get a bit tricky with some wintery weather to higher ground. or you're watching bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. 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. donald trump is searching for a new chief of staff after announcing that john kelly will leave the white house at the end of the year. the retired marine corps general was first homeland security secretary before stepping up to the chief of staff job last year. the president says a replacement will be announced sometime over the weekend.

russell trott reports. if you want to get things done and imposed discipline then who better to fill the role of the president's chief of staff and a retired marine corps general. john kelly fitted the bill but telling the president things he may not want to hear resulted in a difficult relationship. he had to deny reports that he privately called the president and idiot. white house faces a fresh challenge in the new year when the democrats take control of the house of representatives. selling new approach is needed to get things done. sirjohn kelly will be leaving at the end of the year andi be leaving at the end of the year and i appreciate his service very much. trump's white house has had the highest turnover of senior level of staff of the past five president according to one washington think tank. in the latest round he

announced his nominations bring you attorney general and new ambassador to the united nations. the revolving door will keep turning. 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. scientists and delegates at a un climate conference in poland have expressed alarm, after it failed to incorporate a key and wide—ranging scientific report which outlines how to limit the affects of climate change. the ipcc report — on the impact of a 1.5 degree temperature rise — was released in october. the document said the world was completely off track in limiting temperature rises. but now the us, russia and saudi arabia have objected to the conference ‘welcoming' the report. lets get more on this. we speak to

michael from the world resources institute. thank you for your time. what are the objections this country have have had to adopting the report because most people would have thought that the report was already except did. the wide -- wider public does accept the report, it is one of the most definitive on the threat of climate change and it establishes that the climate impact is already here and the window was quickly closing. within the negotiations, countries in the midst of the negotiation so it is not over yet. ministers are coming next week and beissue ministers are coming next week and be issue will continue to push forward but the issue is will countries grasp the urgency of action and will they come together to make sure they make the progress needed to battle climate change. when we look at some of the findings in the report able was asking for wide ranging changes, even on a personal level. is it any surprise

now that some countries have come out and being a little more concerned about accepting the findings? the context that we need to keep in mind with climate change is that it impacts our gross. we see that around the world with flooding and wildfire and extreme heat. this will take a toll on everyone and on all countries to various degrees. for emerging in smaller countries and island nations that these are existential threats but even for large companies —— countries there are opportunities we are seeing. economic opportunity through things like electric vehicles ticks are country should move quickly to shift to low carbon future in the report is again very clear that the impact is again very clear that the impact is getting worse, it will cost more and the window for action is closing. as the summit goes on you say there may be a chance that will go on to adopt the report but if it fails to do that, as that mean that the world is in some way failed to

make any kind of change at this point? this was only one piece of a large negotiation that is going on right now and the details, a lot is quite technical. bettering their rules in place, to have countries countries show that they will have more ambition in terms of reducing emissions quickly. canada signalled it will do so and a few others such as the nam and jamaica have signalled their ambition. when it comes to the support, it is an important report and it should be pa rt important report and it should be part of the package that is moving forward. again, it is up to world leaders and negotiators to take it seriously and to show that they are committed to tackling climate change. that is the only thing that will slow climate change in the future and that is what we need to transition to a low carbon economy thatis transition to a low carbon economy that is good for everyone. thank you very much for talking to us. police in new zealand are preparing to charge

a 26—year—old man with the murder of the british backpacker, grace millane. police are preparing to find the body. brazil's president—elect is defending himself against tax evasion allegations. authorities found more than three hundred thousand dollars had flowed in and out of an account of an aide to his son. mr bolsonaro says it was a mistake that it wasn't included in his tax return. russia's most famous human rights acitivst has died. lyudmila alexeyeva was ninety—one. she spoke out against the soviet regime forjailing writers, and organised aid to families of political prisoners. after a period in exile she returned to russia to resume her activism. we are covering all the top stories including the latest on climate talks and the departure ofjohn

kelly from the white house on our website. theresa may has warned that britain would "be in uncharted waters", if her deal with brussels is voted down on tuesday. in an interview with the mail on sunday, mrs may has suggested that defeat could lead to a labour government. her 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. 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. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. lets have more on the murder of the

british back packer. police in new zealand are preparing to charge a 26—year—old man with the murder of the british backpacker, grace millane. she was last seen in auckland a week ago. police say there's evidence that she's dead, but her body has yet to be found. simonjones reports. described by her family as lovely, outgoing, fun—loving. tonight, in grace millane's hometown in essex, people came together. ...to pray for the repose of the soul of grace millane. shock that her disappearance is being treated as murder. this 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 will affect the parish really very badly. despite an extensive search, police have now reached this conclusion. the evidence we have gathered to this point in the inquiry has

established that this is a homicide. grace's family have been advised of this development and they are devastated. police say a 26—year—old man will be charged 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 say had been with her during the evening. detectives have released pictures ofjewellery 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 the 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 infinding 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. simonjones, bbc news, wickford. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says his chief of staff, john kelly, will be leaving his post by the end of the month. 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 following an extradition request from the united states. authorities there have accused her of fraud in connection will alleged breaking of american sanctions on iran. china‘s foreign ministry has summond canada‘s ambassador, calling the arrest ‘extremely nasty‘. joining me now is professor paul evans from the institute of asian research at the university of british columbia in vancouver. he has written widely on relations between canada and china. thank you very much for your time.

firstly, how much can china really carry out any sort of threat to punish canada if it does not release meng wa nzhou 7 punish canada if it does not release meng wanzhou? the pressure could come in severalforms meng wanzhou? the pressure could come in several forms and i think it is likely that there will be not a tit—for—tat retaliation in any way but some limitations on incoming chinese investment into the country and also reduction of research and development funds that huawei and other chinese companies are putting here. they are pushing... this is something that puts canada in the middle of a crossfire between the united states and china. to some extent, china understands the pressures but also the rules that

control extradition proceedings between the us and china. and finally this is a very difficult issue for huawei because canada is one of the country is still considering major huawei investment in our five gee system. so there is a natural reaction to this at the same time the calculation may be to wait and see how the hearings move and then the extradition hearings that will start sometime shortly thereafter. you talk about crossfire between china and the united states. i want to hear of canada is a victim in all of this that really this is about china and the united states. of this that really this is about china and the united stateslj of this that really this is about china and the united states. i don't think this is a situation that ottawa wants to be in the middle of. we have not yet determined exactly

how far we want to join the united states in its decoupling from particular sectors in china. ottawa would have preferred this not to have happened but it was locked in to place by our security agencies in cooperation with americans. and under the due process of law in canada, our political people did not get involved. i think it is fair to say that no—one in ottawa wished this kind of controversy to take place right now on canadian soil. this kind of controversy to take place right now on canadian soilm terms of china‘s internal politics, it is there an element of china trying to save face? it will, in this particular case because i think the theory is that this could be a precedent for other kinds of arrests and extradition proceedings, not

just in canada that in several other countries as the trump administration ramps up its conflict and trade war. underneath that it is and trade war. underneath that it is a technology war. this opens up the possibility of many kinds of activities like this. and that will escalate things quite seriously on the us china front and catch a number of other countries like canada in the crossfire of what is a very u nfortu nate canada in the crossfire of what is a very unfortunate and fast deteriorating situation. professor paul evans, thank you very much for your assessment on all things huawei. lets return now to our earlier story. let us return to the anti—government protests in france. the trouble has been small as a gale than before. 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. belgium‘s royal museum for central africa opens its doors to the public again on sunday after being shut for several years of renovation. 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 physics lesson when we heard the sound like thunder. the wall behind the teacher crumbled and began to collapse. when i came around, ifelt that 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 a concrete slab had 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‘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 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 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. let‘s check on all the weather prospects now with louise lear. the bulk of us, it will be dry.

sunny spells and noticeably cooler. the strongest of the wins over the next few hours will start to ease but we could potentially see gale force gusts in places and a rash of showers to come as well. one of the reasons why they are going to ease away is due to a change of wind direction is starting to push down from a northerly and that‘s going to push that little frontal system further south. the strongest of the winds will slowly start to ease, but we could still potentially see gale—force gusts in places and a rash of showers to come. one of the reasons they‘re going to ease away is a change so we could have some early showers, they will ease away and it‘s an improving picture. a few showers into north wales and northern ireland

during the afternoon, maybe one or two for the western isles, 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 to 7 degrees in the north, 11 down in the south—west. overnight sunday night, we keep the clear skies and the winds falling lighter still. the temperatures are likely to fall away. scotland and northern england, temperatures falling below freezing in rural spots, and a frost first thing. a chilly start across the country. a cold start to the new working week, but a dry bright one, some sunshine coming through, a few isolated showers out to the west. this will be the trend as we move into the week. the best of the drier sunnier weather is likely to be sheltered eastern areas, but that‘s where the coolest of the weather will be. 4—6 degrees, 10—12 the high further west. to the east, always dragging in the colder air from the near continent, but the west wants to drag back to milder air

and the south—westerly winds, and that could also bring more unsettled weather with it. we see this again on tuesday, a southerly wind drives in the weather front, and further east, the drier the brighter but the colder the weather is likely to be. and it does look as though further ahead, we start to see that milder weather pushing its way in, as the bumps into the cold air, it could get a bit tricky with some wintery 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.

there‘s dismay at the un climate talks after the us, russia, saudi arabia and kuwait, objected to a major scientific report on global warming. the report recommends that carbon emissions be halved over the next twelve years to keep the global rise in temperatures under 1.5 degrees celsius. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the show, we head to america to rejoin the ellis family to see how a trip to a special—needs theme park with their autistic twins went.