hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has repeated his threat to shut the us border with mexico, unless congress agrees to fund his controversial plan to build a wall between the two countries. the dispute, prompted by illegal immigration, has caused the partial shutdown of the us government. a tourist bus in egypt has been hit by a roadside bomb near the giza pyramids, killing three vietnamese tourists and a local guide. the authorities say 11 other people were injured — two of them are in a critical condition. the british home secretary has declared a "major incident", after a surge in the number of migrants trying to cross the english channel in small boats. 75 people have reached the uk in the past three days and at least 221 people have attempted the crossing since the start of november. many people have followed medical

advice and lost significant amounts of weight, potentially saving the nhs money in the long run but some are nhs money in the long run but some a re left nhs money in the long run but some are left with folds of excess skin and getting nhs surgery is by no means guaranteed. our health editor has the story. at his largest, jack was nearly 3a stone, living on a diet of takeaways. that was then, but this is now. he's lost 18 stone. that was after doctors told him he was at risk of dying young. but the dramatic weight loss has left him with another problem. so i have a lot of loose skin, especially around the torso area. i think at my age, being only 22, it's something quite difficult to live with. jack told me he was in a dark place when things got out of hand with his diet and lifestyle. eating was a comfort, and it's a vicious cycle. you would eat to feel better. you'd feel better, you would eat again and then you'd feel bad and upset because you were getting bigger.

he feels he did his bit by going on a rigorous diet to get his weight down. now he thinks his local nhs should do an operation to deal with his folds of skin. i've worked this hard to get myself out of a situation which could have cost the nhs a lot of money going forward. the mental aspect of having to deal with your body once you've worked this hard for it can be quite challenging. getting body contouring surgery after weight loss depends on where you live. —— the series of operations required can cost the nhs up to £24,000. but surgeons argue it's an essential part of the treatment of those who are tackling their own severe obesity. we must, must get away from the fact that people think this is cosmetic surgery. it could not be further from the truth. this is reconstruction and patients do benefit from having the surgery. nhs clinical commissioners said the surgery was available in some cases, but unfortunately, the nhs does not have unlimited resources. "some tough choices have to be made, which we appreciate can be difficult for some of our patients." forjack, it's a simple question of fairness.

i'm not doing this for, you know, just the cosmetic. it's for me to be able to live a normal life. to go to the gym and have to tuck yourself in, like a shirt, you have to tuck yourself in to be able to work out. it's very difficult in social events when you're wearing a shirt, because you have a fold. iso i's notjust the cosmetic side, it's the kind of the mental aspect and the effect that that does have, especially being such a young person. hugh pym, bbc news. now on bbc news, it's time for witness — and a special edition looking back at some of the most compelling stories of 2018, from the great niece of the tsar reflecting on the russian revolution, to the doctor who saved bulgaria's dancing bears. romanoffs hello and welcome to

witness, and hear the british library with five extraordinary moments in history, told to us by people who were there. in this special edition, we present five stories from 2018. we will hear about how a us warship shot down an iranian airliner in 1988. the tragedy that wiped out the australian town. the man who rescued the dancing bears bulgaria. and chairman mao attempts to bring healthcare to the masses. but first, we had back 100 years to 1918 when the russian tsar nicholas was second in his entire family were murdered by russian revolutionaries. in 1998

after the fall of communism, there remains were unearthed and they were reburied in st petersburg. princess 0lga romanoff, the great—niece of the tsar, tells the story. following the tsar, tells the story. following the priests and the nobles, tsar nicholas of imperial russia, with his wife and children. one day, all to find death in a bullet swept seller. my grandmother was tsar nicholas ii's sister, and my father was tsar nicholas ii's eldest nephew. he called an uncle nicky. nicholas adored him and he troubled a lot with the tsarina and with the olga romanoff and was very —— tsar, and was very close with the girls. they used to go to cycle races and

pony they used to go to cycle races and pony races up and down the palace is. -- pony races up and down the palace is. —— be used to have. the russian territories are vast and they were incredible powerful, also nicholas was the head of the church. already, there was bolshevik movements and there was bolshevik movements and the russian royal family were not as powerful as they were say in 1900. 0n powerful as they were say in 1900. on march 15, 1917, tsar tsar nicholas ii, supreme ruler of all the russians, was forced to abdicate in the face of political and economic pressure that lead in the end total revolution. nicholas and his family were taken to tubolsk, where they were held, and from tubolsk, they went to ekaterinburg, which is where they were eventually murdered. i think that the bomber bolsheviks feared that he might have more influence than they would like to have. his memory is nvidia during

his lifetime, the tsar was accused of being both weak and inconsistent, stubbornly clinging to power. but the romanoffs in our creditors with dignity in the months leading to their execution. —— olga romanoff. the children, their brother, along with the emperor is,, nicholas himself were all shot. after the fall of the soviet union, we heard oi'i fall of the soviet union, we heard on the grapevine that the bodies of nicholas and family had been discovered in a swamp outside of ekaterinburg and there was a movement that they would get a decent burial in st petersburg, with the rest of the family. in 98, in july, one of my sons and myself went st petersburg for the first time for the funeral of nicholas ii, and

between 52 and 56, romanoffs. as the court that approaches, it slows down, in keeping with the russian tradition in which the coffins of the debt driven passed a place that was their last home on earth. we followed the court that all the way from the airport to peter and paul fortress and what struck me, amazingly, they were so many people in the street. and all of them were sliding across and buying... the queen had very kindly sent offices from the scots. the honour guard including a royal piper from the royal scots dragoon guards, tsar nicholas was their commander—in—chief. it was a very long service, they all laid out in front of the altar and it all felt very emotional. it had a feel of holiness and sanctity. it was, in

no, it wasjust nice to have them safely buried. princess olga romanoff on burying her great uncle, the last tsar of russia. in 1988, an american warship, the uss vincennes shot down an iranian airliner, killing all the people on board. at the time, this man happened to be on board the vincennes that fateful day. it was a tragedy, to shoot down an airliner. 0ne day. it was a tragedy, to shoot down an airliner. one of those things you just, i am still in disbelief that it could have happened stop right the mood in the gulf was very tense, iran and iraq were in the middle of a warat iran and iraq were in the middle of a war at the time and the us navy was protecting the oil tankers that

came out of kuwait, to make sure the flow of oil kept coming to the united states. and the iranians were harassing those chips with speedboats that the iranians were using, they would round—robin the chips while they were shooting and try to catch fire. so ourjob was just kind of like a police force, if you will. the team i was with was combat crew, i am videotaping the whole time. and they caught a ride with the uss vincennes, cruiser, it isa with the uss vincennes, cruiser, it is a billion—dollar boat, state—of—the—art time. as we were sailing back, we got into a battle with iranian speedboats. during the gunboat battle, we were

thinking that they are going to come at us with whatever they have now that would have been the air force. the year before in 1987, the uss stark got hit by a missile, that was launched by iraq. we always do so minded member the stark. launched by iraq. we always do so minded memberthe stark. in launched by iraq. we always do so minded member the stark. in about five minutes went by and they said there was a target that had left the iranian airfield and the military airport and the civilian airport is the same place, so the aircraft when it took off was identified as hostile. they thought it was iranian airforce, but the plan in reality was flight 655, it was an airliner, and airbus. i times a week, there is and airbus. i times a week, there is a scheduled service across the strait to the buyer. they travel flight strait to the buyer. they travel flight path... but here the clue is,

waiting for another target to come at them when the aircraft takes off. and i believe that one of the te na nts, and i believe that one of the tenants, i went up in asked in and i said what are we doing? he said you are going to see the missile action. and i went to the specialist was watching the scope and he is watching the scope and he is watching the scope and he is watching the missiles, because you can track and off the radar, and then he sees it hit the target. but they found out like 15, 20 minutes later, that it was an airliner. an iranian airbus is presumed crashed, please look for survivors, or aircraft wreckage. and so that is when it was like what? airliner missing, we did not shoot an

airliner, we shot tomcats, i thought. there was a lot of soul—searching, disbelief. that is not supposed to happen, that is not what we're here do. 290 civilians passed away on flights 655 and of those 290, 66 for children. i felt so bad for the families. —— that lost their loved ones, and sometimes you are part of history and you love it, sometimes you're part of history and you hate it. this isjust one of those things we just wish it did not happen, but i was there. remembering the iranian airliner tragedy. 0ur next story takes us to the balkans. in1988, next story takes us to the balkans. in 1988, albury band are centuries old form of local entertainment, where a captive chained bears were forced to dance to music. following the band, the retired and often

traumatised bears needed a place to go and one man, dr amir khalil, came to the rescue. in1998, it in 1998, it was clear that the announcement of the ground there needed to be protected. for me, it was a huge challenge. in the heart of the bulgarian capital's commercial and political centre, from mediaeval times. a 1a —month—old brown bear. she is muzzled and chained by rings through her nose and upper lip to her master. the dancing bear was a cultural problem involved area. for hundreds of years, a tradition. there is a trained, they take the bear cub there is a trained, they take the bearcub and there is a trained, they take the bear cub and work them on a metal hotplate, very hot, like fire. they smear the soul of the leg of the bear with bassaleg and then they start to play with small instruments

and music and they put the bear up of the fire, but this hotplate and the best starts to move his leg up and down because it's burning him. and they do this procedure many times and further bear, when they hear this music, they start to move the bed and this is how they have the bed and this is how they have the dancing bear. the bear is also alcoholic. they have one hobby. to make that they are working many hours, that there has to drink also alcohol, like its owner. so we tried to work with the public and make a lot of publicity about the situation and step month, a lot of hotel owners in sofia on the seaside, they refused the owner of the bear to come to dance in front of his hotel. this pair was born in captivity and don't have the chance to learn how to survive in the wild so we can't let them to the wild. it was very

clear there needs to be a sanctuary. for me, it was a huge challenge. like really, how to get the first bears and convince and prove that this project is possible. this is a retirement house for old and dancing bears. the first time, when i have the chance to bring the bear is here, to the dancing bear a park, first i was very excited. we have to wait all the night outside till the morning coming so i have to dart the bear to remove the chain and bring the bear inside the enclosure. to be honest i was very scared because i don't know how the bear will react. they will wake up, they are chained, what will they do. he is a wild animal still and i was scared and think that there also scared so when he woke up, i will never forget this moment. he stands up, he was looking

that he was afraid to walk, even to walk, he was afraid to step in front because he was just chained and his smell, hejust smiled. there is no chain, no 0no, just food. he is free. involved area, there is no more dancing bear. the last dancing bear involved area was rescued in september 2000 seven. it is a tradition from the middle ages. it no more exists and it will never come back again. doctor amil khalil on rescuing dancing bears. remember, you can watch with us every month on the bbc news channel or you can catch up on all our films along with more than 1000 radio programmes in the on line archive. just go to: annexed story is about an australian tragedy. the town of wittenoom in

western australia grew around and is best lost mine in the 1940s but at the time, few people knew the asda stores was legal and could cause lung cancer. ron duke lived in wittenoom as a child and is one of the few members of her family that is still alive. people were warned that they didn't take it seriously until people started to die. i lost both parents, both grandparents, my brother, three uncles, about four cousins that i can think of and let's just the immediate family in my world. i was born in 1958 in the far north of western australia, in the pilbara little town of wittenoom. the blue as best lost mine was the genesis of the time. as. as best 0z is a natural fibre thatis as. as best 0z is a natural fibre that is encased in rocks. they would

have extra ct that is encased in rocks. they would have extract the asbestos out of the mine and the millwood baggage ready for shipment and it was sent to all places around the world. fire resistant fabric known as asbestos isa resistant fabric known as asbestos is a piece of rock. the practical uses of asbestos is very numerous. the beast 18,000 articles are made of it. packing the steam engines and friction services. there are a lot of immigrants who came to australia after the second world war. there we re after the second world war. there werejobs to be had in wittenoom. he was a jack of all trades. he took the guys from town to the mine every day. my mum and her sisters all met their husbands up there. it had all

of the elements are the normal country town, they used to have race days, there would be balls and all sorts of social activities that eve ryo ne sorts of social activities that everyone was involved in. my parents weren't aware of the dangers at all. asbestos fibres get into the lungs and those fibre skins —— fibres can cause asbestosis or mesothelioma. it encases the line in cancer and prevented from breathing. in wittenoom, the asbestos wasn't confined to the mine. asbestos was used in gardens and driveways and on the roads. it was literally everywhere and if you went out to play, as all small children do. you are playing in asbestos. 0ne play, as all small children do. you are playing in asbestos. one of the flying doctors flew into town and said, as soon as he got there, we had to close this, this has to stop. the mine was very profitable so it

was decided that wasn't the case. it was decided that wasn't the case. it was 1966 before they closed the mine. people had started to die. we left when my dad got sick. we now know an actual fact he had asbestosis at that time. it's almost like having an asthma attack where you can't breathe and you are fighting to catch your breath. my mum and my brother died from mesothelioma. it is an extremely harrowing disease to see someone dying from mesothelioma. there is just hundreds of people from wittenoom that i know of who have gone with mesothelioma or asbestosis. none of my family in that vote was alive, they all gone, every one of them. there is no compensation for taking away your pa rents compensation for taking away your parents or yourfamily. compensation for taking away your parents or your family. there compensation for taking away your parents or yourfamily. there is no justice in that at all. nothing.

money doesn't bring them back. money doesn't compensate for their death or what you miss. bronwyn duke on the wittenoom asbestos mine in australia. now in 1968, chairman mao launched a scheme to improve healthcare in rural china by giving thousands of people basic medical training and sending them out to work in villages. they were known as the barefoot doctors. gordon liu was one of them. i became a barefoot doctor after i graduated from high school simply because i was one of the most educated young persons. i had no training, any experience or knowledge in medicine whatsoever. chairman mao says the sick must be healed and has caused a real shakeup

in china's health services. every commune they say now has hospitals and clinics providing medical attention where there was none before. perhaps the most striking development has been the training of a vast corps of a barefoot doctors. they had their farm work to do as well in theirtraining they had their farm work to do as well in their training is limited but even if you can teach people simple hygiene, it saves countless lives. we provided very basic services to our villages, mostly for the common cold conditions, infections, diarrhoea, things like that. barefoot doctor, simply described that sometimes we had to ta ke described that sometimes we had to take shoes off to work in farmland. we were not always barefoot. i do have shoes! i started as a barefoot doctor do not only treat the people but also treat animals. there was one case i still remember. 0ne but also treat animals. there was

one case i still remember. one of my relatives, she had a teeth problem, she had to go to the county hospital and she returned to the village and it was very painful. she said, my little brother, can you do something for me? i said, i will give it a try. i went back to the chinese medicine books i had, i read the releva nt cha pters for medicine books i had, i read the relevant chapters for dental care andi relevant chapters for dental care and i said, can we try this? after three orfour and i said, can we try this? after three or four days, the and i said, can we try this? after three orfour days, the problem and i said, can we try this? after three or four days, the problem was gone. that news was out to the whole village. this little kids can do something much better than the cou nty something much better than the county hospital so i was very, very proud of it. big academics have been largely checked. the doctor said,

the only venereal disease cases we get in china now are those that come over the border from hong kong. get in china now are those that come overthe borderfrom hong kong. in china, we stamped out. certainly, cholera and smallpox claim fewer victims than in the old days. think most people in china and many people in other countries perceived the barefoot doctor system very highly. my barefoot doctor system very highly. my view is somewhat different from that. back in the 60s, 70s, the result of the cultural revolution, the chinese higher education system was shut down but if i could choose between going to the countryside for three years or going to college, mostly world would have chosen couege mostly world would have chosen college but given that was the only choice available to me but yes, there was something positive there.

gordon liu, one of china's barefoot doctors. that is all from witness this month at the british library. we will be back next month with more first—hand accounts of extraordinary moments in history but now, from me and the rest of the witness team, goodbye. hello there. here comes your weather forecast for the rest of this year and have to say, to many of us, it doesn't bring any huge changes. it's going to stay pretty mild through the next few days. mostly dry as well although northern parts of the uk are going to see some bursts of rain and some brisk winds at times as well and that's certainly the case during saturday.

this little area of low pressure moving across northern scotland. providing wet weather through the first part of the day. some windy weather too and the wind for all of us coming from the south—west, bringing this mild air in our direction. so we start off saturday morning with outbreaks of rain in parts of scotland but the worst of it looks likely to have cleared away by the time it gets light. still a few hefty showers through the morning and also some gusty winds. the black arrows here show wind gusts in excess of 40mp, might get close to 50mph on high ground but northern ireland and england, perhaps the north midlands and wales will see some extra cloud, maybe the old spot of brain around. but the south, mainly dry and rather cloudy and murky to the day and as we had deeper into saturday, many areas will brighten up, particularly across scotland, sunshine across northern ireland and northern england

and perhaps the midlands later in the day. should brighten up nicely. further south, or more in the way of cloud and we keep that mild feel in the south, temperatures coming down as the weather gets up. on in the norther half of the uk. we move out of saturday to sunday and we do it all again. we bring more wind across northern areas of scotland and england, much of it clear by the end of the night, the further south you go mostly dry. mild air returning once again from the south—west. sunday looks like this, some patchy rain. it'll mostly clear, but could linger for a good part of the day across the northern isles and largely dry, a lot of cloud in the west. best of brightness for nothern scotland, north—east englan. those temperature is still pretty impressive for this time of year. into the last day of the year, monday, new year's eve, it's looking like another largely dry day. areas of cloud, mist and fog and patchy rain at times. again, those temperatures in double digits. if you're out celebrating in the evening, this is the weather set—up.

high pressure in charge, a weak frontal system in the north, so patchy rain and here we have the high pressure, still a lot of cloud trapped underneath it stood midnight, i'm expecting it should be dry but rather cloudy and a bit murky as well. hello, and welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. president trump has threatened to close the border with mexico if the us congress refuses to fund his proposed wall. he was speaking after nearly a week of deadlock about the federal budget, which has caused a partial government shutdown. chris buckler reports from washington. securing the long border between mexico and america has become the priority for president trump. he wants $5 billion to build a huge

barrier that's not so easy to climb. but he needs democrats to approve the funding for that long—promised border wall, and they're refusing, leading him to make a new threat.