this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. our top stories: chief of staffjohn kelly is the latest member of donald trump's administration told to leave the white house. a fragile order is restored to the streets in france, hundreds are arrested in the fourth weekend of anti—government protests. china warns canada of what it calls "severe consequences", if it doesn't release a top executive from the tech company, huawei. a museum lifting the lid on belgium's colonial past comes under attack for showcasing stolen treasures. hello and welcome to bbc news. president trump says he'll announce a fresh chief of staff "in the next day or two". it follows the news that his current top aide, john kelly, is leaving.

the retired marine general had been appointed to bring order to the white house. now he's become the 28th person to leave since donald trump took office. this is how the president broke the story to reporters. john kelly will be leaving... i don't know if i can say retiring, but he is 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 on 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 has been with me almost two years now, as you know, between the two positions. our correspondent dan johnson has the latest from washington. it has become business as usual because there have been so many departures from the white house. donald trump does have two reborn instinct for the new year because there is a fresh challenge that democrats, having control of the

house of congress, will make life more difficult for the president. people need a new approach to get things done. that may be part of the reason why he is rebuilding his team, why there have been some more high—level departures and changes in the last few weeks. but the chief of staff job the last few weeks. but the chief of staffjob is an important insider role, someone who is prepared to tell the president things he does not want to hear, to give in those ha rd not want to hear, to give in those hard truth. that is something that john kelly did and is perhaps why john kelly did and is perhaps why john kelly did and is perhaps why john kelly is now on his way. people are john kelly is now on his way. people a re interested john kelly is now on his way. people are interested in who will replace john kelly, someone with that independent voice who will be prepared to stand up to the president or someone who will be appointed more for their loyalty to donald trump? as that revolving door continues, who is likely to replace in? there have been some rumours, reported by the reuters news agency that mike pence's chief of staff could move over to the oval office. that is a man called nick ayres, he has apparently been very effective and very loyal working for the vice

president mike pence. the president will seek a commitment that this chief of staff will stay until the election in 2020. we're not sure if nick ayres has been able to give that sort of commitment. it may be that sort of commitment. it may be that he takes over in the interim until a longer term replacement can be found. but donald trump has had some high—level positions to fill in the past few weeks. it will be a new white house team that takes on the political developments in the new year, the new challenge that they face with a congress. i know this is hard—core correspondence face with a congress. i know this is ha rd—core correspondence like yourself to gauge at capitol hill, but is there any sense of nervousness amongst the republicans, even the supporters of donald trump, members of the public, that is revolving door continues, that he does not have control of his white house? well, it seems to have become the new normal. because the departures have become so many and so regular that people at to just accept that is what happens now, people come and people go. donald trump made his name firing people on

the apprentice and he seems to have acted out his presidency in much the same way. people seem to have stopped are really making any fuss about it, even though it must affect the consistency, the co—ordination inside the white house, the fact that there are so many personnel must make it more difficult to get things done. but donald trump will hope that the team he can now put in place will bring some consistency over the remaining two years of his presidency and that he will be able to work with this new congress. that will be trickier and republicans will be trickier and republicans will be trickier and republicans will be interested to see how the president actually takes the sport, whether he is prepared to be more bipartisan and reach out to the democrats to try to get more support and cooperation from them. no doubt he faces big challenges in the new year. there is some nervousness about the challenges occurring in the white house. it will be interesting to see who takes this topjob of the interesting to see who takes this top job of the chief of staff. dan johnson speaking to me earlier. the french authorities say anti—government protests,

which brought thousands of people onto the streets in recent weeks, are now under control. the latest demonstrations, focused on paris, have seen clashes with police and hundreds of arrests, but the trouble has been smaller scale than before, as the bbc‘s 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 republique, boulevards once built to open the veins of the city filled with tear gas, burning vehicles, and riot police. on the champs—elysees this morning, the mood was largely peaceful. protesters arriving here from across france caught up inafamiliardance of conflict with police. police are just pushing the protesters back down out of this side street onto the champs—elysees. they've 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 armbands were stationed among the protesters to spot trouble and make early arrests. translation: we have to stay vigilant because there are still rioters out there. thank you to everyone who called for peace. now is the time for dialogue and to reunite the unity of the nation. that dialogue has already begun and must continue. 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, christophe, is a fan of the far—right. they say the gilets jaune have united different people against president macron. translation: that is what 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. it is hard to exclude and even harder to control. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. stefan de vries is a journalist based in paris. he explained more about the protesters — and their demands. it is not a coherent group, actually. there is no leader, as lucy williamson said in a report. they don't have a clear programme either. it is a collection of a huge group of people. it started out on

facebook as an online petition against the rising fuel prices about against the rising fuel prices about a month ago. and in only four weeks this movement has turned into a general protest against the current government and, more precisely, against emmanuel macron. they have very different demands. it goes from free childcare to a on incomes, many different things. some are very extreme left, others are extreme right. it is very hard to pin down exactly who they are. that makes it particularly difficult for the french government to negotiate with them or to reach out and to give in to their demands. we are hearing reports on social media that these kind of protests are spinning out into other countries across europe. looking at the wider picture, just in france for now, in emmanuel macron must be looking down on these protesters and thinking i have got a big problem here, there is a loss of dissatisfaction with my government.

are they right, to be dissatisfied? absolutely. we certainly has a big problem. he was completely overwhelmed by the protests. he did not see it coming, actually. and he has been silent the whole week. he said last night that one of his collaborators, according to the french press, that he did not want to speak, did not want if you'll be protests. he sees himself also as pa rt protests. he sees himself also as part of the problem. that is exactly the case. it started as a simple protest against high taxes and has turned into a general rejection of president emmanuel macron, the person who was elected with so much i°y person who was elected with so much joy only 18 months ago. the guy who was going to save france. anne aly simply does not deliver. —— he simply does not deliver. —— he simply does not deliver. —— he simply does not. he keeps his election promises, but that does not really pre——— please the french. emmanuel macron has a very serious political problem. he still has almost three years to go in his

mandate, but he can't do anything any more. his reform programme will be put on hold, very likely, and he will express himself this monday on television nationwide, to be french, and to give an explanation of what is going on and maybe propose some concessions to the yellow vests. stefa n d e stefan de vries speaking to me earlier. scientists and delegates at a un climate conference in poland have expressed alarm, after it failed to incorporate a key scientific report. the ipcc report on the impact of a 1.5 degree temperature rise was released in october and won praise from politicians around the world. the document said the world was completely off track. the us, russia and saudi arabia objected to the conference welcoming the report. china has warned canada that there will be severe consequences if it doesn't release huawei's chief financial officer meng wanzhou. ms meng was arrested in vancouver a week ago and faces extradition to the united states,

accused of breaking american sanctions on iran. china's foreign ministry has summoned canada's ambassador, calling the arrest ‘extremely nasty‘. here's bbc world service's asia pacific editor, celia hatton, on why the chinese foreign ministry is calling for the release, knowing it's not going to happen. it is fascinating, actually, that they decided to come out with this today after days of a relative silence, not saying very much at all. i think, silence, not saying very much at all. ithink, really, that beijing at the moment is trying to appeal to china's domestic audience. there have been a loss of calls inside china, lots of people writing on chinese social media platforms saying that meng wanzhou is effectively a hostage in the us china trade war, that this arrest was political, that canada should not have carried out his arrest on behalf of the united states. a lot of shock and accusations against canada. so i think really beijing feels the need to show that it is trying to do something and that is

why it has come out with this. but it is really not going to help matters in the fact that huawei, the world's largest network equipment maker has been arguing for years now that it has no strong ties with the chinese government, that it is not a proxy for the chinese military, so the fact that the chinese government has come out with such strong words urging ms meng to be released kind of goes against that argument. let's get some of the day's other news. police in new zealand have said they will do everything they can to try to find the body of the missing british backpacker grace millane. a 26—year—old man is due to appear in court on monday charged with her murder. brazil's president elect, jair bolsonaro is defending himself against tax evasion allegations. authorities found more than 300,000 dollars had flowed in and out of an account of an aide to his son. mr bolsonaro says it was a mistake it hadn't been included in his tax return. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: 30 years on from the earthquake that devastated armenia, we hear a remarkable story of survival. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building, in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here, standing in more or less silent vigil, and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president of the philippines, has

gone on trial in manila. she's facing seven charges of tax evasion. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump says his chief of staff, john kelly, will be leaving his post by the end of the month. around 1,000 people are arrested in france, after a day of anti—government demonstrations by ‘yellow vest‘ protestors. six people — five of them teenagers — have died after a stampede at a nightclub in italy. dozens of others were injured in the club in corinaldo, near ancona, on italy‘s east coast. it‘s reported that panic broke out at a rap concert after a substance like pepper spray was used. james reynolds reports. the blue lantern night club was

packed for a rap concert. suddenly, at 1:00am, packed for a rap concert. suddenly, at1:00am, the airfilled packed for a rap concert. suddenly, at 1:00am, the airfilled with packed for a rap concert. suddenly, at 1:00am, the air filled with what may have been pepper spray. the crowds began the panic. translation: we with together. we starting seeing everyone rushing the emergency exists. at the beginningers we didn‘t understand why. then we started to cough and we thought there may have been a fire so we decided to leave. but at least one exit route was blocked. so hundreds of party goers were forced to pile onto this walkway. moments later, it collapsed. translation: i saw dead people. later, it collapsed. translation: isaw dead people. some people on the ground touched my ankle, saying please. itried people on the ground touched my ankle, saying please. i tried to save other people, but it was impossible. the dead included teenagers between the ages of 1a and

16. one of the youngest victims was killed along with her mother. the authorities suspect that over—crowding may have played a part in causing the crush. translation: if there's in causing the crush. translation: if there‘s room in your nightclub for 800 people and you let in 2,000, and six are crushed, then your place is in prison. local prosecutors are now beginning an investigation. amber rudd, the uk work and pensions secretary, 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. our political correspondent iain watson reports. you know what it‘s like in the run—up to christmas. you‘ll be told that great deals are available, but you‘ll be 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‘s the best option, but if it‘s defeated... if the house is not going to support no deal, it needs 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 a hard border in ireland. but there would be fewer 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 perhaps even eliminate any disruption at the border on the 30th of march next year. there‘s not much festive cheer at westminster. the prime minister and amber rudd say the brexit deal will bring certainty.

but some sceptical conservative mps believe pushing on with next week‘s vote would simply be a gift to the opposition. belgium‘s royal museum for central africa opens its doors to the public again on sunday after being shut for several years for renovations. it‘s home to many treasures — though there is controversy surrounding much of what it holds. rebecca hartmann reports. artwork, statues and stuffed animals will once again be available for visitors to see in the african museum. many of these treasures on display were plundered during belgian‘s ruthless colonial rule. swathes of central africa were run as a private royal estate by belgian king leopold ii. the museum began as a showcase of their treasures. but in the past five years, it has been revamped to make its exhibits more critical of belgian‘s brutal colonial past. translation: we were often called the last colonial museum in the world, so we wanted to change that.

we wanted to look at contemporary africa, but at the same time take a more critical look at the colonial past. it‘s estimated that around 90% of africa‘s material cultural heritage is in museums outside of the continent. so, for many, the renovation does not go far enough. translation: from our point of view, we don't care if the museum is renovated or not. if it reopens or not. what interests us is restitution, because there's no to colonisation without restitution. the debate over returning artefacts has raged for years. but it is only recently that the former imperial powers have start to address the requests. president macron urged that artefacts stolen by france should be returned after commissioning an independent report. in several european museums, such as the victoria and albert museum in london, have said that treasures like these, taken from ethiopia by the british, could be returned to africa

on a long—term loan. we‘re willing to talk about restitution within certain conditions. like, we need to establish the ownership, who owns it. clearly, the moral ownership is with the country. but does it mean that everything that was acquired in the colonial period is legal or not? that needs to be discussed further. whatever happens, after five years out of the public view, it is hoped that these artefacts will gain a wider audience. rebecca hartmann, bbc news. on 7th december 1988, almost 30 years ago to the day, a devastating earthquake hit armenia. 20,000 people were killed. the bbc‘s witness team spoke to one of the survivors, who was at school when it was struck by the earthquake.

i was 15. and i was at secondary school. we were in the first —— physics lesson when we heard a sound like thunder. the wall behind the teacher crumbled and began to collapse. when i came around, ifelt like i couldn‘t breathe. my mouth was full of dust. i pulled myself together as much as i could and started to look around. next to me was my classmate, garik. he was trying to move. and he was groaning. a concrete slab the fallen across this stomach and it was also trapping my foot. there was another one underneath us, and a third one

hanging above us. i think we were trapped for quite a long time. after a couple of hours, i heard my mum‘s voice. there was a small opening in the rubble. and i reached through it and said, "mum, i‘m here. this is my hand." she touched me and screamed, "please, save her, please save her, at least!" and at that point, i thought, "maybe no—one else was left alive in my family." that me and my mum were the only ones. and for the sake of my mum, i had to, whatever it took, stay alive. then i heard the voice of my grandfather. my grandfather was a mechanic. he was a very wise man. he realised that you

couldn‘t just move one very wise man. he realised that you couldn‘tjust move one slab on its own. if you moved one, the rest could fall on top of us. all the slabs had to be lifted at the same time. they brought in cranes. i heard cranes being attached to the concrete slabs. they managed to remove all the slabs at once. and they freed me and garik from the rubble. they put us in an ambulance and drove to a nearby hospital. but my mum stayed at the school. she saw my mum stayed at the school. she saw my brother‘s body being pulled out of the rubble. imagine she was so traumatised that she refused to come to the funeral of my brother, or even my father. but my grandfather

told my mum, "you have to accept it. you can‘t get lost in your grief. you can‘t get lost in your grief. you still have three children to bring up." my grandfather‘s words gave enormous strength to my mum. we found a courage inside ourselves to survive. and to carry on living. much more on this week‘s edition of witness and you can read more about all of the stories the bbc is covering on the bbc news website. and you can reach me on twitter. for now, from me and all of the team, thanks for watching. good morning. saturday was a windy,

showery day for many of us, and still plenty of showers to come, with the winds still remaining a feature. but that will slowly ease over the next few hours, and for the bulk of us, a dry one with sunny spells but noticeably cooler. we could potentially see gale—force gusts in places and a rash of showers to come as well. one of the reasons why they‘re going to ease away is due to a change of wind direction, that is push that little frontal system further south in the early hours of sunday morning. introducing some colder air behind it, the wind direction coming from a north—westerly. so we could have some early showers, they will ease away and it‘s an improving picture as we go through sunday. clearer skies and some sunny spells coming through. a few showers into north

wales and northern ireland, perhaps, during the afternoon. not as windy as the last few days, but you have to factor in the direction of the wind, because that will make it feel cooler out there. 6—7 degrees in the north, 11 down in the south—west. overnight sunday night, we keep the clear skies and the wind falling lighter still. temperatures likely to fall away, particularly in the northern half of country, temperatures falling below freezing in rural spots in scotland and northern england. so a cold start to the new working week, but dry bright one. some sunshine coming through, some isolated showers out to the west. this will be the trend as we move into the week. so the best of the dryer sunnier weather is likely to be sheltered eastern areas, but that‘s where the cooler weather is. 10-12 is that‘s where the cooler weather is. 10—12 is the high. this is going to be the theme. to the east, always

going to be dragging in the colder airfrom the near going to be dragging in the colder air from the near continent, going to be dragging in the colder airfrom the near continent, but going to be dragging in the colder air from the near continent, but the west wa nts air from the near continent, but the west wants to drag back the milder airand the west wants to drag back the milder air and the south—westerly winds. that could bring more unsettled weather with. it we see this again on tuesday, a southerly wind drives in the weather front bringing some showery outbreaks of rain. further east, the dryer the brighter, the colder the weather is likely to be. 10-12 colder the weather is likely to be. 10—12 into the south—west. it looks further ahead, we start to see that milder weather pushing its way in, as that bumps into the cold air, it could get a bit tricky with some wintry weather to higher ground. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says his chief of staff, john kelly, will leave his post at the end of the month. he told reporters he would decide on general kelly‘s replacement within the next few days. as chief of staff, he was widely seen as bringing discipline to the white house. around a thousand people have been arrested in france, after a day of anti—government demonstrations by the so—called ‘yellow vest‘ protestors.

there was heightened security as thousands of people gathered in towns and cities across the country for the fourth successive weekend of protests. china has warned canada of severe consequences if it doesn‘t release a top executive from the tech company, huawei. meng wanzhou was arrested in vancouver a week ago and faces extradition to the united states, accused of breaking american sanctions on iran. thousands of people have protested in australia‘s major cities against a controversial coal mine to be built in queensland