you're watching beyond 100 days. they came from around the world to say goodbye to a president who changed the world. the funeral of george herbert walker bush was history in action as mourners looked back on a different era. the 41st president helped navigate the end of the cold war, the reunification of germany and the liberation of kuwait. today though he was also celebrated as a father. to us he was close to perfect. but not totally perfect. his short game was lousy. laughter the legal advice on theresa may's brexit deal has only hardened the opposition. is there anything the prime minister can do before next week's vote to sweeten the pill? also on the programme, the former national security adviser sat down 19 times with the special prosecutor. what did general flynn tell him about the contacts with russia? it's white, sheer, and goes on and on and on and on. we'll tell you more about

priyanka chopra's show—dropping veil a little later on. —— show stopping veil. hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. they came from around the world to say goodbye to an american president and to mark the passing of an era. the funeral of george h w bush was both a commemoration of the 41st president and a celebration of american leadership in tumultuous times. george herbert walker bush was the last us leader to have served in the second world war and as president he helped navigate the end of the cold war. more than 3,000 dignataries came to say goodbye to the leader, who died at the age of 94 last friday. here's our north america editorjon sopel. a nation prepares to bid farewell to the last of the greatest generation. those political leaders who fought in the second world war and then served their country with distinction. the extended bush family looked on as his flag—draped coffin was moved to the national cathedral.

among the mourners, prince charles representing the queen and sirjohn major, prime minister during the first gulf war and close friend of george h w bush. the german chancellor, angela merkel, had come ever grateful for the role that president bush played in the reunification of her country. and in the front pew all the living former us presidents were there and, of course, the serving president donald trump too who until george h w bush's death had been so disdainful of the bush family. but on this day of national mourning, it was also a rare day of national unity for a divided country. unity there may have been. warmth, there wasn't. the body language is chilly as the december day outside. the eulogy was delivered by his son, the former president george w bush. it was pitch perfect, mixing humour and pathos.

i said "dad, i love you and you've been a wonderful father". in the last words he would ever say on earth were "i love you too". to us, he was close to perfect. but not totally perfect. his short game was lousy. laughter. he wasn't exactly fred astaire on the dance floor. the man couldn't stomach vegetables. especially broccoli. laughter. and by the way, he passed these genetic effects along to us. —— these genetic defects. and finally, the emotional farewell from a son to his father. so, through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man. the best father a son or daughter could have. and in our grief, ijust smile knowing that dad is hugging mum

and holding mum's and again. —— baghdad is hugging robin. —— that dad is hugging robin. as president george h w bush had said he wanted to see a kinder, gentler nation, something not at the forefront in 2018. the end of an error indeed. —— the end of an era indeed. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the bbc‘s nick bryant is at the national cathedral where today's service took place and we can speak to him now. the bush family did as much as it could take take attention out of that in deference of their father but such respect for the office. george herbert walker bush was insistent that donald trump should be at this national funeral service. donald trump was not invited when mourners gathered here to remember the life of the late republican senatorjohn mccain. the life of the late republican senator john mccain. and

the life of the late republican senatorjohn mccain. and the whole service was senatorjohn mccain. and the whole service was very senatorjohn mccain. and the whole service was very much in that spirit of kind of patriotic bipartisanship that in many ways george herbert walker bush personified. like all good generals there a lesson tears. and i thought what was so strong about it was that it focused on the themes that characterised his life. the idea of service, service that was imbued in him as a young naval pilot shot down above the pacific. two of his crewmates died that day and in that military mission it was almost as if he found his life's mission to go into public service, to become a congressman, to become a ambassador, to become the vice president and ultimately to become president and ultimately to become president of the united states. as i watched the service unfold and the dignitaries from around the world, john major was there. it looked that we we re john major was there. it looked that we were watching a history book play out in real life for us. it was like history being made real, wasn't it

right in front of our eyes. it was quite extraordinary. the fact that so quite extraordinary. the fact that so many people came from so far testified to his unrivaled status as a global statesman. he was by no means inevitable that the cold war when add peacefully. but one of the key reasons why did was the diplomatic management of george herbert walker bush. a lot of us media wondered why he didn't rush to berlin when the wall came down, why didn't niekro or celebrate? the reason why it was because he thought that would bring huge from from mikhail gorbachev and hard—liners in the kremlin were trying to oust him. if you think of the gulf war, it was a model of what us diplomacy should go quiet. he patiently assembled a coalition of 35 countries. he went to the united nations and got a resolution passed to authorise use of force and got the congressional authorisation he did so after the

1990 midterms rather than before because he did not want that for to because he did not want that for to be politicized. and of course when he won that war, he stopped short and knew when to get out. he did not go to baghdad and try to oust saddam hussein because he knew the problems that would be associated with regime change. nick bryant out side at the cathedral. we see the pictures from andrews air force base where the body of george h w bush will be carried back to texas and he will be buried in texas alongside his wife barbara who died back in april. and daughter robin who died at the age of just three years daughter robin who died at the age ofjust three years old. the bush family there you can see president george w bush, jeb bush, neil and murton, the sister dorothy and a big family with the grandchildren as the casket is carried onto the plane to be carried back to texas. what us now is... and with me now is our political analyst ron christie who was an adviser to george w bush. george w bush gave a moving, funny

tribute that was touching to his dad who was so important to a noxious as a father but a role model because it is the only been two pairs of father—son presidents in american history. john adams and john quincy adams back in the late 1700s early 18005. adams back in the late 1700s early 1800s. and off the bushes too. 0ne one of the things i enjoy about working in the george w bush white house was how often i saw his father. he was there to give him advice when asked and president bush the younger always asked. and he always had a smile for the staff, always had a smile for the staff, always had a kind word for everyone and you got to see what sort of a gracious and decent individual the elder president bush was. definitely memories, many of which i would cherish as we watch and head towards his home now in houston. did it feel to you watching that service today with all those people who came in

attendance but we were catching a close of a given area perhaps sink isa close of a given area perhaps sink is a page on a different era? no question about that. think of the times when george herbert walker bush was president. you are talking about the late 19805 in america and 19905. a tumultuous time when our economy was not as strong as it could be and there were so many challenges around the world, the reunification of germany. looking at of course the war in kuwait and the liberation from saddam hussein and so many of the challenges and you look across that room at the washington national cathedral and you thought of a different area of a different type with the complexities and yet they were there to honour a president, a friend and a fellow compatriot on the world stage. and that reflected by the people who we re that reflected by the people who were there today. angela merkel, prince charles, john major, this was a president who looked outward and sought the importance of america and its influence on the world stage. goodie btu christian. no question about that and i would say that

george w bush reali5e about that and i would say that george w bush realise the office of the president said he was bigger than him and he was but one occupants than him and he was but one occu pa nt5 of it. than him and he was but one occupants of it. —— the presidency wa5 occupants of it. —— the presidency was bigger than him. he saw that reflected in the way he did not quote or take victory lap5. he pa55ed quote or take victory lap5. he passed that along to the 43rd president and said "do not gloat, do not take a victory lap. thi5 president and said "do not gloat, do not take a victory lap. this is about a cause bigger than you". and certainly befriends and 3000 gathered there today reflected that 5pirit. gathered there today reflected that spirit. ron christie, thank you for joining us. the body of george w bush will be loaded onto air force 0ne bush will be loaded onto air force one and goes under a different designation but then will be flown back on board that plane to texas. christian it struck me watching the history today that history will be kind to the 41st president of the united states. there were a time —— there was a time when people did not think he got it and that he did not get the

economy. he only served one term and the american public voters do not award him a second term and often here that is a sign and seen a something is a failure. but when you look at all he achieved, certainly globally, he really will be seen i think by history as somebody who helps navigate the world, helps navigate the west are a very critical period in history. just the mention of the five presidents who we re mention of the five presidents who were there today. this was a man who had great affection for his successor, bill clinton. and it is strange because all these presidents will know the demands put on each other and were put on each of 20 47 within the oval office, it is strange that that does not seem to bring them close together. donald trump doesn't want to shake the hand of bill clinton or indeed hillary standing next to him. to be fair, when george h w bush left office immediately after having lost to bill clinton back in 1992, i suspect

relations were not particularly warm and friendly back then either. it was really decent nominee in asia in 2004 when the man who is now walking onto air force one, george w bush said his father and bill clinton, "can you got together and do something to raise awareness and help for the people who have suffered during the synodic?" and it was on the trip is a full at together to asia on theirjoint mission that they bonded and became genuinely very good friends. the body language was not particularly warm today and it does not seem to be much love lost between former presidents and the current president but this is an indication of ten yea rs but this is an indication of ten years later, it took them ten years. things can change and now we say goodbye to george w bush and his family as they fly off to texas where he will be buried. let's move on to british politics. the british prime minister was warned by the attorney general that an arrangement, designed to prevent a hard border between northern ireland and the republic, could last "indefinitely" and the uk would be

unable to "lawfully exit" that arrangement without the agreement of the european union. the government has been forced to publish in full the legal advice that was given to number ten, ahead of that critical vote on mrs may's deal next week. during prime minister's questions today, mrs may responded to accusations her minister's had concealed key information in the legal advice. he is absolutely wrong about that. we have not concealed the facts on the brexit deal from members of this house. what he will see is that the legal position that was set out on monday in the 34—page document together with the statement made and the answers to questions given by the attorney general on monday very clearly set out the legal position. at the last count 100 conservative mp‘s have declared publically they will vote against theresa may's deal next tuesday. the prime minister said this afternoon she was in listening mode. but what does that mean? can she sweeten the northern ireland pill? it's a question i put to the business minister richard harrington, just before we came on air. there's a lot of ignorance about

what the backstop is. it has become almost like a myth as to the fact that we are going to be locked in this terrible, as people see it, backstop forever. unable to fight our way out, etc. backstop forever. unable to fight ourway out, etc. i backstop forever. unable to fight our way out, etc. i know the prime minister will be explaining the three plus woody's for exiting that they are. both of them involve on both sides. she sort of implied today that she was taking soundings from people and there was going to be some movement on the backstop. the eu is saying there won't.|j cannot say whether they will or won't. but the prime minister's view has laid out is that this of the gushue negotiated and this is the deal that we will be voting on next tuesday. there is a lot of conjecture about what the eu will say and certainly as far as my understanding is, there is no possibility of them changing their policy on this. sorry to interrupt to but could there be an amendment

put into parliament by the prime minister on the front bench which might help those who are opposed to the backstop, around info for next tuesday? yes that is hypothetical but the prime minister is capable at... what might that be? i have absolutely no idea. right. because in the house that had been talk of april misery lock. so only parliament could trigger a backstop but that seems to defeat the object. it becomes a problem if they decide if it is a backstop. the uk proverb —— parliament is sovereign and no future parliament can bind any parliament before that. theoretically the parliament can enact what it wants in the future. is that a lock, could that be called a lot, i'm not sure. but can parliament change the law of the land, of course they can't stop it up land, of course they can't stop it up you have a problem here because the invocations of yesterday's

content vote... the way that dup voted on and suggest your confidence and supply arrangement is dead with this prime minister and with this deal. you are officially a minority government. our confidence and supply agreement, and go. i don't know for them to support the government means that it has be part of formal complements and supply agreement. it is not than that of written this up, it is the prime minister. that is for them to say. i have dealt with the dup on a number of issues in a portfolio for example helping save the jobs that bombarded in belfast. and i found and be reasonable ppo. iaccept in belfast. and i found and be reasonable ppo. i accept the fact to them this backstop and the related issues associated with it are important because of this belief that it treats great britain different from northern ireland. i am sure the prime minister has listened to them as well. in the end,| listened to them as well. in the end, ido listened to them as well. in the end, i do believe there are reasonable people and i do hope that some compromise with them can be

reached. without their votes it would seem difficult to do so if the deal is struck down next week, if the government'sjob at deal is struck down next week, if the government's job at that stage to listen to what parliament dictates? i think it has to be. and i think the prime minister if that vote is lost that i am not sure that it will be at all. it is one of these things that is written off now already but in fact mp5 think about things all the time and it listens their constituents and they really consider the situation in any detail and we have got five days of debate. but if the prime minister is defeated i would expect her to stand up defeated i would expect her to stand up and explain department what she intends to do about it. richard harrington there. he taught me live it earlier. i want to bring in that one language is important because of the dup and we will speak to sandy wells and their brexit spokesman charlie but they are saying tonight that they will support the government tonight in a confidence motion if that breaks the deal is voted on next tuesday which is important because labour have said

they will bring a confidence motion against the government and there we re against the government and there were questions about whether the dup would vote with the conservatives are not. they will. jacob freeze mob says the danger was in the dup is that the withdrawal agreement goes through that is when they would with draw their confidence and their comments and the government and they would become a minority government. but the db had to make a cold clock pushif but the db had to make a cold clock push if theresa may is voted down in that contest motion, who knows what happens. they could lose their leverage as well. we will ask sandy wilson shortly said what right. michael flynn, who briefly served as donald trump's national security adviser, is unlikely to face anyjail time, despite admitting that he lied to the fbi. in a heavily redacted court document the special prosecutor robert mueller — who is investigating alleged russian collusion — said general flynn had provided "substa ntial" details about links between the trump election team and russian officials. general flynn was sacked by the white house in 2017 when it

became clear he had lied to the vice president about his contacts with the then russian ambassador sergey kislyak. since then he has been cooperating with the investigation and has been interviewed 19 times by the mueller team. ron christie is here with us again. what do you read into the fact that bob mueller is asking for michael flynn who is one of the most high—profile people to be caught up in the whole mueller investigation not get any prison time? it doesn't surprise me. he spent a lot of time with the special prosecutor. he detailed apparently contacts made between the trump campaign and a variety of russian officials but we should also keep in mind that general flynn was a 3—star general, a man who served his country with honour and distinction up country with honour and distinction up to this point. and that the special counsel looked at this he thought perhaps mr flynn, general flynn, has done enough and you should be set free. you don't read

anything into it in terms of what he may have told the special prosecutor and the import and the weight of that suggesting to some legal a nalyst that suggesting to some legal analyst that what he had given the special prosecutor was fairly important and it is notjust this russia investigation. apparently he is given information on another criminal investigation which we do not know of and one other specified event schedule. so three investigations and all michael flynn has been involved in. investigations and all michael flynn has been involved inlj investigations and all michael flynn has been involved in. i think the devil is always in the details and there is something that we don't quite know at this juncture. a lot we don't know. i have a hard time believing that general flynn talking about contacts that the campaign had had with russian officials is not going to be the smoking gun. but as you noted there are other criminal matters that the special counsel is looking at and was the cooperation by flynn pivotal in the case that mueller is undoubtedly trying to build? we don't know and a lot of that was blocked as there is even more. ron christie, thank you for joining us. the dup, the unionists in northern ireland who mrs may

depends on for her majority, say the legal advice on the brexit deal is "devastating". in the event of the so called backstop being triggered, the attorney general, said northern ireland would remain in the customs union — ie the current agreement. great britain would join a customs union with the eu, creating a single customs territory between the eu and the united kingdom. but goods passing between northern ireland and the uk would "be subject to a declaration process". in other words, great britain to northern ireland would become a third country. let's get the reaction of sammy wilson mp from the democratic unionist party. what do you make a paragraph seven in the legal advise? it is notjust the paragraph there but it confirms everything we were singing that the prime minister and sector estate had been denying the attorney general has now made quite clear. northern ireland even though we are part of the united kingdom would have to treat the rest of the united kingdom asa treat the rest of the united kingdom as a third country. that would mean

trade barriers between northern ireland and the rest of the uk which would stop the flow of goods in both ways and to use the terminology would create friction and trade and distort trade. and would exclude northern ireland which is a major exporting area in the united kingdom. it would prevent us from taking part in any trade deals which the united kingdom would make with other parts of the world. when we leave the eu and no i don't think any mp5 and other part of the day and would tolerate such a status for their constituencies and i am sure you can understand why we have objected very strongly and that made it clear to the government that if they persist down this road, we will not be conniving with them in the destruction of our country and our economy. let me put you a quote from

jacob rees—mogg. he said the dup will float with the government. but the risk of them losing an election will go up if the withdrawal agreement goes view. is that your position quiz that has been our position quiz that has been our position both privately and publicly now since the details were revealed. two we e ks now since the details were revealed. two weeks ago or three weeks ago. the government knows that well and we have explained that to them. indeed they have a foretaste of what it would mean death to govern without our support yesterday when they had a humiliating climb down and having to release it legal advice being held in contempt of parliament. i think the message advice being held in contempt of parliament. ithink the message has got over to the government. you cannot break your agreement with us because there was an agreement, a clear agreement that the government would ensure that northern ireland was treated the same as the rest of the united kingdom. that is not true with this withdrawal agreement if it is voted on next week, it will give us is voted on next week, it will give us the opportunity to get changed. if they continue to work on the

basis of this agreement, then they will not have our support. sammy wilson thank you for giving us your position. good for having you with us. is your agent working double time? there's no professionaljealousy here but i am starting to wonder why you are getting all the kudos in america and i am not. first you appear alone on saturday night live. no sign of the british sidekick. then last night, this. this is on jeopardy. this is onjeopardy. you are now a clue. does that say bbc world news america? question, here's the thing. i had to go to the millions should of losing onjeopardy i had to go to the millions should of losing on jeopardy to i had to go to the millions should of losing onjeopardy to become a clue onjeopardy. of losing onjeopardy to become a clue on jeopardy. and of losing onjeopardy to become a clue onjeopardy. and they had claire foy as i do not live and i

don't see her playing you somehow. claire foy as i do not live and i don't see her playing you somehowlj thought don't see her playing you somehow.” thought we were a team. i thought... i thought we were katty and christan, you know batman and robin, shaggy and scooby, pinky and perky. there is no i in team. those team members probably send each other e—mails happy birthday on their birthday. which is what a nice psychic would do. point your agent my way. this is the own 100 days on the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — following those touching tributes to former us president george hw bush — we look back at his time in office. and the nine—year old boy who got his town in colorado to repeal its ban on snowball fights. i should think so. we barely got above freezing in

parts of northern scotland today. elsewhere it was clearing eastwards. leaving a dry start to tomorrow but there is more rain returning in the form of showers as the breeze picks up form of showers as the breeze picks up too. in this window between two weather systems is a gut that the night still some rain clearing from eastern counties of england in northeast scotland at the moment. then drive during about the cloud. some mist and fog there. temperatures around the internets area close to freezing but it will be mild. 7—12 degrees. into tomorrow morning rain pushing into the west. northern ireland and western parts of scotla nd northern ireland and western parts of scotland in particular. that will had eastwards as we has in the morning rush hour. strengthening wind into the west as well and parts of western scotland some of that rain will be heavier at times. the worst of the rain and northern ireland will be early on but still patchy rain or drizzle there. much of england wales will be dry but the

breeze picking a brother wasn't kos is where we'll start to see rainfall as we go to the morning rush hour. i love that a brightness but as ird hinted at there could be mist and fog for some of you too. that will clear as the breeze picks up. this will leave scotland and northern ireland in the afternoon. it will be spread erratically southwards across england and wales. not everyone will see wet weather but greater chance of getting wet in the afternoon then the morning. a my morning in the uk compared to today northern scotland. we finished the day with sunshine but into the night we have ran across the south but wet weather pushes into the wasn't my morning strengthening winds and quite a potent area of low pressure into friday pushing it across scotland in particular. here is where we will see the worst of potential disruptive winds. maybe a little more than 60—70 mph. much of england and wales a breezy rating day. ——

rain day. clare is by rush hour and a scattering of have free and thundery showers but still had the rain and mountain blizzards across parts of northern scotland into the afternoon. a chilly feeling that here even with temperatures close to 10 degrees for the south, temperatures drop to the afternoon. as for the weekend saturday sees ran across angwin and wales clearing and then colder weather to take us into sunday and next week. this is beyond 100 days. with me, katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories, us presidents past and present gather to bid farewell to george hw bush at his state funeral. venezuela — a country in economic crisis — turns to russia for help. but what does this mean for people living under nicolas maduro's regime? coming up in the next half hour. a woman in brazil gives birth to a healthy baby girl, following a womb transplant from a dead donor. doctors say it's a world first. and the bollywood celebrity wedding causing quite a stir, because of the bride's enormous

veil. george hw bush was renowned for his thank—you notes. he wrote thousands in his lifetime expressing his appreciation for kindnesses large and small. there was within him a commitment to duty and a requirement to live up to certain expectations. he served bravely in one war, and as president led his country to victory in another. but he was a much shrewder and tougher politician than we might remember today. so — where does he fit in the pantheon of american presidents? doris kearns goodwin, is a presidential historian and author of the new book, leadership in turbulent times. shejoins us in the she joins us in the washington studio. you were at the funeral. does he fit the profile of a great american leader? he had humility. he

said his mother said do not speak about either. he tells his mother he scored three goals and she said how did the team do? he came back from really dying in world war ii and several losses. the one problem that was not really bridged was his communication skills with the american people. he was so good when he talked individually to people. he built a coalition that really worked and other leaders in the world knew him. he fits pretty well. my argument would be if we do notjudge him asa argument would be if we do notjudge him as a presidential historian, the verdict of history has been reached, the fact he had so many different public servicejobs the fact he had so many different public service jobs at a time when public service jobs at a time when public service jobs at a time when public service is not looked on with our no, it is extraordinaire, congress gone a cia, battered to the un, president, vice president. —— congressman, ambassador to the un.

one term president is seen as a sign of weakness, failure to have won another term but i'm looking at the world leaders who turned up at the funeral, prince charles, angela merkel, king abdullah from jordan, lack of lisa from poland. he had a huge impact around the world. his influence was shown and valued. without question, thinking about the challenge he faced when he came in, the soviet union falling apart, the berlin wall is going to fall and as a result he understands that he cannot post about america's role which is what people wanted him to do, to say, yes, that what happened. he understood the hardliners might understand what was going on going up understand what was going on going up against gorbachev and that stability in building the coalition for the gulf war, 26 other gulf countries, he could call up margaret thatcher in the middle of the night. thatcher in the middle of the night. that personal relationship we are missing now. that line in

conversation from margaret thatcher was apparently, this is no time to go wobbly, george. you say in your book, leaders tend to evolve in times of crisis. did his leadership evolve at that moment in time? that's a good question. history seems to suggest that temperaments are suited for certain challenges that come in the time, the question is does the man make the times or does the time make the man? he came into leadership when his skill in foreign policy, his diplomatic experience, his whole humility and his way of life was perfectly suited for that moment. it may have been less suited for having visionary understanding of the domestic politics for getting out of the recession that was coming at the end which is partly why he lost the election, but perfectly suited for foreign policy. the interesting thing is, like lyndonjohnson was suited for civil rights and domestic politics and less so for foreign policy. ftr is one of those leaders who could bridge both of those different challenges —— micro ftr. we have looked back at the past but

thinking about today, which of your great american presidents would be best suited to today?” great american presidents would be best suited to today? i would love to bring them all back. i could bring back lincoln and teddy and even lbj and he could teach them bipartisanship but teddy roosevelt would be the most suited because mainly because it is a world of tweets on twitter and he had those short pithy statements. speak softly and carry a big step, don't hit them until you have two and then hit them as hard as you can. go to the last drop. he was a fighter and wouldn't accept somebody saying something about him that he couldn't go back at and he understood the perils of the industrial age and softening it. today he would understand the gap in our country. he said the way democracy will fail is if people in different regions in different relations and different religions begin to think of themselves as the other rather than common american citizens. that gap we saw between the rural and city areas, the gap that created the gulf for president trump to win his election, similar

to the one in england, a fear of cities and diversity in future, he would understand that because he faced that at the turn of the 20th century. he also had a self—deprecating sense of humour and was a colourful character so could command the centre of attention. they said about him he wanted to be the baby at the baptism, the bride at the wedding and the corpse at the funeral so he could vie with present trump for getting the sense of attention but for a purpose. —— president trump. your book leadership in turbulent times is available now. one of the things thatis available now. one of the things that is extraordinary is seeing those five men who know what it is like to carry the weight of office, to carry the weight of being president of the united states whether you are democrat or republican, served two terms, one term, likejimmy republican, served two terms, one term, like jimmy carter, republican, served two terms, one term, likejimmy carter, they know they are the only people who understand what it means to be president. we said at the outset it may be particularly warm between donald trump and some of the other presidents but there was certainly

some warmth between george w bush and michelle 0bama. this is a picture of him greeting them and he is handing hera mint. picture of him greeting them and he is handing her a mint. apparently he did this atjohn mccain's funeral last year. he did the same thing, and it's a little thing between them. 0bviously they have got to sit there and endure as they did today and it was difficult for him, they suck on a sweet and she appreciated that so that was a nice touch. it is sadly an indication ofjust how much happens in the world and how much happens in the world and how much happens in the world and how much news there is that you think that funeral was last year because it was just a few months ago here in washington. a lot has happened since then. that's right! talking of going wobbly. financial markets here in the us are closed today as a mark of respect of to the late president george hw bush. it followed a wobbly day as stock markets here fell sharply because of fears of an economic slowdown. they were down almost 700 points at one point. it's over growing concerns about whether washington and beijing will be able

to settle their trade dispute. let's cross to new york and speak to our business correspondent michelle fleury. that seemed to be the problem yesterday, that they didn't really understand what the deal that china and donald trump had cooked up in one aires, michelle. if you look at the statements coming out of the white house yesterday and the tweets from the president you can understand perhaps some of the confusion. you had donald trump coming away from the beating saying that tariffs on us cars sold in china would be removed —— coming away from the meeting. and then the us adviser talking to the press unable to confirm it completely. confusion over when the 90 day cruise actually begins. all of these mixed signals. donald trump tweeting that he was a tariff man and if a deal could not be reached tariffs would come back in. all of this sent mixed messages, the investors took fright, and now it is only now that

we are hearing from the chinese leaders and government talking today, saying that they are moving today, saying that they are moving to implement things from this and they are confident that a deal can be reached. donald trump tweeted also, basically expressing his confidence in the process, so clearly they are trying to get things back on track. the markets are closed today and we have to wait until tomorrow to see if they have done a good enoughjob.” until tomorrow to see if they have done a good enoughjob. i think i counted ten tweets about china in the last two days will stop it seems to me the president today was almost trying to send a signal to the markets, don't worry, be calm, we will sort this out, because yesterday was such a rough day on world markets. in terms of the next few days, we have got to sort out what this china deal means, markets will open tomorrow nervous about that, still further clarification will come over the next few days. next week there is the brexit vote. the last thing the markets want is more uncertainty, isn't it?” the last thing the markets want is more uncertainty, isn't it? i do not think they will get their wish because uncertainty is what we have got. you mentioned brexit and that seems to be another factor weighing

on investors‘ mines. if you look at the timing of when the sale accelerated you could potentially link it to some of the votes in parliament. there was another factor playing into this which gets a bit technicalfor many playing into this which gets a bit technical for many people, but it involves the bond market which seemed to be sending worrying signs about the economy in the us. you ta ke about the economy in the us. you take all of this together, and investors are thinking, hang on a second, prospects at home don‘t look too great, and if we look further afield internationally, there is also a lot to be worried about. 0k, michelle fleury, thank you for joining us turbulent times in the markets. let‘s look at some other news now. the british academic who was jailed for spying in the united arab emirates has said he endured "psychological torture" during his time in captivity. matthew hedges was jailed for life but returned to the uk last week after being pardoned. speaking to the bbc in his first broadcast interview, he said he was forced to stand all day in ankle cuffs, and that he suffered panic attacks and had suicidal thoughts

during his detention. police in europe and south america have carried out a major operation against the italian mafia, arresting 84 people and seizing large quantities of drugs and cash. the raids targeted the powerful mafia group, based in the southern italian region of calabria. police say the group controls much of europe‘s cocaine trade, and engages in money laundering, bribery and violence. turkey has issued arrest warrants for two former close aides to the saudi crown prince, who have been accused of involvement in the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. mr khashoggi disappeared after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul in october. the aides were sacked following the killing and are being investigated by the saudi authorities, but turkish officials say they don‘t believe formal action will be taken against them. president trump‘s lawyer rudy giuliani has accused twitter of bias, after a small mistake in one of his tweets accidentally ended up linking to a site which said, "donaldj trump is a traitor to our country". an anti—trump web designer spotted that mr giuliani had left out a space between sentences in this

tweet — leading twitter to automatically create a link to an india—based website with the address: g20.in. the developer bought the site, and posted the anti—trump message. that provoked mr giuliani to post this tweet — saying, "twitter allowed someone to invade my text with a disgusting anti—president message." the economic crisis in venezuela continues to worsen. today, a report said that four out of five factories are shut down, and those few that are still open, are working at a reduced capacity. the country has been hit hard by low oil prices, mismanagement and the impact of us sanction. so, in the face of all that, venezuelan president nicolas maduro has turned to russia for help. mr maduro met with vladimir putin in moscow today, during a state visit aimed at getting financial assistance from the kremlin. russia is venezuela‘s major creditor and one of the last remaining allies for mr maduro — who has become largely isolated from the international community.

joining us now from washington is eric farnsworth. he is the vice president of the council of the americas. good to have you with us. does the sort of support russia is giving to venezuelan undermine the sanctions that the west have put in place? potentially it does. what president maduro is looking for from russia potentially it does. what president maduro is looking forfrom russia is two things, one is international recognition of his regime, as you mentioned he is increasingly isolated and there are not that many countries abroad that will receive him these days, or will do so favourably, and number two it is looking for financial support to roll over some of the loans russia has given to venezuela, billions of dollars, or perhaps new money which the venezuelans dollars, or perhaps new money which the venezuela ns want dollars, or perhaps new money which the venezuelans want even more than that. that does undermine what the rest of the western world is trying to do to try to isolate president maduro and show the failure of his socialist experiment. the russian economy is not in great shape at the moment and it‘s causing vladimir

putin problems at home. is moscow really in a position to shore up venezuela given how dire the venezuelan economy is and how much support it would need? clearly russia cannot rescue venezuelan in terms of bringing it back to where it was, rescuing the economy and restoring energy production, getting oil production back to where it was, ido oil production back to where it was, i do not think russia is in any capacity to do that, but what they could do is prolong the pain, i guess, if you want to put it that way, by softening the payments that venezuela has to make to russia by stretching them out and rolling them over and perhaps coming up with new money, orfrankly, over and perhaps coming up with new money, or frankly, calling over and perhaps coming up with new money, orfrankly, calling in some of the loans and taking equity in the form of oil and properties in venezuela that will at least reduce the burden of repayments. russia could certainly help along those lines, but at the end of the day they are clearly not in a position to rescue the venezuelan government. i could quite see why russia would be interested in venezuela. in a way

it smacks of the cold war, doesn‘t it? they are paying for anti—americanism in latin america. that‘s an important point you are making, there is clearly a political component here were originally this probably started out as more of a targeted opportunity, when president chavez was alive he courted president putin and the russians to become more actively engaged in the venezuelan economy and that has developed into a opportunity that russia sees effective in occupying washington, in provoking washington and in creating conditions within latin america that are uncomfortable, not just for washington but also countries in latin america that may not be allies of russia so they are taking advantage of some difficult circumstances in venezuela to promote their own geopolitical interests and clearly the politics here are targeted at washington as pa rt here are targeted at washington as part of that overall game, i absolutely agree with that. ok, eric farnsworth, thank you forjoining

us. it sounds like the recreation of those old cold war spheres of influence. there has been a brain drainfrom influence. there has been a brain drain from venezuelan that will cause problems in a country when it tries to recover. there are few things that can give as muchjoy — or leave more cheerful memories — than a snowball fight. and surely a snowball is quite harmless, isn‘t it? not so, according to a law in a town in colorado. the town hall of severance, suitably names, considered snowballs missiles so, throwing them was considered illegal. imagine the disappointment when nine—year—old, dane best, found out he and his friends had broken the law so many times. so he decided it was time to change the law. he started a petition, and on monday he finally managed to legalise snowball fights. here‘s dane best explaining how it all came about. we went on a field trip to the town hall and they told us that you can‘t throw snowballs in severance. it‘s an outdated law and i want to throw a snowball without getting in trouble. they‘re fun when it‘s

winter out and there‘s really nothing else to do except for sledding. i asked my mom if i could do it and she called the town hall and then she told me i had to make a speech. i love it, health and safety gone mad! i should think so too. seriously, in colorado there is more snow than you can shake a stick at. yes, hard to imagine how you could persuade any town anywhere that had any children in it, let alone any nine—year old boys, to accept that you could not a snowball fight in a state that has a lot of snow this time of year, as you say. this is beyond 100 days. still to come — a medicalfirst in brazil — the healthy baby girl born to a woman with a womb transplanted from a dead donor. money for council services is "running out fast" according to the local government association — and communities will suffer if the government doesn‘t address the crisis in funding. alex forsyth has been to north yorkshire, where demand

for adult social care is putting a strain on the council‘s budget. north yorkshire — a mix of historic towns and sweeping countryside. with miles of rural road and a large elderly population, running services here is expensive and they‘ve had to be squeezed. this charity run accommodation helps people live independently and they work with naught yorkshire county council trying to help people not to rely on long—term support so it goes to those who need it most —— north yorkshire. when michelle had a full they helped her settle at home with her husband. they came in and got the house prepared. that allowed me

to go back to work. and michelle got her independence from that. i don't think i'd be like i am now if it wasn't for them. the council here‘s like many across england, struggling to balance budget cuts with growing demand, not just for adult care, but children‘s too. the government gave councils an extra £1 billion in this year‘s budget, and says there will be further support when it announces funding plans for next year. councils like north yorkshire will now have to wait longerfor that detail, after the planned announcement was delayed. they say a long—term solution is urgently needed. we‘ve welcomed the short—term money, it‘s helped us through our winter pressures and things like that, but we need a really comprehensive reform of adult social care in this country. and that includes a long—term funding settlement. we‘ve protected our budgets as much as possible, but they can only go so far. with more people needing these vital services, finding a way to maintain them has become a national challenge. alex forsyth, bbc news, north yorkshire. just a quick line to bring you on

the brexit debate ongoing in westminster. richard harrington, the business secretary, said the prime minister was looking at all options. the chief whip who has to go in the smoke—filled rooms and down the corridor is corralling conservative mps to back the prime minister, said tonight we are looking at all options to secure support in next week‘s vote and always working to make sure we get the maximum votes. that could mean there is a government backed an amendment coming in the next few days which they hope will pull more of them over. we will see. for the first time ever, a healthy baby has been born after being carried in a womb that came from a dead woman. the transplant operation took place in brazil in 2016 and just over a year later a baby girl was born. it‘s a world first as although transplants from deceased donors have been tried before, they have all either failed or miscarried. it gives hope to millions of women who are struggling with infertility. joining us now is dr liza johannesson,

a uterus transplant surgeon who was part of the swedish team that worked on the first womb transplant in the world. how significant is this? how excited are you that this has worked. will we see this replicated around the world ? worked. will we see this replicated around the world? i'm extremely excited and i want to congratulate the brazilian group on doing this. we have known since 2014 that it is possible to transplant the uterus from a live donor into a recipient and let her carry her pregnancy and give birth. but this brazilian group shows it is also an option to use a deceased donor‘s uterus and that gives us a chance of minimising surgery risk in the live donor, gives us a chance to reach out to a broader population of females. gives us a chance to reach out to a broader population of femalesm increases, of course, the donor pool enormously if you can transplant from a woman who has already died. i imagine there are tonnes of complications, not least of which, how long can a womb survive without

a blood supply? these are interesting questions because nobody really knows and the report that came from the brazilian group shows the uterus is very resilient and can be outside the body without blood supply for at least eight hours and then work completely normally. it is kind of amazing. what did you have to do to get the womb to accept, presumably, an egg from the woman that you were implanting the womb into? you have to put the woman onto immune suppressive medications, just as you would with any other transplant patient for a kidney or a liver. she has to be on those medications throughout the pregnancy and the delivery. the procedure itself, the implantation itself is done through ivf so we don‘t let them spontaneously get pregnant, we treat them with ivf treatments, we

implantan treat them with ivf treatments, we implant an embryo. and so, what is the potential with this? it‘s very good news, isn‘t it, for cancer sufferers, for people who have undergone treatment were they would think now that they can‘t have children. does this open up a whole range of possibilities for those women who couldn‘t have children? range of possibilities for those women who couldn't have children7m does. those women have always had the option of adoption or gestation or surrogacy the option of adoption or gestation or surrogacy but in large parts of the world a lot of those options are not possible, they are not legal, so this opens up tremendous potential for them and creates hope for these females. it is estimated between 1-5% of females. it is estimated between 1—5% of all females that suffer from uterine in infertility meaning they cannot carry a pregnancy and give birth. amazing technology, eight hours outside the body without a blood supply is a long time, so you could potentially transport on a flight, could potentially transport on a flight, for example, that womb which

would be revolutionary as well. if you are bollywood royalty you need a wedding dress that is fit for a queen. the indian actress priyanka chopra did not disappoint. the dress in which she married us singer nickjonas, in rajasthan state, this weekend, was stitched with over two million mother of pearl sequins. but it‘s the veil that took the headlines. a veil, 75 feet long. can you see that there are five people who are carrying this veil, quite a team effort. i have to confess, i have spent far too much time today thinking about this very veil. 75 feet is not easy to put into perspective and i was wondering how i could find some way to show our viewers just how long that is. i need something long and white and strong, and so what i did is i got our producer stephan to go and find a75 our producer stephan to go and find a 75 foot of loo roll. so, talk

amongst yourselves while i show you how long this is. 75 foot is about the same size as half a football field, 0k? the same size as half a football field, ok? that got me thinking that if you were pulling that you would need to be in pretty good shape, wouldn‘t you ? you need to be in pretty good shape, wouldn‘t you? you would need some poise, you would need to have pretty strong neck muscles, and don‘t forget that this train that she was carrying, we are still going, by the way, this train was stitched. you are going to disappear into that veil soon. it was stitched with 2 million mother—of—pearl sequence. just trying to get that into some sort of shape as you get out of the car, your five team sort of shape as you get out of the car, yourfive team members. we started off with a beautiful wedding dress and sequins and we have ended up with a messy pile of loo roll in front of christian fraser. it is so not bollywood beautiful wedding. that dress took

12,000 man hours to produce, 80 different craftsmen worked on it. 12,000 hours to produce a wedding dress. i hope they live happily ever after. that prop didn‘t take as long! we did post it out and it‘s accurate, i can assure you. we will see you tomorrow. yeah, i have nothing more to say about wedding dresses! we barely got above freezing in parts of northern scotland today, elsewhere it was a day of cloud and rain which is clearing eastwards, to leave a dry start to tomorrow but there is more rain returning in the form of showers as the breeze picks up. we are in this window between two weather systems as we go through the night, still some rain clearing from eastern counties of england and north—east scotland at the moment and then dry, varying cloud, some clear skies leading to mist and fog here and there, temperatures around the inverness area, still close to freezing overnight but for most and mild night with temperatures around

7-12d. mild night with temperatures around 7—12d. into tomorrow morning, already rain pushing into the west, northern ireland and western parts of scotla nd northern ireland and western parts of scotland in particular, heading eastwards as we head through the morning rush hour, strengthening wind in the west and across parts of western scotland the rain will be heavy at times. the worst of the rain in northern ireland will be early on but still some patchy rain and drizzle. much of england and wales will be dry but the breeze picking up around western coasts and it is here where we will start to see rainfall through the morning rush hour, further east may be a bit of brightness but as i hinted at there could be mist and fog for some of you. that will clear as the breeze picks up, the rain eased off in scotland and northern ireland in the afternoon but outbreaks of rain will spread erratically southwards across england and wales. not eve ryo ne across england and wales. not everyone will see wet weather but a greater chance of getting wet in the afternoon than the morning and it will be a mild day uk wide, significantly so in northern scotla nd significantly so in northern scotland compared to today. we finished the day with some trend but into the night we have rain across the south and more wet weather

pushing into the south and by the morning strengthening winds and quite a potent area of low pressure into friday pushing on across scotla nd into friday pushing on across scotland in particular. here we will see the worst of potentially disruptive winds, 60—70 mph gusts, may be a bit more, also affecting parts of northern ireland and northern england. blizzard is expected on the hills of scotland but for much of england and wales, breezy day, early rain in eastern areas clearing by the rush hour, sunshine and a scattering of heavy and thundery showers. still the rain and thundery showers. still the rain and mountain blizzards across parts of northern scotland into the afternoon. a rather chilly feeling day with temperatures close to 10 degrees and further south temperatures drop in the afternoon. 0ver temperatures drop in the afternoon. over the weekend saturday will see rain across england and wales clearing and then colder weather to ta ke clearing and then colder weather to take us into sunday and next week. this is bbc news. the headlines at 8. theresa may denies misleading parliament over the government‘s brexit legal advice, as the government publishes the document in full. is it time the prime minister took

responsibility, a responsibility for concealing the facts on her brexit dealfrom members concealing the facts on her brexit deal from members of this concealing the facts on her brexit dealfrom members of this house concealing the facts on her brexit deal from members of this house and the public? the legal petition set out on monday in the document with the statement made and answers given by the attorney general are very clearly set out the legal position. the benefits for patients now as british scientists complete the world‘s largest gene sequencing project in healthcare. the academicjailed for spying tells the bbc he was psychologically tortured while imprisoned in the united arab emirates.