this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. mps warn that cuts to the royal marines and their amphibious assault ships would significantly undermine britain's security. the defence committee chairman told me why: the capability that they offer is absolutely central to any coherent, strategic concept to be able to intervene, effectively, in any theatre of war. ice hockey players from a unified north and south korean team play together for the first time — ahead of the winter olympics. the actress uma thurman breaks her silence on an alleged attack by harvey weinstein. also this hour — england prepare to take on italy — in the six nations. england coach eddiejones says he wants his side to be ‘brutal and absolutely ruthless‘ — in their clash at rome's stadio olympico. the president of the united states!

applause and after donald trump's first state of the union address — dateline london looks at what's next for his beleaguered presidency. that's in half an hour. good morning and welcome to bbc news. a group of mps is warning that cuts to the royal marines would "rip the heart" out of one of britain's elite fighting forces. the government has reportedly been considering axing thousands of marines and getting rid of two warships they use to launch beach landings. the defence select committee says the cuts would be "militarily illiterate". daniella relph reports. the training, known

for being tough and arduous. 6500 royal marines go through it to make them amongst britain's elite fighting forces. known for their versatility and their ability to respond quickly to situations around the world. the royal marines also provide up to half the personnel for the uk special forces. the defence select committee report warns that further cuts to the marines would damage their ability to be a high readiness unit, quickly deployable, often in difficult circumstances. it also criticises plans to end the use of hms albion as a ship from which beach assaults are made. if there are new and intensified threats you would think we'd be adding to our capabilities, not deleting one of our world beating star capabilities. the committee praises the defence secretary, gavin williamson, for taking control of the defence review but again warned that he won't be able to prevent harsh cuts without extra funding from the treasury.

the ministry of defence says that protecting the uk is its priority and stress that the royal marines play a vital role in defending the play a vital role in defending the country. daniella relph, bbc news. i've been discussing this issue with the former head of the royal navy at the former head of the royal navy at the former head of the royal navy at the former security minister lord west. quite clearly there is insufficient money within the defence budget and each service will have been told to go away and look at measures that can be taken and the bracket within thennavy that's being looked at to make those sort of savings will involve the paying off of the landing ship docks, these are for the albion and bulwark, which are crucial to amphibious landing and a reduction in the marines. because if you don't have the amphibious shipping

capability, there's no point really in having a large marine force. but that amphibious capability has taken many years to build up and you can'tjust suddenly create it again. so losing it is strategically illiterate — as the defence committee said. although some people would say, if you look —— at what are arguably the biggest military threats to this country at the moment, maybe north korea, would the royal marines be much use in that sort of conflict? well i think in the north korean one, although in the korean war of course, amphibious landings was one of the key things during that war, because it is on a peninsula, in the initial stages clearly it wouldn't, because the sort of fighting would be clearly catastrophic, i think, and let's hope a war doesn't start there. but when one looks at the globe there are lots of diverse threats and anything we do from our country is almost by definition expeditionary, we have to be, because we are an island. we have to be expeditionary. and the amphibious capability with the carrier strike capability and our nuclear attack submarines means we have have a force that can enable us to join allies and deploy globally

and that's important, because we rely on global trade, we have got 1a dependencies worldwide, we saw what happened in the falklands for example and we run global shipping from london. the falklands was a one—off and quite a long time ago, wasn't it? well each war is always a one—off. we don't know what will happen tomorrow. there is no doubt the amphibious capability for an island nation is very important. some people would say, yes, nice to have a large royal marines fighting force, but at the same time you can't have everything — these are difficult times economically, there are a lot of demands on government expenditure — the nhs for example many people say in crisis. we just can't afford to do everything. i found from my time in government that governments can afford to do the things they believe are important. and government after government keeps saying the most important duty of any government is the defence and security of our nation and british people globally and i'm afraid successive governments have cut and cut and cut. this happened to other forces, and since 2010 already

our military capability has been reduced by a third. if they take the measures like the amphibious shipping and the others they are talking about, our capability will have been cut by a half. can you imagine if since 2010 we had cut our hospitals, we had half the number of hospitals? it would be just mind—boggling. i don't think the british people realise what cuts the military have had and in the final analysis for the safety and security of our nation, you need military forces. a senior conservative mp has accused ministers of being "vague" and "divided" over brexit. bernard jenkin, who was on the board of the official leave campaign, said civil servants deserved an "unambiguous and united direction" from ministers, singling out the chancellor philip hammond for criticism. it comes ahead of key ministerial meetings this week on the uk—eu relationship. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent susan mendonca and i asked her why phillip hammond was facing so much criticism philip hammond is somebody who the brexiteers within

the backbenches of the tory party have not liked very much, so criticism directed at him again and in particular that thing about the idea that there's vague and divided leadership and that is meaning that civil servants are not being given the right direction. that's because we had a few days ago jacob rees mogg about the civil service putting out figures that painted brexit in the worst possible light and he talks about the treasury fiddling the figures. and i suppose bernard jenkin trying to move the criticism away from the civil service itself and perhaps onto philip hammond for, in his view, taking a different view to theresa may on the direction that brexit should take and in particular the issue of the customs union, that is something brexiteers want to to see, a complete break with the customs union and any connection

between britain and europe on the customs union. so that is pretty much what that's about. what we have had today is amber rudd, the home secretary, responding to these claims, and she told the andrew marr show that in terms of that criticism about the forecasting, well forecasting is done in order to inform decision—making but it doesn't decide decision—making. as far as the civil service is concerned, they're doing a good job and they have the support of the government. i can reassure you that we need to have those forecasts whenever we embark on big policy decisions. the treasury has them ahead of the budget. are they ever right? well they are what they are. wrong. well, sometimes wrong, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have them. the uk government has to have forecasts in order to make certain decisions. sometimes they're wrong, but sometimes wrong by degree. that was amber rudd, we have also heard from vince cable, the leader of the liberal democrats, today and he is turning his fire onjeremy corbyn, the leader of labour party,

saying that there needs to be a second referendum on a final deal. we have heard from jeremy corbyn time and again saying there will be no referendum as far as labour's concerned. what vince cable has said is as he sees itjeremy corbyn is in collusion with theresa may on the brexit deal and he doesn't think the deal will be good for britain and what may happen in his view is that the labour party leader will take a different approach once he faces pressure from his own party once we see what the result of that brexit deal maybe and he thinks that jeremy corbyn will change tack. jeremy corbyn is actually crucial to this. it is clear that the vast majority of his mps and of his party and his supporters are very concerned about the fact that he hasn't opposed brexit. he has effectively worked in collusion with theresa may and her government to enable brexit to happen. i think there is a simmering anger about that and i think as we get through this year and come closer to the final decision

and as it becomes clear that we are going to get a very bad deal from these negotiations, he will be under pressure to agree to support a referendum on the final deal. so that was vince cable. we have some important meetings on brexit this week. yes, we have michel barnier who is david davis, the brexit minister's opposite number in the eu, coming to britain and he will be meeting the prime minister and david davis and talking about the exit, the process of exit and what that is going to look like of course in march of 2019 and so it is the next stage of those negotiations. and as well as michel barnier in there will be key ministerial meetings behind the scenes, technical discussions with different departments about how that will work. the process moving forward. we don't know yet what the outcome will be and all of this noise we are hearing over the weekend from brexiteers is about them trying

to push their idea of that they want the brexit outcome to look like. earlier the housing minister, dominic raab, spoke to sky news and was asked if the final brexit could include the membership of some kind of customs union. i don't think we will be in any form, at least as conceived in international trade practice, of customs, because if we were we would have our hands tied in negotiating free trade deals with other parts of the world, whether it is brazil, whether it's china or india and the prime minister has been clear we want to be able to grasp those opportunities. but at the same time we want frictionless trade with the eu, so there will be important negotiations on the technical detail of making sure that actually goods and services can flow fleely across the border. we're getting news from the united

states of a train crash with some fatalities. a train in south carolina has collided with another train. according to various media reports in the us there are injuries and fatalities. an amtrak train in south carolina colliding with another train. we're hearing from the reuters news agency that two people have killed and some 50 injured. this was amtrak train 91 operating between new york and miami. it hit a freight train at around 2:35am in south carolina. the lead engine derailed, according to amtrak, as well as some passenger cars. there were eight crew members and about 139 passengers. the latest we are hearing from reuters from that train crash alternative fur deutschland dead and 50 injured. more on that as it comes into us. ——

two dead and 50 injured. the prime minister is expected to announce plans to make it an offence under electoral law to intimidate parliamentary candidates and their campaigners. in a speech later this week, mrs may will say recent cases of politicians being abused — in the street and online — risked "toxifying" public debate. sinn fein has confirmed that gerry kelly, its police spokesman and a northern ireland assembly member, removed a wheel clamp from his car in belfast. footage emerged on social media which appeared to show a pair of bolt cutters lying beside the vehicle. a sinn fein spokesman said mr kelly's solicitor was dealing with the matter. the international olympic committee president thomas bach has described the decision to overturn the lifetime bans of 28 russian athletes found guilty of doping as "extremely disappointing". on thursday, the court of arbitration for sport upheld the athletes‘ appeals, saying there was insufficient evidence they had benefited from a system of state—sponsored doping at the 2014 winter games, which were held in russia. speaking at a press conference, mr bach said the ioc will look to overturn the decision.

we unfortunately only know about the reasons from the very few sentences in a press release. it has so far the panel was not able to deliver a reason for the decision. which we are eagerly awaiting. we have asked to speed this procedure up. we have been told that this could be the end of february. which is extremely unsatisfactory situation. a joint north and south korea 0lympic ice hockey team has played its first and only practice match together as one team, ahead of the winter olympics. the squad played sweden

in an friendly international. outside the stadium, supporters of the joint team gathered, along with conservative south korean protesters opposed to to the unification. 0bjections have been raised from some south koreans who believe the new unified ice hockey team won't perform as well as their previous team. 0ur seoul correspondent, laura bicker, has the latest. this friendly match between the inter—korean hockey team and sweden is sold out. that gives you a level of interest in this game. it is a friendly, it is before the olympics, and hear the crowd has arrived to cheer on this team. it has been controversial. when it was announced that 12 players from north korea would be coming to south korea to play with the hockey team there were a number of protests in seoul, south

korea. critics believe that pyongyang is deploying its playbook and that the south korean government is giving too much away and is using this women's hockey team like a political pawn. however, now the sport is under way it does seem to be that this controversy is lessening slightly. the team are playing well together. you can see them bonding and cheering one another on. once the sport is underway that controversy seems to move to the side. the unification ministry has been keen to point out that the team has been bonding. they have been sending out these pictures of the team celebrating its birthday, the team having a nice time together, it is smiling, sharing drinks, there's also been a language barrier. there are certain hockey minibus where the language is different between north and south korea. this is good practice for them, head of the olympics in the coming week, and it also for south

korea and north korea, a chance for them to see how this looks to the public. and how this is received by the public. before the opening ceremony of the olympic games. but it is worth remembering, north korea is still intent on having a military parade on the 8th of february, the day before the winter olympic opening ceremony. they said no one has the right to criticise that choice. the headlines on bbc news: mps warn that cuts to the royal marines would leave britain‘s global interests ‘at serious risk‘. a senior brexiteer accuses ministers of being vague and divided in their plans for leaving the eu. ajoint north and south korea ice hockey team play together for the first time — ahead of the winter olympics. sport now...and for a full round up, sport now...and for a full round up,

from the bbc sport centre, here‘s 0lly foster. wins for ireland and wales yesterday. defending champions england should make a winning start this afternoon when they take on italy in rome at three o‘clock. ben te‘o has the nod ahead ofjonathan joseph at three o‘clock. ben te‘o has the nod ahead ofjonathanjoseph at outside centre. he has not played for england since last year‘s six nations. he has had injury troubles. he scored against italy at twickenham where he made his first start. we are very happy with the team. it's we are very happy with the team. it‘s a great opportunity for them on sunday. the preparation they have had has been absolutely first—class. the effort of the players has been outstanding. the leadership from the senior players has been good. we are ready to put on a pretty ruthless display on sunday. a couple of premier league matches this afternoon. spurs willjump above liverpool into third if they win at anfield. liverpool are the

only side to have beaten the runaway leaders manchester city this season, and that was a classic. jurgen klopp thinks the spurs match could be just as good. totte n ha m as good. tottenham have thought a lot about oui’ tottenham have thought a lot about our strength, we need to think a lot about their strength. it can‘t be the same as the manchester city game. after the manchester city game it is really rare if everybody expects so much that it is going to be such a fantastic football game. from my point of view, don‘t hesitate, do it again. the first much of the day is at selhurst park. crystal palace are two points above the relegation zone. newcastle united are only out of the bottom three on goal difference. newcastle failed to make any permanent player additions in the transfer window. their manager said that the whole squad is committed to the cause. they have to fight for every point until the end of the season. that‘s

it. now it is just no distractions and everybody has to be sure that they are ready. they have two just concentrate on that. because some of them, maybe they were thinking something here, something there, but 110w something here, something there, but now everybody is here, anotherjust have to do their best. adelaide strikers have won the big bash the first time, beating hobart hurricanes. jake whether old hit 115 off 70 deliveries. they were playing at their home ground, as well, they 202 for two. it always looked too much for the tasmanian side to reach. 177—5 they made. the women‘s final was won by the defending champions, the sydney sixers. they beat the perth scorchers. the sydney side taste

their opponents and had five to spare. perry hit their winning runs. they won the tournament for the second time. great britain have to win both of today‘s singles rubbers to beat spain in the davis cup. world number 114 up against the 21st in the world. it has been a ding dong first set. they broke each other. and they are intoa set. they broke each other. and they are into a tie—break in the opening set. we can take you live now. this is on bbc two. you can see that norrie has a 3—2 lead. neither of the men have been strong on their serve. the briton won his opening

rubber. if he can win this, it is 3-3 rubber. if he can win this, it is 3—3 in the tie—break, the captain will have a decision to make. would he risk kyle edmund in what would be a deciding rubber? you can follow that on bbc two. that is all of the sport for now. i will have much more for you in the next hour. will you be watching the spurs game? imight be will you be watching the spurs game? i might be hiding behind the sethi. we should beat your lot. i don‘t think so, i think it is liverpool‘s. —— i might be hiding behind the settee. i‘m nota behind the settee. i‘m not a betting man but i‘m quietly confident. moving on... the aviation watchdog is to investigate airlines seating practices. it comes after accusations that flight operators are deliberately splitting up operators are deliberately splitting up groups so they pay extra to sit together. the civil aviation

authority said passengers paying up to £400 million each year to be reallocated. 0ne to £400 million each year to be reallocated. one in ten did not know that it would incur an extra cost to sit with their group. the hollywood actress, uma thurman, has claimed that the disgraced film producer, harvey weinstein, tried to sexually assault her in a london hotel. the star has made detailed accusations in a newspaper interview. mr weinstein‘s lawyer said his client was stunned and saddened by what he considered false allegations. it comes as scotland yard confirms it‘s looking into two more allegations of sexual assault against the producer. our correspondent, simon jones, has more. she starred in several films produced by the disgraced movie mogul. it was after the success of pulp fiction that uma thurman says she was targeted by harvey weinstein. now she‘s the latest woman to speak out in an interview with the new york times. uma thurman claims harvey weinstein pushed her down when she met him in his suite here at the savoy hotel in london. she says he tried to expose

himself, he did all kinds of unpleasant things. but she said she managed to wriggle away like a lizard. the next day, she says, a bunch of flowers arrived. a spokeswoman for harvey weinstein said in a statement: it comes as scotland yard say they‘ve received two further allegations of sexual assault, one from a woman who claims harvey weinstein assaulted her in westminster in 2011, and another from a woman who says she was targeted in the republic of ireland. that brings the total number of women who have reported the producer to british police to nine. officers in new york and los angeles have also begun investigations. he has denied all allegations of non—consensual sex. harvey weinstein was once one of the most powerful men

in hollywood, credited with scores of oscar wins, but he has been thrown out of the organisation that runs the oscars and he‘s now in rehab, a huge fall from grace from which there is likely to be no return. police in florida have arrested a man they say made threats to kidnap the singer lana del rey. the man was carrying a knife when he was arrested near the amway center in orlando where the singer was due to perform. michael hunt, who is 43, is facing charges of aggravated stalking and attempted kidnapping. darkest hour, a film depicting winston churchill during the war, has been nominated for 9 baftas and 6 oscars. the make up team that transformed gary 0ldman into the prime minister are among those hoping to win an academy award. brennan nicholls has been to meet them. you cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth! gary 0ldman‘s performance in darkest hour has already

earned him many accolades and critical acclaim. turning him, though, into britain‘s wartime prime minister has been hailed as a masterpiece of make—up. gary would come into the bus. we‘d shave his head, apply the make—up, it takes just over three hours to apply the make—up and wig, plus getting him into his fat suit and costume, it is close to four hours for the entire thing. he‘d then go to set for ten or 12 hours a day filming and we‘d need to be there the whole time to maintain his make—up throughout that. he would then have his make—up removed which takes one—hour and then once he goes lucy and i stay for another hour or two. gary 0ldman convinced kazuhiro tsuji to come out of retirement to design the churchill make—up. having just been working with david on another movie, it was 0ldman that asked him to be on set applying it alongside colleague lucy sibbick. and it‘s the three of them that have been nominated for the oscar. i‘m extremely proud. it‘s the bestjob i‘ve done so far to date and i‘m just so pleased it‘s

getting the recognition that it deserves, because the amount of effort that myself, kazu and lucy have put into it. you know, there‘s such a big team involved. we‘re here now getting the credit and our names are on the award, but the amount of people in the workshops who have been involved is amazing. we are to receive our award. the 39—year—old make—up artist has a cv full of blockbusters to his name, but this is his first ever oscar nomination. look at all this texture around here. the texture on gary‘s nose and the colouration and broken vein work and stuff like that. that‘s whyjust spending that bit more time prepping, that‘s why our days were so long. ijust wanted to make sure i painted all of those pieces perfectly so that they match everyday. david flies out to los angeles for the oscar nomination lunch this weekend and then it‘s back for the baftas, before heading back to la for the oscars themselves on march 4th for what could be his finest hour. and you can get in touch with me

and most of the team on twitter, we can update you on the train crash from the united states. two trains have collided. reports are that two people are dead and 50 injured. it was an amtrak train 91, operating between new york and miami, came in contact with a c s x freight train at around in cayce, south carolina. the lead engine derailed, as well as some passenger cars. there were 8 crew members and approximately 139 passengers, with injuries reported. we can take a look at the weather prospects. good morning. a bright day out there

for many. good spells of sunshine around for most. some showers are looming large on the horizon in some eastern areas. that picture in kent tells the story pretty well. these showers pushing into eastern areas. a mixture of rain, sleet and snow over higher ground. strong wind onto the south—east. seven on the thermometer in london will feel more like freezing. further north and west bright skies, lighter winds, not a bad day. this evening and tonight, it‘ll turn cold, very cold for many with a few fog patches. thames water the south—east, the strong wind will feed into increasingly plentiful wintry showers. —— further down in the south—east. they will turn into snow showers on monday morning. some areas could see a couple of centimetres of snow accumulating. 0ther centimetres of snow accumulating. other areas between the showers could miss out completely. spells of sunshine, but it‘ll feel chilly with

tom —— top temperatures around three degrees. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: mps warn that cuts to the royal marines and their amphibious assault ships would significantly undermine britain‘s security — calling the move ‘militarily illiterate.‘ if there are new and intensified threats, you would think we would be adding to our capabilities, not deleting one of our world—beating star capabilities. ‘get behind theresa may‘ — the message to ministers from senior tory bernard jenkin, as he calls for a ‘clean‘ brexit. at least two people have been killed and dozens injured after a collision between two trains in south carolina. ice hockey players from a unified north and south korean team play together for the first time ahead of the winter olympics.