a warning of disruption at channel ports for up to six months if there's no brexit deal. the government describes the delays at dover or folkestone as a worst case scenario. meanhile, ministers criss cross the country to drum up public support for the prime minister's brexit deal. they will hear those voices saying, "we want this sorted", "we want this deal accepted", because we need to move on as a country. and, theresa may insists the vote for her brexit deal must go ahead next tuesday, despite the criticism from all sides. also tonight... one of the bosses of chinese telecoms giant huawei appears in court in canada, charged with breaking us sanctions against iran. an emotional appeal for the british backpacker missing for nearly a week in new zealand. grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. she's usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers, members of the family on social media. paris deploys thousands of police,

armoured vehicles and closes down tourist attractions amid fears of another weekend of violent demonstrations. and the british yachtswoman adrift 2,000 miles off shore after a huge storm in the southern ocean is finally rescued. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: ben stokes and alex hales won't miss any more cricket for england, despite being found to have brought the game into disrepute. good evening. the government is warning that the uk's channel ports could face disruption for up to six months if the uk leaves the eu without a deal. possible delays at dover and

folkestone, in what the government calls a worst case scenario, mean the nhs is being urged to draw up plans to ensure a continuous flow of medicines into britain, including the possibility of flying in drugs. meanwhile, dozens of ministers have travelled across the uk today to try to convince the public to get behind the prime minister's brexit deal. and despite widespread opposition among mps from all parties, theresa may insists the vote on her brexit deal will go ahead on tuesday. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar has the latest. not easy, this, apparently, though nothing like as tough as selling mrs may's brexit deal. for the chief secretary to the treasury, that meant doing time on the business end of the black pudding line. once you're in there... not sure if this is fully quality controlled! for once, mrs may was out of sight in her constituency, but her orders were to get out, promote, defend, try to save her plan, and maybe with it, theresa may herself. ministers obeyed, dozens of them.

among ministers, many privately believe the government should delay the big vote next tuesday, rather than face a crushing defeat. for now, they're making their case around the country and hoping mps listen to worried people and companies. they will hear those voices saying "we want this sorted", "we want this deal accepted", because we need to move on as a country, both to negotiate a good trading dealfor the future with the eu, and to deal with the pressing domestic agenda of the nhs, schools, housing and all the other things people want their politicians to focus on. and now, tougher warnings from government of the danger of ending up with no brexit deal at all. up to six months of delays at dover for cross—channel traffic, emergency plans to fast—track and fly in medicines if supplies run short. but the brexiteers are coming, they're calling it all a scare story and they're convinced the rebellion won't melt under pressure. no chance whatsoever. and it seems to me they'd be better off knocking on doors and talking to people, finding out what people want, not preaching to them.

are you worried, though, that theresa may's deal mayjust be the hardest brexit available? you can't be serious?! it's not brexit, it's not even brexit in name only. anything, any other brexit deal would be better than what she's putting on the table. labour's hoping it ends up the big winner, if the decision goes back to the people. we've put forward a new approach, which we're hoping that mps from all political parties will vote for, and if they do, that will enable us to go off with a strong mandate, to negotiate with our european partners. if that doesn't happen, we have to do, in the interests of the country, be prepared with fall back positions and that is a general election. or, if we can't get that, yes, options on another people's vote. here, behind the posturing and the campaigning, the private talk is about power. the tea rooms and the corridors have been humming with the sound of plotting and scheming. for some, it's about how to take control of brexit. for others, it's about how to grab the keys to number 10. talk to anyone, parliamentary newbies or political veterans, and there's one thing on which everyone can agree — no—one has seen or lived

through times quite like these. in a moment, we'll get the very latest from john but first, our health editor hugh pym is here. we heard about the medical contingency planning, how worried should we be about that? some patients are very worried i don't feel they have had the assurance medicines will get from the eu if there is no deal. now they are told there is no deal. now they are told there could be six months of disruption at dover and folkestone, delays getting into those ports. matt hancock has been out today saying alternative plans will be made, alternative ports will be use, fast tracking of lorries through with medicines, aircraft will be chartered to bring in supplies with a short shelf and there will be a stockpile of six weeks of medicines held by the industry. and that has been achieved. he is also warning the nhs itself, gps and hospitals, not to stockpile as that could be self—defeating. there are some

suspicions about why this has come out today. is anything to do with the brexit debate? the government insists it had to get this technical advice out there for the whole public sector. but the british medical association has led to get this technical advice out there for the whole public sector. but the british medical association has led to night ministers are cutting than four months to go, and that is extremely concerning. thank you. and john, foolish to make predictions about what's going on, but if it looks like theresa may loses the vote next tuesday, lots of plotting and scheming going on in the tea room is already at westminster about what happens then? there certainly is. right now, downing street is insisting the vote will go ahead next tuesday. but some conservatives believe in the crossfire of proposals and votes, it may be possible for theresa may to avoid facing the full force of the brexiteers rebels, at least for now. in downing street and in parliament

they are wondering whether a narrow defeat for mrs may, if that's what happens, might leave her able to go to brussels and try to squeeze more concessions out of the eu. she might try, but as things stand, it looks like the eu is all out of big concessions and she may not get the chance to even try. we know the kind of pressure that she is under at the moment. inside government, there are ministers quietly muttering to each other about the possibility that someone other about the possibility that someone like david liddington, her deputy, could step in as a sort of ca reta ker deputy, could step in as a sort of caretaker prime minister, if she is pollster stand down. either way, the rival contenders, some of them for herjob, waiting to be prime minister are on manoeuvres. a senior tory said he had orally been promised a senior cabinet post by two of them if he fell in and gave them their support. right now we can't see where this is going to end up can't see where this is going to end up but mrs may this weekend will be contemplating her options and her future and her options may be running out and herfuture, well, conceivably that may be running

short. john, outside number10, thank you. the chief financial officer of chinese telecoms giant huawei has appeared in court in canada facing fraud charges relating to alleged breaking of american sanctions against iran. meng wanzhou, daughter of huawei's founder, was arrested in canada on saturday. prosecutors at the bail hearing in vancouver said she could spend over 30 years in prison if extradited to the united states and convicted. we can talk to our correspondent dave lee in vancouver. this case has already had a significant political and economic impact, what's likely to happen next? yes. the hearing is still going on in the court today, about whether iran should be granted bail whilst proceeding get under way. those proceedings could take a long time coming years may be. if she is extradited to the us, she will face,

as you mentioned, multiple counts of bank fraud. prosecutors in the us believe they have found evidence meng wanzhou believe they have found evidence meng wa nzhou that believe they have found evidence meng wanzhou that was using a secret subsidiary in order to do business with iran in violation of those sanctions and they had to deceive financial institutions in order to do it. politically, this comes at a time when us china relations are being worked on, perhaps thawing maybe, but beijing has made it clear it is incensed about this arrest. it says it is a breach of meng wanzhou's says it is a breach of meng wa nzhou's human rights says it is a breach of meng wanzhou's human rights and they have demanded that she be released immediately. thank you. the father of a young british backpacker missing in new zealand has made an emotional appeal for help to find her. david millane says his family is "extremely concerned" about his daughter grace, who was last seen in auckland on saturday, the day before her 22nd birthday. police say they "hold grave fears for her safety". helena lee has more. where is grace millane? the 22—year—old recently graduated from university.

she was in new zealand as part of a round—the—world trip. now missing for six days, she's at the centre of a huge police search. today, her father flew to the country to appeal for help finding his daughter. we last had contact with her on saturday ist december. and, as family, we've been extremely concerned for her welfare. grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun—loving, family—orientated daughter. grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. she's usually in daily contact with either her mother or myself, her two brothers, members of the family on social media. the police know where grace was last saturday. she'd been staying at a popular backpacker hostel in the city of auckland. at 7:15 in the evening, she was seen at the sky city hotel. later that night, a short distance

away, grace was spotted at the citylife hotel with a male companion. it has now been six days since grace was last seen. at this point, we hold grave fears for her safety. the police have also been searching an apartment at the hotel where grace was last seen, and spoken to a man she was with. her family tonight says they're staying very positive as the search for grace continues. helena lee, bbc news. the founder and chief executive of the clothing chain, ted baker, is taking a temporary leave of absence while allegations about his conduct are investigated. ray kelvin says accusations that he enforced a "hugging" culture on staff have "raised some very serious and upsetting issues". the company's board says it has been made aware of further serious allegations about the chief executive, which will also be investigated. in france, a massive security operation is underway in preparation for more anti—government protests this weekend.

90,000 police officers will be on duty, with armoured vehicles deployed in paris. fears of a repeat of last week's violence on the streets has led to shops and some major tourist attractions being closed. lucy williamson is in paris for us tonight. paris ina paris in a state of high alert, lucy? it is. these are the last hours of normality for the champs—elysees before the protest tomorrow. from six o'clock tomorrow morning, this road will be closed off and 8000 security personnel will be stationed around the city. the government tried to negotiate its way out of these protests. that didn't work, and now preparations are in place for a massive security operation here tomorrow. the champs—elysees is again preparing for battle — a consumer paradise twinkling behind bars. some shops still have reminders of last week's violence scrawled on their walls.

translation: it makes sense to close. we've lost a lot of money, me and my fellow shopkeepers. it's enough. almost 90,000 security forces are being deployed across the country, and tourist sites including the louvre and the eiffel tower will close. the government has released a video on social media. "protesting is a right", it says, "but attacking property or the state is not". translation: the gilets jaunes include pacifists with good intentions, but also people who have been radicalised, exploited by extremist groups and who want to topple the republic. faced with systematic organised violence, our forces will respond with firmness. tonight, the city is bracing itself. the heart of france's economic and political life has become a target for those who feel they've lost touch with both. the threat tomorrow is from extremist groups and violent saboteurs, but the disillusion touches poorer

working families across france. jacqueline is part of a new splinter group called the free yellow jackets, who met the prime minister tonight for talks. translation: if we don't structure ourselves, we will fail. it's urgent that we choose people to represent ourselves, or else we will have done this for nothing. it won't work if there are 10,000 people shouting at the same time, just making a racket. students across france have joined their own demands to the gilets jaunes campaign. the interior minister said they had been infiltrated by radical groups — the reason, he said, these pupils were made to kneel outside their school by police. last saturday saw the worst violence here in decades. what began as a protest over fuel tax rises has broadened into a leaderless movement that includes violent and extremist groups. to some, this protest is a cry of anger, to others the start

of a new populist opposition. the government says it's a monster that's escaped its creators' control. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. germany's ruling political party has chosen a new leader to replace angela merkel, who announced in october that she was stepping down as party leader but remaining as chancellor until 2021. annegret kramp—karrenbauer was her preferred candidate, and is often referred to as "mini—merkel." the vote took place at the christian democrats' special conference in hamburg. our correspondent jenny hill is there now. should we expect more of the same or is the new party leader likely to make changes? difficult to say. the name annegret kramp—karrenbauer hardly chips off the tongue. it is why the germans refer to her as akk, but it is a name to remember because not only is she now the leader of the cdu, a powerful position, she is also

widely considered to be a potential chancellor in waiting. she was angela merkel‘s preferred candidate. the two women work together. she is already the party general secretary and the two women share a great deal in terms of style and politics, although annegret kramp—karrenbauer is said to be more decisive and perhaps more approachable. the time being, a degree of continuity in terms of domestic and foreign policy. but bear this in mind as well. today angela merkel great chunk of her power to someone else, and that will have consequences for her both in germany, perhaps even on the world stage. might we see a point come for the first time when mrs merkel is reined in by her party leader? there are now also grave doubts over whether is mrs merkel will complete her term as chancellor. she wants to stay on until 2021. a range of scenarios are being speculated over, but today in that hole as she gave her farewell speech to her party as their leader,

there was a real sense of a moment in history, a moment of angela merkel‘s era starting to draw to a close. she said goodbye to her party as their leader. how much longer, people wonder now, will it be before she bids farewell to her country too? jenny hill hamburg, thank you. a bbc investigation has found that academics from black and arab backgrounds at britain's top universities are being paid a quarter less on average than their white colleagues. baroness amos, the first woman to be in charge of a university in the uk, says more needs to be done to encourage more black men and women into academia. here's our education correspondent elaine dunkley. professor kehinde andrews has reached the top of higher education, but he's amongst a minority of black british academics teaching in universities across the uk. when it comes to promotion and pay, they are far behind their white colleagues. they need to open the door. how did you get through?

he, along with other academics, are keen to help these undergraduates and phd students overcome some of the challenges they have faced. you are talking about an institution which underpins slavery and colonialism, was almost entirely white 50 years ago, and has only opened up in the last 50 years, and actually, if you look at a lot of the structures, a lot of the courses, a lot of the elitism, it's just an incredibly white institution. so we shouldn't really be surprised that there are so few black professors. we have to work ten times harder to be in contention, to progress within our careers because there are cliques within faculties, where opportunities aren't made openly available to everyone. it is too easy for colleagues in higher education to ignore a lot of the things that we've been talking about to avoid these issues. today's phd students are the professors of the future. the way that they navigate themselves through the academic space as ethnic minorities has definitely provided a blueprint for me. but despite an increase

of black and minority ethnic students in higher education, they are still underrepresented phds and research, or have the mentoring opportunities to progress to professorships. how important... is it to have... a black lecturer? discuss. seeing a black woman up there, teaching me something that i aspire to carry on forward, makes me optimistic that i, too, can open the door, just like she did. black children are not given the confidence from their teachers. they don't feel like they are able to go into academia. in 70 years, there have been 25 female black professors. out of 19,000. the statistics don't lie. so it's about having the uncomfortable conversation. baroness valerie amos is the first black woman to be in charge of a university in the uk, and says it's not good enough. there is something quite intractable and difficult going on that we have to address. when you look at the universities that have really been able to make

a difference in relation to this, they have put a lot of time, effort, and resources, working with their students' union, working with their staff, and, crucially, working with their local communities to make a difference. going to university is about improving job prospects and opportunities. but for many black academics, it is far from the reality. elaine dunkley, bbc news. prosecutors in the united states have said that president donald trump's ex—lawyer michael cohen should serve a "substantial" jail term for crimes including tax evasion. jon sopel is in washington. jon, how significant is this? two weighty documents have dropped in the last few moments, one from a court in new york saying that michael cohen, the president because my former lawyer, was involved in deception, which was motivated by personal greed and ambition. but thatis personal greed and ambition. but that is the less interesting document. the more interesting one

is from robert mueller put my office. he is the man investigating whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and russia during the trump campaign and russia during the election campaign. and it finds that donald trump was seeking to build a tower in moscow that would have netted the organisation millions of dollars, that talks carried on through the campaign between michael cohen and who it refers to as individual one. that is donald trump. and that shows that there was far greater contact with there was far greater contact with the russians than has previously been acknowledged. does it prove there was collusion? no. but does it prove the links went further and deeper than we had previously understood? deeper than we had previously understood ? yes. deeper than we had previously understood? yes. jon sopel in washington, thank you. the man appointed by the government to carry out a review of britain's railways says he will consider all options but has not ruled out recommending re—nationalisation. in his first tv interview, keith williams, who's a former chief executive of british airways, says public trust has been lost following periods of acute disruption. he spoke to our transport

correspondent, tom burridge. when you're on board, people at a command centre nearby are shuffling the network along. this one is coming through the station here now, this is running late, so we need to get this ahead of 2a92, which, again, is going to the airport. cancellations and long delays are at their highest in 17 years. that's running slightly late, because it's showing yellow. this train is also running slightly late. and so is also this. the government has asked the former boss of british airways to find out what needs to change. what i see in the rail system is what i call a loss of public confidence. and if the passenger doesn't believe it's going well, then there's something there that needs to be looked at. so, how to fix it for passengers like tom? as a regular commuter, one of the biggest problems is that the train is frequently late, which can jeopardise getting to work on time. the other problem is, it's deeply overcrowded. you pay a lot to get in and out of work every day, and it's not a great service. the man running the review agrees that regions

like the north of england have been left behind. clearly, there's a need to prioritise bad expenditure in the north, as well as other regions of the country. in manchester's main control room, tim from network rail, the public company managing the infrastructure, talks to colleagues at privately operated northern rail. while i'll try to drive, i'll wait until i've got a clear run. the review of the railways, run by keith williams, was commissioned by and will answer to the government. so it's hard to imagine he will favour labour's preference of renationalising the operation of the trains. i'm independent, so i think we should look at everything, and ourjob is to come up with a recommendation for government of whatever persuasion to take forward. so, you will look at the balance between public and private? i think we should look at the balance between public and private, yes. he also says he'll look at the lack of clear leadership and accountability in the railways, and the complexity of the system. right, 1h80, oxford road, ready to go now. we had a passenger that was taken ill on board.

this control room, just one pressure point. we have eyes everywhere and we are playing a massive game of chess, really, because we've got passengers that are getting to the airport, we want them on time. and that's what's at stake, people's livelihoods, our economy, a reliable railway that works for the greater good. tom burridge, bbc news, greater manchester. a british sailor whose yacht was crippled by a fierce storm in the southern pacific ocean has been rescued. susie goodall — who was the youngest competitor and the only female entrant in the solo golden globe round the world race — was stranded for days in the southern ocean, 2,000 miles from land, but this afternoon a cargo vessel from hong kong came to her aid, bringing her aboard in stormy conditions — as andy moore reports. safety at last. the cargo ship that rescued susie goodall used its crane to winch her on board. she's reported to be uninjured and in good spirits. it was an ordeal that began 50 hours earlier,

with this distress call, in the teeth of a ferocious storm. her yacht had lost its mast and water had to be pumped out. in one of the remotest places on earth, she had a long wait for help to arrive. she was tossed about, seasick, in a disabled boat, in heavy seas. she's had her time filled getting prepared for this, for this lift off. so the adrenaline will have been running and she'll be elated now. it was a difficult rescue right to the end. the engine on susie's yacht kept cutting out, as it manoeuvred alongside the rescue ship, the tian fu. and then the first news of success in a brief tweet. "on the ship", she wrote, followed by three exclamation marks. in the time waiting to be rescued with a broken cooker,

she said she been longing for a cup of tea. so, it was no surprise that in the second message, she said she had enjoyed a very good hot drink. her friends welcomed the good news after an agonising wait. it was an absolutely huge relief, a massive relief, and i think everybody in our sailing community was just absolutely overjoyed by the news. susie is now on her way to chile. her dream of sailing solo around the world is over, for now, but at least she's safe. andy moore, bbc news. here on bbc one, time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday, i'm azi farni. ben stokes and alex hales will both

miss no further england matches as a result of their part in a fight outside a bristol nightclub. 1a sports will share £3 million to help them in the run up to the tokyo 2020 olympics. but is it enough to make a difference? and jose mourinho's agent says he's fully committed to manchester united, amid rumours he'll leave. hello and welcome to sportsday, i'm azi farni. thanks forjoining us. cricketers ben stokes and alex hales are free to play for england again following a charge of bringing the game into disrepute. an independent commission imposed suspensions on the pair which they've already served. stokes was found not guilty of affray in court earlier this year after a fight outside a bristol nightclub in september 2017.

here's our sports editor dan roan. while in the last couple of hours, both players have issued statements, and both have issued public apologies for the first time for what happened. betty stokes saying it had been a bit of a heavy burden. he had to go through a criminal child over a couple of weeks back in august. —— criminal trial. child over a couple of weeks back in august. —— criminaltrial. both players expressing their determination to learn from their mistakes. they want to move on and continue to play for england of course. it means both men are available for selection immediately, with the squads for england's tour of the west indies in the new year due to be announced on monday. former england captain michael vaughan thinks stokes has served his punishment and it's time to move on. i think he regrets the incident hugely. i think he knows that he has to change a little bit. i think he knows he has to change the way he is

a little bit, and since of has come back into the team, the match after the case, we have seen a cricketer that obviously knows he is exceptional without we have seen a person that the way he has behaved is not exceptional, and i expect to carry—over. he knows that any other issue around his behaviour off the field, i would say that he will get quite a long way away from the game. he knows he is the change himself a little bit. i think it's the right decision. 1a sports have been given a share of a £3 million funding pot from uk sport, in the run up to the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics. skateboarding, weightlifting and wheelchair rugby are among those who'll get the money but the amount they'll receive is a drop in the ocean compared to sorts of money given to the british powerhouses like rowing, which‘ll get nearly £37 million in total ahead of tokyo 2020. this is about specific... for tokyo.

it is not about developing the syste m it is not about developing the system of support for a sport. our core investment, and success in other sports where millions of pounds is invested, is about long—term sustainable pathway for athlete support, to be supported to the very best they can be. not just at the next games, but at future games as well. jose mourinho is staying at manchester united, his agent says speculation that he'll leave old trafford are totally untrue. rumours that the club have been in contact with tottenham to line up mauricio pochettino are also unfounded. united play fulham tomorrow, they haven't won in the premier league since november and their performances have been criticsed for being too negative. mourinho says there'll be no excuses for a bad performance this time. isaid a i said a few weeks ago, speaking about the december month,