this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8: tear gas and rubber bullets have been used to try to break up crowds of anti—government protestors in paris. white house chief of staff john kelly is to leave donald trump's administration at the end of the year. police in new zealand are to charge a 26—year—old man with the murder of british backpacker, grace millane — who went missing in auckland last week. sadly, the evidence we have gathered to this point of inquiry has established that this is a homicide. amber rudd becomes the first cabinet minister to publicly discuss an alternative brexit plan if mps reject theresa may's proposal next week. in the last few minutes, will quince has resigned from the government. what happens if it is voted down? anything could happen. there's lots of different things that could happen. most of which they won't want to have. so when they think about this deal, they need to weigh up the alternatives as well. one of the uk's biggest outsourcing companies, interserve, is reported to be in rescue talks

to avoid its collapse. welcome to bbc news. there has been another day of anti—government protests in paris, with riot police deploying water cannon and tear gas to try to disperse demonstrators. thousands of the so—called "yellow vest" protesters have taken to the streets of the french capital where cars and barricades have been set alight. the yellow vest movement began three weeks ago in opposition to a rise in fuel tax, but ministers say it's been hijacked by "ultra—violent" protesters. from paris, lucy williamson reports. they called it a protest. at times it looked more like a game of urban war. groups of protesters fanned through the capital's streets today. from the arc de triomphe

to republic, boulevards once built to open the veins of the city filled with tear gas, firecrackers and riot police. on the champs—elysees this morning, the mood was largely peaceful — protesters arriving here from across france caught up in a familiar dance of conflict with police. police are just pushing the protesters back down out of this side street onto the champs—elysees, they have been pushing them up and down this street all morning and the tension is starting to rise. the police were well prepared for this confrontation, with armoured vehicles, new tactics and bag searches, seizing gas masks and helmets and anything that could be used against police. the tear gas, far stronger than usual, took many protesters by surprise. and rapid reaction squads marked out by orange arm bands were stationed among the protesters to spot trouble and make early arrests. translation: since the start

of the demonstrations there have actually been more injuries on the side of the security forces than on the side of the protesters because the idea is to contain things, but that tactic has limits, particularly when we're faced with people who want to behave like it is a war. so today we've changed the tactics so there will be more checks and more immediate interventions. despite the violence of previous protests, this movement still has the backing of many voters in france. its members proud of their lack of leadership and the diversity of their support. sylvie is a far left supporter, herfriend christoffe is a fan of the far right. they say the yellow vests have united different people against president macron. translation: that is what president macron does not like, that we are united. he has brought back solidarity among the french. we are united in combat for now, after that, who knows?

but this movement is already splintering into two kinds of protest, one that looks towards a new political programme and a violent wing, opposed to any negotiation, that's hard to exclude, even harder to control. president trump has announced that his chief of staff, john kelly, will be leaving by the end of the year. there have been persistent reports for several days that mr kelly had been under pressure to go. the retired marine general was homeland security secretary before becoming chief of staff injuly 2017. here's president trump speaking about the time frame of mr kelly's departure. john kelly will be leaving, retir—. .. i don't know if i can say retiring. but he's a great guy. john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year, we'll be announcing who will be taking john's place. it might be an interim basis. i'll be announcing that over

the next day or two. butjohn will be leaving at the end of the year. he's been with me almost two years now, as you know, between the two positions. president trump speaking a short time ago. danjohnson is in washington. yet another change of personnel? yes. apparently this is the 28th departure from the right —— white house. donald trump criticised arab obama for the amount of stuff he lost in three years, he's looking for his third in three years now. interesting who will get the job. it's maybe not the best known, public facing role from the white house. but it is an important inside a job. it is talked of as needing a figure who can stand up to the president, who can tell him the hard truths, the things that he doesn't wa nt to truths, the things that he doesn't want to hear. it will be of interest we re want to hear. it will be of interest were the donald trump picks someone who is prepared to be independent

and impartial in the way thatjohn kelly will seem to have been, or somebody that is chosen because of their loyalty, because they are more sympathetic to the president. so how mightjohn kelly's departure change the dynamic in the white house? alayna treene is a reporter for the news webiste axios and joins us now from washington. thank you very much forjoining us and bbc news. how much of a surprise willjohn kelly's departure be to those that watch these things? well, reporting at the white house, only the very close circle around the president had known john the very close circle around the president had knownjohn kelly's departure. this is something the president has been thinking about four weeks. as much as he had mostly until recently publicly said that he was a big fan ofjohn kelly's, people are not in a circle had known that the president was hoping to replace kelly with somebody that is a bit more politically adept to

handle some other things that are coming, including we now have a democratic house taking over congress. so we will have a lot of time to investigate the president. and we'll so have the russia issue. the president has privately said that he thinks thatjohn kelly has bad political instincts. rick bears, somebody like that, who has a lot of political experience in handling the elections, here's hoping someone like that can come in and ready the white house for 2020. when john kelly was first appointed, it was suggested he might bring some kind of order to how the white house functions. how successful was he? the chief of staff is have tried to do that, reince priebus had tried to do that, reince priebus had tried to do that. a lot of people that are close to the president have long

argued, especially people who handle the president's affairs, they have been concerned that people like the president's daughter and jared kushner has free will to walk into the white house as they see fit. john kelly will be able to with the west wing into shape. as we have seen, he has not been able to do that, because the president likes the nature of having people coming freely into his office, he likes to call leaders at will. it will be interesting to see if that changes. how much will his to —— departure change the dynamics in the white house, populated by strong characters? from what sources have told me, they think that with the next chief of staff, if it is mick

—— nick ayers, the president is thinking of reorganising a lot of staff. democrats, taking back the house, having the power to really hammer down on the investigations. we have the cinema robert mueller investigation, the russia investigation, the russia investigation, that we have 2020. he wa nts to investigation, that we have 2020. he wants to put new people in place and fire people he has not been totally happy with. so it would clear the path for him, for his re—election. thank you forjoining us. police in new zealand are preparing to charge a 26—year—old man with the murder of the british backpacker grace millane. grace was last seen in auckland a week ago. police say there's evidence she's dead but her body has yet to be found. simonjones reports. described by her family as lovely, outgoing, fun—loving.

in grace millane's hometown in essex, they're trying to comprehend the news that her disappearance is being treated as murder. it is very, very sad. devastating for the family, obviously, and friends. many of the young people in our parish knew her, some went to school with her and went on school journeys with her, so it's... it will have hit the parish really very bad. despite an extensive search, police have now reached this conclusion. the evidence we have gathered to this point of the inquiry has established that this is a homicide. grace's family have been advised of this development and are devastated. police say a 26—year—old man will be charge with her murder when he appears in court on monday. grace arrived in new zealand last month and had been staying at a backpackers' hostel in auckland.

she was last seen last saturday night entering a hotel in the city with a male companion who the police they had been with her during the evening. detectives have released pictures of jewellery they believe grace had with her, this necklace and a distinctive pink watch that are both missing from her possessions and could help them find her body. here at a catholic church in wickford, special prayers will be said for grace at services throughout the weekend, a moment of contemplation to mark a young life cut short. we have been extremely concerned for her welfare. grace's father had flown to new zealand to plead for help in finding her, now he needs to know where her body is. the police say they will do everything they can to return her to the family. joining me now from auckland is gill higgins, a reporter for television new zealand. thank you forjoining us. police are not giving much information away about the suspect. what do you know so about the suspect. what do you know so far? well, you are quite right.

they are not giving a lot away. basically they have just said he is a 26—year—old man who was seen entering that city life apartment with race on saturday night. we don't even know when they met. it seems the last cctv image of her before that was at a burger bar in a place called sky city, they did not say he was with her then. in that time they busily met him, they are not saying how. they are not saying whether they have seen footage of him leaving the apartment, with or without her. we do not know for sure whether the car belongs to him. it isa carof whether the car belongs to him. it is a car of interest they are looking at. we assume that it does. we think that car may have been used to transport her body somewhere. that is a key part of the inquiry, trying to track the movement that car on sunday and looking at fingerprint evidence, clothing, fibres, to get more information about where her body might be. there

was a nationwide appeal for information before the homicide announcement. what information police hoping to find? sorry, say that again? there was a nationwide appealfor information that again? there was a nationwide appeal for information before the homicide announcement, from the public, what more do they need to hear from people? well, i think the key is that they really want to find grace's body. they have a suspect now. returning her body to the family is of utmost importance. for that, then you could trace where this car has been. but we haven't even been given details of what the car looks like. perhaps they are going to issue a photo of it on monday morning, when they hold their next press conference. they have released images of the necklace and watch them as you mentioned. we believe that is because they are tragic track down anything that might lead them to her body. what has the reaction been in new zealand from the public? and the coverage it has had in the media? the coverage has had in the media? the coverage has been extensive. this is a really

unusual situation for new zealand. we have a really low crime rate here. the latest figures they do something like seven homicides per million. that is less than half what it is in the uk. so it is a very low crime rate country, people are very proud of that. to have something like this happen in their home country is really horrific. that has been expressed on twitter, facebook, people just talking about it all the time. people are talking about this case. a lot of the feeling is that obviously there is a lot of heartache, just trying to imagine what it is like for grace's parents waking up to that news again this morning. but also a little bit of shame that this has happened here. it is something that has really hit home for a lot of people here. the headlines on bbc news... tear gas and rubber bullets have been used to try to break up crowds of anti—government

protestors in paris. at least 55 people have been injured, including three police officers. here — the senior government minister amber rudd has warned the country would be in "uncharted territory" if mps reject theresa may's brexit deal. meanwhile, the conservative mp will quince has resigned from the government, saying he "cannot support" the prime minister's withdrawal agreement. and in the us, president trump has announced that his chief of staffjohn kelly, is to leave his administration at the end of the year. time for a full round—up from the bbc sports centre. the premier league has a new leader this evening — liverpool are top, after manchester city lost for the first time this season. they were beaten 2—0 at chelsea and are now a point off the pace. joe lynskey reports on what could prove be a pivotal day in the season. in the premier league, faces and

expectations are always changing. these sites of the two most recent champions. but coming into this game there were ten points between them. a reflection, perhaps, on a chelsea in transition. they are still adapting to sari. like pep guardiola, he starts differently. both sides started without a recognised striker. that left city missing a finish, and chelsea's bravery would be rewarded. the change of approach has brought a new role for n'golo kante. more and more he gets in goal—scoring positions. that striker put city in unfamiliar territory. before today they had only trailed for 12 minutes all season. only trailed for 12 minutes all season. chelsea were happy to protect the lead on the front foot. the second—half pressure brought david luiz the pressure for a second goal. the respect elation he could leave next summer.

goal. the respect elation he could leave next summer. you couldn't tell from the reaction. after a week that has brought to defeats, chelsea go back into the champions league places. this was the result that showed belief in their manager and changing ideas. lam very, i am very, very happy with the win. i think it is not really that easy to win against manchester city. it is not easy to win against them. i am very happy with the result. but i am very happy with the result. but i am very, very happy with the mentality of the team in this match. a hat—trick from mo salah gave liverpool a 4—0 win over bournemouth. that's 16 games unbeaten and a point clear of city at the top. from the first second, really in the game. passing wise, not, but was a lwa ys game. passing wise, not, but was always on the line, wanting to help with runs in behind. that is massively important. so, i was

really fine with the performance. and scoring three goals, obviously, is good for him and very important for us. manchester united are up to sixth after their biggest win of the season. they beat bottom club fulham 4—1 at old trafford. it's their first win in the premier league since october. here are the rest of the results. one game just kicked off half hour ago. tottenham currently at leicester. it is currently 0—0. kilmarnock were hoping to do a leicester after they topped the scottish premiership midweek but they were thumped by celtic 5—1 so celtic are top now. elsewhere, there were wins for stjohnston, hearts and livingston. all the day's football is on the bbc sport website. england and scotland have been drawn in the same group for next summer's women's world cup in france. japan, world cup winners in 2011 and runners—up in 2015, and argentina are the other sides in group d. scotland, who are making their first appearance at the world cup,

will meet england in nice on the 9th ofjune in what is the opening game for both countries. something good is happening in scottish women's football. it's going to be a real tough start to the group. but i think when you look at the group, you see three great games, three special games, that all have a meaning to british football. i think that's why i'm really excited. our first time at the world cup. and yet, of course, you draw england in the first game. i know everybody will talk about what happened in the euros, but what we have to focus on is the full group and notjust have to focus on is the full group and not just one have to focus on is the full group and notjust one opponent. ronnie o'sullivan is one win away from a record seventh uk snooker championship title. he breezed past tom ford six frames to one in his semifinal this afternoon. he'll face either masters champion mark allen, or stuart bingham in the final tomorrow. there are currently in action right

now. that's all the sport for now. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has become the first government minister to openly discuss an alternative brexit strategy, if the prime minister's deal is rejected in the commons on tuesday. she said she still supported theresa may's withdrawal agreement but it could be chaotic if mps didn't back the plan. you know what it's like in the run—up to christmas. you will be told that great deals are available, but you're tempted to wait for the january sales. and one cabinet minister is telling mps that if they don't like the prime minister's brexit deal, then a different one could come onto the market. amber rudd supports theresa may's deal. she says it is the best option but if it is defeated... if the house is not going to support the deal any to come forward with an alternative deal. and i have seen that there is a lot of support for norway plus in the house of commons, there is a certain amount of support for a people's vote, nobody knows what would happen. people should think very clearly if they are not going to vote for the government's

withdrawal agreement whether they would prefer those alternatives. so what does she mean by norway plus? like norway, the uk would be outside the eu but with access to the single market, we would have greater control of our agriculture and fishing industries and the plus bit — unlike norway we would be inside the customs union or something very like it to avoid the hard border in ireland. but there would be few restrictions on freedom of movement and we would pay into eu budgets. you don't need me to tell you that we are living in extraordinary political times, and here is another example. cabinet ministers are expected to sing from the same hymn sheet, and notjust at this time of year. yet amber rudd is speaking openly about the defeat of her own government and setting out her preferred plan b, now she doesn't want the prime minister to resign, but theresa may's authority is looking less deep rooted. but some senior conservative figures say we don't have to be like norway or have another referendum if theresa may's deal is defeated. instead, we could leave the eu without a fully fledged deal. we should seek to put in place

some ad hoc temporary arrangements with the agreement of the european union which would minimise and indeed perhaps even eliminate any disruption at the border on the 30th of march next year. there is not much festive cheer at westminster. the prime minister and amber rudd say the brexit deal would bring certainty but some sceptical conservative mps believe pushing on with next week's vote would simply be a gift to the opposition. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. six people have been killed in a stampede at a nightclub in northern italy. the crush happened in the early hours of this morning in the town of corinaldo near ancona on the adriatic coast. james reynolds reports: the blue lantern nightclub in the town of corinaldo was packed. around 1000 people, many of them teenagers, had gone to see a concert by one of italy's leading rappers.

at around one in the morning some reports say that a pepper spray—like substance was used, provoking a stampede. translation: we were together. we started seeing everyone rush towards the emergency exits. at the beginning we didn't understand why, but then we started to cough and thought there might be a fire or something, so we decided to leave. one of the emergency exits was blocked. in the crush to get out of the club, a railing collapsed causing dozens of partygoers to fall. translation: since three this morning we were very close to the bodies and to the relatives. and then we've accompanied them here to the morgue. you can imagine it's been a very sudden thing. you cannot believe that it's true. the government has named the dead as teenagers between the ages of 1a and 16, and the 39—year—old mother of one of these victims was also killed. italy's interior minister, matteo salvini, says the authorities

will find those responsible for turning a party night into a tragedy. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. china's foreign ministry has called on canada to release an executive employed by the telecoms giant huawei or warned it would otherwise face consequences. meng wanzhou, the company's global chief financial officer, was arrested in vancouver last weekend and faces extradition to the united states. she's the daughter of huawei's founder and is accused of breaking american sanctions on iran liverpool city council says that 2a asylum seekers who claimed they were children after being sent to the city have been found to be adults. the authority says another 15 asylum seekers should have been identified as children by the government, and accommodated in london instead. the authority now wants

to recover over £65,000 for supporting the children. a home office spokesman says age—disputed cases remain "a very challenging area". universal credit has been criticised for pushing people into "unacceptable ha rdship", and now the bbc understands it will be rolled out in north kensington, just days before christmas, which could impact many of those affected by the fire at grenfell tower. the welfare reform scheme combines six different benefits into one monthly payment, but delays of up to five weeks have been blamed for rent arrears and a growing reliance on food banks. ashleyjohn—baptiste has more. maher has lived with polio since he was a child in syria. he moved to england a decade ago and lived in grenfell tower with his wife and three daughters. on the night of the fire, he hobbled down 13 flights of stairs through blackening smoke to escape with his family. they now live in this kensington flat, still struggling with the impact of the fire and with his disability, maher is out of work and receives employment support allowance.

he is worried about the rollout of universal credit. the move will affect people in the area who sign on from the 12th of december and existing claimants whose circumstances change. universal credit combines six different benefits and is paid monthly in arrears. people who switch to the scheme must wait five weeks for their first payment. but from next year, this will be reduced to three weeks. it's now been a year and five months since the grenfell tower fire but still, many locals continue

to struggle rebuilding their lives and moving forward. it is against this backdrop that some question whether days before christmas is the right time to be rolling out universal credit. the mp for kensington has set up this new food bank in time for christmas. she has written to the department of work and pensions asking them to stop the rollout. it is unthinkable, really. they're going to have another christmas now wondering whether or not they are going to be able to afford to buy food, let alone presents for their children. we have people coming to us were completely destitute, lost their home, they've been through the most horrific experience, tmay have lost family members and neighbours and friends, com pletely u nsettled and their lives are now destitute because of grenfell. we asked the government for an interview. they declined, but gave us this reply... in his budget speech last month, the chancellor pledged

to spend an extra £1 billion in universal credit over the next five years but in recent months. however, the welfare scheme has been blamed for causing destitution and increased bank usage. antonio, who lived in the 10th floor of grenfell tower, works in catering. although he doesn't plan to sign on, he is also critical. it is bad timing. when it comes to putting policies into place like this one, they should totally know the sense of reality, that's the right word, a sense of reality of what goes on in the normal life, in the normal world, in the normal working class people. ashleyjohn—baptiste, bbc news. louis vuitton, jimmy choo and gucci may be the staples of fifth avenue and new bond street. but now brand—conscious shoppers in gloucestershire are to be given the chance to snap up a high—end bargain — courtesy of the local police.

the gloucestershire force is set to auction a haul of 55 pairs of designer trainers, worth a staggering £20,000. the collection — seized from a man convicted of a gang—related shooting — includes a punk—style pair of studded high tops by christian louboutin. with a lovely red sole. we needed a brolly close at hand, but things will settle down for the second half of the week. we had strong isobars across the charge overnight, and the stronger of the wind looks likely to be across wales, south—west england and the channel coasts. gusts in excess, perhaps, 65 or 70 channel coasts. gusts in excess, perhaps, 65 or70 mph. a channel coasts. gusts in excess, perhaps, 65 or 70 mph. a rush of showers for the next few hours. they

drifted steadily south. clear skies into the far north of the country. we could see temperatures in the low single figures, a touch of light frost is not out of the question. we start off with some showers around, but they will start using pretty quickly. by coffee time on sunday morning, clear skies, wind direction coming from in north—westerly. a cooler source. one exposed coasts you will notice it feels more chilly across the country. six or 8 degrees into the north, 11 or 12 in the south—west.