this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11: the eu rules out any re—negotitation — but theresa may leaves brussels insisting she can win further assurances to get her brexit deal through parliament if we are going to leave with a deal, this is it. but my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further clarification and discussion following the councils conclusions is in fact possible. but a tense exchange between mrs may and jean claude juncker as she accuses him of describing her latest efforts as nebulous. he denies it. i did not refer to her, but to the overall state of the debate in britain. and that's why i was saying that this was nebulous, foggy, in english. president trump names his budget director, mick mulvaney, as acting white house chief of staff. meanwhile, donald trump's former lawyer says the president is a liar and knew about hush money paid to women on his behalf. back on dry land at last — a british yachtswoman arrives

in chile after being rescued 2000 miles off shore. and at 11:30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewersjoe twyman and kate proctor — stay with us for that. good evening. and welcome to bbc news. after a bruising encounter in brussels, the prime minister says she still believes she can get extra assurances from eu leaders to help get her brexit withdrawal agreement through parliament. eu leaders have said no to any renegotiation but will offer what they call ‘further clarifications‘ on the irish backstop, the mechanism to avoid a hard border on the island of ireland if the uk and eu fail to agree a trade deal. theresa may was filmed having a heated discussion with the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, during which she accused him

of saying her latest proposals are nebulous, he blamed it on a misunderstanding. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg has the latest. a bad omen? a bitter morning — for more than one reason. the prime minister came to brussels hunting for concessions from the eu. does the eu like your plan, prime minister? but they didn't just say no, one of their top politicians said she didn't even know what she wanted. she was "nebulous". leading this private, careful politician to show real anger. "did you call me nebulous?" she seems to say to jean—claude juncker. he grasping her arm, the microphone may be off, but you can see exactly what went on. the dutch prime minister comes along to try to make peace. later, she had not forgotten the accusations. i was crystal clear about the assurances which we needed

on the backstop, having heard the views of mps in the house of commons. i reiterated that it is in the interests of the eu as well as the uk to get this over the line. eu leaders had said she would not get those concessions on the so—called backstop. she begged to differ. my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further clarification and discussion, following the council's conclusions, is, infact, possible. you looked very angry when you were speaking to jean—claude juncker earlier today. what did you say to him and did he admit that he had called you nebulous? and, secondly, the summit conclusions suggest the eu is not willing to budge, but you appear to be suggesting that they might. can you tell us more about what they have said to you about their willingness to move? because if parliament won't budge and the eu won't budge, is it time for you to budge? well, first of all, i had a robust discussion with jean—claude juncker. i think that's the sort

of discussion you're able to have when you've developed a working relationship and you work well together. and what came out of that was his clarity that actually he had been talking, when he used that particular phrase, he had been talking about a general level of debate. we can look at this issue of further clarification and that has been something i have been discussing with a number of eu leaders, so we will be working expeditiously over the coming days to seek those further assurances that i believe mps will need. you might wonder what exactly has been going on with with these negotiations. what are the misunderstanding in the relations between the eu and the prime minister? what has the president of european commission really been up to since that row? ta—ta—tum... we were not dancing! she thought that i did criticise her by saying yesterday

night that the british position was nebulous. i did not refer to her, but to the overall state of the debate in britain. and in the course of the morning after having checked what i said yesterday night, she was kissing me! we have treated prime minister may with much greater empathy and respect than some british mps for sure. we have to bring down the temperature and these attacks coming from westminster against europe, against the european commission will not be responded in the same way by the european commission or the european union. although i would like to do it! on and off the stage the message from the eu is clear — they promise they'll do a trade deal as quickly as possible,

so the backstop‘s never needed, but that cannot mean changing what's already been agreed. we will not renegotiate it and we do not want to re—open it, but theresa is of course a tough negotiator and there is a lot of understanding also for what uk wants. but i think we have to find a way to deal with each other, i think that the current deal is a good one for both sides. and hearing what's been said in brussels back in westminster, that just won't wash with mps who are demanding new legal guarantees. to coin a phrase, it was a bit nebulous! she hasn't provided any new guarantees at all about the withdrawal agreement, or specifically the backstop. so, she's been to the european council, she's expressed her concerns and they have

given her absolutely nothing. we know the answer to the question whether there's going to be changes and it's no. what we need is for the vote to be put next week for us to vote on it and then for parliament to take control of the process. the prime minister leaves here with a big problem — remember, she kept herjob in part this week, because she promised she could get more compromise from herfellow eu leaders. but she's left tonight with assurances that there could be more conversations and that simply might not be concrete enough to protect her in a hostile environment at home. expectations even yesterday were of more positive promises, but bumpy late—night talks diluted those. the cold truth is the lack of trust at westminster is felt 200 miles away. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, brussels. mps and business people alike spoke tonight spoke tonight at a rally run by the pro—brexit campaign group leave means leave. here's what the speakers had to say it was project fear that pushed me

over the line. the lie is! the deceit! the misinformation! —— lies. i'm not... it's happening again. project fear at mach two. we should be full ofjoy that there is only three and a half months to go. but we are not, ladies and gentlemen, we face the battle of our lives. against the tide of the establishment that are desperately trying to stop this from happening. it was according to david cameron to bea it was according to david cameron to be a once in a lifetime vote. now my view of a lifetime is, i hope, more than what a mole has, i think, view of a lifetime is, i hope, more than what a mole has, ithink, of three years. it is meant to be the lifetime of people. the university educated people of the land, most of

them, or many of them, have adopted them, or many of them, have adopted the idea of european federalism, and it's almost a quasi religion. and i wanted to show you what we are going to pay £39 billion for. £700,000 are page. and every page carries an obligation to balgonie to the eu. —— bow at the knee. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley was at the event, and interviewed nigel farage. is set to note that you think another referendum is more likely thanit another referendum is more likely than it had ever been —— you set tonight. i think the deal, she went back to brussels last night, to the summit, they were giving nothing. they were really being absolutely foul towards. and that was deliberate. they actually now want this still to be unacceptable to parliament because that gives us two

choices. 0ne, we leave on march 29 under current legislation on a no deal, a negotiated no—deal brexit. and i think what europe things is that parliament won't find a majority for that. the alternative is we go for a second referendum. you said tonight that you think another referendum is more likely thanit another referendum is more likely than it has ever been. why so?|j think than it has ever been. why so?” think the deal... she went back to brussels last night, teddy summit. i was there. they were giving nothing. they were really being absolutely foul towards. and that was deliberate. they now want this to be unacceptable deliberate. they now want this to be u na cce pta ble to deliberate. they now want this to be unacceptable to parliament because that thing gives us two choices. 0ne, we leave on march 29 under current legislation on a negotiated no—deal brexit. and i think what europe things is that parliament won't find a majority for that. the alternative is we go for a second

referendum will stop to me the european union has become a really deeply unpleasant place in the past two or three years, removing voting rights, rejecting budgets from countries. all of this reinforces, in many ways, why we did vote to leave. quite frankly, i am in many ways, why we did vote to leave. quite frankly, iam not in many ways, why we did vote to leave. quite frankly, i am not a theresa may fan, but when the british prime minister is treated abroad by unelected bureaucrats in that way, frankly it was a disgusting spectacle. rather than just ticking offjean—claude juncker this morning she should have got up, picked up and back, and walked out of the room. you talk about rudeness to be prime minister. 0ne of the room. you talk about rudeness to be prime minister. one of your collea g u es to be prime minister. one of your colleagues talk —— all there a deceitful quisling. we all have our interpretation. quisling is quite a strong word. i call to jupiter is that —— to visitors. a polite way of saying she is a lie. how she is still leading a party i have

absolutely no idea. what i do know is she is not leading the nation. we are becoming more divided on the subject than we were two and a half yea rs subject than we were two and a half years ago. and that is why i think second referendum gets closer. i hate the thought of it. but they tell you what, i will spend every minute getting ready for it. is neither farage preparing a new party to fight alongside that? —— nigel farage? for now it is brexit we are talking about, not new political parties. thank you for talking to us. parties. thank you for talking to us. be prime minister, we have said, has said she will never hold another referendum. the labour party so far has been reluctant to embrace that position, but there are some who now think it is a likelihood. nick eardley speaking to nigel farage. donald trump's former personal lawyer claims the president is a liar and ordered him to pay off two women during the 2016 presidential election, even though mr trump knew it was wrong. in an interview with abc news, michael cohen, who's facing three

years in prison, said mr trump ordered the payments because he feared the women's allegations he had affairs with them would damage his presidential campaign. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has more. an alleged one night stand in 2006 and then a payment to buy stormy daniels' silence ten years later — just before the 2016 elections. they're still causing donald trump and those around him endless legal nightmares. the president's long time lawyer and mr fixit, michael cohen, was this week sentenced to three years in prison. and he's now given an interview refuting donald trump's claims that he made the payments to her without the president knowing about it. first of all, nothing in the trump organisation was ever done unless it was run through mr trump. he directed me, as i said, and i said as well in the plea, he directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in these matters. the payment came at a delicate time in the presidential campaign... ..a tape had emerged

of donald trump boasting about sexual assaulting women. in the interview today, cohen said the payment was made because the president wanted to avoid fresh scandal weeks before the election. he was trying to hide what you were doing, correct? correct. and he knew it was wrong? of course. and he was doing that to help his election? you have to remember at what point in time that this matter came about, two weeks or so before the election, post the billy bush comments, so, yes, he was very concerned about how this would affect the election. but donald trump says cohen is a proven liar and his only regret is ever employing him. i never directed him to do anything wrong. whatever he did, he did on his own. he's a lawyer. a lawyer who represents a client is supposed to do the right thing. that's why you pay them a lot

of money, et cetera, et cetera. donald trump's account of what happened has changed consistently. first of all, denying that he knew anything at all about a payment to stormy daniels. then admitting he did. then saying it had nothing to do with campaign finance, it was a personal matter. and then saying, "well, yes, campaignfinances, but that's not against the law." and finally his lawyer saying, "nobody got killed, no one was robbed, this is not a big crime." in other words, it didn't really matter what donald trump had done. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. donald trump has announced his budget chief mick mulvaney will take over as temporary white house chief of staff. it comes after newjersey governor chris christie withdrew his name from consideration for the post. mulvaney will replace john kelly who steps down in early january. let's get more on this from our north america correspondent, david willis. why is the poster vacant? it is

vacant, martine, becausejohn and kelly is standing down at the end of the year, allegedly after he and donald trump fell out cash post. it got to the point apparently where they weren't speaking to each other —— post. clearly that working relationship was untenable. since the news broke ofjohn kelly's imminent departure, donald trump has been casting around and this is normally one of the most prestigious, most coveted jobs in government, that of white house chief of staff but surprisingly there have been very few takers. neck hairs, mike pence's vice president... he didn't want to do it for the full two years so that when the ways. governor chris christie, the ways. governor chris christie, the former newjersey governor was also in discussion with the white house, we're told. that went away. also representative mark meadows of north carolina, also tapped, but

that has come to nothing. now on an interim basis we have mick mulvaney, a man who currently serves a very senior position in the trump administration, director of the white house office of management, stepping up to what some regard as a somewhat poisoned chalice in this administration on an interim basis. yes, it might explain why they're not exactly rushing for the job, david. 0f not exactly rushing for the job, david. of course, president trump will be looking ahead towards his next potential term in office, and he'll want help with preparing for that, won't he? he will. and in mick mulvaney, he has somebody who has experience on capitol hill and presumably will be among his first tasks will be negotiating with the new democrat run house of representatives, the lower house, over funding for donald

trump's pet project, the border wall. it's been a sticking point. it could yet be the sticking point that closes down the government in the united states at the end of next week. mick mulvaney has many big tasks on his hands, but he comes into this administration, martine, ata time into this administration, martine, at a time of utter turmoil if you like. not only is there the special counsel robert mueller investigation ongoing, perhaps about to report any time soon, we're led to believe. there are also enquiries into how money for the trump inauguration was spent, and so on and so forth. david, good to speak to you. thank you very much. david willis, our north america correspondent. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may insists she's confident she can still steer her brexit deal through parliament despite leaving the eu summit in brussels without the assurances she needs. president trump names his budget director mick mulvaney as acting white house chief of staff. president trump's former lawyer says the president knew

it was wrong to order the illegal payments of hush money to two women who alleged affairs with him. a fourth person has died as a result of injuries sustained in a gun attack in the french city of strasbourg on tuesday. visiting the city tonight, the french president emmanuel macron laid a white rose in the victims' memory and paid tribute to the french security forces. the gunman, cherif chekatt, was shot dead last night after he opened fire on police officers. a baby has died after he was attacked by two dogs at his family's home in cambridgeshire. reuben mcnulty, who was five weeks old, was taken to hospital after the attack in yaxley last month but has died of his injuries. jon donnison reports. reuben mcnulty was only born last month. still just tiny and vulnerable. on 18th of november, the police were called to this flat

on a quiet suburban urban estate in yaxley near peterborough. officers say reuben had been attacked by two staffordshire bull terriers. he was treated for head injuries at adambrooks hospital in cambridge, but died yesterday. reuben mcnulty was just two weeks old when he was attacked by the two dogs in the upstairs flat behind me. neighbours have described the dogs as being docile. 0ne neighbour said it was a freak accident. police say a 31—year—old man and a 28—year—old woman who were arrested on suspicion of child neglect have been released under investigation. locals say that reuben's parents, daniel mcnulty and amy litchfield, are the two people questioned and released by police. officers say the death is not being treated as suspicious and the two dogs have been destroyed. jon donnison, bbc news, yaxley. a 16—year—old boy has been convicted of raping and murdering a 14—year—old girl in a wolverhampton park. viktorija sokolova had arranged

to meet the boy in the city's west park last april. he can't be named because of his age, but faces a mandatory life sentence. a silent walk has been taking place in west london tonight to mark 18 months since the grenfell tower fire which killed 72 people injune last year. the first part of the grenfell inquiry, which looked at failures before and during the fire itself, ended this week. but the inquiry‘s chairman has said the second phase, which will look at the wider causes of the fire, is unlikely to begin before the end of next year. special correspondent lucy manning has been talking to two survivors about how they feel about the inquiry so far. the state palpably failed in its primary duty to protect its citizens. we should have all been dead. if they were evacuated, the people's lives could be saved. sid ali altmani and mahad egal survived grenfell with theirfamilies.

both provided evidence to the inquiry. i was completely lost. the only solution i have to take is to get up. after nearly 100 days of evidence, they wait on some answers. they need to deliver. he needs to make sure to deliver the criminals, the ones that are responsible for killing people. i feel that a lot has been unearthed and i hope to see that the corporates are under more scrutiny. the inquiry has heard a litany of safety failures. harrowing 999 calls. don't give up. you can't give up. don't give up. where's the fire brigade? jesus! they should be there. officials who didn't immediately send building plans and a list of residents to firefighters. what were you actually doing, during that period? standing there. responding to phone calls.

speaking to people on the phone. not very much. firemen who cried for those they couldn't save. to the family of the people in flat 175... i was looking for another girl. i didn't know there was anyone in there. and a fire chief who wouldn't accept they should have responded differently. i wouldn't change anything we did on the night. i think without exception, my firefighters and my officers and my control staff performed in a fantastic way. you could have changed a lot of things in that night. it could happen. she wouldn't change also the 72 people who died. she could've put her statement in a different way. perhaps they could have improvised a plan b for evacuation. the inquiry chairman will deliver an interim report next year, but the second part of this inquiry, looking at wider issues, is set to be delayed. personally speaking, i think that there's more people that are put at risk, because phase two has been

delayed and the conclusion to the inquiry's not being reached. so it could be more than three years after the fire when this inquiry finally ends. lucy manning, bbc news. a british yachtswoman whose boat capsized in a storm in the south pacific 2,000 miles offshore has finally set foot on dry land in chile. it's a week since susie goodall was rescued by a chinese cargo ship while competing in the solo golden globe round—the—world race. this evening she said she would happily attempt the race again. duncan kennedy has more. this is what relief looks like. when you step ashore after surviving the drama, the mid—ocean crisis. a hug from mum, brigitte and brother tim, means susie goodall‘s ordeal is finally over. then it was on to a medical check—up

before she gave her first insight to the trauma she faced 2,000 miles from land. if you ask me if i'd do this again, now knowing what it's like, i would say yes in a heartbeat. but as i said to the chilean navy captain who brought me ashore from tian fu, i created so much work for everyone involved in the rescue, to which he responded, of course you must do it again. you may ask why. some people just live for adventure, it's human nature and for me, the sea is where my adventure lies. it was the wild seas of the southern ocean with its seven metre waves that triggered the emergency last week. in sailing terms, susie's yacht pitch polled, meaning it somersaulted forward, end over end, smashing the mast and leaving her stranded for more than two days.

it took a crane from a passing freight ship to hoist her out of danger. susie, whose 29, was the youngest competitor in this golden globe race before she hit the storm. but she trained here at the uk's sailing academy on the isle of wight. this afternoon, we showed her friends the moment she made it back to shore in chile. oh my god. gives you goose bumps. really pleased for susie, especially her family. she's been through a real ordeal and experience and adventure over the last few weeks. so pleased she's made it back safely. susie goodall is the third sailor to be rescued in this year's race, but now she's safe and heading home for christmas. duncan kennedy, bbc news. aspiring young actors are being given a hand to get their show on the road by downtown abbey actor hugh

bonneville. hugh is working with the national youth theatre to launch free workshops and a fund to help with the cost of attending auditions. the scheme will visit 30 schools and youth centres in the uk which have lost drama provision, including southampton. emily ford reports. like a sense of relief and. i feel like a different person when i'm on stage, i'm all me stop you can release yourself, any attention you've got an emotion you haven't been able to exert, just being able to perform being a different character. i'm not a shy person, i embarrass myself all the time but being able to do it with a reason is nice. these young actors at ageing college in southampton are being given the chance to chase their dreams. today hollywood actor hugh bonneville, you might recognise from the likes of paddington and downton abbey, is giving them a masterclass. there's a genuine crisis in the arts in education at the moment. he's become concerned about the cuts in funding in arts in schools and theatres. you

see being deluded in a school is terrifying actually otherwise we reduce our artistic horizons. hugh has teamed up with the national youth theatre to launch the auditions access fund, which will allow the nyt to travel to those wanting to audition. there's always been something in my head thinking i would never, ever be able to make it because there's not many more people like me who made it. that inspires me more at the same time. eddie redmayne was in a class with prince william, but people like james mcilroy that worked at a bakery to put himself through drama academy, that's the sort of passion and determination i strive to have. the fund will make it easier for aspiring actors between 1a and 25 to fulfil their potential. these young students i could see today have that passion and that drives, a lot of them have got a lot of talent and sometimes they don't have the opportunity. the national youth theatre will

start travelling around the uk, visiting areas including southampton, for auditions next year. when you work in a working class family without a lot of kids it's difficult to find the finances. my mum has given me a lot in my life, to be able to return the favour at some point, you know?” will waive my tiny flag for as long asi will waive my tiny flag for as long as i can because i believe in the arts as part of our human condition. emily ford, bbc south today. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers joe twyman, the director of polling organisation deltapoll, and political correspondent from the london evening standard, kate proctor. that's coming up just after the headlines at 11:30pm. now it's time for the weather. after several days of quiet weather, the weather just after several days of quiet weather, the weatherjust in time for the weekend turning much more active, potentially very hazardous. met 0ffice amber warnings in force for ice and snow. in terms of ayes, just about the worst kind, freezing rain affecting parts of the uk, particularly the midlands, northern england and scotland and the result

of that will be widespread ice and very dangerous conditions. we are bringing in an area of low pressure from the atlantic into what as we know it is plenty of cold air across the uk. that's a recipe for rain, sleet, snow and ice. freezing rain, may have heard about it, snow. cauldron ofjust near the clouds for that to fall out of them, then into a warm area of the air above us, that melts into rain but once it meets a layer of cold air close to the surface, which is what we will have on saturday, we end up with that rain, freezing in contact with the frozen services. that is freezing rain. you get a glazed highs, a sheet ice, very dangerous conditions and it can happen so very quickly. this is what we're expecting during saturday. northern ireland, wales, south—west england,