with a number of attacks in recent years — is a real one. can i ask you the question? is it difficult to answer questions? but a police state breeds fear. they're busy, they say. and can stoke the very resentments china says it's trying to stamp out. john sudworth, bbc news, xinjiang.

let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: a court in britain has found a man guilty of murder and attempted murder, for deliberately driving his van into a group of muslims, outside a london mosque. darren osborne killed one person and injured another nine. prosecutors called it an act of terror. the mayor of calais has called for extra security after violent clashes between migrants. eighteen people are reported hurt in a series of fights between afghans and africans now living rough around the town, since migrant camps in the area were closed by the government. four eritreans hit by gunfire are in very serious condition. the eldest son of the late cuban leader, fidel castro, has been found dead in havana. state media is saying fidel angel castro diaz—balart, widely known as fidelito, took his own life after a long battle with depression. he was 68, a nuclear physicist who worked for the cuban government. it looks increasingly likely that

president trump is going to release a controversial memo accusing the fbi and justice department of bias against him. based on classified material, it was written by republican members of the house intelligence committee. the fbi has issued a public statement saying it has grave concerns about factual omissions, which fundamentally impact on the accuracy of the document. the democrats claim it's an attempt to distract from the russia investigation. rajini vaidya nathan reports. as he left the state of the union, the president was asked to release a memo... ..a memo which has been the talk of washington political circles for weeks. but what's in it, and why does a matter? but what's in it, and why does it matter? well, it's related to the ongoing investigation into the trump campaign's ties to russia. the four—page classified document, written by republicans,

is said to alleged anti—trump bias in the fbi, specifically in the way one of donald trump's former campaign advisors, carter page, was placed under surveillance. they argue that permission to wiretap him was based on unsubstantiated intelligence, which was partly funded by the democrats. they're crying foul play and party politics. so, too, are democrats, who say donald trump and his supporters are trying to discredit the work of the intelligence agencies. and there's concern from that community too. there is a sag on morale. they are troubled by what they're hearing reported. and they know that some what is being reported, what's being stated and alleged, is just flat—out untrue. by agreeing to release this memo, the president has drawn the battle lines between his administration and the country's intelligence agencies. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, washington.

ago say they are now treating her husband, actor robert wagner, as a person of interest. natalie wood drowned during a boat trip in 1981. james cook reports from los angeles. natalie wood was hugely famous when she died, and she had gone on to win the first of three oscar nominations for her performance in rebel without a cause. her body was found in 1981, november weekend — thanksgiving weekend — off the coast of california's catalina island. she had been on board the family yacht with her husband, robert wagner, her co—star christopher walken, and the boat's captain, dennis davern. her death was initially ruled an accident, but in 2011, the la county sheriff's department reopened an inquiry into the death, and two of the detectives involved have now been speaking to cbs and they have given some details about that inquiry. they say, for example, that two new witnesses on another

boat have now corroborated reports of a fight between mr wagner and ms wood on the night that she disappeared. they now believe that mr wagner was the last person to see her alive, but they say they do not know how she ended up in the water. police have not declared the death murder, no charges have been laid against robert wagner. he is now 87 years old, police say he refused requests to be interviewed by them for this investigation, and he has refused to comment on the latest developments. james cook in los angeles with that report. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we're the nigerian women's bobsleigh team. making history — africa's first bobsleigh team to compete in the winter olympics. 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. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: the british prime minister holds talks with the chinese president. they discuss trade, the environment, north korea, and hong kong. a french mountaineer who was rescued from one of the world's most deadly mountains has described the decision to abandon her climbing partner as "terrible and painful". elisabeth revol says she was forced to leave tomek mackiewicz, who was weak and bleeding, and descend nanga parbat in north pakistan on her own. only she could be rescued and is now recovering in hospital in france. sarah corker reports. elisabeth revol has severe frostbite on hands and feet. doctors may have to amputate. she spent two freezing nights trapped on one of pakistan's most deadly himalayan mountains without a tent. she was with fellow climber and friend, tomek mackiewicz. he could not be rescued.

translation: he was someone who was really passionate, who had a real desire to climb this mountain, and he climbed it. the pair were climbing nanga parbat in northern pakistan, more than 8,000m high and nicknamed ‘killer mountain'. shortly after they reached the peak last week, they ran into trouble and an elite group of polish climbers were called in to rescue them. translation: we get to the top and he says "i cannot see anything". at that point, i say "listen, you take my shoulder and let's go" because it was dark, we were at 8,000m, and he could not see anything. and his condition deteriorated, with blood streaming from his mouth. miss revol said she was told by rescuers to leave him behind. translation: they told me to go down to 6,000m and they could get tomek at 7,200m. it was the only way possible to rescue both of us so they made us separate.

and when i came down on the first night, help had not come. so i had to spend a night outside without equipment, without a tent, without food. in the end, only she was rescued. her left foot is severely damaged — hallucinations caused her to take a shoe off for five hours in freezing conditions. but despite this ordeal, she has not ruled out climbing again. sarah corker, bbc news. england's chief inspector of schools has warned some parents and religious leaders are trying to actively preferred education. he saysis actively preferred education. he says is are worried about the people using face to try to narrow children's horizon and that must not be allowed to dictate school policy on dress or behaviour. you just wrap it around like a long, long scarf. these teenage muslim girls have been wearing a headscarf for a few years now. their reasons are varied.

this is one way i feel modest, because i'm not showing off my hair or worrying about my make—up or whatever. people who see me, they instantly recognise me as a muslim and also if i see other people, then i know that they're muslim if they're wearing a hijab. but in recent weeks, there's been a row over whether schools should be allowed to ban the hijab. in london, the head teacher of st stephen's primary school was heavily criticised for banning girls under the age of eight from wearing it. she then reversed her decision because of the uproar. now, ofsted has intervened. today, its chief inspector said school leaders must have the right to set uniform policies in order to promote cohesion. for some, wearing hijab post—puberty is seen as a religious requirement. there's a difference between that and cultural preferences, and wearing lipstick and high heels might be one of those. we don't say that all schools must respect cultural preferences and we try and find a balance that

makes the school a community for everybody in it. the koran, the holy book of islam, says women should guard their modesty. the text is open to interpretation. some muslim women choose to wear it, others don't, but there are strong feelings around whether young girls should be allowed to cover up in schools. here in birmingham, it's not uncommon to see girls who are four and five wearing the hijab with their uniform. critics say that if its purpose is to guard modesty, it should only be worn after puberty. if not, ofsted says that it could be interpreted as the sexualisation of young girls. in all of our lives and all of our cultures... at one school here, the head teacher is calling for more debate. it's not an equal practice. girls wear a headscarf, or are expected to, or they can when they hit puberty, but boys are not. so it's not an equal practice, and you can't say that it is. so you have to be able to expect to have a really clear and open

debate about these kind of things. some here argue banning the hijab could itself undermine the right to religious freedom. one mother says sometimes daughters just want to imitate their elders. children can be quite stubborn and fixed in their ways, then what can you do? rather than have tantrums, you have to just sometimes give in. but if they want to do it, you know, and the school doesn't have any objections, then i don't have a problem with it, with them wearing it. in cosmopolitan britain, where different faiths come into contact with western views, rules in schools can provoke controversy, anger and resentment. sima kotecha, bbc news. a year ago, you might remember donald trump starting his presidency with a row about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. one year on, the latest claim is for the audience for tuesday's state of the union address. mr trump has been boasting on twitter "115.6 million people

watched, the highest number in history". except that isn't true. the figure came from nielsen, and they say more people tuned in for all three of his predecessors. well, someone who once had the task of defending the president's claims is former white house press secretary sean spicer. he's been speaking to the bbc. there were plenty of times when it was really painful in the sense that i did something that i knew i stepped in, and at those really difficult moments, the president was probably the most gracious. he would say "i know what you're trying to say and it is just those guys in the media, they were looking to get you and i know we did not mean it to come out that way". that helped. it is an honour to do this and yes, i believe that we have to be honest with the american people. i think sometimes we can disagree with the facts. there were other times when he would say "why would you use that word? that was not what we had talked about". there were moments of disappointment. again, i would feel bad that i had not checked in with him or i had articulated something

in a way that was not really what he wanted expressed. but in most cases, the president was actually extremely gracious and, frankly, forgiving. i think frankly, i approached the job in a very traditional way for an untraditional president and that is something that, frankly, all of the folks in the white house and throughout the administration have learned. frankly, the media has learned that, other folks at capitol hill and outside stakeholders, that he ran a non—traditional administration and is operating that way. people like myself that have grown up in the system and approach the job in a very traditional way, normally you would sit in place and know what the position of the administration was and go out and articulate it. the president is very hands—on and i think a lot of times, based on the state of negotiations, has an updated view that he wants to express and you need to be in constant contact with him. there are things like saturday night live,

they are iconic. there are skits that i remember from eddie murphy and dan ackroyd that i can still recite by heart, and now to think that my kids are going "yeah, but now you are one of them". (laughs) sean spicer there. the winter olympics are just around the corner and for the first time, nigeria will compete. three female athletes — nigeria's bobsled team — have qualified for the games. our sports news correspondent alex capstick met them at their training camp at lake placid. we are the nigerian women's bobsleigh team! we are the first team from the country of nigeria. the first team from the continent of africa. and the first team to be represented in the winter olympics in the sport of bobsled. in pyeongchang. they‘re known as ‘the ice blazers‘, going where no african has gone before — heading to a bobsleigh track at the olympics. the opening ceremony — that would be really cool. we were just like, "gosh,

we're carrying the nigerian flag in a winter olympics. gosh!" born in america, like her team—mates, seun adigun qualifies for nigeria through her parents, and it all began in her garage in houston with a home—made wooden sled. get on up! it‘s bobsled time! cool running! the exploits of the jamaican men‘s team at the calgary olympics in 1988 inspired a hollywood movie. comparisons are inevitable. it‘s really honourable, to say the least, that 30 years later, people are still singing their praises, and to say that we are along that same path of what people consider to be legendary is really humbling and it‘s an honour to receive. just over a year ago, seun recruited two team—mates who take it in turns to sit behind the driver. they knew nothing about the sport and its risks. after going to whistler — that‘s the fastest track

in the world — it was like, "ok, this sport is actually pretty dangerous. you know, like, people can get seriously hurt". behind all the excitement, the fun, the global exposure, is a group of women who have no desire to be considered a novelty act. rank outsiders, yes, but they also want to be taken seriously in their bid to set a new benchmark for africa at the winter olympics. people didn‘t think we had a chance to make it to the olympics so i think when you talk about things like that, anything can happen and we are here to compete. the team know they are unlikely to become the first africans to stand on the podium at a winter games but they also know the olympics is about more than just medals. alex ca pstick, bbc news, lake placid. fantastic. much more on that in all of the news at any time on the bbc news website. think if watching. —— thank you. hello once again.

it was quite a windy day, to say the very least, on thursday, and coming from a pretty cold direction — from the north and north—west. the wind probably at its strongest across parts of scotland, especially across northern and western shores. there was some disruption to ferries. the only difference i can see about the wind on friday is that there‘ll be less of it. the isobars just that little bit further apart. it may not seem that way first up along the eastern shores of england where you have a combination of quite a stiff north and north—westerly breeze, and also quite a supply of showers as well. those tending to lose their oomph as we get on through the day. out towards the west, maybe even some of these showers through western wales and the south—west will also lose their intensity. elsewhere, it‘s a really decent day. plenty of sunshine — but not, again, overly warm if you‘re exposed to that breeze. temperatures dipping away under clear skies until we bring cloud in, in association with a weather front from the atlantic. this is going to be the major feature of interest, certainly from a meteorological point of view, on saturday, if only because we‘re not quite sure how far east it‘s going to go.

some of it wants to go that way, some of it wants to come this way. other portions of it mayjust go round and round as it forms a little low centre somewhere along its length. and where it stops going eastward is really quite important because, if you don‘t get all of the weather on at this front, you‘ll end up with a dry day, maybe even a bit of sunshine there. but on its eastern flank, because it‘s so cold, the moisture will turn to snow, particularly over the higher ground, i suspect. wherever it stops going eastwards, i think it is going to be all over cardiff. the kick—off there is around 2:15. no great issues, france versus ireland in paris. the more westerly fixtures here affected by that rain. possibly a little bit of sleet and snow getting over the pennines and the eastern fixtures in scotland — again, i‘m not promising that everybody is going to stay dry by any means at all. less in the way of rain or snow on sunday. there will be some snow showers coming down on this noticeable north—easterly wind into the far south—east. best of the sunshine, scotland and into northern ireland. and, if you‘re heading as far as italy for england‘s fixture

on sunday, well, there really won‘t be many issues with the weather there, we suspect. so, the weekend — a real mishmash. the rain and snow come sunday will eventually ease, i think, across many parts but it will remain cloudy and there will be that cold wind. monday is very much more straightforward until we bring more moisture from the atlantic. and tuesday‘s weather‘s going to be really tricky because there could be quite significant amounts of snow right across the heart of the british isles. stay up to date on the forecast for that one. the this is bbc news. the headlines: britain‘s prime minister is on the third and final day of her visit to china, celebrating the nearly thirteen billion dollars worth of deals she expects to be signed. theresa may has agreed a joint trade and investment review — first step to what she says will be an ambitious

trade deal, post—brexit. with china‘s president she also discussed north korea, hong kong and human rights. police in los angeles say the veteran actor, robert wagner, is now being treated as a "person of interest" in an investigation into the death of his wife, the hollywood star natalie wood. she was found dead off the california coast after going missing from the family yacht in 1981. the white house says president trump is about to release a memo accusing the fbi and justice department of bias against him. the fbi has issued a public statement saying it has grave concerns about factual omissions in the document. the democrats claim it‘s an attempt to distract from the russia investigation.