i've collared the seller and he's here to try and flog us his latest wares! please welcome, sir david jason. cheering. thank you. it is always good to see you. thank you, always lovely to be here. and i like the welsh accent. it is very good, c. my mother came from near merthyr, you see? we could be related. we could be, but my father did have a bike. we saw today they are doing a musicalfor only did have a bike. we saw today they are doing a musical for only fools and horses, are you auditioning?” am not auditioning, they couldn't afford me. they did ask me, but my voice is not quite up to the singing standard, you see, so i gently had to kindly refuse the part, but i've given it to somebody else. and he

needs a leg up, in fact. more than a leg up, he is a bit more like me, a foot on the top of the head. did you welcome that idea? well, i couldn't have done it... but the concept of a musical? listen, i hope it is going to work very well because the show has been such a phenomenal success over the years, which i'm delighted to say, because itjust gives new you're watching beyond 100 days. donald trump says america is done with being the police man of the middle east and it's time to come home. and he says russia and iran aren't happy about us troops being pulled out of syria. but vladimir putin contradicts trump, telling a press conference the us is right to withdraw. washington indicts chinese government hackers accused of targetting the american navy, nasa and us companies. also on the programme..... one of the uk's busiest airports is shut down, as the army and police hunt two drone operators, who have disrupted hundreds of commercial flights. and, what are your 2018 news highlights, we'll take a look back at a tumultuous year, on both sides of the atlantic. i'm katty kay in washington,

clive myrie is in london. despite widespread criticism that pulling out of syria is not a good idea, donald trump is not backing down from his sudden decision to do so. in a series of early morning tweets the president said it was time for others to fight. in a little under 280 characters he asked whether the "usa wants to be the policeman of the middle east, getting nothing but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we're doing? do we want to be there forever?" he then went on to say russia, iran and syria are not happy about the us leaving because they'll have to fight islamic state alone. but russian president vladimir putin said he backed mr trump's decision regarding the defeat of ies, i am largely in agreement with the president of the united states. i have spoken about this as well. we have achieved palpable progress in the fight against terrorism on this territory. is the presence of american forces in syria necessary? i think not. let us not forget that their presence is not legitimate. it is not acknowledged by a united nations security council resolution. among the most outspoken critics of the president's move, has been republican senator lindsey graham. today he continued to urge mr trump, to reconsider, and he spelled out the potential consequences. i don't know how this decision was made. it literally came out of left field.

it has rattled the world. you see north korea flexing their muscles now. that will warn that you leave south korea before you do a deal. i can promise you that everything that happened in iraq is going to happen in syria unless we change course. the move has not been welcomed however by republicans here in washington who are urging wthe president to change course. richard haass, president of the council on foreign relationsjoins us from new york. he doesn't feel this should be america's fight. he doesn't feel it has been appreciated. it is time for others to take over and stop being the policeman of the middle east. maybe what he means is whether it is going to work against his own narrow interest. we a re going to work against his own narrow interest. we are not particularly doing anything costly. it is hardly responsible for the american deficit. if things go bad there, if isis regroups, which it will, any defeat has been temporarily. they will be constitute themselves. despite possible that us interest will suffer. that is not good for rebuilding american society, poor

quality of life, for prosperity and security of americans. even by the president's own metrics, this is not a smart move. we had vladimir putin there. he wasn't quite licking his lips, but he may as well have been doing so. whatever the president says, it does seem to play for russia. this is a win for them. they have already been winning in syria and this is another chapter of it. they are feeling good. iran have also had a pretty good day. the syrian over mid—has had a good day. it has been terrible for the kurds we have been working there. it is also good for turkey. it is really unsettling for a american allies. it doesn't take place in a vacuum. this is an administration that is pulled the us out of agreements, it has picked fights with what were our closest allies in europe. how do you

know the united states won't suddenly decide that we really don't need those 28,000 american troops there? why would the taliban believe that they have two negotiate in good faith. it is only a matter of time before the us leaves there as well. a lot of countries are going to start appeasing some of their powerful neighbours. in places like the middle east i think we will seek with turkey, turkey saudi arabia and others, they will start taking matters into their own hands. we will see what a post—american world looks like. it ain't going to be pretty. you mentioned the south koreans and the afghans. what about the british? what about the french? we note the british and french fighterjets are targeting positions in syria. we have footage here of an attack on a particular target. where

do the british and the french, where have they been left as a result of the americans doing this without consultation? it is without saltation. it reinforces the sense that increasingly the atlantic is a divide rather than a bridge. they can no longer count on a predictable, reliable united states. they will have to decide what they are able to do without us. i think for europeans this is going to accelerate the rethinking about what is the future of european security and if it is not so embedded within the united states, what is a realistic, sustainable security future in europe, given their re—emergence of a russian threat? what can europeans sustained without necessarily having an american

partner? do you detect a wider strategic idea of what is going on with american policy in the middle east as a result of this announcement that troops are going to be pulled out? is it part of something bigger that wejust to be pulled out? is it part of something bigger that we just don't know about or is it simply to do with reflecting a campaign promise and this is about america first? with reflecting a campaign promise and this is about america first7m is always hard to discern motives but it is clearly consistent with donald trump's worldview that the cost and burden of american leadership are far outweighing any benefits. i think he is wrong but as people have pointed out much he is the president. i think that is the basis of it. it is a prediction of that which began with george w bush in iraq, afghanistan and elsewhere when the united states was going to

do nation—building, transform the region. this is a reversal of that. it is an extension of what barack 0bama began. it is extreme. the biggest question is over iran. it is the one country that the united states, israel and saudi arabia all have in their sights. the issue is evenif have in their sights. the issue is even if the us is looking to get out of the middle east it doesn't extend to iran. that remains the biggest possibility of a new conflict in this part of the world over the next two years. thanks very much for joining us. that comment, a post—american world is really striking, isn't it? there is really striking, isn't it? there isa is really striking, isn't it? there is a palpable sense that america is retreating from its traditional role which it has held for the last 70 yea rs of which it has held for the last 70 years of forming alliances and bridges with europe and working with

allies in the world. sometimes being the world's policeman, not always in a way that the world wanted. under this president a very different role for america in the world. and part of america boss proposition as being the world's policeman is consistency. that is part of the modus operandi of the united states and has been for the last 70 years. the president himself is inconsistent. he said in a tweet yesterday that american troops are being pulled out of celia because isis has been defeated. he then said today in a tweet that russia and the iranians and syrians will be upset because they will have to stay in syria and fight isis on their own. so when one tweet isis has been defeated, in another he says they haven't been defeated and other countries have to fight them. that

is the kind of inconsistency which doesn't fly well with nato allies or anyone else who feels that america should be leading in a globalised world. another big development concerning the us. the usjustice department has announced criminal charges against two hackers said to be acting on behalf of the chinese ministry of state security. the hackers allegedly targetted the us navy, nasa and a range of us companies. britainjoined washington in holding beijing responsible for the hacking, which also hit companies in europe and asia. in some of the toughest language yet against beijing, christopher wray, the head of the fbi, was fiercely critical of the chinese. no country poses a broader, more severe long—term threat to our nation's economy and cyber infrastructure than china. china's goal, simply put, is to replace the us as the world's leading superpower and they are using illegal methods to get there. that is linked to what we have just

been talking about. that is linked to what we have just been talking about. and for more i spoke to the bbc‘s security correspondent gordon corera a little earlier. you have been over in the states talking to us intelligence officials. put today's indictment in the context of what they are learning about what china is trying to do. this is the latest salvo in an ongoing campaign which has really been moving for months now out of washington to try and put pressure on beijing over economic espionage. and the purpose of these indictments, which have been building and building is really to put information in the public domain. in some cases i think they don't have any real expectation that they will necessarily be able to bring people to trial, but it is about putting information out there to try and build a case that beijing is stealing secrets to grow its economy and to try and put pressure on beijing to stop that. and i think this is reallyjust the next significant step in that, with a set of indictments and information linking directly to the chinese ministry of state security, it is alleged. is the assumption amongst american spies here that this is just because today's indictment

alleges that the hackers were also hacking into the us navy, into nasa. is there a broader security concern as well? absolutely. i think if you talk to american security officials they will say there is a big concern about regular espionage by china. most famously, the officer personnel management was breached by the chinese, stealing the vetting details of millions of americans with governmentjobs. very sensitive details. what is interesting about that is you talk to americans and they will say, well, that is just espionage. that is the kind of thing that they would like to do to the chinese. if you like, it is "normal" espionage. what they are trying to do is say, that is espionage, but what we are trying to do with these kind of indictment is try and stop economic espionage and put that in a different category. they believe they did that with a 2015 deal with the chinese to try and get the chinese to stop the theft of economic secrets

to help their companies. but now they feel that is still going. i was really struck by his language today, saying that china represents the greatest economic threat to america. clearly america now is really putting its site on china as the next big superpower. i think that is right. i think you have to see these charges as part of that wider campaign. it links the economic espionage to the trade agenda and the trade talks but it also sits in this bigger struggle about china's rise, its economic weight, its economic influence, the way that reaches around the world with lots of other countries, but even inside america itself. and washington's desire to push back on that. because i think some people in washington fear that they need to do that now before it is too late. some already believe it may already be too late to push back against that and china has already grown sufficiently and is exerting its power in a way that will be very hard for washington to push back on. interesting.

thanks forjoining us from london. i bet those trade talks will go swimmingly in the next few weeks. if you had to use gatwick airport today, please accept our sincere commiserations. travelling with all the bags and the kids in the holidays is hard enough, but more than 70,000 passengers at britain's second busiest airport, are now experiencing... a nightmare. the british army has been deployed at gatwick after drones flying near the airport grounded flights. easyjet has now cancelled all its flights from gatwick and said the disruption is likely to continue into friday. police say the incident is not terror—related but the airport accuses those responsible of deliberately disrupting christmas. let's get the latest from our correspondent duncan kennedy who's at gatwick airport. it's almost empty behind you. people given up and gone home now, duncan? not quite stop some are still turning up in the hope of getting away. as you said, something like

70,000 to 100,000 passengers are effective today. we are nearly at the 24—hour mark. it has been closed because of this drone incident. people are still turning up, hoping to get away. 0thers people are still turning up, hoping to get away. others are going on bus to get away. others are going on bus to regional airports. there are still queues in the departure lounge behind me. a long story of misery after another. 0ne couple have two console a honeymoon trip to la nza rote. they console a honeymoon trip to lanzarote. they have gone home. anotherfamily were lanzarote. they have gone home. another family were on the plane to eight hours and then told they had to get off gaza plane was going nowhere. we spoke to a family with three very young children hoping to go to lapland to see father christmas. they have also gone home tonight. untold misery for tens of thousands of passengers. tonight. untold misery for tens of thousands of passengersm tonight. untold misery for tens of thousands of passengers. it is so miserable. my client restrictions have been lifted out of the airports to ease the congestion that has been

created. what do they think is going to happen tomorrow? it all depends whether they can find this drone or drones and the operator or operators. the perimeter fence around gatwick is ten miles long. about 15 kilometres. they have got 20 police teams out looking for this person or persons. we have seen people on the tops of car parks, on the tops of other buildings, armed office rs the tops of other buildings, armed officers out on patrol trying to track this person or persons down. we don't even know if it is one or more drones. once that is cleared, this airport will reopen, fights can get going, although tomorrow here is another very busy day. they are expecting 126,000 people tomorrow. i don't think any of those will be getting away on time because of the knock—on effect from today. that is

gatwick. all these other airports have to soak up the overspill. flights are overbooked, hotels are overbooked. this chaos and disruption will continue for several days yet. but it will depend on what happens here at gatwick. can they nailed this drone operator or not? if not, that disruption will continue. thank you, duncan. so how can a small drone pose such a risk to an aeroplane? and what can be done to stop them? here's our technology correspondent rory cellanjones. here is why there is so much concern about eight drone hitting a jet aircraft. this shows an extreme and possibly unlikely scenario. after a number of near misses airports had to ta ke number of near misses airports had to take a safety first approach. uk regulations mean drones are not

allowed near an airport and must not fly a bove allowed near an airport and must not fly above 400 feet. they can fly in this west london park as long as they don't enter the restricted zone. this drone has technology on board which prevented from even taking off too close to an airport stops it from entering the restricted zones. it appears those used at gatwick. british engineers are behind sky wall. it brings it down with a parachute. dutch police have even tried using birds of prey to ta ke even tried using birds of prey to take down a rogue drone. what is

readily available is equipment to track drones and the people who are flying them. this is the periscope protection system. we have a live view of an aircraft in our vicinity. it is pretty difficult to stop people flying irresponsibly but we can use a system to give you real time information about where pilots fly and where the drones fly. the police have been using drones for quite a while but at gatwick they struggled to catch up with those who caused so much disruption. this is a big wake—up call for police because it is the first time drones have been used. they may not have had explosives or caused injuries or attacks but it is a major disruption to the economy of the uk. for many flying a drone is a great hobby. all users will have to be registered and

ta ke users will have to be registered and take an online safety test from next year. that will not make airports safe to those determined to break the rules and wreak havoc. joining us now is david shepardson. he covers the transportation and auto industry for reuters. authorities are saying it is not terror related but they think it was deliberately targeting an airport at christmas time. it is a form of civic disruption. true. the economic impact of tens of thousands of people forced to be delayed or not fly is a concern. the technological solution is 23 years away.” fly is a concern. the technological solution is 23 years away. i use are priced it hasn't happened before?” am. we have seen lots of close calls with many airlines reporting near

misses with drones and there has been video footage of drone seemed close to us airports. but it has never seen an close to us airports. but it has never seen an incident where an intentional act to try and disrupt air travel. with this particular case it is the coordination that is being suggested. multiple drones, at least two. two separate pilots in coordination trying to cause this disruption. that seems to be something very new. certainly and remember that our solutions long term in the us. we are grappling with something called remote id. we could acquire the id of drones through sensors or through low of the chewed air—traffic control systems. but those solutions are still a long way away and until then much of the system relies on actors

behaving appropriately. they say a drone hitting an airline is similar to an airstrike drone hitting an airline is similar to an air strike and all planes... there has never been an incident of a major airline receiving major damage as a result of a drone. at least at this point serious injuries have been avoided. have airlines and airports fallen asleep. these two sophisticated security systems are not in place so we are all vulnerable? i think there has been a rising concern on a part of a number of authorities over the last year. us authorities have banned drones in military bases, national parks and you can get reactors. in october

they passed legislation giving the authorities the legal right to shoot down a dangerous drone. that is a technology they still need to fully develop. i think that because they are politically small, authorities are politically small, authorities are not taken them as seriously as other threats. but today's incident certainly suggest that it could have been far worse. that is a concern, the prospect of weaponised in drones eventually. we do send sympathy to eve ryo ne eventually. we do send sympathy to everyone at gatwick. it is miserable travelling at holidays anyway and you are having a rough day. be patient. so.... the last time i checked — the uk still had no plan for how it was leaving the eu. and there's so much infighting among all political parties , it's anyones guess where anybody really stands on, well, anything. but fret not. because the eu is not letting our country's chaos get in the way

of the festive season. donald tusk, the european council's president , has posted this tweet of him singing a christmas carol. sings note he says he hopes we can hear each other. except requests from theresa may for changes to the brexit deal, that is. he looked like he was in a young boy band in that clip. joanne duran. don't you think? that was good,

clive. i am tone deaf and i dared not sing a note on air. christian links e is not tone deaf. but that was pretty good. i think you could sing us out with silent night. the problem is he is not singing sweet nothings into theresa may's ear. that is the problem! and he probably won't be over the next two weeks although she may hope for a little christmas gift. they have decided to go off on holiday despite the crisis. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — vladimir putin says theresa may doesn't have a choice but to deliver brexit. he also has a lot to say about washington's withdrawal from nuclear treaties and us troops in syria. a circular hole in the cloud.

sunshine coming through. talking about cloud, we are looking at an area of low pressure. thickening crowd racing across the atlantic bringing general outbreaks of rain across england and wales. showers tending to general rain overnight. we have seen one month of rain already in wales and south—west england, this could bring in flooding. ten to 15 millimetres of rainfor flooding. ten to 15 millimetres of rain for some. more over the hills. wet night in scotland. a bit colder with patches of frost. it will be moving its wake eastwards across

england as we go through the morning. some sunshine coming out across southern counties and the south of wales. a legacy of cloud across northern ireland and northern areas of england. showers on and off. some reaching southern scotland. mild in the south. 14 degrees in london and plymouth. temperatures closer to normal across scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england. the weekend, a ridge of high pressure building in for saturday's weather. sunday sees low pressure working in, bringing in wet weather. more detail. saturday, mainly dry and bright. a chilly start with plenty of sunshine through the day. some slow—moving showers affecting northern and western areas of scotland. if you get caught with one of those could be with you for a long time. temperatures easing down a little bit but still above average for the time of year. sunday, wet weather across england and wales.

uncertainty about how far north rain will extend. southern england is the place that is most certain to seek rain on sunday. cooler air across scotla nd rain on sunday. cooler air across scotland with some sunshine. it clears out of the way on christmas eve and on christmas day asher builds to the west of the uk. the big day itself, but dry weather with sunshine. however, it could be cloudy in the west with spots of drizzle for one or two of us. this is beyond one hundred days with me, katty kay, in washington, clive myrie is in london. our top stories: rebel forces in syria warn

there could be a resurgence of the islamic state group after donald trump's announcement of the withdrawal of us troops. donald trump refuses to sign a spending bill because it has no funding for his border wall making the prospect of another federal government shutdown ever more likely. coming up in the next half hour: tens of thousands of people have their christmas travel plans ruined after people operating drones bring britain's second busiest airport to a standstill. merry christmas! and with tidings of comfort and joy barack obama surprises patients and staff at a children's hospital. the russian president vladimir putin has warned of the rising threat of a nuclear war, and the possible destruction of the planet. at his annual news conference he told journalists the world's arms control system is breaking up and it could lead to catastrophe. speaking at the media marathon

he also said theresa may had no choice but to implement brexit and steer clear of a second referendum or risk undermining faith in british democracy. translation: the danger of the situation escalating is being downplayed. it now seems to be impossible, something not of crucial importance. but at the same time if something like this would happen, this might lead to the collapse of the entire civilisation and maybe our planet. translation: it is up to them to decide, it is their internal domestic affair, i hope they will not blame us, but if the referendum is passed she has to deliver on the will of the people that was expressed at the referendum, otherwise it would not be democracy to have another rerun. for more on this let's speak

to laura rosenberger who's the director of the alliance for securing democracy. four hours he spoke for, that is short by the standards of some of these mega— press conferences. he does this at the end of every year. when you listen to it in its entirety, is he sounding confident and good? they often go on for a very long time, it is an annual thing. when we think about his attitude and his mood, but for vladimir putin he knows it is serious and everyone will pay attention on it and report on it. understanding his motivations is important to understand what we see on the screen. he is trying to portray a sense of confidence, maybe arrogance actually. the irony talking of him talking about british

democracy. the irony is not lost on vladimir putin. on the specific issue preoccupying vladimir putin. on the specific issue preoccu pying people vladimir putin. on the specific issue preoccupying people in washington, pulling out of syria, the americans pulling out of syria, he looked almost jubilant the americans pulling out of syria, he looked almostjubilant at the prospect of having that field of operators to himself effectively. and i think he wanted us to see that. he knows the reaction that will get in washington, he knows people will seize on the comments he makes and interpret them in that way. he is a master manipulator and he has been a master at using his media and intelligence services and others to try to manipulate debate. we need to see this press conference as part of that. but there is no question the decision that the president took yesterday with respect to syria is absolutely going to help us adversary ‘s like vladimir putin. laura, did he talk

much about the economy because we know that could potentially be an achilles' heel for him ? know that could potentially be an achilles' heel for him? he talked a little bit about the rate of unemployment and so on. did he go into much detail? we know him raising the retirement age caused his poll ratings to plummet and there were demonstrations on the streets. yes, he did spend a good bit of the press conference talking about domestic issues and i think again when we watch this from foreign capitals it is easy to focus on the issues that are of greatest interest to us. but he has a full audience he is playing to add one of thoseis audience he is playing to add one of those is the russian people and in that sense his interest is largely in underscoring that any economic turbulence is worth it for what russia has been able to achieve on the world stage. again i think when we see him talking about what he sees as his way, the us pulling out of syria, brexit, all these

different things, he is also trying to show confidence to his people at home, underscoring that vladimir putin is, in his view, leading russia in a direction that is placing it back in the centre of world attention, restoring russia to its greatness, and any economic pain isa its greatness, and any economic pain is a by—product of that. its greatness, and any economic pain is a by-product of that. towards the end of his conference he has got the little christmas presents under the tree of the americans pulling out of syria. has it been a good year for him? and on top? i think he probably does feel on top, but it is important for us to remember that most of his actions in this year, whether it is the poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter and the collateral damage that has had, and information operations we have seen and information operations we have seen continuing in the us, across europe, his actions with respect to

ukraine, this is vladimir putin acting out a week this. as you noted the economy at home is not in good shape. russia is an objectively declining power, so his actions and his aggression abroad and his assertiveness is about trying to use the levers he has, the low—cost asymmetric tools in order to manipulate others, in order to hide his own weaknesses. while i do think vladimir putin thinks this has been a good yearfor him, it is important for many of us to remember that he is not ten feet tall and it is only in his interests to portray him as such. thank you for coming in. theresa may has held talks with her polish counterpart, who has reiterated that the eu's brexit deal on the table is still the best on offer. the government also confirmed that mps would start debating the agreement again onjanuary the ninth ahead of a vote the following week. a court in new york has refused to dismiss criminal charges against the hollywood producer, harvey weinstein.

lawyers for mr weinstein argued that police had acted improperly but the judge ruled there was ample evidence to proceed to trial. mr weinstein denies all sexual assault allegations. the electoral commission in the democratic republic of congo says it is unable to organise elections on sunday and has announced a seven—day delay. the elections, which were meant to end presidentjoseph kabila's seventeen years in power, have already been delayed for two years. lawmakers in ukraine broke out in a fistfight today over a poster. an opposition bloc party member nestor shufrych tore down the banner that said the politician and businessman medvedchuk was "putin's agent". the move triggered an angry reaction from from the people's front party. what is christmas without a viewing of home alone? well, festive film fans can now enjoy an early present. macaulay culkin reprises the role of kevin mccallister in a google advert that recreates some of the 1990s film's most famous scenes.

culkin was ten when the film was released, the actor is now 38 and is still best—known for starring in the home alone movies. he hasn't changed. that is not possible. no, not at all. the 100 days team is going to take a break for the next 10 days and we will see you back here onjanuary 2nd. christian may be that from his holidays, he tends to take rather long ones! so we thought it would be a good moment to look back at this very busy year on both sides of the atlantic and look forward to what 2019 might bring. here to help us pick out some of the key moments, good and bad, is the political analyst and former advisor to george w bush, ron christie, who's in san francisco, and political correspondent rob watson here in london. rob watson is not allowed to take any holiday at all. ron, let me start with you. before we get to your highs and lows of the year,

what is happening in washington? this year has not even ended and the government may shut down tomorrow. it is chaos in this town again. he is paul ryan speaking a few minutes ago. the president said he will not sign this bill, so we are going to go back and work on adding more security to this, but also keeping it open because we do want to see an agreement. the president is saying if i do not get down my wall, i was shut down the government, but he does not have the government, but he does not have the votes for the wall, does he?” think he might get this in the house. the republican whip has indicated that the house republicans will add $5 billion not only towards the wall, but also for national disaster assistance and then send that piece of legislation over to the senate. in the senate there might bea the senate. in the senate there might be a bit more of a close vote. it remains to be seen, but i suspect president trump right now is burning the midnight oil so to speak. they

are at their wit‘s end on capitol hill. not that there is much left. ron, your low points in this very busy year. the good points in a minute. your low point of 2018? my low point unfortunately was the confirmation process of mouth just suspect have an eye to the united states supreme court. we saw partisanship on both sides of the political spectrum at their worst. u nfortu nately political spectrum at their worst. unfortunately allegations of a sexual nature were lodged against the justice and sexual nature were lodged against thejustice and many of sexual nature were lodged against the justice and many of these sexual nature were lodged against thejustice and many of these were taken as true and it demeans the way of our americanjustice taken as true and it demeans the way of our american justice system works. you are to have a presumption of innocence and it was not in this case. your high point? the criminal justice reform bill that is working its way through the united states congress and hopefully to president trump's desk. this will release thousands of people who have been

incarcerated for a variety of reasons and allow them a second chance of life. this was an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote which goes to prove republicans, democrats and independents can work together here. rob, what is your high point of the year? actually, unless i was asleep at the wheel, i don't think there were any. that is easy. there have only been a series of low lights bringing us to the end of the year and lights bringing us to the end of the yearand a lights bringing us to the end of the year and a profound political crisis in the uk where we still have absolutely no idea how and indeed really whether britain will leave the eu next march. for the governing conservative party it has been a year of outright civil war, culminating in the leading brexit hardliner, jacob rees mogg, calling for theresa may to be replaced. what we need is a leader who will say to the european union it is impossible to divide

up the united kingdom, it is impossible to agree to a situation where we have a perpetual customs union, it is impossible to pay £39 billion of taxpayers' money for a few promises. mrs may survived the challenge, but was badly weakened by having to promise to stand down before the next general election. and of course by the size of the rebellion against her. this has been a long and challenging day but at the end of it i am pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot. whilst i am grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me and i have listened to what they said. 0k, ok, we are putting you on the spot. it is that time of the year, we have had a long year and before we have a holiday we want to know what will happen next year. i am starting with rob watson in london. give us my

christmas present, one prediction.” can only do it this way and that is that my prediction is there will be a big showdown in the middle of january, that meaningful vote about theresa may's deal, scheduled for january the 50th. i suspect around that point the prime minister will be faced with a truly horrible dilemma because everyone suspects her deal will not get through. on the one hand she will have to think doi the one hand she will have to think do i want to let down all those leave voters by going for a softer brexit or maybe another referendum or maybe delaying brexit? 0r brexit or maybe another referendum or maybe delaying brexit? or does she just go really hard on brexit, which will of course, given that everyone thinks it will be chaotic, thinking about the drone today, go ahead with that and risk the conservative party's ahead with that and risk the conservative pa rty's reputation ahead with that and risk the conservative party's reputation for competence on dealing with the economy for a generation to come. competence on dealing with the economy for a generation to comem shows how messed up we are here that we cannot even predict that we will

leave the european union. that is how messed up we are. rob, your prediction, please. good evening, clive. i have got a couple of things. number one, ithink clive. i have got a couple of things. number one, i think the presidential sweepstakes will begin in earnest for the democrats and there will be upwards of 20 democrats who will run to take on donald trump. i think the list at the end of the year will includejoe biden at the top of the list. secondly, investigations, the house of representation and donald trump will have a very difficult time moving legislation. just a second, 20 candidates will run you believe for the democratic nomination?” 20 candidates will run you believe for the democratic nomination? i do, clive. in the last cycle republicans had 16, 17 candidates. there are a lot of people in the house of representatives who see themselves as the next president. i think we could have upwards of 20 democrats

vying to take on donald trump. one quick question, rob, as we look forward to 2019 for the uk. will they be able to get beyond this almost tunnel like focus on brexit? will britain start playing that traditional role it has played in the past on the world stage looking more outwards again? will we turned a corner? that is easy. no. i think it is very unlikely that brexit will cease to utterly consumed britain both domestically and in its activities on an international stage for the foreseeable future. one other prediction about british politics, if you think it has been absolutely ghastly, horrible, like a pantomime crisis, you come up with adjectives, watch out. i think it could well get even worse next year. ron, it is good to see you. have a very merry christmas. and also to

rob watson here in the studio. merry christmas. i am looking forward to going to clive myrie. this is what we are all hoping brexit will result in. it is sunny and it has you as president for life. my head will be on the stands. and we will sing together. how did that get through? we move from thank you, you have been a great guest to you are going to be president for life! this is beyond one hundred days. still to come... here comes santa claus but that's actually former president barack obama. we'll tell you where he went to spread the christmas cheer. there's a dramatic rise in the number of homeless people

who have died in england and wales over the past five years. the office for national statistics estimates that almost 600 homeless people died in england and wales in the last 12 months alone. that's nearly a quarter more than five years ago. london and north—west england has the highest proportion of deaths. social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. we give thanks for all the lives of those named, and those whose names we do not know. at a recent vigil in manchester, a small group gathered to remember those who died in the city and elsewhere while homeless. hundreds of lives that ended early, talents wasted. stephan tomkins was a very bright young man who went to university and got a masters degree. at this charity in stockport, they've long remembered those who died without a place to call home. rough sleeping is the most visible and dangerous form of homelessness.

it has risen rapidly since 2010, often caused by rising rent or problems getting help with mental health or addiction support. we do not need night shelters, we need a hostel, a place where we can stop carrying when we put in the night shelters, in the morning you are told to go out. you have to walk in the cold. and with your bags, and people stigmatise you as being homeless and you feel homeless. what sort of conditions do you come across typically? lots of chest infections, lots of respiratory problems, but there's also really chronic long—term health conditions that you see on the street. do you worry about dying out here? yes, i do. i've got children and stuff and the thing is i haven't seen my parents for like 18 years. ministers say they are spending more than £1 billion tackling all forms of homelessness, aiming to reduce a problem that blights the nation. let's bring you some

breaking news now. this is on the situation concerning gatwick airport, the uk's second busiest airport, shut down because of drones flying above the runways. gatwick are now saying the airport will not open before 6am tomorrow morning at the earliest. 6am tomorrow morning is when gatwick airport, they hope, will reopen, but it could be later. that is after an appalling day of congestion and problems for commuters and holiday—makers and people trying to make their way home for their holidays. it is a problem until tomorrow at 6am at least. it is a problem until tomorrow at 6am at least. as the holiday season gets into full swing, many of us will be looking forward to spending time with family. but when mums and dads can't be there to bring up their children, it's often grandparents who step in to be the primary care givers.

one charity is supporting the work they do by opening an affordable housing complex for the over 55s and under 18s. the bbc has been along to meet two "grandfamilies" living in washington dc. we have seen housing for single mothers, we have seen housing for veterans, but now to have housing for grandparents that are raising their grandchildren? that is unheard of. isa and i have been together since he was four months. the son is his father. my

my son got locked up. his mum just didn't have the patience to deal with him. when he got locked up i thought, oh my god, it is all on me. this generation is different from my own children's' generation. it was always me and my daughter and my two grandkids. so i basically raised them even when they was born. the only difference thing that's changed is that their mother is not here now. i get very worried about, oh my god, how will i pay this? the amount of rent that i was paying and the clock came along. grandma was always taking care of the grandchildren if the parents were uable to step into that role.

i think now as a society we are finally highlighting this group that has been doing this amazing work for centuries. everybody is out there doing their christmas shopping. i seen her outside a couple of times. i saw miss washington outside and she asked me... did he lived here and she said yes. we started talking and i had a boy and he was this age and she was that age. ever since then... ever since then we have been friends because we have got something in common. i never felt this kind of love and happiness before. i know and i see for myself there are a lot of other grandparents in the same situation lam in.

i love that story, i hope we have a chance to pay tribute to those grandparents who have done their own parenting and they are taking on their children's children again and this is the time of the year when we should be thinking of all those families as well. as did barack 0bama. as did barack obama. barack obama has paid a surprise visit to a children's hospital in washington complete with santa hat and a sack full of presents. the former president spoke to chidren and their families and thanked the staff for looking after them over christmas. cheering. hi, merry christmas. you know what? my reindeer, they were stuck in some snow. ijust want to make sure that i have made the trip to see all you guys. it is so nice to meet you. is this mum over your question

is this mum over here. so santa thinks you have been a good girl. spreading festive joy, the president, the ex—president getting out to meet people. he lives about a mile away from our studios in washington and he pops up occasionally in the city and people like seeing him and he is part of the community. i have been criticised for wearing a black shirt thatis criticised for wearing a black shirt that is not festive enough. our editor kate saying it is not showing enough of the festive season. so in honour of the festive season i have decorated my desk here in washington. tastefully. kate will not like that. i will have to hold it up. this is for christmas. it is

not quite christian fraser's christmas tree which he decorated and sent loads of photos around on twitter. he broke the star on top and he had to fix it for christmas. what else do you expect from him? that is very beautiful, very festive indeed. i hope you have a fabulous time away. give a very manly hug to your husband from me for christmas. thank you very much indeed. can i say to the 18,577,000 people who wrote to say aha our norwegian. and also those of you who say the star who should play clive myrie, denzel washington. not so bad. hello there.

many of you will have had quite a cloudy, showery kind of day today but over the skies in somerset naughty dog spotted one of these circular holes in the cloud. we had a bit of sunshine coming through here as well. talking about cloud, towards the south west approaches we are looking at an area of low pressure, thickening crowd racing across the atlantic. this is going to bring general outbreaks of rain across england and wales. tending to more general rain overnight. given that we have already seen about one month's worth of rain already this month in wales and south—west england, this extra rain could bring some localised surface water flooding impact. ten to 15 metres of rain for some, perhaps a bit more over the hills. so it will be a wet and mild night. across the far north of scotland, a bit colder with some patches of frost. on friday that rain will be moving its way eastwards pretty quickly across england as we go through the morning so we should see some sunshine coming out quite quickly across southern counties, brightening up as well

in the south of wales. but we will have a legacy of cloud really across northern ireland, northern areas of england, with some showers continuing on and off through the day. perhaps some of these reaching southern scotland as well. mild in the south. temperatures reaching 14 degrees in london and plymouth. warmer than it should be for this time of the year. temperatures closer to normal across scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england as well. looking ahead to the weekend, we have a ridge of high pressure building in for saturday's weather. sunday sees low pressure working in and that is going to be bringing in wet weather. saturday, it is a mainly dry and bright day. a chilly start with plenty of sunshine through the day. there will be some slow—moving showers affecting northern and western areas of scotland so if you get caught with one of those it could be with you for quite a length of time. temperatures easing down a little bit but still above average for the time of year. and then for sunday, we are looking at some wet weather across england and wales. some uncertainty about how far north this band of rain is going to extend. southern england is the place that is most certain to seek the rain and wet weather on sunday.

cooler air across the far north of scotland with some sunshine. that water tends to clear out of the way for christmas eve. and then for christmas day, pressure builds to the west of the uk. so for the big day itself, it looks and we will see a lot of dry weather with sunshine. however, it could well be quite cloudy at times in the west, maybe with some spots of drizzle for one or two of us. that's your weather. this is bbc news i'm carol walker. the headlines at 8pm. the army has deployed specialist equipment to gatwick airport as the travel chaos, caused by drone activity, looks set to continue into tomorrow — the government is easing night—flying restrictions at other airports to help people get away. this is a commercial sized drone that is clearly being operated deliberately in a way that every time gatwick airport tries to reopen the runway, the drones reappear. so this is quite clearly a deliberate act. a sharp rise in the number homeless people dying in england and wales up by a quarter in the last five years.

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