this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11: a ‘worst case scenario' warning that channel ports could face six months of disruption if britain leaves the eu without a deal. it comes as 30 government ministers tour the country, trying to sell theresa may's brexit plan. a canadian court is told that a top executive at chinese telecoms firm huawei is wanted in the us on fraud charges relating to sanctions on iran. police in new zealand say a missing british backpacker was last seen with "a male companion". grace millane‘s father appeals for help in finding her. last with —— last had contact with her on saturday the first of december. as a family we have been extremely concerned for her welfare. france braces for further protests tomorrow, with key tourist sites in the capital, including the eiffel tower, closed, and some 89,000 policemen on duty across the country. and the british yachtswoman adrift 2,000 miles off shore after a huge storm in the southern ocean is finally rescued. at 11.30 we'll be taking

an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, henry zeffman, political correspondent for the times, and jason beattie, who's head of politics at the daily mirror. 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 ten. 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. 0ur deputy political editorjohn pienaar there, whose report raised potential problems with the supply of medicines in the event of a no—deal brexit. so how worried should we be? here's our health editor hugh pym. some patients are very worried, they

don't feel they have the assurances that their medicines will get through from the eu if there is no deal. we are being told from the government in a worst—case scenario there could be six months of disruption at dover and foxton. —— folkstone. we are hearing that alternative perve —— ports will be used, there will be fast tracking of lorries with medicines, aircraft will be chartered to bring in supplies with a short shelflife and there will be a stock island six weeks of medicines held by the ministry, and that has been achieved. he is also warning the nhs itself, gps and hospitals, not to stockpile as i could be self—defeating. there are some suspicions as to why this has come out today, is there anything to do with the brexit debate, but the government insists it has to get this technical adviser for the. the british medical association has denied, that ministers are cutting into very fine with less than four months ago and that is extremely concerning. 0ur health editor, hugh pym there.

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. 0ur correspondent dave lee is in vancouver, where he says this case has already had a significant political and economic impact. the hearing is still going on in the court today was whether ms meng should be granted bail, those proceedings could take a novel long time, years maybe, and if she is extradited to the us, she faces multiple counts of bank fraud, prosecutors in the us believe they have found evidence that huawei was using a secret subsidiary in order to do business with iran, in

violation of those sanctions. and that 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 flooring, maybe, but beijing has made it clear that it is incensed about this arrest. it says it is a breach of ms meng's human rights and they have demanded she be released immediately. our technology correspondent, dave lee, in vancouver. 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 i 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. some breaking news to bring you regarding president trump's former personal lawyer, michael cohen, us prosecutors in new york have asked the court for a substantial prison sentence for michael cohen reject thing the law's request for leniency based on his cooperation with law enforcement. 0ne based on his cooperation with law enforcement. one of the two censoring —— sentencing memorandums speu censoring —— sentencing memorandums spell at fresh trouble for president trump, saying michael cohen had

provided special counsel robert mueller‘s investigation with useful for president trump's election in 2016 and moscow. they are suggesting he should receive a sentence between 51 and 63 months, which only suggest they would be a modest downward adjustment from that range suggesting possibly a four year prison term. some adjustment for his cooperation but not as much as michael cohen was hoping for. 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. the mobile operator 02 is to compensate customers with phone credit and discounts after yesterday's major outage. millions of smartphone users were unable to access data services and voice calls were also affected

as a result of a glitch in the software provided by the technology firm ericsson. the network has now been restored. in france a massive security operation is under way 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. 0ur paris correspondent, lucy williamson, has this report. 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.

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 black 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... he, along with other academics, are keen to help these undergraduates and phd students overcome some of the challenges they have faced. we're 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 is just an incredibly white institutions. 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 and 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 steadily provided a blueprint for me. but despite an increase of black and minority ethnic students in higher education, they are still underrepresented at the best universities, less likely to have funding for phd 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 for word, 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 give into academia. in 70 years, there have been 25 female black professors. out of 19,000. the statistics don't lie. i think 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 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 respects and opportunities. but for many black academics it is far from the reality. elaine dunkley, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: ministers warn that channel ports could face six months of disruption if britain leaves the eu without a deal. one of the bosses at chinese telecoms giant huawei appears in court in canada charged with breaking us sanctions against iran. police in new zealand say missing british backpacker grace millane was last seen with a male companion at a hotel. a teenager from hertfordshire who sent bomb threats to hundreds of schools in britain has been jailed for three years. george duke—cohan, who's 19, sent the hoax e—mails to 1,700 schools, claiming he would set off a device if money wasn't paid. he also made bomb threats to a plane bound for the us. duncan kennedy reports from luton crown court. george duke—cohan arrested

in his own bedroom. the place he had spent eight months sending out hoax bomb threats. police officers caught him after he had created what the judge called havoc among thousands of schools. this school in watford was among those targeted by duke—cohan. in fact, he sent hoax e—mails to more than 2,000 schools, threatening to bomb them if they didn't hand over money. the evacuations he created caused panic. he even sent hoaxes to schools for children with special needs. the upset and economic loss suffered by pupils, parent and the international airline

and the like demonstrates the seriousness with which the nca views such offending. the airline was a united airlines flight from london to america. george duke—cohan posed as the father of a child on board, with this phone call. the judge said duke—cohan wanted publicity for his own perverted sense of fun, but had caused suffering to thousands of people. and, bbc news. —— duncan kennedy, bbc news. the american comedian kevin hart has stepped down as host of next year's 0scars ceremony, after criticism tweets he posted ten

years ago were homophobic. hart said he did not want to be a distraction on 0scars night and that he was sorry he had hurt people. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, reports. it was only a few days ago that the academy announced that kevin hart, once an invited guest at the oscars, was to be the next host of the show watched by millions but that was before it emerged the comedian turned actor had a decade earlier made homophobic comments in his stand—up show and on social media. his response did not help, it actually made things worse. i was told that the world is upset about a tweet i did years ago. 0h oh my god. guys, i'm almost a0 years old. if you don't believe that people change, grow, evolve, as they get older, i don't know what to tell you. the academy asked him to apologise, but he refused. that shows the past.

the reason why it's past is i have addressed it several times, this is not the first time it has come up, i have addressed it, i have spoken on it, i have said where the rights and wrongs were, i have said who i am now versus who i was then, i have done this. within hours, he changed his mind and stood down from hosting, finally apologising to the lgbtqia rights community. over the last few years, kevin hart has been seen as one of the most exciting new talents in entertainment, appearing on screen with some of hollywood's biggest names, in some of the biggest films, including jumanji. in his next role, he appears alongside bryan cranston, but many believe that he should have handled this weeks events far better. if he is on the mainstream stage, he has got to adjust his act, he should have been faster to apologise. very mealy mouth, "i am sorry, i'm not sorry, iam better..." the whole thing is a mess.

there's no winners here. that includes the oscars themselves. with the ceremony now fewer than three months away, they're now searching for a new host, someone they are sure won't end up being surrounded by controversy in the same way that kevin hart has. lizo mzimba, bbc news. a british sailor whose yacht was crippled by a fierce storm in the southern pacific 0cean 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, when 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 remotest places on earth, she had a long wait for help to arrive. she's had her time field getting prepared for this lift of. —— she's had her time the field getting prepared for this liftoff. —— she's had her time filled. prepared for this liftoff. —— she's had hertime filled. 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. "0n 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 welcome to 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. susie's dream of sailing solo around the world is over, for now, but at least she's safe. andy moore, bbc news. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers henry zeffman, political correspondent and jason beattie, who's head of politics at the daily mirror. that's coming up just after the headlines at 11:30pm. now it's time for the weather, with louise lear. hello there. our week has been dominated by wet weather with some

wild westerly winds thrown in as well. now, friday's storm is now moving into the north sea but it's going to be replaced by another frontal system that will bring showery outbreaks from the west today. this westerly flow will continue for another 2a hours at least. showers merging for longer spells of rain into northern ireland, northern england and into the midlands. to the south of that, a few showers but it stays relatively mild with 11—13. to the north, a bit quieter than friday but a bit cooler acosta winds are swinging round to more of a northerly component. the front clears to the near continent. we see the isobars to a northerly direction driving ina the isobars to a northerly direction driving in a cost of showers through the night and clearing in the early hours of sunday. they will in england and wales and by the middle pa rt england and wales and by the middle part of the day, a bright and breezy affair but a noticeable difference in the feel of the weather, cooler in the feel of the weather, cooler in the afternoon. six or seven in

the north, we might scrape double digits in the south—west if we're lucky. we see this ridge of high pressure building through sunday night into monday morning, keeping things largely fine and quiet but a bit cooler, so we could see low single figures and a touch of frost first thing on monday. that cooler component stays with us on monday but it's worth bearing in mind the mild air is always knocking on the door in the west, trying to push in and with that it could bring in wetter weather. 0n and with that it could bring in wetter weather. on monday, a chilly start with some dry, bright weather. still the northerly component. dry for most, a touch on the chilly side, certainly through north sea facing coasts, 5—7. 0ut side, certainly through north sea facing coasts, 5—7. out to the west, bit of cloud and patchy rain and here, a touch milder. as the high pressure d rifts off here, a touch milder. as the high pressure drifts off into the near continent, topping across the high is this weak weather front. i suspect on tuesday there will be a lot of cloud around. the wind is out

to the west start to a south—westerly, driving in a lot of cloud and a lot of moisture at times, damp and risley along west facing coasts. not quite as cold on tuesday, 8—12 —— drizzly. into wednesday, we see the high pressure drifting off into scandinavia, allowing for a weak weather front to push in and as it bumps into the high, a weak affair with a band of cloud, showery and bits of rain along west facing coasts, a bit murky. in terms of the feel of things, double digits out to the south—west, 6—9 degrees elsewhere. this is the pattern through the week. high pressure moving off into the near continent and potentialfor this south—westerly flow to try and return and sandwiched in between the two, the battleground is the uk. the jet stream is fairly light and undulating, which means at the beginning of the week, there's not that much happening, that's the

quieter theme. but as we go through the middle to the end of next week, the middle to the end of next week, the jet stream really intensifies, becomes less undulating and that could potentially driving wetter weather from the atlantic yet again —— re—intensifies. it looks like from some sunday onwards will see julia butler drier weather, but it's not expected to last. —— sciglio but drier. —— chillier but drier. hello. this is bbc news with me, martine croxall. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment — first the headlines. a ‘worst case scenario' warning that channel ports could face six months of disruption if britain leaves the eu without a deal. it comes as 30 government ministers tour the country, trying to sell theresa may's brexit plan. a canadian court is told that a top executive at chinese telecoms firm huawei is wanted in the us on fraud charges relating to sanctions on iran.

police in new zealand say missing british backpacker grace millane was last seen with a male companion at a hotel.