3500 troops are put on standby to help maintain essential services in the event of a no—deal brexit next year. the cabinet activates plans to pump £2 billion into government departments to help them prepare in case the uk leaves the eu without a deal. letters are being sent to more than 100,000 businesses, warning them to make contingency plans. too late, say many. when are we likely to find out that the deal is on the table? i need to know tomorrow. i can't find out on the 28th of march that there's going to be a deal on the 29th of march — it's too late. also on the programme tonight: the manchester united manager, jose mourinho, is sacked after the club's worst ever start to a premier league season. the players can't be blameless in all of this, because they have to still go out, whether they like the manager or not. and clearly a lot of them didn't. president trump agrees to shut down his family charity

— the trump foundation — amid accusations of persistent illegal conduct. breaking new ground — a special report from greenland, as china turns its sights on the tiny danish territory. rising up from the desert in qatar, the stadium where four years today the football world cup final will be played. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, is this former manchester united hero, 0le gunner solksjaer, the man to take caretaker charge of the club afterjose mourinho‘s sacking? good evening. the cabinet has agreed to activate plans for a no—deal brexit. £2 billion is being given to government departments, including those dealing with trade, borders and security, to help them prepare for the united kingdom leaving the eu without a deal.

3,500 troops will be put on standby to help maintain essential services if needed. the move comes amid continuing uncertainty over the fate of theresa may's proposed exit deal. but some have accused the government of scare tactics to encourage more mps to back the prime minister's deal in a vote next month. here's our deputy political editor, jon pienaar. they had no choice — the country had to prepare for brexit with no deal if it came to it. some quite like the idea, though the eurosceptics are backing mrs may's brexit compromise — for now. are people, in a word, right to be afraid of no deal? no deal would not be optimal for our economy. we should work to get the prime minister's deal over the line. brexiteer ministers can enjoy their christmas. but there'll be trouble in the new year — others will fight a no—deal brexit if they have to. amber rudd told the cabinet buying a seat belt

doesn't mean you should crash the car. there's no wish inside number ten to leave with no deal. the government's plan — keep a lookout for what might go wrong and hope for the best. the government's priority is to secure a deal, that hasn't changed, but alongside that, as part of our continuation of preparing for no—deal, a responsible government needs to ensure that we are ready for that default option, which we don't want to happen, but we're ready in the event that it did happen. but time is running out fast before brexit day next march, so £2 billion was allocated for customs, security, finding trade deals. letters were going out to companies, tens of thousands, telling firms, "activate your no—deal plans." we even heard 3,500 troops would be ready to step in if the country needs them. what we are doing is putting contingency plans in place, and what we will do is have 3500 service personnel held at readiness, including regulars and reserves, in order to support any government department on

any contingencies they may need. inside parliament, labour was holding off from forcing a vote of confidence in the government it would likely lose, and instead attacking today's no—deal planning. it's about trying to blackmail the country, trying to say that the choice is between theresa may's botched deal and a disastrous no—deal, and that's why they've kept on trying to kick the can down the road, so they can ratchet up the pressure on the public, really. most here believe theresa may's plan is doomed to defeat. some in her own cabinet want other ideas, like a brexit that stays close to the eu, say, or a referendum, or no—deal, put to mps after that happens. so, i'm told, theresa may wants to flush out those who are quietly waiting for her plan to fail. well—placed sources say she wants a moment of reckoning for brexit, with all the rival ideas put to mps and voted on at the same time, when her plan comes back to the house of commons injanuary. if everything is rejected — and everything may be rejected —

she mightjust try to fight on for her brexit compromise. the prime minister bought time till after christmas when she postponed the big vote on brexit, but soon the decorations will be down and it'll be time to face the verdict of mps. john pienaar, bbc news. so letters are going to be sent to 140,000 companies across the uk advising them about preparations for a no—deal brexit. but some businesses say a lack of clarity from the government on leaving the european union has meant they've already had to start making such contingency plans. here's our business editor, simonjack. 0n the shop floor of british business, the no—deal warning lights have been flashing for months. this tool maker in swindon, whose customers are mainly in the eu, couldn't wait for politicians and has already set up a branch in germany. it's hard to believe, in business, how messy it is in politics. there's absolutely zero certainty in westminster,

so when there's zero certainty there, you're going to find that companies like wilson tool are creating their own certainty. you know, they'rejust assuming the absolute worst and putting the plans in place for that. and i suspect some of those plans will be incredibly hard for companies to roll back on. they're not the only ones trying to take control of their own destiny, albeit reluctantly. a0 miles down the m4 in bristol, this sports clothing exporter has opened an office in romania and is signing the paperwork on a german warehouse. at this late stage, that's whether there's a deal or no deal. when are we likely to find out that there's a deal on the table? i need to know tomorrow. i can't find out on the 28th of march that there's going to be a deal on the 29th of march — i need to act now. setting up offices, setting up warehouses, moving staff, employing staff, these things take months. this is the last chance. there is not going to be another chance. once we move, we've moved, we won't be coming back. the ramping up of government planning is coming a little late

for some businesses. with just over 100 days to go, many — as we've seen — are taking matters into their own hands. but there are thousands of businesses, particularly smaller ones, who've done nothing, and it is those the government is urging to prepare. but what can the government do now for them? no—deal advice and customs information packs are on their way to businesses, while ministers agreed today it was time for firms to activate contingency plans where appropriate. emma jones runs a support group for small companies and chairs one of the prime minister's business councils. in the situation of no—deal brexit, small businesses will be desperately looking around and wondering what to do. they will be thinking about where their european sales are coming from, what happens to the people they've hired, what about the technology implications, shipping, logistics et cetera. what they will be looking for and what would be excellent to introduce now is a brexit advice service to give those businesses the navigation and support they need to get through this situation. clearly, not all businesses

are anti—brexit, but most would like a deal, and all would like to know what to prepare for. the message today is prepare for no deal. it's the outcome that business groups fear most, and it's expected they'll mount a coordinated campaign to prevent it. simon jack, bbc news. let's talk to our europe editor, katya adler, in brussels. survey cabinet has activated its no—deal plans today, what about in brussels, are they doing the same? yes, in brussels tomorrow they will be publishing their latest no—deal contingency plans, they know most mps want to avoid a no—deal brexit, but unless mps can unite around a plan, brussels is very aware that no—deal remains a real possibility. you will have heard about this idea ofa you will have heard about this idea of a managed no—deal brexit, so watch out tomorrow for plans by the

european commission to maintain the status quo in certain key areas, in case of a no—deal brexit, so transport, for example, to make sure that planes can take off and land between the eu and the uk, also the movement of finance, but brussels will be keen to point out this is not in the uk's favour, it is to protect eu member states from the more catastrophic consequences of the uk crashing out of the eu. these deals would be strictly time—limited toa deals would be strictly time—limited to a few months and would be ended without any consultation with the united kingdom. that is one possibility, but others are pushing for another referendum, how does the eu view that prospect? really interesting, because there is a perception amongst many in the uk that looking at the political turmoil, eu leaders are rubbing their hands with glee and think that uk is about to change its mind. actually, it is not quite like that,

although the eu did not want the uk to leave, and it makes economic sense for the eu to have the uk state, and i think many members of the german government would put it in their santa wish list for a reversal of brexit, that is not the case when it comes to emmanuel macron of france. he has a federalist vision of the eu, he already has problems with eurosceptic poland and hungary, and the italian government. the idea of a very reluctant uk coming back into the fold, remaining divided, a new british prime minister add any point beginning to again try to leave the eu, that is a headache that president macron would want to avoid. spain too sees positives brexit, in especially when it comes to gibraltar. katya adler in brussels, thank you. manchester united has sacked its manager, jose mourinho, after the club's worst ever start to a premier league season. mourinho has been at old trafford for just over two years. he's been criticised over his signings and the team's style of play. united say they will appoint a caretaker manager for the rest of the season. here's our sports editor, dan roan.

driven out — jose mourinho leaving town this afternoon, just hours after learning he had been sacked as manchester united manager, the end of a turbulent reign. his fate had been sealed 48 hours earlier. united's woeful defeat to archrivals liverpool marked a new low, this their worst start to a league season for some 28 years. and with the club's hierarchy watching on, patience had run out. you can'tjust pin the blame on one person. yes, the manager takes the rap, and he has lost his job for that, because ultimately he's the one that has to get the best out of the players, and quite clearly, that has not been the case. but when you go back to the summer, he wanted to be backed, he wanted to bring other players into the football club, and for whatever reason, he wasn't. with a salary of around £18 million a year, mourinho spent £400 million on 11 players during his two and a half

years in charge. but despite such investment, the club finds itself 19 points behind the league leaders. he's not inspired the team, and once you start criticising players in public, then... it starts to go pear shaped. it's just dire, isn't? there's no attacking, no desire. he looks as miserable as sin. so where did it all go wrong? despite winning two trophies in his first season, mourinho never adhered to the club's attacking traditions, and over the summer tensions rose. he was unhappy at a lack of tra nsfers and clashed with star players, especially record signing paul pogba. and after a poor start to the season, the strain began to show. i won more premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. three for me and two for them. respect, respect, respect! the glory years of the sir alex ferguson era feel a long time ago now, as united begin the search for a fourth manager in five years after the previous failures

of david moyes and louis van gaal. it's a massive decision for the club at the moment, because obviously they've had three efforts now at pulling managers in, and not one has succeeded, really, so it's a difficult situation, but i think there are some top class players there, and i think any manager worth his salt would be rubbing his hands together at the thought they might get the job. today, the favourite to take over next summer was giving little away. it's not my business what happens in another club. only i want to send my best wishes to jose. mourinho was football's special one, enjoying success at the world's biggest clubs. but with him, things often turned sour, and having been sacked by both chelsea and now united, the sense is the game may have moved on without him. well, i think the fact that mourinho lived in a manchester hotel for the

last two and a half years suggest it was never likely to be a long—term arrangement, and in recent weeks it seemed increasingly inevitable that he would be leaving the club. it might well be that we have seen the last of him in english football, and if that is the case, some will miss him, he has been box office after all, but he has been increasingly toxic, and one senses that even though it has cost about £15 million in compensation, in terms of a payoff, united were relieved to see the back of him. having said that, there will now be increasing scrutiny on the leadership, the regime at old trafford, not least the role of ed woodward, under whose leadership the club has been a commercial success, but there have been footballing decisions that have gone badly wrong. former player 0le gunnar solskjaer looks likely to come in intemperate charge, but a time when man city and liverpool are going from strength to strength, the feeling that united have been going backwards for some considerable time now. dan roan, oursports backwards for some considerable time now. dan roan, our sports editor, thank you.

a couple from 0xfordshire who gave their child the middle name adolf in admiration of hitler have been jailed for belonging to a banned far—right group. adam thomas and claudia patatas were given prison terms of six and a half and five years. they were among six members of the neo—nazi group national action to be sentenced. president trump has reached a deal with new york prosecutors to shut down his family charity, the trump foundation, after they accused the foundation of having a "shocking pattern of illegality" and said mr trump had used it as a personal chequebook for his business and political interests. but a lawyer for the trump foundation defended it, saying they'd been trying to distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since his victory in the presidential election. jon sopel has the latest from washington. election night 2016, and donald trump is soaking up the applause, surrounded by his children. but they're also part of the business, and also trustees of his charity, the donald] trump foundation. but far from this being a vehicle for giving and philanthropy, the new york attorney general has

described in the most scathing terms how the trumps were using this for their own purposes. there was: trump's attorney said those accusations were inaccurate and politicised. and here in washington, the president's former national security adviser michael flynn has been appearing in court over conversations he had with the russian ambassador at around the time of the election. he lied to the fbi about it. the sentencing should have been routine. it was anything but. michael flynn arrived in court this morning, hoping he would be given a non—custodial sentence. but the judge very quickly made clear that he took flynn's offences far more seriously. thejudge also mused

whether flynn should have been charged with treason. in light of this, his lawyers argued for sentencing to be delayed. the threat of incarceration has not gone away. ironic, really, as the general was the man during the election who led the chants of "lock her up" about donald trump's rival, hillary clinton. that's right, lock her up! but despite lying to the fbi and the vice—president and pleading guilty, the president is standing by him, tweeting this morning: a theme picked up in the briefing, with the white house accusing the fbi of behaving improperly over this. the fbi broke standard protocol in the way that they came in and ambushed general flynn, and in the way they questioned him and in the way that they encouraged

him not to have white house counsel's office present. lock him up! as michael flynn left court to some chants of "lock him up", the white house was doing nothing to dispel the impression that in this case, the president was more on the side of the man who had broken the law than the people who were charged with enforcing it. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. a0 years ago today, china set out on the path of opening up its economy. nowadays, the country continues to look for new opportunities to expand and invest overseas, and that includes the arctic region. greenland, a danish territory to the east of canada, is seen as a key staging post on a trading route linking china to europe and north america. but concerns have been raised about beijing getting a foothold in this strategically important region. from greenland, our world affairs editor, john simpson, reports. the chinese are coming. they're getting icebreakers ready to open new polar trade routes.

there are minerals to be extracted, and huge scope for development. china's demanding a say in the whole future of the arctic, though it insists that its interest is entirely peaceful. greenland's the ideal place to start. it's empty, a bit neglected, and it's got a chip on its shoulder where its distant colonial masters, the danes, are concerned. now, though, everything is about to change. this tiny airport is going to disappear. so are two others like it in greenland. the company in charge of turning all three into big international airports is fired up about it. we're doing these three airports, and each of them are the biggest construction project ever done in greenland to this date, so it's huge for us here. and it's going to be very important

for the infrastructure in greenland in the future. china is among those bidding for the contract. you've really got to be here to get any idea of how enormous greenland is. it's the 12th largest country on earth, and yet the population is tiny. it's less than 60,000, the size of a small town in western europe. greenland is mineral—rich and cash—poor, and there are an awful lot of people here who would be only too glad if the chinese moved in in large numbers. it gets dark by three o'clock, but in nuuk, the capital, people are selling things. they have second—hand clothes, cakes they've made, anything to get a bit of cash. there's real poverty here. several inuits, indigenous people, are trying to sell king eider ducks they've caught.

next morning in the freezing cold, a couple of the inuit are going out to hunt some more king eiders. their friend was enthusiastic about the idea that the chinese might move in here in force. i think it's good for greenland if the chinese can build and greenland can grow. it's good. good for everybody? yeah, i think. attitudes to chinese involvement are divided on ethnic lines. the majority, inuits, are mostly keen. the minority of danish descent tend not to be. the man who delivers water to the outlying communities was worried. for me, i don't like it, because they want to take it all and leave greenland with nothing. i think the greenlandic should do it by themselves. the greenlandic government wants eventual independence from denmark.

the prime minister and foreign minister wouldn't be interviewed about china's involvement here, but a previous prime minister was prepared to talk. we will be living in 2019 soon, and the world has changed. what greenland needs urgently is investment from the outside, and you don't really see investment from the us or europe. so you would be happy to see china putting money into greenland in a big way, would you ? yes. denmark doesn't agree. just recently, the danish prime minister lars rasmussen came here on an attention—grabbing visit. both denmark and the united states are seriously worried that the chinese might get a strategic bridgehead here. mr rasmussen visited the american missile detection base at thule to show his support.

his party's foreign affairs spokesman explained their nervousness. china is actually a communist dictatorship. therefore, we should be very worried about, you know, how they should evolve around the world. i don't like to have them in our own backyard, because i would be worried, also from a security perspective. the trouble is, the americans and the danes have long taken greenland for granted, and neither of them have spent too much money on it. now that china's showing an interest, though, things are suddenly about to change. in just over four years' time, there will be three big new international airports operating here, bringing in investors and workers and tourists. the tiny population of this vast, empty country isn't going to know what's hit it. john simpson, bbc news, greenland.

let's take a look at some of today's other news. banks are to be banned from charging higher fees for unarranged bank overd rafts under proposed reforms. such charges can be up to 10 times as high as those for payday loans, according to regulators. debt charities have welcomed the move. a football fan who threw a banana skin at a black player has been fined and banned from matches for four years. averof panteli admitted to throwing the fruit at the arsenal striker, pierre—emerick aubameyang, but denied any racist intent. but magistrates called it a "targeted gesture" with a "racial element". a number of lorries toppled over during a stormy ferry crossing between northern ireland and scotland this morning after what one witness said was a "big dip”'in rough seas. no—one was badly injured, but several people were trapped in their cars. the government has set out plans to recycle more household waste in england and to make the system less confusing. under the plans, companies will have

to pay the costs of disposing or recycling the packaging they use and every home in england will have weekly food waste collections. jeremy cooke reports. the throwaway society, in full effect. mountains of waste, millions of tonnes of household rubbish, sent to landfill every year in england. now the government's launching a new plan to tackle a festering national problem, planning how to extend the lives of electrical items like dishwashers, recycle plastics like bottles, deal with methane—producing food waste, and old batteries. part of the picture is about managing our own household waste. in ipswich, jess allen is determined to do her bit. but for so many of us, recycling can be too complicated. it says the bottle is and the cap is but the label isn't, so i have to take that off before it goes in the bin.

jess welcomes the idea of collection being the same across england, and clear labels on which bin for which waste. the supermarket labelling, it tells you it's recyclable, but you often think, is that in my local area or is it just generically recyclable if it was to go to the right place? the reassurance that you're doing the right thing as much as you can would be really helpful. the government wants every council in england to collect waste in exactly the same way, to eliminate our confusion. there are also plans for every householder to be given food caddies to minimise the release of greenhouse gases. some environmentalists, though, are worried that the proposals could be watered down in the consultation process. some of these proposed changes are going to require new funding for people like the environment agencies and local authorities, which have obviously been quite hard hit with austerity measures. and then defra itself obviously has a lot on its plate with brexit, so it's the issue of capacity

and whether or not they're going to be able to follow through with the ambitions shown in this document. in england, recycling rates have stalled in the last couple of years at about 45%, so ministers say they want to tackle producers and make them pay the full cost of disposal. it's hoped that that will force a rethink on how difficult to recycle products are designed. this plant alone recycles 116,000 tonnes of plastic a year. the company hopes the new strategy will increase capacity across the country. to build a plant like this one would cost around £40 million. we're not investing for this government or the next government or even the one after that. we're investing for 20 or 30 years, and we need to know that that is going to be a good business for the future. wales, northern ireland and scotland already have their own plans to tackle waste.

and in england, there's still plenty of detail to thrash out. but environmental groups hope that today's plans live up to their promises, and could be a game changer in the fight against waste. jeremy cooke, bbc news. and if you want to find out more about what you can recycle in your area — just go to the bbc news website — where you can find information and links to recycling websites. that's all at bbc.co.uk/news. this is where the next football world cup final will take place in exactly four years' time today. the middle eastern country of qatar will host the tournament in 2022 — the first time it'll be staged in winter. work on the stadium is well under way — despite concerns about the welfare of workers and an ongoing dispute with some of its neighbours that's led to a blockade. 0ur sports correspondent richard conway reports from doha. it's qatar's national day,

a chance to celebrate and look to the future. this gas—rich state is preparing to create an even bigger bang, though, in four years' time, when it gets to host football's biggest tournament. plans for the tournament, though, are now springing off the drawing board and into life. it's an opportunity for people to experience us, experience the agriculture, the richness and the rich heritage and culture we have to offer. that's what the world cup offers you. qatar is located in the middle east, and eight stadiums will be used over the course of the world cup. seven will be new, with the final played in lusail. it will be the most compact tournament ever staged, given that qatar is about the same size as yorkshire. it's nothing but sand at the moment, but in four years' time, this will be lush, green grass, because it's here where the world cup opening game and final will be staged. and it's in a stadium that is rising up out of the desert. it's part of a tournament that organisers hope

will change expectations on how and where a major sporting event can be played. qatar has been criticised in recent years over labour standards for workers building its world cup infrastructure. human rights groups have cautiously welcomed recent reforms, but issues remain. some of the workers are making $175, £140, a month. is that morally defensible? no doubt that there is room for improvement in that element. the fact is that there was no minimum wage established previously. now we're talking about implementing and applying minimum wage. so i have no doubt that progress on worker welfare reform will continue. it will progress. it's not a journey that's going to end. last summer's world cup in russia was well received despite political and cultural concerns ahead of it.