welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: president trump has blocked the release of a document which rebuts claims of anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. us officials consider what action to take after two british jihadis are captured in syria. families of the victims say the fighters should face trial. uber agrees to pay waymo $245 million in shares to settle allegations it stole trade secrets. funding cuts threaten to take the shine off the world's biggest street party, as 1.5 million tourists head to rio for the annual carnival. in the past few hours, president trump has blocked the release of a classified memo that rebutted claims

that there was anti—trump bias in the fbi's investigation of russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, that brought trump to power. the white house said the memo — written by a democratic congressman — couldn't be released because it contained classified material. our correspondent peter bowes has more on the plan to redact the memo in order to get it published. well, the democrats are saying that they will consider some reductions and actually, that isn't a huge surprise. i think we had been half expecting that this would happen. certainly over the last few days, the signs were that the white house would probably come back and say that out of security considerations, it wasn't able to release this document which, as you have already said, is essentially a reduction — is essentially a rebuttal of the very controversial document that we saw last week from the republicans, that essentially accused the fbi of being biased against donald trump.

and if these redactions can be got through, do you think the president will agree to release the memo? well, that's certainly the suggestion from the statement that we've had from the white house, that the president has instructed the justice department to work with the committee in the house looking at security matters, that's responsible for this memo, to see if there is a way to release it withoutjeopardising any issues of security. that would suggest that the white house and president trump is open to its eventual release. the white house has confirmed that a second member of the donald trump administration has resigned over allegations of domestic abuse. he says he has resigned because he does not want to be a distraction. his

resignation comes days after allegations he abused two of his former wives, allegations he denied. donald trump has come under pressure over how much he knew about the allegations. us officials say they're considering what action to take after two british jihadis were captured in syria. alexanda kotey and el shafee el sheikh were part of a team of four british is members, who the americans say killed 27 hostages. families of the victims have called for them to stand trial. daniel sandford reports. they became the most infamous gang of foreign fighters in the self—styled islamic state. callous torturers and public executioners of hostages. jihadijohn, his real name, mohammed emwazi, — now dead. aine davis — in prison in turkey. and the two men we now know were captured last month, alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh. the gang are suspected of beheading alan henning, a driver and aid workerfrom eccles, and david haines, a long time aid worker from perth.

his daughter now contemplating what punishment his newly captured suspected killers should face. they should die a long, slow, painful death, and i think quite a lot of people will understand that, that they should be allowed to live. but, realistically, that's not going to happen, and you have to come to terms with that. the best thing for them is to be locked up and throw away the key. they should never be allowed back in society because they willjust recruit people and they will just do this again. and for the sake of her father, if they end up in court, she will go to watch. if it goes to trial, i'll certainly be there. i certainly want to look them in the eye and let them know that i am who i am and they have destroyed a big part of my life. and, hopefully, there will be some sort ofjustice. some of the gangs hostages were freed, including former french reporter, nicolas henin. he wants them to have the fairest trial possible. i would not be happy if they were just sent to guantanamo bay because this

is denial ofjustice. el shafee elsheikh arrived in syria from britain in 2012. alexanda kotey left the uk on an aid convoy to gaza in 2009, and also ended up in syria. their gang is accused by the us of beheading at least 27 hostages, including alan henning, david haines and americans, james foley, peter kassig and steven sotloff. they're also suspected of waterboarding, mock executions, crucifixions and electric shock torture. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh grew up close to each other in quite a small area of west london, near to the aao flyover. it became infamous as an is recruiting ground. as well as mohammed emwazi, jihadijohn, some half a dozen other men from these streets died fighting for is in either syria or iraq. elsheikh and kotey had already had their british citizenship removed by the home secretary —

now a trial, possibly in the united states, seems the most likely outcome. daniel sandford, bbc news, west london. well, with is on the run in syria, how useful is the capture of these two british jihadists and what information could they provide? here's our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville. they called it home and raqqa was their capital, but their caliphate is now a ruin. it's not known yet how long alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh stayed here, but kurdish and arab fighters fought in these streets for months and more than 650 died, freeing the city from the so—called islamic state. the corpses of foreign fighters littered the alleways, but even then we knew that plenty had escaped. in a ceasefire deal, hundreds of is fighters were allowed to leave the city. across syria, is members began

to flee through kurdish regime and rebel lines. the two british men, part of an is cell from the west london, were picked up by kurdish forces, trying to flee to turkey. the two are a significant prize. they may be able to answer questions about what happened here. this is dabiq, where mohammed emwazi, jihadi john, murdered aid worker, peter abdul—rahman kassig. the same cell killed britain's alan henning and david haines. their bodies have never been recovered. the west london cell were seen as the worst of the worst, is superstars who had an air of invulnerability, but no more, now all are dead or in captivity. they may also have information on the missing britishjournalist, john cantlie. kidnapped by is, he's fronted some of their propaganda videos.

this was his last appearance from mosul, before it too was taken from is group. and do they know the whereabouts of abu bakr al—baghdadi, the is leader? despite repeated claims that he is dead, he was last heard from in september last year. the captured men have served one significant purpose, though, a new front has opened in syria. turkey is attacking kurdish forces — it calls them terrorists, but the coalition sees the kurds as vital and effective allies against is and it wants the world to know those allies have just captured two of the caliphate‘s most wanted. daniel sandford, bbc news, beirut. -- quentin sommerville. two of the biggest us companies developing self—drive cars — uber and waymo — have settled a court case. uber agreed to surrender equity

worth more than $200 million to waymo, which accused it of stealing trade secrets. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee reports. this case captivated silicon valley, mostly because of this man. uber‘s former chief executive travis kalanick is expected by many to be the very embodiment of silicon valley‘s broke culture, overconfidence and aggressive ambition. in court this week, he was accused of orchestrating a grand plan to steal self—driving technology from google and then put it into uber‘s on cars. travis kalanick believes the technology is vital if uber is to survive. they had a meeting with then google employee, it was alleged that he stole more than 111,000 alleged documents and then left google to set up his own company, then he sold it to uber. in a remarkable moment

during the trial, the jury was shown this scene from the 1989 film, wall street. the prosecution said travis kalanick acted like a real—life gordon gecko. the point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack ofa and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is called. greed is right. at convincing juror is that travis kalanick is something of a slippery operator was not going to be enough to win the case. what the prosecution had to demonstrate was that uber was using the stolen technology, and that was proving much more difficult. and so the risk of google would have been that they we re of google would have been that they were a bully and if they went after a competitor in order to suppress competition, rather than to vindicate their legitimate intellectual property rights, conversely there was fought uber, by continuing, would have been well, what if we lose the whole thing? and so what if we lose the whole thing? and so this settlement is perhaps a good

result for both sides. as part of the deal, uber agreed to give up 0.34% of its company, worth around $245 million. in a statement, travis kalanick insisted no trade secrets we re ever kalanick insisted no trade secrets were ever used nsaid had the trial played out, uber would have won. we will not get the chance to find out if he was right. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the british government says it is reviewing its work with the charity 0xfa m reviewing its work with the charity 0xfam following reports that their staff are regularly use prostitutes in haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. the department for international development said that 0xfa m international development said that 0xfam had serious western stance about how dealt with the abuse of vulnerable people. 0xfam has denied a cover—up. thousands of venezuelans have rushed to the border crossings with colombia after the president announced a tightening of venezuelan controls. was on 30,000 venezuelans

head the columbia daily to look for work and buy essential goods. researchers at edinburgh university have grown human eggs in the laboratory for the first time. they say the breakthrough is an opportunity to explore how human eggs develop, much of which remains a mystery to science. the hope is these findings could lead to new ways of preserving women's fertility. and an asteroid up to 40 metres wide, which was only discovered five days ago, has skimmed past earth at a distance of, while the threat is relatively close in astronomical terms, it is nowhere near enough to bea terms, it is nowhere near enough to be a threat, according to nasa. the british foreign secretary boris johnson has arrived in bangladesh, to investigate the plight of rohingya muslim refugees from myanmar. after a meeting with the bangladesh prime minister, sheikh hasina, mrjohnson said he'd discussed all issues of cooperation to try to help the rohingyas. he also said he would raise the plight of the refugees with aung san suu kyi

on a visit to myanmar, after he's visited a refugee camp on the bangladesh—burma border near cox's bazar, as well as northern rakhine. what we all want to see is safe, dignified and secure returns for the people of the rohingya, back to their place of origin, and talking to his excellency and to the prime minister just to his excellency and to the prime ministerjust now, i was really struck by how bangladesh and the united kingdom really share a common analysis of what needs to be done, but i think where you are obviously right is we need to make those points together to the government of myanmar. stay with us bbc news. there's mr mandela.

mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories. head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: president trump has blocked the release of a document which rebuts claims of anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. egypt's army has begun a major operation against terrorist organisations in several parts of the country. the government said a military campaign involving defence forces and the police is being carried out in the sinai peninsula, nile delta, and western desert. security forces have, for years, battled an islamic state insurgency in north sinai that has killed hundreds of soldiers, police and civilians. 0ur egypt correspondent sally nabil sent this report the egyptian army has decided to strike harder than ever against islamist militants in sinai. the army has released footage of a full—scale offensive targeting insurgent groups operating in the turbulent peninsula for more than five years. translation: egyptian air forces

have targeted terrorist hideouts and their arms depots in north and central sinai. the forces have been beefing up their security measures to cut terrorist supply lines. the scope of the military operation is perhaps unprecedented. while it focuses on northern sinai, a military zone with sparse civilian population and no media access, it is also intended to cover other parts of the populous nile delta and the western desert, bordering the chaotic libya. people in northern sinai have told us highways in and out of the area have been closed, as well as petrol stations. schools will be shut down, too, until further notice. the offensive takes place after gunmen killed more than 300

worshippers at a mosque in northern sinai last november. since then, president abdel fattah el—sisi gave his armed forces a 3—month period to wipe out the deeply rooted insurgency in the area. a deadline, seen by many as unrealistic, has been set for february. translation: you cannot have a precise timeframe when you're battling terrorists. the operation has started but these developments on the ground that will decide when it is going to end. i do not think the troops will go back to their barracks before they complete their mission and destroy the militants' capabilities. sinai has witnessed similar military operations before, even if not that big. many wonder if this one will succeed in what the past ones failed to achieve. sally nabil, bbc news. the european union's chief brexit

negotiator, michel barnier, has warned that a transition period for the uk after it leaves the bloc is not guaranteed, unless what he called substantial disagreements can be overcome. mr barnier said these include britain not wanting to extend permanent rights to eu nationals who arrive in the country during the transition, and not wanting to follow all european rules during that time. john piennar reports. brexit is coming and time is running short. just 13 months before britain is officially out of the european union, and today, the eu had a sharp warning — sort out key sticking points or there will be no deal and no transition. britain's brexit secretary met the eu chief negotiator in downing street on monday. friendly enough, but there's just weeks to thrash out the shape of a brexit transition. 0h, here we go. today, in brussels, with a big eu summit next month, michel barnier had a blunt message, in terms easy to understand. if these disagreements persist, the transition is not a given. so much to sort out, and talks are getting prickly.

0n the rights of migrants who arrive after brexit day, will brussels block trade if britain breaks eu rules? the brexit secretary called that discourteous. "oh, no, it isn't", said mr barnier. speaks french. "my attitude hasn't been in the least discourteous "or vindictive", he said. "we never wished to punish the uk. "it's foreign to my state of mind". and how to leave the eu without bringing back a hard north—south irish border. no one wants that, but... it is important to tell the truth. a uk decision to leave the single market and to leave the customs union would make border checks unavoidable. it's notjust a political problem at this shoe shop in newry, northern ireland. these shoes are meant for walking, on both sides of the border. customs and tariffs could mean a business like this running into trouble.

what we need is easy access from the factory to our shop floor. if there is a hard border, then there will be hold—ups all the way along that we cannot predict. the government wants to keep allies on side. brexiteers who say stand up to brussels, and unionists who say britain and northern ireland must leave the customs union as one. the bottom line is this — that northern ireland will leave the european union with the rest of the united kingdom. we would not countenance a situation where there would either be political constitutional barriers within the united kingdom, and economic barriers within the united kingdom internal market would be catastrophic for northern ireland. we're not prepared to accept that we become rule—takers from the eu when we have no say over it. that would be the worst of all worlds. yes, business wants certainty and to know they have time to get ready for things like customs changes. that is what the implementation

period is about. but it is not about having the eu try and dictate to us in a way that would be unacceptable to us and strangely to businesses as well. tonight, the brexit secretary is saying he is surprised michel barnier is not clear that britain just wants to go on trading as now during a transition. the government is hoping for compromise in negotiations. whatever anyone says now, but if there is no transition deal next month, ministers will have to prepare britain and british business for the real possibility of a cliff—edge brexit. every month, every week, every day, a new problem. if there's a transition deal, then comes deciding ambitions for brexit, which split mps and ministers. the next date with potential crisis always closer and closer. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. it attracts 1.5 million tourists every year and is arguably the world's biggest street party, the amiable carnival has started but it

is feared funding cuts could take the shine off result‘s famous festival. mayor says it is because ofa festival. mayor says it is because of a financial crisis and they said —— the evangelical man is against a culture rooted in celebration. rio carnival means costumes, music, and movers. thousands of people poured into the city's famous samba drone to see the colourful performers and dancers. earlier, the first of many street parties got under way. "carnival is happiness, pure love", this man said. and continuing with tradition, the 5—day festival officially started when the man handed over the keys of the city to the fictional king of misrule. at the city's evangelical mayor has

been accused of acting on his conservative views by cutting funding for this year's carnival. and, as the brass band struck up an anthem, he had to defend himself. translation: it isn't true what people say, that the mayor has any prejudice against carnival. i am not prejudiced. iadmire, respect, applaud and have made every effort so that carnival continues with much success. funding for rio's top samba schools has been halved. cuts, the mayor said, are because of rio's financial crisis. his critics, though, say he just does not like the festival, despite the fact it attracts more than a million visitors. and as brazil emerges from its worst ever recession, many here are just happy to have something to smile about. now to south korea, where pyeongchang is hosting

the winter olympic games. canada dominates the early stages of the curling. after four sessions of the round robin mixed doubles, it leads on points, but onlyjust. canada, norway, olympic athletes from russia and switzerland have all played four games, winning three and losing one. russian athletes evgenia tarasova and vladimir morozov top the board after the first event of the team figure skating. the european champions, who are real—life partners, produced an ambitious programme to claim ten points, ahead of canada and germany. shoma uno ofjapan is out in front in the men's singles. last year's world silver medallist impressing with a series of clean moves and spectacular jumps. meanwhile, france's perrine laffont leads the first round qualification of the women's moguls freestyle skiing. an impressive run at the phoenix snow park pushed her ahead of canadian andi naude and morgan schild of the usa. and if you want to find out more on any of the stories we're covering, just head to our website.

you'll find all the latest news, reaction and analysis, along with updated live pages and reports from our correspondents across the globe. that's bbc.com/news, or download the bbc news app. a reminder of our top story: president trump has blocked the release of a classified memo that rebutted claims that there was anti—trump bias in the fbi. the white house said the memo, written by democratic congressmen, couldn't be released because it contained classified material. efforts are under way to redact the memo in order to get it published. us officials say they are considering what action to take a deep to britishjihadis considering what action to take a deep to british jihadis were ca ptu red deep to british jihadis were captured in the rear. gavotte in syria. they were part of four british is members. goodbye. hello again.

most of us saw some sunshine yesterday, but there were also some wintry showers out and about. the highlands looked splendid, didn't they? after the recent snowfall here and clear blue skies as well. but looking ahead to the weekend's forecast, not so much sunshine to go around on saturday. sunday sees the sunshine return, along with some snow showers. it'll become windy for a time this weekend. here's the satellite picture. it shows an area of low pressure, a curl of cloud racing towards the british isles, and this cloud is going to be moving in, bringing a band of rain with it. and that rain is going to be quite heavy over the next few hours, turning readily to snow — even low down across parts of eastern scotland. i think we will see things turning rather wintry. the other thing you'll notice if you're out and about first thing is how cold it feels. yes, we're looking at a widespread frost and a risk of some icy stretches first thing. now, looking at the weather in a little bit more detail through saturday morning. the snow across scotland, well, five to ten centimetres possible over the higher ground. it will tend to transition back to rain as milder air works in from the west as we go on through the early morning.

further southwards, for wales and south—west england, it's just rain that will fall really. and after that cold and frosty start across east anglia and south—east england, bright with some sunshine, but then the cloud moves over that cold air. it's probably one of those mornings where temperatures will be very slow to rise across parts of eastern england. not really rising significantly until we get into the afternoon, when the winds pick up and we will start to see the threat of some light rain working into east anglia and the south—east. quite a range of temperatures, turning mild in the south—west. highs up to 11 degrees. we still have the cold air hanging on across northern scotland, where we'll also have some bright weather with some sunshine. now, it's six nations again this weekend and both at dublin and also twickenham, the threat of rain. probably the rain heavier at twickenham as the evening progresses. now, looking at saturday night, a windy spell of weather looks on the cards thanks to this area of low pressure. i've just drawn the fronts in, and it's around the southern flank of this low pressure that we could see the winds being particularly strong.

gales seem likely. gusts of wind 50 to 60 miles an hour. it could be a bit stronger than that across parts of the east, it just depends how quickly this area of low pressure develops. either way, as we get into the first part of sunday, that area of low pressure will be working across to cause problems in the continent. we are left with brisk north—westerly winds, that will drag in plenty of wintry showers, most of them snow inland. towards the coast, there could be a bit more of a mix of rain and sleet. there will be sunshine between those showers, but it will feel chilly, highs generally around three to five degrees. it looks quite likely that we will see another spell of heavy snow for the hills of england, northern ireland and scotland monday night. this is bbc news. the headlines... donald trump has blocked the release of a democratic memo, rebutting claims of alleged anti—trump bias in the fbi's russia probe. the white house says the memo "contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages", and for this reason, the president was unable to declassify it. us officials say they're

considering what action to take after two british jihadis were captured in syria. alexanda kotey and el shafee el sheikh were part of a team of four british is members who the americans say killed 27 hostages. the families of their victims say the fighters should face trial. uber has settled its legal battle with the self—driving car company, waymo. the dispute was over allegations that the ride—hailing app, stole trade secrets about waymo's self—driving technology.